Yale Daily News — Week of Feb. 26

T H E O L D E ST C O L L E G E DA I LY · FO U N D E D 1 8 7 8

NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT · FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2021 · VOL. CXLIII, NO. 17 · yaledailynews.com

How tenure works — and doesn’t — at Yale

BY MADISON HAHAMY STAFF REPORTER When Marci Shore, associate professor of history, told her son’s elementary school teacher that she had received tenure at Yale, the teacher was shocked — she had not known that Shore was even being evaluated for tenure.

Initially confused as to why her son’s school would care about her tenure, Shore then learned that the school normally provided counseling to children whose parents were undergoing the process. Shore said it was “because it was so stressful for the parent(s), and that stress inevitably adversely affected the child.” The New Haven school, in part due to its proximity to Yale, had “a lot of experience with this situation and had developed strategies for helping the children cope,” Shore said.

Tenure is, at face value, an assurance of job security and academic freedom. But it is also an intricate and complicated system to understand. And Yale, which only recently transitioned into its current tenure system in 2016 and does not have explicit guidelines as to which professors may ultimately be promoted to tenure, makes navigating the system especially difficult.

The News spoke to 12 Faculty of Arts and Science administrators and professors to better understand the tenure process at the University.

The professors shared their thoughts on the effectiveness of Yale’s tenure

process and whether tenure is still a necessary aspect of professorship.

They expressed a range of perspectives: from believing that tenure is a potent enabler of a thriving academic community to viewing it as a system that is structurally unequal and hurts young scholars, women and faculty of color.

38 professors declined to comment or did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

“If there's one thing I am proud of, it's that I got through the whole process without either one of my children even knowing what the word ‘tenure’ meant,” Shore wrote in an email to the News.

Out with the old, in with the new-ish In 2005, Yale was the only university in the country that did not have a “genuine tenure track,” according to a 2016 review of Yale’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences Tenure Appointment Policy. Not having a “genuine tenure track” meant that tenure was dependent on departmental resources, rather than purely on the merit of the faculty member. It also meant non-tenured faculty members needed to apply separately for a tenured position in a new job search.

In 2007, a new policy went into effect to address the previous plan’s issues. It achieved two goals: First, the new process separated discussions about departmental resources from discussions of tenure. Second, it reduced the “tenure clock” — the

probationary period between a tenure-track faculty member’s entrance into the University and their becoming eligible for tenure review — from 10 years to nine years, meaning that faculty would be eligible for tenure sooner. The long probationary period was a common concern for faculty, who worried that other promising faculty would take offers from other universities where they would not have to wait as long before being up for tenure consideration.

In 2016, the University released a new report, along with a new set of policy guidelines. This is the tenure system that Yale currently uses.

In the 2016 system, the tenure clock was again shortened, this time to eight years, with consideration no later than year seven. The old system had five ranks: assistant professor 1 and 2, associate professor on term, associate professor with tenure and tenured professor. But the new system has only four ranks. In keeping with practice at most other universities, the untenured rank of associate professor on term is no longer used at Yale, except for faculty who joined the University prior to 2016 under previous tenure policies. The new system also added an additional fourth-year review process designed to produce substantive, in-depth consideration of and feedback on the faculty member’s work, according to Tamar Gendler, dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences.

SEE TENURE PAGE 4

DORA GUO/ILLUSTRATIONS EDITOR

Faculty interviewed by the News felt that Yale can and needs to do more to make the process less stressful, more equitable and more transparent.

Bass Library, closed for flooding, is expected to reopen around March 1

BY AMRE PROMAN AND EMILY TIAN STAFF REPORTERS

REGINA SUNG/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Around one percent of the books housed in Bass were damaged in the library flooding.

Bass Library is expected to reopen to students in the coming week following a monthlong closure due to flooding.

On Jan. 29, a frozen sprinkler line in the upper-level ceiling of the bilevel building burst, pouring water down to both levels of the library and filling the conduits of the electrical and internet cables beneath the floor. In response to extensive damage in the space, a disaster recovery company pumped out water and installed heaters, fans and dehumidifiers that ran for several days before the damage could be properly assessed. Damage

incurred to the titles in the collection was minimal, with fewer than 750 books of the more than 65,000 housed in Bass impacted.

But the library will likely be back to normal soon — students are expected to be able to reserve study spaces in Bass starting on March 1 and borrow Bass media equipment starting on March 5.

“All of us working in Bass really miss seeing and interacting with students, but the impact of the closure has probably been less than in a ‘normal’ year,” wrote Katy Webb, director of Yale Library and Bass Library access services, in an email to the News.

“When the flood happened, most students were still in quarantine. Since quarantine ended,

we have had students studying in Sterling Memorial Library and other library spaces without any sign of overcrowding.”

The damaged books were sent offsite for drying and repairs, and Webb noted that any titles beyond repair can “easily be replaced.”

Contractors are also currently at work replacing sections of ruined wallboard, ceiling and wood paneling as well as cleaning carpets and stonework. Some electrical wiring and data jacks also need to be replaced.

The degree of damage to facilities has led to some permanent changes in the facility design — like in its exterior walls and SEE BASS PAGE 5

Yalies could get vaccine in New policy on sexual misconduct reporting May depending on supply

BY ROSE HOROWITCH AND MARIA FERNANDA PACHECO STAFF REPORTERS On Monday, Gov. Ned Lamont announced an updated schedule for statewide vaccinations guided

by age-based eligibility, under which Yale could theoretically begin vaccinating students on May 3. The date, however, falls on the last week of classes — a potentially SEE VACCINES PAGE 5

VAIBHAV SHARMA/PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR

The policy applies retroactively to relevant compact violations since the beginning of the fall semester.

BY JULIA BIALEK AND EMILY TIAN STAFF REPORTERS UNSPLASH

Yale will cover vaccine administration charges for Yale employees and Yale Health members who get vaccinated at sites other than the Lanman Center.

Yale’s Title IX policies have been formally updated so students who report an incident of sexual mis-

CROSS CAMPUS

INSIDE THE NEWS

THIS DAY IN YALE HISTORY, 1976.

BHM

Yale finalizes plans to demolish the vacant bowling alley at the corner of Whitney Avenue and Grove Street to make room for two new residential colleges. There are no immediate plans to replace the structure.

In collaboration with DOWN Magazine and the Afro-American Cultural Center, the News is proud to present a special issue celebrating Black communities at Yale and in New Haven. Read the full issue on our website. Page 6-7 SPISSUE

VACCINE

conduct cannot be disciplined for violating COVID-19 guidelines at the time of that incident.

According to the new policy, coordinated by the Yale College Council and Title IX office,

When it comes to COVID-19 vaccinations, is efficiency or efficacy more important, and how do they impact equity? Yale scientists weigh in on vaccination plans. Page 8 SCITECH

OCTET

New technology, in the form of an "Octet Suite," has made synchronous playing for unmasked wind and brass musicians possible at the School of Music. Page 9 ARTS

any student who reports “in good faith” that they witnessed or were the victim of sexual misconduct will not face disciplinary charges SEE TITLE IX PAGE 5 BASEBALL

After joining the Yale staff in 2010, volunteer coach and middle school teacher Ray Guarino is leaving the Bulldogs for an assistant coaching job with Bridgeport.

Page 14 SPORTS

PAGE 2

YALE DAILY NEWS · FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2021 · yaledailynews.com

OPINION Blackness and belonging J

ust two years ago, I might’ve been killed by one of the University’s police officers, the same ones employed to protect me.

Just three years ago, I might’ve had the police called on me if I’d fallen asleep in my common room after a long day of studying. Just four years ago, I might’ve been assigned to a residential college named after a man who didn’t believe someone like me deserved to be free — let alone walk the same halls he once did. Just over 300 years ago, the money from the sale of my body might’ve been used to finance Yale’s endowment.

Yale was never constructed with people like me in mind, but that’s not surprising.

The University was founded and developed in a society that hates people who look like me, a society that places whiteness on a pedestal, a society that has made whiteness the norm in every aspect of life — from pseudo-scientific measures of intelligence to standards of professionalism to conventions around acceptable physical appearance. In that way, my skin color, and the skin color of all Black Americans, have come to be an indictment of our character and capacity to contribute to society.

This is not novel information.

Nor is how this crushing embrace of whiteness affects Black Americans. The pervasion of whiteness in America pressures Black people to conform in order to receive the respect and dignity every human being deserves. It forces Black Americans to engage in an intricate, dehumanizing, humiliating performance in order to enjoy the freedoms supposedly guaranteed by our Constitution. At Yale, that means being strategic about how you present your Blackness.

I have a “white voice” I use in seminars, discussion sections and interactions with non-Black Yale faculty. I bury my emotions when topics like slavery, affirmative action and police brutality arise. I pretend as if political and economic theories that implicitly endorse white supremacy are well-reasoned for the sake of robust class discussion. These acts are tantamount to my academic success.

The presence of whiteness at Yale, and in American society, is indicative of the problem Tocqueville warned of centuries ago: tyranny of the majority — in this case, one that sets and enforces the dominance of white culture. If I were more optimistic, I might’ve begged white people at Yale to learn about Black history, recognize the value in Black culture and accommodate the needs of Black people at Yale. But if recent history has shown us anything, it’s that many white Americans are still having a difficult time letting go of the power afforded to them because of their whiteness.

So now I simply ask that Yale make space within its institutions for people with racially progressive values — especially BIPOC — as a matter of democratic principle.

Yale has made some positive strides — with endowment manager David Swensen calling for diversity from firms who want to partner CALEB with Yale, Yale’s DUNSON board of trustees representWhat We ing a relatively diverse range of Owe racial experiences and Yale maintaining its commitment to diversity and inclusion through an office dedicated to those efforts (it should be noted, however, that Yale only has 91 Black faculty members).

Still, simple diversity of race does not resolve the deep-seated issue of whiteness, perhaps made clear by the continued instances of racism across the University.

President Salovey has promised to examine Yale’s troubled history and commit to the pursuit of equity through the new Belonging at Yale initiative. As he begins this undertaking, I ask that he, and the rest of the University administrators, honestly and earnestly examine the ways in which Yale has perpetuated a culture of white supremacy. I also ask that, in Yale’s institutional reckoning, the University’s administrators look to Black New Haven residents and Black students for continued input on how to combat racism and discrimination.

Yale students and faculty must also take the time to reflect on their personal biases and consider how they have, both explicitly and implicitly, favored whiteness in their lives. Members of the Yale community must carefully examine who and what they regard as deserving of respect, questioning whether or not racial biases inform that perspective. Do you believe that the only meaningful contributions made in your class come from white students? Do you show more courtesy to your white professors/colleagues than to your non-white professors/ colleagues? How do you view Black New Haven residents? What language do you use to describe your Black peers? And your white peers?

These questions are just the start of what must be a continual process of self-evaluation.

In a country deeply divided along racial lines, Yale has an opportunity to become a shining example of respect, kindness and effective culturally pluralistic leadership — but only if students, faculty and administrators are willing to do the work. As members of the Yale community, we have already proven our ability to accomplish ambitious goals. Why not accomplish this one?

CALEB DUNSON is a first year in Saybrook College. His column, “What We Owe,” runs every other Tuesday.

Contact him at caleb.dunson@yale.edu .

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G U E S T C O L U M N I S T T I YA P R O C T O R - F L O Y D

Holding my tongue M

y whole life, I have known that when I walk into a classroom, there is an expectation that I leave a part of myself at the door. Stripping my vocabulary of the “improper” parts has always been central to making sure that, in a room filled with non-Black people, I can be taken seriously. Like most Black people in the United States, I am bilingual.

African American Vernacular English, otherwise known as AAVE, is the language I was born and raised in. Decidedly improper and treated as such, I, alongside countless others, have curated a vocabulary specific for the spaces I enter, a measure to ensure that I too can be professional and competitive. Yale is no exception — the institution epitomizes the way that language is used to decide whose voice gets to be heard, and then, whose is taken seriously. For every paper written that says in three sentences what can be said in one and every comment dismissed for its brevity lies a nod to the exclusionary nature of academia.

There exists a contradiction in Yale’s proclaimed interest in intellectual diversity and institutional refusal to allow space for language beyond Standard American English. The idea that Standard American English should be the default in education is inherently racist and classist because it implies that Standard American English is the only English worth being taken seriously. It is a limitation on expression — a lifelong effort to strangle expressions of Blackness and maintain a status quo intent on locking out Black people who dare to embrace their identity in an academic or professional space.

In the spring of 2020, I made a conscious decision to use AAVE in classroom settings. It was an exercise in curiosity, the first time in my life I had broken from what was expected of me in the spaces I occupied. It went exactly how I expected — curious side eyes and shared looks I pretended I didn’t see. Where I was used to being

part of a dialogue, I found my comments cut out and set aside, unacknowledged. The way I chose to express my thoughts made a world of difference in how seriously my peers took what I had said — no less relevant to the material and no less developed, but dismissed nonetheless.

BRILLIANCE FOUND IN BLACK COMMUNITIES IS LEFT TO LIVE AND DIE ALONE IN THE DARK, INTENTIONALLY CUT OUT OF A CONVERSATION THAT FINDS ITSELF DEBATING BLACK HUMANITY AS LITTLE MORE THAN AN INTELLECTUAL EXERCISE. Then, more than ever before, the myth of AAVE’s simplicity was laid bare on the seminar room table. I was using my language for the wrong audience.

Here a group of people unfamiliar with AAVE’s intricate rules of inflection and word order, epitomizing a larger pattern in academia, one that found any reason to dismiss Black voices.

The erasure and dismissal of Black voices is systematic and unequal, one that privileges straight, cis, male identities, that elevates those with lighter skin in ways that enact explicit violence on others. AAVE is

just one of many factors used to erase the work and presence of Black people in a world that rewards not only proximity to whiteness, but explicit distance from Blackness.

This should be no surprise — history has shown more than once that who speaks and how they say it makes all the difference. One of the greatest affronts to intellectual diversity has been the way that Black people — especially Black women, dark skinned and LGBTQ+ Black people — have been cut out of the conversation entirely by the explicit refusal of non-Black peers to listen.

For centuries, academia and the professional world has failed to train its subjects in listening to anybody who does not walk and talk like them as an added excuse to explain the sobering dearth of Black voices. Brilliance found in Black communities is left to live and die alone in the dark, intentionally cut out of a conversation that finds itself debating Black humanity as little more than an intellectual exercise. The question of whether or not Black lives matter is tied intrinsically in the eyes of millions to how properly we ask for the right to live free of state sanctioned violence.

If we are to take our cues about whose words are worth listening to from history and tradition, we find ourselves actively upholding legacies of white supremacy. Pay attention to who you pay attention to, who you extend your grace to in the classroom and how you interact with their words.

While we can’t look to the implied rules of professionalism to guide our interactions, intentionality can redefine what is acceptable in the spaces we occupy. Now, more than ever, is the time to fight for Black voices in all of their iterations.

TIYA PROCTOR-FLOYD is a rising sophomore in Berkeley College.

Contact her at tiya.proctor-floyd@yale.edu .

GUEST COLUMNIST SOPHIE KANE

Why my hair changed at Yale “S

o, why did you get your hair relaxed?” the New York midtown hair stylist asked. The hair stylist had beautiful caramel natural-looking ringlets. “What a question,” I thought to myself. I had just asked to get all the limp, relaxed parts of my hair cut off.

At the age of 19, I can finally say that most days I love my hair. It grows fairly long, spirals into natural coils and sometimes people even ask me complimentary questions about it like “What products do you use?”

I’ve always wanted to wake up each morning loving my hair, but admittedly most of my life I haven’t. What I responded to the hair stylist last week was that I used to think of my hair as difficult and not worth the effort. I thought if it was a little straighter, it might be easier to manage, a little faster to do in the morning. It might make life a little easier.

I remember straightening my hair for the first time in a salon at around the age of 7 and bursting into tears because I didn’t look like myself. I made them change it back. Later it became the opposite, I was disappointed to let go of my straightened hair, the only hair I felt comfortable wearing down.

The hair I was born with wasn’t the hair my middle school and high school self wanted. “Why?” I ask myself in the voice of the midtown hair stylist. I think kids may have made fun of my hair once or twice. It’s not one of my clearest memories — in fact I’m not a hundred percent sure it happened. Most of the time I imagined the bad things people would think about my hair, while lots of my closest friends asked why I always wore it up.

I remember one friend from middle school telling me how I would have my pick of middle school guys if only I wore my hair down.

I didn’t take these comments as encouragement. I took them as criticism. The people who said them didn’t know how big and curly my hair grew, how long it took to comb, how different it was from their hair. I got annoyed when people complimented my straight hair and equally annoyed when people questioned why I had straightened my hair to begin with.

I wanted to believe that I didn’t care about my hair. I wanted to believe that hair was just strings upon strings of dead cells hanging from your head. When I thought of it like that, it all seemed absurd.

I wanted to believe I wasn’t vain or self-conscious in the slightest, that I lived on a separate plane on which I was immune to the judgement of others.

In my senior year, I decided that I wanted to wear my natural hair down. Maybe it was the “natural hair movement” and the Yara Shahidis of the world. I just remember looking at very early pictures of myself, when it would range from perfectly sculpted curly-q’s to huge afros, and thinking that even when my hair was the most unruly, it looked better in those pictures than in any picture I had taken in over a decade with it hidden away.

But I didn’t wear my hair down senior year. I didn’t want to deal with people’s comments, I wanted to wait for college where I could just be the person who wore her hair down all the time. I had wanted to start anew so many times. This time I finally did.

I started wearing my hair down my first day at Yale, but not the

big untamed hair of my childhood. I weighed it down with a cocktail of more products than it could absorb. I filled my shower caddy with extra-large bottles of conditioner. I carefully scheduled my hair routine and let my hair freeze on the way to class rather than towel-dry it and have it frizz.

I even became a person who recommended curly hair products to other people. Lots of people compliment my hair now. Otherwise people don’t say anything at all, and I’m grateful for that.

The full circle moment came when I stayed with another mixed race family. The mother told me one of her daughters said she wished she had my long curly hair. That little girl reminded me of a younger version of myself — I never admitted to myself I wanted straight hair, as I always tried to picture long curly hair. And it made me kind of sad, that little girl’s wish. Because it felt like me and my hair, with the hair gels loaded onto already mixed, chemically relaxed hair were contributing to a problem. Contributing to the problem.

I tried to stop flattening my hair down with so many products and chemicals during quarantine, but it doesn’t achieve the gravity-defying shape it did when I was a child, even when I use my overpriced diffuser to painstakingly dry each section.

Sitting in that hair salon, asking for all the relaxed bits to be cut off, there was a sad irony to the whole affair. Black hair was in style, it was on the cover of Vanity Fair, it was on TV, but my curls weren’t coming back.

SOPHIE KANE is a sophomore in Davenport College. Contact her at sophie.kane@yale.edu .

YALE DAILY NEWS · FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2021 · yaledailynews.com

PAGE 3

OPINION GUEST COLUMNIST EC MINGO

Beyond the binary of settler-colonialism “W

e all have to recognize our privilege in perpetuating the settler-colonial state of the U.S. We are all either settlers or indigenous.”

