Friday, September 11, 2026

SINCE 1891

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD VOLUME CLXI, ISSUE 14

BROWNDAILYHERALD.COM

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 2026

Morales, Foulkes, Youngs win Democratic primaries BY MICHELLE BI METRO EDITOR

COURTESY OF DAVID MORALES FOR PROVIDENCE MAYOR CAMPAIGN

COURTESY OF DIGITAS PHOTOS VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

COURTESY OF MIGUEL YOUNGS

Morales wins Democratic primary nomination for Providence mayor

Helena Foulkes wins Democratic nomination for R.I. governor

Miguel Youngs declares victory in Democratic primary for Ward 1

State Rep. David Morales MPA’19 defeated incumbent Mayor Brett Smiley in the Democratic primary, the Associated Press called Wednesday night. Morales has served as a representative for Providence’s Mount Pleasant, Valley and Elmhurst neighborhoods in the R.I. House of Representatives for five years. During this time, he led the passage of legislation to provide health insurance to all low-income R.I. children regardless of immigration status and to prohibit insurers from requiring co-payments for COVID-19 vaccines and treatment. In addition, he sponsored legislation to raise the state minimum wage. In his campaign, Morales has emphasized his support for rent stabilization as part of the solution to Providence’s housing affordability crisis. While the City Council approved an ordinance to enforce a 4% annual cap on rent increases in April, Smiley’s veto blocked its passage. Morales has promised to work with the City Council to sign rent stabilization into

Helena Foulkes, former president of CVS Pharmacy, won the Democratic primary for governor on Sept. 9, according to the Associated Press. Foulkes defeated incumbent Gov. Dan McKee, making McKee the first sitting governor of Rhode Island to lose a primary for reelection since 1994. He’s also the first sitting governor of any U.S. state to lose a primary in eight years. Foulkes narrowly lost the 2022 primary to McKee but has led him dramatically in polls this year. Her campaign highlighted priorities centering affordability for Rhode Islanders. The plan proposes policies such as raising Medicaid reimbursement rates and implementing a new tax bracket for millionaires to fund the construction of new housing. Foulkes graduated from Harvard College in 1986 and worked in investment banking before beginning a 25-year career at CVS, which is based in R.I., her home state. During her time as an executive there,

With election night complete at all Ward 1 polling locations, Miguel Youngs has declared that he won the Democratic primary for the City Council position, defeating incumbent John Goncalves ’13 MA’15 in a race to represent neighborhoods spanning from Fox Point to downtown Providence. Youngs previously worked as the deputy director of policy for the Providence City Council. In that role, he wrote several ordinances and researched and created reports for council members. After deciding to run for a council seat, he quit his policy position. As a council member, he said he would be interested in reintroducing the City Council’s rent stabilization ordinance, which would have enacted an annual 4% cap on rent increases. The ordinance failed to pass this spring after Mayor Brett Smiley vetoed it. Opponent Goncalves had previously refrained from taking a stance on the ordinance, and eventually voted against it.

SEE MORALES PAGE 4

SEE FOULKES PAGE 4

SEE YOUNGS PAGE 4

PRESIDENT

FIRST YEAR POLL

Incoming first-years are liberal and looking for love: The Herald’s First Year Poll

Paxson to step down at end of 2026-27 academic year The Corporation will begin a nationwide search for the University’s next president BY CATE LATIMER EDITOR-IN-CHIEF President Christina Paxson P’19 P’MD’20 will step down from her role as University president at the end of the 2026–27 academic year, she announced in a message shared with the Brown community Monday. The Brown Corporation — the University’s highest governing body — will begin a nationwide search for Brown’s next president, Chancellor Brian Moynihan ’81 P’14 P’19 wrote in a second campuswide communication. In May 2025, Paxson agreed to extend her term as president from June 2026 until June 2028, which she described in her Monday email as a decision made to “help Brown navigate a federal funding freeze that imperiled our mission of research and education.” The University came to an agreement with the federal government in July 2025 to end the freeze. “The experience has been all that I could have hoped for, and more,” wrote Paxson, who began her time as president in 2012. “This is the right decision for me and my family. And I firmly believe that it is the best path for Brown.”

Paxson wrote that she and her husband, Professor of the Practice in International and Public Affairs Ari Gabinet, “plan to contribute to Brown’s continued success and support our local community in the years to come.” The announcement follows a year marked with difficulty after the University faced a tragic shooting in December and continued Trump administration threats to federal funding. While Paxson’s time as Brown’s president saw a global pandemic and vast changes in higher education, it was also marked by growth. Under her leadership, the University saw the establishment of two new schools, raised funds for 165 new endowed professorships and enhanced financial aid. During her tenure, Paxson worked to implement the “Building on Distinction Strategic Plan,” a 10-year plan launched in 2014 to improve the University through methods such as expanding graduate programs, renovating Brown’s physical campus and strengthening financial aid. In 2016, Paxson also launched the Diversity and Inclusion Action Plan, which aimed at developing and sustaining diverse communities on campus. That plan ended in 2025. Now, Paxson wrote that she feels it is time for a new phase of strategic planning — one led by someone new.

SEE PRESIDENT PAGE 2

The Herald polled 495 incoming first-year students on dating, demographics, politics BY ANN GRAY GOLPIRA ARTS & CULTURE EDITOR As their first year at Brown rapidly approaches, new undergraduate students are perusing dorm-room essentials, connecting with other Brunonians and anxiously awaiting their first day of classes. But while the class of 2030 may share a graduation year, the newest batch of incoming first-years comes from a diverse range of backgrounds — from their home countries to their standardized test scores or whether they’ve got a fake ID. The Herald polled 495 incoming first-year students between Aug. 8 and Aug. 18. Here are some of the key takeaways from the data. Access and explore all the data on The Herald’s interactive data dashboard. The majority of students identify as very or somewhat liberal, with athletes making up a greater percentage of the conservative student body In regards to political ideology, the class of 2030 did not surprise: about 73% of incoming first-years identify as liberal, with just 7% identifying as conservative. These numbers are consistent with previous Herald polls — in 2025, over 70% of students in the class of 2029 identified as liberal while only about 7% identified

as conservative. Recruited varsity athletes are more likely to be conservative than their fellow students While the vast majority of incoming students lean left on the political spectrum, recruited varsity athletes are more likely to identify as conservative than their non-athlete peers. About one in four varsity athletes identified as somewhat or very conservative. The overall class is relatively evenly divided regarding their likelihood to participate in a protest at Brown, but that likelihood is directly correlated to a student’s political views. Only 3.6% of somewhat conservative students say that they are likely to attend a protest during their time at Brown, but this number steadily increases moving further left on the political spectrum: about a 13% likelihood for moderate students, a 33% likelihood for “somewhat liberal” students and a 66% likelihood for “very liberal” students. Students were also polled on their preferred political candidates for the 2028 presidential election, and while about a third had no opinion, an additional third hypothetically cast their vote for Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y. 14). Former Vice President Kamala Harris came in second place, garnering about 18% of student votes. The most popular Republican candidate was Vice President JD Vance with just 2.4% of the student vote.

SEE FIRST YEAR POLL PAGE 8

PAGE 2

Friday, September 11, 2026

UNIVERSITY NEWS PRESIDENT FROM PAGE 1 “It is the right time for a new Brown president who will have the distinct privilege and pleasure of leading a university that is exceptionally well positioned for impact in the years ahead,” Paxson wrote. “It is her strong belief — and the Corporation and I agreed — that it is the right time to find a new president who will lead this multi-year effort for Brown and be in place to implement their vision for the next generation,” Moynihan wrote. When she resigns in June 2027, Paxson will have spent 15 years at the University’s helm, longer than any current Ivy League president. “I look forward to Brown’s future,” she wrote. “Universities thrive on the excitement of new ideas and the healthy challenge of reinvention that only a new president can bring.” The national search for the University’s next president will engage members of the campus community, according to Moynihan. In her final year, Paxson will also work with University leaders to prepare for the presidential transition. “Brown will be fortunate to find another leader with the dedication and commitment of President Paxson, who

KAIA YALAMANCHILI / HERALD

When she resigns in June 2027, Paxson will have spent 15 years at the University’s helm, longer than any current Ivy League president. always put the needs of this community and Brown’s mission of service first,” Moynihan wrote. Although her time as Brown’s 19th

president will come to an end in June, Paxson remains committed to her job for the academic year ahead. “This is not a time to put ambitious plans on pause,”

she wrote. “While the search for the next president gets underway, we still have much to accomplish together in the year ahead.”

This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Aug. 3, 2026.

DEC. 13

External review finds Dec. 13 shooting likely could not have been prevented Teneo did note multiple shortcomings in the University’s response BY EMILY FEIL METRO & UNIVERSITY NEWS EDITOR It is “highly unlikely” that the Dec. 13 mass shooting could have been prevented by Brown, according to the executive summary of an after-action review conducted by global consulting firm Teneo. But Teneo found that low DPS staffing levels were disadvantageous to their response and the University’s siren system should have been activated in the wake of the shooting. Teneo has led two external security assessments related to the shooting: an after-action review and a campus safety and security assessment. On Friday, the University released the executive summary of the after-action review alongside a security action plan. The summary identified leadership gaps and understaffing in the Brown Department of Public Safety as well as a history of trespassing in Barus and Holley — the site of the shooting — but ultimately concluded it is unlikely that these security concerns affected the outcome of the shooting. According to the summary, the shooter, Claudio Neves Valente, displayed no signals for law enforcement to identify him as a threat before the shooting. The report acknowledged the alleged interaction between Valente and a Brown custodian but found no evidence that the interaction was reported to DPS or a supervisor. The Teneo summary noted that DPS was aware of non-threatening suspicious activity around Barus and Holley, including frequent trespassing by “John,” a Brown alum whose Reddit tip in the immediate aftermath of the shooting was integral in finding Valente. The summary states that these trespassing incidents showed where “security could have been strengthened” in Barus and Holley but noted them as “the only findings in this after-action Review per-

KAIA YALAMANCHILI / HERALD

The Teneo summary noted that DPS was aware of non-threatening suspicious activity around Barus and Holley. taining to preventability.” supervisory approval. Additionally, the dence from the Brown Police Sergeants “Given this conclusion, Teneo’s find- Providence Police Department’s investi- Union and Brown University Security ings and recommendations focus less on gation was slowed by delays in accessing Patrolperson’s Association in the fall of intercepting the unpredictable attack of Brown’s security footage and “limited vid- 2025. A Herald investigation revealed alleDecember 13 and more on how ready the eo surveillance at Barus and Holley,” the gations of a toxic work environment, and organization was to respond and recover,” summary states. a subsequent investigation showed that the executive summary states. The summary criticized former mem- DPS had mishandled responses to bomb Teneo found that DPS officers respond- bers of DPS leadership, stating that they and shooting threats. ed “rapidly, effectively and heroically” to “failed to provide vital assistance to the According to the Brown Safety and the shooting, and noted that the awarding unified command at the crime scene, es- Security Action Plan, released alongside of seven Medals of Valor to DPS first re- pecially regarding the investigative effort the Teneo executive summary, “one of the sponders came as part of a Teneo recom- to find the perpetrator.” Teneo also stated most important steps that Brown took immendation. that leadership did not adequately train mediately after the shooting was to appoint But the summary noted that the Uni- DPS employees for an active assailant event Hugh T. Clements Jr.” after Chatman went versity’s siren should have been activated and did not respond appropriately to em- on administrative leave. and that DPS staffing levels “appeared to ployees in the aftermath. The University also outlined immediate limit DPS’s ability to respond, contain, On April 7, former Police Chief Rod- actions taken to bolster security after the coordinate and maintain operations during ney Chatman officially separated from the shooting, including the addition of over a critical incident.” The Herald previously University as part of a workers’ compensa- 700 cameras, upgrades to University disreported that there were 15 unfilled DPS tion agreement. According to documents patch communications systems to connect positions at the time of the shooting. obtained by The Herald, Deputy Chief with the PPD and an expanded number According to the summary, DPS did John Vinson’s time with the University of panic buttons. Brown also updated its not have the capacity to send out a Rave concluded on April 17. security camera placement policy earlier emergency alert due to a limited numBefore the shooting, the pair faced this month. ber of on-duty dispatchers and their lack numerous accusations of disorganized Brown also shifted oversight of safety of authority to send out an alert without leadership, including votes of no confi- and security from multiple departments

to one steering committee, which began meeting this month, according to the University’s plan. DPS will begin developing a strategic plan in September, the report states, as well as expand staffing levels and training. The University will also provide additional training to staff on when to issue Rave alerts and use the University siren. The Brown Safety Security and Action Plan also outlines plans to expand partnerships with local law enforcement agencies like the PPD, including joining trainings and Brown’s potential participation in the Real Time Crime Center. Participating in this center would give the PPD “instantaneous access to relevant Brown-stored video after a crime has occurred,” the plan states. Conditions for joining the RTCC are being discussed. On Friday, Providence also released an independent after-action assessment of its response to the Dec. 13 shooting.

