The march, held in coalition with the Graduate Students for Justice in Palestine, the Student Power Coalition and other local organizations, is part of the SJP’s “Week of Solidarity.” According to an SJP Instagram post, the events of this week aim to “commemorate and commiserate 2 years of genocide” and “reveal the complicity of our institutions.”

“There are dynasties of tragedy written into every Palestinian life,” said a student at the beginning of the march. “Whether born under siege, under occupation or in exile, Palestinians carry 76 years of inherited grief, but also of resilience, and now, two years into Israel’s most brutal, most shameless assault in Gaza, we find ourselves still screaming the same truth, still pleading, still mourning, still counting the dead, if we are even allowed to count them. We should not have to prove our suffering to the world.”

Demonstrators met at the Glenn G. Bartle Library bridge and continued to the Pegasus Statue in front of the Library Tower. Protesters held signs reading “Free Palestine” and “Lockheed Martin Bombs Children” while chanting “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.”

The student speaker then continued their speech, highlighting the role of “scholasticide” in the humanitarian crisis. According to the American Historical Association, which condemned the scholasticide in Gaza back in January, the term refers to the systematic destruction of educational institutions.

A member of the Feminist Collective spoke next, emphasizing the role of gendered violence in Gaza. She explained how sexual violence has been used as a tool of war and colonization, dehumanizing women and destroying communities.

“Gendered violence under Israeli apartheid functions as a mechanism of erasure, one that tells Palestinian women that their lives, their knowledge and their futures are expendable,” the speaker said. “It mirrors patterns seen throughout history and other genocides: women’s suffering made invisible, their pain politicized only when it serves the oppressor’s narrative.”

In a September report, the United Nations Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem and Israel, found that Israeli authorities “committed four of the five genocidal acts defined by the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.”

Over 67,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Gaza Strip by Israeli forces over the past two years, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

The march then moved in front of the Engineering Building. A speaker from Georgia affiliated with the Democratic Socialists of America talked about an effort to build a police training facility on the outskirts of Atlanta. First proposed in 2021, the facility, nicknamed “Cop City,” opened in April after years of protest by the local community.

The speaker argued that building this facility was akin to bringing Israeli military training onto U.S. soil. They also accused Binghamton University of spending money on a “surveillance system that prevents protests from happening before they start,” likely referencing the University’s partnership with Genetec, a Montreal-based surveillance solutions company, to integrate data from its 1,635 surveillance cameras into one system.

In a case study, Dave Martin, assistant director of security infrastructure and support at the University, said unplanned gatherings “can sometimes get out of hand,” but the new video analytics tools can “preemptively alert us” if the crowd is large enough so security can determine if the situation “needs to be addressed.”

A representative from the Muslim Student Association then spoke, reciting a prayer calling for an end to oppression worldwide.

Protesters then marched to the Couper Administration Building. A speaker from the Yiddish Bund condemned collaboration between the Thomas J. Watson School of Engineering and Applied Science and weapons manufacturing companies.

Afterward, a registered nurse talked about their experience last year working in Gaza and described witnessing babies being delivered amid active bombings. They then read a poem they wrote about the humanitarian crisis.

Several counterprotesters waving Israeli flags were also present throughout the march, with several making comments during the speeches.

Next, a student described her time studying abroad last semester and said she saw “more Palestinian flags than I’d ever thought I’d see.” While in Morocco, she met a scarf maker who, upon recognizing her Palestinian pendant, held her hand and said, “We are all Palestinians.”

One counterprotester yelled back, “No guy held your hand, we don’t believe that.”

She continued speaking about her personal experience, telling the crowd she had not “felt that sense of humanity in a very long time.”

Finally, a representative from the Rainbow Pride Union spoke about pinkwashing, a term they said refers to “Israel’s cynical weaponization of a veneer of LGBTQ acceptance to distract from and ultimately justify its brutal oppression of Palestinians.”

“I still truly believe that there’s something beautiful about the fact that all these people come together to support this cause, to talk about this and, honestly, let Couper admin know that we are here and we stand for Palestine,” they said.

Hours after the march ended, the University sent out a Dateline announcement condemning the actions of SJP.

“Even if conducted peacefully, holding a protest on this solemn day was viewed by many as deeply insensitive,” the statement read. “We ask all members of our community to exercise empathy and awareness when expressing their views, considering how and when to do so. Freedom of expression carries with it the responsibility to assess the broader impact of our actions.”

The march was held on the anniversary of the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel, in which around 1,200 people were killed and 250 were abducted. As of yesterday, 48 hostages, 26 of whom are publicly confirmed to be deceased, are still held captive in Gaza.

On Wednesday, President Donald Trump announced on social media that the leaders of Israel and Hamas have agreed to the “first phase” of a peace plan, which involves an exchange of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners. According to Trump, the plan will also include the partial withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza to an “agreed upon line.”

In a statement to Pipe Dream, the SJP called the University’s statement “disheartening,” claiming that the University’s actions do not adhere to the code of conduct or uphold principles of freedom of speech and expression. The statement further highlighted cases of alleged harassment against pro-Palestine protesters that have gone unaddressed by the University.

The SJP also argued that despite the controversy surrounding the date of the march, Oct. 7 holds significance for its advocacy as well.

“True, we could’ve held our action on another day, as every day is significant for our cause,” SJP wrote in its statement. “However, October 7th does not have a singular significance that is exclusive to ‘one side.’ We cannot entertain the notion that we are being ‘insensitive’ for holding our action on this day, while in the same breath, Zionists celebrate the Israeli-orchestrated genocide that has only intensified in the two years since.”

The bill, titled the “Keep the Lights Local Act,” would expand federal laws to prohibit foreign businesses and governments from owning public electric companies in the United States, eliminating the portion of bills that goes toward foreign corporate profits and reducing costs. In a press release, Riley named several foreign-owned utility monopolies in upstate New York, including New York State Electric and Gas, Central Hudson and National Grid.

“The foreign corporations who own our utility companies are raking in record profits while Upstate New Yorkers are getting crushed by utility bills,” Riley said in the press release. “NYSEG and Central Hudson alone have shipped hundreds of millions overseas, and then they come back to demand we pay even more.”

“That ends now,” he continued. “The Keep the Lights Local Act bans foreign corporations from owning our utility companies because Upstate New Yorkers shouldn’t be forced to subsidize foreign corporate profits. We’re taking our power back, literally.”

NYSEG is a utility company responsible for providing electricity and gas for over 1.9 million customers in upstate New York. The company is owned by Avangrid, an energy services and delivery enterprise that is a subsidiary of Iberdrola, a Spanish electric utility corporation based in Bilbao, Spain.

The legislation was introduced several months after Riley launched an investigation into utility companies’ billing practices after constituents complained about rising electricity costs. In April, he issued a formal request to NYSEG demanding access to customer billing and other data related to the price hikes.

According to Riley, NYSEG sent $450 million to Iberdrola earlier this year while the company simultaneously proposed rate increases in Upstate New York. NYSEG announced an average monthly bill increase of $11.34 for electricity customers and an average monthly bill increase of $4.10 for natural gas customers, effective in May 2025.

“As storms become stronger, communities grow, and our customers use the grid in new ways, 20th century infrastructure is being strained by 21st-century challenges,” NYSEG wrote to Pipe Dream in a statement. “As we have shared with the Congressman, the Iberdrola Group has backed NYSEG and RG&E with more than $1 billion in financing over the last decade, provided access to global supply chains that would otherwise be out of reach, and used bulk purchasing power to help get lower prices for supplies and equipment. Those facts speak for themselves, even if the Congressman chooses to ignore them.”

These price hikes have impacted Binghamton residents and NYSEG customers. In August, State Sen. Lea Webb ‘04 told Pipe Dream that many Binghamton residents were struggling with the increased cost of living and various challenges involving NYSEG’s billing practices.

“My first bill came for only the first three weeks, not a full month, and was higher than we expected,” Ella Sperry, a NYSEG customer and junior majoring in economics, wrote in a statement to Pipe Dream.

Riley also cited a need to secure the power grid from foreign threats in support of his new bill, claiming that state-sponsored hackers from Russia, China and Iran pose a threat to U.S. infrastructure and could potentially cause blackouts, sabotage power stations and compromise supply chains.

According to the press release, a New York State Public Service Commission audit found 128 deficiencies at NYSEG and Rochester Gas & Electric, both owned by Avangrid. The audit found that despite increased costs, the companies’ “cyber security program is not maturing as it should.”

Riley claims that the bill will hold power companies accountable to local communities, which will strengthen the power grid, lower costs and promote national security. NYSEG, on the other hand, opposes the bill and claims that Riley has mischaracterized the company and its employees.

“At a time when energy prices are rising across the nation, we are surprised the Congressman would propose such a radical approach that would reduce competition and raise costs on New Yorkers,” NYSEG wrote. “We need more energy investments, not less. The Congressman has the opportunity to affect real change at the federal level but is forsaking it for cheap shots that only serve to move us backwards.”

Residential Life defines super occupancy housing as a temporary arrangement of three students in a designated double room, or three to four students in a lounge space. An extra bed and dresser are alloted to the room, and if the space allows, an extra desk, chair and wardrobe can be added. These super occupancy arrangements are designed to temporarily accommodate first-year students.

