Feb. 6, 2019: Professors cancel courses, cite “violent practices,” “anti-blackness and transphobia”

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Professors cancel courses, cite College’s “violent practices,” “anti-blackness and transphobia”

By REBECCA TAUBER EXECUTIVE EDITOR

Two professors canceled their courses in the days leading up to the start of spring semester.

In an email to students enrolled in her courses, Kimberly Love, assistant professor of English, cited “a refusal to continue business as usual” in the face of “the College’s violent practices” as the reason that she would not return to the College this semester. Kai Green ’07, assistant professor of women’s, gender and sexuality studies (WGSS), is spending the semester on medical leave, writing in an email to the Record that the College is not a “safe place” for him.

Love explained her choice in her email, which was forwarded to members of the Record staff.

“My decision is rooted in a refusal to continue business as usual while many of us (students, staff, community members, faculty) suffer from the college’s violent practices,” she wrote.

In a Jan. 26 email, Chair and Associate Professor of WGSS Gregory Mitchell informed students enrolled in Green’s course, “The Drag of Black Masculinity,” that “Professor Green will be taking an unexpected medical leave and will not be able to offer this class next semester.”

Green told the Record that the strain of the past three semes-

PHOTOS COURTESY OF THEFEMINISTWIRE.COM AND DRKAIMGREEN.COM.

Professors Kimberly Love (left) and Kai Green ’07 (right) canceled their courses on short notice. ters prompted the recovery period. “Unfortunately, Williams is not a safe place for me as a Black Trans Man, currently,” Green said. “I hope that better days are on the horizon, but that is up to the institution’s ability to listen to its students, faculty and staff for real change. The problem of antiblackness and transphobia on campus can’t be Band-Aided up.”

When asked to elaborate, Green referred the Record to

their and Love’s article November article published in The Feminist Wire titled “Lessons from the Damned, 2018; or Why We Cannot wait for Tenure to Insist upon our Dignity, Respect, Power, and Value.” The article stated, “We write this piece to add to the collective record of institutional harms as documented by Black feminist scholars.”

In the article, Green and Love detail microaggressions and

OSL splits housing selection system into three separate lotteries

recount a racist experience with a local business. “Our collective experiences, demonstrate how colleges and universities have not made structural changes to create environments in which Black, Brown, disabled, poor, queer people, and our work can thrive,” they wrote.

“Through various isolating tactics, academic institutions continued on p. 4

Dean’s office announces compensation of JAAB

By BRIAN HA CONTRIBUTING WRITER Senior members of the Junior Advisor Advisory Board (JAAB) will receive financial compensation beginning next year, Junior Advisor (JA) CoPresidents Kimberly Andreassen ’20 and Sydney Myong ’20 announced in an email to current JAs. Though the exact amount has yet to be finalized, senior JAAB members will be paid between $1000 and $1500, while other board members are expected to remain unpaid. Current senior members, however, will not be compensated for their membership this year. This change is in response to the request for a stronger support system from JAAB. JAAB consists of six to eight former JAs, the current JA copresidents, a community builder from the Davis Center and members of the dean’s office staff.

JAAB serves to train and prepare future JAs for their responsibilities and collaborate with the College on problems that the entry system may be facing.

Associate Dean of the College Christopher Sewell ’05 said the funding will “formalize the role through compensation and work to build important connections with the Dean's Office and other campus partners.” The stipend will alleviate financial burdens on JAAB members as well as provide incentive toward dedicating more time to strengthening

Alex Zilkha ’20 runs for College Council on platform of abolishing College Council

By ARRINGTON LUCK NEWS EDITOR

fall semester was a large point of contention, with CC having come under criticism for what critics see as a lethargy in affirming support for an Asian American studies program, a lack of an equitable process for funding MinCo organizations and a tense relationship between the Finance Committee (FinCom) and both MinCo and select club sports.

“College Council just doesn’t do what it’s set out to do,” Zilkha said. “Either they’re denying people funding when they really shouldn’t be because [it is] running a surplus or they're arguing for days and weeks in sessions.”

Zilkha, citing what he sees as CC’s inability to take decisive action and adequately use its funding, decided to run for a position as class representative for the class of 2020. In contrast to the other CC selfnominations, Zilkha posted a meme about the worthlessness of CC as a body and took his self-nomination space to write about the ways in which he saw CC as inadequate.

“I cannot stand idly by while this organization continues to deny groups such as club sports, MinCo, and other student organizations funding IN SPITE OF THE FACT that CC continues to run a surplus,” Zilkha wrote, alluding to the arguments from last semester’s session of CC in which questions were raised about the ability for the financial committee to adequately administer funds without bias, particularly in reference to MinCo groups.

These tensions culminated in a committee that investigated the conduct of the sitting treasurer, Spencer Carillo ’20, and a

With College Council (CC) singles across campus have been elections this week, 2020 class filled. If doubles are open after representative candidate Alex the doubles lottery, “students Zilkha ’20 has staked a position within pick groups can pick into as a staunch critic of the govThis year’s on-campus housdoubles together,” Schiazza said. erning body. Zilkha, when writing selection process will be Furthermore, bed spaces in dou- ing his self-nomination, advodivided into three separate lotbles will be open to all genders. cated abolishing CC as a whole, teries: a rising seniors lottery, Binary gender caps remain, how- although he has since realized a doubles lottery and a general ever; each building cannot con- that goal is unattainable. lottery, Office of Student Life tain more than 60 percent male (OSL) Director Douglas Schi“If they won’t serve their or female students. Nevertheless, constituents, then let them not azza announced in a Jan. 4 camthis cap can go up to 60 percent serve at all,” Zilkha had conpus-wide email. plus one student if it avoids split- cluded in his self-nomination.

In response to issues with ting a pick group. last spring’s housing selection Currently, however, Zilkha does Garfield House will also re- not have any plans to overthrow process, which for the first time turn as an upperclassmen hous- the decades-old body. “I was allowed individual students to ing option. It is newly renovated misinformed,” he said. “There pick one bed in a double room, and offers a mix of singles and is something within the bylaws leaving the other bed unfilled. doubles arranged in four-per- that could allow for a recall of OSL worked throughout the fall son and six-person suites, a full the serving College Council. I semester with the Upperclass kitchen and a first-floor com- didn’t know it was just a recall, Residential Life Advisory Common room. However, I thought it was an entire abolimittee (ULRAC) to the third and fourth tion.” Still, Zilkha believes that make the changes to this year’s process.

“Our hope is that the changes will reduce floors of Morgan Hall College Council cannot be fixed will go offline for a through incremental change.

Between April replacement “It’s a totaled car,” Zilkha said of 8–15, rising seniors overall anxiety around the process by giv- roof project. Due to the the Council. “It’s not worth rewill pick their rooms first in an exclusive ing students more time to plan and options loss of these rooms, pairing, let’s replace it.” all flex rooms across lottery so that they To Zilkha, CC, the body recampus will continue sponsible for “approval and have more choice to consider.” to be used as doubles funding of student organizawith their housing for the 2019-2020 tions, the relationship between and so that rising Douglas Schiazza school year. juniors and sophostudents and administrators and “Our hope is that [taking] on major campus initiamores have more Office of Student Life Director the changes will re- tives and projects” has failed to time to see which duce overall anxiety prove its usefulness. rooms have already around the process been taken and plan Zilkha is not unique in highaccordingly. Rising seniors strategize with their friends af- by giving students more time lighting these issues. Many of seeking to pick into housing ter the first weekend has trans- to plan and options to consider this semester’s self-nominations with juniors and sophomores pired.” This increase in time with their friends, and by ensur- – but not all of them – addressed would have to wait to pick in comes as a response to student ing that students have little op- the frayed relationship with the during the general lottery. Addi- input asking for more time for portunity to pressure other stu- Minority Coalition (MinCo) after tionally, students who pick into planning and selection. This year dents into not taking the other a fall defined by tension between a lottery may defer selection and there will be 10 minutes, rather half of a double they selected the two organizations. CC’s relapick their room in a later lottery. than last year’s five, in the Hous- individually,” Schiazza said. tionship with MinCo during the “Once a student picks a room in ing Portal between pick groups.

Schiazza explained the reaa lottery, they can’t change that selection until the August lot- soning behind the changes. “The most significant issue raised [by tery,” Schiazza confirmed.

After rising seniors pick, stu- students] was the impact of the dents who wish to live in dou- rule change regarding doubles,” 3 OPINIONS 5 ARTS 6 FEATURES bles will have access to an April he said. “We’ve heard that con15–21 selection period. Accord- cern loud and clear and have reHolding College A question and Church works ing to the email, this doubles- turned to the previous rule movCouncil answer with 600 on immigrant only lottery gives “students ing forward.” This year, across all accountable who really want a double with three lotteries, doubles cannot be Highwaymen justice a friend an earlier option for it, picked by an individual until all

By NANDINI SEETHARAMAN STAFF WRITER

the support system for future JAs, according to Sewell.

The introduction of a new JA system this year has brought unique stressors to this JA class. “Many noted how having more formal time with JAAB during the school year would be helpful in sustaining the role and having more specific guidance throughout the experience,” Sewell said.

As the associate dean now responsible for the JA system, Sewell will collaborate with JAAB and the College to remedy the flaws within the current JA system and provide a smoother transition for the next cohort of JAs and their first-years.

“JAAB serves a critical role in training, support and development of the entry system so having this role more clearly defined is important to the continued success of this Williams tradition,” Sewell said.

JAAB co-president Jesse Facey ’19 said, “A stipend for JAAB has been in the works for a couple years now. Last year many discussions about compensation for JAAB members occurred at inopportune times in the budget cycle. This year Dean [of the College Marlene] Sandstrom and Dean Sewell have worked together to make sure that senior JAAB members for the coming year are compensated for the work they do to ensure that JAs are supported and connected to the dean’s office as well as the work they do to plan and execute JA training in the spring and fall.”

students who are anxious about the general lottery an option to select earlier with a friend ... and groups of students a better chance of the group sticking together in nearby doubles,” Schiazza said. This earlier lottery is open exclusively to even-numbered pick groups.

After the rising senior lottery and the doubles lottery, the rest of the rooms will go up in a general lottery period from April 22–May 5. Schiazza’s email explained that this selection period is spread out over two weekends “to allow double the time in the Housing Portal for each group before the next group has access, as well as give rising sophomores with later picks several days to

censure of the CC co-presidents

by CC members. While CC ultimately voted to keep Carillo for the remainder of the session, the frictions between many student groups and CC persist.

While many other self-nominations featured a professional photograph and an extensive explanation for why they sought the position, Zilkha’s self-nomination featured a meme and a short list-style paragraph. Although these elements, along with the calls to abolish CC might appear to some to be a joke, Zilkha asserts that he is serious. “I’m looking to light a fire under the ass of the people in charge here and get them to do something,” Zilkha said of his candidacy, though he acknowledges that to some extent he is “trying to meme a counterculture into existence.”

