University – The Stanford Daily https://stanforddaily.com Breaking news from the Farm since 1892 Fri, 15 Mar 2024 08:51:16 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.4.3 https://stanforddaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/cropped-DailyIcon-CardinalRed.png?w=32 University – The Stanford Daily https://stanforddaily.com 32 32 204779320 94% of elevators on campus have expired permits https://stanforddaily.com/2024/03/15/94-of-elevators-on-campus-have-expired-permits/ https://stanforddaily.com/2024/03/15/94-of-elevators-on-campus-have-expired-permits/#respond Fri, 15 Mar 2024 08:39:50 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1244572 Records reveal that over 95% of residential elevators and over 70% of non-residential elevators on campus have expired permits. Most of these elevators are still in operation and some consistently malfunction.

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Vince Pane Ph.D. ’23 was returning to his apartment at Blackwelder in November 2021 when he found himself stuck in an elevator between floors. Pane initially tried to call for rescue using the alarm and emergency call buttons, but found that they did not work, and his phone had no signal.

Pane, an American Ninja Warrior semifinalist, first tried to pry open the door with a knife from the dining hall, to no avail. Then, he climbed onto the elevator railings and proceeded to dislodge a ceiling panel with a series of kicks. As he recorded on his phone, he hoisted himself out of the shaft and jumped onto the next floor.

Later that day, Pane said he found the elevator blocked off with yellow tape. By the next day, it was up and running again, Pane said. As he heard no work on the elevator during the night, he believed that nothing was ever truly fixed.

According to Pane, the Blackwelder elevator’s permit was expired at the time. Though it has since been inspected, its permit expired once again on Aug. 12, 2023 — making it just one of the 260 elevators on campus, 94% of a total of 274, with expired permits, according to documents obtained by The Daily through a public records request. On average, each expired elevator is over 160 days overdue.

On their way to an ice cream study break on May 30, 2022, Carlene Sanchez ’24 and Katelin Rose Zhou ’24 free-fell two stories in an EVGR-A elevator and landed between the first and second floors. Zhou, Sanchez recounted, began catastrophizing.

“She was like, ‘What if someone calls it on the 10th floor, and then we go to the 10th floor, and then it drops?’” Sanchez said.

According to Sanchez, they were rescued by the Palo Alto Fire Department 20 minutes after repeatedly pressing the call button.

The Daily spoke to several students who shared similarly harrowing experiences with faulty elevators across campus. The doors of the elevator in Ng often open before the elevator has finished descending. An elevator in the Spilker Engineering & Applied Sciences Building has stuck buttons. An elevator in the McClatchy Building has its open and close buttons switched.

All of these elevators have expired permits.

The exterior elevator button box reads "Light does not work. Elevator does (most of the time)."
This seemingly humorous sign in the Packard Building claims the elevator only works “most of the time.”(Photo: ANDREW ZENG/The Stanford Daily)

An elevator mechanic, who requested anonymity out of fear of retaliation, told The Daily that elevators with expired permits are often unsafe to use.

 “[Parents] have a reasonable expectation that their children would be safe [here], right?” they said.

Each year, dozens of elevator rescue requests made to the Palo Alto Fire Department originate from the Stanford campus, including 41 in 2021 and at least 38 in 2022, Palo Alto Online reported.

Legal experts told The Daily that Stanford would bear liability in a potential lawsuit on the basis of expired permits or injuries resulting from an elevator malfunction. The University subcontracts its elevator maintenance to KONE, an elevator engineering company based in Finland. 

“The University maintains a full-service elevator maintenance contract with an outside service provider [KONE] that provides planned, reoccurring preventive maintenance as well as reactive coverage requiring one hour response time, 24/7,” wrote University spokesperson Luisa Rapport in a statement to The Daily.

Rapport wrote that KONE provides routine maintenance, despite state-wide inspection backlogs, and is expected to respond to elevator reports and outages within an hour.

KONE did not respond to The Daily’s request for comment. 

The California Code of Regulations mandates that “No elevator shall be operated without a valid, current permit issued.”

Palo Alto Online reported in December 2022 that there was a backlog in elevator inspections of more than two years in the San Jose district, which includes Stanford’s campus. Just nine inspectors are responsible for the district. The California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) acknowledged the need for more elevator inspectors and told Online that hiring was “a top priority.”

“The safety of our campus elevators is a top priority,” Rapport wrote. “Stanford remains in compliance with inspections and permit requests, but does not rely on the state inspection to ensure the safety and operation of our elevators.” 

After The Daily’s inquiry, signs began appearing on elevators across campus informing riders that the elevator was “routinely inspected by the State of California.” Records showed that many of the elevators bearing these notices had expired permits.

Accessibility issues arising from faulty elevator

Members of the disability community told The Daily that broken elevators significantly impair their daily lives. Adri Kornfein ’25 recalled having a “difficult” experience when she lived in Meier during her sophomore year. She uses crutches and lived on the third floor, relying on the building’s single elevator to travel to and from her room. That elevator, Kornfein said, was broken for half of the two quarters she lived in Meier.

According to Residential & Dining Enterprises’s website, all floors of Meier “are accessible.” Nevertheless, Kornfein said she left the dorm last spring without the elevator ever having been permanently fixed. That elevator’s permit is currently expired.

Kornfein said relying on Meier’s defective elevator was stressful. “Sometimes I would just stay in my room instead of going [downstairs], because it was hard to get up and down [the stairs] so many times,” she said.

Stuart Seaborn, the managing litigation director of the nonprofit Disability Rights Advocates, said his greatest concern with unsafe elevators was their impact on members of the disability community.

“Broken or non-maintained elevators pose a systemic problem to members of the disability community, and we have litigated that issue on multiple fronts,” Seaborn said. “When [elevators are] not maintained, they present a significant barrier.”

University spokesperson Mara Vandlik wrote, “A review of our records does not reveal any long-term outages for the elevator in Meier Hall last year.” The only extended period of outage happened in late October 2023 for 10 days, when parts had to be ordered before repairs could occur, she wrote.

Lloyd May, a fourth-year music Ph.D. student and former ASSU director of disability advocacy, said that Stanford’s inaction on elevator safety is one of many examples he sees of the University’s “systemic silo-ing” when it comes to addressing the needs of the disability community. Support for the disability community is handled by many different departments and offices that have little communication with one another, resulting in many inefficiencies, he said.

Similarly, Cat Sanchez ’19 M.A. ’21, former co-chair of the Stanford Disability Initiative, said it was “frustrating” for students with disabilities, who often get “very, very slow change or very slow response” when they raise concerns. She criticized the University for leaving students “in the position of having to ask for help” when University facilities like elevators do not meet their needs.

Kornfein remains disappointed with the University’s inaction toward elevator maintenance. “I just think [the University could do] better,” she said.

Vandlik also wrote that students who have elevator issues are encouraged to report by submitting a fix-it ticket or, if urgent, notifying their housing service center. Emergency maintenance is available after hours. 

“We appreciate that elevator outages are important to all students, but especially significant for those who need the elevator as an accommodation,” Vandlik wrote. Students are offered more accessible temporary accommodations if repairs cause an issue, she wrote.

“The University is committed to ensuring its facilities, programs and services are accessible to everyone, including those with disabilities,” she wrote.

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University administrator asks campaigners to leave Tresidder on Election Day https://stanforddaily.com/2024/03/13/university-administrator-asks-campaigners-to-leave-tresidder-on-election-day/ https://stanforddaily.com/2024/03/13/university-administrator-asks-campaigners-to-leave-tresidder-on-election-day/#respond Thu, 14 Mar 2024 04:49:45 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1244667 Jeanette Smith-Laws, director of operations and student unions in the assistant vice provost’s office, allegedly approached two Peter Dixon tablers and asked them to leave during last week's primary.

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On Election Day, students campaigning for Peter Dixon outside Tresidder Memorial Union were asked to leave by a University administrator — an incident they described as voter suppression.

At 8 a.m. on March 5, Ethan Asher ’24, a student involved with the Peter Dixon for Congress campaign, asked poll workers at Tresidder Memorial Union about the rules for election tabling. An election official handed Asher a booklet with official information on electioneering and pointed at a physical boundary — green tape 100 feet away from the ballot box that as a campaigner, he could not cross. 

He and Sophia Woodrow ’24 set up tables outside Tresidder with campaign materials. Several hours later, around 6:45 p.m., they said they were asked to leave by Jeanette Smith-Laws, the director of operations and student unions. 

The students were ultimately allowed to stay, albeit without the chairs and tables originally provided by Stanford. They said the incident represents an instance of voter suppression, and have filed complaints with the California Secretary of State and the Santa Clara County Registrar’s office.

“The University encourages freedom of expression and its policies do not inhibit the expression of personal political views. To our knowledge, students engaged in campaign activities outside Tresidder Memorial Union were able to continue their pursuits,” Pat Harris, a University spokesperson, wrote. 

Asher said the purpose of tabling was not to convince voters to support their candidate, but to speak with undecided voters and celebrate democracy. “It was like, ‘Thank you so much for voting, polls are open until 8 o’clock, tell your friends,” he said. Asher was involved with strategic support and helping with the candidate’s mixed-income housing plan.

Woodrow described the environment as high-spirited. She said Mona Hicks, senior associate vice provost and dean of students, even thanked Asher and other campaigns for their presence. “No one was hostile in any way. It was kind of a culture shock coming from Georgia, a state where things like that get very, very tense,” Woodrow said. 

However, according to Asher, at 6:45 p.m. Smith-Laws approached him and said they could not be there. 

Asher said that when asked for clarification, Smith-Laws continued to ask them to leave. He said he told Smith-Laws about his earlier conversation with the election worker and explained his adherence to election laws, including the required 100-foot distance between campaigners and ballot boxes.

Asher said Smith-Laws responded that it was not about the law, but about adhering to Tresidder Memorial Union’s building policy. According to him, Smith-Laws said this kind of tabling was only allowed in White Plaza, the University’s determined “free speech zone.”

“This is not a free speech issue. The election law says that this is where we can stand, and the county verified that,” Asher recounted telling her, before he asked Smith-Laws to consult the election manager. 

Smith-Laws proceeded to the ballot box area inside Tresidder Oak Room and began to discuss the issue with a Santa Clara County official, according to the students. Meanwhile, Asher called Woodrow to inform her of the situation before he contacted the California Democratic Party’s voter protection hotline. Asher said he spoke with Emma Harper, director of operations for the California Democratic Party, with whom he confirmed that he was legally allowed to table 100 feet away from the ballot box. 

Asher said he approached Smith-Laws and the Santa Clara county election official with Harper on the phone as a facilitator — the election official refused to speak with Harper, according to the students. The election official then told Asher they had received reports of voter intimidation and blocked access to the ballot box. 

“Those are serious crimes that we were accused of pretty nonchalantly by a member of Stanford admin and someone who was an election manager with the county,” Asher said. 

On the other side of Tresidder, Woodrow said another Stanford worker approached her to say her table had to go.

“He told us he had had to kick the Girl Scouts out earlier that week after he bought cookies from them, and he said, nothing personal, nothing political, against the candidate that we were representing — just building policy,” Woodrow said.

Woodrow said the worker could not identify the specific issues related to her presence, and that they said they would send their boss to talk to her.

Asher and Woodrow were then told that they were legally allowed to be there, they said. However, because the tables and chairs were considered Stanford property, they were not allowed to use them.

They placed their personal belongings on the ground and proceeded to campaign. Asher said Smith-Laws and the election official gave them “dirty looks” from inside Tresidder. 

Another student at the campaign’s table, who spoke on the condition of anonymity due to fear of retaliation, said Smith-Law’s actions were “really uncalled for and unnecessary. It was really alarming to see someone that’s going on a power trip over a space when there’s so much more important things at hand.”

The Dixon campaign tablers left the area at approximately 7:45 p.m. “I think other campaign people would have left when they got asked to leave. But I know the law and I’m gonna make a scene because this is voter suppression,” Asher said.

On March 7, Asher met with Hicks. He said they had a productive private conversation regarding the incident and Hicks promised to resolve the issue before November. 

Asher has since filed an election voter complaint with the California Secretary of State and has attempted to file a complaint for voter suppression or irregularities with the Santa Clara County Registrar’s Office. He has yet to hear back. 

“I think it serves as a reminder that even though things like this happen in Georgia, where I’m from and in parts of the country where people more traditionally think about voter suppression, tactics like that can happen anywhere,” Woodrow said.

The Daily has reached out to Jeanette Smith-Laws and the Peter Dixon campaign for comment.

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Police Blotter: Rape and oral copulation by force or injury https://stanforddaily.com/2024/03/12/police-blotter-rape-and-oral-copulation-by-force-or-injury/ https://stanforddaily.com/2024/03/12/police-blotter-rape-and-oral-copulation-by-force-or-injury/#respond Wed, 13 Mar 2024 06:33:27 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1244592 This article contains incidents that were reported on campus from March 6 to March 11, as recorded by the Stanford University Department of Public Safety bulletin.

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This report covers a selection of incidents from March 6 to March 11, as recorded in the Stanford University Department of Public Safety (SUDPS) bulletin. Learn more about the Clery Act and how The Daily approaches reporting on crime and safety here.

Wednesday, March 6

  • Student residential burglary between 10 a.m. March 2 and 8:30 a.m. March 3 was reported at 680 Jane Stanford Way (Schwab Residential Center). 
  • Student residential burglary between 8:30 p.m. and 10:20 p.m. on March 5 was reported at 650 Jane Stanford Way (McDonald Hall).
  • Extortion at 1:30 a.m. on March 6 was reported at 554 Governors Avenue (East House).
  • A student safety incident at 1 a.m. on March 2 was reported at 500 Lasuen Mall (Hundred Block).
  • Petty theft of a bicycle between 10 p.m. on March 5 and 12 p.m. on March 6 was reported at 207 Running Farm Lane (Rains Apartments, Building 207).
  • A hit-and-run collision resulting in property damage, including vehicles, between 11:45 a.m. and 3:58 p.m. on March 6 was reported at 301 Quarry Road (Parking Lot 1).
  • Second degree burglary from a motor vehicle at 9:30 p.m. on March 4 was reported at 658 Escondido Road (Wilbur Lot).
  • Grand theft of a bicycle between 10 p.m. and 11:15 p.m. on March 6 was reported at 200 Running Farm Lane.

The Daily has reached out to SUDPS regarding the hit-and-run collision at 301 Quarry Road.

Thursday, March 7

  • Theft of personal property between 11 p.m. on Feb. 3 and 10 a.m. on Feb. 4 was reported at 658 Escondido Road (Wilbur Hall, Cedro).
  • Petty theft of bicycle parts between 8 p.m. on Feb. 28 and 8 a.m. on March 4 was reported at 736 Serra Street (EVGR Building D). 
  • Aggravated infliction of a corporal injury on a spouse between 12:01 a.m. on Apr. 1, 2023 and 11:59 p.m. on Jan. 1 was reported at 700 Campus Drive (Hundred Block). 

The Daily has reached out to SUDPS regarding the aggravated infliction of a corporal injury on a spouse at 700 Campus Drive.

Friday, March 8

  • Second degree attempted burglary from a motor vehicle between 8:30 p.m. on March 7 and 8 a.m. on March 8 was reported at 658 Escondido Road (Wilbur Parking Lot). 
  • Theft by use of credit card information between 3 p.m. and 11:40 p.m. on March 7 was reported at 757 Campus Drive (EVGR Building A).
  • Theft of personal property between 4 a.m. to 4:15 a.m. on March 8 was reported at 238 Santa Teresa Street (Ricker Dining). 
  • Petty theft between 1:20 p.m. and 1:40 p.m. on March 8 was reported at 353 Jane Stanford Way (Gates Building). 
  • Petty theft of a bicycle between 8:30 p.m. on March 7 and 8:45 a.m. on March 8 was reported at 618 Escondido Road (Stern Hall). 
  • Grand theft of a bicycle between 2 p.m. on March 7 and 2 p.m. on March 8 was reported at 400 Lasuen Mall (Hundred Block). 
  • Petty theft between 7 p.m. on March 7 and 7:40 a.m. March 8 was reported at 735 Campus Drive (EVGR Building B). 
  • Oral copulation by use of force or injury at an unknown time  on Feb. 3 was reported at 450 Jane Stanford Way.
  • A student safety incident between Feb. 1 and Feb. 26 was reported at 450 Jane Stanford Way. 
  • Rape by force and/or fear between March 1 and March 2 was reported at 450 Jane Stanford Way.
  • Petty theft of a bicycle between 1 p.m. on March 1 and 10 a.m. on March 4 was reported at 735 Campus Drive (EVGR Building B). 

The Daily has reached out to SUDPS regarding the rape at 450 Jane Stanford Way.

Saturday, March 9

  • Petty theft at 12 p.m. on March 7 was reported at 618 Escondido Road (Stern Hall, Burbank). 
  • Grand theft of an electric bicycle between 6 p.m. on March 8 and 11:30 a.m. on March 9 was reported at 1035 Campus Drive (Kappa Sigma). 
  • Petty theft of an electric scooter between 5 p.m. on March 8 and 7 a.m. on March 9 was reported at 326 Santa Teresa Street (Naranja). 

Sunday, March 10

  • Grand theft of an electric bicycle between 10 p.m. on March 9 and 4 p.m. on March 10 was reported at 757 Campus Drive (EVGR Building A). 

Monday, March 11

  • Petty theft of bicycle parts between 4:30 p.m. on March 8 and 9 a.m. on March 11 was reported at 655 Escondido Road (Branner Hall). 
  • Grand theft of money, labor, property and motor vehicle parts and accessories on March 11 was reported at an unknown time and location. 
  • Petty theft between 4:30 p.m. and 5 p.m. on March 8 was reported at 459 Lagunita Drive (Tresidder Memorial Union).
  • Obtaining money by false pretenses (over $400) on March 11 was reported at an unknown time and location.

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Neale Mahoney named director of Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research https://stanforddaily.com/2024/03/05/neale-mahoney-named-director-of-stanford-institute-for-economic-policy-research/ https://stanforddaily.com/2024/03/05/neale-mahoney-named-director-of-stanford-institute-for-economic-policy-research/#respond Wed, 06 Mar 2024 07:39:43 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1244102 Neale Mahoney Ph.D. '11 will begin his term on Jan. 1, 2025. He will replace current SIEPR Director Mark Duggan, who has held the position for nine years.

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The Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (SIEPR) named Neale Mahoney Ph.D. ’11, the George P. Shultz fellow and economics professor, its new director Friday. He will assume the role on Jan. 1, 2025 following a planned sabbatical.

Mark Duggan, the current director of SIEPR, will step down on Aug. 31, 2024 after serving nine years in the role. Greg Rosston Ph.D. ’94, the Gordon Cain senior fellow and current director of Stanford’s public policy program, will serve as interim director for the duration of Mahoney’s sabbatical. 

Graduate School of Business Dean Jonathan Levin and Rosston co-chaired a committee on an international search for the new director. It sought stakeholder input to put forth recommendations to Vice Provost and Dean of Research David Studdert, who then appointed Mahoney. 

“I am grateful to Mark for his visionary leadership over the past nine years,” Studdert told the Stanford Report. “I also want to thank Greg Rosston for stepping in as the interim director to facilitate the handoff between Mark and Neale.”

From 2022-2023, Mahoney worked with the White House on the National Economic Council as a special policy advisor. He had previously worked with the Obama administration on healthcare reform, compiling research and advising policymakers.

“I’m eager to use my experience in both of these roles to advance SIEPR’s mission of strengthening connections between the academic and policy worlds,” Mahoney wrote in a statement to The Daily.

SIEPR, founded in 1982, has approximately 120 affiliate faculty from Stanford’s seven schools and offers mentorship and research opportunities to undergraduates, predoctoral fellows and graduate fellows. 

Its annual Economic Summit was held on March 1 and brought together scholars and leaders from government and industry. SIEPR also houses the California Policy Research Initiative, which strives to create a network of Stanford researchers, lawmakers and government officials.

“We have incredibly strong programs for undergraduate research fellows and graduate students. SIEPR also has a very robust predoctoral fellowship program that allows those considering a Ph.D. program a real chance to get a sense of what rigorous economic research is all about,” Mahoney said. “I encourage any Stanford students interested in economic policy research to explore how they may best fit into our ecosystem.”

This article has been corrected to reflect correct titles of Neale Mahoney and Greg Rosston. The Daily regrets this error.

