Arts
Features
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Jack Marchesi '20 reviews Grinnell's sole vape shop.
"I'm still just a big kid just taking on these roles."
page 5
page 7
the
Nichelle Tramble, writer of "The Good Wife," spoke to students. page 10
Scarlet & Black Volume 133, Issue 17
thesandb.com
March 3, 2017 • Grinnell, Iowa
March 1st student resistance coalition calls to cease daily activities to resist President Trump
Standing rock activists share stories
By Jon Sundby sundbyjo17@grinnell.edu
TAKAHIRO OMURA
Left: Students chanted outside of the JRC before starting their march to Wells Fargo to protest against investment in DAPL. Right: Students make banners and posters and practice songs in preparation for the rally and direct action starting at 12:30 p.m. By Alice Herman hermanal17@grinnell.edu March 1st: Day of Student Resistance, originally conceived of by members of Rise Grinnell and the Occupy 8th Avenue movement, was planned as a response to the Trump administration and the expressions of bigotry that have ensued within the
public and the White House following Trump’s election. On March 1, students marched, participated in a direct action targeting Wells Fargo for its investment in fossil fuels and attended a series of discussions and teach-ins throughout the day. Students convened in the Grill at 11 a.m. to paint banners and discuss the
Grinnell's commitment to transgender students
Student socially expelled SGA executives elected: in 1967 for harrassing Summer White, Kahlil students back on campus Epps, Misha Gelnarova
By Zane Silk silkzane@grinnell.edu Last week, President Raynard Kington reiterated Grinnell’s commitment to transgender students in a special campus memo. This followed the Trump administration’s rescindment of an Obama-era letter that provided guidelines for how colleges should support transgender students. Going forward, the College will be increasing the amount of genderinclusive housing, streamlining Grinnell’s name change process and providing new trainings for faculty and staff on the issues that transgender students face. “Grinnell has been ahead of the curve in terms of its practices and policies and support for transgender people,” Angela Voos said, Vice President for Strategic Planning and Title IX Coordinator. With input from the GenderInclusive Housing Committee, Residence Life will be moving forward in providing more gender inclusive housing, which allows students to have roommates of any gender and ensures that there is at least one gender-inclusive bathroom
"Grinnell has been ahead of the curve in terms of its practices and policies and support for transgender people."
By Alice Herman hermanal17@grinnell.edu
Kenneth Adelman ’67, who has served as Assistant to the US Secretary of Defense under Gerald Ford, US Ambassador to the United Nations and Director of the US Arms Control and Disarmament Agency for the Reagan Administration, spoke about the Reykjavic Summit on Thursday. Adelman also met with students in the Grille the day before as part of the Program in Practical Political Education, where students first raised questions about Adelman’s time at Grinnell. In the last months of his senior year at Grinnell, Adelman and four other students were disciplined by the College for their involvement in the harassment of two students during the annual “Spring Riot,” a tradition that was discontinued after the incident in which Adelman was implicated. On April 22, 1967, the victims of the harassment — Adrienne Lemmons ‘68 and David Dillon ‘67 — wrote a letter to the editor in The Grinnell Reporter, a newspaper which temporarily replaced The Scarlet and Black, describing the incident: “Going to [our] room in Cowles after dinner, we were continually
relationship between activism and art; music and and the rumble of animated conversation were audible from the second floor of the JRC. Hazel Batrezchavez ’17, one of the student organizers, spoke in the Grill on the importance of incorporating art into activism, and activism into art. “Art [alone] doesn’t function as a form
of activism. But we started with this activity first to build a community, to start making these small interactions with each other because that’s the only way that we can stand together and fight against all of what we need to fight against and to fight for everything we need to fight and march for.” >> See March 1st page 4
For those of us on the outside looking in, the saga of Standing Rock seems to be nearing its end. On Feb. 23, the Oceti Sakowin Camp, the largest of the camps on the Standing Rock Lakota reservation, was destroyed by a militarized police force. The native activists purposefully burned down their sacred sweat lodges and other structures, creating an eerie scene of smoke and flames as they left the encampment that they had called home since August. Yet, while this chapter may have ended, the water protectors, as they call themselves, insist that this fight was only the >> See Standing Rock page 3
TAKAHIRO OMURA
Standing Rock activists held a panel on Monday night at 7 p.m.
harassed, bombarded with water balloons, and virtually driven from the hall. In the process, the room was invaded by force, while Adrienne was later grazed by an egg thrown at her inside the ladies’ restroom.” The letter continued, describing an interaction in which Lemmons and Dillon attempted to enter Dillon’s room and were prevented from doing so by the group of five assailants.
"...the room was invaded by force, while Adrienne was later grazed by an egg thrown at her inside the ladies' room"
SARAH RUIZ
Summer White '18 has been elected as SGA President, Kahlil Epps '18 as Vice President of Adrienne Lemmons '68 and Student Affairs and Misha Gelnarova '18 as Vice David Dillon '67 President of Academic Affairs. Gelnarova is currently abroad.
“Five or six guys, led by Adelman and supported by ‘Brow’ [a nickname of another student] forced their way into the room, despite the efforts of both Adrienne and David to resist them at the door.” After the alleged assailants vacated the room, Lemmons wrote that “A mixture of water and beer flowed into the room from a wastebasket which had been filled >> See Alum Ken Adelman page 3
>> See SGA page 2
ISO Cabinet elected: Deqa Aden, Bardan Sigdel, Ridhika Agrawal
Angela Voos, vice president for strategic planning and Title IX Coordinator on each floor. “We are looking to increase the amount of spaces on campus that are gender inclusive. We will always retain, of course, some single sex spaces for those who need or prefer that,” said Andrea Conner, Associate VP of Student Affairs. “Currently we have about 20 percent gender inclusive … and we have 20 percent >> See Transgender sensitivity page 4 Friday Bad Feminists/Bad Critics: A Sex Wars Debate Falcouner Gallery, 4 p.m.
XIAOXUAN YANG
CONTRIBUTED
Students brought "Unwelcome then, unwelcome now" and "Adelman harrassed an interracial couple @ Grinnell in '67" signs to Alum Ken Adelman's talk. Monday Father of the American Gamelan Bucksbaum 152, 4:15 p.m.
Follow us on twitter @thesandb
Monday An Iowa Muslim Perspective on Current Affairs Bucksbaum 152, 7:30 p.m.
Deqa Aden '18 was elected President of ISO, Bardan Sigdel '19 as Vice President, Ridhika Agrawal '20 as Treasurer, Nandita Banik '20 as Secretary, Aakriti Aryal '20 and Ananya Munish '20 as Social Coordinators and Lica Ishida '18 and Linh Bui '20 as Publicity Coordinators.
>> See ISO page 2
Thursday Gallery Talk: Operation Sunshine
Friday Doctor Strange
Falcouner Gallery, 4 p.m.
Harris Cinema, 7:15 p.m.
Community 5 | Features 7 | Sports 8 | Arts 9 | Opinions 11
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Advocates host sexual assault awareness week
News
Edited by bohlkeli@grinnell.edu & braneckm@grinnell.edu
Student body elects Summer White, Kahlil Epps and Misha Gelnarova
CONTRIBUTED
The new SGA executive board, from left to right: President Summer White ’18, Vice President of Student Affairs Kahlil Epps ’18 and Vice President of Academic Affairs Misha Gelnarova ’18. By Lily Bohlke bohlkeli@grinnell.edu
HELENA GRUENSTIEDL
Students and staff come together to talk about sexual assault awareness at one of the coffee talks this week. By Louise Carhart carhartl17@grinnell.edu This past week two student groups led Sexual Assault Awareness Week in an effort to raise awareness and start conversations on campus. Grinnell Advocates and the Student Athletes Leading Social Change (SALSC) hosted several events throughout the week, ending with an event tomorrow. Following the administration’s attempts at curbing sexual assault on campus through alcohol related policies, these events are aimed at increasing awareness at the student level. Events included t-shirt decorating for the Clothesline Project, a nationally recognized organization that works to ensure violence against women does not go ignored. The Project began in 1990 on Cape Cod, Mass. by decorating t-shirts and then displaying them publicly on a clothesline. The shirts carry phrases and slogans meant to remind the viewer of the epidemic of sexual assault and domestic violence in the United States. For Grinnell Advocates and SALSC, differentiating the Grinnell effort from the national organization is important to ensure that all survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence feel that it represents them. “The national project is pretty heteronormative, focusing on men’s sexual assault against women and we wanted, as Advocates and SALSC, to make it more inclusive and focusing on all sexualities and genders,” said Ariel Keller ’17, a member of SALSC. “The Clothesline Project was on campus five or six years ago, before I was here.”
"The week is largely put on by Grinnell Advocates. it's their event holistically speaking, and they reached out to us at end of December ... asking us if [SALSC] would want to partner with them and support them." Ariel Keller '17 Rabbi Rob Cabelli originally had the idea for the clothesline project a couple years ago and Advocates and SALSC decided to revive the practice as part of the week. According to the national organization’s website, the different colored t-shirts are coded to represent different experiences of sexual assault and domestic violence. There are colors that are meant to represent those who died because of sexual and/or domestic violence,
sexual and domestic assault survivors, those attacked due to their sexual orientation or political leanings and survivors of incest and sexual abuse. The organization hopes to bear witness to the often underreported consequences and reality of sexual assault and domestic violence. Other programming included an athlete panel organized by SALSC to discuss promoting sexual respect on campus and a coffee talk in Loose Lounge with the Advocates and a labyrinth walk in JRC 101. These events are intended to remind students of the presence of sexual assault on campus and begin new conversations about preventing them in the future. This year, Advocates partnered with SALSC to bring in a new voice and include athletes on a large scale. “The week is largely put on by Grinnell Advocates, it’s their event holistically speaking, and they reached out to us at the end of December … asking us if we would want to partner with them and support them,” Keller said.
"Our biggest thing right now is to involve people who don't feel like they have the correct language or are nervous or intmidated by it." Ariel Keller '17 This partnership resulted in the SALSC athletes’ panel that discussed sexual respect and its importance on campus. SALSC is “a passionate coalition of college student-athletes who are compelled to change the world,” according to the groups Facebook page, and have been putting on events that seek to shed light on campus sexual assault during the Fall and Spring semesters. Last fall, the group organized a Sexual Assault Awareness Walk that met outside the JRC and traveled around campus, hearing speeches from various students and faculty. Sexual Assault Awareness Week is an annual event that includes new partnerships and perspectives on the current campus climate. As the week wraps up, Keller noted that the Student Athlete Advising Committee at Grinnell had brought up the hope that more athletic departments would be involved with efforts such as Sexual Assault Awareness Week. “This was something pioneered by the Midwest Conference, this is something they want more teams to be involved with,” Keller said. “Our biggest thing right now is to involve people who don’t feel like they have the correct language or are nervous or intimidated by it.”
SARAH RUIZ
Last year, Grinnell Advocates hosted a panel called "Community, Leadership and Change" in which they invited activists from around Iowa to speak.
Student Government Association (SGA) elections were held this week, and the student body elected Summer White ’18 as SGA President, Kahlil Epps ’18 as Vice President of Student Affairs and Misha Gelnarova ’18 as Vice President of Academic Affairs. White has been a part of SGA since her first year at Grinnell. The second semester of her first year, she became senator of her cluster and went on to become assistant treasurer her second year and treasurer this year. In addition to working for SGA, White is a Posse scholar from DC majoring in political science and concentrating in policy studies. She is a first-generation college student, member of the diving team and activist for public health and social justice, who attributes her accomplishments to persistence and dedication. Combining her SGA knowledge from being involved with three different SGA cabinets and her commitment to advocating for students’ needs, White intends to promote comprehensive and accessible health, increase accessibility on campus, push campus safety, clarify self-governance and cater to diversity. “I will remain committed to representing the student body by advocating for our interests, maintaining open channels of communication, and addressing existing and new concerns as they
arise. … I also believe it would be helpful for us to thoughtfully reexamine Grinnell College’s values, how we are embodying them currently, and collaboratively plan and implement ways to further integrate them into the fabric of what it means to be part of Grinnell,” White wrote in an email to The S&B. White is not the only executive with extensive SGA experience, though, because Epps has also been involved in many SGA committees and working groups, including the VPSA working group in the 2015-16 school year. Epps is the President of Concerned Black Students (CBS) and has experience promoting students’ interest through the planning of events and the organizing of groups of people. Epps ran for VPSA last year, his third year, but was not successful. Through his work on that campaign and the VPSA working group, he feels he knows what should be done by a VPSA and how to do it. Some of his priorities include retaining a culturally competent therapist, creating a new dining plan, fixing student appliances such as washing machines, and coordinating campus traditions in an improved way. “In my three years attending Grinnell I have seen things that work and things that do not work. I believe that my past and current positions and opportunities have given me the adequate knowledge and willpower to take on this role and move the student body forward to a better future,” Epps
wrote in an email to The S&B. Gelnarova’s experiences during her time at Grinnell, like Epps’s, have given her insight about ways to be successful in her new role. Gelnarova is an independent major, and she highlighted the importance of knowing what it’s like to focus her studies on a topic that Grinnell does not have a program for. She wants to advocate for students who are pushing for new classes and department directions. Gelnarova also emphasized cooperation between students, faculty and administration, because having various courses and well-established professors are things that benefit everyone at this college, and it is what the student body asks for. She also plans to foster student-professor relationships, limit stress during finals, encourage alumni and students to connect and increase publicity about course-embedded travel opportunities. “My first actions as VPAA [will] be to start working immediately with the SEPCs and departments that have been voicing their needs for new faculty, additional course options and so on,” Gelnarova said. “I am well aware that this is a process that will take a long time, therefore, coming up with more short-term solutions and options will be my priority as well.” These three SGA executive cabinet elects are excited to take on these roles and begin working to implement the plans they have been campaigning for a chance to make reality.
