Julia Ingram – The Stanford Daily https://stanforddaily.com Breaking news from the Farm since 1892 Sun, 22 Aug 2021 01:05:55 +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 Julia Ingram – The Stanford Daily https://stanforddaily.com 32 32 204779320 Ingram: Finding balance https://stanforddaily.com/2021/06/12/ingram-finding-balance/ https://stanforddaily.com/2021/06/12/ingram-finding-balance/#respond Sat, 12 Jun 2021 19:11:36 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1183359 For those of you who will get to see Stanford (and The Daily) fully come to life next year, don’t get too caught up in the stress of it all, writes Julia Ingram.

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I’m a notoriously indecisive person, but I knew I wanted to join the campus paper at whatever college I was attending before I even got into Stanford. And despite the rollercoaster the last four years has been, I’m glad I never second-guessed this choice, because The Daily has been my home at Stanford.

I became a desk editor in the second half of my freshman year; since that point, my pre-pandemic college experience was defined by the rhythm of The Daily’s production cycle. I processed campus news in terms of the headlines they led to before I thought about their impact on my life as a student. I’ve spent an uncountable number of hours at The Daily house, in meetings, at production or just hanging out. I once walked out in the middle of a lecture to cover a Daily story. Another time I drove with two editors to San Francisco on a Friday night to chase a lead for an investigation we only learned by eavesdropping when a source pocket-dialed me.  

In my junior year, I became editor-in-chief; that volume was a period of incredible growth, but also of inordinate stress. I learned how to coordinate an insane number of moving parts, how to make tough ethical calls and when something doesn’t need to be perfect, just publishable. I helped marshal editors to convince hundreds of students to join in September (leading to the most unmanageable rollouts I’ve ever seen) and worked hard over the next few months to give them a reason to stay. 

But I also faced the lonely reality of, as current EIC Erin Woo ’21 put it in her editor’s farewell, the weight of all final decisions falling on your shoulders. When something went wrong, I saw it as my fault; when something went right, it was because I had fantastic editors and staff. It was, I now recognize, not the healthiest mindset, and I’m forever grateful to my executive editor Holden Foreman ’21 for sticking by my side through all the highs and lows.

I finished my term as EIC in Jan. 2020, when Covid was a small enough issue in the U.S. that we could toss all virus-related articles to the same beat reporter. By the time I limped across the finish line of winter quarter, only four weeks liberated from my post, campus was shutting down. 

Without The Daily or campus, I felt lost. I enrolled in 22 units in spring 2020 to fill the gap. (It did not work, and I quickly burned out.) As the remote quarters continued, I thought a lot about finding balance, not only in where I spend my time, but where I’m emotionally and personally invested. I’ve thought about what it means to stake so much of your worth into one thing, or into your work product in general, and how my Daily experience might have felt if I separated Julia, the person, from Julia, the Daily editor. If I had known it would end when it did, would I have approached it differently? 

I’m grateful that, for nearly every challenging moment at The Daily, there was a rewarding one behind it. I’m grateful for each time I got to make the late night call to send the paper and write the time we finished on the whiteboard. For getting to watch the Quote Board fill up with the funny things people said at production. For the thrill of an exploding Slack channel or group text when a story broke, and the simultaneous entry of three reporters and two editors into The House to pounce on the same Google Doc. For the debauchery of every Banquet and Trivia Night. To have played such a big role in the last five-day-a-week print volume of The Daily. To have met some of my closest friends from the hours we pored over this paper together. To have found the thing that keeps me going, a career I’m excited to pursue. 

I haven’t really begun to process the fact that I’m graduating. I’ve hardly had time to wrap my head around the fact things were ending, because I spent so much time waiting for them to begin again. So, for those of you who will get to see Stanford (and The Daily) fully come to life next year, don’t get too caught up in the stress of it all. These moments will be gone before you know it. 

Contact Julia Ingram on Twitter @juliaingram_. 

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Stanford denies TDX disbanding appeal in interim decision https://stanforddaily.com/2021/06/08/stanford-denies-tdx-disbanding-appeal-in-interim-decision/ https://stanforddaily.com/2021/06/08/stanford-denies-tdx-disbanding-appeal-in-interim-decision/#respond Wed, 09 Jun 2021 01:37:07 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1183495 The decision and affirmation both come after an Organizational Conduct Board (OCB) investigation into the fraternity following a student’s death in January 2020. As a part of the final ruling, the University revoked the fraternity's recognition for six years.

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This story includes references to a student’s death that may be troubling to some readers.

Vice Provost for Student Affairs Susie Brubaker-Cole temporarily denied Theta Delta Chi’s (TDX) appeal of Stanford’s March decision to disband the organization on Tuesday.  

The decision and affirmation both come after an Organizational Conduct Board (OCB) investigation into the fraternity following a student’s death in January 2020.  As a part of the final ruling, the University revoked the fraternity’s recognition for six years.

The denial is an interim decision because the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office will release more information about the student’s death, which was ruled an accidental fentanyl overdose in February 2020, in the “near future,” Brubaker-Cole wrote. A public information officer from the County Sheriff’s Office, which is conducting the investigation, said that “near future” could mean months or years, and did not have an exact timeline to when more information would be released. 

TDX’s appeal argued that the University failed to adequately assess the events leading up to the student’s death, including their efforts to intervene after the student experienced an apparent overdose on Jan. 15, 2020. Multiple then-TDX residents told The Daily that both Residence Deans and emergency medical technicians were made aware of the student’s symptoms on Jan. 15. According to these residents, paramedics were also told on Jan. 15 that an overdose was suspected, and on the day of the student’s death, Jan. 17, EMTs told a resident that they found a bottle containing fewer pills than it had when the first apparent overdose occurred. 

But in a letter to fraternity and sorority leaders regarding her decision, Brubaker-Cole wrote that she “noted inaccuracies in how TDX characterized what was told to and known by professional staff, what was known by and shared with EMTs, and student leadership’s knowledge of and role in the events.” Student Affairs spokesperson Pat Harris declined to specify what these inaccuracies were. 

Patient reports from the Palo Alto Fire Department obtained by The Daily do not mention the student’s symptoms, fentanyl or an overdose on Jan. 15, 2020. The report made in response to the call on Jan. 17 following the student’s death also does not mention drugs or an overdose. A third report, made the evening of Jan. 17 in response to calls of a hazardous substance in the bathroom the student was found in, described a blue substance that they suspected to be fentanyl. Battalion Chief Shane Yarbrough, who spoke on behalf of the paramedics, declined to answer questions about the report, citing HIPAA.

Brubaker-Cole said that the OCB appeal process allows organizations to contest the administrative process and decision, rather than the findings of the investigation. Much of TDX’s appeal argues that the decision did not take into account all the facts, particularly with regard to the apparent overdose on Jan. 15, 2020. This, Brubaker-Cole wrote was “outside the scope of the review.” 

TDX’s appeal also asserted the organization was not provided with all relevant information from the investigation, including witness transcripts. Brubaker-Cole wrote that she found that “the organization was given access to all of the materials that were given to and/or used by the OCB; the OCB did not call witnesses; and TDX did not request that any witnesses be called.”

TDX Alumni Association member Cyd Zeigler ’95 said the organization stands by their case, and argued that if Brubaker-Cole found inaccuracies in their appeal, she should release documents from the OCB investigation proving so.

“We want full transparency,” Zeigler said. “We call on the University to release the full investigative report with all documents and all evidence so that we can all see what happened.”

In a statement commenting on the decision, Provost Persis Drell wrote that “there is no effort by administrators to eliminate Greek life at Stanford.”

“We believe Greek life has value at Stanford,” she wrote. “As we have said before, we are committed to continuing 10 Greek houses on campus.”

It is unclear how 675 Lomita, the address of the former TDX house, will be filled in the upcoming housing allocation process. The Undergraduate Residence Governance Council is currently determining this and will release more information soon, Harris said.

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TDX appeals disbanding decision, citing efforts to intervene before student’s 2020 death https://stanforddaily.com/2021/05/22/tdx-appeals-disbanding-decision-citing-efforts-to-intervene-before-students-2020-death/ https://stanforddaily.com/2021/05/22/tdx-appeals-disbanding-decision-citing-efforts-to-intervene-before-students-2020-death/#respond Sun, 23 May 2021 02:08:19 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1182836 Over a year after a student died of an accidental fentanyl overdose in the TDX house, Stanford disbanded the frat. In the days before the student's death, residents alerted RDs and EMTs when they observed signs of what appeared to be a separate, but not lethal, overdose.

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This story includes references to a student’s death that may be troubling to some readers.

More than a year after a student died of an accidental fentanyl overdose in the former Theta Delta Chi (TDX) house in January 2020, Stanford disbanded and unhoused the fraternity, stating that TDX violated the Fundamental Standard by failing to report the presence of illicit substances in the house. 

But, in the days prior to the student’s death, TDX residents had alerted Residence Deans (RDs) and emergency medical technicians when they observed signs of what appeared to be a separate, but not lethal, overdose on Jan. 15, 2020. Now, TDX is appealing Stanford’s decision, asserting that the months-long Organizational Conduct Board (OCB) investigation into the fraternity failed to fairly assess the events leading up to the student’s death. A summary of the appeal was circulated to over a thousand TDX alumni and several University administrators.

The Daily interviewed multiple then-TDX residents familiar with the incident to confirm that both RDs and paramedics were told of the student’s symptoms on Jan. 15, 2020. According to these residents, paramedics were also told on Jan. 15 that an overdose was suspected, and on the day of the student’s death, Jan. 17, EMTs told a resident that they found a bottle containing fewer pills than it had when the first apparent overdose occurred. It is unclear if RDs knew that students suspected an overdose prior to the student’s death or that the student was in possession of the pills. The symptoms communicated to the on-call RD, however, align with what the CDC states are signs of an opioid overdose.

Student Affairs spokesperson Pat Harris told The Daily that “We will update the University community at the end of the appeal process.” In response to several questions regarding the events of Jan. 15, 2020, the OCB findings and the status of the fraternity’s appeal, she wrote that Stanford has “no new information to provide currently.” 

On Jan. 15, 2020, the then-Resident Assistant (RA) observed that the student was unable to stand up, move or talk, and had pinpoint pupils. The RA then called TDX house’s RD, the on-call RD and 9-1-1. He suspected the student was experiencing a drug overdose, and said so to the three paramedics who arrived. The student declined to go to the hospital, and his symptoms subsided. Neither RD arrived at the house, but a record of some of the symptoms and the paramedics’ response was labeled a “non-priority” in RD logs. Both the TDX RD and the RD on-call that night declined to comment.

Palo Alto Deputy Fire Chief Kevin McNally, whose department oversees Emergency Medical Services, confirmed to The Daily that a medical call was made to TDX on Jan. 15, 2020. McNally said he could not provide more details due to HIPAA. 

The student died less than 48 hours later. The Santa Clara County coroner concluded that the cause of death was an accidental fentanyl overdose. Hours after his death, an AlertSU was sent to the Stanford community warning of counterfeit prescription pills that actually contain fentanyl. The County reported in May 2020 that 19 fentanyl deaths occured between Jan. 1, 2020 and May 8, 2020, and some were associated with fake oxycodone pills containing lethal doses of fentanyl. 

In the months following the student’s death, students organized in support of providing Narcan access and training on campus. The ASSU Undergraduate Senate proposed and later tabled a resolution to provide dorms with Narcan (naloxone) kits, a nasal spray that temporarily reverses the effects of opioids. In October, the Senate and Graduate Student Council passed a joint resolution advocating for all Stanford community members to have access to naloxone training and receive free Narcan after completing the training. 

Over the past academic year, a group of students launched the The Campus Opioid Overdose Prevention (CO-OP) Project to provide the training and free Narcan to those who complete it. After coordinating with the Santa Clara County Opioid Overdose Prevention Project, a team of four students have provided training and Narcan to over 100 students this academic year, said Max Moss ’21, one of the students. 

CO-OP provides optional training, as Moss said mandatory training of RAs would place “a huge moral and practical burden” on them.

“They need to know who to call in that moment of medical crisis,” he said. “To mandate this really extends beyond the definition of what an RA currently is.” 

Information about the training has been added online to the Office of Alcohol Policy and Education’s website. Harris did not respond to a question about the extent to which RDs receive training in recognizing an opioid overdose. 

Stanford’s decision to disband TDX following the investigation also diverged from OCB’s recommended sanction, which included community service, random searches and an educational project, according to the appeal summary. OCB policies note that the associate vice provost and dean of students may reject, modify or accept OCB’s recommendation. Harris did not respond to questions about the recommendation, nor how it factored into the final decision. 

“I’m confident that the University is going to look at our appeal and understand that the fraternity acted in a way to try to help the member,” said TDX Alumni Association member Cyd Zeigler ’95. “I am confident that the University is going to reverse its decision, and work with the fraternity to make it even stronger.”

The appeal summary also alleges that OCB has not provided TDX with all relevant evidence found in the investigation, including transcripts of 20 interviews with witnesses, and that OCB heard the case without live witnesses or cross-examination. OCB policies state that representatives from the student organization being investigated should be provided with all relevant documentation prior to the hearing. They also state the organization’s representatives’ duties include submitting “written questions to the OCB Panel Chair during the questioning of witnesses, if any.” Harris did not respond to questions about the evidence found in the investigation or requests for documentation of it. 

This story has been updated to reflect that the on-call RD contacted on Jan. 15, 2020 declined to comment.

Contact Julia Ingram at jingram@stanforddaily.com.

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Outdoor House loses appeal for denied theme housing, Haus Mitt and FroSoCo also discontinued under ResX https://stanforddaily.com/2021/04/20/outdoor-house-loses-appeal-for-denied-theme-housing-haus-mitt-and-frosoco-also-discontinued-under-resx/ https://stanforddaily.com/2021/04/20/outdoor-house-loses-appeal-for-denied-theme-housing-haus-mitt-and-frosoco-also-discontinued-under-resx/#respond Wed, 21 Apr 2021 06:21:38 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1181434 The theme houses Outdoor House, Haus Mitteleuropa and Freshman Sophomore College (FroSoCo) will not be continued under the new ResX residential framework going into effect in fall 2021.

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The theme houses Outdoor House, Haus Mitteleuropa and Freshman Sophomore College (FroSoCo) will be discontinued under the new ResX residential framework going into effect in fall 2021.

Nine academic theme houses were approved to join the new neighborhood system, including the familiar Structured Liberal Education (SLE) and ITALIC. La Casa Italiana, La Maison Française (French House) and Slavianskii Dom were taken off the Row and combined into Yost house in Governor’s Corner, which will be called the “At Home Abroad House.”

Student Affairs spokesperson Pat Harris wrote that factors determining which theme houses to approve were “supporting and advancing the core principles of ResX including: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion; Community and Belonging; Intellectual and Personal Growth; and Health and Well-being [and] placing all [theme houses] in residences that have a Resident Fellow to ensure continuity and support for these critical programs.”

While Haus Mitt was a self-operated house, Outdoor House and FroSoCo both had Resident Fellows (RFs). 

Outdoor House, located in Jenkins in Suites, had partnered with the Outdoor Center on campus since the 2015-16 academic year to form a community centered around outdoor education. Stanford rejected Outdoor House’s application on April 6, as well as its appeal of their decision to continue as a theme house on Tuesday. 

The Undergraduate Residences Governance Council (URGC) wrote in an email to the applicants that if they were to apply next year, they should “work to build a more robust connection to the university, including involving faculty leadership.” Other applications were more faculty-led, such as Slavianskii Dom, supported by the Slavic Department and French and Italian House, supported by the Department of French and Italian, according to professor Gabriella Safran in the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures. According to Safran, ResEd made the decision to combine the houses, which later became “At Home Abroad House.” Haus Mitt did not become a part of the ResX system because it did not apply, according to Safran. Outdoor House’s application was endorsed by one faculty member and seven staff members, but written by students.

The URGC also wrote that Outdoor House should pursue “meaningful engagement with faculty and staff in the important areas of equity and inclusion to more fully address the cultural concerns of the previous outdoor house that you included so explicitly in your application.” The house’s theme applicants focused on shifting its framework to address issues inherent in centering a house around outdoor culture — a traditionally white and wealthy space. In a Letter to the Community, Outdoor House community members wrote that “Centered on expensive hobbies, the house has not shown enough regard to the people we exclude, the land we recreate on, or perspectives outside the mainstream interpretation of outdoor recreation.” 

“We realized this was an opportunity to reorient our community, and create a space actively opposed to the harmful norms of ‘outdoorsiness’ in America,” they continued. “Our application imagined a theme house which removes recreation from the spotlight in favor of education, reflection, and action.”

As a result, they wrote, the theme house they proposed was “drastically different” from the previous Outdoor House. With “growing support” from faculty, they feel they will have an “excellent shot” at getting their theme back for the 2022-23 academic year. They also wrote that any students interested in the theme next year should aim to draw into Neighborhood T, where they plan to informally congregate. Neighborhood T includes Wilbur Hall, Enchanted Broccoli Forest, Narnia, Jerry, Chi Omega and 610 Mayfield (the former French House).

Outdoor House nearly lost their outdoor education theme in the last pre-pandemic academic year following miscommunication among administrative channels about the theme’s status as a pilot program or permanent fixture on campus. Residential Education reversed its November 2018 decision to strip the house of its theme within days after widespread resident pushback, granting it a one-year extension into the 2019-2020 academic year. 

FroSoCo, previously located in Adams and Schiff houses in Governor’s Corner, was an application-based house for frosh and sophomores who lived there as frosh. It was known as a quieter dorm, isolated from the majority of frosh living in all-frosh dorms on East Campus, but many of its residents found community and pride in living there. Under the new ResX framework, all first-year students will live in all-frosh dorms. Sterling Quad, where Adams, Schiff and the upperclass dorms Potter and Robinson are located, will be converted to all-frosh housing.

“One of the defining, unique qualities of FroSoCo was the continuity of experience between the Frosh/Soph year — that is, you got to stay in the same place with your friends,” wrote Schiff RF Scott Calvert in a Slack message to the FroSoCo community. “We’re really excited to see that ResX has embraced continuity with the new neighborhood model. […] In this way, FroSoCo’s legacy lives on.”

Calvert wrote that if students want to create a house with a similar culture in Sterling Quad as FroSoCo, they should apply to staff the house next year. 

“I hope you’ll use your influence to build an environment where folks feel free to ‘geek out together,’” he wrote. “I’m hoping that there is something in the location, legacy, and maybe just the spirit of the house that will help us cultivate the kind of community that we’ve had in the past.”

Haus Mitt also did not get housing under the ResX system. Ana Cabrera ’20, who staffed there as a Resident Computer Consultant (RCC) last year, was shocked and saddened when she found out her previous residence would not be included in the new system.

“I know a lot of people think about these houses as themes that lend to parties and don’t really add that much to the Stanford community aside from that but I do think that there is a small group of people who it does provide community for,” Cabrera said. “People who studied abroad in Berlin, people who are majoring in German, people who are German themselves did find a space within the house and I am sad they will not have this space.”

During her interview for the RCC position with previous house staff, Haus Mitt’s emphasis on inclusivity drew her to its community. 

“They wanted to make sure it was a space open to the community, especially with the notion that usually row houses are seen as elitist white private spaces and they didn’t want to stick with that notion,” Cabrera said. During her time in the house, “it did feel as if it was welcoming, as if anybody could walk in.” 

The houses that were not approved, Harris wrote, were “provided feedback on how to improve their application and were invited to reapply next year,” suggesting that the academic theme houses could change after the first year of ResX. 

This article has been updated to include the comment from professor Gabriella Safran who reached out after the publication of the article.

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University reconsiders all-virtual commencement in light of new state guidelines https://stanforddaily.com/2021/04/01/university-reconsiders-all-virtual-commencement-in-light-of-new-state-guidelines/ https://stanforddaily.com/2021/04/01/university-reconsiders-all-virtual-commencement-in-light-of-new-state-guidelines/#respond Fri, 02 Apr 2021 04:38:25 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1180587 The new guidelines permit outdoor events with in-state visitors and assigned seating.

