SINCE 1891
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD VOLUME CLVIII, ISSUE 26
Monday, April 3, 2023
UNIVERSITY NEWS
U. accepts 5% of class of 2027 applicants 3.8% of regular decision applicants accepted, secondlowest rate ever
HERALD FILE PHOTO
The top intended concentrations were computer science, economics, political science, engineering and International and Public Affairs. and the breadth of their backgrounds,” Powell wrote, describing the cohort as “creative, talented, community-oriented and incredibly energized about improving their communities and the world.” The Herald received a breakdown of this year’s admitted students by gender, geography, high school background and more. You can explore the admissions data for the class of 2027 and compare it with data from past years using our interactive site. Dual-degree programs Dual-degree programs saw record-low acceptance rates, which have declined since the 2020-21 cycle. Less
The University will rename the Center for the Study of Slavery and Justice in honor of former University President Ruth Simmons, according to a Thursday press release. The news was announced at an event celebrating the center’s 10th anniversary at the Smithsonian Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C. Earlier this year, the center also reached a $10 million fundraising goal to create a dedicated endowmen, President Christina Paxson P’19 P’MD’20 said in the release. In 2003, President Simmons directed the University Steering Committee on Slavery and Justice — comprised of students, faculty and staff — to investigate how Brown has historically engaged with slavery and the transatlantic slave trade historically. Those efforts eventually led to
than two percent of applicants — 74 out of 4,192 — were admitted to the Program in Liberal Medical Education. The Brown-RISD dual degree program accepted a cohort of 20 after reviewing 916 applications, an acceptance rate of just over 2%. Gender The number of men and women admitted to the class of 2027 was nearly identical, with 1,305 accepted applicants identifying as female and 1,304 as male. Powell declined to provide the number of applicants by gender, but
SEE ADMISSIONS PAGE 2
On March 18, former Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying delivered the keynote address at the Brown China Summit. Multiple activists and protestors on and off campus criticized the decision to invite Leung to the summit, citing his controversial tenure in Hong Kong. Leung led Hong Kong’s government during the 2014 Umbrella Movement, during which protestors occupied areas in the city’s central business district for 79 days. The protest leaders — some of whom were sentenced to prison terms in 2019 — protested Hong Kong ‘s proposed election reforms, made by officials in Beijing, that would have
restricted the selection of candidates for the city’s chief executive election. Police used tear gas and pepper spray on the first day of the protests, leading to the protests’ expansion and the use of umbrellas. Police eventually cleared the protests after 11 weeks. Leung also faced criticism for allegedly encouraging the council of the University of Hong Kong to prevent an anti-reform law professor from being appointed pro-vice chancellor, a claim which Leung’s office denied. On the morning of Leung’s virtual speech at the Brown China Summit, a graduate student brought cardboard signs into Stephen Robert ’62 Hall reading “No Leung Chun-ying,” “Providing platform for human rights violator” and “Ordered a crackdown on the 2014 Umbrella Movement,” according to photos reviewed by The Herald. The Herald spoke to Brown China Summit leadership and pro-Hong Kong activists on and off campus about the keynote invitation. The Herald spoke to the graduate student
SEE SUMMIT PAGE 7
UNIVERSITY NEWS
Brown renames CSSJ in honor of Ruth Simmons
BY NATALIE VILLACRES SENIOR STAFF WRITER
Activists criticize Brown China Summit speaker
BY NEIL MEHTA UNIVERSITY NEWS EDITOR
UNIVERSITY NEWS
Center reached $10 million fundraising goal for endowment earlier this year
UNIVERSITY NEWS
Critics oppose former Hong Kong chief executive’s response to Umbrella Movement
BY OWEN DAHLKAMP SENIOR STAFF WRITER The University extended offers of admission to 1,730 regular decision applicants Thursday evening, bringing the total acceptance rate for the class of 2027 to 5.08%, Associate Provost for Enrollment and Dean of Admission Logan Powell wrote in an email to The Herald. With 51,302 applications in total, the University saw its largest undergraduate applicant pool ever, over 650 more than last year’s 50,649. And with an overall acceptance rate of 5.08% and a 3.8% acceptance rate for regular decision applicants, this year marked the second-most selective application cycle in the University’s history. Only the class of 2026 had a more competitive process, with an acceptance rate of 5.03% and a regular decision acceptance rate of 3.6%. “The admitted class of 2027 is remarkable in their level of achievement
BROWNDAILYHERALD.COM
A history of climate activism on College Hill
the creation of the CSSJ: In 2006, the committee released their findings in a report detailing “the complicity of many of the University’s founders and benefactors in slavery and the slave trade” as well as recommending steps the University could take to address its past actions. According to the press release, Simmons’s initiative led the University to make commitments that confronted the “full truth” of its history, including new academic and community engagement initiatives that aimed to promote “greater diversity, equity and inclusion on College Hill and beyond.” One such commitment was the establishment of the CSSJ in the 201213 academic year. “The thing that is most striking to me about Ruth is that she … is completely unafraid to dig into and answer hard questions,” Paxson told The Herald. “It’s a combination of being really values-driven but also intellectually bold.” Since its founding, the CSSJ — now the Ruth J. Simmons Center for the Study of Slavery and Justice — has
SEE SIMMONS PAGE 8
Activists, faculty, Herald archives illuminate previous on-campus climate movements BY RYAN DOHERTY SENIOR STAFF WRITER “The heat is on,” reads the front page of the Nov. 3, 1989 Herald, paraphrasing a speech on campus about climate change. “And it’s getting hotter.” College Hill is no stranger to climate activism. Since the 1970s, Brown has been a hub for discourse on environmental issues. Most recently, students have advocated for a complete dissociation from the fossil fuel industry, called for a new sustainability certificate and founded environmentally-focused student groups. The Herald reviewed its archives and spoke with current activists, faculty and staff to trace the history of climate activism on Brown’s campus. 1970s: A ‘fundamental issue facing the world’ Environmental issues garnered national attention in the 1970s, a decade marked by the first Earth Day celebration, the passage of the Clean Air Act
NEIL MEHTA / HERALD
In 2019, the University pledged to reduce its campus greenhouse gas emissions 75% by 2025 and to net-zero by 2040. and the founding of the Environmental Protection Agency. Between 1969 and 1971, public opinion polls indicated a 2500% increase in support for environmental protection, according to the EPA. But for students on College Hill, domestic environmental activism seemed performative, particularly as people turned away from the anti-Vietnam War movement in favor of publicly accepted reform efforts. “The air (in Providence) is dirty, the water is even filthier; but thousands die
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Sports
Metro
Graduate students share personal stories on School of Public Health podcast Page 3
Holocaust survivor recounts childhood, journey to U.S. Page 5
Baseball loses three games against Yale to open Ivy Play 1-5 Page 6
Preservation Society says climate change is a threat to city’s infrastructure Page 8
TODAY
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each week in Vietnam while we wreak ecological disaster on that country,” reads an April 20, 1970 Herald editorial titled “As Thousands Die.” For the editorial’s authors, the solution to environmental challenges was “vigorous lobbying and election pressures, … not a symbolic Earth Day.” But not all University students shared the view that foreign policy and the anti-war movement was more important than domestic environmen-
SEE ACTIVISM PAGE 7
TOMORROW
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DESIGNED BY MAX ROBINSON ’26 DESIGNER JOYCE GAO ’24 DESIGNER MADDY CHERR DESIGN EDITOR