This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Aug. 28, 2026.

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

PAGE 3

UNIVERSITY NEWS INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS

New federal rule capping visa durations at four years to go into effect Sept. 15 The Herald spoke with international students about the change BY RACHEL WICKER SENIOR STAFF WRITER Raquel Badillo GS, a Ph.D. student in economics from Mexico, frequently travels between the United States and Mexico to conduct research for her degree. But now, she worries a new federal rule capping F-1 and J-1 visa durations could prevent her from continuing her work. The rule — the final version of which was announced by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in July and is set to go into effect Sept. 15 — sets a maximum of four years for international students to remain in the country to complete their programs. Previously, students were granted legal status in the country for the duration of their studies, as long as they were making progress toward completing their academic or research goals. Visa holders looking to extend their degree or start a new program must go through the process of obtaining a formal extension to their Form I-20, a government-issued document certifying enrollment in a program of study. The rule is set to take effect on Sept. 15. Students who were admitted prior to the new rule going into effect — and who are in the United States on Sept. 15 — will be able to stay until their program ends, permitted that end date is no later than Nov. 14, 2030. But if they leave the country and try to return — to visit their families or conduct their research — the new policy will kick in and they will be admitted for only a fixed time period. When Badillo first heard of the policy, she was immediately concerned about how the rule could impact her ability to complete her research. Badillo wrote in an email to The Her-

KAIA YALAMANCHILI / HERALD

Students who were admitted prior to the new rule going into effect — and who are in the United States on Sept. 15 — will be able to stay until their program ends, permitted that end date is no later than Nov. 14, 2030. ald that because many graduate programs are designed to take more than four years, “limiting students to four years does not reflect the actual structure or timeline of many doctoral programs.” “Policies affecting our ability to remain in the country or travel internationally therefore have serious consequences for our research, professional development and well-being,” she added. The Trump administration has taken a number of actions targeted at international students on visas, such as revoking student visas and pausing interviews for student visa applications. Last spring, international students shared with The Herald that many worry about sharing their opinions on campus for fear of repercussions to their visa status. The Herald spoke to several international students about their concerns about

the new rule’s repercussions, should it go into effect as planned. “It’s scary,” Adam Kubisiak ’29, a student from Bolivia, said regarding the new policy. “It’s much harder to apply for an extension” beyond the fixed time period. Because Kubisiak arrived at Brown prior to Sept. 15, the rule would not immediately jeopardize his visa status. But should he go home, his visa would be capped at the policy’s new four-year limit once he reentered the United States. Kubisiak pointed out that if a student wants to graduate a semester later, or is forced to do so because they want to change their concentration or they are failing a class, they’ll face obstacles with the strict four-year cutoff. While he currently does not plan to pursue any further education in the United States after he graduates from Brown, the

new rule still limits his options. “That’s never a good thing,” he said. Kubisiask also worries that the new policy precedes further restrictions on international students in the United States. Stella Oyekanmi GS, a third-year Ph.D. student in anthropology from Nigeria, said she thinks the new rule will most affect students just coming to the United States. Students who wish to remain in the United States for more than four years can apply for an extension to their visa status, but Oyekanmi feels “there’s even some form of anxiety in that,” because “you’re not even sure if at the end of the day if your application is going to be approved.” Shidas Kalappadan GS, a master’s student in physics from India said that the uncertainty of the process may not only deter future applicants, but may also

impact the quality of current students’ research and work. Kalappadan said that several of her friends had been planning on pursuing Ph.D. studies in the United States but are now rethinking their choice of location, a trend she believes will persist. “They are prioritizing their peace of mind and their education,” she said. Instead, they are considering studying in other countries, like Germany and Canada. “This can adversely affect the U.S. education system overall,” Kalappadan said. Oyekanmi thinks that Brown has done a good job supporting international students amid an uncertain federal landscape. But for students who may be required to leave the United States, she said she would want Brown to guarantee they would still be supported in completing their programs remotely. Kalappadan added that she felt Brown could do more for the international community by providing international students with additional academic flexibility and advocating more strongly for its students amid federal policy changes. “The only point of contact the international students have is the university they’re studying (at),” she said. According to Director of International Student and Scholar Services Andrew Shiotani, the ISSS launched an information hub dedicated to this new visa rule. ISSS leaders are scheduled to meet with small groups to discuss the rule this week, he added. “Internally, we’re identifying instructions, processes and forms that need to be revised and reworked once the final rule goes into effect,” he wrote in an email to The Herald. He encouraged students with concerns about the new rule to talk with their professors, advisors and individuals at Student Support Services.

This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Sept. 10, 2026.

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PAGE 4

Friday, September 11, 2026

METRO MORALES FROM PAGE 1

FOULKES FROM PAGE 1

YOUNGS FROM PAGE 1

law, as well as to establish a board to enforce the policy. His other priorities include partnering with local nonprofits to increase the number of social workers and psychologists in the Providence Public School Department, as well as gathering evidence to seek legal action against Immigration and Customs Enforcement. In recent months, ICE activity has increased in Providence, with several detainments occurring on College Hill. Morales — who has been historically affiliated with the Democratic Socialists of America — has received endorsements from Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif. 17). Morales will face off against Republican nominee Dave Talan in the Nov. 3 general election.

she led the decision to stop selling tobacco products at CVS locations across the country. She has also served on the boards of the Home Depot, Salesforce and Costco Wholesale, among other companies. She has been endorsed by 18 Democratic city committees, including the state’s three most populous cities: Providence, Warwick and Cranston. She has also received endorsements from R.I. Attorney General Peter Neronha P’19 P’22 and Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-C.A. 11). While Foulkes has never served in political office, her opponent’s four years in the State House were dogged by controversies including the sudden 2023 closure of the Washington Bridge and the dramatic 2025 service cuts to Rhode Island Public Transit Authority bus routes. Foulkes will face the winner of the Republican primary in the state’s general election on Nov. 3.

Among his other priorities are improving bike lanes in Providence and supporting public school students who are experiencing housing instability. Eight members of the City Council — a majority of the 15-person group — endorsed Youngs in his run against Goncalves. Youngs has also received endorsements from organizations including the Rhode Island Working Families Party and the Providence Teachers Union. With no Republican candidate in the race, Youngs will very likely be elected to the council member position in the Nov. 3 general election.

This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Sept. 9, 2026.

This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Sept. 9, 2026.

This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Sept. 9, 2026.

MAYOR

Mayoral candidate David Morales shares his vision for change in Providence The Herald spoke with Morales prior to the Wednesday primary BY MICHELLE BI METRO EDITOR State Rep. David Morales MPA’19 grew up couch surfing at his aunt’s house and watching his mother struggle with rising rents. Now, he says those experiences are empowering him in his race for the Democratic mayoral nomination against incumbent Brett Smiley. In the midst of a heated primary that has divided Providence Democrats, The Herald sat down with both candidates on Friday to discuss their backgrounds and visions for Providence’s next four years. Morales, who has been historically affiliated with the Democratic Socialists of America, has received endorsements from Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif. 17). Morales graduated from the University of California, Irvine in 2018 with a bachelor’s degree in urban studies. One year later, he became the youngest person ever to graduate from Brown University’s Master of Public Affairs program. For the past five years, Morales has represented Providence’s Mount Pleasant, Valley and Elmhurst neighborhoods in the R.I. House of Representatives. In this role, he has led the passage of legislation prohibiting insurers from requiring co-payments for COVID-19 vaccines and treatment, providing health insurance to all low income children in R.I. regardless of immigration status and prohibiting employer seizure of employee tips. He has also sponsored legislation to raise Rhode Island's minimum wage. “I grew up to a working mom who had to balance a multitude of minimum wage jobs at once, and so to me it was very important” to raise R.I.’s minimum wage to “as close as to a living wage as possible,” he said. Solving Providence’s housing crisis with rent stabilization Morales is a fierce proponent of rent stabilization as part of the solution to Providence’s housing crisis, which has become a flashpoint in this year’s race for control of City Hall. In a 2025 report, the City Council's Housing Crisis Task Force found that almost half of renters and over a third of homeowners in Providence are spending more than they can afford on housing costs. Recent years have seen rapid increases in rents across the city, pricing out tenants and exacerbating the issue of homelessness.

JAKE PARKER / HERALD

For the past five years, Morales has represented Providence’s Mount Pleasant, Valley and Elmhurst neighborhoods in the R.I. House of Representatives. The City Council approved a rent stabilization ordinance in April 2026 that would have enforced a 4% annual cap on rent increases. But Smiley has been a staunch opponent of this policy. His veto — and the council’s subsequent failure to gather a supermajority overriding vote — prevented the ordinance from passing. “Our neighbors have to watch as a lease renewal essentially serves as an eviction notice,” Morales told The Herald. “I’ve spoken with countless families and seniors during my time as a state representative who have called me, sharing their concern that they are finding themselves priced out because their rent just went up $300 or $400 at a time.” If elected mayor, Morales has promised to work with the City Council to sign rent stabilization into law and establish a board to enforce the policy. He criticized Smiley’s choice to veto the ordinance, describing him as “a mayor that would rather cater to corporate interests than the actual needs of working people.” “Mayor Smiley has made it a priority to make building the housing Providence residents need,” Smiley’s Press Secretary Carl Austin Miller Grondin wrote to The Herald. “Last year Providence permitted new housing at a faster per-capita rate than cities like Boston and New York, nearly doubled the number of new homes coming online in the last fiscal year, and almost

40% of those new homes were affordable,” he wrote. Additionally, Morales stated that his administration would aim to adopt a “public developer model.” He explained that under this system, the city would work to actively purchase vacant buildings and lots, team up with nonprofit housing developers and construct “deed-restricted mixed-income housing units that will serve the needs of neighbors from various backgrounds.” Staffing support for Providence public schools Morales also aims to improve staffing conditions and offer financial support for Providence public schools. After seven years under state control due to reports of widespread instructional and social issues, the Providence Public School District returned to local control this summer. “Right now, we have a shortage of counselors and social workers all across elementary school, middle school and high school,” Morales said. He aims to work with nonprofit partners such as Family Services Rhode Island and Tides Family Services to increase the number of social workers and psychologists in the PPSD. To support this hiring, he added that he hopes to work towards an agreement with the city’s private colleges “so they're actively contributing more financial support to Providence public schools.” Currently, Brown and other private universities in

Providence are not subject to property taxes due to their nonprofit statuses, but pay voluntary payments to the city each year. A holistic approach to public safety and protecting immigrants During his interview with The Herald, Morales also expressed a desire to seek legal action against Immigration and Customs Enforcement. In recent months, ICE activity has increased in Providence, with several detainments occurring on College Hill. Legislators and activists alike have said agents patrol R.I. courthouses and arrest individuals entering and leaving the buildings. If elected mayor, Morales plans for his administration to collaborate with local advocacy groups — such as the Deportation Defense Network — that organize against ICE activity. He wants to collect documentation and evidence of “the incidents where our neighbors are having their rights violated,” with the goal of eventually taking legal action. ICE did not immediately respond to The Herald’s request for comment. Morales denounced the Providence Police Department’s existing network of 60 Flock cameras, license plate readers linked to the city’s Real Time Crime Center, as an added risk for immigrants. Flock operates about 120,000 cameras across the United States that conduct about two billion scans monthly. The company

has drawn widespread backlash from both citizens and legislators after reports of officer abuses and sharing data with ICE. “Flock has proven to be a for-profit company that cannot be trusted with data privacy or ensuring that the information — sensitive information of our neighbors — is not improperly shared,” Morales said. “I do not believe that we should wait for information to be improperly leaked.” He vowed to “work towards terminating our existing Flock agreement” if elected mayor. “Flock does not sell customer data or independently decide to share it with outside agencies; those decisions remain with the customer that owns the data,” Flock spokesperson Paris Lewbel wrote to The Herald. “Since Providence deployed Flock, the city has reported significant reductions in crime and the technology has also played an important role in major investigations,” Lewbel added. “Providence Police says Flock was instrumental in the Brown University shooting investigation, helping investigators identify the suspect’s vehicle and ultimately locate the suspect in New Hampshire.” Morales’s critique of Flock cameras contrasts with Smiley, who has stated that, with current data protection safeguards in place, the technology is important to public safety in Providence. “Access to LPRs data is tightly controlled and governed by department policy,” Miller Grondin wrote. LPRs “ have a role to play in keeping our neighborhoods safe,” he added. As an alternative method to reducing rates of violent crime, Morales plans to expand partnerships with social work organizations such as Project Weber/RENEW and the Providence Center. “This is going to be one of our approaches to public safety: making sure that there's more of an emphasis on social and emotional care for those that are experiencing substance use disorder, unmet mental health needs and chronic homelessness,” Morales said. Smiley and Morales are the only two Democratic mayoral candidates on the ballot this Wednesday. The winner will face off against Republican nominee Dave Talan in the Nov. 13 general election. “We ran a very positive campaign centered around a vision and hope for our Providence community, and for that reason, I feel very excited as we head into Election Day,” Morales said. “I believe a lot of our neighbors are going to choose hope over fear.”