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Stanford is re-evaluating the extent to which it can hold in-person graduation events for the class of 2021 in June following the release of new guidelines for commencement ceremonies.

The California Department of Public Health’s (CDPH) guidelines, released on March 16, state that commencement ceremonies may be held outdoors in accordance with the state’s guidelines on “outdoor live events with assigned seats and controlled mixing.” As of Friday, Santa Clara County is in the orange tier, which allows for outdoor events at 33% capacity and in-state attendees. The Stanford Stadium, where Commencement is typically held, has a 50,424-person capacity.

“We are reviewing the new public health guidance and looking at what in-person events we may be able to do for commencement,” wrote University spokesperson E.J. Miranda. “We will continue to work with student leadership on planning and update the community as we move forward.”

David Pantera ’21, a senior class president and member of the Commencement Committee, said that the committee met on March 25 to discuss potentially adjusting the event in light of the recent change. 

The committee began work on planning the 2021 commencement last summer and developed three models for the ceremony: completely virtual, hybrid and fully in-person. President Marc Tessier-Lavigne initially announced that commencement would be fully virtual in February, but administrators are now considering other options due to the loosened restrictions. 

“We’re still talking through what that will actually look like for commencement, now that we can do more in-person stuff that we had envisioned,” Pantera said. “Restrictions on commencements were looser than [administrators] had expected and that’s why we’re really excited about having opportunities to have more special events,” he added. 

Whether or not commencement will have an in-person component, Pantera said the senior class presidents will be holding socially-distanced in-person events on campus. He said that commencement is considered in a separate “bucket” from the traditional senior events, such as the Wacky Walk, Senior Dinner on the Quad and the class time capsule.

Epidemiologists interviewed by The Daily generally agreed that in-person commencement ceremonies were feasible but had concerns surrounding ceremony guidelines, vaccination and infection rates among students. 

“We’re getting very close to that stage where commencement ceremonies could safely happen in person, but the problem is the practicality of how to do it,” said medicine professor Dean Winslow.

Epidemiology and public health department chair Melissa Bondy was more unsure. “I don’t think it’s a decision to make today that we should have the commencement,” Bondy said, citing the increase in COVID infection rates because of a new U.K. variant. 

Others emphasized the need for testing and vaccination. “Commencement ceremonies could potentially work,” said University of California, San Francisco epidemiology professor George Rutherford ’75 M.A. ’75. “But you would also have to be able to control access and make sure people are uninfected, either by virtue of having been vaccinated or by virtue of having been screened recently.” 

Including all students and families in a commencement ceremony while complying with public health guidelines remains difficult or impossible. The state’s guidelines only permit in-state visitors to attend outdoor events, and many seniors elected not to live on campus spring quarter. 

The senior class is divided, said Pantera, who, along with the other senior class presidents, surveyed the class of 2021 on their preferences for commencement. “Those who are on campus in the spring made it clear that they want something special on campus, they want some sort of graduation experience.” In addition, “Those who are off campus were just as clear that they did not want to feel forgotten.” 

Finding a way to incorporate graduates’ families and seniors living off-campus is a priority for the Commencement Committee, according to Pantera. To balance the desires of those both on and off campus, there will be a virtual component for every in-person event. 

Some California schools are planning optional in-person commencement ceremonies with virtual components. University of California, Berkeley is holding an in-person, student-only procession from May 16 to 20 and a virtual commencement ceremony on May 15. Santa Clara University, in the same county as Stanford, is holding three optional student-only, in-person ceremonies on June 11, and a virtual commencement the following day. 

Pantera said the Commencement Committee does not have a new timeline yet for Stanford’s updated plans. 

The senior class presidents have “always been pushing for as quick a timeline as possible,” he said. “We’re still just talking through how our contingency plans can be edited based on these new restrictions.”

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TDX disbanded after investigation finds illicit substances in house https://stanforddaily.com/2021/03/22/tdx-disbanded-after-investigation-finds-illicit-substances-in-house/ https://stanforddaily.com/2021/03/22/tdx-disbanded-after-investigation-finds-illicit-substances-in-house/#respond Mon, 22 Mar 2021 19:46:48 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1180121 The Theta Delta Chi (TDX) fraternity will lose housing and University recognition for six years after an investigation found three violations of the Fundamental Standard, Stanford informed the organization on Monday. TDX will not be given the opportunity to contest the findings of the investigation, and the University will reallocate its house in line with […]

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The Theta Delta Chi (TDX) fraternity will lose housing and University recognition for six years after an investigation found three violations of the Fundamental Standard, Stanford informed the organization on Monday.

TDX will not be given the opportunity to contest the findings of the investigation, and the University will reallocate its house in line with the ResX framework and a commitment to maintaining 10 Greek houses on campus. TDX can petition to be reinstated as a student organization in spring 2027.

A review board of three students and two faculty/staff members found in January that TDX failed to report to professional staff the presence of illicit substances in their house at 675 Lomita Drive. It also found that the fraternity had violated Stanford’s Controlled Substances and Alcohol policy and 2019-20 residence agreement with regard to the presence of opioids and marijuana in the house. 

TDX president Joey Díaz ’22 said the chapter defers all comments to their national organization. 

The decision comes just over a year after a TDX member died in the fraternity’s house after an accidental fentanyl overdose. 

“To be clear, the OCB investigation was not about assigning fault or responsibility for the student’s death,” Associate Vice Provost for Inclusion, Community & Integrative Learning Emelyn dela Peña and Dean of Students Mona Hicks wrote in an email sent to fraternity and sorority leaders. “However, the investigation found serious lapses in policy compliance by the fraternity that we simply cannot have in our community, for the safety of everyone.”

In October, the Undergraduate Senate and Graduate Student Council passed a joint resolution for the University to implement Naloxone training for all community associates, Resident Assistants and Stanford affiliates. 

The University announcement leaves three housed fraternities and five housed sororities at Stanford, if no changes are made before the return of all students to campus. 

The disbanding of TDX comes amid ongoing campus discussions on whether housed Greek life, or any Greek life, should remain present at Stanford. Stanford’s announcement acknowledged the discourse but stopped short of taking a side. Instead, it said, the undergraduate residence governance council, a new body to be formed under ResX, will work with the ASSU to respond to their recommendations regarding Greek life at Stanford. 

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‘Lion in her field,’ legal ethics pioneer and professor Deborah Rhode dies at 68 https://stanforddaily.com/2021/01/11/lion-in-her-field-legal-ethics-pioneer-and-professor-deborah-rhode-dies-at-68/ https://stanforddaily.com/2021/01/11/lion-in-her-field-legal-ethics-pioneer-and-professor-deborah-rhode-dies-at-68/#respond Tue, 12 Jan 2021 05:55:24 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1176546 To wrap Rhode’s countless board positions, awards, publications, and accomplishments otherwise is an impossible task. Over the course of her legal career, Rhode authored 30 books on gender, ethics and public policy and became the most cited scholar in legal ethics.

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Law professor Deborah Rhode, a renowned legal ethics and gender law and policy scholar, died on Friday at 68.

To wrap Rhode’s countless board positions, awards, publications, and accomplishments otherwise is an impossible task. Over the course of her legal career, Rhode authored 30 books on gender, ethics and public policy and became the most cited scholar in legal ethics. 

“I don’t know of another legal academic career that remotely matches it,” Ralph Cavanagh, Rhode’s husband, told The Daily.

Rhode is survived by Cavanagh, whom she met as an undergraduate, as well as her sister Christine Rhode, eight beloved nieces and nephews and an uncountable number of mentees and students.

Though a clearly accomplished lawyer, Rhode never operated a commercial legal practice, instead dedicating her life to public service and driving profession-wide shifts toward pro-bono work. After getting both her undergraduate and law degrees from Yale, Rhode clerked for Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall before joining the Stanford Law School faculty in 1979.

“She stood out from the crowd. Even though she was five-foot-one and 90 pounds,” said fellow law professor Hank Greely ’74, one of Rhode’s closest friends since college. Greely emphasized that while Rhode jokingly complained of her height, it clearly didn’t inhibit her career nor competitive nature (over the past few months, the two played racketball and tennis every Monday and Saturday).

‘Lion in her field,’ legal ethics pioneer and professor Deborah Rhode dies at 68
Deborah Rhode. Photo: TIMOTHY ARCHIBALD/Stanford Magazine

Cavanagh recalled that Rhode had always been an articulate and talented — sometimes humorous — orator.

Rhode was a persuasive debater dating back to her college years. One of her favorite debate rivals was Merrick Garland, an Obama-era Supreme Court nominee and President-elect Biden’s current nominee for attorney general.

Of her speaking, “the style is impossible to imitate, but incredibly compelling, fluid, fluent, precise,” Cavanagh recalled.

Early in her time at Yale, she rivaled her husband too, before going on to defeat him to become first female president of the Yale Debate Association. The role was previously held by National Review founder William Buckley Jr. and former Secretary of State John Kerry.

She was also the first female graduate of Yale college to be elected to the Yale governing board, the policy-making body for the university. Mentioning the countless other positions she held that woman had never before, “she excelled to the point where gender was irrelevant,” her husband said. “She would go places where she’d never been and where they’d never seen anyone like her.”

At Stanford, she founded the Stanford Center on the Legal Profession, an institute that promotes research focused on issues including ethical values and increasing access to justice, two core tenets of Rhode’s research, teaching and writing. Rhode was also the founding president of the International Association of Legal Ethics and a founding director of Stanford’s Center on Ethics.

One of Rhode’s students before she became a colleague at the Law School, law professor Shirin Sinnar J.D. ’03 long looked up to Rhode. 

“She was the most ethical of human beings, and it’s not often that you find people who can both say the right things and do the cutting-edge research on a topic, but also living by example. And she did,” Sinnar said, describing Rhode as a “lion in her field of ethics and leadership.”

‘Lion in her field,’ legal ethics pioneer and professor Deborah Rhode dies at 68
Deborah Rhode. Photo: TIMOTHY ARCHIBALD/Stanford Magazine

Rhode was also a pioneer in the area of leadership training, which her husband said she considered to be one of her greatest points of pride and service. She thought it necessary that law schools better prepare students for leadership positions as so many go on to become figures of power, and she launched a course on leadership at Stanford, LAW 7028: “Lawyers and Leadership.” Other law schools followed in offering leadership classes.

“We’ve all had in very recent memory reminders of just how important that is — how tragically everyone ends up if it isn’t fair,” Cavanagh said. “She thought deeply about that. She thought particularly about it in the context of female leadership. She was… a creator of leaders.”

A figure of inspiration for generations of great teachers and public interest lawyers, she also had a deep understanding of the barriers women face in their careers. In her most-sold book “The Beauty Bias,” Rhode identified the outsized importance of physical attractiveness in driving personal success, originally inspired by a conference she attended in which she saw women “hobbled by their ludicrously constraining footwear,” Cavanagh said.

Sinnar, Rhode’s former student and colleague, said that Rhode “went out of her way to make people feel like they belonged.” Rhode, only the second female law professor granted tenure, was always pushing for greater diversity within the law school.

Rhode was a mentor to many, both intellectually and personally. She was a “sounding board of just how one should live their life,” said Renee Knake Jefferson, a law professor at the University of Houston and one of Rhode’s mentees.

Law students also knew Rhode for her dog Stanton, named for renowned Yale professor Stanton Wheeler. She died at her home in Palo Alto. The cause of her death is unknown.

Outside of academia, Rhode was also a gifted black-and-white photographer, at one time capturing the Supreme Court and Justice Thurgood Marshall, for whom she clerked. Her photos continue to hang around the halls of Stanford Law’s campus and are entered into the official record of the nation’s high court.

Reflecting on her many “firsts” as a woman and endless accomplishments, Cavanagh said “she had an acute sense of the history of her time” and knew she was making waves.

Greely reflected similarly. “For such a tiny person she made a very large impact,” he said. 

Contact Sam Catania at samcat ‘at’ stanford.edu and Julia Ingram at jmingram ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Ineligible for weekly testing and absent from Stanford’s COVID-19 dashboard, cases among Stanford Health Care employees top 400 https://stanforddaily.com/2020/10/16/ineligible-for-weekly-testing-and-absent-from-stanfords-covid-19-dashboard-cases-among-stanford-health-care-employees-top-400/ https://stanforddaily.com/2020/10/16/ineligible-for-weekly-testing-and-absent-from-stanfords-covid-19-dashboard-cases-among-stanford-health-care-employees-top-400/#respond Fri, 16 Oct 2020 07:51:28 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1173725 Stanford Health Care — a separate but next-door entity from Stanford University — is not included in the University's weekly testing requirements. Health Care employees who are symptomatic or have been exposed to the virus are required to get tested by the hospital system’s clinic, but are ineligible for Stanford’s weekly surveillance testing.

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Once every week, students living on Stanford’s campus swab their own noses to test for coronavirus. If they test positive, they’re tested again. Faculty and staff are encouraged to get tested at the same rate. 

Over 40,000 tests later, Stanford has a mere 0.1% positivity rate: 33 student cases and 7 among faculty, staff or postdocs since June 29. 

Stanford Health Care — a separate but next-door entity from Stanford University — is not included in that regimen. Employees who are symptomatic or have been exposed to the virus are required to get tested by the hospital system’s clinic, but are ineligible for Stanford’s weekly surveillance testing. 

The separation means that the cumulative 474 positive tests among the 14,000 employees of Stanford Health Care from the start of the pandemic to Wednesday at noon are not reflected in the University’s COVID-19 dashboards. Seventy-six of those cases were identified on or after Aug. 31, a week before the University’s surveillance testing for students began. Over the last week, the average positive rate among Stanford Health Care employees was 1.5%; Santa Clara County’s was 1.6%.

[View more data on positive tests among Stanford Health Care employees at The Daily’s COVID-19 dashboard]

Stanford Health Care has conducted a total of 4,212 tests on employees since June 22; Stanford has administered 40,264 since June 29.  

In April, Stanford Health Care tested over 12,000 asymptomatic employees over the course of two weeks, and found only 0.3% tested positive, according to spokesperson Julie Greicius. In recent weeks, testing of asymptomatic employees has yielded positivity rates “well under” 0.25%, according to Dr. Bryan Bohman, Stanford Health Care’s Associate Chief Medical Officer of Workforce Health and Wellness.

“The testing needs and goals are very different for a university campus vs. a health system,” Bohman wrote in an email to The Daily. “Our health system employees don’t have congregate living arrangements; also our university students/employees don’t have the same PPE policies and procedures as we do in a health system.”

Stanford Health Care employees are, however, permitted to enter outdoor spaces in the campus zones during their workday, prompting questions for third-year resident physician J. Bradley Segal.

“As individuals who are on campus almost every single day of the week, I just can’t understand why we wouldn’t also be tested as part of that ongoing disease surveillance effort,” he said.

Stanford Health Care employees who are asymptomatic and exposed to the virus are required to be tested twice, once two to five days after exposure and again 14 days after. Those without symptoms or exposure can seek out a test at most once every two weeks. 

John Swartzberg, clinical professor emeritus of infectious diseases and vaccinology at UC Berkeley, agreed with the testing systems Stanford University and Stanford Health Care has in place.

“For Stanford, testing the students once a week is very reasonable,” he said. “The more tests we can do, the better.”

Stanford justifies its mandatory weekly testing of students as “largely due to the congregate and high-density living situations for students in university-provided housing.” All students currently living on campus are housed in the Escondido Village Graduate Residences.

In reference to moving testing of Stanford Health Care employees to a weekly cadence, Swartzberg said, “While I would never speak against testing, I don’t know that that’s a valuable use of that resource.”

George Rutherford, an epidemiology professor at UC San Francisco, agreed. Stanford is not over-testing “more than anybody else is,” he said. 

“It strikes me as prudent to not over test, if there really is not a lot of risk of transmission,” Rutherford said, citing the April study that found a 0.3% positivity rate among asymptomatic employees. 

Stanford Health Care maintains it has the ability to conduct as many tests as it sees fit.  

“Any decision about asymptomatic testing depends on a number of factors, including community COVID-19 prevalence, the accuracy of the tests that are available, and also convenience, speed, and costs of testing,” Bohman wrote. “We do have adequate testing capacity to test as many employees and patients as we think is necessary to maintain a very safe care environment.”

This article has been updated to omit reference to Vaden Health Center, as not all student testing occurs there. It has also been corrected to reflect that the number of tests conducted on Stanford Health Care employees since June 22 is 4,212, not 4,264. The Daily regrets this error.

Contact Julia Ingram at jmingram ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Nearly 18% of Class of 2023 are legacy students or relatives of donors, report reveals https://stanforddaily.com/2020/06/26/nearly-18-of-class-of-2023-are-legacy-students-or-relatives-of-donors-report-reveals/ https://stanforddaily.com/2020/06/26/nearly-18-of-class-of-2023-are-legacy-students-or-relatives-of-donors-report-reveals/#respond Fri, 26 Jun 2020 21:27:09 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1169722 16.2% of students in the Class of 2023 are children of Stanford graduates, according to a report submitted to the California state legislature on Friday. An additional 1.5% were not legacy students but came from a family with a history of philanthropy, the report noted.

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16.2% of students in the Class of 2023 are children of Stanford graduates, according to a report submitted to the California state legislature on Friday. An additional 1.5% were not legacy students but came from a family with a history of philanthropy, the report noted.

The combined percentage is nearly equal to the 18.5% of students in the Class of 2023 who are first-generation college students, meaning that their parents do not have a bachelor’s degree. 

Stanford’s admissions rate for the Class of 2023 was a record-low 4.34%: 2,062 students were offered admission, and 1,701 enrolled in fall 2019. Of the total students admitted, 16.3% were legacy students or came from a family who donated to Stanford, though 18 students did not accept their offer of admission and 16 did not matriculate with the Class of 2023. 

The University defines legacy students as children of Stanford alumni at either the undergraduate or graduate level. The large majority of students who come from families that donate to the university are also children of alumni, the report states. The donor status of an applicant is not always noted in their admissions files, it adds, but some may contain a notation. 

The report was submitted in response to a new state law that requires California higher education institutions to report, each year through 2024, whether they provide preferential treatment in admissions to students on the basis of their relationship to alumni or a history of donations to the school, and if so, how many students this affected in their most recent freshman class. The law was a response to the 2019 college admissions scandal, in which prosecutors accused 33 parents of paying ringleader William Rick Singer to falsify their child’s college application credentials or bribe university coaches. 

The law requires that universities disclose the number of students who “did not meet the institution’s admission standards that apply to all applicants,” but were still admitted. Stanford reported that no students in the Class of 2023 fell into this category.

“If an applicant to Stanford is not highly competitive academically, an existing family connection or historical giving to the university mean nothing in the process,” the report states.

Contact Julia Ingram at jmingram ‘at’ stanford.edu. 

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Students to retrieve their belongings in phased approach beginning Monday https://stanforddaily.com/2020/06/03/students-to-retrieve-their-belongings-in-phased-approach-beginning-monday/ https://stanforddaily.com/2020/06/03/students-to-retrieve-their-belongings-in-phased-approach-beginning-monday/#respond Thu, 04 Jun 2020 03:25:49 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1168977 Students living in California who can travel to campus to retrieve their belongings and depart within the same day may do so as early as Monday, according to Residential & Dining Enterprises (R&DE).

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Students living in California who can travel to campus to retrieve their belongings and depart within the same day may do so as early as Monday, according to Residential & Dining Enterprises (R&DE).

Such students are part of “Phase 1A” of an approach that will have students come in waves to reclaim their things after Stanford sent undergraduates home in the hopes of resuming in-person classes this quarter. Phase 1A will last from Monday to June 21. 

