On Thursday, February 24, the Organization of Black Students brought famed and decorated social psychologist Dr. William Julius Wilson to deliver the 2009 George E. Kent Lecture. Dr. Wilson worked as a professor at the University of Chicago for twenty-four years, until 1996, and also served as the chair of the sociology department. He now teaches at Harvard University. Between teaching stints at two top-tier universities, he found the leisure time to write several critically acclaimed books, serve as president of the American Sociological Association, and receive forty-one honorary degrees from schools including Princeton University and Columbia University. Read the rest of this entry »

Reverend Jeremiah Wright’s February 10 appearance at Rockefeller Chapel was more of a sermon in three acts than the workshop it was billed as. He opened with a meandering anecdote loosely centered on University of Chicago professor Dwight Hopkins, who along with Wright was part of a coterie that coaxed Cuban dictator Fidel Castro back into a Christian church in the late 1980s after a two-decade absence. Next, Wright contextualized the topic of his talk, “Who Is My Neighbor?” with an extended retelling of the Good Samaritan parable. In his “update,” a UofC student (privileged member of the ruling class) is nursed back to health by a gay ex-gang member (despised minority). Wright included some more landmarks and local color, much to the delight of the audience, a mix of Wright loyalists (one man in a Graduate School of Business T-shirt explained that he’d been baptized by Wright) and curiosity-seekers primed for provocative sound bites, even if they had to provoke them themselves. Read the rest of this entry »

Education administrators in business suits are gathered, miniature complimentary bottles of San Pellegrino in hand. This is the “CPS Senior Staff Retreat,” and at the front of the Gleacher Center meeting room sits Ron Huberman, the newly-ordained CEO of the Chicago Public Schools, recently transferred by Mayor Daley from his position as the head of the Chicago Transit Authority. The meeting is nearly at an end, but first Huberman approaches the podium and declares his delight in introducing two final speakers, who turn out to be administrators from the CTA. As the woman at the podium begins to describe in-depth the methods of reducing gap times between city buses, I turn to look at the faces around me, searching for signs of incredulity or disbelief to match my own. Read the rest of this entry »

Scrawled in bold letters across the classroom’s blackboard was the evening’s topic of discussion: Wage Theft. Billed under the title “Thou Shall Not Steal: Putting an End to the National Epidemic of Wage Theft,” the event aimed to both define the phenomenon of wage theft and to recognize the various ways in which Chicago workers have mobilized to fight back. Organized by University of Chicago School of Social Service Administration doctoral student Jacob Lesniewski, speakers included members of several interfaith worker organizations and representatives from the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America (UE) Local 1110. Read the rest of this entry »

The University of Chicago’s bureaucratic machinery usually runs quietly in the background, unnoticed and unknown to all but those that keep it humming. Only in times of strain or controversy do its organization, governance, and finances come under public scrutiny. Now, with the recession pushing the administration to impose budget cuts, the University is likely to experience a fresh round of exposure as it becomes the site of bureaucratic conflicts and staff reductions. Read the rest of this entry »

Last Saturday afternoon, a small but enthusiastic group of activists and community members gathered in Washington Park to play kickball. Class-conscious kickball, that is. The event was part of the Unlympics, a movement that seeks to raise awareness and questions about the prospect of a 2016 Chicago Olympics. Characters dressed as wealthy corporate representatives from Phillip Morris and Walgreens played alongside people playing blue-collar workers and asthmatics lacking proper health care. The events on Saturday were part of a series of “games” organized by the Unlympics Committee. Future competitions include a spelling bee, jump-rope, and karaoke. Read the rest of this entry »

The Woodlawn Center, a mental health clinic that serves the low-income community of Woodlawn, offers its clients a quiet refuge from the harsh and often bewildering realities of the outside world. But on Thursday morning, this inconspicuous one-story building became the site of a heated political protest, as a group of about thirty patients, activists and community members rallied against the potential closure of the clinic. Read the rest of this entry »

The Chicago Neighborhood Tours website boasts that Hyde Park and Kenwood are “where lakefront vistas, ancient history, architecture and Nobel Prizes meet.” Now that Senator Obama, who used to be the neighbor of thousands of proud South Side residents, has become President Obama, the tour company offers the opportunity to “admire distinctively designed dwellings in President Obama’s Kenwood neighborhood.” Read the rest of this entry »