Latest news with #GrinnellCollege
Observer
21-04-2025
- Politics
- Observer
Trump pushes presidential limits in first 100 days
With Donald Trump back in the White House you never know what you're going to get. Will he berate a foreign leader? Rock the global markets? Take vengeance against his foes? But there has been one constant behind the chaos of his first 100 days -- Trump is pushing US presidential power to almost imperial limits. "I think the second term is just more powerful," the 78-year-old Republican said during a recent event. "They do it -- when I say do it, they do it, right?" Trump has been driven by a sense of grievance left over from an undisciplined first term that ended in the shame of the 2021 US Capitol riots after his election defeat to Joe Biden. And while Trump freed hundreds of those attackers from jail on his first day back in office, he is taking no prisoners when it comes to consolidating the power of the White House. "Trump 2.0 is far more authoritarian-minded and authoritarian in its actions than Trump 1.0," political historian Matt Dallek of George Washington University said. Trump has also stepped up the sense of an endless reality show in which he is the star, as he signs executive orders and takes questions from reporters in the Oval Office almost daily. That slew of orders has unleashed an unprecedented assault on the cornerstones of American democracy -- and on the world order. "We have seen certainly not in modern times such a sustained attack to unwind constitutional safeguards," added Dallek. Controversially aided by Elon Musk, the world's richest man, Trump has launched a drive to get a federal government he regards as part of a liberal "deep state." He has invoked a centuries-old wartime act to deport migrants to a mega prison in El Salvador -- while warning that US citizens could be next. He has dug in for a confrontation with judges and forced a string of punishing deals on law firms involved in previous criminal or civil cases against him. He has cracked down on the media -- which he still dubs the "enemy of the people" -- and limited access to news outlets covering him at the White House. And he has launched an ideological purge, cutting diversity programmes, targeting universities and even installing himself as head of a prestigious arts centre. The US Congress, which is meant to have ultimate control over the government's purse strings, has been sidelined. Republicans have abetted his power grab while crushed Democrats have struggled to muster a response. "We are all afraid," Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski said recently. "The president appears indifferent to formal -- even constitutional -- checks on his power," added Barbara Trish, professor of political science at Grinnell College. On the foreign stage Trump has made territorial claims over Greenland, Panama and Canada -- asserting a sphere of influence that echoes Russian President Vladimir Putin's expansionist bent. (FILES) US President Donald Trump speaks at the National Republican Congressional Committee's (NRCC) "President's Dinner" at the National Building Museum, where he remarked that "These countries are calling us up, kissing my ass," speaking about world leaders seeking to temper his sweeping tariffs, in Washington, DC on April 8, 2025. Donald Trump's first 100 days back in the US presidency have showcased his unique ability to shock -- and sometimes entertain -- with outrageous remarks that pull no punches. From stroking his own ego to berating American allies, Trump has given many memorable quotes since he returned to the White House (Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP) Trump is meanwhile backed by a court of true believers. Aides with often fringe views, like vaccine-sceptic health secretary Robert Kennedy, take turns to praise him at cabinet meetings. "Compared to the first term, the president has completely surrounded himself with aides who not only facilitate but in some cases catalyse his brazen power moves," added Trish. But Trump's comeback has highlighted some familiar themes. Trump is closing out his first three months with approval ratings well below all other post-World War II presidents -- except for himself, in his first term, according to Gallup. And there are signs of the same volatile leader the world saw from 2017 to 2021. Trump's wild televised meltdown in the Oval Office with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky -- abetted by hawkish Vice President JD Vance -- deeply alarmed allies who were already unnerved by his pivot to Russia. Then there was his introduction of sweeping global tariffs -- only to reverse many of them after tanking global markets proved to be the only real check on his power. When asked how he had reached one of his tariff decisions Trump replied: "Just instinctively." The question now is whether Trump -- who at one point referred to himself as "THE KING" on his Truth Social platform -- will be willing to give up power. Trump recently said that when he repeatedly mentioned a Constitution-defying third term he was "not joking."