According to the ResLife website, these configurations are necessary due to high enrollment and the “very high percentage” of returning students choosing to live on campus. The University received a record-breaking 74,725 applications for the fall 2025 semester, with 61,200 first-year undergraduates applying, a 15.5 percent increase from last year. Over 3,160 freshmen enrolled in classes for the fall semester, a decrease compared to the 3,243 freshmen who enrolled in the fall 2024 semester.

“First year enrollment is not much different than last academic year and is not a driving factor,” Casey Wall, director of residential life and housing, wrote to Pipe Dream.

Wall said the ongoing construction around campus is responsible for the increased number of students in super occupancy housing. The renovation of Oneida Hall, a residential dorm building that housed first-year students in College-in-the-Woods, has decreased the number of available beds for freshmen on campus.

The building was shut down over the summer and is undergoing renovations to remove asbestos and install new flooring, ceilings and bathrooms. Construction is expected to be complete by the fall of 2026.

“The SOH we have been working our way through this academic year is directly correlated to the renovation project along with the continued demand for on-campus housing from students of all class years,” wrote Wall.

To accommodate the increasing demand for on-campus housing, a new residential hall will be built between Mountainview College and College-in-the-Woods. The project is expected to be completed by summer 2027 and will house about 350 students, alleviating some of the pressure on campus accommodations.

Angelina Ye, a freshman double-majoring in fine arts and business, has spent the first month of the fall semester in super occupancy housing in Old Rafuse Hall.

“Space is very limited in the room and you have to communicate and work with your roommates to make triple life work; this goes for what’s in the fridge, and sharing a desk, etc.,” Ye wrote in a statement to Pipe Dream.

Ye explained that her randomly assigned housing time slot was days after the housing portal opened, leaving her no choice but to live in a super-occupied room. She was told by her residential director that the situation was temporary and she would have to wait for standard housing to become available.

ResLife states that students in super occupancy spaces are the highest priority for being moved into standard rooms, with most typically relocated by the end of the fall semester. Students are assigned new living arrangements as soon as they become available, but those who wish to remain in their super occupancy housing are not required to move. The Reslife website claims that “that many students enjoy the arrangement so much, they choose to remain in a voluntary triple.”

However, not all students share this sentiment. Ye shared some of the struggles she faces in super occupancy housing, like using bunk beds and frequent power outages.

“Specifically in Old Rafuse, I feel that space is more limited when compared to dorms in new Dickinson, yet there are so many more triples in my building,” Ye wrote. “Every hallway has at least two triples in my building, which leads to problems of power outages.”

The case, first filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York, was litigated for five years before a federal judge ruled in favor of the school district and its staff members in August 2024. The lawsuit alleged that the four girls, all students of color, were apprehended in school by principal Tim Simonds while walking in the hallway. They were then escorted by Simonds and assistant principal Michelle Raleigh to Mary Eggleston, the school nurse, who then searched each girl without notifying the students’ parents or guardians, conducted a sobriety test and searched the girls’ belongings.

In the original complaint, the plaintiffs claimed that the students’ constitutional rights were violated — particularly their Fourth Amendment rights, which protect against unreasonable search and seizure. They also claimed the searches were motivated in part by the fact that all four girls are Black and Latina, which violates the Fourteenth Amendment and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

In 2020, Judge Glenn Suddaby authored an opinion dismissing many of the plaintiffs’ arguments but allowing their Fourth Amendment claims to continue. The NAACP Legal Defense Fund and a multinational law firm filed an amended suit in 2021. In February 2024, the district court once again ruled in favor of the school district, dismissing three of the girls’ Fourth Amendment claims and found insufficient evidence to determine their equal protection rights were violated.

However, Suddaby ruled that Eggleston’s search of one of the students, identified as I.M., “greatly exceed[ed] the scope” of the others and allowed her claim to move forward. That July, I.M. “agreed to dismiss that claim with prejudice but preserved her right to appeal the district court’s summary judgment ruling as to her other claims.”

“The court’s decision confirms what the district has said from the beginning: that the employees acted in accordance with the constitutional rights of students and acted on information to maintain the safety and best interests of its students,” the school district wrote in a press release following the 2024 ruling.

On Aug. 9, 2024, the plaintiffs’ attorney from the NAACP appealed the district court’s summary judgment ruling on their Fourth Amendment claims. Last month, after over a year of litigation, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled that “no reasonable jury could find that the challenged searches were excessively intrusive.”

The appeals court affirmed the district court’s determination that the students’ Fourth Amendment rights were not violated and cited case law supporting the idea that “Fourth Amendment rights are different in public schools than elsewhere.” The court also held that a “standard of reasonable suspicion, rather than probable cause” should be applied in cases involving student searches — any search must be “reasonably related to the objectives of the search and not excessively intrusive.”

The ruling maintained that the Binghamton City School District had reasonable grounds to search the students. According to the court, the school district was concerned about students possibly ingesting a “purple juice,” or lean, consisting of cough syrup, candy and soda that caused various symptoms. On the day of the incident, the plaintiffs allegedly disappeared for several minutes and were found in an “unsettled state,” leading the court to conclude the school district acted reasonably when searching for possession of a prohibited substance.

The appellate decision went on to affirm that the searches were not excessively intrusive. Each student was first given a sobriety test, patted down and then asked to empty their pockets and remove their shoes, which the court found was justified to check for possession of prohibited substances.

Two students, I.M. and A.S., alleged they were illegally strip searched. As I.M. dismissed her case against Eggleston with prejudice and could not prove that the other officials were involved in the search, her claim was rejected by the court. As for A.S., the court maintained that a brief unzipping of her sweatshirt was not “excessively intrusive in light of the age and sex of the student and the nature of the infraction.”

The actions of the school district sparked outcry from the local community. In the weeks following the incident, the Progressive Leaders Of Tomorrow organized a rally outside of the East Middle School, calling for the school officials to resign. The rally drew considerable media attention, leading then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo to order the New York State Education Department to lead an investigation into the matter.

“The ruling further diminishes the rights of students, especially women and students of color in Binghamton schools, by allowing invasive searches that leave young people distressed and feeling powerless against school officials’ authority, while normalizing the invasive treatment of children under the guise of security,” the Thurgood Marshall Pre-Law Society wrote in a statement to Pipe Dream. “While we recognize the important duty that schools hold in ensuring campus safety through adherence to school rules, this ruling grants schools the authority to go beyond searches of outer clothing, creating unchecked power that threatens students’ dignity and bodily autonomy, which is particularly egregious in cases where no violation is ever found.”

The NAACP Legal Defense Fund declined to comment on the ruling. The Binghamton City School District did not return Pipe Dream’s requests for comment.

The new updates include extended hours at the College-in-the-Woods Dining Hall, online nutrition facts for all dining hall foods, local food vendors available at Nite Owl and new food truck options on campus.

The dining hall, previously open Monday through Thursdays from 7 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. and Fridays until 1:30 p.m., has expanded its hours to include a brunch option on Saturdays and Sundays from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. This update follows repeated student requests, allowing College-in-the-Woods residents to eat closer to their dorms on weekends.

“It’s great that CIW is expanding to weekend hours because as a previous CIW resident it was annoying to have to walk to Mountainview or C4 in the morning on the weekends,” wrote Ella Sperry, a junior majoring in economics.

The University also announced it has discontinued the BUC$ program, an optional service allowing prepaid funds to be added to a student ID card for use at locations like the University Bookstore, the Food Co-op and all campus dining locations (3). The BUDS website claims that this change will allow for a “transition to more modern, flexible, and widely used payment options across campus.”

BUDS will also provide nutrition facts for each food item served at the dining halls on their website, allowing students to make more informed choices about their diets. New options at food trucks on campus and local food vendor features at Nite Owl will also be unveiled in the coming weeks.

“BUDS values feedback and works continuously/throughout the year with students and administration to make campus dining more convenient, inclusive, nutritious, tasty and engaging for the entire community,” Lori Benson, the director of marketing for BUDS, wrote in a statement to Pipe Dream.

Students have previously voiced their frustration at the state of campus dining. In March, the Young Democratic Socialists of America hosted a town hall for students to come together and share their grievances against BUDS and Sodexo, the company that operates the University’s dining services. Sodexo’s current contract with BU, signed in 2015, is set to expire this year.

Despite the new updates, some students do not believe these changes made by BUDS adequately address their concerns. In their petition last semester, the YDSA focused its attention on four main areas — meal plan reform, health and safety precautions, dietary accommodations and worker rights/dignity.

In a March Instagram post, the YDSA further described their demands, like the introduction of a meal swipe plan instead of using dining dollars, levying penalties on food providers when health standards are not met, expanding kosher and halal options and increasing pay for dining hall workers. The YDSA claimed more than half of all students who answered their survey became sick from the dining hall food and that about 61 percent have run out of funds in their meal plans.

“Sodexo claims that ‘Binghamton students asked and BUDS delivered,’” wrote the YDSA in a statement to Pipe Dream. “That is not the case. While we appreciate the Sodexo’s response to our pressure campaign with the addition of nutritional facts, the other changes — a new pickup app and three hours of CIW weekend dining — do nothing to meaningfully address student concerns that center affordability, variety, and quality because it would mean Sodexo would have to deliver for students, not its shareholders.”