As an ethnicity, race and migration major, I often hear some variation of the previous statement in my classes, typically to the nodding and quiet agreement of the professor and other students. Meanwhile, as usually the only Afro-Indigenous person in the class, I could only wince.

Settler colonialism refers to the process in which Indigenous peoples are [violently] replaced with settler populations in a colonial project. Rooted in racial superiority, the settlers forcibly remove and depopulate the Native peoples. Further, they occupy and cultivate their lands, typically for economic and sociopolitical advantage. In most instances, [white] settlers are therefore the architects and main benefactors of the capitalist system that takes advantage of non-white lands and peoples.The United States is arguably the most visible example of a settler-colonial state, and is by and large proud of that fact and see the moniker as “a nation of immigrants.”

Settler colonialism is a sociopolitical framework similar to how people think about race.

While it is helpful to think of racism as an absolute binary, one is either racist or anti-racist, I contend that the binary of settler and indigenous is not as productive, specifically in that it erases the histories of Generational African Americans and Black Natives.

The binary of being a settler or indigenous means that those who are not Native American, or in other words those who immigrated, are all settlers. However, immigration implies the movement was consensual or voluntary. In contrast, the ancestors of Generational African Americans,

where they themselves indigenous peoples of West and Central Africa, were most often prisoners of warring tribes who were sold to traders and brought over in chains. Furthermore, once they got here, they did not settle but worked the stolen land in service of the European colonizers. They did not benefit from the system, and were thus not settlers. However, they were not indigenous to the United States either.

Perhaps the most egregious implication of a settler-indigenous binary is the notion that Indigenous peoples cannot participate in the settler colonial project. The complex interactions between Generational African Americans and various tribal nations fly in the face of this framework.

It is true that tribal nations would hide runaway slaves and subsequently integrate. However, there exists another historical narrative. European Americans are the most popularly associated as slave owners, but Native Americans also held slaves in not-insignificant numbers. Tribal nations in the South were dubbed positively by white settlers because of their adoption of western practices, as Grant Foreman wrote in The Five Civilized Tribes: Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, Seminole.

These “Five Civilized Tribes,’ [The Creek Nation is also known as The Muscogee] of the Southeastern United States adopted many colonial attributes, including race-based chattel slavery.

Historian William G. McLoughlin also found that Cherokee families even owned slaves at a higher rate than the general South.

After the abolishment of slavery, the Black populations formerly enslaved by the Five Tribes traveled with them on the Trail of Tears to the Midwest and intermarried. They were subsequently called Cherokee Freedmen, Choctaw Freedmen, etc. based on their tribal affiliation.

The Dawes Roll was a late 19th to early 20th century inventory of the populations of the Five Tribes in order to determine allotment of land. Names and blood quantums were marked. Unfortunately, visibly Black or Freedmen were listed exclusively in the Freedmen category without documentation of blood quantum, despite often having living Indigenous parents.

This was later used to prevent voting rights to Five Tribes Freedmen because they subsequently lacked the “Certificate Degree of Indian Blood” card required for citizenship and voting.

The descendants of Freedmen, like myself, are still fighting for recognition. Only in the last few years did the U.S. District Courts rule in favor of Cherokee Freedmen, and Gary Batton, the current and 47th chief of the Choctaw Nation, went as far as to write to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi in 2020 saying that the Choctaw Freedmen issue is an American issue, not one perpetuated by the Nation. It is noticeable that this was during the height of racial unrest following the killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and many others.

Being non-Indigenous does not mean one is a settler — a perpetuator of settler-colonialism. Conversely, being Indigenous — the original proprietors of the land — does not preclude one from perpetuating settler colonialism on other non-benefactors, specifically through anti-Black capitalism.

Anti-Blackness is at the very core of our country. This Black History Month, I ask everyone, including other Black people, to interrogate their anti-Black biases, and how their stories are rooted in the subjugation of Generational African Americans.

EC MINGO (Cherokee Freedmen and Afro-Seminole Creole) is a junior in Ezra Stiles College. Contact EC at ec.mingo@yale.edu .

I

Jerusalema

first heard Jerusalema last March. I remember the precise date, because it was the day my high school told us we weren’t going back for the rest of the year.

My mother was sitting on the couch, playing Facebook videos at maximum volume, as mothers are wont to do. It isn’t a complicated song — typical afro-beat — but that evening she played it approximately 40 times. I didn’t think it would be a hit.

I was proven wrong. Over the next few months, I heard Jerusalema everywhere: on the radio, in television ads and more. The Ministry of Health even released a special video of frontline doctors doing the dance challenge in the deserted halls of hospitals and university buildings. Jerusalema became a cultural phenomenon — the collective voice of the entire African continent. Soon the trend extended to other continents: in convents, wildlife parks and police stations.

The song was no longer just my backyard. It was in the whole world.

This is an unusual event. Often when African music is listened to in public, it is scrutinised under the intellectual eye of something that is “other than.” African music in the West is often accompanied by images of stomping feet and scary faces — a strange, mesmerizing tradition that can only be consumed as a cultural experience, never to be engaged with personally. “African music” is a token of “Africanness”, both of which exist within the same colonial constraints that they did in the 1960s.

One looks upon African music like one looks at an animal at the zoo: exotic and enjoyable, but always at a distance. A few weeks ago, I played Fela Kuti’s song “Water No Get Enemy” for one of my friends. I expected him to have the same rush of emotion and jumbling of limbs that I was used to back home, but he sat silently, nodding his head. “This is cool,” he said.

Cool? This music is for dancing!

Jerusalema was a beautiful example of a rare time that African music — my music — has transcended this speculative cage. It became something that belonged to everybody, that brought comfort during the hardest of times.

There is a power in African music that I didn’t quite under-

stand until this song went viral. African music is distinctive in that it is built for dancing, but it does much more than that.

AWUOR It’s a force that ONGURU brings people together, The Wild no matter the occasion. I West h ave h ea rd music at birthdays, at funerals, during church services and now pandemics.

For the first time in my life, I saw that magic shared with the entire world. Jerusalema is a global phenomenon because people realised the power of African music.

In a continent of many languages, and in a world that is reliant on language to relay meaning, African music is unique, because what matters the most is the sound. The feeling of the bass in the floor as it blasts through the speakers, the beat that makes you move your head as if you are possessed. It’s in Jerusalema, and it’s in all of us. Nomcebo Zikode sings about a common fatherland: Jerusalem. Reaching that place is highly unlikely amid a pandemic, but the music is able to take us there.

This month I thought a lot about the relationship between music and my Black community.

Every stage of my life has been followed by a soundtrack: Luther Vandross on my baby sleep playlist, Ladysmith Black Mambazo on my going to school playlists, Fela Kuti on my party playlists. Jerusalema was no different. This time, however, I got to share my joy with the world.

In the darkest of times, African music became a beacon of light for all of us, giving hope and joy when it felt like the end was near.

Beyond the pandemic, I hope that we can all learn to look for joy in things that are foreign to us.

As Jerusalema has shown, there might be a hidden gem coming your way.

AWUOR ONGURU is a first year in Berkeley College. Her column, titled ‘The Wild West,’ runs every other Tuesday. Contact her at awuor.onguru@yale.edu .

G U E S T C O L U M N I S T B E N D O R M U S & PA S T O R J O H N S W I L L I A M S

Non-violence is not nonviolence B

en: Pastor Josh and I met at the precipice of violence. It was the night of Thursday, April 19, a time familiar to many of us. That night, more than 500 Yalies and New Haveners led by Black women from both communities occupied the streets for seven hours, protesting the police assault on Stephanie Washington and Paul Witherspoon. As a group we had marched down M.LK. Jr. Boulevard with the intent of occupying the highway. As we approached M.L.K., state troopers informed us that the buck stopped there.

If we crossed into the highway, they would use whatever force necessary against us.

It was at this moment that Pastor Josh ran up to me, then holding the bullhorn, imploring me to address the crowd before we made the decision to cross the police barricade. In an impassioned mix of prayer and homily, Pastor Josh pleaded with marchers and officers alike to resist violence.

Pastor Josh: Nothing felt violent until we hit that barricade.

Without warning, the police decided a certain line — MLK Boulevard, of all the roads, was too far to cross. Police surveilling from a distance transitioned to angry shouts and stationed cop cars with flashing lights. Congregants of the church I pastor started privately expressing their worries to me — not for themselves, but for the entire crowd. Our joyful singing and dancing hadn’t prepared us for this showdown.

The tension in the air was thick. Another activist from New Haven publicly wondered why the NHPD hadn’t sicced dogs on this mix of town and gown like

they had a few weeks ago at a march led by him and other New Haven area activists. Would the cops continue to hold back if this crowd littered with Yale students continued to resist? Without thinking, I found myself approaching this activist asking for the mic wanting to pray for a peace that would bring deescalation in the moment and maybe something else in the long term.

That’s when I met Ben. *** In the two years since that fragile moment, both of us have realized something critical for movements of social change.

We can do more than passively hope that our protests do not grow violent while we’re crying out for justice. We do not have to spend energy justifying why our violence is lesser and someone else’s violence is greater. There is a way of nonviolence that has already been established for us.

This way has already achieved massive victories on multiple continents, throughout various decades, with diverse expressions of leadership.

To understand this way, we need to realize that non-violence is not the same as nonviolence. Non-violence only means the absence of physical violence and destruction. It is the disposition most associated with so-called “peaceful” protest. On one hand, we are told that as long as we don’t break windows or throw things at cops and instead walk orderly in the street singing Kumbaya that we are being “peaceful” when in reality this is mere non-violence. On the other hand, people with confederate flags, nooses and vile signs can claim to be part of a “peace-

ful” non-violent protest simply because their leader declares it so.

NONVIOLENCE PREVENTS THIS EXPLOSION THROUGH NEGOTIATION, DEMONSTRATION, AND RESISTANCE. ALL THROUGH A COMMITMENT TOWARDS A BELOVED COMMUNITY WITH NO PERMANENT, IRRECONCILABLE ENEMIES. Calling these behaviors nonviolence is like calling any coordinated — or uncoordinated — movements of the body ballet just because they happen to strike a pirouette from time to time. Such movements might be another form of dance, they might be entertaining, and they might even be beautiful, but they do not necessarily constitute ballet. Ballet is a specific artform with defined moves; it requires certain discipline and certain commitments.

The same is true of nonviolence.

Non-violent behavior during political action might be useful, but it should not be conflated with the philosophy of and commitment to nonviolence.

At the core of nonviolence is a dogged discipline to creative defiance that names wrongdoing, bolsters dignity of the one offended and provides an opportunity for the offender to change. Non-violence aims for a mere report of no violence occurring. Meanwhile, nonviolence aims to, wherever possible, make your enemy into your friend or, at least, someone willing to negotiate with you to achieve positive change. For this seemingly far off goal, it is willing to endure violence for the sake of peace. Sometimes, this endurance looks like the injuries John Lewis and so many others suffered on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama. However, it also looks like a movement that protects one another — even aggressively stepping in when someone else is being physically hurt to protect that person with their own. This is intense and sacrificial work, and it requires a foundation far stronger than a few extra miles and hours on a Thursday night in April.

The foundation of nonviolence is a spiritual and ethical commitment to reject violence and harm in a world characterized by both.

Nonviolence is not just reactionary. It constructs a positive vision of the world through the six principles that Dr. King laid out right before he was assassinated: courage, community, restoration, struggle, love and justice.

This vision compels practitioners of nonviolence to fight negative peace. Negative peace is deceptive — it’s an atmosphere that seems innocuous but is an incubator of injustice. It’s

the calm that people lament for instead of the actual lives lost or bodies harmed. When people are upset they can’t go shopping at Target after a man has a knee on his neck for eight minutes and 46 seconds, that’s the essence of negative peace. Closer to home, a Black neighborhood with a historic distrust of police living under a triple occupation of the Hamden, New Haven and Yale police departments with no functional civilian review board is a ripe place for negative peace to fester. Without intervention, that negative peace always erupts. Nonviolence prevents this explosion through negotiation, demonstration, and resistance. All through a commitment towards a Beloved community with no permanent, irreconcilable enemies.

It’s important to remember that the Christian turn of phrase goes “blessed are the peacemakers” not “blessed are the peacekeepers.” The nonviolent journey is about making positive peace, not keeping negative peace. The journey of nonviolent peacemaking is admittedly hard and costly, but our alternatives are quite literally killing us. The more violence we put into the world, the more violence we’ll get out of it.

What if instead we committed to embodying nonviolence everywhere from our physical bodies to our body politic? Is the barricade between violence and nonviolence one we’re willing to cross?

BEN DORMUS is a senior in Benjamin Franklin College and PASTOR JOSH WILLIAMS is a pastor for Elm City Vineyard Church, Morse ‘08 + Div ‘11.

Contact them at ben.dormus@yale.edu and josh@elmcityvineyard.org .

PAGE 4

YALE DAILY NEWS · FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2021 · yaledailynews.com

FROM THE FRONT

“Belief is a wise wager. Granted that faith cannot be proved, what harm will come to you if you gamble on its truth and it proves false? If you gain, you gain all; if you lose, you lose nothing. Wager, then, without hesitation, that He exists.” BLAISE PASCAL FRENCH POLYMATH

The inner workings of tenure at Yale through a formal complaint process in which they submit a letter to the provost within 45 days of the tenure decision or other action that gave rise to the complaint, according to the Faculty Handbook.

If the provost decides that the complaint merits review, it will be forwarded to the Faculty Review Committee, a standing committee of senior faculty with members appointed yearly by the provost.

Then the panel will deliberate on the complaint in a closed session.

If the majority of the panel votes to adopt their recommendations, the panel reports back to the provost for further review.

The provost ultimately makes the final decision, which is delivered to all relevant parties in writing.

Eighty percent of faculty who joined Yale as assistant professors between 1990 and 2010 and stayed at Yale for the entirety of the tenure track period were granted tenure. But only around a third of the faculty who joined as assistant professors became tenured faculty, according to statistics provided to the News by Gendler. The discrepancy is attributed to a number of faculty leaving the University before they were eligible for tenure consideration.

ZULLY ARIAS AND EVE GROBMAN/PRODUCTION & DESIGN EDITOR AND PRODUCTION & DESIGN STAFFER

In many ways, Yale’s tenure process — and its problems identified by faculty — resemble that of other universities.

TENURE FROM PAGE 1 Some Yale faculty progress through the four ranks through their time at the institution. Other professors come to Yale from an institution where they are already a tenured professor. In those cases, Yale typically hires them into a comparable position, Gendler said.

Since 2014, FAS has hired 263 tenure-track faculty. Of those faculty, 65 percent were hired as assistant professors, while the other 35 percent were hired in a tenured position that carried over from another institution.

During this seven-year period, FAS hired an average of approximately 37 tenure-track faculty each year, of which 24 were hired as assistant professors and 13 joined with tenure, according to Gendler.

“On average, during each year of this seven year period, we brought 37 new ladder faculty: 24 new Assistant Professors, and 13 new faculty hired laterally at the tenured level. (Of course, the numbers differ slightly year over year – but this is the average.)"

All aboard the tenure train: How the process works Those who are not yet tenured at their previous institution and join Yale on the tenure track often come in with the rank of assistant professor and begin the promotion process during their sixth year of teaching. At any stage of the process, the faculty member can be denied tenure. If that decision is upheld, they will no longer be employed by the University when their contract runs out — which is “at least another full year” after the tenure review occurs, according to Gendler.

The first stage begins with faculty assembling all of their research, writing, evaluations, indications of service, written statements and other material into a “tenure dossier.” Then, the departmental review committee, composed of faculty from the candidate’s department, will solicit evaluations from at least 10 senior scholars in that faculty member’s field — although FAS Senate Chair Matthew Jacobson said the number is typically closer to 12-15.

“My experience with the tenure process for faculty in my [department] has been quite positive,” Tyrone Cannon, department chair of psychology, wrote in an email to the News. “Of course, we have very strong junior faculty and that is the key thing.”

After the scholars’ evaluation, the faculty member’s department will decide if the application can move forward by a simple majority vote.

If it does, it moves into a divisional

Tenure and Appointments Committee — these committees exist for the humanities, social sciences, biological science, and physical sciences and engineering. The most substantive review of a candidate happens during this stage.

John Mangan, dean of faculty affairs, told the News that these committees are an unusual aspect of Yale’s tenure review.

“At most universities, there is a single committee that oversees all of the academic areas, generally with one or two faculty from each of the broad areas (humanities, social science, etc.),” Mangan wrote in an email to the News. “Yale’s FAS tenure process involves a wider range of faculty than virtually any of our peers.”

Each committee is chaired by Gendler and overseen by the divisional dean or, depending on the field, an area director, as well as roughly a dozen scholars from that division.

The tenure voting is done by secret ballot and requires a simple majority to move forward.

If cases are approved, they then move to the Joint Boards of Permanent Officers, made up of all the senior faculty across the FAS. They generally take up five to 15 cases per meeting, which occur “several times per academic year,” according to Mangan.

At the JBPO meeting, Gendler, the FAS dean, would present the votes from all previous stages, and the department chair would describe the candidate. After a discussion, the JBPO would vote on the candidate.

Candidates that receive a twothirds majority vote then move up to the Yale Corporation for final approval.

Mangan wrote that “it is extremely rare (indeed, unprecedented) for a tenure case, once approved by a divisional committee, to be overturned by either the JBPO or the Corporation.”

At every level, the voting is done by secret ballot. According to Mangan, no faculty member has access to any of the materials used in the tenure process deliberations.

The entire process can take anywhere from six months to a full academic year. Candidates typically submit their dossier in the summer, and the majority of tenure decisions are granted in the spring, although they can technically happen whenever.

If successfully promoted, professors typically stay at the rank of associate professor with tenure for three to five years, after which they may be considered for promotion to the rank of full professor, according to Gendler.

If ladder faculty are denied tenure, they can appeal the decision

Tenure: The good, the bad and the ugly Tenure in North America was initially developed in the 20th century to protect academic freedom, with an added benefit of job security. A tenured professor, unlike instructional faculty, cannot be fired without cause. If a tenured professor commits a crime or fails to show up to class, that could be cause for termination. But a tenured professor cannot get fired for publishing a risky or controversial research project or pursuing a project that might take years to complete, which allows professors more freedom to research their interests without fear of it affecting their job stability.

“A tenured professor can in theory say f--- off to the president without fear of retribution,” Jacobson wrote in an email to the News. “Very few do that, but an untenured professor couldn’t even consider it.”

A further benefit of tenure, according to Gendler, is “that it creates an enduring academic community.” When a professor is granted tenure, the University is often committing decades of investment into that person, and that faculty member has the potential to serve in leadership positions at the University, such as being a department chair or dean. Each year, “only a handful” of tenured faculty at Yale ultimately leave for a position at a different university, Gendler wrote to the News in an email.

But some faculty also took issue with some aspects of Yale’s tenure process, as well as tenure more generally.

The 2016 tenure report indicated that some faculty were concerned about the number of external letters that Yale’s tenure reviews necessitated, noting that they were often “difficult to obtain.” Yale’s 2007 system required seven external letters in the tenure dossier. The 2016 revised system increased the number, asking for at least 10.