Chicago Tribune
16-03-2025
- Chicago Tribune
Marian ‘Cindy' Pritzker, family matriarch, philanthropist and governor's aunt, dies at 101
For decades, Marian 'Cindy' Pritzker, the matriarch of one of Chicago's wealthiest and best-known families, was a mainstay in Chicago's philanthropic, cultural and civic communities. Like her late husband, Jay, who built the Hyatt Hotels chain, Pritzker was an architectural aficionado who played a role in the creation of several cultural touchstones in Chicago, among them the Jay Pritzker Pavilion at Millennium Park, which was designed by noted architect Frank Gehry, and the Harold Washington Library Center in the Loop, which came to fruition while she headed the Chicago Public Library Board. Pritzker, who was 101, died Saturday, according to a family spokesperson. She was the aunt of Gov. JB Pritzker and had homes in Streeterville and Rancho Santa Fe, Calif. Born Marian Friend in Chicago in 1923 to Cook County Judge Hugo Friend and Sadie Cohen Friend, Pritzker was the granddaughter of Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe. Two years before Pritzker was born, her father was assigned to preside over the notorious Chicago 'Black Sox' trial, in which eight former White Sox players were indicted — but ultimately acquitted — on charges of throwing the 1919 World Series. The players were banned from baseball. Pritzker grew up in the South Side Kenwood neighborhood. 'I had the time of my life,' she told Chicago History magazine in 2001. 'Kenwood really was like the suburbs at that time. There were slews of children on the block. We were like a roving band, so after school, they put sawhorses on either end of the street, and we used to play baseball and all sorts of games. It was a wonderful way to grow up.' Pritzker attended the University of Chicago Laboratory School for a time and then graduated in 1943 from Hyde Park High School. She attended Grinnell College in Iowa from 1943 until 1945. Pritzker was not yet a teenager when she met her future husband on a family vacation at a summer cottage in Eagle River, Wis. The couple married in 1947 and remained so until his death in 1999. The Pritzkers moved around while Jay ran a lumber business, but eventually returned to the Chicago area and settled in Winnetka. Pritzker raised her family there before she and her husband moved to Chicago in 1979. Pritzker's husband and his brother, Robert Pritzker, built on the family fortune started by their father, A.N. Pritzker, and their uncles. Jay and Robert Pritzker recognized an increase in postwar business travel and saw there would be a need for hotels near airports. In addition to creating the Hyatt Hotels chain, the brothers' Marmon Group holding company owned a diverse array of businesses, and became a $15 billion empire encompassing more than 200 companies. By the late 1960s, Cindy Pritzker was a visible figure in Chicago's charitable community, including co-chairing the annual Crystal Ball, a fundraising event that raised money for Michael Reese Hospital's Medical Research Institute. She also served on the board of Grinnell College from 1971 until 1978, and in 1981, she was behind the creation of the Columbian Ball, which is the Museum of Science and Industry's annual fundraising event. She went on to cochair several Columbian Balls. In the late 1970s, Pritzker and her husband were approached about establishing a major annual prize to living architect or architects for significant achievement. The couple were amenable to the idea, and the Pritzker Prize, first awarded to architect Philip Johnson in 1979, went on to become the world's single most prestigious architecture award. Two decades later, Pritzker and her husband were honored by President Bill Clinton at the White House for the prize's staying power, with major Chicago architects like Helmut Jahn, Stanley Tigerman and Thomas Beeby looking on. In 1982, Pritzker commissioned Andy Warhol to produce a silkscreen portrait, which now hangs above the fireplace in Pritzker's namesake rooftop restaurant, Cindy's, in the Chicago Athletic Association building on Michigan Avenue. She was appointed to the Chicago Public Library's board in 1984 by Mayor Harold Washington. During Pritzker's time on the board, after more than a dozen years of wrangling over the location for a new central library, an urban renewal site at the south end of the Loop was chosen. After an international design competition, Pritzker was part of the 11-person jury that unanimously chose the Sebus Group and the architectural firm of Hammond, Beeby & Babka Inc., to design and build the library. The Harold Washington Library Center opened in 1991, and its auditorium now bears Pritzker's name, as does a park across the street. The private Chicago Public Library Foundation had been formed in 1986 to benefit the library, and the following