Skip to Content, Navigation, or Footer.
Logo of The Spectrum
Submit a Tip
Subscribe to our Newsletter
Wednesday, February 11, 2026
The independent student publication of The University at Buffalo, since 1950

News

Spectrum editor Maddy Fowler sat down with actor and activist Jesse Williams before he spoke at UB's Distinguished Speakers Series.
NEWS

Q&A with Jesse Williams

By MADDY FOWLER | Nov. 19, 2017

Q: Shonda Rhimes, the writer of “Grey’s Anatomy,” has spoken a lot about the importance of having a diverse cast and having representation of minorities. I know you’ve talked a lot about racial inequality in your activist work, so how do you feel your role on “Grey’s Anatomy”connects with your activism? A: Well, in spaces that are reflexively and routinely reserved and quartered off just for white folks, sometimes just being there is activism. Being there is disruption. Normalizing what Shonda has excelled at is normalizing brownness, otherness. We’re just people. We don’t talk about race on the show. We just are. She just is Asian. She just is Indian. He just is black. And they’re human beings who have flaws and struggles and qualms, and that is one of the most effective forms of activism and demonstration which is you know, [showing] we don’t only exist in peaks and valleys and triumphs and failures. We don’t only exist as a heroic biopic character or a thug. We’re all in the gray. And I think that’s a big part of humanity that’s lost when people try to find a space to process blackness.

Actor and activist Jesse Williams spoke in Alumni Arena Saturday night as part of the 31st annual UB Distinguished Speakers series. He discussed his "meandering" journey into television acting and his experiences with social justice activism.
NEWS

Jesse Williams participates in Q&A session as part of UB Distinguished Speakers Series

By MADDY FOWLER | Nov. 19, 2017

Jesse Williams has come a long way from the young man with a “superb” afro stringing together jobs in corporate law, acting in commercials and waiting tables to make ends meet. An energetic crowd packed Alumni Arena Saturday night, abuzz with chatter and letting out excited squeals even before Williams, an actor and activist best known for his portrayal of Jackson Avery on “Grey’s Anatomy,” stepped onto the stage.

The Spectrum
NEWS

Two sexual assault incidents reported to UPD

By News Desk | Nov. 16, 2017

Two instances of sexual assault were reported to UPD last week. UB alerts were not sent out for these incidents, according to UPD Deputy Chief Police Joshua Sticht because he said they did not feel the incidents posed a serious threat. The Clery Act is a federal law that requires college campuses to alert students about crimes that occur on campus with basic information, such as the date and location of the incident. Because these events occurred “a long time ago or off campus,” UB was not obligated to report them.

NEWS

News Briefs

By News Desk | Nov. 16, 2017

Campus UB ranked among top universities for international students UB is ranked among the top 25 institutions for hosting international students. UB is ranked No. 21 by the Institute of International Education (IIE) in the institute’s 2017 Open Doors Report on International Educational Exchange. UB had 7,252 graduate students as of 2016. UB has the third highest graduate student population in New York State and the highest number of graduate students among SUNY institutions.

The Spectrum
NEWS

Main Place bar conditionally approved

By MADDY FOWLER | Nov. 14, 2017

Buffalo’s Common Council has conditionally approved Anthony Sordetto’s application to open a bar at 3144 Main St. near South Campus. The Council’s unanimous approval is contingent on Sordetto removing the black tint from the establishment’s windows and not marketing to those under 21. Sordetto has agreed to these conditions, according to The Buffalo News. The bar’s approval is good for two years so it can be monitored and reevaluated if it becomes a nuisance.

Robert Shibley speaks from podium with President Tripathi beside him. The UB Faculty Senate voted against a resolution Tuesday afternoon to censure Dean of the School of Architecture and Planning Robert Shibley, with 43 opposed, 15 in favor and three abstaining.
NEWS

Censure resolution fails in closed ballot vote

By SARAH CROWLEY | Nov. 14, 2017

The UB Faculty Senate voted against a resolution to censure Dean of the School of Architecture and Planning Robert Shibley, with 43 opposed, 15 in favor and three abstaining. The Senate casted secret ballots after hearing from more than a dozen faculty members and administrators from across the university–– including President Satish Tripathi, Provost Charles Zukoski and Dean Shibley ––at Tuesday’s Senate meeting.

