The all-day vigil at White Plaza mourned Palestinian deaths three years after the Oct. 7 attacks.
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Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) held a vigil on Oct. 7 “for the living, the martyrs and the land,” according to promotional flyers. The event, which drew around 40 attendees, primarily commemorated Palestinians killed since the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attacks on Israel.
“Our intention for having this all-day vigil is to call attention to our vision of a liberated future that encompasses justice and belonging for all people,” said lauryn chew ’30, an SJP organizer and the event’s MC, who spells her name in lowercase.
The vigil featured an installation of sticks, each representing “ten of the 20,000 plus children killed in the Gaza genocide since Oct. 7,” according to the display, alongside names and written artwork with messages including “We are on the right side of history!” and “Every martyr is a universe.”
Heather Schechter ’27, who spoke at the vigil for JVP, said that “mourning the Gaza genocide” did not omit mourning those murdered on Oct. 7. “The Torah and the Talmud tell us that every life is a Universe,” Schechter said. “To kill a life is to kill a universe.”
Members from Stanford JVP spoke before two songs were performed by the activist group “Raging Grannies,” an organization composed of older women from across the Bay Area. More speakers from SJP followed.
Hillel at Stanford, the Jewish Student Association (JSA), the Stanford Israel Association (SIA) and Chabad at Stanford held a separate memorial the same day honoring both the hostages who returned home and those who were killed.
Stanford’s Hillel director Rabbi Jessica Kirschner said many Jewish and Israeli members of the Stanford community were using Oct. 7 to remember people killed at the Nova music festival, in their homes and workplaces and while attempting to protect others. “Even three years later, the wounds are still too fresh to ask the memorials to hold more than that,” she wrote.
The pro-Palestinian vigil marked the three-year anniversary of the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks in which Hamas militants killed approximately 1,200 people and took 251 others hostage. SJP organizers said their event intended to focus on Palestinian deaths in the ensuing war while maintaining that Israeli civilian deaths were also tragic.
“It’s really just to draw a connection between October 7 and the lives that were lost after it,” SJP member Rain Zeng ’30 said. “We’re critiquing the Israeli government’s response to that event and we’re not saying the event itself doesn’t matter, or that the Israelis who died deserved it, or anything like that.”
Daanish Noor ’27, an SJP organizer, said the organization’s broader goal was “Stanford’s divestment from the genocide.” In Zeng’s view, the University “has institutional ties and reasons for partnering with corporations that contribute to genocide.”
Noor said he hoped the installation and all-day format would encourage students to come and “just look at the sheer atrocity.”
Comparative literature professor David Palumbo-Liu — who wrote to The Daily on behalf of Stanford Faculty & Staff for Justice in Palestine — supported the vigil with other faculty members.
“Memorials often center on helping people commemorate painful events together, to think carefully about their significance and memorialize the dead,” Palumbo-Liu wrote. “Faculty, like everyone else, can be part of that process.”
Kirschner said the Oct. 7 date should be reserved to focus on the Israeli victims of the attack.
“October 7 remains a day of mourning specifically for the victims of the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023,” Kirschner wrote to The Daily. “Attempts to make it something different, and especially to excuse or glorify terrorists and murderers as ‘martyrs’ on this day of all days is gross and cruel.”
“We respect all loss of life as tragic,” Zeng said. They added that SJP’s goal was to create a space to mourn Palestinian deaths, which they said were not otherwise adequately recognized on campus.
One Palestinian student, who requested anonymity for fear of retaliation, said the conflict has shaped their entire life.
“It’s been three years for a lot of people, in their mind, but for me, the struggle against the occupation of Palestine, the colonization of Palestine, has been my whole life,” the student said.
The student added that Palestinians on campus have felt their voice suppressed, and that their safety has not received the same institutional priority as that of others.
“It feels like we’re less human,” they said. “It feels like our lives are not as important to them, and not as important to the world in general.”
On Oct. 11, 2023, the University released a statement in response to the Hamas attacks that “Stanford stands unequivocally against hatred on the basis of religion, race, ethnicity, national origin, and other categories.”
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Jewish community mourns Oct. 7 with memorial, its first since every hostage returned homePortraits, a live stream from Israel and candles filled Meyer Green as student groups marked three years since the attack.
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Dozens of students, staff and community members held candles on Meyer Green on Wednesday night to mourn the roughly 1,200 people killed on Oct. 7, 2023, marking the first anniversary of the attack since every hostage came home.
Hillel at Stanford, the Jewish Student Association (JSA), the Stanford Israel Association (SIA) and Chabad at Stanford hosted the day of remembrance. Hamas freed the last 20 living hostages on Oct. 13, 2025, and Israel recovered the remains of the final one, police officer Ran Gvili, on Jan. 26. Hamas militants took 251 hostages during the Oct. 7 attacks.
According to Tal Shasha, Hillel’s Israeli fellow, the gathering was to “remember those who were taken hostage and came back home, and to remember those who were taken hostage and did not come home alive.”
The memorial on Meyer Green stood from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. At 11:15 a.m., Hillel screened the Israeli national memorial ceremony live from Israel. In White Plaza, students staffed tables marked “We remember 10.7.2023” beneath banners titled “10/7 Human Stories.”
The evening ceremony began beside a display of red flowers, which Shasha, said was inspired by a project that placed red clay flowers across Israel. “They also speak of resilience, standing bright against devastation,” Shasha said.
Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and Jewish Voices for Peace (JVP) held a separate vigil in White Plaza the same day “for the living, the martyrs and the land.”
“Our intention for having this all-day vigil is to call attention to our vision of a liberated future that encompasses justice and belonging for all people,” said lauryn chew ’30, an SJP organizer and the event’s MC, who spells her name in lowercase.
Rabbi Dov Greenberg, executive director of Chabad at Stanford, told the crowd the question was not whether to remember, but how. “We have come here to mourn, to remember, 100%. But the deeper question is, how are we going to remember?” he said. “But the destroyers and the haters do not get to decide the next chapter of Jewish history.”
Greenberg said Jews answered Oct. 7 by resolving on Oct. 8. “Because haters want me to cower in fear, I will stand with courage and dignity for my people, for Israel, for human beings, for freedom around the world,” he said.
Esther Luvishis ’29 read a poem she wrote built around the names of the dead. In it, she said she was “tired of counting and miscounting on bitten fingers the names of his brother, her husband, their grandma, our people.”
Attendees were invited to set their candles in the center of Meyer Green, and the ceremony closed with “Hatikvah,” Israel’s national anthem.
For one Stanford student, who requested anonymity for fear of retaliation, the anniversary held personal ties.
“Three friends of mine, two of whom I knew for a long time, were kidnapped,” the student said. “One was held in Gaza for a few months, the other for a few years. They returned eventually, thankfully.”
To Rabbi Jessica Kirschner, Hillel’s executive director and senior rabbi, the day belongs to the people who were killed and taken hostage.
“October 7 remains a day of mourning specifically for the victims of the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023,” Kirschner wrote in a statement to The Daily. “Attempts to make it something different, and especially to excuse or glorify terrorists and murderers as ‘martyrs’ on this day of all days is gross and cruel.”
“We deserve a day to mourn our losses without caveats or competing narratives. Palestinians deserve a day like that too, to hold the immense sadness they carry,” Kirschner wrote. “Their pain is also so real. But pick another date. There are plenty to choose from.”
Daanish Noor ’27, an SJP organizer, said the organization’s broader goal was “Stanford’s divestment from the genocide.” In Zeng’s view, the University “has institutional ties and reasons for partnering with corporations that contribute to genocide.”
The Graduate School of Business’s Jewish Business Student Association said the return of the hostages brings “a profound sense of relief,” while Oct. 7 “remains a day of immense loss and pain.” SIA said its ceremony and memorial “is not a political statement” and “stands as a visual and interactive space for students to process the events that unfolded.”
“In Judaism, memory asks something of us: to comfort those who suffer, strengthen one another, and build a future worthy of the lives we remember,” Greenberg wrote in a statement to The Daily.
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Stanford largely exempt from statewide sexual assault lawUniversity assesses compliance with the decision, launches new sexual assault resources after cutting others.
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Content warning: This article discusses sexual violence and human trafficking.
Following nationwide discourse surrounding sexual assault on university campuses, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed a package of bills last Wednesday strengthening legal and institutional policies surrounding sexual assault and human trafficking.
One of the bills enacted, Assembly Bill (AB) 1845, directs postsecondary schools receiving state funding to enhance employee training and strengthen policy to better combat cases of sexual violence.
Last year, however, the University paused usage of state funding towards financial assistance programs to ensure compliance with other legislation. As a result, a sizable portion of California’s Education Code no longer applies to the University, including almost all of AB 1845.
Stanford began substituting state financial aid after AB 1780 went into effect, which prevents schools receiving state-funded aid from preferring applicants with connections to alumni or donors. The University said the decision would ensure compliance and has continued to factor legacy and donor relations into admissions.
Stanford’s decision to forfeit state funding has given University leadership freedom to shape policies differently than other California schools. While the University has largely maintained its policies, Stanford has recently ended two key sexual wellness education programs.
While Stanford adheres to applicable baseline standards set forth by the California Education Code, the school is not legally required to comply with large portions of bills like AB 1845. As Stanford’s decision to substitute state funding is relatively recent, it is unclear how the University will respond to consequential legislation addressing issues such as human trafficking and sexual assault.
In an email to The Daily, University representative Angie Davis wrote that “Stanford’s compliance training is currently being assessed against AB 1845.” In the meantime, however, Stanford’s current infrastructure differs from the requirements of the new law.
While many laws targeting postsecondary institutions are conditional on state-funded financial aid, California legislature may also regulate postsecondary institutions as a whole. AB 1845 does require a broader range of independent postsecondary institutions, including Stanford, to refine their agreements with local law enforcement to “clarify operational responsibilities for investigations of human trafficking occurring on campus.”
Stanford is exempt, however, from all other parts of the bill, like Section 2 of AB 1845 that requires applicable postsecondary institutions to adopt a policy on human trafficking. To comply with the law, the policy would have to include support numbers, a protocol for reporting human trafficking, mental and physical signs of human trafficking and “ways to identify individuals who are most at risk for human trafficking,” according to the Bill.
Currently, University policy includes neither a section for human trafficking nor the features the law demands of other schools, with no mention of “trafficking” in Stanford’s Administrative Guide.
A recent study found that 18% of students on Southern California campuses report experiencing human trafficking at some point during their postsecondary education. Human trafficking often involves sexual abuse and involuntary prostitution.
Stanford “will continue to evaluate its policies, trainings, and response practices in light of evolving legal requirements and best practices,” Davis wrote.
Resources provided beyond the scope of the University’s obligations are subject to removal at Stanford’s discretion. Such resources include programs like Flip The Script and Beyond Sex Ed, a popular piece of New Student Orientation programming that was cut last year without student input.
This year, Stanford introduced a new course designed around recognizing and responding to sexual assault or harassment, planned a series of events designed to teach best practices in intimate relationships and encouraged student groups interested in requesting training related to sexual assault to complete a training request form.
No similar programs for combating human trafficking currently exist on campus.
Students may speak to a counselor at the 24/7 Confidential Support Team at (650) 725-9955 to speak about their options if they feel unsafe or have experienced sexual assault. Students may also fill out a Title IX Reporting Form and may choose from there what steps they want to pursue. Students have access to supportive resources even if they do not wish to pursue an investigation. Visit https://share.stanford.edu/get-help for information on resources for sexual harassment, sexual violence and relationship violence.
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What are the nine scariest words in the English language? The Humor Section has answersThe single scariest word is “commitment,” but the Humor Section has thoughts on the nine scariest words.
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Editor’s Note: This article is purely satirical and fictitious. All attributions in this article are not genuine, and this story should be read in the context of pure entertainment only.
Ronald Reagan, McDonald’s mascot and later Nancy’s husband, once claimed that the nine scariest words in the English language were “I’m from the government, and I’m here to help.”
Personally, that didn’t send shivers trickling down our spines. With Halloween fast approaching, we deemed it time to one-up his dismal disposition for dreariness, a time to step from humor to horror, a time for choosing the nine scariest words in the English language.
“Hey, that sounds like an electric scooter behind us.” – Micah Chung ’30, favored prey of scooter-wielding upperclassmen
“You’ve been hit, the ambulance is on its way.” – Jayson Toweh, PhD ’27, former injured cyclist and affordable healthcare proponent
“I’m from Flock and I’m here to install cameras.” – Sebastian Strawser ’29, your friendly neighborhood, moral and effective security expert. Brought to you by Peter Thiel and friends.
“Excuse me — are you the RA for this dorm?” – Sophia Mitsuoka ’28, sometimes the RA for this dorm
“It’s due tonight; it will take me five minutes.” Garrett Khatchaturian ’28, Procrastinator
“I’m the AP style guide; no Oxford commas allowed.” – Joel Grayson ’28: punctuation activist, former em dash proponent—before AI ruined it — and Stanford comma schemer
“Your current Axess hold: unpaid three cent printing fee.” – Lydia Schwartz ’29, certain that three cents would never restrict someone’s ability to enroll in classes or to receive scholarship money
“Electrical Engineering 101A Canvas Notification: Final Exam Grade: UPDATED.” — Ella Prichard ’29, Desk Editor, using her fingers as a voltmeter to study local electrical outlet
“Philadelphia has a championship game. Fans have legal immunity.” — Mason Barrett ’28, pondering how this will affect the upcoming season of Abbott Elementary
“For sale, baby shoes, never worn. I own thousands.” – Jenny Ballutay ’28, Managing Editor, subjecting Hemingway to supply and demand.
“My name is Jenny, and I’m your Managing Editor!” – Sia Liu ’29, Desk Editor, condemned to work
“Editor’s Note: This article is purely satirical and fictitious.” – The Stanford Daily Executive Team, worried about our impact on editorial standards
…there we go again!
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Research Roundup: Nobel Prize for neuroscience, smarter bladder cancer testBioengineer Karl Deisseroth won the Nobel Prize and researchers developed a more accurate test to diagnose bladder cancer.
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Stanford’s Karl Deisseroth wins Nobel Prize for pioneering optogenetics
On Oct. 5th, Karl Deisseroth, a professor of bioengineering and psychiatry at Stanford, was named one of three winners of this year’s Nobel Prize in physiology and medicine for developing optogenetics — a technique that uses light to switch specific neurons on or off.
The method relies on opsins, light-activated proteins borrowed from microbes. Over two decades, Deisseroth’s team learned to install these proteins on the surfaces of neurons in living animals, control them with pulses of laser light delivered through implanted fiber-optic cables and use them to watch behavior change.