year, Pritzker and her husband donated $1 million to the foundation. Pritzker soon became chairwoman of the foundation. In 1989, Pritzker also was chosen by the library board's other eight members to be board president. Pritzker worked to increase the library's book budget, and she also chaired the search committee that led to the 1994 hiring of lawyer Mary Dempsey as library commissioner. Well-respected for overseeing the construction of 44 libraries during her tenure and renovating several others while also reimagining library spaces as places for community engagement and updated technology, Dempsey held the role until resigning in 2012. Pritzker left the libary board in 1998 and stepped down as library foundation chair in 2004. Her civic and philanthropic work continued with the planning for Millennium Park, and Pritzker was instrumental in persuading architect Frank Gehry to design what first was known as the Millennium Park Music Pavilion. Pritzker and her family donated $15 million toward the Gehry bandshell, a striking structure topped by billowing, curled ribbons of stainless steel and joined to a huge steel trellis extending over the bandshell's entire audience. 'Once you've made a suggestion, you have to be willing to put your money behind it,' Pritzker told the Tribune's Chris Jones in 2004. The pavilion eventually was named the Jay Pritzker Pavilion at Millennium Park, and it was dedicated in July 2004 at a black-tie fundraiser. 'I know Jay's spirit is smiling down on us,' Pritzker told those gathered at the fundraiser, according to a 2004 Tribune article. Before Jay Pritzker's death, he drew up an agreement with other family members that was aimed at ensuring that the family's businesses would continue to be run more or less as they had been before, under the leadership of the next generation. However, shortly after his death, his heirs replaced that pact with a new agreement that called for the family's $15 billion fortune to be sold, with the proceeds redistributed. Then, one heir, niece Liesel Pritzker, who was excluded from that replacement deal, sued other family members in 2002, alleging that her trust funds were looted by family members, shortchanging her by $1 billion. Cindy Pritzker issued a written statement calling that publicity 'extremely painful' and that it had caused 'significant confusion regarding the direction and values of the family as established by my husband, Jay.' In 2005, the lawsuit was settled, with Liesel Pritzker and her brother, Matthew, relinquishing their claim on family assets in exchange for $500 million each. Survivors include three sons, Tom, John and Daniel; a daughter, Gigi Pritzker Pucker; and 14 grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren. Another daughter, Nancy, died in 1972. Services will be private. Goldsborough is a freelance reporter.
Yahoo
17-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Grinnell College receives $10M gift for computer science, university needs
The Robert N. Noyce Trust provided Grinnell College with a $10 million gift to establish endowed funds and a faculty position. (Photo courtesy of Grinnell College) A multimillion-dollar gift from a Grinnell College alum and technology pioneers will help the private university transform its computer science offerings for students, with funds going to faculty, equipment and more. Grinnell College announced in a news release Monday it received a $10 million gift from the Robert N. Noyce Trust to create an endowed chair in computer science and scholarship for students with financial need, as well as endowed funds for scientific equipment and curriculum development. A portion of the gift will also go into the college's Pioneer Fund, which addresses the college's 'most pressing needs,' the release states. The endowed chair will use the largest portion of the gift at $4 million, with the rest of the funds split evenly between the scholarship, curriculum and equipment funds. The equipment fund will also go toward maintenance and upgrades 'that support teaching and research in the sciences.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX 'As one of the key founders of technologies that shape how we live and learn, communicate and collaborate every day, Robert Noyce exemplified the power of imagination and the courage to seize opportunities with transformational potential,' said Grinnell College President Anne Harris in the release. 