Sept. 20, 2017: Search committee convenes to find new president

ARTS P. 8

SPORTS P. 12

Carol Ockman performs

Football snaps 13game skid

VOL. CXXXII, NO. 2

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2017

Search committee convenes to find new president By NICHOLAS GOLDROSEN NEWS EDITOR At the beginning of this academic year, Chair of the Board of Trustees Michael Eisenson ’77 announced the formation of the search committee for the 18th president of the College. The committee, which Eisenson also chairs, includes representation from the trustees, faculty, staff, students and alumni. Eisenson also announced that the College has retained the search firm Spencer Stuart to assist. The search process, according to Eisenson, began after the announcement over the summer of President Adam Falk’s departure. The first step of the process was to establish the framework for the committee, selecting its members and retaining a search firm. The committee members include six trustees: Eisenson, O. Andreas Halvorsen ’86, Clarence Otis, Jr., ’77, Kate Queeney ’92, Liz Robinson ’90 and Martha Williamson ’77. They are joined by five members of the faculty, Ngonidzashe Munemo, associate dean for institutional diversity and associate professor of political science, Professor of English Peter Murphy, Professor of Economics Lucie Schmidt, Professor of Chemistry Tom Smith ’88 and Professor of Psychology Safa Zaki, and one staff member, Associate Provost Chris Winters ’95. The alumni members of the committee are Jordan

Hampton ’87, president of the Society of Alumni, and Yvonne Hao ’95, trustee emerita. The two student representatives on the committee are Ben Gips ’19 and Sarah Hollinger ’19. In selecting the committee, Eisenson noted that he aimed to assemble a group that would work well for the benefit of the College as a whole. “I had as a set of objectives making sure that we had people that brought to the process the perspective of students, of staff, of faculty, of alumni, but at the same time would understand that their principal responsibility was not to represent that perspective but to add that perspective, that their principal responsibility was to represent the school,” Eisenson said. “It’s a large committee, necessarily – academic search committees just tend to be larger than search committees elsewhere in the world – it will work best if everyone on the committee feels that their mission is to figure out what’s best for Williams, not what’s best for some subset of Williams.” The student members in particular were selected for their ability to serve in the challenging and critical role that the committee members will have to fill. “We were looking for students who had a broad range of experiences on campus, were believed to be well-respected by their peers, whose experiences weren’t strictly overlapping and who would, in the judgment of people who were in

NICHOLAS GOLDROSEN/NEWS EDITOR

The search process for the new president began with the announcment of President Falk's departure and will span the coming months. a position to speak about them, work well in this type of consensus environment,” Eisenson said. The committee is now beginning to gather public input for what members of the community would like to see in the College’s next president. “This [community input] is important in

fashioning the details of the job description for the new president – 90 percent of the job description stays the same each time but it’s the 10 percent that’s different, that we need to spend a lot of time thinking about,” Eisenson said. According to Eisenson, this input will take three forms: a community

survey, forums on campus and targeted outreach to specific subsets of the College community. In doing so, the committee will hope to clarify and specify what it is looking for in the next president. “There are some fundamental givens, which may sound like apple pie, but they actually are very important

in the Williams context,” Eisenson said. “A successful president of Williams will need to be somebody who really loves students, loves faculty, who either loves Williams or who we believe will come to love Williams. This is a very intimate place and

SEE SEARCH, p. 5

College pursues reaccreditation Class of 2019 banner in ’82 Grill By ISAIAH KRUGMAN CONTRIBUTING WRITER The College has begun to seek reaccreditation from the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC), completing a comprehensive self-study in preparation for the reaccreditation process, which must occur every 10 years. Accredited status is achieved through a voluntary process that institutions of higher education undergo, thereby “assuring the public of quality and fostering institutional self-improvement,” according to NEASC. The process lasts nearly two years, the first of which is devoted primarily to organizing the institutional review procedures. Because the College is consistently known as one of the best liberal arts colleges in the nation and has consistently earned accreditation in the recent past, the process aims more to improve institutional quality than to assure the public of that quality. Accreditation is an effective means of self-improvement because it offers a holistic reflection on the College’s performance. “[Reaccreditation offers] a chance for systematic institutional self-reflection – a moment at which we look at the whole college in all its