ISO elects Deqa Aden, Bardan Sigdel, Ridhika Agrawal for President, Vice President, and Treasurer By Kate Irwin irwinkat@grinnell.edu International Student Organization (ISO) just released the results of their executive cabinet elections for 2017-18. ISO is very active in both the Grinnell community and at the college. "One of our roles is to really promote inclusion and diversity across campus and the community," current ISO president Takahiro Omura '17 said. Deqa Aden '18 was elected ISO president. Aden has proposed a variety of ideas she will work to execute while president. Some of these propositions include "reaching out to other ISO organizations in neighboring colleges to have broader networking opportunities outside of Grinnell (this specific project would entail inviting non-Grinnell international students to our annual events), creating a coalition with multi-cultural organizations by cohosting events and inviting to each other’s space, creating a space for ‘Rare Birds,’ students who do not have a big community on campus to celebrate with their traditional holidays/festivals," Aden wrote in her candidate platform. Aden exhibits passion and drive to make Grinnell a ‘home away from home’ for international students. Bardan Sigdel '19 was elected as the new ISO Vice President. Sigdel
stated in his candidate platform that he "would like to work in cooperation with other groups on campus to address issues, voice concerns and achieve goals shared among the larger campus body. My emphasis, as vice president, will always be on embracing differences, and using them to further accessibility and
"[An ISO cabinet must] care about the cultural diversity at Grinnell. And they want to make sure that domestic students, international students and townspeople all feel part of this cultural diversity." May Kurata '19 innovation among the student body." Sigdel demonstrates the commitment that May Kurata ‘19, a member of ISO, emphasized that an ISO cabinet must have. Ridhika Agrawal '20 was elected as the new ISO Treasurer. Agrawal understands how important both the job of Treasurer is and ISO as a whole. "I hope to be a part of the ISO to further the work that they are already doing, to improve its policies and to create a better experience for the international and domestic student body," Agrawal wrote in her candidate platform.
Agrawal hopes to foster a commitment to her new role to better and unify the campus. ISO works to close the cultural gaps that may be present between domestic and international students, in turn creating a more unified campus. "We host events that students from all kinds of backgrounds, regardless of where they come from, can create together and have fun," Kurata said. Kurata stressed the importance of commitment one must have to be part of the ISO executive cabinet. "They [must] care about the cultural diversity at Grinnell. And they [need to] want to make sure that domestic students, international students and townspeople all feel part of this cultural diversity." There are six positions available on the executive cabinet: President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, Social Coordinator, and Publicity Coordinator. All of these positions have an equal voice in the goals and objectives of ISO; one's say is not determined by the position they hold. All three of the newest ISO executive cabinet members have shown their dedication to improving and continuing the important work that ISO does for international students. The new cabinet are dedicated and driven members of ISO who want to make the Grinnell experience the best it can be.
News
Edited by bohlkeli@grinnell.edu & braneckm@grinnell.edu
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Standing Rock activists teach Grinnellians about nonviolent direct action
CONTRIBUTED
In the fall, a group of students went to Standing Rock to bring food and supplies and show their support. Continued from Front Page beginning of a larger movement to end corporate exploitation of our land’s people and resources. To explain their struggle and strategize about the next steps, several faculty members and students organized a multi-day workshop which brought in activists from the Standing Rock camps and from all around the nation. As part of this larger event, a panel was formed on the night of February 27 to field questions from the community, and the next day several of the activists led a public workshop on nonviolent resistance. “They’re arguably the most successful nonviolent social movement we’ve seen since the civil rights,” said Tim Dobe, religious studies, who helped organize the week’s events. “It’s a movement that’s reached a real critical consciousness, that seems to make it important for people to know about them here.” The College has already hosted many speakers and activists from anti-Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) sites, and several students even went up to Standing Rock earlier this fall in order to bring food and supplies to the protestors. Turnout was large for the panel as well, with Herrick
TAKAHIRO OMURA
Activists from Standing Rock talked on Monday night about the nonviolent direct action they have been taking.
Chapel filled to its back pews with students and community members. The panel itself spanned the whole stage, with over a dozen panelists telling their stories, explaining their work and answering questions from the congregants. “The number of people, kind of on this mass movement idea, this was meant to build networks amongst folks who were already doing this kind of work...once they [develop] shared strategies and a shared conversation, that might build the base for something bigger,” Dobe said. The panel was opened by Cheryl Angel, who offered a prayer in both English and Lakota which reflected on both the successes of the Standing Rock movement, as well as the sorrow that has gripped the activists since the breakup of the camps and President Trump’s announcement that DAPL would continue as originally scheduled. “We indeed are blessed, for that I give you thanks Creator, for the months we stood together, doing whatever we can to keep the fight for Standing Rock strong. Creator, I thank you for all the people you brought, for the ten-thousand people plus ... for all the lessons that we learned, for those things that made us stronger. These things came with tears, but I thank
you, because you taught us how to be strong,” Angel said. The decision to bring the activists to the College was unrelated to the current student-led campaign to divest from fossil fuels and DAPL, but the topic was quickly introduced into the conversation. Tribal historian Ladonna Brave Bull Allard, explained her own efforts to compel cities, businesses and institutions to divest from fossil fuels, and especially from DAPL. Her comments were greeted with a loud applause from the audience and shouts of “Divest Grinnell!”
"We pushed [the divest movement] across the United States and the world. ... The last I looked 49 billion dollars of individual accounts have divested from banks that support the pipelines. ."
Ladonna Brave Bull Allard tribal historian
“We pushed [the divest movement] across the United States and the world. We bought a billboard in Times Square, in Seattle, in Los Angeles, asking people to divest … the last I looked … 49 billion dollars of individual accounts have divested
CONTRIBUTED
There have been protests all over the country supporting Standing Rock water protectors.
from banks that support the pipelines,” Allard explained. Although the movement was indigenous-led, the activists stressed that the issues confronted by the Standing Rock Tribe now are issues that have universal reach. They call themselves “water protectors,” both after their efforts to protect the water of the Lakota reservation from a potential pipeline breakage, but also because they strive to defend all of the earth’s water sources from pollution. Several times during both the talk and the following day’s workshop, the water crisis in Flint, Michigan was referenced as another example of how corporate and governmental greed can poison a community's water. Some activists even jokingly suggested during a workshop session that they should invoke a “citizen’s eminent domain” to build a freshwater pipeline to Flint. “The water is bringing us together, the water is reminding us that we are all one people,” said Genova Izquierda, a member of the Indigenous Youth Council who participated in the workshop. “In 100 plus years, it’s the first time that so many nations have come together … people are remembering why it’s so important to be able to just drink water.”
Alum Ken Adelman '67 spoke on campus this week despite having been socially expelled for harrassment of students while at Grinnell students implicated in the incident as “disgraceful,” and wrote: “You two will certainly get over the events before we do, for we have ourselves always present.” On Thursday, Adelman delivered
"...the fact that he's allowed back, the fact that we're able to just forget about the things that he's done just because he's politically sexy ... is absurd."
Sandy Barnard '17
CONTRIBUTED
Students held up signs at his talk yesterday morning asking Ken Adelman to apologize for his harrassment of students while he was on campus in 1967. Continued from Front Page and then overturned outside the door.” The student judicial body, “the Interim Student Court,” found the five accused men responsible of “psychological and physical brutalization,” and noted that the incident was not an isolated one and that Dillon had been subject to two years of harassment. The Court recommended to expel one of the students — James “Jim” Stuart — and to “socially expel” the rest, meaning they were not welcome on campus even to take exams but were permitted to graduate. The Faculty Committee on Student Affairs upheld the decision, and Adelman was banned from the College for the remainder of the semester. Michael Dejoie ‘67, who served on the Student Interim Court that presided over the 1967 case, said
that he did not know if the incident was racially motivated given that Lemmons is black, but that it represented one of many instances of harassment towards David Dillon.
"It was a water balloon. I don't know if I hit anyone with a water balloon, but I said I was guilty, that I was terribly sorry for throwing water balloons, and that — you know — it was a stupid thing to do, but it was Spring Riot." Ken Adelman '67 “I do know that they picked on David Dillon a lot. His girlfriend was black, but David was blind — and that group of guys harassed anyone who was different. They called him ‘Bat’,” said Dejoie. The 1967 letter
to the editor by Dillon and Lemmons quotes the attackers using the slur “Bat,” as well. [Editor’s Note: There have been differing accounts of Dillon’s visual impairment—some say he was blind, others say he was severely visually impaired]. On Wednesday of this week, Adelman rejected the indictment in the 1967 letter to the editor, and said that the attack had not consisted of “psychological and physical brutalization,” the term the Interim Court used to describe the incident. “It was a water balloon. I don’t know if I hit anyone with a water balloon, but I said I was guilty, that I was terribly sorry for throwing water balloons, and that — you know — it was a stupid thing to do, but it was Spring Riot,” Adelman said. In a 1967 statement penned by Adelman and addressed to the victims of the harassment, however, he described the actions of the
a talk on his work in the Reagan administration as planned. Sandy Barnard ’17, one of approximately 20 students who protested the event, said that “the College made it clear what [Grinnell and Adelman’s] relationship was when they voted to expel him and the fact that he’s allowed back, the fact that we’re able to just forget about the things that he’s done just because he’s politically sexy ... is absurd.” Barnard was joined by other students who held six-by-four foot banners that read “Unwelcome then, Unwelcome now,” and “Adelman harassed an interracial couple @ Grinnell in ’67,” sat in the audience among faculty, students and alumni attending the talk. After a brief Q&A in which Adelman again refused to acknowledge the brutality of his actions, student protesters shouted, “you’re not welcome here, hate is not welcome here,” and Adelman was ushered from the room. It is unclear at this point how much current administrators knew about the 1967 incident before Adelman was invited to speak this past week. And although Adelman may be unwelcome in the eyes of some, the College has yet to release a statement regarding the nature of Adelman’s future relationship with the school.
Part of the reason the activists and indigenous leaders agreed to come here was due to the College’s own geographical proximity to what many perceive to be the next chapter in the fight against DAPL. The pipeline has currently finished its construction phase, but is now in legal limbo over whether there were eminent domain abuses. The case will soon be heard in the Iowa Supreme Court and may even proceed up to the highest court in the land. But in the meantime, activists are setting up another camp in an Iowa location near the pipeline, as they hope to continue the grassroots momentum into this state. “It’s one pipeline and we need to fight it on many different fronts. The pipeline is done in Iowa now, but there are still many ways that we can combat it here. So we’ve set a camp up … but this camp is a think-tank, I like to call it, not just an action camp. Because we have to start looking at the larger picture … these conglomerates, these oil giants, these one-percenters, the only reason they are in these positions is because we give them our money. And we have so much more power than we realize — as consumers, as organizers, as advocates, as activists, as human beings,” said Stephanie Snow ‘03, a Meskwaki activist for indigenous rights.