The Student Association unanimously passed a resolution last year calling for expanded kosher, halal and vegetarian options on campus and improved student access to inclusive dining. The legislation cited the importance of accessible food options for students of all religious and dietary needs.

BUDS and Sodexo have yet to expand these options, as kosher and halal food are only available for limited lunch and dinner hours at C4.

“The administration has not delivered on providing dining that students can afford through the implementation of a meal swipe program and the elimination of the $4,220 yearly membership fee,” the statement continued. “They have not delivered in providing more dietary accommodations for our kosher, halal, vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free students. They have not delivered in supporting our hardworking dining hall employees by condemning Sodexo’s union-busting of student workers and demanding higher pay and better benefits. They have not even delivered on making the food safe to eat with numerous critical health violations at our dining halls.”

“The student body is not asking: we demand better dining on campus,” it concluded.

According to Facilities Management, the University has made progress on several construction projects, like clearing the site for a new lecture hall located across from the Academic Complex, building an addition to the East Gym and constructing new residence halls. Other projects, like installing a new turf field at Mountainview College and renovating chemistry teaching labs in Science 2, were completed over the summer.

The University began construction to improve and expand residential living for students on campus. Oneida Hall, a residential dorm building that housed first-year students in College-in-the-Woods, was shut down over the summer and will undergo renovations to remove asbestos and install new flooring, ceilings and bathrooms. Construction is expected to be complete by the fall of 2026.

A new residential hall will also be built between Mountainview College and College-in-the-Woods. Expected to house about 350 students, the project is slated to be completed by the summer of 2027.

These projects come as the University saw a record-breaking 74,725 students apply this year.

“As student needs have evolved over the years, so have the residence halls we have constructed,” Casey Wall, the director of Residential Life & Housing at BU, wrote to Pipe Dream. “This new residence hall will provide suite style housing, much like Mountainview College, while providing more single room options.”

“There will be a good amount of social space, in addition to study space,” Wall continued.

Renovations at the East Gym also made significant progress over the summer, with completion expected next fall. The 75,000-square-foot addition will include an expanded fitness center, three gym courts and an elevated running track.

Closer to the heart of campus, construction work continues at the Plaza Deck between the Glenn G. Bartle Library and the Engineering Building to expand seating areas and improve walkways. The old Chenango Room also remains under construction. Expected to be finished in 2026, the new building will include a Panera Bread, a second story addition and an event space with outdoor seating.

“We’re looking forward to having the current Plaza Deck paver project wrapped up in a couple of months and two other large projects, the Chenango Room Addition and the East Gym Addition, within a year,” wrote Karen Fennie, the communications director for Facilities Management.

Some students have expressed frustration at the extensive construction across campus.

“I’m excited that Binghamton is making improvements to campus, but it’s tough to feel grateful knowing that the work won’t even be done by the time I graduate,” said Sara Roger-Gordon, a junior double-majoring in English and philosophy, politics and law. “It just feels a bit unfair that the memories I’ll have of campus will be accompanied by loud and ugly construction, and only future students will be the ones to reap the benefits of this work.”

Other changes completed before the semester began include updated showers and countertops in the Hillside Community and new planting installations in the Memorial Courtyard.

“Construction is never fun, but we strive to take care of critical maintenance, as is the case with the Plaza Deck project, while fulfilling programmatic/academic needs with projects such as the East Gym project and the new Lecture Hall,” Fennie concluded.

Decker Student Health Services Center

Located behind Dickinson Community, the Decker Student Health Services Center provides health services to all registered students. The center offers access to resources like women’s health services, immunizations, laboratory services, psychiatric consultation and care for illness and injury.

The Decker Student Health Services Center strives to promote student health through “education, prevention and treatment in a caring atmosphere,” according to its website. During the semester, the center is open every weekday from 8 a.m. to 4:15 p.m.

University Counseling Center

Located in Old O’Connor 264, the University Counseling Center offers clinical and referral services to all University students to “enhance the psychological well-being of our students so they can take full advantage of the educational opportunities at the University.” The center offers in-person and telehealth appointments and services like individual, group and same-day counseling, consultations and referrals. The center is open from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays throughout the semester and 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekdays during the summer.

Living Communities

Five on-campus residential communities are available to freshmen — Newing College, Dickinson Community, College-in-the-Woods, Mountainview College and Hinman College. These communities “help students connect with friends and have fun while learning” by offering spaces for students to interact, from co-recreational football to attending community-specific events, such as Newing Navy and Casino-in-the-Woods.

The communities offer various living arrangements for students. Newing College and College-in-the-Woods offer traditional corridor-style living with double rooms and shared bathrooms. Four and six-person suites are available in Mountainview, Hinman and College-in-the-Woods. Dickinson Community features four and five-person flats.

Sophomores, juniors and seniors have access to on-campus apartments at Hillside and Susquehanna.

Dining Halls

Four dining halls are available for students: Hinman Dining Hall; Chenango Champlain Collegiate Center; Appalachian Dining Hall; and College-In-The-Woods Dining Hall.

Only a short walk from the Lecture Hall, Hinman Dining Hall offers several stations, including a Noodle House, a Starbucks and Garbanzo — a popular spot serving Mediterranean food. C4 primarily serves the Dickinson Community and Newing College, with a Kosher station for observant students. College-In-The-Woods is open on weekdays and offers a vegan station. Lastly, Appalachian overlooks the Mountainview Community, giving one of the best views on campus for students looking to enjoy their dining experience.

University Union
The University Union is centrally located on campus and is a prime hub for student activities. Campus organizations frequently table in the Union, and large events like Club Carnival and multicultural galas are often held inside the Mandela Room. Late Nite activities, like movie screenings on Fridays and scavenger hunts, are also hosted here.

The MarketPlace, a dining area boasting a variety of food options at retail prices, offers students a large space to sit, eat and hang out with friends.

The Union Undergrounds features a bowling alley, pool tables and a study lounge.

Several important resources, like Visions Federal Credit Union and the mail room, where students receive and mail out packages, are found in the Union. Make sure to stop by the University Bookstore to purchase textbooks, school supplies and other essential items.

Fleishman Center for Career and Professional Development

The Fleishman Career Center is located in the University Union and is designed to “[remove] barriers for students’ career success.” The center offers consulting appointments for students to get feedback on resumes, search for jobs and internships, explore career paths and network. Open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., the center also holds mock interviews, career matching quizzes and job fairs to help students find their paths.

Libraries

There are three libraries that students can use to study and research. The largest, Glenn G. Bartle Library, is right in the center of campus and features the Innovation Lab, a popular spot for students collaborating on group projects, and the Library Tower Café, where students can grab a coffee while studying. Students can also reserve private study rooms.

Just a short walk away, the Science Library on campus provides students with additional study space. The third library, located at the University Downtown Center, is mainly available for commuter use.
All three libraries offer access to books, databases, articles, printers and other educational resources. Each library is open at varying hours throughout the semester, with these hours expanding around midterms and finals.

Binghamton’s New York State University Police

The University Police Department is located in the basement of the Couper Administration Building. The Department utilizes a “community policing model,” designed to foster a relationship between the police and the campus community to promote safety and prevent crime. It operates the on-campus lost and found and provides educational programs on crime and interpersonal violence prevention. The UPD can be contacted at 607-777-2222 or by calling 911 on a campus phone for emergencies and at 607-777-2393 for non-emergency reasons.

In 2024, the Broome County Health Department reported a 40 percent decrease in suspected fatal overdoses and a 52 percent decrease in suspected nonfatal overdoses since 2022. Although Broome was among the top ten counties with the highest fatal overdose rates in 2022, it was the only county in this subset where overdose deaths fell from the previous year, according to the 2024 New York State Opioid Annual Data Report.

The county’s drug-related crime rate remains higher than the majority of New York state. According to the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services, there were 36.6 drug arrests per 10,000 residents in Broome County in 2020, compared to 17.0 drug arrests in the rest of the state excluding New York City.

“On the enforcement side, the Broome County Special Investigations Unit Task Force is a partnership comprised of members of the Broome County Sheriff’s Office, the Binghamton Police Department, the Johnson City Police Department and the Endicott Police Department all working together on narcotics and weapons investigations to get high-level dealers off the streets with great success over the past several years,” said Broome County Sheriff Fred Akshar.

Recently, local law enforcement has made several large-scale drug busts and drug-related arrests. In a March 25 traffic stop, the task force seized around 115 grams of methamphetamine found stashed under a child’s car seat. Two suspects were charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance and endangering the welfare of a child.

One day prior, a Binghamton man was arrested in Endicott for possessing over five ounces of methamphetamine, most of which was hidden in a bag of Cheetos. The task force has made other drug arrests, all involving large quantities of drugs and, in some instances, firearms and drug packaging materials. From January 2024 to mid-November, the unit seized 91 illegal firearms, 165 grams of heroin, 796 grams of crack cocaine, more than 882 grams of fentanyl and 2,030 grams of methamphetamine off the streets, according to reporting from the Press and Sun-Bulletin.

