News & Features

SGA removes Executive President from office

By RUDY MALCOM
February 21, 2019

The Student Government Association (SGA) voted to remove Executive President Noh Mebrahtu from office at their weekly meeting on Tuesday. The three-hour-long impeachment hearing was closed to the student body in accordance with SGA’s constitution.  ...

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FILE PHOTO Over 90 faculty have signed the open letter in opposition to a police force.

Over 100 professors oppose private police

By MEAGAN PEOPLES | February 21, 2019

Over 100 University faculty members have signed an open letter in opposition to Senate Bill (SB) 793 and House Bill (HB) 1094, which would allow Hopkins to create its own private police force. As of Feb. 20, 104 faculty had signed the letter.

Guest lecturer discusses Baltimore Public Schools

By DRAKE FOREMAN | February 21, 2019

Sarah Warren, the executive director of the Office of the Whole Child Services and Supports in Baltimore, gave a guest lecture during a class titled Health and Wellbeing in Baltimore: A Public Health Perspective. Warren discussed the importance of taking a holistic approach to improving student outcomes in Baltimore City Public Schools (BCPS).

Sarah Warren addressed issues in Baltimore County Public Schools. COURTESY OF DRAKE FOREMAN
Erlendy Cuero Bravo advocates for human rights in Columbia. EDA INCEKARA/PHOTO EDITOR

Foreign Affairs Symposium invites Afro-Colombian human rights activist

By JAMES SCHARF and RIA ARORA | February 21, 2019

The Foreign Affairs Symposium (FAS) opened its first event of the semester with Erlendy Cuero Bravo, a Colombian human rights activist who focuses on the plights of Afro-Colombians, on Monday. Cuero Bravo is the recipient of this year’s Anne Smedinghoff Award, named for a Hopkins alumna, former FAS executive direcotr and diplomat who was killed in Afghanistan.

Professor explores the power of personal essays

By IDOIA DIZON and JERRY WU | February 21, 2019

Tressie McMillan Cottom, a sociologist and assistant professor at Virginia Commonwealth University, talked about her new memoir Thick, a collection of essays on politics, culture and life as a black woman, at Red Emma’s on Tuesday. Cottom has appeared on The Daily Show and the Still Processing podcast. Her writing has been published in The Atlantic and The New York Times. 

Confronting the history of blackface at Hopkins

By EMILY MCDONALD | February 21, 2019

Colleges and universities across the country are grappling with racist images within their yearbooks following the discovery of a photo depicting a man in blackface and another in Ku Klux Klan (KKK) robes on Va. Governor Ralph Northam’s medical school yearbook page.

COURTESY OF HULLABALOO The image of 3 students in KKK robes was found in a 1961 yearbook.

Talk examines the rise of European populism

By JAKE LEFKOVITZ | February 21, 2019

Cas Mudde, professor at the University of Georgia’s School of Public and International Affairs, gave the 12th annual Government and Opposition Leonard Schapiro Memorial Prize Lecture at the School of Advance International Studies (SAIS) on Thursday, Feb. 14. The talk was titled “Populism in Europe: An Illiberal Democratic Response to Undemocratic Liberalism,” and was introduced by Erik Jones, the co-editor of comparative politics journal Government and Opposition and the director of the European and Eurasian Studies program at SAIS. 

Panelists discuss green and sustainable jobs

By SABRINA ABRAMS and KATERINA FRYE | February 21, 2019

The Career Center hosted a series of events showcasing and promoting careers in the nonprofit sector last week. Aimed at exposing students to opportunities in the nonprofit and environmental industries, the Nonprofit Career Week included a Connecting Green Jobs panel and a Careers with a Cause employment fair.

COURTESY OF SABRINA ABRAMS The career centered hosted a panel who discussed jobs in the sustainability sector.

Protesters oppose banks funding private prisons

By RACHEL JUIENG | February 21, 2019

Protestors representing the Families Belong Together coalition participated in a demonstration called “Valentine’s Day Playdate and Protest #breakupwithprivateprisons” on Feb. 14 outside of the Wells Fargo in downtown Baltimore. Though the demonstration was supposed to last 12 and a half hours, police arrived to break up the protest after about 30 minutes.

