Sic
vos non vobis mellificatis apes
— So
d o yo u b e es m a k e h o n e y , n o t f o r yo u r se lv e s .
Virgil
2018 Newsletter of the Signet Society of Harvard College 4 6 D u n s t e r S t r e e t , C a m b r i d g e , M a ss a c h u s e t t s 0 2 1 3 8 • 6 1 7 - 5 4 7 - 0 5 2 6 • S i g n e t S o c i e t y . o r g
A Temple of the Arts Not many Doric friezes are installed these days, and it’s a shame. Modern architecture’s soulless sterility has no room for representational art or sculpture, no chance to feature handskills or depictions of nature. And in a time when democratic ideals are under pressure and the humanities under siege from preprofessional urges, why not construct a Doric frieze with metope bas reliefs celebrating the arts wherever one can?
coat storage of hangers and hooks. There are plenty of places to stow the ubiquitous college backpacks. (Our 1870 ances to rs might be amused that just about every one at Harvard— students, staff, and profes s ors — relies on back packs to organize their lives and techn o l o g y. ) R e c e n t Signet grads will remember clambering over mountains of piled packs and cascades of coats to get to lunch—let’s hope this works a little easier.
Our entry was the Signet’s only room Our steward, Mark without crown Hruby ’78, came up molding. (It was rewith the masters moved decades ago and castings of the during one of the room’s several re- A new coat rack and Doric frieze grace our renovated foyer. Easy coat metope bas-reliefs. conf igurations.) storage and plenty of room for backpacks help if you’re late for lunch. “Thank you for the various odd canvasThe need to create es you’ve provided me,” he noted. “This was great a new coat rack presented us with the chance to refun, and so nice to have students help install it all.” make our building the way our 1903 architects may only have dreamt about. A small committee of Board members approved Now, seventeen unique bas reliefs grace the metopes between the triglyphs. Rain-directing guttae adorn the architrave, and mutules on the ceiling suggest the beams which might support this atrium—now it’s truly a temple of the arts. Students have immediately begun using the easy
the various emblems of our artistic discplines: inkwell & quill, comedy & tragedy masks, drafting tools, the Golden Mean, the lyre and pan pipes, an artist’s palette—and two blank spaces. Why? There are art forms yet to be invented, and the Signet is ready to embrace them.
Creating Art and Living It: Behind the Scenes The Signet has a long tradition of hiring undergrads and recent grads to work on summer repair and renovation projects. We benefit by having some of the smartest help in Cambridge, and the students learn some handskills (which they refer to as “Dad” skills.) This summer, five drones worked on projects which included: painting our newly-rebuilt alley landing; installing and organizing basement storage shelving for both our cleaning supplies and our poster collection; rebuilding our wine glass closet to incorporate our extensive games collection (wine’n’games— how collegiate!); reupholstering 15 of our folding chairs; removing our entry armoire, replacing it with a new coatrack; and installing a new Doric frieze.
Part of this summer’s Signet crew, left to right: Alison Jin ’19, Chris Chow ’20, and Steve Ekert ’20.
What a varied skill-set they brought to these tasks! Alison Jin ’19 hails from Pepper Pike, Ohio and lives in Dunster. She’s concentrating in Human Evolutionary Biology, with an eye to a career in medicine. Her artistic interests include playing the piano and the guzheng, a Chinese zither. Did we mention that she’s a fine organizer and assembler of wire shelving?
Christopher Chow ’20 is a joint VES and History & Literature concentrator from Rutherford, New Jersey, who lives in Cabot, and he’s great with a brush and roller. Steve Ekert ’20, from Rockville, New York, is an English concentrator living in Currier who hopes to pursue classical music playing the bassoon. Who knew he would be an adept upholsterer? Brand-new graduate Lev Mamuya ’18 was a History & Literature concentrator from Newton, Massachusetts, who we hope has a brilliant career as a cellist ahead of him. Now, he’s also expert in the installation of complex crown molding, along with his classmate and friend, Nica Franklin ’18, a native of Cambridge, Massachusetts, who concentrated in Philosophy. (See their thesis titles on the next page.) Nica won awards at Harvard for his poThese enthusiastic students’ efforts to further etry and is now enrolled in the prestigious Iowa Writers the Signet are underwritten by your donations. Workshop, along with his fellow Signet classmate, Leon Whether you’re a grad, an associate, a parent Pan ’18. or a friend, they need your help, and someday they’ll do their part in turn. Please—give to the Signet! So do these drones make honey, not for themselves!
Care to Mentor an Undergrad in Your Field? Periodically we’ve had luck connecting Signet undergraduates with grads in their fields, to the enjoyment and benefit of both. Sometimes it’s an ongoing email exchange, reviewing a résumé and cover letter, suggesting a student call someone in particular, take a course, or try out for an internship. Sometimes they’re just fun. And sometimes, they really take off. Joel Henning ’61 of Chicago has had repeated luck. This past summer he connected four Signet film majors with his classmate, John Hancock
’61, to work on a documentary in current production. Everyone has been happy all around. We don’t always have a student in your field, but if you’re interested, please send your contact information and what fields you might be able to advise, to our Board member Amanda Keidan ’99, at amanda@amandakeidan.com. You might be able to help a promising student who can contribute to what has interested you in your life. Here’s a way to “pay it forward.”