“It’s good to see the decrease in the overdose rates in the area but the presence of drugs and drug related crime definitely makes me feel unsafe,” wrote Ella Sperry, a sophomore majoring in economics. “Binghamton has a long way to go in terms of eliminating drug-related crime!”

Local organizations have created recovery and outreach initiatives to combat the drug crisis. Last year, local advocacy groups Helio Health, the Family and Children’s Society and the Southern Tier AIDS Program were awarded grants through the Opioid Settlement Fund to fight overdoses and drug usage. Per the county, the fund was established “through the work of New York State Attorney General Letitia James and her historic lawsuit against pharmaceutical companies that contributed to the overdose epidemic.”

The Sheriff’s Office has also used settlement funds to enhance substance use disorder treatment in the Broome County Jail, part of their “multi-faceted approach to combating substance use disorder that focuses not only on enforcement, but on treatment, recovery and responsible reentry.” Akshar said the office has formed a “Reentry Reform Advocacy Group” made up of local activists, healthcare professionals and former inmates to provide resources to incarcerated and newly released individuals.

“It takes the entire community working together to combat this issue, and the Broome County Sheriff’s Office has partnered with local law enforcement and local health professionals and addiction service providers alike to create real solutions,” Akshar said.

Yaron Kweller, with his brother Leor and Jordan Rindgen, were arrested in February 2022 after facing sexual assault allegations following an incident involving two women on Nov. 26, 2021. The charges against Leor Kweller were thrown out in May 2023, and Yaron Kweller and Rindgen were acquitted of all charges on Oct. 31, 2023.

On Monday, attorneys for Yaron Kweller announced the filing of a lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York against several parties — including the Binghamton Police Department, the Broome County District Attorney’s Office, former District Attorney Michael Korchak and Assistant District Attorney Alyssa Congdon — for constitutional and civil rights violations. Rindgen has also filed a civil rights action against the defendants for wrongful arrest.

“As far as our clients go, I do think that this is their first step to really, truly, clearing their name and telling their side of the story,” Elena Fast, Kweller’s attorney, told Pipe Dream.

The complaint alleges local authorities ignored exculpatory evidence and continued pursuing wrongful prosecution and arrest without probable cause. Despite Kweller’s eventual acquittal, he claims the handling of the case irreversibly damaged his reputation and led to the eventual closure of his once-successful businesses.

“The harm inflicted by the defendants has caused irreparable damage to his reputation, professional relationships, and businesses,” a press release on Fast Law Firm’s website reads. “Yaron Kweller’s complaint seeks compensatory and punitive damages for the significant financial and emotional suffering he endured.”

Kweller alleges that local authorities “with malice and knowing that probable cause did not exist” pursued his arrest. The lawsuit claims this violated Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment provisions against unreasonable search and seizure and the right “to be free of prosecution absent probable cause.”

“Our allegations are that the police arrested Mr. Kweller really without having a sufficient case, and they wrongfully arrested him for a rape [in the third degree] when they did not have anything in the fact pattern or anything that was testified to a trial where the complainant said ‘no,’” Fast said.

The Binghamton Police Department and the D.A.’s office declined to comment. A representative for the city of Binghamton did not respond to a request for comment.

Video evidence and cell phone communications were disregarded by the D.A.’s office, according to the court filings, which declared the evidence proved Kweller’s innocence. His legal team referenced a folder in the possession of the two women’s attorney, Thomas Saitta, that contained forensic photographs of texts exchanged after the alleged incident took place. It took more than a year for the D.A.’s office to obtain the folder despite their alleged knowledge of its existence, nor was Kweller’s counsel ever informed of it.

Fast said the folder proved the consensual nature of the encounter between Kweller and his accusers, including the intention of the two women to blackmail him. Under the Brady rule — a doctrine concerning evidence handling in the U.S. justice system — prosecutors must disclose exculpatory evidence to the defense.

The lawsuit also refers to alleged malpractice of the D.A.’s office in appointing Congdon as the bureau chief of the Special Victims Unit despite insufficient prosecutorial experience. The complaint claims Congdon “did not understand her legal obligations as a prosecutor” and that her superiors neglected to step in to correct her errors, which included mistaken interpretations of the law during grand jury procedures.

“A lot of our complaint talks about her mistaken impressions of the law, and that was never corrected, so we are alleging failure to supervise,” Fast said of Congdon.

Fast accused Korchak of failing to recognize Congdon’s lack of sufficient training and step in after she expressed concerns about her ability to prosecute a high-profile case.

Rindgen’s complaint echoed Kweller’s claims of constitutional and civil rights violations by local authorities, referencing malicious prosecution, false arrest and Brady violations. Rindgen was originally charged with two counts of third-degree criminal sale of a controlled substance and third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance in addition to several sexual abuse charges.

Despite D.A. Paul Battisti having worked for Kweller in the past, Fast told Pipe Dream she was not concerned about any potential conflict of interest, as “Battisti is not a party to the action” and does not represent Kweller at this point.

Kweller and his legal team hope to highlight systematic failures and abuses of power within Broome County to prevent similar situations in the future.

“We have this understanding within the criminal justice community and in our cases that it’s fair game, and you get fair dealing, and that’s not what we had here from the D.A.’s office,” Fast said.

With the presidential race approaching the finish line, campus and local political organizations weighed in on how the election might shape the future of the federal judiciary.

Former President Donald Trump, who held office from 2017 to 2021, set a record for the greatest number of U.S. Supreme Court appointments since Ronald Reagan, elevating Justices Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett to lifetime tenure on the nation’s highest court. In recent years, the conservative majority on the Court has issued high-profile, controversial rulings about gun rights, abortion and presidential immunity. The upcoming election will determine which president — and likely political party — will fill potential vacancies on the nation’s highest court and other federal courts.

Members of the local Democratic party criticized a series of Supreme Court rulings on issues ranging from affirmative action to the Second Amendment. Karen Beebe, the chair of the Broome County Democratic Party, shared her concerns about the Supreme Court’s impact after Trump’s appointments.

“Trump already created the most conservative court in generations; a court that will have a lasting impact for decades to come,” Beebe wrote in an email. “The rulings from his Conservative Federalist Society Supreme Court rolled back rights, equity, and equality for women and people of color while EXPANDING the rights of gun owners. These rulings lack popular support but appease Evangelicals and the MAGA base.”

Several of the Court’s rulings have influenced campaign strategy with hopes of swaying voters. Abortion has become a high-salience issue for voters following the 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision, which overturned the nearly half-century-old precedent that established a constitutional right to an abortion. Vice President Kamala Harris has made reproductive freedom a cornerstone of her campaign.

The College Democrats voiced their support for Harris’ views on reproductive freedom and said they believe she may be able to mitigate the ramifications of the Dobbs decision.

“Vice President Harris has already advocated for federal legislation to codify the abortion protections of the Roe v. Wade (1973) decision and has vowed to sign any such legislation into law, as well as ensuring that she would veto any national abortion ban bill that passed her desk,” the organization wrote to Pipe Dream.

Trump previously took credit for overturning Roe v. Wade, referring to his Supreme Court appointments. In his campaign, he has claimed he will veto a 15-week national abortion ban — however, he plans to allow states to continue implementing abortion restrictions and uphold the Dobbs ruling.

Presidential immunity is another controversial issue that could move election results this year. A few months ago in Trump v. United States, the Supreme Court ruled that former presidents are entitled to absolute immunity from criminal prosecution for official acts that involve “the President’s exercise of his core constitutional powers.” The case stemmed from a lawsuit following an August 2023 indictment charging Trump with four counts related to his alleged attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election and involvement in the Jan. 6 riots at the U.S. Capitol Building.

Shane Rossi, the president of the College Republicans and a junior majoring in political science, said he agreed with the ruling, writing that “presidential immunity is a cornerstone of our nation” and necessary for effective leadership. The College Democrats voiced their disagreement with the decision, saying the ruling would “further embolden [Trump] to commit corrupt attacks during a potential second term, as he was already doing so during his first.”

The Court’s decision in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen held that the Second Amendment protects an “individual’s right to carry a handgun for self-defense outside the home.” Harris has a history of supporting restrictions on gun ownership and mandatory background checks, currently overseeing the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention. She has said that she is a gun owner and supports the Second Amendment while still advocating for stricter gun control laws to be enacted. Trump has promised to uphold the right to bear arms and during his presidency, loosened gun restrictions.

The College Democrats expressed concerns about how a conservative president would affect existing gun control and gun violence prevention measures. They wrote that if reelected, Trump would “roll back gun control measures and call on Congress to pass legislation aiding this agenda,” leading to decreased national security and more gun violence.

The Court will have the ability to either hinder or advance either candidate’s initiatives and will play a critical role in each candidate’s success as a president.

“The Supreme Court will be effective at upholding a lot of the immigration reforms that Trump wants to begin and will be essential in ensuring border security,” Rossi wrote. “For Harris, it will be a stumbling block for a lot of the government regulations on corporations and business she has committed to doing.”

The election’s outcome has the potential to shape the future of the Supreme Court with the possibility of new appointments and reforms to the judicial system in the upcoming term. However, the likelihood of an opportunity for new appointments may be low.

Rossi said he believed the circumstances leading to Trump’s appointments were rare and that another opportunity to appoint as many justices would not occur for “maybe 10 years.” Two current Justices — Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito — are over the age of 70, while Justice Sonia Sotomayor turned 70 this past June. Chief Justice John Roberts will turn 70 in January.