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Frosh grow from seeds to saplings on the Farm https://stanforddaily.com/2024/03/05/frosh-grow-from-seeds-to-saplings-on-the-farm/ https://stanforddaily.com/2024/03/05/frosh-grow-from-seeds-to-saplings-on-the-farm/#respond Tue, 05 Mar 2024 09:41:31 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1243995 Meet some members of the class of 2027, made up of international students who love music, track stars from California and everyone in between.

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For Nirvaan Pandit ’27, Stanford was something of a dream. 

“Though halfway across the world, I would hear stories of advancements, solved problems and championships won by [Stanford] students,” Pandit said. “I always dreamed of being a part of that community, one where each member is changing the world.”

Although he calls Mumbai, India home, Pandit has spent the last six months of his life living in the all-frosh dorm Castaño. He is a prospective music and economics major and is considering an additional minor in computer science.

Many frosh at Stanford pursue interests outside of their immediate academic focus, be it through participation in school clubs or volunteering work with outside organizations. Outside of academics, Pandit is an active member of the Stanford DJ Society, which, as a musician, he describes as having been an incredible learning experience. 

“The masterclasses they provide as well as the support and resources (including free decks!) are extremely generous and helpful,” Pandit wrote.

In one word, Pandit would describe Stanford as “humbling.”

“But this environment is parallelly beautiful ㅡ there is palpable motivation to innovate at Stanford, fueled by the innovating peers around you,” Pandit said.

Like Pandit, Skylar Johnson ’27 similarly experienced a cultural richness since beginning her frosh year with diverse peers in her classes and extracurriculars. The Class of 2027’s 1705 matriculated students hail from 49 states and 76 countries. 15% are international students and a fifth are first-generation college students.

“Stanford has curated a cohort rich with varied perspectives and experiences, so we should take advantage of this exceptional community we have,” Johnson said.

Johnson, a prospective international relations major, hails from Singapore and now lives in West Lag. In contrast with her education in Singapore, Johnson has found Stanford to be broader in its academic offerings.

“Growing up in Singapore for most of my life, the schools I was in were rather formal and structured, with a large emphasis on academic achievement and competition,” Johnson said. “Meanwhile, Stanford fosters a culture of innovation and creativity. I am able to pursue interdisciplinary interests which would not have been possible back home.”

A typical weekend for Johnson centers around spending time with friends, from off-campus study dates to late-night adventures. Recently, Johnson celebrated Lunar New Year at a Chinese restaurant with her friends, an experience she recalls as particularly meaningful. “[It filled] the void of being away from family in Asia” and made Stanford a “home away from home.” 

Cate Peters ’27, who is a Daily staffer, has similarly found a family within the Stanford community as an athlete on Stanford’s women’s track and field team. Peters is from Danville, California, two hours from campus, and now resides in Wilbur. As a prospective communications major, she chose Stanford for both the academic and the athletic opportunities it offered.

“As a student-athlete, I wanted to make sure I didn’t have to sacrifice either aspect when I got to college — Stanford is a place where I can pursue both academics and athletics at the highest level,” Peters said. “Since coming here, I’ve learned so much from others. In college, I feel like people become more confident in what makes them unique, and it’s really cool to form connections with people here who have such inspiring stories.”

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Police Blotter: Aggravated display of an imitation firearm and intent to terrorize https://stanforddaily.com/2024/02/27/police-blotter-aggravated-display-of-an-imitation-firearm-and-intent-to-terrorize/ https://stanforddaily.com/2024/02/27/police-blotter-aggravated-display-of-an-imitation-firearm-and-intent-to-terrorize/#respond Wed, 28 Feb 2024 07:57:33 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1243624 This article contains incidents that were reported on campus from Feb. 21 to Feb. 26, as recorded by the Stanford University Department of Public Safety bulletin.

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This report covers a selection of incidents from Feb. 21 to Feb. 26, as recorded in the Stanford University Department of Public Safety (SUDPS) bulletin. Learn more about the Clery Act and how The Daily approaches reporting on crime and safety here.

Wednesday, Feb. 21

  • Disorderly conduct for lodging without owner’s consent between 3 p.m. on Jan. 24 and 12:36 p.m. on Feb. 13 was reported at 395 Campus Drive (Stanford Mausoleum).
  • Petty theft of a bicycle between 1 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. was reported at 566 Governors Avenue (Murray House).

The Daily has reached out to SUDPS for comment on the lodging without owner’s consent at Stanford Mausoleum.

Friday, Feb. 23

  • Trespassing and obstruction of bus operation between 8 p.m. on Feb. 22 and 7:55 a.m. on Feb. 23 was reported at 551 Jane Stanford Way (Memorial Hall).
  • Aggravated display of an imitation firearm in public at 9:15 a.m. was reported at 400 Arboretum Road.
  • Aggravated infliction of a corporal injury on a spouse between 1 a.m. on May 1, 2023 and 11 p.m. on Jan 5 was reported at 757 Campus Drive (Escondido Village Graduate Residences Building A).
  • Disturbance by loud and unreasonable noise between 10:30 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. was reported at 551 Jane Stanford Way (Memorial Hall).
  • Petty theft from a building between 10 a.m. on Feb. 17 and 7 p.m. on Feb. 18 was reported at 74 Barnes Court (Barnes Highrise).
  • Petty theft of a bicycle between 10:30 a.m. and 1:10 p.m. was reported at 370 Jane Stanford Way (Hewlett Building).
  • Petty theft of a bicycle between 11 a.m. and 7:30 p.m. was reported at 450 Jane Stanford Way (Building 380).
  • Petty theft from a motor vehicle between 9 a.m. on Feb. 21 and 7:20 p.m. on Feb. 23 was reported at 69 Olmsted Road (Escondido Village 2, Building 69).
  • Tampering with a motor vehicle’s parts and accessories between 6:45 p.m. and 9:15 p.m. was reported at 600 Escondido Road.

The Daily has reached out to SUDPS for comment on the trespassing and obstruction of bus operation at Memorial Hall, aggravated display of an imitation firearm and aggravated infliction of a corporal injury on a spouse.

Saturday, Feb. 24

  • Second degree burglary from a motor vehicle between 7:30 p.m. on Feb. 22 and 10 a.m. on Feb. 24 was reported at the intersection of Angell Court and Olmsted Road.

Sunday, Feb. 25

  • Petty theft of a bicycle at 11:45 p.m. was reported at 726 Serra Street (Escondido Village Graduate Residences Building C).
  • Grand theft of an electric bicycle between 9 p.m. on Feb. 23 and 3 p.m. on Feb. 24 was reported at 251 Governors Avenue South (Griffin House).
  • Appropriation of lost property between 11:30 a.m. and 2 p.m. was reported at 550 Jane Stanford Way (Hoover Tower).
  • A threat of crime with intent to terrorize between 11 p.m. and 11:59 p.m. on Feb. 22 was reported at 436 Mayfield Avenue (Alondra).

The Daily has reached out to SUDPS for comment on the threat of crime with intent to terrorize at Alondra.

Monday, Feb. 26

  • Second degree burglary from a motor vehicle was reported at 660 Escondido Road (Wilbur Lot).
  • Petty theft between 7:30 p.m. on Feb. 25 and 9:20 a.m. on Feb. 26 was reported at 1135 Campus Drive (Narnia House).

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Stanford Medicine Associate Dean of Admissions leaves mid-admissions cycle https://stanforddaily.com/2024/02/26/stanford-medicine-associate-dean-of-admissions-leaves-mid-admissions-cycle/ https://stanforddaily.com/2024/02/26/stanford-medicine-associate-dean-of-admissions-leaves-mid-admissions-cycle/#respond Tue, 27 Feb 2024 07:43:55 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1243525 Iris C. Gibbs, longtime Associate Dean of Stanford Medical School, left her administrative post last November. Since then, students have expressed concerns over the timing and circumstances of her departure.

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Iris C. Gibbs M.D. ’95 departed her post as associate dean of admissions at Stanford Medicine on Nov. 30. Her departure from the position was first shared with Stanford Medicine students on Jan. 4, as the fifth bullet point in an otherwise routine student newsletter.

Some students raised concerns to The Daily about the delayed announcement and transparency surrounding her departure. 

In the interim, Gibbs was replaced by Stanford Medicine’s Director of Assessment Holly Caretta-Weyer and associate professor of medicine Vinicio de Jesus Perez M.D. ’06.

Gibbs, an oncologist by training, served as associate dean of Stanford Medicine since 2014. During her tenure, Stanford Medicine launched the HBCU Visiting Student and Faculty Exchange Program to promote diversity, equity and inclusion.

Stanford Medicine’s spokesperson Cecilia Arradaza wrote that Gibbs’s tenure ended when her appointment term expired naturally on Nov 30. She thanked the admissions team led by Dr. Gibbs for its “invaluable” contributions.

Some students expressed concerns about the timing and circumstances surrounding Gibbs’s departure.

A second-year medical student, who requested anonymity due to fear of retaliation, said it was highly unusual for a dean’s tenure to end in the middle of an admissions cycle. While an admissions cycle usually runs from June to April, Gibbs left in November.

The student said that at a town hall, multiple students had raised questions about Gibbs’s departure. “The answers that were given by the new deans were not very forthright,” they said. 

“Other students have since gone on and tried to speak to the administration about this and have not been able to receive more clarification on the,” they said.

Gibbs wrote in an email to The Daily that she appreciated the “concerns of the students for whom it has been my life’s honor to serve.”

She declined to comment further and wrote, “I look forward to addressing the circumstances at the appropriate time.”

Interim Associate Deans Caretta-Weyer and Jesus Perez wrote in a statement to The Daily that they “remain committed to admitting an outstanding and diverse body of students to Stanford, who are committed to advancing scholarship and clinical care across the many fields of medicine.”

A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that Dr. Gibbs led efforts to launch the Stanford African Scholars in Global Health program. The Daily regrets this error.

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Standardized test scores divide Stanford https://stanforddaily.com/2024/02/26/stanford-and-standardized-test-scores/ https://stanforddaily.com/2024/02/26/stanford-and-standardized-test-scores/#respond Tue, 27 Feb 2024 07:41:15 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1243531 Following recent decisions from peer institutions, like Yale and Dartmouth, to reinstate the standardized testing requirement for admissions, the Stanford community considers the future of the SAT and ACT.

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Dartmouth College and Yale University both recently announced that they would be requiring standardized test scores in undergraduate admissions, following a four year pause on the requirement due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Stanford, which made their 2020-2021 admissions cycle, along with all cycles since, test-optional, has not yet made an official statement about whether they plan to reimplement standardized test scores.

The COVID-19 pandemic raised challenges for students applying to college as many did not have the opportunity to sit for the SAT and ACT, leading many universities to implement test-optional policies. However, as pandemic restrictions decrease, and an increased number of standardized testing sittings available, several universities have since scrapped their test-optional policies.

But some, like the University of California system, permanently eliminated standardized test requirements.

According to Richard Ford, a professor at Stanford Law School (SLS), standardized test scores provide universities with a scalable metric in the admissions process. Without standardized test scores to use as a metric, Ford wrote that judging applicants based on “grades and high school reputation … might be as bad or worse [than standardized testing] with respect to class and race bias.”

Driven by similar concerns to those raised by Ford, Dartmouth announced they would reinstate pre-pandemic testing policies after research indicated that test scores were a valuable marker of student success at Dartmouth. Without a submitted SAT or ACT score, greater emphasis was placed on applicants’ grades and letters of recommendation, which the study concluded could hurt students from low-income backgrounds because there would be less to review.  

However, Ford acknowledged the significant financial and time-based burden that standardized tests can place on students.

“I don’t think it is good that selective universities encourage high school students to spend time and money on test prep — cramming for a test is not the kind of hard work we should value,” Ford wrote.

Students from Stanford’s most recent frosh cohort expressed varying perspectives on standardized testing in applications.

Shayaan Memon ’27 shared that he believes standardized test results reveal information about applicants not otherwise available during the college admission process. According to Memon, “The SAT is a good thing because it gets rid of people faking their grades in high school classes where most high schools are unable to verify students performing without cheating.”

“Some students receive A’s in AP classes yet do poorly on the SAT,” Memon said.

However, Lauren Tapper ’27 and Uchenna Abba ’27 both expressed greater reservations towards standardized testing. 

Tapper said that she believes standardized testing can “enforce inequality.” 

“Wealthier students can afford prep classes and private tutors, giving them unfair advantages in college admission processes where tests are required and part of admission decision-making rubrics,” Tapper said.

For Abba, standardized tests should only be required with changes to the test’s current design. “If the SAT is modified to more accurately depict students’ knowledge then it should be reinstated.” 

However, at Stanford, applications are reviewed holistically. According to Rich Shavelson, an education psychologist at the Graduate School of Education (GSE), the holistic review prevents admissions officers from reducing students to a score.

“There are no minimum test scores required to be admitted to Stanford, and there is no score that guarantees admission,” he said.

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Slight increase in Stanford acceptance rate for Class of 2027 https://stanforddaily.com/2024/02/22/slight-increase-in-stanford-acceptance-rate-for-class-of-2027/ https://stanforddaily.com/2024/02/22/slight-increase-in-stanford-acceptance-rate-for-class-of-2027/#respond Thu, 22 Feb 2024 09:24:33 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1243153 Compared to the Class of 2026, this year’s frosh class had a smaller applicant pool, higher acceptance rate and lower proportion of female students.

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Stanford undergraduate acceptance rate rose for the Class of 2027 to 3.91%, an increase from last year’s historic low of 3.68%, according to the University’s Common Data Set. 

Out of a pool of 53,733 applicants, down from last year’s pool of 56,378, 2,099 received offers of admission and 1,699 matriculated — a yield rate of 80.9%.

Compared to peer institutions, Harvard was the only university with a lower acceptance rate than Stanford. Similar to Stanford, the acceptance rate for the Class of 2027 increased, with 3.41% undergraduate applicants accepted, compared to 3.19% last year, according to reporting from The Harvard Crimson.

Stanford’s Class of 2027 is made up of 50.2% women and 49.8% men, a decrease from Class of 2026’s 54% female proportion. The University does not publicly report the proportion of the class that identifies as non-binary.

The Class of 2027 is made up of 28.84% of people who identify as Asian. Approximately 13.60% are listed as non-residents, students who are not U.S. citizens or nationals, regardless of their race or ethnicity. Similar to last year, the smallest categories continue to be American Indian or Alaska Native students with 0.77%, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander students with 0.29% and an unknown race or ethnicity group with 0.24%.

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University removes pro-Palestine sit-in following negotiations https://stanforddaily.com/2024/02/20/university-removes-pro-palestine-sit-in-following-negotiations/ https://stanforddaily.com/2024/02/20/university-removes-pro-palestine-sit-in-following-negotiations/#respond Tue, 20 Feb 2024 11:31:50 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1242965 The University removed the sit-in's tents and student belongings following two negotiation sessions, where they committed to consider several demands.

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The University removed the physical structures that comprised the pro-Palestine Sit-in to Stop Genocide early Saturday morning, while no participants or organizers were present at the sit-in. This removal, carried out by UG2 service workers and Stanford University Department of Public Safety (SUDPS) officers, followed a week-long reprieve period.

Amid the reprieve, University administrators met with sit-in organizers for two negotiation sessions. The University agreed to four commitments demanded by the sit-in.

Sit-in participants agreed to dismantle tents and other physical structures before 8 p.m. on Friday, per agreements with the University to cease overnight camping following the two negotiation sessions. 

Due to a reported shooting threat on Friday afternoon, sit-in members requested that the University allow them to collect belongings and dismantle tents Saturday morning. The University reaffirmed the 8 p.m. removal deadline, according to email correspondence obtained by The Daily. 

According to sit-in members, University administrators agreed on a phone call that workers would not be sent until late Saturday morning or afternoon. 

Between 4 a.m. and 6 a.m. on Saturday, service workers took down tents and removed the sit-in’s belongings. Several sit-in participants criticized the decision to remove belongings while students were away.

“The sit-in has become something really large, something really important to a lot of people’s lives, so for it to be taken down so unceremoniously, with several very serious miscommunications, was really sad,” said sit-in participant Tobi Bankole ’24. 

The Sit-in to Stop Genocide raised five demands to the University: divesting from and boycotting entities and companies “complicit in Israeli war crimes, apartheid, and genocide,” calling for a ceasefire in a University statement, providing resources to Palestinian diaspora, Arab and Muslim students, identifying and addressing educational biases against Palestinian and Arab issues and creating five student seats on the Special Committee on Investment Responsibility. 

Following a Nov. 13 announcement that two new university committees would provide recommendations on ways to raise awareness about and mitigate Islamophobia and antisemitism on campus, the sit-in advocated for divestment and other ways for the University to support Palestinian thought and representation. According to organizers, this included an Arab Studies track within the Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity program.

Following two negotiation meetings on Feb. 14 and 16, sit-in organizers told The Daily that President Richard Saller and Provost Jenny Martinez agreed to “deliberate about coordinating with Palestinian students to release a statement about their experiences over the past four months.”

According to organizers, Saller agreed to raise concerns around investments to the Board of Trustees, specifically investment transparency, divestment from weapons manufacturers and military contractors and student representation on the Special Committee on Investment Responsibility. 

Sit-in organizers expressed reserved optimism in a statement to The Daily: “While these commitments are a far cry from what is necessary for Stanford to address its institutional complicity in Israel’s crimes of apartheid and genocide, they nevertheless represent another step forward,” they wrote.

Some organizers criticized that demands were not addressed until the sit-in demonstrated. Alisha Service ’26 wrote that administrators were only willing to make commitments on demands tied to support for students. Some examples included accommodations for Palestinian students and a committee focused on discrimination against Palestinian, Arab and Muslim students, Service wrote.

“Those are not difficult demands. They should have existed prior to Oct. 20, when we started our protest,” Service wrote.

Sit-in organizers questioned the decision to remove belongings early Saturday morning, especially as participants’ belongings are now held by SUDPS.

The University wrote that students could reclaim property “during normal business hours next week,” in a Feb. 17 update.

Sit-in participants plan to continue demonstrations within the 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. time approved by the University. On Saturday night, the sit-in held a vigil to support Palestine, which was planned before tents were removed.

While it was sad to see the tents removed, participants said they were committed to the sit-in’s cause: “At the heart of it is the people who we are here for, who we are standing for at the end of the day — Palestinians on campus, in Gaza, and all around the world,” Bankole said.

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‘A critical need’: Former San Jose Mayor talks congressional bid https://stanforddaily.com/2024/02/19/former-san-jose-mayor-congressional-bid/ https://stanforddaily.com/2024/02/19/former-san-jose-mayor-congressional-bid/#respond Tue, 20 Feb 2024 05:14:05 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1242885 Former San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo says he would bring local solutions to Congress on homelessness, housing and the climate crisis.

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This interview is part of a series with candidates for California’s 16th Congressional District.

Stanford Law School lecturer and former mayor of San Jose Sam Liccardo is running as a Democrat in the crowded open primary to replace Rep. Anna Eshoo, who has represented the district including Stanford for the past 16 terms. The top two candidates in the March 5 primary will advance to a general election on Nov. 5.

Liccardo grew up in Silicon Valley and attended Georgetown University, Harvard Law School and the Harvard Kennedy School. He worked as a federal and local prosecutor in California before being elected to the San Jose City Council in 2006, where he served for two terms. Liccardo went on to win the contested election for mayor of San Jose in 2014. During his eight years as mayor, he focused on addressing homelessness, clean energy, tech growth and pension reforms. His courses at Stanford Law School focus on urban issues and housing policy.

The Daily spoke to Liccardo about his experience as mayor, how Congress can support local communities and his message for Stanford students.

This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.

The Stanford Daily (TSD): Why are you running for Congress?

Sam Liccardo (SL): As a large city mayor, you spend dozens of hours on Capitol Hill advocating for resources and policy for your community. What I routinely found is I was telling members of Congress, particularly outside of our Bay Area, about the urgency for Congress to get moving on issues like homelessness and the high cost of housing.

[There] was a sense that those were local issues. Congress didn’t believe that they should be addressing them with federal policy. In my year teaching at Stanford, it became increasingly apparent through my own research and through discussions with colleagues that issues like homelessness are national crises — they’re not local. It’s a national crisis and deserves a federal response.

There’s a critical need for the federal government to step up to be a better partner with local communities. This housing crisis is not just affecting the unhoused. We know it’s affecting every student at Stanford. It’s affecting every employer in Silicon Valley struggling to hire a workforce here. It is a crisis that’s affecting every major metro in the United States. It is long since time for Congress to lean in. That’s why I’m running. I want to get Congress moving on issues like climate change, like affordable housing, like homelessness and on issues of personal safety.