This process was extremely difficult, as moving a microbial protein into a mammalian neuron risked triggering immune attacks, and there was no guarantee the protein would behave the same way or even end up in the right place on the cell.
“I was turned down for funding by a lot of people who thought this couldn’t possibly work,” Deisseroth told Stanford Medicine, recalling the skepticism that early funders had about the project’s premise.
His team ultimately solved each obstacle by delivering the genes virally, restricting expression to targeted neuron types and re-engineering the proteins to reliably reach the cell surface.
Optogenetics is now a standard tool in thousands of neuroscience labs worldwide, letting researchers probe the neural circuits underlying sensation, decision-making and behavior with a level of precision that was previously impossible.
New urine test could tell bladder cancer patients which treatment will actually work
Researchers at Stanford Medicine and the VA Palo Alto Health Care System developed a urine test, called uRARE-seq, that diagnoses bladder cancer more accurately than current methods and can also predict whether a patient will respond better to immunotherapy or chemotherapy.
Unlike most liquid biopsies, which scan for cancer-linked DNA mutations, the test measures RNA fragments shed by tumor cells — an approach the researchers say captures what a tumor is actively doing, not just whether it’s present.
In a study of 683 urine samples, published Oct. 2 in “Nature Medicine”, the test correctly flagged 95% of localized bladder cancer cases and cleared 90% of cancer-free patients, outperforming both standard urine cytology and existing DNA-based urine tests.
“Analyzing RNA can tell us not only whether a cancer is present — but also what it’s doing,” co-senior author Maximilian Diehn, radiation oncology professor, told Stanford Medicine.
The test could be especially useful for guiding use of Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG), the typical post-surgery immunotherapy, which doesn’t work for every patient and is chronically in short supply.
“If we can guide those choices, we have the potential to help both patients and clinicians,” said co-senior author Joseph Liao, professor of urology, noting that doctors currently have few tools to inform that decision.
Study finds gas stoves in commercial kitchens pose significant health risk
A new study published in “Environmental Research Letters” is the first U.S. analysis to directly compare air quality and heat in gas versus electric commercial kitchens in real working conditions.
Researchers at the Doerr School of Sustainability monitored 21 gas kitchens, three propane kitchens and three all-electric kitchens across California, Pennsylvania and New York, tracking nitrogen dioxide, benzene, carbon monoxide and temperature. About 70% of the gas and propane kitchens exceeded the EPA’s one-hour outdoor air standard for nitrogen dioxide during working hours, and nearly 70% topped 90°F, with some kitchens spiking above 122°F. No electric kitchen exceeded either threshold.
“Our study shows that burning gas in a restaurant kitchen is as suspect as burning it in our homes,” co-author Rob Jackson, a professor of Earth System Science, told Physicians, Scientists and Engineers (PSE) Healthy Energy.
“The all-electric kitchens ran cooler and cleaner,” said lead author Yannai Kashtan, a former member of Jackson’s lab and now an air-quality scientist at PSE Energy, also adding that research on what kitchen workers breathe has been scarce.
The study also found that pilot lights left burning overnight kept pollution elevated even after ventilation shut off, which poses a risk for cleaning staff and employees who arrive early in the morning. This is another problem that the authors said had not been studied before.
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Stanford Wellness Fair cultivates health-forward community for facultyStaff and faculty across departments came together with community services and programs.
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Stanford’s BeWell and Stanford Benefits held their second Wellness Fair at Koret Plaza on Tuesday. The event brought staff and faculty together to learn about the resources supporting their physical, mental and personal well-being.
The fair offered free flu shots, wellness information and resource booths from organizations including Kaiser, Midi Health and Stanford Continuing Studies. Local vendors also sold baked goods, fresh fruit and wellness products.
For Cheryl Mejia, a Healthy Living staff member with BeWell, the fair was an opportunity to connect the Stanford community with resources that can be easily overlooked during a busy workday.
“We want to share what we have to offer with the Stanford community,” Mejia said.
Through BeWell, eligible Stanford employees can participate in wellness programs and receive financial incentives for completing certain activities. The effort is part of the University’s broader push to encourage employees to prioritize their health and well-being.
With the demands of work and daily responsibilities, events like the Wellness Fair give employees a chance to connect with others across the University, Mejia said.
Stanford Continuing Studies was another organization using the fair to introduce employees to opportunities beyond traditional workplace wellness. Amy Tollafield, a senior manager of student services from Continuing Studies, said the organization wanted Stanford staff to know that they can use their education funds to pursue subjects and interests outside of their regular work.
“I hope they know that we exist if they have never heard of us before and that they try taking a class,” Tollafield said.
Continuing Studies offers classes that are open to the public, allowing Stanford employees the opportunity to learn and explore personal interests.
For some attendees, however, the significance of the fair extended beyond the individual resources available at each booth.
Alex Olay, who works at Stanford School of Medicine, said the event stood out because it brought the community together.
“The whole thing in itself, with the whole community, shows that Stanford cares,” Olay said.
Olay said his team has BeWell Champions, Stanford employees who volunteer through activities and programming to emphasize both mental and physical well-being, which is part of what brought him to the fair.
Across the fair, the message was consistent: wellness can take many forms, from accessing health care and participating in physical wellness activities to pursuing education and making time to connect with the broader Stanford community.
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Daily Diminutive #192Click to play today's 5x5 mini crossword. The Daily produces mini crosswords daily and a full-size crossword weekly.
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Stanfordle #160Enjoy The Daily's Stanfordle. The Daily produces Stanfordles on weekdays.
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Player-led retreat energizes women’s basketball for seasonWomen’s basketball kicks off their season in a few weeks, and a historic off-season has them prepared for a tough schedule.
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Women’s basketball tips off its season on Oct. 24 in an exhibition game against the University of the Pacific at Maples Pavilion. The game will be the start of a tough schedule for a team entering its third season in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). A connection forged this off-season with another elite Stanford program, however, has the team coming in with renewed momentum after organizing its first-ever player-led retreat to Muir Beach.
“It started back in the spring when we had a meeting with the men’s gymnastics team,” said sophomore forward Alexandra Eschmeyer during an ACC press conference. “We met with their team and the thing that stuck out to us specifically was that they do a team retreat every year, just players, and it’s an opportunity for them to really build out their goals for the year, discuss their standards.”
While they discussed their tone and vision for the season, the retreat also served as a bonding experience for a team that has brought in seven new faces, including four freshmen and three transfers.
“It was a great opportunity for us to bond with each other,” Eschmeyer said. “Having a lot of new girls, I think that honestly the most important thing was to get to know each other because when you have more chemistry off the court, it definitely translates.”
Sophomore guard Hailee Swain revealed the team set a motto to guide the players throughout the season.
“We came up with a saying for our team this year, which is ‘It’s just us,’” said Swain. “So that means focusing on our team and individual development as long as there is collective team development and just really going out on the court and working together to win.”
Head coach Kate Paye praised Eschmeyer and Swain for helping organize the retreat, stating it helped build “a championship culture.” Paye was quick to say their goal is to play in the NCAA tournament, something they have not done since the 2023-24 season, but she also acknowledged the fierce competition they will face.
“Obviously we expect to be playing in the NCAA tournament,” Paye said. “We have an extremely challenging non-conference schedule. We are the only power four school to play five other power four schools and five true [non-conference] road games. I think we’ll learn a lot about ourselves. And with such a new roster, we want to learn about ourselves early.”
With the team lacking seniors or fifth-year players, a big question will be team leadership. Paye, however, expressed faith in their young roster.
“You don’t get to Stanford without being a leader and having leadership qualities and leadership skills,” Paye said. “We are going to count on every single woman on our team, all 12 of them, to be leaders in some way that’s authentic to them.”
There may be a lot of unanswered questions about this team, but Swain chose the word “hungry” to describe the upcoming season of Stanford women’s basketball.
“I think that we are obviously a very young team, but there is room for opportunity and for us to grow individually and together,” Swain said. “I’m just really excited. We’re hungry, ready to go, ready to work, and ready to win.”
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Frosh share their Stanford highlights (so far)Wilbur Dining’s pho bar, learning to bike, late-night pizookies — here’s what freshmen think makes the Farm special.
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A few weeks into freshman year, The Daily asked members of the Class of 2030 to describe their favorite aspects of Stanford. Here’s what they said.
Many of my nights have included playing pickleball with friends until the court lights shut off. We have affectionately come to know this as “mickleball,” or midnight pickle ball, even though the courts actually close at 11 p.m. This is often followed by a series of events: singing to Niko at Lakeside Dining, ordering garlic fries and pizookies, studying for a bit and playing Brawl Stars. Through these late-night activities, friends-of-friends have become some of the people I spend the most time with, and I’ve found an outlet to de-stress.
I could write an ode to Wilbur Dining’s pho bar. From the steaming containers of warm broth, to heaping piles of sticky noodles and tubs of toppings, the bar provides the opportunity to customize the perfect bowl of pho. Sometimes, I like it spicy, with extra chili oil; sometimes, just noodles and broth are all I need to make me happy. In the midst of the rush of new everything — from classes to people to bike routes —the constant presence of the pho bar has been reassuring. It is just nice to come back again and again to the same hot meal every night, even in the midst of the current summer-like heat.
At the start of high school, I told a friend: “It’s lucky I’m not going to Stanford because I wouldn’t be able to bike.” I was terrified of a bustling 35-acre campus with 10,000 bikes on the West Coast. Now, I’ve flown 2,500 miles with a rickety department store bike that’s taken me to Town & Country cookie shops, Memorial Church photoshoots and Arillaga late-night dining right across from the best dorm (Wilbur Soto). As I bike across campus, I’m learning how to balance myself, explore places with friends and defy my extremely unfit 14-year-old self.
As a member of the Structured Liberal Education (SLE) program, our discussion sections have been some of the most stimulating experiences of my life. They’re the perfect combination of energy, ideas and jokes. I have never been in such an extraordinary environment before. The feeling of being matched and challenged over philosophical texts makes my heart race more ardently than anything else (perhaps with the exception of quiz bowl). I have gained insights I would not have arrived at on my own, and it makes me appreciate how amazing of a community SLE has gathered.
As a former hermit whose parents would constantly nag her to come out of her room for once, I have undergone a transformation in the short time I’ve been at Stanford. Though I’ve certainly enjoyed the dining hall desserts and the feeling of wind on my face while biking across campus, it’s the feeling of consistent community that lingers with me. Whether it’s through social mixers, late nights in the study lounge or grabbing dinner with familiar or new faces, the unique people I’ve met have been my favorite part amidst the changes of college.
A week at Stanford is like a month anywhere else. There’s always something happening on each corner of campus, but so far my favorite part has been building friendships! Whether it’s our late-night “study” seshes in the Crungeon (the Crothers dungeon, i.e., our basement), picnics on the oval or trips around the Bay, the community I’ve built here so far has brought me so much joy. Stanford truly feels like home!
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Stanford’s RAs aren’t ready to unionizeZerr argues that with or without an NLRB petition, Stanford RAs have a ways to go before they're ready to unionize.
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Some of Stanford’s resident assistants (RAs) have spent the past year organizing to address what has been described as understaffing, low pay and a lack of communication with administration. After investing considerable time and energy, their proposed solution is a union. I have had nothing but fantastic experiences with hardworking RAs in my time at Stanford. I am in favor of fair wages and robust support for the work that they do.
However, the issues raised publicly by Resident Assistants United Rising (RAUR) have failed to convince me that unionization would address their concerns.
Most importantly, it’s not obvious what their strategy with unionization actually is.
Recently, RAUR made the politically savvy move of withdrawing their National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) petition to avoid a scenario where student worker labor rights are overturned nationwide. However, as they mention in their statement, RAUR is still seeking union recognition. Regardless of whether they pursue voluntary recognition by the University or a union election at a future date, RAUR needs a clearer list of goals and stronger internal relationships. It is precisely because RAUR lacks a coherent set of demands or a clear strategy that I argue the University is right to be apprehensive of potential labor strife. Likewise, this lack of strategy indicates that RAUR is simply not ready to negotiate a contract that will be a net benefit to their members.
Early RA concerns last year centered around alleged understaffing of certain residences and the increased workload that fell upon some of them. Appropriate staffing levels and workloads are a key component of fair employment standards. However, rather than clearly outlining this as part of their platform, RAUR fails to quantify appropriate staffing levels at all. Understaffing is a relative term: one of the houses cited last year as being understaffed still had the same number of RAs as the frosh dorm I was in, with well under half the number of residents.
The current RA compensation of $12,400 has also been framed as an equity issue for first-generation and low-income (FLI) students because it does not fully cover room and board. This is in spite of the fact that RA pay is treated as a financial aid stipend; low-income students serving as RAs already have their room and board covered via financial aid. Stanford’s official financial aid guidance on RA stipends notes that the payment received does not “impact eligibility for institutional scholarship funds.” Viewed this way, Stanford’s RA compensation level and method are consistent with the University’s commitment to need-based financial aid.
A key aspect missing from the discussion on RA pay is that bringing this pay in line with the cost of room and board – $22,944 for the current academic year – for the roughly 450 RAs would cost an additional $5 million. While that may seem like a drop in the bucket, the reality is that university budgeting processes are incredibly complex and essentially every dollar is spoken for. In a constrained budgetary environment (primarily due to the Trump administration’s increased endowment tax), justifying new spending becomes even more difficult. Is RAUR prepared to make a detailed and thorough argument on where new funding might shift from?
Underpinning many RA complaints is the perceived lack of communication with administration. While it is true that unionization and collective bargaining enhance leverage during the contract negotiation process, it’s possible that day-to-day communication between RAs, resident fellows (RFs) and other supervisors could become more bureaucratic, not less. RAs at Georgetown won formal grievance channels in their union contract, but previously informal communication channels and flexible job duties were rigidly defined and enforced. How does RAUR aim to add formal grievance processes while keeping any current supervisory structures they may prefer to rigid alternatives?
Resolutions to these publicly voiced demands don’t even make strategic sense when put with one another and with the RAs’ mission at Stanford.
If the union wants a reduced workload and well-scoped job responsibilities for RAs, that limits their ability to be peer mentors and look out for the safety of their residents, one of the RAs’ core missions. Clarified and codified job responsibilities also empirically allowed administrators at Brown to concede minimal pay increases in their RAs’ first union contract last year.
If the union’s focus is on higher pay, constrained budgets might limit ResEd’s ability to hire the same number of RAs, thereby increasing workload.
If RAUR ultimately wants RAs to be employees rather than student mentors, that pay may no longer be a portion of financial aid and instead become taxable income. This would only reduce take-home compensation gains and harm FLI students who want to step into RA roles.