“Yes, it is important to have outside evaluations,” professor of English Leslie Brisman wrote in an email to the News. “But so many letters are required for promotion and tenure, and the outside letters have such undue influence. We are so, so dependent on outside evaluations that our own judgments are marginalized. And our imposition on scholars elsewhere is absurd — especially since there is no honorarium for doing the weeks of work it takes to write a detailed evaluation.”

Feisal Mohamed, professor of English, called the outside letters “probably [the] greatest potential source of bias in the process.”

Mohamed added that women and faculty of color, who “feel much more socially isolated,” may not develop the necessary personal relationships with senior scholars in the field — who are responsible for approving a ladder faculty member’s tenure process and tend to be less diverse.

In an email to the News, Gendler noted that in the 2016 report, there was “a broad range of opinion on the optimal number of letters.” Some faculty felt as though the number should be even larger, Gendler wrote, but the majority thought that 10 to 15 was a good range. She also added that standard university practice is to require 10 to 20 letters.

Some faculty in the report also expressed concerns regarding how the tenure process may be built

against faculty who are underrepresented minorities or interdisciplinary scholars.

Jacobson elaborated on these concerns in an email to the News, noting that women and faculty of color often do “invisible labor,” such as mentoring, that he claimed is not taken into account during the tenure process.

And, Jacobson added, interdisciplinary scholars, whose work might not match up to a specific department, could suffer if the “wrong people” are asked to write an evaluation or give their thoughts.

Mohamed told the News that because there are “so few minority faculty” on campus, minority assistant professors are often asked to take on additional tasks that are not part of the “standard” tenure process approach. These tasks can include mentoring students, helping with curriculum design and serving on various committees through the Dean’s Office or Office of the Provost so that those committees are more diverse. Typically, assistant professors spend their years in the tenure process working primarily on their research portfolio.

Furthermore, the tenure committee is made up of senior faculty who are often older than those who they are reviewing, which can disadvantage younger faculty working on new areas of research.

“If you write about Shakespeare, everybody understands your work as ‘important,’” Jacobson wrote.

“If you write about Alice Walker or Junot Diaz, you’re ‘provincial.’”

In response, Gendler wrote to the News that Larry Gladney, dean of diversity and faculty development in the FAS, trains all of the tenure committees “on issues of implicit bias.” Gendler added that in the current tenure system, candidates are explicitly asked to submit statements with space to describe mentoring efforts or other types of service, “both formal and informal.”

Gladney told the News that those discussions are more focused on how “bias can affect promotion within the academy.”

“Achieving tenure is a structural barrier for all faculty,” Gladney wrote to the News in an email.

“It's meant to be.”

He added that the high bar is not in and of itself problematic, but that bias needs to be removed from the evaluations that determine tenure decisions. This includes biases that start well before the tenure point, which Gladney said are “just as efficient at eliminating people from permanence in the academy” as any bias that might be present in the tenure committees.

Mohamed also expressed the belief that tenure in and of itself can be biased and said that the bias leading up to the process can be similarly harmful before professors are even considered for tenure.

Professors aiming to publish a book, for example, have their manuscript vetted by editors and other readers who have their own biases.

And, Mohamed added, student evaluations, which are part of the tenure dossier, are sometimes prejudiced against women and faculty of color.

“Put all of that together and you can see that even if the people making the tenure decision have the best of intentions and the committee has no bias whatsoever, all the materials they're working with have bias packed in,” he told the News.

In 2019, 68 percent of FAS ladder, or tenure-track, faculty identified as male, while 32 percent identified as female. This is a six-point difference from 2007, when 26 percent of faculty identified as female and 74 percent identified as male.

In 2019, 22 of Yale’s FAS ladder faculty were Black, with three hired that year. In total, Black ladder faculty made up 3.3 percent of the FAS faculty population. That same year, Black faculty made up 14 percent of total FAS departures, with three faculty members departing.

28 of Yale’s FAS ladder faculty in 2019 were Hispanic or Latinx, constituting 4.1 percent of total faculty. Hispanic or Latinx faculty made up 11 percent of FAS faculty hires that year — five new faculty members — and, similar to Black faculty, 14 percent of FAS departures that year.

Asian American FAS tenure-track faculty comprised 9.3 percent of the 2019 makeup, with 63 faculty members — six of whom were hired that same year, making up 14 percent of total FAS hires.

Four Asian American faculty members left in 2019, making up 19 percent of total FAS departures.

White faculty comprised 64.2 percent of FAS ladder faculty in 2019.

A decade lost to the tenure process As the counseling strategies at Shore’s son’s elementary school demonstrate, the tenure process can also be intensely stressful for faculty members.

“You are being judged by senior colleagues both within and without the university, and your case can get shot down anywhere along the way,” Jacobson wrote in an email to the News. “And if it does, you get fired.

And if you get fired, your reputation might be stained forever.”

Yale awards tenure to FAS scholars who “stand among the foremost leaders in the world in a broad field of knowledge. It is reserved for candidates whose published work significantly extends the horizons of their discipline(s),” according to the FAS tenure criteria.

According to Shore, who initially was a tenure-track faculty member while at Indiana University, these broad qualifications are in contrast with the more straightforward tenure qualifications at other schools, such as IU. Faculty there “has a pretty good idea” before entering the tenure promotion process whether or not they have the necessary qualifications.

“Elite universities consider themselves elite because they have the best faculty and recruit the best students,” Shore wrote. “That means that if they think there's someone better out there, they want that better person.”

For Brian Scholl, a professor in the Department of Psychology, this high bar for tenure was “liberating” — because he said he did not expect to ultimately receive tenure at Yale, he spent more time focusing on his research than trying to establish relationships with colleagues or otherwise building his tenure dossier.

He called his tenure promotion an “unexpected surprise.”

But Shore considered the process to be a strenuous one in which junior faculty members struggle to form relationships with senior members of their department who will, at one point, decide if they should receive tenure — even though Yale’s probationary period is now more on par with peer institutions than it was before 2007.

For junior faculty, the tenure process takes the better half of a decade at best — a decade that, even if tenure is ultimately granted, can leave them “shells of the people they had been,” Shore said.

“You never feel secure (should you buy a house or an apartment?),” Shore wrote. “You constantly think about pleasing your senior colleagues and outside letter writers and stop taking intellectual risks. You might not read your students' papers as carefully as you want to, because every moment you spend on them is a moment you're not spending on your own writing. You might decide not to have children (how can you take the time to have a baby when the tenure clock is ticking? A year doesn't nearly compensate for the fact that you go from having 24 hours at your disposal to having zero), or to radically outsource the care of your children (every moment you spend with them is a moment you're not working on your research), and so on. I've seen divorced colleagues lose shared custody of a child when they don't get tenure and have to look for a job in a different state.”

Gendler declined to comment on the stress associated with the tenure process and the comparison between Yale’s tenure qualifications and those of peer institutions.

David Sorkin, Lucy G. Moses professor of modern Jewish history, said that despite its issues, tenure is a valuable aspect of academia that “you couldn’t have the system of the American research university without.”

But for Mohamed, tenure as a whole “is so completely broken” that the only solution is “far-reaching reform.” He proposed a system in which there are two ranks — instructional and research — that both protect job security and academic freedom.

“The system of tenure isn’t that old, it’s really a 20th century phenomenon,” Mohamed said. “It doesn't have deep roots in academic life, and it can be altered. It is within our power to do that.”

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, tenure-track faculty had the option to extend their “tenure clock” by one year. In a typical year, tenure-track parents to a newborn or newly adopted child can receive a one-year extension as well.

Contact MADISON HAHAMY at madison.hahamy@yale.edu .

YALE DAILY NEWS · FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2021 · yaledailynews.com

PAGE 5

FROM THE FRONT

“There is something ticklish in "the truth," and in the SEARCH for the truth; and if man goes about it too humanely — "il ne cherche le vrai que pour faire le bien" — I wager he finds nothing!” FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE GERMAN PHILOSOPHER

Almost 750 books in Bass Library damaged due to flooding BASS FROM PAGE 1

EMILY TIAN/CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER

Students are expected to be able to study in Bass and borrow Bass media equipment starting the first week of March.

ceilings — to better protect the building’s pipes from freezing in the future.

The library was last renovated in the summer of 2019. The renovation expanded and reconfigured study space, improving natural light for the building’s two subterranean floors. Opening up additional study space also moved 89,000 books in its former 150,000 book collection to Sterling library.

John Clegg, director of building operations and security for the Yale Library, noted that the repairs have been “on track [for Bass] to reopen to students” by March 1, due to a rapid response from Yale Facilities.

“It’s already really hard to find good places to study, you know, given that we cannot

go off campus and that library hours are very limited,” Maiya Hossain ’24, a first year currently on campus, said.

Come March, students should find the library back to normal with a few exceptions, Clegg said. For example, a replacement section of paneled wall on the lower level by the central staircase is currently being constructed for installation later in the semester.

Although on-campus students have been able to visit Sterling following the end of Phase 2 of the initial arrival quarantine on Feb. 15, it has been closed on weekends and operating with limited weekday hours. Starting March 1, evening and weekend hours are scheduled to resume at both Sterling and Bass. The new hours will be 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. from Monday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to

5 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, and noon to 6 p.m. on Sunday.

“While my residential college library has been a great option so far, I was really looking forward to spending time in Bass and using its individual study rooms and benefitting from the change of scenery,” Hossain said. “I’m really looking forward to when it will be open, the sooner the better.”

Of the 15 libraries in the university system, Sterling Memorial Library, Bass Library, Cushing/Whitney Medical Library, the Divinity Library, Haas Arts Library and Marx Science and Social Science Library are open to authorized users this semester.

Contact AMRE PROMAN at amre.proman@yale.edu and EMILY TIAN at emily.tian@yale.edu .

Vaccine timeline dependent on J&J authorization and state timetable VACCINES FROM PAGE 1 complicating factor if Yale administers two-dose vaccines.

But the process could be made significantly easier if the FDA authorizes Johnson & Johnson’s single dose vaccine for emergency use.

FDA staff endorsed an emergency use authorization on Wednesday, clearing the way for an official decision expected on Feb. 26.

It remains unclear whether vaccines will become available on the timetable Lamont announced.

But if the federal government supplies sufficient doses, Yale has the

capacity to vaccinate all students by the end of final exams and the spring term.

"If there is an Emergency Use Authorization and an adequate supply of J&J (or some other single-dose vaccine) we could vaccinate all Yale students between the week of May 3 and May 19," Yale Health Director Paul Genecin wrote to the News. "We have considerable capacity at the Lanman Center … but again, our rate-limiting step is vaccine supply."

Since December, Yale has been vaccinating eligible community members with vaccines from

WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Under Lamont’s plan, people aged 16 to 34 will be eligible for vaccinations on May 3.

Pfizer and Moderna. These vaccines require two doses that must be administered a number of days apart — 21 days for the Pfizer vaccine and 28 days for the Moderna vaccine. Considering that most students will be leaving campus shortly after they become eligible to get the COVID-19 vaccine in Connecticut, these requirements could complicate the rollout at Yale.

The spring term is scheduled to end on May 19. If students were to receive the Pfizer vaccine in the week of May 3, they could not get the second dose until the week of May 24. Alternatively, if they receive the Moderna vaccine, they could only get the second dose the week of May 31, Genecin explained.

Yale New Haven Hospital Medical Director for Infection Prevention Richard Martinello noted that while people need to receive both vaccine doses for maximum protection, CDC guidance says people can delay the second dose for up to six weeks if necessary.

In an email to the News, YSPH Dean Sten Vermund explained that if someone receives their first vaccine dose at Yale, they could receive the second shot there as well if they live close to the University or from a provider in their home state or country if they leave campus in the time between doses.

The state had previously prioritized vaccinating people with health risks and jobs with high risk of coronavirus exposure. The new schedule represents a shift in Connecticut’s approach. Per Lamont’s Monday announcement, immunizations are anticipated to become available for people between the ages of 55 and 64 on March 1, people aged 45 to 54 on March 22, those aged 35 to 44 by April 12 and people aged between 16 and 34 on May 3. The updated criteria simplifies the determination of who is eligible for a vaccine and minimizes opportunities to “game the system,” according to Martinello. But it is still an area of active discussion, as the

announcement has drawn pushback from essential workers and people with comorbidities.

Prior to Lamont’s announcement, the University’s public health committee, which advises COVID-19 Coordinator Stephanie Spangler, had been discussing how to determine which members of the Yale community have comorbidities, who would have soon been eligible for the vaccine during Phase 1b of the state’s prior guidelines, Martinello said. The committee has begun discussing how Yale might administer the vaccines given the age-based guidelines.

Martinello noted multiple advantages to an age-based rollout, rather than one on the basis of comorbidities. First off, most people have a driver’s license or another form of identification, so it is therefore much easier to determine someone’s age than their medical history. Under the prior guidelines, the state could have had physicians write letters attesting to people’s risk factors, but this would place a burden on healthcare providers and could lead people to take advantage of the system, Martinello said. There is not yet an exhaustive list of risk factors for severe cases of coronavirus, so it can be challenging to decide who to prioritize, he added.

Martinello also cited a study which shows that old age places people at a much greater risk of death than some health conditions which are typically considered comorbidities.

“The age-based system simplifies things in an enormous way,” Martinello said. “Otherwise, it’s really complicated to identify and communicate with people who have specific health issues.”

But after Lamont’s Monday announcement, many took to his Facebook page to express their discontent over his decision not to prioritize essential workers and those with health risks. While his schedule includes a caveat for pre-K through 12 educators — who, under current plans, would

have access to vaccination in dedicated clinics starting on March 1 — several Nutmeggers were disappointed not to see essential workers prioritized in a similar way.

In an email to Yale Health members, Genecin wrote that while he recognizes the frustrations among frontline essential workers and those with chronic medical conditions in response to these announcements, Yale's COVID-19 vaccine program is obliged to follow state guidelines.

Yale School of Public Health Professor of Health Policy A. David Paltiel said that, in his opinion, the first priority should be getting vaccines to as many people as possible. He added that this approach should be combined with culturally-sensitive messaging and listening to vulnerable populations’ distrust of the medical system, but that efforts to prioritize people with certain conditions should come second to immunizing the largest number of people possible.

“I think they may have made a wise move just saying this is simple, it’s straightforward, it’s actionable, it’s pragmatic” Paltiel said about the state’s new policy.

“It would appear that Connecticut has done magnificently compared to other states.”

When Yale employees and Yale Health members become eligible for the vaccine, they will receive an invitation through MyChart. The University will cover any vaccine administration charges for Yale employees and Yale Health members who choose to get the vaccine at a site other than the Lanman Center, Genecin wrote in a Feb. 23 email to Yale Health members.

As of Feb. 24, 17.8 percent of the Connecticut population has received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.

Contact ROSE HOROWITCH at rose.horowitch@yale.edu and MARIA FERNANDA PACHECO at maria.pacheco@yale.edu .

No punishment for Compact violations when reporting sexual misconduct TITLE IX FROM PAGE 1 for failing to abide by the COVID19 health and safety requirements of the Yale Community Compact.

“I am grateful for the work that our Sexual Wellness team and the Title IX Office has done to ensure that students will not be disinclined to report sexual misconduct,” YCC President Aliesa Bahri ’22 wrote in an email to the News. “It was especially helpful that several of those who worked on this initiative are members of the Undergraduate Title IX Advisory Board and have a robust understanding of our current amnesty policies.”

Last October, members of the YCC Sexual Wellness Policy Team identified that fear of reprimand for violating the community compact — a set of pandemic safety protocols that every in-residence student has agreed to follow during the COVID-19 pandemic — may

dissuade students from reporting sexual misconduct.

According to YCC Sexual Wellness Co-Chair Michael Bochkur Dratver ’23, student representatives of the YCC met with Title IX Office administrators, including Assistant Provost Jason Killheffer and Deputy Title IX Coordinator Ksenia Sidorenko, to propose an amendment to the existing sexual misconduct response and prevention policies in November.

They learned that the Title IX Office was already operating in line with their proposal and had not been pursuing disciplinary measures against violators of the community compact when they reported sexual misconduct, even though the rule had not been publicized or formalized.

“It was also important to us that the Yale community be aware that those who have witnessed or experienced an act of sexual misconduct had community compact amnesty,” Dratver said.

The language of the new policy, announced to students on Feb. 15, resembles a preexisting amnesty policy designed to protect Yale College students from being charged with drug and alcohol violations when seeking medical assistance. Both policies recognize that the possibility of being disciplined may deter students from seeking help or reporting incidents to authorities during emergencies.

While an awareness campaign for the official policy began in early February, the policy applies retroactively to any acts of sexual misconduct that were witnessed or experienced since the community compact’s creation at the start of the fall semester.

The provision does not prevent the University from taking nondisciplinary actions, such as contact tracing, to protect the health and wellness of the community.

“Sometimes change can cause new issues to emerge,” Paulo Gaviria ’23, a member of the YCC

Sexual Wellness Team, said. “This issue is completely new to this semester and last. Frankly, we’re not sure how long this set-up for campus will last. But if it does continue, we hope people feel safe when speaking out about sexual assault and harassment.”

To report sexual misconduct, contact SHARE at (203) 432-2000 or email titleix@yale.edu.

Contact JULIA BIALEK at julia.bialek@yale.edu and EMILY TIAN at emily.tian@yale.edu .

YALE DAILY NEWS

The effort to establish the new policy stems from Yale College Council and the University's Title IX office.

PAGE 6

YALE DAILY NEWS · FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2021 · yaledailynews.com

CELEBRATING BLACK COMMUNITIES ‘Already a superstar’: Xavier Washington ’20+1 takes center stage singing at Yale and auditioning for American Idol

BY NATALIE KAINZ AND ZAPORAH PRICE STAFF REPORTERS After an exciting music career at Yale, Xavier Washington ’21 has his sights set on the next big thing — American Idol.

Washington is a senior at Yale from Georgia majoring in African American studies. When he’s not at the seminar table, Washington fills his time with musical extracurriculars — including a cappella group Shades at Yale, the Yale Glee Club and the Whiffenpoofs. As a singer at Yale, Washington has done everything from touring the country to taking the stage at Yale’s Spring Fling in 2019. He can now check off another item on his bucket list: successfully auditioning for the hit television series “American Idol.” He is scheduled to appear on an unspecified date in season four of the show.

“With music you don’t know what can happen after this, but I can at least say that I had four, now five, years of time at Yale where I just did music and had fun with it, and I met a lot of people, and I grew and improved myself,” Washington told the News. “That can’t be taken away from me; that literally made my entire experience here.”

Although Washington was taking remote classes at Yale during the fall semester, that didn’t stop him from auditioning for this season of “American Idol.” Early last semester, he sent in a virtual audition and earned an invitation for a second, in-person, audition in Los Angeles last fall.

In the hours leading up to the second-round audition, Washington attended his remote Chinese class via Zoom from his hotel room.

In an interview with the News, Washington recalled meeting celebrity judges Katy Perry, Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie at the audition.

“It’s so weird to actually see [the judges] and be auditioning for

them,” Washington said. “So that experience was really cool, I’m excited to see what it actually looks like on camera. … I enjoyed it, I was super nervous, but I tried to give my all so I hope to see where that goes.”

Then, on Dec. 31, his birthday, family members called him to tell him that they had seen him in an American Idol commercial. He was ecstatic.

