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.
A few weeks after I started writing for The News-Letter, I covered a speaker who visited campus. Afterward, when I asked a person nearby if I could interview them for a few quick thoughts, they gave me an icy glare and answered, “Sorry, but I don’t talk to people from The News-Letter.”
New year, new Hopkins? It’s not what the administration or students are saying. But the more that I hear about the changes that are taking place, the more I am convinced that it’s true.
There is little more important than our behavior towards other people. Nobody needs to be told twice that when someone is different from another, we inexplicably feel an urge towards hatred.
Last Thursday, Woodrow Wilson fellows presented a culmination of their four years of research. The prestigious fellowship, which provides selected applicants up to $10,000 over four years, has given students valuable opportunities to pursue independent research. Yet the fellowship’s namesake concerns us. Woodrow Wilson — a Hopkins alum and the 28th president of the U.S. — was also a proud white supremacist.
The News-Letter has heard a range of concerns from our readers about an op-ed titled “Progressives should not insist on anti-zionism” which we published last week.
“My daughter Hinako’s hair may look lighter than others, but here, I declare that it is her natural hair color.” My mother would sign and stamp this note for my homeroom teacher annually. My teacher approved the note, and it became my “natural hair certificate.” I would carry this certificate with me whenever I was wearing my school uniform. When someone questioned my “different” hair color and accused me of dying it, I could prove my innocence. This started in elementary school and continued until I graduated high school.
When I attended the Student Involvement Fair in the fall of my freshman year, I brought along a separate tote bag. In that bag, I collected flyers for every club possible: Model UN, Improv, Engineering Clubs, JHU Perch, you name it. There were so many options, right there, literally at my fingertips. That night I stumbled upon a flyer for a sketch comedy group with a large cartoon logo, and I pinned it on my wall, circling the date to audition.
According to Native Americans, the Creator long ago passed down lacrosse to Native Americans. More than a sport, it was a medicine and allowed for healing of the people. Today, lacrosse is the fastest sport on two feet, played all around the world. As a Native American student athlete of the Métis tribe, I have continued to share the game to people of all ages and races. I, along with other Native Americans, want all to enjoy watching and even playing the game handed down to us. Yet many people around the world play without including us.
Like millions of fellow Jews worldwide, I began celebrating Passover on Friday night. The holiday commemorates the Hebrews’ biblically alleged exodus from Egypt into present-day Israel. When I was growing up, several Jewish friends of mine told me that Passover — with its abundance of matzo — was the only time of the year that they ever thought about being Jewish.
In January, the Black Student Union (BSU) at the Peabody Institute filed a complaint with the Office of Institutional Equity against its Student Affairs office, expressing concerns about racial discrimination against black students.
When Eric Garner, a 43-year-old Black American man, cried, “I can’t breathe” shortly before dying from a chokehold at the hands of a New York City police officer, it wasn’t just because of the officer strangling him. It was also because he had asthma constraining the amount of air he could take in. Garner’s death gained media attention due to uproar from the #BlackLivesMatter movement. But the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter generally makes one think of protests against police brutality and crime in Black communities.
On Earth Day, University President Ronald J. Daniels made a few exciting announcements. The University has purchased solar offsets for two-thirds of our energy consumption, created the Sustainability Leadership Council and appointed a new director for our small and underfunded Office of Sustainability.
Writing about work culture at Hopkins is tricky. We acknowledge that we are extremely privileged to be able to attend college, surrounded by scholars who are the very best in their field and peers who are already accomplishing so much. We are grateful to pursue our higher education in Baltimore, at one of the nation’s top institutions. And yet, as finals approach, and Brody remains full, many of us are burnt out.
Last weekend I saw the Barnstormers’ production of Cabaret. It was the second week of the show’s run, so I had some background on the musical. It takes place in 1930s Berlin. There is a lot of sex. A Nazi is involved. It’s an interesting show, to say the least.
Earlier this week, Vice Provost for Student Affairs Kevin Shollenberger sent out a survey to enrolled undergraduates as part of “continuing efforts to review and improve the Johns Hopkins experience.”
Since the University first announced its intent to create a private police force in March 2018, the Editorial Board has opposed the initiative. Now the bill – called the Community Safety and Strengthening Act – has passed in the Maryland General Assembly, and we maintain our opposition. We are disappointed that this bill is moving forward and we have the same concerns about a Hopkins police force that we have already expressed over the past year: a continuation of corrupt policing in Baltimore, potential racial profiling of students, the threat of armed guards on campus and further division between the Hopkins and Baltimore communities.
Last year, on a Friday afternoon during Alumni Weekend, I was crying on a couch in the Gatehouse (The News-Letter office). I had just gotten off of a very upsetting phone call, and the Gatehouse was a safe space for me. It was somewhere I could cry and overcome whatever was going in my life.
Nearly a week has passed, and the student sit-in at Garland Hall continues. Occasionally the protestors will walk out with their megaphone as students head to class, chanting, among other things, “No Justice, No Peace! No Private Police!” This past Friday, I encountered the group as they came to Levering Kitchens, hoping to garner support in their condemnation of the University.
The Maryland State General Assembly has passed a law allowing Hopkins to form its own armed private police force. This marks the first time that a private corporation in Maryland will have its own police department, authorized to use force and make arrests.
Each week, our editorial board takes time to look at the issues facing Baltimore and the Hopkins community and share our stance on the ones we find most pressing. This week, we’re looking inwards to examine how The News-Letter can be a more representative newspaper.