Campus council on divestment, prayer spaces, student wages and Block Party By Lily Bohlke bohlkeli@grinnell.edu At campus council on Wednesday night, SGA Treasurer Summer White ’18 updated the room on a conversation she had with Treasurer of the College Kate Walker about divestment, prayer spaces and student wages. Block Party committee cochairs Ariel Keller ’17 and Thomas Marsho ’17 as well as All Campus Events Chair Claudia Handal ’17 presented and got a budget approved for Block Party. On divestment, White spoke about a procedure in process that Walker told her about involving a form that can be requested by all donors so that their money is opted out of investment in fossil fuels. White also said that Scott Wilson, chief investment officer, is open to student input on where to invest the College's funds. On prayer spaces, White said that the College "in no way intended for Muslim and Hindu students to feel unwelcome and they realize their initial plan was flawed.” The short-term and potentially long-term location for the new CRSSJ will be a blue ranch house which was previously a home for college staff. The College is looking into separate prayer spaces that are not, and have never been used, as bathrooms. On student wages, White said that the College is planning a student wage increase next semester, but no exact numbers have been stated. Lastly, the Block Party committee presented their budget and were approved for $4,470.50. They are pushing a 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. time slot for offering food, because that is the period in which no students will be in exams. They will have Halal, glutenfree, lactose-free, peanut-free and vegan options. According to Keller, they want to “urge people to take a break from their finals and having that be the push rather than the overconsumption of alcohol."
News
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Edited by bohlkeli@grinnell.edu & braneckm@grinnell.edu
Bad Feminists/Bad Critics seminar to present debate on censorship of pornography from the perspective of the 1980 Sex Wars
CONTRIBUTED
Left: The Sex Wars were one of the most popular debates in the 1908s feminist movement, and women marched with signs expressing their right to choose. Right: During the Sex Wars, there was debate about whether censorship of pornography was right. The women in this photo advocated that porn is violence against women. By Lily Bohlke bohlkeli@grinnell.edu The sex wars of the 1980s were characterized by debates about the censorship of pornography as well as sex, sexuality and sexual practice. Today at 4 p.m., the two sections of the Gender, Women’s and Sexuality Studies (GWSS) senior capstone seminar “Bad Feminists/Bad Critics” will be arguing against each other, each section taking a position that the actors may or may not agree with, according to Professor Leah Allen, GWSS. The seminar Bad Feminists/ Bad Critics studies feminist figures and theorists who are no longer part of the mainstream feminist movement. One of these figures is Andrea Dworkin, who was a big player in the sex wars advocating for censorship of pornography. “The gist of the semester is that it’s looking back at the way we tell the history of feminism and then specifically looking at those who are now left out,” Allen said. “So people who have been bad
feminists and considered bad for that feminist cause, whatever that is. I say whatever that is because it’s a lot more nuanced than we think.” This year is the second time the seminar will be reenacting this debate. The anti-sex, procensorship section will be arguing that pornography is violence against women because it affects their material lives, while the other pro-sex, anti-censorship side argues that censorship of pornography is a patriarchal attempt to censor women’s sexuality, according to Allen, as well as Julia MarquezUppman ’17, who will be arguing in favor of censorship of pornography. “The basic facets of our argument are that porn causes material harm to women, [and] there’s a direct relationship between image and reality … This idea that in porn, not only the women who are actually having violence enacted against them, but also that porn causes those who watch it to reenact the behaviors they see and perpetuate the same violence,” Marquez-Uppman said. “Because porn is directly affecting women’s
safety, yes, we’re talking about censorship, but the issue is not a censorship issue because porn is not free speech, it is violence against women.” The anti-censorship argument, according to Allen and MarquezUppman, essentially won the sex wars, in the sense that it began the line of feminist critical theory that mainstream feminism engages in today. Many of the pro-censorship arguments that will be argued in this class are what the class has been reading: feminist theorists and critics whose writings are no longer representative of the current feminist movement. “One of the biggest things is [that] no, it isn’t a free speech issue, [it’s] infringing on the first amendment by trying to censor anything. I think the most compelling argument of the anticensorship side is that it reframes sex as a liberation thing, not as something that perpetuates violence but something that can be a space of freedom and self-discovery and pleasure, especially for women since women’s sexuality has been
historically repressed and denied,” Marquez-Uppman said. This year, there are enough students in the two sections to have a third role. Two students, including Merlin Matthews ’17, will be protesting the event from a position against both sides.
"One of the biggest questions of the sex wars was the relationship between reality and representation and how much of an impact an image has on life and I feel like the way we interact with images is very different now than it was then." Julia Marquez-Uppman '17 “We’re going to be protesting from a narco-feminist position of engaging in this debate and attempting to use the legal system to codify your positions is engaging too much with patriarchy and oppressive structures, so you’re all
a bunch of sell-outs,” Matthews said. The structure of the debate will include opening statements, rebuttals and closing statements. The two protesters will be using the time in between opening statements and rebuttals to make their points. Allen noted that one valuable aspect of this debate for participants is the opportunity to do research on and take the point of view of a position they may not agree with. Although the anti-censorship position is most widely accepted, all three said that they see similar arguments among people today, although in different forms. “In the 80s it was about dirty magazines … That was the context, but now we have all this new stuff, like we have revenge porn, that thing of teenagers videotaping their friends raping people. One of the biggest questions of the sex wars was the relationship between reality and representation and how much an impact an image has on life and I feel like the way we interact with images is very different now than it was then,” Marquez-Uppman said.
March 1st resistance held rally and teach-ins at Transgender four locations during normal school hours to resist sensitivity planet and our social lives can’t sustain this level of degradation and toxic exploitation anymore.” In an email to the organizers of the event, Scott wrote that her decision to take part in the action was informed by both the significance of student activism in creating change and also the mission of the College. “As a teaching college whose primary duty and desire is to make students critical and informed thinkers, I am supporting the efforts of March 1st because I think it is an opportunity for students/citizens/ workers to practice what is learned. I believe a key to being global citizens is also being a global participant in whatever local we find ourselves.” Scott, who spoke to a packed
TAKAHIRO OMURA
Professor Tim Dobe, religious studies, gave one of the teach-ins at 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday. His talk was called "People Power: Finding your Inner Radical," in Saints Rest. Continued from Front Page The day continued as protesters— mostly members of the Grinnell Campus community—filed from the Grill onto the steps in front of the JRC for a rally and briefing on the ensuing direct action. Students took turns explaining their involvement in the demonstration to the crowd of about 100. Deqa Aden ’18 described her experience with massive student demonstrations in Somaliland, and called on students at Grinnell College to follow suit. Before marching into downtown Grinnell, student organizer Simonne Carlton ’18, cautioned students to keep the event peaceful. “Note that no one is risking arrest at this event — not today, anyway. Today is about love and compassion, and we expect the protest to remain non-violent,” they said. Students marched along 8th Ave. and then down Park St. before picketing the sidewalk in front of Wells Fargo bank. The crowd marched single file up and down the sidewalk, chanting “this is what democracy looks like,”
singing “This Land is Your Land,” and listening to speakers who stood in front of the Wells Fargo with a megaphone, denouncing the bank’s investment in the Dakota Access Pipeline. In a joint effort by faculty
"We're making a sarifice so that we can made a statement for our community, that we do not accept what is going on in the Trump administration. And we can't treat every day like a normal day, because none of this is normal." Taylor Burton '18 and students, the March 1st actions following the anti-DAPL demonstration at Wells Fargo took the form of teach-ins and discussions. Topics covered in the teach-ins ranged from the global and historical to the local: Professor Timothy Dobe, religious studies, and Activist Raphael
Mimoun spoke on the process by which individuals connect with activist movements; Professors Ross Haenfler, sociology, and Professor Joshua Ramey, philosophy, spoke on the anthropological significance of “honor cults” in perpetuating harmful white masculinities; Professor Jonathan Andelson '70, anthropology, spoke of his experience with student activism during his time at Grinnell and Professor Kesho Scott, sociology, spoke of the historic role of activism by students in the U.S. and at Grinnell College over the past fifty years. Ramey, who spoke to over 50 students in Faulconer Gallery during his teach-in on Wednesday, commented that “the fight for honor and prestige, the fight for competitive advantage in the market, is the only way to survive, whereas in earlier cultural moments it was possible to survive without dominating others through economic competition.” Of his role as an activist, Ramey said that “since the 2008 financial crisis, I’ve become utterly convinced that unless people band together to create a different economic future than global capitalism, that the
"...unless people band together to create a different economic future than global capitalism, that the planet and our social lives can't sustain this level of degradation and toxic exploitation anymore"
Professor Joshua Ramey, philosophy Spencer Grill at 3 p.m. on Wednesday, cancelled a class to participate in the event, reflecting the organizers’ goal to interrupt business as usual on campus. Student organizers Taylor Burton ’18, Morgane Garnier ’19, and Naomi Runder ’19 said that they intended for the event to disrupt daily activities at the College, and emphasized the importance of a strike from the classroom. “We [will] disrupt business as usual, which is why we aren’t attending class. We’re making a sacrifice so that we can make a statement for our community, that we do not accept what is going on in the Trump administration. And we can’t treat every day like a normal day, because none of this is normal,” Burton said. The other goal of March 1st, she said, was “to start a coalition between groups and students on campus, with members of the community and with schools in the US.”
trainings
Continued from Front Page that is single sex, so we’re looking to increase single sex slightly, and then potentially moving away from most co-ed spaces [to gender inclusive]. By the end of March we’ll have made the final decision on exactly how much we’re going to grow that gender inclusive pot.” Simultaneously, work has been underway to improve the process by which students can change their preferred name and preferred gender pronouns, which is currently a complicated ordeal. “We’ve been trying to formalize a process that is less cumbersome for individual students. We are working to create essentially a webform where people can submit their pronouns and their name, and then that will be less of an onus on an individual,” said Conner. In changes that are more driven by students, the Office of Intercultural Affairs (OIA) is working to develop transgender sensitivity trainings for faculty and staff. This comes after members of the Transgender Advocacy Group (TAG) were frustrated with how some professors dealt with issues such as pronouns, and wanted to ensure that all faculty were aware of how to treat transgender students. Ian McConnaughay ’17, co-leader of TAG, said that the group has been working with Maure Smith-Benanti, the Director of OIA, to develop a training that meets the needs of transgender students. “I’m trans and I’ve had problems with professors in the classroom before, just trying to get them to not misgender me and so forth. And we’ve collected these stories of ways that professors have been less than stellar in their sensitivity to trans issues,” McConnaughay said. “There’s a definite probability of being able to reach out to department heads first of all to give them trans sensitivity information, that they can then disseminate in their departments.”
Community The S&B reviews: House Study Bill 133
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Edited by vitaioli@grinnell.edu
Atmosphere Vapes
proposed, would reduce Iowa gun restrictions By Philip Kiley kileyphi@grinnell.edu House Study Bill 133, which, if passed would enact new regulations concerning the possession of deadly weapons and the use of deadly force, passed out of subcommittee on February 20. The bill introduces provisions that give the state more control over where firearms are allowed and contains a “stand your ground” clause that eliminates the duty to retreat from danger. Division X of the bill is the most controversial. The section removes the obligation to retreat from any place where one is lawfully present. Additionally, people would be allowed to use force, including deadly force, to defend themselves on the basis of reasonable belief of danger. This is supported by a section stating that should the person engaged in self-defense be wrong about the amount of danger they were in, they may still have acted lawfully if any reasonable person would have acted similarly. The bill is worrying to some Iowans. “My general outlook on policies, especially when I don’t have time to look at them in depth, is to ask the following question: is the benefit of this something that I can identify, and is it going to be bigger than any potential cost or harm. It seems to me that the only possible benefit of this would be if people feel like this increases security. I don’t know why else we would want people more freely walking around with guns. I can’t think of any benefit that would surpass the much higher risks of people finding this anxiety inducing, intimidating, and of course, leading to increased shootings,” said Professor Doug Hess ‘91, political science. Proponents of the bill argue that increased guns mean increased safety, but Hess disagrees. “Just because somebody imagines in their head that they can be a hero doesn’t mean that they actu-
ally know what’s happening, and it doesn’t mean that they are a good shot, and they may shoot the wrong people or interpret the situation the wrong way,” Hess said. “We saw in Kansas a few weeks ago some people killed, some immigrants, based on their appearance. … The benefit [of the bill] strikes me as rare and small, the cost strikes me as high and common.” The bill allows children of any age to handle handguns under direct supervision. This is a reduction from the previous restriction at fourteen years. The bill does not allow for people under the age of twenty-one to independently possess a handgun. The bill also allows for guns to be carried on the grounds of the state capital. Despite broad decreases of individual areas’ ability to ban guns, employers, law enforcement centers and other groups are still allowed to ban guns except for those carried by police officers. “To have people just walking around with guns, how do you distinguish between people who are responsible and irresponsible? Why would you want to take your kids anywhere near a location where people are walking around with guns?” Hess said. The bill still needs to pass out of committee by March 3 in order to be viable in this government session. If the bill passes out of committee, it will have to be passed by the House of Representatives and repeat the entire process in the Senate before being signed by the Governor. In that process, the bill will likely undergo numerous revisions. Ultimately, Iowans must balance personal with public safety. “Things can go wrong,” Hess said, “but even if that is rare, the cost is enormous. One kid shot or one adult shot is far more likely to happen than this picture of people being heroic and somehow preventing crime.”
