The Gettysburgian - April 13, 2021

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The Serving Gettysburg College since 1897

PAG E 11

‘We stand on land that has a deep, complicated history’

Volume CXXIII, Issue No. 2 · April 13, 2021

Connecting Gettysburg’s past to our present

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A NOTE FROM THE EDITOR:

On Using the Past to Contextualize the Present

BY PHOEBE DOSCHER, MAGAZINE EDITOR

Those of us living, studying, and teaching on Gettysburg’s historic campus know full well that the past is constantly aligned with the present moment.

Every step we take on Stine Lake, every time we enter Penn Hall, and each visit to the battlefield allows us to confront the past in real time.

We centered this edition of the magazine around just that: What does the past mean? How do we use it to contextualize the present? Students, faculty, and staff across the Gettysburg community consider this first question in this magazine. We even unpack Gettysburg’s history of Centennial Conference championships in the sports world.

The past is not a static entity, though. We scrounge up moments in history to recontextualize what we know to be true about previous times. This reassessment may lead to a reckoning—take History Professor Scott Hancock, for example, who spoke with us about the responsibility we have as Gettysburg College students to educate ourselves about the complicated history of our campus.

There’s a reason we document moments in time, people, stories, and topics of conversation. The archives of The Gettysburgian go back all the way to its inception in 1897, and they still continue to this day. We can look back at the news stories and the events on campus from over 100 years ago and learn what exactly life was like on this campus.

Maybe, 100 years from now, future Gettysburgians will look back and see what life during a pandemic at Gettysburg was like in 2021. They’ll also see Gettysburgians thinking about our place in history, and how the past lives on.

Someday, when this pandemic is all over, we’re going to recall this historic moment and wonder how we got to where we are. We’re also going to remember a time when we were consciously making, thinking about, and documenting history.

Thanks for being a part of it.

Phoebe Doscher ‘22 Magazine Editor The Gettysburgian

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TABLE OF CONTENTS 4

Activism Fatigue

Students from organizations across campus voice a collective sense of activism fatigue brought on by a lack of change in political, social, and enviornmental issues

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Eisenhower Institute

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New Faculty Spotlight

Learn about new visiting professor of violin Elly Toyoda, who joined the faculty at the beginning of the 2020-21 academic year

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We asked members of the campus community what the past means to them; This is what they had to say

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We set out to discover how Gettysburg stacks up against Centennial Conference competition

Senate Inclusion Committee

Daniel Jones ‘21 heads up the Senate Inclusion Committee this year; here are his reflections on the role of the Committee and its impact on campus life

22 Gettysburg’s History What does it mean to go to college in a town with a national landmark?

Brandon Neely ‘23 unpacks the importance of Gettysburg’s history alongside the current political climate

(Photo Mary Frasier/The Gettysburgian)

This summer, Scott Hancock held signs at the National Military Park calling for a contextualization of the Confederate statues; we asked him about Gettysburg’s past and present

Conference Competition

Reflections on the Past

The Eisenhower Institute transitioned its regular programming to a remote format during the pandemic; here’s what we found out about the changes to experiential learning opportunities

Scott Hancock Interview

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F E AT U R E S

STUDENTS NAVIGATE

BY ANNA CINCOTTA

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n the fall of 2019, Nadine Snyder ‘21 passed a resolution in the Student Senate advocating the elimination of plastic bags at the Bullet Hole.

This call for a plastic bag ban at the popular to-go dining option on campus set off a chain of events that eventually resulted in the decision to start charging students for plastic bags, which drastically reduced plastic consumption at the college during last academic calendar year.

“The numbers of bags used dropped from 500 per day to 10 to 20 per day,” said Snyder—a senator for the Class of 2021 and the president of the Gettysburg Environmental Concerns Organization (GECO).

But when Snyder returned to campus in the fall, she was disheartened to discover that many of the strides the college had taken toward

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limiting plastic consumption had taken a backseat to health and safety concerns amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Servo now offers a “to-go” option for students due to limited dining hall capacity, resulting in a greater dependence on plastic bags and packaging for those who choose to eat their meals outdoors or in residence halls, and the Bullet Hole no longer charges for plastic bags.

“Everything I had been working on for the past three years had been erased,” Snyder added. “I know that this is a temporary change, but it did make me far less motivated to campaign for more sustainability measures.”

Snyder isn’t alone. In the aftermath of the shootings that killed eight people in Atlanta, Georgia in March, student activist Daniel Jones ‘21 threw himself into the planning of a candlelight vigil for the victims

of the act of violence.

Apart from help he received from Interim Chaplain Elizabeth Eckman, Jones took on the planning process by himself. He didn’t sleep for two nights, skipped meals, and was confronted with an overwhelming amount of anxiety.

“I had many students of Asian or Asian-American descent coming to me in tears,” he said. “I was afraid that we, as a campus, would forget to reaffirm ourselves as a space in which we protect and empower marginalized groups, and that these groups would continue to live in fear—I refused to let that happen.”

When peers asked Jones why he had engaged in such an intense period of preparation for the event, his response was: “I truly believe that if I didn’t, then no one would.”

Jones and Snyder experience this type of frustration

ACTIVISM FATIGUE alongside many other Gettysburg College students.

Social movements depend on sustained, collective efforts, but when it feels like progress isn’t being made, burnout can follow.

While social justice leaders across campus face frustration when it comes to their advocacy, that frustration can manifest in different ways, and for different reasons.