This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Sept. 6, 2026.

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

PAGE 5

METRO CITY COUNCIL

Meet Miguel Youngs, who defeated John Goncalves ’13 MA’15 for City Council seat The Herald spoke with Youngs prior to the Wednesday primary BY MICHELLE BI METRO EDITOR Miguel Youngs, the former deputy director of policy for the Providence City Council, is now running for Ward 1 council member. In the midst of his race challenging incumbent John Goncalves ’13 MA’15 to represent neighborhoods from Fox Point to downtown, Youngs sat down with The Herald to discuss his prior experiences and visions for a possible council term. Goncalves was not responsive to The Herald’s emails, calls or texts requesting an interview. Youngs, who was born and raised in Rhode Island, paid for his tuition at Rhode Island College by working as a cook at McCoy Stadium in Pawtucket, he told The Herald. Following his graduation in 2015, Youngs did custodial work at the Providence Performing Arts Center, while also working at Trinity Repertory Company and Rhode Island Historical Society. “I would go in the morning and reshelve books, check people in, operate the microfilm for them. And while I had that job, I read a lot of the books,” Youngs said. “My mother is a local historian, so I already always had a sense of local history.

But that is where I learned a lot about the history of the neighborhood we’re in now.” As the deputy director of policy for the City Council, Youngs researched and created reports for the council members, as well as penning several ordinances. After deciding to run for a council seat, Youngs called each of the current 15 members to alert them of his plans. He has also quit his policy position. “If I’m gonna run for the city council, I don’t want to work for them,” he said. “Almost like a moral thing, right? I want to do it correctly.” Eight members of the City Council — a majority of the 15-person group — have endorsed Youngs in his run against Goncalves. Youngs has also received endorsements from organizations including the Rhode Island Working Families Party and the Providence Teachers Union. Rent stabilization and public education During his interview with The Herald, Youngs highlighted several legislative priorities that he hopes to pursue during a possible council term. Of these include one of the biggest debates for Providence voters: the question of housing affordability. In 2025, the City Council’s Housing Crisis Task Force found that almost half of renters and over a third of homeowners are spending beyond their means on housing. Rents have skyrocketed in recent years across the city. “To be able to live in the neighborhood

you grew up in is a privilege I would like anyone in Providence to be able to experience. But the unfortunate reality is it is so rare and so difficult,” Youngs said. “So many people have been priced out.” Youngs says he’s lived in eight different apartments across the city. “I don’t think it should be this way, but the nicest apartment I’ve ever had in Providence was my first one. Every apartment since then has gotten more expensive and worse,” he added. “I feel like it should be the opposite.” In the spring, the City Council approved a rent stabilization ordinance that would have enacted an annual 4% cap on rent increases. But it ultimately failed to pass when Smiley — a staunch opponent of rent stabilization — vetoed it. Notably, the incumbent Goncalves had previously refrained from taking a stance on the ordinance, and eventually voted against it. “It’s a big policy. There’s a lot of ins and outs,” Youngs said. “If I were to be elected, I’d be very interested in reintroducing it, and getting back into the nitty gritty and the details.” He added that there are a number of policy methods — including zoning laws and tax breaks — that he would hope to employ in order to increase the supply of affordable housing in Providence. “I’ve spoken with a lot of landlords, a lot of developers and a lot of tenants,” he said. “And if I’m elected, I would continue

talking to all those groups. I wouldn’t shun any of them.” Youngs also pointed to housing as an important factor in the education of Providence students. Housing instability is “having a very meaningful, measurable impact on student outcomes as well,” he said. He recalled how during his time working for the City Council, the Providence Public School District had called for more funding for school bussing due to an increase in student homelessness. If elected to the Ward 1 seat, he hopes to expand school bus companies to a wider geographic region to pick up students who may have been displaced from their homes. Urban planning and improving infrastructure When considering the construction of new housing, Youngs noted an important limitation: “We don’t have a lot of space, so we have to be able to build housing in a way that we don’t therefore create (a need for) cars,” he said. “The more people we have using multimodal forms of transportation — whether it be the bus, bikes, scooters, other ways of getting around — it takes pressure off of our infrastructure to accommodate cars,” he said. Youngs explained that while he is an avid biker, he has struggled with gaps in bike lanes across the city. As a city council member, he aims to finish connecting

those lanes. “I think that we have become somewhat complacent in accepting the way our city is designed,” he said. But it doesn’t have to be this way, according to Young. He pointed to the Fox Point Hurricane Barrier as an example of “meaningful public infrastructure built in the face of climate catastrophe.” Youngs says he has a humble view of the role of a local politician — equating it to the “servant-like” janitorial work he did in his 20s. “When you walk into the theater … you don’t expect there to be spills everywhere,” he said. “You expect the toilets to be clean, and that is a perfectly rational and reasonable expectation for a patron. If I was doing my job, that was just the expectation.” “As a counselor, that is the attitude and value system that I would bring to being a public servant — which I think is a word we don’t use enough,” he added. “Constituent service is a lot like customer service, in one sense.” Youngs will face Goncalves in the Democratic primary for the Ward 1 seat on Sept. 9. With the lack of a Republican candidate, the winner of Wednesday’s election will very likely be elected to the council member position.

This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Sept. 9, 2026.

HEALTH

BUH faces backlash after hiring former U.S. Border Patrol Chief A petition to remove Jason Owens has nearly 600 signatures BY TALIA EGNAL METRO EDITOR

Nearly 600 community members have signed a petition calling for Brown University Health to remove Jason Owens — formerly the 26th chief of U.S. Border Patrol and BUH’s new vice president of security. Sarah Frost, the chief of hospital operations for BUH, notified BUH employees about Owens’s new role in a July 22 email. She wrote that the position was created to “further strengthen our commitment to the safety and security of our patients, visitors and employees,” and added that security leaders across BUH’s facilities will report directly to Owens. More than 40 current and former BUH employees have added their names to the petition, and over 150 signatories were Brown undergraduate students or alumni. Citing the number of immigrants in Rhode Island, Kenneth Kalu ’27, an organizer with the Party for Socialism and Liberation, wrote in an email to The Herald that “hiring Owens for hospital security is shameful and unacceptable.” BUH did not respond to requests for comment. “Hiring an official who led a system of migrant intimidation, repression and detention to run the hospital system is an implicit threat to immigrant patients,” Kalu wrote. “We cannot trust a former immigration enforcement official to protect Rhode Island’s hospitals and ensure that immigrant patients can access care without fear.” Owens worked at USBP for over 27 years before he was appointed its head in July 2023. The agency falls under U.S. Cus-

SELINA KAO / HERALD

More than 40 current and former BUH employees have added their names to the petition, and over 150 signatories were Brown undergraduate students or alumni. toms and Border Protection — a Department of Homeland Security agency — but operates independently from Immigration and Customs Enforcement. In January 2025, Owens was promoted to chief operating officer of Border Patrol before he retired from the role in April 2025. His LinkedIn does not show any updates after 2025. Owens did not respond to requests for comment. Christopher Botelho ’13, a BUH employee who uses he/she/they pronouns, disagreed strongly with the decision to hire

Owens. After responding to Frost’s email to criticize the hiring, she met with BUH human resources officers. Botelho said he ultimately decided to quit his job as a data coordinator. The petition description argues that USBP’s actions have harmed the health of individuals trying to cross the border and questions the decision to appoint someone affiliated with those actions into a healthcare organization. Botelho pointed to an alleged order for USBP agents to destroy food and water left out as aid for migrants. “I just don’t trust

that person and their ethos and what they’re bringing into the healthcare environment,” Botelho said. USBP did not respond to requests for comment. “It is ridiculous to have someone whose profession endangers lives involved with an organization that is dedicated to saving them,” Raya Gupta ’29, a coordinator for Brown Rise Up, wrote in a message to The Herald. “No one who I’ve spoken to about this thinks it’s okay to have former Border Patrol running anything in hospitals,” Gupta

added. Botelho worries that the hiring of Owens might even further discourage individuals seeking care from going to the hospital. “We’re already talking about people coming in their most vulnerable moments, needing care, sometimes life-saving care,” Botelho said. “Undocumented folks are considering: ‘Do I go to the hospital? Do I get taken care of?’” “I think there’s already sensitivity and fear around accessing healthcare, and this just adds another layer to that,” Botelho added.

PAGE 6

Friday, September 11, 2026

SPORTS FIELD HOCKEY

Field hockey claims first season win against Quinnipiac The Bears will look to build momentum at their Friday home game BY SAJIV MEHTA SPORTS EDITOR The field hockey team (1-1, 0-0 Ivy) overpowered Quinnipiac University with a 4-2 win (1-3, 0-0 NEC) this past Sunday. The triumph marked Brown’s first victory of the 2026 season. After stumbling to a 3-0 loss at the hands of No. 10 University of Connecticut in their season opener on Sept. 4, the Bears used slick ball movement and an onslaught of shots to rebound with a win against Quinnipiac. Bruno’s defense also came to play, holding the Bobcats to just 5 shots on goal compared to the Bears’ 22. “It was a very exciting win against a good team,” Kate Siedem ’27 wrote. “We were able to bounce back and get it done.” From the starting whistle, Brown dominated possession. The Bears consistently kept the ball in their attacking half and put near-constant pressure on the Bobcats’ defense. Brown was awarded a penalty stroke less than five minutes into the first quarter. Siedem stepped up to the stroke mark with hopes of earning the Bears an early lead. But Siedem released the ball too late on her sweep, sending it veering just far enough off course that the ball clattered to the left of the goalpost. Bruno managed two more shots over the next minute and a half, but both were saved by Quinnipiac goalkeeper Meike van

Schoot. Those saves proved to settle the momentum of the match, as the Bears could not manage to take another shot for the next eight minutes. But with less than two minutes remaining in the first period, Brown regained their stride. From within the striking circle, Sadie Schultz ’28 intercepted a pass between Bobcats and earned a promising turnover. As she barreled downhill toward the Quinnipiac goal and prepared to shoot, she drew a penalty stroke from the defender. Siedem took her place at the penalty mark once more. This time, firing the ball to the right side of the goal and past van Schoot. The ball found the backboard of the net, securing Brown’s first goal of the fall. “I felt grateful to have a second opportunity and tried to remind myself that I had done this many times in practice,” Siedem wrote in an email to The Herald. Bruno carried the momentum from Siedem’s goal into the second period, rattling off eight shots in just over eight minutes to lock down Bruno’s control. In the ninth minute of the quarter, the Bears’ aggressive offense produced their second goal. Off a penalty corner, Juliette Meijaard ’27 flipped a shot towards the net from near the penalty mark. Standing just a few feet in front of van Schoot, Kiersten Smith ’28 tracked the ball through the air and directed it over the diving Quinnipiac goalie for a remarkable volley goal. Refusing to silently crawl into halftime, the Bobcats showed their first signs of offensive life in the final minutes of the period. Quinnipiac earned a penalty corner just before the game’s 29th minute, and