JACKSON SCHULTE
From left to right: Marchesi talks shop with Puls; Marchesi tests an ambrosia vape falvor By Jack Marchesi marchesi@grinnell.edu Atmosphere Vapors is a breath of fresh air for the residents of Grinnell. Nestled between Pagliai’s Pizza and an unmarked apartment building on 5th Avenue lies the hazy and laidback storefront. After realizing a potential market for vaporizers existed in Grinnell, Travis Puls opened shop in late August of 2016. Following a couple successful months in Grinnell, Puls seized the opportunity to monopolize the vape scene of the immediate area, opening another location in Newton.
“He noted one of his incentives to open Atmosphere Vapors as being able to provide a healthier and cost-effective method for members of his hometown to rid their harmful dependency." As the vape clouds settled upon entrance, so did I and Jackson Schulte ‘20. We became acquainted with Joe Martin, a new employee, and he told us about how he got into vaping. Martin told us that he was previously addicted to cigarettes and started vaping in order to kick his unhealthy habit.
“Smoking was killing me, man,” Martin told us — but after switching to an entry-level vape, Martin immediately noticed improvement in his ability to breathe, smell and taste. This led us to inquire about Atmosphere Vapors’ target audience and if they too intended to find a healthier alternative. Owner Travis Puls estimated that thirty to forty percent of his customers are trying to ditch cigarettes or chewing tobacco. Martin explained to us that one can buy vape fluids with varying amounts of nicotine — including twelve, six and zero percent — empowering former cigarette smokers to gradually kick their habit. Being from Grinnell, Puls is no stranger to the prevalence of tobacco products in the area. He noted one of his incentives to open Atmosphere Vapors as being able to provide a healthier and cost-effective method for members of his hometown to rid their harmful dependency. After settling in and talking shop, it was time to vape. Though they carry countless flavors, such as cinnamon toast crunch with milk, we went with Martin’s suggestion: ambrosia. Due to FDA regulations, vape flavor sampling costs fifty cents. This is, however, a small price to pay for their commitment to cleanliness as well as an ability to try as many flavors as one
Take advantage of free, onsite TelePsych services
desires. This ability to sample before making a purchase provides hospitality that vape enthusiasts won’t find online. In fact, neighborliness is an integral part of Atmosphere Vapors’ business. Puls told us how they meticulously choose most of their fluids from Midwestern craft liquid distributors, showing their commitment to local business.
“Overall, the employee hospitality coupled with the store’s simple, but comprehensive layout left us with an exceptional impression."
Overall, the employee hospitality coupled with the store’s simple, but comprehensive, layout left us with an exceptional impression. Grinnell is a small town — we don’t even have a pharmacy within a short distance — so at a first glance, the presence of a vape shop may seem a little particular. That being said, our brief conversation with Puls and Martin unearthed the intentions of the business, indicating that a significant market for vaporizers is present in Grinnell. For college students seeking to kick their cigarette habits, or even #straightedge students who are just in it for the flavor, we thoroughly recommend a visit to Atmosphere Vapors.
Student Health and Counseling Services now offers students free, onsite telemedicine psychiatry through a partnership with University of Iowa Health Care. Virtual TelePsych visits with Physician Assistant Debra Poole of University of Iowa Health Care occur at SHACS, where you’ll be connected with Debra during a secure videoconferencing session. SHACS nurses and counselors are available to provide support during sessions. Grinnell College covers the cost of the sessions, and your insurance is not billed for the appointment. If medication is prescribed, your insurance will be utilized at that time to cover the cost of the medication. Debra, a native of Montana, has had a varied career as a professional musician, gifted education specialist, massage therapist, yoga teacher and physician assistant. She also: • holds a Master of Physician Assistant Studies from the University of Iowa; • completed the Physician Assistant Fellowship in Psychiatry at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics; • works with adults in the university’s Outpatient Psychiatry Clinic; and • helps provide services to patients at a substance abuse treatment center.
enjoy working “withI thoroughly the bright and creative students at Grinnell College and am inspired by their insight, thoughtfulness, and motivation to learn. Debra Poole
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If you are in interested in TelePsych services or in need of mental health prescription medication management, please call SHACS at 641-269-3230.
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True Grinnellian: By Andrea Baumgartel baumgart1@grinnell.edu Everyone in the Grinnell community knows Roger Bortell. “I can drive around, go block by block, and point out all the people I know,” he says, with an unabashed smile. The 52-year-old is a lifelong resident of Grinnell, a cancer survivor, and the man who saved and revitalized Food Recovery Network: a College-started chapter of a nation-wide volunteer organization (FRN). The Grinnell chapter alone donates more than 10,000 pounds of excess food per year from the College dining hall and local venders to the greater community.
“I can drive around, go block by block, and point out all the people I know." Roger Bortell It was by pure accident — some may say fate — that Roger crossed paths with the students who were starting FRN back in 2014 at the First Presbyterian Church. At that time, the club was struggling in terms of finding efficient and effective distribution methods and ways to publicize FRN to community members. “I’ve always looked for ways I could help others,” Roger began. “Dylan [Bondy ‘16] approached our church, and eventually got connected with me. I sat down with the students and listened as they explained what they were doing and what their goals were for FRN. I told them, ‘This is what you’re doing wrong, that’s what you’re doing wrong, but this is what we can do to make it better.’” Soon, FRN was flourishing — in large part due to Roger, a natural fit for the network, as he had spent his entire adult life both working in the food service industry and volunteering his time through church community service programs. “I have management skills,” Bortell said. “I had a job as assistant manager at Taco Johns before they even finished putting the walls up.” These skills quickly translated to the nonprofit realm. Roger imple-
Community
Roger Bortell
CONTRIBUTED
Roger Bortell takes a break between distributions at the Food Recovery Network. mented numerous changes to FRN’s distribution methods. From making decisions on how to transport the food, contacting other community venues such as local restaurants, hospitals and grocery stores, extending distribution to Saturdays and even implementing increased hygiene protocol, Roger has been the catalyst for the impact FRN has had on 150+ community members in need every week. “It’s hard to spread news by word of mouth, unless you know everybody — which I pretty much do,” said Roger, with a jovial grin.
“I’ve always looked for ways I could help others.” Roger Bortell Soon, a huge increase of people attended distributions, and more local vendors — including Hy-Vee, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell — were donating massive amounts of food in addition to the dining hall. But what is most amazing, and inspiring, about Roger is his tenacity to continue advocating for others in the face of personal struggle. Shortly after FRN took off, Roger was diagnosed with lymphoma. “The commitment I put into this, … I was on my deathbed, the cancer had grown so much, up my organs. … I had my lung drained twice while still getting food passed out. I got chemo every few months, then I’d take
maybe the first week or two off, then come back and do the third week. I’d make sure to get the food passed out each Thursday, Friday and Saturday so that people would still know that they could get food,” Bortell said, with a calm, humble honesty. “This town is my hometown.” Working with FRN kept Roger in a positive place throughout his treatment. “Food Recovery Network played a large role in my own recovery from cancer,” he stressed multiple times. Roger has also overcome battles with alcoholism and drugs. Years before starting at FRN or even regularly attending church, Roger was put on parole for minor charges When he broke parole upon illegal drug use, he was sentenced to 23 months in prison. But instead of just waiting out his time, Roger became the definition of proactive, using his formative experience in prison as a source of education and faith. “Instead of getting mad about it, I actually sat down and studied the Bible. I studied for 6-8 hour days. You can imagine my stack of 38 bible books,” he said. “I took the time to grow and mature and to understand what I wanted out of life, not just what life was handing me. Life had handed me quite a few bad apples, and I didn’t run with it very well until then. Being disabled for 25 years, I have not laid down and
Edited by vitaioli@grinnell.edu
University of Iowa to be carbon free by 2025
By Riley Murphy murphyri@grinnell.edu On Monday, Feb. 20, University of Iowa President Bruce Harreld announced plans for the University of Iowa to increase renewable energy sources and be coal-free by 2025. The University’s renewable energy program has been has been working toward a coal-free campus since 2003. “It’s the right choice for our students and our campus, and it’s the surest path to an energy-secure future,” Harreld said in the press release about the initiative. In addition to becoming coal-free by 2025, the University also set a goal of 40 percent renewable energy by 2020. The school began its initiative in 2003 with locally based biomass alternative fuels that were compatible with existing distribution and boilers. Since then, the school has planted 550 acres of Giant Miscanthus grass and has formed a partnership with Quaker Oats for collecting industrial by-products like oat hulls, according a the University of Iowa press release. The University’s renewable energy initiative began when the University of Iowa Power Plant engineered an economical way of using oat hulls to co-fire with coal, and they can now use grass and wood chips, which they get from a pallet manufacturing facility. The school’s goal is to plant 2,500 acres of Giant Miscanthus grass to supply a source for the school’s renewable energy initiative. Additionally, the perennial crops will improve erosion and water quality, a continuing issue in Iowa, and supply a wildlife habitat. This goal has been made in partnership
with Eastern Iowa Airport and Iowa State University. Grinnell College has not yet set a date to become carbon neutral, but a sustainability plan is expected. In 2011, President Raynard Kington signed the American College and University Presidents’ Climate Commitment, a climate change visibility effort by the organization Second Nature. The American College and University Presidents’ Climate Commitment, or ACUPCC, has been joined by over 650 schools that commit to “measure and report their greenhouse gas emissions, take immediate actions to reduce them, and develop and implement a plan to go climate neutral,” according to an ACUPCC statement. While Drake University, Coe College and Grinnell College have all committed to the initiative, University of Iowa and Iowa State University have not. The College has previously created carbon emission reduction goals and has been using environmentally responsible building criteria for all construction and renovation since 2006, according to the Grinnell College Environmental Stewardship. Like University of Iowa, Grinnell College has been increasing sources of renewable energy, including “a 50 kilowatt wind turbine at CERA, a 21 kilowatt solar array on the Facilities Management office building, and a three kilowatt solar array on the Preschool,” said Chris Bair ‘96, the College’s Environmental and Safety Coordinator. And while Grinnell still hasn’t made a carbon neutral initiative, Bair said that there are some plans in progress and, “hopefully that will change in the not too distant future.”
CONTRIBUTED
The University of Iowa announced its carbon free plan on Feb. 20.
Political organizing continues at Mayflower Center community meeting By Keli Vitaioli vitaioli@grinnell.edu The March 1st resistance schedule concluded with the community meeting from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the Carman Center and the Mayflower Retirement Community. A group of many community members with a few professors and students met to discuss policy action the community believes they should pursue moving forward. Susan Ferrari, Director of Corporate, Foundation and Government Relations, led the meeting, beginning by discussing all the work still to be done in preparation. Ferrari specifically talked about planning the second legislative coffee this Saturday, March 4 at 8:30 a.m., hosted by the League of Women Voters which will bring State Senator Tim Kapucian and State Representative Dave Maxwell to answer questions regarding policy concerns with the community. “We first got together to talk about how to foster change in what’s proving to be a very scary time at the local and the national level,” Ferrari said. “And we’re here today because we have some events coming up that we need to prepare for … and determine how we can be most effective at really pressing our state representatives to let them know about the issues we care about and how we want them to take actions.” Next, Janet Carl, Writing Lab, came forward to give a rundown of legislation and what has been going on since Trump took office. “I’ve got some great news, did you know there are 25 fabulous
things that have happened since Donald Trump became president?" Carl asked. “The first one was millions of people know the names of their representatives without googling it. Another one on the list, one of my personal favorites is Alec Baldwin has a career again – we’ve forgotten what a jerk he was." Carl was able to steer the conversation from its jovial tone back to more serious congressional matters soon after. She discussed what stage each was at and how close it was to being passed by the end of this legislative session on Friday, March 3. Such bills include a “Personhood” bill, which would ban abortions and restrict other forms of birth control, a bill that would remove nutritional mandates for school lunches and a bill that would eliminate age and permit restrictions for purchasing firearms.