(Photos provided)

For Olivia Harrison ‘22, who has recently taken on a student leadership role in the Black Panther Party, the work itself is energizing—she focuses on reigniting the programs and messages of the Black Panther Party in Black Student Unions.

The draining parts of her work, she said, come from seeing a lack of change.

“It gets really tiring fighting a system that does not recognize your human rights let alone civil rights, [and] doing work only to realize the white power

structure burned it down.”

Still, Harrison emphasized that the frustration, in many ways, serves as a reminder to keep going in the fight for justice.

“I feel the fatigue my ancestors felt and the fatigue Black people feel across the country as a result of a system designed to profit off their exploitation, [and] it gives me the strength to go on and do more,” she said. “Thinking about those who do not have the opportunity to fight anymore is what helps me overcome any inkling of fatigue.”

Melanie Pangol ‘21, a program coordinator for El Centro and the current president of The Butterfly Coalition, an organization that advocates for undocumented students at Gettysburg and promotes inclusivity and intersectionality, said that even advocating for herself can be exhausting.

“I am not being prioritized as a

student by the institution due to my intersectional identities and undocumentation,” she said, adding that the challenges have grown due to the pandemic.

Pangol also noted that the emotional labor that typically comes with being in white spaces often leaves her feeling overwhelmed.

Other students highlighted feelings of hopelessness.

Emily Dalgleish ‘22, for example, served as the cofounder of Students Demand Action, a student organization committed to preventing gun violence, before taking a gap year to pursue community organizing and campaigning.

Dalgleish is also from Boulder, Colorado, where a mass shooting in a grocery store this past March took the lives of ten people.

For Dalgleish, a student advocating for gun safety reform, this act of violence in

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Dalgleish expressed that her goal of electing progressive candidates at the local and state levels has led to a considerable amount of disappointment. “These issues can unfortunately take lifetimes to address, so the work can feel endless.”

Even on campus, where the structural impediments to change are different, fatigue can set in for student activists.

Co-founders of Survivors of Gettysburg Emma Love ‘22 and Grace Verbrugge ‘22, both survivors of sexual violence, said that the personal nature of the work they do can be challenging—even though it also keeps them going.

“For so many of us, our passion for these issues is rooted in personal experiences and trauma,” said Verbrugge.

“These issues can take lifetimes to address, so the work can feel endless.” her hometown was crushing.

Three years ago, after the Parkland shooting, Dalgleish helped organize a walkout at her high school in Colorado, and was part of the group that worked for and succeeded in securing the passage of an assault rifle ban in Boulder.

But ten days before the mass shooting in Boulder in March, the ban was blocked by a state court judge.

“The protest we organized, the money we raised, the people we registered to vote, and the ban we passed did not prevent ten people from getting murdered with an assault rifle in our community,” Dalgleish said. “It’s disheartening and isolating to watch the country

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quickly move on from a mass shooting that my community is still deeply devastated by.”

Many student leaders in the fight for social justice shared similar sentiments, and suggested that the ongoing nature of their projects can be draining despite the passion they have for the work. For Snyder, the enormity of the climate crisis itself can result in fatigue—especially when her projects on campus don’t succeed due to a lack of funding.

“I keep myself going by reassuring myself that I am doing all I can with the power and resources that I have,” she said.

- Emily Dalgleish ‘22

For both Verbrugge and Love, exhaustion comes from their dedication to the cause as well as their personal experiences with sexual violence. Balancing a college workload with their social justice work has been difficult, and this is a theme that student leaders highlighted across the board.

“The fact is that [activism] takes up as much of my time as school, if not more, and it’s not paid,” said Verbrugge. She added that she finds herself multi-tasking every day. “When I’m watching TV, I’m always working on editing content, [and] when I walk to get my food, I’m texting my team with updates and work to delegate.”

How to Overcome Fatigue and Burnout It’s clear that being both a college student and social justice leader requires a heavy workload in terms of both time and emotional energy, and one that can quickly begin to feel overwhelming and lead to burnout. Here’s how student leaders suggested tackling the issue: Prioritize mental health.

“Taking care of your own needs before you help others is not selfish; it is essential to your overall functioning and your ability to continue working in the field of social justice.”

-Emma Love, co-founder of Survivors of Gettysburg Practice self-compassion. “I try to believe that most people are doing the best that they can, and so we all must believe that for ourselves, as well.” Izzy Fiore ‘21, Campus Kitchen Program Coordinator.

(Photos provided)

Establish boundaries. “I think the best thing that student activists can do to fight fatigue is to practice setting boundaries and saying ‘no’ to projects or opportunities.

It’s easy to feel like you have to take advantage of every opportunity and help everyone, but you can only do so much— and if you try to do everything, you won’t be able to do anything.” -Grace Verbrugge, co-founder of Survivors of Gettysburg

overall community literacy on social justice issues would redistribute that responsibility to the many instead of the few.”

-Katie Mercer ‘21, CPS Program Coordinator for the Painted Turtle Farm A commitment to a more solutions-oriented approach institutionally. “We need to re-create Gettysburg College as a school where we not only listen to students and their issues, but one where we turn those issues into solutions, as well.” -Daniel Jones, Peace and Justice Council Chair of Leadership Development, Muslim Student Association President, Senate Inclusion Officer Efforts to address the experiences of all students.