Phase 1B includes students who live in residences that will house students over the summer or undergo renovation projects, including 550 Lasuen, Branner, Crothers, Durand, Hammarskjold, Mirrielees, Murray, Ng, Otero, Rinconada, Sigma Nu, Terra, Toyon, Ujamaa and ZAP, according to a Frequently Asked Questions page by R&DE. The FAQ did not specify a start date for this phase, but said it would be “very soon” and last until June 21. 

Students permitted to return to campus can sign up for an appointment to do so through an online portal on a first-come, first-served basis that will allot them three hours to pack up and move out. The number of students who can sign up to move out of a given building will be limited during each window to minimize the number of people in hallways, stairwells and restrooms, the FAQ said. Roommates will not be able to select the same window. 

Students will not be permitted to remain on campus outside their designated three-hour window, nor will they be allowed to visit common spaces within the residence or other campus buildings, the FAQ said. When packing up, students will only be permitted to have one member of their current household in their residence to assist them. Students with accommodations through the Office of Accessible Education may request an extended window.

If students do not return during their designated phase, their belongings will “likely be packed up and stored off-site,” and they will be permitted to return to pick up their packed belongings in “Phase 2.” If they have roommates, their things will “be packed intermingled.” No details on Phase 2 or beyond are included in the FAQ as of Tuesday afternoon. 

Some students’ belongings have already been packed up to make space for healthcare workers responding to the pandemic and those awaiting COVID-19 test results. These students will retrieve their belongings from pods or storage containers. 

Contact Julia Ingram at jmingram ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Stanford plans to house half of undergrads on campus per quarter next school year https://stanforddaily.com/2020/06/03/stanford-plans-to-house-half-of-undergrads-on-campus-per-quarter-next-school-year/ https://stanforddaily.com/2020/06/03/stanford-plans-to-house-half-of-undergrads-on-campus-per-quarter-next-school-year/#respond Wed, 03 Jun 2020 17:57:59 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1168955 Stanford plans to house two classes of undergraduates on campus in each quarter of the 2020-21 academic year including summer 2021, President Marc Tessier-Lavigne and Provost Persis Drell announced Wednesday in an email to faculty, but online teaching will remain “the default” option next year for undergraduates.

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Stanford plans to allow the equivalent of two classes of undergraduates to return to campus in each quarter of the 2020-21 academic year including summer 2021, President Marc Tessier-Lavigne and Provost Persis Drell announced on Wednesday in an email to faculty. They wrote that online teaching will remain “the default” option next year for undergraduates.  

Under the tentative plan, all undergraduates would be offered two quarters of campus housing, and would be expected to complete at least one additional quarter remotely. First-year students would reside on campus in fall, and seniors in spring, but no other decisions about which undergraduates would be on campus for each quarter have been made. In addition to each quarter’s designated students, those with special circumstances would be permitted to live on campus, as was allowed this quarter. 

“Our staff are having conversations with faculty and students about different options for bringing students back, whether by class year or by another rubric that aligns with the academic programs we offer,” Tessier-Lavigne and Drell wrote. 

They wrote that the plan is contingent on “the public health situation, and on any requirements that may be imposed by our state and county officials,” and that they “may not know those things definitively until late summer.” 

They added that the number of students may need to be reduced “if health conditions require it” but that they hope “health conditions will allow us instead to be able to expand access later in the year.”

Undergraduates that do reside on campus would live in private sleeping spaces, such as singles and two-room doubles. The University does not expect major residential changes to graduate student residences. 

Fall quarter classes will begin on Sept. 14 and end on Nov. 20, with final exams administered remotely between Nov. 30 and Dec. 4. Students on campus will be asked to leave after classes end, but those unable to depart may participate in a housing program to remain on campus over winter break. Previously, students were permitted to remain on campus over Thanksgiving break but were required to vacate their residences during winter break. 

The majority of undergraduate teaching will remain online for the next academic year, including all classes larger than 50 students, due to a limited amount of on-campus classrooms and the need to offer online learning to undergraduates away from campus, according to the email. Graduate and professional education is expected to move forward “at near-full capacity, albeit with some instruction and research conducted online,” Tessier-Lavigne and Drell wrote.

“We will need to view online as the default teaching option for 2020-21, to be supplemented by in-person instruction as much as is safe and feasible for students and faculty who are present on campus,” they added. 

Those that return to campus will be subject to physical distancing protocols in campus buildings and public spaces, as well as limitations on gatherings. Students will be asked not to leave the local area, and if they do, they will be required to self-isolate when they return. 

The letter added that “it’s likely” students on campus will need to wear face coverings regularly. 

First-year students will not be permitted to take a leave of absence for individual quarters, as was the policy prior to spring 2020. Those who wish to take a gap year must inform the admissions office by June 15. 

Tessier-Lavigne and Drell wrote that they will aim to send an update by the end of June, but that final plans will be contingent on requirements of state and local authorities.

A previous version of this post stated that Stanford plans to have two classes of undergraduates on campus each quarter. However, the University has not yet decided how it will determine who is on campus each quarter, “whether by class year or by another rubric that aligns with the academic programs we offer,” the president and provost wrote. The Daily regrets this error.

This post has been clarified to use the word “would” instead of “will” where the University’s tentative plan for next school year is described.

A previous version of this post also described the traditional three-quarter school year as being extended. This has been removed from the article to avoid confusion. Stanford holds four academic quarters each year, but very few undergraduates are on campus for summer quarter. In their message, the president and provost wrote that the “four-quarter year would allow all Stanford undergraduates to complete two quarters of instruction in residence on the Stanford campus in 2020-21,” lumping summer 2021 in with other quarters of residential instruction under the tentative plan. This is what was meant by extension. The Daily regrets this error.

Contact Erin Woo at erinkwoo ‘at’ stanford.edu and Julia Ingram at jmingram ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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As Stanford looks to tighten budget, some leaders remain tight-lipped about their salaries https://stanforddaily.com/2020/05/20/as-stanford-looks-to-tighten-budget-some-leaders-remain-tight-lipped-about-their-salaries/ https://stanforddaily.com/2020/05/20/as-stanford-looks-to-tighten-budget-some-leaders-remain-tight-lipped-about-their-salaries/#respond Wed, 20 May 2020 09:03:25 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1168188 It's unclear which senior leadership members are taking pay cuts, even as Stanford reconsiders other expenditures in preparation for an economic downturn.

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On April 2, Provost Persis Drell announced that she and President Marc Tessier-Lavigne would both be taking a 20% “voluntary base pay reduction” as part of Stanford’s response to the COVID-19 crisis. They also asked members of the University’s senior leadership, including the cabinet, to take their own voluntary base pay reductions of 5 to 10%.

But it’s unclear how the school’s executive leadership responded to that request, even as Stanford reconsiders other expenditures in preparation for an economic downturn. 

Other than Drell and Tessier-Lavigne, eight out of 12 members of the University’s executive cabinet did not disclose to The Daily whether they had chosen to take the voluntary pay reduction. Of the four who did, only one specified the amount.

“The current situation is imposing hardships and requiring sacrifices of everyone. I am happy to do my part,” wrote Hoover Institution Director Thomas Gilligan in an email to The Daily. He wrote that he took a 10% pay reduction.

Cabinet members Stephan Graham, dean of the School of Earth, Energy and Environmental Sciences; Lloyd Minor, dean of the School of Medicine; and Debra Satz, dean of the School of Humanities and Sciences, also told The Daily that they each took a voluntary pay reduction, but they each declined to specify the amount.

“At a time when many people are being asked to make sacrifices and step up, it is entirely appropriate for the University leadership to do the same,” said Satz, who declined to specify the size of the reduction she took in order to avoid “putting the other deans on the spot.”

Beyond the cabinet, Stanford spokesperson E.J. Miranda told The Daily that “many other members of University leadership, such as deans, vice presidents, vice provosts and other university leaders” were asked to take a voluntary cut — but he declined to specify who was asked. Of 11 additional, non-cabinet senior administrators The Daily reached out to, two disclosed that they took pay cuts.

Robert Wallace, CEO of the Stanford Management Company, volunteered for a 20% pay reduction in mid-March, he told The Daily. He added that “many other Stanford leaders did the same.” Megan Pierson, chief of staff to the president and secretary to the Board of Trustees, also said she took a cut but did not say by how much.

Miranda told The Daily that he was unable to provide additional information about who agreed to take pay reductions, and if so, by how much they reduced their pay.

While not all administrators’ salaries are publicly available, four cabinet members are included in the University’s 990 Tax Filing from August 2018, which discloses reportable compensation from the University. Tessier-Lavigne’s pay was $1,112,306, and Drell’s was $774,116, according to the document, while Minor’s was $1,467,861 and Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education and for the Arts Harry Elam’s was $575,025.

Drell’s request for senior leadership to take pay cuts comes amid a period of particular scrutiny into University finances — and criticism of how the University has made financial decisions around pay for its workers.

The University expects a $100 million deficit by the end of this fiscal year, and Drell has told faculty to “prepare for perhaps the worst” when it comes to budget planning for the next fiscal year. Departments have been asked to come up with plans that include a 15% reduction in endowment payout and 10% reduction in general funds.

In addition to asking senior leadership to take pay cuts, Stanford froze faculty and staff salaries in early April, and the University has stopped hiring new faculty and staff.

Stanford’s financial habits during the pandemic have also been subject to criticism over the University’s relationship with its workers. 

The University has committed to paying all regular employees until the end of spring quarter, and said it would work with campus contractors to maintain contracted employees’ income and benefits over the same period. However, union representatives have since argued that those promises were misleading, claiming that Stanford has only offered to help custodial service contractor UG2 provide health insurance to its employees without offering other benefits and continuation pay.

“These firms will be supported in maintaining income and benefits for their employees through June 15,” Miranda reiterated in response to these claims.

Stanford’s endowment is valued at $27.7 billion as of August 2019, a number that activists commonly cite as an indication of the University’s ability to better support workers in this period of crisis.

“Given that Stanford’s endowment is one of the largest in the country, it is unconscionable that the University is not providing its workers the same basic benefits” as peer institutions, argues one petition.

Healthcare workers at Stanford Health Care have also spoken out against Stanford’s policies amid COVID-19. Stanford Health Care’s Temporary Workforce Adjustment program — enacted as a result of financial pressures from the pandemic, according to hospital spokespeople — forces employees to choose between taking paid vacation time or a 20% pay reduction from April 27 to July 4. If they cannot take paid vacation, they can opt for a furlough. 

Frontline workers protested the adjustments on May 7, just days before Stanford Health Care was awarded $102 million from the CARES Act and resumed most delayed procedures. However, the influx of funding and revenue has not affected the program. Stanford Health Care spokesperson Julie Grecius maintains that the program is necessary “to help us avoid additional expense reduction measures that could impact staff more significantly.”

This article may be updated if further information regarding administrators’ pay reductions becomes available.

Contact Brian Contreras at brianc42 ‘at’ stanford.edu and Julia Ingram at jmingram ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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As most adapt to online instruction, some students take spring off https://stanforddaily.com/2020/04/27/as-most-adapt-to-online-instruction-some-students-take-spring-off/ https://stanforddaily.com/2020/04/27/as-most-adapt-to-online-instruction-some-students-take-spring-off/#respond Mon, 27 Apr 2020 07:28:37 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1166877 As the University has held firm on charging full tuition for spring 2020 despite student pushback, and as the pandemic leaves students with new responsibilities across a variety of living situations, some are choosing to take a leave of absence or finish their degree early rather than take classes from afar.

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This article is the first installment in a series examining how students are spending spring quarter.

Lily Liu ’21 had been looking forward to spending spring quarter studying abroad in Paris, fulfilling an abroad requirement for her international relations major and taking classes in art and architecture.

“I really was hoping to use Paris as a way to get away … to slow down and really explore my artistic interest, and let my soul breathe for a little bit,” she said. 

But, when Stanford canceled all overseas programs and Liu’s planned classes were wiped from her schedule, she chose to file for a leave of absence instead of enrolling in new ones. She attributes her decision to three reasons: losing her initial plans for spring quarter, missing out on the on-campus experience of an ordinary quarter, and saving money on tuition as the pandemic creates uncertainty for her family business. 

Liu isn’t alone. Stanford has held firm on charging full tuition for spring 2020 despite student pushback, and with the pandemic leaving students with new responsibilities across a variety of living situations, some are choosing to take leaves of absence or finish their degrees early rather than take classes from afar.  

Stanford extended the deadline to file for a leave of absence from the first day of classes to Monday of Week 2 to allow students more time to try online classes and adjust to changes in their living situations before making the decision. Students can still withdraw up until May 14 and receive a prorated tuition refund. 

The University declined to specify how many students had filed for a leave of absence by the April 13 deadline, nor how many students filed for leaves in any of the previous three quarters. Spokesperson E.J. Miranda declined to provide a reason for why he could not share this information. 

As classes moved online, many lab courses for spring were canceled entirely, while other classes have been overhauled to adapt to the online format. CHEM 33 and CHEM 131, key courses for pre-med students and natural science majors, were canceled, along with art classes that require specialized equipment. Dance classes are being formatted to be more instructional rather than activity-based, and some lab instructors are demonstrating techniques and procedures to students on Zoom.

Megan Hyatt ’22, an electrical engineering major taking a leave of absence, had planned to take multiple lab courses in spring. 

“We would be building circuits — you can’t get that experience online,” she said. 

But lost opportunities go beyond classes that have been disrupted or canceled due to the online format, students told The Daily. 

“I find a lot of value in being on campus with people in person and having those connections,” Hyatt said. “I felt like I didn’t want to ‘waste,’ in quotations, a quarter of my Stanford being at home.”

Hyatt also felt it would be more difficult to complete coursework at home, a concern shared by Chris Tan ’21. 

“I would be taking online classes which would entail all the difficult parts of Stanford without having the same support system in place,” Tan said. 

Similar to Liu, Tan had planned to spend spring abroad. He had just finished a 22-unit quarter, and had hoped to take a break from computer science, his major, and focus on environmental justice issues while studying in Cape Town. Now, he said, he’s decided to prioritize resting and healing, along with self-studying computer science material he’s struggled with to better prepare him for when classes return to an in-person format.

Other students simply don’t feel like an online quarter will be worth the cost.

“My first concern was that I felt like it wasn’t worth it to pay so much money for classes that I was pretty convinced quality would be a lot worse,” said Kasey Luo ’21, who’s taking the quarter off. 

Provost Persis Drell told faculty and graduate students on March 16 that Stanford would not discount tuition, and if students felt that “a spring quarter with online instruction will not meet their expectations,” they have the option to take a leave of absence. A presumed drop in enrollment for spring has financial ramifications for the University, which is already suffering the fiscal damage of lost room and board fees among other losses. Stanford’s spring quarter FAQ page now states that the University believes “the value of a Stanford education and degree, whether in-person or remote, continues to greatly exceed tuition,” and notes that faculty services, along with their salaries, are continuing, on top of additional charges incurred by shifting education online.

But not all students have the ability to take a leave of absence, Liu points out. 

“I can afford to stay a little bit longer in school, that’s a big privilege to have and I definitely recognize not many people have that,” she said. “For students who can’t, even if they think that the tuition arrangement sucks, they are kind of stuck with that; there is no realistically better option for them than to do these [online] classes.”

For seniors, the pressure to finish on time is even higher. Some, by intentional planning in anticipation of an early graduation or “Camp Stanford” quarter, had finished their degrees at the end of winter, while others are fortunate to have done so without originally intending to take their last quarter off.

Sam Kwong ’20 M.S. ’21, who majored and is co-terming in computer science, took a 22-unit winter quarter to finish his degree early and move on to taking some classes for his coterm while doing an internship in the Bay Area. When spring quarter went online, he decided to pause progress toward his master’s degree and instead focus on his now-remote internship full-time.

Akshaya Dinesh ’22 is also using her leave of absence to complete a remote internship. She had planned the leave in fall, but had intended to stay in the Bay Area for an in-person internship in Palo Alto. Now, she’s working remotely from her home in New Jersey. 

“It turned out to be kind of perfect timing,” she said, though she added that the remote format of her internship is a downside.

For those that aren’t doing internships, students are getting creative with new projects. Luo is working with the Stanford COVID-19 Response Innovation Lab to launch “Ray,” a free tele-counseling program aimed at serving individuals struggling with mental health amid the pandemic. Liu is starting research for her senior thesis and working for the Society for International Affairs at Stanford, of which she is president. On the side, she’s mapping out some personal projects, such as a “virtual reflection booth,” to collect stories from different people. 

To connect with other students taking the quarter off, Dinesh created a #leave-of-absence Slack channel in the newly-formed Stanford Online workspace. She hopes that it will help create community around students taking the quarter off in the absence of other shared experiences.

“For people who take classes, you form study groups, and there’s messenger chats, and people connect over doing p-sets together and studying and doing projects,” she said. “But I’m kind of missing out on the opportunity to socialize and get to know people through classes. I thought this might be one way to just meet other people who aren’t doing any classes.”

Contact Julia Ingram at jmingram ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Former Stanford President Donald Kennedy dies of COVID-19 https://stanforddaily.com/2020/04/21/former-stanford-president-donald-kennedy-dies-of-covid-19/ https://stanforddaily.com/2020/04/21/former-stanford-president-donald-kennedy-dies-of-covid-19/#respond Wed, 22 Apr 2020 04:22:04 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1166675 Kennedy, Stanford’s eighth president, led the University from 1980 to 1992, the culmination of a 32-year career at Stanford in which he also directed the human biology program and chaired the biology department.

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Former Stanford President and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Donald Kennedy died of COVID-19 on Tuesday morning.

Kennedy, 88, was living in Gordon Manor, an assisted living facility in Redwood City that has recently been struck by a COVID-19 outbreak. In addition to Kennedy, at least two other Gordon Manor residents have died of the disease, according to the San Mateo Daily Journal.

Kennedy, Stanford’s eighth president, led the University from 1980-92, the culmination of a 32-year career at Stanford in which he also directed the human biology program and chaired the biology department. From 1977-79, he took a leave of absence from Stanford to lead the FDA during Jimmy Carter’s presidency. After stepping down from the president’s post, he served as editor-in-chief of Science Magazine from 2000-08.

San Mateo County has deployed a team of clinicians to the Gordon Manor facility to help curb the outbreak. The county issued a health order on Wednesday instituting new rules to protect residents of facilities that care for the elderly, including restricting visits from family members.  

Robin Kennedy, Donald’s wife, praised Gordon Manor for its handling of the outbreak, writing in an email to The Daily that the facility “promptly, significantly, and expertly upped its game.” 

“My husband was not alone in his room any time during the days of his illness,” she wrote. “When he took a turn for the worse on Saturday night, a family member was with him holding his hands, massaging his face, talking to him and reminding him how much he was loved by his family. Our (adult) children and I and two of our grandchildren were able to ‘be present’ on Sunday evening, via FaceTime.” 

“It gave each of us a chance to say goodbye,” she added. “That was the single most valuable service Gordon Manor provided.”

‘A cultivator of enthusiasm’ 

Kennedy joined Stanford as an assistant professor who gave up the status of associate professor at Syracuse to join The Farm. At 35 years old, only seven years after joining the faculty, his passion for biology combined with leadership skills helped him to become one of the youngest chairs of a Stanford department. 

Jeanne Kennedy, his first wife, described him as a charismatic leader, full of energy, both physical and intellectual. 

“He was one of those triple threat guys: brilliant teacher, brilliant researcher and brilliant administrator,” she told The Daily.

“He always had his door open,” she added. “For example, he used to extend an invitation for the students to join him on the daily run at 6 a.m.”

Former Stanford President Donald Kennedy dies of COVID-19
President Donald Kennedy jogging near the Dish. (Photo: CHUCK PAINTER/Stanford News Service)

As University president, Kennedy served as a freshman advisor, spoke on KZSU, visited dorms, attended athletic events and gave lectures for human biology core classes, leading to a reputation as an accessible and popular leader among students. Kennedy also prioritized re-envisioning undergraduate education. He allocated $7 million in programs to improve undergraduate teaching and established the vice provost for undergraduate education position early in his tenure.