dimensions,” Stephen Fix, director of the reaccreditation self-study and professor of English, said. Fix chairs a diverse, 28-person committee of administrators, students and faculty, including the chairs of most standing faculty committees, tasked with assembling the College’s self-study report. The report builds upon the research and analysis done each year by the College’s standing committees. The final reports of these committees, according to Fix, often serve as starting points for the accreditation committee's work. The committee’s next step in the self-study is evaluating this data holistically and systematically. The committee will pay particular attention to changes and programs implemented since the last accreditation review in 2008 and determine whether changes implemented since then have improved the areas of the College that they were intended to. In addition, the committee compares the College’s operations to those of peer institutions, colleges and universities which resemble the College in makeup and mission, to understand whether problems are unique to the College or endemic throughout higher education. The committee assembles all

of its data and analyses into a lengthy report which is then submitted to NEASC. Before the College receives accreditation, it must undergo a final, external review by the NEASC commission. The commission assembles a team of academic, financial and administrative officers from other institutions accredited by NEASC, which visits the College and takes note of its distinct strengths and weakness. These are then outlined in a final letter to the College. In its last letter, the team praised the College for its academic focus, its quality of teaching, the leadership of its administrators, the role of faculty in its governance and its attempts to diversify the student body. The team also expressed a range of concerns at the last reaccreditation. It noticed a lack of long-term planning among the administration and encouraged the development of a formal budgeting process and campus development plan. The team also expressed concern for the faculty, citing a lack of resources, diversity and partner hiring process. The next review will partially determine whether the College has succeeded in easing these concerns.

SEE ACCREDITATION, p. 5

WILLIAMS BUSINESS ASSOCIATION HOLDS KICKOFF EVENT TO CELEBRATE UNCONVENTIONAL PATHWAYS IN BUSINESS

PHOTO COURTESY OF NICOLE CHIA-TIEN

vandalized with ‘KKK’ graffiti

PHOTO COURTESY OF WILLIAMS COLLEGE

The banner was defaced some time last spring, CSS believes. By SKYLAR SMITH EXECUTIVE EDITOR On Friday, a student notified Campus Safety and Security (CSS) about a “KKK” symbol written on the Class of 2019 banner hanging in the ’82 Grill. In two campus-wide emails, President Adam Falk notified the community of the incident and of the ongoing investigations conducted by CSS and the Williamstown Police to more precisely determine the timeline of events and to identify the perpetrator. Five class banners, often signed by class members at the end of their first year or the beginning of their sophomore year, hang in ’82 Grill at any given time. New class banners replace the old as classes graduate. Each banner, labeled “Class of ___” in purple felt, is covered in many student signatures. The Class of 2019 banner was originally signed by class members in the fall of 2016, but it is still unclear when the “KKK” symbol appeared; the symbol was written in small letters in the same color as many of the signatures and the banner hangs in the often dimly-lit ’82 Grill. When CSS received the call on Friday, it activated the College’s bias-motivated response protocol, which includes responding to the incident on campus, notifying key members of the College’s senior staff and alerting law enforcement. A CSS official,

along with a Williamstown police officer, arrived at ’82 Grill to document the scene that evening, according to CSS Director Dave Boyer. “Once we were aware of the incident, CSS activated the College’s bias-motivated response protocols, which includes on-campus response and off-campus notification to various college officials,” Boyer said in an email to the Record. “Unfortunately, our response to the scene occurred as a serious 911 medical call was received. The on-duty officers and supervisor responded to the medical call and later returned to the location of the banner with a Williamstown police officer to document the scene. We are hoping someone comes forward with additional information that will help us determine the identity of the person who defaced the 2019 class banner.” In his first email to the College community, Falk urged community members to report incidents of bias and to consult community standards on the Office of Institutional Diversity and Equity website if unsure. “The symbol ‘KKK’ has long been used as a weapon, to intimidate and instill fear,” Falk wrote. “We cannot yet know the writer’s intention, but the nature of a weapon is that it does harm regardless of intent. When someone inscribed those letters, or defaced the banner with them afterwards, they harmed our community.” In his second email to the community, Falk detailed