Washington has a lifelong relationship with music. Raised in a devout Christian household in Atlanta, Georgia, he began singing in his church’s choir while in elementary school, occasionally performing solos. Growing up, Washington said, singing was always an integral way to interact with his church community.

After coming to Yale, Washington decided to join Shades because he was familiar with the group’s repertoire — Shades aims to celebrate the music of the African diaspora and the African American tradition.

Shades member Noelle Mercer ’22 remembers hearing Washington sing during the 2017 Cultural Connections pre-orientation program talent show.

“My jaw was on the floor the entire performance,” Mercer said.

“I remember being like, he has one of the best voices I ever heard.”

Two years later, Mercer sang backup vocals for Washington on the 2019 Spring Fling stage. She said it was one of the highlights of her Yale experience.

Amara Mgbeike ’22, another member of Shades, also sang backup for Washington during that year’s Spring Fling. Mgbeike said Washington “curated an experience for the audience,” in part by crafting audience-specific set lists and ensuring that the group rehearsed diligently. Mercer likened Washington’s performance to something characteristic of Prince.

COURTESY OF XAVIER WASHINGTON

“Zay’s incredible, and I’m still learning from him as much as I can,” Mgbeike told the News. “It’s important to surround yourself with people that inspire you.”

Washington is also the leader in the baritone section of the Yale Glee Club. When he joined the group as a junior, he had no experience with choral music. Washington said he went on tour with the Yale Glee Club in 2019, performing in England and Scotland.

“Whether he wins on ‘American Idol’ or not, Xavier is already a superstar as far as the Glee Club is concerned,” said Jeffrey Douma, director of the Yale Glee Club. “It was immediately clear from his beautiful sound, incredible vocal control and outstanding ear that he would be a wonderful addition to the ensemble.”

Washington left the Glee Club temporarily when he was accepted as a member of the Whiffenpoofs during his junior year. He took a gap year to go on a sing-

ing tour around the country with the group, visiting California and Colorado and even riding a private jet to visit Fort Worth, Texas.

“There’s so many things you get to see [and] do because of these groups and because of the history and the resources that they have,” Washington said.

“Before Yale, I hadn’t seen that many places around the country.”

While on tour, Washington brought the Whiffenpoofs to his high school — Miller Grove High School — to perform. He remains the first and only student from his high school to go to Yale. Washington said he was proud to visit his school because he was able to show students from his community that they, too, could have access to the same opportunities.

Now, Washington said, he is trying to figure out where his music will take him career-wise.

He said that regardless of his career path, he wants to do some-

thing that will allow him to continue growing as an artist.

“There’s no formula to it, which sucks because you could post a video one day and that one video [could] be the thing that catapults your career,” Washington said.

Douma said he thinks that success as a performer is determined more by perseverance and hard work than talent. According to Douma, Washington’s positive energy and dedication will allow him to go far in a music career.

“If any student I’ve known in my 18 years teaching at Yale has a shot, it’s Xavier,” said Douma. “I can’t wait to see what the future brings from him as a performer.”

Washington also works as a teaching assistant for the Morse Chorale, a youth choir sponsored by Yale’s Music in Schools Initiative.

Contact NATALIE KAINZ at natalie.kainz@yale.edu and ZAPORAH PRICE at zaporah.price@yale.edu .

‘It can’t stop at the syllabus’: English professors and students reflect on syllabi diversity in foundational courses

BY ZAPORAH PRICE STAFF REPORTER Four years ago, English department faculty voted to change the major’s requirements by including two foundational courses — now called “American Literature” and “Readings in Comparative World English Literatures” — to increase diversity within the curriculum.

“American Literature” and “Readings in Comparative World English Literatures,” English 127 and English 128 respectively, are two of four foundational course offerings. The other two courses, English 125 and English 126, complete the “Readings in English Poetry” sequence. Before 2017, English 125 and English 126 were the foundational courses undergraduates were required to complete for the major.

But after student calls to “decolonize” the curriculum in 2016, the department revised its curriculum to include multiple pathways towards completing the major.

A data analysis by the News found that the vast majority of the syllabi for the English foundational courses for the 2020-21 academic year use the same authors across sections. For example, John Milton was read in all three English 125 sections last fall, and Herman Melville is being read in all six English 127 sections this spring. But there are a number of “unique” authors — an author not present on each section syllabi — in each foundational course. For example, English 127 has the most “unique” authors, with its 28 writers in that category including poet Natasha Tretheway and novelist James Baldwin.

On the other end of the spectrum, English 125 has only six “unique” authors, including poets Jos Charles and Terrance Hayes.

From this data, the News also concluded that sometimes professors choose different texts or collections written by the same authors, but this rarely happens.

“The new courses have been a big success; in the past couple of years, our American Literature introduction (127) has been the most popular of the foundation courses — no

doubt reflecting the sense that our country is going through a major reckoning with its past and present,” Director of Undergraduate Studies for the English Department Stefanie Markovits wrote in an email. “But I want to stress that all of the foundation courses include a conscious effort to consider diverse perspectives — even 125, a course on early British poetry, has been revised to include more female and minority voices.”

Markovits, who was appointed DUS in July 2020, wrote that the department reflected on diversity when the 2017 changes were announced, but also hoped to “offer both flexibility and rigor” for the new major requirements. Currently, English majors must take three of the four foundational courses, with substitutions — including combinations of other introductory courses or a full year of Directed Studies — for one foundational course permitted with the permission of the DUS. Markovits said that foundational course faculty convene together to “discuss which unique elements they plan to include” before the start of each semester. She said they take into account continuity and “particular conditions’’ of the given academic year, such as if an author is available for a talk on campus. Markovits added that this spring, English 126 and English 127 syllabi listed Natasha Tretheway’s poetry in part because she would be giving the “Foundational Course” lecture in April.

But Markovits emphasized that even when teaching works by “‘canonical’ male writers,” faculty are thinking about how the authors “both contribute to a dominant ideology and challenge it.” Markovits also said that professors want students to “recognize when a later writer is either piggybacking on these texts or trying to write against them.”

“I always teach women writers, queer writers, and writers of color in [English] 125, and have found that doing so [is] hugely enriching, not only in terms of allowing us to read a wider range of texts, but also in changing and refocusing our engag-

ment with the traditional texts,” Director of Graduate Studies for the English Department Catherine Nicholson wrote to the News.

Nicholson is the course director — an administrator for each foundational course — for English 125 this year. She said that there may be more overlap in English 125 than the newer foundational courses, such as English 127, partly because the faculty tend to teach fewer authors for longer units. But reflecting on her own syllabi from year to year, Nicholson said the trend has shown “greater variability” and “greater diversity with regards to race, gender and sexuality.”

Avery Mitchell ’23, who took English 127 in fall 2019 and English 125 in spring 2020 with Nicholson, said that the English 127 syllabi “had more diversity,” but said that class discussions in English 125 also added a variety of perspectives to the class.

“The ‘main texts’ of 125 were written by exclusively white men, but Professor Nicholson mentioned this constantly during class and lots of our discussion focused on dismantling this one-sided narrative,” Mitchell wrote in an email to the News.

Mitchell, who is currently studying abroad at St. Catherine’s College at Oxford University, said that her English classes at Oxford “heavily relied” on her “knowledge of this ‘western canon’” and that her tutors assumed she had read authors like Milton and Chaucer, who were on every syllabus for English 125 last fall and who Mitchell had not encountered prior to taking the class with Nicholson.

She said for both institutions — Yale and Oxford — she hoped that more credit would be given to “the global influences on English literature.”

Irene Vazquez ’21, who took English 126, said that it matters which professor you get for the foundational courses because they have flexibility in their syllabi.

“For Marta’s [Figlerowicz] class, every author besides required ones like Pope and Wordsworth was a Black woman,” Vazquez told the News. “I loved Marta’s section so

much … I really noticed the active choice Marta made to put those authors on the syllabus.”

Vazquez said taking the class with Figlerowicz, who is an associate professor of comparative literature, showed how “dynamic” the foundational course could be when professors were intentional about which texts to put on the syllabi outside of the requirement.

Professor of English Stephanie Newell, who teaches English 128, spoke to the News about her foundational course, specifically highlighting diversity and decolonization within her syllabus.

“When we talk about diversification, we do need to talk about decolonization as well,” Newell told the News in an interview.

“I think there’s two topics that sit side by side here, there’s a really necessary diversification of the curriculum in the syllabus, right, but there’s decolonization as well, which is a far harder task.”

Newell, whose research focuses on African literature, said that faculty gatherings to discuss English 128 syllabi begin with four to five agreed-upon texts, and then faculty bring in other texts based on their regional specializations.

She added that deciding to exclude a text from English 128 syllabi is also done amongst the faculty group. Newell mentioned one text, “Robinson Crusoe” by Daniel Defoe, that initially headed the English 128 syllabi. She said that it was dropped this year, both for her own political reasons and a broader practical reason.

“This year we did agree that we wouldn’t teach Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe, and actually there was quite a practical reason for that as well, for me there was a political reason around Black Lives Matter, but a practical reason is that it’s about 600 pages long,” Newell told the News.

“Teaching during a global pandemic on Zoom with the sort of pressures that students are under … we just thought it was asking too much to start the course with Robinson Crusoe.”

Newell said that some colleagues had taken the novel off their syllabi already. For herself, Newell said that she did not want the students in her section to be introduced to slavery with a text where “the protagonist becomes a millionaire from an unquestioning … slave trade in South America.”

She acknowledged that it was a canonical text, but said she and her colleagues decided to start with “The History of Mary Prince, A West Indian Slave, Related

by Herself” by Mary Prince, an account of Prince’s treatment at the hands of multiple slave owners in the Caribbean, instead.

“At least in our [English 128] conversations, the discussions we have in class, you know, they’re really great,” Kadiatou Keita ’22 told the News. “I personally was surprised.”

Keita, who is taking English 128 with Newell, said that she was hesitant to become an English major because she did not want to “relearn white European history.”

She said that in Newell’s class, they talk about different diasporic narratives and coming-of-age stories, including African literature.

But she said that the foundational courses, and more broadly courses within the department, could be improved beyond the content. Keita said the foundational courses could do more to “find out the impacts and implications of what we’re learning.”

Vazquez echoed Keita’s sentiments. As a Black poet, Vazquez said that an English syllabus can be great, but more work must be done to encourage fruitful conversations about the material.

“It can’t stop at the syllabus,” Vazquez said.

The Foundational Course Reading Series, in conjunction with the Schlesinger Series, will host Natasha Tretheway for a lecture on April 7 at 5 p.m.

Data analysis by Zach Auster.

Contact him at zach.auster@ yale.edu.

Contact ZAPORAH PRICE at zaporah.price@yale.edu .

YALE DAILY NEWS · FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2021 · yaledailynews.com

PAGE 7

Looking at the past, present and future of renaming

YALE DAILY NEWS

BY KELSEY TAMAKLOE CONTRIBUTING REPORTER In spring 2016, a student group called Better Yale held a public art installation on Cross Campus directly in front of what was then named Calhoun College.

Students dressed in black, came out quietly and held plaques bearing names of Yale alumni, which they placed on Calhoun’s lawn. The protest argued that Yale was complicit in a racist past, and despite announcements that the University was considering a name change for the residential college in 2015, the change to Grace Hopper College did not happen until public backlash from the New Haven community and students two years later.

Those involved with the decisions reflected on the change in interviews with the News.

“Erasing Calhoun’s name from a much-beloved residential college [would downplay] the lasting effects of slavery and [substitute] a false and misleading narrative,” University President Peter Salovey stated and the Committee to Establish Principles on Renaming, chaired by John

Witt ’94 GRD ’98 LAW ’99 GRD ’00, repeated in its 2016 report on the principles of renaming.

Following the murders of nine African Americans at a prayer service in Charleston, South Carolina by a young white man whose social media posting were filled with symbols of white supremacy, Salovey addressed the legacy of John Calhoun and Yale’s connection to white supremacy and slavery during his 2015 opening address.

He talked about the idea of renaming the college, stating that the campus would need to “give careful consideration” in a name associated with such a historical figure. According to Timothy Dwight Head of College Mary Lui, it seemed like Salovey was about to make a change. There were many open conversations with community members and student-led protests on campus.

However, a year later, no change had been made. Following backlash from the New Haven community and students in 2016, Calhoun College finally became Grace Hopper College in 2017.

Most of the residential colleges were named after men who had a significant influence in Connecticut, like John Davenport, the founder of New Haven, and Abraham Pierson, one of Yale College’s founders.

One of the reasons Calhoun was chosen was because Yale wanted to honor one of its highest-ranking government officials, said Judith Schiff, chief research archivist in the Yale Library Manuscripts and Archives.

When the college was created in 1931, Calhoun, who served as vice president in 1825 and secretary of state in 1844, was Yale’s highest ranking official, Schiff said.

However, Saybrook Head of College Thomas Near believes that those honoring Calhoun had ulterior motives.

“Think about the time that they named that college after him,” Near said about Calhoun. To Near, “[Calhoun] is the same damn thing” as having Robert E. Lee statues.

Near believes the name was meant to discourage Black people, telling them to “check your tone, slow your roll.”

On Nov. 21, 2016, the Committee to Establish Principles on Renaming released a report on the issue of renaming a college and highlighted questions the University considered when renaming, such as whether the principal legacy of the namesake is at odds with Yale’s mission or whether a name alteration would erase or distort history.

Rise Nelson, the director of the Afro-American Cultural Center and assistant dean of Yale College, reflected on whether Calhoun is the only college name that should change.

“That was actually one of the questions that came up during the renaming … process,” said Nelson, who was also involved in several Yale renaming committees in 2015. “The thinking was well then we need to consider everyone — almost everyone.”

For example, according to Near, Samuel Morse was an anti-Semite.

Schiff and Nelson reflected on that context in interviews with the News.

Schiff said that “the [name was] picked so quickly that nobody really knew” with regards to Morse’s history. The recommendation of Morse as a namesake was a “personal tip,” by letter, to the Yale President at the time, Alfred Whitney Griswold, Schiff said.

The letter, Schiff said, told Griswold that Morse was “the perfect man because he represents everything great about Yale.” According to Schiff, Morse was a great artist, invented the telegraph and brought the Daguerre system of photography to the United States. Like Calhoun, though, other aspects of his past might be a good reason to consider changing the college’s name.

Morse opposed the Civil War. Schiff said that he believed that instead of fighting, the issue of slavery should be worked out peacefully. Schiff also said that Morse believed that “the Bible permitted slavery.” There were also rumors that Morse was an anti-Semite. However, Schiff, contradicting Near, does not know “how anti-Semitic [Morse] was.”

The main difference for renaming Calhoun instead of Morse, or even

the rest of the colleges, according to Nelson is “the prominence of [Calhoun’s] hatred and evil and racism and bigotry.”

According to Nelson, Calhoun used his political position to advance policies that targeted Indigenous groups and supported slavery.

One name that unambiguously does not transgress the University’s naming guidelines is Edward Bouchet ’74 GRD ’76.

Bouchet’s name has been considered many times for some of the colleges. Nelson said that Bouchet was considered as a replacement for Calhoun.

Bouchet is considered to be the first Black graduate at Yale, and one of the earliest Black men ever to receive a degree, specifically one in physics. Moreover, he made many contributions to the Black community by teaching STEM at the Institute for Colored Youth.

“There was a more formal proposal submitted by an alum,” Nelson said. The alumnus, R. Owen Williams GRD ’02 GRD ’06 LAW ’07 GRD ’09, proposed to change Calhoun to Calhoun-Bouchet College. The purpose “was to not erase history by completely renaming it,” Nelson explained but to honor Bouchet and his legacy at Yale and academia by adding him to the name.

Bouchet’s name was also considered for the two new colleges that opened in 2017. Students at the time created a website with recommendations for the new colleges.

“Mock-up shields were made for the new colleges, names were proposed,” Nelson recalled. “It was really comprehensive and … thoughtful.”

Bouchet was one of the top names in the list. Students even made him his own shield.

Schiff, a fan of Bouchet, said she felt betrayed when Bouchet was not picked.

“It would have been such a good thing for New Haven,” she said.

Bouchet earned his doctorate in physics from Yale in 1876.

Contact KELSEY TAMAKLOE at kelsey.tamakloe@yale.edu .

Stiles, Silliman Black dining hall workers speak on their time at Yale

BY NATALIE KAINZ, ZAPORAH PRICE AND CASSIDY ARRINGTON STAFF REPORTERS AND CONTRIBUTING REPORTER The residential college dining halls would not be complete without the Yale hospitality staff that serve the Yale community every day.

The News spoke with four Black dining hall workers, representing two residential colleges, Ezra Stiles and Silliman. Together, the employees represent over four decades of Yale Hospitality experience, some having joined staff as recently as a few years ago and others over more than a decade past.

In interviews with the News, staff members recounted their favorite experiences working at Yale, their memories of past Black History Months and their plans for the future. Some described their role within the Yale community.

“I’m a mother, I’m an uplifter,” Samone Davis of the Stiles dining hall told the News. “Especially if [I’ve met] your parents, I’m going to ask about your studying … because we’re helping [students] get ready for the future.”

Davis has worked as a part of Yale Hospitality staff for two decades. She held two jobs during her first 14 years as a Yale employee. Davis said she left her second job and now works full time in the Stiles dining hall.

Outside of work, Davis said she loves traveling, especially on cruises, which allow her to be out in the open sea. Her favorite cruise vacations have taken her to Mexico and Haiti, and she hopes to one day go to Castaway Cay — a Disney-owned island in the Bahamas — and take the Disney cruise.

She said that Yale students remain her favorite part about her job. Over the years, she has appreciated getting to know students on a personal level.

Pre-pandemic, Davis fondly remembered the Yale football team, who often came to the Stiles dining hall in the morning after they practiced at Payne

Whitney Gymnasium. “I know all of them,” she said.

Lee Gormany, who also works at the Stiles dining hall, echoed his care for the Yale students he helps feed.

“The students, you guys, you’re all my favorite,” Gormany said.

“That’s why I try to remember so many names.”

Gormany was born in Philadelphia, but moved to New Haven when he was three years old in 1959 after his father got a job working for the New Haven railroad. Gormany started as a member of the hospitality staff more than 15 years ago after some years working at a factory.

Gormany is an ardent supporter of Yale’s basketball and football teams. Pre-pandemic, Gormany said he enjoyed taking his son to basketball games at Payne Whitney.

“I used to love it, and I was one of the loudest at the games too,” he said. “You should’ve seen me.”

Gormany said he started playing basketball when he was eight years-old and played all the way until he was 40. He played on a couple of basketball teams growing up, including at the local New Haven Boys & Girls Club. Growing up, Gormany said his dream was to be a pro basketball player, so he spent all of his days practicing.

Unknown to many, Gormany said, is that he used to sing with his friends as a teenager. Starting at 15, Gormany would be invited to parties to sing songs by soul trio The Temprees with his friends.

He described himself as a jokester that enjoys making his coworkers laugh.

Juma Sei ’22, a junior in Stiles, spoke to the News about the importance of Yale hospitality staff members like Davis and Gormany.

“The dining hall workers I’ve come to see as a second family,” Sei told the News. “In this University full of people that don’t look like me, these are the only people that I’m seeing on a consistent basis that share my skin tone.”

