September 17, 2020 Volume 103 Number 04 THE DUQUESNE DUKE www.duqsm.com PROUDLY SERVING OUR CAMPUS SINCE 1925 Students demand university action at protest Professor T h e S t who used y o t r i i n e u BLACK s m o m racial slur VOICES f o C D MATTER u q k u c e a l s B n demands re- e ’ s Kellen Stepler, Griffin instatement Sendek, Katia Faroun & Kellen Stepler Capri Scarcelli editor-in-chief The Duquesne Duke Gary Shank, the Duquesne pro- Dannielle Brown, the mother of fessor placed on administrative Marquis Jaylen “JB” Brown, who leave Friday due to racially insen- fell to his death from the window sitive comments in class, is de- of Brottier Hall in 2018, began a manding to be reinstated by the march Friday morning across Pitts- university in a letter submitted to burgh college campuses. university president Ken Gormley It was Day 70 of her hunger strike. Wednesday, Sept. 16. The march, named “40 for 40” The Foundation for Individual by the organizers, took place on the Rights in Education (FIRE), an or- 19th anniversary of 9/11. It is rep- ganization that focuses on protect- Katia Faroun / Features Editor resentative of JB’s jersey number On Day 70 of her hunger strike, Dannielle Brown stood in front of Brottier Hall, where her son fell to his death in 2018, and ing free speech rights on American and the 40 people who lost their gave a speech to protesters further demanding university action on the case and increased police accountability. college campuses, wrote an email to lives on Flight 93, which crashed in Gormley to “immediately reinstate lieves Duquesne’s administration she is doing this. She also motioned over to the Shanksville, Pa. Shank and publicly reaffirm that its has improperly handled the loss “Although I want to hold my area below where JB fell, saying Brown and the crowd started in faculty retain the broad rights of of her son. baby one more time, my work that his “blood spilt over there.” Shadyside at Chatham University, free expression and academic free- Her demands include full ac- here is not done,” she said. Brown initiated a moment of before moving to Oakland and ad- dom that Duquesne promises.” cess to the investigative reports From there, Brown invited vol- silence for JB, and members of dressing students at Carnegie Mel- Gabriel Welsch, vice president into her son’s death as well as an unteers from the crowd to raise the crowd joined her in holding lon University and the University of of marketing and communications independent investigation, while their voices, passing the micro- up their fists. She broke the si- Pittsburgh. The group walked past at Duquesne, said, “the university also making body cameras, in- phone to students willing to give lence with a song that specifically Carlow University before arriving only today received the letter and is creased mental health crisis and their perspective on the matter. addressed mothers and students. at Duquesne and spent about two still reviewing it.” de-escalation training mandatory Students spoke up about their “For the mothers I will stand. hours on campus, drawing rebukes The letter was sent in response to for university police. frustrations at receiving few answers For the mothers, hand in hand,” from campus administration. Shank’s suspension following the The university has said it’s at- in Brown’s case, giving speeches Brown sang. “For the students, At 4:17 p.m., Duquesne emailed circulation of a video Friday of him tempted to meet her demands by about justice, peace and “wanting you have rights. For the students, a statement to all students ex- using a racial slur in a Zoom lecture offering an in-person viewing of better for Duquesne’s campus.” I will fight.” pressing “strong disapproval” which led to him being placed on the files and ordering body cam- Around 2 p.m. Brown, along About an hour after the demon- of the march, citing it as “willful administrative leave. eras. Administrative officials said with the crowd of students and strators left campus, Duquesne’s trespassing.” In the video, Shank said the N- they tried to reach out to Brown’s supporters, met at the entrance administration sent its email to “The crowd today chose to en- word repeatedly and gave students attorney to review the files but to Brottier Hall, where JB fell the student body, writing that danger thousands of people unnec- permission to use it. In the follow- could not reach him. out of his 16th floor window two the crowd violated policies and essarily,” the administration said. ing lecture, Shank apologized re- Brown, who has remained pri- years ago. Over the next hour, the procedures intended to protect “They utilized bullhorns and mi- peatedly to the class. marily on Freedom Corner