COURTESY OF BROWN ATHLETICS

The Bears will be back in action on Friday, when they host Boston University (2-2, 0-0 Patriot League). they executed a clever one-pass play to and into the net. was lost when Bruno scored less than four cut Brown’s lead in half. The remainder of the third quarter minutes later. Alexandra Madrid ’28 forced Emerging from the locker rooms for passed without another change on the a turnover in Brown’s defensive half, and the game’s second half, both teams record- scoreboard. Brown continued to apply Schultz dribbled the ball all the way into ed early shots and seemed determined pressure on the Quinnipiac defense un- the shooting circle. Although Schultz’s to bend the contest their way. But in the til the period’s final five minutes, during shot attempt was blocked by Van Schoot, quarter’s seventh minute, Brown took which the Bobcats did not allow a Brown Frances Moriniere ’27 capitalized on the advantage of another penalty corner to shot and managed three shots of their own. rebound, sealing the scoreboard at 4-2, regain a two-score advantage. Quinnipiac continued undeterred as where it stayed until the final whistle. From just inside the 25-yard line, the fourth quarter began, refusing to allow “We have a lot of potential this year,” Siedem sent a ball screaming across the Bruno a chance at their goal. With just un- Siedem wrote. “With more practice and field toward the net. Halfway through the der nine minutes remaining in the contest, competition, I believe we will continue to ball’s journey to the goal line, Mia Karine Bobcat Ava Bleier scooped a loose ball up improve and see just how far we can go.” Myklebust ’27 angled her stick to alter the and sent it past Brown goalkeeper Ellie The Bears will be back in action on ball’s path. The 2025 First Team All-Ivy Parker ’29. Quinnipiac was back within Friday, when they host Boston University selection propelled the ball into the air, one goal of the Bears. (2-2, 0-0 Patriot League). where it tumbled past helpless Bobcats But hope of a Quinnipiac comeback

SOCCER

Men’s soccer opens season with wins over New Haven, Saint Peter’s The Bears faced a 2-1 loss to UConn but beat New Haven and Saint Peter’s BY HARRY GUO SENIOR STAFF WRITER The men’s soccer team (2-1, 0-0 Ivy) claimed a narrow 1-0 win against Saint Peter’s University (2-2-1, 0-0 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference) this past Sunday. The victory moved them to No. 2 in the Ivy League, with four games left before the start of Ivy League play. The Bears came into Sunday off a narrow road loss to the University of Connecticut (3-3-1, 0-0 Big East Conference) and a season-opening home victory over the University of New Haven (1-4, 0-0 Northeast Conference). Throughout the first half of play against New Haven, Bruno controlled much of the action. But despite their defensive dominance, the Bears were unable to find the back of the net, and the two teams entered halftime scoreless. The deadlock finally broke in the 52nd minute. Brown midfielder Ethan Rabel ’30 dribbled his way around the New Haven defense before finding Marshall Treese ’29, who sent a cross into the box. Waiting at the pass’s other end was Sawyer Turiace ’29, who completed the play to score Brown’s first goal of the season and give the Bears a 1-0 lead. Brown doubled its lead with just seven minutes remaining in the match. Carter Smith ’27 launched a long pass up the field to standout forward Lorenzo Amaral ’27, who found himself in front of the net to

COURTESY OF BROWN ATHELTICS

Following their successes, the Bears will play Stonehill College at home at 7 p.m. on Friday. tuck away the finish and cement Bruno’s contest took a dramatic turn. Following a 2-0 opening-night victory. video assistant referee check, Canos Seneci The Bears then traveled to Connecticut and a UConn player were both ejected, and for a matchup against UConn, where Brown the Huskies were awarded a penalty kick. struck first once again. UConn converted from the spot to take a In the 16th minute, Smith sent a long late 2-1 advantage, handing Brown its first ball upfield to Sergio Canos Seneci ’28, loss of the season. who played the ball toward the top of the “We had our hearts ripped out on box, where James Snaith ’28 was lying in Thursday night on some very questionwait. The 2025 First Team All-Ivy selection able refereeing decisions,” Head Coach fired a shot from distance into the net to Chase Wileman wrote in an email to The score his first goal since the 2024 season. Herald. “What an excellent life lesson that Bruno carried its 1-0 advantage into you can’t put your head down; you have to halftime and held onto the lead for much get up and go again.” of the second half. But in the 71st minute, Looking to heed Wileman’s words and the Huskies finally found their equalizer bounce back, the Bears returned home to to bring the game level at 1-1. face Saint Peter’s this past Sunday. With about five minutes remaining, the Graham Kois ’28 made his first start

in goal for Brown and was tested early. In the 10th minute, Saint Peter’s fired a low shot from long range, but Kois swiftly crouched to make the save. He finished his debut showing with a clean sheet, a feat that “means the world” to him, Kois wrote in an email to The Herald. On the other end of the pitch, Brown created the majority of the first-half opportunities. Bruno outshot the Peacocks 6-3, with Amaral accounting for five of Brown’s attempts. But neither team could break through their opponent’s defense before halftime. One of Brown’s best opportunities came in the 69th minute. Zion Wharton ’27 dribbled into the open space between two defenders and threaded a pass through another pair of Peacocks to Mateo Pereyra ’29. The Bears’ 2025 scoring leader cut inside and curled a shot toward the goal, but Saint Peter’s goalkeeper Sebastian Heredia-Randen made an impressive save to keep the game scoreless. On the ensuing corner, Brown nearly struck again. The ball was lofted toward the edge of the box, where Alex Sauerbrei ’30 headed it toward Snaith. With his body facing away from goal, Snaith managed a difficult half-volley attempt, but Heredia-Randen dove to make another dramatic save. At the 85th minute, the game remained in a stalemate. But just when a scoreless draw seemed inevitable, the Bears finally pierced the Peacock’s defense on a chaotic sequence in front of the goal. Snaith lifted the ball toward Sauerbrei, who beat Heredia-Randen to the ball and centered it across the box. Carlo Brown

’27 initially whiffed on his shot, but Amaral was lying in wait behind him and calmly slotted the ball into the net to give Brown a late 1-0 advantage. “It is hard to win games at this level, and it was a tight game in general, so scoring a late winner is excellent momentum for the team,” Wileman wrote. The Bears almost doubled their lead two minutes later. Mathias Hille ’27 collected the ball in Brown’s defensive half and carried it all the way to the Saint Peter’s box, skipping past defenders and dropping a Peacock to the turf along the way. Hille looked for a shot opportunity but could not create enough space to put the ball on net. The Peacocks threw numbers forward in search of an equalizer in the final minutes, leaving their defense exposed. With seconds remaining, Carlo Brown raced forward and sent a shot past the goalkeeper toward the bottom-right corner of the net. But time expired before the ball crossed the goal line, and the scoreboard remained unchanged. “Even though it wasn’t the prettiest game, getting the three points was really big, so we’re very excited about it,” Smith said. Looking ahead, the Bears will play Stonehill College (2-1-2, 0-0 Northeast Conference) at home at 7 p.m. on Friday. “We just have to stick to our process, keep working every day, and focus on what we can control,” Wileman wrote.

This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Sept. 9, 2026.

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

PAGE 7

UNIVERSITY NEWS CONVOCATION

‘Brown 4 Israel’ protest plane causes distraction at Paxson’s final Opening Convocation

The University’s 263rd Opening Convocation occurred Tuesday BY RACHEL WICKER SENIOR STAFF WRITER On Tuesday afternoon, the University’s 263rd Opening Convocation welcomed new students through the Van Wickle Gates. As students walked to their seats, the sounds of bagpipes, University Hall’s bell and cheers rang through the Main Green, combined with the droning of a plane that repeatedly flew in circles above. The plane, which continued circling overhead throughout the procession and ceremony, towed an Israeli flag, an American flag and a banner that read “Brown 4 Israel.” The Convocation ceremony welcomed the incoming classes to Brown, which include 143 medical students, 1,303 masters and doctoral students, 10 resumed undergraduate education scholars, 91 transfer students and 1,724 first-years. This year’s convocation was not the first time a pro-Israel demonstration of its kind has occurred during a University ceremony. In 2024, the Rhode Island Coalition for Israel flew an identical aerial banner around campus during the University’s commencement ceremonies to counter the pro-Palestinian activism that was prominent at the time. In a message to The Herald, Executive Director of the Rhode Island Coalition for Israel Maria Friedman confirmed that the coalition organized the plane’s presence, writing that some alumni contributed donations to support the flying of the banner. They added that this is the fourth time the coalition has organized this demonstration at Brown ceremonies, although the first three times were during commence-

KAIA YALAMANCHILI / HERALD

A leader of Brown Students for Israel confirmed that the group had no involvement in flying the plane. ment ceremonies rather than convocation. A leader of Brown Students for Israel confirmed that the group had no involvement in flying the plane. Gavin Tieken-Zidel ’29, a Jewish transfer student, said that he “was not a fan” of the presence of the plane’s message at this year’s Convocation. Tieken-Zidel said that he sees “a lot of pro-Israel sentiments being conflated for pro-Jewish sentiments,” as well as anti-Zionism being conflated as antisemitism. “As a Jew, it’s disturbing to see,” he said. Benjamin Stern ’27 arrived at Convocation excited to support the first-years he has been working with as a Bruno Leader. But as the plane flew overhead, he worried that the plane’s presence would distract from the event and bring up “some really difficult emotions” for the students walking through the gates. “I don’t want them to feel unsafe coming here. I don’t want them to feel like this is a norm,” he added. He said he thinks the plane’s presence was “a little disgusting” and “a hurtful thing to see when tens of thousands of people

have died.” But he said that he believed the students would be able to enjoy the tradition and ceremony regardless of the plane’s presence. “I love this city. I love this community,” he said. “I don’t think we have to let what’s above us control our experience at Convocation.” Naomi Stoll ’30 said she supports Israel but thought that the plane’s presence was “quite annoying.” “I think that building support for Israel at Brown is a great thing to do,” she said. “I don’t know if flying the plane around Convocation was the best way to do that.” “Our work in collaboration with many Brown alumni and students is a way to show these students support when it seems so many on campus are against them or view their Jewish or Zionist identity as problematic,” Friedman wrote. They added that the plane carried an American flag in addition to an Israeli flag because it is “important to show that Israel is so similar to America in many ways and their close relationship is a benefit to all of humanity.” Reverend Delphain Demosthenes, asso-

ciate University chaplain for the Protestant community, began the ceremony by reading the University’s land acknowledgement statement and leading an invocation, which was followed by speeches from President Christina Paxson P’19 P’MD’20 and James Kellner, associate provost of corporate engagement and professor of ecology, evolution, organismal biology and of environment and society. In Paxson’s opening remarks, she said that the day was “bittersweet,” as it was the last time she will welcome a new class to Brown as University president. In August, Paxon shared that she will be stepping down from her role as president following the end of the 2026-27 academic year. In her speech, Paxson drew from the first Convocation speech she gave in 2012, which focused on constructive irreverence. “Constructive irreverence means approaching your learning with open minds and open hearts” and “questioning everything,” she said. She said that these qualities are especially important today amid the rise of artificial intelligence. “Is the AI-generated summary giving you the truth or hallucinations?”

