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
2020 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
This Is Not How We Expected To Ring In Our Sesquicentennial! We had such big, joyful plans. After hosting happy receptions in New York, Los Angeles, London, and Washington, we’d nearly sold every seat for our gala dinner, the bulbs were about to bloom, and our stars were aligning their schedules, when suddenly…
A different audience arrived—stray tourists, finding so many other places closed, photographed themselves in front of our building. Social media influencers did elaborate shoots. Harvard administrators came by on their lunch breaks and emailed their lists, alerting colleagues that we were approaching peak bloom.
Never was a plug pulled more abruptly. Students gone, flights canceled, a country on lockdown, refunds, credit memos, and then a new, virtual life whether anyone wanted one or not. The bulbs didn’t know. They came up, right on schedule, but without the audience they expected.
We were among Harvard Square’s most photographed sites this April.
Those bulbs brought so much satisfaction that we’re doing it again. This fall, we planted another 700 bulbs and spruced up the landscaping. We’re still closed (and not sure when we’ll reopen) but spring is just around the corner and we’ll be ready—whenever.
Celebrating the Seniors of 2020 Not since World War II has a senior class had so hasty, unceremonious, and mournful an ending to their collegiate careers. The Class of 2020 had four days to say goodbye, pack, and go home to finish the semester and graduate virtually. In this issue of our annual newsletter, the Signet would like to laud the accomplishments of each of our seniors, most of whom we didn’t even have a chance to wish farewell in person. Here they are, with their thesis titles, majors, and awards. We have high hopes for their creative lives going forward!
Carlos Agredano received both the Capstone Award and the Paul Revere Frothingham Scholarship Prize. He comes from Lynwood, California, and lived in Cabot House. His thesis for the History & Literature department was titled Fotos y Recuerdos: A History of @Veteranas_and_Rucas and the Emergence of Latinx Instagram Archives. Hakeem Angulu hails from Kingston, Jamaica, and lived in Winthrop House. He wrote a thesis titled The Voting Power Gap: Identifying Racial Gerrymandering with a Discrete Voter Model for the Computer Science and Statistics departments. His portrait photography is highly prized.
Margaret Canady (right) is from Dallas, Texas, and lived in Leverett House. Her Psychology t h e s i s was titled Movement Matters: Testing the Effects of Dance on Childhood Depression. She won the Suzanne Farrell Dance Prize.
Chris Chow hails from Rutherford, New Jersey, and lived in Cabot House. For the History & Literature department, he wrote Designing Dystopia: A History of Global Hong Kong, 1960-2020. Outreach Liaison Alex Cohen (left) is from Scottsdale, Arizona, lived in Dunster House, and edited our new Poetry Chapbook. His thesis for the Comparative Literature department was titled Mara and Chinese Modernity: Anachrony, Memory, and the Literature of Crisis. Cahleb Derry wrote The Category Is Love: Music and Representation in FX’s Pose for the History and Literature department, sings baritone, and acted in many theatrical productions on campus. He is from Brooklyn, New York, and lived in Winthrop House. Steven Ekert hails from Rockville Centre, New York and lived in Currier House. An English concentrator and bassoonist for the Harvard Radcliffe Orchestra, he won the Rachel Mellinger Memorial Award for Orchestral Performance. Steve was the Signet’s undergraduate President and is now a board member of the Signet Associates. Gabriel Fox-Peck majored in Comparative Religion, receiving the Hoopes Prize for his thesis project entitled Glorybound. Well known on campus for his improvisational and jazz abilities as a pianist, he is from Durham, North Carolina, and lived in Mather House. Marcelo Hanta-Davis, from Middlebury, Vermont, lived in Cabot House. Concentrating in Anthropology, Marcelo arranges music and produces musical events. He is the brother of Signet member Caetano Hanta-Davis ’18. Madeleine Joung of Winchester, Massachusetts, and Cabot House, received the Edward Eager Memorial Fund Prize for her English thesis project entitled Aid and Comfort, and now writes for Time magazine.
R a c h e l K a h n h a i l s f r o m L e x i n g t o n , Massachusetts and lived in Leverett House. For the History & Literature department, she wrote Red Hot Mamas: Racialized Sexuality, Appropriation, and Queerness in the Music and Legacies of Ma Rainey and Sophie Tucker. Joe Kerwin (right) calls Medfield, Massachusetts, home and lived in Dunster House. He wrote “Out of Step With the World”: The Construction of Cultural Boundaries in the Early Years of Straight Edge, 1979-1983 for the History & Literature department. A bass rock guitarist, Joe was in demand for bands and ensembles throughout his college career. Jasi Lampkin is from East Point, Georgia, and lived in Cabot House. Her thesis film for the Visual and Environmental Studies department is titled The Harvard Bubble. Vice President Hannah Lemmons lived in Kirkland House and calls Denver, Colorado, home. She wrote “We’ll Find a Way to Heaven”: Aestheticizing Futurity in Janelle Monáe’s Dirty Computer for the History & Literature department. An accomplished blues, soul, and Motown singer, she performed frequently in many kinds of ensembles all through college. Sabrina Li, from Princeton, New Jersey, lived in Winthrop House. A poet concentrating in English, she won the Le Baron Russell Briggs Fiction Prize for her project entitled Grief Song, the Cyrilly Abels Short Story Prize for her projects entitled Daughters’ Bodies and Slurp and spit and suck, and the Hoopes Prize for her thesis project entitled Mother, Grow My Baby. Jeffrey Liu, of Briarcliff Manor, New York, and Currier House, majored in Statistics. A Crimson writer and filmmaker, he loves classical music. Treasurer Bobby Malley lived in Adams House and hails from Beverly, Massachusetts. He wrote a thesis titled “He Needs a New Belt”: Queerness, Homonationalism, and the Racial and Sexual Dimensions of Passing in Israeli Cinema for the History & Literature department.