He recalled his mother meeting Davis during his first year. Now as a

junior living off campus, Sei said he checks in with Davis when he gets a chance to go to the dining hall.

“He’s going to do great,” Davis said about Sei. “I always tell him to send his mom my love.”

Sei said he is concerned that the population of Yale hospitality staff are oftentimes “invisible” to the larger Yale community, noting pre-pandemic he would see students scan their ID cards and walk past the person at the front desk or the people serving at the grill counter. He said from then on, he wanted to make sure that he talked to the people who “[prepare] the food that I’m eating and are literally giving me life.”

Thu Hoang ’23, a sophomore in Silliman, said that whenever she comes into the dining hall, the staff always greet her with a smile and ask how her day went. She said that she is more familiar with the dining hall workers now that students can only eat in their own residential college.

“I feel like [this semester] they’re more familiar with my face and I know their faces better,” said Hoang. “The first day I was back they were like ‘Hi! Welcome home!’

They’re all really friendly.”

But Andrea Cogdell, a dining hall worker in Silliman, said she still misses talking to students while they eat in the dining hall. She also misses meeting famous people when they visit Yale — something she hasn’t been able to do recently due to the pandemic.

“I miss a lot of the things we used to have for the kids — the reunions, the senior dinners — stuff like that,” said Cogdell. “We never knew 2019 was going to be our last year to have fun with the students and my employees.”

Cogdell grew up in New Haven and has worked for Yale for about 20 years, including 10 years as a non-contracted part-time employee. She told the News that off-shift, she loves to dance, sing and play the drums. She began to learn how to play the drums when she was 12 years old and, in the 90s,

CASSIDY ARRINGTON/CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER

served as the drummer for the Black Church at Yale for four years.

Dorothy Fullins, a dining hall worker in Silliman College, started working for Yale Catering five years ago. Last year, after giving birth to a daughter, Fullins returned from maternity leave and secured a job in the dining hall. She has slowly grown accustomed to the new environment, but said that she is still working on navigating Yale’s expectations.

“You do have to code switch,” said Fullins. “[There’s] the Black expression and Yale expectation[s] and you have to learn how to bring it to a happy medium and I’m still working on that.”

In the future, Fullins hopes to take the culinary and networking experience she has acquired during her time at Yale to dedicate more time to her own dessert

catering business — Want Some Sweets — a business idea born out of conversations with family.

Until then, she thinks working at Yale is the most fitting job for her.

“I bring the laughs; I bring in jokes; I don’t want to come to work and be just like ‘I’m at work and I have to be quiet,’” said Fullins . “If no-one else does, your dining hall workers — the people that feed you everyday — they care.”

More than half of the Yale Hospitality employees identify as Black/African-American.

Contact NATALIE KAINZ at natalie.kainz@yale.edu, ZAPORAH PRICE at zaporah.price@yale.edu and CASSIDY ARRINGTON at cassidy.arrington@yale.edu .

PAGE 8

YALE DAILY NEWS · FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2021 · yaledailynews.com

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY Efficacy vs. efficiency: Which is the most important when it comes to COVID-19 vaccines?

BY SYDNEY GRAY STAFF REPORTER With the Johnson & Johnson single-dose COVID19 vaccine pending FDA approval, epidemiologists are considering the effect that it will have on efforts to curb COVID-19 spread, as well as its implications for equity.

On Feb. 4, Janssen Biotech Inc., whose parent company is Johnson & Johnson, or J&J, submitted a request for Emergency Use Authorization from the FDA for the company’s COVID-19 vaccine — which appears to be 72 percent efficacious at preventing moderate to severe illness, according to initial data. The FDA’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee will meet on Thursday, Feb. 26, to discuss and vote on whether or not to grant authorization for the use of J&J’s vaccine in the United States. Though this vaccine is a potential new tool in the COVID19 arsenal to help fight the pandemic, its efficacy rate, which is lower than that of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, poses questions of equity: Who will receive the less efficacious vaccine? And who should receive it?

“Remember that even if the vaccine did not achieve the 94-95% efficacy of the Pfizer and Moderna mRNA vaccines, it still prevented severe disease,” professor of clinical epidemiology at the Yale School of Public Health Robert Hecht wrote in an email to the News. “Not a single vaccinated trial volunteer among the thousands who participated was hospitalized or died.

That’s darned good.”

Hecht highlighted the fact that the J&J vaccine, if approved by the FDA, could pose unique benefits to the vaccine rollout compared to the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines. He explained that the J&J vaccine does not require refrigeration at subzero temperatures and is less expensive than the others. Because the J&J vaccine does not require this “cold chain storage,” it is an attractive candidate for other countries, where there are gaps in this type of infrastructure, he explained.

These qualities, Hecht says, will help make it “more affordable and versatile” as compared to the Pfizer and Moderna mRNA vaccines.

“Based on what I’ve read so far, I’m very bullish on the J&J vaccine,” Hecht wrote.

Yet the question remains: What matters more for the vaccine rollout, a vaccine that is more easily distributed or a vaccine that is more efficacious at preventing disease?

Yale School of Public Health professors A. David Paltiel and Jason Schwartz conducted a study at the School of Public Health in November to answer this question.

News. “Even before the J&J vaccine efficacy was announced, we wondered about single-dose vaccines and the choice between … protection in 5 weeks with a 95%-effective vaccine or protection in 2 weeks with an x%-effective vaccine. We asked, ‘What would x have to be?’”

Paltiel and Schwarz found that compared to a 95 percent effective two-dose vaccine, a single-shot that was 55 percent effective could prevent the same number of deaths due to COVID-19.

While this information was able to answer questions on the broader population level with regard to what matters more in preventing COVID-19 fatalities — efficacy versus efficiency in the vaccine rollout — the question of equity remains.

Albert Ko, chair of the Epidemiology Department at the School of Public Health, summarized the issue.

“The basic question … is individual levels of protection versus population and community level of protection,” Ko said. “OK, what’s the benefit to my family and community versus the benefit to myself. There’s certainly a psychological barrier or challenge. That’s where public health communication [is important].”

Ko acknowledged that although the lower efficacy of the J&J vaccine poses issues for an equitable vaccine rollout, more pressing are the benefits that this potential third COVID-19 vaccine could confer at the population level.

He echoed Hecht’s explanation that the more complex a vaccine program is, the more likely that it will result in failure. Thus, a single-dose vaccine like the J&J candidate will be vital in getting the job done.

“If you ask for my personal opinion, my SOPHIA ZHAO/STAFF ILLUSTRATOR hunch, getting a single dose of the vaccine will likely bring large benefits at the population level,” Ko said.

The researchers created a mathematical model that As of Feb. 21, the Centers for Disease Control and analyzed the performance of various COVID-19 vac- Prevention reports that 63,090,634 COVID-19 vaccines with different levels of effectiveness and distribu- cines have been administered in the United States. tional speeds.

“Our investigation preceded the news of the J&J Contact SYDNEY GRAY at vaccine’s efficacy,” Paltiel wrote in an email to the sydney.gray@yale.edu .

‘A living icon’: Professors, students remember Chief of Otolaryngology Clarence T. Sasaki MED ’66 she joined his lab. According to her, Sasaki has a powerful personality that influenced her deeply. Together, they studied laryngopharyngeal — or neck and throat — cancer and published 17 articles on the subject.

According to Vangeli, Sasaki strongly influenced his mentees’ scientific careers and introduced many of them to the field of otolaryngology. She described his passing as a “great loss” for the scientific community at large.

“Without doubt, his passion for research, his great spirit and his open mind to give opportunities to young researchers were the three characteristics of his big and forever personality,” Vangeli wrote in an email to the News.

According to Panagiotis Doukas, a postdoctoral associate at the School of Medicine, it was clear that Sasaki looked for mentees who were willing to work hard to achieve their goals. His inspiring personality led Doukas to join the Larynx Lab after his graduation in May of last year, after working on several projects with Sasaki during medical school.

Lerner explained that while Sasaki’s clinical and operative abilities led to his national renown, his career in research also contributed to his legacy. One of Sasaki’s main research focuses was the larynx and the field of neurolaryngology — the study of neurologic disorders of the larynx and pharynx — of which he is considered a pioneer.

“For many decades, Dr. Sasaki’s name was synonymous with Yale laryngology,” Lerner said.

“He was a staple of this section for many years.

When you were in his presence you knew you were in the presence of greatness.”

According to Lerner, Sasaki is said to have practically established the head and neck cancer program at the School of Medicine, and he encouraged collaboration with other departments there, which he modeled in his own research.

Lerner explained that after he retired from his clinical practice, he dedicated more of his time to his Yale Larynx Laboratory and to studying the neurophysiology of the organ.

“I will always remember his energy in our lab meetings and especially his thumbs-up and ‘good job!’ in our last meeting,” Doukas wrote in an email to the News. “I am sure his generosity and encouragement to young scientists that seek to make a difference has been and will always be honored.”

Sasaki was a fellow of the American College of Surgeons and won more than 12 awards throughout his career.

BY BEATRIZ HORTA STAFF REPORTER Students and fellow professors at the Yale School of Medicine are mourning the death of Chief of Otolaryngology Clarence Sasaki MED ’66, who died on Feb. 4.

Serving for over 30 years as the chief of otolaryngology and the Charles W. Ohse professor emeritus of surgery, Sasaki was viewed as a forward-thinking, innovative researcher and inspiring mentor. According to David Kasle and Jordan Sukys, both residents and members of Sasaki’s Larynx Lab, Sasaki established key surgical procedures that “define” the field of otolaryngology, the medical study of head and neck conditions.

“Among many descriptions, an unassuming giant could aptly describe Dr. Sasaki,” Kasle and Sukys wrote in a joint statement to the News. “You wouldn’t know this gentle man described the first functional neck dissection or served as section chief for longer than most people’s entire working life, and that’s exactly how he liked it.”

Assistant professor of surgery Mark Bianchi MED ’91 said Sasaki was a demanding mentor who stimulated his students to push themselves throughout their time as residents — leading them to nickname him “The Boss.”

Both Bianchi and assistant professor at the School of Medicine Michael Lerner described Sasaki’s 6 a.m. morning rounds at Yale New Haven Hospital, often called “Sasaki Rounds,” during which he challenged residents and medical students to present the cases of admitted surgical patients in a concise and precise but also caring manner.

“These highly ritualized [rounds] would always be completed in formal dress with necktie and prior to his long day of head and neck cancer surgeries in the operating room,” Lerner told the News.

Kasle and Sukys wrote in their joint statement that one of the great pleasures of working with Sasaki on a daily basis were his personal anecdotes and smiles that brought joy to his mentees.

According to Bianchi, Sasaki’s fame and rigor were so impressive that residents joked that they could sense the atmosphere change when his plane landed after a trip out of town.

“I consider Clarence to be one of the founding surgeons,” Bianchi wrote in an email to the News.

“He was very aggressive and in being so pushed back the boundaries of what we know and what we could do in the operating room.”

Assistant research scientist Dimitra Vangeli first met Sasaki in 2013, when he interviewed her before

ZIHAO LIN/STAFF ILLLUSTRATOR

Contact BEATRIZ HORTA at beatriz.horta@yale.edu .

PAGE 9

YALE DAILY NEWS · FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2021 · yaledailynews.com

ARTS ‘An Impressive Feat’: School of Music’s Octet Suite provides solution to COVID-19 restrictions

BY MARISOL CARTY STAFF REPORTER Last semester, the School of Music’s wind and brass players were unable to practice in ensembles, since their instruments prevented them from wearing masks while performing. A new solution, the Octet Suite at Sprague Memorial Hall, now allows these students to practice in person without the risk of viral transmission.

The Octet Suite, designed by School of Music Media Production Manager Matthew LeFevre, consists of eight practice rooms in Sprague Memorial Hall’s basement. This allows eight music players to simultaneously rehearse together, where each musician practices from a different room equipped with professional microphones, video monitors, adjustable soundboards and headphones. Conductors or faculty members can lead rehearsals or lessons from a room across the hall. This solution allows music students to both see and hear each other in real time, without Zoom lag and while adhering to pandemic protocols.

“The main inspiration for the Octet Suite was to replicate Zoom in a zero-latency, high-fidelity environment,” LeFevre said. “We can’t safely have more than one unmasked performer in a space at a time, and even then, we have to follow strict University guidelines that wouldn’t be safe to scale up to larger numbers. Our students have been able to take private lessons over Zoom one-on-one, but there isn’t a way to play with another musician without a delay.”

Last semester, the School of Music followed a hybrid model for students. This included an academic block with online classes and a performance block with in-person rehearsals. However, only instrumentalists with masks, such as string players, were permitted to rehearse together in person.

Since brass and wind instruments are played by blowing into the instrument, resulting in high aerosol transmission rates, these instrumentalists could only rehearse via Zoom. But Zoom lag made it impossible for ensembles to rehearse synchronously. Instead, musicians created perfor-

mances were compiled by editing individual recordings together.

According to School of Music Associate Dean Michael Yaffe, this semester once again includes a hybrid model. Academic courses are online, but students can rehearse or perform remotely or in person following health guidelines. While winds and brass students could not partake in in-person activities last semester, they can now play synchronously in the Octet Suite.

“I wanted it to feel natural for the students, so eventually you’d forget the tech was even there, and it just feels like you’re making music,” LeFevre said. “Most of these students haven’t been able to play together in nearly a year, so I was really thrilled when the first few rehearsals started.”

LeFevre said the Octet Suite makes it easier to record ensemble performances as it allows students to “make virtual ensemble videos without stripping away important aspects of music-making and [without] creating huge recording and editing projects.”

When students enter the Octet Suite, they first select the number of rooms they intend to

use. Then, they press a button to begin recording their playing, which effectively links their rooms together. Once they log into Zoom, the “gallery view” setting is activated by a series of multiview generators in the suite that use high-quality microphones and cameras. This allows students to view both their instructor and other students in the suite. After each session, they receive a high quality audio and video recording and multitrack audio recording that they can listen to and edit.

Nathan Peebles MUS ’21, who plays french horn, said the Octet Suite is the “next best thing” in replacing in-person ensemble rehearsals.

“It truly feels like we are getting back to that group experience we have missed since the start of quarantine,” Peebles wrote. “Essentially, the rooms work as if you were in a zoom call with no latency or lag. It is certainly an impressive feat!”

Sprague Memorial Hall is located at 470 College St. Contact MARISOL CARTY at marisol.carty@yale.edu .

LIZ MILES/CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER

YSIM launches AREAS: Augmented Reality Experience at Schwarzman

LUCAS HOLTER/SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER

BY TANIA TSUNIK STAFF REPORTER On Feb. 10, the Yale Student Immersive Media Club, or YSIM, released a beta version of AREAS, an augmented reality project that allows audiences to virtually explore the Yale Schwarzman Center prior to its fall of 2021 opening. Over the course of the spring term, additional episodes will be released and made available to the public.

AREAS is an augmented reality app for iOS and Android that allows the Schwarzman Center to exhibit student-produced and stu-

dent-led art amid its newly renovated spaces in an online format.

“Our main goal was to create some way for people to still engage with the Yale art scene and generate excitement about the YSC opening, even if that couldn’t happen in person because of the pandemic,” said Xavier Ruiz ’22, a YSIM board member.

Originally, in the fall of 2019, YSIM began working with the Schwarzman Center to design an interactive installation for the center’s physical spaces. The pandemic led to a change in plans.

During their quarantines, YSIM members instead worked on devel-

oping a mobile app that allows people to experience the center’s art at their fingertips.

According to Sarah Saltzman ’22, another YSIM board member, the team focused on featuring student artworks while keeping in mind the various ways in which students could interact with the Schwarzman Center, which include performances, rehearsals, demonstrations and exhibits.

Former YSIM co-president Monique Baltzer ’20 said that AREAS takes users through a day at the Schwarzman Center, with depictions of scenes that could occur in different spaces in the morning, afternoon and evening.

“For example, for the first iteration of the app, the art performances take place in the dome room. In the morning, there’s a robotics presentation there; in the afternoon, a poetry reading; in the evening, a dance showing,” Baltzer said.

Besides transitioning across art scenes in multiple locations, users can also access information about the context and content of performances and artworks.

One of the team’s biggest challenges was developing the app remotely.

“None of us were on campus — or even in the same state,” Ruiz said. “So, we had to adjust from working in person together at the [Center for Collaborative Arts and Media] to using GitHub and Google Drive, as well as getting used to endless back-and-forth online communication among each other and with the YSC.”

Another challenge of operating remotely was transitioning from using high-end equipment at the CCAM — including virtual reality devices, testing rooms and a motion capture studio — to using laptops at home, Saltzman said.

Additionally, the group faced unexpected delays from navigating approval procedures for the app on Apple and Google platforms. As of now, the AREAS beta version has been approved and is being tested by an invite-only beta test group. Anyone interested can fill out a sign up form to get an invitation.

Once AREAS is submitted to the App Store and Google Play after the beta test, people can freely download the app. Users will then be able to scan image markers from posters around campus or the Schwarzman Center website to access the app’s services.

In the next few months, YSIM plans to update AREAS as required to ensure accessibility. The team will also release additional episodes of students’ artwork in numerous Schwarzman Center locations.

“We are really excited to see how we can help extend immersive reality access on Yale campus,” said Noah Shapiro ’22, a YSIM board member.

YSIM is currently also working with the Yale Peabody Museum to create an animation for the Great Hall. The club will accept new members next semester.

Contact TANIA TSUNIK at tania.tsunik@yale.edu .

PAGE 10

YALE DAILY NEWS · FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2021 · yaledailynews.com

SPORTS

“A trophy carries dust. Memories last forever.”

Behind Ingalls Rink and odes to The Whale

YALE ATHLETICS

Ingalls Rink has been the home of Yale’s men's and women's ice hockey teams since 1958.

INGALLS FROM PAGE 14 Yale men’s ice hockey captains who funded the bulk of its construction. It hosted its first game on Dec. 3, 1958 — Yale played Northeastern, losing 3–4 — and has welcomed fans and players ever since.

The Whale is home to the Yale men’s and women’s varsity ice hockey teams, club hockey, intramural hockey and various other skating groups and events.

Many varsity members who had the chance to skate on its famous surface went on to pursue professional hockey careers, such as Ray Giroux ’98, a former All-American at Yale who proceeded to play in the NHL for the New York Islanders and the New Jersey Devils.

“On its own, Ingalls Rink is a building full of tradition and character,” Giroux said. “However, if you have been to Ingalls on a Friday or Saturday night in the winter, you have seen and felt The Whale come to life.”

Brian O’Neill ’12, a former Yale Bulldog who is tied for a school-record 138 games played and ranks second at Yale with 163 career points and 94 assists, also spoke about his experience at Ingalls. O’Neill is in his fifth year based in Helsinki, Finland, playing in the Kontinental Hockey League, and he spends

nearly 110 days a year on the road in Russia.

He first encountered The Whale during a recruitment visit in 2007 and later joined the team in 2008.

He recalled how he felt during his favorite game there as a first year against Cornell in the regular season. Yale beat the Big Red 4–2 and went on to clinch the Eastern College Athletic Conference regular-season title.