in crowd grew to about 100 people, the campus community. They crophones, disrupted classes and He also sent an email in which he the Hill District during her hun- including Brottier residents and claimed the protest resulted in the work of students these protest- wrote that he was troubled by the ger strike, said Friday she didn’t Duquesne students. hundreds of complaints from stu- ers claim to value.” impact his words had on the stu- think the university has done Duquesne Police guarded the dents, faculty, staff and parents. Wrapping around Rooney Field dents, saying he considered them enough to reach out to her and entrance of the residence hall as The email also mentioned that when they first arrived, Brown and to be like family. show its support. the crowd gathered in the circle, the crowd broke the COVID-19 her supporters carried large ban- Shank declined to comment for “They really do know how to surrounding Brown and her sup- visitation policy. ners — “For your sons and daugh- this article. find me, I’m right there.” Brown porters. The outside entrance Darian Reynolds, president of ters, for the mothers,” marching Welsch said in an email to The said. “I’ve got concerns. I’ve got of the building was restricted to Duquesne’s BSU, criticized the their way to Academic Walk where Duke that Shank is not teaching, real concerns for the students of swipe-only access. administration’s response. students present took a knee to and another professor will be tak- Duquesne University.” Multiple speakers addressed “Duquesne seems to be in a honor JB. ing over the course, Educational Brown said she does not be- the crowd, ending with a speech continuous loop with reactive At 1 p.m. Brown began a speech Psychology. lieve her concerns relate to race, from Brown, in which she called email communication resulting in by thanking the student body for Welsch also said that further but instead are an issue of police out Duquesne’s administration. what’s going on,” he said. “I don’t “being her children during this specifics cannot be discussed, as negligence. Under her arm she held a sign know when enough is enough. I time.” She spoke of grieving the this is a “personnel matter.” “I want to be an ambassador stating, “16 Stories, 4 Personnel, understand Duquesne is trying to loss of her son and sympathizing In the video that circulated wide- and help you all … help you all fix NO ANSWERS!” protect themselves, but where’s with the mothers who lost their ly through social media, Shank ex- the problem. It’s about starting a During her speech, Brown ges- the thought of students in this children on Sept. 11. plained how the word could be used foundation,” Brown said. tured to the building’s windows Brown began her hunger strike situation?” She concluded her first speech and stated that Brottier installed July 4 in protest of how she be- see BROWN — page 2 see SLUR — page 3 by reminding the audience why new windows because of her son. ... opinions features sports a & e Follow us on... FinTech meets Duq squirrels show NFL squads Jazz Poetry contact tracing their photogenic ranked 1-32 snaps still snaz- Blockchain could side Staff writer Dom zy on screen be used to help The Bluff's furry Ferro breaks down Virtual event features COVID-19 tracing friends take on 2020's best, worst PGH musicians and efforts Instagram poets @theduquesneduke PAGE 4 PAGE 6 PAGE 7 PAGE 10 2 THEDUQUESNEDUKE POLICE briefs Duq students marched with Dannielle Brown On Sept. 10, officers responded to Des Places Hall in regards to a room- from BROWN — page 1 mate conflict. One student was put in another location that night and moved out. While officers were deal- ing with the situation, it was discov- ered that one of the roommates pos- sessed a small amount of marijuana and paraphernalia. That student did admit to possessing the marijuana and paraphernalia and will be re- ferred to the office of student conduct. On Sept. 11, there was a report of a minor assault of a student in front of the doors to Brottier Hall during a protest. THE DUQUESNE DUKE Griffin Sendek / Multimedia Editor Over the summer, Brown presented the university Griffin Sendek / Multimedia Editor with three demands: an independent investigation At around 1 p.m. on Friday, Dannielle Brown marched through campus with a crowd of supporters, mainly with full access to information and resources; body students from other Pittsburgh colleges and universities. The event, called 40 for 40, was organized in honor cameras for all Duquesne University Police; and of the 40 individuals who lost their lives due to the Flight 93 plane crash, and represented the number of JB's mandatory certification training in mental health, football jersey.