WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2023 • 7
FEATURES
Finding love next door: Married professors talk love, literature FOR THE THRESHER The circulation desk at Fondren is perhaps one of Rice’s most underrated matchmaking spots. Back in 2001, it was where now-married professors Sarah Ellenzweig and Scott McGill first met. Ellenzweig had already been teaching at Rice for a year, while McGill had just started teaching in the Classics department. Following their initial interaction, McGill said their offices were only three doors apart, causing frequent run-ins for the two. They quickly learned that they had a lot of things in common, like their Northeast origins and shared interest in classical literature. “Early on, we weren’t yet in a relationship, we were just getting to know each other,” Ellenzweig said. “I ran into him in the hall in Fondren on my way to the vending machine, and I said, ‘Hey, do you want me to show you where the vending machines are?’” To her disappointment, McGill declined. Not knowing he didn’t eat candy bars, Ellenzweig concluded that he must have not been interested in her. Shortly after, McGill said he finally realized Ellenzweig was trying to make a move. “I had to recover,” McGill said. “I was trying to read signals, read cues and hope for a chance at redemption.” The pair started dating by November of the same year and got married after four years. Now, 22 years l a t e r,
COURTESY SARAH ELLENZWEIG
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Outside of the classroom, Bergner sought out the BSA to fill in these gaps in her environment. The BSA was established in the 1970s to provide opportunities for Rice’s Black population. “Being around my community motivates me, inspires me and revitalizes me when I am feeling like an impostor at Rice,” Bergner said. “I think that at some schools that can get kind of lost, but because Rice is so small, and we ZEISHA BENNETT / THRESHER have so many clubs that are focused on Black students’ needs, we have developed this community that feels very supportive.” the Black community she found within As the 2022-2023 BSA president, have positively shaped her life. “I didn’t know that I could be so loved Bergner said she hopes to expand the BSA and provide a welcoming environment [and] appreciated by not just a couple, for students like her. However, Bergner but an entire community of people,” Bergner said. “My acknowledges mom often talks that there are to me about how difficulties in far I’ve come as being a minority I am also highly critical a young woman on campus, urging of the way that this and how much Rice to provide she has watched more support for campus fails to fully me change into a Black students support its Black students. more confident, who experience It needs to start with independent and similar conflicts joyful person.” she has noticed in the administration prioritizing Black students For Bergner, her own life. that joy is crucial “I have made as an underrepresented to encapsulating friendships with population — listening to the complexity of Black students at Black student life this school that them, understanding their at Rice. will last a lifetime, needs and meeting them “I won’t lie all while getting with tangible actions. and say I haven’t one of the best experienced educations that I Malaika Bergner a fair share of could have ever BLACK STUDENT ASSOCIATION microaggressions asked for. I am PRESIDENT from people who grateful for getting to experience this for nearly four years, don’t look like me, and I know that but I am also highly critical of the way there are people in my community that this campus fails to fully support its who experience even more of these Black students,” Bergner said. “It needs to than I do,” Bergner said. “But I want to start with the administration prioritizing emphasize with my whole chest that in Black students as an underrepresented spite of all of this, Black Rice students population — listening to them, find joy. I have hope for Rice’s future understanding their needs and meeting as a school where Black students can be authentic, fully supported and them with tangible actions.” Despite the difficulties that Bergner has empowered to express their interests experienced, she still finds that Rice and and lift their voices.”
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they have not only built a family but a new course at Rice. ENGL 254, The History of Love, is co-taught by Ellenzweig and McGill and focuses on early Greek, Roman and English romance literature. Although marriage and romance literature are both about love, McGill says the similarities end there. Romance literature is less about long-term relationships, according to McGill, but rather about the ephemerality of young, forbidden or lost love. Having been married for nearly two decades, Ellenzweig and McGill said that while they share a passion for classical romance literature, they thankfully don’t necessarily relate to them. However, they said they do strongly resonate with an avant-garde film they watched together titled “My Dinner With Andre.” The film includes a scene of the main character, Andre, talking to his friend about romance by invoking an image of two people living in a room together over time. It is the common assumption that long-term relationships may eventually feel boring, but McGill said this film and his own marriage prove the opposite. “You’d think everyone just becomes really familiar,” McGill said. “But it doesn’t have to [get boring] if you make space for the other person’s independent identity.” Ellenzweig said the film conveys that long relationships can actually create room for unpredictability in life. “If you let it, if you’re open to it, a whole adventure can be going on right in that room,” Ellenzweig said. “It’s quite an astonishing reversal of our assumptions.” When asked how they navigate marriage, raise three children and co-teach, neither said they’ve grown weary of the other. “I don’t get tired of you,” McGill said to her. “I don’t know why, but I don’t.” In return, Ellenzweig expressed appreciation towards her husband for his ability to constantly make her laugh. “I think finding someone who makes you laugh is really important, because life is hard, and there’s a lot of pain. Laughter really helps,” said Ellenzweig. “And Scott always makes me laugh. Oh, I really treasure that.”
GRACE ZHOU
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1 IRA type 2 Parisian pal 3 May Wong or Wintour 4 Statistician’s challenge 5 Evening meal 6 Southeast Asian economic bloc, abbr. 7 Snitch 8 Mountain or Pacific 9 Commercials, for short 10 False 11 Activist Parks 12 Years, in Spain 13 Lower 21 Be a fan of, slangily 22 ____-chic 25 Despise 26 Diamond measure 27 Tennis player Naomi 28 Biblical mountain 29 “_____ Tag!” 30 Cancel, as a mission 31 Duck 32 Pace 37 Fair 38 The act of falling off 41 Celestial course code 42 Encounter 43 Attacks 45 Captain Marvel actress Brie 46 Secret meetings 48 Star-shaped spice 49 Chip and ____ 50 Bad smell 51 Advantage 53 Newspaper piece 54 Object of worship 55 Microscope part 56 Plant starting point 58 Glee actress Michele