“It's just a very intimate setting is the best way to describe it,” O’Neill told the News in a phone call from Russia. “Every single spot … is a good spot to watch the hockey game, and it seems like when you’re there, the game is probably going a lot faster than it is, and because you're so close to the action … it's one of the best environments you’ll get to witness in college hockey.”

With a capacity of 3,500 people, Ingalls is known for its incredible environment, especially during sold-out games with the sound of jam-packed crowds reverberating off the insides of its timber roof and the cable net that stems from its famous concrete arch.

Read more at https://yaledailynews.com /blog/category/sports/.

Contact AMELIA LOWER at amelia.lower@yale.edu .

Beloved Guarino departing Yale BASEBALL FROM PAGE 14 Coach Stuper enough for getting me involved.”

Stuper and Guarino’s friendship was not necessarily immediate.

When Guarino showed up to work that first day at Stuper’s camp back in 1996, he was not only wearing a baseball cap backward but was also sporting an earring, and Stuper was not impressed. Yale’s head coach wears the old-fashioned baseball badge with honor. He said he does not allow his players to have long hair, grow facial hair or wear their hats backwards. As the game trends toward more expressive demonstrations on and off the field, these traditions have been going out of style, but some Major League Baseball teams like the New York Yankees still enforce them.

Despite what Stuper called an “interesting” first impression, the pair have been together in some capacity for 25 years now.

In an interview with the News, Stuper said that he could not be happier for Guarino. Yale’s head coach noted that Guarino was an incredibly hard worker and someone who did not mind that his only compensation was Bulldogs Under Armour gear — though he did get compensation via Stuper’s summer baseball camps.

When Stuper heard that Guarino had been offered a position with Bridgeport, he jokingly threatened to fire him from Yale if he did not take the job — Stuper saw it as a great opportunity for the West Haven native. He has been especially impressed by Guarino’s strength since Guarino was diagnosed with cancer in 2019.

“He’s like a son to me,” Stuper said of Guarino. “He’s the toughest person I’ve ever met in my life. … A couple of summers ago, when he was going through chemo and then he or his wife would drive him to coach his Legion team an hour after chemo, he would coach third base. He’s 6’3’’, and he was weighing 150 pounds — you know, he looked like a skeleton at third base, and I was afraid for his life that somebody would hit a line drive his way.”

Guarino first received a multiple myeloma diagnosis two years ago. Stuper and Tonelli noted that Guarino’s health has improved considerably, but the former Yale

Inside Yale’s running policy RUNNING FROM PAGE 14 Blatt noted that several members of the club running team have also moved off campus to be able to run outdoors without restrictions. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention currently lists running, walking, or biking as “safer” activities when conducted outdoors.

And varsity track and field athletes, who found ways to train safely within their colleges during the first half of February, are now allowed to train with their teams in Phase I of the Ivy League’s plan for athletic training.

Yale School of Public Health Department Chair of Epidemiology Albert Ko said he was supportive of Yale’s policy, noting that the risk of outdoor transmission is not negligible. He said there have been superspreader events outdoors, citing the 2020 White House COVID-19 outbreak in the Rose Garden as an example. Ko also pointed out that vigorous breathing can increase the risk of transmission through air droplets.

“We really want to do our most not only to protect our University, our students, but also to protect the workers, the staff, the faculty, everybody — people who are working in the dining halls, in the loading docks, in the laboratories,” Ko said. “We should keep a higher bar.

We’ve seen how devastating the epidemic is.”

Still, Ko said that he personally believes running is “an important exercise.” He said providing students with the opportunity to run and walk during this period would be important if “it could be done with guard rails [and] done safely.”

In a Tuesday interview with the News, Yale College Dean Marvin Chun noted that Payne Whitney Gymnasium is now open for stu-

MARY LOU RETTON FORMER GYMNAST

AND 1984 OLYMPIC GOLD, SILVER AND BRONZE MEDALIST

dents to use — students could make reservations for cardio and strength equipment starting Feb. 15. But Chun said that although students can still move around campus, the University is “trying to keep some separation with the town during this phase.”

For Thomas Nardini ’24, a member of the Air Force ROTC program who is currently living in Saybrook College, the disconnect between last semester’s policies — which permitted running off campus after the second and final phase of the fall semester’s arrival quarantine — and this semester’s regulations has been confusing.

“You obviously can have a compromise that you have a mask and you wear it when there’s people around,” Nardini noted. “It seems that there are workarounds besides blanket banning running in New Haven.”

Nardini has complied with the rules, determined to keep running within his college courtyard during the first half of February. On Feb. 13, in 16-degree weather, he ran four miles within Saybrook’s upper and lower courtyard.

Faith Evanson ’24, a student currently residing on Old Campus, said she gave up running because she felt uncomfortable wearing a mask while running.

She is instead focusing on body weight exercises as an alternative.

Students who agree with the University’s policies have noted Yale’s impact on the New Haven community as a potential rationale behind the decision. Harry Grindle ’23, a varsity track and field sprinter, agreed with the University’s precautions.

“The policy makes a lot of sense given the current pandemic,” Grindle said. “Yale is currently operating on a very safe system to ensure that all members of the community are keeping safe and keeping

New Haven safe. With the size of the Yale campus, we’re very lucky that as runners we still have a lot of space to run around, but we’re still being safe while we do it.”

Grindle, who lives on campus, also continued to run in his residential college during the first half of February.

While Grindle spoke highly of the Davenport community’s camaraderie regarding outdoor workouts within the courtyards, Nardini in Saybrook and others on Old Campus said they were frustrated with the area available to them for running.

“I could see the argument that Yale doesn’t trust its students and thinks that we might say that we’re going to run off campus and go off into town and interact with other people,” said Asher Ellis ’24, a running enthusiast currently residing on Old Campus.

“If that’s true, I think that they ought to treat us more as adults and recognize that people need to take responsibility for their actions. In general, they’ve done a good job, but I don’t know whether or not this particular aspect of their quarantine restrictions is evidence-backed, and I don’t know how much people are going to follow it.”

In the months since the fall semester’s final arrival quarantine, new, more transmissible variants of COVID-19 have been detected, including the U.K. variant found in New Haven in January. Community transmission levels also remain higher than they were at the start of the fall semester.

Phase 3 of arrival quarantine, which started Feb. 15, is expected to end on the first day of March.

Sydney Gray and Julia Bialek contributed reporting.

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

coach is still battling every day — multiple myeloma does not go into remission.

Guarino said that he has been able to battle through his disease because of the support of his wife Jackie and the Yale baseball community.

“He loves our guys, and it’s the right move, and I couldn’t be happier for him,” Stuper added.

When Yale baseball alumnus Joseph Lubanski ’15 found out in May 2019 that Guarino — or “RayRay” as he is affectionately called — had cancer, he contacted teammate and former captain Richard Slenker ’17 to set-up a GoFundMe page to help their coach. In less than 24 hours, the Ray Guarino Yale Baseball Cancer Fight Fund had raised over $21,000.

According to an update written by Lubanski on June 2, 2019, the GoFundMe page was updated to try to raise $100,000, which would help cover two-thirds of the average cost for cancer treatment according to the AARP. By July of that year, the page had raised $100,695 with 858 unique donors.

“It was just something that I think really any Yale baseball player would do,” Lubanski said about setting up the GoFundMe page. “I think it would have happened eventually. Ray-Ray’s impacted so many of us, and he’s a big part of all of our lives even though we might not be on campus everyday anymore on the daily basis that we used to. The response kind of speaks for itself of who he is and what he’s meant

to the program and the families he’s touched along the way.”

Slenker said everyone loves Guarino and agreed with Lubanski that the GoFundMe support speaks to what kind of person “Ray Ray” is. Slenker recalled that after the team won its Ivy League Rolfe division in 2016, the volunteer assistant coach walked in with a mock WWE championship belt and started dancing like “nothing I had ever seen.”

Bridgeport head coach Tonelli said he thought Guarino would be a great fit because of both his baseball knowledge and his decades of experience as a teacher and coach. Tonelli likes having his assistants work on all aspects of the game, but he sees Guarino focusing on pitchers due to the knowledge he picked up working with Stuper, a former Major League hurler for the St. Louis Cardinals and Cincinnati Reds.

“He’s a teacher by trade,” Tonelli said. “So the way he deals and talks with the student-athletes is totally different than even myself. The biggest thing is going to be the experiences. And you know the way he goes about life, I mean there’s no secret about what he’s been through. … But I really believe baseball is one of the things that kept Ray going.”

Guarino played collegiate baseball for two years at Southern Connecticut State University.

Contact EUGENIO GARZA GARCÍA at eugenio.garzagarcia@yale.edu .

COURTESY OF RAY GUARINO

Guarino (right) with head coach John Stuper (left), assistant coach Casey Frawley (12) and associate head coach Tucker Frawley (10).

Jones, Atkinson lead USA in San Juan BASKETBALL FROM PAGE 14 Thomas, one of the veteran leaders on the U.S. team, spoke at a press conference after his 19-point performance against the Bahamas about how well the group was able to mesh in only a few days.

“We've been jelling fast — we’ve only been together a little over a week, we only practiced like four or five days,” Thomas said. “So for us to play like we did today … that says a lot about everybody on this team.”

The following night against Mexico, the United States was much more dominant, taking a 31–15 lead after one quarter. By halftime, the lead had grown to 25 points, and an undefeated record in the qualifiers was all but secured.

“We did a much better job of taking care of the ball tonight than we did the first night,” Jones said.

“We had far too many turnovers in that first game and tonight we lowered those.”

The Americans had only 12 turnovers against Mexico, four fewer than their 16 giveaways in the Bahamas game.

While the improvement on the court was a welcome sight, Jones was impressed with the camaraderie of the team off the court as well.

“They care about each other,” Jones explained. ‘There are guys on the bench trying to get guys that didn't play as much in the game. It's just really amazing to me what a great level of person is involved with this program and how much fun it was to be around the guys."

The FIBA AmeriCup will be held in September 2022.

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

COURTESY OF USA BASKETBALL

With Team USA, Jones said he took on preparing the scouting report, or “scout,” which entails doing research on the team’s opponents.

YALE DAILY NEWS · FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2021 · yaledailynews.com

NEWS

PAGE 11

“A true Englishman doesn’t joke when he is talking about so serious a thing as a wager.” JULES VERNE FRENCH NOVELIST

State General Assembly holds hearing on changes to election law

JESSIE CHEUNG/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Two separate constitutional amendments were discussed on Monday: one legalizing no-excuse mail-in voting and another legalizing early voting.

BY BRADLEY NOWACEK CONTRIBUTING REPORTER On Monday, the Connecticut Government Administration and Elections Committee of the Connecticut General Assembly held a hearing on potential changes to the state’s election law — including two proposed constitutional amendments that would allow for the establishment of no-excuse mail-in voting and early voting.

The Zoom hearing for the proposed amendments — HJ-58 and HJ-59 — began on Monday morning and included testimony from politicians, activists and state residents. Connecticut Secretary of State Denise Merrill, as well as Dominic Rapini from the organization Fight Voter Fraud, opened the meeting.

Rapini expressed opposition to the proposed amendments, arguing that local registrars’ offices in Connecticut’s towns are under-resourced and that no-excuse mail-in voting and

early voting would unduly burden the system and lead to more opportunities for potential voter fraud. But Merrill testified that the proposed amendments would give the legislature greater “flexibility” to address crises like the COVID-19 pandemic as they occur.

“This is about the voters,” said Merrill. “This is not about the particular kind of administration we do, or anything else like that. It is about voters never having to choose again between their health and their vote.”

Currently, only certain valid excuses for absentee voting are allowed under the Connecticut state constitution. These excuses are physical absence, religious reasons and illness or physical disability. The proposed amendments would allow voters to request an absentee ballot even if they do not meet those qualifications and grant the legislature the power to establish early voting.

The overwhelming majority of testimony on Monday was given in favor of the two amendments, with representatives from organizations including the American Civil Liberties Union, the AARP and the League of Women Voters all expressing their support. Many of the public testimonies explained practical barriers to

voting — especially for certain populations such as the elderly and voters of color.

However, state Rep. Gale Mastrofrancesco expressed concerns, saying that she thought it was important to first fix existing problems in order to ensure that voters have confidence in the integrity of elections.

Opponents of the legislation also emphasized that their criticism of the proposed amendment was not because of a desire to restrict voting access, but because of a desire to safeguard fair elections.

“We are all in favor of allowing people to vote and expanding access to voting,” state Sen. Rob Sampson said. “The fact of the matter is, though, that we have an obligation to protect the integrity of that vote.”

To ratify a constitutional amendment in Connecticut, it must be passed by the state legislature and then voted on by the general public.

An amendment must pass the legislature in two consecutive terms before it goes to the public — unless it achieves a three-fourths majority in both the state House of Representatives and the state Senate.

HJ-58 — the amendment regarding no-excuse absentee voting — is currently at the beginning of this

process. The amendment concerning early voting, HJ-59, already passed once last legislative term and now needs only a simple majority. If HJ-59 achieves that, it could then be put to Connecticut voters in the November 2022 election.

In an interview with the News, Connecticut Senate President Pro Tempore Martin Looney expressed his support for both of the constitutional amendments, having already voted for the early voting amendment back in 2019. However, Looney said that it is not yet clear when any of the current proposed measures will come up for a vote in the assembly.

In addition to constitutional amendments, there are bills in both the state Senate and House whereby changes in voting procedure passed in response to COVID-19 last year would be temporarily extended.

Last July, the state passed legislation — HB-6002 — adding COVID19 to the list of valid reasons to vote absentee. That bill passed with strong bipartisan support.

The next citywide election in New Haven, the municipal primaries, will take place on Sept. 14, 2021.

Contact BRADLEY NOWACEK at bradley.nowacek@yale.edu .

Yale YDSA launches campaign demanding a ‘Just COVID Plan From Yale’

BY EMILY TIAN AND AMELIA DAVIDSON STAFF REPORTERS The Yale chapter of the Young Democratic Socialists of America, a student political group on campus, officially launched its COVID-19 action plan last Friday to an audience of over 50 students at a virtual kickoff event.

The plan, described in an online petition that has garnered over 200 signatures, demands that the University update financial aid packages and bolster student access to health insurance and mental health services “in light of the multiple, overlapping crises” facing students amid the pandemic.

YDSA organizers emphasized that the suite of three demands — accounting for COVID-19-related financial changes when calculating aid packages, expanding Yale Health insurance coverage to students living outside of the state of Connecticut and allowing students to schedule Yale Mental Health and Counseling appointments and answer basic background questions through the online MyChart portal — was drafted with a view to student input and potential “winnability.”

“What [YDSA is] doing is really important and something FGLI students never really have the courage to ask for,” said Karen Li ’23, who recently completed her tenure as president of the Yale FGLI Advocacy Movement. “Now that FGLI students are finding our footing and realizing that we do have power, we can make demands

so that our time here can be spent enjoying college instead of worrying about finances all the time.”

Last September, YDSA members circulated a survey among networks of friends and classmates to solicit student input on the campaign. The proposed policies are also intended to align with an ongoing campaign promoted by the Democratic Socialists of America, a national political party which counts over 80,000 official members, to pressure the Biden administration to cancel student debt.

Yale YDSA’s campaign is coordinated with a coalition of seven partnering student organizations to broaden the base of support for the campaign. Those organizations include Disability Empowerment for Yale, the Endowment Justice Coalition, Students Unite Now, the Asian American Students Association, the Yale First-Gen and/or Low-income Advocacy Movement, the Yale Health Equity Initiative and Black Pre-Health Students at Yale.

“Even if we have some different goals, different tactics and different pieces of knowledge in our toolkit, when we work together we can achieve really wonderful results,” Jaroudi said.

YDSA’s first proposal demands that the Office of Financial Aid accept 2020 tax returns and other documents indicating significant changes to a student’s financial circumstances. Typically, students on financial aid submit household tax returns dating two years before their current application period.

That means that, per the usual pol-

icy, students applying for aid in the 2021 academic year would usually report family earnings from 2019 — which, student advocates contend, may not account for significant income losses incurred during the pandemic.

However, according to Director of Undergraduate Financial Aid Scott Wallace-Juedes, YDSA’s demand has already been met. Wallace-Juedes told the News that the Office of Undergraduate Financial Aid is encouraging families impacted by the pandemic to submit 2020 tax returns and supplementary explanations of their individual circumstances when applying for aid for the upcoming year. The Financial Aid Committee has completed more than 100 COVID-19-related reviews of individual financial aid packages since the beginning of the academic year, according to Wallace-Juedes.

“We are glad the financial aid office is taking steps to address COVID-related hardships, but we also believe that this information should be more widely publicized to the student body — this important information about updates to the application process should be accessible, so that students know they can take advantage of these positive changes,” Jaroudi wrote to the News after learning about the Financial Aid Office’s COVID-19 response.

The second proposal, responding to gaps in Yale Health insurance coverage created by the pandemic, asks the University to allow undergraduate students enrolled remotely or on a leave of absence to purchase the domestic “Approved

Academic Travel Rider” plan — a domestic short-term health coverage plan in place primarily for graduate students conducting research away from campus — and to subsidize its cost depending on the student’s financial circumstances.

Students who qualify for a $0 parent share financial aid package are also eligible for free Yale Hospitalization/Specialty Care coverage in addition to the basic health coverage available to all students.

But students on this package who are taking leaves of absence are no longer eligible for University-subsidized health insurance, leaving some forced to choose between paying a steep $7,332 for two semesters of Hospitalization/ Specialty Care coverage with the Yale Affiliate rates or going without health care coverage altogether.

YDSA advocates and supporters are also calling upon the University to allow students to schedule Mental Health and Counseling appointments and answer basic intake questions via MyChart, the platform currently in use by Yale New Haven Health that allows users to schedule COVID-19 tests, set up appointments and request prescriptions.

Unlike most other services provided by the Yale Health system, appointments with mental health counselors can only be made by phone — frequently resulting in multi-week wait times for intake appointments and even longer wait times to be matched with a provider.

“I frequently felt I had to pick between [my two student] jobs and my mental health care,” said Josh

Diaz ’21, a representative of Students Unite Now who spoke during the virtual event. “This is why I am fighting for Yale to decrease wait times and provide better mental health care for students.”

Yale Health Director Paul Genecin wrote in a previous statement to the News that Mental Health and Counseling is working to expand its use of scheduling options and will consider whether to include MyChart messaging and online requests for appointments in the coming year.

Interested students can express support for the campaign by posting on social media and circulating the petition, Reed added, in order to build public pressure on Yale administrators. Organizers have not yet initiated contact with administrators, but they emphasized that the demands are “very urgent” and require “immediate attention.”

Virtual organizing requires a different set of strategies than in-person campaigning, Saket Malhotra ’23 acknowledged. Malhotra, a co-moderator of the Asian American Students Association, said that the prior success of the “Universal Pass/Fail” grading policy campaign last spring has helped shape virtual organizing tactics.

The Democratic Socialists of America was founded in 1982.

Please read the full version of this story online at yaledailynews.com.

Contact EMILY TIAN at emily.tian@yale.edu and AMELIA DAVIDSON at amelia.davidson@yale.edu .

Yale-NUS Dean of Faculty elected as ABMR fellow

BY ADAM LEVINE STAFF REPORTER Yale-NUS Dean of Faculty Jeannette Ickovics was recently elected as a fellow of the Academy of Behavioral Medicine Research.

