Published by the Students of Johns Hopkins since 1896
July 26, 2024
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.
I love change as much as the next person, but sometimes I have to put my foot down and say, “Enough is enough!” I need consistency in this constantly evolving world. Technology specifically can become obsolete within months due to the accelerating innovation in the tech industry. But as a 20-year-old, I crave stability.
By EDITORIAL BOARD
Today was a beautiful, peaceful day. After marching and chanting on the campus, I walked down to Penn Station with fellow Hopkins students to meet up with students from local colleges and other high schools to protest against racist police brutality and fight for justice for Freddie Gray. I am impressed by and grateful for the organizers from each college, especially the Hopkins organizers and the other three main organizers, Korey Johnson and John Dennis Gillespie from Towson University and Jordan Johnson from Goucher College.
Three years ago, my friend Leah and I sat in the Gilman Atrium, just two freshmen discussing our newfound love for our favorite campus building. Eventually these kinds of conversations spread to our small group of friends who also spent a lot of time in Gilman. On a whim, I decided to make a Facebook group for us to use to communicate about Gilman. I invited maybe 10 people, wrote up a dramatic group description, made up a goofy Marx-inspired title and published the group within the Johns Hopkins community, allowing anyone with a Hopkins email to join. Three years later, almost 200 people have joined “Gilman Lovers Unite.”
This past Sunday I took a break from working on my problem set at the library to attend the Spring Fair Beer Garden for the last time before I graduate. Unfortunately, as it stands currently, this could be the last time the Beer Garden appears at Spring Fair. The administration sees the Beer Garden as a sore point in its policy to tackle binge drinking on campus. To remedy this, the administration may decide to remove the Beer Garden from future Spring Fairs. This line of thinking is flawed. Removing the Beer Garden will do nothing to address binge drinking on campus. Meanwhile, doing so destroys an integral part of Spring Fair, resulting in significant harm to the Hopkins undergraduate experience.
On Monday, in response to the violent riots following Freddie Gray’s death, the University began to issue emergency alerts in the form of text messages and website posts. As the riots grew larger and more destructive, the University issued instructions and updates on the situation.
This has been a difficult week for students and residents in Baltimore, and amidst the frustration, the violence, the confusion and the anger, we understand that different students may have their own ways of responding to the traumatic events. Students inevitably have varying personal stakes and ideals relating to the events following Freddie Gray’s death.
I am not a Baltimore native. But I strive to be not only a Baltimore resident, but also a Baltimore citizen. As a resident, I should have a vested interest in what happens in the greater Baltimore community — not just fun events in the Inner Harbor or Hampden. Citizenship is more than residency; It’s involvement, it’s work and it’s caring. As Hopkins students, it is our collective duty to civically engage in the Baltimore community.