2018 Senior Thesis Topics Of the 14 theses written by last spring’s seniors, three received Hoopes Prizes, indicated here with an asterisk. Emeline Atwood* The Strays A creative fiction novella for the English Department Ariana Chaivaranon Worldbuilding from Navel Gazing: Painting the (Inter)face of Humanity in the Age of AI 1–0– |O-◐ Visual and Environmental Studies Ramsey Fahs ‘Too Much Mencken’: A Cultural History of the American Mercury Magazine, 1924-1928 History & Literature Nica Franklin Manipulation Arguments for Incompatibilism and the Moral Standing to Victim-Blame Department of Philosophy
Eliza Mantz The ‘Tis Pity Project: Reflections on Social-Engagement in a Classical Theater and Public Art Piece—an experimental production of ‘Tis Pity She’s a Whore and several public art pieces around campus Theater, Dance & Media Laurel McCaull Revisitations A collection of short stories for the English Department Thomas Peterson “I ain’t never gonna die”: The Afterlives of Roy M. Cohn in American Memory and Performance Jointly submitted to History & Literature and Theater, Dance & Media Lily Scherlis* “A Virtual Address/A Headspace” Depart of Comparative Literature
Sam Hagen Some Versions of American Pastoral: The Representative Laborer from Farm to Factory jointly for the Theater, Dance & Media and History of Art and Architecture departments
Asia Stewart (In)visibly Queer: Assessing Disparities in the Adjudication of U.S. LGBTQ Asylum Cases Jointly submitted to Government and Studies of Women, Gender, and Sexuality
Liz Kantor Genetic and Pharmacological Corrections of Aberrant Alpha Synuclein Homeostasis Molecular and Cellular Biology
Martine Thomas [in the trying]: poems Creative thesis for the English Department
Lev Mamuya The Right to Know: ‘Yes, Minister.’ Postmodern TV, and the Rise of Neoliberalism in Great Britain History & Literature
Annie Wu* THEY CALL ME MIGNON: Expanding Narration in the Instrumental Performance of Goethe’s Mignon Lieder for the department of Comparative Literature
Noisy Neighbors Our stretch of Mount Auburn Street is rarely quiet, but for the past three years it’s been an increasingly clamorous construction zone, as the former Holyoke Center metamorphosed into the Smith Campus Center (with impressive results: an airy, comfortable nexus full of green spaces and nooks for students to meet, study, and hang out). The din began with sandblasting: all sides of the 10-story building, laying down a daily, relentless background hiss Inside the new Smith Campus Center. for almost two years. Then the jackhammers began their attack on the concrete floor-slabs and walls. A chorus of reverse-gear beeping by trucks, forklifts and backhoes joined the whine of a dozen chop saws as workmen cut individual brick sidewalk pavers. A symphony of sounds swelled to a crescendo as the finale approached!
Executive Committee Prof. Thomas Forrest Kelly, President Bryan Eric Simmons ’83, Vice-President Thomas F. Moore ’98, Treasurer John H. Finley IV ’92, Clerk Matthew C. Lee ’91, At Large Finance Committee Thomas F. Moore ’98, Chair Christopher Laconi Winthrop G. Minot ’71 Geoffrey H. Movius ’62 House Committee Bryan Eric Simmons ’83, Chair Stephen Coit ’71 Marella Gayla ’19 Mark S. Hruby ’78 Prof. John Stilgoe Kat Zhou ’17 Board of Associates
Hundreds of Harvard employees continued to work in the building during construction—but a number were reported to have taken early retirement because of the racket. The Signet saw its usage drop during the noisiest times of day. Even with headphones—just too much.
Jill Abramson ’76
Then suddenly, after a hectic, loud, jangly summer—it’s all done! Ahh…
Prof. Diana Eck
Meanwhile, quietly, the Hasty Pudding Club & Theatricals, along with the Krokodiloes moved into the old D.U./Bee building across the street at 45 Dunster. We’re now the arts end of the street. Life (and our hearing) is returning to the normal “tranquility” of Harvard Square.
John W. Gillespie, Jr. ’76
Lunches are now at 12:15 p.m. We now serve lunch at 12:15 p.m. each Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday during the school year (Harvard has changed its class schedule). If you’d like join us (and bring a guest?), please sign up at SignetLuncheon.org . Meals are $20 a head. We still have the popular “5 tickets for $75” deal if you’re regularly around.
Susan Stevenson Borowitz ’81 Mimi Brown ’97 Stephen Coit ’71
Joel Henning ’61 Kenneth M. Kaufman ’69 Amanda Keidan ’99 Prof. Thomas Forrest Kelly Daniel Kim ’97 Christopher Laconi Matthew C. Lee ’91 Winthrop G. Minot ’71 Thomas F. Moore ’98 Geoffrey H. Movius ’62
S A V E T H E D A T E ! S AT U R D A Y A P R I L 2 7 2 0 1 9 SIGNET ANNUAL DINNER K I R K L A N D H O U S E
Philip Munger ’95 Patrick O’Donnell ’67 Bryan Eric Simmons ’83 Prof. John Stilgoe Artist-in-Residence Kathleen Zhou ’17