INTERVIEW – CABOT PHILLLIPS – Campus Reform

• TOPIC: Latest campus news:
• F.B.I. Helping American University Investigate Bananas Found Hanging From Nooses. The F.B.I. is helping American University in Washington, D.C., investigate an episode in which bananas were found hanging from nooses on campus this week, a spokeswoman for the agency said on Wednesday. The bananas were found at the university on Monday, the same day a black woman took office as the student government president for the first time in the institution’s history. The bananas had short messages scrawled on them, including “AKA FREE,” an apparent reference to Alpha Kappa Alpha, a predominantly black sorority of which Taylor Dumpson, the new student body president, is a member; and “HARAMBE BAIT,” referencing the gorilla at the Cincinnati Zoo who was killed last May after a child fell into its enclosure. Several pairs of bananas were discovered around campus, each strung together with a thin black rope fashioned to resemble a noose.
• Video Shows Suspect in American University Hate Crime. (NBC Washington) – Campus police have distributed two videos of the person suspected in a racially motivated hate crime on American University’s campus. The blurry video clips show someone walking on the empty campus. Campus police believe at least three bananas hung in nooses were placed on campus Monday between 3:45 a.m. and 4:10 a.m.
• GWU RA’s Want to Unionize: Resident Advisor Union Election Canceled At GWU.  (DCist) – SEIU Local 500 has cancelled a planned union election for resident advisors at George Washington University, which would have been an unprecedented vote. The election was originally scheduled for today following a decision by the National Labor Relations Board, which found that residents advisors meet the definition of an employee and have the right to unionize. GW hires about 110 resident advisors each year to live in the university dorms. They receive free housing and a stipend in exchange for spending about 20 hours a week on coordinating programming, advising students, and other duties.
• Nearly half of Dartmouth Dems don’t want conservative roommate (Campus Reform) – Nearly half of self-identified Democratic students at Dartmouth College would be uncomfortable with a conservative roommate, according to a recent survey, while far fewer Republicans registered such compunctions. A survey conducted by The Dartmouth reviewed survey responses from 432 students answering four questions intended to discern the extent to which the Dartmouth community reflects contemporary political tensions. “[Democrats] operate under the false belief that they know…what is best for other people and the world.”   Overall, 63 percent of respondents identified as Democrats, while 23 percent called themselves Republicans and the remaining 14 percent claimed political “independent” status. Fully 85 percent of those students—including every single Democrat—registered disapproval of President Trump’s job performance, with 69 percent saying they “strongly disapprove.” Only 11 percent said they approve (five percent of them “strongly”) and four percent were neutral.