The college should “be fully committed to prioritizing everyone and not only the standard student (with \ standard, I mean white, male, heterosexual, cisgender, ablebodied, neurotypical middleclass student).” -Melanie Pangol, President of the Butterfly Coalition and CPS Program Coordinator for El Centro

Here are suggestions from the campus community about how to establish the sustainability of social justice movements: A redistribution of responsibilities. “The constant need to explain and advocate, especially for advocates of marginalized communities, is exhausting. Increasing the

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N E WS

Eisenhower Institute’s New Virtual Format Leads to Programming Changes

BY ALLI DAYTON

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he Eisenhower Institute (EI) prepares students for careers in public, private, and nonprofit sectors through programs that teach students about leadership, networking, and translating their knowledge to positive action. Some of the distinctive program’s year-long or semester-long programs include Washington Connections, Environmental Leadership, Strategy and Leadership in Transformational Times, Contours of the Middle East, Inside Civil Rights, and Women and Leadership.

Like many organizations on Gettysburg College’s campus, the pandemic led to the implementation of a multitude of changes. For one,

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all EI programs are being held virtually this spring which, in many ways, has resulted in a reframing of the experiential learning opportunities offered.

“Since the outbreak of the pandemic, we have focused on how to enhance the student experience during these challenging times,” said Environmental Leadership Program Director Dr. Howard Ernst. At the onset of the pandemic, the students participating in this specific EI program were conducting research in the field when a State of Emergency was called. This led to “a long and unplanned drive back to campus from South Florida,” he said.

Over a year later, the Environmental Leadership program is being conducted completely online. According to Ernst, another change includes “the decision to offer a less research-intensive version of the Environmental Leadership Program to twice as many students.”

Similarly, the Women and Leadership Program “adapted programming to move into the virtual world,” said Women and Leadership Director and Public Policy Professor Anne Douds.

“We retained our speaker series, added some activities that can be done virtually such as Zoom interviews with women leaders on campus, and we added some readings so we

could have some ‘book club’ style sessions.”

Student feedback in response to these changes has been largely positive, despite the virtual nature of the programs.

“ We’re missing the invaluable, informal conversations that happen organically during shared travel and activities. That’s what I miss the most.”

- Anne Douds

meet otherwise for reasons like travel barriers to come to our campus,” added Cesanek.

Still, there are some characteristics of these programs that cannot be replicated through the virtual environment. Travel and inperson opportunities are now no longer feasible options. In the Environmental Leadership Program, for example, Ernst said that “in-person field research is off the table due to safety concerns.”

“There is a lot less opportunity for members and Eisenhower Institute staff to connect in person,” said Chassie. “It also takes away the fantastic opportunity to go on the trip to Washington D.C.” For Douds, conducting these programs online has led to less opportunities for informal collaboration. “We are missing the invaluable, informal conversations that organically occur during shared travel and activities,” she said. “That’s what I miss the most.”

(Photos Mary Frasier/The Gettysburgian)

“I don’t feel as though the virtual format hindered the camaraderie of the group,” said Molly Hoffman ’24, a participant in both the Environmental Leadership and Women and Leadership programs. “It may have even enhanced the networking and career readiness component of the programs.”

Nicole Cesanek ’24, a Women and Leadership participant, also finds the online format effective. “I especially enjoy our small group conversations in break out rooms where I get to know some of the other women in the program more personally.”

Autumn Chassie ’23, the program assistant for Women and Leadership, added that the virtual environment allows students “to find new, unique ways to make connections, network, and have an impact.”

“I feel that being virtual has allowed us to have a wider variety of speakers that we may not have been able to

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n July 4, 2020, Scott Hancock arrived at the State of Virginia Monument in Gettysburg National Military Park equipped with a small hammer and signs reading “#FindABetterRoleModel,” and began staking homemade Black Lives Matter flags around the 41-foot monument of Confederate General Robert E. Lee. A dedicated Civil War historian, Hancock wants battlefield visitors to understand a simple truth— that the Confederate leaders memorialzed on the battlefield fought to preserve the institution of slavery.

In an effort to unpack the connections between Gettysburg’s history, race, and the college, The Gettysburgian sat down for a Zoom interview with Hancock. Here’s what we learned.

Q: Do you think Gettysburg National Military Park reflects the whole story of the Civil War? Is anything missing?

SCOTT HANCOCK on Gettysburg’s Past and Present

BY PIPER METTENBURG

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The Civil War doesn’t happen without slavery, but if you go on the battlefield you would never know that. You could spend all day every day on the battlefield and that message is entirely lost. I ride my bike on the battlefield all the time, and sometimes I see school kids looking up at the Confederate state monuments. Even if they have a good battlefield tour guide who talks about the monuments, you still have these huge, beautiful bronze sculptures that glorify what the Confederacy is all about.

Visitors to the battlefield are not getting another message that balances that out unless they have really good educators.

Q: It can seem like the history of slavery has been completely erased from the

F E AT U R E S

battlefield. How did this happen?

Almost as soon as the war started to end, white Southerners began saying the war wasn’t about slavery.

By the early 20th century, both the North and South were saying the war wasn’t about slavery. I think some of this came from the fact that white Americans, even the soldiers, didn’t want to think this incredibly devastating war that they sacrificed so much for on both sides had anything to do with anybody or anything Black. They wanted to distance themselves from Blackness as much as possible. Overall, it was willful exclusion—a very intentional effort to make sure the story of slavery and African American invovlement isn’t part of how Americans remember what the Civil War was about.