These examples make it clear just how many factors are at play on an issue which RAUR has painted as black and white. For decision-making within any complex organization, there will often be factors held in tension with one another. Demonstrating an understanding of this reality is key: to avoid another challenge, the path toward union recognition involves showing Residential Education (ResEd) that the union will be a reasonable and mutually beneficial partner in managing the working relationship between RAs and the University.
Conceding that administrators must contend with a myriad of factors and articulating an achievable and clear vision for the future of being an RA is what matters most for RAUR to get a seat at the negotiating table – and the evidence suggests that they simply have yet to outline this vision.
At a minimum, the pragmatic political reality of the situation means that de-escalating public rhetoric is the only real pathway to productive unionization. If RAUR is serious about developing a coherent plan and advancing RA interests rather than simply antagonizing the University, everyone involved, including ResEd, needs to find a way to save face.
In my time here as a student, I’ve yet to speak with an administrator who wasn’t happy to share their perspective and discuss issues when approached with a genuine willingness to learn and exchange ideas. In the short term, Stanford’s RAs would be better served by seeking out targeted, collaborative solutions to the specific issues that they feel are the most impactful. Maybe that’s creating new peer or mental health support systems for RAs. Maybe that’s exploring ways that staffing can be best allocated in the future to spread out workloads. It likely does involve pushing for more pay.
None of this would preclude Stanford’s RAs from once again making a concerted union push once they articulate a clear set of goals. But right now, even after abandoning the NLRB petition, our RAs are in no serious position to unionize.
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Daily Crossword #028Click to play today's 15x15 crossword. The Daily produces mini crosswords daily and a full-size crossword biweekly.
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Demonstration protests defense tech conferenceSpeakers this year will include members of the U.S. Office of the Secretary of War and the former Taiwanese president.
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Stanford is hosting its fourth annual meetup for defense contractors this week, called DEFCON. The student-run conference brings together a host of AI, military, and weapons technology companies to promote industry engagement and recruitment at Stanford.
A Tuesday tabling event for the conference was met by students protesting the military tech industry, one of whom carried a large cutout criticizing Palantir co-founder Peter Thiel ’89, JD ’92.
DEFCON has historically brought Stanford students and military tech leaders into conversation on campus. Speakers this year will include the founders, CEOs and CTOs of major defense companies, members of the U.S. Office of the Secretary of War and the former Taiwanese president.
The tabling event outside Encina Commons marked the beginning of the conference and included such companies as Arkenstone, Z1, Umbra, Castlelion and Gallatin, who displayed images of their technologies in action alongside physical drones.
In protest, around fifteen students stood quietly across the road, holding signs and an artistic depiction of Peter Thiel. Eventgoers watched them for some time. Protest organizer Arin Iverson ’27, however, described the event as primarily for the passersby.
“The most important thing was not to change hearts and minds because I think that’s very difficult,” said Iverson. Instead, he said the rally intended to demonstrate that “there is an active opposition to the presence and recruitment of students by defense contractors on campus.”
The protestors’ signs read ‘WELCOME TO DEATHCON,’ while Iverson puppeteered the cutout of Peter Thiel, which sported devil horns, bloodstained hands, a book reading ‘How to commit genocide and go to Hell’ and a sign reading, ‘Soul of P. Thiel: SOLD.’
Iverson said that to draw attention to their cause, the group hoped to create “something of a spectacle” using their cutout of Thiel. Palantir itself is one of the biggest sponsors of DEFCON.
Fellow protestor Reid Smith ’28, who serves as co-president of the pro-Palestinian student group Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), said the protest also intended to criticize the ‘funnel’ of Stanford students into the defense industry. “We’re funneling all of the immense talent at our university to military/AI tech startups … to kill people overseas,” he said.
Another protestor, Andrew Chen ’27, agreed. “I just don’t think we should be killing people in Palestine [or] using our army to suppress people all over the globe…Stanford plays a direct role in funnelling students into that type of career,” said Chen.
His favored first step would be for Stanford to stop “platforming these people who run these huge corporations that do objectively evil things.”
Iverson and Smith said their protest was not widely publicized, and that the group intentionally limited its size, to abide by Time and Place restrictions at Stanford. Iverson told The Daily that, “We weren’t using amplified noise, we weren’t blocking any sidewalk or road,” and that this was an important factor for ensuring a peaceful protest.
Though some students crossed the road to speak with the protestors, the protesters were mostly separated from the event itself.
One DEFCON staffer, Andreas, expressed appreciation for the ability for students to peacefully protest. “I’m really thankful we live in a country where people can protest and disagree. It’s their right and they should protest if they feel strongly,” the staffer told The Daily.
Correction: A previous version of this article erroneously described Thiel as CEO of Palantir, rather than a co-founder. The Daily regrets this error.
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Economics professor Adrien Bilal selected for TIME100 Next listBilal made the list for his work on the long-term economic consequences of the climate crisis.
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Assistant economics professor Adrien Bilal was selected to join the TIME100 Next 2026 last Wednesday for his work on long-term economic consequences of the climate crisis. Next 2026 is a list of the world’s most influential rising stars in various fields, from business and entertainment to the arts and scientific research.
Bilal’s most well-known work advocates for the efficiency of introducing decarbonization strategies such as domestic carbon pricing and overhauling electricity generation. He received French newspaper “Le Monde”’s Best Young Economist Prize last March for work in shifting the climate policy debate away from the local scale and towards the global supply chain.
He also won the prestigious Frisch Medal for his joint development of a model that quantified the misallocation cost of labor friction, which is the gap in skill, cost, or time that prevents viable workers from instantly matching with employers.
His views and findings on policy are best summarized by Bill McKibben, environmentalist and author of his TIME bio. McKibben wryly wrote of one line in Bilal’s most popular study, which featured his calculation of GDP risk, that “[the line] is econospeak for ‘what on earth are you doing propping up coal plants and shutting down wind farms?’”
With his Time100 Next recognition, Bilal joins Katherine Dafforn (Biology, the University of Massachusetts Boston) and Yu Deng (Mathematics, the University of Chicago) as one of only three professors honored on the list.
Bilal is also a fellow at the Stanford Institute of Economic Policy Research, where he focuses on climate change and its relation to spatial and labor economics.
According to Bilal, the news came as a surprise. His initial reaction was, “So surprised, but very pleasantly surprised,” he said. “You see some academics on the list, but not that many.” He hopes that the selection will bring greater public awareness to the research and its implications.
While Bilal’s work mainly warns that neglecting the global economics of environmental degradation can have unprecedented consequences, such as a 50% drop in the world’s GDP by the end of the century, he also emphasizes that climate policy’s benefits can extend beyond the environmental.
“If we can bend the temperature curve,” he said, “then you would be in a situation where as economic growth accelerates, living standards improve faster than what we‘ve been used to and global health also improves faster.”
Pete Klenow — Bilal’s colleague, a professor of economics policy and Senior Gordon Fellow at the Stanford Institute of Economic Policy Research — said the honor was “well deserved.”
“Just as striking is how quickly he has done it,” Klenow told The Daily. “[Bilal] finished his Ph.D. in 2020 and already has a record… that compares favorably with tenured faculty at the best departments in the world. We are lucky to have him as a colleague, and I expect he will be one of the leaders of the field for a long time.”
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‘Not complacency, not denial, but confidence’: Washington Post editor calls for trust in American institutionsJames Hohmann, a former editor-in-chief of The Daily, pointed to the work of the press.
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The Washington Post’s Deputy Opinion Editor James Hohmann ’09 told Stanford students in a Tuesday talk that American institutions should still be trusted, and that they could come back stronger after facing pressure.
The event, titled “The Guardrails Are Holding: A Case For Confidence in American Institutions,” was hosted at Green Library.
Hohmann illustrated the role of institutions by recounting his experiences as a Stanford undergraduate. A former editor-in-chief of The Stanford Daily, Hohmann said he spent time as an undergraduate studying, and sometimes procrastinating, in Green Library.
The building, he said, contained examples of the important role that American institutions have historically played. A first edition copy of Galileo’s “Sidereus Nuncius” (“Starry Messenger”) — the 1610 work in which the astronomer first published observations made with a telescope — is held in Green Library, for example. Preserving and carrying on knowledge like this, Hohmann said, is what American institutions do.
While current political institutions such as the judicial system are “not perfect,” Hohmann nonetheless believes that the American system stays accountable because of multiple checks and balances. He pointed to the Justice Department’s criminal investigation into Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, which was dropped this spring, as an example.
The investigation centered on accusations of corruption regarding Powell’s handling of renovations at the Fed’s headquarters. After being closed in April, it was referred to the Fed’s inspector general. The case ended after Chief Judge of the U.S. District Court for D.C. James Boasberg found that the government had produced “essentially zero evidence” of a crime.
Hohmann also commended the resilience of the press, which has been targeted by the Trump administration in recent months. Most recently, the president wrote on Truth Social that The New York Times “and many other artificial media outlets, should be arrested for their dishonesty and disservice to our country,” after the Times reported empty seats at his Saturday rally in Ohio.
“The other half remains,” Hohmann said, referring to the important role of mass media as the “fourth estate,” a branch essential to democracy that runs parallel to the executive, legislative and judicial branches.
He pointed to the Washington Post’s exclusive reporting on Trump secretly switching planes in Turkey in July ovdr concerns regarding a possible Iranian attack, as well as the Post’s reporting last month that a U.S. intelligence assessment found Saudi Arabia has not ruled out developing nuclear weapons. These examples, Hohmann said, suggest the American press is still doing its job despite immense pressures from the administration and low public trust.
According to Hohmann, as a former history major, the United States’ current moment could be another episode of the historical instances in which American institutions improved after challenges. He pointed to past episodes that exposed weaknesses in American institutions — Franklin D. Roosevelt’s attempt to pack the Supreme Court, Harry Truman’s seizure of the steel industry and Richard Nixon’s Watergate scandal. In each case, he said, the system ultimately corrected itself and “institutions [came] back stronger through reform.”
To “study the weaknesses” of the system and repair them, Hohmann said, is the proper way to preserve and strengthen institutions.
Hohmann’s employer, The Washington Post, is one such institution that has faced headwinds in recent years. Jeff Bezos purchased the publication in 2013 for $250 million, and made the decision to stop making presidential endorsements in 2024.
This year, the Post’s publisher made the “hard decision” to close its Middle East bureaus over budgetary concerns, Hohmann said. The cuts, announced in February, eliminated roughly one third of the Post’s staff, including its entire team of Middle East correspondents and editors.
“The bureau system is expensive, but [the Post is still] covering extensively on the Middle East,” Hohmann said.
Vice Provost of University Libraries Micheal Keller, who hosted the event, had his own comments regarding American democracy. The country must “rescind [the Citizen United decision] in the years to come,” he said. That decision allowed unlimited political spending by corporations and unions.
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Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law partners with Journal of DemocracyThe change marks the end of the journal’s ownership by the National Endowment for Democracy.
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Stanford’s Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies (FSI) announced last spring the beginning of a partnership between Stanford’s Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law (CDDRL) and the quarterly political science publication, “Journal of Democracy.” Though the journal will continue to be published by John Hopkins University Press, the new partnership marks the end of the U.S. Congress-funded National Endowment for Democracy’s (NED) ownership of the journal.
NED, the Journal’s founding sponsor, has faced significant challenges in the last few years. The nonprofit came under attack from the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in 2025. DOGE cut off the NED’s access to the foundation’s endowment before a judge issued an injunction to restore access to funds. Though the NED’s funding was interrupted, the Journal continued publication through Johns Hopkins University Press, its longstanding publisher.
CDDRL’s director, political science professor Kathryn Stoner, said the “Journal of Democracy” has officially left the NED and is now an independent organization. According to Stoner, the CDDRL now has institutionally dominant representation on the editorial board, even as the journal maintains its longstanding editorial independence.
The change is a welcome one for co-editor Will Dobson, who told The Daily that it was “in the Journal’s best interest to be an independent entity.” Dobson wrote that the Journal “sought an institutional partner to help bolster the Journal’s work” and that a collaboration with CDDRL was a “natural partnership.” Since its foundation in 1990 the “Journal of Democracy” has been associated with Stanford scholars, including founding co-editor and political science professor Larry Diamond, who also previously served as director of CDDRL.
As part of the partnership, Dobson noted that the Journal will hire two editorial interns from Stanford’s student body each quarter. Stoner told The Daily that CDDRL will continue to provide expert advice to the Journal’s editors, and that the center will now contract with the Journal’s 501(c)(3) to produce issues.
An editor’s note from the Journal’s most recent issue explained that the NED’s commitment to the journal “never wavered” and that the Journal was the NED’s “cerebral partner.” The note also touched on the changing circumstances that have come to bear on democracy studies, writing that “democracy, and the norms that sustain it, are being sorely tested.”
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Bay Area to vote on transit tax measureNovember brings to the ballot a proposal to raise the sales tax to fund BART and Caltrain.
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It’s Friday rush hour at the Palo Alto Caltrain station, and the 5:25 p.m. is running late.
People heading home from work and school stand with bikes and scooters on the crowded northbound platform. The train pulls in at 5:50 p.m., 25 minutes behind schedule.
“Usually, it’s been good,” Caltrain rider Megan Mayerle said of on-time service. “The last couple months have been really bad, and I do not know what’s going on.”
Mayerle, who works at the Beckman Center for Molecular and Genetic Medicine in Stanford Medicine, was on her way home to San Francisco. She takes the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) and Caltrain about five days a week.
Soon, Mayerle will be able to weigh in on whether to fund the transit options she relies on. On Nov. 3, Bay Area residents will vote on Senate Bill 63, a local revenue measure for public transit funding. Also known as the Connect Bay Area Act, the bill would raise taxes to fund transit agencies like Caltrain, BART, San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (Muni) and Alameda-Contra Costa Transit (AC Transit).
SB 63 would establish a Public Transit Revenue Measure District — a special jurisdiction for a tax — in the counties of Alameda, Contra Costa, San Mateo, Santa Clara and the City and County of San Francisco. The bill would raise the sales and use tax — on the sale, storage and use of retail goods — by 0.5% in these counties and 1% in San Francisco. Sales tax is collected by retailers at the point of sale, while use tax keeps buyers from avoiding taxes by purchasing goods online or from out-of-state sellers.
If approved, the proceeds would be allocated to specified transit agencies for 14 years.
“Regional funding, increased coordination, financial efficiency, and safety, cleanliness and reliability reforms are urgently needed to both preserve and improve public transit service,” the bill states.
