In honor of Black History Month, the Office of Multicultural Affairs (OMA) hosted an opening ceremony at The LaB on Feb. 1. The ceremony featured poets Aja Monet, Dominique Christina and Mecca Verdell as the opening act. This was the first in a series of events that will be held throughout Hopkins during the month of February.
The Baltimore City Council voted to approve a bill that would require trash incinerators in the city to either abide by stricter environmental regulations or shut down on Monday, Feb. 4. After a two-month long process that started on Nov. 19, 2018, the Land Use and Transportation Committee voted unanimously on Jan. 30 to send the bill to the full City Council for approval. After the City Council passed the bill 12-1, a final vote remains and is to be held on Feb. 11.
The Student Government Association (SGA) listened to a presentation on public safety legislation by University officials and endorsed a walkout organized by the Hopkins Coalition Against ICE during their weekly meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 5.
University officials released the first draft of a bill that would grant Hopkins the authority to establish its own police force on Wednesday. The News-Letter also independently obtained an earlier draft of the bill that same day. The draft is the first piece of proposed legislation released to the public since March 2018 and includes several revisions, such as the creation of an Accountability Board, an expanded definition of “campus area” and a timeline for implementing a police department.
Members of the Hopkins community gathered on Wednesday to listen to a panel about Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and its contracts with the University. The four panelists included an expert on migration, an organizer for CASA de Maryland, a volunteer with Sanctuary Streets of Baltimore, and Drew Daniel, the Hopkins English professor who organized a petition protesting the JHU-ICE contracts.
Within hours of the University announcing its plan to create a private police force last March, several student activist groups organized to form Students Against Private Police (SAPP). Within days, SAPP had organized one of the largest protests on campus and marched to President Ronald J. Daniels’ house. By the end of the month, SAPP had lobbied legislators in Annapolis and circulated a petition which garnered over 2,300 signatures. This semester, they continue to coordinate efforts against the formation of a police force.
Last spring members of the Maryland General Assembly refused to support a bill that would allow Hopkins to create a private police force. Lawmakers called on University officials to conduct an interim study and engage in more substantial community outreach if they wanted to reintroduce a bill in the future.
The University announced its $372.5 million purchase of the Newseum building in Washington, D.C. on Friday. The Newseum, located at 555 Pennsylvania Ave., is a museum dedicated to raising awareness about free speech and journalistic freedom. It is managed by the Freedom Forum, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the First Amendment.
University President Ronald J. Daniels and Dean of Medical Faculty Paul B. Rothman announced the Interim Study Report on Hopkins public safety in an email on Dec. 21. The report includes feedback from University employees, students and staff.
At the end of the fall semester, student leaders from various organizations had the opportunity to speak directly with administrators in closed meetings, give feedback and ask questions about the proposed police force.
Hundreds of Baltimore residents and Hopkins students gathered at City Hall on Jan. 19 for the third annual Women’s March. Speakers highlighted women’s recent political gains, protested the Trump administration’s policies and outlined various challenges women in Baltimore face, before leading demonstrators through War Memorial Plaza.
Governors Chris Sununu (R-N.H.), Tom Wolf (D-Pa.) and Larry Hogan (R-Md.) discussed bipartisanship in an era of division on Monday at the Parkway Theater. PBS Managing Editor Judy Woodruff presented the talk, titled “Divided Nation, United States.” The Stavros Niarchos Foundation Agora Institute sponsored the event.
Vice Provost Sunil Kumar informed the Hopkins community on an email sent on Friday, Dec. 14 that the University is drafting a policy regarding personal relationships, particularly between students and professors. The Draft Personal Relationships Policy defines personal relationships as dating, romantic, and sexual relationships. The University is currently soliciting feedback on the draft.
The Office of Residential Life and the Office of Student Financial Services announced a new compensation plan for Residential Advisors (RA) in response to concerns that RAs are not paid equitably. The plan, which was announced on Thursday, will take effect in the 2019-2020 school year. RAs will be considered student employees and receive a yearly $5,100 stipend. In addition, their housing will now be considered non-taxable income, and therefore it will not affect financial aid.
The Office of Institutional Equity (OIE) announced on Wednesday that an issue with its website had mistakenly blocked it from receiving 18 reports of sexual misconduct, which took place between January 2016 and October 2018.
A Place to Talk (APTT), a student-run peer listening service, and the Student Government Association (SGA) hosted the “Dimensions of Connection” speaker event in Hodson Hall on Saturday. The event focused on the importance of empathy and human connection in everyday interactions.
Around 100 students, faculty and community members gathered outside of the Milton S. Eisenhower Library (MSE) on Thursday to demand that the University reform how the Office of Institutional Equity (OIE) handles cases of sexual violence. Demonstrators also called on administrators to take action against Anthropology Professor Juan Obarrio, who has been accused of sexually assaulting a visiting graduate student in May.
The student-run organization, TEDxJHU, held its annual fall salon event on Wednesday. The event, titled “Postscript” featured three student speakers.
Activist and historian Barbara Ransby discussed her upcoming book, Making All Black Lives Matter: Reimagining Freedom in the Twenty-First Century, which examines the future of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement, on Wednesday at Red Emma’s Bookstore and Coffeehouse.
Five panelists discussed ways to help end violence in Baltimore this Wednesday in the final event of the University-led discussion series on policing. The event aimed to approach the issue of crime in Baltimore from a public health perspective and to focus on the University’s relationship with the city.