“We first got together to talk about how to foster change in what's proving to be a very scary time at the local and the national level ... and we're here today because we have some events coming up that we need to prepare for" Susan Ferrari There was some encouraging news from Carl, House Study Bill 138, the bill to end licensing for many professions including social workers and barbers had died in sub-committee. However, there is
Movies at the Strand
LOGAN
still a lot of work to be done by constituents contacting legislators to prevent those more aggressive bills that are in committee or sub-committee from being passed before the
“Another one on the list, one of my personal favorites, is Alec Baldwin has a career again ... " Janet Carl end of session. Blair Lawton, the First District field director for the Iowa Democratic Party introduced himself and spoke of the Party’s plan to put larger efforts into taking back the current Republican district during the Congressional elections next year in 2018. Professor David Harrison, French, discussed his experience with other members of the community discussing policy with a representative for Republican Congressman Rod Blum last week. His overall opinion of the conversation was positive. While the representative could not answer questions or make any promises, he took notes and promised to convey the concerns to Blum. Professor Ed Cohn, History, spoke about his own experience attending Senator Chuck Grassley’s legislative coffee in Parkersburg, three hours from Grinnell. Grassley’s team was originally expecting 20 people, but Cohn estimates between 150 to 200 attended. He commented on the hostile nature of that talk, and while most questions were
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anti-Trump, there were a few that were pro-Trump. Cohn commended Grassley actually showing up for this talk, as other representatives have been shying away from face to face meetings. He emphasized the importance of continuing to attend these talks when possible and getting national representatives to come to Iowa’s first district and how to ask them the right kinds of questions. “I’d say in general terms there are two things that good questions do,” Cohn said. “One is to make it clear that we’re following the issues, we’re following what the legislature is doing and hence the legislators are being held accountable. The second is ask specific, clear questions that aren’t too detailed … as you know politicians will take whatever chance they have to dodge the question or answer it on their own terms.” Terese Grant, co-president of the League of Women Voters took a moment to remind everyone that the coffees are meant to be a respectful conversation. She commented on conversations like the one Cohn attended that may have turned unproductively hostile, and her belief that “Grinnell can do better than that.” A representative for the local democratic party then spoke on the meeting occurring after the forum that is an “off-year caucus organizational meeting,” discussing what issues and goals the party will take on in 2017. The large group then broke into smaller focus groups which took on the task of developing specific questions for their categories for
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the Legislative Coffee, such as reproductive rights, first amendment rights and public education. Nate Williams ’20 has attended the first and second community meeting. Williams, a member of the pipeline focused group, has found optimism in the grassroots organizing that has been taking place for others to get involved outside of the campus. “It is inspiring to see community members coming together like this and really trying to make change. It gives me hope that meetings like this are happening all over the country. In this case, I think it's important that students who are involved in organizing communicate with other
“It is inspiring to see community members coming together like this and really trying to make change. " Nate Williams '20 members of our community. Williams joined with other environmentally focused groups at this meeting to create a wider picture of environmental issues and impacts at stake in Iowa. He noted the importance of working together and educating one another on the current issues. “A lot of the work is informing each other, so part of what I shared was some of the calls to action that water protectors gave on Monday at their panel in Herrick. They asked communities to let the local politicians know that Iowa does not support the pipeline, as well as a call for divestment from Wells Fargo.”
THE GREAT WALL Standard: 7 p.m. 3D: 4 p.m., 9:20 p.m. Matt Damon is a #whitesavior in this action flick where The Great Wall is under attack, but don't worry bc he's gonna white save it.
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Edited by kielyphi@grinnell.edu
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Grinnell College student parents share their stories By Philip Kiely kielyphi@grinnell.edu Being a college student is a demanding job; classes, activities and work take up a lot of time for everyone. At Grinnell, several students balance these responsibilities with the incredible task of raising a family. There are millions of student parents in the United States, and though their challenges are not often discussed, their stories are inspirational and admirable. Hassan Thompson ’19 is a defensive lineman on the Grinnell Football team, a full-time student and is married with an eighteenmonth-old son. “It’s a blessing. I guess it is hard, kind of stressful at times, but then you’ve got that motivation every day of why you’re here, why you’re doing what you’re doing, it keeps me motivated to keep pushing to try for greatness for him,” Thompson said. Thompson had nothing but praise for his son. " He’s a wonderful kid, a smart, independent, strong-willed kid. He wants to do what he wants to do when he wants to do it, just like his mother. Funny kid, loving, couldn’t wish for anything else. It’s a blessing," Thompson said. Thompson’s wife attends Iowa Valley Community College, and they work together to raise their son. “A lot of it is through my wife, her taking on a big role as a mother, being there for away games and long nights when I’m still in Noyce studying … being able to take on both parent roles for me at times,” Thompson said. He is able to play on the football team due to extensive time management. “You have to really prioritize your time. Definitely, with different components of life, being a father, student, athlete and husband, just being sure I dedicate the right amount of time to each one and put my family first,” Thompson said. Football allows Thompson take a couple hours for himself every day. “I’m still just a big kid just taking on these roles. I have to be an adult for my kid, but there are times that I still am a kid. That’s why I still play football, that’s the one part of the day when I get to run around on the field and be a kid, I don’t have
to worry about all of these responsibilities that I have for school and making sure that my son is okay,” Thompson said. Thompson also credits his faith for helping him cope with the challenges of being a student parent. “I’m very strong in my faith, so first I give all props to God for keeping me strong … obviously I couldn’t make sure that I take care of my family and not go to college at the same time because you just can’t stop me from being strong, can’t stop me from wanting to do what I want to do or stop me from wanting to reach my goals,” Thompson said. The Thompsons have also found support within their church and community.
"With different components of life, being a father, student, athlete and husband, just being sure I dedicate the right amount of time to each one and put my family first." Hassan Thompson '19 “Spring semester I met Nathan Smith, he’s a coach and a part of Facilities Management, I attend church with him, I told him about my family, he opened up his doors for them until I got on my feet to get us into a house for the next semester to live off campus,” Thompson said. Thompson credited Robin Campbell ’18 as a mentor. Campbell is a psychology major who is married to an alumnus and has two children, ages two and one. “I have a husband who works for Grinnell; he works for alumni relations, and two children, a two and a half year old and a one year old,” Campbell said. She echoed many of Thompson’s thoughts on raising a family as a full-time student. “It’s really hard, I think that having a spouse to alienate some of the task and roles has been very helpful, I wouldn’t be able to do it on my own at all. Having a good social support system, I have a few friends who have children and are trying to finish their education at Grinnell. I know a lot of people in town who are very supportive as well, and my advisors help and assistance has been very helpful,” Campbell said. For Campbell, being a mother is
rewarding and challenging. “I wouldn’t change anything for the world. I love it; I love being a mom, if I could go back and not have kids that wouldn’t be an option for me,” Campbell said, “Now that I have a family … I’m trying to find a new way to still be great at everything.” Some people in the community have been supportive, but many believe the college could do a lot more to support student parents. “Certain people have been very supportive, and there are those who have not been at all. There are a lot of things that myself and a few other students have tried to advocate for, specifically for student parents, that we either weren’t heard about or they didn’t think was a good idea so they just brushed it off," Campbell said. Campbell, however, has noted the role housing has played. "One of the biggest things that kind of sucks is that we don’t feel that sense of community with the campus. Being closer to campus, maybe having a project house, the student parenting house or something. We also mentioned having a child-friendly space on campus … we talked about receiving some type
Get to know your SEPCs: Computer Science and the rest of us kind of answered. For example, one of our professors was in a rock band so we had to guess which of the professors was in a rock band in college- everyone was trying to guess ‘oh my god is it him or is it her? Which professor would have been that cool in college to have been a part of a rock band?’ That was fun and I felt a good connection with the professors in the department,” Kyaruzi said.
LIAM LI
The computer science SEPC plans events for computer science students. By Ridhika Agrawal agrawalr@grinnell.edu The SEPC for computer science consists of Ajuna Kyaruzi ’17, Michael Owusu ’17, Ying Long ’17, Aleksandar Hrusanov ’18, Lukas Resch ’19 and Maddie Kirwin ’19. The SEPC has many functions ranging from organizing events for students to serving as a medium of communication between the students and the professors. “Our main duties are hosting study breaks just generally, kind of getting the department together. We gather feedback from students to give to professors about how classes are going. So if students want to say something about the professor, about a class or they have any compliments or complaints they can come and tell us and then we pass it anonymously to the professors,” Kyaruzi said. Additionally, the SEPC is responsible for faculty reviews when hiring new professors, as the department did recently. They receive training for this role including implicit bias training. “People from very very large colleges have a different time coming to Grinnell because of how small it is.
Our department is very welcoming but also sort of casual. The professor student bond is strong in my opinion,” Kyaruzi said. The SEPC discusses issues among themselves and communicates with the faculty. “We meet with our department chair [Samuel Rebelsky] once a week and talk to him about anything we have heard about classes from student. We have a group chat which is always a lot of fun. I like everyone in the SEPC- they are all really cool people,” Kyaruzi said.
"Our main duties are hosting study breaks just generally, kind of getting the department together." Ajuna Kyaruzi '17 Together, they plan a lot of events for computer science students including pub nights and jeopardy nights. They also have a computer science picnic every semester with the math department. “I remember pub night several years ago and all the professors came and we had questions about the professors on a list. They formed a team
SARAH RUIZ
Hassan Thompson '19 and Grace Thompson live in town with their eighteen-month-old son.
"The department has changed since I have been a part of it ... it’s grown a lot because of the interest in computer science growing." Ajuna Kyaruzi '17 There has been significant positive change in the SEPC as a result of the evolution of computer science as a stream of study. “The department has changed since I have been a part of it. I joined it as a first year and I have been a part of the SEPC for two years. It’s grown a lot because of the interest in computer science growing. We try to get people in the intro level classes interested and excited about computer science and try to make them feel welcome. That to me is the main role of the SEPC so that they know that we are available as a resource to them if they want to talk about anything going on in their classes,” Kyaruzi said. The SEPC also represents the inclusiveness and diversity that is fundamental to the computer science department. “We come from different walks of life which is really nice. I feel like we represent a good mixture of people in the department–a couple of us are international students; some are domestic students, while some are students of color. Everyone from different walks of life can feel like they have someone who represents them in the SEPC,” Kyaruzi said.
of aid to help with childcare because working at Grinnell College doesn’t pay much at all, not enough to sup-
"Right now I’m working about sixty hours a week in town plus about twenty on campus, and I’m doing eighteen credits worth of school, and I’m raising my child. " Chanyce Williams '17 port a family,” Campbell said. Overall, Campbell considers Grinnell to be a good city to raise her family. " There are a lot of opportunities here that I wouldn’t have had back at home, also it’s very safe, a very small community. I wouldn’t want to go back to Chicago and raise my family," Campbell said. Chanyce Williams ’17 is another student parent at Grinnell. “For me, it’s been hard because there’s always a sacrifice somewhere. Right now I’m working about sixty hours a week in town plus about twenty on campus, and I’m doing eighteen credits worth of school, and I’m raising my child. There’s always a sacrifice somewhere, for me it’s about learning to balance those sacrifices so that one
area is not always lost,” Williams said. There are also significant intersectional issues to consider with student parents. “This is going to sound blunt, but it doesn’t help that we’re students of color. Robin and I were working with Title IX last year and this year and just to see the haste in some of the decisions they were making with other types of students and how quick they respond to their urgencies and concerns. It was amazing, but when it came to us and our concerns, yes, there are only three sets of families on this campus, but it doesn’t help that we’re students of color. I think it adds a stigma that black people just have kids earlier, they are then on these types of assistance, because that was the vibe that we were getting when we were asking for help,” Williams said. Being a student parent is an enormous responsibility that many undertake without sufficient institutional or communal support. Fortunately, these student parents at Grinnell are truly extraordinary people, and are able to make the most of the situation. “I’m pretty happy, so I’m blessed for that,” Thompson said.
Day in the life: A.T. Tambay
HELENA GRUENSTEIDL
7:12 a.m.—Wake up, groggy, immediately turn on music, shower if I haven't the night before. 7:25 a.m.—Hop out of the shower, put on the outfit I have put out the night before. 7:30 a.m.—Dip to DHall for breakfast (coffee with almond milk, Plat if it’s good, otherwise, granola with yogurt.) 7:53 a.m.—Out to Professor Chan's International Economics with the good man Rick Johnson ‘20. 8 a.m.—Class, good times. Fun fact: Did you know Mexico had a "Tequila Crisis" in 1994? 9 a.m.— CS 151 with Professor Sam Rebelsky. For those familiar with Harry Potter, if you think closely, you will find striking similarities between Sam and Professor Dumbledore. 10 a.m.—Applied Stats with Prof. Fellers and my good friend Max Hill ‘20. So many fun facts to choose from … 11:30 a.m.—Converse with homies in Laurel Leaf, head to lunch. 12 p.m.—Lunch. Highly recommend the white pepper from the spice rack, provides multi-dimensional flavor. 1 p.m.—Miscellaneous tasks. e.g. Fold clothes whilst listening to podcast on biostatistics, nap, read not
for class. The Undoing Project by Michael Lewis, fantastic read. Or do some class reading or drawing homework. Probably the latter. If it were a Tuesday or Thursday, drawing with Lee Running, highly recommended course, learn to draw, see and art. 4 p.m.—Work at the ITS Service Desk with James Msekela ‘20, who has Grinnell's loudest laugh by far. 5:30 p.m.—Racquetball or ISC. If anyone wants to get better at the former, talk to Blake Rish, amazing instructor. 7:30 p.m.—Dinner. 8 p.m.—Shower, then head to Noyce for work. 8:30 p.m.—Work Either on Stats with Max Hill '20, CS with my partner, or Econ with Mukund Kalani ‘20, Rick Johnson '20, Pratik Karki '20 and Tom Leistikow '20. Other than Econ, most of this goes on in Stats Lab, with my brother Jason Cho ‘18 just across the room, who comes over from time to time to shoot the shit and discuss the weekend/take a study break. 12 a.m.—Brush teeth, maybe call the family if it's been a while, they are just heading to bed, 2 hours behind out west. Pick tomorrow's clothes. Then get those good REM cycles.