The Bay Area Council, a business and civic leadership non-profit organization, gathered signatures last year to place the measure on the ballot and is campaigning for its passage next month.
SB 63 will ensure transit systems avoid service cuts and continue providing frequent, convenient service, according to council President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Libby Schaaf.
“Transit not only helps students, workers and seniors, many of whom don’t own cars, by providing affordable and essential transportation, it also supports a healthy economy that ensures job opportunities,” Schaaf wrote in a statement to The Daily.
She added that public transit reduces carbon emissions from automobiles that reduce air quality and contribute to climate change.
“A yes vote for the Regional Transit Measure [RTM] is a vote for strong mobility options, a strong economy and a healthy environment,” Schaaf wrote.
San Mateo resident Marlen Gutierrez works in Stanford’s Office of Accessible Education as the Student Registration Coordinator. She recently started taking the Caltrain to work instead of driving, citing gas prices.
“It’s better to be able to unwind on my way home too and not be stuck in traffic,” Gutierrez added. “So far the times have been pretty reliable.”
But not everybody is on board with the measure. The Committee for Affordable Bay Area Transit (CABAT) opposes the RTM, criticizing the tax’s impact on working families and calling for a wider reform of the Bay Area’s transportation systems.
“The broader issue concerns the cost, governance and service provided by the current transit establishment, which we believe is incompetent, corrupt and massively costly/wasteful,” president Gregg Dieguez wrote in a statement to The Daily.
CABAT is not calling for the elimination of Caltrain or BART services, Dieguez said. Rather, they want transit agencies to manage costs and labor and cut down top-heavy administration before raising taxes.
“Unfortunately, many voters will treat the RTM vote as a simple choice between another regressive sales tax and ‘Carmageddon,’” Dieguez wrote. “In reality, the issue is ‘What type of transportation best fits our needs, what should it cost and who can be trusted to operate it?’”
Mayerle and other passengers waiting for the train on Friday were unaware of the upcoming vote on the RTM.
“I would be for it without having read it,” Mayerle said. “Seems like we have to pass one of these every three years, though, so I’m not quite sure why they can’t use any money to improve anything.”
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Strawser | Let Cornell be Stanford’s call to action for survivors"Survivors deserve a strong culture of accountability and compassion that puts them, not their assailants, first," writes Strawser.
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Content warning: This article contains references to sexual assault.
The night that I blacked out as a sophomore in 2022, two women from my dorm were there for me. One, a year younger, helped me walk straight toward the 5-SURE ride. The other, my RA, sat beside me as I waited to be taken to the hospital. Certainly, either one of them could have taken advantage of me. But they never even considered it.
I was supported by everyone who interacted with me: the women who got me home, the administrators who fairly handled my reckless, underage drinking case. No one ever made me feel like I, as a person, was wrong for what I did and how I chose to seek help. I consider myself lucky. Unfortunately, the case of many women in vulnerable situations on their college campus is the exact opposite.
One such woman is the former Cornell University student who recently filed a lawsuit to allege gang rape while under the influence of drugs that she was forced to take. Going by Jane Doe, the plaintiff alleges that seven then-members of the Cornell chapter of the Chi Phi fraternity forced her to snort ketamine on one of their erect penises, take other substances and be subjected to numerous acts of sexual violence for nearly seven hours. She is not just arguing that Cornell officials, various Greek life figures and a local bar were complicit in the underaged drugging and gang rape she experienced. She is going so far as to say a trusted friend of hers at the time — Matthew Ingalls — was the first to propose sex and the one who lured her into the room in which she was abused.
On many levels, the case of the Cornell 7 — Ingalls as well as Scott Kretzschmar, Winston Lee, Gillio Lopes, Jonathan Newell, Scott Norris and Diego Sarabia — demonstrates the realities that the women in our lives know all too well. For starters, 35% of undergraduate women at Cornell reported experiencing non-consensual sexual contact in 2025. Nearly 90% of college victims in general report knowing their abuser. Over 20% of women report having experienced sexual assault at some point in their lives. This data demonstrates why the Cornell case hits close to home for women everywhere.
Evidently, Cornell’s culture is to blame — the Cornell 7 are no anomalous ‘bad apples.’ The pervasiveness of sexual assault speaks to a student body too willing to look the other way and a culture of surivors feeling as though their silence is the only peace they will ever get. Rape culture is alive and well at Cornell. It is something that I — a survivor who repeatedly covered sexual assault for The Stanford Daily nearly four years ago — believe the Farm is no exception to. Survivors deserve a strong culture of accountability and compassion that puts them, not their assailants, first.
To say that the SHARE Title IX and Title VI Office delays justice and is poorly run would be a gross understatement. The SHARE office took two years to suspend a student’s assailant, despite assuring her it would not take longer than four months. The most recent annual Title IX report on their website is from three academic years ago. The SHARE office even omits from its list of misconceptions about sexual assault the ‘stranger danger’ falsehood.
By delaying justice, preventing transparency and misinforming the campus community on cases of sexual assault, the SHARE office leadership is discouraging survivors from filing a report in the first place. This is a malignant institutional cycle that downplays the severity of sexual assault and preserves campus rape culture.
Stanford’s systematic betrayal of survivors is not exclusive to the SHARE office, for it also includes morally repugnant cuts to sex education and assault prevention resources on campus.
Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education (VPUE) James Hamilton and Vice Provost for Student Affairs (VPSA) Michele Rasmussen stripped Beyond Sex Ed (BSE) from mandatory New Student Orientation (NSO) programming. Sexual assault awareness program Flip the Script was also cut. VPUE and VPSA are working in tandem to make it harder for students to dispel anti-survivor myths, foster a more upstanding campus culture and understand the nuances of consent and power.
Stanford Law School (SLS) has stated the position that Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas is someone whom it “would be honored to host.” By entertaining the notion that Justice Thomas is an honorable character, SLS has sent the message that Anita Hill — who accused Thomas of sexual harassment while she was his subordinate — was wrong to speak her truth. By platforming him, SLS subtly suggests to its female students and faculty that they would also be wrong to speak up.
The Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability and the computer science department continue to have Bill Gates on their advisory board and building name, respectively. Gates knew Jeffrey Epstein was a convicted sex offender when he repeatedly met with him in the 2010s. To have him advising a vital source of leadership at Stanford, and have his name on the same building that survivors see on their way to class, sends the message that even the men who spend years in silent complicity with sex crimes are rewarded.
It is no wonder that, under the University’s put-survivors-last approach, it only expelled 0.3% of reported sexual assailants between 1996 and 2013. Stanford’s track record is that it will neither be strong enough against cases of sexual assault nor give students the tools to combat rape culture itself. The years of rape culture accumulate to the point of, for example, fraternity brothers committing rape three times as often as their non-fraternity peers. Emboldening rape and other facets of sexual harm is so core to Stanford’s leadership that it infects decisions made beyond Title IX and sex education directly.
Any one of these issues with Stanford’s schools, departments and leaders would be appalling and worthy of resignation in isolation. But by the power of pattern recognition, from NSO to SLS, I cannot help but see Stanford as a systemic accomplice to rape culture itself. This pattern can only be broken if we hold each other and the University accountable in the drastic ways that this moment calls for.
Students, faculty and staff should demand that the Santa Clara Board of Supervisors follow the bold example set by the mayor of Ithaca, New York, who acted decisively against Cornell’s appalling record on sexual violence. The Mayor rightfully proposed a blanket denial of city permits for Cornell student groups’ gatherings in Ithaca. The Board of Supervisors should go one step further and place conditions on moving forward with StanfordNext — the University’s bold plan for future campus land development. The Board should demand de-housing for Greek life organizations complicit in sexual harm and that the University hire the seasoned, trauma-informed attorneys that survivors can actually rely on. Government force is needed to show Stanford that its complicity in rape culture will not go unnoticed.
Looking to on-campus governance, every Faculty Senate meeting and town hall with university leadership should be used to demand Bill Gates’ removal from the Doerr School’s advisory council and the CS building. A true moral fire should be lit ablaze to ensure that SLS and any other organ of the University not host the likes of Justice Thomas ever again. Refusing to honor and platform the individuals directly engaged in or complicit in sexual harm should be a red line that we no longer cross. The Faculty Senate should certainly entertain the threat of a no-confidence vote in senior university leadership to force their hand on survivors’ behalf.
We should thrust that moral clarity into our friendships, relationships, club memberships and even class enrollments. Even if it means mood-ruining conversations, the Farm must be a place where every remaining social vestige of rape culture is extinguished.
I can think of no better voice for inspiration than what The Cornell Daily Sun’s Editorial Board said in its bold push against the Cornell 7:
“To Matthew Ingalls, Jonathan Newell, Winston Lee, Gillio Lopes, Diego Sarabia, Scott Norris and Scott Kretzschmar: We know who you are and we refuse to let you benefit from this University’s concealment.”
For far too long, every manner of sexual harm and violence has profited from Stanford’s widespread betrayal of survivors. Stanford, like Cornell, is no exception to the rape culture that keeps survivors from speaking their truths and securing their peace.
As the Stanford community, we must follow the example set by The Cornell Daily Sun’s bold reporting, the moral clarity of its Editorial Board and the iron will of the City of Ithaca’s mayor to put survivors above all else. Let this be our call to action for survivors and against university business as usual. They deserve nothing short of full justice, peace and belonging at the Farm.
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EVGR-B trash compactor fire closes chutesThe fire, originating from a trash compactor, drew multiple firetrucks.
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Albert Wang, a first year master’s student, was walking with friends when he saw firetrucks heading toward Escondido Village Graduate Residence B. “As we got closer, the smokiness got more intense, and then we saw a big screen of smoke,” he said. “We’re like ‘oh, crap, I think there’s an actual fire.’”
The fire broke out in EVGR-B’s trash compactor room on Oct. 3, around 6:30 p.m., according to Wang, attracting multiple firetrucks to the scene. Over a day later, residents were still unaware that a fire had even happened.
“It was quite intense. But I still did not know what was happening,” Heesang Yoon, a third-year Ph.D. student, said.
Yoon was in his studio when he heard an abundance of sirens. He heard no fire alarms from his studio.
“There [were] a lot of ashes and some food remnants,” Yoon said, describing the scene when he later went outside. “I thought it was from the barbecue pit, but, an hour later, I got a message that it’s from the trash.”
Yoon and other EVGR-B residents received an email from the EVGR housing service center informing them the trash chutes would be temporarily closed and cordoned off. The message attributed the closure to an isolated fire. The trash, recycling and compost chutes in EVGR-B are still closed with no estimated repair time.
“Modern fire alarm systems in high-rise buildings like EVGR-B are designed to alarm only on the floor(s) on which the fire is detected, the floor above and the floor below,” university spokesperson Luisa Rapport wrote to The Daily. “It is typically safest for the remainder of building occupants to ‘shelter in place’ and remain in unaffected areas of the building.”
Since the trash compactor was on the first floor, the alarm only sounded on the first two floors. Once the fire was detected, “[it] was quickly extinguished by the automatic sprinkler system,” Rapport wrote. “Responding firefighters and staff…confirmed that the fire did not pose a threat to campus, and no community-wide alert was issued.”
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Daily Diminutive #191Click to play today's 5x5 mini crossword. The Daily produces mini crosswords daily and a full-size crossword weekly.
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Kaytranada brings irresistible groove, expert mixes to San JoseThe hypnotic DJ's music is exponentially more captivating in concert.
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Editor’s Note: This article is a review and includes subjective thoughts, opinions and critiques.
Kaytranada just makes people want to dance.
As the headliner for the Sleeping on Gems Fest in San Jose last month, the Canadian DJ commanded the crowd from a 360-degree stage as he switched back and forth between boards facing opposite sides. Even with his back turned to half the audience at a time, fans remained captivated, maintaining an incessant bounce even between songs.
Kaytranada was a master of energy, carefully balancing the anticipation of his big hits to weave in his lesser-known songs.
Just a few minutes into the set, he played “Need It,” which, with Masego’s repetitive chorus making it easy to sing along, immediately got the crowd moving. Soon after, he played “Snap My Finger.” Pinkpantheress’ vocals overlaid on the vibrant electronic track — the melody seemingly influenced by Wham!’s “Everything She Wants” — locked everyone into the rhythm and kept the groove going.
The richness of the sound and reactions to the first few songs made clear that headphones cannot do Kaytranada’s music justice. The atmosphere the DJ creates is unique, filled with a kinetic energy that moves throughout the crowd.
Concert attendees, including Josh Buenviaje ’27, also noticed the difference in hearing Kaytranada’s music live.
“I’d been listening to him for years, but seeing him live was just like a surreal experience,” Buenviaje said. “It was better than I could have even imagined.”
Planes also flew over Discovery Meadow during the set to land at the nearby San Jose airport, creating a dreamlike aura at the outdoor venue.
Toward the middle of the set, Kaytranada played “Lover/Friend,” featuring Rochelle Jordan — one of the festival’s slept-on gems who performed right before the DJ.
Despite being a lesser-known artist, Jordan drew a crowd and excited fans. “I hadn’t even heard of her, but thought that she was a great performer,” Buenviaje said.
In the later part of his set, Kaytranada brought out popular songs “YOU’RE THE ONE,” “Witchy” and a flurry of songs from his “BUBBA” album — “Freefall,” “Go DJ“ and “10%.”
He seemingly saved the best for last, playing cemented hits “Be Your Girl” and “Intimidated” in the final 15 minutes of the set. “I know this is your favorite song right here,” Kaytranada told the crowd as they clapped in unison to the beat of “Intimidated”.
Kaytranada had a unique way of engaging with the crowd, not only instructing them to dance, but busting out moves himself and incorporating lights triggered for specific beats in the songs.
“He just understands his audience really well,” said Buenviaje. “When we were dancing, he was dancing. That was really cool of him as a performer to be so in touch with the people that he’s making music for.”
During the start of “Dance Dance Dance Dance,” people would pose every few seconds. As the song continued, more people caught on, making the set feel like a collective experience.
“Everyone was grooving, everyone was dancing and we were all synced,” said Buenviaje.
The DJ’s perfectionism was also on display. After dropping the beat to a song, which led the crowd to break out into dance, he was seemingly frustrated with his mixing and transitioned into a different track. “Hold on,” he said, “I want to do something else.”
Even before the set started, he instructed the technicians over the mic to turn down the bass on the speakers, which was notably overpowered throughout the festival.
Kaytranada has previously spoken about his perfectionism, including when discussing the rationale behind the title of his debut album “99.9%.” After spending more than two years working on the album, the artist repeatedly thought he reached the final cut but was “always only 99.9% sure,” leading to his album name, he told i-D magazine.