'This gift from his wife Ann Bowers not only honors Robert's devotion to Grinnell but also provides generations of Grinnellians with support to meet challenges and rise to opportunities that haven't yet been imagined.' According to the news release, Noyce was born and raised near Grinnell, graduating from the local high school and earning physics and mathematics degrees from Grinnell College in 1949. He was a cofounder of the Intel Corporation and holds a patent for his 'principal discovery of the integrated circuit.' Noyce also served as a Grinnell College Trustee and has previously donated to the institution. He died in 1990. Ann Bowers, Noyce's wife, became chair of the trust's board after her husband's death, according to the release. A Cornell University graduate, Bowers worked at Intel in the 1970s as director of personnel and at Apple as the company's first vice president of human resources, the release stated. She also served as a Grinnell College trustee from 1991-1992 and the Cornell University Ann S. Bowers College of Computing and Information Science is named after her. Computer Science Department Chair Peter-Michael Osera said in the release the endowed chair will be the 10th 'faculty tenure line' in the department, and the number of computer science majors at Grinnell have grown from just 13 in 2015 to 144 this year, many of whom are seeking additional majors in other areas of the university. A 2023 post-graduate survey cited by the release stated 97% of computer science graduates are either working in their area of study or pursuing further education at their first- or second-choice institutions. 'It is my sincere belief that this generous bequest will inspire others to support Grinnell's brilliant and dedicated faculty and students as they teach, learn, and discover together,' said Bernadine Douglas, vice president of development and alumni relations, in the release. 'Robert Noyce was the force behind discoveries that shape how we live today, but he was also known as 'The Mayor of Silicon Valley' because he recognized the power of collaboration and the potential for technology to have a positive influence on people's lives. It will be exciting to see how these principles, which he and Ann Bowers held dear, will be reflected by the faculty and students who benefit from this gift for years to come.' SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
New York Times
10-02-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
The father-son duo behind a 3-point frenzy college basketball curiosity
RIPON, Wis. — David Arseneault Jr. gently swayed on the balls of his gray and red Air Jordan I low tops while standing near the whiteboard listing lineup combinations. He addressed his Grinnell College players, each reclining in leather chairs or hunching forward on wooden benches in front of their lockers 40 minutes before tip-off and with first place in the Midwest Conference hanging in the balance. Advertisement The opposing crowd at Ripon College was likely to be as packed as it had been the entire season, as was the case for most road games, to watch one of the great curiosities in Division III basketball. But the focus, he told them, needed to be about themselves: playing with composure, demonstrating competitive spirit and finding joy in the game. Continuing to take shots was more important than worrying about missing them, especially after a handful of poor shooting performances. In many ways, it sounded like a typical pregame speech. Until Arseneault raised his right fist to initiate a team huddle and issue a challenge. 'Goal for the first half: 50 field goal attempts, 25 3-point field goal attempts,' Arseneault said. 'That's what we want to come in and look at in the halftime box score. Fifty field goal attempts, 25 3-point field goal attempts and let's have some fun.' Welcome to The System, an unconventional, occasionally controversial, full-court pressing, hockey shift-style substituting, run-and-gun approach that has defined the Grinnell program for more than three decades and shaped the 38-year-old Arseneault's basketball passion. The System's inventor is his dad, David Arseneault Sr., who regularly shattered scoring records and retired as head coach seven years ago. So ingrained was the brand of basketball into Arseneault Jr. as a kid, he recalled being stunned to learn not every team played the same way. His background, which included playing point guard at Grinnell for his dad and serving as a part-time assistant, made his transition to head coach seamless. But the decision came at the expense of a career opportunity Arseneault Jr. couldn't believe he was granted, as an outsider attempting to pioneer an experimental approach in the pros and change how people think about what is possible within the game. Instead, he is back in his hometown, continuing the quest to perfect organized chaos one game at a time. 'It's an honor to follow in the footsteps of my dad,' Arseneault Jr. said. 