Both Paxson and Kellner, the keynote speaker, emphasized the importance of being able to challenge previous assumptions and rethink a preestablished opinion or belief. Kellner used the extinction that wiped out the dinosaurs as an example of a truth that required scientists to rethink previous assumptions, since researchers had initially assumed the extinction happened over time. Kellner also urged students to be open and to take risks. “Brown is an answer to the question, ‘What does society need?’” he said. “It needs you to be useful.” He added that “to be useful is to know something” and that “if you want to know something, you must be willing to change your mind.” He concluded by encouraging students to take advantage of their time at Brown. “The University has given you the freedom to explore, so use it. Don’t waste it,” he said. “Have the courage to say what you think. Develop the character to change your mind.” Stoll said that the ceremony “was a really lovely way to begin (her) year at Brown” and highlighted that she enjoyed Kellner’s speech. “A focus of the speeches was commitment to truth, openness to changing our minds and critical thinking,” she said. “Those are definitely attitudes that I want to be at the forward of my time at Brown.” Denali Schijvens ’29, a transfer student, said that Convocation “really made you feel like a part of something bigger.” He thought Kellner’s speech was “very well-done” and “entertaining.” “We’re starting a new academic journey here,” said Ivy Shen GS, a first year master’s student in the biotechnology program. “I’m really excited.”

This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Sept. 9, 2026.

LOBBYING

Brown lobbying expenditure falls to at least $280K so far in 2026, lowest in Ivy League The University spent at least $600,000 at this time last year BY JEREMIAH FARR SENIOR STAFF WRITER Brown has spent at least $280,000 in lobbying efforts so far in 2026, less than half of what they spent in the same time frame last year, according to public filings reviewed by The Herald. The University’s lobbying efforts the first two quarters of the year focused on issues relating to international students, college athletics and federal research funding. Brown’s lobbying expenditures so far are the lowest of the Ivy League. Penn was the highest spender, with $570,000, followed by Yale and Cornell, which spent $550,000 and $540,000 respectively. The University spent $200,000 in 2022, $220,000 in 2023 and $350,000 in 2024. According to University spokesperson Brian Clark, Brown’s core lobbying “priorities have remained consistent” over the years, “but the emphasis changes as federal policy changes.” Brown’s total lobbying spending in 2025 was $860,000 — drastically higher than it had been in previous years. The year 2025 included “significant federal activity affecting higher education,” Clark wrote in an email to The Herald. In the past year, “greater attention has

JAKE PARKER / HERALD

The University spent $200,000 in 2022, $220,000 in 2023 and $350,000 in 2024. been required on federal research funding and policy, immigration, tax policy and other issues affecting universities,” he wrote. According to Sarah Spreitzer, vice president and chief of staff for government relations at the American Council on Education, the majority of higher education institutions “have core issues that they

lobby on.” Spreitzer said that student aid programs, federal work-study programs and funding for scientific research are three common lobbying targets. ACE regularly lobbies on behalf of American universities and has represented Brown in the past. Over a third of Brown’s lobbying ex-

penditures this year were used to employ Cornerstone Government Affairs — a bipartisan consulting and lobbying firm — to lobby on the University’s behalf. According to Spreitzer, who has been working in higher education for about 25 years, the nationwide increase in lobbying activity in 2025 was not unheard of.

She noted lobbying expenses spikes occur “any time we’ve had historic challenges for institutions of higher education,” such as during the COVID-19 pandemic.

This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Sept. 9, 2026.

PAGE 8

Friday, September 11, 2026

POLL FIRST YEAR POLL FROM PAGE 1 Three-fourths of the class of 2030 call the United States home Whether in Canada, Brazil, Ghana or India, a fellow class of 2030 Brunonian is never too far away. The majority of incoming students reside in the United States, but the next most common home countries are China, the United Kingdom and India, respectively. Students were also polled on their nationality and immigration status, and 15% shared that they were

attending Brown as a student visa holder. Recruited varsity athletes were more likely to be natural-born U.S. citizens compared to their peers, and 100% of students who had a parent or guardian attend Brown identified as natural-born U.S. citizens. Within the United States, California, New York and Massachusetts were the most common home states — collectively accounting for nearly half of the poll’s respondents.

Economics is the most popular intended concentration While some students enter their first year intimidated and uncertain about their college major, three departments at Brown beat out the “undecided” category for the class of 2030’s primary intended concentrations. Economics came in first with 8.6% of respondents, biochemistry and molecular biology accounted for 6.5% of respondents and international and public affairs stole the third place spot with 6.1% of respondents. The popularity of Brown’s Department of Economics was not limited to students’ primary con-

centrations. About 40% of respondents indicated that they intend to double concentrate during their time at Brown, and of those students’ intended secondary concentrations, economics came out on top once again. While over half of students say they are certain about their intended concentrations — with those studying the life sciences indicating the highest level of certainty — concentration decisions were somewhat impacted by the proliferation of artificial intelligence. Only 26% of respondents said their intended concentration had been “not at all” influenced by the growing prevalence of AI.

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PAGE 9

POLL The majority of first-years are single… and looking for something more Students looking for love on College Hill are in luck. The majority of incoming first-years said they were single, with about 30% describing themselves as “single and looking for a relationship.” This percentage was higher among female students, none of whom indicated that they were “hooking up with multiple

Incoming first-years view Brown’s campus as safe On Dec. 13, a gunman opened fire on the Brown University campus. The shooting sparked widespread debateover campus security, safety and the administration’s response to the event. This year’s edition of The Herald’s First Year Poll included a series of optional questions about students’ perception of campus safety, as well as how the mass shooting influenced their decision to attend Brown. On a scale from one to 10 — one being the least safe and 10 being the most safe — a plurality of incoming first years rated the safety of Brown’s campus at a seven. When compared to other U.S. universities, this number rose to an eight.

In terms of their college decisions, over half of the class of 2030 said that the Brown administration’s response to the Dec. 13 shooting had no impact on their decision to attend the University, and about 38% of the incoming class also said that the student response to the shooting did not influence their decision to attend Brown. About 15% of first-years said that the student response to the Dec. 13 shooting “somewhat positively” influenced their decision to ultimately become a Brunonian.

This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Sept. 9, 2026.

people.” On the other hand, 2.7% of male students said that they were. On the physical side of romance, about one-third of respondents answered that they’ve had sex before. Christian students just slightly beat out agnostics for the most sexually active religion among incoming first years.

PAGE 10

Friday, September 11, 2026

COMMENTARY Editors’ note: Back at 88 Benevolent St. and better than ever

Once again, students are scattered across the Main Green, the University Hall bell is marking our daily treks to class and we are back at 88 Benevolent St. Although we loved the slower pace of our summers, we are overjoyed to start another semester of production, working with our wonderful staff to serve you, our readers. Today marks the first print issue of the fall 2026 semester. Over the summer, we continued to keep the Brown community informed of the University’s most pressing issues. We shared that President Christina Paxson P’19 P’MD’20 would be step-

ping down at the end of the academic year and reported on the findings of the external review Brown underwent following the shooting. We also covered issues impacting the Providence community at large — including the long-awaited return of the Providence Public School District from state to local control and the intense Democratic mayoral primary. And it’s not just our news staff that’s been hard at work. Our tech team and collaborators at SNWorks spent the summer busy designing the new website we unveiled earlier this week, marking our first major site update in five years.

We also updated The Herald’s app to include our Mini Crossword — previously only published on our website — and a leaderboard where community members can compete to be the fastest puzzle-solver on campus. Each of these accomplishments was made possible by our incredible staff of multimedia creators, copy editors, reporters, editors, data staff, post- magazine staffers and opinion writers. They are the lifeblood of our organization, ensuring that we have high-quality content to adorn our shiny new site and freshly updated app. We’re grateful for our finance and sales

teams, who make sure we have the funds to keep this organization running. As we watch first-years flood the Main Green, we are excited for them to join us in this era of innovation and growth at The Herald. The best has yet to come.

Editors’ notes are written by The Herald’s 136th Editorial Board: Cate Latimer ’27, Ciara Meyer ’27, Claire Song ’27, Elise Haulund ’27, Hadley Carr ’27, Paul Hudes ’27 and Max Robinson ’26.5

Murray ’29: Everyone should spend a summer in Providence During the school year, Brown’s Main Green is the definitive social hub of campus. From about 8:30 in the morning to sunset, in fall leaves and spring flowers, the Main Green buzzes with students. While I have always loved the green, I did not fully cherish its joyful hum until this past summer, when I experienced it with a different energy: quiet. While many students do stay on Brown’s campus during the warmer months, the general summer exodus represents a missed opportunity for Brown’s undergraduates. I encourage every Brunonian to spend a summer on College Hill to form a deeper connection between students, the school and the city. I spent this past summer at Brown working as a tour guide and a research assistant in the Department of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences. Without the pull of constant on-campus activities, I was able to more freely explore Providence as a resident rather than just a student. Through humid nights with friends, walks to the Hope Street Farmers Market and way too many ice cream outings, summer integration with Providence was natural. After a record-breaking winter, evening runs around Hope High School and seeing gardens in full bloom allowed me to see the full cycle of seasons in Providence. Some pleasures of the summer are also inaccessible during the busy school season, like taking the ferry to Newport and sitting outside during the evening. Providence is by no means as bustling as New York City or Boston,

but the smaller nature of the city made existing as a young person feel uniquely accessible. Just like there is no single way to use the open curriculum, there is no one way to spend a summer in Providence. Like me, many students stayed

University stipend. Plus, if you want to see your family, travel or do a remote internship, there is still plenty of time within our almost four-monthlong summer. For an example from another college, Dart-

on campus and participated in University sponsored Undergraduate Teaching Awards, known as UTRAS, and others worked independently for professors and received hourly payment. Brown’s iProv Fellowship provides funding through the Swearer Center and allows students to work with local nonprofits. Through the SPRINT summer fellowship program, students can design their own summer internship in Providence and receive a

mouth’s mandatory “sophomore summer” term has fostered decades of class bonding in the woods of New Hampshire. During the summer after sophomore year, rising juniors grow academically by taking classes and working in labs, but overall, Dartmouth students describe sophomore summers as akin to “summer camp.” Dartmouthians reflect on Hanover summers as a time when they developed a “profound sense of belonging” with their

ANNAMARIA LUECHT / HERALD

class and woodland campus. Of course, creating a summer culture on campus goes both ways. While Brown does give students ample options for research and community engagement, other summer offerings from the school are lackluster. Although Brown’s website states that both in-person and online courses are available, scrolling Courses@Brown reveals that the vast majority of summer courses are taught completely online, giving students no reason to stay on campus. Funding more summer courses in person taught by Brown faculty members could attract more students to stay for a summer. Further, while Brown does offer housing over the summer for current students, the dates don’t cover the entire summer and the daily cost is $45, not including a meal plan: a steep price for dorms. Learning in a less intense academic season surrounded by students who also made the choice to be on campus this summer has been a highlight of my time here at Brown. When students attend Brown for four years but only live in Providence for the fall and spring semesters, Providence becomes a backdrop for our education — not the true home that it ought to be.

Clara Murray ’28 can be reached at clara_murray@ brown.edu. Please send responses to this column to letters@browndailyherald.com and other opinions to opinions@browndailyherald.com.