His efforts have not gone unnoticed by fans. These countless iterations have culminated in an exceptional live experience and a must-see show.
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Cardinal roundup: Men’s water polo sweeps LA teamsSwimming and women’s volleyball win big in an action-packed week of Cardinal sports.
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With the largest crowd that college swimming has seen in a decade at the edge of their seats, Stanford swimming dramatically triumphed in the third meet of the College Swimming League (CSL), scoring 550 points to beat the University of California, Berkeley, The Ohio State University and Auburn University on Oct. 2. CSL meets are dual gender, meaning that results from the men and women’s teams are combined into one score for the whole university.
The Cardinal victory was sealed with two finishes in the final event of the night, the 4×50 medley super skins. On the women’s team, sophomore Alana Berlin, senior Lucy Thomas, sophomore Ella Jablonski and sophomore Annam Olasewere combined to win the super skins with a 1:38.50 in the final. The team also earned second-place points with Ohio State disqualified. The men’s team entered the race with the Cardinal trailing the Golden Bears by 30 points, a sum that meant that the team needed a disqualification of Cal to win. Then, in the second leg of the relay, a Berkeley relay swimmer left early, and they were disqualified. With that ruling, Stanford attained important first and second place points. They overcame the point deficit and won by 6.5 points over the Golden Bears.
In a particularly dominant showing, senior Caroline Bricker won three titles during the event, starting off with a three-second faster time in the 200 fly, and was named the SwimSwam Women’s MVP of the meet.
Stanford is now tied for third in the CSL rankings with Virginia and Indiana. Their next CSL match-up is on Oct. 16, where they hope to continue their strong start to the season.
The women’s volleyball team (9-5, 2-2 ACC) attained back-to-back victories at Maples Pavilion this weekend, sweeping away Virginia Tech (4-9, 1-3 ACC) and Virginia (5-8, 1-3 ACC).
On Friday night, the Cardinal secured their first ACC win of the season, finishing in three sets against Virginia Tech, 25-16, 25-23, 25-14. Senior opposite hitter Jordyn Harvey led the charge with 17 points, with sophomore setter Logan Parks keeping a tight grip over the offense (29 assists, two kills, eight digs) and junior middle blocker Lizzy Andrew hitting a match-best five blocks, alongside nine kills and two aces.
Against Virginia on Saturday evening, senior offensive hitter Julia Blyashov led the team to a sweep, 25-12, 25-23, 25-13. During the game, Blyashov hit a career-high 0.607 attack percentage, with a season-best 18 kills, six digs, an ace and a block. Parks dispensed 44 assists, while sophomore libero Spencer Etzler gathered 14 digs and an ace.
Next, the team heads to Notre Dame (4-9, 1-3 ACC) on Oct. 9 in hopes of extending their winning streak.
The Cardinal (8-2-1, 1-2-1 ACC) managed a comeback win against Duke’s Blue Devils (5-7, 0-4 ACC) on Oct. 2. In Duke’s Koskinem Stadium, the team faced a two goal lead in the second half, before sophomore Jack Pymm scored a penalty and junior Alex Chow sent in a half volley in the span of 37 seconds in the 58th minute. From there, Stanford took control of the game, with a pass from Pymm to sophomore Aiden Reilly bouncing off the back of a Blue Devil defender and into the net. The game ended 3-2.
In their penultimate home game, the team will return to the Farm on Oct. 11 to play Clemson.
In the Battle in the Bay — the men’s tennis team’s second tournament of the season — freshman Gus Grumet and sophomore Mark Krupkin made it to the doubles semifinals. Along the way, they beat No. 2 TCU — who defeated the Cardinal in last year’s NCAA Super Regional — in the quarterfinals, with a dominant 8-3 win. They fell to No. 18 Michigan State in the semifinals. Both players were knocked out of the singles’ bracket in the round of 32.
The team will return to competition, in Seattle, at the ITA Northwest Regional Championships from Oct. 15-20.
In their 13th straight road loss (their last road win was in Sept. 2024), the Cardinal (2-3, 1-3 ACC) lost 57-3 to Wake Forest (4-1, 2-1 ACC). Demon Deacon quarterback Gio Lopez ran for three touchdowns and passed for two, achieving Wake Forest’s largest margin of victory ever in an ACC game.
Overall, the Cardinal were held to 197 yards of total offense. In the second quarter, Stanford was able to score once with sixth-year kicker Emmet Kenney’s 43-yard field goal.
The football team will head to Indiana to face Notre Dame (5-0) this Sunday. Kickoff is set for 12:30 pm PT.
In their first road losses of the season, field hockey (7-4, 0-3 ACC) fell to Virginia (6-4, 2-3 ACC) 5-2, and Louisville (9-4, 3-1 ACC) 1-0.
Against Virginia, a frenzied back-and-forth set of goals from both teams took over the first half. Right after a formidable save by junior goalkeeper Anya Jackson, junior Jenny O’Grady scored the opening goal of the game, her fifth goal of the season. The Cavaliers retaliated with two more goals, before senior fullback Mia Clark sent the ball to senior midfielder Liv Martin, who sent it into the cage, achieving her first goal of the season. Unfortunately, in the third quarter a penalty corner and counterattacking tallies by the Cavaliers broke through the strong Stanford defense, despite eight stout saves against 21 shots by Jackson.
The first half of the game against Louisville functioned more as a war of attrition, with neither side able to score a goal. With a mighty defensive performance, Jackson prevented four shots, the first of her nine saves during the game. In the second half, Louisville was able to tally off of a penalty corner, while the lone bid by senior midfielder Kate Nemec was halted in its tracks.
The team will return to campus this Friday to face off against Duke (9-2, 4-0 ACC) at 6 p.m.
With a full Los Angeles sweep weekend, men’s water polo (12-1) achieved successive victories against No. 1 UCLA (15-1) and No. 3 USC (12-2).
Two weeks ago, the team had fallen to UCLA, but achieved their revenge with an action-packed game that ended 19-15 and handed UCLA their first loss of the season. The first and second period were reasonably even, with redshirt senior utility player Guido Leonardi’s final minute goal eking out a 4-3 lead in the first period, which became an even 5-5 in the second period. Similar last-minute goals dominated the third and fourth period, with a late UCLA goal in the third period, and final goal by senior attacker Gavin West in the fourth period. The offense of the team was formidable, and redshirt senior goalie Bernando Herzer put on an incredible defensive performance with nine saves.
The next day, the team led another defensive masterclass, keeping USC scoreless the whole first period. Junior center Will Schneider, with two first period goals, led the charge to build a six-goal lead in that time. In the second and third period, the teams traded goals back and forth, but the Cardinal were able to maintain a three goal lead, 14-11. In the fourth period, two goals by seniors Alex Georgzhe and James Rozolis Hill kept the momentum on Stanford’s side. USC managed a last-minute goal, but the Cardinal secured the victory, winning 16-12.
The team will be back at the Farm to host Santa Clara on Saturday at 1 p.m.
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Nostalgic Thoughts: OsmanthusIn the final installment of her column, Zhang fulfills her childhood promise of moving to Kyoto.
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In her column “Nostalgic Thoughts,” Alaina Zhang ’27 reminisces on the past and reflects on why we miss it at all.
A soft tide of osmanthus greeted me this morning in Kyoto.
I was at Doshisha University’s Imadegawa campus, where summer has quietly faded to the backstage for fall. Today felt almost like spring though, and as I walked by the trees which have begun to become familiar, I caught the faint, sweet scent of osmanthus. It is one of my favorite smells in the world — in Wuxi, I would often have desserts sprinkled with osmanthus, and the fragrant smell and sweet flavor always reminded me of home.
I was walking and reflecting on my first two weeks in Kyoto, a place I first visited with my mom ten years ago. Ever since then, I had wished to return to Japan to study abroad. Ten years later, as I promised myself, I have returned, as if nothing has changed at all.
Wandering through Kyoto felt like walking through the past. Interlocking power lines, narrow streets, dancing shadows on translucent umbrellas and the passing bikes were all traces of an era that has remained even as modernization continued. One of my favorite things to do was to stare into my reflection on a trundling train — it was not really about my reflection, but about how in those moments, I could feel time passing more vividly than anywhere else as the train snaked underground.
My first two weeks in Kyoto were a mosaic of images. Fushimi Inari as the sun began to set, the kitsune statues gazing back at me. Deciphering the stream of impossibly quick words on a karaoke screen. The comforting buzz at an izakaya. Hearing the rain patter against my umbrella. Watching the world rush by from a shinkansen window. Late night walks to the convenience store.
The warmth between people here felt the way I imagined my hometown was long ago. When I went into an izakaya on the first day, I was struck by how lively and down-to-earth the place was. The young part-timers with towels strung around their necks yelled orders across the room and greeted customers.
There is a saying in Chinese called Ren Jian Yan Huo, which I would translate as “the glow of fire in the human world.” It was the kind of atmosphere I craved as a child, to exist inside a bustling community full of chatter and joy. In Kyoto, a place far away from home, I’ve experienced once again the feeling of being a kid, wide-eyed and curious about the action around me, yet safe and content.
I suppose my journey through this column about nostalgia has been searching for the feeling of being alive. Whether it’s going back into my past, my family’s past or a past that I could never quite touch or live in, I have been thinking through how, as a kid, the world seemed so expansive and inviting. Perhaps my entanglement with nostalgia is an escape mechanism back to days when my emotions were simple, pure joy or sadness. Perhaps nostalgia is a mourning for what has been lost.
Whatever I have been missing about the past, I seem to have found a fragment of it in Kyoto. Just like the osmanthus, my nostalgia will perhaps bloom again and again, in a different city, in a different season, when that familiar scent arrives upon a welcoming wind.
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Stanfordle #159Enjoy The Daily's Stanfordle. The Daily produces Stanfordles on weekdays.
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Stanford alumni continue stuffing stat sheet one month into NFL seasonChristian McCaffrey '18 stays undefeated through four weeks.
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With the NFL nearly a quarter of the way through the season, Stanford alumni sit on both ends of the standings. Christian McCaffrey ’18 and the San Francisco 49ers are 4-0 as one of the three unbeaten teams left in the league, while Dalton Schultz ’18 and the Houston Texans are 0-4 and still searching for their first win. Schultz and Elic Ayomanor ’26 will match up this coming week in a Texans-Titans game as both teams look to add to the win column.
Bobby Okereke ’18 (LB, Carolina Panthers) – Okereke made seven tackles in a 32-26 Sunday night win over Detroit. The win moved the Panthers to 2-2 and into first place in the NFC South on a tiebreaker.
Christian McCaffrey ’18 (RB, San Francisco 49ers) – McCaffrey ran 15 times for 52 yards and a touchdown, and caught three passes for 18 yards in a 24-14 win over Denver to remain undefeated. The Niners will look to continue their hot streak this week against the defending Super Bowl champions, the Seattle Seahawks.
Elijah Higgins ’23 (TE, Arizona Cardinals) – Higgins caught both targets for 19 yards, including a touchdown, in a 36-24 loss to the New York Giants, falling to 1-3.
Michael Wilson ’21 M.A. ’22 (WR, Arizona Cardinals) – Wilson caught seven passes for 95 yards on 13 targets in the same loss as Higgins. He now leads the team in receiving yards (258) and ranks second in targets (44), trailing only All-Pro tight end Trey McBride.
Brycen Tremayne ’22 (WR, Carolina Panthers) –Two catches for 32 yards, including a 21-yard catch over the Lions.
Elic Ayomanor ’26 (WR, Tennessee Titans) – One catch for 22 yards in a 24-18 loss against Baltimore. The Titans remain winless and hope to pick up their first win against the Texans this weekend.
Harrison Phillips ’18 (DT, New York Jets) – Seven tackles in a 23-12 loss at Chicago. The Jets are 1-3.
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‘A period of lawlessness’: Sports industry professionals address mental health, future of collegiate sportsJim Steyer ’78 J.D. ’83 hosted the panel Monday evening as part of his speaker series.
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On Monday evening, NBA sports agent Bill Duffy joined Stanford’s Director of Athletics John Donahoe M.B.A. ’86, Stanford football general manager Andrew Luck ’12 M.A. ’23 and Deputy Athletics Director Larissa Fontaine ’00 M.S. ’02 M.B.A. ’08 for a frank discussion on the role of sports in America.
This panel is the latest in a speaker series hosted by Jim Steyer ’78 J.D. ’83, adjunct professor in the Graduate School of Education, titled “Will America Fail the Midterms?” Steyer has taught similar courses every year since 2023, inviting relevant speakers to discuss current issues with weekly themes.
Steyer opened with a discussion on the youth mental health crisis. The presentation included striking statistics about the state of mental health in adolescents. “The fact that 20% of high school students have seriously considered committing suicide, that’s extremely scary,” Noah Shafer ’29, who is enrolled in the class, said.
The panel, composed entirely of parents, commented on their experiences helping their children navigate the pressures of self esteem, academic success and youth sports. Duffy, who represents multiple high school students, commented in regards to youth sports, “we index too much on the pressure instead of the participation.”
External pressures on athletes remained a theme throughout the evening, with Luck describing a fear of “looking stupid” towards fans as a persistent strain on the football players he oversees. Fontaine and Donahoe discussed the breadth of mental health services provided by the Stanford Athletics Department, which comprise a series of services offered following the 2022 suicide of Stanford soccer player Katie Meyer.
Steyer shifted the conversation to consider how sports function as a platform for political activism. The speakers discussed how athletes manage external pressures alongside the responsibility of having a platform. Referencing players who do speak out, Luck said he was “proud of these young men engaging in critical thought.” Donahoe further proposed that athletes and companies should speak out on issues central to their identities.
Speaking to the challenges of speaking out, Duffy and Steyer illustrated how athletes espousing political positions may face financial and professional repercussions, drawing lessons from Muhammad Ali and Colin Kaepernick’s experiences. Fontaine cautioned, “we have to be really careful about what our expectations are of athletes to show up in certain moments.”
Student-athletes were recently presented with new incentives against public-facing activism following nascent NCAA regulation including permitting Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) partnerships. While the resulting incentive to be “brand-safe” will remain, such student-brand partnerships may be affected by the still-pending Protect College Sports Act (PCSA), which in part regulates sports agents and allows sharing ticket-revenue for student-athletes.
Donahoe described the current era of the NCAA as “a period of lawlessness,” saying Stanford needed to “embrace the reality of the market” while upholding the “values and integrity of Stanford University.” Both Duffy and Fontaine agreed the NIL system needed reform, and it currently does not provide student-athletes the same legal privileges afforded to professional athletes. Duffy further predicted this circumstance—arising “because of the greed of the NCAA,”—meant that “[there will] be litigation and unionization” in the future of college athletics.