'It's also scary and I feel like there's some pressure to that as well. Because I do want to try to take it to the next level.' When Arseneault Sr. concocted The System, he didn't do it to take Grinnell basketball to the next level. He didn't do it as a competitive strategy at all. He arrived in Grinnell, Iowa, with his wife, Ellie, son Dave Jr. and daughter Jennie in 1989 to guide a program that hadn't produced a winning season in 26 years. Advertisement Arseneault Sr., a native of Stoneham, Mass., had been the women's basketball coach for two years at now-defunct Hawthorne College in New Hampshire. It didn't take long for him to realize how many challenges he faced at Grinnell, a private liberal arts school 50 miles west of Des Moines where the average ACT score for incoming freshmen is 33. His first team finished 3-19 and he didn't have enough players remaining on his roster by the end of the season to conduct full practices. That's when he decided he could either leave Grinnell or do something drastic. He had admired Paul Westhead's up-tempo teams at Loyola Marymount in the late 1980s and wondered if he could elevate the pace even further. During the 1991-92 season, his third with Grinnell, Arseneault Sr. began experimenting with full-court pressure, mass substitutions and shooting a high rate of 3-pointers. He tasked two students to participate in a two-credit study that produced a mathematical formula for success with five goals: take 94 or more shots, take at least half of your shots from 3-point range, take 25 more shots than your opponent, collect offensive rebounds on 33 percent of your missed shots and force 32 turnovers. Arseneault Sr. estimated his teams won 95 percent of their games when hitting those marks. In The System, players were instructed to full-court press, substitute in five-man shifts at nearly every dead ball, shoot every 12 seconds and often surrender a layup for the opportunity to get the ball back and fire up another 3-point attempt. Grinnell frequently allowed more points than any Division III team in the country while ranking last in field-goal percentage defense and rebound margin. But Pioneers players were invigorated. They could score in bunches, and other teams wore down while attempting to keep pace with Grinnell's 15-plus player rotation over a 40-minute game. Grinnell routinely led all NCAA divisions in scoring, and Arseneault Sr. produced 15 winning seasons while reaching the D-III NCAA Tournament twice. That is the life into which Arsenault Jr. grew up. Arseneault Sr. said he knew his son had a future in coaching at 8 years old. The two were watching game film from the previous night. With 15 seconds remaining in a tie game, the opponent had the ball on its own sideline. Arseneault Sr. elected to keep double-teaming the ball and after three near-steals, Grinnell surrendered a layup at the buzzer. As Arseneault Jr. watched, he told his dad: 'That was stupid. You should have been packed in a tight zone and made them shoot from outside.' To which Arseneault Sr. could only say: 'You might be right.' Father and son talk daily about basketball and have for decades. Never were they more confused than when an email arrived from a Sacramento Kings executive in 2014 asking Arseneault Jr. if he was interested in being the head coach for its NBA Developmental League team, the Reno Bighorns (now the G League's Stockton Kings). Was it supposed to be sent to Arseneault Sr.? Was it supposed to ask Arseneault Jr. about an assistant coaching spot instead? Advertisement 'I thought they were reaching out to me,' Arseneault Sr. said. 'When I subsequently learned they were contacting my $5,000 a year part-time assistant, I just couldn't believe it.' Few knew The System better than his son. He played at Grinnell from 2005-09, was a three-time finalist for the Bob Cousy point guard of the year award and finished his career as the Division III all-time leader in assists average at 9.4 per game. Arseneault Jr. remained in Grinnell for five years as a part-time assistant coach, helping in various roles within the athletic department. By the end of that stretch, he often coached the team while his dad sat on the end of the bench. Still, this was something different. This was what Arseneault Jr. called 'blind, dumb luck.' Sacramento's brass wanted to experiment with an outside-the-box approach because the NBA, led in part by Golden State Warriors guard Steph Curry, was trending toward more 3-point shooting. Arseneault Jr., at 28 years old, was tapped for the job. He implemented the Grinnell system exactly as he knew it. Reno finished 20-30 in his first season as pros tried to adjust to a style they had never seen. Arseneault Jr. said he believed he should have been fired. But Reno finished third out of five teams in the West Division, leading the D-League in scoring, offensive rating and pace while attempting 46.9 3-pointers per game. Sacramento picked up the team option on his contract and brought him back for a second season. Arseneault Jr. learned to adapt to a roster half the size of a college team. He didn't press quite as much. He didn't make wholesale substitutions every dead ball. But