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OPINIONS

Ziegler GS: The University’s characterization of BrownGLO contract negotiations is disingenuous On July 1, the collective bargaining agreement between Brown and the Graduate Labor Organization — which had been in place since 2023 — expired with no replacement. The same day, Provost Francis Doyle III and Executive Vice President for Finance and Administration Sarah Latham wrote in Today@ Brown regarding the state of negotiations for a new contract with graduate student workers. Doyle and Latham author a narrative of a paternalistic administration responding graciously to extravagant demands from RIFT-AFT Local 6516, the parent organization of GLO. In their words, Brown’s graduate students receive “support ... unmatched by nearly any other institution,” making our proposal of annual raises of 12%, 11% and 10% seem ungrateful. Their counterproposal, however, boils down to the comparatively small increments of 0% for the current fiscal year, 1.5% for FY 2028–30 and 2% in FY 2031. By compounding these meager numbers into the 6.7% figure over five years, Doyle and Latham frame the University’s offer as magnanimous. Brown’s graduate students live in a city that has been named the least affordable market for renters in the United States. The city’s July 2026 median asking rent of $2,281 represents more than 50% of the pre-tax monthly stipend Brown proposes for the current fiscal year, and it is not unheard of for Providence renters to face hikes of as much as $1,000 on their monthly rents. While the Today@Brown announcement frames the University’s current compensation as groundbreaking compared to peers, in reality, it is merely adjusted for the city’s relatively steep cost of living. That Brown graduate students are compensated better than colleagues at many peer institutions does nothing to offset the real rising cost of their housing, yet Doyle and Latham offer this fact, in all apparent earnestness, to justify their offer of a 0% raise this academic year. The letter similarly glosses over the contribution of graduate students appointed as fellows. Fellows, in the words of Doyle and Latham, “are not required to perform services to Brown... in exchange for their funding,” and so the union is painted as wrong to seek their recognition under the contract. They do not acknowledge the over 100 testimonials sent to

JAKE PARKER / HERALD

the provost regarding services graduate students on fellowship provide to the University. But acknowledging those services would align with existing practice: the University of Rhode Island’s current collective bargaining agreement with graduate students recognizes internal fellows. The least administrators might do is engage with the more than 70% of fellows who sought recognition by our union rather than offer a perfunctory denial of their hard work. Doyle and Latham’s selective characterization of the bargaining process culminates in a complete omission of our disagreement over the right of graduate students to grieve instances of discrimination or harassment through an independent procedure. Brown proposes to strip language from our contract that allows an independent arbitrator to determine whether the University is responsible for discrimination and harassment in the workplace. Instead, the University wishes to review issues of harassment through its own Office of Equity Compliance and Reporting. Brown’s history of dealing with claims of dis-

crimination and harassment through its internal offices inspires no confidence. A Title IX class action suit filed against the University in 2021 detailed a litany of cases in which survivors of sexual assault and abuse were allegedly discouraged from pursuing formal complaints. Another suit against Brown noted that its Title IX office took nearly 6 months to issue the critical findings of its investigation. In contrast, the expired independent grievance procedure can move forward to scheduling a hearing with an arbitrator in roughly one month. The language of our grievance article holds the University to strict timelines in responding to alleged violations of the contract, whereas Brown’s Title IX policy offers only that processing of a “formal resolution process may take approximately 90 business days.” The material advantage of the independent procedure played out in one notable case where a survivor of an alleged sexual assault was able to access paid time away after it at first had been denied to her by the University; her use of the independent procedure followed the dropping of a related Title IX filing some nine

months after the initial report. We fear that future, similar cases may not be resolved so favorably for those discriminated against or harassed at work if the administration has its way. While our members will welcome proposals from management that address their needs, Doyle and Latham’s implication that the administration has offered such proposals “in good faith” to date is disingenuous. Moving forward, I would encourage the broader Brown community to speak with graduate students themselves about their experience at the bargaining table rather than rely on University communications. You might find their perspective more relatable than that of the guy living in a $2.5 million house on Brown’s dime.

Michael Ziegler GS is the president of labor union Local 6516. He can be reached at michael_ziegler@brown. edu. Please send responses to this op-ed to letters@ browndailyherald.com and other opinions to opinions@ browndailyherald.com.

Gardiner ’28: Brown should ditch the two-and-a-half-hour seminar First-years, what came to your mind when you pictured a Brown education? When I first got to Brown, I imagined a life of vigorous discussions led by bespectacled, sweater-clad professors in warm wooden classrooms. It’s the experience advertised in admissions materials, and one that you might be looking for as you scroll through Courses@Brown this shopping period. For the most part, I think debate and disagreement are integrated into our learning experience at Brown. With one notable exception: the two-and-ahalf-hour, once-a-week seminar — which is a firm fixture of the academic schedule. These classes are too long, meet too infrequently and are simply not well suited for fostering enlivened debate. I graduated high school alongside just over 80 classmates. Arriving at Brown and stepping into lecture halls packed with more than double that many students was instantly overwhelming. For first-years who feel the same way, or anyone who just wants to hear directly from the other 7,195 perspectives on campus, they might try to find a more intimate intellectual environment in humanities seminars. Not to mention that 62% of teachers believe smaller classes enhance learning. There is a certain harmony that makes a small, conversation-driven class effective. But it doesn’t come naturally — relationships are built on shared time and experiences, so they’re harder to develop when groups meet just once a week. Tri-weekly meetings mean a class and its members become part of the rhythm of your life. Seeing all of the sides to your classmates — from their hungover mornings to their eureka moments — you’ll develop a natural rapport. And as you learn to accept those

sides of them, you’ll learn to welcome their opinions and perspectives in turn. This comfort will naturally draw forth students’ opinions and promote

The current scheduling norm makes the effect of one bad day wildly disproportionate. Seminars meet around 14 times per semester, and so just one

effective discourse without fear or self-censorship. Exciting conversations also encourage students to prepare thoroughly for class so they can hold their own as their ideas are dissected and dissect those of their peers in return. Brown’s language classes, many of which meet daily, reap the benefits of consistency: a bond of trust between classmates and professors and more fruitful conversations as a result.

measly breakup or night spent too late at Josiah’s costs students 7% of their learning experience. A single missed class, likewise, counts for an entire week of absence. The two-and-a-half-hour seminar fails to account for the volatile reality of being a college student, and Brunonians lose out on learning as a result. Proponents of the lengthy seminar might argue that they provide the time needed to discuss con-

KAIA YALAMANCHILI / HERALD

tent in further depth, but in reality this extended discussion sacrifices the quality of student contributions. Even on your best day, spirited discussions can be taxing. Research demonstrates that the second half of long, demanding classes suffer from student fatigue as cognitive demand increases. Engagement can easily peter out before the end of two-and-a-half-hours, especially when, per the standard schedule, seminars can end as late as 6:30 p.m. As a humanities concentrator, I feel my learning and class options are both limited by the fact that so many of the courses I see on Courses@Brown meet in this block. The difficult ideas my courses ask me to grapple with don’t nestle into my consciousness, as I’m asked to recall them infrequently. Repetition and practice — which happen with consistent, repeated engagement — are proven to enhance comprehension. As it is, our seminars lack staying power. It’s deeply counterintuitive that a small class that relies almost solely on the vitality of its participants needs to be almost three hours long. Even the time cost of the niceties related to starting and finishing a class — maybe five minutes — help fortify a class’s bond. While it might remain a rare scheduling exception, I think it must not remain the norm. Seminars should make intellectual engagement a habit, not just a brochure image . Isabella Gardiner ’28 can be reached at isabella_gardiner@brown.edu. Please send responses to this column to letters@browndailyherald.com and other opinions to opinions@browndailyherald.com.

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Friday, September 11, 2026

ARTS & CULTURE REVIEW

The scariest part of ‘Obsession’ is not the gore, but its reality Released in May, the film tackles toxic masculinity in modern-day dating

is not a new story, the use of this familiar narrative device draws a wide range of audiences into a thoroughly novel expe-

BY AMELIA BARTER SENIOR STAFF WRITER With its minimal budget and impressive box office success, Curry Barker’s hit film, “Obsession,” is a sensation that leverages the horror genre to capture the pitfalls of toxic masculinity. The film was produced and financed independently with a mere $750,000 — a budget far less than the majority of box-office successes. Starring mostly breakout actors — including Inde Navarrette and Megan Lawless — “Obsession” offers a more natural viewing experience than other recent standout films like Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey,” which boasts a cast of well-known faces that stifle viewers’ immersion. The film follows Bear (Michael Johnston), a young man who is desperately infatuated with his friend Nikki (Inde Navarrette). Unable to work up the courage to admit his feelings, Bear resorts to wishing upon a mystical wish-granting stick — the “One Wish Willow” — that Nikki would love him “more than anyone in the f—ing world.” In the following days, the wish’s effect seems relatively normal — the two

COURTESY OF FOCUSFEATURES

Starring mostly breakout actors — including Inde Navarrette and Megan Lawless — “Obsession” offers a more natural viewing experience than other recent standout films. friends start dating and appear madly in love. But it soon becomes apparent that Nikki is no longer her old self, and that she will stop at nothing to ensure she has Bear all to herself. The film explores themes of modern-day male entitlement through Bear in particular. Next to his best friend Ian (Cooper Tomlinson) — a more stereo-

typical example of selfish “machismo” — Bear seems relatively harmless. But throughout the film, it is soon revealed why Bear’s less overt misogyny makes him far more dangerous. Rather than allow Nikki to choose whether or not to enter a relationship with him, Bear’s insecurities deprive Nikki of agency. Throughout the film, Bear plays the

part of the “nice guy,” who appears the victim despite inadvertently engineering the entire situation. Nikki’s suffering worsens in favor of staying with Bear — and he is confronted with sacrificing his life or hers — begging the question, “who is truly obsessed with whom?” The beauty of “Obsession” lies in its simplicity. While the “wish gone wrong”

rience. Fans enter the theater expecting a typical horror movie but are treated to unexpected, and at times uncomfortable, depictions of gendered culture in the 21st century. The film’s use of horror is also notably unique. While Barker does utilize the traditional jumpscare, most of the movie’s frights are far more understated but equally disturbing, such as Nikki’s rapid shifts between her original and her new, obsessed self. In an interview with film critic Juju Green, Barker describes these chilling yet subdued moments — or what he deems the “modern jumpscare” — as exploring “how close can you be to human without being human.” That being said, “Obsession” also features scenes with intense gore that turn up its shock factor. These grotesquely realistic images work in the film’s favor, manifesting the violent nature of Bear’s wish concretely and viscerally. While the film does not embark on a particularly complex journey and runs the risk of being interpreted at face value — some viewers walk away only with the impression that we should fear possessive women — Barker’s depiction of modern-day relationships and inequities is undeniably and horrifyingly familiar.

REVIEW

‘you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love’ is a triumphant homage to heartbreak Olivia Rodrigo excels as she narrates “true” love from beginning to end BY ALYSSIA OUHOCINE SENIOR STAFF WRITER Five years after pop superstar Olivia Rodrigo’s debut single “drivers license” took the world by storm, it’s hard to imagine the young artist could outdo her already anguished and prolific catalogue. But the June 12 release of her third studio album “you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love” stunningly encapsulates the universal rise and fall of love. Announced on April 2, the album narrates the course of a relationship from the first date to separation in just 51 minutes. In a Pitchfork cover story, Rodrigo shared, “The first half of the album, your hopes are just so high, and you’re dreaming about the future and dreaming about who you could be in this different environment.” The album’s lead single, “drop dead,” reflects this jubilation. The track’s bubbly buildup and explosive chorus is earnest and youthful. Lyrics like “You’re lookin’ like an angel on the walls of Versailles / The most alive I’ve ever been / But kiss me and I might drop dead” are sung with a touching sincerity that reflects the exciting frenzy of a first date. The accompanying music video depicts Rodrigo prancing through a deserted Palace of Versailles, the artistic equivalent to the joy of receiving a text back. On the album, romance never emerges as picturesque. Obsession quickly begins to bleed through the cracks of “stupid song,” one of the album’s strongest points. The track opens as a mournful ballad before erupting into a desperate, rock-adjacent plea for reprieve. While the song describes how falling headfirst in love feels, Rodri-

go also narrates the lows that accompany this euphoria with lyrics like “Seven nights alone and a skipped meal / I’m sleeping in my dress and my high heels.” Crashing percussion plays against the song’s final pre-chorus, heightening the out-of-control nature Rodrigo ascribes to her desire. Unlike its predecessor “stupid song,” “honeybee” remains a true ballad. Devotion seeps through the track’s symphonic sound and Rodrigo’s soft vocals. While it’s not the most exciting song on the record, “honeybee” reflects the honeymoon stage of a relationship: perfect bliss that will certainly run out. Codependency begins to rear its head on “maggots for brains.” The punk sound hammers away as Rodrigo laments her sense of helplessness. Lyrics like “I’m a sad shell of a woman and I’ve got maggots for brains / But that’s just the thing that happens when my / When my baby goes away” are astonishingly self-aware. While “u + me = <3” conjures the sweetness of an early-2000s rom-com with its saccharine lyrics and shining pop tune, the following track “my way” is far more biting. The song’s snarky spoken-word verses are reminiscent of Rodrigo’s sophomore album “GUTS,” and highlight her talent for incorporating rock elements into pop-forward records. In “my way,” Rodrigo narrates an ugly case of jealousy, and her inflection is caustic in lyrics like “So, where’d you get that confidence from? / Last time that I checked, I won / Let me be direct: just stop! / You’re being f—ing weird.” The song “purple” is a standout on the album. The track marks the beginning of the end for the relationship traced on the record, and the grief is palpable. Revelations burst like lightning against a steady and unassuming beat: “And it’s crazy / I had big dreams ’til I tied myself to you / Now I’m all-consumed” demonstrates how much