Tying the conversation back to the course theme of the midterms, the speakers discussed how to manage political disagreement. Fontaine drew from her experience in athletics, asserting that managing political disagreements on a team is “about a common shared mission and goal, and finding the things we do agree on, putting aside the things we don’t have to agree on.” Ending the discussion, Duffy emphasized the importance of civility, saying, “the capability to communicate emotions, control yourself and just respect people’s opinions is what we need.”
“This country is deeply divided right now,” Steyer said in an interview with The Daily. “Washington’s leadership has failed the country, and so young people have the opportunity to learn and ultimately to lead, which is why I teach.”
Future weekly class sessions will take place Mondays at 5:30–7:00 p.m. on campus and online.
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RAs withdraw union petition, citing concerns over Columbia precedentRAUR members plan to continue organizing to improve Resident Assistant working conditions.
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The Stanford Resident Assistant Union (RAUR), Stanford’s Resident Assistant (RA) unionizing group, withdrew its petition to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) on Monday. The group cited concerns the board would overturn unionization precedents in future decisions.
“This decision was definitely not made lightly,” RAUR member May-Jann Wong ’27 said, stating it was important for the group to “reaffirm our solidarity with other workers across the country.”
The group withdrew their petition over concerns about the potential implications to the precedent set by the 2016 Columbia University decision after seeing that “Stanford and those [NLRB] officials have both signaled to each other at this point that they are trying to overturn Columbia,” according to RAUR member Jackie Correy ’27. The Columbia decision established that graduate student workers at private universities are employees under federal labor law.
“This is admittedly a setback, but we really do believe that we can keep fighting and winning,” Correy said.
RAUR petitioned the NLRB for recognition as the union representing Stanford RAs and educational technology assistants in response to grievances with the administration, including underpayment and lack of communication. In August, the Oakland regional NLRB ruled that Stanford RAs are employees with the right to unionize. The group was set to vote on the union in early October though Stanford had appealed the election date to the national board.
“Stanford greatly values the role of residential student leaders as an integral part of student life at Stanford and as a leadership development opportunity,” University spokesperson Angie Davis wrote to The Daily. “The University believes the nature of the role does not make it eligible for unionization under the National Labor Relations Act, and it followed established NLRB processes to bring that question before the Board. We continue to be committed to working with Resident Student Leaders (RSLs) to ensure a positive and rewarding experience for them and for the students they support on our campus.”
RAUR plans to continue organizing. “We aim to join the ranks of student workers at colleges such as the University of Massachusetts, University of Georgetown and Brown University, who have won union recognition without going through the NLRB,” RAUR wrote in a press release.
RAUR’s decision to withdraw was made by a majority vote at its weekly organizing committee meeting, according to the statement. RAUR’s withdrawal means the group will no longer pursue a federally supervised union election through its current NLRB petition.
“We as a union are very much set on continuing our efforts to not only fight for better conditions by pressuring Stanford, but also pursuing unionization through other methods that don’t require filing the petition with the NLRB and putting the Columbia decision at risk,” Wong said.
RAUR members emphasized the connection between their fights for workers rights and other labor movements.
“We’re all in this labor struggle together, and we need to support each other, especially in difficult times for everyone in the labor movement,” Wong said.
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Stanford professor Karl Deisseroth, Ph.D. ’98, M.D. ’00, wins Nobel Prize for new way to study the brain using light“His creativity and fearlessness have let him do things no one else would have thought of doing or dared to do,” his son Alexander Deisseroth ’30 told The Daily.
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In 1992, Karl Deisseroth, Ph.D. ’98, M.D. ’00, arrived at Stanford to begin his MD-PhD training. By 2005, in a lab of his own on campus, he showed that a protein borrowed from pond algae and a flash of blue light could make cultured rat neurons fire on command.
On Monday, that work earned the professor of bioengineering and of psychiatry and behavioral sciences the 2026 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for pioneering optogenetics — a technique that lets scientists control brain cells with light.
Deisseroth shares the prize with German scientists Peter Hegemann from the Humboldt University of Berlin and Georg Nagel from the University of Würzburg, whose discovery of a light-sensitive algal protein made Deisseroth’s work possible. The Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm honored the three “for their discoveries concerning light-gated ion channels and optogenetics.”
The light-controlled switch for nerve cells allows scientists to map the brain “in a way that we could once only dream of,” Per Svenningsson, Chair of the Nobel Committee for Physiology or Medicine, said in the prize announcement.
“I couldn’t be happier because the trio that the committee picked spans the progression from the early algal explorations all the way to advanced neuroscience experiments,” Deisseroth told Stanford Medicine. “This prize really captures the full journey of discovery.”
The Nobel committee called Deisseroth at 12:27 a.m. Pacific Time, and he missed it. Seconds later, a second call came through to his wife’s phone: “May we speak with Karl?” When he picked up the phone, Deisseroth was so surprised that he couldn’t form words for about half a minute. “It was very surprising and overwhelming,” he told Stanford Medicine, while his wife, Michelle Monje-Deisseroth, M.D. ’04, Ph.D. ’04, the Milan Gambhir Professor in Pediatric Neuro-Oncology, was far less surprised.
“I’m just so delighted. I know I’m biased, but he’s really transformed the field of neuroscience — and actually several other fields,” Monje-Deisseroth told Stanford Medicine. “I’m so proud of him.”
President Jonathan Levin ’94 described Deisseroth as a “defining figure in modern neuroscience,” he told Stanford Medicine. “I am delighted that his groundbreaking work in optogenetics has been honored with the Nobel Prize… Stanford is proud to call him one of our own,” Levin said.
Dean of the School of Medicine Lloyd Minor sent an email to the Stanford Medicine community on Monday morning, celebrating Deisseroth’s achievement. “Karl’s work has made an extraordinary contribution to biomedicine and our understanding of human health,” Minor wrote. “We are proud to have him as a colleague and grateful for the influence he has had on science and on lives around the world.”
Prior to the advent of optogenetics, neuroscientists studied the brain in two ways, with electrical stimulation and with drugs, both of which were imprecise for different reasons. The solution came from a single-celled alga that swims toward light. Hegemann and Nagel found that an algal protein, channelrhodopsin, acts as a light-gated ion channel, allowing charged particles to flow across a cell membrane when exposed to blue light.
Deisseroth started his Stanford lab in 2004, and began working on the idea with two graduate students, Edward Boyden, Ph.D. ’05, and Feng Zhang, Ph.D. ’09. In a 2005 Nature Neuroscience paper, the team, with Nagel among the co-authors, showed that pulses of blue light could make rat neurons genetically engineered to produce the algal protein fire with millisecond precision.
“The key moment occurred when I put the algal gene into neurons,” Deisseroth told Stanford Medicine. Among many approaches he investigated to modulate neural activity, this was the one “with the highest risk but it turned out to be the one that worked best,” he said. “That was a valuable lesson.”
What followed the initial breakthrough was nearly a decade of refinement. “There were many additional steps in development, each one critical. It took years to really build into a whole technology,” Deisseroth said.
Following their seminal discovery, Deisseroth’s team described a thin, flexible optical fiber placed in the brains of live rodents, which delivered light to specific circuits and changed the animals’ behavior, in 2007. That same year, the team also found a protein — halorhodopsin, derived from the microbe Natronomonas pharaonis — that silences neurons under yellow light, allowing scientists to turn brain cells off as well as on.
In the coming years, Deisseroth’s lab went on to use optogenetics to study brain disorders. Working with Anatol Kreitzer, a researcher at the Gladstone Institutes, affiliated with the University of California, San Francisco, and other colleagues, Deisseroth helped identify two circuits involved in Parkinsonian motor behavior and showed that optogenetic manipulation could reverse parkinsonian symptoms in mice. His lab also identified a circuit that controls the drive for social interaction, and used optogenetics to both induce and relieve depression-like symptoms in rodents.
Deisseroth shared the tools of optogenetics widely, including through his creation of the Stanford Optogenetics Innovation Laboratory, a training hub that allowed visiting scientists from around the world to come to Stanford, learn the technology firsthand and take the knowledge back to their own labs. Deisseroth also democratized the technology by freely distributing materials — including viral vectors, plasmids and hardware designs — and providing open-access documentation for the protocols.
Zhang, now a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, recalled Deisseroth’s character as both a “brilliant scientist” and an “incredible mentor,” who “cares deeply about his patients with neuropsychiatric diseases and finding some way to help them,” he told Stanford Medicine. Recounting the early years of their discovery, “We were a team with phenomenal energy, a goal, and the will to make it happen,” Zhang said.
Deisseroth’s pioneering work in optogenetics has also been applied in diverse fields other than neuropsychiatry, enabling researchers to study “how the brain controls movement, memory, emotions and vision, opening new avenues for research on conditions such as blindness, Parkinson’s disease, depression and other disorders of the brain and nervous system,” Minor wrote. “Today, thousands of scientists around the world use optogenetics techniques to advance their work.”
Monje-Deisseroth has used the approach in her own lab to show how neuronal activity directly feeds the growth of gliomas, the leading cause of brain cancer related deaths worldwide. “It has been an absolute mainstay of my lab’s technical arsenal,” Monje-Deisseroth told Stanford Medicine. “It’s been key for the discoveries we’ve made.”
This year, one of Deisseroth and Monje-Deisseroth’s children, Alexander Deisseroth ’30, is a freshman at Stanford. “It’s been pretty amazing to see — the invention of optogenetics happened before I was born, and he’s been making incredible things with it over the course of my entire life,” Alexander Deisseroth told The Daily. “His creativity and fearlessness have let him do things no one else would have thought of doing or dared to do, and that’s something that I think is easy to appreciate from the inside.”
“I’ve been aware my entire life that the groundbreaking work that both of my parents have done is possible because of Stanford, and the opportunity to study here is an honor,” Alexander Deisseroth said. “It’s also been a blessing to be so close to home when this news was announced — the ability to go home and share this moment with my dad has been truly special.”
About Deisseroth: Deisseroth earned a bachelor’s degree in biochemical sciences from Harvard in 1992. He then earned a Ph.D. in neuroscience in 1998 and an M.D. in 2000, both through Stanford’s MSTP MD-PhD program. In 2012, Deisseroth became the D.H. Chen Professor of Bioengineering and of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. In 2014, he became the Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator. Other honors include the Lasker Basic Medical Research Award in 2021, the Japan Prize in 2023 and the Asan Award in Basic Medicine in 2025.
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Campus responds to Cornell sexual assault caseThe Stanford community is initiating discussions around Title IX and resources on campus.
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Content warning: This article contains references to sexual violence.
On Sept. 16, a Cornell University student known as Jane Doe filed a lawsuit against seven members of the Chi Phi fraternity who she is accusing of gang rape. What has followed is a surge of national attention on her case and questions around university accountability amid Title IX cases.
The case was investigated by the Cornell Daily Sun since it was first reported in October 2024, and the paper published the names of the seven accused men on Sept. 21, 2026. Cornell University investigated the case after its initial report. Temporary suspensions and other restrictive measures were issued, and Chi Phi, Xi Chapter was barred from the campus. The university acknowledged that members of its community do not feel that its disciplinary actions were adequate.
Stanford community members are also bringing the case to the forefront of discussions, and several organizations have issued statements or are working with the University to formulate a response and ensure education resources are in place.
This comes amid the University’s recent discontinuation of sexual wellness programs Flip the Script and Beyond Sex Ed, due to budget and staffing reasons.
“Whether this may cause fear and anger, questions about safety and the influence of collegiate hookup culture, or moments from past experiences, know that you are not alone,” Sasha Herthel ’27, Associated Students of Stanford University (ASSU)’s director of sexual violence prevention, wrote in an email to Stanford undergraduates on Oct. 1 in response to the Cornell case.
Herthel provided a list of sexual health, mental health and Title IX resources on campus and encouraged students to seek support through these channels or talk with someone.
“Especially at elite institutions, knowledge of consent, sexual education and sexual violence prevention is often dangerously assumed. Educating yourself and becoming aware of available resources are critical first steps,” Herthel wrote.
ASSU is in early communications with teams at the Sexual Harassment/Assault Response & Education (SHARE) Title IX & Title VI Office, Fraternity and Sorority Life and other campus departments to develop curriculum to fill gaps in sexual education, according to a statement from Herthel to The Daily.
Herthel also called the University’s recent discontinuation of two sexual wellness programs “unquestionably disappointing and upsetting” in her statement to The Daily.
Flip the Script was a sexual violence resistance training program for women. Beyond Sex Ed was a mandatory program for first-year and transfer students to hear stories of current students navigating sexual identity, consent, sexual assault and other themes.
“The loss of those programs should motivate us to invest more energy and awareness into the resources that are still offered,” Herthel said. “We invite University leadership to engage in thoughtful conversations on how to properly fill those gaps in interventions and education.”
Herthel said that the Stanford Prevent, Educate, Empower, Refer (PEERs) program is one way for students to continue building skills of recognizing what sexual violence looks like and when to intervene. PEERs has training on upstander intervention, communication, Narcan and more.
“Our goal is that no Stanford student graduates without receiving proper consent and sexual violence prevention training from the institution. The University must prioritize prevention education so that its funding doesn’t depend on which programs survive a yearly budget cycle. We invite the University to work with us on developing this updated curriculum,” she said.
Herthel told The Daily that the Cornell case resonates nationally because it raises questions of “whether students take consent seriously, whether they trust reporting systems and whether institutions hold themselves accountable for their responses” on all college campuses.
ASSU president Jared Hammerstrom ’27 emphasized the organization’s goal to ensure there is meaningful education on consent, bystander intervention and the resources available to students. “This work cannot be optional or dependent on a single program or office,” he wrote to The Daily. “Creating a safer campus culture requires real commitment, participation and education from all students across Stanford.”
The University’s policies and procedures are designed to comply with all applicable California and federal laws on sex discrimination, sexual harassment and sexual misconduct, according to a statement to The Daily from University spokesperson Angie Davis.
“The Title IX & Title VI Office continually evaluates its policies, procedures, trainings and educational programming in light of evolving legal requirements and best practices,” she wrote.
The Title IX & Title VI Office has hired an assistant director for culture and connection to develop additional programming and is focused on holistic education, which includes new upstander workshops and consent and communication workshops, according to Davis.
The Stanford Interfraternity Council (IFC) is partnering again with the Stanford Inter-Sorority Council (ISC) to host a series of conversations this academic year on the issue of sexual violence and harassment, according to an email from the IFC to The Daily.