(Photo provided)

As you know, there are not many Black visitors to the battlefield. The battlefield is predominantly white, too.

There are probably some creative ways to think about how Gettysburg College could help change that. Gettysburg National Military Park would love to see more diverse groups of people out there.

Q: As a Predominantly White Institution (PWI) in Gettysburg, do we have more of an obligation to speak out about the role of slavery in the war? What—if anything— should the college do to tell the whole story?

The college uses these connections to the Civil War all the time which is fine (it’d be foolish not to), but there’s an obligation to speak about the role that slavery played in the war. For the most part, I think the college does a good job with that, but we can always do

more. Taking other disciplines into consideration when talking about the war could have a more significant impact on how the story of the Civil War is told. The Civil War Studies program is supposed to be interdisciplinary, but it’s mostly been history. Tying in programs like Africana Studies, Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies or Public Policy could play an important role in how we think about Civil War history.

Q: How do we engage in meaningful conversations outside of our academic bubble?

Being in college comes with some responsibility. Part of that responsibility is communicating what we learn with others and finding ways to engage people in conversations outside of the classroom. It’s up to us to be co-learners with other people— especially people we disagree with. We need to treat people with respect and dignity, even if we think what they’re saying is completely wrong and even harmful. Figuring out ways to come alongside people we disagree with and saying ‘Okay, why do you think this and do you think it’s possible to think about this in a different way?’—I call it analytical empathy. I think we can empathize with people without having to agree with them. We don’t need to sympathize with them, but we can at least try to understand where they’re coming from.

Q: What do you wish students at Gettysburg understood or appreciated more about going to school here?

We stand on land that has a really deep, complicated history. A lot of the problems and challenges of American history played out here, and you can certainly say that

about a lot of places, but it’s crystallized here. I think most students are aware of this, but not all of them fully understand the significance of going to school in a place where these intersections of history come together.

Q: In your video from the battlefield this summer you say: “We can all come to some sort of truth.” What does that truth look like for you?

I think there needs to be an understanding that all the losses of life during the war are tragic. Human life is incredibly valuable, so regardless of why they were fighting, the loss of that life is tragic. That loss also extends to the lives of the Black men, women and children who died before and during the war because of slavery. So on a macro level, I think that truth is rooted in understanding that regardless of whether you accept the bad revisionist history or not, it’s all a tragedy. That being said, it’s important we understand and accept that the organizing principle of the Confederacy was to protect slavery. If Africans never came to the shores of North America, there would be no Civil War. There might’ve been some other war, but we wouldn’t have had the same war. So that truth, for me, would look like acceptance. Acceptance that people on all sides do awful things. If we understand that truth, we could have a better understanding of how we got to where we are and function better as a society going forward. But if you accept lies and deny that truth, the problems we face are going to continue to fester.

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A&E

Faculty Spotlight:

Dr. Elly Toyoda, Visiting Assistant Professor of Violin BY LILY ZHOU D r. Elly Toyoda was hired as a visiting assistant professor of violin for the Sunderman Conservatory of Music prior to the start of this academic year. Even before she came to Gettysburg to teach, she had previously visited as a guest performer with the music ensemble Eighth Blackbird in February 2020.

“I remember thinking, ‘Wow, I wish I could have studied here as a student!’ It was immediately apparent to me that the school is full of hardworking students who are passionate about what they do, and committed teachers who genuinely care about the students’ growth,” Toyoda said.

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Even with social distancing measures, the pandemic has not impacted Toyoda’s teaching in a substantial way.

“Wearing a mask does not directly compromise violinplaying, and hearing the students in a socially-distant or even a remote setting actually involves some silver-linings” she explained. “Although I started a new job during a pandemic, the warm students and faculty made me feel at home right away. Their guidance and presence alone have made my transition into my new role a very smooth one.”

Still, Toyoda mentioned that students are still experiencing challenges—especially when it comes to new rehearsal

regulations and balancing academic and artist work.

“My challenge as a teacher is knowing how to best support them throughout this process and staying attentive to their needs, while keeping their learning experience engaging, worthwhile, and enjoyable,” Students studying under Toyoda are working on pieces from a range of time periods, which she has adjusted to each individual’s skills and interests in one-on-one instruction.

Leah McCann ‘24, a student in Toyoda’s violin studio, appreciates Toyoda’s efforts to create an engaging learning experience and recognizes the impact of her attitude towards

music-making during her lessons.

“Dr. Toyoda’s positivity and enthusiasm are always present in our lessons whether we are working on the mechanics of a scale or the phrasing of a concerto,” she said. “Over the course of this semester, she has helped me to understand both the technical and artistic sides of music while encouraging me to add my own ‘voice’ into my work.”

(Photo Lily Zhou/The Gettysburgian)

Toyoda finds that experiences with ensembles like Eighth Blackbird have made a tremendous impact on her throughout her musical career.

During another residency, Toyoda saw Eighth Blackbird coach a number of chamber groups skills in effectively rehearsing and performing. She now applies these techniques to her own lessons at the Conservatory.

“The reality for every musician is that significantly more time is spent in rehearsal rooms than on stage,” she explained.

“Therefore, it is vital for us to rehearse in such a way that those long hours of practice become enjoyable and contribute to creating the best possible performances.”