the roots of The System took hold. He led the team to the Pacific Division title and finished with the best record in the Western Conference at 33-17, setting records for offensive efficiency and leading the league in multiple scoring and 3-point shooting categories. There have been system imitators at lower levels but few, if any, at high levels because of the challenges associated with success: taller, stronger opponents who are better ball handlers, poor defensive marks and the capacity to lose big. But Brady Heslip, a former Baylor guard who began his professional career in Reno during Arseneault Jr.'s first season, said the two-year sample size offered proof of its potential while demonstrating Arseneault Jr.'s coaching abilities. Heslip set a D-League record in his first career game by burying 11 3-pointers. He broke that mark two weeks later with 13 made 3s and eventually signed a contract overseas. He said Arseneault Jr.'s ability to build trust while asking players to buy into such a unique system stood out. Heslip acknowledged The System wasn't perfect. In the pros, he said, teams can win games on a bad shooting night by doing everything else well, which was more difficult in The System. There also were games in which players felt scaling back from full-court pressing with a late lead would have led to more victories. Advertisement But, Heslip said, the Arseneaults were ahead of the curve in terms of reliance on 3s. Every NBA team ranked in the top 226 in league history for most 3-pointers attempted per game during a season has occurred in the last 10 years. Fifteen teams have finished a season attempting at least 40 3-pointers per game. Four more are on track to reach that mark this season, including the Boston Celtics, whose 48.1 3-pointers attempted per game would be a new single-season league record. 'I definitely think it got people thinking,' Heslip said. 'I like to think that perhaps that system contributed to further proving the thesis that you can play that way and be successful. There's a case to be made for a modified version of it in the NBA.' Maybe Arseneault Jr. could have forged a path in the pros. But he returned to Grinnell as the interim coach after his second season in Reno when his dad took a sabbatical leave. His fiancée, Rachel, was a Grinnell graduate and still living there. He knew the challenges of raising a family as a professional coach and wanted security in a familiar place. Arseneault Jr. and his now-wife have three kids, ages 7, 5 and 3. 'While my career was at a crossroads, it really wasn't even a decision in my mind,' Arseneault Jr. said. 'It was a no-brainer to want to come back to Grinnell. The whole package and the atmosphere, it's like I'm on a paid holiday.' Arseneault Jr. spent two seasons in an interim role before taking over as head coach in 2018. His dad still attends practices and home games, but Arseneault Sr. makes it clear this is his son's program. The biggest difference? Arseneault Jr. cares about defense in a way his dad never really did. He doesn't want to surrender uncontested layups or dunks and strategizes with players on how to gamble in the backcourt but be smart about preventing momentum-breaking runs. He doesn't make attaining all five goals of The System as much of a priority because he wants his players to play with more freedom. The System's frenetic nature remains. Grinnell leads the country in scoring at 115.5 points per game and 3-point attempts per game at 49.6. Winning has been a staple. This season, Grinnell is 17-5 overall, 10-3 in league play and vying to reach its first NCAA Tournament since Arseneault Sr. did so 24 years earlier. Arseneault Jr. has the best winning percentage in program history. He was named the conference coach of the year last season and nearly broke through with that elusive NCAA Tournament berth. Grinnell led Illinois College by 15 points at halftime of the conference championship game. Illinois College then demonstrated the types of wild swings that occur when playing against The System by outscoring Grinnell 65-26 in the second half to capture a 108-84 victory. Advertisement Grinnell assistant coach DJ Damazo calls Arseneault Jr. the most egoless coach he's ever been around. Guard Jackson Leone said he considers Arseneault Jr. a friend and noted the two golf together in the offseason. Leading scorer Kai Te Huki describes him as the perfect balance of critical and supportive. 'Dave deserves a lot of credit,' Illinois College coach Steve Schweer said. 