The opinions presented below are solely the views of the author and do not represent the views of The News-Letter. If you are a member of the Hopkins community looking to submit a piece or a letter to the editor, please email opinions@jhunewsletter.com.
Though the semester is just beginning, clubs and student organizations are already deep in planning for their big events of the spring, from the Barnstormers’ annual musical to Homecoming Weekend. It’s impossible not to be reminded of upcoming events – any walk around campus or a scroll through social media features flyers and notifications.
Here we are, halfway through another school year. To my Hopkins readers, congratulations! You’ve made it this far. Stick it out, and Spring Fair will be right around the corner before you know it. To my readers in Baltimore and around the world, thanks for joining me as I tackle another semester at The News-Letter through your eyes.
The U.S. finds itself at the center of what is becoming a constitutional crisis with the potential to set precedent for generations to come. The animosity and tribalistic fog that pervades politics has been steeping for as long as I can remember.
Neither of us ever really imagined ourselves joining a fraternity or sorority in college. However, when we noticed those in Fraternity and Sorority Life (FSL) who are incredibly involved on campus, we realized, as many do, that going through recruitment might be a worthwhile experience.
We know that rape is bad. That’s not what we’re here to say — if you have an ounce of morals, you know that, so we don’t have to tell you to stay away from fraternities with a history of sexual assault allegations.
Since 1998, the Program of Women, Gender, and Sexuality (WGS) has given students and faculty the space they need to engage with interdiscplinary feminist and queer scholarship — scholarship that has long been overlooked and undervalued.
When I started recording data on the number of different types of perspectives represented in The News-Letter, I wanted to give editors a benchmark to measure the scope of each week. That’s not to say they should always strive to increase these numbers — at some point, the paper will reach critical mass and just be too full. Instead, I hope it can offer a new way to track coverage from one week to the next.
Hopkins recently bought the Newseum building, home of a museum dedicated to preserving the history of our news media and honoring our freedoms of speech and the press. As such, it will be closing its doors at the end of the year.
If you’re reading this article, there is a very good chance that you’re actively involved in one or more of the 350 student groups that receive Hopkins funding. That means that you’re likely already familiar with the controversial reforms the University has recently taken in this area.
This year, our Student Government Association (SGA) sought to fix the student organization culture here at Hopkins. Unfortunately, they’ve ignored student interests at every step in the process, while failing at basic administrative tasks required to help student leaders adapt to the changes being forced upon them.
The recent article in The News-Letter (“What obstacles do Hopkins international students face?”) highlighted the difficulties faced by international undergraduate students. We wish to bring additional attention to the burdens faced by international graduate students.
After years of protests from students, the University continues to invest in fossil fuel companies. It has an exclusivity contract with PepsiCo, a company that uses suppliers who violate child labor laws, going against ethical and sustainable business practices. Most recently, the University was slow to end contracts with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the government agency that is responsible for separating families at the U.S.-Mexico border.
A firm press deadline can feel like the end-all be-all for News-Letter reporters in the run-up to Wednesday night. The news editors wrap up their section and head home sometime early Thursday morning while the Editors-in-Chief send the pages off to print. If they’re lucky, the news team will have time to breathe over the weekend until Wednesday starts to loom again.
This time last year, Michael Bloomberg announced that he would donate a historic $1.8 billion to the University, to be used exclusively for undergraduate financial aid and related services. Earlier this semester an administrator told myself and a group of other first-generation and limited-income (FLI) students that we should consider writing Bloomberg a thank you letter for his gift to the University.
My friends and I have talked about the exact moment when we found out we got into Hopkins. Everyone remembers their own story in almost perfect detail. I was sitting in my German class on Dec. 14 watching Elf, more nervous than I had ever been, waiting until the clock hit 2:00 p.m. CST.
Under Donald Trump, the U.S. has become increasingly unsafe for undocumented immigrants. Shortly after announcing his presidential campaign, Trump infamously called Mexican immigrants criminals and rapists. In 2017, he announced plans to rescind Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), an Obama-era executive order granting work permits and protection from deportation to over 700,000 Dreamers — undocumented immigrants who came to the U.S. as children.
As the Public Editor, I scrutinize the ways the paper represents its readers. The News-Letter is a campus newspaper, and undergraduate students make up the primary readership. I think a lot about the different types of undergrads that the paper represents, as well as who is most likely to pick up a fresh issue on a Thursday afternoon.
I was quite surprised to hear that two news stories about college journalism were circulating this week.The Harvard Crimson, the daily newspaper at Harvard University, has recently come under fire for its coverage of an anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) rally. The rally, held on Sept. 12, was hosted by student group Act on a Dream. The Crimson writers reached out to ICE for comment to be included in their article on the rally, though they did not respond.
A few weeks ago, The News-Letter published the op-ed “Focusing solely on electability will not get Democrats elected.” The article presents a well-written, cogent argument against the prioritization of “electability” in the Democratic primary race. It followed an earlier piece on the necessity of a moderate Democratic nominee in 2020.
It’s always an exciting time when new construction happens around campus. Is it going to be a new restaurant? A bar? It is exciting, at least, for those not potentially displaced by it. As I walk around Charles Village, I’m struck by the level of construction happening throughout the neighborhood.