To Zilkha, however, the issues are bigger than him. CC’s role in campus life is unsettling to Zilkha, and he believes that the student body is inadequately served by College Council in a fundamental way. “In theory there’s this power here, and it's literally not worth people's time to take it... There's something fundamentally wrong with that,” Zilkha said.

Ultimately, Zilkha acknowledges that he may not necessarily be the person to lead the fight for a radically different College Council. “I don’t know if I’m the guy to do it to be honest, but I think I can get the ball rolling,” Zilkha admitted. He is, however, still hopeful that CC can be something better. “As long as you can promise people the hope of something better, you can mobilize people,” he said.

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The opinions expressed in signed columns are not necessarily those of The Williams Record editorial board.

Op-Ed and Letter Submission The Record welcomes op-eds and letters from all members of the College community. The Opinions section is designed to reflect the varied views and ideas of the College community, and the publication of any letter or op-ed does not indicate an endorsement of the views contained therein.

Submissions should be sent to kc17@williams. edu and kzy1@williams.edu by Sunday at 5 p.m. for inclusion in the next Wednesday issue. Opeds range in length from 650-800 words, and letters are 500 words or fewer. The Record will not publish pieces that have appeared in other publications. Pieces submitted to the Record are not guaranteed a spot in the upcoming issue.

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DARIN LI ’21

February 6, 2019

The right to protest Understanding the Chicago Principles

By LUANA MAROJA and KEITH McPARTLAND During the Claiming Williams “free expression” panel, it became evident that some students have serious misconceptions about the nature of the Chicago Principles. One particularly troubling misconception is the belief that the Chicago Principles do not protect the rights of students to protest speakers they disagree with. During the discussion about what principles the College should adopt, some students defended a view that has disturbing implications.

To uphold the right of protest is to uphold the right of people to publicly express their opinions about a speaker’s views. If the College prohibits members of the community from expressing their views, the College would be limiting the right of protest. The Chicago Principles explicitly condemn such limitation, claiming, “[M]embers of the University community are free to criticize and contest the views expressed on campus, and to criticize and contest speakers who are invited to express their views on campus.” We are in complete agreement with the Chicago Principles and have urged the College to affirm a robust commitment to freedom of expression on campus.

The right to expression, however, does not imply a right to participate in any activity that has expressive intent, for the protection of all activities with expressive intent would have disastrous consequences. The right to protest a war, for example, does not give one the right to express one’s views by shutting down a highway or by committing assault. The Chicago Principles state that the right of community members to protest does not give them the right to “obstruct or otherwise interfere with the freedom of others to express views they reject or even loathe.” What is prohibited by that statement is not protest per se, but obstruction or interference with the freedom of other community members.

When complaining that the Chicago Principles do not protect the right of protest, one student on Thursday’s freedom of expression panel pointed to Middlebury as an example. This student claimed that the fact that students at Middlebury were disciplined after protesting a talk by Charles Murray shows that Middlebury does not fully protect the right of protest. As another student

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on the panel pointed out, the students at Middlebury were disciplined neither for the content of their views nor for the fact that they publicly expressed these views. Rather, they faced sanctions for disrupting a public event, pulling fire alarms, and being involved in a protest that became physically violent. Middlebury, like the University of Chicago and institutions that have adopted the Chicago Principles, explicitly defends the rights of students to protest. What Middlebury does not defend is the right of protestors to disrupt events by shouting down speakers or impeding the free movement of other people.

It was distressing that one student on the panel claimed that the true protection of free speech would require the College to allow disruptive activities like those that occurred at Middlebury. We note that the student did not seem to be urging acts of civil disobedience, which have a long history in political movements. In committing acts of civil disobedience, protesters deliberately flout institutional rules and are willing to risk punishment in so doing. Rather, this student seemed to hold that rules governing expression at the College should recognize a right to engage in such behavior. Were such a right fully general, any member of the community would be permitted to disrupt any event that they found objectionable.

Perhaps, however, the student thought that the right is to be restricted. Some members of the community should be permitted to disrupt some events. Those who support “good” moral or political positions may engage in disruptive or potentially violent behavior in protesting those who support “bad” moral or political positions. In fact, those who support “bad” positions will not even be allowed to receive an invitation to speak on campus. In the course of administering this new policy, the College would need to make decisions about the moral and political acceptability of someone’s position. We firmly believe that allowing this form of contentbased censorship is a slippery slope that would have disastrous consequences both for academic freedom and for the educational mission of the College.

Accountability in College Council How CC can serve marginalized communities

By LILI AU, SERAPIA KIM, JESUS PAYAN, KAI SOTO-DESSEN, OLIVIA TSE, and LINDA WORDEN What does accountability look like in College Council (CC)? This Council’s failure to acknowledge the negligence of duty and the lack of professionalism in the communications of a Council member revealed to the student body the weakness of the CC code of conduct to remove unfit leaders from positions of power. According to the CC Constitution, “Council members may be removed from CC for nonattendance or misconduct as defined by the Council bylaws.” The problems that arose last semester during Council stemmed not from the fact that there is no mechanism for removing problematic members but that this mechanism is dependent on our unclear, outdated and inadequate bylaws. Although several recent bylaws have been proposed and/or passed, including a short code of conduct and an impeachment bylaw, the process of making CC a more accountable institution of power is far from over.

Accountability should be more than removing problematic leaders.

It should be built into the institutional structure of CC, in the form of new bylaws that would set up a variety of clear standards for CC members to be held to. We must ensure that the next Council is made up of members that live by values that include listening to, believing in and meeting the needs of marginalized students on campus.

There are several concrete steps CC can take to be more accountable to

the student body that it is supposed to be serving. One such way is by improving mechanisms of communication. It seems dishonest for class representatives to invoke the opinions of their constituents when there has historically been no easy way for their classmates to communicate with them. In response, we are looking to set up a Google Form, sent via weekly CC emails, so that students can submit thoughts and concerns to their representatives. For students desiring to voice their concerns directly, sending the agenda of weekly CC meetings to the entire student body would allow those with a particular stake in an issue to show up when they are being discussed. And meetings should resume livestreaming for ease of access to important discussions and decisions made during the meetings. Lastly, polling the student body on pertinent issues before their passage as well as holding larger town hall meetings with the student body on a semester basis could provide structured ways of evaluating the efficacy of CC in bringing about desired changes to the College.

Above all, the only way to ensure that CC serves marginalized students and is held accountable for their actions is to center its actions around the voices of these students. Having been on CC or having worked closely with other CC members, we recognize the disproportionately large influence that CC members wield through their votes. Thus, it would be ideal if the demographic makeup of Council members reflected that

Many students of color, and women of color in particular, who have historically been deeply involved in CC are not seeking re-election due to burnout.

of the larger student body so a given community’s needs can be properly represented. However, the authors of this op-ed are hesitant to imply that students ought to run to have their concerns and needs met. Students of color, LGBTQ+ students, low-income students, immigrant students and other marginalized students are preoccupied with a number of other burdens that more privileged students do not face.

The upcoming tenure of CC is notable in its gross lack of candidates.

Many students of color, and women of color in particular, who have historically been deeply involved in CC are not seeking re-election due to burnout. Although we cannot speak to their personal experiences, we can deduce that the particularly high-stress nature of this past semester’s Council contributed to their decision. But beyond that, the class of 2019 and 2020 are each missing one candidate, and class of 2021 has not a single student running. Such lack of student enthusiasm is indicative of brewing mistrust in CC by the student body as a whole.

Therefore, it is ultimately the responsibility of all Council members – especially those who are currently unaware of the most pressing needs of the community – to acknowledge and address the needs of the students they are supposed to be representing.

Lili Au ’22 is from Honolulu, Hawaii, Serapia Kim ’19 is a political economy major from Northridge Calif., Jesus Payan ’20 is an environmental studies major from Temple City, Calif., Kai Soto-Dessen ’22 is from Irvine, Calif, Olivia Tse ’19.5 is a psychology major from Cleveland, Ohio, and Linda Worden ’19 is a political economy major from Penticton, British Columbia, Canada.

Luana Maroja has been an associate professor of biology at the College since 2010. Keith McPartland has been an associate professor of philosophy since 2007.

The turn to zero waste A call for better sustainability at Williams

By ALLIE CAMPBELL On Claiming Williams Day, I attended a panel on sustainability at the College. The purpose of the event was to critically review the College’s current sustainability targets, which focus almost exclusively on emissions goals that should be met by the end of 2020, and to brainstorm a new set of goals that will take us beyond 2020 and accommodate a broader definition of sustainability not limited to emissionsrelated concerns. The panel asked us to consider sustainability challenges unrelated to emissions that should be addressed moving forward. One issue that got a lot of air time was waste, the general consensus being that the College does not do enough when it comes to composting and recycling. At first, I agreed. Waste is filling up the world, contaminating our water, food and air. It is damaging ecosystems and threatening human health. Obviously, we need to mitigate these issues. The best way to do that? It seems, more composting and recycling.

Reflecting on Thursday’s panel, I’m not sure that we were focusing on the right problem. The issue isn’t only sustainable waste disposal. Rather, it begins with a throwaway culture that maximizes convenience at the expense of environmental limits. Any product we throw away – or recycle or compost – was at one point manufactured using fossil fuels, water and other finite resources. Recycling or composting an item does not erase its environmental footprint or negate its wastefulness.

Whether or not we choose to dispose of our waste in sustainable ways, we are exploiting our environment if we choose to create waste in the first place. Proper, sustainable waste disposal is important.

No doubt. But it’s equally important to reduce the amount of waste produced in the first place. This certainly seems to be the case, especially given recycling’s inherent and growing shortcomings.

Recycling is becoming less and less feasible economically. In the past, the U.S. depended on China to import and process our recyclables. As of 2018, however, China enforced new restrictions on the quantity and type of waste they would accept. These regulations were the result of an effort to reduce domestic pollution, but the global impact of these changes has caused more harm than good to the environment. Now, the U.S. struggles

to find markets for recyclables and a large portion of U.S. waste that was once recycled ends up in landfills. Last month, I toured the TAM Recycling Center in Pownal, Vt., the facility that processes the College’s recyclables.

Despite shifts in global markets, TAM still manages to sell its material to be recycled. This means that anything recycled at the College will be recycled – at least for now. Many other parts of the country are not so lucky.

Additionally, recyclable products can only be recycled a limited number of times before they are processed to a degree after which they can’t be recycled any more. Recycling (when global markets allow it) doesn’t actually prevent waste. Rather, it delays it, pushing off the point at which materials necessarily become trash and have no future anywhere but a landfill.