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Holly Roepke joins staff as Assistant Athletic Director of Diversity and Includion By Michael Cummings cummings@grinnell.edu While most offices in the Bear are occupied by coaches of various sports, a recent hire diversifies the type of jobs you can find in the athletic facility. Seeking to better address the needs of student athletes and the College in general, the College recently hired Holly Roepke as the new Assistant Athletic Director for Diversity and Inclusion.
“What I really like is the value placed on diversity and inclusion at Grinnell. It's not just a buzzword ... there's a passion of diversity and inclusion here that's not really found elsewhere” Holly Roepke, Assistant Athletic Director of Diversity and Inclusion Roepke, a transplant from Southern California, has spent her career in the fields of athletics and education. “Prior to Grinnell I worked at the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference office, a D-III conference in Southern California,” she said. “Prior to that I was a teacher, and I've worked in education and in athletics for the last, prior to that, for 14 years.” Roepke says that she left behind nicer weather because of the opportunities this new position provides. “A position like this doesn't exist everywhere in the country,
and it's an awesome place, but it's also a really great position, looking at athletic departments, [it’s] very unique,” Roepke said. In particular, Roepke sees the establishment of this position as evidence that Grinnell, unlike other institutions, is not just all talk with no action. “What I really like is the value placed on diversity and inclusion at Grinnell. It's not just a buzzword, that there's actual action behind it, and that there's an intent, and there's a passion of diversity and inclusion here that's not really found elsewhere,” Roepke said. “One of the things I had seen, I had mentioned in my interview process is, everyone kind of has a diversity and inclusion statement, 'this is what we're about' ... but not a lot of people live it. And at Grinnell, I really see there's an effort to live diversity and inclusion.” Though she has only been here for two weeks, Roepke has hit the ground running, taking quick action to learn about the College and identify areas of need. “... [M]y first 30 days I'm going to learn, and I'm going to meet with as many people as I can meet with, and understand what is in place,” she said. “It's really important to me to not come in with any preconceived notion of what is, or what should be, until I realize what is existing … so that's what I've done. I've met with a lot of people all across campus, and that's one of my goals is to really unify, and to work where needed, and to kind of bridge across the
campus and the community.” One issue in particular that Roepke hopes to address is placing more emphasis on inclusion in discussions about diversity.
“It doesn't feel small, because the College is so big, right, in so many different ways, not in population size, but in the sense of purpose” Holly Roepke
“I also feel that the diversity piece has really been a key component at least in this department, and I really want to work and focus a lot more energy on inclusion,” Roepke said. “I think it's been missed, I think with the title of 'diversity and inclusion' I think the diversity piece gets hit first, and I think it kind of trails off on the inclusion, I really want to switch that. I think the diversity is understood, right, and it's happening within capabilities, but unless we understand the inclusion part, the diversity part doesn't totally make sense.” Part of this focus on inclusion, Roepke says, will be to help students who may not be comfortable using the fitness center when it’s crowded by sports teams, find other times to work out. “[W]hen there's, you know, 50 people in that small space and they're large people and they're doing their own thing, it's not comfortable even for athletes,” Roepke said. “I think it would be great to have an orientation here, to show
MAHIRA FARAN
Holly Roepke joins Grinnell from Southern California, where she worked in teaching and athletics for over 14 years. people around the fitness center, to show people not every moment of the day looks like it does at 5:00 when the teams are in there kind of doing what they have scheduled to do at that time, and there's times ... when it looks completely different. It would be, I think a little more welcoming at different times of the day.”
Outside of her work, Roepke is finding the transition from Southern California to rural Iowa a pleasant one. “So far I'm really appreciating it,” Roepke said. “It doesn't feel small, because the College is so big, right, in so many different ways, not in population size, but in the sense of purpose.”
Track & Field look to the beginning of outdoor season By Steve Yang yangstev@grinnell.edu Grinnell track and field athletes are gearing up for the start of the outdoor season, which begins at the end of March. Coming off an indoor season that exhibited competitive experience and fantastic performances from many of its members, the Pioneers are looking forward to exceeding expectations, bringing home some medals for the Bear’s trophy cabinet. Second-year runner Gwen Holtzman ’19 noted that she is particularly excited by the outdoor season because Grinnell’s program is designed
to allow for peak performance during the outdoor conference championships. “I think throughout outdoor, you really start to see people's times drop as the training and lifting regime begins to set in,” Holtzman wrote in an email to The S&B. Drastic and unexpected improvements for the team can take place in a relatively short gap between the indoor and outdoor season. Namely, there are new athletes transitioning out of their basketball and swim seasons, and new outdoor season-specific events like the hurdles and steeplechase come into play. “For outdoor season, we do get
CONTRIBUTED
Shannon Young '17 competes in an indoor meet last season.
By Kate Irwin irwinkat@grinnell.edu Grinnell's Athletic Hall of Fame is something that most students probably don't know much about. Housing 88 athletes from various sports and class years, it brings together the past with the present. There is a Hall of Fame Committee which decides the athletes that will be inducted. It consists of various seats, such as the director of athletics, director of alumni relations and an alumni athlete. Each member of the committee reads nominations and evaluations of nominated alumni. Together this committee determines the athletes who will receive the honor of induction.Included in the Hall of Fame are Harry Hopkins '12, a former member of the basketball team and Robert Noyce '49, a member of the diving team. There are specific criteria involved with the nomination process. "There are three categories," says Andy Hamilton, the Director
of Athletics and chair on the Hall of Fame Committee. "Pure athletic success while competing as a student athlete. The second category is academic success. And the third category is post-Grinnell contributions to Grinnell, also maybe notable professional accomplishments."
The Hall of Fame recognizes talented female athletes from the time before Grinnell had official women's sports teams Alumni are able to nominate past athletes for recognition. Mailings are sent to alumni, along with a notice in the Grinnell Magazine. Coaching staff are encouraged to be part of the nomination process as well. The Hall of Fame started in 1996. Every two years six athletes are selected for induction. There are around 50-70 nominees in the
a few additional athletes from winter sports like basketball and swimming, which really helps boost our team scores, especially in the jumping and throwing events,” Holtzman wrote. “I think looking back to our performance at indoor conference last weekend, we dominated in a lot of the distance events and I expect that we will continue to perform well in those areas (3k and 5K) throughout outdoors as well.” For Lynn Nguyen ’20, a sprinter who focuses on short sprints and sprint relays and has already cemented her name in the top-ten list for the 60-meter dash, this outdoor season is an opportunity to make history at Grinnell, but also to just have fun with her team. “I would like to achieve more Grinnell all-time top 10 performances in my events,” Nguyen wrote in an email to The S&B. “I really enjoy the opportunity to belong to a community and to feel like I play an important role. I like that everyone gets to compete.” Sprinter Jonathan Braun ’17 hopes that both individual and combined efforts will help the Pioneers excel when it counts most, at the Midwestern Conference championships on May 12-13. He said that relays and individual events will be crucial for gaining points, and that
applicant pool, and this number remains relatively constant throughout the years. If an athlete is nominated but not selected, their name is returned to the applicant pool. Current students, if you have your sights set on being part of the Hall of Fame, there is a catch. "One of the bylaws requires that a former student athlete has to be out for five years before they can be inducted," Hamilton added. There has also been a recent change in a past few years regarding the process of selecting athletes. "We're on a two-year cycle now," Hamilton said. "The alumni and development office partnered with us and really felt like it was more cost-effective and a greater benefit to the college if we would have [a] more regular [selection process]. It used to be we would have an induction, then four years later, then five years later, so it's now on a more regular calendar." The Hall of Fame recognizes
HUNG VUONG
Jonathan Braun '17 and John Gallagher '17 practice in the indoor Field House. strategic competition will be the key to beating the competition. To Braun, it’s about improving both as an individual athlete and as a part of a bigger whole. “We can individually choose to put ourselves in events that help the team as a whole. For example, me doing something like the 400 hurdles is a strategic benefit for the team,” Braun said. “It’s really satisfying for me to be a part of a team, and to help my relay [team] get to the medal stand rather than just myself.” The team hopes that more Grinnellians will come out and support them in their efforts, particularly at
home meets like the Darren Young Classic. After all, the team is doing its best to represent the College proudly on both the track and the field, and to have fun while doing it. Jordan Maddaus ’19 recalled that on a recent trip to Golden Corral after indoor conference championships, Coach Will Freeman exclaimed that, “There’s something here to satisfy everyone!” Coincidentally, that’s an apt description of Grinnell’s track and field team, and its upcoming events. The team’s first competition will be on Friday, March 31, at the Embry-Riddle Classic.
talented female athletes from the time before Grinnell had official women's sports teams. The implementation of Title IX in 1972 created formalized athletic teams for women. Despite the fact that in the years before women did not formally play for the college, some of the athletes are still honored in the Hall of Fame. "We have a level of consciousness to make sure that both genders are represented," Hamilton said.
a potential inductee to the Hall of Fame, Grinnell library's archive is contacted to provide information on the athletes. "Sometimes we have a lot of material on some of these individuals, and sometimes we don't have very much at all, if anything," says Chris Jones, Special Collections and Archivist of the College. The Archives are able to offer a wide range of material for the Hall of Fame committee to view. The sources could range from photographs, sports newsletters, athletic roosters or anything else that is donated by individuals to the college. "There are football programs from the forties and fifties ... we have scrapbooks that contain event tickets from various sporting events throughout the century," Jones added. The process of being inducted into the Hall of Fame is more intricate than most people would think. The Hall of Fame is a link from the past to the present, demonstrating Grinnell's passion for sports and athletic success.