TSD: Given that you’ve spent most of your career in city government, what do you anticipate as the challenges of serving at the federal level if you’re elected? What are the major differences?

SL: When you’re a mayor of a large city, people expect you to respond. They hold you accountable. When there’s an encampment down the street, when there’s a burglary next door, you hear about it as a big city mayor every time you’re going to Safeway or you’re at the gym. People reasonably expect that you’re going to be responsive. You don’t have the luxury of saying, ‘We didn’t get anything done because of that other party.’

Over the last year, [this has been] the least productive Congress in the last half-century. It’s a pretty low bar over the last half-century, so that is quite an astounding accomplishment. We critically need a Congress that understands the accountability that mayors understand. It’s simply not good enough to point the finger at the other party —we actually have to get things done.

It means we have to talk to people who disagree with us, we have to listen to them. We have to forge coalitions among people who may disagree on lots of other things, but that’s our nation’s work. That’s what Americans are expecting Congress to do, but have increasingly lost hope that Congress can ever do that. It’s critical to have elected officials in Congress who understand what it means to be accountable. Frankly, mayors understand better than anyone, particularly mayors of large cities.

TSD: If you’re elected, what would be your main policy priorities?

SL:  Homelessness, housing, the high cost of living…with a whole set of specific policies around everything from pharmaceuticals to insurance to utility costs. Fourth [is] crime and safety. The fifth is around climate and the environment. 

People might dismiss [those] as local issues, but… there are many ways in which Congress can change policy that can dramatically help local communities that are struggling in those areas. Virtually every major metro is struggling in those areas. It’s not a novelty or something unique about the Bay Area.

Secondly, we need to identify ideas that we can accomplish within our budget. We need elected officials running with ideas that don’t add to that burden, rather than pie-in-the-sky ideas that sound good on campaign mailers but actually can never get accomplished.

TSD: What are the major accomplishments that voters should know about from your time as mayor? What regrets do you have, if any, with the benefit of hindsight?

SL: When you’re mayor, you make many decisions every day. There are always mistakes and I certainly didn’t always make the perfect decision. But when I was in office, we learned. We learned how to respond better, how to marshal resources more cost-effectively. Through a lot of hard work and learning, by the time I left office in 2022, we left San Jose with the lowest homicide rate of any major city in the country.

We had reduced street homelessness by 11% that year. And I passed a $30 million surplus onto my successor, which generally doesn’t happen much in government. We [also] reduced greenhouse gas emissions community-wide in the city of San Jose by 36%. 

TSD: How confident are you feeling in your chances of winning this primary? You raised over $1.6 million in the last quarter. Can you tell me about your campaign strategy and fundraising strategy?

SL: First, about the campaign, I’m a big believer in Andy Grove’s mantra, “Only the paranoid survive.” I’m racing hard, head down and sprinting to the finish on March 5. Any candidate who isn’t is certainly not going to have a chance to win. This is a group of very competent, good people and good candidates. I’m going to be working very hard in the next three weeks, just as I have been.

The campaign strategy has been predicated on doing something different than the standard campaign, bumper-sticker approach of simply trying to trigger voters on either the left or the right to respond to dog whistles that we hear too often in the national political debate.

What I think is productive in our political discourse is when we actually talk about solutions and debate whether those solutions are the right ones for the challenges we’re facing. That requires a specificity that you typically don’t hear out of candidates. It requires a certain level of pragmatism that you often don’t get out of candidates, because pragmatism is required in a divided Congress. You actually have to reach across the aisle. You need ideas that don’t simply appeal to [Democrats], but appeal more broadly.

And fundraising, you asked me. I have a very strong base in tech support. That’s not a secret. As mayor of San Jose, we had a lot of partnerships with tech. So, many of those tech leaders certainly came out to support me, and I’m grateful they did.

TSD: Representative Eshoo has been in Congress for 30 years. She was elected at a time when women were a very small percentage of Congress. What would replacing her mean to you?

SL: I actually worked as a volunteer on Anna Eshoo’s campaign in 1992 when she won. [There was] a strong sense that women weren’t feeling heard. I feel as though we have revisited that in an even more profound way with the overturning of Roe v. Wade. There’s an appropriate urgency to ensure that this Congress is much more responsive to the imperative of reproductive rights and other critical issues to women than we’ve seen in the Supreme Court, or from the last presidential administration.

TSD: What do you have to say to the Stanford community? Do you have a message for students specifically?

SL: My year on the Farm was incredibly rewarding. I had great pleasure in getting to know and teaching brilliant students and working with brilliant colleagues.

What I’d say to students on the Stanford campus, [which] I know won’t be a big secret, is get involved. You have no idea how impactful you can be until you actually take the step to get engaged. Obviously, as a candidate, I’d love to have folks engaged in volunteering on my campaign, for example.

This is a critical seat to advocate for the many issues that are top-of-mind for so many students on the university campus. Congress needs to focus on issues like homelessness and the lack of housing affordability. [I’ve talked] to lots of students. There’s plenty of frustration that more isn’t being done.

The most obvious way for people to get involved is to vote. I was a college student; I was a graduate student too. I know you generally tend to vote in your own home district. But I encourage folks, if they want to have a voice here, register and vote here. Young people vot[ing] at much lower percentages than older people is exactly why you hear politicians catering to older generations and demographics and not heeding enough the voices of those who are going to bear the burden of poor decisions around things like climate change and education. So anyway, I’m done preaching.

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U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights cautions against AI https://stanforddaily.com/2024/02/19/un-high-commissioner-for-human-rights-cautions-ai/ https://stanforddaily.com/2024/02/19/un-high-commissioner-for-human-rights-cautions-ai/#respond Tue, 20 Feb 2024 04:59:57 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1242924 The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights visited Stanford on Wednesday for a panel conversation on the looming risks generative AI has on global human rights.

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Amid the rapid advancement of generative artificial intelligence (AI), Volker Türk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, urged the technology sector to utilize human rights to navigate the unknown field of AI during a panel at the Law School last Wednesday.

Turk’s keynote address opened “The Human Rights Dimensions of Generative AI,” an event sponsored by the Stanford Center for Human Rights and International Justice. 

The talk featured panelists with a breadth of experience in the field, ranging from Stanford law professor Nate Persily J.D. ‘98 to the CTO of engineering at the Emerson Collective Raffi Krikorian. Joined by an audience of around 50 students and faculty alike, the panel was moderated by Ambassador Eileen Donahue J.D. ’89, Special Envoy for Digital Freedom from the U.S. State Department.

Türk’s concerns come as a wave of development in the AI field with the potential to aggravate existing problems of misinformation, election propaganda and discrimination occurring more rapidly than the industry can regulate. “Companies and countries have largely failed” to uphold human rights in the development of AI,” he said.

Türk positioned these problems within the framework of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which serves as the basis of international human rights, cautioning against the possibility of AI infringing on the rights to work, non-discrimination, accessing information and privacy.

He attributed the abuses of these rights to many phenomena unfolding across the world.

These events included the election year ahead, with over 60 countries holding elections in 2024. Türk reminded the audience that AI’s creation of cheap but “powerful propaganda” in these elections can “deeply undermine the functioning of democratic institutions.”

With access to true information hindered, Türk expressed his worry about the powerful “clouding the minds and hearts of people,” disrupting elections. Law professor Persily repeated the dark reality of this risk.

“It’s not just that people will be believing in false stuff, it is that they will be disbelieving in true stuff,” Persily said. “Artificial content… then gives credibility to all of those who want to deny reality.”

Türk and Persily highlighted the impact that deep fakes — digitally altered media that misleadingly (and typically maliciously) — edit a person into a situation, will have on elections and, more importantly, people’s privacy and agency. 

“We have already seen this phenomenon… disrupt elections, deceive people, but also spread hatred and misogyny,” Türk said. 

Discrimination can also be found in the models generative AI is “trained on…almost inevitably contain hateful and discriminatory ideas that can infect our societies,” Türk said.

Healthy regulation of AI development is critical in curbing these risks, which Türk stated can be guided by human rights principles and law.

“Human rights provide a governance model that is long-term… intergenerational and ensuring our future,” Türk said.

Conversation between each sector in regulating AI development is also important, Krikorian said. While private companies are “doing the work” in the absence of government regulation, he said, he urges the social sector consuming the technologies to join.

“The civil society actors also need to have a voice in this conversation and… have this multi-stakeholder, cross-accountability situation that they can come to an answer correctly for all of us in society,” Krikorian said.

Global Head of Human Rights at Google Alex Walden added that this adherence to human rights can be seen through the application of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights by many companies, including Google.

Peggy Hicks, the Director of Thematic Engagement and Special Procedures at the UN Human Rights Office, stressed that the discussion of AI cannot be simply a Silicon Valley or Western-world exchange.

“We cannot have a fragmented conversation about a global issue of this sort,” Hicks said. “Human rights… can bring us together and give us a grounding about how we address some of the real challenges, but also the real opportunities that we will see with generative AI.”

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Cardinal Care system-wide error costs students hundreds https://stanforddaily.com/2024/02/15/cardinal-care-system-wide-error-costs-students-hundreds/ Fri, 16 Feb 2024 07:58:44 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1242735 Cardinal Care, the University-sponsored health insurance plan, switched its designated healthcare provider from HealthNet to Aetna last year. Students report that the change has led them to be charged in error for bills that were previously covered in full.

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Delaney Miller, a sixth-year Ph.D. student in mechanical engineering, received a call on Sept. 25 from her medical supply company notifying her of a $674 charge. The fee was for durable medical equipment (DME) — everyday medical supplies she requires to treat her diabetes.

25 days earlier, Stanford had switched from HealthNet to Aetna as the designated healthcare provider for Cardinal Care, the University-sponsored health insurance plan. Nearly 72% of graduate students and 34% of undergraduate students are enrolled in Cardinal Care, according to Johanna Infantine, who manages student health insurance programs at Vaden.

Miller said she was shocked that Aetna was billing her for DME — like insulin pumps, sensors and infusion sets — which HealthNet previously covered entirely. 

“When we switched from HealthNet to Aetna, I reached out to my diabetes suppliers that I had been working with, who were covered under HealthNet,” Miller said. “I was told that the suppliers I was using were also covered with Aetna.”

Miller assumed the suppliers were the same, only to receive “some very sizable bills from my diabetes supply companies.”

Instead of receiving full coverage, Miller was now asked to foot 30% of the cost. Miller said she thought she had signed up for a Tier 1 supplier, the highest benefit level for insurance, but was instead charged in accordance with the Tier 2 rate that covers less. According to documents reviewed by The Daily, her initial bill was $3,560, and Aetna’s negotiated price with Advanced Diabetes Supply (ADS), her supplier, was $1,080. Miller’s responsibility was $674.

Yet, based on her Aetna plan, Miller should not have owed anything.

Miller spent the next month and a half communicating with Aetna, her medical supply company and Vaden, who administers Cardinal Care. Miller learned on Nov. 28 that a Cardinal Care system-wide error had affected DME coverage and that the charge was a mistake.

Miller was not alone — many other Stanford students who use DME also received an inaccurate bill. 

The Vaden Insurance and Referral Office released a public statement on Feb. 12 — two days after The Daily reached out to them for comment — over student concerns about DME-related charging errors. The office wrote they are “aware that some DME and diagnostic laboratory benefits have been adjudicated at the incorrect tier,” amid the Aetna transition in September.

According to the statement, it is the office’s “understanding” that all incorrect adjudications were corrected. 

The University declined to provide a separate statement and referred The Daily to the public statement. 

Miller’s bill was eventually corrected to $0. However, she expressed concern that other students were paying medical fees they did not owe. If she did not personally reach out to Vaden, Aetna and ADS representatives, she would likely have swallowed the $674 bill for her essential DME, Miller said.

Representatives told Miller the issue was a system-wide mistake. The strange part, she said, was that it fell to her to reach out to them.

Miller urged Vaden to issue a notice about the error to prevent students fulfilling inaccurate charges. According to her, Vaden wrote in response that they had no way of identifying all students who may need DME.

Vaden has not directly communicated with everyone covered by Cardinal Care about the system-wide error, beyond the public statement posted to the Vaden website. 

Miller was not the only student affected. Jacqueline Bendrick, a second-year Ph.D. student in neuroscience, also faced difficulties with DME bills in the transition from HealthNet to Aetna.

Before the transition, Bendrick said she contacted Aetna to ensure the supplies and medications she needs for her diabetes would be covered under the new plan.

According to Bendrick, Aetna told her 100% of her supplies would be covered, and that her current DME supplier would remain Tier 1 with zero out-of-pocket fees. But when she made her first supply order through Aetna, Bendrick received a $680.75 bill, according to documents reviewed by The Daily.

“As a graduate student making very little money, that was extremely shocking,” Bendrick said. “A large chunk of my monthly income would have gone to this.”

Bendrick said she submitted the incorrect bill to Vaden on Oct. 17, and Aetna corrected the mistake on Dec. 5. During this nearly two-month period, her supplier, Byram Healthcare, refused to send refills until the $680.75 was paid.

By California law, health insurance providers are required to provide a grievance process to address enrollee complaints within 30 days. In Bendrick’s case, it took 49 days to resolve the complaints.

“I almost ran out of multiple life-saving DME equipment,” Bendrick said. “It’s not an option to stop using it. I had to get my manager and the director of my program involved to get more clout behind me because the insurance office was telling me to be patient. It took a ton of time away from work and school, and there’s a tremendous amount of anxiety that comes from not knowing if you’re going to have medical supplies you need to be able to live.”

Like Miller and Bendrick, Brenda Velasco, a seventh-year Ph.D. immunology student, has faced challenges with Cardinal Care’s transition to Aetna. Velasco has type 2 diabetes and reactive hypoglycemia, which she described as “life-threatening” because she could pass out or fall into a coma if she had too much sugar, became too stressed or exercised.

Aetna no longer covers Velasco’s DME. Velasco uses a continuous glucose monitor for her diabetes, which was fully covered under HealthNet. Under Aetna, Velasco said she no longer qualifies for full coverage of her DME because she is not a type 1 diabetic and does not use an insulin pump.

Velasco said she had to switch to a different continuous glucose monitor that she gets through a pharmacy benefit, for which her copay is $87.59 a month, per documents reviewed by The Daily.

“I had a baby in 2022,” Velasco said. “I’ve still been paying those bills from HealthNet. Having multiple chronic health conditions and all the copays and all my medications, which aren’t fully covered — it’s too expensive.”

Expressing frustration at Vaden’s communication with her, Velasco questioned, “Why couldn’t they reach out and say some of the contracts are changing, make sure you’re with the right company?”

Amid similar student questions and concerns, the Vaden Student Health Advisory Committee (VSHAC) was formed in August to solicit student voices. This fall, much of their work has been geared toward student issues with the Aetna transition, according to co-leaders Elizabeth Park, a fourth-year Ph.D. student in chemistry, and Perry Nielsen Jr., a second-year master’s student in health policy.

Over the past few months, VSHAC collected over a hundred individual complaints from students to inform Vaden of mis-adjudication issues like those experienced by Miller and Bendrick.

“At VSHAC, we’re trying to give Stanford students the ability to have a voice in the care they’re receiving on campus,” Nielsen said. 

According to Park, Vaden and Aetna said they are in the process of fixing the mis-adjudication issues. Vaden solicited comments from VSHAC on how to improve transparency with students, Park said.

Despite attempts to respond to student complaints, Miller said the DME mis-adjudication issues are far from over. Although the insulin pumps she is currently ordering from a Tier 1 DME supplier are supposed to be fully covered, she said the supplier reported they could not come to an agreement with her insurance company and would be unable to provide a pump at all. Miller said the next Tier 1 supplier she tried quoted her more than $1000, claiming Miller was only covered at 70%. 

She asked the DME supplier “to call Aetna back to ask about Tier 1 coverage — but this indicates the issue is still not resolved.”

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From Daily offices to State Senate: Ashwin Ramaswami ’21 challenges Republican incumbent in Georgia https://stanforddaily.com/2024/02/15/from-daily-offices-to-state-senate-ashwin-ramaswami-21-challenges-republican-incumbent-in-georgia/ https://stanforddaily.com/2024/02/15/from-daily-offices-to-state-senate-ashwin-ramaswami-21-challenges-republican-incumbent-in-georgia/#respond Fri, 16 Feb 2024 02:33:35 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1242702 Ashwin Ramaswami’s ’21 state senator Shawn Still was indicted for allegedly trying to overturn the 2020 presidential election. So Ramaswami decided to run against him.

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Ashwin Ramaswami graduated from Stanford in 2021, where he studied computer science and served as The Daily’s first chief technology officer. He currently attends Georgetown University Law Center. Three years after returning to his hometown of Johns Creek, Georgia during the pandemic, Ramaswami is running for state senate in the state’s 48th district. The seat is currently occupied by Republican Shawn Still, who was indicted with former President Donald Trump on charges that he sought to illegally overturn the last presidential election results. Shortly after launching his campaign, Ramaswami spoke to The Daily. 

This interview has been lightly edited for clarity and concision. 

The Stanford Daily (TSD): What was your Stanford experience like?

Ashwin Ramaswami (AR): I came into Stanford majoring in computer science, but I was always really interested in the humanities. I did SLE my freshman year. I was quite involved with the intersections of CS and other areas. I was involved with the Center for Spatial and Technological Analysis (CESTA), the digital humanities center on campus and also The Daily as well. My sophomore year I became the first CTO of The Daily. 

What I learned early on was that having a great tech background, I was able to get into spaces and help people out, where I knew tech people wouldn’t be there. These experiences have given me the ability to go and talk to people in spaces that aren’t just tech.

TSD: Can you talk me through your decision to run for office?

AR: I’m the child of immigrants, but I was born and raised in Johns Creek. For a long time, I was interested in how I could give back to my community. I didn’t want to stay in the Bay. I wanted to come and give back. [One motive came from] working in the federal government where we actually worked on election security and did critical work to keep our democracy strong. When I was looking to see how I could get involved in Georgia, [I saw that] the incumbent in the State Senate seat that I’m running against got indicted in the Trump indictment for trying to overturn the 2020 election. He put his political career over the integrity of elections and the right to vote of Georgians, so that’s when I was like, “Oh, this is a problem.”

I realized instead of asking for a candidate, I could be the candidate. I’m from the community. I have strong ties. I’d also break barriers in terms of being the first Indian American and Gen Z member of the Georgia State Senate. So I’d bring a new voice to politics. 

TSD: What issues — other than election integrity — are you hoping to address if elected to office?

AR: One big issue is the economy, making sure that [people] have the same opportunities that I had growing up in Johns Creek. [There needs to be] more entrepreneurship, more investment back in the community. With that also comes investment in education. 

Public safety is [a top priority] as well. We have to make sure our communities are safe. We really want to prevent things like school shootings.

Then there’s the battle over reproductive rights. And I really want to be a voice of reason. We don’t want extremism, whether it’s anti-democratic extremism or if it’s the extremism of not having reproductive rights at all.

TSD: You mentioned that you’d be the first Gen Z member of the Georgia State Senate. How has your age impacted the experience of launching a campaign so far?

AR: It’s a lot of fun. You’re able to talk to so many people, learn so much about what people are facing and be able to be a voice for others.

It’s really about bridging that gap. So, of course, I’m talking to people my age who are excited there’s someone like them representing them, but then I’m talking a lot to people from other generations who have the resources that [Gen Z candidates] need to succeed but also understand we need new voices. The most important thing is your integrity and competence.  

The reason we don’t have many people from Gen-Z in politics is because they have to raise money …  they have to face student debt …  they have to find a job. There are all these structural barriers.

TSD: What’s one piece of advice you got in college and what’s one piece of advice you’d give to someone in college considering someday running for office?

AR: You don’t have to follow the path that everyone else sets for you. It’s so much more inspiring and amazing to do something that no one expects you to do. There are so many ways you can take risks in life, whether it’s running for office or switching from computer science to law. If you have the opportunity to do so, take whatever classes are interesting to you. The more breadth you have, the better. 

My advice is to stay connected to people from your community. It’s really important to have those ties, so people know about your integrity and can vouch for you. Nobody wants to be served by someone random who just suddenly pops in. 

Ultimately, the goal is to serve others. It’s not about you. It’s about how your community can most benefit from your talents.

This article was corrected to reflect that Ramaswami has not completed his juris doctorate at Georgetown. The Daily regrets this error.