It seems that recycling and composting aren’t the end-all-be-all magic bullet to waste that we make them out to be, but rather glorified, band-aid solutions to half the problem. They address (or rather, attempt to address, when markets allow it) one side of the coin that is wastefulness. They offer a more sustainable solution to waste disposal that, while important, doesn’t prevent wastefulness in the first place. Waste-related sustainability goals at the College should not be limited to revamping recycling and composting. In order to truly combat waste on campus, it is also essential that we confront habits of creating waste. To-go containers, plastic cups and utensils, paper coffee cups, napkins, drink bottles and cans, excess food — all of these items can be composted or recycled, but even better would be to avoid using them at all. In fact, all of them can be easily replaced with reusable substitutes. Instead of these wasteful, singleuse options, try using your own reusable food containers, to-go mugs, utensils, water bottles, straws and shopping bags.

Repair damaged belongings before you replace them. Take advantage of consignment and thrift stores. As we approach 2020 and imagine a new set of sustainability goals for our campus, let’s challenge ourselves not only to recycle and compost whenever possible but also to minimize the waste we produce in the first place.

Allie Campbell ’21 is a prospective environmental studies major from Hollis, NH.

DARIN LI ’21

Pay for the environment A solution to a taxing problem

By MADELINE RAWSON We have all seen the image of a polar bear floating on disappearing ice, but that impact seems abstract.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report released in 2018 on climate change brings those impacts closer. The report found that a 2.7-degree Fahrenheit rise in global temperatures above pre-industrial levels will cause food shortages and coastal flooding, which would consequently worsen poverty and increase wildfires and droughts. So far, the Earth has warmed by 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit. Temperatures are rising because of the carbon dioxide societies have pumped into the atmosphere.

This gas acts as a blanket around the world, trapping heat from the sun in the Earth’s system. Changes due to hotter temperatures will cost around $54 trillion in damages. If we decrease our carbon dioxide emissions, these costs can be prevented. The best policy for meeting this goal is a carbon tax, which will reduce emissions in an economically stable way.

Three policies that reduce emissions include government regulation, capand-trade programs and carbon taxes. Government regulation means following top down emission standards set by the Environmental Protection Agency. These standards are altered by each administration making long -term planning difficult for businesses.

They also exert pressure on all types of fossil fuels rather than first targeting the ones with higher carbon contents.

Cap-and-trade programs and carbon taxes are carbon pricing systems, which aim to place a monetary cost on carbon. Cap-and-trade programs allow the government to auction permits that set a cap on carbon dioxide emissions to businesses. Companies can then trade caps on a secondary market to

meet their needs. If it is cheaper for a company to lower its emissions than to continue paying for a permit, it can sell this permit to another company. This approach sets a definitive limit on the amount of carbon dioxide emitted per year. However, it leaves the financial burden on businesses uncertain, because this system is susceptible to economic fluctuations.

The best option is a carbon tax, which is both economically stable and environmentally beneficial. A carbon tax sets a price on carbon dioxide emissions. Paying this price would motivate industries and individuals to reduce consumption and increase efficiency. A price on carbon would also stimulate the market for alternatives to carbon-intensive products, making them competitive without government subsidies. This means the success of technology will be determined by market forces rather than government selection. For instance, to avoid tax, individuals can take public transport, use compact fluorescent lamps and update heating and cooling systems.

Industries will be more likely to invest in energy-efficient technology. This approach was effective in British Columbia, which enacted a carbon tax in 2008. According to a working paper from the World Resources Institute, greenhouse gas emissions have decreased and its economic growth has kept pace with the rest of the country.

Most mainstream economists have endorsed the carbon tax as the best way to reduce emissions while strengthening the economy. The tax will generate revenue that could be used in several ways. One proposal makes the carbon tax “revenue neutral,” meaning all money collected will be returned to American citizens through a carbon dividend (estimated at $2000 per family of four). This would save most families money. Revenue

could also be used to compensate lower income households that spend a large percentage of their income on energy. Additional ideas include using it to institute tax cuts, reduce the deficit, fund transitional assistance for those in carbon-intensive industries or invest in environmental programs and public infrastructure.

A federally consistent response to emissions will be better for business than the current patchwork of state and federal regulations. Unlike under unpredictable emission standards, the cost of carbon would be stable. This is a reason why Exxon offered its public support and a donation of $1 million to a “revenue-neutral” carbon tax.

Border carbon adjustments would also be included in the carbon tax.

These would tax imports from countries without carbon pricing according to the item’s carbon content. This would protect the competitiveness of American industry and put pressure on other countries to take similar action.

For other countries, implementing a carbon pricing system means their exports to the United States wouldn’t be subject to an American carbon tax. The revenue from taxing the carbon content of these goods would instead benefit their country. This will start a domino effect around the world as more countries feel the pressure to adopt a carbon pricing system.

The idea behind a carbon tax is that it requires companies to pay for the damage they do to the environment. The tax would make renewable energy competitive, decrease use of fossil fuels, promote a conservationist and efficient lifestyle and put pressure on other countries to reduce their emissions.

Madeline Rawson ’21 is a prospective environmental studies major from Harrison, NY.

4 NEWS

The Williams Record

February 6, 2019

Tarana Burke delivers Claiming Williams keynote #MeToo movement founder speaks on issues of sexual violence, race

By KENIA CRUZ GUARDADO OPINIONS EDITOR Tarana Burke, founder of the #MeToo movement, spoke to the student body in the evening keynote for Claiming Williams Day on Thursday in Chapin Hall.

Burke was interviewed by Associate Professor of Africana Studies and Faculty Affiliate in Religion Rhon ManigaultBryant. The interview was intended to be, according to Manigault-Bryant, a “frank, candid conversation.”

Burke, who built her career in activism, founded Just Be Inc., which focuses on the wellbeing of women of color across the country, in 2003.

The #MeToo movement, created by Burke, became popular in 2017 after actress Alyssa Milano sent a viral Tweet.

In hope of bringing global attention to the issues of sexual assault, violence and abuse, Milano asked her followers, “If you’ve been sexually harassed or assaulted write ‘me too’ as a reply to this tweet.”

Burke asserts that the movement is not simply a temporary one but rather a continued fight and progression for justice. “A hashtag is not a movement,” Burke commented when asked about the popularity of the #MeToo hashtag.

Chapin Hall listened attentively to Burke’s experiences as a young girl living in the Bronx, learning how to be an organizer from her father. Her father, Wes, was the person whom people in her neighborhood would turn to when an

PHOTO COURTESY OF SHANNON O'BRIAN/WILLIAMS COLLEGE.

Tarana Burke, social justice activist and #MeToo movement founder, speaks with Associate Professor of Africana Studies and Faculty Affiliate in Religion Rhon Manigault-Bryant in Chapin Hall. Their conversation served as the evening keynote on Claiming Williams Day last Thursday. issue needed to be fixed or a conflict had to be resolved.

“When something happened in the community, they got Big Wes,” she said. “He knew how to bring people together.”

At one point, Burke was asked about starting the #MeToo movement and how she felt about its popularity, especially among white women. Manigault-Bryant asked

Members for ad hoc free speech committee announced

By SAMUEL WOLF EXECUTIVE EDITOR On Jan. 30, President Maud Mandel released the list of members on the committee formed in the wake of last semester’s campus conversation around free expression, hateful speech and the Chicago Principles.

Mandel created the Ad Hoc Committee on Inquiry and Inclusion with the charge of recommending, by this May, a set of guidelines for future speaker invitations. These recommendations may ultimately determine campus protocol regarding invitation and disinvitation of speakers deemed controversial or hateful.

Committee members expressed optimism that, despite differing opinions on the Chicago Pr in c i p l e s and speaker invitations, they could reach a consensus to elevate campus discourse while ensuring the safety of all community members.

The 13-member committee will consist of students, alums, faculty and staff, and it will be led by Jana Sawicki, chair of philosophy. Student members, who were selected by the College Council Appointments Committee, will be Michael Crisci ’21, Eli Miller ’21, Rachel Porter ’21 and Conrad Wahl ’20. The committee also includes alum Mark Robinson ’02, staff therapist Alysha Warren, Rabbi Seth Wax, librarian Hale Polebaum Freeman and four other professors in addition to Sawicki: Senior Lecturer in Dance Sandra Burton, Assistant Professor of American Studies Eli Nelson, Professor of Political Science Cheryl Shanks and Chair and Associate Professor of Physics Fred Strauch.

When Mandel first announced her intention to form a committee in a Nov. 27 email to the student body, she cited recent conversations around the invitation of speakers to campus. This message was issued in the

wake of a campus-wide debate over a faculty-led petition to adopt the Chicago Principles and a student-led petition in opposition. The committee, as she saw it, was a way to bridge the gap between these differing viewpoints.

In a Jan. 9 email, while the committee’s roster was being formed, Mandel elaborated on the intent of the committee. “Williams, like other schools around the country, is debating how to uphold principles of open inquiry and free expression,” she wrote. “The debate has focused on how to do so while not providing a platform for

of inclusive dialogue among a diverse group.”

Committee members also drew attention to their differing intellectual and philosophical backgrounds, as well as their wide range of attitudes toward the Chicago Statement.

“Some of the committee members signed the faculty-led petition, some removed their names from it, some signed the student-led petition and some did not sign any,” they said, adding that their primary goal was to work toward consensus through an open and transparent process. Members declined to give personal views on the form of consensus that they would like to see reached, claiming that it was too early in the process to confidently say. Having all chosen to join the committee, however, members saw themselves as united in their shared interests in the nuances of expression on campus.

Strauch, who has previously helped organize events around free expression advocacy, saw this passion as a lifelong one.

“Freedom of inquiry and expression has been a topic of some interest to myself and other faculty on campus for many years and personally dates back to my own days as a student at a liberal arts college,” he said.

The committee, in keeping with Mandel’s original vision, will also engage in outreach during its deliberations. “We have already begun soliciting and generating ideas and will have more information in the coming weeks,” committee members said. “We do know that we will be posting articles, policy statements, historical background materials and other resources on the Committee’s webpage so that everyone who is interested can be aware of the materials that we find relevant to our work. We welcome suggestions for posts from members of the community as well.”

“Working together as a committee will in fact involve establishing a working model of inclusive dialogue among a diverse group.”

Ad Hoc Committee on Inquiry and Inclusion hate speech, racism, or other forces that are corrosive to a learning community.”

She further framed the committee’s mission as seeking input from across the campus community to find a proper balance. Questions for committee discussion included the extent to which the College was responsible for exposing students to new ideas and giving students equal standing to debate them, the best kinds of presentations to enhance learning and the correct level of support for those wishing to bring speakers on campus.

In a collective statement to the Record, committee members emphasized the range of backgrounds included in its membership. “President Mandel’s process for constituting this group of faculty, student, staff and alum representatives involved allowing each group to use their own governing bodies to nominate potential members,” they said. “Working together as a committee will in fact involve establishing a working model

Burke if she felt angry or upset at the fact that the movement had become so represented by the hashtag and Hollywood actresses taking over. “This is America,” Burke responded.

“We are trained to respond to the vulnerability of white women. Now, it isn’t their fault. This [sexual abuse] is something that happened to them and we must recognize that.”