“I want to be a cultivator of enthusiasm and a good agent of consensus,” Kennedy told The Daily shortly after becoming president.

And while he easily fulfilled the former goal — his first provost Albert Hastorf told The Daily in 1991 that Kennedy “maximizes people through his own energy” — his bold and self-confident leadership style proved to transcend “consensus” in driving change during his 12-year tenure. 

Jeanne Kennedy fondly remembers her ex-husband’s charisma, as well as universal respect for all campus residents, as reasons for his popularity. 

“He was the kind of person who could make you feel like you were the only person in the room,” she said. “He could always see the best of someone, who they really wanted to be. He could see it, respond to it, and make them feel as if they were that best version.”

Lamenting in his inaugural address that the “earthy western pragmatism” that “animated the founding years” of Stanford left it with a utilitarian mindset that prioritized the sciences, Kennedy focused his efforts on building up the humanities as he moved Stanford through its centennial. He established the Stanford Humanities Center and expanded humanities faculty, The Daily reported four years into his presidency. 

Kennedy also worked to expand Stanford’s international presence. He opened Stanford’s campuses overseas in Kyoto and Oxford, programs that still run today. Responding to widespread student protest, Kennedy led the University to divest in 1985 from companies that supported the apartheid regime in South Africa. He also oversaw the establishment of the Institute for International Studies as well as the Stanford in Washington program.

“The world is full of institutions that tend toward inertia,” journalist and former Stanford Trustee Doyle McManus ’74 told The Daily in 1992. They need, he added, “certain kinds of leaders to give the institution a big shove.”

Public service was also a priority during Kennedy’s presidency. After an evaluation of the state of campus community service in 1983 concluded that the University lacked institutional support to encourage service among students, Kennedy oversaw the establishment of the Public Service Center in 1985. In 1989, it became the Haas Center for Public Service, honoring the contribution of the Haas family to its founding endowment. 

A decade into his presidency, Stanford made national headlines when congressional investigators found that the University had used federal money intended for research toward his personal expenses, including an antique commode, a yacht and floral arrangements. The issue was settled out of court, and the University was exonerated

In the fallout, Stanford suffered a $43 million budget deficit after federal funding was cut back, and Kennedy resigned shortly thereafter. That fiscal damage, however, was followed by what was then the most successful capital campaign in higher education: the Stanford Centennial Campaign, which raised $1.3 billion. 

Senator and former presidential candidate Cory Booker ’91 M.A. ’92 (D-N.J.), saw Kennedy as a mentor, and was inspired by how he handled the controversy, despite the scrutiny.

“To watch him leading through the indirect cost crisis, through professional and personal attacks, under tremendous stress and strain, with clouds amassed over his head and discipline raining down on him, was a study in leadership, character, and discipline, always better shown in times of crisis than when all is going well,” Booker wrote in the foreword of Kennedy’s memoir, “A Place in the Sun.”

Former Stanford President Donald Kennedy dies of COVID-19
Donald Kennedy at the blackboard in 1980. (Photo: CHUCK PAINTER/Stanford News Service)

Always a scientist

Long before Kennedy became University president, he was a neurobiologist, earning his bachelors, masters and doctorate degrees in biology from Harvard. At Stanford, he helped establish the human biology program, and he frequently guest lectured for its core classes — though he insisted this wasn’t teaching.

“Teaching,” he told The Daily in 1989, “is when you plan a course; you invite some other people in to lecture; you create an intellectually coherent and stimulating whole; you develop readings; you develop challenging examinations; you write and you grade them; you read people’s papers and you write in the margins — that’s teaching.”

Kennedy earned the Dinkelspiel Award for excellence in teaching in 1976, before making teaching excellence a primary focus during his presidency.

In his own scientific research, he focused on the properties of small nerve cells, finding that stimulation of single nerve cells in crayfish can prompt complex motor activity. He later created a new technique of dye that makes the axon, dendrites and cell body of a nerve cell visible under a microscope. 

Kennedy was also concerned with public attitudes toward science. After urging his students to apply their knowledge to public service, he decided to take his own advice and take a hiatus from Stanford to serve in the FDA, where he fought to ban saccharin due to its potential cancer-causing effects. He was ultimately unsuccessful, but was well-respected for his efforts.  

He changed the way people looked at the FDA by bringing academic flair to it and attempting to equalize its political effect with real-life impacts the agency had. 

“He used to say that the FDA was hit so often because it was a slow-moving target,” Jeanne Kennedy said. “It was low on the hierarchy of the political effect and he brought it into real prominence.”

During his time as Science editor-in-chief, Kennedy attempted to stir the publication in a progressive direction. Through his weekly editorials he aimed to “tackle truly controversial issues involving science: climate change, stem cell research, bioengineering and government secrecy” as he described in an interview to the Stanford Report. Bold decisions led to some controversy. In one of them, the journal published and then retracted an article by Woo Suk Hwang, an infamous South Korean researcher who was later accused of fabricating data. 

His experience as one of the few academics in the FDA allowed him to push Science towards a policy-shaping approach through weekly editorials. 

“I plan to work a little bit more in Washington with people who are in policy circles, to get them to understand what we’re trying to do, because I think the scientific community really needs a voice in helping to develop science policy,” Kennedy said in an interview with Stanford Report.

Kennedy’s impact lives on at Stanford in the Haas Center for Public Service and the University’s support for the humanities, and beyond in FDA and the scientific community. 

“Of course, everybody has some faults but he was a comet that blazed across the sky,” Jeanne Kennedy said. 

A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that Kennedy was the youngest chair of a Stanford department. He was one of the youngest. The Daily regrets this error.

Contact Julia Ingram at jmingram ‘at’ stanford.edu and Anastasia Malenko at malenk0 ‘at’ stanford.edu

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Stanford rescinds admission of football recruit involved as witness to alleged sexual assault https://stanforddaily.com/2020/04/17/stanford-rescinds-admission-of-football-recruit-involved-as-witness-to-alleged-sexual-assault/ https://stanforddaily.com/2020/04/17/stanford-rescinds-admission-of-football-recruit-involved-as-witness-to-alleged-sexual-assault/#respond Fri, 17 Apr 2020 08:07:26 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1166506 Stanford has rescinded the admission of incoming freshman football recruit Ayden Hector after investigating his involvement as a witness to an alleged sexual assault in 2018.

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Stanford has rescinded the admission of incoming freshman football recruit Ayden Hector after investigating his involvement as a witness to an alleged sexual assault in 2018. 

No charges were filed in the 2018 case, in which members of Hector’s football team at Eastside Catholic High School in Sammamish, Washington, were investigated for allegedly gang-raping a 16-year-old girl from another school.

“Under university policy, Stanford may rescind the admission of an applicant based upon a review of additional information,” wrote Stanford Athletics spokesperson Brian Risso in an email to The Daily. “The university has taken that step with regard to an incoming undergraduate for fall 2020 who was scheduled to be a football student-athlete.”

The University declined to clarify what its review of additional information entailed, and on what date Hector’s admission was rescinded. Hector, a four-star cornerback who also received offers from Alabama, Oregon and USC, committed to Stanford in October 2019. 

A lawyer for Stanford requested records pertaining to the case on March 10, according to documents from the King County Superior Court reviewed by The Daily. According to The Seattle Times, Stanford withdrew its records request and revoked Hector’s scholarship offer last week.

The records are currently the subject of an ongoing lawsuit. Hector’s family, along with families of three of the other athletes involved in the investigation, sued The Seattle Times, the Palo Alto Daily Post — both of which had requested records related to the case — King County and the Clyde Hill Police Department to block release of the information. The case is ongoing.

Hector called media coverage of his involvement in the case “false speculations, hearsay, and rumors” in a tweet on Wednesday. He has since made his account private.

“Two years ago, I was one of several witnesses who cooperated with the authorities in an 8-month long investigation which resulted in no charges being filed,” Hector wrote in the same tweet. “I can also confirm that Stanford’s decision regarding my admission was not in any way based on me being considered accused or a suspect of sexual misconduct, which I never was.”

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

The 2018 investigation

According to documents obtained from the King County Sheriff’s Office, the alleged sexual assault involved four football players from Eastside Catholic having sex with a 16-year-old girl from a different high school in the bed of a pickup truck in April 2018. 

Statements gathered by the King County Sheriff’s Office and reviewed by The Daily indicate that two additional players sitting in the cab of the truck witnessed the incident.

A report by Seattle news station KING 5 News, based on hundreds of pages of records from the case, also describes two witnesses to the incident, including an “East Catholic standout player” that KING 5 identifies as the player whose admission was rescinded from Stanford.

While the Eastside Catholic student said that the girl participated willingly and was “the initiator,” the girl told a Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner nurse who examined and interviewed her in April 2018 that she was “pretty drunk… I wasn’t in the condition to give consent or anything,” according to the KING 5 report.

As of April 2021, this article was no longer on KING 5’s website. “We stand by our reporting,” wrote the KING 5 President Jim Rose in an email to The Daily. “KING 5 made the decision to remove the reports because the subjects were juveniles, and no one was arrested or charged.”

Both witnesses were offered “limited immunity in exchange for cooperating in the case,” and neither was considered a suspect, KING 5 reported. 

KING 5 also reported that videos of the incident were circulated via Snapchat throughout Eastside Catholic and other local high schools. Despite filing a warrant for one of the players’ phones, investigators were never able to obtain copies of the alleged video. 

Detectives wrote in a probable cause statement to obtain the warrant that there was evidence the suspects committed the crime of “dealing, distribution and possession of child pornography,” in addition to “rape in the second degree” and “unlawful imprisonment,” according to KING 5. 

Attorney Maria Radwick, writing “on behalf of Ayden Hector,” told The Daily that the “investigative file, which contains hundreds of pages of statements from the complaining victim, and several eyewitnesses makes clear that Ayden was not accused of, and did not engage in, any sexual acts with the alleged victim.”

“Ayden was never accused or investigated as a suspect in this or any other matter,” Radwick wrote. “He was a child who witnessed aspects of an interaction that was thoroughly investigated and determined not to warrant any charges against those who were actually accused.”

Though charges were never filed, Clyde Hill Police Department Chief of Police Kyle Kolling told KING 5 that “we believed in our case, absolutely.”

“Just because a case didn’t get charged, doesn’t mean a crime didn’t occur,” Kolling said. “It just means other circumstances may prevent them from prosecuting the case.”

Lawsuit follows records requests

Hector’s involvement in the case was initially reported on March 11 in a since-removed article in the Palo Alto Daily Post, one day after Stanford made its records request. The Daily Post’s article covered the suit filed by Hector’s family and the families of three of the other athletes involved in the investigation.

“The singular purpose of the lawsuit referenced in the Palo Alto Daily Post story was to protect the privacy rights of a minor who was a witness in an investigation where ultimately no charges were filed,” Radwick wrote in an email to The Daily.

On April 8, the Daily Post was dismissed from the case, according to King County Superior Court records. 

The Daily Post’s editor Dave Price declined to comment on the article’s removal. Its author, Sara Tabin, wrote in a statement to The Daily on Tuesday that an editor told her that the article was allowed to “expire” but can still be read in the paper’s archives for a fee. As of Thursday evening, searching “Ayden Hector” on the Palo Alto Daily Post’s archive returns no results.

On Thursday, two days after campus newsletter the Fountain Hopper reported that Stanford had rescinded the admission of a football recruit, the Palo Alto Daily Post issued a correction. The notice described two factual errors in the article, and said that the article’s headline “may have created an impression that Hector was accused of or suspected of rape, which, as the article described, is not the case.” 

“The Palo Alto Daily Post story contains multiple inaccurate statements and casts Ayden in a patently false and defamatory light,” Radwick wrote. 

Hector’s legal counsel obtained a temporary restraining order on Feb. 26 to prevent release of the documents, according to The Seattle Times. After the Times argued access to the records were necessary in order to scrutinize how prosecutors and police handled the investigation, a judge lifted the order. Hector’s team has appealed the case. 

This article was updated on April 29, 2021 to reflect that KING 5 took down the story that involves Ayden Hector because those involved in the case were minors and not charged, but stands by their reporting.

This article was updated on July 25, 2021 to remove a description of the incident based on statements gathered by the King County Sheriff’s Office, as the description came from an individual who did not witness the incident. As such, it did not meet The Daily’s standards for publication.

Contact Erin Woo at erinkwoo ‘at’ stanford.edu, Julia Ingram at jmingram ‘at’ stanford.edu and Daniel Wu at dwu21 ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Students will ‘ideally’ return to campus to retrieve belongings, Stanford says https://stanforddaily.com/2020/04/07/students-will-ideally-return-to-campus-to-retrieve-belongings-stanford-says/ https://stanforddaily.com/2020/04/07/students-will-ideally-return-to-campus-to-retrieve-belongings-stanford-says/#respond Wed, 08 Apr 2020 01:42:07 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1166128 No mention of shipping students their belongings exists on the current version of the FAQ, aside from if they need a specific item, which they can coordinate with their housing front desk.

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Stanford will “ideally” set up a time for students to return to campus to retrieve their belongings, Vice Provost for Student Affairs Susie Brubaker-Cole wrote in an email to undergraduates on Tuesday.

“We aren’t sure if we can do this, but we’re going to try,” Brubaker-Cole wrote.

Santa Clara County’s shelter-in-place order is set to be lifted by May 3, at which point Stanford will provide an update, she added. The shelter-in-place has already been extended once, as it was originally set to end on April 7.

As all students vacated campus at the end of winter quarter, many left their belongings in their rooms as Stanford told them there was “no reason” to move out “if you plan to return for spring 2020,” according to a March 16 archive of the Health Alerts Frequently Asked Questions for Undergraduates page. One day after the deadline for students to leave campus, Provost Persis Drell announced that spring quarter would be entirely online

The archived version of the FAQ states that students not planning to enroll can have their belongings shipped to them, but that “no other shipping [would] take place until it is determined whether or not students will be called back to campus for in-person instruction.” No mention of shipping students their belongings exists on the current version of the FAQ, aside from if they need a specific item, which they can coordinate with their housing front desk. 

Some students’ belongings are already being packed up to make space for individuals awaiting COVID-19 test results as well as healthcare workers and first responders in need of a place to stay. These students will have the option to have their belongings shipped to them or stored on campus for pickup “once [they] are permitted to return,” according to an email sent to affected students from Dean of Students Mona Hicks. 

When asked whether all students would have the option to have their belongings shipped or stored, or if financial aid would be offered to help students cover the cost of travel to retrieve their things, Student Affairs spokesperson Pat Harris said that “all available information on these topics was included in Susie’s message.”

Contact Julia Ingram at jmingram ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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County orders ‘shelter in place’ https://stanforddaily.com/2020/03/16/county-orders-shelter-in-place-stanford-yet-to-respond/ https://stanforddaily.com/2020/03/16/county-orders-shelter-in-place-stanford-yet-to-respond/#respond Mon, 16 Mar 2020 21:07:02 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1165486 Residents of Santa Clara County have been ordered to stay in their homes and away from others for the next three weeks, starting at 12:01 a.m. on Tuesday, as part of a region-wide order spanning six Bay Area counties that aims to slow the spread of coronavirus.

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Residents of Santa Clara County have been ordered to stay in their homes and away from others for the next three weeks, starting at 12:01 a.m. on Tuesday, as part of a region-wide order spanning six Bay Area counties that aims to slow the spread of coronavirus.

The order allows non-residents to travel home outside the Bay Area, and Stanford urged those with plans to leave to do so as soon as possible. The University told students on Friday that, if they were not approved to stay through spring break and spring quarter, they must leave by Wednesday at 5 p.m.

Employees who can do their work from home should do so, a letter from Provost Persis Drell reads. Because Stanford is classified as an “essential business” by the order “for purposes of facilitating distance learning or performing essential functions,” those who work in health care, student dining, custodial and police operations may continue to report to work, Drell’s letter says.

Stanford told faculty that they must extend deadlines on final exams for both undergraduate and graduate students, a development from the University’s Friday announcement that finals should be made optional for undergraduates. In addition, students who conduct laboratory research were directed not to go into the lab unless their work requires regular attention to maintain the lab’s viability, such as liquid nitrogen tank filling or animal support.

The University will “continue to analyze” the impacts of the order, and “provide more detailed information as it becomes available,” Drell wrote.

The “shelter in place,” an order just below a lockdown, is used to urge residents to stay inside but does not forbid them from leaving their homes. It also urges residents to stay six feet away from others when leaving their residences. It is not clear how the order will be enforced.

Essential businesses, including health services, pharmacies and grocery stores, will remain open, county leaders announced. Mass transit will also continue to operate, though people must practice social distancing when traveling. 

Santa Clara County has been at the epicenter of California’s outbreak, with four of the state’s eight deaths and 114 of its 335 cases happening within the county. As of 5 p.m. on Sunday, there were more than 200 cases across the six counties, county leaders said during Monday’s announcement.

The order comes one day after California Gov. Gavin Newsom asked bars and other nightlife to close and for senior citizens to self-isolate. The order will impact Santa Clara, San Francisco, San Mateo, Marin, Contra Costa and Alameda counties, which altogether include more than 6.7 million people.  

This article has been updated to reflect announcements Stanford made on Monday in response to the “shelter in place” order.

This article has also been updated to reflect that two more deaths from COVID-19 in Santa Clara County were announced after publication of the article.

Contact Julia Ingram at jmingram ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Kappa to take 1047, Chi O to occupy former KA house https://stanforddaily.com/2020/03/11/kappa-to-take-1047-chi-omega-to-occupy-former-ka-house/ https://stanforddaily.com/2020/03/11/kappa-to-take-1047-chi-omega-to-occupy-former-ka-house/#respond Wed, 11 Mar 2020 21:57:09 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1165391 The Kappa Kappa Gamma (Kappa) sorority will occupy the residence at 1047 Campus Drive for three years, while the Chi Omega sorority will live in the house at 664 Lomita Drive for one year, Fraternity and Sorority Life (FSL) announced on Wednesday morning.

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The Kappa Kappa Gamma (Kappa) sorority will occupy the residence at 1047 Campus Drive for three years, while the Chi Omega (Chi O) sorority will live in the house at 664 Lomita Drive for one year, Fraternity and Sorority Life (FSL) announced on Wednesday morning. 

Meanwhile, the house at 550 Lasuen, the would-be 10th Greek house to complete Vice Provost for Student Affairs Susie Brubaker-Cole’s vision for 10 Greek houses on campus, is still in flux. Sigma Psi Zeta, Alpha Kappa Delta Phi and Delta Kappa Epsilon, who applied in a joint application, were ranked just below Kappa and Chi O, meaning they’re next in line to be housed, should 550 Lasuen become available.

The residence used to be occupied by Sigma Chi, until Stanford’s chapter lost its national recognition. Alpha Omega House Corporation (AOHC) — a group of Sigma Chi alumni who lease the property from the University — and Stanford have sued each other for rights to the property. The next hearing on Stanford’s case against AOHC is set for March 23. 

While the organizations living in more established Greek houses enjoy the predictability of recurring housing lest they violate University policy, the two newly allocated houses are under temporary contracts to align with the ResX vision. The 25-year plan for revolutionizing campus housing did not include a plan for Greek life in its April 2019 release, and instead called for the formation of another task force for Greek life. Vice Provost for Student Affairs Susie Brubaker-Cole announced in February 2019 that she would form a steering committee and working group to flesh out the details, but no information has been posted on the ResX implementation committee website

The decision was made by a five-person selection panel consisting of West Lagunita Resident Fellow and longtime Student Affairs staffer Nate Boswell ’99 ’09, Assistant Vice Provost for Residential Education Cheryl Brown, former Kappa Sigma member Zach Ellison ’15, Sexual Assault Prevention, Education, and Response (SARA) Director Carley Flanery and Assistant Director of Housing Operations in Residential & Dining Enterprises Lisa Thornton.

