RECORD THE WILLIAMS
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 6, 2019 VOL. CXXXIII, NO. 17 Sunrise hikers brave the cold
Women’s ice hockey wins NESCACs
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THE INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER AT WILLIAMS COLLEGE SINCE 1887
Student art on Paresky windows memorializes Trayvon Martin Posters were installed on Monday after administrators had requested removal of a banner on Thursday By BROOKE HOROWITCH and ARRINGTON LUCK RECORD STAFF Two installments of public art referencing Trayvon Martin were hung on Paresky last week shortly after the sevenyear anniversary of Martin’s shooting death. The pieces quote Frank Ocean’s “Nikes,” lyrics for which include the five-letter N-word. A banner mounted on Paresky balcony with the lyrics, “R.I.P. Trayvon, that nigga look just like me,” was taken down Thursday afternoon at the request of College administrators after it had been hung that morning. On Monday morning, four new posters were affixed to the front windows of Paresky, where they remain. Kyle Scadlock ’19 confirmed that he hung both pieces but said he would like the work to speak for itself at this time. Both poster series included the same slot machine symbol as another collection of posters that have been hung around campus asking, “How do you tell the truth to a crowd of white people?” The first poster featured the same “Nikes” lyrics as the initial banner with an attribution of the lyrics to Ocean. Next was a drawing of Martin in a hoodie, which he wore when he was killed. The third poster read, “17-year-old Trayvon Martin was walking home from a convenience store with a bag of Skittles and an Arizona watermelon fruit juice when he was racially
ANIAH PRICE/PHOTO EDITOR
Four new posters were placed outside Paresky on Monday, including the original banner's Frank Ocean lyrics and a drawing of Trayvon Martin. profiled and fatally shot by vigilante George Zimmerman. / The reality for young Black people and many people of color in this country is that this could have and can still happen to any of us. / WE ARE ALL TRAYVON MARTIN.” The final placard included sketches of an Arizona juice can and Skittles bag. Martin, a Black teenager, was shot and killed by neighborhood
CC discovers accounting oversight, to reallocate $225,000 into budget By NICHOLAS GOLDROSEN MANAGING EDITOR College Council (CC) has discovered $225,000 that was previously unaccounted for in its accounts and is considering how to put the money back into its budget. At the beginning of this year’s term, CC Treasurer Jamie Vaccaro ’21 found that CC’s balance, as listed with the controller’s office, was vastly higher than expected, a discrepancy tracing back to the 2016 fiscal year. The controller’s office first made CC aware of the disparity in mid-February. On Feb. 15, Vaccaro sent a memo to the rest of CC’s executive board notifying them of the accounting surplus. “We have a serious accounting problem,” the memo read as it cited a $374,714 discrepancy between the amount that the controller’s office and that CC itself had listed in CC’s Student Activities Tax (SAT) allocation. This discrepancy has since been reduced; the balance for CC’s SAT allocation is now $225,434. At the last CC meeting on Feb. 26, however, the balance for CC’s accounts was listed as approximately just under $100,000. This accounting discrepancy arose over the course of the 2016 fiscal year. CC closed out the 2015 fiscal year with a rollover of $4,748 but ended the next fiscal year with a rollover of $210,419. Since this amount is roughly the same as CC’s semesterly SAT disbursement, Vaccaro posits that the treasurer at the time may have simply mistaken it for CC’s semiannual revenue, even though it was actually excess money. “Haley [Lescinsky ’18] and Web [Farabow ’18] came across this a number of years
ago, and what it looked like to them was that the amount we have in that account is roughly what a semester’s worth of SAT revenue would be,” he said. “The attitude, based upon what I read, was that we were supposed to be spending our money on a rolling basis, so we were just a semester ahead … which is not accurate.” CC is now considering how best to work this money back into its yearly budget over a period of time. The current proposal before the Executive Board is the addition of roughly $40,000 to the CC budget per year over the course of the next several years. There is also the question of whether the funds will be disbursed into CC’s general fund, which can be used by any student group or student, or into a restricted use fund, such as the Winter Study fund, the cosponsorship fund or the projects fund, among others. Vaccaro said he believes that placing the surplus into a restricted fund, as opposed to the general fund, might prove the better option. “It’s very difficult to make good decisions on money with very few restrictions on it,” he said. This surplus also comes as CC has loosened its spending limit. It has reduced the amount by $20,000, which must be kept in the Rainy Day fund, using the excess money in the Winter Study fund as collateral. According to Vaccaro, as CC decides how to spend this surplus, it will also attempt to understand the accounting practices that led to this large oversight. “Over spring break, I’m going to try to do a deep dive and figure out what the hell is going on,” he said.