She asserted that the popularity and the broader conversation served to benefit her cause. Time Magazine named her, along with other influencers, a “silence breaker” Person of the Year in 2017.

Manigault-Bryant asked Burke for her advice to students at the College looking to make change. “Instant gratification is dangerous,” Burke said. “A movement takes time, much longer than the lifetime of just one person.” Burke quoted Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. by saying, “‘I’ve seen the mountain top, but I might not get there with you.’” Furthermore, she stated that this movement is not just her. It is not just her ideals or her leadership but a culmination of the work those did before her. Burke said that one day someone will come up to her and say, “Tarana, you don’t know what your talking about anymore,” and she will let them take the reins.

The conversation turned toward accountability of sexual harassers as well as those witnessing harassment. Burke talked about the reasons why perpetrators refuse to acknowledge what they did or people are afraid of being accused. She cited the hearings for Justice Brett Kavanaugh, stating that it would have been a very different hearing had he acknowledge his potential for misunderstanding.

Burke argues that sexual abuse is intolerable, and “we must create accountability.”

Dispensaries open in Berkshire County

By SAMUEL MERMIN STAFF WRITER The first marijuana dispensary in Berkshire County opened its doors to the public on Jan. 11, more than two years after Massachusetts’ legalization of recreational marijuana. Temesca Wellness, another dispensary, has opened in Pittsfield.

Both dispensaries are much closer to the College than other recently-opened dispensaries in Leicester and Northampton.

These were the first stores to sell recreational marijuana on the East Coast, though many such stores already existed in western states. Both students and Campus Safety and Security (CSS) have expressed doubt that the new dispensaries would significantly affect campus life or disciplinary processes.

The opening of the dispensaries are the culmination of a long and slow movement for legalization. Marijuana was outlawed in Massachusetts in 1911 and remained illegal for over 100 years despite frequent use and wide social acceptance. The drug was decriminalized in 2008, legalized for medical use in 2012 and finally legalized for recreational use in 2016.

Despite marijuana’s legalization in 2016, there were no dispensaries in Massachusetts for about two years. This created a

somewhat contradictory legal situation in which possessing, growing and even buying small amounts of marijuana were all legal, but nobody could sell the drug legally. If someone bought a small amount of marijuana from a dealer, the customer was not breaking any laws, but the dealer was.

Despite the proximity of the dispensaries, many students still believe their presence is unlikely to be significant.

Ben Ward ’22 explained that he believes the presence of the dispensaries nearby will not make it any easier for students to use marijuana. “It’s going to make it hard on the dealers,” he said, “but other than that it’ll stay the same. People have no problem getting weed [as it is].”

Ward does think, however, that the presence of legally-purchased marijuana on campus may have some benefits. “It’s safer, it’s higher quality [and] you know what you’re getting,” he explained.

Another student, Benton Leary ’20, added, “I think it’ll increase accessibility because right now you have to know a dealer by more illicit means. I would expect it to make marijuana more accessible, which will make it easier for people to get logistically because they won’t have to know somebody, and

I expect it will also lower the price of marijuana.

“I don’t know that the current marijuana situation on campus is unsafe. I think the extent to which people get their stuff from states where it’s already legal and regulated is high. The marijuana on campus is already safe. One change that I do expect when I think about people’s relative safety [is that] it’ll release the need for ‘dealers.’ In the past, students have gotten in trouble for having it for ‘distribution purposes.’ I think it’s a good thing.”

In addition to the dispensaries’ likely minor impact on campus life, its effect on discipline will be nonexistent. David Boyer, head of CSS, stressed that marijuana is still not allowed on campus despite its legal status in Massachusetts and the presence of the dispensary nearby.

“That marijuana is still considered an illegal drug federally means it is prohibited for students by our code of conduct,” said Rachel Bukanc, senior associate dean of the College. “It is also important to note that smoking of any kind indoors is prohibited.”

“It will be treated the same, regardless of whether it is purchased on-campus or off,” Boyer said. “Any student caught selling marijuana or other (sic) illegal drugs is subject to suspension from the College.”

Courses cancelled following departures of professors CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 can dull our awareness of the grave conditions under which we are expected to perform.”

Love and Green connected this issue with problems in the country at large. “What we are confronting is not much different from what we are experiencing as a U.S. citizen or not, in a larger society, that is in conflict and is struggling to hold onto its moral and ethical center,” they wrote. “We are living the backlash of a National and global push for liberation by and for Black, Queer, Transgender, Poor, Feminine/ Femme people, and our Allies.”

With Love and Green not on campus this semester, 48

students found themselves searching for new classes, with 38 originally enrolled in Love’s courses and 10 in Green’s class.

Two students were enrolled in both Love and Green’s classes, including Afoma Maduegbuna ’21. “To have, literally, first day of classes, half of my classes gone kind of sucked,” Maduegbuna said. “I’m sad and angry on so many different levels… but I’m glad [Love’s] taking care of herself.”

The WGSS and English departments have worked to accommodate these students. Since Green’s course was a senior seminar required for the WGSS major, Kiaran Honderich, lecturer in WGSS, now offers a course

in the same time slot titled, “Advanced Readings and Research in WGSS.” Kathryn Kent, English department chair, met with students to help them find new classes.

“This necessitated that professors in the department, as well as a few outside it, raise the enrollment limits on their courses or allow students to join after the first meeting, which these professors were more than happy to do,” Kent said.

Dean of the Faculty Denise Buell confirmed that Green is on leave and declined to comment regarding Love. Love had not responded by deadline to the Record’s email requesting comment.

5 ARTS

The Williams Record

February 6, 2019

600 Highwaymen to perform participatory work at ’62 Center

By LILY GOLDBERG ARTS EDITOR Formed in 2009, 600 Highwaymen is the stage name of theatre artists Abigail Browde and Michael Silverstone. Their participatory theatre experience, The Fever, will be performed at the ’62 Center this Friday and Saturday. The Record got the chance to speak with Silverstone about The Fever and the theatrical approach of 600 Highwaymen ahead of their upcoming performances.

Lily Goldberg: How did you meet Abigail Browde and form 600 Highwaymen?

Michael Silverstone: Abby and I went to college together, but we actually hated each other – I thought she was a real pain in the butt and she thought the same of me. I always admired her work, however. After college she was making a lot of work as a solo performer, and ... around that time Abby and I became a couple, and we thought, “What if we started working together?” We started by going into a room together, and we’d invite actors into the room with us – actors from the world, not people we knew. We didn’t have money, a website, space, an audience really, but we liked how liberating the work was. So we kept going, and our work began to take on a deeper personal significance and a more widespread resonance. On our third show, we went to Austin, Texas, and developed a production of Death of a Salesman called This Great Country. We ended up bring-

ing the show to New York and putting it on downtown. That was kind of a life-changing experience, since the audience, for the first time, was mostly people we didn’t know.

LG: A lot of your work deals with the relationship between familiarity and strangeness. How did this develop in The Fever?

MS: I’m someone who is personally more comfortable being in a room with strangers than in a room full of friends.

The Fever explores the ageold relationship between one group of people looking at another, which is essentially what theatre is. We like the mystery of strangers. I think the nightmare for us would be to do a show where everybody knows each other, which might be a little bit of a test at Williams.

LG: We tend to think that performance and intimacy are fundamentally different, but it sounds like The Fever is troubling that binary.

MS: The show is performed with 73 people in the room.

What we love about the show is that, by the end, you feel like everybody knows each other. Not because we’ve shared feelings; there’s just a sense of intimacy that comes from simply sitting and experiencing together. It’s not to say everyone has the same relationship to what happens in The Fever, but everyone was still part of what happened.

Afterwards, people tend to want to have conversations,

be around each other, think about each other in a slightly different way. Abby and I are trying to use theatre to get to a more profound place with the world. It seems to us things are getting quicker and thinner. Obviously there are more screens. We’re trying to figure out how to have profound experiences to examine our own place as a collective. The Fever is a place for that.

LG: The Fever has been described in past reviews as “ritual” – do you agree?

MS: “Ritual” has all these nasty connotations that I don’t particularly like; you know, like “let’s light some candles and sacrifice a cat.” Theatre is ritual. It’s a group of people performing for another. It’s a story we’re all going to believe is true. It’s a story we’ll look for ourselves in.

There’s wonderful ritual in that.

But I don’t think of The Fever as ritualistic; I think it’s a portrait of a group of people.

LG: What adaptations did the show undergo as you workshopped it?

MS: It’s different every night because the cast is different every night. The Fever took us about two years to make – our first residency on the show in 2015 was at MASS MoCA. At that point, it wasn’t participatory – it was performed by actors. We stayed with that version of the show for about a year until we finally got rid of it. We really wanted to make a show that dealt with all of us in the room together, not just those of us who appeared onstage. We can’t just go in and do it – it gets written in a new way every night.

PHOTO COURTESY OF 600 HIGHWAYMEN.

Audience members work together with Silverstone and Browde to shape the action of The Fever.

LG: Had 600 Highwaymen done any participatory theatre before?

MS: Oh god, no. [Laughs.] I hate participatory theatre.

LG: Is it because it’s all touchy-feely?

MS: Because it’s terrible.

When’s the last time you’ve seen a good participatory theatre show?

LG: The last time I went to a participatory theatre performance, I ended up with a surprise haircut.

MS: So there you go. Participatory theatre is the worst. It’s really awkward, no one wants to do it. The Fever is different – it’s participatory theatre made by

people who hate it. We came to the idea of participatory theatre because we wanted to make a show about where we are right now at this moment in time – in 2019, in America, with Trump as president, negative 20 degrees outside… so it felt really stupid to cast actors to pretend to be us.

LG: Have you been surprised by the participation?

MS: We were a little afraid that it would attract participation zealots, but the best places to perform The Fever are places where no one knows anything going in. We went down to Florida to do this show, where people just had subscriptions to whatever plays were coming around.

Last week they saw Wynton Marsalis. Next week they’d

see Jesus Christ, Superstar on tour. And it was great!

LG: Have you drawn any connections between participation in theatre and participation in our current society?

MS: I think observing is a kind of participation. Whether you want to or not, you’re in the room, you’re a part of it. It’s not important that everyone be involved but you’re involved by nature of your being there. I’m still involved with the state of affairs in this country regardless of whether all I do is sit at home reading the New Yorker, or whether I’m an activist. I’m part of it.

The Fever is examining how we participate even if we think we’re standing back.

‘Noises Off’ impresses with farcical flare

By SHREYAS RAJESH STAFF WRITER This past weekend, Cap & Bells put on a production of Noises Off – a famous comedy of errors. Students and community members alike were treated to a three-hour witty, slapstick comedy at the ’62 Center for Theatre and Dance.