The panel ranked organizations, according to a letter sent to Greek leaders on Feb. 10, on their ability to articulate collective values” as well as their “sustained positive contributions to Stanford above and beyond social engagement” and “commitment to equity and inclusion,” among other criteria. It also considered Standards of Excellence ratings, an annual evaluation system for Greek organizations that is currently pending review by a steering committee within FSL.

Contact Julia Ingram at jmingram ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Academic advising directors: ‘It is likely that classes will be online’ in spring quarter https://stanforddaily.com/2020/03/09/instructors-told-to-prepare-for-possibility-of-online-classes-in-early-spring-quarter/ https://stanforddaily.com/2020/03/09/instructors-told-to-prepare-for-possibility-of-online-classes-in-early-spring-quarter/#respond Mon, 09 Mar 2020 23:27:28 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1165270 Instructors should prepare for the “possibility that instruction in the first few weeks of spring quarter may need to be delivered online,” according to a Sunday email from Debra Satz, dean of the School of Humanities and Sciences.

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Multiple academic advising directors told undergraduate students via email on Tuesday morning that it is “likely that classes will be online” in spring quarter, but “it is not certain as of yet.” 

“I know that the University administration is currently evaluating what next quarter will look like, and there should be more specific guidance coming in the next few days,” wrote lead academic advising director Arik Lifschitz in an email to students.

On Sunday, Debra Satz, dean of the School of Humanities and Sciences, told instructors to prepare for the “possibility that instruction in the first few weeks of spring quarter may need to be delivered online.”

“If you have never used Zoom for teaching, this may be a good time to try it out,” she wrote. 

The message directs recipients to the Teach Anywhere website, which offers information on teaching online.  

The email comes while the University has offered little definite information on the status of spring quarter, leading to speculation and anxiety among students. 

Some schools on both the east and west coast have already moved to suspend in-person classes. The University of Washington, as well as Columbia and Princeton, have moved to online classes, according to The New York Times. Princeton is encouraging students to stay home after spring break and complete their studies from off-campus. Harvard also announced on Tuesday morning that all courses will move to remote instruction starting March 23, and students are asked not to return to campus after spring break, which begins this Saturday. 

This article has been updated with information from emails sent by multiple academic advising directors to undergraduates on Tuesday morning. The article’s previous headline was “Instructors told to prepare for possibility of online classes in early spring quarter.”

Contact Charlie Curnin at ccurnin ‘at’ stanford.edu, Julia Ingram at jmingram ‘at’ stanford.edu and Erin Woo at erinkwoo ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Stanford ‘not aware’ of positive test results for coronavirus among students https://stanforddaily.com/2020/03/08/stanford-not-aware-of-positive-test-results-for-coronavirus-among-students/ https://stanforddaily.com/2020/03/08/stanford-not-aware-of-positive-test-results-for-coronavirus-among-students/#respond Mon, 09 Mar 2020 00:48:02 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1165213 It is unclear how many students in total have been tested. Furr wrote that the University is “not in a position to provide ongoing updates” about the numbers of Stanford community members who have been tested.

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The University is “not aware of any test results that have come back positive” for coronavirus among Stanford students, Associate Vice Provost for Environmental Health and Safety Russell Furr announced Sunday evening. 

While Furr’s announcement does not explicitly state that any tests came back negative, he called the update “welcome news.” 

Two undergraduates were tested for COVID-19 on Friday, according to an email from Provost Persis Drell that stated results were “expected” to be back within 24 hours. “Other students” have also been tested in addition to the initial two, Furr wrote.  

It is unclear how many students in total have been tested. Furr wrote that the University is “not in a position to provide ongoing updates” about the numbers of Stanford community members who have been tested. 

“To the extent we are aware of confirmed cases of COVID-19 among members of our community,” Furr wrote, the University will be in contact with Santa Clara County public health officials and “will be working to keep our community informed.” 

Despite this promise, some students felt University communication has been lacking.

“It is unclear to me from the wording of the recent update whether the university is planning to update us if members of the Stanford community actually do test positive for the virus,” said Anat Peled ’20, who is an Academic Theme Associate in Slavianskii Dom.

A delay in Sunday’s announcement caused concern for Kasey Luo ’21, she said.

“Because the University mentioned that the tests would take up to 24 hours to complete, I, along with many of my peers, found it concerning when there was no update soon after this time period had passed,” Kasey Luo ’21 said. “The increased circulation of contradictory speculations and rumors about the status of the tests following the 24 hours only heightened these concerns.”

University spokesperson E.J. Miranda declined to answer questions, writing in an email to The Daily that “all of the currently available information is in [Furr’s] message.”

Contact Julia Ingram at jmingram ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Medical School faculty member tests positive for coronavirus https://stanforddaily.com/2020/03/06/medical-school-faculty-member-tests-positive-for-coronavirus/ https://stanforddaily.com/2020/03/06/medical-school-faculty-member-tests-positive-for-coronavirus/#respond Sat, 07 Mar 2020 02:43:30 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1165143 A faculty member in Stanford School of Medicine has tested positive for COVID-19, School Dean Lloyd Minor announced Friday evening, marking the first publicly confirmed coronavirus case in a Stanford affiliate.

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A faculty member in Stanford School of Medicine has tested positive for COVID-19, Dean Lloyd Minor announced in an email Friday evening, marking the first publicly confirmed coronavirus case in a Stanford affiliate.

The individual has not been in the workplace since experiencing symptoms, according to the email.

“Immediately after hearing this news, we followed CDC’s recommended guidelines, which include notifying people that they might have been exposed and requesting that they self-isolate,” reads the email, which was also signed by Stanford Health Care President and CEO David Entwistle, as well as Stanford Children’s Health President Paul King. 

It is unclear how many people were instructed to self-isolate. The email adds that the clinic where the faculty member works was closed Friday for cleaning and is expected to reopen on Monday. 

School of Medicine spokesperson Michelle Brandt wrote in an email to The Daily that the “available information” on the case is included in Minor’s email.

The University announced yesterday that Stanford Medicine was “caring for a few patients who have tested positive for COVID-19.” Stanford Health Care spokesperson Julie Greicius declined to confirm whether those patients were affiliated with the University, citing patient privacy laws. 
While the School of Medicine case has not been added to Stanford’s health alerts website, the site no longer states that there are no cases of coronavirus at any Stanford location, as it did early on Thursday.

Contact Julia Ingram at jmingram ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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RF impersonated to report fake coronavirus case in FloMo https://stanforddaily.com/2020/03/04/rf-impersonated-to-report-fake-coronavirus-case-in-flomo/ https://stanforddaily.com/2020/03/04/rf-impersonated-to-report-fake-coronavirus-case-in-flomo/#respond Thu, 05 Mar 2020 04:00:49 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1164991 An email that appeared to have been sent from resident fellow John Barton on Tuesday evening to some, but not all, FloMo residents stated that a resident in one of the complex’s seven dorms had contracted COVID-19.

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For 21 minutes on Tuesday night, residents of Florence Moore Hall were led to believe they were in the proximity of the first confirmed case of coronavirus on campus.

An email that appeared to have been sent from resident fellow John Barton at 9:52 p.m. a FloMo resident stated that a resident in one of the complex’s seven dorms had contracted COVID-19, but “to remain calm as the case has been controlled.” A screenshot of the email was then circulated among students. Barton sent an email to FloMo residents afterward to clarify that he had not sent the first email and was unaware of any coronavirus cases in FloMo. Stanford’s Health Alerts website states there are no cases of COVID-19 at any Stanford location. 

Barton declined to comment to The Daily further on the matter. His email indicates he reported the hoax to “the authorities,” though Stanford Public Safety spokesperson Bill Larson said no report had been filed there. University IT (UIT) has not responded to The Daily’s request for comment. 

RF impersonated to report fake coronavirus case in FloMo
RF impersonated to report fake coronavirus case in FloMo

The incident comes as the University moves to increase two-factor authentication to access Stanford email accounts. Beginning last month, University IT started to require two-step to external email clients using Office 365, such as Outlook. The transition, however, is not set to be complete until October. The change followed what UIT termed “an unprecedented volume of phishing attacks, leading to hundreds of compromised user accounts,” in December 2019. 

Meanwhile, concern about the outbreak’s potential impact on campus grows as students petition for Stanford to take further action to prevent the virus’ spread to campus. Nearly 1,900 students have signed the petition as of Wednesday afternoon. Eleven cases have been confirmed in Santa Clara County.

It’s unclear what action the University will take should a case of coronavirus actually be confirmed on campus. Stanford did not respond to repeated inquiries on their plan over the last two days, while student group Stanford Against Coronavirus, which started the petition, has released a draft contingency plan it believes the University should follow. On Tuesday, Associate Vice Provost for Environmental Health and Safety Russell Furr announced that Stanford has launched an “emergency operations organization,” though it is unclear what that entails.

This article has been corrected to reflect that the fake email was sent to one resident, not multiple, and a screenshot was circulated among other students. The Daily regrets this error.

Contact Julia Ingram at jmingram ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Florence abroad program to end early as coronavirus hits Italy https://stanforddaily.com/2020/02/25/florence-abroad-program-to-end-early-as-coronavirus-hits-italy/ https://stanforddaily.com/2020/02/25/florence-abroad-program-to-end-early-as-coronavirus-hits-italy/#respond Wed, 26 Feb 2020 04:58:18 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1164578 Stanford students currently studying abroad in Florence will have to return home before the start of next week.

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Stanford students currently studying abroad in Florence will have to return home before the start of next week, the Bing Overseas Studies Program (BOSP) announced to program students Tuesday, as Italy’s coronavirus outbreak became the worst outside Asia. 

A decision on the spring program has not yet been made, the announcement said, but Stanford will “continue to actively monitor the developing system” and make a decision by March 20. Students enrolled in the spring program are currently set to arrive on March 26. 

There have been 322 identified cases of coronavirus in Italy reported through Tuesday, according to The New York Times. Most stem from Lombardy, a region in northern Italy roughly 200 miles from Florence. 

There are no identified cases of coronavirus at any Stanford campus, the announcement stated. The decision, University spokesperson E.J. Miranda said, “was made largely to avoid [students] having to face possible travel restrictions within Italy or departing the country.”

Stanford’s in-person instruction in Florence, originally set to end on March 13, will end on Wednesday, and BOSP is providing students with $500 to cover airline fees so they can leave no later than Sunday. Students will begin “remote continuation” of coursework on Monday, with program staff working with faculty to create “instruction plans,” according to the email.

For an international flight booked within five days, however, $500 may not be enough for some students.

“It definitely seems like they didn’t take the time to look at airplane prices, ” said Manuel Porras ’21, a student in the program.

“I’m one of the lucky ones,” he added, noting his flight was just over $500. While he did not have plans to travel elsewhere during the remaining weeks of the program, Porras noted that some students did, potentially incurring further costs.

One student left before the announcement, according to Porras, after program administrators gave students were the option to finish their studies remotely.

In Stanford’s program in Paris, students who recently returned from Venice or other affected areas of Italy were told to wear a mask and monitor their symptoms in an email sent to students. ISEP Paris, an institution where Stanford students abroad take classes, are not permitting students who recently returned from Italy to enter for 14 days. Three Stanford students are affected by this policy, according to one who wished to remain anonymous. BOSP local faculty have instructed students in Paris not to travel to affected areas. France has 12 reported cases of infections as of Tuesday, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

It’s unclear how Paris, or other study abroad programs will be affected by the outbreak. In Japan, where Stanford students study in Kyoto, 157 cases have been reported, according to the WHO. Spain, where Stanford hosts a program in Madrid, has reported two cases, and the United Kingdom, where Stanford sends students to Oxford, has reported 13, according to the WHO.

Jim Jacobs, associate vice provost and executive director of Vaden Health Center, sent an email to Stanford students cautioning against travel to Italy, as well as Japan, Hong Kong and Macau over spring break. 

“Stanford continues to assess risk based on the number of cases, community spread, public health infrastructure, as well as other factors,” Jacobs wrote. 

Contact Julia Ingram at jmingram ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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University releases Greek housing application with former KA house, 1047 up for grabs https://stanforddaily.com/2020/02/12/university-releases-greek-housing-application-with-former-ka-house-1047-up-for-grabs/ https://stanforddaily.com/2020/02/12/university-releases-greek-housing-application-with-former-ka-house-1047-up-for-grabs/#respond Thu, 13 Feb 2020 07:08:33 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1163945 Interested organizations will have to submit an interest form for general housing by Friday and a completed application by Feb. 21.

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Two campus residences — located at 664 Lomita Drive and 1047 Campus Drive — will be open for application by Greek organizations seeking housing for the 2020-21 school year, Stanford Fraternity and Sorority Life (FSL) announced in a letter sent to Greek leaders on Monday. 

1047 Campus Drive, which is currently occupied jointly by Sigma Phi Epsilon (SigEp) and Sigma Psi Zeta (SYZ), will be available for a three-year contract beginning next year, according to the letter. 664 Lomita, which up until this year was occupied by Kappa Alpha (KA), will be available for a one-year contract.

The term limits “are related to the implementation timeline for aligning our Greek housing practices with the ResX vision,” wrote Student Affairs spokesperson Pat Harris in an email to The Daily.

The details of the “vision” have yet to be determined, Harris added. 

The University has not yet determined how it will allocate 550 Lasuen Mall, the former Sigma Chi house. Currently, the Alpha Omega House Corporation — a group of Sigma Chi alumni who lease the property from the University — and Stanford have sued each other for rights to the property, and litigation is ongoing. The trial for Stanford’s case began Tuesday; if the University wins the suit, it will gain possession of the house. It is unclear whether Stanford would move to allocate the house to a Greek organization in the next academic year. 

Stanford currently houses five fraternities and one sorority on the Row, and three sororities in the Cowell Cluster. Vice Provost for Student Affairs Susie Brubaker-Cole stated last February that she intends to eventually have 10 Greek houses at Stanford. Though current plans would raise the count to nine, Harris wrote that the University “remains committed” to 10 houses. 

Interested organizations will have to submit an interest form for general housing by Friday and a completed application by Feb. 21. A selection committee will rank the chapters and send its recommendations to Provost Persis Drell, who will make the final decisions by Week 9. The highest ranked chapter will get to pick which house it wants.

To apply, a chapter must respond to a series of essay questions aimed at assessing the chapter’s “values and culture,” according to the letter sent on Monday. Each applicant chapter must also present before a five-member panel consisting of representatives from Residential & Dining Enterprises and Residential Education, a Stanford Greek alum from a housed chapter and “professional staff from campus stakeholders with direct engagement with the Greek community,” according to the letter. The panelists have not yet been selected but will be chosen before the application deadline.

The selection panel will rank chapters on a set of criteria, including their ability to “articulate collective values” and “demonstrate a culture of collective responsibility,” as well as their “sustained positive contributions to Stanford above and beyond social engagement” and “commitment to equity and inclusion.” It will also consider their Standards of Excellence (SOE) rankings, which are provided to Greek organizations annually through an evaluation system established in 2015. The SOE system, however, is pending review by a steering committee within FSL. 

A chapter may apply jointly with another chapter, as is the current situation in 1047. R&DE requires that all housed Greek organizations fill their houses, either with their members or through a pre-assign program. SYZ, a roughly 40-person organization, uses a pre-assign program to fill its half of the house. SigEp will apply to be housed again next year; it is still unclear whether SYZ will.

Alpha Epsilon Pi and Lambda Phi Epsilon are among the organizations planning to apply, the organizations’ presidents said. Others did not respond to multiple requests for comment; Delta Kappa Epsilon and Chi Omega declined to indicate whether they were applying. Kappa Kappa Gamma declined an interview request as well, although its president noted there were “a number of other groups also applying” for housing. 

Contact Julia Ingram at jmingram ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Students walk out of Law School talk on legality of repealing DACA https://stanforddaily.com/2020/02/11/students-walk-out-of-law-school-talk-on-legality-of-repealing-daca/ https://stanforddaily.com/2020/02/11/students-walk-out-of-law-school-talk-on-legality-of-repealing-daca/#respond Tue, 11 Feb 2020 08:05:05 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1163806 Texas Solicitor General Kyle Hawkins spoke at Stanford Law School on Monday at an event sponsored by Stanford Law's chapter of the Federalist Society.

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Texas Solicitor General Kyle Hawkins was only five minutes into his lecture on Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) litigation when more than three-quarters of his audience got up and left the room.

Hawkins — who holds a powerful post often occupied by conservatives unafraid to sue the federal government — spoke at Stanford Law School on Monday at an event sponsored by Stanford Law’s chapter of the Federalist Society. His talk was set to address the legality of repealing DACA, whose immigration protections President Donald Trump has sought to shoot down since 2017 and whose continued existence is now the subject of a Supreme Court case. Last October, Stanford and 18 other universities filed a joint amicus brief in support of DACA. 

So many students had showed up for the walkout that the talk had to be moved to a larger room. The Stanford Latinx Law Students Association (SLLSA), along with 11 other student groups, organized the demonstration, with member Raquel Zepeda condemning the “intellectually cheap and morally affronting topic” of the lecture in an email to law students.

Initially speaking before a packed room of students holding posters reading “No human being is illegal” or “Everyone is welcome here,” Hawkins prefaced his talk by saying that, since there was no planned rebuttal for the event, he would be arguing both sides. 

But Hawkins’ track record aligns him with DACA’s legal opponents, and he spent the majority of his lecture explaining the substantive and procedural ways Trump could repeal DACA — emphasizing that he was making a purely legal argument.

“[Trump’s motion] did not say DACA is a bad policy,” he said. “It did not say that DACA was unworkable. … It just says that DACA is unlawful.”

Sidestepping questions of the value and impact of DACA, however, was exactly what those who walked out opposed.

“Purely legalistic discussions of DACA ignore the human element, which must be front and center,” SLLSA and the other groups wrote in a joint statement. “We cannot afford to disregard the presence and importance of DREAMers in all places, including here at SLS.”

Hawkins is successor to Scott Keller, who led the charge to stonewall Deferred Action for Parents of Americans (DAPA) on the grounds that it was unlawful. The Obama-era plan would have protected 4 million immigrants, but a 2016 suit by 26 states, led by Texas, stopped it from ever taking effect. 

“DACA is unlawful for the same reason that DAPA was unlawful, according to the fifth circuit,” Hawkins said.

The arguments against DACA assert that former President Barack Obama did not have the power to institute the measure in the first place. DACA “confers on someone a status Congress would otherwise deny,” Hawkins said, including work authorization and lawful presence. 

Pivoting to a pro-DACA legal argument, Hawkins said that the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) grants the executive branch some leeway in enacting the U.S.’s body of immigration law.

“What the folks on the right need to grapple with is that the executive has discretion in enforcing the terms of the INA,” he said.

Some who walked out of the event felt DACA’s legality isn’t even a question at all.

“It’s incredibly unfair that my fellow students have to face these extra burdens and then be reminded of them in school,” first-year law student Zoe Packman said. “We shouldn’t be discussing the legality of our student population. It’s not a valid question, there is no question there.”

Paul Draper, a member of the Federalist Society and a second-year law student, said in his introduction of Hawkins that the organization reached out to 11 professors and experts to find a rebuttal, but that all were either unavailable or uninterested. Protestors didn’t believe the Society made an adequate effort.

“I don’t know who they reached out to, and as far as everyone here is concerned, they didn’t reach out to us,” said first-year law student Kevin Dousa.

The Federalist Society declined to comment, citing internal policy that prevents the organization from granting interviews. 

Michael Espinosa contributed to this report.