watch coordinator Zimmerman in Sanford, Fla., on Feb. 26, 2012. Zimmerman had called to report Martin, who was unarmed and carrying a pack of Skittles and an Arizona juice beverage, to the Sanford Police Department (SPD), describing Martin as “suspicious.” In a trial that garnered widespread attention, Zimmerman was ultimately acquitted of second-de-
gree murder and manslaughter. Martin’s death and Zimmerman’s subsequent acquittal have since become associated with systemic racism and a discriminatory criminal justice system. Following the banner’s removal on Thursday, several pages taped to Paresky windows read, “President [Maud] Mandel and senior staff have asked that the banner posted on the out-
side of Paresky this morning be temporarily removed. / It is being stored in the Office of Institutional Diversity and Equity. / The sign’s creator can visit OIDE on the first floor of Hopkins or call 413-597-4376.” The Office of Institutional Diversity and Equity did not provide comment to the Record. “Won’t be silenced” was then written in red across this
message. The tribute was later briefly returned to Paresky the following morning before disappearing. There were attempts to censor the banner, with papers covering letters in the N-word, although these censors were removed. It is unclear who censored the banner and who removed it. The removal of student artwork and protest materials from Hollander Hall last month provoked extensive student response, which culminated in a “March for the Damned” on Feb. 21 (“‘March for the Damned’ honors on-leave professors Love, Green,” Feb. 27, 2019). On Feb. 13, Keith McPartland, associate professor of philosophy and chair of the SchapiroHollander users committee, deconstructed and relocated portions of a memorial honoring Assistant Professor of Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies Kai Green ’07 and Assistant Professor of English Kimberly Love in Hollander Hall. In an email to the student body addressing the incident, Mandel wrote, “I am deeply distressed by any interference with students freely expressing themselves in a way that is not disruptive.” The installation was later relocated and rebuilt, although it was eventually removed at the request of Mandel, who cited fire safety concerns and the Americans with Disabilities Act. The College has not provided any indication that the posters currently on Paresky would be taken down.
Asian American studies staffing requests submitted by religion, American studies By SAMUEL WOLF EXECUTIVE EDITOR Two staffing requests for tenure-track faculty in Asian American studies (AAS) were submitted on Friday, marking a key step toward the creation of an AAS program at the College. These requests, submitted by religion and American studies, come in the wake of a Curricular Planning Committee (CPC) working group report that strongly endorsed an AAS program and recommended that at least two tenure-track faculty be hired to teach primarily in AAS. The requests were well received by Tyler Tsay ’19, co-chair of the Minority Coalition (MinCo) and member of the working group. “We’re very thrilled that these departments submitted requests for Asian Americanist lines,” he said. The requests, while a mandatory step for hiring, still face approval or rejection by the Committee on Appointments and Promotions (CAP). Chair of American Studies Cassandra Cleghorn emphasized the importance of AAS for the American studies discipline. “Institutionally, American studies has long been supportive of the establishment of AAS at Williams,” she said. “American studies programs nationwide are often the institutional sites of ethnic studies programs.” In accordance with this national trend, American studies is focused on finding candidates with both strong knowledge of AAS specifically and broader knowledge of American studies. Cleghorn cited the CPC report’s recommendations as influential in the specific request that is be-
ing made – an open-rank, tenuretrack faculty member. Chair of Religion Jason Josephson Storm also confirmed the department’s submission of a staffing request for AAS. “I can say that we as a department believe that an Asian American studies candidate would find a good home in the religion department,” he said. Storm added that many current faculty members in the department, including Zaid Adhami, Jacqueline Hidalgo, Jeff Israel and Saadia Yacoob, study the discipline’s intersections with race in America. Storm also cited a pedagogical desire to see AAS on
program chairs remain supportive of an AAS program. James Manigault-Bryant, associate professor of Africana studies, emphasized Africana studies’ continued support for the program and belief in the potential for interaction between the two programs. “I see a number of intersections between Africana studies and Asian American studies, including, but not limited to: the ways Asian Americans draw from hip hop to develop racial and ethnic identities or how Asian cultures are integrated into American hip hop; representations of Black and Asian American relationships in
“We’re very thrilled that these departments submitted requests for Asian Americanist lines.” Tyler Tsay ’19 Asian American Studies Movement campus as rationale for the staffing request. “We are very much in support of broader curriculum changes at Williams, especially in terms of encouraging greater support for AAS and American studies, as well as ethnic studies more generally,” he said. Numerous other departments were cited in the CPC working group report as having the potential to intersect with AAS, including “anthropology and sociology, economics, English, history, philosophy, political science and psychology.” These departments have not submitted staffing requests for AAS as of the Record’s deadline, but department and
popular culture and the histories of Black and Asian American coalition building,” he said. “The Africana studies department would have an interest in hiring along these lines.” For departments who did not submit staffing requests for this year, additional requests can be filed next year in accordance with the working group’s recommendations, which called for two immediate tenure-track hires and an eventual third hire. If CAP does not fulfill the request, however, no additional faculty can be hired and no program can be formed. CAP will deliberate over appointment decisions in the up-
coming months before ultimately making decisions in May. Denise Buell, dean of the faculty and chair of CAP, did not provide any official response to the requests, citing that neither CAP nor CPC members have been able to meet to review them yet. She did say, however, that the requests merited serious consideration. “Both the CPC and CAP take the CPC working group’s report very seriously, so it will certainly play a significant role the deliberations of both committees,” Buell said. Tsay emphasized the importance of CAP’s approval in the pursuit of an AAS program. “The final approval of staffing requests rests solely on the CAP,” he said. “We are hopeful that the CAP holds to its word to follow the recommendations of the CPC Working Group's report and approves both lines this year; we are working with members of the CAP to make sure that approval for the two lines is indeed fulfilled.” Tsay argued that, considering the impending retirement of Professor of History Scott Wong – who told the Record that he plans to retire following the 2022 spring semester – both requests would have to be fulfilled in order for an AAS program to take root. With both lines approved, however, a program could be built. Cleghorn also expressed cautious optimism for the fulfillment of the American studies request. “I hope the CAP is receptive,” she said. “We shall see! I do trust the process, however slowly it seems to move.”
WHAT’S INSIDE 3 OPINIONS
5 ARTS
7 FEATURES
8 SPORTS
Walkovitz ’21 discusses NCOs, accountability
Student filmmakers to release short film
Winston ’10 discusses public broadcasting
Men’s basketball advances to Sweet 16
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