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Lanier Anderson takes over for Sarah Church as Vice Provost https://stanforddaily.com/2024/02/15/lanier-anderson-takes-over-for-sarah-church-as-vice-provost/ https://stanforddaily.com/2024/02/15/lanier-anderson-takes-over-for-sarah-church-as-vice-provost/#respond Fri, 16 Feb 2024 00:39:36 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1242286 Philosophy professor Lanier Anderson began his role as interim vice provost for undergraduate education last month, following Sarah Church's resignation.

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Lanier Anderson, the J. E. Wallace Sterling Professor in the Humanities and philosophy department chair, assumed leadership as interim vice provost for undergraduate education in January.

Provost Jenny Martinez appointed Anderson to the position in October after Sarah Church, who formerly held the role, stepped down for health reasons. A search committee is currently working to find a long-term successor.

“I am still very much in the steep part of the learning curve in the new role,” Anderson wrote in a statement to The Daily. “The first month has mostly been about understanding the scope of the work …The most exciting part is hearing from my colleagues about the great work they are doing with students.”

“Nothing would have surprised me more” in early October than being appointed as interim VPUE, Anderson wrote.

After Martinez asked him to consider the role, however, he saw an opportunity to support the office’s work. “I thought it was very important to take my turn and keep these important initiatives going,” he wrote.

Church advised Anderson throughout the leadership transition. He started to meet with colleagues in the VPUE administration in December.

In emails to The Daily, Anderson’s colleagues wrote about him with deep admiration and affection, praising his character and intellect.

“Anderson is the ideal person to occupy this role: he’s knowledgeable, thoughtful, resourceful, passionately committed to the life of the mind and tirelessly dedicated to the undergraduate community,” wrote Joshua Landy, professor of French and comparative literature, who has worked with Anderson for almost three decades.

Landy wrote that he has “always found [Anderson] infinitely responsible as a colleague, exemplary as a scholar, and inspiring as a teacher.”

Anderson and Landy pioneered Stanford’s philosophy and literature program, which brings together faculty across numerous disciplines.

Beyond his academic qualifications, Anderson’s colleagues noted his kindness and strengths as a mentor.

“Perhaps his strongest qualification for the role is his character — he is a person of enormous integrity, honor, kindness and intelligence, qualities that are crucial for a leader who will be responsible for shaping the undergraduate experience for Stanford’s students,” wrote English professor Blakey Vermeule. “He cares deeply about undergraduate education in a broad sense and also as a matter of individual students who he meets where they are.”

Anderson received his bachelor’s degree from Yale and completed a master’s and Ph.D. in philosophy at the University of Pennsylvania. He worked as a professor at Harvard, Bryn Mawr, Penn and Haverford before coming to Stanford in 1996.

A scholar of late modern philosophy, he has written extensively on Kant, Nietzsche and Montaigne. Anderson has also led the North American Nietzsche Society and was a core member of Stanford’s Study of Undergraduate Education between 2010 and 2012.

African and African American Studies chair Ato Quayson wrote that a discussion of Montaigne’s essays with Anderson helped convince him to work at Stanford.

“I decided with him then to one day co-teach a class together,” Quayson wrote. The pair have since co-taught a philosophy and literature graduate class and plan to teach it again next year.

“It has been a great joy teaching this class with him and getting the opportunity to see how he interacts with students. He also happens to be a very decent human being,” Quayson wrote.

Bendix Kemmann, a third-year philosophy Ph.D. student, echoed Quayson’s perspective. “Lanier is very responsive to the needs, wishes and concerns of students,” Kemmann wrote. “He makes time in his very busy schedule to talk with students and shows a great interest in supporting their initiatives.”

Anderson plans to pursue stability in the interim role, continuing efforts that Church undertook as VPUE. “Perhaps the most important of these for the whole University is the successful implementation of COLLEGE,” Anderson wrote.

The office hopes to expand the program — which stands for Civic, Global, and Liberal Education — to become a three-quarter requirement for first-year students.

Anderson also highlighted his commitment to establishing trust between students and faculty while promoting dialogue and free expression across lines of disagreement. “Freedom lets us all belong here, and the fact that everyone belongs is what enables all of us to learn from the remarkable diversity that Stanford attracts from around the world,” he wrote.

The search committee expects to find a replacement VPUE who will transition to the role during the summer or the end of the academic year according to Anderson.

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Pro-Palestine sit-in to end at 120 days with University negotiations https://stanforddaily.com/2024/02/14/pro-palestine-sit-in-negotiates/ https://stanforddaily.com/2024/02/14/pro-palestine-sit-in-negotiates/#respond Wed, 14 Feb 2024 10:43:01 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1242527 The Sit-In to Stop Genocide will end overnight camping Friday after reaching an agreement with the University Monday night. Administrators will participate in two negotiating meetings this week on the sit-in's demands and refrain from initiating legal or disciplinary proceedings until after Friday.

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The pro-Palestine Sit-In to Stop Genocide will end overnight camping on Friday, Feb. 16 after two negotiation meetings with President Richard Saller and Provost Jenny Martinez, per an agreement reached with the University Monday night. The University will not initiate legal or disciplinary proceedings against students participating in overnight camping until Friday.

The University issued a mandate last Thursday that the sit-in cease its overnight demonstrations and invited participants to a meeting with Saller and Martinez the following Monday, under conditions that they conclude overnight camping by 8 p.m. that night. Sit-in participants refused to comply and instead called for an “emergency mobilization,” drawing hundreds of demonstrators to White Plaza.

Following a second rally Monday night, University administrators granted a request from sit-in representatives to extend the “reprieve period” until this Friday. Administrators also agreed to participate in two one-hour discussions on the sit-in’s demands by Thursday night, wrote Interim Vice Provost for Student Affairs C. Matthew Snipp in a letter sent to sit-in representatives.

Participants will be granted immunity from legal and disciplinary actions during the one-week negotiation period with University administrators.

Administrators will hear from sit-in representatives on demands for the University: to divest from and boycott Israeli ventures and academic institutions, to issue a statement that condemns Israeli war crimes and calls for a ceasefire and to provide resources to Palestinian diaspora, Arab and Muslim students. 

“Should the President and Provost fail to make significant progress towards our demands, we will mobilize again, as we have done for 117 days without pause,” sit-in representatives wrote. “Our ultimate commitment is not to the physical space of the Sit-In but to the fight for Palestinian liberation.”

Prior to the Monday agreement, administrators had preconditioned negotiations with the understanding that the sit-in would first be disassembled, a requirement that sit-in participant Hana Spahia ’26 said was “contradictory to the very essence of the protest.” 

“We understand and appreciate the passionately held beliefs of students who are engaged in advocacy on White Plaza,” the University wrote in the Stanford Report. “Stanford continues to firmly support the peaceful expression of divergent views by members of our community, and we will continue working to provide for the physical safety and well-being of all members of our community.”

Sit-in representatives saw this agreement as a “token of good faith.”

“This represents a massive concession on our part – far beyond what should be required to simply have a seat at the table,” sit-in representatives wrote in a public statement. “But it is a concession we are willing to make if it puts us on a path towards realizing our demands.”

“We will hold them [Saller and Martinez] accountable to clear and tangible progress,” representatives wrote.

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Hundreds remobilize for pro-Palestine sit-in https://stanforddaily.com/2024/02/13/hundreds-remobilize-for-pro-palestine-sit-in/ https://stanforddaily.com/2024/02/13/hundreds-remobilize-for-pro-palestine-sit-in/#respond Tue, 13 Feb 2024 09:13:03 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1242430 A second emergency rally occurred Monday night following University calls for the demonstration to cease overnight camping by 8 p.m. or face disciplinary action.  

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The Sit-In to Stop Genocide organized a second emergency rally Monday night, following University demands for the demonstration to cease overnight camping by 8 p.m. or face disciplinary or legal action.  

Last Thursday, the Sit-In to Stop Genocide and two other demonstrations — the Blue and White Tent and the newly-established Sit-In to Stop Islamophobia — were mandated by the University to vacate White Plaza between the hours of 8 p.m. and 8 a.m. due to physical safety concerns.

Both the Blue and White Tent and Sit-In to Stop Islamophobia complied by disassembling their demonstrations Thursday evening, but Sit-In to Stop Genocide organizers expressed a commitment to overnight camping until significant progress has been made toward their demands. 

On Friday, the University invited sit-in participants to a meeting with President Richard Saller and Provost Jenny Martinez on Monday, as long as they promised to disassemble the sit-in that night at 8 p.m. Sit-in participants requested to extend their “reprieve period” to Friday, Feb. 16 at 8 p.m.

Due to participants’ refusal to cease overnight demonstrations by Monday, the meeting with Saller and Martinez has yet to happen.

“The sit-in has maintained that they are willing to voluntarily end the overnight portion of their activities in exchange for satisfactory progress toward their demands,” said sit-in organizer Hana Spahia ’26. 

The University planned to begin submitting the names of students who fail to comply with its mandate to the Office of Community Standards, according to a second letter sent to the sit-in on Saturday. As of 1 a.m. Monday night, no disciplinary action has been taken and there is no evidence that any students’ names have been submitted. 

Members of the now-disassembled Blue and White Tent also expressed frustration with the University’s lack of policy enforcement. 

“We have been compliant with every order that [the University has] given us because we thought that it was going to be fairly enforced across the board,” said Kevin Feigelis, a seventh-year Ph.D. student in physics and organizer with the Blue and White Tent.

“Instead, we have found that the University never intended to enforce their policies, given those back-channel messages with the sit-in.”

A common thread among participants from multiple demonstrations was frustration with the University’s inconsistent messaging.

Stanford “wants to have people who dissent appropriately, but actually, when people dissent and actually show the reality of the situation [in Gaza] … they’re being targeted, they’re being doxxed,” said a Palestinian protester who requested anonymity due to fear of retaliation.

“I am really just disappointed with the administration … by the way in which they’ve been engaging with students and directing them.”

Beside those demonstrating in support of the sit-in, a group of pro-Israel demonstrators wearing and waving Israeli flags gathered in White Plaza. 

David Atri-Schuller, a third-year Ph.D. student, said he showed up to White Plaza to “defend the Jewish state.”

“Most Jews and most Israelis are looking for peace and are looking for a prosperous, thriving Palestinian people,” Atri-Schuller said. “It’s very hard to have that conversation and that nuance when there are massive calls for the destruction of Israel and massive calls for the eradication of the Jewish people from their historic homeland.”

Though Monday’s rally was around half the size of the first emergency mobilization last Thursday, many in attendance said they felt the same sense of urgency.

“The sit-in is hoping that tonight’s turnout will once again demonstrate to the University that this is a cause that students are willing to rally behind. They may try to take down the sit-in, but the fight for Palestinian rights is not over,” Spahia said. “Stanford’s campus will continue to protest … until Stanford meets the sit-in’s demands.”

Participants expressed gratitude for the community they found through the sit-in.

“Regardless of how this ends, I’m really grateful for the sit-in, for the community, for the work we’ve done, the people I’ve met,” said Tobi Bankole ’24, a member of the sit-in. “This has been one of the most rewarding things I’ve done with my time at Stanford.”

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Stanford to enforce ‘no camping’ policies at pro-Palestine sit-in https://stanforddaily.com/2024/02/12/university-to-enforce-no-camping-policy-for-sit-in-starting-monday/ https://stanforddaily.com/2024/02/12/university-to-enforce-no-camping-policy-for-sit-in-starting-monday/#respond Tue, 13 Feb 2024 02:20:33 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1242339 The University will start to record student names and possibly initiate disciplinary or legal proceedings at 8 p.m. on Monday, according to letters exchanged between administrators and sit-in participants.

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Stanford administrators told Sit-In to Stop Genocide participants to cease overnight protest by 8 p.m. tonight or face consequences through disciplinary or legal processes, according to a letter to organizers obtained by The Daily. 

Last Thursday, the Sit-In to Stop Genocide, along with two other demonstrations in White Plaza, the Blue and White Tent and the newly-established Sit-In to Stop Islamophobia, were mandated by the University to vacate White Plaza between the hours of 8 p.m. and 8 a.m. over physical safety concerns. Both the Blue and White Tent and Sit-In to Stop Islamophobia complied with the mandate, disassembling their demonstrations Thursday evening. 

The Sit-In to Stop Genocide organized an “emergency rally,” drawing several hundred supporters.

The next day, administrators sent a letter “to memorialize the conversation between students from the Sit-In to Prevent Genocide and representatives of VPSA.” The letter, reviewed by The Daily, stated that the University would not be using law enforcement or disciplinary action against sit-in organizers until Monday.

However, the University ordered sit-in organizers to participate in a Santa Clara County Fire Marshal inspection on Saturday.

The University also invited demonstrators to meet with President Richard Saller and Provost Jenny Martinez on Monday — if they agreed to conclude overnight activities at 8 p.m.

Sit-in organizers agreed to meet with fire marshals, but refused to countersign the initial University letter and accept the demand to close the overnight portion.

They requested to extend the “reprieve period” to 8 p.m. this Friday. They agreed to meet with Saller and Martinez “with the stated goal of ending the overnight components of the protest in exchange for satisfactory progress on [their] posted demands.”

The University wrote in a response that they will start to report students who fail to comply with the mandate by 8 p.m. today to the Office of Community Standards.

The Sit-In to Stop Genocide responded to the University on Sunday: We are “disappointed with the President’s continued unwillingness to meet his students and community members face to face,” they wrote. They outlined inconsistencies in the University’s communications over the last few months. 

Organizers with the Sit-In to Stop Genocide told The Daily they plan to continue overnight demonstrations and host another emergency mobilization tonight. Saller and Martinez and sit-in organizers did not meet today.

NAACP and the Council on American-Islamic Relations endorsed the sit-in and criticized University pressure to cease overnight demonstration.

The Daily has reached out to the University for comment.

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Hundreds defend pro-Palestine sit-in in White Plaza protest https://stanforddaily.com/2024/02/09/hundreds-defend-pro-palestine-sit-in/ https://stanforddaily.com/2024/02/09/hundreds-defend-pro-palestine-sit-in/#respond Fri, 09 Feb 2024 10:18:12 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1242171 Following a University mandate to vacate White Plaza by 8 p.m. on Thursday, the sit-in organized an “emergency mobilization” that drew several hundred community members. The Sit-In to Stop Islamophobia and the Blue and White Tent were dismantled by organizers around 7:30 p.m., with plans to return tomorrow.

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Around 500 people demonstrated in solidarity with the pro-Palestine Sit-In to Stop Genocide Thursday night, after the University’s Office of Student Engagement (OSE) issued a mandate restricting overnight demonstrations in White Plaza. 

The Blue and White Tent and the Sit-In to Stop Islamophobia disassembled their respective signs and tents, while Sit-In to Stop Genocide remains standing. 

The policy requires demonstrations to cease overnight components “based on concerns for the physical safety of [the] community,” according to a letter delivered to demonstration leaders by Director of Operations and Student Unions Jeanette Smith-Laws. Demonstrations were ordered to vacate White Plaza from 8 p.m. to 8 a.m. every night, effective the same day.

Annabelle Davis ’24, an organizer with the sit-in and Stanford Jewish Voices for Peace (JVP), criticized the quick turnaround. “This is just an incredibly bad faith moment on the part of the University to throw this at us with such weak justification, with so little time for discussion,” Davis said. 

The University mandated that “any tents, tables, chairs or other similar items” must be removed from White Plaza or else will be removed by the University “for health and safety reasons.”

Policy violations may be referred to the Office of Community Standards (OCS) and students could be cited with trespassing “for failing to comply with a university directive,” the University wrote in the letter.

Despite the mandate, the sit-in expressed commitment to stay in White Plaza overnight until the University met their demands, including endorsing a ceasefire in Gaza and committing to the boycott, divest and sanction movement.

“The Sit-In to Stop Genocide has been standing continuously in White Plaza — continuously occupied by students for 112 days — through winter break, through Christmas, through New Year’s, through that freak storm that we had” Davis said.

The group called for emergency mobilization Thursday afternoon via social media and email. Other student groups, including the Black Student Union, Students for Justice in Palestine, Fossil Free Stanford and more circulated the email. 

Students, faculty, staff, alumni and other community members assembled in White Plaza around 6:30 p.m. to protect the sit-in from removal at 8 p.m.

Three students stand with intertwined arms to demonstrate with the pro-Palestine sit-in.
Students linking arms encircled the sit-in to demonstrate against its removal. (Photo: CAYDEN GU/The Stanford Daily)

The group grew to about 500 people, chanting and singing protest songs. After a brief rally, the group split up. Some linked arms and surrounded the sit-in, while others remained in adjacent areas in White Plaza.

Community members are showing “support for the physical sit-in and the students who are a part of it, but also for our demands for Palestine, for the people who are being slaughtered in Gaza right now,” Davis said. “Our hope is that the University will see that there’s widespread support and they will rescind that demand.”

Sleeping bags surround the sit-in tents.
Dozens of sleeping bags filled the area behind the sit-in as students stayed overnight to prevent its removal. (Photo: JULIA HERNANDEZ/The Stanford Daily)

According to organizers, this is not the University’s first effort to stop the sit-in. 

Rehman Hassan ’27, a participant of the sit-in for the last three months said, “There’s a couple of people who work for OSE who have been trying to shut us down quite extensively.”

The Daily has reached out to the University and the Stanford University Department of Public Safety (SUDPS) for comment.

A sit-in that assembled this week in a place previously taken by a pro-Israel tent, the Sit-in to Stop Islamophobia, previously wrote in a statement to The Daily that they would only cease the overnight component of their demonstration if the Blue and White Tent did so as well. Both demonstrations disassembled before 8 p.m. Saturday.

Hamza El Boudali ’22 M.S. ’24, an organizer with the Sit-in to Stop Islamophobia, said they intend to return from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. tomorrow, in compliance with University rules. He said they would do so especially if the Blue and White Tent also returns, to provide a counterpoint “wherever they are spreading Islamophobia and what we believe to be hateful rhetoric.”

The Sit-In to Stop Islamophobia is unaffiliated with the other sit-in and advocates for the University to provide more resources and support for Muslim students, divest from governments “committing or at risk of committing genocide against Muslims” and reinstate suspended COLLEGE lecturer Ameer Loggins, according to organizers. They also criticized media who they accused of reproducing Islamophobia, including The Daily’s opinions section.

The Blue and White Tent also intends to continue its presence on campus, which never involved an overnight component.

“We got this order that everyone has to clear out by 8 p.m. and we’re perfectly happy to comply. Some people are not,” said Blue and White Tent participant Aaron Schimmel Ph.D. ’24. 

Schimmel criticized the sit-in’s refusal to acquiesce to University policies: “I find it a shame that the sit-in is biting the hand that feeds them.”

The Daily has reached out to organizers with the pro-Israel tent for comment.

The corner of White Plaza with the blue and white tent next to another tent.
The Blue and White Tent organizers reassembled a tent and signs that were blown earlier this week. A new sit-in was assembled next to the tent. (Photo: CAYDEN GU/The Stanford Daily)

Many community members unaffiliated with any campus organization also attended Thursday to support the sit-in. The “Raging Grannies,” a local activist group, protested in solidarity with the sit-in. They learned about the demonstration from social media, and wore pins from various progressive causes.

“Grannies are old enough to have the perspective of history,” said Ruth Robertson. “We became Raging Grannies in the Bay Area about 22 years ago. The name attracts people, and it describes us.”

“You don’t have to be a biological grandmother, you don’t even have to be a grandmother, you don’t even have to be a woman — you  have to rage,” Robertson said.

Hundreds defend pro-Palestine sit-in in White Plaza protest
Despite University orders to vacate by 8 p.m., the Sit-In to Stop Genocide continues into its 112th night. (Photo: CAYDEN GU/The Stanford Daily)

As of 2 a.m., the sit-in remained in place, and over a hundred people prepared to stay the night, with sleeping bags scattered around White Plaza. Videos shared with The Daily showed participants celebrating in a dance circle.

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Students support extended library hours, ASSU survey finds https://stanforddaily.com/2024/02/07/students-support-extended-library-hours-assu-survey-finds/ https://stanforddaily.com/2024/02/07/students-support-extended-library-hours-assu-survey-finds/#respond Thu, 08 Feb 2024 07:15:52 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1241703 Responses from an ASSU survey show that a clear majority of Stanford students would be satisfied with extended Green Library hours, based on space and accessibility considerations.

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A new survey shows that Stanford students are pining for late-night study areas. However, logistical barriers remain to realize this request.