Contact Julia Ingram at jmingram ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Women’s gymnastics sees career highs in tough loss to UCLA https://stanforddaily.com/2020/01/27/womens-gymnastics-sees-career-highs-in-tough-loss-to-ucla/ https://stanforddaily.com/2020/01/27/womens-gymnastics-sees-career-highs-in-tough-loss-to-ucla/#respond Tue, 28 Jan 2020 06:54:49 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1163016 UCLA is a force to be reckoned with. Stacked with former Olympians Kyla Ross and Madison Kocian, the No. 3 Bruins are a well-rounded team with depth on every event, so it came as no surprise when they took home the win over Stanford on Monday night 197.575 - 196.2500.

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UCLA is a force to be reckoned with. Stacked with former Olympians Kyla Ross and Madison Kocian, the No. 3 Bruins are a well-rounded team with depth on every event, so it came as no surprise when they took home the win over Stanford on Monday night 197.575 – 196.2500.

Despite the loss, the Cardinal put up a good fight in their home opener, with their 196.2500 setting a new season high.

“We’re a team on the rise,” head coach Tabitha Yim said. 

For the Cardinal, strength lies in beam and floor, which means their best routines come in the second half of the meet. On Monday, beam was Stanford’s highest scoring event (49.325), breaking 49 for the first time this year. Junior Kyla Bryant performed a near-perfect routine to tie her career best of 9.900, and freshman Chloe Widner scored a career-high 9.875. 

“Chloe had a tough week last week, and I think it showed a lot of character for her to come back and just crush it,” Yim said. Widner faltered last week on bars, but performed a clean routine with a perfectly stuck landing in Monday’s meet. 

Widner and Bryant were Stanford’s two all-arounders on Monday. Like Bryant did in her freshman season, Chloe entered her first year as an all-arounder.

“For a freshman to come in their first year and do all-around is pretty remarkable,” Yim said. “You don’t see that quite often, so that speaks to her worth ethic, her passion, and also her mental strength and resolve.”

Both Bryant and Widner fell behind UCLA’s Ross in the all-around, with Ross scoring within a tenth of a perfect score in all events except the beam, where she almost lost balance on one skill to bring her down to a 9.750. Bryant came just behind Ross’ 39.575 total with a 39.400. 

Monday was a particularly successful day for junior Taylor Lawson, who scored career highs on both bars and beam with a 9.850 on each. Lawson has particularly difficult routines, and Yim said she has been focusing on perfecting the details. She added that Lawson’s performance was the most improved among the team.

On bars and vault, Yim said there’s “room for growth.” While bars can sometimes be a strong point for Stanford — Monday’s meet also saw a career-high of 9.825 from sophomore Wesley Stephenson — vault is a challenge, since the team performs a less difficult skill than most of its competitors. As of this point in the season, the maximum score each of Stanford’s gymnasts can attain on vault is a 9.950, rather than a 10.000.

“One of the things we really focused on is being aggressive and dynamic, as you can see everyone bounced back on their landings, so that’s something we really focused on,” Yim said. “We have a long term vision of growth in that event, and we feel like that will come together at the end of the year.”

Next up, the Cardinal will travel to face Oregon State on Sunday at 1 p.m. PST.

Contact Julia Ingram at jmingram ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Sexual battery at Brockhampton concert reported https://stanforddaily.com/2019/11/09/sexual-battery-at-brockhampton-concert-reported/ https://stanforddaily.com/2019/11/09/sexual-battery-at-brockhampton-concert-reported/#respond Sat, 09 Nov 2019 10:02:13 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1160139 A white male in his 30s or 40s groped a juvenile female from behind at Frost Amphitheater on Friday at 9:20 p.m., the Stanford Department of Public Safety (SUDPS) reported.

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A white male in his 30s or 40s groped a juvenile female from behind at Frost Amphitheater on Friday at 9:20 p.m., the Stanford Department of Public Safety (SUDPS) reported.

The sexual battery occurred amid the crowd at the Goldenvoice and Stanford Live-hosted Brockhampton concert, in which the suspect was reported to have grabbed the victim’s breasts and hips. SUDPS does not know whether she is a student at Stanford, according to spokesperson Bill Larson. The suspect was described as being 6’3” tall, of muscular build and with blue eyes and red hair in a bun and shaved on the sides, according to the report. Deputies responded to the scene immediately, but were unable to locate him, SUDPS wrote.

An AlertSU notification of the incident was sent to the Stanford community on Saturday at 12:19 a.m., two hours after it was reported to SUDPS. It is the latest in a string of reports of sexual assault, aggravated assault or assaults with intent to commit rape made in the last two weeks, along with four reports of either confirmed or potential druggings in the last month. 

Saturday’s AlertSU came just hours after Vice Provost for Student Affairs Susie Brubaker-Cole sent a video to students expressing her concern over the pattern of incidents.

“I feel anger, I feel frustration, and I feel sorrow every time I hear one of these reports and learn about horrific acts like these,” Brubaker-Cole said. “Please know that we are working very hard to support all of [the impacted] students.”

Contact Julia Ingram at jmingram ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Computer science coterm Norah Borus dies at 24 https://stanforddaily.com/2019/06/17/computer-science-coterm-norah-borus-dies-at-25/ https://stanforddaily.com/2019/06/17/computer-science-coterm-norah-borus-dies-at-25/#respond Mon, 17 Jun 2019 23:59:52 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1156194 Borus declared computer science at Stanford in 2016 and worked as an instructor for public service organization CS + Social Good.

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Editor’s note: This article includes references to suicide that might be disturbing to some readers.

Kenyan international student and undergraduate computer science coterm Norah Borus, previously listed as a member of Stanford’s class of 2019, was discovered dead in her campus residence on Friday, the Santa Clara Coroner’s Office confirmed on Monday.

Borus died by suicide in circumstances of probable poisoning, an employee of the Santa Clara County Medical Examiner’s Office told The Daily on Nov. 4.

Borus’s death is the fourth student death announced by Stanford since February. A moment of silence was held for the four students at Sunday’s Commencement ceremony.

Borus declared computer science at Stanford in 2016 and worked as an instructor for public service organization CS + Social Good. She was 24 years old and living in Kimball Hall when she died. Her relatives left Kenya to visit the United States and confirm the cause of death, according to The Daily Nation. A fundraising campaign was launched to pay for funeral expenses.

In a 2016 Facebook post, Borus was listed by the Stanford School of Engineering as a member of the class of 2019. At the time, she was working with CS + Social Good to help develop an SMS-based platform for Sanergy — a Kenyan company “making hygienic sanitation affordable and accessible” — to communicate more easily with its customers.

“For us, the opportunity to apply our technical skills in a hands-on learning environment is one we don’t take for granted,” she and her group partners said in the post. “Using our knowledge to make a positive impact on the world is shaping us into the leaders we aspire to be.”

In 2013, Borus attained the fourth highest score on the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE), a nationwide exam administered at the completion of secondary education in Kenya.

Norah Borus is the daughter of Peter Borus, a professor and polio specialist at the Kenya Medical Research Institute. The Daily has reached out to Peter.

This article has been updated to include information about the circumstances of the death. This article and headline have been corrected to reflect that Norah Borus died at age 24, not 25. The Daily regrets this error.

Contact Holden Foreman at hs4man21 ‘at’ stanford.edu and Julia Ingram at jmingram ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Stanford will accept County’s request to quadruple housing in General Use Permit if approval conditions are modified https://stanforddaily.com/2019/06/12/stanford-will-accept-countys-request-to-quadruple-housing-in-general-use-permit-if-approval-conditions-are-modified/ https://stanforddaily.com/2019/06/12/stanford-will-accept-countys-request-to-quadruple-housing-in-general-use-permit-if-approval-conditions-are-modified/#respond Wed, 12 Jun 2019 23:49:12 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1156138 While Santa Clara County has requested that Stanford construct four times the amount of faculty and staff housing they originally intended to under the 2018 General Use Permit (GUP) application, the University maintains it cannot meet this demand without a series of modifications to the County’s conditions for the application’s approval.

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Though Santa Clara County has requested that Stanford construct four times the amount of faculty and staff housing they originally intended to under the 2018 General Use Permit (GUP) application, the University maintains it cannot meet this demand without a series of modifications to the County’s conditions for the application’s approval.

If approved, the GUP would authorize development on Stanford-owned lands for the next 16 years, including the addition of 2.275 million square feet of academic facilities and 3,150 additional housing units — 2,600 for students and 550 for faculty and staff. On May 29, however, the County released its “Conditions of Approval,” for the application, one of which would require the University to construct an additional 2,172 housing units for faculty and staff. It stipulates that of the additional units, 70 percent be constructed on campus and the rest within six miles of it, and that 1,239 be offered at market rate and 993 be offered at below-market rate.

In a Tuesday letter to the County, Stanford Associate Vice President Catherine Palter wrote that the University accepts the request for 2,172 additional units, but asked that the County recognize Stanford’s existing housing projects — namely, at Escondido Village — loosen its restriction that 70 percent of additional housing be constructed on campus and reduce the number of below-market rate housing units Stanford is required to construct. Stanford hopes to satisfy the County’s request could with 1,300 units from Escondido Village Graduate Residences (EVGR), 215 units from Stanford’s Middle Plaza project in Menlo Park, and the construction of 1,307 additional workforce units on and off campus throughout the duration of the permit.

[Read Stanford’s proposed changes to the County’s Conditions of Approval here]

County Board of Supervisors President Joe Simitian told The Daily that it is too soon to say whether the County will modify its Conditions of Approval in response to the University’s requests, but that the Board of Supervisors and the Planning Commission would “review them thoroughly.”

“All that’s being asked is that any adverse impacts with respect to housing [and] traffic not be imposed on the surrounding communities,” Simitian said. “The bottom line is full mitigation.”

Stanford’s first demand is that they “receive credit” for EVGR in the housing requirement. Expected to be completed in 2020, the $1 billion project is anticipated to house 2,400 graduate students through 1,300 units who currently live off-campus, at 40 percent below-market rate after its anticipated completion in 2020.

Because Stanford began construction at Escondido Village prior to its submission of the GUP application despite being under “no regulatory obligation” to do so, according to Palter’s letter, the University asks for each apartment constructed through EVGR count for half of one of the required off-campus market rate additional units, totaling to 650 required units.

The University also requests that the County allow it to build 70 percent of the required market-rate housing units within six miles of campus, rather than build 70 percent of them on campus. Drawing from surveys it conducted of staff, Stanford contends that the majority of its workforce prefers to choose their own housing rather than have it be prescribed to them by the University.

“Many employees prefer that their employer not also serve as their landlord,” Palter wrote.

The University also cited the County’s Affordable Housing Mitigation Impact Fee Ordinance, which levies a $68.50 affordable housing fee for each square foot the University develops, in its request for the number of below-market rate units to be reduced.

Stanford’s proposed modifications also touched on transportation. In the Conditions of Approval, the County proposes an “average daily trip baseline” for the number of vehicles that enter and exit Stanford’s campus. Because this was not required under previously released Environmental Impact Report (EIR), which detailed the anticipated effects of Stanford’s expansion under the GUP, the University asks that it instead only be held to the “no net new commute trips” standard, which limits peak-hour traffic.

In addition to these demands, Stanford asks for increased flexibility in deed restrictions to allow it greater freedom within the six mile radius of campus to construct additional housing units.   

Stanford’s final request is that the County does not guarantee further study and continuous mitigation of impacts on onsite parks, municipal, health and social services.

The University’s requests come after the first of three public hearings on the GUP, in the penultimate stage of the application approval process. The first hearing took place on May 29, with the release of the Conditions of Approval; the second and third will take place June 13 and 27, respectively.

Contact Julia Ingram at jmingram ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Sentenced to one day in prison, six months of home confinement, former sailing coach apologizes for role in admissions scandal https://stanforddaily.com/2019/06/12/sentenced-to-one-day-in-prison-six-months-of-home-confinement-former-sailing-coach-apologizes-for-role-in-admissions-scandal/ https://stanforddaily.com/2019/06/12/sentenced-to-one-day-in-prison-six-months-of-home-confinement-former-sailing-coach-apologizes-for-role-in-admissions-scandal/#respond Wed, 12 Jun 2019 20:49:52 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1156134 After accepting $610,000 in bribes to reserve athletic recruitment spots for wealthy families’ children, former Stanford sailing coach John Vandemoer was sentenced on Wednesday to one day in prison and six months of home confinement with electronic monitoring.

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After accepting $610,000 in bribes to reserve athletic recruitment spots for wealthy families’ children, former Stanford sailing coach John Vandemoer was sentenced on Wednesday to one day in prison, six months of home confinement with electronic monitoring and a $10,000 fine. He is the first individual to be sentenced in the national college admissions scandal.

Vandemoer was fired on March 12, the day he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit racketeering. Similar crimes typically warrant a 33 to 41 month sentence; prosecutors recommended 13 months because Vandemoer redirected the money toward Stanford’s sailing program rather than benefit personally from the bribes he accepted. Stanford is the only school implicated in the scandal in which all fraudulent money went to university programs.

Vandemoer said at his March plea hearing that he knew when he agreed to participate in the scandal that his actions were wrong, and he expressed regret at his Wednesday sentencing.  

“Mistakes are never felt by just yourself; this mistake impacted the people I love and admire most,” Vandemoer wrote in a statement sent to The Daily and other news organizations. “The hurt I have caused is devastating to me.”

U.S. District Judge Rya Zobel granted him a sentence far lighter than what prosecutors had requested, saying that he was “probably the least culpable” of the nine coaches involved in the scandal because he had not pocketed any of the money. Vandemoer has already served his one day in prison.

Calling sailing an “underfunded team,” Vandemoer told the Wall Street Journal he felt pressure to raise money for sailing advancements such as new boats, which typically cost between $8,000 and $10,000. He saw the money he brought in as donations, rather than bribes.

In cooperation with scandal ringleader William “Rick” Singer, Vandemoer accepted money in attempt to assist three students. Two of these students never enrolled at Stanford; the third was accepted and enrolled, but not as an athletic recruit. She has since been expelled from the University.

Prosecutors held that Vandemoer benefitted from the bribery by advancing his career, stating in their pre-hearing memo that “his actions not only deceived and defrauded the university that employed him, but also validated a national cynicism over college admissions by helping wealthy and unscrupulous applicants enjoy an unjust advantage.”

In court, Vandemoer took full responsibility for his actions.

“A big part of my coaching philosophy has always been that it’s not the mistake that defines you, rather it is what you do afterwards,” Vandemoer wrote in a statement. “I’m holding true to those words now in the face of my biggest mistake. I have taken responsibility for my actions and I’m accepting the consequences of those actions.”

Vandemoer apologized for bringing Stanford under a “cloud” through his participation in the scandal. He also apologized to the alumni and current members of the sailing team, saying he is “devastated that the program and the sport would be looked at poorly because of [his] actions.”

Finally, Vandemoer apologized to his friends and family, writing that the eventual conversation he will have to have with his two young kids will be “the hardest conversation of his life.”

“In the last three months I have been fired, put my family’s financial security in jeopardy, and caused us to lose our housing,” he said in court. “My career that I have worked passionately for 20 years is gone, and my freedom is in jeopardy, endangering my ability to be there for my kids. I deserve all of this – I caused it – and for that I’m deeply ashamed.”

Vandemoer led Stanford’s sailing program for 11 years. Following his guilty plea and loss of Stanford housing, Vandemoer and his family moved to a friend’s beach house. The former sailing coach enrolled in online project management classes at Cornell University in anticipation of a new career, according to the Wall Street Journal.

This article has been updated to reflect that Vandemoer was fined $10,000 in addition to his prison and home confinement sentence.

Contact Julia Ingram at jmingram ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Stanford to direct funds gained from admissions scandal to ‘public good,’ launches external review into admissions https://stanforddaily.com/2019/06/11/stanford-to-direct-funds-gained-from-admissions-scandal-to-public-good-launches-external-review-into-admissions/ https://stanforddaily.com/2019/06/11/stanford-to-direct-funds-gained-from-admissions-scandal-to-public-good-launches-external-review-into-admissions/#respond Wed, 12 Jun 2019 00:18:06 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1156127 Stanford is working with a state attorney to find a worthy cause to donate the $770,000 fraudulently gained from the national college admissions scandal — including the $610,000 obtained from bribes to former head sailing coach John Vandemoer — according to a victim impact statement submitted to Boston District court. Vandemoer’s sentencing hearing will take place on Wednesday.

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Stanford is working with a state attorney to find a worthy cause to donate the $770,000 fraudulently gained from the national college admissions scandal — including the $610,000 obtained from bribes to former head sailing coach John Vandemoer — according to a victim impact statement submitted to Boston District court. Vandemoer’s sentencing hearing will take place on Wednesday.

Simultaneously, the University has hired Simpson Thatcher & Bartlett LLP to conduct an external review of its admissions process. The review aims to determine whether any improper actions occurred that has not been identified, to examine what allowed such conduct to occur, and to make recommendations to improve the system to prevent similar violations in the future. Stanford had promised an external review shortly after the scandal’s unveiling in March; a Monday update to its website indicates that the review is expected to be completed in the fall, and the conclusions will be publically reported.

The University’s general counsel, Debra Zumwalt, told the Boston judge who is handling Vandemoer’s case that Stanford views money obtained through the scandal as “tainted” and “does not wish to benefit in any way” from Vandemoer’s actions, and instead intends to direct the funds toward “public good.”

Stanford is consulting with Attorney General Xavier Becerra’s office to figure out where to direct the funds, according to a previous Notes from The Quad post.

Vandemoer, who accepted bribes from scandal ringleader William “Rick” Singer, is set to be sentenced on Wednesday, and prosecutors have recommended a 13-month prison term — a duration much shorter than the typical 33 to 41 months prison sentence for similar crimes.  To explain the shorter sentence, prosecutors cited the fact Vandemoer did not keep the money, but directed it toward his team. Defendants argued his intent “though misguided, was to help the sailing program he loved.”

Vandemoer was reported to have accepted bribes on behalf of three students: two through the athletics recruitment process (neither of which ultimately attended Stanford) and one through the regular admissions process whose application contained falsified sailing credentials. The third student has since been expelled from the University.

Stanford has since begun working to increase “the regular education of development officers about the need to know prospective donors as well as their intermediaries and the reason for a prospective gift or pledge,” its Monday update states. The University is also creating more written materials for development officers with guidelines for gift offers, is forming a more “systematic vetting process” to for prospective gifts for acceptance and forming a gift acceptance committee “to handle unusual situations.”

Contact Julia Ingram at jmingram ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Medicine professor fired for sexual misconduct apologizes, cites cultural differences for conduct https://stanforddaily.com/2019/06/06/medicine-professor-fired-for-sexual-misconduct-apologizes-cites-cultural-differences-for-conduct/ https://stanforddaily.com/2019/06/06/medicine-professor-fired-for-sexual-misconduct-apologizes-cites-cultural-differences-for-conduct/#respond Thu, 06 Jun 2019 23:31:44 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1156050 Stanford Medical Center professor Jose Montoya, who was fired after a University investigation found that he had violated University code of conduct related to sexual harassment, misconduct and assault, said he “sincerely apologize[s]” to anyone who he “offended."

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Stanford Medical Center professor Jose Montoya, who was fired after a University investigation found that he had violated University code of conduct policies related to sexual harassment, misconduct and assault, said he “sincerely apologize[s]” to anyone who he “offended,” in a statement to The Daily sent by his lawyer David Nied.

Montoya, who formerly directed the Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) Initiative, added that the events that occurred since March — when a group of affected women first raised their concerns to Stanford — have been a “huge surprise.”

“It was even more shattering to learn, through the June 4 Stanford Daily article, that it was members of my Stanford ME/CFS team who experienced some of my behaviors as attempts at unsolicited sexual acts, harassment and misconduct,” he wrote.

He further denied having been involved in “any sexual or romantic relationships” with other employees at Stanford. Montoya pointed to a difference in “social norms” between the United States and his homeland of Colombia, writing that he has served patients with “with respect, professionalism and the affection proper of my Hispanic heritage.”

“I did not sufficiently appreciate that difference [in social norms],” Montoya wrote. “It is my responsibility to change and be both mindful and respectful of the boundaries of personal space – and I pledge to do just that.”

