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Blasts from the past
This week in 1917, an editorial in The Gettysburgian discussed the what was the issue of the day a century ago, World War I. The editorial posed the question that was on the minds of many young men at the time: how am I serving my country during the war? Am I making the right decision to study in college rather than to fight? The editorial stated that if one was studying to go into a necessary field of work after the war ended, then he was doing the right thing and serving the country fully. Furthermore, the editorial stated that next generation must “take the place of the leaders who will have gone.” A little more than a year after this question was posed, the “war to end all wars” ended. This week in 1937, the marching band was on the front page of The Gettysburgian as they were about to receive new uniforms. The marching band had a total of fortytwo pieces, and they were awaiting the arrival of the uniforms that the director, Professor Bertram H. Saltzer, had ordered. They were weeks away from receiving them, with the expected delivery date to be October 23rd, just in time for the game against Lehigh. Thank goodness that we have Amazon Prime’s two day shipping! This week in 1952, a Colombian student described what it was like to study at Gettysburg. The Gettysburgian reported that first-year Jaime Podilla was the first Gettysburg student to hail from Colombia. He had been to America six times prior to coming to Gettysburg, but college was a new experience for him. He decided to come to Gettysburg thanks to a graduate he had met, Phil Garrett, and to his father’s desire for him to study in America. Podilla was impressed with the “spirit of friendliness” found at the college, and he decided to study political science at Gettysburg. He described how America was so different from Colombia — the constantly changing climate, the lack of class consciousness, and the acceptance of the high standards of living. Yet, there were some similarities — the nation-wide love of sports, particularly soccer in Columbia and baseball in the states. This month in 2002, it was reported that the Kline Foundation had granted $250,000 to the college to go towards the construction of the Science Center. The Gettysburgian wrote that the Kline Foundation had given grants to the college in the past, most notably for the restoration of Penn Hall and Kline Theatre. These archived “blasts from the past” were compiled by contributing writer Shannon Zeltmann thanks to Special Collections in Musselman Library.
Thursday, September 21, 2017
Thursday, September 21, 2017
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A l u m n i r e t u r n f o r College foresees no H o m e c o m i n g W e e k e n d policy change in light of DeVos comments
Large boards in front of the bookstore allowed alumni to sign their names and see who else had returned for Homecoming Weekend Photo Maddie Neiman / The Gettysburgian B y M addie N eiman four large boards stood in also attended the Fun(d) front of the bookstore— run on Saturday morning S taff W riter O v e r t h e each covered by a sheet and said that they enjoyed w e e k e n d , G e t t y s b u r g o f p a p e r a n d l a b e l e d cheering on fellow alumni. College welcomed back with graduating years for Bailey and Borovsky work alumni for Homecoming alumni to sign and look to engage young alumni celebrations and received for familiar names. These as members of the BOLD an enthusiastic attendance. b o a r d s s h o w c a s e d t h e Council. One young Special events, including signatures of Bullets from the Class of 2012’s Five 1950 to 2017, and the Class alumna, Amy Houck ‘12, Y e a r R e u n i o n a n d t h e of 2012 had an entire board returned for her class’s five S w i m m e r s ’ R e u n i o n , to themselves in honor of year reunion and planned to attend the Homecoming prompted many alumni to their milestone. Returning alumni Networking Social, the return, and others came to reconnect with friends, w e r e p r e s e n t e d w i t h a Class of 2012 Tailgate, classmates, professors, and packed schedule of events and the Catholic Campus to attend: departmental Ministries’ Open House. the Gettysburg campus. A l t h o u g h 4 6 8 meetings and colloquiums, Mostly, however, Houck alumni registered to attend, G r e e k L i f e r e u n i o n s , looked forward to seeing the Development, Alumni Schmucker and Musselman familiar faces on campus. and Parent Relations staff e x h i b i t s , t h e H a l l o f “ I t ’ s t h e G e t t y s b u r g e x p e c t e d t o s e e m a n y Athletic Honor Reception Know,” she said. “It’s like, more graduated Bullets and Inductions, various ‘Oh, I don’t know your on campus. Upon entering socials, The Cupola Society name, but I recognize you the CUB lobby, an alum Dinner and Celebration, from class.’” The “Gettysburg would have seen the orange and tailgates preceding and blue check-in table the football game against Know” was visible all across campus. A group of with pins for each class Dickinson College. T h e g a m e w a s recently graduated Bullets year and other Gettysburg merchandise, tables of free one event that drew recent laughed and hugged one refreshments, and shiny alumni Megan Bailey ‘14, another in the CUB lobby, posters of new renovation Rebecca Borovsky ‘16, while President Riggs ‘77 plans. Most prominently, Sarah Kaboly ‘16, and spoke and shook hands Jenna Fleming ‘16. They -Continued on next page-