In a survey emailed to both undergraduate and graduate students in Nov. 2023., the Associated Students of Stanford University (ASSU) hope to gauge interest in study spaces with extended hours. A total of 1251 students responded to the request — it notably garnered 800 responses within five hours of the survey being released. 

The data shows that most students surveyed prefer to use Green Library in the evening as opposed to the morning or afternoon. When asked if they would be satisfied if Green Library adopted a 24-hour schedule, a clear majority of students surveyed indicated they would be.

Currently, many study spots open for daily study hours, such as Green Library, the Law School Library and CoHo, close before the hour-hand strikes 12. For students hoping to pull an all-nighter, the only remaining study spots are Lathrop Library’s “24-Hour Study Room” or student’s own rooms.

“When I really need to get work done, I always want to go to the library for that perfect quiet, undistracted, ‘locked-in’ environment,” wrote Aili McGregor ’26, the class of 2026 president. “But, by the time I’ve finished working out, going to class, attending presidential meetings, grabbing food, finishing my shift at work and wrapping up jiu jitsu practice, it’s too late to go to the library — it’s already closed.”

To get a feel for the sample, use the “dot” visualization below to group, shade, and compare student responses.

If implemented, extended Green Library hours would place Stanford in a unique position among its peer institutions whose main libraries currently share similar hours.

Recognizing that everyone has different work needs, some students are calling for Green Library to extend its hours, giving students more autonomy on their schedules.

“Let us build our own schedules that work for us,” wrote Nathan Deschamps, a second year PhD student in Early Modern European History. “We need a dependable, quiet space — free from loud dorms, with full access to much-needed materials including course reserves, printers, scanners and comfortable study spaces — to complete coursework.”

In addition to the survey responses, the ASSU provided The Daily with a list of over 1000 Student Testimonials which, upon pasting into a text editor, yielded a document spanning 166,360 words over 461 pages. 

The benefits of extending Green Library hours are not lost on library administrators, including Michael A. Keller, the University Librarian and Director of Academic Information Resources. In a statement to The Daily, he wrote that he recognizes “the need for quiet, comfortable and safe study spaces for students who find late-night study in the dorms challenging.”

He added that at peak times a “remarkably large number of students come to Green Library, with almost 200 students in Green Library each evening [until] 11:00 p.m.”

Despite the demand, logistical concerns with extending Green’s Library Hours remain. Gordon Allen ’26 and ASSU Parliamentarian Ivy Chen ’26 believe that budget concerns lie at the center of the issue.

“I think there would be pushback in terms of budget because it is a lot to allocate money and allocate resources in terms of paying employees their wages. Keeping Green Library open is a lot of money,” Chen said.

Additionally, according to Keller, a key challenge is finding salaried staff to assist with information inquiries, general oversight and security, given the outcome of a pilot program of 24/7 Library Hours.

“Our prior experience with a 7×24 study hall in the ground floor of the Meyer Library that had no provision of security of students making use of that study hall, was that there were unhoused individuals coming into the study hall who at various levels took advantage of the students trying to study,” Keller wrote.

The Meyer Library was demolished following a 2007 seismic assessment which found that the cost of bringing Meyer into compliance exceeded the cost of rebuilding elsewhere.

To justify the extra expenditure required to keep Green Library open for longer operational hours, Chen and Allen co-authored a joint resolution on Extending Green Library Hours. 

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Local journalists build trust and transparency at Rebele Symposium https://stanforddaily.com/2024/01/31/local-journalists-build-trust-and-transparency-at-rebele-symposium/ https://stanforddaily.com/2024/01/31/local-journalists-build-trust-and-transparency-at-rebele-symposium/#respond Wed, 31 Jan 2024 09:46:46 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1241421 The editors in chief at local news outlets in San Francisco, Atlanta and Denver spoke on Monday about how local news is functioning in an era of misinformation and polarization at the “Polarization and the Press” panel, moderated by Janine Zacharia.

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In an age when every person can become a journalist by taking their phone out and posting about news on social media, it can be hard to know who and what to trust, said Lee Ann Colacioppo, editor of The Denver Post.

Colacioppo, along with two other editors in chief of local newspapers across the country, came together to discuss how to establish trust with readers amid prevalent misinformation and polarization at a panel in the Traitel Building Monday. 

The panel featured Colacioppo; Leroy Chapman Jr., editor in chief of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Julie Makinen, the editor in chief of The San Francisco Standard. Stanford lecturer and former journalist Janine Zacharia moderated the event.

The event was part of the Rebele Symposium, a yearly event funded by the Rebele family. This year’s symposium is the first since Rowland Rebele ’51 died last November.

The goal of the panel was to “focus on what the press and mainstream media outlets can do to reduce [polarization],” Zacharia said at the start of the event. 

One of the key issues causing polarization is the lack of trust in the press: people don’t feel they know journalists like they used to, Chapman said. Each panelist recounted trying to make connections with their communities as a way to address this issue.

“I’m your neighbor, I have a Toyota,” Chapman said, referring to how he builds these connections with community members in Atlanta. “Having a connection with our community is going to sustain us.”

Local newspapers depend on this connection to function, though not everyone in the community is willing to reciprocate that connection, the panelists said.

“I don’t think everybody is reachable, but I do think there’s a big group in the middle,” Makinen said. She said this group of people tends to read the news and sometimes even reaches out to voice concerns with how their community is being covered. 

Panelists also noted how privilege and inequality in journalism often directly impact who gets to tell the story. At the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Chapman said that while their audience demographic is primarily Black readers, many of their stories are told by white journalists. 

Though this could potentially cause issues with coverage, Chapman Jr. said there is a simple solution.

“Hire the best people. The best journalists are at home wherever. The best journalists will earn trust,” he said. 

Panelists agreed that journalists can earn the trust needed in communities to tell these stories through transparency. 

“Be transparent about mistakes and how they happened,” Colacioppo said. 

Transparency is a tricky act to balance, she added, because it could also be interpreted as an admission of guilt or proof as to why a news source should never have been trusted to begin with.

At The Desert Sun in Palm Springs, where Makinen served as executive editor from 2018 to 2023, trust and community was built through the opinions page, she said. Makinen spearheaded an experiment in 2019 to make the opinions page politics-free for a month. The resulting opinions they received were “so interesting,” Makinen said, bringing new contributors to the paper who otherwise might not have written. 

Despite the difficulties in creating and maintaining trust in an era of social media and polarization, the panelists said they aren’t discouraged from trying. The work is worth it, Chapman said.

“When we matter, that’s when people trust us,” Colacioppo said. 

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Police Blotter: Child abuse and non-criminal hate violence https://stanforddaily.com/2024/01/31/police-blotter-child-abuse-and-non-criminal-hate-violence/ https://stanforddaily.com/2024/01/31/police-blotter-child-abuse-and-non-criminal-hate-violence/#respond Wed, 31 Jan 2024 09:44:56 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1241434 This report covers a selection of incidents from Jan. 23 to Jan. 26, as recorded in the Stanford University Department of Public Safety (SUDPS) bulletin. Learn more about the Clery Act and how The Daily approaches reporting on crime and safety here.

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This report covers a selection of incidents from Jan. 23 to Jan. 26, as recorded in the Stanford University Department of Public Safety (SUDPS) bulletin. Learn more about the Clery Act and how The Daily approaches reporting on crime and safety here.

Wednesday, Jan. 24

  • Vandalism by defacing property at 1:35 a.m. was reported at 441 Gerona Road.
  • Petty theft from a building between 9 a.m. on Jan. 17 and 9 a.m. on Jan. 24 was reported at 400 Olmsted Road.
  • Child abuse likely to cause great bodily injury or death at 3:30 p.m. on Jan. 23 was reported at 890 Escondido Road (Escondido Elementary School).
  • Non-criminal hate violence at 5:23 p.m. on Jan. 24 was reported at 400 Quarry Road.
  • Grand theft of money, labor or property from a motor vehicle between 2 p.m. on Jan. 21 and 5:30 p.m. on Jan. 24 was reported at 400 Olmsted Road.
  • Tampering with a vehicle causing destruction, damage or vandalism of property between 1:03 a.m. and 8:01 a.m. was reported at 360 Oak Road (Stock Farm Garage).

The Daily has reached out to SUDPS for comment on the reports of child abuse at Escondido Elementary School and non-criminal hate violence at 400 Quarry Road.

Thursday, Jan. 25

  • Petty theft of a bicycle between 1 a.m. and 2 p.m. on Dec. 13 was reported at 324 Santa Teresa Street.

Friday, Jan. 26

  • A hit and run collision causing property damage to vehicles between 7:28 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. was reported at 295 Galvez Street (Track House Lot 95).

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Presidential Search Committee provides criteria https://stanforddaily.com/2024/01/31/presidential-search-committee-provides-criteria-in-search/ https://stanforddaily.com/2024/01/31/presidential-search-committee-provides-criteria-in-search/#respond Wed, 31 Jan 2024 09:43:34 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1241413 An update from the committee co-chairs, Bonnie Maldonado, Lily Sarafan and Gene Sykes, shared findings from surveys of community opinions throughout fall quarter.

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The Presidential Search Committee announced various criteria Monday that they will be considering when choosing the next University president. 

In an update from the committee, co-chairs Bonnie Maldonado ’81, Lily Sarafan ’03 and Gene Sykes ’84, shared several criteria they were looking for in the next president, synthesized from samples of community opinions throughout the fall quarter. 

Following former Stanford president Marc Tessier-Lavigne’s resignation in July, the Stanford Presidential Search Committee was established in September to search for a new president. Since then, the committee has spent time “reflecting on the insights of the community,” through surveys and more than 50 listening sessions, according to the update. 

“Ultimately, this step has placed us in a very good position, giving sharper definition to the needs for the role and providing momentum as we move into the next phase of our search,” the statement read. “To those who shared their perspectives — we are deeply grateful.”

The feedback determined that the “next president must prioritize excellence in research, education and clinical care” to solve problems in today’s world. 

Community input also highlighted proficiency in addressing academic freedom and free speech while sustaining a conducive environment as an area of priority. The feedback received also advocated for the protection of free thoughts and challenging ideas by directly addressing the nuance of free speech and a safe environment.

The community feedback also noted that student investment by the University’s next president was also particularly important, as well as “affirming Stanford’s historic spirit of optimism, curiosity, grit, boldness and fun, preserving and elevating that combination which has made Stanford unique.” 

Community members also emphasized that maintaining the University’s international influence on issues related to higher education and affirming the need for Stanford as a research institution were of importance. 

The co-chairs said that based on community responses, the next president should be an individual with “accessibility, integrity and a balance of emotional and intellectual intelligence.” 

The next phase in the search will be “necessarily confidential,” the committee co-chairs said. Students are still able, however, to provide additional feedback through email, they said. 

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Stanford leadership clarifies free speech boundaries https://stanforddaily.com/2024/01/30/stanford-leadership-clarifies-free-speech-boundaries/ https://stanforddaily.com/2024/01/30/stanford-leadership-clarifies-free-speech-boundaries/#respond Tue, 30 Jan 2024 11:45:21 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1241380 University leadership clarified Stanford’s free speech, neutrality and academic freedom policies at this quarter's first Faculty Senate meeting. President Richard Saller also addressed a recent antisemitism panel that was disrupted by protestors.

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University President Richard Saller and Provost Jenny Martinez addressed disruptions to classes from protests, leadership responsibilities amid the Israel-Gaza war and the Protected Identity Harm (PIH) reporting process at the Faculty Senate’s first meeting of the quarter Thursday.

In a statement on campus discourse around Israel-Gaza war, Saller said he was focused on “protecting academic freedom and the autonomy of the University.”

“I am not going to issue statements about international affairs or national affairs except insofar as they may have a direct impact on the University and its mission,” Saller said.

Jonathan Levin, dean of the Graduate School of Business, expressed support for Saller’s position. The University should not rush to release statements as it “models the wrong thing for students,” Levin said.

“It sends a message to our students that the world is simple, you can make judgments quickly, everything is clear and very unambiguous,” Levin said. “I want them to think slow, to hear from different people and to weigh these things carefully.”

Saller also addressed his and Martinez’s attendance at a panel on antisemitism hosted by the Blue and White Tent last Wednesday. The panel was disrupted by protestors, who criticized panelist Michal Cotler-Wunsh, the Israeli Special Envoy for Antisemitism, for equating antisemitism with anti-Zionism and for representing “a government actively committing genocide.” 

Saller said their attendance was not an “endorsement” of Cotler-Wunsh’s views, and that while he did not agree with Cotler-Wunsh’s position, “the value of academic freedom is precisely to be able to bring different points of view together in debate.”

The Senate steering committee also reviewed a petition from faculty members over concerns that the Protected Identity Harm (PIH) reporting process has a negative effect on academic freedom and free speech. Provost Jenny Martinez announced the appointment of a committee to revise the reporting process. 

The PIH system was updated in 2021 and collects data, sometimes anonymously, on instances of identity-based harm. Martinez acknowledged that the process had initially “generated confusion” in the community about its goals and protocol.

Martinez also clarified Stanford’s policy against speech that disrupts University activities, in light of student protests that interrupted Engineering School classes at the beginning of the quarter. She encouraged students to “use their free speech rights in designated times and places,” like White Plaza.

When asked by ASSU representative Divya Ganesan ’25 about the progress of a search committee to replace Office of Community Standards (OCS) leadership, Martinez said she could not provide any updates but would “circle back.”

Bernadette Meyler, the associate dean for research at Stanford Law School and chair of the ad hoc Committee on University Speech, raised results from an interim report on community opinions of University free speech policies.

The committee, established last February after controversies surrounding the Elimination of Harmful Language Initiative (EHLI), was created to assess whether constraints on academic freedom and speech existed in the University.

The committee aims to “suggest policies for improving protections on academic speech” while strengthening “faculty’s role in preserving it.”

Meyler described the committee’s “three main buckets of concern” surrounding University free speech: processes and initiatives at Stanford, protocol on public statements and the targeting and harassment of faculty and students.

“There has been a breakdown in trust around the University with regards to questions of speech, and that there is an urgent need to repair that trust,” Meyler said.

She said that a majority of the Stanford community remains “unclear” about “what speech is protected and what is not, and how the University decides that question.” 

Processes and initiatives like the PIHR and EHLI, as well as the OSC’s implementation of Stanford’s fundamental standard, continue to “insufficiently protect speech, or at least do not adequately articulate how they are protecting speech,” Meyler said.

This confusion persists in concerns over Stanford’s statements on national and international political events, she added.

Based on the committee’s current findings, Meyler said many community members “worry that the University’s decision to speak, or not, signals a preference for some over others.”

Though Meyler said the principle of neutrality was also followed by peer institutions like Brown University, the University of Chicago and the University of California system, individual faculty members are not subject to this standard of neutrality.

“Institutional neutrality does not prevent faculty members from articulating any of their own positions,” Meyler said. “Rather, it prevents University leaders from stating an official position on behalf of the university.”

Among the suggestions Meyler proposed were articulating clear University principles for protecting speech, increasing training on these principles and updating the statement on academic freedom, originally adopted in 1974, to address “the hard challenges posed by the surrounding environment of social media and polarization.”

“Our committee is working on recommendations … that would distinguish the public square, most popularly represented by White Plaza, from the classroom and from the dorm,” Meyler said.

Moving forward, Meyler said the committee will assess other institutions’ policies and continue to converse with students and faculty and free speech. It will also be in communication with the recently-created committees on antisemitism and anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian bias.

Meyler said the committee intends to strengthen anti-doxxing policies in response to increased concerns from students and faculty. 

The committee is set to report on its final findings and recommendations to the Faculty Senate late spring quarter.

Aside from discussing University free speech policies, the Faculty Senate also heard from Grant Parker, vice chair of the steering committee, who said the committee had implemented recommendations from the 2020 external review of sexual misconduct practices that will likely be revisited after the government releases new Title IX regulations.

The steering committee also reviewed petitions from the ASSU on undergraduate STEM courses and adoption of the long-range planning report on postdocs.

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Faculty debate undue foreign influence in research https://stanforddaily.com/2024/01/30/faculty-debate-undue-foreign-influence-in-research/ https://stanforddaily.com/2024/01/30/faculty-debate-undue-foreign-influence-in-research/#respond Tue, 30 Jan 2024 11:13:02 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1241375 University leadership described tension between Stanford's research policies and increased federal concern over undue foreign influence.

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The Faculty Senate scrutinized policies on undue foreign influence on research during its first meeting of winter quarter Thursday.

David Studdert, the vice provost and dean of research (VPDoR), George Triantis, the senior associate vice provost for research and Jessa Albertson, the senior director of research security presented on the University’s plan to comply with government requirements without compromising academic freedom.

The presentation followed a $1.9 million settlement between Stanford and the Department of Justice in October. The deal settled allegations that the University knowingly failed to disclose faculty members’ sources of “foreign support” on grant proposals to federal agencies. The federal government has recently moved toward a crackdown on foreign influence in scientific research, particularly from China.

Some professors, including several whose grants the government publicly cited, previously voiced criticism of the University’s communication during the settlement process and concerns about unfair reputational harm.

Members of the Senate questioned the University’s handling of the settlement. Some asked about Stanford’s advocacy for federal requirements that respect academic freedom, beyond compliance with existing ones.

Studdert proposed strengthening Stanford’s research security program and instituting a “pragmatic” strategy for dealing with compliance issues as they arose. Albertson and Triantis outlined the government’s national security concerns and implications for research at Stanford.

Studdert said this approach entailed working with researchers and the government case by case to “see if there is a way through.” The University would explore exceptions or workarounds to federal requirements where permitted, he noted.

Studdert also set forth “high-level” plans to address undue foreign influence and compliance issues. First, he called for a well-resourced research security office that could better respond to government requests, “because they are getting more common and more complicated.”

Second, Studdert said the Global Engagement Review Program — a group of faculty “experienced in international affairs” — would provide recommendations to researchers who encounter “difficult engagements” over issues of foreign influence.

Next, Studdert said a VPDoR initiative was underway to “increase the quality and efficiency” of disclosures of foreign affiliations, which he said are “areas that the government is very interested in right now.”

Finally, Studdert said the University was working to “shape the debate” on government requirements through conversations with federal agencies and regulators to advise them on international engagement’s importance in research.

“How do we maintain and protect global engagement?” Studdert asked. “Should Stanford revisit its openness and nondiscrimination policies to strike a balance between access to funding and our values?”

Faculty members and representatives met Studdert’s questions with their own.

Lawrence Berg, a fifth-year Ph.D. student and the at-large student representative, brought up “an elephant in the room,” referring to the settlement deal and government allegations that faculty failed to disclose foreign affiliations. 

“What is the University doing to actively evaluate current faculty members to make sure they’re compliant with these rules?” he asked.

Studdert said he wouldn’t “go into details of individual cases,” but noted that the settlement involved “allegations, not proven facts.”

“We worked very closely with the faculty every step of the way through this process,” Studdert said.

Computer science professor James Landay — whose grant numbers were cited in a DOJ press release about the settlement — expressed frustration that professors were only notified, and not consulted, during the process.

“That was very wrong,” Landay said. “As faculty, the main thing we have is our reputation … Our reputation was harmed by that settlement, when the Department of Justice put out [a] press release that [made] us look like frauds.”

Computer science professor Philip Levis asked whether the VPDoR differentiated gifts from “sponsored” research. Critics of the settlement deal previously raised a similar point, saying rules for disclosing gifts were unclear.

“This is an area we’re looking at,” Studdert said. “They are quite different … Issues of academic freedom are more closely connected to sponsored research than to gifts.”

Triantis described a potential chilling effect on research during his remarks: “International cooperation is essential to the production of knowledge.”

Although Triantis acknowledged research findings at Stanford are public, he cited the government’s fear that foreign entities could gain access to unpublished work practices and data or scientific discoveries during a “window of vulnerability” before publication.

“Knowing a result six months before the world does gives you a huge advantage,” he said.

Professors could face long periods of review from federal agencies before publication and might have to screen their “personnel for associations with countries of concern” in light of the government’s priorities, Triantis said. Scientists and their employees could even be excluded from participating in projects based on their nationality, whether because of federal mandates or researchers’ anxieties about hiring a foreigner.

Triantis concluded that federal policies might “impinge” on Stanford’s fundamental research principles. He cited Stanford’s policy of non-discrimination in research, highlighting protections against discrimination based on nationality.

“We see a collision, or a tension, between some of our key policies and what we’re seeing in these grant forms,” Studdert agreed.