The premise of the show is simple, albeit quite meta: A travelling theatre company is attempting to put on a comedy that focuses on the farcical interactions between numerous people who have all illicitly entered a house they each believe to be empty. The production takes the form of three acts. The first one follows their dress rehearsal, the second a mid-season production of the play-withinthe-play Nothing On and the third a showing of the play near the end of its run.

The real comedy comes, though, from watching the theatre company slowly unravel backstage, which begins in act two. Many of the “actors” had their own hilarious idiosyncrasies – such as one whose nose would start bleeding at the mention of violence and another who frequently lost her contacts. As the cast members attempted to put on their show, the audience watches them frantically try to handle an alcohol problem, a director who sleeps with two cast members and impregnates one and a jealous rivalry over a sixtyyear old jaded actress. The sheer absurdity of it all had the audience laughing to no end.

Directed by Nadiya Atkinson ’21, the play, which Cap

& Bells put on as its annual Winter Study production, featured nine actors and a host of stage hands ranging from first-years to seniors.

Gigi Gamez ’22, who played the character of Brooke Ashton, was struck by the closeness between cast members.

“I’d say that as a freshman, I was worried at first as to how I’d get along with the other actors. They were all upperclassman and already knew each other from doing other shows at Williams,” Gamez said. “But because of how hectic the show is and how little time we had to put it up (about four weeks) we all became so close. Everyone was extremely accepting and friendly and it really helped with the process.”

The show featured an elaborate number of props, including multiple plates of sardines that kept moving on and offstage. Mastering timing and the movement of props took significant rehearsal time.

“We were at rehearsal every day for at least three or four hours – which seems like a lot, but honestly, for this show, you really had to give it your all. It’s just so fast-paced and you have to get the timing exactly right each time,” Gamez explained.

Even so, the exceptional cast really made the action of the play come to life. Director Atkinson was astounded by the work ethic of the cast.

“The actors were absolutely incredible. Their dedication was crucial to the show even occurring and each of them brought a unique, lovely energy and talent into the space,” Atkinson said. “They were

able to quickly pick up incredibly difficult blocking and movement. The cast was on it and made it happen: I could not be more proud of them.”

Another challenge was the complicated set. During the first and third acts, the audience sees the set of the play the theatre company is presenting, but in the second act, audience members are treated to a backstage view of what is happening with the theatre company.

Atkinson articulately described the stage.

“This play is ridiculously complex technically,” Atkinson said. “I spent many hours discussing ideas with designers of how to rig certain set and prop pieces, how to make sure that the actors stay safe, what to keep, what to change.”

Atkinson also gave props to technical directors John Murphy ’21 and Nick Sommer ’21, who spent more than 50 hours building the set. “What ended up going up was a much less complicated version of the initial design ideas,” she admitted. “The original show calls for a two-story set, but the team decided that it would be more feasible to keep the set to a onestory. Simply figuring out how to re-stage the play was a challenge in and of itself: I would read and re-read the script every day before rehearsal just to be able to visualize the play before the actors would even come into the space.”

“What an incredible, intense, wacky journey: it was truly an honor to be a part of it,” Atkinson concluded. And indeed, it was an honor to witness such an intricate and hilarious production as well.

PHOTO COURTESY OF CAP & BELLS

The talented ensemble of Cap & Bells’ Noises Off brought hilarity to the ‘62 Center last weekend.

PHOTO COURTESY OF WCMA.

Students work on self-portraits in WCMA during the final presentation of “21st Century Museums.”

WCMA runs course in curation

By MAE BURRIS-WELLS STAFF WRITER An interestingly paradoxical trend describes museum quality: The more effort put into engineering the experience, the more invisible the effort becomes. The most clever, intuitive gallery designs match the visitors’ needs, like attentive parents anticipating their children’s demands, precisely so that they may be overlooked.

But what exactly happens to achieve such a success of inconspicuousness? Students explored this question in a Winter Study course called “21st Century Museums – From the Inner Workings to the Future Vision of Culture Making.”

“The goal of the class was to give the students a broad and deep understanding of museum practice, from behind the scenes to front of house,” said instructor Lisa Dorin, who who serves as deputy director of curatorial affairs at the Williams College Museum of Art (WCMA). The course, which took full advantage of the thriving arts scene of the Berkshires, brought students to the Clark Art Institute and MASS MoCA, culminating in a trip to New York City, where students toured galleries and met with museum professionals.

The course met primarily at WCMA, which both served a natural pedagogical purpose and achieved an outreach goal of the museum. WCMA already has a robust program for collaboration with faculty, in which Dorin, a curator of contemporary art at the museum, is heavily involved.

But the institution is still hoping to become a more central part of student life. “We’re

definitely thinking about how the museum can be a hub for students both curricularly, co-curricularly or just a place to come and be,” Dorin said.

For Claiming Williams Day last Thursday, the students curated a gallery presentation that reflected the multiple purposes of the modern museum.

“We wanted them to come away having created a museum experience so that they’d have an understanding of what it takes to make an experience for the public,” Dorin explained.

The presentation engaged with “possible selves: queer foto vernaculars,” which opened in December, and the new exhibition “Collecting History,” a selection of James Van Der Zee’s photos of black New Yorkers from the early 1900s. A dashed line of blue tape led visitors through the rooms and along the walls of art where students’ handwritten commentary, placed on a music stand in front of the relevant art piece, occasionally interrupted forward movement.

“We started by asking each student to select a work of art on view in the museum to inspire them to think about some of the themes Claiming Williams brings about,” Dorin said. “From there, they developed a program that incorporated the artworks and tied them to the larger themes.”

The students ultimately chose to dig into the ways the highlighted exhibits tackle the complexities of identity; these intimate, personal possessions that are nonetheless profoundly informed by collectivity. “We are curating a project that looks at identifying the self versus the community,” Ben Ward ’22, a student in the course, said.

And though this might have been the goal, perhaps the most

successful aspect of the presentation was its light touch in answering this question. After all, how can we really draw the line between self and community?

The gallery tour ended in the museum’s rotunda. A luminous hall abuzz with activity, it sharply contrasted the solemn mood of the previous room’s post-16th century American and European art. In the center of the columns that ring the circular space, students crafted self-portraits at a table covered in stickers and colored pencils. Another station titled “The External Self” invited visitors to take Polaroid photos of themselves and their friends inside an empty gold frame.

Elsewhere, people stood around a table covered in bread (“Come break bread with us in the Rotunda,” a sign in the exhibition invited playfully), munching and writing on sticky notes about bread’s significance in their lives.

To the side performed a trio of student string players.

Everything in the room was set up to celebrate individuality – visually, aurally and verbally.

But the most touching departure it took from typical curatorial design, which traditionally honors the relationship of the individual to the art, was in the community space it created. The program spotlighted so much art that is doing important work by asserting and exploring individuality, and this final destination of the blue tape seemed to convey the most profound reason for its importance. All individuality springs from community, but not to merely hang in artistic and intellectual limbo on the wall of a museum. For this kind of art to be effective in making us all more loving and whole, it is to community that it must return.

FEATURES 6

The Williams Record

February 6, 2019

One in Two Thousand

By BROOKE HOROWITCH EXECUTIVE EDITOR Hemal is one of the most outgoing, cheerful members of Willy AB. We sat down to discuss his childhood in Coventry, England, and how he ended up at the College. He also described his love of music – both grime and classical Indian.

What was it like to grow up in Coventry?

I thought Coventry was a small city, but compared to here, it’s a megacity. [Laughs.] Growing up there was hard, especially the area where I grew up, even though I lived in a fairly newly built estate. Is “estate” a word here?

Yes. Like, a group of houses?

I consider it to be a big plot of land with a mansion.

No, not like that. An estate refers to a bunch of houses. I grew up in a fairly new estate, but all of the surrounding areas were pretty bad with a lot of gang violence. The school that I went to was right in the middle of the city. It had people from similar areas to me, so it wasn’t the most privileged school, if you get what I mean. Everyone came from rough backgrounds.

Coventry was also a big refugee city, especially when I was at secondary school when a lot of wars were going on in the Middle East. A lot of refugees were coming to England, and a lot would come to cities like Coventry. They settled into the same area where I lived, so my school was mostly that demographic. It was a really diverse school – there was something like 60 languages spoken and only 750 students. It wasn’t the

best school, and we were really low in terms of national rankings, but I enjoyed growing up in that school. It was rough, but I felt comfortable because I had a group of friends since the start, and we knew the whole area.

ing United. They would always win, so that’s what appealed to younger me, and then I just stuck with it.

HEMAL PATEL ’22

You are also a big fan of cricket. What do you like about it?

Did you befriend people who were from different places and spoke different languages than you?

Yeah, I had quite a mixed group of friends. We would make new friends because it was quite common for new people to come in every year. It wasn’t fixed.

Could you tell me your favorite and least favorite things about England?

My favorite thing is probably the football culture – soccer culture, right? I just love how everyone is in love with this one game. The atmosphere at games is insane compared to here. I’ve been to a baseball game here, and I didn’t feel like it was the same. There, you walk into a stadium and it’s just buzz everywhere. The crowds are insane, and there are all of these chants going on.

But my least favorite thing is the weather, easily. It’s always wet, miserable and rainy.

How did you end up at Williams, and what was your transition like?

I was in this program for kids from less privileged backgrounds and low-performing public schools in England who performed highly in high school. It’s for them to access higher education in the U.S. I applied to that program and ended up getting in. They have a bunch of information sessions regarding U.S. schools and how to apply. They also take you on a week of summer school in the U.S.

ANIAH PRICE/PHOTO EDITOR HEMAL'S HOMETOWN COVENTRY, ENGLAND

HEMAL'S RESIDENCE WILLIAMS HALL

I stayed at Yale, but we went to a bunch of other schools too.

I got to see what the U.S. system is like. That’s how I got interested in American schools. The program covers the cost of the entire thing. They also provide you with a mentor who reads your applications and makes suggestions for how you can improve, so it’s a bit like Matriculate. So I came through that program, and they recommended that I apply to Williams, so I did.

I came to Previews after I got accepted, and I just kind of loved the place because I wanted to get away from a city vibe.

I know you’re a triplet. Could you tell me about your sisters and what that's like?

I have two sisters. One of them is currently retaking the last

MUSICAL INSTRUMENT TABLA

year of high school, and the other is at a college in England studying pharmacy. There was quite a lot of fighting growing up. [Laughs.] There was a really big rivalry between us, and we always wanted to be better than each other in school. But we’re way closer now than we were before. My sisters still fight with each other though, and I am kind of the peacemaker.

You mentioned football/ soccer earlier. What team do you support and why?

I support a team called Manchester United. That’s the team I’ve supported since I was young, since the Cristiano Ronaldo days. He was just my favorite player; I decided that when I was 7. He was playing for United at the time, so I started support-

I grew up watching cricket because my family is from India. In India, cricket is literally a religion. I always wanted to play, so my dad took me to my first club when I was 8 years old. I started playing then and I was decent at it, I guess. I ended up playing junior county-level cricket.