NEWS

The loss of an ‘angel’

By HANNAH STEIN | Nov. 13, 2017

Steven Jackson lost his son Solomon, a UB football player, nearly two years ago and the hurt still sits heavy. Sometimes, on his way home from work at UPS in Tucker, Georgia, he drives to Solomon’s former high school, parks in the parking lot and cries. He remembers driving Solomon, who had perfect attendance, to and from school for four years.

NEWS

New Briefs

By News Desk | Nov. 13, 2017

Campus UB students work together to address opioid crisis during Fall Interprofessional Forum The School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences hosted “Confronting Opioid Dependence: An Interprofessional Strategy” as part of its annual Fall Interprofessional Forum on Thursday.

NEWS

UB Wellness Education Services receives 2017 Prevention Excellence Award

By MADDY FOWLER | Nov. 9, 2017

UB is one of five schools selected for the National Campus Prevention Network’s 2017 Sexual Assault Prevention Excellence Award. Only schools that ranked in the top six percent of national Sexual Assault Diagnostic Inventory, an assessment that evaluates the strength of a school’s sexual assault prevention efforts, were eligible. Anna Sotelo-Peryea, UB’s violence prevention coordinator, believes UB was selected for the award because of its peer education programs

Roughly 30 students participated in a “Black Solidarity” rally as part of Black Solidarity Week on Monday afternoon. Students marched from the Student Union Lobby through the Academic Spine and chanted “Say it loud, I’m black and I’m proud” and  “This is what democracy looks like."
NEWS

Black Student Union holds annual ‘Black Solidarity’ rally

By MADDY FOWLER | Nov. 6, 2017

Roughly 30 students participated in a “Black Solidarity” rally Monday afternoon as part of UB's Black Student Union's Black Solidarity Week. The rally started in the Student Union Lobby. From there, students marched through the Academic Spine. Demonstrators chanted “Say it loud, I’m black and I’m proud,” “No justice, no peace, no racist police” and “This is what democracy looks like.” Some students carried signs. One read “If all lives matter, what’s the issue with black lives matter.” Another declared “United we stand.”

Bernie Tolbert, candidate for Erie County Sheriff, speaks to a crowd of supporters at a "Get out the Vote" rally on Sunday. The rally emphasized the importance of voting in the upcoming local elections on Nov. 7. 
NEWS

​Amherst Democratic Committee holds rally for local candidates

By MADDY FOWLER | Nov. 6, 2017

The Amherst Democratic Committee held a “Get Out the Vote” rally on Sunday where local Democratic leaders spoke to a crowd of energetic supporters on the importance of voting in the upcoming local elections. State Senator Tim Kennedy was one of several local Democratic leaders who spoke, including the three Democratic candidates: Sheriff candidate Bernie Tolbert, Comptroller candidate Vanessa Glushefski and County Clerk candidate Steve Cichon.

Sean Bunny stands in the village of East Aurora. Bunny is running for Congress against Republican incumbent Chris Collins.
NEWS

UB law school alum takes a shot at unseating WNY congressman Chris Collins

By SARAH CROWLEY | Nov. 6, 2017

It was 2 a.m. on Nov. 9 and East Aurora native Sean Bunny was sitting up with his wife, who was crying. Donald Trump had just been elected president in one of modern history’s most shocking elections. Bunny did the one thing he could think of to stop his wife’s tears––he promised to run against Republican Representative Chris Collins in the next Congressional election.

Popular
View this profile on Instagram

The Spectrum (@ubspectrum) • Instagram photos and videos

Powered by SNworks Solutions by The State News
All Content © 2026 The Spectrum