how students, after receiving his first email, came to CSS to share relevant information which suggested that the “KKK” symbol has been on the banner since at least last spring. Falk thanked those reaching out to communicate with CSS, stating that “it demonstrates the kind of community effort needed, in our continuing fight against racial hatred and other forms of bias.” Dean of the College Marlene Sandstrom echoed Falk’s statements. “If we want to live in a campus that ensures that every member of our community has an equal opportunity to make the most of this place, then we need to shine a light on acts of racism and hatred that fundamentally run counter to that shared goal,” Sandstrom said.

WHAT’S INSIDE 3

OPINIONS Disorienting orientations: the problem with Team Eph

4

NEWS Bryan Stevenson speaks on injustice

6

FEATURES Ephs at the Clark engages students

8

ARTS The Artist Otherwise Known as... Bertie Miller '18

11 SPORTS Women's golf places second at invitational USPS 684-6801 | 1ST CLASS MAIL U.S. POSTAGE PAID WILLIAMSTOWN, MA PERMIT NO. 25

2 OPINIONS

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THE WILLIAMS RECORD BOARD According to the registrar’s office, students may designate up to three courses as pass/fail during their college career. However, many classes – including some introductory, 100-level courses – are designated on the course catalog as “may not be taken on a pass/ fail basis.” Additionally, students cannot use pass/fail courses to fulfill divisional requirements. These restrictions hinder exploration of the curriculum and, ultimately, prevent students from reaping the benefits of the pass/fail option. In keeping with the spirit of the “Your 32” initiative, which encourages students to take classes outside of their comfort zone, it is necessary that a larger selection of courses be available for the pass/ fail option. Because pass/fail helps alleviate concerns about an unfamiliar course’s potential impact on one’s GPA, expansion of this option will allow students to pursue challenging or unfamiliar topics of interest, so that risk-taking with class choice is not unduly punished. The decision to prohibit the pass/fail option for a given course is currently at a professor’s discretion. Many professors are often hesitant to allow the pass/fail option due to fear that it will promote

Word on The Quad Who is the best-dressed professor? By JANETH RODRIGUEZ PHOTO EDITOR

Not passing on pass/fail Embracing the spirit of ‘Your 32’ in promoting ungraded course options laziness in the classroom. Since students taking a pass/fail course are only expected to meet the bare minimum, they may approach the class with an indifferent attitude. One potential solution to this problem is the introduction of the perfunctory pass option. Similar to its use in the Winter Study grading system, a perfunctory pass would indicate that although a student passed, their work teetered on the line of inadequacy. By operating on a two-perfunctory pass system, where if a student receives two perfunctory passes they must take an additional class, students are incentivized to put in some level of effort. A perfunctory pass can also help signal to professors and the Committee on Academic Standing (CAS) students who may be struggling. This being said, professors should trust that students enroll in classes out of interest and not out of a desire to do the bare minimum. Students should not feel restricted by a lack of pass/fail opportunities but should, instead, be inspired by the plethora of options. By opening up more classes to pass/fail, professors are allowing students to take academic risks. In the same vein, fifth courses designated as pass/fail should not count towards the three

You can walk in AND out of the chemistry building, like it's a normal door! Thanks, Williams!

CONVOCATION

The guy from Fountains of Wayne was great, but the High Sheriff was definitely the highlight.

DODDRICH OPENS

Marie Rodriguez Binnie (art).

As it currently stands, the policy fails to fully consider the reality that students harbor academic weaknesses. Although the divisional requirements are key to the College’s liberal arts mission, students should be able to approach unfamiliar topics without the added stress of grades. Oftentimes, the stress of these very classes not only negatively impacts a student’s GPA, but also affects their overall mental health and wellbeing. In light of this, the Record calls upon the College to revise its current policy by declaring that two of the three required courses in each division must be graded on an A-E grading scale. In other words, students would have the option to pass/fail one of their divisional requirements in each respective division. This would further encourage students to take classes in fields they were reluctant to explore while also allowing them to fulfill a distributional requirement. By making the pass/fail option more flexible through some of these suggested changes, the College can affirm its commitment to its liberal arts mission as it pushes students to challenge themselves and try new things.