The ABMR is an international network of scholars whose work deals with behavioral medicine.

The forum allows top researchers to share their work with other leading scientists in the field. According to the ABMR website, fellows are chosen by a membership committee after being nominated by two current academy fellows for achieving “high levels of productivity, excellence and broad recognition for their accomplishments.” This year, eight scholars, including Ickovics, were selected to join the ABMR as academy fellows.

“As the premier honorary organization for scientists working at the interface of behaviour and medicine, I felt very humble and proud to be selected,” Ickovics wrote in an email to the News. “Many of the elected members are colleagues whose work I have admired throughout my career, and some I

have had the privilege of working with collaboratively.”

As a fellow, Ickovics will participate in the ABMR’s annual meeting — a conference for fellows to share their research and learn about new innovations in behavioral medicine — as well as present her work to other academy fellows and collaborate on new developments in the field of behavioral research.

Ickovics came to Yale in 1989 as a postdoctoral scholar and has remained at Yale for her entire career, now serving as the Samuel and Liselotte Herman professor of the social and behavioral sciences at the School of Public Health and a professor of psychology in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. She has also held the role of founding chair of the social and behavioral sciences at the School of Public Health and currently holds a deanship at Yale-NUS. “Yale has been an extraordinarily supportive place to foster the scientific careers of so many,” Ickovics wrote. “I have had the privilege to work with numerous brilliant colleagues, students and staff.

The research infrastructure at Yale

facilitates the entire process, from development of ideas and applying for grant funding through conduct of the studies and writing up/disseminating the results.”

Ickovics’ research spans a wide variety of subjects, such as maternal-child health, mental health and disease prevention. Recently, her research topics have included obesity and healthy living habits in New Haven and New Haven Public Schools, as well as risk reduction of HIV and STDs for women. Ickovics has also continued to mentor Yale postdoctoral scholars in HIV prevention research.

One of Ickovics’ greatest contributions, as pointed out by Dean of the School of Public Health Sten Vermund and associate research scientist at the School of Public Health Jessica Lewis, who was also mentored by Ickovics as a postdoc, is her founding of the Community Alliance for Research and Engagement, or CARE, with Southern Connecticut State University.

Through research and community engagement, CARE aims to improve the health of low-income communities in New Haven.

YALE NEWS

Ickovics, who has been at Yale in 1989, serves as a professor at the School of Public Health and the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.

According to Ickovics, she is dedicated to health equity and social justice, specifically for groups that are “often marginalized by the healthcare system and by society.”

“She was a very insightful psychologist looking at HIV prevention through a community lens,” Vermund said. “She was interested in community participatory research, and trying to get the community engaged in work. And that was, I think, ahead of its time, and it was obviously very much the right thing to do. … I think

the nature of her work, having been so engaging of the community, made a big impression on the professional association that gave her the award.”

The ABMR’s 2021 meeting will take place Oct. 7-11, and Ickovics will lead a discussion there called “Aging Starts in the Womb: Next Gen Pregnancy Research” alongside University of California, Irvine, professors Sonja Entringer and Pathik Wadhwa.

Contact ADAM LEVINE at a.levine@yale.edu .

PAGE 12

YALE DAILY NEWS · FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2021 · yaledailynews.com

THROUGH THE LENS

S

pring semester of each year at most higher education institutions is characterized by the acceptance and celebration of a new class of collegians. At Yale, this means the return of warm weather marks the excitement of acceptance day and Bulldogs Days, but this time is also one of departure. Each year, as Yale gains a new class of amazing students, including those from marginalized and low-income backgrounds, it also says farewell to a matured class of Black and brown seniors, ready to enter the world and begin the journey of making it a better place.

CASSIDY ARRINGTON reports.

PAGE 13

YALE DAILY NEWS · FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2021 · yaledailynews.com

NEWS

“A true Englishman doesn’t joke when he is talking about so serious a thing as a wager.”

JULES VERNE , “AROUND THE WORLD IN EIGHTY DAYS”

Reflecting on May Day and social justice in Black communities

BY ZAPORAH PRICE STAFF REPORTER More than 50 years after the Black Panther Party trial shook the Elm City, the trial’s legacies of Black activism and social justice are still alive in New Haven.

From July through October 2020, Artspace New Haven — a non-profit arts organization — showcased an exhibit that recognized the history and legacy of the Black Panther Party trial in the Elm City. The exhibit focused on the party’s chairman Bobby Seale, New Haven chapter founder Ericka Huggins and other party members.

“I felt very empowered, I felt very strong,” Elaine Lester, member of local anti-violence organization Ice the Beef, said of the Artspace exhibit. “It was really interesting … getting to know history, especially because it was [about] women [in the Black Panther Party].”

Lester, who is an incoming first year at Gateway Community College in New Haven, participated in an Ice the Beef video dedicated to Huggins and the women of the BPP that is part of the Artspace exhibit.

Chaz Carmon, president of Ice the Beef, said that filming the video on the New Haven Green — where many New Haven rallies, including the BPP May Day demonstrations, have occurred — was the “epitome of Ice the Beef.” He said the organization encourages New Haven youth to be organizers and activists, just like the Black community members that rallied on the Green over 50 years ago.

And on Yale’s campus, organizations including Black Students for Disarmament at Yale and the Black Student Alliance at Yale continue to carry out community-based initiatives advocating for social justice.

Panthers on Trial In 1970, BPP members including Seale and Huggins were tried for charges related to the death of Alex Rackley. Panthers members suspected Rackley of being an FBI informant in the age of COINTERPLO — a “Counter-Intelligence Program” created by the Federal Bureau of Intelligence to infiltrate radical groups like the Panthers. Rackley was tortured and killed by fellow BPP members Warren Kimbro, Lonnie McLucas and George Sams Jr., who were convicted of the crime, according to the New Haven Independent and Connecticut History.

But the trials of Seale and Huggins sparked national attention. The state charged both well-known Panther members with conspiracy to kill Rackley, and prosecutors sought the death penalty. Although Seale was in New Haven at the time of Rackley’s death, neither he nor Huggins was “present during the commission of the murder,” according to the Beinecke collections website. The trials lasted until May 1971, and all but three members — Kimbro, McLucas and Sams Jr. — were acquitted.

Seale’s trial ended in a hung jury and the judge ruled that the state could not retry Seale on the charges.

Yale Law School professor Elizabeth Hinton expressed how the BPP “profoundly shaped” Black culture and highlighted the party’s community-based efforts, including free breakfast programs and political education classes.

May Day demonstrations From May 1 to May 2 in 1970 — what would later become known as May Day weekend — over 15,000 Yale students, New Haveners and social justice leaders gathered on the New Haven Green to support Seale and Huggins. Activists held up posters that read “FREE BOBBY! FREE

ERICKA!” as one of many rallying calls addressing racial conditions in the United States. BPP members from across the country, including Abbie Hoffman and Jerry Rubin of the Chicago Seven, gave speeches on the Green.

A week prior to the mass demonstrations, then-University president Kingman Brewster Jr. issued a directive permitting Old Campus and the residential colleges to collectively house up to 13,000 guests. Residential college dining halls also provided meals to protesters, expecting to feed more than 25,000 people. The University gates remained open throughout the demonstrations.

According to archival coverage from the News, New Haven’s May Day demonstrations were largely peaceful — despite the thousands of protestors and presence of the National Guard.

“We sought to encourage the University … to be supportive of the notion that it was important for the Panthers to be given a fair trial,” Ralph Dawson ’71 told the News in an interview. “And also that it was important that the University step up and do what it can to help its neighbors, which was primarily the Black community in New Haven.”

Dawson is a founding member of the Black Student Alliance at Yale, and during the May Day demonstrations, he was a moderator for the student organization.

Dawson said that BSAY advocated for students to be involved in activism while also being peaceful during demonstrations. He said the organization worked closely with the University administration to “maintain a peaceful atmosphere” during their advocacy.

He also reflected on the important contributions BSAY made to Yale. Dawson said that as a minority group on campus, Black students during the time were “in effect, integrating an

WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

In 1970, BPP leaders and members were tried for charges related to the death of Alex Rackley. institution,” and recalled the role Black student activism played in the creation of the African American studies department and the founding of the Afro-American Cultural Center.

Black activism “Just thinking about BSAY, I’m really appreciative of the way it’s evolved,” Eden Senay ’22 told the News. “Our main goal is making sure that Black students feel as if they have a place where they can be safe, seen, and candidly respected.”

Senay is the current co-president of BSAY and said that the organization is currently working on multiple speaker series for the rest of the semester. Reflecting back on the generations of BSAY members who came before, Senay said it was “wonderful” to see the Black student population increase on campus and the many Black student-run organizations focused on social justice at Yale.

Jaelen King ’22 also highlighted the roles of other social justice organizations on campus.

“Fifty years ago, campus was a lot different,” King told the

News. “Seeing how many people have looked to do the [social justice] work in the past is inspiring because you know that you’re not alone in the fight, but it’s also frustrating in the sense that these cycles continue to repeat — and so now it’s really working towards how we address that.”

King, who is the president of the Black Men’s Union and the executive director of the Black Students for Disarmament at Yale, said his main goal as a student organizer is to support New Haven. In the BMU, King said members involve themselves in the community by tutoring local middle school students.

He expressed the importance of service and mentorship — in both the Yale community and the Elm City.

“I think activism doesn’t just mean showing up to protests,” King said. “Activism is being actively involved and seeing the community heal and grow.

The first cohort of Black students matriculated to Yale in 1964.

Contact ZAPORAH PRICE at zaporah.price@yale.edu .

NCAAW Penn State 69

NCAAM

No. 20 Arkansas 81

No. 6 Alabama 66

No. 15 Ohio State 67

NCAAM UConn 70 Georgetown 57

SPORTS BLACK YALE ATHLETICS ALUMNI ZOOM “AMPLIFIED VOICES” CONVERSATION Yale Bulldogs for Change, the Yale Women's Athletic Network and the Afro-American Cultural House collaborated to host four Black Yale athletics alumni for a Zoom conversation Wednesday night. For more, see goydn.com/YDNsports.

NBA Jazz 114 Lakers 89

FOR MORE SPORTS CONTENT, VISIT OUR WEB SITE goydn.com/YDNsports Twitter: @YDNSports YALE DAILY NEWS · FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2021 · yaledailynews.com

MEN’S LACROSSE GOALIE JACK STARR ’22 Like many other previous members of the class of 2021, Yale men’s lacrosse goalkeeper Jack Starr ’22 is currently on a leave of absence. Only three members of the original class are currently enrolled. For more, see goydn.com/YDNsports.

A collective history of “The Whale”

“He’s [Guarino is] like a son to me. He’s the toughest person I’ve ever met in my life. He loves our guys, and it’s the right move, and I couldn’t be happier for him.”

JOHN STUPER YALE BASEBALL HEAD COACH

Guarino leaves Yale baseball for UB

BY EUGENIO GARZA GARCIA STAFF REPORTER Beloved Yale baseball volunteer assistant coach Ray Guarino is leaving the Bulldogs after 12 years to accept a part-time assistant coach position at the University of Bridgeport, he confirmed with the News.

BASEBALL

ANASTHASIA SHILOV & ZULLY ARIAS/ILLUSTRATIONS EDITOR AND PRODUCTION & DESIGN EDITOR

Designed by Eero Saarinen ARC ’34, The Whale features a 76-foot-tall arch and a 300-foot backbone.

BY AMELIA LOWER STAFF REPORTER Ingalls Rink, renowned architectural wonder and home of Yale’s ice hockey teams since 1958, stands out not only as “The Whale,” but as the site of great wins, heartwarming memories and a vast range of stories — from a mid-concert bombing to game-changing mechanical errors.

A series of former players, announcers, coaches and arena staff members spoke with the News about their personal connections to Ingalls Rink over the course of 40 years, giv-

ing detailed accounts of their time spent within the rink, from their first encounter to their last visit. Designed by Eero Saarinen ARC ’34, The Whale features a 76-foot-tall arch and a 300foot backbone. It provides a 200-by-85-foot playing surface to Yale’s current ice hockey teams and intramural broomball enthusiasts.

Teddy Werner ’98, the former voice of Yale hockey on WYBC Radio who called games from The Whale as a student and is now currently a vice president with the MLB’s Milwaukee Brewers, expressed a sentiment shared by

With Yale now in Phase 3 of arrival quarantine, restrictions on off-campus movement are frustrating some on-campus runners, who are persisting with creative solutions to continue training.

RUNNING During the third phase of arrival quarantine, students can leave their residential colleges but are still expected to remain on campus and “not interact with the city of New Haven.”

Last November, when Yale announced new restrictions for on-campus students before Thanksgiving, undergraduates were similarly asked to avoid walks or runs into the city. A message from mid-January offered the same instructions when detailing Phase 3 requirements for this semester.

The Phase 3 restrictions are more lenient than Yale’s policies from Phase

For hockey alums, The Whale came “to life” Ingalls Rink was named after David S. Ingalls, class of 1920, and David S. Ingalls Jr. ’56, both former

SEE RUNNING PAGE 10

SEE INGALLS PAGE 10

COURTEST OF RAY GUARINO

Guarino, a West Haven native, first got involved with Yale baseball in 1996 with the help of Rob Farnen '98.

COURTESY OF USA BASKETBALL

USA finished 6–0 in the 2021 FIBA AmeriCup Qualifiers after two wins last weekend with James Jones as assistant coach.

BY JAMES RICHARDSON STAFF REPORTER Yale men’s basketball head coach James Jones was back on the hardwood last weekend — not for the Blue and White, but as an assistant coach for the Red, White and Blue.

BASKETBALL

COURTESY OF THOMAS NARDINI

Thomas Nardini ’24 took a four-mile run in the Saybrook courtyard, the only space he had access to, on Feb. 13.

328

SEE BASEBALL PAGE 10

Jones helps lead USA in AmeriCup

1 and 2 of arrival quarantine, when students were confined within their rooms and their residential colleges, respectively. While students in Phase 3 are now allowed access to spaces in Yale’s campus outside of their residential areas, they are expected not to go off campus and venture into areas including favored running spots such as East Rock and the Farmington Canal Heritage Trail. Runners voiced a spectrum of responses to the running regulations, from understanding to frustration.

One student, former member of Yale’s club running team Daniel Blatt ’21, said he moved off campus after living in Silliman last semester partially due to Yale’s regulations on running.

“It’s definitely a pretty mind-boggling policy,” Blatt said. “With a lot of runners it seemed pretty bizarre that Yale is restricting an activity that is so essential to students’ well-being and that poses such a low COVID risk.

There’s definitely a lot of frustration.”

STAT OF THE WEEK

Guarino, a West Haven native, first got involved with Yale baseball in 1996 when his friend and Yale’s then-shortstop, Rob Farnen ’98, helped him get a job assisting with Yale head coach John Stuper’s summer baseball camp. In 2010, Guarino formally became part of Yale’s coaching staff part time as a volunteer

assistant coach. Beside coaching baseball, he has been a seventh-grade teacher for more than 20 years at All Saints Catholic Academy in New Haven.

While Guarino may be leaving Yale, he will still be nearby, working as an assistant coach at Bridgeport under his friend Joe Tonelli and continuing his seventh-grade teaching.

“It’s more about the relationships and the friendships and the bonds that I have formed,” Guarino said about his time with Yale baseball. “Whether I’m an assistant coach at Yale or Bridgeport, or wherever, these are bonds that will never be broken, these are friendships that will last a lifetime for me and I cannot thank

many who have had the chance to visit The Whale.

“There are very few sports venues today that allow you to watch a game while feeling like you are going back in time,” Werner said.

“Ingalls Rink — with its stunning architecture, intimate charm and rich history — is one of those unique facilities.”

Runners adapt in monthlong quarantine

BY HAMERA SHABBIR CONTRIBUTING REPORTER

ECAC W HOCKEY No. 5 Colgate 5 St. Lawrence 0

The USA Basketball squad traveled to San Juan, Puerto Rico, last week to play their final two games in the 2021 FIBA AmeriCup Qualifiers. The team secured a 93–77 victory over the Bahamas on Friday, followed by a 96–75 win over Mexico on Saturday. Both games took place at the Coliseo Roberto Clemente, and Team USA qualified for the 2022 FIBA AmeriCup tourna-

ment, finishing the qualification round with a perfect record of 6–0.

“It was phenomenal,” Jones said of his return to the sidelines.

“Obviously I’d rather be with my team [the Bulldogs], but this is a great second to be around these guys experiencing something like this together for their country. It was quite thrilling.”

Forward Paul Atkinson ’21, who was slated to make his Team USA debut over the weekend, was forced to withdraw from the team after testing positive for COVID-19, according to a USA Basketball press release. Atkinson was replaced on the roster by Brandon Bass, who has 12 years of NBA experience.

Jones, who has been the Bulldogs’ head coach for 22 years, said that in Puerto Rico he did

“the same stuff I do with my [Yale] team,” just in the role of assistant coach.

Breaking from his usual role as head coach, Jones took on preparing the scouting report, or “scout,” which entails doing research on the team’s opponents, a task that is normally assigned to one of the assistant coaches for the Bulldogs.

In the first game of the weekend, Team USA got off to a hot start as two-time NBA All-Star Isaiah Thomas made three consecutive three-pointers in the first two minutes of the game.

But the Bahamas showed their resilience and made it difficult for the United States to put the game out of reach. The Bahamas pulled out all the stops on defense, showing the Americans switch-heavy man-to-man coverages, as well as multiple zone and press coverages. Team USA head coach Joe Prunty said after the game that he thought his team responded “well, not great” to these different defensive schemes. Prunty added that improvement would come as the team became more comfortable playing with each other.

“We had a very good week of practice, but it's different,” Prunty said. “Getting on the floor and playing in games is so important.”

At the Friday post-game press conference, both Prunty and Thomas expressed the importance of coming together and playing as a team. In a later interview with the News, Jones said that this was something that gradually happened throughout the week.

SEE BASKETBALL PAGE 10

NUMBER OF SHOTS MEN'S LACROSSE NETMINDER JACK STARR ’22 HAS MADE DURING HIS YALE CAREER.

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2021

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The show must go on. There are no bad audiences. Performing artists are trained to adapt, to keep their heads held high in the face of adversity. No one is allowed to peek underneath the mask to see the human behind the character, behind the voice, behind the movement. COVID-19 changed that. In the last 11 months, artists have had to reckon with their creative outlet being taken away from them without warning. For many performing artists at Yale, rehearsals and shows were an escape from the banalities of classes and work. Theaters and rehearsal rooms were spaces to exhale. Like-minded people came together to create something meaningful to be shared with the community. When the pandemic shuttered theaters across the country and across the globe, artists lost all of that. And for many, it was difficult to cope.

There is no set date as to when buildings will reopen and guidelines will be loosened.

Even if there were, live performing arts events are some of the last things that will become operational. While this dramatically impacts the livelihoods of professional actors and performers across the globe, it also affects those who simply find happiness in making art.

Yale’s closure in March, while not necessarily a shock, caused many undergraduate artists to put their projects on pause.