COURTESY OF CHAD MOORE

In just 51 minutes, the album narrates the course of a relationship from the first date to separation. people can lose in the tumult of early love. The album’s B-side starts with “the cure,” which is dedicated to the rapid demise of the relationship. The track is frenzied and devastating — Rodrigo’s powerful vocals shine alongside the insistent strumming of guitar. Her question is simple enough: Why can’t romance heal us the way it’s supposed to? The following tracks reveal some answers to this question. The song “begged” is ethereal in its simplicity. Airy and melancholic, Rodrigo’s layered vocals amplify her desolation and reveal her desperation to maintain an unsustainable connection. Later, “what’s wrong with me” continues this thread of introspection, tracing the out-of-body nature of heartbreak. The song features Robert Smith of the iconic English punk band The Cure, and the two dive headfirst into a clinical analysis of post-breakup blues. Rodrigo showcases her diaristic writing style in “less,” questioning how much

pain she can handle in pursuit of love. As Rodrigo sorrowfully sings “If loving me means crying on the curb at LAX / Well, then I guess / I wish, I wish, I wish you loved me less,” listeners can clearly picture the mental anguish that accompanies a relationship’s end. While “expectations” may appear to be out of place on the record, it reflects the brief bursts of manic energy that arise in the midst of grief. The song’s heavy synth usage creates a sexy, fun atmosphere that bolsters Rodrigo’s empowered lyrics. Listeners are ushered into a disco club as she proudly declares, “I’m not kissing any boy that is passive / Their indecision is painfully unattractive / Past mistakes are just new information / These days, I’ve got expectations.” Reality comes crashing down quickly on the record’s final, most crushing song, “cigarette smoke.” Rodrigo does what the best writers do: She begins with an image. With the familiar ephemerality of cigarette

smoke, listeners are tortured by her pained autopsy of a failed relationship. Against the backdrop of a forlorn soundscape, lyrics like “Give me back my time and I will give you back your heart” build to a catastrophic bridge enveloped by Rodrigo’s frenetic vocals. The track is an explosive yet fitting ending for an album characterized by a rollercoaster of emotions. Few pop artists capture the complexity of love in the manner that Rodrigo does on her third album. Her passionate vocals weave themselves against a flawless production by Daniel Nigro, Rodrigo’s longtime collaborator, creating one of the most sonically cohesive albums of the year. By the end of the album, listeners are left wondering: Is all this even worth it? Perhaps not, but the replay button seems to think otherwise.

This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Sept. 8, 2026.

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ARTS & CULTURE REVIEW

The truth hurts: Lizzo’s new album is just disappointing The cringeworthy lyrics of “B*TCH” overshadow its occasional merits

flute solo at the end of “Too Nice” — try to make up for the album’s dull, impassive and occasionally awkward lyrics, there is

BY ANN GRAY GOLPIRA ARTS & CULTURE EDITOR While Lizzo has historically dominated the pop music charts with her ballads of self-love, the “Truth Hurts” singer has accidentally invented a new way for listeners to practice self-hatred: listening to her newest album. “B*TCH,” Lizzo’s fifth studio album, is her first record to not chart on the U.S. Billboard 200 since her 2015 album, “Big Grrrl Small World.” The record opens with “A Toast,” welcoming listeners with a grand orchestra reminiscent of an old Hollywood score. But while the intro promises a grandiose opening track, all hopes for the remainder of the piece are quickly dashed by its mediocre first verse and chorus. Lizzo sings dull lyrics about finding herself after a failed relationship, extending “a toast to waste of time / and all the energy I put into these people.” While the first half of the song is simply average, it soon crosses the line into cringeworthy. “I hope you find yourself / And that you get what you deserve / B*tches tap dancing on my last nerves, ooh,” she sings in the second verse. In “Don’t Make Me Love U,” the al-

COURTESY OF ATLANTIC RECORDS

“B*TCH,” Lizzo’s fifth studio album, is her first record to not chart on the U.S. Billboard 200 since her first release in 2015. bum’s third track, the singer makes a brief comeback. The song blends elements of ’70s disco and ’80s synths into a musically intriguing three and a half minutes. Unfortunately, the song’s lyrics have the emotional depth of a prescription pill’s advertising jingle. “Don’t make me love you (Oh) / If you just gon’ change your mind / Don’t waste

my time,” Lizzo sings. Much of the record’s production takes inspiration from a variety of genres and musical influences, making the instrumental composition of the project at least moderately engaging. Songs like “Sexy Ladies (featuring UCB),” “Too Nice” and “Goodmorning!” are all pleasant additions to a Spotify-generated “feel-good Monday

morning” playlist. In “Whose Hair Is This,” there are even a few surprising lyrically satisfying moments, with Lizzo singing “She’s clearly got expensive taste / ’Cause this is from a custom-made / Bust down, cherry brown / Shorty probably put some money down.” But as much as the interesting production choices — such as a delightful

no escaping this trainwreck. The blundered lyricism overshadows any of the tracks’ potential promise. “She Stole My Man” and “Like a Crime” are particularly glaring cases of this substandard lyricism. For example, in the former, Lizzo opens the chorus with “she stole my man / I hate that b*tch forever” before gracelessly adding in the second verse that “she’s so pretty, obvi’, Regina George / What about me, Cady? I’m f—ing gorg’.” For a singer who has made a career off of female empowerment, calling another woman a “b*tch” is disappointing. In “Like a Crime,” the singer pairs a touching, acoustic guitar with emotionally incongruous phrases such as “me and my period fighting to the death.” At the end of the day, the music of “B*TCH” would have been far better suited to a series of singles rather than a full-fledged album. This forced attempt at creating a full-length album out of only one or two good tracks makes the project feel incohesive, awkward and full of obvious filler.

This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Sept. 9, 2026.

REVIEW

With ‘Lost Weekend,’ Phoebe Bridgers finds acceptance in devastation Bridgers’s third solo album is more experimental than her older work BY ROSE FARMAN-FARMA STAFF WRITER After six years of fans waiting with bated breath, Phoebe Bridgers returned on Aug. 14 with her third studio album, “Lost Weekend” — and somehow, she is better than ever. While it seems like the singer has been facing a lot of personal challenges since the release of her last album in 2020, including a broken-off engagement and the recent loss of her father, the songs she’s produced from the tumult are some of her strongest to date. The album is a staggering testament to her craft as an artist, one who has never shied away from confronting the most devastating of life’s themes in her distinctively cathartic songwriting. Crushingly vulnerable, Bridgers’s cutting lyricism throughout “Lost Weekend” creates an emotionally bulldozing effect, which is only amplified by its overwhelming soundscape. The four-time Grammy winner, and 2021 Spring Weekend performer, miraculously managed not only to match but exceed long-built-up expectations following the success of her past two albums. Bridgers released “Punisher” in 2020, and “The Record” in 2023 with Lucy Dacus and Julien Baker as boygenius. The swirling excitement surrounding her return to the spotlight was further intensified by what fans are calling an avengers-endgame assemblage of collaborators, from Alex G to Cameron Winter, and her current partner Bo Burnham. “The Outside” kicks the album off with an intense and unsettling vocoder effect, alien from her signature breathy doubled vocals. The surprisingly robotic production, reminiscent of one of Bridgers’s longtime

COURTESY OF GREGORY CREWDSON

The four-time Grammy winner, and 2021 Spring Weekend performer, miraculously managed not only to match but to exceed long-built-up expectations. influences, Imogen Heap, hints that this album will stray far from anything we’ve heard from Bridgers before. The lead single, “Lost Boys,” released this June, has a repetitive, formal simplicity that, while enjoyable in its own right, served as a misleading preview of the record’s innovative sound. Most of the songs break brazenly away from conventional verse-chorus structures, exemplified on the track “Panorama” which begins with two minutes of otherworldly sounds before any lyrics come in. The record’s instrumentation is impressively experimental, whirling unpredictably between thick hyper-electronic layered textures and intimate acoustic moments that call back to her earlier indie-folk style. The title track, “Lost Weekend,” masterfully interweaves raw voice memo recordings taken on Bridgers’s iPhone, with complex electroacoustic sound design and

phase distortion. The album’s lyricism is incredibly self-referential and introspective. Repeated callbacks to old songs submerge listeners into a hypnotic Bridgersian cinematic universe. The melody of “Graceland Too,” a fan favorite from “Punisher,” is reworked and sampled throughout the record, including in a transcendent moment in “Liberty Tree” that is sure to induce full-body chills for anyone familiar with the 2020 track. “Graceland Too,” which Bridgers has often described as a “wish,” asks “whether songs can come true?” The futility of this notion, that one might be able to sing a different reality into existence, takes on an even more tragic effect within the context of the recent death of Bridgers’s father. Tracks like “Lost Weekend (reprise)” act as an almost angelic requiem, while songs such as “Still Standing” wrestle head-on with the convoluted feelings of mourning

someone with whom you had a tumultuous relationship. Other standout songs include her collaboration with Cameron Winter, “I Can’t Wait,” which refers to “Jekyll and Hyde finally together” over an infectious beat that finds a sense of liberation and resolution in the acceptance of life’s inevitable pain. The fluttery “Governor’s Waltz” is another unskippable track. The song’s glittering finger-picked guitar foundation and catchy melody offers a contrasting stripped-down sound that narrates an ironic fairytale of love gained and lost. The song subtly feeds the inevitable pop-culture circus surrounding Bridgers’s called-off engagement to actor Paul Mescal and his subsequent relationship with singer Gracie Abrams, with lines like “she took my place in my bed on that stage.” While the album is undoubtedly personal, it also grapples with wider themes of

societal estrangement and an increasingly technologized world. The jarringly robotic vocal effects threaded throughout the record paired with lyrics like “this machine is killing me” allude to a critique of artificial intelligence in art and the soulless mechanization of the music industry. This sentiment is an echo of the artist’s recent campaign against phones at concerts. The album’s accompanying tour, which begins this September, will enforce a strict screen-free policy, an attempt to bring audiences back to a more present live-music experience. For those who want a chance to get lost in the “Lost Weekend” experience themselves, Bridgers will be bringing “The Lost Tour” to Boston this October, just an hour away from Brown’s campus.

This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Sept. 8, 2026..

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Friday, September 11, 2026

SCIENCE & RESEARCH OBITUARY

‘The end of an era of scholarship’: Students, colleagues, friends remember Gordon Wood Wood, who passed away this June, remembered for brilliance, kindness BY IVY HUANG UNIVERSITY NEWS AND SCIENCE & RESEARCH EDITOR Gordon Wood, a revered and beloved professor emeritus of history known for his preeminent scholarship on the American Revolution, died on June 7 at 92 years old. Wood, born in Concord, Massachusetts, is survived by his wife Louise Goss, their three children — Amy, Christopher and Elizabeth Wood — five grandchildren and a great-granddaughter. After graduating summa cum laude with a degree in history from Tufts University in 1955, Wood served in the U.S. Air Force in Japan for three years. He went on to earn a Ph.D. in history from Harvard in 1964, where he studied under Bernard Bailyn, a renowned scholar of the Revolutionary War period. Before joining the faculty at Brown in 1969, Wood taught at Harvard, the College of William and Mary and the University of Michigan. “My family is extremely grateful for the role that Brown played in my father’s life,” Amy Wood, who is a history pro-

1787” — which won the Bancroft Prize — and his Pulitzer Prize-winning book, “The Radicalism of the American Revolution.” Published in 1969, “The Creation of the American Republic” examined the formation of American constitutional ideas and explored how the revolutionaries came to embrace a federal system that radically differed from the system they experienced under British rule. Director and Librarian of the John Carter Brown Library and History Professor Karin Wulf remembers being “gripped” by the book when she read it as an undergraduate student. “It just gave you a sense of the power of ideas, and not just the power of ideas that shaped the early United States, but that ideas can be put into action in a way that will change the world,” Wulf said. The book influenced her to major in history and eventually become a historian, she added. “Gordon’s first book was just a breakthrough book in the writing of American constitutional history,” said Jack Rakove, a professor emeritus of history and American studies and political science at Stanford University, who is currently editing a collection of Wood’s essays. Whereas Rakove believes previous scholars wrote about this history in a

EMILY GILBERT / HERALD

noted. But Wood’s influence was not limited to academics. “Some of his greatest fans to this day are people in the legal community,” Onuf said. James Pfander, a professor of law at the Northwestern Pritzker School of Law wrote in an email to The Herald that he has “long treasured” Wood’s work and found it “very useful” on his path to becoming a legal scholar.