When asked why she teaches and performs, Toyoda focused on the interpersonal experiences she has gained from making music. “My motivation for performing derives from that most gratifying experience of playing great music with great musicians for audiences of all backgrounds,” she said. “My motivation for teaching derives from the desire to share that joy of music-making with my

students.”

Toyoda encourages anyone thinking of pursuing music to take the opportunity in order to foster beneficial skills in a variety of fields.

“Even if you practice music as a hobby, the creative skills, concentration, and discipline that you develop through the process is truly beneficial for facing any challenge.” She also believes that making music also leads to a myriad of opportunities to build a sense of community, learn, and discover opportunities in other disciplines.

She also recommends pursuing the violin to students who are considering learning. “It is the closest instrument to the human voice, there are vast amounts of repertoire for both solo and collaborative settings, and it has this beautiful, lush sound that pays off all of the practice hours.”

Outside of teaching, Toyoda enjoys a variety of activities, including ice skating, a hobby

she took up while living in New York City. “There were skating rinks in Manhattan that I went to regularly with my friends, and I found it to be such a refreshing and fulfilling activity after a long week of work. I also like to follow figure-skating as a competitive sport,” she said.

Once the pandemic hit, she took an interest in relearning German and writing in calligraphy during her free time, specifically focusing on Kanji characters. “It is such a calming and peaceful activity that actually has a lot of connections with music,” she said. “When it is done right by the professionals, there is a certain strength and evocativeness that brings life in the characters, which I find to be so profound.”

Toyoda is excited to continue working at Gettysburg College.

“I still can’t believe how lucky I am to be a part of this nurturing environment,” she said.

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F E AT U R E S

Bob Iuliano

President of Gettysburg College

”In my Installation Address, I spoke to the history of this special institution—how Lincoln’s call to advance the unfinished work of our democracy “continue[s] to echo off the hills of this town and throughout the halls of this College.” In other words, ours is a living history. One that illuminates the past, but even more so one that defines the core values of the College and our aspirations for the future. Our history compels us to get engaged in the issues that matter. It is who we are, and, as reflected by the commitments in our evolving strategic plan, it speaks powerfully to our ongoing sense of what it means to be a consequentially educated Gettysburg student.”

WHAT DOES THE PAST MEAN TO YOU?

Mary Wootton

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Special Collections Conservator

“For me, working in Special Collections & College Archives, the past meets the present every day.

I open our Rare Books and see inscriptions from former faculty, alumni donors, or other collectors reminding us of a volume’s previous ownership, the professional expertise of the donor or previous owner, their collecting interests, and in some cases, providing instructions on how to handle and care for their book. I almost feel as though I know some of these people, and I wish they could know how much I still think about them and am grateful for their legacy to us.”

Jaeger Held `23

History Major, Civil War Era Studies and Public History Minor

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“Every place has a history. In Gettysburg and countless other locations, the past is irrevocably linked to the present. The past is individual and collective. It is our heritage, a perceived sequence of lineal events, and something that can never be fully known. The past is a collection of fleeting moments, unrepeatable, and the evidence left behind of what once was. To me, the past is felt in the present, yet it is also important in itself.

Our understanding of the past teaches us how to be human.“

Sarah Principato

Thompson Endowed Chair of Environmental Studies and Professor of Environmental Studies

“As a geoscientist, I frequently think about the geologic history of Gettysburg.

We wouldn’t even be here today if significant geologic events hadn’t occurred during the Mesozoic Era. During the Triassic Period, dinosaurs roamed around the Gettysburg area, well before any students roamed around Stine Lake.

The supercontinent Pangea started to break apart during the Mesozoic Era, and the process of rifting began. We have evidence for rifting right here on campus-- the angled red sedimentary rocks of the Gettysburg Formation near Quarry Pond. Of course there was magma, too, and the magma created an igneous rock called diabase. This strong crystalline rock created high ground around Gettysburg that was critical during the American Civil War. Luckily for humans, the rifting in Gettysburg failed, otherwise we would be in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean somewhere. So, when I think about the past, I remember the importance of the Earth System, and it is humbling.”

COMPILED BY ANNA CINCOTTA, PHOEBE DOSCHER, AND PIPER METTENBURG

Jordan Knox`21

(Photos provided)

Globalization Studies and East Asian Studies Major

“One’s perception of the past is dependent on who you ask. James Baldwin said, ‘People are trapped in history and history is trapped in them.’ I would agree. For African Americans, history is experienced on a continuum. The past and the present are not distinct, but happening at the same time, and as a Black American I can attest to this. I live everyday with the reality of what happened to my ancestors— it’s called historical trauma and it feels as real today as when it happened.”

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Benjamin Roy ‘21

History Major, Civil War Era Studies and Public History Minor

“In the words of L. P. Hartley, ‘the past is a foreign country, they do things differently there.’ The past is ultimately irretrievable, but the beautiful and unquantifiable difference between the present and the past can be accessed through the cracked windows and broken doors of history. Up until the mid-nineteenth century, people in rural France rang church bells during inclement weather, genuinely believing that heavenly tones warded off rain, hail, and frost. Facts like these are trapdoors into radically different mentalities and historical realities and the opportunity to reanimate just a portion of a dead consciousness through them is what drives me to study the past.”

Junjie Luo

Assistant Professor of Asian Studies

“My research deals with traditional Chinese fiction. These novels, which were written hundreds of years ago, have been adapted into movies and video games. I enjoy watching these cinematic adaptations and playing the video games as much as I enjoy reading those novels. It is important to study these traditional texts within their historical contexts. At the same time, I am interested in exploring how the present speaks to the past.

