SINCE 1891
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD VOLUME CLX, ISSUE 15
BROWNDAILYHERALD.COM
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 12
METRO
NEWS
ARTS & CULTURE
SPORTS
UNIVERSITY NEWS
Local RIPTA riders concerned over service reductions on 45 bus routes
Will your Brown degree put you in the top 1%?
‘Twinless’ masterfully depicts the innate desire for companionship
Women’s soccer trumps Northeastern, ties against Wake Forest
Student activist leaders voice opposition to Brown’s deal with Trump
SEE TRANSPORTATION PAGE 5
SEE CAREERS PAGE 7
SEE REVIEW PAGE 12
SEE SOCCER PAGE 14
SEE ACTIVISM PAGE 15
Black, Hispanic student enrollment partially rebounds after last year’s drop, Herald poll suggests KAIA YALAMANCHILI / HERALD
The poll data signals a partial return to the Black and Hispanic enrollment levels at the University prior to the Supreme Court decision.
Class of 2028 saw significant drop in Black and Hispanic enrollment BY IAN RITTER SENIOR STAFF WRITER After Brown saw a drop in Black and Hispanic students last year, enrollment has partially rebounded for the class of 2029, a Herald poll of incoming first-year students suggests. The class of 2028 was the first cohort
admitted after the Supreme Court ruling that outlawed race-based affirmative action. The cohort saw a significant drop in the share of Black and Hispanic students. Approximately 12% of this year’s incoming class identifies as Black, while another 12% identifies as Hispanic, according to The Herald’s first-year poll. This marks an increase from the class of 2028, which saw 8% Black and 10% Hispanic enrollment, according to last year’s Herald poll data. The poll data signals a partial return to the Black and Hispanic enrollment levels
the University enjoyed prior to the Supreme Court decision. The class of 2027 polled at 13% Black and 15% Hispanic, The Herald previously reported. According to Brown’s Common Data Sets, the class of 2028 was 5% Black and 10% Hispanic, while the class of 2027 was 9% Black and 14% Hispanic. These numbers differ from The Herald’s data likely because students are asked to select a single identifying race, and international students are counted in a separate category. The Herald’s poll allows students to select multiple races
and relies on a partial, representative sample of the student population. After last year’s drop in Black and Hispanic enrollment, The University announced initiatives to sustain racial diversity, including the creation of five regionally based admissions positions, new programs for high school guidance counselors and increased collaboration with QuestBridge — a program that matches low-income students with top universities. While University Spokesperson Brian Clark did not directly answer whether these
initiatives helped bolster racial diversity for the incoming class, he told The Herald that “additional perspective from Brown on our approaches to sustaining an academic environment that prizes intellectual openness and diversity would come as we formally release enrollment data.” Institutional data, which is usually compiled in October, has yet to be released for this year’s class, according to Clark. As part of Brown’s agreement with the
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SCIENCE & RESEARCH
KAIA YALAMANCHILI / HERALD
Faculty understand, critique Brown’s pause on net-zero emissions efforts University announced last month that its carbon reduction efforts would be paused
METRO
Top RI elected officials receive bomb threats, state police find no evidence The threats came just one day after conservative political activist Charlie Kirk was killed BY ANNIKA SINGH METRO EDITOR Several Democratic Rhode Island elected officials received bomb threats via email Thursday, according to Greg Paré, director of communications at the Rhode Island State Senate. Senate President Valarie Lawson (D-East Providence) and Senate Majority Leader Frank Ciccone III (D-Providence, Johnston) were among those who received threats, he confirmed. According to the Boston Globe, the threats were directed at the lawmakers’ homes. The Globe also reported that R.I. State Police did not find any evidence of bombs at either residence. This incident comes one day after Charlie Kirk was shot at an event at the Utah Valley University. Prominent R.I. leaders, including Gov. Dan McKee, condemned the Wednesday shooting as an act
of political violence. “I strongly condemn all violence, including the violence against Charlie Kirk, and my deepest condolences go out to his family,” Lawson said in a statement on Thursday evening. WPRI reported that R.I. State Police confirmed a third local public official received bomb threats, but did not identify the official. “I am grateful for the prompt and thorough response of law enforcement and the fire marshal's office,” Lawson said in the statement. Ciccone is currently in California attending a legislative leadership conference, the Rhode Island Current reported. In an email to The Herald, Ciccone wrote that the R.I. State Police notified him of the threats, explaining the threat was “supposedly” placed in his mailbox. Lawson and Ciccone were elected to lead the R.I. Senate following the death of former Senate President Dominick Ruggerio in April. “Political violence in any form has no place in our democracy,” Lawson said. “Let us all remember that we are Americans first, and we settle our differences at the ballot box.”
BY SAMAH HAMID SENIOR STAFF WRITER After a federal agreement and an ongoing budget deficit rocked the University’s balance sheet, administrators announced early last month that its carbon reduction efforts would be paused for the year. While environmental faculty — many of whom produce work focused on mitigating the effects and causes of climate change — see the pause as a setback for the University’s efforts, many told The Herald they understand why the decision had to be made. According to Brown’s Path to Net-Zero, the University has been aiming to reduce campus emissions by 75% from the FY18 benchmark by this year, with the ultimate goal of achieving net-zero by 2040.
EDITORIAL
Brown plans to resume the paused work in phases starting in fiscal year 2027. “Leaders in the Office of Sustainability and Resiliency are actively working with campus partners to finalize specific actions to reduce costs and determine elements of net-zero planning that can be shifted or amended,” wrote Amanda McGregor, a University spokesperson, in an email to The Herald. According to McGregor, the pause will not affect “Brown’s commitment to sourcing all of its campus electricity from renewable sources or the University’s ongoing transition from gas-powered to electric equipment and vehicles.” Brown will also “continue its commitment to net-zero buildings for new construction, including the under-construction indoor turf facility and the Danoff Laboratories life sciences research facility,” McGregor wrote, adding that the University believes the laboratory will be “one of the first net-zero labo-
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SEE CRITICAL REVIEW PAGE 11