If I had made it to nationallevel cricket, then I wouldn't have come to the U.S. because there’s no cricket here. I kind of stopped playing during exam season anyway, and it whittled away. But I still love following it.

In addition to sports, you are really into music. I know that you like grime and play the Indian drums (tabla). Could you tell me about that?

Grime is basically a British form of rap. I know some people don’t like it – let me ask you a question: Why don’t you like it?

I guess I prefer songs with clearer melodies.

That’s one reason to not like it, and a lot of people think that the beats are stupid.

But for me, it’s more about the meaning of the songs because a lot of grime artists are people that came from gang violence. They rap about their lives and their stories, and that’s what got me into grime because I’ve seen friends who have gone down that route. I can kind of relate to it. And I love the beats. I don’t know

what you’re talking about.

And now in the U.S., mumble rap is big. Grime is more like old school rap when they just rap and don’t make stupid noises, and the lyrics aren’t just meaningless. Their lyrics are genuine, and it’s straight, hardcore rap.

I’m also into Indian classical music because I grew up in the temple. I started going when I was young, and in Hindu culture and temples, music is a huge thing – it’s a way of offering devotion, I guess. That’s how I got into Indian singing and drums.

I saw someone playing and said, “This looks so cool. I need to play this.” My granddad would buy me instruments from India and bring them back to the U.K., and I would literally watch people play onstage and try to copy it. I never had any formal training, because I couldn’t find a teacher in my area, and lessons are really expensive.

So I taught myself and grew up accompanying people in the temple.

When I was doing that, I wasn’t into the classical part of the music; I was more into the devotional, religious music. But then I went to a Zakir Hussain concert – [he's] one of the biggest musicians in the world. He's big in the West too because he has done a lot of collaborations. The stuff that he played was just insane. I could never even imagine playing it, so I was like, ‘I need to learn this stuff’ and began watching YouTube videos and learning classical pieces. Now that I’m at Williams, I have a formal teacher, and he’s really good. He’s learned from some of the best musicians in the world. He is currently teaching me more Indian classical music, and I’m enjoying that.

First Congregational Church spearheads immigrant activism

By JEONGYOON HAN EXECUTIVE EDITOR On Jan. 27, as the wind whips snow into the air on a brisk morning in Williamstown, towngoers hurry in to seek refuge in First Congregational Church (FCC), a building that, with its classic white exterior and steeple, blends perfectly into the picturesque New England landscape.

But inside, activities on that Sunday morning diverged from the scene one might typically expect of a congregational-style church. Before singing routine hymns, members of the Outreach Ministry Team updated the church members with a brief status report on their immigrant justice work.

Rev. Mark Longhurst dedicated a portion of his sermon on science and Jesus Christ to highlight the role of God as not only the creator of the universe but also an empathetic being for immigrants. “God hears the cries of the suffering,” Longhurst said. “To those who are undocumented and unafraid, God says, ‘I’m on your side.’”

Immediately after the service, the congregation began a panel on English as a second language services in the area.

For the passersby merely visiting FCC, the morning offered not only an opportunity to connect with God but also to peer into FCC’s immigrant justice work, which has invigorated the church’s outreach ministry.

On Jan. 29, the Outreach Ministry Team recommended that the church move toward a “Level 2” sanctuary commitment; if approved through a congregation-wide vote, FCC in a Level 2 capacity would help Level 1 congregations – which can house immigrants themselves – with a wide variety of tasks, including arranging transportation, meals or security needs of an immigrant.

It is the most recent development in what is now a yearlong discernment process around becoming a sanctuary congregation for immigrants at risk of deportation who may, with time, have strong cases for positive outcomes.

Phil Smith, one of nine members of the Outreach Team, voted with the majority to not pursue sanctuary status for FCC itself. “I had very strong concerns about the time and personnel that such a status would demand,” Smith said.

Though it opted not to pursue Level 1 status, FCC is still committed to continuing immigrant justice work. They church is working with three different immigrant families locally, collaborating with the Berkshire Immigrant Center on various projects, hosting fundraising dinners and coordinating with other congregations on similar causes.

FCC even enlisted CLiA’s help in organizing a Winter Study opportunity through the course “Fieldwork in Public Affairs and Private Non-Profits,” in which Soha Sanchorawala ’19 and Emily Elder ’20 conducted research to contribute to the discernment process.

That process, which community organizer Bridget Spann described as an effort “to educate members about the needs of immigrants and the idea of sanctuary as a faith-based response to broken immigration system,” was critical in informing the vote. The process has been extensive because, as Spann and others noted, there are many considerations to undertake in determining what course of action is most suitable for FCC. “The hope with the discernment process is that there be space for all different concerns and hopes and questions to be voiced,” Spann said. “There are some who would say, ‘Yes, I’d like to be involved in sanctuary, but I don’t know if we have money or people power.’ Others would say, ‘Yes, let’s be a sanctuary congregation and what is the best way to do it?’ Others ask, ‘Will focusing on sanctuary take the focus away from other things?’”

Longhurst and Spann agreed that it would be in the congregation’s best interest to have a long and extensive deliberation process to ensure that all members are drawn into the decision-making process and to also realistically consider FCC’s capacities.

“I have heard concerns of personnel burnout,” said Longhurst, who is in his sixth year leading the congregation. “We’re a very busy church, but we’re not a big church, so we’re stretched fairly thin already. So I think the question that I’m asking and that others will probably ask is, ‘What is the best use of our energies?’”

This is just one of the many circumstances in which FCC has chosen to actively engage in social justice work in its past and present. The church has historically helped numerous immigrants in the past, and the Outreach Ministry Team, along with continuing immigrant justice work, also prioritizes efforts to support the jobless, the homeless and those facing food security.

While some churches might shy away from the prospect of inserting themselves into inherently political topics, Longhurst and FCC have embraced this faith-based social justice work precisely because they view such efforts as part of living out their Christian faith.

“I see the witness of Jesus as inherently political,” Longhurst said. “Not partisan, not Republican or Democrat, but inherently political in the sense that it relates to our public life together.”

In a four-week sermon series titled “Welcoming the Stranger” that Longhurst gave in September, he outlined the ways in which Jesus’ ministry has informed how church communities should extend welcome to people of all backgrounds: the stranger, the disadvantaged and the homeless.

Longhurst said he sees his role is in helping FCC “build up consensus and not create a space where we’re simply mirroring the political divisions of the larger culture, but we’re engaging with each other on a deeper level.”

Chairperson Anne O’Connor of the Select Board, which oversees the activities of municipal and the town manager in Williamstown, said that it is part of local government’s responsibility to work within the constraints of the rule of law while supporting all members of the community, who – according to O’Connor – “have contributed in countless ways to enhance the fabric of our town.”

“I believe it is our duty as people of faith to stand up for individuals who are being unfairly targeted by the current administration,” O’Connor said.

FCC is not the only congregation who is currently considering joining the Sanctuary Movement. In fact, FCC is just one of 10 churches working with Berkshire Interfaith Organizing (BIO) to establish a sanctuary network in the Berkshires. According to BIO community organizer Jeff Lowenstein, President Donald Trump’s immigration policy has made the stakes higher for immigrant justice initiatives, especially in the Northeast.

“People are terrified,” Lowenstein said of immigrants living in the area. “People aren’t coming out of their homes.”

While ICE guidelines called for the detainment of people

with criminal records during the Obama administration, Lowenstein noted that they rely more heavily on individual discretion in terms of who they decide to go after under Trump’s leadership.

“We really wanted to start this [organizing] process while we had some time, before deportations started ramping up,” he said.

But ICE enforcement has already picked up western Massachusetts: a Lenox resident is facing deportation to Colombia, and an Albanian immigrant was recently arrested in Great Barrington.

“Neither of those cases represents random enforcements by ICE,” Lowenstein said. “They’re not coming in and just sweeping the streets. These were both targeted things, but ICE would not have enforced cases like those six months or a year ago.”

Increased ICE activity is what makes sanctuary involvement crucial to immigrant justice work. In an internal ICE memo released in 2011, houses of worship were deemed “sensitive locations,” thereby dictating that agents will not enter such spaces unless extreme circumstances require it.

“As one lawyer put it, ‘ICE is not gonna want to tangle with church ladies,’” Lowenstein said.

O’Connor also pointed out the crucial role sanctuary congregations play in efforts to maintain the vitality of an inclusive local community. “Faith communities are uniquely wellpositioned to step forward to defend immigrants at risk of deportation – ‘sanctuary’ is in the very name and heart of our places of worship; the spirit of radical welcome is a duty.”

The Office of Communications recommends ...

Annual Faculty Lecture Series: "Patterns, Swarms, and the Unreasonable Effectiveness of Mathematics" with Chad Topaz, professor PG mathematics Thursday, Feb. 7 4:15 p.m.

Wege Auditorium Reception to follow in Schow Atrium

February 6, 2019

7 FEATURES

The Williams Record

Jon Lovett ’04 reimagines media coverage of politics

By JANE PETERSEN MANAGING EDITOR In the midst of an unprecedented media frenzy surrounding the 2016 presidential election, Jon Lovett ’04 found that the media’s approach to covering the news had become ineffectual in relating political events to real people.

“The conversation around politics was broken,” Lovett said.

“It was self-serious without being very serious. It was focused on the horserace instead of on the way politics impact people’s lives, and it treated people like cynical observers and not like frustrated participants.”

It was this vision that led Lovett, Tommy Vietor and Jon Favreau to create Crooked Media, a podcast channel and website that blends together activism, entertainment and coverage of the news.

Crooked’s co-founders opt for what they call a “nobullshit” approach to the news that inspires people to take action, defying norms of how pundits typically discuss politics. Lovett hosts Lovett Or Leave It and co-hosts Pod Save America, Crooked’s flagship podcast, which has been downloaded hundreds of millions of times and consistently ranks atop podcast charts.

In the leadup to the 2018 midterms, Crooked’s lineup of podcasts was complemented with voter mobilization initiatives like Vote Save America and four HBO television specials. In recent weeks, however, Crooked has had to mitigate a shift in the political conversation from one of energizing an electorate to dealing with a grinding federal government shutdown caused by politicians.

PHOTO COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA COMMONS.

Jon Lovett ’04 has worked as a speechwriter for Obama, a screenwriter and a co-creator of popular podcast channel Crooked Media.

“I think what we’re always trying to do is to think about what we do, whether it’s a podcast, a live stream, an HBO live show, a narrative or a documentary,” Lovett said. “We make things that entertain and inform and inspire action, and we don’t have to do them all equally.”

Lovett partially attributes his writing approach to his experience at the College, where he majored in math and psychology. While he knew he was not interested in pursuing a career in math, Lovett lauded the math department for influencing his work by connecting his love of math and logic to his writing.

