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EST. 1921
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Page 15 Page 10
VOLUME 95 I ISSUE 2
The refugee who barely escaped
Caroline Burt | Loyolan
After escaping Syria in 2012, Fadia Alhallak left everything behind to start a new life in America. The turmoil in Syria led her to art and
her art led her to LMU. As a senior animation major, Alhallak hopes to use her art to promote peace.
Fadia Alhallak barely made it
out of Syria alive during the
civil war, escaping in 2012.
Sydney Majd
News Intern
@LALoyolan
Glass shattered all around her, and
her house shuddered as if it were in the
epicenter of an earthquake. Except this
was no earthquake — this was Damascus,
Syria.
Fadia Alhallak, senior animation major,
experienced this chaos in 2012 when a
government building was bombed by two
and a half tons worth of explosives just a
block away from her home in Syria.
“I still remember the day when my
family and I had realized that terrorists
infiltrated our area and that nowhere was
safe anymore,” Alhallak said.
Alhallak lived in fear knowing that her
neighborhood was a common target for
terrorists. They constantly shot mortar
shells near her home, killing many
civilians.
“I could hear the shooting and screaming
from my window every single night,”
said Alhallak. “I wasn’t able to fall sleep
Georgetown used the sale of
slaves to pay off debts and is
now trying to amend the past.
Jackie Galvez
Asst. News Editor
@LA Loyolan
Georgetown University, a Jesuit
school in Washington D.C., announced
last Thursday, Sept. 1, that it plans to
give priority admission to prospective
students who are decedents of slaves
owned by Maryland Jesuits. According
to the Los Angeles Times, this movement
was a part of the university’s efforts to
compensate for using monetary profit
from the sale of captive individuals to
pay off the college’s debt in the mid-19th
century.
anymore, so I would just paint instead.”
In 2013, Alhallak’s sister’s previous
school, A1 Zuhoor Elementary, was
attacked by a group of terrorists who broke
in and killed two innocent children.
Fridays became the most common days
John J. DeGioia, president of the
university, issued a report explaining
the college’s concerns surrounding the
history of slave trade present at the
school, as well as responses on how to
best promote a sense of social justice
amidst students and faculty alike.
According to the report issued by the
university, two priests who had previously
served as presidents of Georgetown
helped to arrange the sale of 272 enslaved
persons for $115,000 in 1838, an amount
that equates to approximately $3.3 million
in today’s currency.
Although Georgetown is not the only
university to have benefited from the
slave trade in the pre-Civil War era
— in recent years Flarvard University,
Brown University, Columbia University
and the University of Virginia have all
acknowledged their financial ties to slave
for these attacks, and schools were forced
to shut down every Friday because it
became too dangerous to leave the house.
“Suddenly, our lives mattered just as
much as a bunch of ants,” Alhallak said. “It
felt pointless to just continue on living and
sales — this sale in particular stands out
due to its vast size and the tragedies that
ensued when parents were separated from
their young children as a result of the
trade.
In an effort to analyze the historical
significance of this event as well as
remedy any lingering negative outcomes
that had arisen, DeGioia issued the
creation of a committee titled the
Working Group on Slavery, Memory
and Reconciliation in September 2015.
According to the Georgetown University
website, the purpose of this group is to
“make recommendations on how best to
acknowledge and recognize Georgetown’s
historical relationship with the institution
of slavery, examine and interpret the
history of certain sites on campus ... [and]
convene events and opportunities for
postponing death when all you see is death,
pain and suffering all around you.”
Alhallak fought to come out of this
cruelty alive; she knew that her time living
in Syria was over. The violence had hit
See Refugee | Page 3
Brightspace
takes over
Brightspace is being piloted
this semester to help students
organize their classes.
Sami Leung
News Intern
@LALoyolan
Blackboard is becoming a thing of the
past. At the start of this semester, students
were confused to find that some of their
courses were not listed on Blackboard,
which has been previously LMU’s main
learning management system (LMS).
Rather, some courses were placed under
Brightspace, a new LMS being piloted this
year.
M YLMU Connect is a tool recognized and
used by almost everyone on LMU’s campus.
Its introduction in 2000 marked LMU’s
shift into the digital age, and its continuing
evolution has highlighted the importance
of using technology in conjunction with
classroom lectures.Out of three LMS
products introduced to students and
faculty — Blackboard Ultra, Brightspace
and Instructure Canvas — Brightspace
was shown to have the highest rating of
satisfaction.
A study found on Finances Online shows
that both Blackboard and Brightspace
have high ratings of client satisfaction.
Blackboard comes in with a score 95%
approval while Brightspace soars at 98%.
Brightspace also boasts more features than
Blackboard, including mobile notifications,
an instructional design wizard and a more
user-centric design.
For those who still have questions about
the new LMS, all students who have a
professor utilizing Brightspace have been
enrolled in a brief tutorial to help make the
transition as smooth as possible.
For more information visit laloyolan.com
See Georgetown | Page 4
Mr.TinDC via Hickr Creative Commons
Located in Washington D.C., Georgetown university will begin giving priority admission to students who are descendants of slaves
sold by Maryland Jesuits.
Georgetown University tries to confront
slave-owning past of Maryland Jesuits