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Jewish protestor disrupts Saller, Martinez panel on antisemitism https://stanforddaily.com/2024/01/26/protestors-disrupt-saller-martinez-panel-on-antisemitism/ https://stanforddaily.com/2024/01/26/protestors-disrupt-saller-martinez-panel-on-antisemitism/#respond Fri, 26 Jan 2024 10:03:02 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1241059 Amid protests from anti-Zionist students, President Richard Saller and Provost Jenny Martinez addressed how Stanford is responding to antisemitism on campus at a public panel hosted by the Blue and White Tent Wednesday.

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President Richard Saller and Provost Jenny Martinez spoke to the importance of free speech and addressed the University’s response to antisemitism on campus during a panel hosted by pro-Israel student organizers Wednesday evening. Saller and Martinez were joined by Michal Cotler-Wunsh, Israel’s special envoy for combating antisemitism.

The fireside chat, titled “Combating Antisemitism at Stanford,” took place in the Tresidder Oak Lounge and was attended by around 200 students, alumni and administrators. The Blue and White Tent organized the panel. Set up across from the “Sit-In to Stop Genocide” in November, the tent aimed to create peaceful discourse on the Israel-Gaza war, its organizers said. The tent is surrounded by pro-Israel posters and Israeli flags.

Tuesday night, before the event, the anti-Zionist student group Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) posted a statement on Instagram condemning Saller and Martinez for sharing the stage with Cotler-Wunsh. They argued that the special envoy represents “a government actively committing genocide, … one who personally expresses explicitly genocidal rhetoric.” 

Annabelle Davis ’24, a JVP member and sit-in participant, said Saller “should not have been participating in an event hosted by the Blue and White Tent.”

The event was moderated by Larry Diamond ’75 M.A. ’78 Ph.D. ’80, a political science professor, who co-chairs the Subcommittee on Antisemitism and Anti-Israeli Bias. The group was formed by the University in November alongside the Muslim, Arab and Palestinian Communities Committee in response to rising reports of hate crimes on campus.

Kevin Feigelis, a seventh-year physics Ph.D. student and a Blue and White Tent organizer, and Jafi Lipson, a clinical associate professor at the School of Medicine, were also panelists.

“The president’s participation in a portion of last evening’s events does not reflect an endorsement of any particular participant, group or viewpoint,” wrote University spokesperson Dee Mostofi in a statement to The Daily. 

The JVP post was accompanied by a screenshot of a statement made by Cotler-Wunsh on X, formerly Twitter, in which she wrote “Israel opened up the casket for the world to see what happened on 10/7. A war of barbarism vs civilization.”

A screenshot that includes a JVP statement criticizing Saller's decision to share the stage with Colter-Wunsh.
A screenshot of the Instagram post from JVP’s account.

Around 30 protesters stood outside the event and held up signs including tweets from Cotler-Wunsh. According to Draper Dayton ’25, the signs were confiscated before students were admitted. Dayton, a Jewish student who identifies as anti-Zionist, is active in pro-Palestine campus organizing.

Wednesday’s panel and protests occurred amid Global Strike Week, events promoted by the sit-in including daily demonstrations and advocacy for a ceasefire at a Palo Alto City Council meeting. The protest was not included in scheduled events.

Dayton, who attended the panel, said the protesters submitted around 30 questions through the RSVP form, none of which were asked in the Q&A portion. 

As a result, Dayton interrupted Cotler-Wunsh’s response to the last question in the panel and asked why questions from anti-Zionist students were not addressed. 

“Am I antisemitic because I am not a Zionist?” Dayton said, according to an audio transcript reviewed by The Daily.

Saller said during the panel that he would not define antisemitism as University president. Rather, he hopes “all of the communities on campus get the respect that they deserve,” Saller said.

Mostofi wrote that “Stanford’s leadership recognizes and respects the wide diversity of viewpoints in our community related to the Israel-Hamas war, and they remain focused on supporting civil discourse.”

Another unidentified student disrupted the event, repeatedly shouting “Ceasefire now!” A video with the chant was posted by the sit-in on Instagram. 

“Hamas murders babies [and] children,” an audience member said in response.

Dayton and the other disruptor were escorted out of the event. The disruption was spontaneous and “not a JVP action,” Dayton said.

There are no structured spaces on campus for Jewish students who are anti-Zionist and non-Zionist, Dayton said. “This is why the only option is to stand up and yell.”

JVP’s post hoped to emphasize the distinction between antisemitism and anti-Zionism, Davis said. Davis, and other organizers affiliated with the sit-in, interpreted a prior email from Saller as concurrence with this view.

“I am glad that you and others are insisting on the difference between anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism,” Saller wrote in a Dec. 9 email to sit-in members.

JVP and sit-in organizers criticized Saller’s decision to participate in the panel, saying it contradicted his previous statement. The panelists are “weaponizing the very real reality of antisemitism,” Davis said. “For Saller to implicitly condone this framework that is just not true — and that he has expressed that he knows is not true — is just ridiculous.”

Jewish protestor disrupts Saller, Martinez panel on antisemitism
(Photo: HANNAH SHU/The Stanford Daily)

When asked about free speech on the panel, Martinez pointed to controversies arising from conservative judge Kyle Duncan’s visit to the law school last March, which was protested by law students. 

“I’ve been a defender of free speech on this campus on multiple fronts in the past,” Martinez said. “I stood up for the right of that speaker to be in the Law School, for the importance of trying to hear voices that you disagree with.”

In California, the Leonard Law prohibits private universities, like Stanford, from disciplining students for speech that is protected by the First Amendment.

Martinez expressed support for the Leonard Law and the First Amendment: “I don’t think that administrators like me should get to decide to censor or cancel speech they don’t like, and I’ve said that many times in defense of a lot of different kinds of speech.”

However, Martinez said she hoped Stanford community members would “aspire to … real and substantive engagement that can inform [on topics] in which there’s very heated disagreement.”

“Just because you have the right to say something doesn’t mean it’s a good idea,” Martinez said. “We want to aim for something higher.”

Davis called on Saller and other leadership to move beyond ambiguous statements. By supporting both sides, “and by attending events hosted by organizations like the Blue and White Tent, he’s actually doing harm,” Davis said.

The Daily has reached out to Feigelis and Lipson for comment.

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Students for Justice in Palestine calls for increased investment transparency at UGS https://stanforddaily.com/2024/01/24/sjp-calls-for-increased-investment-transparency-at-ugs/ https://stanforddaily.com/2024/01/24/sjp-calls-for-increased-investment-transparency-at-ugs/#respond Wed, 24 Jan 2024 11:01:42 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1240911 The Undergraduate Senate heard from representatives of Stanford Students for Justice in Palestine about increased transparency regarding the University’s investment portfolio at Tuesday's meeting.

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The Undergraduate Senate (UGS) heard from student representatives of Stanford Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), who called for increased transparency on the University’s investment portfolio and its connections to the Israeli government, at its Tuesday meeting.

This campaign comes amid tensions on campus and continued advocacy by the Sit-In to Stop Genocide for the University to endorse calls for a ceasefire in Gaza.

Katie Eder ’24 and Farah Tantawy ’26 spoke to UGS seeking support for SJP’s initiative, which calls on the University to reconsider its investment in companies and groups that have heavy ties to the Israeli government and military, such as Hewlett Packard (HP). According to Tantawy, HP provides much of the digital infrastructure that enables Israel to implement a historically biased border control system, as well as launch its current attacks on the Gaza Strip.

Students have been campaigning for the University to take a firm stance against Israel’s attacks on the Gaza Strip since October

However, Eder emphasized that this conflict has been taking place far before then. She noted during the meeting that some Israeli human rights groups, United Nations experts and organizations like Amnesty International have identified Israel as an apartheid state. Eder defined apartheid as a regime under which one racial group systematically oppresses another racial group with the intention of retaining power. 

“It is not only morally reprehensible, but it is illegal under international law,” Eder said. 

Eder said there is precedent for the campaign’s aims. She highlighted the Board of Trustees’ Statement on Investment Responsibility, which states that “rare occasions may arise when companies’ actions or inactions are so abhorrent and ethically unjustifiable as to warrant the University’s dissociation from those investments.” 

The student representatives said apartheid and the Israeli military’s actions in Gaza must be considered “abhorrent and ethically unjustifiable.”

“The student body is very in favor of this transparency and this action,” Tantawy said. “The data and the processes should not be hidden and made inaccessible to the public, much less students like us who pay tuition and attend the university.”

UGS Deputy Chair Joy Molloy ’25 said she acknowledges this is “a really pressing global issue that a lot of senators feel passionate about. The UGS as a collective will definitely review any resolutions you give to us.”

UGS also discussed a resolution Tuesday to increase hours at Green Library. According to a survey sent out by Parliamentarian Ivy Chen ’26 and Treasurer Gordon Allen ’26, many students frequently and consistently use Green Library as a study space. Chen and Allen advocated for their official resolution to support the extension of Green Library’s hours.

Senators also heard from ASSU Executives Sophia Danielpour ’24 and Kyle Haslett ’25 about the ASSU’s plans for Full Moon on the Quad. 

Danielpour emphasized that although the ASSU hopes to continue the tradition of Full Moon on the Quad, which has not been formally held since 2020, there are months of planning involved in successfully putting on the event. 

“While it seems spontaneous on its face, it’s a very involved event to throw, particularly if we want it to be very safe and very inclusive,” Danielpour said. “Ideally, it would be happening this Thursday, but there have been some admin-type roadblocks that would make it very difficult.”

However, Danielpour expressed optimism that the ASSU would still be able to celebrate the tradition this year. 

“We’re planning on hosting a big version of it later this quarter, with partnerships from other groups and admin to make it as strong as possible,” she said.

Senators also unanimously voted to pass a bill removing term limits on the ASSU Financial Manager. The bill, which was previously passed by the Graduate Student Council, will go into effect Feb. 1. After that point, ASSU Financial Managers will be able to serve continuously for more than the previously allowed two years.

An earlier version of this article incorrectly that Sophia Danielpour was a part of the class of 2026. It has been updated to show that she is a part of the class of 2024. The Daily regrets this error.

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Cardinal for Congress: Julie Lythcott-Haims ’89 builds unlikely coalitions https://stanforddaily.com/2024/01/23/cardinal-for-congress-julie-lythcott-haims-89-builds-unlikely-coalitions/ https://stanforddaily.com/2024/01/23/cardinal-for-congress-julie-lythcott-haims-89-builds-unlikely-coalitions/#respond Tue, 23 Jan 2024 08:51:15 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1240750 Former Stanford dean Julie Lythcott-Haims ’89 is running for Anna Eshoo’s congressional seat as the only woman in the race. "A woman should replace a woman in post-Roe America," Lythcott-Haims said.

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This interview is part of a series with the candidates for California’s 16th Congressional District.

Julie Lythcott-Haims ’89, who currently serves on the Palo Alto City Council, is running as a Democrat in the crowded open primary to replace Rep. Anna Eshoo, who has represented the district that includes Stanford for the past 16 terms. Lythcott-Haims served as dean of freshmen and undergraduate advising at Stanford from 2002 to 2012 and has written three books on parenting, adulthood and her life story. The top two candidates from the March 5 primary will advance to a general election on Nov. 5.

The Daily spoke with Lythcott-Haims about running as the only woman and Black candidate, developing her progressive platform and discovering public service as a Stanford student.

This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.

The Stanford Daily (TSD): You have deep ties to Stanford. What’s your message to the community at this moment? Why should voters on campus support your candidacy?

Julie Lythcott-Haims (JLH): I feel called to serve in this moment. It’s a dangerous moment at the national and international level. People who can lead not just with brains but heart have to step up. I am running because I’m one of those people. I am so proud to be a graduate of Stanford and to have had the honor of serving my alma mater as an administrator. Stanford is a place that says, no matter how great we are, we must always seek to do better. I learned that mindset at Stanford as a kid and carried it with me.

I love Silicon Valley — and I think it could be better. We have this tremendous prosperity, but we have left a lot of people behind. Similarly, I love America. Yet, I know that for many, America’s promise of liberty and justice is still unmet. There is so much more we still must do to be a truly democratic society.

TSD: Did any specific experiences or people from Stanford lead you down the path to public service and a congressional run?

JLH: There was a class in my day called “Civil Rights, Civil Liberties” taught by Jim Steyer. That’s where I learned American history, particularly concerning civil rights. I began to appreciate the depth of historical inequities. Jim Steyer was a mentor to me when I was 18. He believed in me when I didn’t believe in myself. Because as a Black kid, I was afraid to raise my hand and be wrong, because of the stereotypes about my people. Now I’m not afraid to raise my hand, but I can remember when I was, and I have a lot of compassion for anybody in that circumstance.

Kennell Jackson was my RF (resident fellow) as a frosh, a Black man in African and African American Studies. Once we were standing in the lunch line. He was up ahead of me and he was talking to the person behind him. He looked over at me and said, “I don’t think Julie knows how smart she is.”

I took it as criticism. Of course, it was a compliment. Having mentored so many Stanford students myself, I now know he was saying, “I see you kid, you are more capable than you realize. And I invite you to step up and into the truth of it.”

TSD: How did you decide to run for Congress?

JLH: Anna Eshoo announced at the 11th hour that she was not seeking re-election. A number of men instantly threw their hat in the ring. I kept looking to see which women would run. Seeing none, I began to approach women. “Are you going to run?” The answer was no.

Having looked left and right at four women, I finally looked in the mirror and asked, “Is it your turn?” The answer was yes.

Our region deserves progressive leadership, both for the sake of our region and for the sake of this country. I am the most progressive person who’s running. 

A woman should replace a woman in post-Roe America, as our rights as women are literally under assault and being taken away.

TSD: What’s an achievement of yours that voters should know about?

JLH: I’m an activist. When the Trump administration was holding migrant kids in cages at the border of Texas and Mexico, I drove my Jeep Wrangler down to El Paso and created what I called a “Caravan to Clint.”

Others joined me by car and plane. When we arrived, the press was there, including The New York Times and local TV. By the end of our week of protests, two Democratic presidential candidates flew in to give talks.

A career politician has to make compromises; they’re worried about raising money or saying the right thing. I haven’t been in a straitjacket of having to hold back to appease voters.

I’m here on the progressive left pushing for more.

TSD: What does being a progressive mean to you?

JLH: We look on either side to see who’s missing, who isn’t here, whose voice is overlooked, who’s not at the table. Whose needs do not seem to matter?

I’m always going to be an advocate because I’m that Black biracial kid who learned as a 3-year-old that something was wrong with me in the eyes of many. It’s given me compassion for anybody who is treated as if they’re on the margins. To be a progressive is to say, this government ought to ensure that people have the basic things — safety, shelter, education and healthcare.

TSD: What are your main policy priorities?

JLH: Codify Roe and protect reproductive rights. Medicare for All. Sensible, common sense gun safety laws. Climate action. Send more money to the states for housing.

TSD: Given the level of partisanship in Congress, how do you plan to realize those legislative goals?

JLH: Every human wants to be treated with dignity and kindness. That’s where I start, whether I’m meeting with a family member, a student who wants to be mentored or a Trumpster. When we open with that, we begin to establish respect and trust, which is the foundation for any kind of communication or cooperation. I would be less about labels than relationships. I would seek to learn from my elders.

I’m someone who has built unlikely coalitions. I have colleagues in the Palo Alto City Council who have said, “I didn’t think I was going to be able to work with you.” Yet, here we are, trusting each other.

TSD: How do you see your path to victory in this race? What constituencies do you need to reach?

JLH: We have a clear path to victory. The constituents we most aim to reach are women. Women will decide this race. 

I’m also very eagerly going for the youth vote. Everybody I’ve talked to says they don’t vote. But I am the candidate who wants to energize youth — I’m actually running for you. 

We’ve handed you a raw deal with the climate and the cost of living being out of control. You do everything right at Stanford but you can’t afford a one-bedroom apartment. 

I am in it for my kids who are 22 and 24, your generation and the one to come after you.

TSD: You’ve said being the only woman in the race — and the only Black queer woman — sets you apart. How has your identity shaped your campaign and perspective?

JLH: When I ran for city council, I put in my press release that I was Black, biracial, queer and bisexual. An old white guy said to me, “Why do you have to tell us you’re queer?”

I have to say it because representation matters. There are people out there who belong to those communities, who would be delighted to know that someone who has walked a similar path is a leader. 

I know that sharing your identity can alienate some people. But I’d rather stand up and try to be visible for those who need to see it than be afraid that my identity is going to turn someone off.

TSD: How do you plan to represent all of the district’s diverse communities at once? What are their different needs?

JLH: When I was a dean at Stanford, I had first-gen kids, queer kids, computer scientists and literature majors. Students come in all different varieties and the district is no different. Tomorrow, I’m headed to Pacifica where they’re facing coastal erosion. There are people right here in a mobile home park.

I will approach every issue with my Stanford brain and compassionate heart. I’m a lifelong learner. I take a beginner’s pose — let me listen to people’s stories and show compassion. Fundamentally, it’s about humans solving problems together.

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Petition seeks reinstatement of suspended COLLEGE lecturer https://stanforddaily.com/2024/01/12/petition-seeks-reinstatement-of-suspended-college-lecturer/ https://stanforddaily.com/2024/01/12/petition-seeks-reinstatement-of-suspended-college-lecturer/#respond Fri, 12 Jan 2024 09:49:00 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1240089 Some students have circulated a petition to reinstate COLLEGE 101 lecturer Ameer Loggins, who was suspended over reports of identity-based targeting. Others expressed concerns over the petition's efforts.

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A petition circulated by students demands the reinstatement of COLLEGE 101 lecturer Ameer Loggins, who was suspended after reports of identity-based targeting last fall.

Stanford opened an investigation following reports that Loggins targeted Jewish students based on their identity during two Oct. 10 class sections, following the Hamas attack on Israel three days prior. University president Richard Saller said at a Graduate Student Council (GSC) meeting last December that Stanford has hired external counsel for the investigation.

Over 1,700 people have signed the petition as of Jan. 10, according to Jaeden Clark ’26, one of the students leading the effort. Clark said he was not formally one of Loggins’s students but has previously sat in on his lectures. Loggins did not respond to a request for comment.

A press release from the petitioners states that Loggins’s suspension was precipitated by misrepresentations of the incident, and the petition itself states that several news stories contain “dangerous misinformation.” The incident was covered by The Daily, The San Francisco Chronicle and CNN and discussed in a New York Times opinion piece.

The Daily obtained a roster of one of the sections in which the incidents occurred and reached out to the 17 students listed, but was unable to get comments from any.

Saller and Provost Jenny Martinez wrote in an Oct. 11 statement that the University had received a report of the incident and that Loggins was “not currently teaching while the university works to ascertain the facts of the situation.” Saller declined to share details of the investigation at the December GSC meeting.

University spokesperson Luisa Rapport wrote in an email to The Daily that, “The investigation, through an outside investigator, remains ongoing.”

Ji Qi Ni ’27, a student in Loggins’s section who was present during the incident, said he was “shocked” by the media representations of the incident, which he called “thrown out of proportion.”

Loggins facilitated a classroom demonstration in which he led a student through orders, including to stand by the wall. The demonstration drew criticism, but Ni said it was meant to shed light on the Israel-Gaza war and, as he remembers, the student who was chosen for the demonstration in his section was not Jewish.

Clark, who said he spoke with several students from the class, said some students’ impression was that Loggins addressed Jewish students to invite them to share their input and to provide a trigger warning before discussing sensitive topics. 

Others felt that accounts of the incident failed to elevate Jewish students’ perspectives.

Kelly Danielpour ’25, a co-president of the Jewish Student Association who spoke with several Jewish students from the class and was involved in reporting the incident, wrote that the “only students who can speak to whether Loggins created an environment where they felt singled out, targeted, and pressured based on a power dynamic are the Jewish students in his class.”

Danielpour wrote that much of the discourse around the incident has focused on the claim that Loggins asked Jewish students for consent during the classroom discussion and demonstrations, overlooking classroom power dynamics.

“Even if that student gave verbal consent to Loggins to be used as an example,” Danielpour wrote, “you can imagine how that student would have felt pressured to say yes to the lecturer who decides their grades.”

Students supporting the petition describe Loggins as someone who fostered tough but important conversations, created safe spaces for marginalized students and treated students like family.

Like Clark, Milo Golding ’26 is involved in the petition effort and previously sat in on Loggins’s lectures. He described Loggins as someone who created space for students to exchange different views on important societal issues. 

Golding said the media representations included “a lot of cherry picking” and portrayed Loggins as someone who forced his views upon students.