Understanding the dialogues between traditions and our contemporary world opens a window for me to look at the future.”

WHAT DOES THE PAST MEAN TO YOU? Darrien Davenport Assistant Secretary to the Board of Trustees, Assistant Vice President of College Life

“As a bit of a history buff, the past means a lot to me. The present nor the future exists without it. Reflecting on when I joined Gettysburg College in 2016, I think of the many wonderful people and experiences this journey has gifted me. I appreciate each of them and those moments as those interactions have had direct impacts on my life. Honoring the past also allows me to honor the ancestors who have paved the way. Their sacrifices have provided me with an opportunity to make an impact at Gettysburg.”

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Elizabeth Eckman

Interim Chaplain for Religious and Spiritual Life

“I do not quickly forget the past because it took many people who were brave, who were innovative, who were sacrificial to allow us to be where we are today. I draw strength from those shoulders that I stand upon when in the face of injustice. I draw strength from the shoulders I stand upon when I am not sure where to turn in the face of loneliness. I draw strength from those who have come before in hopes to make the world a little bit better for those who look like me and those who will come after

Ian Isherwood

Assistant Professor of War and Memory Studies

“The past is what came before. It is different from history, which is the story we construct to understand and interpret what happened in the past. In our own lives, we often do the work of history when we reflect. We remember certain things and forget certain things. We establish a timeline of importance. We construct a story trying to understand and interpret our lives.

Hopefully as we go through this process, we gain more context and perspective about the past.”

Alvaro Kaempfer

(Photos provided)

Professor of Spanish, Department Chair

“Maybe it is the perception that we live simultaneously in a myriad of historical, personal and cultural processes converging on our bodies that makes me feel the past as mutating cultural landscape. It is just like the Gettysburg area as a historical reference for long-gone conflicts that are actually never gone and they jump frequently into our daily lives flutter by people unable to see themselves outside what they imagine as the only, repetitive and foundational past.

The past becomes, then, another way for us to dispute what we want the future to be, a sustainable and tolerant one.”

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F E AT U R E S

Takeaways from Year One of the Student Senate Inclusion Committee

BY GAURI MANGALA

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aniel Jones ‘21 is well into the second semester of his tenure as the first Inclusion Committee Chair of the Student Senate at Gettysburg College. During his time in the position, Jones has brought forth many amendments to the constitution with the goal of creating a governing body that operates closer to its tag line: ‘Senate Works for You.’ It wasn’t until peers involved in student government asked Jones to run for the new position that he decided to look into becoming more involved.

“It was kind of a philosophical decision, like choosing to be in the ‘Belly of the Beast.’”

As an executive board member who has never held a voting position in the Senate before.

Jones is in a unique position. “I didn’t like the Senate,” he said.

“Even when I applied and ran in the fall I was pretty open about that.”

Jones speaks to a perception of the Student Senate that many marginalized groups have had over the years, in that it has often been seen as a group made to benefit only certain clubs and students. For example, students have taken issue with the way the Budget Management Committee has handled budget requests with clubs, and specifically cultural clubs, and have also been vocal about the prominence

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of microaggressive tendencies displayed by senators and executive board members. This has created a strong divide, making it hard to bring all students to the table.

“There is a lot of power in the Student Senate.”

The Inclusion Committee has brought forward and passed several amendments to bring about slow and steady change to the way the student governing body operates. This semester alone, a multitude of topics have been addressed through amendments.

One mandates senator attendance at club events to encourage greater community understanding, while another created a Senate-funded base

(Photos Mary Frasier/The Gettysburgian)

budget for election campaigns to make student government opportunities accessible for all members of the student body.

When students find out how much money the Student Senate has and its power to make changes, however, Jones has found that students are more inclined to get involved.

But after getting people interested, Jones noted that the next crucial step is making students feel safe enough to discuss more sensitive topics. To highlight a commitment to this goal, the Inclusion Committee has all members and visitors sign a non-disclosure agreement to ensure the safety of all people.

If Jones is bringing an issue to the Senate floor, for example, he is required to keep all names private when speaking for the committee.

One way Jones plans on measuring the success of the new committee will be to see if there is a significant uptick in candidate and voter turnout for this round of student elections. He spoke specifically to the outcome of last year’s presidential election.

“Getting more people to run is important, but getting more people to vote is, in ways, more important.”

Kurtis Grey ‘21 was elected as the president of the Student Senate with 201 votes, while vice president Katie Troy ‘21 secured 325 votes. Voter turnout for both elections represented

32 percent of the student body—Grey assumed his role with votes from just over 10 percent of the eligible voting body.

“I think the voter turnout is just horrible,” he said.

“Getting more people to run is important, but getting more people to vote is, in ways, more important, because at least then we can pretend that the leaders are representative of a majority of the student body.”

After almost a full academic year as a member of the Student Senate, Jones expressed a commitment to ensuring that the student governing body continues to work toward the implementation of more change on campus.

“There’s a lot of power in the Student Senate,” he said.

THE GETTYSBURGIAN

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SPORTS

Analysis: How Does Gettysburg Stack Up Against Centennial Conference Competitors?

By Garrett Glaeser

College (WAC).

But the question remains: how has Gettysburg College stacked up against the conference competition?

To solve this question, The Gettysburgian analyzed the history of the Bullets’ conference play.