TCL DOOR

FOOTBALL WINS MADDIE WESSELL ’20

course pass-fail limit (see “A passable new plan,” March 18, 2015). Moreover, professors should be required to provide the Committee on Educational Affairs (CEA) with a compelling pedagogical reason for opting out of the pass/fail option when submitting their courses for approval. Professors already undergo a similar authorization process when designating their courses as satisfactory for fulfilling curricular requirements, such as the writing intensive designation. As for the use of pass/fail courses for distributional requirements, the policy states that only one course per semester can be designated pass/fail, and that these courses cannot be used to fulfill divisional, quantitative and formal reasoning, writing intensive or Exploring Diversity Initiative (EDI) requirements. Additionally, pass/ fail courses cannot count towards a major, certificate or concentration unless they are the “first ones to be taken toward that credential.” While it is understandable that pass/fail courses cannot be used towards fulfilling quantitative and formal reasoning, EDI, writing intensive and major requirements, the policy on divisional requirements warrants revision.

CONVENTIONAL WISDOM

MICHAEL GREENBERG ’21

Mason B. Williams (political science and leadership studies).

September 20, 2017

LINES AT WHITMAN'S

Serious congratulations are in order – but who will we make fun of for the rest of the week? How far will you walk for bagels?

People need to start walking to Mission. Or Driscoll. Anywhere else, please.

ON THE RECORD

NICA KOVALCIK ’19

Claire Ting (biology).

CHARLIE JERSEY ’18

Christophe Kone (German).

“We are here to be with you, to talk, process, reflect, ask questions, process emotions, celebrate, be angry, be sad, be joyful and bear witness to this crazy experience of life.” Rabbi Seth Wax, on the role of the chaplain’s office at the College, page 5. “I was very excited when Anik decided to apply for the position and thrilled ... when she got the job.” Dan Greenberg ’01, on the hiring of Anik Cepeda as women's tennis head coach, page 11.

“My grandfather told my father who told me that we're building something that’ll last much longer than ourselves.” Albert Cummings, general contractor for the new residence hall project on South Street, page 6. “When something decays, you have decomposers create new life, so in nature, it’s a really beautiful process.” Bertie Miller ’18, featured as Artist Otherwise Known As, page 8.

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FROM THE ARCHIVES 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 Williams community. The Opinions section is designed to reflect the varied views and ideas of the Williams 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 lma5@williams. edu or tsd1@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. For Record policy information, please see our website williamsrecord.com.

SABRINA WIRTH ’05

No team in Team Eph o orie tatio ca di ide s R As a tour guide, I spend a great amount of time articulating the intentions and goals of Williams. When I take my tour past the Lasell gym, I talk about varsity sports on campus and am encouraged to describe how Williams avoids culturally separating (segregating) athletes from the rest of campus. To many tour guides, these statements feel half-hearted, especially when there is at least one gaping hole in Williams’ supposed efforts of integration. Team Eph, an Ephventure created in 2008 for fall athletes, intentionally removes student-athletes from the student body at a time when first-years make most of their early friendships and connections. The stated purpose is to acquaint student-athletes with their sports team and the larger student body, but the effect does not strike any balance between the two. While everyone else is engaging with Williams (or a small group of the Williams student body in the woods), fall athletes are only engaging with their teams and the athletic community. Is it true that Williams faces a smaller student-athlete divide than many other colleges and universities? Probably. If so, it is all the more reason to abandon all traditions of separation. This is not just the plea of non-athletes, but also that of many athletes on campus. A common complaint of student-athletes on campus (especially fall athletes) is their inability to break into other social groups and extracurriculars. Some have even complained of being unable to become close to their entry. Let us also be clear about one aspect of athletics: Much of the culture of athletics on college campuses plays into toxic masculinity, heteronormativity and calls for assimilation. It is therefore proper to recognize which studentathletes are put at a disadvantage: femme athletes, queer athletes, athletes of color, disabled athletes and athletes struggling with their mental health. This should not be seen as an attack on individuals, but rather as a recognition of the clear cultural aspects of athletics, regardless of some even successful attempts to mitigate them. I asked the athletics department about mental health support for its athletes,and was told stories of students seeing counselors when they were injured and couldn’t play. I want to know how students with preexisting conditions of depression, anxiety and other illnesses are made to feel a