Charlie Michael wrote Old Buildings, New Visions: Conflicts Over Heritage and Art in Hong Kong’s Urban Planning Process for the Social Studies department. He hails from La Jolla, California, and lived in Lowell House. Mara Milner, from Bronxville, New York, lived in Winthrop House. She wrote A Peek Behind the Curtain: Transforing Elitism and Democracy in the New York City Ballet for the Social Studies department. She won the Suzanne Farrell Dance Prize. Tawanda Mulalu is from Gaborone, Botswana, and lived in Adams House. A Psychology concentrator, Advocate editor, and poet, he won the David McCord Prize for the Arts and edited our Poetry Chapbook. Abraham Rebollo is from Henderson, Texas, and lived in Lowell House. They concentrated in Theater, Dance, and Media and wrote a thesis titled Camp: Notes on Costume Design. Mahlet Shiferaw (left) of Roslindale, Massachusetts, lived in Eliot House. For her Astonomy concentration, she wrote a thesis titled Building Mock Galaxy Catalogues to Test the Nature of Gravity. Eliya Smith (below) calls Columbus, Ohio, home, lived in Dunster House, and was a Signet officer for two years. Her History & Literature thesis was titled “What Am I Going to Do With All This Power?”: Dramatizations of Girlhood on the American Stage, 19341977. Sarah Toomey hails f r o m Wo o d b u r y, Connecticut, and was affiliated with Winthrop House. An
English major, she received a Hoopes Prize for her thesis entitled Keeping Score, and the Lloyd McKim Garrison Prize for Poetry. Céline Vendler is from San Marino, California, and lived in Adams House. An English concentrator, she won the Sophia Freund Prize. Her thesis was titled How Airy And Earthed: Seamus Heaney’s Dig To The Sky At The Bottom Of It All. Librarian Julius Wade, (right) from M iami, Florida, and Pforzheimer House, wrote a thesis for the History & Literature department titled A Reflection on the Direction, Design, an d Per forman ce of Termin al Hip: American Dream in High Definition. Involved in theater throughout his undergraduate career, he won the Jonathan Levy Award for Acting. Najya Williams hails from Washington, D.C., and lived in Dunster House. A pre-med Sociology concentrator and published poet, she wrote a thesis titled A Burden Gone Unnoticed: The Gender Politics of Emotional Labor in Black Activism Spaces on the U.S. East Coast. She received the Stephen Rose Sociology Undergraduate Research Fund Award and the Harvard College Women’s Leadership Award. Isabel Wu, from Hopewell Junction, New Jersey, and Leverett House, concentrated in Applied Mathematics and has a passion for dance. Elizabeth YeohWang (right) from New York City and Mather House, concentrated in Computer Science. She is now a Master of Music Degree Candidate in Harp Performance at the New England Conservatory.
Changie Yuri comes from Alhambra, California and lived in Eliot House. Their History & Literature thesis was titled On AR Monsters and Queer Possibilities: Playing Pokemon Go and Zombies, Run! Alexander Zhang (right) calls Portland, Oregon, home and lived in Eliot House. His thesis was titled What Is Real? What Is Fake?: Transitional Chinese HipHop Culture and the War of Authenticity and he submitted it to the departments of Social Studies and East Asian Studies.
Finance Committee Thomas F. Moore ’98, Chair Christopher Laconi House Committee Bryan Eric Simmons ’83, Chair Stephen Coit ’71 Devonne Pitts ’21 Mark S. Hruby ’78 Prof. John Stilgoe Laurel McCaull ’18
Kier Zimmerman concentrated in History & Literature, with a passion for theater directing and writing. They hail from Duluth, Minnesota, and lived in the Dudley Co-op.
“Federalist, with Baroque Details” Our yellow dining room has always been a favorite spot. Now it’s truly the Gold Room, with cream molding to match the rest of the Hive, newly gilded poster frames, a glittery shimmer on the walls, and a colorized treatment of its fireplace mantelpiece featuring a plaster bas-relief of Helios, the Sun God. At the time of our 1902 recreation of the building it was called a Federalist building with baroque details, which is so oxymoronic that it may be the only one in existence. For this mantel, Secretary Mark Hruby and Artist-in-Residence Kat Zhou clearly “went for…baroque.”
s o m e d a y w e ’ l l b t o g e t h e r , s o m s w e e t d a y , y e s w w i l l , y e s w e w i l
Executive Committee Prof. Thomas Forrest Kelly, Chair Bryan Eric Simmons ’83, President Thomas F. Moore ’98, Treasurer John H. Finley IV ’92, Clerk Stephen Coit ’71, At Large Amanda Keidan ’99, At Large Matthew C. Lee ’91, At Large
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Board of Associates Jill Abramson ’76 Susan Stevenson Borowitz ’81 Mimi Brown ’97 Stephen Coit ’71 Prof. Diana Eck Steve Ekert ’20 John W. Gillespie, Jr. ’76 Sam Hagen ’18 Joel Henning ’61 Kenneth M. Kaufman ’69 Amanda Keidan ’99 Prof. Thomas Forrest Kelly Daniel Kim ’97 Christopher Laconi Matthew C. Lee ’91 Thomas F. Moore ’98 Philip Munger ’95 Patrick O’Donnell ’67 Bryan Eric Simmons ’83 Prof. John Stilgoe Artist-in-Residence Laurel McCaull ’18 Membership Coordinator Julia Steigerwald Schnall ’18 Chef Donna Coppola Secretary Mark Hruby ’78