THE HOFSTRA
CHRONICLE
HEMPSTEAD, NY VOLUME 89 ISSUE 5
TUESDAY March 28, 2023
KEEPING THE HOFSTRA COMMUNITY INFORMED SINCE 1935 NEWS
Hofstra professor discusses the gender and class dynamics of the Black Health Movement
Moriah Sukhlal / The Hofstra Chronicle Katrina Sims discusses the history of the International Order of Twelve Knights and Daughters of Tabor.
By Moriah Sukhlal NEW S E D I TO R
On Wednesday, March 15, the Center for “Race,” Culture and
Social Justice hosted its monthly Colloquia Series. This event featured a conversation with Katrina Sims, assistant profes-
sor of history and a faculty-inresidence at Hofstra University. Sims discussed the gender and class dynamics of the Black health movement in the Mississippi Delta during the mid-20th century. Sim’s discussion, “The Cotton Field was Not the Place for Her,” explored the history of the Taborian Hospital located in Mound Bayou, Mississippi, and its role within the historical context of the Black health movement. According to Sims, the Taborian Hospital was one of the first hospitals in the Mississippi Delta to introduce a
CONTINUED ON A4
NEWS
G8 does not meet zabiha halal standards
Megan Naftali / The Hofstra Chronicle Students discovered that poultry at G8 is not zabiha halal certified.
By Megan Naftali N EWS ED I TO R
OPINION
Teachers deserve compensation that matches their importance
Photo courtesy of National Cancer Institute The American Psychological Association found that nearly 50% of teachers “plan or desire to quit or transfer jobs.”
By Makenzie Hurt ASSISTA N T O P I N I O N E DI TOR
Content warning: The following piece contains discussion of gun violence. I remember wanting to be a teacher since I was first asked “What do you want to be when you grow up?” My grandmother has worked as a paraprofes-
sional in her local elementary school for my entire life. We used to see her students around town as kids, and not only did the older students remember her, but her current students were also overjoyed to see her. I wanted to be a history teacher by the time I was in middle school. Then, during my freshman year at Hofstra, I decided to switch my major to English
literature in order to teach high school English. My education professor has been one of the most influential people I’ve met at Hofstra, and whenever my enthusiasm for teaching faded, he always reminded me of why I was doing it in the first place. I’ve clung to the hope of becoming a teacher, of assisting students like me who felt alone and directionless in high school, of being like my high school English teacher, who worked with me on group projects because I didn’t have anyone else. But due to the way that teachers are treated and viewed by America as a whole, I’m having trouble holding onto hope. The way that the media depicts teachers doesn’t show the true realities that educators face, especially in 2023.
CONTINUED ON A12
For the past six years, Hofstra University Dining has outsourced halal products from Peter’s Wholesale Foods, a halal certified vendor, that provided Hofstra with a certification from the American Halal Foundation which is renewed yearly and posted at G8, the halal station in the Student Center, according to Lexis Meehan, the marketing manager of Campus Dining by Compass Group. Last September, Asma Azam, a senior biology major and the president of the Muslim Student Association, began to question whether the food at G8 met zabiha halal standards. Zabiha halal is the highest standard of halal. According to Azam, the animal needs to be hand slaughtered, certain recitations need to be made, and the process needs to be monitored, certified and cleaned properly. Azam reached out to Compass Dining to inquire about the certification, to which they initially told her the food met zabiha halal standards. “Closer to our last meeting in late November, they told
us that the chicken is machine slaughtered, whereas the beef is brought from a company that only sells zabiha halal beef,” Azam said. “[But] in the kitchen, is there someone who’s watching over cross contamination and how the food is prepared? That’s also something that needs to be controlled when you’re making a statement such as, ‘We’re serving zabiha halal here.’” After learning the poultry items were not zabiha halal, Compass placed signs at the G8 station stating the poultry is not zabiha halal certified. “Hofstra Dining is continuing to explore options for zabiha poultry as well as plans for a dedicated Halal kitchen and will share more information as it is available. At our current Halal Station we have a designated workspace, refrigeration and chef that is familiar with Halal governance,” Meehan wrote in a statement. The Muslim community at Hofstra was saddened by the lack of knowledge regarding the zabiha halal certification. “The sign saying that the
CONTINUED ON A3