Monday, April 19, 2021
Former Colombian Pres. Starts Controversy at BC LABC extended the speaker invitation. BY ERIN SHANNON Copy Chief BY MEGAN KELLY News Editor
The Latin American Business Club of Boston College (LABC) has come under fire after hosting Álvaro Uribe—the former president of Colombia who has been accused of human rights violations, witness tampering, and corruption—to give a talk on the political landscape in Latin America last Monday. “My purpose was to create confidence in Colombia … with three elements: security … but with the rule of the law … ,with democratic values and freedoms, in contrast with what was known as a policy of national security in many Latin American dictatorships,” Uribe said at the event. Uribe is a controversial figure in Co-
lombia because of the killing of thousands of citizens by the Colombian army during his presidency, which is still being investigated by the United Nations. He was also arrested in August last year on charges of witness tampering, bribery, and crimes against humanity for an alleged involvement with right-wing death squads. He was released from house arrest in October of last year. Despite these recent charges, he left the office of the president in 2010 with high approval ratings due to his handling of Colombian guerrilla groups. Under Uribe, the Colombian military drove the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) out of Colombia’s cities and towns. He also drastically reduced the FARC and National Liberation Army’s numbers during his tenure in office. Uribe received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from the United States in 2009 for these initiatives and for reducing violence throughout Colombia.
See Uribe, A2
JESS RIVILIS / HEIGHTS SENIOR STAFF
Bring Out the Brooms Honoring two classes of seniors, No. 5 BC dominated the field on Senior Day, taking down No. 4 Notre Dame 18-12 to sweep the weekend.
4C Honors Local COVID-19 Victims The project will be planting five trees on BC’s campus. BY JULIA REMICK Metro Edtitor
To commemorate the lives lost to COVID-19 in Newton, Green Newton’s Environmental Youth Leadership Program is planting 170 trees throughout Newton and five trees on Boston College’s campus. The project is called 4C Tree Project, which stands for capture, carbon, commemorate, and COVID-19. It was spearheaded in October by Elizabeth Sockwell, an alumna of Newton South High School and current senior at Trinity College. “The project is basically trying to plant one tree, approximately, for every person who has passed away from COVID-19 in Newton,” Jojo Parks, who helped organize the project and CSON
’24, said. Planting the trees will serve as a lasting memorial for the 214 people that have died from COVID-19 in Newton as of Wednesday. “COVID-19 has impacted so many communities, but I mean Newton is our community, and it’s really taken a toll on a lot of the people here,” Parks said. “So I really thought it was a great way to create a lasting memorial and a living memorial that also beautifies our community.” After coming to BC from New Jersey as a freshman, Parks said she wanted to get involved in local activism. The mission and values of Green Newton resonated with her, and she said she joined the Youth Leadership Program because she felt it would be meaningful. The decision to plant trees has both practical and symbolic significance, according to Green Newton’s website. Trees provide clean air and shade, attract wildlife, and contribute to a clean water supply, all while beautifying the
city, according to Green Newton’s website. Trees also serve as a symbol of life and strength, which Green Newton said it hopes will remind the community of the preciousness of life and the environment. “They’ll also help prevent noise and pollution in some of the spots where they’re going to be planted. And they’re also going to create a great sense of place,” Newton’s Director of Urban Forestry Marc Welch said. “It’s going to define the location and over time that will make for a great improvement to the landscape.” Both BC and the City of Newton are assisting the group in the process of planting the trees. Welch’s staff is assisting in planting and maintaining the trees and Gina Bellavia, director of Landscape Planning and Services at BC, will be doing the same for the trees at the University. BC will also be covering the costs of the five trees planted on its campus, according to Bellavia.
See Tree Project, A9
VICTOR STEFANESCU / HEIGHTS EDITOR
Cultural Clubs Come Together at World Fair The event featured music, food, and games. BY VICTOR STEFANESCU Asst. News Editor
JULIA HOPKINS / HEIGHTS ARCHIVES
Parents, Students React to BC Decision Seniors and parents petition the University to reverse its position on guests at Commencement. See Graduation, A3
Joseph Tribuiani, the AHANA+ Representative of the Hellenic Society of Boston College, manned a table cluttered with Greek flags and blue and white stickers at the Campus Activities Board’s (CAB) World Fair on Saturday afternoon. Like other club leaders at the fair, Tribuiani, MCAS ’21, said it helped students learn from his organization’s culture. “I just hope that everybody comes to see, you know, the passion that this club provides and really the acceptance that everyone can be a little bit Greek sometimes,” he said. CAB hosted the “World Fair” on all three academic quads, where 20 cultural clubs showed off traditions, played games, and blasted music while giving away shirts, pins, and stickers. Resham Jariwala, CAB’s assistant director of campus engagement and CSOM ’22, said the fair gives BC’s different culture clubs the opportunity to learn from each other.
“It’s not just one cultural organization putting on one event and only having people from that team come,” said Jariwala. “I think [it’s] giving them a platform to all be together [and] all kind of showcases different things.” Dawin Ye, secretar y of the B C Taiwanese Cultural Organization and MCAS ’23, watched as visitors of his club’s table struggled to learn a version of Mahjong that even he said he found confusing. “I think they’re playing by traditional rules because … this is nothing like I played it before,” said Ye. Ye said he hoped the World Fair would be a good way for students to be introduced to the organization. “Hopefully they see that we’re like a welcoming community and that they come back for more events next year,” he said. The weather presented issues for the outdoor event, as CAB decided to delay the fair’s opening by an hour, from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m., due to a drizzle left over from Friday’s surprise snowstorm. The delay, though, proved to be a smart move, as rays of sunshine began to project on the quads right as the fair opened.
See World Fair, A2
EAGLES BEAT FSU
ALUMNI ON STAGE
After losing five games in a row, BC baseball finally clinches a win against the Seminoles.
Three BC graduates navigated the unpredictability of the theatre industry.
SPORTS
MAGAZINE
BC ON BROADWAY
A8
A4
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
METRO: Huntington Theatre
ARTS: Arts Fest
After more than one year with no shows, Arts Council creates a hybrid arts festival that Huntington Theatre opens its doors....... A10 will feature in-person and virtual events...... A12
INDEX
NEWS......................A2 MAGAZINE............. A8 Vol. CII, No. 9 © 2021, The Heights, Inc. SPORTS...................A4 METRO................... A9 OPINIONS...................A6 ARTS....................... A11 www.bcheights.com