“Learning differential equations [and] learning geometry, it’s about being able to speak and

write and understand very complicated ideas completely enough to simplify them, enough to explain them naturally,” Lovett said. “That is something I may have been drawn to again and again as a speechwriter and as a podcast host.”

Lovett served as his class’ student commencement speaker, and upon graduation, he volunteered for John Kerry’s presidential campaign and worked as a speechwriter for then-Sen. Hillary Clinton’s office. After Clinton lost the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination, an anonymous speechwriting contest led Lovett to his next opportunity: working for the new Obama administration. His was one of the speeches selected, and Lovett was hired after making an

impression on Favreau, now his Pod Save America co-host, and the rest of the team.

Lovett left the Obama administration before the 2012 re-election campaign to become a screenwriter, co-creating and executive producing the presidential family sitcom 1600 Penn and writing for the third season of Aaron Sorkin’s The Newsroom. Following the 2016 presidential election, Lovett joined forces with Favreau and former Obama administration colleague Vietor to create Crooked.

“We wanted to find a way to be part of the fight against, not just Trump, but against the systems [within] the Republican party, inside our politics more generally, in our media that allowed

someone like Trump to reach the presidency,” Lovett said. “It is a symptom of a deep cultural rot.”

Crooked has stood out for its unabashed criticism of Trump and of Republicans in general. Now, with the 2020 elections looming, Crooked is holding some Democrats’ feet to the fire, too.

“This is a really hard time, and Democrats now face a choice: Who do we put up against this movement? Who do we, as Democrats, say who we are elevating to face Donald Trump in 2020?” Lovett said. “We’re all approaching this with imperfect information, and we’re all approaching it with genuine patriotism, a sense that we want to find the right person because we want

to pick someone who’s not only going to be a great president, but who’s going to win. And that’s really hard.”

Lovett said he is unsure of whether or not he will disclose whom he is voting for in the Democratic presidential primary and has not yet decided who that candidate will be.

“We’ve decided here that we’re going to try to talk to everybody and that our job is not going to be to try to put a thumb on the scales, but just talk to all the candidates and try to help people listening figure out who they support,” he said.

Regardless of the outcome of the 2020 election, Lovett believes that the political culture surrounding Trump will not reverse overnight. Yet he also sees 2020 as a window to expand Crooked’s influence.

“Donald Trump in some ways is an aberration, and in some ways he’s a culmination,” Lovett said. “We’re not all going to be paying attention to politics like this forever... But when Donald Trump goes, there’s still going to be this moment where everyone’s paying attention, and at that moment we’ll be able to do some really important things.”

There will eventually be a day when Trump is no longer the No. 1 news item, however.

Lovett admitted that Crooked will have to figure out its role in the media landscape when that day approaches but reiterated the company’s central ideal of expanding the democratic process no matter who is in the White House.

“One of the lessons of Trump is that politics doesn’t go away; democracy doesn’t go away,” he said. “We’re all going to have to keep participating.”

Berkshire Palate offers Winter Study courses give insight locally sourced craft food, into world of entrepreneurship standout array of sliders

By NIGEL JAFFE FEATURES EDITOR

By NICHOLAS GOLDROSEN MANAGING EDITOR Williamstown’s Colonial Plaza – perhaps better known to students at the College as “near Rite Aid” – has seen several restaurant openings in the past months. One of these is Berkshire Palate, a new venture owned by three brothers, Zach, Aaron and Nolan Brassard, and their father, Paul Brassard. Zach, a chef by trade, oversees the menu; Aaron, Nolan and Paul all work in the restaurant as well. One wintry evening, famished from the brutal academic exertion of Winter Study, I paid Berkshire Palate a visit to see what the new place was all about.

The restaurant sits in the Colonial Plaza mall among several other storefronts. The interior has, on one side, a chalkboard wall prominently featuring the restaurant’s locally sourced ingredients and menu, and on the other, an open view of the kitchen. The menu offers a variety of hot and cold “snacks” as appetizers, such as wings or a roasted vegetable salad, as well as more traditional entrees, but the focal points of the menu are the sliders – “Little Buns,” as they are termed.

For my meal, I ordered a tasting flight of three sliders, served with a side of fries for

$14. I started with the “North Carolina BBQ,” an appropriately vinegary take on that style, served with an excellent purple cabbage slaw for some textural contrast.

Continuing in the barbecue direction, I also tried the “Brisket BBQ” slider, which was similarly delicious. With the advent of new barbecue places in the local area (such as A-OK in North Adams), Berkshire Palate’s offerings are a welcome addition to that roster.

I finished off my trio of sliders with “The Hangover,” a take on a breakfast sandwich and my favorite of the bunch.

The house-made sausage was excellently paired with an egg, but what sealed the deal was the locally sourced maple syrup glaze. It provided a sweet contrast to the savory meatiness of the sandwich and rounded out the slider well. The trio came with fries, which complemented the sliders nicely.

Among my dining companions – who, full disclosure, were my parents – we also sampled the “Cuban” and “House Cured Salmon” sliders, along with the braised short rib dish for $20. The Cuban slider was another highlight of the meal, expertly combining the flavors of a Cuban sandwich – pork, ham, swiss, pickles and mus-

tard – in slider form. The salmon and its accompaniments were good, though with our being from New York City, the bagel that the slider was served on underwhelmed. The braised short ribs, served atop mashed potatoes with blue cheese and pickled onions on top, were solidly prepared, but the restaurant’s strength is definitely the sliders menu.

For dessert, I had the affogato, a toothsome twist on the traditional Italian preparation with espresso poured over salted caramel ice cream and topped with a caramel drizzle, which, for coffee aficionados, makes for a terrific nightcap.

All told, Berkshire Palate is an excellent addition to the array of restaurants in Williamstown. Their slider flights and fries are a decently portioned meal for a dinner and fall within the range of what one might pay for dinner on Spring Street or elsewhere in Williamstown. My palate definitely recommends Berkshire Palate.

Berkshire Palate is located at 240 Main St. in Williamstown, in the Colonial Plaza shopping center. It is open for lunch and dinner from 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday, with extended hours until 9:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.

PHOTO COURTESY OF IBERKSHIRES.

Customers at Berkshire Palate enjoy sliders – called “Little Buns” – and a variety of hot and cold snacks.

In Winter Study classrooms spread across the nation, from Griffin 6 to the Golden Gate bridge, one buzzword has captured everyone’s attention: startups.

The word appears more than 15 times in this year’s Winter Study catalog, which features a wide range of courses aimed to expose students to the thinking behind, and architecture of, the startup world.

“This is a time when students can really go deep in terms of their career planning, thinking about how their interests might relate to something out there in the real world in terms of impact,” said Don Kjelleren, director of the ’68 Center for Career Exploration.

No courses served that mindset more directly than the two designed specifically for students interested in careers in technology or at tech startups, namely “Introduction to Tech Entrepreneurship” and “Field Work in a Bay Area Startup.”

In the former, taught by Elissa Shevinsky ’01, students came up with pitches for tech startups – many of which were aimed at students at the College. Although the campus setting may seem limited as the host for an entire customer base, Shevinsky spoke highly of college students as a target population. “Students are a really crucial demographic,” she said. “You are the ones who make things go viral: you’re online more, you share things more, you type faster.”

Meanwhile, students in “Field Work in a Bay Area Startup” found themselves exploring similar ideas in the context of established, global companies based on the other side of the country.

Tonio Palmer, instructor of the course and entrepreneurin-residence at the Career Center, framed the curriculum around the lean startup methodology, which emphasizes the importance of figuring out early on whether the product is viable. “We visited 15 different companies – Google, Minted.com, Kountable, etc. – and really

zeroed in on those aspects of the trade,” he said. “It’s the question of, ‘How do I know if I have a marketable product?’ that we’re trying to study.”

Barbara Fuller, director of science and health professions advising at the Center, coordinated two courses that were even more highly specialized. The first, “Healthcare Internships,” allowed students to shadow professionals in medical fields, while the second, “EMT Training,” offered the chance to complete EMT training while largely remaining on campus. “Winter Study is just the perfect time for an intensive clinical observation experience,” Fuller said.

“We don’t get opportunities very often to do things like this.”

Some courses took a broader approach when it came to placing students in a professional setting. “I think of all of the courses offering internship opportunities, mine has the broadest umbrella as far as industry access,” said Dawn Dellea, manager of alumni and parent engagement programs at the Center and coordinator of “Experience the Workplace; an Internship with Williams Alumni/Parents.”

Her course arranges internship placements through the Center, pairing students with select alums and parents to give insight into the work environment and company culture in exclusive professions.

“We have internships with NBC Sports, with Deutsche [Bank], with startups in San Francisco. We try to counterbalance the classic finance and consulting craze, to give an alternative for that,” she said. “What this does for the student is it gives them the firsthand experience they need to make themselves more marketable moving forward.”

Dellea’s course is one of four offered by the Center that capitalize on the powerful relationship between the College and its alumni network. Kjelleren highlighted the thinking behind drawing such a close alliance between students and alums.

“We truly believe one of the most valuable lifetime

memberships you’re going to have as a graduate of Williams College is membership as an Eph forever in the alumni community,” he said.

“The alumni are so engaged and so thrilled to work with, mentor, guide students...

It’s just an extraordinary partnership. It feels like the entire ecosystem benefits through these types of programs.”

Several courses that were unaffiliated with the Center produced original projects targeting students at the College. Allan Wellenstein’s “Solution Design: from Ideas to Implementation” explored the strategies companies use to avoid the problems that prevent startup projects from succeeding. Two student teams pitched the framework for original technical tools. One project attempted to provide intelligent course recommendations by combining data about courses with data about the student; the other suggested campus events tailored to students’ interests and preferences.

“I appreciated learning about a work culture which prioritizes clarity and understanding,” Will Keating ’19, a student in the class, said.

Meanwhile, a variety of original, student-led projects emerged from “Essential Tools for Startups to Change Good Ideas to Successful Businesses and Organizations,” taught by entrepreneurship consultant Steven Fogel. One such venture, led

by Vince McNelis ’21, Carson Kurtz ’22, Jihong Lee ’22 and Mark Bissell ’22, involved an convenience store that would supply basic products from a central location on campus.

Though many are new to the College, these courses offer an exciting look into the inner workings of the startup industry, and demand for them continues to rise.

“We’re seeing an increasing interest in entrepreneurship and in technology and those kind of fields,” Dellea said.

“You know, in five years, it’s probably going to change.

It’s our goal to understand what the trends are, what students are interested in, and to see what we can deliver for them.”

8 SPORTS

The Williams Record

February 6, 2019

Pat Manning records 500th win as women's basketball coach

By JACK McGOVERN SPORTS EDITOR Pat Manning didn’t think anyone knew.

She was aware that her daughter and her assistants knew, but otherwise, the head coach of women's basketball was focused on the task at hand: a conference game against Colby.

Friday’s matchup with the Mules, however, was not just any conference game for Manning and the Ephs. At the final buzzer of a 58-34 victory, Manning became the 22nd coach in Div. III women’s basketball history to record 500 career wins.