'He's a really underrated coach. Some people don't know he was a head coach in the D-League. Like, this is a guy who has accomplished a lot as a coach.' Grinnell's black shooting shirts during pregame warmups indicate what players are attempting to achieve. In white letters above the Grinnell Pioneer logo reads: 3 > 2. But it's also part of a philosophy that has caused controversy over the years. Arseneault Sr. loved to try to set records and push boundaries. No game generated more national attention than when guard Jack Taylor set an NCAA scoring record with 138 points during Grinnell's 179-104 victory against Faith Baptist in 2012. Taylor took 108 shots and made 27 of 71 3-pointers. Grinnell intentionally picked a game against a lesser foe to try to break the record, and it wasn't the only time the Pioneers did such a thing. Taylor scored 109 points the following season against another overmatched foe in a 173-123 victory against Crossroads College. Arseneault Jr. set an NCAA single-game assists record in 2007 with 34. The plan that day: Players could take any shot they wanted, as long as it came off a pass from him. Grinnell guard Patrick Maher broke his record a few years later with 37 assists in a game. Two years ago, Grinnell set a new record by attempting 111 3-pointers and zero 2-pointers in a 124-67 victory against Emmaus Bible College. It marked the first time in college basketball history a team didn't attempt a single 2-pointer. Some have called The System a sham and an embarrassment to basketball because of the way it can warp statistics. Even Te Huki said his mom thinks it can be disrespectful to the game. Arseneault Jr., like his dad, sees it a different way. Advertisement 'It doesn't bother me,' Arseneault Jr. said. 'I'm trying to set us up to do what's best for our program, to create memories for these guys that are going to have for the most part careers outside of basketball. And we're trying to have some fun and test the limits of the game.' What players on Grinnell's team say casual observers don't notice is how much camaraderie The System provides. There are nearly 20 players who earn minutes, generating buy-in across the roster. Nobody generally plays more than half the game, but players say they feel as though they have played 40 minutes. Te Huki, who played the most minutes against Ripon at 21, subbed in for 18 shifts. And most games aren't meant to chase records. They're meant to give Grinnell — a team that may not always be as talented as its conference opponents — a chance to win in a unique atmosphere. 'A lot of times the criticism is a little bit unwarranted,' Leone said. 'At the end of the day, there's a million different ways to play basketball. Why is this not one?' Opposing coaches say preparing for Grinnell is a nightmare. Where Arseneault Jr. spends no time scouting his opponent outside of watching previous games against his own team, opponents are left scrambling. 'It just throws a wrench into your season where basically we tell our guys, 'All right, everything we worked on the last three months, throw it out the window,'' Ripon College coach Kenny Finco said. 'No one in our league likes when they have them coming up on the schedule.' Many teams practice against six or seven scout-team players to prepare starters to handle and break the press. Finco overhauled his game plan to use 10 players during the game as part of two five-man shifts that could rotate when Grinnell players substituted. He also implemented a 1-2-2 zone defense to make it easier for players to know what spot they needed to be in on the court. 'Sometimes, you're like, 'Man I've got to go play Grinnell?'' Schweer said. 'But the game is fun because it's so much different than anything else that you go against.' The pregame goal Arseneault Jr. requested against Ripon wasn't attained but it also wasn't far from being met. Grinnell attempted 43 first-half field goals and 31 3-pointers to enter halftime trailing 51-46. Grinnell tied the game at 71 on Te Huki's baseline jumper before fading in one of its worst performances of the season: a 102-85 loss. Advertisement But one moment from the final stretch stood out. Grinnell trailed Ripon 75-71 with nine minutes remaining when junior guard Zach Rosen exited the floor following one of his shifts and yelled to the bench with a smile: 'I love this. There's nothing better.' That's something Arseneault Jr. didn't find in the D-League. Grinnell's players celebrate every forced turnover in the backcourt on the bench as though someone hit a game-tying buzzer-beater. It didn't mean Arseneault Jr. was happy with the result. He and his players remained in the locker room for more than 30 minutes after suffering their first back-to-back losses of the season. When they emerged, they prepared for a five-hour bus ride through the cold night back to Iowa. There was plenty to teach, but with a postseason spot within reach, the show needed to go on. And there was no place Arseneault Jr. would have rather been. (Top photo of David Arseneault Jr.: Courtesy of Marc Duebener / Grinnell College)
USA Today
30-01-2025
- Politics
- USA Today
Woke bishop confronting Trump? Wokeness is a faith in Jesus in action.