[Read Jose’s Montoya’s full statement here.]

In a joint statement, a group of individuals affected by his conduct wrote, “This past March, a large group of women who have worked under Dr. Montoya came forward with extensive allegations of sexual misconduct, assault and harassment,” they wrote. “The allegations included multiple instances of Dr. Montoya attempting unsolicited sexual acts with his female employees, among many other instances of harassment and misconduct, and were confirmed in an investigation.”

Montoya has the right to appeal the investigation’s decision. His legal representation declined to comment on whether he intends to pursue this route.

In the wake of Montoya’s firing, ME/CFS patients and advocates have expressed concern in online forums about the future of treatment and of the field at-large.

The Chronic Fatigue Syndrome support organization #MEAction is hosting a dial-in support call on Friday in response to Montoya’s dismissal for his former patients to discuss alternative options for care.  

Stanford Medicine spokesperson Stephanie Brusseze did not respond to questions about whether or when Stanford intends to hire a replacement for the now-vacant director role for Stanford’s ME/CFS Initiative.

“Along with SHC’s organizational and physician leadership, we are working diligently to address the needs of our ME/CFS patients following Dr. Jose Montoya’s departure,” Brusseze wrote in a statement to The Daily. “We extend our sincere apologies for any disappointment or inconvenience [that patients] may have experienced due to these unforeseen circumstances.”

Contact Julia Ingram at jmingram ‘at’ stanford.edu and Claire Wang at clwang32 ‘at’ stanford.edu.

Editor’s note: See below for a statement on behalf of Stanford Health Care (SHC) from spokesperson Stephanie Brusseze regarding treatment options.

If you are a current patient, please contact us at (650) 736-5200, and we will work with you to accommodate your individual needs and answer any questions or concerns you may have.

If you prefer to seek care outside SHC, you may request that your SHC medical records be transferred to your new physician. The information required for this process is available on Stanford Health Care’s website (stanfordhealthcare.org) by clicking “Patients & Visitors” and then selecting “Medical Records.” You may also call Medical Records at (650) 723-5721.

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Indianapolis Colts stand by decision to draft Stanford football captain despite sexual assault allegations https://stanforddaily.com/2019/06/05/indianapolis-colts-stand-by-decision-to-draft-stanford-football-captain-despite-sexual-assault-allegations/ https://stanforddaily.com/2019/06/05/indianapolis-colts-stand-by-decision-to-draft-stanford-football-captain-despite-sexual-assault-allegations/#respond Wed, 05 Jun 2019 22:19:07 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1156024 The Indianapolis Colts knew Stanford’s 2018 football captain Bobby Okereke ’19 had been accused of sexual assault in 2015 well before the team picked him in the third round of the 2019 NFL Draft in April

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The Indianapolis Colts knew Stanford’s 2018 football captain Bobby Okereke ’19 had been accused of sexual assault in 2015 well before the team picked him in the third round of the 2019 NFL Draft in April, general manager Chris Ballard said in a press conference Wednesday.

Okereke was exonerated under Stanford’s Title IX process in 2016, when three out of five members of an adjudication paneled voted that he had sexually assaulted a female student on February 6, 2015. A 4-1 vote was required to find him guilty of assault; if he was, he could have been expelled — although expulsion has historically only occurred in rare cases.

During his investigation, Okereke was allowed to remain on the football team and continue his athletic success unimpeded. His accuser, who was granted anonymity out of respect for her privacy and safety, said that the incident and ensuing investigation — the results of which she appealed three times — “ruined Stanford” for her. She spent three quarters away from Stanford before graduating in 2017, and in January 2019, she was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) stemming from the incident.

Shortly after the case’s conclusion, The New York Times published its investigation into Stanford’s Title IX process with allegations against Okereke at its center, calling the process “marred by procedural errors” and having an “unusually high bar” for finding accused students guilty. The original Times report did not name the parties involved; Okereke’s identification in The Times’ investigation was first reported by the Fountain Hopper on Tuesday.

University spokesperson Brad Hayward and Stanford Athletics spokesperson Brian Risso said they could not confirm the identity of individuals involved in Title IX investigations.

“Our understanding is that the accused individual was found not responsible through the Title IX adjudication process,” Risso wrote on behalf of Athletics Director Bernard Muir. “As a result, no disciplinary action was taken.”

Okereke did not respond to multiple requests for comment, nor did Okereke’s lawyer, Michael Armstrong. Armstrong previously represented Brock Turner, a former Stanford swimmer who served three months out of a six-month sentence in county jail for assaulting an unconscious woman on campus in 2015.  

Okereke informed the Colts about the allegations against him when he first met with the team at the Senior Bowl in January, Ballard said. The second-year general manager said the team then vetted Okereke’s background further, interviewing him “at length.”

“We spoke with Bobby several times,” Ballard said Wednesday. “He was very honest about his side of the story and what occurred and how he had to move forward … from 2015 to 2019, from everything we gathered and high recommendations we got, it felt appropriate to take him.”

Representatives for The Colts did not reach out to the accuser or her attorney at any point, Ballard said, because they “did not feel it was necessary” given the information they had gathered.

“It’s of course disappointing to know that the [Colts] knew about it and didn’t bother to reach out to me,” the accuser told The Daily. “That’s great that [the Colts] spoke to [Okereke] about it, but of course he’s going to tell you what you want to hear. He did something terrible and had no remorse for it, so is that someone you really want on your football team?”

Ballard also mentioned that Colts owner Jim Irsay was made aware of the allegations before the Colts picked Okereke, adding that the Colts did not divulge the information publicly because Okereke was not charged criminally or disciplined by Stanford.

“When we looked at it and talked to him, it was an incident from four years ago,” Ballard said. “He was a team captain, up for the Lott IMPACT award, he graduated with a degree in management and engineering and he’s working on a master’s.”

Calling the situation a “he said, she said incident,” Ballard added, “I don’t want to sit here and act like we don’t have sympathy for both sides,” noting that he has three daughters.

According to the NFL’s commissioner’s personal conduct policy, allegations against Okereke would not merit an investigation by the NFL because the incident occurred years before he was under contract in the league and because the 2015 University investigation found him not guilty.

In the Title IX investigation, three of five Stanford officials on two separate University disciplinary panels concluded that Okereke committed sexual assault. The simple majority vote would have found the accused responsible at many other universities; however, the Times wrote that the University “had set an uncommonly high bar” with a 4-1 decision requirement to find guilt. In 2016, Stanford altered its procedures to require a unanimous vote from a three-member panel, a provision described by the Times as “stringent” and used by only one other school in the U.S. News & World Report’s list of top-20 U.S. colleges that use such panels.

““In deciding we wanted well-trained, long-term panelists, it made sense to go to a three-person panel,” Pamela S. Karlan told The Times. Karlan is a Stanford Law professor who is now chairwoman of a sexual assault advisory committee.

“Having three people decide something by a preponderance of the evidence seemed to us the appropriate way of deciding whether a life-altering sanction should be imposed on somebody for his or her behavior,” she continued.

Stanford defended its Title IX process after The Times article’s publication in a 2016 statement, in which they wrote that The Times’ report “provides an incomplete assessment of our efforts and contains many inaccuracies.”

“Stanford cares deeply about ensuring that our students are treated fairly and equitably on our campus and throughout our process for dealing with sexual assault,” the statement reads. “This includes assuring that they receive support and fair treatment when they are involved in any Title IX matter.”

The statement added that 13 of the 16 Title IX cases heard in 2016 found the accused responsible.

The incident in question took place during the accuser’s sophomore year, after a Kappa Sigma fraternity party when the two went back to her room. The woman said that she clearly stated she did not want to have sex with Okereke that night. But according to court documents, Okereke maintains they had consensual sex.

“Our testimonies are exactly the same right up until the moment of the actual rape,” the woman said. “Even though it was right before the act, there was a withdrawal of consent and I was very clear about it.”

The woman filed a report with the University shortly after, leading to the nine-month investigation. During the investigation, Stanford’s Title IX office issued a no-contact order requiring Okereke to stay away from her, which the woman said he violated multiple times.

Fearful that she might come into contact with Okereke again, she filed for a restraining order with Santa Clara County courts, which was ultimately denied after the judge decided she did not demonstrate he was an imminent threat. She now undergoes therapy for her PTSD three times a week.

“I was just constantly leaving campus and coming back and avoiding certain places,” she said. “School as I knew it just shattered into pieces and I lost a lot of respect for it. As soon as I realized that they valued a sport and a reputation more than they valued me, I sort of lost that feeling for [Stanford].

Throughout the Title IX investigation, Okereke was allowed to remain on the football team. Football coach David Shaw, who is also a member of the NCAA Commission to Combat Campus Sexual Violence, told The New York Times that he was aware that a “proceeding was happening,” but that he did not know the charge. Shaw said he chose not to suspend Okereke from the team without more information.

Then-Provost John Etchemendy Ph.D. ’82 told The Times that unless there is a reason “for safety,” Stanford does not inform the head of any activity students participate in what they are being investigated for. Shaw did not respond to The Daily’s request for comment; Risso said affiliates of Stanford Athletics would provide no further comment beyond his statement.

Contact Shan Reddy at rsreddy ‘at’ stanford.edu and Julia Ingram at jmingram ‘at’ stanford.edu.

This article has been corrected to indicate that Okereke was exonerated on a 3-5 vote, not a 2-1 vote. Stanford altered its Title IX proceedings after Okereke’s case had concluded. The Daily regrets this error. The article has also been updated to indicate that expulsion as a result of Title IX investigations has historically occurred in only rare instances.

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‘The Manic Monologues’ co-founders draw from personal experience in producing play to fight mental health stigma https://stanforddaily.com/2019/06/05/the-manic-monologues-co-founders-draw-from-personal-experience-in-producing-play-to-fight-mental-health-stigma/ https://stanforddaily.com/2019/06/05/the-manic-monologues-co-founders-draw-from-personal-experience-in-producing-play-to-fight-mental-health-stigma/#respond Wed, 05 Jun 2019 10:50:13 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1155861 Struggling with rebuilding his confidence after his diagnosis and a psychotic episode that almost led him to attempt suicide, Zack Burton brought the idea to his girlfriend, Elisa Hofmeister, with the aim of breaking down stigma surrounding mental illness.

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Editor’s note: This article contains references to suicide that may be troubling to some readers.

“It feels like Silicon Valley is ready for this conversation,” Elisa Hofmeister ’18 said from the stage of a packed Pigott Theater. Hofmeister was prefacing “The Manic Monologues,” a play composed of stories of those who have been impacted by mental illness.

Hofmeister, an assistant clinical research coordinator at the Stanford Medical School’s Department of Psychiatry, co-founded “The Manic Monologues” with her boyfriend, Ph.D. candidate Zack Burton, after he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Struggling with rebuilding his confidence after his diagnosis and a psychotic episode that almost led him to attempt suicide, Burton brought the idea to Hofmeister with the aim of breaking down stigma surrounding mental illness.

After spending a year converting a collection of story submissions into a theatrical production, Burton and Hofmeister put on “The Manic Monologues” on May 1, 2 and 3. It sold out all three nights.

‘The Drop’: Zack’s experience

In the weeks leading up to Burton’s Ph.D. qualifying exams, Hofmeister could see him “spiraling.”

“It was really hard to tell what was going on with him,” she said. “It was like, maybe he’s sleep deprived, maybe he’s just never had anything this stressful before.”

But Burton, who had not yet been diagnosed, was experiencing what he later would find out was his first psychotic break. Driven by what he described as “an elevated sense of purpose,” he was “thinking a mile a minute, having tons of ideas.”

The hyper-organization that enabled Burton to do things like have “15 different windows each with like 30 tabs [open]” and still know “where every single tab was” came to a head the night before his exam. In the early hours of the morning, Burton left his building and ascended to the top of a five-story parking garage on campus, intending to jump.

“I had this very distinct memory when I was in that situation of my mom telling me to call her if I ever thought about harming myself, and so that, I think, in many ways saved my life,” he said.

Burton would spend the next 11 days in the psychiatric facility of Stanford Hospital, where he felt himself losing agency. People took care of him at the hospital, and he started to feel like he was no longer capable of taking care of himself.

What Burton said eventually progressed into a lack of confidence began as “a complete loss of identity.”

This feeling becomes the theme of his monologue, “The Drop,” in which Burton opens, “It was hard not to drop from the side of that five-story Stanford parking garage … But it was even harder not to drop out of school in the chaotic and confusing months that followed.”

“I had a lot of voices who I trusted and voices who cared about me who are like, you know, maybe it is best if you leave [Stanford], maybe just for a few months, a few quarters,” he told The Daily. “I think … that [leaving Stanford] would have made it harder for me personally, to recover my sense of confidence and self worth.”

For Burton, it was not the psychosis that defined his struggle with his mental illness, but the “crisis of confidence” that followed his diagnosis. Falling victim to what he describes as a common perception, Burton feared that medication might damper the effects of a mania he felt enabled him to be more productive. He also felt, in what he described as his own stigmas, that having bipolar disorder might mean “somehow, [he’s] less competent.”

Instead, Burton regained confidence by focusing on easing back into his work at Stanford. When he took his qualifying exams five months after he was supposed to — five months after his psychotic break — he felt more assured that he could “build back up [to his] previous capabilities.”

“It’s been this slow build of getting back up to confidence,” Burton said. “This is just another part of the human experience, mental illness. And in many ways, what I’ve found is that it’s not a hindrance, but it can actually be beneficial in some ways.”

To support Burton, Hofmeister had to shift her mindset as well.

“Seeing a loved one go through it obviously forced me to confront, very quickly, a lot of that stigma [surrounding mental illness] and to realize that, here’s someone who’s just in a place of pain, and it’s important to help him,” she said. But Hofmeister also learned that she shouldn’t hold him back or feel like he was incapable because he has a mental illness — “it’s important to recognize that he can go on and live a very full and successful life.”

Hofmeister has always been interested in medicine, but she describes her experience with Burton’s diagnosis as a “huge turning point” in her decision to work in psychiatry.

“I didn’t really have an appreciation for how important your brain chemistry is until this happened,” she said. “It gave me a lot more understanding and a lot more empathy for people with mental illness.”

Putting it on stage

The same increase in understanding and empathy is what Hofmeister and Burton hoped to bring to their community in producing “The Manic Monologues.”

When Burton came to Hofmeister with the name for “The Manic Monologues” — a play on title of the popular production “The Vagina Monologues,” which aims to destigmatize female sexuality — she knew it had to be performed for an audience, even though neither Hofmeister or Burton had theater experience.

“I really wanted to do it on stage in front of an audience, because I just know that unless you have someone looking you eye to eye, it’s really easy to distance yourself from these issues,” Hofmeister said. “Because some of them are heavy, and because people are afraid.”  

They spent the next year learning how to produce a play from the ground up. They solicited stories on and off campus, working with advisors and professional and student actors to put together the production. Burton and Hofmeister received the most submissions from advertising in Facebook groups geared toward bringing together individuals experiencing mental health challenges. The result was a collection of stories from as close as on campus to as far as Vancouver.

“It ranges from absolutely tragic, devastating, life-changing in negative ways to sometimes humorous, to powerful, to uplifting — these amazing stories of resilience and recovery,” Burton said.

The setup for “The Manic Monologues” is minimalist: characters — sometimes actors, sometimes individuals sharing their own stories — wear all black, are engulfed in a single spotlight and choose either to sit or walk around a black chair at the center of the stage as they tell their story. Monologues range from one to 10 minutes in length.

“My hope is just that our audience members they came and that they connected with at least one story,” Hofmeister said. “ I think as soon as you do that, and as soon as you feel that compassion [and] empathy go out for one person up on stage, it allows you to recognize [that] there are other people out there like that.”

Looking forward, Burton and Hofmeister hope to make the script of “The Manic Monologues” accessible so that the play can be performed in theaters across the country. They also hope to make it more adaptable, so the community that intends to put it on can add their own monologues.

“How we lose this stigma is normalizing the experience,” Burton said. “My own early stigma against mental illness has been shattered through this process.”

Contact Julia Ingram at jmingram ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Sexual harassment, misconduct behind medicine professor’s dismissal https://stanforddaily.com/2019/06/04/sexual-harassment-misconduct-behind-medicine-professors-dismissal/ https://stanforddaily.com/2019/06/04/sexual-harassment-misconduct-behind-medicine-professors-dismissal/#respond Wed, 05 Jun 2019 03:07:50 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1155992 Violations of sexual harassment and sexual misconduct were among the reasons for the recent firing of former Stanford Medical Center professor Jose Montoya.

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Violations of sexual harassment and sexual misconduct were among the reasons for the recent firing of former Stanford Medical Center professor Jose Montoya, according to a former member of the Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) Initiative which Montoya previously led.

Montoya’s termination comes on the heels of an investigation led by an outside attorney and unknown Stanford faculty member that found him in violation of numerous University conduct policies, including those related to sexual harassment, misconduct and assault.

A group of those affected by Montoya’s actions — including the former ME/CFS Initiative member — wrote a joint anonymous statement in response to his termination.

“This past March, a large group of women who have worked under Dr. Montoya came forward with extensive allegations of sexual misconduct, assault and harassment,” they wrote. “The allegations included multiple instances of Dr. Montoya attempting unsolicited sexual acts with his female employees, among many other instances of harassment and misconduct, and were confirmed in an investigation.”

Montoya first began teaching at Stanford in 1990, though the timeline of his University conduct violations remains unclear. He did not immediately respond to request for comment, and his email auto-response indicated that he is “currently on research leave.”

Montoya has the right to appeal the investigation’s decision, according to Stanford Medicine spokesperson Stephanie Bruzzese.

The former ME/CFS Initiative member was notified of the investigation’s outcome in an email sent on May 30, the same day Montoya’s termination was shared in a May 30 email from Stanford Medicine’s Infectious Diseases Division chief Upinder Singh to all division employees. Singh’s email did not specify the nature of Montoya’s conduct violations.

Bruzzese and Singh did not immediately respond to The Daily’s request for comment regarding the sexual misconduct violations.  

Contact Julia Ingram at jmingram ‘at’ stanford.edu and Claire Wang clwang32 ‘at’ stanford.edu.

This article has been updated to indicate that the joint anonymous statement was provided by the former ME/CFS employee.

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EAST preassigned students mistakenly assigned to Crothers https://stanforddaily.com/2019/05/24/east-preassigned-students-mistakenly-assigned-to-crothers/ https://stanforddaily.com/2019/05/24/east-preassigned-students-mistakenly-assigned-to-crothers/#respond Sat, 25 May 2019 02:03:18 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1155491 Students accepted to live in the Education And Society Theme (EAST) House next school year were mistakenly assigned to live in Crothers Hall after a “data entry error” by Residential Education (ResEd). None of the affected students are guaranteed to find housing in EAST.

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Students accepted to live in the Education And Society Theme (EAST) House next school year were mistakenly assigned to live in Crothers Hall after a “data entry error” by Residential Education (ResEd). None of the affected students are guaranteed to find housing in EAST.

Through the preassignment process, students may apply to a single campus residence before the regular housing draw in order to participate in a program in alignment with a residence’s particular theme. Preassigned students are required to fill out a draw application with the rest of the undergraduate population, but with the promise that they will be assigned to the residence where they have already been accepted.

This year, that promise was broken.

Draw results were released on Wednesday at 9:00 p.m.; the would-be EAST preassigns received email notification of the error from ResEd’s Preassignment Team at 9:26 p.m. on Thursday.

Five options were presented to misassigned students in the email: remain in Crothers, reassign to EAST or reassign to another residence. Students who remain in Crothers or reassign to a residence other than EAST will still have the option to participate in the EAST programming — to enroll in two quarter-long education seminars, work with the EAST House staff to develop at least two theme events during the year, and attend at least half of the house’s theme events per quarter. —  but will not be required to do so.