Ni, who concurred, said Loggins made it clear “the first day that he’s here to just have conversations,” and that Loggins told students it was “okay” to have “two different perspectives” on the Israel-Gaza war.

Some students criticized the petitioners’ claims, arguing that discussions of the incident should center the voices of the Jewish students who felt targeted.

Joshua Jankelow ’24, a former president of the Stanford Israel Association, wrote that having Jewish students “identify themselves is enough to single them out” in the context of the community’s “massive loss in the form of a brutal massacre two days before” the incident.

“If a student feels embarrassed, then they were embarrassed,” Jankelow wrote. “While there are ways to criticize Israel without being antisemitic, embarrassing Jewish students in front of their peers is certainly not one of them.”

Lee Rosenthal ’25, a former president of the Jewish fraternity Alpha Epsilon Pi, wrote in an email to The Daily that while he supports “students voicing their opinions on standing up for justice in the Middle East,” he “cannot support the call to reinstate a professor who singled out and targeted Jewish students in a classroom setting.” Rosenthal and Jankelow wrote in separate statements that they spoke with at least one Jewish student from the class.

The Daily was unable to speak directly with Jewish students from the class.

“I sympathize with the students who felt uncomfortable,” Golding said. 

However, Golding argued, Loggins tried to help students understand the people and communities impacted by issues raised in the classroom.

Golding said Loggins’s teaching style reflects his experiences growing up with a marginalized, low-income background and going “unheard.”

Echoing Golding, Clark said “the void that was created through [Loggins’s] absence was felt almost immediately by myself and other community members.”

“Stanford doesn’t do a great job of providing faculty that look like us or are from socioeconomic backgrounds that are similar to us,” Clark said.

In addition to reinstatement, the petition demands “restorative” actions that include the “development of a plan for a permanent role” for Loggins at Stanford and an apology from University administrators for their handling of his suspension. Students said the University responded more punitively to the incident involving Loggins — who is Black and Muslim — than to other instances of alleged misconduct by faculty members.

The University declined to answer questions about the other incidents.

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New VPUE and VPSA leadership search committees seek student input https://stanforddaily.com/2024/01/12/new-vpue-and-vpsa-leadership-search-committees-seek-student-input/ https://stanforddaily.com/2024/01/12/new-vpue-and-vpsa-leadership-search-committees-seek-student-input/#respond Fri, 12 Jan 2024 09:35:55 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1240142 A student advisory committee for each position will be responsible for identifying the eligibility of every candidate, speaking on behalf of the student body’s concerns and meeting the final candidates for the respective positions.

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Advisory committees for top administrative roles were announced by Stanford on Thursday, following the resignations of Sarah Church as Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education (VPUE) in October, and Susie Brubaker-Cole as Vice Provost for Student Affairs (VPSA) in November.

The committees seek student input in the search for successors to VPUE and VPSA leadership. They will host town hall meetings and distribute online forms for students’ opinions and recommendations of the search. 

A student advisory committee for each position will be responsible for identifying the eligibility of every candidate, speaking on behalf of the student body’s concerns and meeting the final candidates for the respective positions. 

The VPUE is responsible for undergraduate programs including Introductory Seminars (IntroSems), Civic, Liberal, and Global Education (COLLEGE) and the Bing Overseas Studies Program (BOSP). 

The VPSA is involved in “The Future of Student Affairs” which works to improve the community and wellness of students, including organizing the Neighborhood system and the Graduate Life Office.

Sarah Church resigned on Oct. 19, 2023, after three years in the role of VPUE, citing an on-going health issue. Susie Brubaker-Cole resigned shortly thereafter on Nov. 8, 2023, leaving her VPSA role after over six years to “pursue a new set of career opportunities that are closer to my hometown and my deep family connections there,” according to a statement sent to the Stanford community.  

Applications to become a member of a student advisory committee are due Jan. 17 and can be found here.

The Daily has reached out to the University for comment.

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GSC recertifies EV families https://stanforddaily.com/2024/01/11/gsc-recertifies-ev-families/ https://stanforddaily.com/2024/01/11/gsc-recertifies-ev-families/#respond Thu, 11 Jan 2024 08:26:51 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1240054 At Tuesday’s first Graduate Student Council meeting of the quarter, the council unanimously passed a resolution and discussed relations with the VPGE.

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The Graduate Student Council (GSC) passed a resolution Tuesday to certify that the Escondido Village (EV) Families housing organization can apply for Annual Grants next fiscal year. It also announced that it is currently looking for individuals to fill the council’s two vacant at-large positions.

The resolution, which passed unanimously, determined that EV Families can be considered a chartered organization and is therefore eligible to submit an Annual Grant application for the 2025 fiscal year. It can apply for funding through the same process as other voluntary student organizations (VSOs) and as such, all unspent funds will eventually be returned to the GSC.

The money from the Annual Grant can be used to fund events for families with children, said Jacob Benford, GSC treasurer and third-year J.D. student. 

According to the ASSU Joint By-Laws, chartered organizations are those that are “essentially under the control of students” but whose constitutions, budgets and policies are ultimately in the hands of outside bodies like a University office. Because non-students like the children and domestic spouses of Stanford students reside in the EV Families housing organization, it is, by definition, not a chartered organization. EV families consequently sought a certification. 

But the “chartered organization” label is not a permanent one. EV families must recertify their eligibility to apply for Annual Grants by submitting a new resolution to the GSC every year. They have been doing so for the past few years.

Benford raised concerns that this process might be inconvenient, and offered to speak with members of EV families. Instead of submitting a yearly resolution, Benford said that the students who live in the EV Families housing organization could organize their own permanent VSO group to apply for Annual Grants on behalf of EV Families.

Following this discussion, Emitt Pert, GSC co-chair and third-year Ph.D. student in chemistry, said he is planning on talking to the Vice Provost for Graduate Education (VPGE) about forming a more stable partnership between their office and the GSC on budgeting and funding requests.

“I think it would be helpful for [the VPGE] if our requests were more targeted,” Pert said. “It’d be helpful for us if we had a better idea of what kinds of things they were open to funding earlier in the process so that we could discuss what the priorities actually should be, rather than just going every year and asking for everything.” 

The meeting followed with a discussion surrounding the two open at-large seats for a parliamentarian and councilor seat. Councilors said they hope to fill the seat by next week.

“We would love to have applications. I guess we can explicitly say we’re running the vote next week,” Pert said. 

The GSC also unanimously approved funding requests for two events occurring next week — Greek Vasilopita 2024 and 2024 SERIO Mentorship Kickoff Event — and discussed the various upcoming social events, most notably the Graduate Student Formal that will be held on May 17.

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Paul Brest named new interim law school dean https://stanforddaily.com/2024/01/10/paul-brest-named-new-interim-law-school-dean/ https://stanforddaily.com/2024/01/10/paul-brest-named-new-interim-law-school-dean/#respond Wed, 10 Jan 2024 09:51:32 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1240002 Robert Weisberg J.D. '79 is stepping down from the position to address health issues.

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Former Stanford Law School (SLS) Dean Paul Brest temporarily will return to the post following Robert Weisberg J.D. ’79 stepping down as interim dean to address health issues, according to a Monday announcement from University Provost Jenny Martinez.

Martinez, the previous dean, became provost on Oct. 1 after Persis Drell announced her resignation last fall. The search for a permanent SLS dean remains ongoing.

The position is among many open administrative roles in a year of turnovers in the Stanford administration, including the resignation of Stanford’s former president and provost. Susie Brubaker-Cole and Sarah Church also resigned as vice provost for student affairs and vice provost for undergraduate education, respectively, at the end of fall quarter.

Brest, currently a professor emeritus, served as SLS dean from 1987 to 1999, after joining SLS faculty in 1969. He was previously the president of the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation from 2000 to 2012. 

Weisberg became interim dean in October after Martinez was appointed 14th provost of Stanford University. Following his resignation, he will remain a member of SLS faculty, where he currently serves as Edwin E. Huddleson, Jr. Professor of Law. 

“I am grateful to [Weisberg] for his time as interim dean, which has built on an extraordinary career of scholarship and service at SLS, and I completely support his decision to put his health first,” Martinez told the Stanford Report. “I am deeply appreciative that [Brest] has agreed to step into the role while our search wraps up.”

According to the Stanford Report, Weisberg will work alongside Brest to advise faculty and staff, and expects that the change in leadership will cause minimal disruptions.

The Daily has reached out to Martinez, Brest and SLS for comment. Weisberg declined to participate in an interview. 

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Saller, Martinez address student safety and well-being amid Israel-Hamas war https://stanforddaily.com/2024/01/09/saller-martinez-address-student-safety-and-well-being-amid-israel-hamas-war/ https://stanforddaily.com/2024/01/09/saller-martinez-address-student-safety-and-well-being-amid-israel-hamas-war/#respond Tue, 09 Jan 2024 09:31:21 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1239895 They urged students to hear and learn from differing perspectives within Stanford’s campus regarding the Israel-Hamas war, the upcoming U.S. presidential election and other matters. 

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Stanford President Richard Saller and Provost Jenny Martinez wrote that the safety and well-being of students is a University priority amid the Israel-Hamas war, in a statement sent to students Monday, as they started winter quarter classes.

Saller and Martinez wrote they are aware of the “deep pain and concern” felt by numerous individuals in the community. They also acknowledged the presence of differing perspectives within Stanford’s campus regarding the Israel-Hamas war, the upcoming U.S. presidential election and other topics. 

They wrote that the University “should provide an intellectual environment that is challenging — one in which we encounter and engage with ideas that are different from our own.”

The email, which was sent on the first day of winter quarter, stated that the Antisemitism, Bias, and Communication Subcommittee of the Jewish Advisory Committee as well as the Muslim, Arab, and Palestinian Communities Committee have been working to address concerns from the community and provide recommendations.

This is the fourth community-wide email that Saller and Martinez have sent regarding the Israel-Hamas war. The third, which was sent on Dec. 8, 2023, condemned genocide and was distributed widely on Instagram and X (formerly Twitter). 

In the Monday email, Saller and Martinez acknowledged the ongoing challenges faced by higher education institutions in the U.S. Though they did not specify which challenges they were referring to, university leadership at MIT, Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania have all received backlash following congressional hearings in December regarding antisemitism. The president of Harvard, Claudine Gay ’92, and the president of the University of Pennsylvania, former Stanford Law School Dean Elizabeth Magill, have since resigned.

The email emphasized the importance of a physically safe campus for all students and wrote the University has implemented more precautions to ensure student security.

The Daily has reached out to the University for comment on specific safety precautions. 

Saller and Martinez concluded the email by urging community members to learn from one another’s ideas and views.

“And, at our best, we seek to demonstrate care, warmth, and respect for each other as members of one Stanford community,” they wrote. “Let us continue working to do both in the year ahead.”

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‘Fight the fight’: Sit-in to continue over break after meeting with Saller, Martinez https://stanforddaily.com/2023/12/08/fight-the-fight-sit-in-to-continue-over-break-after-meeting-with-saller-martinez/ https://stanforddaily.com/2023/12/08/fight-the-fight-sit-in-to-continue-over-break-after-meeting-with-saller-martinez/#respond Fri, 08 Dec 2023 13:47:20 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1239601 Participants plan to break the record for the longest sit-in in university history, seeking University actions like divestment and the establishment of an Arab Studies track within the comparative studies in race and ethnicity program.

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Demonstrators with the “Sit-In to Stop Genocide” in White Plaza met with President Richard Saller and Provost Jenny Martinez Wednesday to discuss their demands, calling on the University to divest from and boycott Israeli ventures and academic institutions as well as issue a statement that condemns Israeli war crimes and calls for a ceasefire. The sit-in will continue over winter break as participants seek more action from the University.

Participants of the sit-in previously said that until a meeting with Saller and Martinez was granted, they were prepared to stay in White Plaza for “as long as it takes” to make progress on their demands. The University had previously refused to meet with representatives of the sit-in until the overnight portion ended. 

Under pressure from alumni and student groups, including the sit-in, Saller and Martinez announced two new committees on Nov. 13 that are tasked with providing recommendations on ways to educate the community about and mitigate acts of Islamophobia and antisemitism.

Following the committees’ announcement and the recent meeting with administrators, protesters at the sit-in have since focused on divestment and other ways the University can support Palestinian thought and representation beyond resources for students. This includes advocating for the establishment of an Arab Studies track within the comparative studies in race and ethnicity program.

At the meeting with Saller and Martinez, members of the sit-in asked the administration to join them in calling on the Board of Trustees to divest from companies “enabling Israeli violence in occupied Palestine,” said Farah Tantawy ’26, a participant and organizer with the sit-in.

“The University asserts that their sole obligation amid the genocide in Gaza is ensuring student safety on campus. While this is crucial, they must also confront their active involvement in enabling Israel’s violence through research, investments and rhetoric,” said Katie Eder ’24, another participant and organizer with the sit-in. “The sit-in will persist until tangible measures are taken to acknowledge and rectify their complicity.” 

According to Eder, Stanford funds companies “actively contributing to the genocide of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank,” including aerospace and defense contractor Lockheed Martin, which provides fighter jets and other military equipment to the Israeli military

Saller and Martinez met with sit-in participants as part of broader engagement with “many different groups, including meetings with Jewish students and with Palestinian students and their allies,” wrote University spokesperson Mara Vandlik in a statement to The Daily.

“The University is continuing to work to support the safety and wellbeing of everyone in our community as the Israel-Hamas war continues,” Vandlik wrote.

Though the sit-in and the University have opened dialogue, the group plans on continuing their protest throughout winter break. 

Tantawy said the meeting with Saller and Martinez was “just the first step into creating institutional change at Stanford.”

Echoing Tantawy, Eder said that they are “continuing the sit-in to ensure that what’s happening in Gaza is visible to the Stanford community and Stanford administration. We’ll continue to be visible and be disruptive until we see action from the administration.”

To ensure the success of the sit-in over break, the group plans to rely on graduate students, whose student housing does not close over break. 

Over winter break, the sit-in is slated to become the longest sit-in in Stanford history, beating a 53-day-long sit-in calling on the University to divest from apartheid South Africa in 1985. 

Organizers with the sit-in are drawing on past successful student divestment campaigns, including ones that called on the University to divest from Sudanese ventures supporting the genocide in Darfur, coal mining initiatives and ventures that supported and contributed to South African apartheid

In previous student protest moments, “the push for divestment, the threat of actual economic consequences is what led to the fall of the apartheid regime and its replacement with a democratic regime,” said Hana Spahia ’26, another sit-in organizer.

The sit-in’s demands are not new — students have been calling on the University to divest from Israeli ventures since 2015, when a coalition of student activist groups named Stanford Out of Occupied Palestine (SOOP) petitioned the University to divest. SOOP successfully campaigned for the Undergraduate Senate to vote in favor of divestment after a petition garnered over 1,000 student signatures. 

According to Spahia, the University has a moral imperative to divest: ”The Board of Trustees’ Document for Investment Responsibility says explicitly that divestment must be considered in cases of apartheid and genocide,” Spahia said. 

“Being here for winter break represents the fact that we’re willing to fight the fight even when it’s not convenient,” Tantawy said. “Our presence on campus is meant to be a disturbance. It’s meant to make sure that people know business cannot go on as usual.”

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Stanford condemns calls for genocide of Jews https://stanforddaily.com/2023/12/08/stanford-condemns-calls-for-genocide-of-jews/ https://stanforddaily.com/2023/12/08/stanford-condemns-calls-for-genocide-of-jews/#respond Fri, 08 Dec 2023 13:39:54 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1239612 The University released statements on social media unequivocally condemning calls for genocide of Jews or any people, and affirming that such statements would violate the Fundamental Standard.

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Stanford “unequivocally” condemned “calls for the genocide of Jews or any peoples,” in a statement released through social media posts on Instagram and X (formerly Twitter) Thursday night.

The University wrote that such statements “would clearly violate Stanford’s Fundamental Standard, the code of conduct for all students of the University.” 

The statement opened with acknowledgment of “the context of national discourse,” amid national controversy over a Wednesday congressional hearing where the presidents of Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of Pennsylvania appeared to evade questions on disciplining students who called for the genocide of Jewish people. 

Pointing to chants for an “intifada” by protesters on their campus, New York representative Elise Stefanik asked the university presidents whether calling for the genocide of Jews would constitute bullying or harassment under their codes of conduct.

“It depends on the context,” said Harvard President Claudine Gay ’92. 

Since the hearing, all three presidents — MIT President Sally Kornbluth and Penn President Elizabeth Magill having also said disciplinary action depended on the context  — have faced calls to resign. On Thursday, a Congressional committee opened an investigation into the three universities for failing to address “rampant antisemitism.” Alumni of the three universities have also threatened to withdraw donations.

Yale president Peter Salovey ’80 M.A. ’80 issued a statement earlier on Thursday “forcefully” rejecting discrimination and prejudice on its campus.

Stanford administration previously faced criticism for University statements and responses to antisemitism on campus. President Richard Saller met with Jewish alumni on Nov. 16, following an Oct. 24 letter with 2,600 signatures that threatened to withdraw donations if Stanford did not immediately condemn Hamas and antisemitism on campus.

To provide support for communities on campus affected by the Israel-Hamas war, Saller and Provost Jenny Martinez introduced two campus initiatives on Nov. 13: an Antisemitism, Bias and Communication Subcommittee and a new Muslim, Arab and Palestinian Communities Committee. 

Jewish Voices for Peace (JVP) criticized Stanford’s social media post: “For an institution to dare issue a condemnation of genocide without explicitly including Palestinians in that statement is a deliberate erasure of the ongoing suffering in Gaza,” they wrote.

The Daily has reached out to the University for comment.

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Amnesty fails Stanford endowment for human rights due diligence https://stanforddaily.com/2023/12/01/amnesty-fails-stanford-endowment-for-human-rights-due-diligence/ https://stanforddaily.com/2023/12/01/amnesty-fails-stanford-endowment-for-human-rights-due-diligence/#respond Fri, 01 Dec 2023 11:16:47 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1238659 Stanford, along with six other U.S. universities, received a failing grade in Amnesty International’s report evaluating human rights due diligence in venture capital investments.

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Stanford received a failing ‘D’ grade in human rights due diligence for its investments into venture capital firms, according to an April report by human rights organization Amnesty International USA.

The 2023 report graded the human rights due diligence processes of 10 of the largest university endowments in the United States: the University of California (U.C.) system, the University of Texas system, Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Princeton, Duke, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Chicago. As of 2020, the universities collectively possessed $426.9 billion in assets under management alone. 

Only three of these universities — Harvard, Yale and the U.C. system — scored a ‘C’ or higher, while the remaining seven universities received a failing grade. Stanford and UPenn tied with a score of 18/40, while the lowest was UChicago’s score of 0/40.

Scores at 20 were considered a passing grade, while any score below was considered a failing grade. 

Michael Kleinman, the director of Amnesty International’s Silicon Valley Initiative, said venture capital has a critical influence on startups that end up becoming larger companies. 

“The startup ecosystem is vast, fractured and opaque,” Kleinman said. He suggested the institutionalization of human rights priorities in venture capital firms investments as an efficient way to “influence startups at scale.”

Amnesty equated the universities’ failing grades to “failing their responsibility under the U.N. Guiding Principles to respect human rights.”

Grades were calculated by evaluating public data sources like university endowment websites and external databases. The report derived data for Stanford from the Stanford Management Company (SMC), an office of the University “responsible for investing the University’s long-term financial resources, including the University’s endowment,” University spokesperson Luisa Rapport wrote in a statement to The Daily.

Through analyzing public statements, human rights integration into investment decisions and transparency of investments, Amnesty “developed metrics that tried to capture all … aspects of measuring whether a university investment office wasn’t just paying lip service to human rights due diligence, but was conducting it in a way that was effective,” Kleinman said.

These metrics included the U.N. Principles for Responsible Investment (UNPRI) signatory directory, which lists firms that agreed to uphold six internationally recognized holistic principles to integrate environmental, social and corporate governance in investment management. Stanford is not a signatory, while 3400 investment firms — including Harvard and the U.C. system — are.

Jamie O’Connell, a lecturer in residence at the Stanford Law School who specializes in business, social responsibility and human rights, stressed the importance of the related U.N. Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.

“The guiding principles are the most authoritative guidance on social expectations of business in relation to human rights,” O’Connell said. 

The report’s scorecard outlines three major impacts that the lack of human rights due diligence may cause: investing in companies involved in ongoing human rights violations, supporting companies following a business model that undermines human rights and funding companies that develop technologies harmful to human rights.