This investigation looks at conference championships won instead of games or national championships, which allows for an evening out of the statistical barriers when comparing team and individual sports and the differences in terms of season lengths.

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n the Centennial Conference’s twenty-eight years of existence, Gettysburg has won its fair share of games and championships. Walk the halls of the Jaeger Center and you’ll see walls adorned with images of outstanding teams and players. Just below the coaches’ offices are cabinets full of trophies and hall of fame inductees over the college’s long history.

Gettysburg’s first varsity sport was baseball in 1865, according to the school’s athletic records.

Since then, Orange and Blue athletics, going by the Bullets since 1924, have competed in over a century of collegiate play. In that time Gettysburg has won countless games and brought home a number of championships. Having competed in the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference and the Middle Atlantic conference during the twentieth century, Gettysburg welcomed challenging opponents, facing off against a number of institutions that now have Division I athletic programs.

Until 1974, Gettysburg

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competed in the Middle Atlantic Conference University Division. At that point, the NCAA separated collegiate athletics into the three division system which endures today.

Since then, Bullets have competed in NCAA Division III sports.

The Centennial Conference launched in the early 1980s with only one sport -- football.

Since its humble beginnings, it has grown to be among the most elite Division III conferences in the nation. Both from an institutional academic and athletic standpoint, the Centennial has been compared to the likes of the NESCAC, the elite private small college conference of New England where schools like Amherst, Tufts, Bowdoin, and Williams compete.

As one of the founding members of the conference, Gettysburg has been dueling it out with rivals Dickinson, Franklin & Marshall, as well as Bryn Mawr, Haverford, Johns Hopkins, McDaniel, Muhlenberg, Swarthmore, Ursinus, and Washington

The numbers used for this analysis were taken from the available record books from the Centennial’s website.

These numbers, while an indicative of which teams won the conference title, were not measured in the same way every year. For example, there were a number of years in the late 1990s where field hockey did not have a tournament to declare a winner -- only the team with the best record one. Teams have also shared conference titles in the past.

This occurs the most among football teams -- schools who shared the same record at the end of the season were declared co-conference champions.

Still, the record books allow for an unpacking of where Gettysburg athletics have shined, where they have faltered, and how our school has done in comparison to those we compete against.

According to the data, the men’s athletic programs at Gettysburg have won roughly 13 percent of all conference championships.

the women, we see an almost inverse result, with all other women’s sports claiming nearly two thirds of all titles.

Part of the difference is due to the sheer amount of championships the women have won, but the tremendous success of women’s golf and volleyball should not be understated.

The women, in contrast, have won nearly twenty percent of all conference championships.

In men’s sports, Gettysburg’s teams have won the fourth most out of the ten competing teams. The women’s teams won the second most out of the eleven teams.

The Bullets’ best teams in terms of titles are -- without question -- the swimming teams. When the men’s and women’s teams victories are combined, they have won significantly more championships than any other school in the sport. Coming in at a close second are both lacrosse programs, women’s golf and volleyball, all with double digit conference championships. After that, there is a steep drop-off in titles, but the sports within the closest proximity are field hockey and women’s soccer.

total titles in the Centennial Conference. Their dominance in the past decade with tennis, track, and cross country, combined with their perennial talent in football and soccer, makes them the team to beat in most sports.

The Bullets come in a commanding second place, followed by Haverford, F&M, and Dickinson to round out the top five. It is the women’s side of Gettysburg athletics that leads the charge. Women’s sports have nearly two times as many title victories as the men’s teams.

Breaking it down by sport, lacrosse and swimming possess nearly two thirds of all championships won for the men’s teams. When looking at the same two sports for

The Fords coming in third is remarkable, given that their championship distribution is among the lowest of all Centennial teams. What propels the Black Squirrels to title success is their dominance in men’s cross country and indoor and outdoor track during the 1990s and into the early 2000s.

Gettysburg is a proven elite athletic power in the conference and, arguably -because of the conference’s success -- the nation. Our institution’s academic and athletic excellence, combined with the draw of the historical Gettysburg area, will likely continue to propel Bullets’ conference success. This season, look for perennial school powers like swimming and women’s lacrosse to keep winning, but keep an eye on the emergence of increasingly competitive teams, like softball and men’s golf.

Only seven of Gettysburg’s twenty-four teams have not won a Centennial Conference championship, meaning that seventy percent of teams have at least one title. Every women’s team has won at least one title with the exception of tennis.

The remaining question to ask is how we stack up with the competition. How does Gettysburg’s athletic success compare to those who we play against?

It will not be surprising to most that Hopkins has won the most

THE GETTYSBURGIAN

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OPINIONS

How Gettysburg’s History Informs

By Brandon Neely Our Political Moment

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ettysburg is unlike any other small town in America. Because of its unique position in our nation’s history, it is forced to navigate the past and future alike with equal attention. The conversation between history and our present experience is on full display around town.

Gettysburg College students pass a 150-year-old cannon on their walk to class. A new Black history museum competes with neo-confederate “southern heritage” shops for market space. And 158 years after the Battle of Gettysburg, Confederate flags are still flown throughout town. It’s strange to see these flags flying at the site of the Union’s most famous victory.

And yet, in the months following the murder of George Floyd, anti-Black Lives Matter protestors flaunted the “Stars

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and Bars” in the town square.