The future of the Court will undoubtedly play a role at the polls this November. Yet, the existing impact of these previous Supreme Court rulings may have ramifications that stretch beyond the next four years.

Mourning the thousands of Palestinians killed in Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, the Students for Justice in Palestine, joined by the Arab Student Association, the Muslim Student Association and the Islamic Organization of the Southern Tier, organized a candlelight vigil Wednesday evening.

Held on the Spine by the Lecture Hall, the vigil commenced with a short poem read in Arabic and English about the struggles Palestinians face and their connection to the land. As the crowd continued to gather, organizers distributed masks and candles.

“We want to remind the Binghamton community at large that the martyrs of Palestine are not statistics, but victims of genocide; each and every man, woman, and child deserves to be mourned,” SJP wrote to Pipe Dream. “We want our fellow students to know that what they feel is understandable if not rational, for our grief and our anger are inextricably intertwined.”

The vigil continued with 365 seconds of silence to commemorate the 365 days since Israel’s defense minister, Yoav Gallant, ordered a siege of Gaza. Students lit candles and leaned on each other for support.

Several student speakers shared poems and gave speeches voicing solidarity with Palestinians and condemning the ongoing violence in Gaza. One who did not share their name shared a self-written poem titled “When You Say Terror” that highlighted their struggle to speak openly against mainstream narratives.

“Edward Said told the world about the fact that they do not have the permission to narrate,” they said, referring to the Palestinian American philosopher and activist. “We must not wait for them to be given that permission. So I, too, will say terror, until every eye is opened to a violence of 75 years.”

Another speaker condemned the U.S. government for providing military funding to Israel. They said generic statements, like “bombs were dropped” and “shots were fired,” contribute to the dehumanization of Palestinians, specifically referencing a recent report that the Israeli military killed a 12-year-old Palestinian boy in the West Bank.

“He is not a number,” the speaker said. “He was a child, he was a son, he was a brother. He had a favorite food, he had a favorite song, favorite color, and I’m outraged that I have to prove that Palestinians are just as human as the rest of us.”

The vigil was part of SJP’s “Week of Rage,” which included a walk-out and rally on Monday, a bracelet sale — with all proceeds going to the Middle East Children’s Alliance — a culture poetry night and a peer support group meeting. The organization said they were “SJP chapters across the nation in re-engaging and rebuilding anger and urgency among the campus community.”

“We aim to highlight how our universities are complicit in Israel’s genocide by exposing their ties to the military-industrial complex, which provides Israel with the funding and weaponry it relies on to execute its brutal bombing campaigns,” SJP wrote. “We urge our peers to join in these movement-wide calls to action by recognizing Israel’s role in the killings and destruction in Gaza, which has slaughtered over 40,000 Palestinians and pushed 2 million to the brink of starvation. Now, more than ever, it’s crucial that we reflect on the past 76 years in which Palestinians have faced ongoing displacement, apartheid, and violence under Israeli occupation, and commit ourselves to amplifying their voices, resisting complicity, and fighting for justice and liberation.”

To conclude the vigil, Anas Shaikh ‘17, the Islamic Organization of the Southern Tier’s executive director and lead imam, led the attendees in prayer.

When discussing their role in the event, ASA said that with solidarity as one of their seven core values, they “serve as a conduit of awareness and pillar of solidarity with our Arab brothers and sisters.”

“The goal of this vigil is to commemorate the lives lost due to the past year of ongoing genocide, in addition to the over 75 years of Israeli occupation,” ASA wrote. “This is meant to be a peaceful and solemn event as we reflect on the brutal reality of the settler-colonial state.”

On Sept. 9, Rep. Marc Molinaro, a Republican who represents New York’s 19th Congressional District, which includes Greater Binghamton, posted a statement to various social media accounts falsely claiming that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio are eating pets.

The congressman shared a screenshot of a tweet from the Calvin Coolidge Project alleging that Haitian immigrants were stealing pets and other wildlife, butchering them and eating them. Including a photo of a Black man carrying an animal carcass across a street, the post was shared to Molinaro’s various campaign accounts on Facebook, X and Instagram. In the posts, Molinaro blamed Josh Riley — the Democrat running against him — for promoting open borders and dismantling border security.

The caption claimed that “this crisis — the fentanyl flooding our streets, the rampant crime, and now this — is his to own.”

The story, which has been shared by several right-wing politicians, like former President Donald Trump and his running mate U.S. Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, has been disputed by the Springfield Police Department, which has said that there are no such credible complaints. Trump falsely claimed that migrants in Springfield were eating dogs, cats and other pets during his debate with Vice President Kamala Harris in Philadelphia last Tuesday.

“I am concerned for the safety of people of color, immigrants, the citizens of Springfield, and the first responders who have to deal with the unrest,” Carol LaBorie, of Ithaca, New York, wrote to Pipe Dream. “What Molinaro and his colleagues have said, in addition to the false claims made by Trump and Vance has made the situation there much worse, and also endangers immigrants and people of color everywhere.”

Following the debate, the situation in Springfield has escalated, according to reports. The community has faced ongoing bomb threats causing schools, colleges, hospitals and government offices to be evacuated or closed. The FBI is working with local law enforcement to ensure the safety of residents and locate the origin of the threats.

Other politicians have criticized the spread of the baseless claims. Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine and Springfield Mayor Rob Rue have pleaded for those in the national spotlight to use their words carefully. Riley called out Molinaro for “rage-tweeting.”

“Instead of demanding a vote on the bipartisan bill that would secure the southern border, Molinaro is rage-tweeting dangerous, racist, debunked conspiracy theories,” Riley wrote in an email. “He’s not serious about securing the border. I am.”

Molinaro has since doubled down, including to POLITICO, citing the “Manlius” case, where a beloved local swan was allegedly stolen and eaten last year by three teenagers near Syracuse. He said the Springfield rumor is based on facts about Black immigrant cultures and that lax border policies have allowed people “with no capacity to support themselves” into the United States.

This post is only part of a larger ongoing battle over immigration policy between Molinaro and Riley. Molinaro recently introduced a bill that would create a “publicly available database” listing the names and residential locations of undocumented immigrants with felony convictions, while Riley has expressed support for securing the border and expediting how quickly judges can process immigration cases. The issue has become a major point of contention in the fight for the 19th District, one of a few contested seats that will determine which party will hold a majority in the U.S. House of Representatives come January.

“Too many college students are being poisoned by a fentanyl epidemic stemming from Josh Riley’s wide open border policies,” Molinaro wrote to Pipe Dream. “I’ll fight for you every day!”

Comson Cao, the vice president of the Binghamton University College Republicans and an undeclared sophomore, criticized Republicans’ usage of this story in the immigration debate. He expressed concerns that more accurate and effective arguments regarding the “net negatives” of modern immigration are being ignored for the sensational.

“The right is playing a very dumb game with this and they are letting themselves get distracted from the real discourse surrounding modern immigration all for the sake of milking this story as hard as possible regardless of its actual validity,” Cao wrote in an email.

Despite the backlash, the post has not been removed from Molinaro’s social media.

Held in Downtown Binghamton, the talk, titled “Charging Ahead: Building a Battery Development and Prototyping Facility,” featured Paul Malliband, the executive director of Battery-NY — a “first-of-its-kind research and development prototyping center” that will uplift the sustainable battery industry in the Southern Tier. The funding for Battery-NY was announced in 2022 through grants from the state and federal government, receiving $63.7 million from the federal Economic Development Administration as part of the Build Back Better Regional Challenge. It was founded in association with New Energy New York, a larger initiative dedicated to creating a “national hub for battery innovation and manufacturing” and boosting the Southern Tier’s economy.

Battery-NY is headed by Malliband, Per Stromhaug, the University’s associate vice president for innovation and economic development and M. Stanley Whittingham, a 2019 Nobel Prize laureate and a distinguished professor in chemistry. The new facility will provide battery manufacturing and testing for various companies and clients.

“What [customers] were interested in was bringing their materials in, us making the cell with the electrode, forming it, bringing it to life and then cycling it in those chambers … where you can control the temperature, you can control the humidity, you can control the charging rates of the battery and the discharge rates,” Malliband said. “That allows us to simulate the environment that the battery will be in, in reality.”

The manufacturing center will assume a unique role in the United States, as most facilities are not equipped to handle the entire process of battery manufacturing and testing. The Battery-NY facility plans to redevelop relationships with suppliers to create equipment capable of covering a wide range of different formats.

Malliband, who served as the chief engineer of Battery Scale-Up at the Warwick Manufacturing Group’s Energy Innovation Centre at the University of Warwick, arrived at BU six months ago to pursue this new facility’s development. During the talk, he emphasized environmental sustainability and future-proofing — which are key considerations for Battery-NY. The new facility will also cater to specific customer requirements and focus on developing American capabilities in clean energy.

The facility will be heavily involved with the University. Malliband discussed the importance of building a workforce for the facility, which he hopes will include local students and graduates who have earned degrees in chemistry and engineering. He plans on creating apprenticeship and internship opportunities within the facility.