After exchanging handshakes with the Mules, Manning shared a moment with her assistants and hugged members of her family in attendance as her team jogged into the locker room. Manning soon followed, exiting Chandler Gymnasium through the usual side door.

What she saw when she joined her team in the locker room left her momentarily speechless. “When I walked in, it just was shocking,” Manning recalled. “I thought, ‘Oh they have shirts on.’ Then I’m like, ‘Wait a minute, they have 500! They know!’”

Seconds later, the team burst through the same side door and ran back onto the court, clad in purple T-shirts with the No. 500 emblazoned in gold on the front. The design also included a silhouette of Manning cutting down a basketball net. As the crowd stood and applauded, Manning waved and posed for pictures at midcourt with her team. Everybody knew.

“It's been a thrill to coach here for 29 years, and I'm ready for 29 more,” Manning said.

Assistant coach Meredith Mesaris, who is in her third

season with the Ephs, said she “came here aware of [Manning’s] record” and called Manning “an icon in the world of women’s basketball.”

Mesaris, who shared a similar experience with her coach in college and wanted a special way to acknowledge Manning’s achievement, collaborated with Nick Giard, assistant coach of men’s basketball, to design the commemorative shirts. “The women on the team have had them with them for a couple games in anticipation of the victory,” Mesaris said.

With the team returning from a four-game road trip, a home contest with Colby on Friday night seemed like the perfect opportunity to reach the milestone. Manning, who began the season with 490 wins, had notched her 499th victory on Jan. 25 in an away game against Trinity.

With the chance to make history on their home court, the Ephs seized the moment and raced ahead to a 16-3 lead over the Mules in the first quarter. Team defense, which Manning emphasized during preseason, made the difference early on for the women as Colby committed 9 turnovers and settled for many well-contested shots.

On offense, Maggie Meehan ’21, the team’s leading scorer on the season, pushed the pace of the game. Meehan scored two baskets in transition in the first quarter, including a coast-to-coast driving layup through contact.

Although the women never trailed, Colby edged back into the game in the second quarter, pulling to within 6 points on a 3-pointer by Jackie Albanese.

With the Mules holding all the momentum, Morgan Dauk ’21 came off the bench and quickly responded with a 3-pointer of her own.

PHOTO COURTESY OF SPORTS INFORMATION.

Manning has compiled a 500–236 record and nine NCAA tournament appearances in 29 seasons as head coach of women's basketball.

Dauk, who finished with a game-high 17 points, continued to power the Ephs for the rest of the night. With her head coach pacing the sidelines and clapping, Dauk delivered an extremely efficient performance, shooting 6 of 9 from the field and 3 of 4 from the foul line in 16 minutes.

As the women extended their lead, Mikaela Topper ’21 also crossed into double figures, draining two jump shots and a layup in the fourth quarter. Topper walked away with 13 points on 6-for-12 shooting, 3 assists, 2 rebounds and 2 steals.

After the game, Manning commended the performances of Meehan, Dauk and Top-

per as well as the defense of Gabby Martin ’21.

Then she stepped back and reflected. “The players I've had over the years [have been] just some remarkable women who I've had the privilege of coaching," said Manning. “This is really a testament to all the kids who have come through our program over the years and helped this happen. It was really their effort and their work.”

Manning also credited her colleagues in the athletics department. “I'm lucky to be able to work at an amazing school with fellow coaches who are incredibly supportive – not only my basketball staff, but coaches throughout

Hirsch enlivens basketball broadcasts, coins catchphrases

our department,” she said.

“To work alongside them every day is an honor.”

With the historic victory, Manning improved her alltime tally to 500–236, a .680 winning percentage.

Her teams have reached the NCAA tournament nine times, including trips to the Sweet Sixteen in 1999, 2006, 2010 and 2013.

In 2013, the Ephs compiled a program-best 27–6 record under Manning’s leadership. The women advanced to their first Final Four and placed third in the nation, defeating none other than rival Amherst in the third-place game by a score of 57-53.

Off the court, Manning is active in the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association, a national organization of coaches at all levels. In particular, she has been instrumental in the creation of a Div. III women’s basketball all-star game. The inaugural event will be held on March 16 at Roanoke College in Salem, Va. Colby head coach Brittany Gaetano, a former assistant at Amherst, stopped to congratulate Manning after the postgame festivities. “What an honor it is to coach alongside you, seriously,” Gaetano said. “I’m mad you had to do it against me, but you want to know what, I wouldn’t have wanted anybody else [to do it].”

Men’s squash places second at NESCACs

By JOHN FITZGERALD TEAM CORRESPONDENT

PHOTO COURTESY OF SPORTS INFORMATION.

Alan Hirsch and his son Eric Hirsch ’19 have attended Eph basketball games together since 2003 and now serve as NSN commentators.

By SOFIE JONES SPORTS EDITOR Alan Hirsch, chair of justice and law studies at the College, is the voice of Eph basketball.

He announces every home game, often with a student by his side to provide color commentary. The games are broadcast online to fans beyond Williamstown on Northeast Sports Network (NSN).

In November, when the athletics department needed an announcer to provide commentary for the NSN live stream on short notice, Hirsch, who has attended nearly every home basketball game at the College since 2003, was a natural choice. His son Eric Hirsch ’19, a men's soccer player who works for Sports Information, was also invited to join him on the air.

Alan’s wife, Marjorie Hirsch, professor of music,

Games this week

insisted that they take the opportunity. “After years of watching basketball games together, whether in Chandler Gym or on TV in our basement, it seemed like a once in a lifetime opportunity, so we decided to give it a try,” Eric said.

Considering Alan Hirsch’s enthusiasm for Eph basketball, it is suprising to many that he is actually an Amherst alum. During his time there, Hirsch competed briefly on the wrestling team. “My dirty secret is that I don't take the rivalry too seriously,” he said.

While Hirsch may not pay the rivalry too much attention himself, his family certainly does.

“One of my daughters went to Amherst, and her high school friends gave her a t-shirt that said ‘Friends don’t let friends go to Amherst,’” Alan said. “My son, who was a little kid at the

Wrestling vs. Castleton Home 2/8, 7:00 p.m.

time and a devoted Williams fan, was not amused by his sister’s choice of schools.”

Although Hirsch was already an avid basketball fan, becoming an announcer meant learning the minute details of the sport. He also memorizes the numbers, names and faces of players from the opposing team before each game.

While he is a longtime follower of NBA announcers such as Johnny Most and Marv Albert, taking on this role has deepened his respect for the profession as a whole. “It’s so much harder than it seems on TV,” he said. “I’m now slower to criticize announcers.”

While Hirsch usually sticks to the play-by-play and lets his student guests add in more lively narration, he has developed a few signature sayings. “He always

keeps me on the edge of my seat with his interesting catch-phrases,” Eric said.

Some of Eric's favorites include “he stops, pops … and it drops!” and “dipsy-do."

“Dipsy-do,” which refers to a twisting lay-up, is one that careful listeners can find in almost every broadcast. “It’s now a running joke in my family,” Alan said. “I hope I didn’t just inspire a new drinking game.”

For both Alan and Eric Hirsch, announcing is a new way to engage with a sport and a team they have spent 15 years rooting for.

“I have been going to Williams basketball games since I was 5 years old, so to be able to put on a headset and have my thoughts heard by hundreds of people, it's just pretty cool,” Eric said. “Being able to do it with my dad has made it extra fun.”

Men’s basketball vs. Amherst

Women’s basketball vs. Amherst Away 2/8, 7:00 p.m.

Home 2/8, 7:00 p.m.

No. 18 men’s squash (12–10) secured a surprise second-place finish at the NESCAC Championship this weekend, advancing to the final match with a 5-4 comeback win against Middlebury before falling to No. 2 Trinity by a score of 8-1.

The men entered the weekend as the third seed, carrying momentum from back-to-back 9-0 wins over Little Three rivals Amherst and Wesleyan on Jan. 26 and an upset of Franklin and Marshall on Jan. 18.

After dispatching sixth-seeded Bowdoin 8-1 in the quarterfinals, the men advanced to a rematch with second-seeded Middlebury. The Ephs avenged a 5-4 loss to the Panthers on Jan. 5, roaring back from a 4-1 deficit to prevail 5-4.

“The match on Saturday night was one of the best I have ever coached,” head coach Zafi Levy ’01 said. “Our boys played fantastic squash and never gave up.”

The Ephs started slow against the Panthers. Co-captain Ben Eisenberg ’19 was defeated in a tight four-gamer. Wyatt Khosrowshahi ’21 traded game for game but ultimately fell 11-8 in a hard-fought five-game duel.

Then, Carl Shuck ’20, who was ahead in the third game at 1-1 apiece, lost momentum and watched his lead slip away.

With the Panthers holding a 3-0 advantage in the match, the Ephs finally got on the board with a crucial sweep from David Pincus ’20. Pincus had lost to his Middlebury opponent in their previous two exchanges.

Meanwhile, Krish Bhavnani ’22 was locked in a marathon match, trading point for point with his opponent. Leading 2-1, Bhavnani dropped a contested fourth game 11-8 and was edged 11-8 in the deciding game. With

Women's hockey vs. Oswego St. Away 2/9, 3:00 p.m.

the overall match score at 4-1, the Panthers needed only one more point to eliminate the Ephs and clinch a berth in the finals.

Shortly after, co-captain John Fitzgerald ’19 stepped onto court. Fitzgerald had lost to his Panthers opponent in the deciding match on Jan. 5, but like Pincus, avenged his earlier defeat with a 3-0 victory.

A.J. Solecki ’21 and Jacob Bassil ’22 continued the rally for the Ephs. Within minutes of each other, Solecki and Bassil both claimed narrow victories in the fourth game, evening the overall match score at 4-4.

In the decider, William Means ’20 pulled away at the end of the fifth game to win 3-2. After five hours of squash on Saturday night, the Ephs had come back and toppled the Panthers on their home court.

"The team exceeded all expectations this weekend," said Eisenberg. "With everything on the line, future captain Will Means '20 decisively won the final match."

Sunday’s championship match against Trinity began with a 3-0 win from Eisenberg.

He was followed by Bhavnani, who was neck-and-neck with his opponent through much of the match but narrowly lost in three games. Khosrowshahi then pushed his opponent to five games but ultimately lost after an 11-8 defeat in the fifth.

With the Ephs trailing 2-1, Pincus and Shuck both fell in three games. Soon after, Fitzgerald lost in three, which gave the Bantams the necessary fifth win to clinch the match.

Bassil then played a marathon match but was edged out 11-9 in the fifth game, giving the Bantams a 6-1 lead. Solecki was up 2-0 before his opponent rallied three straight games to win the match and Means lost 3-0, securing a final tally of 8-1 for the Bantams.

Men's squash vs. MIT Home 2/10, 2:00 p.m.