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.
In an email sent to the Class of 2019 on Aug. 26, the University announced the introduction of a Second-Year Experience (SYE) Program with the goal of easing the difficulties of sophomore year.
The Office of the Provost released the first ever Report on Faculty Composition on Thursday, Sept. 22, which presented statistics about the makeup of our faculty‘s gender and ethnicity.
About a week ago, I had gathered in a library study room with some friends. Although there were some new faces in the room, I focused on doing my work, not on meeting new people. Someone I hadn’t met before caught my attention, however, when they requested us all to sign their SGA candidacy petition.
Last week, the sports section of The News-Letter published an article criticizing San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick’s decision to kneel during the national anthem in a protest against the oppression of black Americans. Although I vehemently disagree with the article and applaud Kaepernick’s bravery to bring issues of white supremacy into discussion, the article did provoke thought about nationalistic imagery. Specifically, how myself (a twenty-year old) and the young-adult authors of anti-Kaepernick pieces, could grow up with the same nationalistic symbols in the fervently patriotic post-9/11 world, yet develop such different viewpoints.
The 68th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards aired on Sunday, Sept. 18, and this award ceremony crossed some big milestones for diversity in Hollywood.
Aside from the national electoral candidates, one name seemed to dominate this summer’s headlines: Brock Turner, the former Stanford University student convicted of three felony sexual assault charges after he raped a fellow student.
When Harvard College became the first institution of higher education in North America, it was founded on religious terms. While exploring truth claims about the natural sciences and humanities, students were also trained to study the divine and spirituality, beings and principles not physically measured. Most others in the Ivy League, and many beyond, followed this model.
Hopkins announced the winners of the second annual Ten by Twenty Challenge last spring with the goal of the challenge to deepen the University’s connection with the greater Baltimore community. Individuals from across the University submitted 80 ideas, which received votes from thousands of interested students. In the end, five winning proposals were selected to receive up to $20,000 in grant money.
I know. When your crazy, Republican aunt from Idaho posts on Facebook that Trump is a reasonable choice for President of the United States or your radically liberal friend from high school claims Clinton has never done anything wrong in her life, it can be tempting — irresistible perhaps. I admit, I’ve given in a few times. But please, stop talking about politics on the internet.
You might drive past one every day, you might see a freshly printed picture of one in the newspaper you read or you might even attend one — a school. We regularly associate schools with picturesque buildings, rows of students with their heads studiously bent, centers of education and intellectual betterment. The students supposedly attend classes at their schools to learn about the world around them and pursue their passions.
Last Sunday was the 15th anniversary of the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. I sat and watched the same two videos I have watched every year for the past few years. The first video is of President George W. Bush throwing out the first pitch of game three of the World Series at Yankee Stadium. The second is of John Stewart’s iconic return to The Daily Show following the attacks.
The Bloomberg School of Public Health held a symposium about violence against LGBT+ communities on Monday, Sept. 12. Speakers touched upon issues of homelessness among members of the LGBT+ community, gun violence, gun control and wider public health concerns like HIV/AIDS.
Hopkins’ six-month-old University Health and Wellness Task Force held its first major event, Well-Fest, on Friday, Sept. 9. This event marks the beginning of what will hopefully be a major step forward down the path of addressing Hopkins students’ mental health concerns.
Senior Stuart Walters was charged with multiple accounts of sex offenses, false imprisonment, property destruction and assault after an altercation with his girlfriend on Tuesday, Aug. 2. The News-Letter reported on this incident on Aug. 13 after obtaining information from The Baltimore Sun, and the University has not released a statement or sent out a security alert about the incident.
If you haven’t heard of Pokémon Go by now, you must actually be living under a rock. Niantic’s smartphone game, which allows players to catch Pokémon by walking around in the real world, launched on July 6 and has since then gathered hoards of passionate supporters and critics.
On May 18, Shelton Jackson “Spike” Lee addressed the 2016 Hopkins graduating class at the Royal Farms Arena and received an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters. Director of “Do the Right Thing,” Lee was recognized for his achievements as a filmmaker and for other contributions he has made to American culture.
The United Kingdom decided last Thursday to permanently sever its long membership of the European Union. 51.9 percent of UK voters voted to leave against 48.1 percent to remain in the EU, the most ambitious Western political project of the postwar era.
It has almost become a cliché to call on fellow Hopkins students to relax and tone down the high-strung competitive environment for which Hopkins has become infamous. In October, the satirical publication The Black and Blue Jay published “Johns Hopkins Ranks 1st in U.S. News’s ‘Most Soul-Crushing Universities,’” which fooled many a commenter into thinking it was a real ranking. Earlier this year, Jason Plush stepped down from his position as SGA executive president, citing the overwhelming amount of work he had and how much it affected his health in a brave opinions piece.
On my way out of college, I've spent some time thinking about loose ends, trying to tie each as efficiently as possible. Laced with bittersweet feeling, I write this piece, leaving my undergraduate career with a PSA.
