Opinions

Editors’ note: A reflection on change and a sincere thank you

By 131st Editorial Board | May 27

This year’s Commencement Magazine marks the end of our class’ collective journey through Brown, and more broadly, a world irrevocably transformed.

Senior Column | Collins ’22: Run your own race

By Kimberly Collins | May 27

Finding the words to adequately reflect on the beauty, triumph and at times difficulty of navigating this university is an exercise that is daunting yet necessary. It is my hope that my own personal narrative and understanding of my Brown experience will guide you, uplift you and empower you. ...

Senior Column | Gutman Argemí ’22: Learning to read

By Clara Gutman Argemí | May 27

This winter break was my last time home as a college student and my first time holding an American phone number in Spain. More than needing to be available to my classmates on College Hill, my 401 number signified a transition that would have seemed insurmountable to my first-year self.

Senior Column | Fabrizio ’22: Careful attention

By Nicholas Fabrizio | May 27

For as long as I can remember, my attention has escaped me. It has always been in a million places at once, split a million different ways. But at some point in my educational journey, I figured out how to direct it toward the standard markers of student achievement — academic excellence, extracurricular ...

Senior Column | Villegas ’22: Expanding our universe

By Edgar Villegas | May 27

When I was young I remember looking up at the night sky and the stars that lay over it like white specks on a dark canvas while soft tones of mariachi danced in the background. One of these nights, I asked in gentle Spanish, “Papá, Mamá, qué son esas luces en el cielo? Si agarro una escalera ...

Senior Column | Perez ’22: What entrepreneurship means to me

By Elvia Perez | May 27

Entrepreneurship runs in my blood. I am a proud first-generation Mexican American. My upbringing has been characterized by humility and filled with adversity. Both my parents risked their lives crossing the border to come to this country, in hopes of providing me and my brother with a better life ...

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Senior Column | Ibrahim ’22: The truth about icebreakers

By Rahma Ibrahim | May 27

For the past four years, many of my interactions within and beyond the classroom have begun with answering icebreaker questions, sharing my class year and concentration with peers and listening to them as they do the same. This exercise is not unique to my college experience, of course; chances are ...

Opinions

Senior Column | Blitzer ’22.5: The warmth of here

May 27

Marina Keegan, a graduate of Yale’s class of 2012, wrote “The Opposite of Loneliness” as a senior column on the eve of her own graduation. In a mere 940 words, Keegan poignantly captured the college experience: the excitement of leaving home, the trepidation of being on the precipice of adulthood, ...

Opinions

Senior Column | Healy ’22: Learning to embrace uncertainty

May 27

I have never had a Plan. I’m organized, sure; some might even consider me Type A. I make detailed itineraries for vacations and color-coded spreadsheets of which classes to take. I spend too much time composing emails, designing PowerPoints and arranging my bookshelves. I keep everything in my room ...

Opinions

Senior Column | Doelfel '22: Forging a path through disparate disciplines

May 27

We all are probably perceiving our Commencement day in different ways. Some of us may be happy or excited, others are nervous and melancholy and some are likely experiencing all these emotions at once. Over these past four years, we have learned how to better understand the perceptions of those ...

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Opinions

Editors’ Note: A semester of firsts, in review

By 132nd Editorial Board | April 28

This semester marks Brown’s first full, in-person spring semester in three years –– and, for The Herald’s 132nd Editorial Board, the first full spring semester we have ever experienced. Since we began our tenure in January, much of our coverage has documented a return to the campus we remember ...

Opinions

Rios-Galindo ’25: The Housing Lottery is in shambles. It demonstrates deeper problems within ResLife

By Angelina Rios-Galindo | April 27

Each spring, just after midterms, many Brown students enter perhaps the most stressful season of the year: housing selection. What should be a time of excitement in anticipation of the academic year to come is annually soiled by an inequitable cache of options, problematic power and resource dynamics ...

Opinions

Editorial: At long last, Spring Weekend

By Editorial Page Board | April 27

Spring Weekend is back. This Friday and Saturday, for the first time since 2019, students will gather in person to hear performances from the likes of Flo Milli, Ari Lennox and Amaarae — screaming their hearts out to songs they may or may not know, taking a break from classes and work to hang out ...

Opinions

McGrath ’24: From trendy to cheugy: the acceleration of TikTok fashion

By Sarah McGrath | April 27

In October 2021, trend forecaster and TikTok influencer Mandy Lee predicted the return of the so-called “indie sleaze” aesthetic: a call back to the hipster heydays of the mid 2000s and early 2010s. And this predicted 2010s resurgence may be quickly becoming a reality. In recent months, I’ve ...

Opinions

Editorial: Broken elections, broken UCS

By Editorial Page Board | April 26

After years of apathy among students, this year’s student government election finally attracted attention — but for all the wrong reasons. On April 18, the Student Government Association announced that Chas Steinbrugge ’24 had won the race for president of the Undergraduate Council of Students. ...

Opinions

Artis ’22: The fight for a Green New Deal — people vs. fossil fuels

By Zanagee Artis | April 26

In July 2017, I co-founded Zero Hour, a global, youth-led climate justice organization mobilizing for a livable planet while working to dismantle the systems of oppression at the root of the climate crisis: colonialism, capitalism, racism and patriarchy. In the summer before my first semester at ...

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Slusarewicz ’23: Feeling burnt out? Try children’s literature

By Megan Slusarewicz | April 26

My love-hate relationship with reading has been tipping a little more into the hate category recently. For the first time ever, I’m in four reading-heavy classes. Add a language on top of that and it feels like all I do is decipher dense texts. And I’m burnt out.

Opinions

Sender ’25: To democratize outer space, let’s build a space elevator

By Gabriel Sender | April 26

Outer space has long been an object of scientific curiosity and yearning imaginations, but today, its importance in society is growing at escape velocity, quickly becoming more politically and economically critical. When space becomes practically accessible for all, it will change human civilization ...

Opinions

Spencer-Blume ’23: To creativity and resiliency on campus during a global pandemic

By Amienne Spencer-Blume | April 26

Spring semesters feel pregnant, somehow. Seniors are on their steady march back toward the Van Wickle Gates, toward the finish line, toward the verge of what they have longed for. A lot is in motion during this time.

Opinions

Thio ’22: Moving on from COVID-19 shouldn’t mean doing nothing

By Ethan Thio | April 24

We are tired of COVID-19. Surveys suggest the majority of the United States thinks we need to move on, and many moved on a while ago. I’m tired, too — it’s been a long two years. When experts say almost everyone will get the virus, it can be easy to wonder why one should bother avoiding COVID-19 ...