Woke bishop confronting Trump? Wokeness is a faith in Jesus in action. | Opinion Jesus' words were crystal clear about what it means to extend mercy, grace, and lovingkindness to others. Show Caption Hide Caption Bisop Mariann Budde makes plea to Trump to have mercy on immigrants Bishop Mariann E. Budde, of the Episcopal Church, pleaded to Donald Trump to have "mercy" on immigrants and members of the LGBTQ+ community. Reuters Darrius D'wayne Hills is an associate professor of religious studies at Grinnell College. Among the litany of screeds levied on Bishop Mariann Budde regarding her pulpit confrontation of President Donald Trump during the Jan. 21 inaugural prayer service, one terminology that made the rounds online among conservative pundits was the assessment that Budde's sermon was 'woke.' 'Wokeness' has as of late, driven by sensationalist conservative media, become the latest talking point proffering culture wedge red meat for the base. While it would be quite easy for me to provide a popular culture overview, with literary reference points, to correct my sincere but misguided far-right peers regarding what 'woke' actually means, that is not what I tarry with here. I prefer instead to draw upon my training in religious studies — and more personally, my own faith convictions as a United Methodist — to offer an alternative space to grapple with what it means to be woke as a religious ethic modeled in the person of Jesus Christ. In the context of Budde's sermon, and in concert with the New Testament account of Jesus' ministry, wokeness is really just demonstrable faith. It is a faith that picks sides — namely, the side of materialized justice, concern for neighbor, and amplifying the needs of the most vulnerable. This is ultimately a faith in action that is committed to uplifting and protecting the 'Other' — whoever they may be. Jesus' words were crystal clear about what it means to extend mercy, grace, and lovingkindness to others. In the Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37), Jesus clarifies that neighborliness is intertwined with mercy and that one necessitates the other. What makes this feature of Christ's ethic powerful: He is no respecter of arbitrary social distinction. Jesus doesn't instruct the critics in the passage to extend mercy to only to persons of the same political party, or only the same race, or only the same tax bracket, or only with the same citizenship status. We extend mercy and goodness, like the Samaritan, without qualification. Regardless of references to LGBTQ, refugee, and immigrant communities, the underscoring theology from Budde's pleas to Trump can be traced to the desire for love and mercy as the catalyst of true Christian faith. For Christians, I submit that wokeness means extending the love of God, modeled in the ethic of Christ, toward the constant, ineradicable awareness of the need for soul- and body-saving work in a world that is broken and in need of healing. Working for justice on behalf of those who find themselves on the undersides of our society, and committing ourselves to their well-being, is something that transcends the partisan provinciality of our current moment. Toni Morrison's novel "Home" recounts the trials and redemptive healing of African American siblings Frank and Cee in the aftermath of racialized trauma. Cee, who survives sexual assault, is sent to small commune of Black women who are her caregivers. One of the women, makes this prescient declaration: 'Misery don't call ahead. That's why you have to stay awake — otherwise it just walks on in your door.' This wisdom is useful for us now as we navigate the many social conflicts in the years to come. Being woke alerts us to the misery and pain and brutalization of people we often cannot (or refuse to) see. Wokeness is communal vigilance that seeks after the fulfillment of others, the very same caliber of neighborliness modeled in the life of Christ as authentic Christian witness. We can all embrace wokeness, but for Christian communities specifically, being woke has a long biblical and theological precedent that we'd do well to braid into faithful praxis. This hope animated Budde's prayer. It is also this hope toward the future of America's domestic and global relationships that the president should embrace. Darrius D'wayne Hills is an associate professor of religious studies at Grinnell College. Contact: hillsdar@