“There is no place for sexual violence and harassment at Stanford or within the FSL community,” the IFC wrote. “With each new class that enters the University, it is important that we explain our values and facilitate these conversations. This work will never be finished, and it cannot be done in isolation.”
The ISC emphasized they are working with the entire Greek life community at Stanford to strengthen the sexual violence intervention and education programming to address the community’s concerns. They are involved in planning a roundtable discussion for Greek executive boards to “emphasize their responsibility to protect and support their peers as an integral part of their leadership roles,” according to a statement to The Daily.
The ISC conducts mandatory sexual violence prevention training for all new sorority members each year, alongside PEERs and Title IX & Title VI trainings, the ISC wrote.
“We recognize the role that Greek life has played on sexual assault culture within college campuses and are dedicated to holding our community accountable, engaging in conversations about the bystander effect, and standing up for our peers,” the statement read.
Several fraternities have released statements on Instagram about the case. Phi Kappa Psi stated its solidarity with Jane Doe and all survivors of “sexual assault, harassment and interpersonal violence.” The fraternity warned of the “Red Zone,” which is the period between the start of the school year and Thanksgiving break where over 50% of collegiate sexual assaults occur, and wrote that “awareness alone is insufficient.”
“As fraternity members, we reaffirm our collective responsibility to actively dismantle harmful cultures, intervene in unsafe situations and support survivors without reservation,” the statement read.
Lambda Phi Epsilon released a similar statement on Instagram and also reaffirmed their commitment to upholding a “safe, accountable and respectful space on campus.”
“We are deeply disgusted by the actions committed by the fraternity members at Cornell University and disappointed in the way Cornell University’s administration handled the situation,” the statement read.
Herthel emphasized that students should take care of each other and themselves.
“There is no wrong entry door for finding the resources you need, and there are countless people, like me, who are available to walk alongside you,” Herthel said.
Students may speak to a counselor at the 24/7 Confidential Support Team at (650) 725-9955 to speak about their options if they feel unsafe or have experienced sexual assault. Students may also fill out a Title IX Reporting Form and may choose from there what steps they want to pursue. Students have access to supportive resources even if they do not wish to pursue an investigation. Visit https://share.stanford.edu/get-help for information on resources for sexual harassment, sexual violence and relationship violence.
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Stanford Unlock allows mobile pass to access dormsThe new feature launched on Monday, expanding on Mobile Key.
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By simply tapping their mobile device to a card reader, students can now use their phones to get into their dorms. The new feature, Stanford Unlock, launched Oct. 5 and expands on Mobile Key, the tap-to-enter system University Information Technology (UIT) introduced in 2022, which previously allowed students to access gyms, libraries and academic buildings.
An Oct. 1 email to students from Residential & Dining Enterprises (R&DE) Student Housing Operations detailed the conditions of the new feature, including that Stanford Unlock lets students scan for Cardinal Dollars and Cardinal Print stations. Physical University ID cards will continue to work as before, but for dorm access specifically, students will need to choose between their ID card and Stanford Unlock for entry.
Jocelyn Breeland, chief communications and marketing officer at R&DE, explained that the new feature addresses a security gap that kept Mobile Key from working on residence halls for years.
“Mobile Key did not open residence doors because at that time there was not a solution for the unique security concern with having two access credentials — a phone and an ID card. Since then, we are aware that students have wanted the convenience of using mobile devices to enter their residences,” Breeland wrote in an email to The Daily.
Breeland explained that R&DE worked with UIT over the summer to pilot Stanford Unlock in select graduate residences.
“Our pilots were successful, with positive student response, and we are now happy to offer this option for all students living in residence,” she wrote.
According to the Oct. 1 email to students, the physical ID card is the default access method for housing unless a student switches to Stanford Unlock. Students have an initial 30-day grace period to switch between the two, after which they can change their access method only once every 30 days. The email also clarified that Stanford Unlock does not replace the Mobile ID within the Stanford app as the University’s digital identification card.
The email also noted that Stanford Unlock will not unlock doors to facilities at Stanford Medicine, where community members will continue to need a hospital badge to access the School of Medicine, Clark Center and Stanford hospitals.
Breeland explained the security reason behind the 30-day policy, adding that system administrators can help students who lose their phones.
“The 30-day policy is in place to ensure the security of a system meant to protect all individuals in community living facilities. System administrators can assist with lost mobile phones as needed,” she wrote.
Students can use Stanford Unlock to open exterior residential doors; however, they will still need their physical ID card to open interior doors to apartments and bedrooms. According to Breeland, R&DE plans to incorporate those interior doors into Stanford Unlock in the future.
Jacqueline Martinez ’27 said she hadn’t heard about Stanford Unlock before being asked about it.
“I didn’t hear anything about it, and I didn’t know about it,” she said. “I’ve just gotten used to the ID, so I just carry my ID around everywhere. I think if I wasn’t in the habit, the phone is definitely easier because you always have your phone.”
Martinez, who serves as a Resident Assistant (RA) in Soto, where students can use ID cards to enter their rooms, explained that an RA’s ID card acts as a masterkey for the dorm. She said that with Stanford Unlock, there’s no risk of losing her ID card, potentially giving someone access to the entire dorm.
“The phone in that case would be more convenient,” said Martinez.
Luke Kosner ’30 has used the Mobile Key since arriving on campus in September, and said he’s found it convenient. On Oct. 5, Stanford Unlock’s launch day, he tried using the new feature for his dorm.
“I use it every day getting into buildings except for my dorm,” he said. “One, I have [my phone] on me more often than my wallet, and so I’ve resorted to having this little mobile wallet thing that I don’t really want to use. Second, I have Find My iPhone on my phone, so if I were to lose it, I’d have a higher chance of recovering it.”
Kosner said that only his physical ID card, not Stanford Unlock, works to enter his dorm as of now.
Other students reported similar issues on Fizz, an anonymous campus social media app. One student posted, “Tried to move my housing access to my phone and now I have no access. Someone at Stanford IT missed the CS ethics lecture on not shipping vibesh—ed software to prod.”
Another student posted, “BEWARE DO NOT SWITCH HOUSING ACCESS, because of Stanford’s s—ty IT I can’t even get into my dorm now.”
Kosner suggested that all dorm rooms should have digital access instead of physical keys because then students would only need their phones to access any building on campus. He also suggested that the University improve communications on Stanford Unlock’s features.
“I bet a lot of the reason that people are still using their physical keycard is because they don’t know about Unlock,” he said.
Kosner also recognized that the decision is ultimately up to students.
“I think that we’re able to make an informed choice,” he said.
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The Kehlani World Tour: A dynamic but disjointed homecomingThe R&B artist’s last North American tour stop offered a high-energy performance catered towards longtime fans.
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Editor’s Note: This article is a review and includes subjective thoughts, opinions and critiques.
On Saturday, Kehlani came home.
In front of a 20,000-person crowd, the Oakland native and R&B artist returned to the Bay Area to close out the North American leg of “The Kehlani World Tour.” Held at the Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, it was the tour’s biggest stop yet.
The concert itself was narrative as much as music. It followed Kehlani and her “crew” through a night of clubbing set in a futuristic world. As the “night” ticked on, Kehlani, who uses “she / they” pronouns interchangeably, took the audience along with her — in a “Zuber” (a futuristic Uber), on the dance floor and back to home again.
But if “The Kehlani World Tour” was a glimpse into the future, it was also a call into the past. Kehlani described the concert as a “family reunion,” and shouted out various members of her extended family in the audience throughout the night — from her team, composed of Kehlani’s friends from middle school, to her daughter, who they brought on stage to sing “Folded.”
“If there’s a lot of laughter, silliness and a lot of emotions tonight, bear with me because I’m just really happy to be home,” Kehlani said to the crowd.
The singer, who repeatedly called back to her past concerts, albums and iconic moments, also framed the concert as an homage to longtime fans, especially her “day ones.”
“I will just never ever forget my very first headline show at The New Parish in Downtown Oakland. I think the New Parish might fit like 200 people,” Kehlani said.
“I was there!” one fan yelled in response.
“So, to be here tonight, in what I think might be the biggest venue in the Bay Area besides a stadium, [it’s a] big deal,” Kehlani continued.
Perhaps because of her unique connection to the audience, Kehlani was unabashedly herself throughout the night. In exchange for that authenticity, however, the show felt choppy at times, failing to capitalize on the momentum that openers Dixson, TheARTI$T, DJ Waseel and Durand Bernarr built up. That choppiness was largely due to Kehlani’s frequent trips backstage for costume changes and interludes: Each interruption slightly dimmed the energy of the crowd.
The choppiness felt especially evident when Kehlani paused the show to introduce Ezra, a 19-year-old singer and the first artist signed to Kehlani’s new music label, Tsunami Mob. Despite it only being Ezra’s third time on stage, he was met with rambunctious applause and an army of flashlights — in large part thanks to Kehlani’s request that the crowd do so. More than anything, the moment felt like an ad. The audience, however, didn’t seem to mind — perhaps due to their fervent loyalty to the artist.
After Ezra’s appearance, Kehlani performed “Toxic” and “Can I,” two fan favorites that captured her consistently melodic voice with a series of distinct riffs and “ooos” that only she could execute. Choreography also played a key role in energizing the night. Kehlani and her crew made full use of the double-decker stage — twisting a rhythmic jenga line up the stairs, twirling and spinning in pairs, sprawling themselves across railings. These moments came off more spontaneous than choppy, accentuating the club-themed, free-flowing framing of Kehlani’s show.
But while every moment might have seemed magical to longtime fans, Kehlani’s performance wasn’t for everyone. Despite the high-energy dancing, Kehlani left it to the crowd to belt out their favorite songs as she ad-libbed over a prerecorded track. This left more casual fans out of the loop. Coupled with the frequent interruptions and constant callbacks to her past, the performance lacked the consistency and broad appeal of a typical concert.
One of the more unexpected moments of the night came when Kehlani shared an intimate moment with a backup dancer, who she made out with and repeatedly pinned against the wall. (This scene lasted several minutes.)
Kehlani also paid tribute to R&B icons. She mixed “Distraction” with Janet Jackson’s “I Get Lonely,” playing Jackson’s music video in the background as her dancers replicated the choreography. It was a tasteful nod to one of her idols, and very much in theme with the concert’s broader journey down memory lane.
In a series of starts and stops, Kehlani offered a uniquely energetic and authentic performance — possibly puzzling some newcomers, but captivating an audience of loyal fans.
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Daily Diminutive #190Click to play today's 5x5 mini crossword. The Daily produces mini crosswords daily and a full-size crossword weekly.
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FruitismCartoonist Carson Bosita goes bananas attempting to compare apples and oranges.
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Stanford women’s volleyball dominates Virginia teamsThe Cardinal crushed Virginia Tech and Virginia, sweeping both teams in this weekend’s contests.
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On Friday, Stanford women’s volleyball (9-5, 2-2 ACC) swept Virginia Tech (4-9, 1-3 ACC) for their first conference win. The Cardinal followed it up with a sweep of Virginia (5-8, 1-3 ACC) the next day. Stanford dominated both matches, scoring 25-16, 25-23 and 25-14 against the Hoosiers and 25-12, 25-23 and 25-13 against the Cavaliers.
The efforts of senior opposite hitter Jordyn Harvey led the Cardinal to victory against Virginia Tech on Friday night. To kick off the match, Stanford and Virginia Tech were neck and neck, trading brief scoring runs. However, by the halfway point of the first set, Stanford had strongly pulled ahead with a score of 12-5. This was led, in part, by junior middle blocker Lizzy Andrew, whose two consecutive aces later on in the set put Stanford up 18-7. The Cardinal gave up nine more points, but the lead stayed in their favor, with Virginia Tech failing to mount a convincing comeback.
The second set saw a tense back-and-forth, with Virginia Tech initially getting up to a convincing 6-0 lead. However, a late-game scoring run led by Harvey and bolstered by a few Virginia Tech miscues brought Stanford from trailing 21-20 to victory.
Freshman middle blocker Ella Andrews’ first ball kill began a scoring run in the third set that took the Cardinal from leading a close 13-9 to leading by a convincing 20-9. After that, the Stanford win was never in danger.
Harvey ultimately had a team-leading 12 kills and season-high three service aces, as well as three digs, showing both her offensive and defensive prowess.
On Saturday, Harvey shone again, this time defensively. She had 16 digs, including an impressive pancake save to keep a rally alive in the first set. Stanford ultimately won that point, leaving the score 19-8. The Cardinal only gave up four more points, convincingly crushing the Cavaliers to take the first set 25-12.
However, the biggest star of the game was senior outside hitter Julia Blyashov. Her 18 kills were over one third of Stanford’s total of 49. In the second set, she helped propel the team from what looked to be a sure loss to victory, closing out the match with a kill. She ended the win over Virginia with a .607 hitting percentage—a season high—helping her ultimately put up 19.5 points.
Andrew and Blyashov traded kills in the third set to secure a 25-13 Stanford victory. Andrews also put up double-digit kills and four blocks. She had help from sophomore setter Logan Parks, who had an impressive 44 assists in the match, 11 more than the entire Virginia team.
These matches bring Stanford women’s volleyball to a 9-5 record, with 2-2 in the conference. This will make the next matches against Notre Dame on Oct. 9 and Louisville on Oct. 11 even more essential, as they will further determine their standing in the ACC.
The Cardinal will return to Maples to compete against Wake Forest and NC State on Oct. 16 at 7 pm and Oct. 18 at 1 pm.
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Cardinal Cryptic #008Click to play The Daily's newest puzzle, the Cardinal Cryptic. The Daily produces cryptic-style crosswords weekly.
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Digital hellscape: Ascending Roblox’s Eternal Towers of HellWang's greatest life lessons have come from playing Roblox.
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I found myself perched precariously on a slim platform suspended over a void of infinite depth. The slightest moment of hesitation or miscalculation could plunge me to my death. I navigated this perilous terrain cautiously, heart thrumming madly in my chest. I glimpsed the winpad just a few jumps away and dared to hope that I would make it. This final stretch was the most critical period, requiring me to balance my mounting excitement with my terror of failing and losing months of progress. Gathering my courage, I made the fateful leap . . . And I missed.
In an instant, I suffered my most frustrating defeat to Roblox’s video game Eternal Towers of Hell.
Sadistically designed to break a player’s spirit in every conceivable way, Eternal Towers of Hell oftentimes requires months or even years to conquer. Seemingly straightforward, a player’s avatar must jump between multiple suspended platforms and obstacles in order to climb a tower and reach its “winpad” (a platform at its peak which the player must touch to receive a badge, proving they had ascended the tower).
