Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard: The People, Concerned

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The Courthouse

As the crowd of us left the courtroom, the fire alarm not shrill enough to shake up our slow file, I overheard the man in front of me comment: “The way things are going, this trial’s never going to end.” This wasn’t the only joking going on. As the case got started – it was October 16, the second day of the Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard trial – Judge Allison Burroughs reminded Harvard Dean of Admissions William R. Fitzsimmons that he would, in fact, still be under oath during the proceedings. It did not bode well when Judge Burroughs had to repeat the quip twice more for Fitzsimmons to understand.

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Monuments and War Memories: Interview with Galina Nikolaevna

“Because of the gasoline, everything was a terrible Hell.” – Galina Nikolaevna, resident of Comrat, Gagauzia and born in Sevastopol, talks about remembrance, World War Two, the deaths of her family’s men, and monuments to soldiers who have passed. 

Scroll all the way to the bottom for the original Russian transcript. Чтобый читать оригинальную запись, просматривайте внизу.

Galina had joined my host mother Anna Nikolaevna and me for breakfast the morning after Comrat’s Big Easter night service. I had seen her come to the house before, but we never talked – only greeted each other. I just knew she had an old dog, and she would come to my host mother for scraps for the beast. Galina was living on a pittance of a pension. Continue reading “Monuments and War Memories: Interview with Galina Nikolaevna”

Students Walk Against Discrimination: Raising Awareness of Disabilities in Comrat, Moldova

BlindStudent Ilie was itching for a challenge during a recent training program to raise awareness about the problems facing people with disabilities. His task was to cross a cluttered room to retrieve an empty bottle – blindfolded. Goaded by fellow participants, he pulled himself along the office table, stumbling a few times and bumping into chairs. The experience lasted less than five minutes, long enough for Ilie to discover what it could be like to be blind for a lifetime.

The Sunday activity, held at the Miras-Moldova office on October 22, was one of several designed to give Comrat students a sense of what it means to live with a disability. The Miras-Moldova Public Association has been working with students from Comrat’s Moldovan Lyceum to combat discrimination against people with disabilities in Gagauzia. In April, the students received a grant for 800 Euros from the Academy of Central European Schools to implement their project.

Continue reading “Students Walk Against Discrimination: Raising Awareness of Disabilities in Comrat, Moldova”