Students on security advisory committee share perspectives

By MICHAEL TRAUTMANN RODRIGUEZ | February 21, 2019

The University announced in an email to the student body in September that it planned to create a Student Advisory Committee for Security (SACS). Applications for SACS opened that month, and selected students were notified of their appointment to the Committee on Oct. 30. The Committee met twice, once in November and once in December, before the University released the names of the selected students on the Security website on January 28.

Baltimore activist groups discuss legislative session

By CLAIRE GOUDREAU | February 14, 2019

The Baltimore chapter of Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ) held its annual Legislative Day on Saturday at St. Mark’s Lutheran Church to educate voters on initiatives and bills related to racial justice. The event featured speakers from five different Baltimore activist groups including: the Baltimore Transit Equity Coalition (BTEC); CASA de Maryland; and Campaign for Justice, Safety and Jobs (CJSJ). 

COURTESY OF SABRINA ABRAMS L.A. Kauffman has worked as a grassroots organizer for 35 years.

Activist discusses how to hold a successful protest

By RACHEL JUIENG | February 17, 2019

Writer L.A. Kauffman gave a talk on her new book, How to Read a Protest: The Art of Organizing and Resistance, at Red Emma’s on Wednesday. Kauffman, who has worked in grassroots activism for more than 35 years, details the history of mass demonstration in the U.S in her book.

Homewood Museum event discusses the history of chocolate

By KATERINA FRYE | February 14, 2019

In the spirit of Valentine’s Day, the Homewood Museum invited food historian Joyce White to present an event titled “Chocolate Through Time” on Wednesday, Feb. 13. White presented different ways of making chocolate throughout history and discussed the evolution of chocolate recipes. She invited attendees to taste samples of chocolate, giving each audience member a box of chocolates at different stages of production.

COURTESY OF TED TAK Participants were told at the event to come up with discussion questions.

OMA discussion explores black diaspora relations

By TED TAK | February 14, 2019

The Office of Multicultural Affairs (OMA) hosted an event on Saturday called “Black Diaspora Relations at Hopkins.” The event aimed to encourage students to have conversations about how the mass dispersion of people from Africa during the Transatlantic Slave Trade from the 1500s to the 1800s impacts black diaspora communities today.

Why are we having less sex today than ever before?

By ALYSSA WOODEN | February 14, 2019

Based on the media’s depiction of young adults, one would think that all college and high school students are having a lot of sex all the time. There are entire TV shows that focus on the sex lives of teenagers. But recent survey data seem to suggest that people are having a lot less sex than we think they are.

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NIH Director explores the ethics of gene editing technology

By JAE CHOI and JOHN FRYE | February 14, 2019

Dr. Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), discussed the medical and ethical implications of modern biomedical research as part of the Milton S. Eisenhower (MSE) Symposium on Tuesday. Collins focused on recent scientific advances in gene-editing technologies that could open up the possibility for therapeutic treatments that operate at the level of patients’ genomes.

SGA Executive President to face impeachment hearing

By DIVA PAREKH | February 14, 2019

During the Student Government Association (SGA) weekly meeting on Tuesday, Executive Vice President AJ Tsang presented impeachment charges against Executive President Noh Mebrahtu. Mebrahtu will face an impeachment hearing during SGA’s next weekly meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 19. This hearing will be closed to the student body, as required by SGA’s constitution.

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COURTESY OF ALEX KLEIN

Police force bill includes youth program funding

By MEAGAN PEOPLES | February 15, 2019

Last week, lawmakers introduced bills to both the Senate and the House of the Maryland General Assembly that would allow Hopkins to create its own private police force. These bills, Senate Bill (SB) 793 and House Bill (HB) 1094, also include millions of dollars in appropriations for Baltimore City youth programs, including the Baltimore Children and Youth Fund, an organization launched in 2016 to support youth leadership and the Baltimore City YouthWorks Summer Jobs Program, which connects underserved youth with paying summer jobs.