“Don’t make a promise you can’t keep,” my mother would tell me growing up. I learned the power and strength of the word “promise” at a young age. Maybe that’s why Brown has decided to call its new initiative to eliminate student loans for its undergraduates “Brown Promise.” Maybe President ...
Last month, Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos rescinded the Obama administration’s “Dear Colleague” letter — a document that provided incentives and clear guidelines for the proper handling of sexual assaults on college campuses. DeVos justified her decision by noting that the previous system ...
Near the end of the Supreme Court’s oral argument in Gill v. Whitford, a case on the constitutionality of partisan gerrymandering, the court’s most junior justice, Justice Neil Gorsuch, began peppering the petitioner with questions. Where, exactly, in the Constitution was the provision that allowed ...
This year has been a big one for women’s tennis. Serena Williams, arguably the greatest living tennis player, won a Grand Slam while pregnant and delivered a beautiful baby girl. Meanwhile, her rival Maria Sharapova not only returned to the circuit after fulfilling the conditions of her suspension ...
On Sept. 26, Twitter announced that the character limit on tweets would be doubled from 140 to 280 characters for a select group of users. This marks the first time since its launch in 2006 that Twitter is changing this standard. Predictably, the shift has sparked a passionate debate within the Twittersphere ...
As a senior in high school, I wrote an article for my school’s newspaper about how, despite undergoing a $100-million renovation, our restrooms had no receptacles for menstrual products. I assumed that this would be a problem left in the past, as I headed off to an institution with a multibillion ...
Last week, the infamous Free Speech Week at the University of California at Berkeley was officially cancelled. This was not altogether surprising given that it had been poorly organized from the start. The coordinators repeatedly missed deadlines to register their events, failed to book rooms on time ...
Last week, the New York Times published a piece entitled “Push for Gender Equality in Tech? Some Men Say It’s Gone Too Far.” The men in the article argue that Silicon Valley gender diversity initiatives are unnecessary, and that tech companies have completely closed the gender gap. But, in reality, ...
My mother has breast cancer. It takes a lot for me to write that. It was caught early. The timeline, as it often does in times of trauma, flashes in bits and pieces. I remember whispered conversations in the shoe aisles of thrift stores. There are the hushed phone calls, the second opinions and the ...
Last week, the U.S. Senate — a chamber charged with safeguarding the “national character” and resisting the “impulse of sudden and violent passions,” according to our founding fathers — voted to increase the defense budget by $80 billion. That’s enough money to pay for the elimination ...
Returning to Brown in September is always a bittersweet process for me. Not for the reasons you think: Of course, I hate leaving home and the lack of responsibility that summer affords me. But I also hate returning to Brown because, on campus, I cannot walk anywhere more than two minutes away, especially ...
I lean in for a picture with a group of friends. I am in the front row and sitting beside two girls, one white and the other black. As we pose, the white girl in between us turns to the crowd behind and says, “Oh my God! I’m going to look so pale in this picture! Look who I’m sitting next to!” ...
Last week, Rolling Stone co-founder Jann Wenner announced the sale of the iconic publication that has been both reporting and influencing pop culture since 1967. The sale of the magazine demonstrates a broader decline in print media, which is a daunting subject to tackle in writing or even think about. ...
As a junior who came into Brown thinking she had it all figured out, I’m more confused about what I want to do with my life now than I was as a bright-eyed freshman. In high school the choices seemed black-and-white: I imagined I’d spend my undergraduate years preparing for either law, medical or ...
Over the weekend, President Trump unleashed a series of tweets criticizing NBA star Steph Curry’s unwillingness to accept an invitation to the White House, as well as the multitude of NFL players who have collectively refused to stand for the national anthem. While these tweets are not the first time ...
When I returned back to campus this semester after studying abroad, I felt like I was entering a second freshman year. Thayer Street had completely transformed, the dining halls had changed and everywhere I looked, the unfamiliar faces of new students replaced those of the upperclassmen who had long ...
President Christina Paxson P ’19 announced Wednesday that the University will launch a $120 million campaign to remove all loans from financial aid packages for all undergraduates and replace them with grants. This effort displays an important commitment to improving socioeconomic diversity on campus. ...
Joel Stein and Nancy Gibbs. Gene Roberts. Anderson Cooper. The team from Spotlight. When I think of journalists who inspire me, these are the men and women who immediately come to mind. It is saddening that, off the top of my head, I can’t think of a single print journalist or columnist of color. ...
Recalling first-year orientation brings back little besides the sensation of immense loneliness. Watching as my peers made fast friends with each other, feeling like an outsider observing social rituals conducted in a foreign tongue. I didn’t connect to anyone that first week at Brown, or the second. ...
In recent years, Hollywood has been pushing for equal representation for all genders, sexualities and ethnicities on-screen. While Hollywood is making progress on these issues, there is clearly more to be made, especially for the Asian American community. Only in the past three years or so have Asian ...
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