The email added that ResEd will “actively work” to reassign affected students to EAST house “as vacancies become available,” even mid-year, if students remain interested. Reassignment takes place when students join the Autumn quarter waiting list by July 7.

Crothers, like EAST, is a tier-three preassign residence, meaning any undergraduate is eligible to apply unless they have already exhausted their four years of guaranteed housing.

The Daily has reached out to Student Affairs, ResEd, EAST Resident Fellow Christine Min Wotipka and Crothers Resident Fellows Stephen Stedman and Corinne Thomas.

Contact Julia Ingram at jmingram ‘at’ stanford.edu and Holden Foreman at hs4man21 ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Man reported to be impersonating a 5-SURE driver https://stanforddaily.com/2019/05/18/man-reported-to-be-impersonating-a-5-sure-driver/ https://stanforddaily.com/2019/05/18/man-reported-to-be-impersonating-a-5-sure-driver/#respond Sun, 19 May 2019 04:44:41 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1155138 A 20 to 30 year old man driving a blue Subaru Forester was reported to have impersonated a 5-SURE driver at 12:40 a.m.

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A 20 to 30 year old man driving a blue Subaru Forester was reported to have impersonated a 5-SURE driver at 12:40 a.m. on Saturday, according to an AlertSU notification sent at 11:43 a.m. the same day. 5-SURE (Students United for Risk Elimination) is Stanford’s safe rides program, offering free escorts at night to members of the Stanford community.

The driver approached a female student who was walking with her male friend on Arguello Way near Stern Hall. Though she had not requested a ride, the man told her he was a 5-SURE driver there to pick her up.

Beside the driver, there were two other individuals in the car: a female in the passenger seat and another individual of unspecified gender in the back. The two passengers were conversing and laughing, and did not appear to be in distress, according to the AlertSU notification.  

All 5-SURE cars are white, and labeled as being from 5-SURE. According to the AlertSU notification, the female student was suspicious of the man because his vehicle was unmarked.

Stanford Department of Public Safety advised those who observe similar incidents to call them at (650) 329-2413, but they are not aware of any at this time.

Contact Julia Ingram at jmingram ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Murderer of former athletic director’s daughter identified after 45 years https://stanforddaily.com/2019/05/17/murderer-of-former-athletic-directors-daughter-identified-after-45-years/ https://stanforddaily.com/2019/05/17/murderer-of-former-athletic-directors-daughter-identified-after-45-years/#respond Fri, 17 May 2019 09:17:32 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1155086 The man who murdered the daughter of former athletic director and football coach Chuck Taylor was identified on Thursday as Hayward resident John Arthur Getreau in the conclusion of a decades-old cold case.

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The man who murdered the daughter of former athletic director and football coach Chuck Taylor was identified on Thursday as Hayward resident John Arthur Getreu in the conclusion of a decades-old cold case. Getreu, a suspected serial killer, told police that during the time of two local women’s murders in the 1970s, he was working in the University’s heart transplant unit as a medical technician.

Janet Ann Taylor was hitchhiking from a friend’s in Palo Alto to her home in La Honda on March 25, 1974 when she disappeared. She was discovered the next day in a ditch by a delivery driver on Sand Hill Road, west of Interstate 280. She was 21.

“Janet lived life with enthusiasm and courage,” her family wrote in a statement released by the San Mateo County sheriff’s office. “Janet’s future was bright. It would have been wonderful to see what she would have done.”

Thought to have been strangled using her own turtleneck sweater, Taylor was also likely the victim of a sexually motivated crime, according to San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office news release. The coroner’s investigation did not conclude that a rape occurred, however. Taylor was discovered fully clothed aside from her shoes and purse.

Getreu has been held in custody since he was arrested in November 2018 for the gruesome cold case murder of Stanford graduate and aspiring law student Leslie Marie Perlov ’72. Perlov was found dead under an oak tree west of campus near Page Mill Road after having been strangled and sexually assaulted.

After remaining dormant for 45 years, the case resurfaced when detectives submitted an unknown male DNA profile for testing at Virginia-based DNA phenotyping company Parabon NanoLabs. With the help of advanced DNA testing, a publicly available DNA database and genealogical mapping, Getreu was linked to and later charged in Perlov’s murder.

According to the sheriff’s office, Getreu had a history of violence towards women. At 18 years old, he spent time in a German prison in 1964 for raping and killing a 16-year-old girl. He was also convicted for the rape of a Santa Clara County woman in 1975, for which he was sentenced to six months in prison.

Investigators had suspected that Perlov and Taylor’s murders were connected, and after identifying Getreu’s DNA in connection with the Santa Clara County case, investigators submitted additional items to the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office crime lab, where they were able to find male DNA profile — consistent with Getreu’s — on Janet Taylor’s clothing.

As of Thursday morning, Getreu is being held without bail. He was transported from Santa Clara County Jail to San Mateo County Jail for an arraignment initially scheduled for Thursday afternoon. In his court appearance in San Mateo, Getreu did not enter a plea. His arraignment was rescheduled for May 30.

Contact Elena Shao at eshao98 ‘at’ stanford.edu and Julia Ingram at jmingram ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Israel’s order to deport alum incites pushback from SLS, EU, U.S. Democrats https://stanforddaily.com/2019/05/17/israels-order-to-deport-alum-incites-pushback-from-sls-eu-u-s-democrats/ https://stanforddaily.com/2019/05/17/israels-order-to-deport-alum-incites-pushback-from-sls-eu-u-s-democrats/#respond Fri, 17 May 2019 09:11:41 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1155072 After charging Omar Shakir ’07 J.D. ’13 with violating the Israel's anti-boycott laws, the country's lower courts seized his work permit in early 2018, ordering him to leave Israel. Shakir, a U.S. citizen, has appealed their decision twice, and is currently awaiting the Israeli Supreme Court’s final motion on his deportation.

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Israel wants no more of Human Rights Watch director Omar Shakir ’07 J.D. ’13.

After charging Shakir with violating the country’s anti-boycott laws, Israeli lower courts seized his work permit in early 2018, ordering him to leave Israel. Since then, Shakir, a U.S. citizen, has appealed their decision twice, and is currently awaiting the Israeli Supreme Court’s final motion on his deportation.

Shakir and Human Rights Watch demanded that companies such as Airbnb cease work that benefits Israel’s settlements in the West Bank. However, Israel criminalizes activists, like members of the Palestinian-led Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, that call for similar disengagement.

Supporters of BDS pressure companies to discontinue business in Israel, consumers to stop the purchase of Israeli products and scholars to stop collaboration with Israeli colleagues.

To justify his expulsion, Israeli courts have scrutinized his actions reaching back to his undergraduate years at Stanford, pointing to his Twitter and history of activism in deeming him an anti-Israel advocate.

But Shakir and his supporters argue the issue extends beyond BDS. With much of the European Union as well as 17 U.S. Democratic lawmakers and 19 Stanford Law School faculty members behind him, Shakir feels his deportation could have consequences for future human rights advocates.

Israel’s deportation order of Shakir is the first of its kind — Israel has not previously sought to expel someone legally present in its country based on accusations of boycott activity. Shakir and his supporters argue his case could set a dangerous precedent for future of human rights workers hoping to reside in Israel. Israel aims to separate their denouncement of Shakir’s actions from their stance on organizations like Human Rights Watch.

Shakir argues that the judge’s April 16 ruling, however, contradicts this distinction between him and the organization.

“The judge directly states in the opinion that she considers Human Rights Watch’s advocacy around businesses that operate in settlements to constitute boycott-promoting activities,” he said.  

Israel’s case against Shakir

Supporters of BDS champion the movement as reminiscent of breaking down apartheid in South Africa in its aims to secure rights for Palestinians. Opponents label it as an anti-Semitic campaign to take down Israel as a Jewish state. Elan Carr, President Donald Trump’s special envoy for combating anti-Semitism, previously deemed the BDS movement anti-Semitic.

Human Rights Watch maintains that it neither supports nor opposes the BDS movement.

“In line with our work across the world where we document the human rights abuses of corporations as part of our business and human rights division, we call on companies, in adhering to their obligations under the UN Guiding Principles, to ensure that they are not contributing to serious rights abuses,” Shakir said. “Companies cannot operate in settlements without facilitating serious rights abuse, and have called for them to stop that activity in light of the human rights impact.”

Jerusalem District Prosecutor Moran Brown argued that regardless of the organization’s declared stance, Shakir’s work and public statements violates the law.

“The organization is not defined by us as a boycott group, but it takes part in activity that supports boycotts,” he told Reuters.

Israel’s Ministry of the Interior’s letter to Shakir’s attorney, Michael Sfard, in May 2018 emphasized that the deportation is a result of Shakir’s specific actions, rather than his affiliation with Human Rights Watch. Human Rights Watch does not appear on its list of boycott organizations.

“It is inconceivable that a BDS activist who calls for a boycott of the State of Israel be granted entry into Israel under the guise of representing an organization,” it read. “We note that this decision does not constitute a general, blanket refusal to allow the organization to employ a foreign expert, but rather relates specifically to the request to employ Mr. Shakir.”

Shakir argues that the judge’s April 16 ruling, however, contradicts this distinction between him and the organization.

“The judge directly states in the opinion that she considers Human Rights Watch’s advocacy around businesses that operate in settlements to constitute boycott-promoting activities,” he said.  

Since receiving the order to have his work permit revoked, Shakir has been able to remain in Israel after appealing the decision to higher courts, which places a freeze on his deportation until proceedings conclude. On April 16, the court motioned to uphold their decision, ordering that Shakir must leave by May 1. Shakir appealed the decision a second time to the Israeli Supreme Court, whose final decision is forthcoming.

This is not the first time Shakir has been forcibly removed from a country on account of his human rights work. In 2014, he was asked to leave Cairo, Egypt, where he spent two years working primarily to document the massacres at Rab’a al-Adawiya square, in which over 800 people were killed. Since his deportation from Egypt, Human Rights Watch hasn’t had access to the country.

But Shakir’s activism on Israel-Palestine issues dates back to his undergraduate years at Stanford — and Israel is reaching back to that work to defend their ruling. Courts scrutinize Shakir for co-founding the organization Students Confronting Apartheid by Israel — currently a branch of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) — in his junior year, and his 2011 call for Stanford to divest from companies that profit from human rights violations in Israel and Palestine.

The dossier that announced his initial deportation ruling also cited his encouragement of European countries to adopt BDS as a way of ending “unjust systems regardless of the political solution” in a 2016 panel as reason for his deportation. They also cited his characterization of BDS as “the most noble form of nonviolent resistance” in another panel that same year.

Though the dossier was released on July 12, 2017, Human Rights Watch’s difficulty with Israel began as soon as Shakir arrived in October 2016. The work permit that was eventually revoked took eight months to secure, in a process Shakir said typically takes 60 days. In February 2017, Israel denied Human Rights Watch a permit to hire a foreign employee for engaging in “Palestinian propaganda.”

“This deportation proceeding is the culmination of this multi-year effort,” Shakir said.

Stanford, U.S. and European opposition

“In Israel today, if you were to call to boycott a company because they mistreat their workers, or because they discriminate against women, or against Ethiopian Israelis, that would be permissible,” Shakir said. “But if an individual calls for boycotting the company because they violate the rights of Palestinians and operate in the settlements, that’s illegitimate.”

Opponents of Shakir’s deportation denounce the move as one that stifles critical human rights work.

“One of the world’s most reputable human rights organizations is having one of their workers expelled from a country because of his human rights work,” U.S. Representative Jim McGovern (D-Mass) told the Washington Post.  

McGovern was one of the 17 Democrats who authored a letter to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asking Israel to reverse the deportation order. The letter argued that the deportation “reinforces the impression that Israel is increasingly hostile to human rights defenders.”  

Twenty-seven European nations — the entirety of the EU excluding Hungary — agreed. In a statement to the United Nations Security Council, representatives urged Israel to allow Shakir and Human Rights Watch to “continue their humans rights work unimpeded.” Finnish representative Kai Sauer told the Israeli newspaper Haaretz that the EU is “concerned that, within the current political landscape, those on all sides who seek to bridge the gap between Israelis and Palestinians are undermined” by Shakir’s deportation order.

Stanford Law School professors joined the international wave of support on May 4, with 19 faculty members authoring a letter to Netanyahu urging him to not to deport their alumnus.

“As a student at Stanford Law School, where Mr. Shakir was trained by leading experts in international law and human rights, he developed a reputation for thoughtful, principled criticism of rights violators,” they wrote. “In his work both before and after graduation from Stanford Law School, his positions on both Israeli and Palestinian human rights practices … though often highly critical, have always been well-researched and evidence-based.”

The letter further argued that Shakir’s deportation is a violation of free speech and stands in contrast to Israel’s democratic values. Law professor Allen Weiner J.D. ’89, one of the letter’s signatories, emphasized this second point.

“A mature democratic society should be prepared to accept and engage in a debate and discuss rather than just silence people whose views [they] disagree with,” said Weiner, who taught Shakir in his international law and ethics of war classes. “What Omar stands for are the values we want in a university and the values we want in our public discourse.”

But law professor and Stanford Human Rights Clinic Director James Cavallaro, who also taught Shakir in several clinics and seminars, argues against calling Israel hypocritical. Shakir’s deportation order, he said, is “totally consistent, unfortunately, with the current political moment.”

“It is exceptionally worrisome that Israel seeks to deport one of the few remaining credible international human rights organizations,” he said. “When states want to eliminate international credible witnesses of rights abuses or potential rights abuse, generally, it’s because they plan to continue to violate human rights.”

Shakir’s deportation order comes in the wake of a ninefold jump in refusals of entry to Israel between 2011 and 2016. Of the 16,534 who were denied entry in 2016, 82 percent were refused on the basis of “preventing illegal immigration,” which includes non-cooperation and people for whom the purpose of their entry to Israel was unclear. In what Shakir calls “a shrinking of space for human rights defenders,” Israel also denied entry to Amnesty International staff and the former UN Special Rapporteur for the Occupied Palestinian Territories in recent years.

Cavallaro thinks, however, there is a chance the Israeli Supreme Court will overturn their decision.

“If the judicial authorities in Israel feel enough pressure and recognize that the cost of deporting Omar Shakir and effect of evicting Human Rights Watch from the country … is greater than the cost of them allowing Human Rights Watch to continue to do human rights work, then the justices I think, are more likely to find the appropriate judicial doctrine required to reverse the executive decision of deportation,” he said.

Shakir cited the October 2018 case involving Lara Alqasem, a Palestinian-American student who intended to pursue a masters in human rights and transitional justice, as one that makes him hopeful for the Supreme Court’s decision. Alqasem was allowed to remain in Israel when Israel’s anti-boycott laws was interpreted such that it should only be applied in instances in which an individual is seeking to use their presence in Israel to advance boycotts.

The stakes are high for future human rights advocates in Israel, he said.

“If a court validates [the deportation], it could be the precedent for targeting other foreigners in Israel—whether they be the spouses of Israelis, students at universities, tourists hoping to visit the country,” he said. “The ruling is dramatic in its potential ramifications for a wide range of different people in Israel, or hoping to be in Israel in the future.”

This article has been corrected to more accurately reflect James Cavallaro’s name, title and relationship with Omar Shakir. The Daily regrets these errors.

Andrew Moore and Amanda McCaffrey contributed to this report.

Contact Julia Ingram at jmingram ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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As ResX report leaves unanswered questions, task force defers to implementation teams https://stanforddaily.com/2019/05/16/as-resx-report-leaves-unanswered-questions-task-force-defers-to-implementation-teams/ https://stanforddaily.com/2019/05/16/as-resx-report-leaves-unanswered-questions-task-force-defers-to-implementation-teams/#respond Thu, 16 May 2019 07:21:12 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1154972 While the ResX task force has planned a redesign of Stanford’s residential life around the idea that the campus would be divided into “neighborhoods” students would live in for four years, much of the details on how this will come into fruition have yet to be determined.

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While the ResX task force has planned a redesign of Stanford’s residential life around the idea that the campus would be divided into “neighborhoods” students would live in for four years, much of the details on how this will come into fruition have yet to be determined. 

“There is no master implementation plan,” said Vice Provost for Student Affairs and ResX co-chair Susie Brubaker-Cole. “That’s something we’re going to be working on with a bunch of different people to design over the coming couple months.” 

Brubaker-Cole refers to the set of implementation teams that, still being compiled, that will determine how to enact proposed changes surrounding Greek life, Row houses, student residential staff and staff training, and the “community councils,” that will govern each neighborhood. The University’s ongoing negotiations with Santa Clara County surrounding its 2018 General Use Permit (GUP) application — which would authorize construction of housing and academic buildings on Stanford land over the next 16 years — feedback from the Stanford community and adjustments to the plan deemed necessary with time will ultimately inform how the task force’s vision is realized.  

The neighborhood concept, intended to be a guiding principle of the 25-year plan, aims to divide the campus into seven to 14 clusters of varying residence types that students would be assigned to before the start of their freshman year. Each neighborhood would contain a dining area, food service, a community commons and centralized programming, according to the task force’s final report, released April 16. A new housing assignment process in which priority is determined by class year rather than selected tier, will place students in new residences within their neighborhood each year. 

“What it will look like for Stanford is what it kind of already looks like,” said Kamina Wilkerson ’18, one of two students who served on the task force. “For example, if we think of Lagunita [Court] or GovCo [(Governor’s Corner)] or [Gerhard] Casper Quad as a neighborhood, it makes more sense.” 

However, a housing configuration in which each neighborhood contains, as laid out in the report, all-frosh dorms, upperclass dorms, a theme house, a co-op and independent (self-op or apartment style) residences demands changes to Stanford’s current layout. Residential clusters often contain multiple residences of the same type — such as the Row or Wilbur and Stern Halls — and some residence types are more common than others. 

“We’re not really set up for that right now,” said former Associated Students of Stanford University (ASSU) President Shanta Katipamula ’19, who frequently met with task force members to provide ASSU input. “We only have one place that has apartments, in Mirrielees, and we only have one place that has suite style living, all the way out in Suites.” 

Brubaker-Cole clarified that the creation of neighborhoods would require a combination of existing and new housing. Construction of new housing, however, is contingent on GUP approval. 

“Yes, we want to build in relationship to the plans for going forward with ResX,” said Harry Elam, Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education and ResX co-chair. “But it’s all dependent on [the GUP].” 

Under the GUP, Stanford plans to add 3,150 new housing units, or beds, for faculty, staff and students by 2035, with 1,700 intended for undergraduates. The GUP proposal does not outline specific construction plans for new dorms on campus. 

How Greek houses would be integrated into neighborhoods is also is not detailed in the report, but in a May 3 meeting with leaders of Greek organizations on campus, Brubaker-Cole said the 10 Greek houses would be “lassoed into neighborhoods” at the discretion of an implementation team, according to one leader present at the meeting. 

“Part of the reason they didn’t set a Greek life plan is because it differs from the rest of the ResX plan,” she said, referring to the part of the ResX report that recommends that students live in a designated theme house for only one year. “[Brubaker-Cole] wants to accommodate people who want to live in their house for more than one year, but that’s also up in the air.”   

The power granted to implementation teams in moving forward with the ResX recommendations means some aspects of the report are subject to change.  

“We’re making things for something 25 years in the future,” Wilkerson said. “We can’t foresee what five, 10 years in the future will hold, so what we tried to do in our final report is allow flexibility for it to change in the future.”  

Some change has occurred even in the weeks following the report’s release. As part of what Katipamula described as a “listening tour,” that involved getting feedback from Resident Fellows and students, ResX chose to reevaluate their recommendation that 50 percent of residents of ethnic theme houses be freshmen.  

Brubaker-Cole and Elam emphasized the changing nature of the plan, acknowledging, as Brubaker-Cole said, that there are “probably hundreds of unanswered questions.” 

“We have a long way to go,” Elam said. 

Emma Smith contributed to this report. 

Contact Julia Ingram at jmingram ‘at’ stanford.edu. 

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