O’Connell said these existing human rights violations are widespread. From the forced labor supply chain in Xinjiang that supplies 95% of the silicon-based solar modules in our solar panels, to pro-anorexia content promoted by Instagram’s algorithms, human rights violations are also harming the communities closest to us, according to O’Connell.

“I am not a fan of the privileged assertion that my human rights are getting violated just as much as someone else’s rights are getting violated — I do think there are more and less severe violations occurring in the world,” O’Connell said. “But there are more than enough violations of human rights to go around. And there is plenty of work to be done.”

While Amnesty gave Stanford points for its public commitment to sustainability, public engagement policies and the existence of a Committee on Investor Responsibility, the report stated that the University was particularly lacking in disclosure and transparency.

Amnesty identified that the U.C. system discloses its investment holdings to the public, including venture capital and private equity fund managers. O’Connell stressed this peer-institution comparison, especially looking to Harvard and the U.C. system, as a driver for change.

“What we’re talking about is not going to tank the endowment return, what we’re talking about is respecting the basic expectations of society about how an institution should behave,” O’Connell said.

Rapport wrote that Stanford has abided by ethical methods of investment by adhering to the SMC’s Ethical Investment Framework and the Board of Trustees’ statement on investment responsibility.

“SMC’s investment practices meet or exceed the guidelines issued by parties such as UNPRI,” Rapport wrote, referring The Daily to the University’s 2018 Ethical Investment Framework.

However, the report directly criticizes aspects of these documents, stating that “Stanford’s policy is designed to limit actions on addressing human rights” — referencing the University’s claim that while they ask their “partners to demonstrate strong moral sensibility, it would not be appropriate to insist they advance a particular social or political agenda.”

“What we’re really looking to see is how … those statements [are] integrated into actual investment decisions,” Kleinman said. “For instance … there is no language in the endowment that explicitly requires a focus on human rights within ESG,” or environmental, social and governance concerns.

O’Connell said these documents are likely not SMC’s internal guidelines, but rather responses for external audiences like students and Amnesty, “who tend to be pushing them toward more ethical investment.”

“You should ask yourself, is human rights a matter of a strong moral sensibility? Or is human rights a particular social or political agenda?” O’Connell said.

Rapport wrote that Stanford’s success in investment is directly correlated with its partners’ adherence to moral investing.

“We work with investment partners that demonstrate a strong moral sensibility and who understand that the businesses in their portfolios are far more likely to succeed when they behave with due regard for the welfare of their stakeholders and the communities in which they operate,” Rapport wrote.

Kleinman said the report’s researchers were “forced to rely on public information,” unable to extract information from Stanford despite repeated requests for comments and clarification.

“Stanford never responded, so the lack of engagement just in terms of the University being willing to discuss these issues was incredibly disappointing,” Kleinman said.

Confidentiality is the general practice of Stanford’s peer institutions, Rapport wrote. “We do not make public detailed information about our portfolio and our investment partners because it would both erode our competitive position and violate our confidentiality obligations to our partners.”

Community concerns for ethical investment are not new to Stanford or universities as a whole. O’Connell said he distinctly remembers the movement to divest from companies enabling South African apartheid in the 1980s as a wave that hit many college campuses at the time. 

Demonstrations, sit-ins and pressure from protesting students, faculty and staff prompted many universities to fully divest from companies affiliated with the South African government — but not Stanford. Documentation shows that while the University adopted a selective divestment process, the full divestment of these companies never occurred.

O’Connell said that while Stanford’s record of “resisting sustained pressure” to divest in the 1980s was “dispiriting,” he urged continued pressure for the administration to pay attention to human rights.

“Justice takes struggle,” O’Connell said. “It’s not easy, and progress doesn’t come fast. But it doesn’t happen if you don’t try.”

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President addresses Jewish alumni concerns about antisemitism on campus https://stanforddaily.com/2023/11/28/president-addresses-jewish-alumni-concerns-about-antisemitism-on-campus/ https://stanforddaily.com/2023/11/28/president-addresses-jewish-alumni-concerns-about-antisemitism-on-campus/#respond Wed, 29 Nov 2023 07:32:14 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1238408 Richard Saller spoke to more than 275 members of the Stanford Jewish Alumni Network in a virtual Town Hall on Nov. 16. The meeting comes in the wake of a letter signed by thousands of campus community members denouncing the University’s response to the Oct. 7 Hamas attack.

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President Richard Saller addressed more than 275 members of the Stanford Jewish Alumni Network (SJAN) in a virtual town hall on Nov. 16, following community calls for a clear denouncement of Hamas from the University. Vice President of Alumni Affairs and Stanford Alumni Association President Howard Wolf facilitated the meeting. 

The town hall comes after an Oct. 24 letter written by a group of Jewish alumni dissatisfied with the administration’s response to Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel. The letter was sent to Saller and Provost Jenny Martinez with signatures in support from more than 2,600 parents, students, teachers, faculty, alumni and other community members. 

They wrote in the letter that without an immediate and thorough condemnation of Hamas, as well as antisemitism on campus from the administration, signees will cease donations to Stanford and encourage the same from other individuals and entities. 

Concerns stem from multiple antisemitic incidents on campus, including reports of a COLLEGE lecturer targeting Jewish students and labeling them as “colonizers,” students marching with posters displaying anti-Israel sentiment such as “From the River to the Sea, Israel will be Arab” and students tearing down flyers featuring Jewish hostages. On Nov. 9, swastikas were found on whiteboards in Roble dorm, the third reported case of swastikas on campus in the past month. 

In a statement to The Daily following the town hall, Saller emphasized the meeting’s importance. 

“The concerns of the Jewish alumni community need to be heard. I will hold a similar meeting with Muslim alumni and make the point that our actions are aimed at reducing Islamophobia as well as antisemitism on campus,” he wrote. 

During the meeting, Saller highlighted the implementation of two campus initiatives: a new Antisemitism, Bias and Communication Subcommittee and a new Muslim, Arab and Palestinian Communities Committee.

According to SJAN co-president and founding member Shelley Hebert, Saller was asked whether Jewish people are included in the University’s Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging (DEIB) programming.

Saller confirmed after the meeting in his statement to The Daily: “Yes, it [DEIB] does include programs that include Jewish people.”

Alumni have also expressed concerns around how decisions are being made in regards to legal standards surrounding lines between protected and unprotected speech. Saller said he was guided by the Leonard Law in determining what speech can be subject to disciplinary action, and that Stanford has hired an outside law firm for legal advice regarding free speech issues. 

SJAN member Kfir Gavrieli ’04, M.S. ’05, MBA ’08 was among the alumni who drafted the letter to Saller and Martinez. Gavrieli said that he would like the University to use the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism, and feels that the administration’s lack of response has enabled antisemitism. 

“They can’t on the one hand say we acknowledge there’s a problem with antisemitism and not change the framework through which they deal with it.” Gavrieli told The Daily. “We need structural change. And instead it feels like they’re hiding behind legal definitions and platitudes about free speech and intellectual debate.” 

The U.S. Department of Education (DOE) developed its definition of antisemitism based on the IHRA definition. In 2018, the DOE’s Office of Civil Rights used the State Department’s definition of antisemitism to enforce Title VI of the Civil Rights Act to protect Jewish college students from antisemitism.

Jewish alumnus Jason Sugarman ’94 said that the root of issues on campus, including antisemitic speech, extends beyond intellectual disagreement through respectful discourse.  

“I feel like it’s more of a pure discriminatory process,” Sugarman said. 

Also frustrated by the University’s response, Rabbi Jessica Kirschner, Executive Director of Stanford Hillel, wrote in an email to The Daily about the historical prevalence of antisemitism on campus.

“Antisemitism has been a problem on this campus for decades. What we’ve seen in the last five weeks is a particularly noxious emission of a poison that has been brewing for a long time,” Kirschner wrote.

“I appreciate that this administration has started to take it seriously, but there is a long way to go,” Kirschner wrote. “Though a minority, we are essential to the fabric of Stanford, and we are not going anywhere.”

Gavrieli described the overall response from Jewish alumni who attended the town hall as consistent with the disappointment and frustration many had felt prior to the meeting.

“People in our community feel like this was done to placate us and to try to deflect from what actually needs to be done,” Gavrieli said. “We’re very focused on what real, tangible actions will be taken.”

According to Gavrieli, “Stanford is lagging far behind other universities that have made stronger statements publicly and taken initial decisive steps towards addressing the antisemitic problems on their campuses.”

He extended his outreach to current Jewish students and encouraged them to “use their voice and have the courage to make a difference in this [historic] moment.”

“Every one of us should be able to look back on this time and know that we did everything we could to create meaningful change,” Gavrieli said. 

Hebert said she hoped for Jewish students to engage in the SJAN network and quoted from the Talmud: “All Israel are responsible for one another.” 

“If I had to say something to Stanford students on campus today: We are with you. We are watching. We care,” Hebert said.

“We will continue to focus on your safety, your wellbeing and your rights to an education that does not marginalize, demonize or threaten you as a Jewish or Israeli student at Stanford.”

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Saller seeks to streamline University processes https://stanforddaily.com/2023/11/17/saller-seeks-to-streamline-university-processes/ https://stanforddaily.com/2023/11/17/saller-seeks-to-streamline-university-processes/#respond Fri, 17 Nov 2023 10:00:09 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1237736 President Richard Saller announced a new initiative to make university processes, including research and pedagogy, more efficient for faculty.

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University President Richard Saller announced the formation of an initiative aimed at “reducing burdens and improving timeliness” for faculty members, at the Faculty Senate’s final meeting of the fall quarter.

“Over the past three months, I’ve heard from many faculty about the burdens on their time of University processes,” Saller said. “I believe that our most valuable asset is faculty time and effort.”

Saller said that he had initiated a review of University processes along with Provost Jenny Martinez, and that Vice President for Business Affairs and Chief Financial Officer Randy Livingston ’75 MBA ’79 and Vice Provost and Dean of Research David Studdert had “begun the review in their respective areas.”

Former Stanford provost John Etchemendy will act as a senior adviser to the review. The group will “collect the suggestions and make recommendations to the executive cabinet and senior staff by the end of the quarter,” Saller said.

Saller also reminded faculty that campus safety resources are available “to maintain safety and well-being in the campus community,” referencing the newly established committees on antisemitism and Islamophobia announced earlier this week. Students have reported multiple antisemitic and Islamophobic hate crimes to the Stanford University Department of Public Safety over the past few weeks.

Memorial resolutions

Memorial resolutions were introduced at the Faculty Senate for professor emeritus of microbiology and immunology Hugh O. McDevitt ’52, who passed away in 2022 at the age of 91, and professor emeritus of medicine Ernlé W. D. Young, who passed away at 88 in 2021. Senior Associate Dean Mary Beth Mudgett, who serves as chair of the Faculty Senate, asked for a moment of silence after each resolution was read.

Professor of medicine C. Garrison Fathman delivered the resolution for McDevitt, which recognized the numerous awards he had won for his research in immunology, and that he had been elected to the National Academy of Sciences and the Royal Society of London.

“He was charming, had a magnetic personality [and] he had a way with encouraging and inspiring young people,” Fathman said.

Professor Thomas A. Raffin ’68 MD ’73 delivered the resolution for Young. Raffin described Young’s early years as an anti-apartheid activist in South Africa, during which he was pursued by the secret police and placed under house arrest for his efforts to integrate Methodist congregations.

Young came to Stanford in 1974 to serve as the Associate Dean of Memorial Church, a chaplain at the Stanford Medical Center and a lecturer in biomedical ethics. Raffin recalled that Young “was a dynamic, compassionate and scholarly teacher.”

Young “often quoted the theologian Reinhold Niebuhr, who said the job of the preacher is to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable,” Raffin said.

“He will long be remembered for his passion, compassion, insight and heart,” Raffin said.

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SGWU initiates bargaining process with University https://stanforddaily.com/2023/11/13/sgwu-initiates-bargaining-process-with-university/ https://stanforddaily.com/2023/11/13/sgwu-initiates-bargaining-process-with-university/#respond Tue, 14 Nov 2023 06:10:50 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1236961 The Stanford Graduate Student Union rallied on Nov. 2 to celebrate the beginning of the bargaining process. A group engaged in a counter-protest over SGWU’s Palestine solidarity statement.

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Stanford Graduate Workers Union (SGWU) rallied in White Plaza on Nov. 2 to celebrate the beginning of its bargaining process with the University — and to call for the inclusion of fellows into the union.

A counter-protest occurred to condemn the SGWU’s recent ratification of a “Palestine Trade Union Solidarity Statement.”

SGWU is the formal platform from which graduate workers can engage in collective bargaining with Stanford. For months, the SGWU worked on developing a bargaining platform to advocate for better working conditions. On Nov. 2, the language contract proposals were ratified with a sweeping 96% approval

“We’re going to chant to send a message to Stanford that we are united, that we support our bargaining committee and we are ready for a fair contract, which includes fellows,” said fifth-year applied physics Ph.D. candidate Chris Gustin.

During the rally, SGWU speakers highlighted current problems that graduate workers face, including late payments, discriminatory acts that go unpunished and insubstantial payments, among others. SGWU organizers claimed that the newly ratified bargaining platform will fight against all these issues.

“Our contract will allow us to enforce its terms and hold those who violate them accountable,” said Chloé Brault, a seventh-year Ph.D. candidate in comparative literature. 

For the SGWU, a top priority of the rally was to advocate for fellows’ inclusion in the union.

“Stanford has indicated previously that it does not consider graduate workers on fellowship to be workers or to be employees. And we strongly disagree … without us, Stanford loses its primary currency,” said Tania Flores, a fifth-year Ph.D. candidate in Iberian and Latin American cultures.

As fellows and organizers delivered speeches, counter-protesters in the back of the crowd occasionally shouted various slogans such as “Resign, resign, your union is a hate crime.” Over a dozen held signs in protest, one read “democracy or revolt.” 

After concluding speeches, SGWU members walked to Tresidder Memorial Union, where their elected bargaining committee engaged in negotiations with University administration on the second floor. SGWU members carried signs in support and chanted “Stanford works because we do.” Some read “One bargaining committee, 5000 united graduate workers.”

The rally “was energizing. Hundreds of SGWU members showed up and showed that they’re ready to fight for a strong contract for the inclusion of fellows,” said Flores, who is the lead SGWU organizer for the division of literatures, cultures and languages.

The counter-protesters criticized the emphasis on unity. According to a representative, their frustration comes because SGWU ratified a Palestine Trade Union Solidarity Statement with about 65% of card-signing members approval

The Nov. 2 statement reads, “SGWU stands against the illegal occupation of Palestine, the mass ethnic cleansing of Palestinian people and the apartheid system under which Palestinian people live, and we urge our employer to do the same.” 

In a flier for the counter-protest, the group wrote that the SGWU’s statement on Palestine “demonizes the State of Israel and calls on the University to divest from Israeli-affiliated companies.”

The spokesperson of the counter-protester group, a Ph.D. candidate who requested anonymity due to fear of retaliation, believes that this issue will impact the future negotiation process. 

The SGWU’s “discriminatory acts outshadow [its] bargaining platform … I believe the larger matter is that the University is now aware that many students do not fully support the actions of the SGWU and its discriminatory policies,” they wrote in a statement to The Daily. 

Counter-protesters hoped to “ensure that SGWU never again oversteps its bounds as a labor union and puts politics before people,” the spokesperson wrote.

Flores said the counter-protesters do not damage the SGWU’s unity. 

“65% of our membership voted in favor of the statement in solidarity with Palestinian trade unions, expressing a clear commitment to the labor movement’s long tradition of international solidarity, and 96% of our members also voted to ratify our bargaining platform,” Flores said. “I think it’s very clear that we are not divided.” 

The SGWU shared bargaining updates since its first bargaining session on Friday, where it presented its non-economic bargaining platform based on expanding worker benefits, establishing the union’s long term power and winning a grievance procedure to allow SGWU to enforce a contract more effectively. In response, Stanford’s bargaining team has proposed University Academic and Management Rights. 

Stanford’s proposal “constitutes an attempt to retain complete control over virtually every aspect of our employment,” Flores said. 

According to Flores, Stanford has done more to show that it is not in favor of the union’s creation. During Friday’s bargaining session, the University insisted on calling graduates “employees” rather than workers and indicated that they are unwilling to include issues of discrimination as grievable issues, Flores said.

University spokesperson Dee Mostofi wrote, “We are committed to bargaining in good faith with the union, and we are focused on having a productive set of negotiations.”

As the SGWU continues in its bargaining process, it plans to engage a wider sect of graduate students. 

“This is a really, really exciting time in the history of SGWU … Graduate workers really have the opportunity to help shape the union,” Flores said. “We hope that as many graduate workers as possible will participate in the decision making that lies ahead.”

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University introduces committees to support Jewish, Arab, Muslim and Palestinian students https://stanforddaily.com/2023/11/13/university-introduces-support-groups-for-jewish-arab-muslim-and-palestinian-students/ https://stanforddaily.com/2023/11/13/university-introduces-support-groups-for-jewish-arab-muslim-and-palestinian-students/#respond Tue, 14 Nov 2023 06:02:41 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1236971 President Richard Saller and Provost Jenny Martinez announced two new groups to support students affected by the Israel-Hamas war and shared new safety measures in a Monday email.

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Stanford President Richard Saller and Provost Jenny Martinez announced two new groups and new campus safety measures in an email Monday, following calls from community members demanding further support from the University for students affected by the Israel-Gaza war. 

The two support groups — the Antisemitism, Bias and Communication Subcommittee and the Muslim, Arab and Palestinian Communities Committee — were created following a reported rise of hate crimes targeting Jewish, Muslim and Arab students on campus. Antisemitic messages have been written across campus and a hit-and-run targeting a Muslim Arab student on Nov. 3 is being investigated as a hate crime.

“The last several weeks have been challenging as our community has witnessed and responded to the Israel-Hamas war,” Saller and Martinez wrote in Monday’s email. “For many it has been a time of anguish, fear, worry, and anger.”

The Antisemitism, Bias and Communication Subcommittee falls under the Jewish Advisory Committee, a panel created in May to support and enhance the Jewish experience at Stanford. Saller and Martinez’s email highlighted the committee’s past progress, including the recent accommodation of Yom Kippur in Stanford’s academic calendar and efforts to expand accessibility to Kosher dinners. 

The subcommittee’s primary responsibilities are to provide recommendations on educating the community and enacting measures to reduce, eliminate, and respond to antisemitism, to foster dialogue with the Muslim, Arab, and Palestinian communities and to consider ways to partner with members of the those communities, according to the Stanford Report

The Antisemitism, Bias and Communication Subcommittee’s leadership is composed of co-chairs Ari Kelman, a professor in the Graduate School of Education, and Rabbi Laurie Hahn Tapper, the associate dean for the Office for Religious and Spiritual Life.

The Committee on Muslim, Arab and Palestinian Communities intends to provide recommendations that “educate the community on the sources and effects of Islamophobia, anti-Arab and anti-Palestinian bias.” The committee will foster dialogue with all involved communities, including Jewish communities, according to the Stanford Report.  

The Committee on Muslim, Arab and Palestinian Communities leadership is composed of co-chairs Alexander Key, associate professor of comparative literature, and Abiya Ahmed, associate dean of students and the director of the Markaz Resource Center.

The report also announced new campus safety measures. 

Saller and Martinez wrote that the University has deployed increased security at “key locations and events on campus in recent weeks.” They announced the launch of an independent, third-party campus safety review that will be conducted by The Riseling Group (TRG). The consulting firm provides services to organizations like law enforcement or colleges and universities, according to its website. TRG previously provided an independent review of an on-campus police stop in January, when a gun was drawn on a Black motorist.

The group will advise immediate and long-term steps towards improving campus safety, Saller and Martinez wrote. 

The report shared a variety of supportive resources — including an expansion of resources for students — and directed students to community-based centers like Hillel at Stanford and the Markaz.  

Saller and Martinez reaffirmed the University’s stances against antisemitism and Islamophobia and also re-emphasized Stanford’s policies on protected and unprotected speech.

They emphasized the importance of the campus community coming together to reject “antisemitism, Islamophobia and anti-Muslim bias, anti-Palestinian bias, anti-Israeli bias, and all forms of hatred” to foster an environment of “civil, reasoned, deeply informed discussion that advances our mission of learning.”

“In these difficult times, we hope you’ll join us in supporting one another as members of one Stanford community,” Saller and Martinez wrote.

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