However, the game’s brutal difficulty renders the experience nearly unbearable. Even early levels often feature bare-bones, undecorated environments focused solely on difficult gameplay while challenging towers lack checkpoints (virtual objects players can touch in order to save their progress). One particularly cruel and lengthy tower (requiring two hours of continuous gameplay with no checkpoints) features a notorious final jump, which when failed, forces the player to restart the entire level. Although the jump is not overly challenging for an experienced obby (short for “obstacle course”) player, under immense pressure it becomes a daunting obstacle.
To worsen matters, numerous towers save their hardest jumps for the very end of their runs. These are deemed the dreaded “final stretch,” when the player is most fatigued and must demonstrate not only physical mastery but also emotional stability.
Above all, Eternal Towers of Hell is a game requiring sheer, raw psychological strength. The precision and mechanical prowess needed to clear some of the hardest obstacles/towers (aptly called “soul-crushing” or “psychologically unsafe”) is immense, and players must often dedicate months, or even years, to consistent practice. They must combat despair, burn-out, and frustration to reach the coveted title of a true Roblox obby master.
YouTube is replete with videos showcasing Eternal Tower of Hell players’ extreme levels of grit and resilience. In the video “The Citadel That Mentally Ruined Me | Eternal Towers of Hell,” Youtuber Venshure documented his hellish-like experience attempting to beat one of the game’s longest and most notorious levels, “Citadel of Wacky Strategy” (COWS for short). After failing one of the last jumps several times in a row, he suffered a mental breakdown yet returned months later to defeat the level.
In another YouTube video titled “How The Tower of Inevitable Failure Took Me 3 Years to Beat as My First SOUL-CRUSHING Tower” by Blue Water Roblox, one particularly resilient player documented his years-long journey grinding the “Tower of Inevitable Failure.” As he became increasingly invested in beating the tower, his commentary began featuring in-depth explanations of game physics and coping strategies on how to reduce stress. Ultimately, after a harrowing and winding journey filled with setbacks and failures, he finally beat the tower.
Although the frustration of my situation pales in comparison to their experiences, I had spent months practicing a challenging tower, only to fail the second-to-last jump. The vexation of having my victory snatched away so cruelly was nearly unbearable, and for the first time I raged over a video game. I was reminded once again of the game’s punishing difficulty.
Thankfully, that day I managed to regain my progress and beat the tower. Yet this moment compelled me to wonder: why do I continue to play such an inhumane game, and why do thousands of other players like me remain dedicated to this digital hell?
I believe the answer lies in the euphoric high which ensues after a player finally beats a tower they have struggled with for months, or even years, on end. The appeal of Eternal Tower of Hell lies in the satisfaction of finally conquering a seemingly insurmountable task. The harder the struggle, the greater the emotional payoff.
Yet the most exciting aspect of the game is undoubtedly its hardcore, tight-knit community.
At first glance, the game appears like a mundane Lego-block game for children. However, concealed beneath this deceptively simple exterior, there lies a startlingly rich complexity of game mechanics and competitive opportunities. Advanced levels are more refined than earlier ones and commonly feature complicated glitches and mechanics which the player must master, requiring a deep understanding of Roblox physics. Several obby YouTubers have made entire videos solely dedicated to glitches.
Furthermore, at the extreme outlier of the obby community, a small handful of elite, professional players continue to push the upper limits of what is considered humanly achievable. Many professional tower builders compete to create the next “top 1” tower which is considered the most difficult level humanly possible. The community has created a detailed tier list ranking the hardest towers completed, and this list continually changes as new, talented players join and harder towers are defeated. The names of the categories reflect their punishing nature: “remorseless,” “insane,” “catastrophic,” “unreal,” and “nil.” “Unreal” is the highest skill ceiling currently achieved, and nil is regarded as humanly impossible. The current “top 1” tower (an “unreal” named “Tower of Wigglecore”) required a player’s 2,921 hours of grinding and continual practice to beat.
My entry into Eternal Towers of Hell was catalyzed by these precise stories of resilience and perseverance. Watching Eternal Tower of Hell experts weave deftly around obstacles and effortlessly achieve jumps of inconceivable difficulty was thrilling. I felt energized by the prospect of undertaking such challenges myself and thus decided to join in this brutal, unrelenting journey to achieve obby mastery.
Ultimately, Eternal Tower of Hell’s community transformed a simple Roblox parkour game into an exciting and dynamic challenge to prove one’s psychological strength, determination, and grit. The countless stories of players persevering against unbeatable odds provides an immense source of inspiration to me, even beyond the gaming world.
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Stanfordle #158Enjoy The Daily's Stanfordle. The Daily produces Stanfordles on weekdays.
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From the Community | Statement from Stanford’s RA union: We withdraw our petition to the NLRBStanford's RA union outlines why they are withdrawing their petition for official recognition as a labor union.
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Residential Assistants United Rising is Stanford’s student-led unionization campaign for residential student leaders.
Fellow Residential Assistants, Ethnic Theme Associates, and members of the Stanford community,
Over the past year, Stanford RAs have organized to obtain recognition as employees and improve our working conditions. We went public with a union campaign in the beginning of May 2026 with our demands and filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board to be officially recognized as the labor union of Stanford’s RAs and ETAs. Since then, the Oakland Regional NLRB has ruled that Stanford RAs are employees with the right to unionize. Rather than respecting the democratic process and working with Residential Assistants United Rising to hold a fair election, Stanford is appealing to the national NLRB, with clear plans to overturn the board’s Columbia decision — a 2016 ruling that recognized student workers across the country as employees.
Today, RAUR, the Stanford RA Union, withdrew our petition with the NLRB to prevent Stanford University from working with the Trump-appointed National Board Members to overturn the Columbia precedent. This decision was made by a majority-vote at our weekly organizing committee meeting based on signaling from both Stanford University and the National Board that they were preparing to use our case to overturn Columbia. We came to this decision to remain in solidarity with the tens of thousands of other unionized workers across college campuses, including the Stanford Graduate Workers Union here at home, that rely on the Columbia decision. We refuse to give Stanford and the Trump administration the leverage to destroy the bargaining rights of unions across the country.
We sincerely believe that, if an election had been held, we would have won handily, and Stanford is aware of that fact. This year, RAs and ETAs representing a double-digit number of dorms attended our union meetings to organize with us, a continuation of the nearly 200 RAs who signed union cards last year. In the face of a clear student consensus, Stanford University has chosen to collaborate with nationally prominent anti-union lawyers to jeopardize the rights of tens of thousands of workers, rather than recognize the rights of a few hundreds of their own student workers. Stanford has written its legal motions in collaboration with famous conservative lawyer Paul Clement — who makes in five hours what Stanford pays RAs for a whole year, and has previously argued in front of the Supreme Court that criminalizing homelessness is constitutional and that employers can refuse to cover contraceptives in their employee’s healthcare — so that it can continue neglecting its employees and damage workers’ rights around the country. We hope that the Stanford community recognizes that these actions have clear anti-democratic and anti-worker political goals, in line with Stanford’s other recent collaborations with the Trump administration. Stanford has made its disdain for workers’ rights clear, spending tens of thousands of dollars on anti-labor lawyers, cutting new contracts with the government, and increasing the cost of attendance, all while our dorms remain understaffed and our peers underpaid.
Stanford RAUR is still a union, and we will pursue alternate pathways towards union recognition and improving RA conditions. We will continue organizing to make real changes in the workplace, and to address severe RA understaffing, lack of sufficient crisis training and failure to meet financial and support needs. The Assistant Vice Provost for Residential Education, Cheryl Brown, and the Vice Provost for Student Affairs, Michelle Rasmussen, have repeatedly refused to speak to both RAUR and individual RAs about amending these issues, and the University’s continued inaction endangers the wellbeing of both RAs and the residents they take care of.
We believe it is important, in this moment, to fight back against the institutions working to break down the democratic process. At the same time, we must also preserve the protections of our fellow workers across the country. We aim to join the ranks of student workers at colleges such as the University of Massachusetts, University of Georgetown and Brown University, who have won union recognition without going through the NLRB. Furthermore, we believe that continued action will improve the conditions of RAs on campus, in spite of Stanford’s anti-democratic actions.
We will continue to take steps towards ensuring that Stanford meets RA needs. If you are a member, we will reach out soon with more information about our upcoming actions and how you can get involved. If you are an RA or ETA but not a member yet, fill out our intake form. Please reach out to stanfordresidentassistants ‘at’ proton.me with any questions.
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Burglar breaks into 1115 Campus Drive, suspect apprehendedResidents of 1115 Campus Drive say the University has provided temporary housing and psychological support.
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The Stanford University Department of Public Safety (SUDPS) has apprehended a suspect believed to have broken into a student’s room at 1115 Campus Drive, a self-op formerly known as the Enchanted Broccoli Forest (EBF).
The break-in occurred Saturday night around 11:30 pm, according to Logan Campbell ’28, whose mesh window was torn open by an individual he believed was in his late sixties. Campbell had been studying in his room before going outside to pick up a food order. When he returned, he opened his door to find a stranger inside.
“I was gone for maybe a minute, minute and a half. And I come back, and I open the door, and it hits somebody,” said Campbell in a statement to The Daily. “I thought maybe one of my friends came back … or maybe some [fraternity] pledge … I opened the door fully and I saw the guy climbing out of my window.”
Campbell, believing the intruder to be a fellow student playing a prank, followed the suspect out of the window and to his bike. He attempted to stop the individual from leaving on his bike, at which point “he lifted up his shirt and he’s like ‘bro, I’ll shoot you, bro.’” Campbell said, however, that the intruder did not appear to have a weapon on his person.
Campbell does not believe the burglar stole anything of value, and he has since identified the suspect apprehended by the police as the same person who entered his room. He also expressed regret for chasing after the suspect given the danger it could have posed. “It’s never worth it. Don’t do that,” Campbell said.
1115 Campus Drive resident Gideon Witchel ’28 told The Daily that the University has provided several services to impacted students in response to the event, including temporary housing and psychological support. Campbell told The Daily that he has appreciated these efforts, and the swiftness with which law enforcement and University services responded to the issue.
“The response was quick,” Campbell said. “The police were great.”
Campbell said he felt “paranoid” after the incident, but both he and Witchel chose to view this event as an abnormality. “I really gotta square this away in my mind as a statistical anomaly,” he said.
“Stanford is a very safe place to be. I think people sometimes get freaked out when stuff like this happens,” said Witchel. “But I think it’s a place that’s very safe, we’re very well protected. These instances tend to be isolated.”
SUDPS and Campbell identified the suspect with help from University cameras outside the dorm. However, both Witchel and Campbell said they don’t believe an increase in security is the answer to the incident and others like it.
While Campbell appreciated the camera’s assistance, he said that he “[doesn’t] want to be watched constantly.” He instead suggested fostering a stronger community and practicing greater personal security, like locking one’s doors and closing windows when leaving the room.
Witchel echoed this sentiment, saying, “Instances like these are oftentimes used as excuses for our extended isolation [from the broader community], but I think that that isolation is much more harmful than good for students.” He claimed that Stanford students should remember that they exist in a part of the “real world,” and that many events like these are motivated by poverty.
“I don’t think there’s anything that can change on this front. Buildings have windows, windows can be broken, right? … Securitization is not the solution to petty theft driven by inequality. It’s addressing the inequality itself,” said Witchel.
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‘I worry very much about your generation’: Bernie Sanders calls students to actionStanford Democrats rallied with Bernie Sanders for Congresswoman Aisha Wahab a month from midterms.
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On Sunday morning, the Stanford Democrats (SDs) canvassed for Rep. Aisha Wahab alongside Sen. Bernie Sanders in Livermore, Calif. During the rally, Sanders and Rep. Pramila Jayapal both spoke in support of Wahab, a left-wing candidate who campaigns for corporate restrictions and affordable healthcare. Wahab is running for re-election to represent California’s 14th congressional district at the U.S. House.
Stanford Democrats co-president Waleed Haider ’29 organized the trip, as part of SDs’ mission to promote the significance of on-the-ground political action. The event saw Dems canvas in local neighborhoods.
“We believe that students should not just be doing white-collar campaign work. We think we can best serve our communities when we’re willing to roll up our sleeves, knock on doors, and sweat a little bit to actually get things done,” Haider said. “We filled up way more sign-ups than we even had transportation available to students because they’re so galvanized by what’s happening right now in our country.”
During the event, Wahab spoke about the wealth gap, minority rights, the power of the working class and her desire to fight for the American dream. She called the actions of the current administration “absolutely un-American” and labeled Sanders “our North Star.” Wahab promised to ensure that “the golden age of America is our future” through economic and medical affordability.
The event drew local residents, students and labor groups. Brenda Okoli-Ugbiyobo, an executive board member of Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 2015 — California’s largest labor union — was one such attendee. She said she attended the rally because she believed Sanders and Wahab stand for similar causes to SEIU 2015, such as fairness, equal care, senior rights and disability rights.
Okoli-Ugbiyobo emphasized the change-making power of in-person youth campaigning. “I’m 72. I have never seen this much hatred in this country outside of slavery. Oh, we’re gonna have a comeback, but it’s got to be from the younger generation,” Okoli-Ugbiyobo said. “I know about Stanford. I’ve had family members graduate from Stanford. If you’re so high on that mountain, a lot of people are not gonna feel what we feel every day… You’ve got to go down there where the real people are.”
Sanders similarly underscored the importance of canvassing and student civic engagement in an interview with The Daily. He highlighted the “profound role in transforming national policy” that “young people throughout our history have played.” Calling back to the widespread student-led Vietnam War protests of his own youth, Sanders urged American youth to “get active” and “fight for the kind of government and economy that works for all, not just a few.”
“I worry very much about your generation,” Sanders said, citing the job market, climate change and the rapid development of AI as major concerns for American youth. He described current billionaire-backed opposition funding as anti-democratic and championed face-to-face grassroots organization instead. “Young people are a progressive generation, but they’re not voting in large enough numbers, so they’ve got to bring their friends out.”
Sanders also advocated for Proposition 40, which aims to implement a one-time 5% wealth tax on the ultra-wealthy in California.
“California is the center of technology innovation in America. And I don’t think the billionaires are going to go,” Sanders said. He described billionaires threatening to leave the state as “a form of blackmail and extortion.”
“In other words, they’re saying, ‘Well, I don’t care if kids get sick and can’t go to a doctor. It’s more important for us to get even richer. And if you stand up to us, we’re gonna punish you,’” Sanders said. “What they’re doing is like me putting a gun to your head. Give me your wallet for your life. That’s not fair. That’s unacceptable. We cannot tolerate that blackmail. You’ve got to stand up to them.”
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