The protests and counterprotests following the 2020 deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery (among countless others) reminded Americans and Gettysburgians of the realities of racial inequality.

But how, in a town where Confederate iconography runs rampant, can we address it?

How do we begin to move forward?

By looking at the history of racial justice in Gettysburg, we witness a number of stories that exemplify Frederick Douglass’s idea that “if there is no struggle there is no progress.” The town and its residents have always been a part of the struggle for equality.

Basil Biggs was a free resident of Gettysburg who is most

famous for helping retrieve and rebury dead soldiers in the National Cemetery.

However, new scholarship by Gettysburg College alumnus John Rudy has revealed Basil’s role in the fight for civil rights.

During the election of 1870, Basil was working at a polling location when he noticed that poor white citizens were being driven to vote. Noticing that no Black citizens were being provided the same transportation, Basil took matters into his own hands and began to search out black voters who could not travel to vote. With only a wagon, Basil drove Black citizens to the polls and ensured that they would be able to express their right to vote, only recently enshrined by the 15th Amendment.

This struggle occurred after equality was supposedly achieved. The Civil War had

been fought over the issue of slavery and ended with freedom for all enslaved Americans. But an honest assessment of the legacy of Gettysburg reveals that rights gained could be rights lost.

Though the right to vote was nominally protected by the 15th Amendment, it was not well-enforced; it required the continued struggle of Basil and many others to ensure that justice was fully realized.

(Photo Mary Frasier/The Gettysburgian)

Again and again, the Black community in Gettysburg had to act not only to achieve progress, but to maintain it. In the 1920s, the Ku Klux Klan staged rallies in town and stayed at the Hotel Gettysburg. In 1924, as Black Gettysburgians fought to integrate Gettysburg schools, the Klan erected a cross in the yard of William Biggs, Basil Biggs’s son. Further, while the Klan intimidated and threatened people of color in town, the city government bought segregated parks for children.

The struggle for progress continued as integration finally took shape in Gettysburg. In 1956, Rudolf Featherstone became the first Black graduate of Gettysburg College. Alumni Phil “Snuffy” Parsons and Myra T. Herron advocated for representation and opportunity on campus.

Their work continues, and the campus community remains dedicated to the unfinished work of equality in Gettysburg.

This past summer, professor Scott Hancock received national attention for his calls for more history on the battlefield.

In the spirit of shaping the future, what lessons can we draw from Gettysburg history?

Certainly not that issues of

racial justice in Gettysburg or the nation were resolved after the Confederacy was defeated. But neither should we be misled to believe that progress is impossible. Instead, we ought to remind ourselves that progress is only ever the product of struggle. When we reflect on the privileges that we enjoy today, we should be grateful not only for the people who died on this battlefield in the name of freedom, but also for Gettysburg’s minority communities, who fought and continue to fight battles for economic, educational, and social justice.

The racial injustices and indignities that took center stage in cities like Minneapolis, Louisville, and Kenosha last summer—like Gettysburg in 1863—disrupted the peaceful, day-to-day lives of otherwise unaffected white Americans, who, benefitting from racial privilege, often forget that the American Dream has for far too long rested on the backs of Black Americans.

“Generating a meaningful plan to move forward requires stepping away from what is behind us.

But at the same time, we cannot forget our past.”

But change never comes if we choose order over progress.

As Frederick Douglass intoned, “those who profess to favor freedom and yet deprecate agitation are men who want crops without plowing up the ground; they want rain without thunder and lightning.” The historical record informs us of the necessity of John Lewis’s “Good Trouble.”

Efforts to contextualize the monuments on the battlefield will bring conflict. There will

be people who fight back with passion, anger, and perhaps violence. The city should take steps to limit the proliferation of Confederate iconography, despite inevitable backlash and temporary economic effects. The town’s businesses should not wave or sell the same flags which Klansmen flew here a century ago. By allowing Confederate flags to wave in our streets and be sold in our shops, our businesses participate in an intimidation campaign the Klan originally mobilized. The community cannot effectively advocate for equality while turning a blind eye to the hate symbols which surround us.

Gettysburg’s history reminds us that progress is only present when we protect it. In light of legislation passed last month in Georgia that creates additional obstacles to Black suffrage, we cannot rest on the laurels of past elections and legal victories. Instead, we must be vigilant and aware, and committed to the maintenance of justice—not just its nominal accomplishment. As school boards across the nation obscure history by eliminating curriculums that focus on the struggles of people of color and the LGBTQ+ community, we must shoulder the burden of the struggle for progress.

It would be foolish for us to only interpret our present moment through the lens of this small Pennsylvania town, a single battle, or the Civil War alone. Generating a meaningful plan to move forward requires stepping away from what is behind us. But at the same time, we cannot forget our past. Gettysburg holds a unique place in the American story and should continue to inspire the fight for the nation’s “unfinished work.”

THE GETTYSBURGIAN

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The Gettysburgian Staff: Anna Cincotta, Editor-in-Chief Gauri Mangala, Managing Editor Maddie Neiman, Managing Editor Phoebe Doscher, Magazine Editor Katie Oglesby, News Editor Jane Fitzpatrick, Assistant News Editor Piper Mettenburg, Features Editor Lily Zhou, A&E Editor Carter Hanson, Opinions Editor Garrett Glaeser, Sports Editor Mary Frasier, Director of Photography & PR Dr. Scott Boddery, Advisor

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Interested in joining us?

Contact editors@gettysburgian.com for more information.