Jordi Bertrán ’24, currently on leave from Yale, is a member of the undergraduate hiphop group Rhythmic Blue and a board member of the Dramat. He was planning on being a part of five different productions in the spring semester as both an assistant director and a performer. The sheer number of projects Jordi was involved in was overwhelming. However, among artists on campus, this is somewhat commonplace. Many artists are involved in more than one project at once, in both onstage and behind-the-scenes roles.

They are in a state of constant motion, running from classes to meetings to rehearsals.

It’s not exactly the easiest path to chart at Yale, but for many, it is the most rewarding.

As the announcement came over spring break that undergraduates would not be allowed to return to campus to finish the semester, artists were forced to have difficult conversations. Leadership on each project had to evaluate whether they wanted to postpone their opening night until a theoretical future semester, adapt to a virtual landscape or cancel their show altogether.

What made matters more difficult was the fact that the class of 2020 was graduating before any in-person events would possibly occur. Projects involving seniors would have to recast roles if they were to continue in the future. As a result of this, many projects were scrapped.

One such project was Y2K: A Survivalist Musical. A senior thesis project for Dylan Schifrin ’20, a music major, the show became oddly resonant in the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It was funny to look back on our Facebook posts the creative team and I made when we

were holding auditions,” the show’s director, Alexandra Thomas ’21, remembers. “I made a post that said: ‘Barring the world coming to an end before it happens, I will be directing Dylan Schifrin’s musical, Y2K.’ I was like, ‘Oh no, I jinxed myself!’”

Claire Sattler ’23, a cast member, reflects on the cast’s experience in hearing the news about not returning to campus. “We still kind of had some hope that we would do the show at some point because the cast was all juniors and younger,” she said. The cast attempted to reschedule their opening for the fall of 2020.

“And then things just didn’t get better, and we all together realized, ‘Yeah, this isn’t going to happen.’” Months of hard work went down the drain almost instantaneously.

Artists put so much of themselves into their work, and to see that work amount to nothing was devastating for many. Reframing the idea of performance was difficult and took a lot of time and some artists never wanted to explore virtual options for performance. Cancelling projects altogether could be easier than seeing some alternate version of a project that had been thoroughly planned for an in-person experience.

As the semester ended and the summer began, hope began to creep into artists’ hearts. Thomas began planning her own senior thesis: directing a play she had discovered in the second semester of her first year. “My show was happening in the spring [of 2021], so I was very optimistic, and trying to hold onto the hope that things would find some normalcy again,” she said. “If there wasn’t a way to do a performance as usual, then maybe we could do a performance while masked.” When the announcement came in July that certain students would not be allowed to return to campus in the fall, projects were once again up in the air. The Singing Group Council released a statement in response to the administration’s announcement: “We have officially canceled A Cappella Rush for the 2020-2021 academic year. Auditions will next take place in Fall 2021.” Talking is one of the easiest ways to spread COVID-19, and singing is even worse, so the decision of the SGC was inevitable.

This decision had dramatic effects on the morale of a cappella groups on campus.

Rachel Ababio ’22, a member of the all-female a capella group The New Blue, had difficulty imagining what a virtual semester would look like while making music. “I struggled to see a school year or semester where we could maintain the same musical level so many miles apart.”

Many a cappella groups participated in a virtual jam similar to the event normally held at the beginning of the school year. Each group recorded their own performance however they could, and the videos were then put together and streamed for the Yale community. The event went well; it allowed for musicians to gather and do what they enjoy most, albeit virtually. Once that event con-

cluded, though, many groups did not know what else to do. Sattler, in addition to being involved in theater, is also a part of Proof of the Pudding, another a cappella group on campus. She helped to edit the group’s submission for the jam, and greatly enjoyed the experience, as it channeled a new aspect of her creativity. “But oh my God, it took so much time!” she said. “After doing it once, I was like, ‘That was fun. I never have time to do that again.’”

The a cappella jam at the beginning of every academic year is normally used as a recruiting event to show first years what each a cappella group is like. In a year where no a cappella auditions were being held, first years had limited options. Those that wanted to sing had to find other avenues. Other artists fared slightly better, but the experience was still very different from the normal firstyear experience.

Bobby Gonzalez ’24 danced in high school and was looking forward to continuing to dance at Yale. Gonzalez was encouraged to audition for Rhythmic Blue by a member of his pre-orientation group, Cultural Connections, and was admitted. After the audition, though, the dance group became less of a part of his Yale semester than he anticipated.

“I was left kind of disappointed because I had such a good experience with the performing arts, especially dance, in high school.” He doesn’t blame the group itself for his feelings. “It’s just not the same as dancing with people in the studio.”

In the fall, many remote Yale students moved to cities across the country and worked on political campaigns during the 2020 Presidential election. Others lived at home, working remote internships or local jobs. Some artists also made the difficult decision to take time off of Yale, including Bertran. He waffled over the decision to take a gap year up until the day the form was due. He had a number of concerns about how the decision would affect his future education and performance ability.

“I didn’t want to lose my trajectory and my momentum from first year.”

Momentum is certainly a resonant concept for many artists at Yale. When performing, it often feels like one show rolls into the next. Artists learn and grow from each performance, and as the number of performances increases, so do confidence and technical skill. A break sets artists back to square one. And when the break has no end in sight, artists struggle immensely with what to do. Bertran knew that he would lose the communal bonding that naturally comes with performing in a group. “But at the same time,” he said, “I think part of me chose Yale because of its art scene. And I would have been remiss to let that opportunity go and lose a year of performance and experience with other Yalies.”

During his time off, Bertran has not been entirely disconnected from the Yale performing arts scene. He was a part of a textually-modified production of Jason Rob-

ert Brown’s “Songs for a New World,” titled “Our New World” by Madison Cole ’23.

The performance, available on YouTube, recasts and presents iconic songs from musical theater history to create a new narrative about the isolated world. Each artist recorded visuals for their performance and then dubbed over their vocals to create a more sonically pleasing experience. Sattler also performed in this production. She also was a set designer for Catherine AlamNist’s original work, “Dominion.” The play examines the hero narrative that pervades in Shakespeare’s “Troilus and Cressida” and Homer’s “The Iliad,” as well as the role women play in those shows. Because “Dominion” is written in modern English, performers and audience members were able to directly analyze the characters portrayed onstage.

Artists have often made their voices heard in times of crisis. During the resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement that occurred over the summer, artists at Yale aimed the magnifying glass at racist policies and practices in their own fields. They had to grapple with an environment that made BIPOC individuals feel unwelcome, as well as other issues of accessibility. As the Outreach Coordinator on the Dramat executive board, Bertran has made a conscious effort to consistently engage in dialogue surrounding issues in theater. Change is a long time coming in the Dramat, according to Bertran.

“There are so many barriers to accessibility in theater that we’re really trying to interrogate and break down,” he said. “We have that time this year now that we’re not performing virtually.”

As the spring semester has begun and the population on campus has increased again, performances are slowly picking up. Thomas’s senior thesis, a production of McLaughlin’s “Ajax in Iraq” that she is directing, premieres in mid-April. The show examines PTSD and how veterans are perceived in liberal society. Ababio, while rehearsing and performing with The New Blue, auditioned and was subsequently admitted to the Yale Whiffenpoofs, which she will be a part of in the 2021-2022 academic year. Sattler used her time away from classes in December to begin writing an original play based on the game Dungeons and Dragons, called “Roll With It!” The show is scheduled to premiere in May. The pandemic forced artists at Yale to pause and evaluate how much of a blessing art is, as well as how fragile it can feel. But Yale actors, dancers and musicians remain hopeful that their artforms will long outlive the current historical moment. “Oftentimes people think of theater as the dying art,” Bertran said. “But I think the fact that it’s been dying for hundreds and hundreds of years shows its resilience.”

Contact CAMDEN RIDER at camden.rider@yale.edu.

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YALE DAILY NEWS · FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2021 · yaledailynews.com

WEEKEND POWER

!"#$%#&'()#*$+,#-&!"#$%&'()*)+,)%-.)%+&&./0 I’ve always found comfort in expressing myself creatively, and with loads of extra time on my hands during the first lockdown last March, I quickly fell back in love with an old passion of mine: painting.

Not only did painting allow me to briefly escape the loneliness of quarantine and the anxieties surrounding an uncertain future, it gave me a voice when I felt powerless.

Following the heartbreaking murder of George Floyd and subsequent uproar in the media that took place in late May of last year, a feeling of despair came over me as I sat alone in my room watching the news, sorrowful yet numb. The horrifying headlines and social media hashtags were just another painful reminder of the enduring mark of structural racism in the United States and its impact on the Black community.

Stuck in my own head, I battled familiar feelings of fear, hurt, and helplessness that grew deeper each time I saw another Black life become a hashtag. I was at a loss for words, so I decided to turn to art.

This time was different, though. I wasn’t only painting to distract myself from my restless mind; my focus was on creating art that would really ignite change.

My work has since been centered around depicting the beauty and power of Blackness as I strive to positively represent Black people through my favorite mediums. I hope to challenge societal interpretations of ideal beauty and Blackness, highlighting the resilience, diversity and natural artistry that exists within the Black community and Black culture.

WKND RECOMMENDS Highschool Musical.

ONLINE THIS WEEK: 1 HOUR AND 46 MINUTES OF AN ARGUMENT: Dilge Buksur ‘24 reviews Malcolm and Marie.

YALE DAILY NEWS · FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2021 · yaledailynews.com

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WEEKEND #2

A Game of Thrones // BY LUCAS ZHENG

In 2018 at the Guggenheim, a 14 karat, solid gold flush toilet weighing 103 kilograms was installed in one of its public bathrooms for free public use. Titled “America,” the piece was conceived, cast and placed by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan.

The piece echoes Marcel Duchamp’s “Fountain” from 1917: a urinal turned on its back and signed by the infamous Dada artist. Understandably, people were shocked. What’s it like to pee in a toilet you’d only expect in Scrooge McDuck’s mansion? Is this even art? Like all everyday objects, toilets seem mundane and even deplorable — nobody says, “You’re more beautiful than a toilet!” How much is there to know about toilets, after all?

It’s no wonder toilets get a bad rap, since it’s the place where we privately (and embarrassingly) dispose of our excrement. It’s not like our society and culture help the toilet’s public image. In movies, toilets are where bullies shove the heads of losers, where loners go to eat lunch at work, where people go to cry, where druggies go to shoot up, where

lever, the valve settles to its original place, blocking the flow again.

The bowl of the toilet is usually made out of one whole piece of porcelain. Porcelain is used due to its durable, impermeable and stainless nature that captivated Western traders in China in the 1600s. Standing water in the bowl acts as a receptacle for waste as well as a barrier to fumes escaping from the sewer. When the water from the “stem” of the flushometer reaches the bowl, the water enters the pot through small drainage holes poked at different angles in the top rim, allowing the water to swirl around the sides and clean off the grime.

Even without knowing about all this elegant engineering, toilets are bona fide works of sculpture. Following the same production process as pottery, modern toilets are made by pouring about 20 kilograms of a clay and mineral mixture into two separate plaster molds, one for the rim and one for the bowl. After drying in the mold’s shape, the clay is glazed with different colors and then fired in a kiln to around 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit. The usual color of the toilet, a bright white, lends it a clean and sanitary look that subconsciously reassures people when they pop a squat.

Most toilets flush in the key E-flat minor (think Stevie Wonder’s “Superstition”), with the exception of airplane toilets, which flush in C. A small museum in Columbus, Indiana, claims to hold the “world’s largest toilet,” where you yourself can experience being flushed down the drain.

Naturally, at this point you might wonder where the bottom hole, the “black pit” of poop and pee, leads to. The piping at the bottom of the toilet bowl is “~” shaped, with the bottom of the bowl on the right and the rest of the public sewage system on the left.

The pool of standing water at the bottom

there’s a private, intimate space that traps you inside with its four stall walls. We even have a lot of euphemisms for toilets: latrine, restroom, water closet, the throne, the can, the shitter, etc., all evasive or crass in their connotation. As banal and as rotten as our perception of toilets are, we tend to overlook the beauty of the toilet — the art in its design.

Most public flush toilets can be split up into two halves: the flushometer (the “handle”) and the bowl. Imagine the flushometer as a “F” shaped tube (the middle bar representing the lever and the rest of the shape representing pipes). The main public water supply system feeds into the top right corner of the F while the bottom of the F (aka the bottom of the “stem”) leads down to the toilet bowl. Separating the top bar of the F and the stem of the F inside of the pipes is a valve maintaining a pressure differential between the two chambers of the F. When you pull down the lever of the flushometer, it displaces the valve, letting around 1 1/2 gallons of water from the main supply flow down the stem of the F. When you let go of the

of the bowl reaches around the ~ without spilling over the left hump. After water from the flushometer reaches the bottom, the water level in the bowl rises, pushing the preexisting dirty water from the bowl further down the pipe and triggering a siphoning action. The force of the water plus the siphon pressure brings the dirty water over the left hump of the ~ into the public sewage system while remaining water from the flushometer takes its place as the standing water in the toilet bowl. Efficient, sanitary and beautiful.

Flush toilets have been used since ancient times across the world from the Stone Age to today. The first flush toilet, found in a Neolithic settlement in northern Scotland, was flushed by pouring pails of water down to drain away the excrement. Similarly, ancient toilets from the Indus Valley River Civilization and the Roman Empire relied on a constant flow of water (either from a river or from a sanitation system) to wash the waste away, lacking the satisfying flush we have today. The ruins of a communal latrine remain in Ostia Antica, the ancient port of Rome. The marble thrones sit side by side and line three sides of a large brick room, making intimate “group poops” possible.

A trough running across the front of each individual toilet would hold the communal sponges — the toilet paper of the time — cleaned by enslaved people with vinegar.

The first big step towards the modern toilet was made by Sir John Harington, a noble in 16th-century England. This design had

a lever that let out water from a tank to “flush” the bowl and directly drop the waste down into a separate chamber to be dumped out. Only after the Industrial Revolution, when Scottish watchmaker Alexander Cumming pioneered the ~ shaped pipe, would toilets start becoming commonplace.

At the first World’s Fair in 1851, the first public flush toilets ever installed were a huge hit, attracting over 800,000 visitors. It wasn’t until 1884 that English pottery manufacturer Thomas Twyford put the first single-piece, free-standing ceramic flush toilet out for public sale. “Pleasant to the eye,” easily cleaned, simple in design and affordable, the toilet finally became a utility for everybody. Democracy at last!

The other part of the modern toilet we know today dates to 1906, when William Elvis Sloan patented the flushometer, speeding up the time in between flushes. Even today, toilets are making technological leaps and bounds. Across America, dual-flush toilets and flushometers like the Sloan “Uppercut” are being installed to save water.

In this sense, the modern flush toilet can be seen as the amalgamation of thousands of years of world history and science: a con-

fluence of art and technology across space and time from the ancient Indians to British industrial thinkers, from Roman sewage systems to Qing Chinese porcelain.

When you think about art, you usually think of a museum object. Whether it be a painting, a photograph, a sculpture or a film, it’s in someplace special, on a pedestal away from home. Maybe even a few high-brow professors, snobby art critics and famous painters come to mind. Art seems like a mysterious world (Why is that famous? My 2-year-old could do that!), closed-off (What does that even mean?) and only for the elite (they paid that much for that painting?).

However, what’s most often overlooked is the art in everyday objects that we always encounter but never recognize. The toilet is only one story among thousands. Enjoying art doesn’t have to be in a museum or at a university. It can start with appreciating the obvious things that make your life flush smoothly.

Contact LUCAS ZHENG at lucas.zheng@yale.edu.

ONLINE THIS WEEK: WKND RECOMMENDS Highschool Musical: The Musical: The Series.

“21 INNA BABLYON”: Durel Crosby Sankofa finds poetry in coming of age.

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YALE DAILY NEWS · FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2021 · yaledailynews.com

WEEKEND MCR

great value punk great value punk // BY KADIATOU KEITA

It was hard growing up punk on a budget. Punk then emo because my middle school pubescent rage turned into awkward angst once I started high school. It’s a strange sentiment because ideally, being part of the punk subculture was never supposed to be something one could or couldn’t afford. After emigrating to the states, I grew up in the Bronx, New York. It was arguably the best and worst place to be Black and punk in the early 2000s. It was great because of all the subsidized clothing stores, which provided a variety of cheap, oddly sized, handme-down pieces one could style.

If I looked hard enough on construction sites or for the remnants of stolen bike pieces on parking poles, I could score cool bike chains and metal pieces. I would hang those metal chains randomly on my clothes. The Bronx is predominantly Black and brown. Punk was always marketed as a “white people activity,” and being a third culture kid was already enough to isolate me. Wearing my mom’s hairline filler around my eyes as black eyeshadow was another

WKND RECOMMENDS Highschool Musical: The Musical: The Series: The Soundtrack.

level of “We’re definitely not hanging out with you.”

Luckily for me, I was shameless about it. I once swiped a thick silver metal bike chain off the street while accompanying my aunt grocery shopping. She walked on the opposite sidewalk and ignored me the entire time, but I felt good. I stepped heavily just to feel the chain bounce against my hip. I was comfortable in this adopted identity. An identity that was once for the imposter, the outcast in society. I didn’t know how deep punk runs in Blackness. What I did know was that I obviously stood out, and I had control over it.

My punk was Black. It said, “Screw the monolith image made in the media and be plenty like the many different Black people that exist.” Black and punk because it was meant for you. I wore the chain constantly until it mysteriously disappeared in the wash.

It was either my younger sister or my aunt; they hated being seen with me wearing that chain. There was a huge Latinx and Hispanic Goth community, but my mom raised me Guinean, which meant no over-consumption of “Amer-

ican ideals.” I couldn’t participate in the late-night parties and drives they would organize. I couldn’t sneak out like the radical teens in the movies and craft spells in dark clothing like the young witches in “The Craft.” I tell myself I wasn’t a fan of standing under bridges at strange times of night, so I don’t feel I missed out. I was sated with the snippets of punk or rock musicians I would find on SoundCloud or sketchy MP3 apps.

Despite being concerned, my mom and aunt supported my antics. If I was upset, they watched me patiently hide in closets and clothing crates. We were displaced often, and the six of us lived in a one-room apartment, so there was never a place to be upset alone. Privacy was the one thing I saw in those movies and punk magazines that I couldn’t relate to. Punk in the movies preached about breaking free from norms, decorating your own space with what you want and expressing yourself. I wonder how strange I might’ve looked to them — crying in a basket of clothes with a lid on, crying about the brackets among brackets of expectations both in my old

and new culture.

My family was thankful though. My mom says when I came to the states, I kept everything inside. I never complained even when things turned for the worse. She said I didn’t eat or talk; I just pulled my hair out. They knew I was doing better when I started to express myself — no matter how strangely. The emotions were the one thing I got right. I would listen to Green Day, AFI, Muse, Slipknot to scream and lament despite still learning the language. I would cry with My Chemical Romance and Black Veil Brides. I still listen to a lot of my favorite bands when I feel like an imposter, especially now, attending a predominantly white institution. I am reminded that while I am an impostor, I am not worse off. I will occupy a space not meant for me and express myself loudly because I deserve it. Last Halloween, I dressed up as my middle-school self decked out in Slipknot merch and wore all the things I wanted to wear — things I couldn’t when I was young.

Contact KADIATOU KEITA at kadiatou.keita@yale.edu.