"Pure athletic success while competing as a student athlete. The second category is academic success. And the third category is post-Grinnell contributions to Grinnell, also maybe notable professional accomplishments" Andy Hamilton, Director of Athletics Once an athlete is considered
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Take a trip to Neverland this weekend
TAKAHIRO OMURA
Simone Downs '17 fills the stage as she performs at the Neverland dress rehearsal on Thursday night. Andrea Baumgartel baumgart1@grinnell.edu The last thing anyone would expect to find on a mid-week evening on a college campus would be energy—but when I opened the door to The Wall in Bucksbaum, I was immediately bombarded with the sight and sounds of the Neverland Players. If dictionary words were replaced with sensory descriptions, the word “delight” and all of its variations would appear as Neverland’s wisecracking drumbeats, the bouncing-off-the-wall-actors posing as giant babies, sorcerers and Pretty Purple Unicorn interns, the foot-stomping piano melodies and the zany yet earnest refrains arising behind the star-decked curtains. The Players did not let me sit
and take notes for long, though— despite my weariness, I was quickly included in the equally quick warmup games designed to exercise the actors’ improvisational reflexes. At this point, the Players had already been practicing for an hour and a half, and were breaking up rehearsal with these short, high-energy charades. They quickly made me feel at home, or at least feel like a welcome visitor at the home of a large, rowdy family. And considering the amount of time the Players spend together, this familial vibe came as no surprise. “These are some of the funniest people I know, and I get to hang out with them every day,” said Nora Coghlan ’17, who plays a bran-muffin-loving-sidekick-turned-hero (seriously, only kids can come up with
"The spirit of Neverland is hard to capture, but I think it allows us to travel back to the days when we were kids who believed anything was possible, and make sure that our authors believe that when they see their writing valued." Maddie Birchfield '19 this stuff). “[We practice] for so many hours. Sunday through Wednesday, for 4-5 weeks. We have weekend hangouts that we call ‘mandatory fun,’ and weekly dinners, so we’re together a lot,” Coghlan added. After the icebreaker, I was treat-
ed to a full skit, complete with choreography, costumes and instrumentalists Harley Boatsman ’19 (piano) and Jacob Friedman ’19 (drums). I was on the edge of my seat the entire time, practically about to fall off with laughter as the Pretty Purple Unicorns (the ever-so-effervescent Lukas Resch ’19 and Jonah Zimmerman ’18) pranced about the stage, or when the entire cast sang an ode to friendship and muffins to the tune of Bruno Mars’s “24K Magic.” Unlike some groups that start out strong but end up fizzling as their founders matriculate, the Neverland Players have been transforming stories written by elementary school kids since 2004. Every week, members of Neverland attend the Arts Council, located just across the street from Saints Rest. There, they meet with child authors to listen to their plot ideas. Their pieces are adapted into skits, some of which include several parodies of popular songs, with lyrics to fit the children’s stories. “For the songs, we take little crucial pieces of the kids’ stories and relate it to a popular song [that everyone knows],” said Sarah McCarthy ’19, who stars as a badass princess that rescues both herself and her family from a social-media-crazed, lag o o n -mer maid - qu een -v illain (played by the captivatingly villainous Lauren Fenton ’17). “Whether it’s funny, relevant pop culture things or little tidbits from the story, we want to make sure that the show is fun for the little kids, college students and adults,” McCarthy said. Emma Cibula ’17, who plays a sassy sorcerer, elaborated on Neverland’s group creative process. “After [we] read through the stories, we talk
about what kind of format we want the skit to take on (linear, as a frame story, more abstract, etc.) and what characters. There's no real formula in place . . . Sometimes, the characters we portray are just personified inanimate objects, so it's kind of hard to look for precedent in how to get into character to play them. No one actually knows how a taco would talk or move, so that's where individual interpretation comes in.” Every semester, two new students take on the role of director. This upcoming show is directed by Jon Mehlhaus ’19 and Maddie Birchfield ’19, who have both been a part of Neverland for all four of their semesters at Grinnell. Birchfield lead the rehearsal I attended, and she lent a sense of calm, clear direction to the whirling plot twists and dances that happened on (and off) stage. “My favorite part of Neverland is having the kids come up after the show and say that they loved their skit. This is all about showing our authors that their words are important and their ideas are worth sharing,” Birchfield explained. Birchfield also emphasized the important connection that Neverland helps reinforce between the College and the greater Grinnell community. “The spirit of Neverland is hard to capture, but I think it allows us to travel back to the days when we were the kids who believed anything was possible, and make sure that our authors believe that when they see their writing valued.” The Neverland Players will perform this Friday at 7:00 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. in the Wall Theatre in Bucksbaum. — Editor’s Note: Nora Coghlan is the Arts Editor for The S&B.
W. Kamau Bell seeks to "end racism in about an hour"
Zane Silk silkzane@grinnell.edu
When I first entered the Harris Theater on Tuesday night, I did not expect to hear many of my fellow audience members yell out loudly, “I’m white and I’m proud!” But that is exactly what happened during comedian W. Kamau Bell’s show “The W. Kamau Bell Curve: Ending Racism in About an Hour.” The show delivered a mix of biting jokes and unflinching commentary on what remains a pressing topic in the age of Donald Trump.
Bell's thesis encompassed the idea that all white people must take responsibility for racism and acknowledge their privilege Bell is a stand-up comic from San Francisco who first gained national prominence on the FX show “Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell” that ran during 2012 and 2013. Bell now hosts “United Shades of America” on CNN, as well as two podcasts. Race has been a topic of focus throughout Bell’s career, and his show at Grinnell was no different. Built around a mixture of photos and videos projected behind him, the show often felt more like a TED
talk than a traditional stand-up set. Bell spent much of the first half of the show discussing what racism is and how it persistently plagues America. He used examples such as sports team mascots that caricature Native Americans and the prevalence of white actors being cast to play people of color, and late began to introduce ways we can address racism. As the show went on, Bell continued to touch on complex and intersectional issues, such as the overrepresentation of black people in prisons and the growth of the racial wealth gap following the Great Recession. Bell’s thesis encompassed the idea that all white people must take responsibility for racism and acknowledge their privilege. Bell explained that although it is impossible for one person to seemingly “speak for their race,” black people are often expected to explain the in-
Bell's show delivered a dose of comedy to the Grinnell community, that even if just for an hour, forced many Grinnellians to consider their privilege tent and actions of black celebrities when they go too far, while white
TAKAHIRO OMURA
Comic W. Kamau Bell visited campus and performed in the Harris Cinema on Tuesday. people are almost never asked or expected to speak on the conduct of other white people. Now all of this brings us to the issue of white pride. In getting white people in the audience to, with great discomfort, shout, “I’m white and
I’m proud,” Bell hoped to engender an alternate type of white pride that takes issue with racism rather than reveling in it. He hoped that a white pride built on being anti-racist would lead white people to call out the racists in their midst. While
it seems unlikely that this new form of white pride will catch on due to its toxic connotations, Bell’s show delivered a dose of comedy to the Grinnell community that, if even just for an hour, forced many Grinnellians to consider their privilege.
Artist Ligia Bouton talks aspiration and inspiration Steve Yang yangstev17@grinnell.edu Ligia Bouton, an associate professor of interdisciplinary foundations at the University of New Mexico, gave an overview of her work titled “Conversations with
the Dead” in Faulconer Gallery on Thursday evening. Bouton discussed her aspirations, inspirations and different galleries she has worked on in the past, showing off colorful exhibitions and pieces that characterize an interest with the intersection of narrative and function.
Her work has been featured around the world in places like Prague and Colorado, and the audience reacted well to her talk. Bouton calls British designer and social organizer William Morris her “artist ancestor,” and considers herself a “direct descendant” from
HELENA GRUENSTEIDL
Artist Ligia Bouton spoke to Grinnellians gathered in Faulconer Gallery on Thursday.
the artist’s cultural imprint. In homage, Bouton created a feminist comic book superhero named “William Morris Man” which takes on the reality and literality of past and present. She also created “Understudy
This kind of a school is a good example of propriety, that stands in the way of common sense...People don’t act the way they should, help when they should, and it’s because that’s not proper for Animal Farm,” where people were put into pillowcase pig heads in an exhibit that was designed to be portable and to “blind” people. “Literally, we put this pillowcase over people’s heads. It was very playful, they had all these choices,” Bouton said. “It’s something about desire, and there was something familiar about the feel and structure of the pillowcase.” Gallery visitors who volunteered to have the pig head pillowcases placed over themselves then had their photos taken in front of a country diorama, a far cry from the
urban setting of the museum itself. “People got their photograph taken, to displace them from New York into a bucolic country scene,” she said. In her art, Bouton draws heavily from her childhood in London, England. She explained that at prestigious public schools like Eton, which generate what she calls “among the worst places in British culture,” one’s sense of behavior can often be distorted to produce particularly bad results, which also produces opportunities for artistic examination. “This kind of a school is a good example of propriety, that stands in the way of common sense,” Bouton mentioned. “People don’t act the way they should, help when they should, and it’s because that’s not proper.” Life in London also inspired illusion-based pieces like “Tea and Table Tilting,” which combines Victorian outfits with Ouija boards, and spirit imagery and glasswork sculptures. The College also owns a large drawing and glass wall sculpture created by Bouton, which are featured in the Print and Drawing Study Room in Burling Library.
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Edited by coghlann17@grinnell.edu
Grinnell Artists: Julia Broeker
"It's not really about what you're going to say or what you're going to create. Find a way to enjoy the process."
Megan Tcheng tchengme@grinnell.edu When Julia Broeker ’17 creates art, they dedicate themself to it completely. Time becomes a fluid measure. Seconds, minutes and hours trickle by with little recognition or distinction. Physical needs easily go unnoticed. Ultimately, driven by their timeline of experimentation and creation, Broeker and their art freely travel through time and space. “My mind is at its quietest when I make art,” Broeker explained, confessing to the nuances of their artistic process. “When I’m in a successful, creative place, I usually lose complete track of time. I don’t get hungry. I don’t notice that I’m thirsty. Before I know it, three hours have gone by.” From their position directly across from me, at a table nestled above the Grill, Broeker radiated an air of modesty and natural introspection. When asked a new or particularly difficult question, Broeker often hesitated and gathered their thoughts before diving into a response. Their mannerisms, in turn, echoed the thoughtful, detail-oriented tone of their artwork. As a prominent member of the Grinnell arts scene, Broeker ap-
NORA COGHLAN
proaches their art with the same air of relaxed, effortless and unassuming confidence that they employ throughout their day-today life. With creative models that range from the works of prominent artists like Jean Michel Basquiat and Cy Twombly to obscure, postWorld War II photography exhibits, Broeker quickly pointed out the importance of engaging with different communities of artists. Specifically, Broeker emphasized the formative nature of Grinnell’s art department. “One of the best parts about being an artist at Grinnell is being in a place with a lot of creative people. The best resource for an artist is other artists. It’s important to talk to people, [share] your ideas and collaborate,” Broeker added. Over the course of their fouryear long artistic career at Grinnell, Broeker has experimented with a range of different mediums and art forms. With a portfolio that ranges from sketch work to sculpture, Broeker seamlessly adopts a multi-layered platform of artistic expression. However, for Broeker, one of the most captivating and rewarding aspects of the artistic process is the creation of a physical product. Their most recent work, which
experiments with the medium of woodblock printing, directly engages with the tactile nature of their art. “Humans are always in the process of consuming – whether it’s TV or music or books,” Broeker mused. “I enjoy the manual labor of making art. I’ve tried different mediums, [like] digital art, but there’s not always the same intimacy of working with a material… There’s something special about the process of creating and making something.”
Over the course of our conversation, Broeker comfortably delved into the specifics of their artistic endeavors. When asked to describe their personal perspective as an artist, however, Broeker pushed back against common definitions of what it means to identify as an artist. “I don’t really think of myself as an artist in my daily life,” Broeker said. “Rather, my art has helped me to become more observant. I don’t like being cocooned up. I try not to wear headphones when I walk, because I like being able to listen, eavesdrop and be aware of the people around me.” As a fourth year anthropology major, Broeker manipulates their art in order to interact with and make sense of the world around them. Amidst the intensity of Grinnell academics and the demands of college life, Broeker values art’s ability to help balance their wide-ranging commitments and connect them with their surrounding community. Unsurprisingly, Broeker’s academic world often inspires and directly transfers over to their academic pursuits. Reflecting on their most creative environment, Broeker explained, “I do most of my doodling in class. It helps me focus because I get to look at something else while I’m listening. Rather than
being hyper aware of what I’m doing, it creates a kind of disconnect between me and my art. That prevents me from being hypercritical and allows me to focus on my art in a different way.” Alternating between anthropology lectures and their intensive studio art seminar, Broeker depends on their notes and margin doodles for artistic inspiration. Often times, however, it can be hard to execute their ideas to a 'T'. When asked to identify the most challenging part of creating art, Broeker hesitated before responding. “There are very few moments when you think of something in its completion and you’re able to create it exactly as you first imagined it. By the time you get to a product, it is almost always extremely different from what you started with.” For Broeker, however, the process of adapting and formulating their art is well worth the wait. As our conversation began to wind down, I asked Broeker to share their words of wisdom for any fellow artists and individuals looking to express themselves creatively. Broeker kept their answer short and sweet. “It’s not really about what you’re going to say or what you’re going to create,” Broeker advised. “Find a way to enjoy the process.”
NORA COGHLAN
TV Writer and Crime Novelist Nichelle Tramble Spellman talks style, collaboration and inspiration comedy writer, through. I think comedy is very tough.