“You’ve got the technicians operating the equipment, you’ve got the engineers that know how to make batteries, the electrochemists, you’ve got all of the people in one location,” Malliband said. “Hopefully, it will be a location that people will want to come to, to work and get expertise.”

The facility is set to be fully operational by 2026.

“We are ready to have programs up and running quickly, with the Endicott pilot manufacturing facility open in a year or two,” Stromhaug said in a SUNY press release. “The program will be a magnet for the region and upstate New York, leading to high-paying jobs in development and manufacturing. It’s going to make an impact nationally.”

Mansha Rahman, RPU’s president and a junior double-majoring in art and design and Spanish, shared recent changes to the organization. Last year, they said, the organization reached out to the Q Center, where current and previous E-Board members worked, to bring about new leadership.

“RPU went through a bit of a dry spell for a couple of years, but with our new E-Board, I hope to bring the organization back to what it once was,” Rahman wrote.

The organization’s primary objective is to create a long-lasting sense of pride within the LGBTQ+ community by providing outlets for members to express themselves politically, creatively and socially through various events and activities. They advocate for education on issues of importance, specifically emphasizing the intersectionality between race, gender, sexuality, religion and identity.

RPU has been a political group that has fought for queer liberation since its inception, added Thomas Holland, the events coordinator and a graduate student pursuing a master’s degree in teaching. He said he hopes to return the club to its roots in political activism.

“Firstly, while the club, even going back to the 70s, had a social element to it, serving as a space for queer students to meet like minded people who might share similar struggles and perspectives, it was also an inherently political organization, putting together ‘teach-in’ style events, protests, and fighting for queer liberation,” Holland wrote. “As such, we have started to move the organization back in a more political or social direction, taking actions like signing on to the Divest From Death statement,” referring to a campaign started last semester that passed a resolution in the Student Association Congress to express support for principles of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement.

Holland said he wanted to honor the organization’s history and the efforts of those that paved the way for the queer community on campus by displaying it in a way that is accessible to students to preserve the memory of those who helped cultivate the organization.

The organization’s main goal for this year is to revive its campus presence and increase engagement levels, which have waned in the past couple of years, partly due to the pandemic in 2020. The E-Board looks to promote its organization to a broader audience through both expanded social events, like last semester’s Second Chance Prom, and a commitment to political activism.

“We understand RPU was a lively campus organization and we hope to be just as popular and colorful as we once were,” Rahman wrote. “RPU’s history as an organization on Binghamton’s campus has always been considered political, but especially safe and a way to promote awareness. I am confident that there are students who need RPU as an organization just as much as I did when I first entered college, and I am confident that our E-Board this year will do an amazing job at promoting our events and having the place we deserve on this campus.”

Established from noon to 4 p.m., the table featured posters of the hostages with their pictures and descriptions. Members handed out pins and bracelets in Israeli colors to passersby. The table was also handing out “Myths vs. Truths” flyers — which was described as a fact sheet about Israel and Palestine and the events of Oct. 7.

“On October 7th, 2023 more than 250 innocent people were taken hostage by Hamas,” Hillel at Binghamton wrote in a statement. “As of today, 327 days later, 108 of those people are still being held captive in Gaza. This is a matter deeply personal to many members of the Jewish community here at Binghamton. There are 8 Americans still in captivity, including Omer Neutra, a 22 year-old who was planning to attend Binghamton University after his gap year program. This crisis impacts many communities and we feel it is important to continue to raise and spread awareness through events such as today’s tabling. We at Hillel at Binghamton stand in solidarity with the hostages and their families and will continue to advocate for their release.”

Over the last 10 months, many large Jewish organizations on campus have led vigils and rallies calling for the hostages to be brought home. In October, just days after the Hamas attack, Hillel, Chabad at Binghamton, the Orthodox Union-Jewish Learning Initiative on Campus and the BU Zionist Organization organized a vigil on the Peace Quad to mourn the 1,200 Israelis killed, where many community members shared personal stories about their families in Israel. [HYPERLINK https://www.bupipedream.com/news/campus-news/israel-is-my-family-universitys-jewish-community-organizes-vigil/141780/]

Last spring, members of the Jewish community at Binghamton attended a men’s basketball game in solidarity with Neutra [HYPERLINK: https://www.bupipedream.com/news/campus-news/at-recent-basketball-game-zionist-organization-led-show-of-solidarity-with-omer-neutra/147826/]. He was serving in the Israel Defense Forces when he was taken by Hamas during their October attack.

Bearcats for Israel hosts two events a month, one being the tabling for hostage awareness and the other aiming to be fun or educational. Logan Swerdloff, the head of Bearcats for Israel and a graduate student pursuing a master’s in business administration, shared how she hopes the table will play a role in advocating for the hostages’ return.

“The purpose of this event is basically to raise awareness for the hostages [and] to remind everyone that it has still been 327 days, and the hostages have still not been returned,” Swerdloff said. “They are going through some horrible conditions. There is a little baby who has been kidnapped. There’s women who have been kidnapped, and it is just basically a reminder to the students on campus that this is not over yet, and there are still people who are suffering in Israel.”

Amid a housing crisis in Binghamton, Mayor Jared Kraham announced last Thursday zoning reforms to promote the construction of affordable housing.

The reforms include reducing parking requirements and restrictions on affordable housing development while modernizing construction regulations. Aiming to fast-track construction while keeping housing costs low, the changes come in response to a lingering shortage of affordable housing in the city. Kraham, a Republican, addressed the challenges facing residents and how the reforms will work to eliminate problems.

“[There is] a shortage of safe, quality, affordable housing, [which] manifests in a couple of different ways,” Kraham said. “First and foremost, you have families that are living in substandard housing, that is not up to code, that is potentially dangerous because it is the only type of housing that they can afford. You have families who are ‘rent-burdened,’ which means that they are spending too high of a portion of their monthly income on housing, which means that they can’t have the disposable income for things that they need to improve their lives.”

A primary objective for the reforms is to eliminate parking requirements for seniors and promote affordable housing, which would lower the cost of construction and make more land available to developers. The city aims to reduce all parking requirements by up to 75 percent to support the development of businesses and facilitate construction.

Reducing restrictions on townhouse and condo development, as well as easing building regulations, are among other planned initiatives aiming to increase housing density, provide housing for young professionals and the elderly and expedite construction.

The announcement follows Binghamton’s designation as a pro-housing community in February, which allows the city the opportunity to receive discretionary state funding. Certain programs for funding economic development throughout the state, like the Downtown Revitalization Initiative and the Restore New York Communities Initiative, are exclusively available to pro-housing communities. Gov. Kathy Hochul established the Pro-Housing Community Program to encourage municipalities to “unlock their housing potential.”

“I think [the certification] is also a symbol of the City Hall taking proactive action to become a pro-housing community, a place where development can happen quickly [and] more efficiently than maybe in other places,” Kraham said. “But overall it’s just about doing whatever we can to attract new housing development and investment.”

Along with improving housing, the reforms would also shift Binghamton’s layout from “car-first” to “person-first,” according to Kraham. By reducing parking requirements, he hopes residents will be more inclined to walk, bike or use public transportation, all to achieve the goal of creating a walkable and sustainable community. Rather than creating parking lots for cars, the space can be used to build houses and other community-friendly spaces.

The city’s initiative marks the most recent effort to address the local housing crisis. In recent years, Binghamton has spent about $11 million on affordable housing projects, specifically for families and seniors.

“This proposal balances preserving the character and walkability of our neighborhoods with the realities of construction and financing in 2024,” Binghamton City Councilman Robert Cavanaugh II, a Democrat, said in a press release. “Implementing these reforms will broaden housing options for residents, make use of viable land, reduce costs for builders, and is a good step forward in Binghamton’s effort to address the housing crisis.”

Spanning 930 acres, Binghamton University’s main campus has a lot to offer. Try out this scavenger hunt to locate important places on campus in preparation for your first day of classes.

University Union 

The first stop is the University Union, located in the center of campus. The Union is the focal point for student activities and is a gathering space for many campus organizations. The building houses the Marketplace, a large dining area offering a wide array of food options at retail prices, as well as the University Bookstore, where you can purchase textbooks, snacks, toiletries and Bearcat-themed clothing for Green Day Fridays.

The Union Undergrounds boasts a bowling alley and a lounge where many students study with friends, as well as programming organized by Late Nite — movie screenings on Friday nights and themed events on Saturdays. The building also houses Visions Federal Credit Union and the mailroom, where students living on campus can pick up packages and check their mailboxes. Try to find Mein Bowl, a student favorite in the Marketplace, to mark the completion of this stop on your hunt.

Fleishman Career Center 

The second stop on your journey is the Fleishman Career Center, which can be found outside the Marketplace on the first floor of the Union. The center provides students with career and professional guidance, focusing on “teaching the skills and resources to help students develop career confidence and the ability to navigate the world of work post-graduation.” Students can schedule appointments for one-on-one career counseling, prepare for interviews and learn how to find internships or access a variety of online resources, programming and workshops. Try to find the the interview suite across the hall and make sure to utilize this resource when hunting for internships or exploring future career paths.

