The Miscellany News
miscellanynews.org
April 14, 2022
Vassar College’s student newspaper of record since 1866 Volume 157 | Issue 9
Spate of theft-related crimes rattles campus community Will Sorge News Editor
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n the past several weeks, a series of theft-related crimes have afflicted the student body, fueling a perception of increasing crime rates at Vassar and in Poughkeepsie. Beginning with two burglaries of student residences last month, they have culminated with an armed robbery occuring on Joss Beach, which resulted in the arrest of the perpetrator. First, on March 20 at around 8:30 PM, one of the Town Houses (THs) was burglarized, per a Clery Alert email from Investigator Joseph Chorba. A second burglary, this time at an off-campus student residence
on College Avenue, occurred on March 27 at around 5:45 PM, per a similar email from Emergency Management Supervisor Gary Hulbert. Most recently, a student on Joss Beach was menaced with a knife and robbed on April 6 at around 1:20 PM, per an email from Director of Safety and Security Arlene Sabo. “The security and safety of everyone on campus is of the utmost priority for our department and I think it goes without saying that crime statistics at any level on campus are a concern,” said Sabo in a written correspondence. Speaking specifically on the Joss Beach robbery, Sabo added, “The events of last week are certainly of deep concern to us, and to our campus community. In
response, we are working closely with the local police department, and immediately added extra patrols to supplement our routine patrols.” Sabo confirmed that the individual responsible for this particular incident was apprehended by Town of Poughkeepsie police and also banned from entering Vassar’s campus in the future. “The person responsible was arrested, thanks to the timely notification by the student, good work by our Campus Safety officers, and a swift and thorough response by the Poughkeepsie Police Department. The community should also know that we immediately placed an official ban on this person from ever entering campus again.”
She emphasized, however, that crime rates in fact are lower this academic year than they were at this same time last year, saying, “Although it might seem otherwise, it is a misperception that there has been an uptick in burglaries on campus this calendar year. In fact, when looking at previous calendar year’s statistics, there were three burglaries on campus during the same period last year vs. the one burglary YTD this calendar year.” Nevertheless, Sabo clarified that armed incidents are especially uncommon, and this most recent one was the first since nationwide crime has increased in the wake of COVID-19. “Armed incidents have not See Burglaries on page 3
Noyes hosts fun all-campus event Anna Terry Reporter
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Photo courtesy of Karl Rabe.
n the evening of April 8, students gathered in Noyes Circle to enjoy the annual all-campus music celebration hosted by Noyes House, cleverly named “Noise on Noyes.” Groups of people lounged on picnic blankets and watched student musicians perform on stage, while others ogled the blue and yellow bouncy house, complete with a 15-or-so-foot tall inflatable Batman and a slide. It was my first time this semester at an outdoor music event. I sat on a blanket with a group of friends and basked in the soothing atmosphere. Tents were set up on the outskirts of Noyes Circle where Twisted Soul and La Cabañita, two beloved local
restaurants, were selling tacos, burritos and bubble tea to eager students. Noyes Programming Director Madeleine Freundlich ’24 worked for months with the rest of Noyes House Team to plan the all-campus event. In past years, Noise on Noyes included more food vendors and extra carnivalesque entertainment. “This year, we had a more music-and-concert oriented vision,” Freundlich explained. “In order to bring in lots of fun activities, we have to solicit contractors, which takes some logistical figuring. Our House Team has been very involved and supportive of the whole process, which has made booking artists [and] getting food, inflatables and publicity a lot easier.” According to Freundlich, New York CitySee Noyes on page 8
‘Gay Can’t Play’: Bryan Ruby talks about homophobia in athletic culture Doug Cobb
Sports Editor
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n April 7, Vassar alumnus Bryan Ruby ’19 returned to campus to give a talk entitled “Gay Can’t Play: Breaking Ground in Professional Baseball.” Ruby was a transfer from Emory University who played on Vassar’s baseball team for three seasons, from 2017 to 2019. While at Vassar, Ruby was named to the Liberty League All-Academic Team in 2018 and All-Liberty League First Team in 2019. He pitched and played the field, with 2018 being his best season at the plate, when he slashed .353/.432/.490. But after his college career ended, Ruby wasn’t yet ready to hang up his cleats. Since graduating from Vassar, Ruby has played in pro-leagues in Austria, Chile, Germany, Guatemala, Peru, Switzerland and most recently the United States. Many of these leagues don’t pay particularly well and generally don’t offer a lot of fame, which demonstrates how much he loves the game. “I told myself I’d go to the end of the earth if it meant I could keep my baseball career alive,” he explained in an interview with
USA Today. Ruby is also concurrently pursuing a career in country music, where he has written songs that appeared on the Texas Country Top 50 chart and iTunes Country Top 25. He is currently working on his debut EP. But the reason Ruby has made headlines in the past year is because he recently became the only openly gay player active in professional baseball. In September 2021, USA Today published an interview with Ruby where he publicly came out as gay. Last week, he shared his story to a room in Taylor Hall, filled with Vassar students, faculty and staff. He reflected on Christmas 2020, when he was getting ready to post a picture to Instagram of himself and his significant other: “I got it all ready and was about to click post, and then the words of somebody I respect a lot in baseball entered my head. He told me that ‘if you ever acknowledge you are gay, you will never get a spot in baseball again.’” Ruby didn’t post the picture, but he wasn’t happy about it. “It was really really demoralizing to be at Christmas and to finally be at this point in
Photo courtesy of Vassar College. my life where I have found someone that I love and I can’t even post a picture of us…I decided then and there on Christmas, that if I get a spot [on a team this spring], I am gonna come out.”
The rest, as they say, is history. But Ruby didn’t stop at just telling his own story publicly, he decided to found “Proud To Be In Baseball,” an advocacy and support group See Ruby on page 11
Inside this issue
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ARTS
Read Guest Columnist Ilana Frost’s coverage of Cuban-Mexican pop star Camila Cabello’s new project.
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HUMOR
Read about Assistant Humor Editor Nicholas Tillinghast’s riveting encounter with a local cat.
Columnist Sufana Noorwez calls attention to a lesser known disease OPINIONS traversing the globe.
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