B y K ate D elaney C ontributing W riter On Thursday, September 7, Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos announced her intent to rescind federal guidance for handling sexual assault allegations that lowered the evidentiary standard in such investigations, criticizing the Obama administration’s system as having “failed too many students,” even stating, “The results of the [Obama administration’s] approach? Everyone loses.” DeVos claims that a system in which educators and administrators must also act as judges on sexual assault cases asks too much of these college officials, who are not experts in the field. “Every survivor of sexual misconduct must be taken seriously,” she said. “Every student accused of sexual misconduct must know that guilt is not predetermined.” DeVos suggested finding other alternatives, such as a “Regional Center model,” which establishes a center for trained experts to handle all Title IX investigations. Ostensibly, this would levee fairer punishments and reduce wrongful findings of responsibility. The reaction to DeVos’s comments was mixed. Advocates of due process for those accused of sexual assault praised DeVos after what they viewed as overreach by the Obama administration that, in their eyes, stacks the deck against the accused. “Obama’s policy resulted in a kangaroo-court system where accused students often don’t have
access to counsel, the ability to effectively cross-examine their accuser (indeed, the Obama admin specifically urged that accused students not be permitted to crossexamine accusers), or even access to all the evidence in the case,” wrote David French in National Review. Putting more power in the hands of trained professionals and ensuring due process will lead to a more just system for all involved, they argue. Still others, including former Vice President Joe Biden, were outraged by DeVos’s words. Biden stated, “[the] announcement that the Department of Education plans to rewrite key Title IX guidance which works to address and prevent sexual in our schools is a step in the wrong direction. The truth is, although people don’t want to talk about the brutal reality of sexual assault…it is our reality, and it must be faced head-on.” Critics of DeVos’s statements are concerned that rewriting Title IX rules will only lead to weakening enforcement and adjudication in campus sexual assault cases and will allow colleges and universities to sweep cases under the rug. Gettysburg Responds Speaking on behalf of Gettysburg’s chapter of Students Against Sexual Assault (SASA), co-president Julia Burgess said, “Many college campuses are afraid of their sexual assault policies, many colleges, including Gettysburg, want more options and better sexual assault education for their students. While there are issues surrounding the -Continued on next page-
First-year class engages with post-apocalyptic novel in Common Reading experience
B y T hea T oocheck C ontributing W riter What happens when humanity has to start from scratch? “Station Eleven” is Emily St. John Mandel’s fourth novel and this year’s choice for the first-year common reading, a program designed to give incoming students a chance to connect through a novel’s themes and messages. The novel begins the night the Georgia Flu, an epidemic with a 99 percent mortality rate, hits Toronto. Within weeks, most of the world’s population is dead, but 20 years later, the Traveling Symphony is keeping Shakespeare and music alive as they perform at the scattered settlements of survivors. Mandel traces the twists of fate that connect the characters through time and space, and on Tuesday, September 12, Mandel came to Gettysburg for a lecture on the novel. To begin, she thanked
Inside This Issue
Volume CXX, No. 3
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her audience for reading her book, acknowledging that she was aware the students had to read it, though some probably had not, statements that were received with chuckles from the audience. Indeed, throughout her speech, her rather dry sense of humor and good-naturedness were apparent, as was her fascination with what makes us human. She recounted multiple anecdotes that captivate her, including one about a secret library in wartorn Damascus that reminded her of people’s “essential humanity” and another about Captain George Vancouver and his discovery of smallpoxravaged natives of British Columbia that shows “the awful randomness” and fear of disease. Both of these themes are present in her novel. Mandel mentioned in her speech that at its inception, she wanted to write a book that was different from the crime novels she had published previously. While
she conceded that she did not want to be stuck in a crime novelist marketing category, she also longed to express her “awe at the extraordinary level of technology around us” and draw attention to the way society takes such things for granted. In addition, she wanted to ask what we would miss, hold onto, or long to recreate “if all the trappings of civilization fell away.” “Station Eleven” heralds the fourth year of the first-year common reading program. In this program, a book is mailed to all incoming students, who are encouraged to read the book over the summer in preparation for the author’s visit and small group discussions in the fall. According to Musselman Library’s website, the goals of the program are to “provide a common intellectual experience for first-year students, foster a sense of community among first-year students, faculty -Continued on next page-
This year’s First-Year Common Reading title was Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel (Promotional photo)
Prof. Interview Senate Faculty Kerney with Emily discusses Spotlight: awarded St. John budget, William O’Hara, Mandel, $1m grant, pg. 2 pg. 3 pg. 5 pg. 4
Sunderman Bullets Spotlight: earn Eddie Isaac Plank Hawkins, Award, pg. 6 pg. 8