Libraries 

Next, head to the two University libraries on campus, the Glenn G. Bartle Library and the Science Library. The third is located in the University Downtown Center. All three libraries provide access to databases, books, articles, printers and other educational resources to students, with librarians on-site to provide assistance with locating the appropriate tools. Bartle Library is the largest library on campus and the complex includes the Library Tower Cafe, the Innovation Lab and private study rooms available for reservation.

All three libraries are open throughout the semester at varying hours and provide students with individual and group study spaces. To conclude this stop on the hunt, try to find the history of games and gaming culture exhibit on the second floor of Bartle Library.

Decker Student Health Services Center

Located behind Dickinson Community, the Decker Student Health Services Center serves all registered students. Patients can access resources like health education, contraceptives, immunizations, psychiatric consultation and care for illnesses and injuries. With a mission of “[promoting] and [supporting] student wellness through education, prevention and treatment,” the center offers telehealth and in-person appointments through the patient portal on its website. The center is open weekdays during the semester from 8 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. Find the free safe sex and menstrual products provided by the Healthy Campus Initiative in the lobby.

East Gym 

Your fifth destination on this scavenger hunt is the East Gym, a campus recreation facility that offers a weight room, basketball courts and group fitness classes. You can sign up for a membership online or purchase a day pass at the door, giving you access to the facility, including the FitSpace, which offers cardio and strength training stations, free weights and a training zone with ropes, a punching bag and TRX suspension straps. A swimming pool is also housed at the East Gym for recreational use, and it does not require a membership to access. This facility is open throughout the semester, and the main office can be reached at (607) 777-2113. Try to locate the spin room that features LED lights and speakers for an extra fun and physically rewarding workout session.

Food Pantry 

The on-campus Food Pantry, located in the Iroquois Commons in College-in-the-Woods Dining Hall, is your sixth scavenger hunt target. As part of the Food Bank of the Southern Tier and the Community Hunger Outreach Warehouse networks, this resource provides both food and personal care items to students facing financial difficulties and food insecurity. The Food Pantry is open throughout the semester and can be reached at bpantry@binghamton.edu.

New York State University Police at Binghamton 

As you continue your trek throughout campus, head to the University Police Department Office. The department participates in campus and student events and offers educational programs on safety and crime prevention. They also operate the campus lost and found and have resources for students to report incidents of interpersonal violence. The office is located in the basement of the Couper Administration Building.

Nature Preserve 

The final stop on your hunt is the Nature Preserve. Located behind Mountainview College, the Nature Preserve is 190 acres of protected land, which includes wetlands and around 11 miles of hiking trails. A large variety of animal and plant species call the preserve home, including deer, foxes, numerous reptiles and amphibians, and over 200 bird species. The preserve provides direct access to natural systems for research and educational purposes, and is also a relaxing space to go on a walk with friends or to destress from classwork. Try to find the wooden footbridge that spans the six-acre pond for one of the best views on campus.

A local sexual health clinic joined Binghamton Mayor Jared Kraham and a nonprofit health insurance company this past week to announce a new reproductive health care program for young women.

The program, called “Empowering Healthy Decisions,” will appoint a new community educator at Family Planning of South Central New York who will be available to meet and connect underprivileged young women aged 16-21 with reproductive health services, including STI care and cancer screenings. They will also gain access to sexual health education and links to other medical providers for services, like mental health care.

Excellus BlueCross BlueShield, headquartered in Rochester, will contribute $20,000 and Binghamton will allocate $50,000 from a $1 million health fund that was created in 2022 with federal funds from the American Rescue Plan Act. Jessica Cox, the regional president of the Excellus’s Southern Tier Region, said the new program will help expand reproductive health care access to the entire community.

“We are thrilled to provide funding to Family Planning of South Central New York for additional resources necessary for their women’s comprehensive health education services,” Cox said in a statement. “By advocating for comprehensive health services and collaborating with Family Planning of South Central New York, the City of Binghamton and [Kraham], we can create a future where women have access to the resources they need to make informed choices for their futures.”

The program will present helpful education regarding family planning and work to meet the needs of young women in the community, including assistance in contacting health care facilities, making appointments, getting cancer screenings, obtaining contraception and mental health support. Debra Marcus, Family Planning of South Central New York’s chief executive officer, said the program’s primary audience is disadvantaged women and girls who have suffered from lack of education, experiencing past trauma or dealing with violence.

The $1 million youth fund was created to help young people recover after the COVID-19 pandemic, but Kraham said much of the funding was allocated to programs geared toward helping young men, like mentorships and gang prevention initiatives. He said he believed a new program would help young women overcome challenges like family planning or mental health. The city then partnered with Excellus — an agency looking to support an “outcome-based” health care program in Binghamton — and Family Planning.

“The effects [of this program] is if we can give young women, who may be may be in poverty, who may be marginalized in other ways, [the] lifeline of access to health care, that’s going to pay dividends for years and years and years to come,” Kraham said. “[It will] hopefully end that cycle of generational poverty and provide them with the ability to achieve their goals. If you’re not healthy, if you don’t have confidence in your health, you can’t begin to accomplish any of the other goals you have in life.”

A 2014 study from the National Library of Medicine found that children born after the United States introduced federal family planning programs in the 1960s and 70s were less likely to become impoverished as children and adults, highlighting family planning programs’ effectiveness in providing accessible resources.

The new program will supply these tools through an in-person referral where advocates will educate and connect young women to outside resources while ensuring they receive the care they need. Advocates will continuously follow up with young women in the program to guarantee their well-being.

Emily DePietro, vice president of Planned Parenthood Generation and a senior majoring in integrative neuroscience, expressed support for the program and its potential positive impacts on Binghamton University students.

“I believe that the ‘Empowering Healthy Decisions’ program has the potential to greatly benefit not only students at [BU] but also members of the local Binghamton community,” DePietro wrote. “By providing tools and support to those who need it most, informed decisions about one’s reproductive health care can be made with confidence.”

Panelists shared their experiences confronting adversity as women in STEM at a Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE) event held on Monday.

The Women in STEM Panel featured five accomplished panelists — Natalia Basualdo, Kirsten Kires, Terri Peters, Kaiyan Yu and Aaron Beedle — and keynote speaker Meghan Crist, who all have years of professional STEM experience. Students had the opportunity to engage with these experts to learn more about their experiences and STEM contributions. ColorStack, Woman in Tech and Alpha Omega Epsilon were among the campus organizations present at the event.

“Our Women in STEM Panel has the same, main goal as all of the events our organization holds — to inspire and uplift others within our community,” Ledwiska Toribio, SHPE’s secretary and a senior majoring in computer science, wrote in an email. “For this event specifically, we want to honor and learn from professional women in the STEM field during Women’s History Month and share this insight with other younger women entering the STEM field, hoping that they learn and connect with others who are in a field where they aspire to be in.”

SHPE, a national organization aiming to promote diversity in STEM fields, especially for Hispanic people, holds an annual convention with over 350 companies in attendance to recruit potential employees and discuss research. BU’s chapter, founded in 2002, has about 80 active members and holds various professional and social events throughout the year to engage with their members and build professional connections.

At the beginning of the event, Crist, the keynote speaker and an assistant director of undergraduate advising at the Thomas J. Watson School of Engineering, shared her experience with imposter syndrome in a male-dominated field and how she worked to overcome those challenges. Crist encouraged young women in STEM to help one another reach their goals and to speak positively to themselves and others.

“Be the star forward,” Crist said. “Look out for each other. When you see one of your friends, classmates or colleagues struggling, starting to lose hope or just can’t find their way back … give them a smile or words of encouragement. Jump in with an enthusiastic yes to help — even if that yes is followed up by, ‘what have I gotten myself into?’”

Ann Badia, SHPE’s vice president and a senior majoring in biomedical engineering, led a Q&A session where the panelists shared their perspectives on navigating disadvantageous environments and growing self-confidence. Beedle, an associate professor and chair of pharmaceutical sciences, described her research on imposter syndrome.

“One of the best ways to counteract imposter syndrome is to prepare,” Beedle said. “If you’re going to be talking about something, make sure you’ve read it. You might be the only person at the table who actually has.”

After prepared questions were answered, audience members were able to ask the panelists about their experiences and strategies they had used to overcome adversity. Questions centered around dealing with academic failure and advocating for themselves in school and in the workplace. Panelists encouraged students to use available resources and to deal with conflict gracefully.

Kirstie Chinchilla, SHPE’s corporate relations chair and a senior majoring in mechanical engineering, gave closing remarks, thanking the campus organizations that attended the event. The panelists encouraged young women in STEM to look out for one another and remain resilient despite dealing with struggles and lack of representation.

“What’s important in going into STEM is having that confidence in yourself — and it is events like these that help with enhancing that confidence,” said Fiorella Wells, an undeclared freshman who attended the event.

To celebrate both Black History Month and Women’s History Month, the Student Association Programming Board (SAPB) hosted the latest event in its Professor Spotlight series.

Held on Thursday in the Lecture Hall, the event featured Anne Bailey, a professor of history and accomplished author who has spoken at the United Nations. Bailey’s distinguished academic career has included extensive research in African, African-American and Caribbean Studies, and members of the campus community listened to her speak about her youth, background and published works.

Chelsea Kaden, the SAPB’s insights chair and a senior majoring in integrative neuroscience, described her goals of promoting diversity and inclusion.