Monumental scholarship Wood has published many influential

“dry, institutional, rather prosaic way,” Wood “captured the excitement and the experimental nature, the kind of relentless momentum of American constitution making.” “Historians claim to know everything, and in 1969, Gordon Wood pretty much knew what could be known, and we were collectively impressed by that,” said Peter Onuf, a professor emeritus of history at the University of Virginia. “Wood’s work both served as a punctuation point for colonial history (and) a starting point for the American national narrative.” Wood’s book “The Radicalism of the American Revolution” was also a definitive work in the field of history, said Richard Brown, a professor emeritus of history at the University of Connecticut. Instead of framing the American Revolution from the conclusion of the Seven Years’ War in 1763 to the ratification of the Bill of Rights in 1791, Wood reperiodized

A supportive mentor and friend When Johann Neem ’96, a history professor at Western Washington University took Wood’s course on the early republic during his senior year at Brown, it changed his life. “His lectures were beautifully crafted,” Neem said. Initially, Neem thought he would move to Washington D.C. and pursue a career in education policy. But after taking the course, Neem changed his post-graduation plans, deciding to go to graduate school in history and turning to Wood for a recommendation for his application. Even after Neem graduated from Brown, Wood continued to support him as a scholar — he wrote a New York Review of Books piece on an article about Thomas Jefferson that Neem wrote early in his career. Brendan McConville PhD’92, a history professor at Boston University, has known Wood since 1986 when Wood was his dissertation advisor. “He really influenced how I approached certain types of historical problems,” McConville said. As a historian, Wood always approached historical questions with an “emphasis (on) change over time, and that’s something I’ve carried with me throughout my career,” McConville explained. Like Neem, Wood remained “helpful” to McConville throughout his career as a historian, always writing letters of recommendation on his behalf. Wood was also supportive of people outside of academia interested in the American Revolution, McConville said. McConville recalled an encounter with a student at Boston University whose high school classmate had written to Wood on “a whim” after watching a video he was featuring in. The student told McConville that Wood actually wrote back to the class, offering resources to learn more about the

works including his first book, “The Creation of the American Republic, 1776–

the scope of this history from the mid1700s through the 1820s or 30s, Brown

American Revolution. “The class was so taken aback by the

COURTESY OF KATHERINE GOLDMAN

As a scholar, Wood earned countless accolades including a National Humanities Medal, which former President Barack Obama awarded him in 2011. fessor at Illinois State University, wrote in an email to The Herald. “He enjoyed teaching and mentoring students, both undergraduate and graduate, respected his colleagues, many of whom became life-long friends and was honored to have built his career there.” As a scholar, Wood earned countless accolades including a National Humanities Medal, which Former President Barack Obama awarded him in 2011. In the months following his passing, The Herald spoke with several of Wood’s colleagues, friends and former students, who remember his humility, kindness and brilliance. Wood left behind an enduring legacy of scholarship. But beyond that, he will be remembered for inspiring a generation of historians to pursue careers in academia.

fact that this famous person had written to them,” McConville said. “That’s Gordon Wood as an educator.” As a Yale graduate, Joseph Ellis, a professor emeritus of history at Mount Holyoke College, said he was never meant to become close friends with Wood, who attended Harvard. Harvard and Yale graduates “tended to think of each other as different sides of the order, and so it started that way with Gordon, but he broke through,” Ellis said. Wood became a champion of Ellis’ work after he wrote a review of Ellis’ Pulitzer-winning “Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation.” “He sent it off by saying, in the New York Review of Books, ‘Joe Ellis is now the leading historian of the American founding,’” Ellis added. A humble giant Despite the fact that Wood was catapulted to academic stardom — and pop-culture fame when he was referenced in the critically-acclaimed film “Good Will Hunting” — his friends recalled that he stayed humble and kept many of his accomplishments private. “When George H. W. Bush was president, Gordon was quietly invited to the

White House to give lectures to the president on George Washington and other founders,” former JCB Director Norman Fiering, who met Wood when they were both research fellows, wrote in a memorial speech sent to The Herald. Even with all the accolades, “he never lost the fundamental virtue of humility, never tooted his own horn,” Fiering noted. “He was a bit daunting as a presence,” Neem said. “I got to know him later, and he’s very warm and he’s very humble.” Neem said that, as an immigrant, he particularly admired Wood’s working-class background, which Neem believes shaped Wood’s understanding of the American experiment. “He really believed that the United States was a distinctive place because of its commitment to equality,” Neem said. “As a lot of scholars in the field lost faith in the American experiment, he kept the faith, and I admire that.” “It’s a huge loss. It marks the end of an era of scholarship on the revolution,” McConville said. “That’s how important he was.”

This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Sept. 9, 2026.

COURTESY OF HANS EICHOLZ

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

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SCIENCE & RESEARCH AGING

Brown, BUH receive $37 million to bridge research, clinical treatments for age-related diseases The Starr Foundation, funds will go to the Center on the Biology of Aging. BY ANGEL LOPEZ SENIOR STAFF WRITER The Starr Foundation invested $37 million to the University and Brown University Health to help create the Starr Healthspan Innovation Alliance, a new collaborative program that aims to bridge together laboratory research and clinical treatments for research on aging. A crucial aspect of the new Starr Healthspan Innovation Alliance is the collaboration between Brown’s Center on the Biology of Aging “lab-based researchers and the clinical trials infrastructure at Brown University Health,” Mukesh Jain, senior associate provost for life sciences and dean of medicine and biological sciences, wrote in an email to The Herald. The center works to uncover what drives aging at the molecular level, ac-

SELINA KAO / HERALD

The Center on the Biology of Aging works to uncover what drives aging at the molecular level. cording to John Sedivy, a professor of “We … have laid several blocks down for biology and the center’s associate dean the foundation of modern work on the and director. mechanisms of aging.” “Research by groups in the center has Professor of Molecular Biology, Cell discovered fundamental regulators and Biology and Biochemistry Jill Kreiling, who causes of aging,” Professor of Biology Marc is also the center’s associate director, said Tatar wrote in an email to The Herald. that the center hopes to use the funding

to “hire new faculty that are working on the biology of aging, as well as supporting some of the labs that are currently here.” She added that the investment will have a meaningful impact on the center’s future research output. The center will use the investment to hire two new positions — a senior and a junior researcher — and to support the mentorship of new students, according to Sedivy. Tatar wrote that the addition of new faculty will help propel the center, and that their current team has begun acting as a “critical mass of labs that generates synergy and creative work.” He added that the investment will enable the center to “continue making breakthrough discoveries.” Kreiling also said that the grant will allow the center to “achieve international recognition.” The 10 years that the center has been active is “really not that long in the grand scheme of things,” she said, adding that the investment will heighten the center’s credibility in the aging field. According to Kreiling, the investment

will be “treated more like a grant than a gift.” The University could potentially use gift funding for any purpose, she explained, noting that gifts to universities are typically endowed, meaning that they are invested. But the Starr Foundation gave the money specifically for it to be spent, and they want the center to reapply for further funding after a five-year period, Kreiling said. The foundation has “specific goals that they want to see,” she added. Keiling added that one of those goals is research on aging in women, noting that funding toward research in this field could have a positive effect on women’s health. As the center moves to diversify their funding base and increase philanthropic funding, the investment will help fund a variety of expenses, from student stipends to new equipment, Sedivy said. “The aging center is essentially a freestanding research institute,” he said, adding that most of their funding comes from outside sources such as the National Institutes of Health.

SOCIOLOGY

Wrongful convictions are not mere coincidence, says sociology professor in new book Undergraduate students’ research was featured in “Crime Fictions” BY ELIZABETH ROSENBAUM SENIOR STAFF WRITER Often, research about wrongful convictions studies isolated moments in the criminal justice process, whether it be an arrest, a trial or an exoneration. In her new book, “Crime Fictions: How Racist Lies Built a System of Mass Wrongful Conviction,” Associate Professor of Sociology Nicole Gonzalez Van Cleve challenges that practice by looking at cases all the way from the day of a crime to the civil settlements. In the book, Van Cleve examined Cook County in Chicago, Illinois, the largest hub for wrongful convictions in the country. She found that tactics used in Chicago to bury exonerating evidence were a nationwide occurrence, also happening in cities like New Orleans, Detroit and New York. “If we don’t see the whole process, we don’t actually get to see all the evidence of how they created a wrongful conviction,” Van Cleve said. In her 2016 first book, “Crook County: Racism and Injustice in America’s Largest Criminal Court,” Van Cleve revealed how racial disparities and abuses operate in plain sight in the Chicago courtrooms. Her new book stems from that research, delving deeper into how authority figures in the justice system fabricate evidence or coerce confessions to convict Black youth in Chicago. “The amount of people wrongfully convicted is scary,” Van Cleve said. “If we had that many plane crashes, we would take notice.” Van Cleve’s interest in studying racism in the criminal justice system sparked when she was 19 years old and doing field work in Chicago courts. “I was a light-skinned Chicana, and so the professionals really assumed me to be white,” she said. “Without realizing it, they would start to talk to me as though there wasn’t a person of color in the room.” In these conversations, Van Cleve dis-

Nicole Gonzalez Van Cleve, associate professor of sociology, published her new book, “Crime Fictions," in May 2026. covered that the officials were “punitively, or even illegally, processing cases in the court system,” she said. “That work was driven largely by their prejudices of a Black and brown and poor underclass that they were creating,” Van Cleve said. From this experience, Van Cleve learned to use investigative journalism techniques — such as gaining access to private interviews and archival materials — to reveal “open secrets” that people in power do not want to admit are true, she explained. When conducting research for the book, Van Cleve began by compiling a dataset of 100 false confessions with the goal of finding patterns in these falsified police narratives. In order to ensure that there would be no debate regarding the innocence of the defendant, Van Cleve limited her dataset to cases where the de-

fendants were exonerated. The book featured research by undergraduate students, who were able to track down nearly 50 false confessions scattered across the Chicago area. According to Van Cleve, each student focused on analyzing one wrongful conviction case, from arrest to resolution. “Collecting primary data in the way that Professor Van Cleve did for this project is tremendously difficult to do,” said Associate Professor of Sociology Courtney Boen, who was not involved with the research. There are a plethora of “administrative and bureaucratic challenges” with accessing the information out of the criminal legal system, she added. Despite those obstacles, Boen said Van Cleve’s qualitative approach has advantages that quantitative research, like Boen’s own, does not. “Her work is really helpful in humanizing the (victims’) experience

COURTESY OF NICOLE GONZALEZ VAN CLEVE

and showing us the lived reality of interfacing with the (criminal justice) system,” she added. “As I said to my students, we are not just trying to create path-breaking work about wrongful conviction,” Van Cleve said. “We are trying to plant a flag on the moon as to how we study this as scholars and social scientists.” Sophia Block ’24, who helped conduct this research while she was an undergraduate student at Brown, continues to apply the lessons shaped by her research with Van Cleve in her current job as a community engagement manager at Innocence Project Delaware. Block’s research for Van Cleve focused on the Dixmoor Five, which was a group of five African-American men who, as teenagers, were wrongly convicted in 1997 of the November 1991 rape and murder of a 14-year-old girl in Dixmoor, Illinois. Block interviewed people involved in this case

and helped write this chapter of the book. “The main lesson (from working with Van Cleve) was this systemic lens and understanding of how wrongful convictions happen,” Block said. Now in her own work, when she looks at a case, Block understands that “it’s not just an individual incident — it’s part of this broad systemic occurrence.” Block credits much of her shift in perspective to Van Cleve directly, describing her as a mentor who treats undergraduate researchers as full collaborators rather than just assistants working under her. “I can say with pretty much certainty that I would not be at Innocence Project Delaware if it weren’t for her,” Block said. “She’s just an incredible leader and mentor and human.”

This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Sept. 9, 2026.

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Friday, September 11, 2026