HELENA GRUENSTEIDL
Nichelle Tramble Spellman answered questions at a roundtable in JRC 209 on Thursday afternoon, and read from one of her novels on Thursday evening. Nichelle Tramble Spellman is an award winning crime novelist. She has published two novels, and has also developed films and television projects with HBO, F/X. Dreamworks and Warner Brothers. Spellman sat down with the S&B's Emma Cibula to talk about genre, Hollywood and the politics of writing. The S&B: What draws you to the crime/noir genre? Nichelle Tramble Spellman: Well, with "The Dying Ground", I initially wrote that as a coming-of-age novel. And there was a murder element in it that was, to use a TV term, a C-story. And during the rewriting process, the murder was brought up to become the A-story and drive the entire book. And once I made that decision, I stopped for a while, and spent about six months just really reading in that genre, and then I fell
in love with it and sort of embraced crime fiction, and that ended up being a natural habitat for me. The S&B: Do you see yourself as a traditional crime noir novelist or do you think your work departs from the genre in any way? NTS: I think it departs a little bit, in the first book specifically, because the coming-of-age element was so huge. And I think the second book, "The Last King", is more straight-forward crime fiction, which I really embraced and really enjoyed. The crime novel gives you an opportunity to comment on larger social issues within a genre . The S&B: What are your biggest inspirations when it comes to brainstorming ideas for your books? NTS: Reading. Yeah, reading. It’s usually like the seed of an idea about
a character in a certain situation and how they would react. And I keep clip files, some are like 15, 20 years old of story ideas and story nuggets that I think “Oh, that might be interesting to revisit that someday.” And whether it comes from an article I read in a magazine, a newspaper, a story I overheard, something someone told me, a nonfiction book that kind of plants the seed of an idea, it sort of comes from anywhere. The S&B: Do you find writing humor or writing drama more difficult? Which do you find more interesting or rewarding? NTS: I don’t write a lot of comedy. I think the jokes that are there, I wasn’t planning on them, it just comes out of characters and how they react to a situation or the language that they use or the phrases that they use or something. I’m not a straightforward
The S&B: What’s the biggest difference you see between writing for TV and writing novels? NTS: Well, writing the novels, it was just so singular. It was just really intimate and personal and it was just me and a blank page, and I steered the ship and decided what the story was, who these characters were and where they were going. And TV writing was completely collaborative from the beginning. You’re in a room full of other writers who have the same weight as you, story-wise, and then you have a show-runner who connects your ideas, so it’s a process that’s filled with other people. And once you go outside the writers’ room, you have the network and the studio who weigh in, and once it goes from there, you have the cast that weighs in, so it’s not an arena where you can be as precious about your work. You really get to flex your muscle and move any way you want when you’re writing a book. The S&B: You talked a little bit about experiencing sexism in the writers’ room. Can you offer any advice to young writers that might have to face that or any other oppressive “isms” in Hollywood? NTS: You know, none of the circumstances have been overt, because I’ve had the luck of working with really good people. I think it’s about retraining people how they react to you, how they react to a situation and sort of retraining. And we used humor to sort of break through a situation that was uncomfortable or that could be viewed as sexist or racist. Like, just shining a light on the behavior, but in a humorous way, which lands softer and makes the point, and doesn’t turn it into a contentious sit-
uation that stops the room, stops the flow of work, or turns it into a toxic environment. There are some situations that are going to be uncomfortable, and when you’re a lower level writer, you don’t have as much of an opportunity to fix it. So, you hope that you work for a show-runner that says, “no way, not cool.” You will actually, as you work in the business, kind of know places where that kind of behavior is the standard, and if you can, you just don’t work with those people. The S&B: Do you see an importance in writing for TV shows with broad audience bases in today’s political climate? NTS: I think that there is—we had a political round table after the election where a lot of voice was given to artists and writers and musicians and creative people being the voice that helps bridge the gap. I think that television is powerful in that it allows you to see people beyond the “other.” And I think when we have a world where you can kind of go off in your own corner on the Internet, and not really interact in any real way with people, you forget the very basic human things of, one, decent behavior and decent thought and not being horrible, and if there’s an opportunity just to softly place that there in someone’s home before they realize what happened, it’s subversive, in like a very good, entertaining way. It’s hard to talk about it being a big deal, because you see black families all the time on television now, but when The Cosby Show came out, it was huge to see an upper-middle class black family on TV. Like, there was even a debate as to whether or not they existed in the real world, and now you don’t even think twice about it. So, I think there’s a huge opportunity for artists to kind of be a part of the healing process.
Edited by mettleca@grinnell.edu
11
Adelman: Unwelcomed then, unwelcomed now
“Immediately five or six guys, led by [Ken] Adelman and supported by “Brow,” forced their way into the room, despite the efforts of both Adrienne [Lemmons] and David [Dillon] to resist them at the door”
There are disturbing questions to be raised about the racial motives behind this action." In 1967, the College’s Interim Student Court “socially expelled” Kenneth Lee Adelman, a now successful diplomat and author, for throwing eggs and water balloons as well as dumping water and beer under the blockaded door of an interracial couple on campus, Lemmons and Dillon. He was asked to leave campus and not to come back, taking his se-
Max Fenton
Opinions
But on March 2 and 3, because of the College’s disturbing lack of institutional memory, the College welcomed back Adelman as a guest of the Program in Practical Political Education. This program serves a needed role and will likely be appreciated back on campus, but Adelman’s return spits in the face of the College community, not to mention to the victims, Lemmons and Dillon. Adelman was told to leave, and his apology did not express any true regret when he claimed the victims would “get over” his despicable be-
havior before he would, yet when he was confronted today, he had the audacity to tell our community, the one from which he was expelled, that his apology then was still good enough. We didn’t hide this information from our administration. Professor Barb Trish knew about the expulsion, Dean Mike Latham knew about the expulsion and President Raynard Kington knew, and defended, the actions of Adelman. While Andrea Connor told us that we were not allowed to interrupt Adelman during his speech, the program was shut down within the 10 minutes in which we brought up our concerns. We had been given permission from Connor, who reportedly represented Adelman, that these questions were expected and permitted. We heard him speak for 45 minutes about Reagan, but after 5 minutes
Mattis is not the only retired general currently serving in the administration. Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly formerly headed the United States Southern Command. Prior to his resignation after a disgraceful hiccup during his term, former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn served as Lieutenant General. His designated successor H.R. McMaster comes from the same rank, and their colleague Gen. Joseph Dunford, head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, is a career military official with intimate knowledge of military matters. All clearly had considerable experience in active duty prior to their roles in the Trump administration. Progressives naturally worried when they heard the early news that so many ex-military men would be involved in the incoming administration. Considering real fears about President Trump’s relationship with the media and political opponents, it seemed disturbing that the highest echelons of the military would have intimate involvement in policymaking. But a recent boom of op-eds has declared that the cabinet’s generals
will carry the last bastion of democracy. Political scientist Samuel P. Huntington wrote that the military serves a progressive role in failing societies, since generals have education, adhere to secular values and most of all, have competency. If the Trump administration continues its slide into disorder and chaos and drags American society along with it, can’t we count on military men to save the old order? The Trump administration’s reliance on generals poses an interesting question for progressives. On one hand, many perceive the military as an authoritarian and reactionary institution. Countries with military-dominated leadership like Egypt and Thailand subject their citizens to repression and human rights abuses abetted by the junta in power. But on the other hand, with a Congress largely unwilling to push back against Trump’s worst impulses, could generals provide meaningful dissent to dangerous policies? Several leaks and press reports contend that the administration’s generals are increasingly dissatisfied with the
nior year finals at home. The message was clear: you are not welcome.
"You were expelled, Adelman. This is our community, not yours."
of confrontation, he was shuffled out of the room. President Kington then told students who had expressed their opinion at a talk on political activism that they brought shame to the campus, were closed-minded, and did not have “brains” like he does.
"In 1967, the College’s Interim Student Court “socially expelled” Kenneth Lee Adelman, a now successful diplomat and author, for throwing eggs and water balloons as well as dumping water and beer under the blockaded door of an interracial couple on campus, Lemmons and Dillon." This is not about politics. Any
other UN Ambassador and acclaimed author, no matter how conservative their politics are, should be a welcome voice on campus. But Adelman is unwelcome here. He has been unwelcome here long before he worked for Reagan or Nixon. When did the Interim Student Court reverse their decision on Adelman’s social expulsion? Adelman, a white man, threw eggs and water balloons at a black woman in 1967, an era when mass racial violence was particularly potent and plagued our country. There are disturbing questions to be raised about the racial motive behind this action. You were expelled, Adelman. This is our community, not yours. -Riley Murphy '19
Life During Wartime: authorities on democracy
We are six weeks into the Trump presidency, and politics have already radically changed. Whether it is the cascades of information pouring from the White House, the administration’s blatant hostility towards the press, or President Trump’s own lack of political or military pedigree, all observers of politics can singly agree on this administration vastly differs from all previous ones. The cabinet of Trump represents one aspect of the uniqueness of Trump’s presidency. His first cabinet confirmation, retired general Secretary James Mattis for Secretary of Defense, obtained his position after the Senate changed the law concerning the “cooling off” period for active duty service members. The unusual nature of his confirmation did not hamper his confirmation. Mattis was confirmed with a 98-1.
The Scarlet & Black Staff Editors-in-Chief
Managing Editor News Editors Features Editor Sports Editor Arts Editor Community Editor Opinions Editor Copy Editors Photo Editor Business Manager Staff Writer Honorary Editor
Teresa Fleming Eva Lilienfeld Steve Yang Lily Bohlke Mira Braneck Philip Kiely Louise Carhart Nora Coghlan Keli Vitaioli Candace Mettle Michael Cummings Jon Sundby Sarah Ruiz Jenny Dong Andrea Baumgartel Zane Silk HBCUs
chaos of the first few weeks. In fact, the Associated Press confirmed that Secs. Mattis and Kelly agreed that one of them must stay in the country at all times, if only to safeguard against Trump’s most fascist impulses. Many liberals welcome military and intelligence intrusion into politics out of a vendetta for Trump. They see the military as guardians of competence and democracy in the face of ignorance and authoritarianism. Ultimately, though, I seriously doubt we can trust generals to serve as safeguards of democracy. The liberal democratic tradition would be exposed to an acid bath in the event of military-intelligence intrusion, disintegrated by the erosion of the civil-military division and the overthrow of elected government. Considering that these generals accepted positions in this administration, they are automatically suspect of sympathies to the most reactionary government this country has ever seen. We have already seen the resignation of one general because of his ties to a foreign power, and the question re-
mains of how far Trump went to protect Flynn from leaks considering their lack of response to the Justice Department inquiries on the matter. In the extreme scenario of a Trump implosion, there is the question of military coup. Countries that have experienced military takeovers of civilian government -- notably, Turkey, Egypt and Thailand -- have seen their institutions gutted and civil liberties curtailed. Recent history has shown that toppling the elected government of a nation does not result in stable democracy, despite the claims of coup leaders. Though American politics are considerably more stable than these other nations, saying “it can’t happen here” would be foolish considering the times in which we live. Ultimately, the only people who can save us are ourselves. We cannot sit back and allow powerful generals or intelligence officials to challenge the worst impulses of this administration. If we truly want to rebuild democracy when it is exposed to this caustic of a threat, people must claim power for themselves instead of leaving it to the highest authority.
SPARC Policy The Scarlet & Black is published on Fridays by students of Grinnell College and is printed by Times Republican of Marshalltown. The newspaper is funded in part by the Student Publications and Radio Committee (SPARC) and also relies on advertising revenue to cover operating costs. All publications funded by SPARC are copyright of SPARC and cannot be reproduced elsewhere without specific written consent from SPARC. Contributions The Scarlet & Black welcomes story ideas from students, faculty and other members of the town and college community. If there is any story that should be covered, please email newspapr@grinnell.edu or visit thesandb.com Send letters to the editor via email at newspapr@grinnell.edu or mail them to Box 5886. The author’s name must be included, but letters can be published anonymously in certain occasions. Letters will be printed at the discretion of the editor. The opinions expressed in this section do not necessarily reflect those of the editorial staff. The S&B reserves the right to edit any and all submissions. Advertising Advertising inquiries should be directed to the business manager, Jenny Dong, who can be reached at sandbads@ grinnell.edu or by mail at 1115 8th Avenue Grinnell College Box 5886, Grinnell, IA 50112.
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to all who engaged in some type of activsm this week. Thank you for sticking to the values of the College, and for standing up for what is right.
Students speak about what’s on their minds in 100 words or fewer, and you’re invited! If you have a rant or a rave, email it to [mettleca]
Historical perspective
Tfw your boyfriend doesnt realize he's your I really appreciate how the History boyfriend and flirts with other people. Department opened their classes to all students on March 1st. Most of my professors expressed understanding or support for students who wanted to -Notice me participate that day, but History took it a step further by welcoming students into their classrooms as a way to shake up business as usual while simultaneously helping us learn about the ways in which the past is repeating itself in the current administration. -Michael Cummings '18
Homemade goodies I had both homemade cookies and chai in the same week. After a stressful two weeks of deadlines, papers and racists, they did offer some comfort.
-Weary of the ways of the world
You Trained Us for This This is both a rant and a rave. It's a rave for the students who came with hard questions for Ken Adelman, who listened respectfully to his talk and responses, but didn't let him get away with evasive answers. That's why I was puzeled when an alum said they were more ashamed with current Grinnell students than with Adelman's actions in '67. Ashamed that we asked tough questions? Ashamed that we care about the harassment of an interracial couple? Grinnell trained us to think critically, be respectful and press for meaningful answers. I'm so proud that we transfered this learning into action. - Jon Sundby '17