“I hope to give [Bailey] a platform to speak not only about the content of her work, but her passion for it,” Kaden wrote in an email. “Understanding how our professor[s] found their appreciation for their field of study can expand our appreciation for it as well.”

Bailey, the recipient of the Fulbright Program and Coro Fellowship in Public Affairs awards, described her background growing up in Jamaica and her strong ties to the African continent. The Fulbright scholarship allowed her the opportunity to travel to Ghana and Jamaica to research African perspectives of the transatlantic slave trade.

During her time in Ghana, Bailey spoke with locals to hear their oral history, passed down through generations, of the slave trade. Her research included fieldwork, interviews and learning about local culture to gain a fuller understanding of the African perspective.

“It was my curiosity that got me [to Africa], and that’s what I try to encourage in students,” Bailey said. “If you’re curious about something in your classes or just in life in general, honor that. That’s the beginning of not just academic inquiry, but often figuring out your purpose.”

Bailey also discussed her two non-fiction published books — “African Voices of the Atlantic Slave Trade: Beyond the Silence and the Shame” and ”The Weeping Time: Memory and the Largest Slave Auction in American History.” She primarily focused on “The Weeping Time,” which tells the story of an 1857 slave auction in Savannah, Georgia — the largest slave auction in American history. In this book, she highlights “living history,” where past events are connected to current and contemporary issues.

“The living history part of it is that I not only told the history of the sale, but I traced 15 percent of the people sold on the auction block to today, to people like you and me who can tell their story,” Bailey said.

The attention Bailey has brought to this history has resulted in numerous annual commemorations on March 2 and 3 — the days of the auction — throughout Georgia, with people of all cultures uniting to recognize the auction’s horrors and address current issues. A bill to preserve the memory of the Weeping Time and the Weeping Time Corridor has passed Georgia’s General Assembly and will move to the State Senate.

“It’s not just that we’re honoring what happened on the auction block, but [the enslaved people’s] contribution to America,” Bailey said. “They contributed to the richest men in America on the eve of the Civil War, and that means that they contributed to modern America as we know it. But they never got any credit, and that really links to what we have here in Binghamton.”

Bailey spearheaded the Harriet Tubman Freedom Trail in Downtown Binghamton, which commemorates locations central to the Underground Railroad and the Civil Rights Movement, like the Trinity Zion Church and Brigham Hall. It celebrates the important people associated with these events, as a statue of Harriet Tubman marks the trail’s beginning and it concludes with a monument of Martin Luther King, Jr.

She concluded the event with advice for students trying to find their community and path in life.

“Experiment a little bit,” Bailey said. “If you do what you love, and you make the connections to the real world, the world is going to find you.”

SUNY Chancellor John King recently announced an expansion of efforts to support students completing their Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) forms across all 64 SUNY campuses.

These efforts are designed to mitigate the delays and other issues caused by the streamlined version of the form released last December. SUNY hopes to diminish these changes’ impacts by hosting virtual and in-person sessions with financial aid experts and extending enrollment deposit deadlines to May 15.

The new form design is part of the FAFSA Simplification Act passed in 2020, which sought to increase aid eligibility and shorten the form. The revisions were made to factor less family and student income into financial need calculations, increasing the amount of students eligible to receive aid. However, the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) failed to adjust the tables to accommodate rising inflation, resulting in an unnaturally high Student Aid Index, which could cause many families and students to miss out on need-based scholarships.

“The delayed release of student financial aid data was necessary for the [DOE] to make corrections to the Student Aid Index calculation,” a SUNY spokesperson wrote. “Once the corrections have been made and the data is released to campuses, financial aid packages can be created and released to students using accurate data.”

The DOE announced that they do not expect to transfer FAFSA student data to universities until about mid-March, which will delay the rollout of financial aid offers and give prospective students less time to select and enroll at a university. These delays disproportionately affect students who depend on financial aid to attend college, especially Pell Grant-eligible students.

“Offering more financial aid sessions this spring, and pushing enrollment deposit dates back, will allow current and prospective students and their parents [and] guardians more time to determine what financial aid is available to them and make a more informed decision about the future of their education,” the spokesperson wrote.

Donald Loewen, Binghamton University’s vice provost for undergraduate education and enrollment management, highlighted the progress made in helping families experiencing delays and adjusting to the new changes.

“Like every other college and university, we’re trying to help students and their families make the adjustment because of the delays this spring,” Loewen wrote in an email. “We’re partnering with SUNY to help provide resources to students and their families, offering expanded support hours for those who have questions and extending the time for students to make an enrollment decision.”

Simplification efforts remain an important goal for both the DOE and SUNY. In her 2024 State of the State address, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul proposed a plan to make the FAFSA universal for high school seniors to increase completion rates, with studies showing that students who complete the FAFSA are more likely to attend college. The spokesperson emphasized that every year, millions of students do not complete the FAFSA, leading them to miss out on financial aid packages. Over $4 billion in nationwide Pell Grants and $226 million in New York state alone were left unclaimed last year.

“I had such a hard time doing my FAFSA,” Sarah Harmon, an undeclared freshman, said. “It took me so long, [and] I wish I knew more about it and how to properly fill it out. It caused my family [and me] so much unnecessary stress.”

Diane Miller Sommerville is a professor of history at Binghamton University. She teaches “Sex in American History” and “Women, Family and Sex in the Early United States,” which focus on issues regarding sex, sexuality, race and reproductive justice in the United States. She has several publications that focus on gender and race in the American South during the Civil War era and throughout the 19th century. Her most recent research is a study of postpartum disorders in the South.

As she is an expert in her field, Pipe Dream interviewed Sommerville about her courses and research, the importance of studying sex and sexuality and how they impact modern society. Her answers have been edited for clarity.

1. Why is the study of sex and sexuality important?

“The history of sex and sexuality is central, not peripheral, to American history. Forces have been deployed to deny Americans fundamental rights related to sex — reproductive freedom, sexual identity, interracial marriage, forced sterilization — all of which are matters of social justice. Knowing something of our nation’s past informs our ability to counter current and future efforts to infringe on these very intimate and personal rights.”

2. How does the content of your courses relate to issues relating to gender, sex, and reproductive justice in the modern United States?

“We begin in the course by looking at pre-modern efforts to control reproduction. All societies at all times have developed methods to limit or forestall pregnancy. In the [United States], the criminalization of abortion at any stage came after the Civil War. We know that strict criminalization of abortion did not stop abortions. It merely made them unsafe. Scores of desperate women died when they sought so-called ‘back alley’ abortions. And because of the Dobbs decision, we’re back to where we were 150 years ago — women and girls dying because they are being denied reproductive health care. The only way forward, again we learn this from history, is to organize opposition to extremist policies and hold elected officials accountable.”

3. What do you think is the most significant impact on individuals and society of recent restrictions on abortion and reproductive health rights?

“It’s hard to identify a more radical, harmful act to reproductive rights than the Dobbs decision. It has set the country back generations. The fundamental right that I had — to choose to terminate a pregnancy — is now one denied to my daughter in many states. It’s the only time in constitutional history that we’ve actually lost a right. And there are real-world consequences we see play out every day — women who miscarry naturally and are charged with a crime, women who are carrying fetuses incapable of survival and must carry them to term and young girls who are raped and become children who have children.”

4. Much of your work centers around the Civil War era and the American South. Can you discuss the significance of this in terms of the history of sex and sexuality in the United States?

“The South in particular, but not exclusively, has a complicated history involving race and sex. It is impossible to overstate its importance and reach. Beginning in the 19th century, white southerners played the race card by tapping into white fears of miscegenation. Ku Klux Klan members terrorized southern men and women of different races who cohabitated. Fears of interracial marriage permeated the South following the Brown v. Board of Education decision in 1954 as opponents predicted that white and Black children attending the same schools would lead to ‘mongrelization.’ Fears that Black men posed a special threat to white womanhood ostensibly led to the lynching of hundreds of Black men. The point that I try to make in teaching is that these stereotypes are lethal and long-lasting.”

5. What is the most important thing that you have learned throughout your research and studies?

“Actually, the most important thing I learned about sex and reproductive history came from my mother. My mother almost died after giving birth to my youngest brother. She had virtually no access to reliable birth control and consequently gave birth to four children in less than five years. After she nearly hemorrhaged to death with child number four, her doctor advised her to have a tubal ligation because a future pregnancy would put her life in jeopardy. The hospital rejected the request because of its standing policy that no woman under the age of 30 could be permanently sterilized. A group of white men who had no stake in my mother’s health and well-being decided that they knew what was best for her. This real-world example of the impact of radical policies that deny women the right to decide what’s best for them informs my approach to the history of sex and fuels my passion for reproductive justice.”

6. Do you have any additional comments about the subject?

“I’m worried, frankly. A state in which lawmakers ignore the counsel of medical professionals, force their own religious principles onto others and enact legislation that forces women and girls to undergo pregnancy and become parents involuntarily gets us closer to living out ‘The Handmaid’s Tale.’ We are seeing human rights violations becoming the norm. It will take massive grass-roots mobilization and unprecedented political engagement to undo the cumulative damage of the last years’ efforts to deny women basic reproductive freedoms. My hope is that my students will recognize this and carry on the fight that should have already been won.”