OPINIONS 3

The Williams Record

September 20, 2017

part of teams that are so centered on assimilation and coordination. Some athletes have certainly found success and happiness, but Team Eph still fails to give more options for social spaces at a time when it could not be more crucial. As an orientation leader of Exploring the Arts, I know how uniquely special it was to see frosh be vulnerable with one another and create spaces of healthy relationships and friendship, un-plagued by expectations of athletic success and assimilation. I use language of segregation in the opening paragraph because I also recognize which non-athletes are affected most by this divide. On a campus where half of the population requires no financial aid, and nearly half of the population is made up of varsity athletes, it becomes extremely easy for disadvantaged students to notice cliques of students from wealthier and whiter backgrounds. Many students of color at Williams have legitimate complaints about how groups of athletes on campus (especially the often large group of white athletes) carry themselves and act on campus. (This is especially frustrating due to the racist narratives circulating college campuses that blame black people and other people of color for “self-segregating,” while some of the more wealthy and white students use athletics to separate.) There is also a nasty history of student-athletes protecting each other from accusations of sexual assault and of horrific hazing incidents that are spoken of every year but go unpunished. As long as there is any institutional encouragement of this separation, these problems cannot be tackled seriously. Inevitably, some will read this as an attack on athletes or on athletics. I regret this, but I also will not sugarcoat what is well known on campus by those who watch and listen, and especially by those who still do not feel that they belong at this institution. It may be true that Team Eph provides real positive experiences, but if athletics teams are already providing the majority of social activity for so many of their athletes, there is no need for an orientation that separates them further. Perhaps the problems of “athlete culture” cannot be solved overnight, but Team Eph can be eliminated overnight. It’s time for Williams to practice what it loves to brag about – it’s time to let athletes be a part of orientation.

What does it mean to be the best? al m co siders t e relati e importa ce o admissio criteria The mission of Williams is to be the best in the world. “Best” means two things: First, we want the most academically talented students. Second, we want those students to thrive at the College more than they would at an alternative institution. If one ignores the second criterion and focuses on student quality, we are not the best college in the world today. The average SAT section score for the Class of 2020 is about 720. At Macalester and Wesleyan, it is 690. At Yale and Princeton, it is about 750. Macalester and Wesleyan are fine schools. Yet every Eph considers Williams, correctly, to be a cut above – not because our dining hall food is tastier, our professors are more learned or our facilities are more sumptuous, but because our students are smarter. Yet that same reasoning applies to Yale/Princeton relative to us. A 30-point difference in the score on a single SAT might not seem like much. Can anyone really say that an applicant that scored 750 is meaningfully “smarter” than one who scored 720? But, to the extent that we think that the quality of the College’s student body is better than that of Macalester/Wesleyan, we need to admit that it is worse than that of Yale/Princeton. As long as that is true, we will never be the best college in the world. Note that this judgment does not depend on using only the (potentially flawed) metric of SAT scores. Williams is worse than Yale/Princeton and better than Macalester/Wesleyan on any reasonable measure of academic performance, whether that be the ACT, SAT II Subject Tests, Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate, high school grades, teacher recommendations and

so on. Elite schools rank applicants using, more or less, the same criteria. SAT scores are a handy, and public, summary statistic which demonstrates the relative quality of our student body. The Williams admissions process is both complex and opaque but, broadly speaking, admitted students can be placed in two categories: academic and other. “Academic” admits are students who were admitted primarily for academic reasons. “Other” admits have scores/grades that would have led to rejection if it were not for some special attribute. The vast majority of “other” admits fall into three categories: athletics, race and income. In aggregate, they make up about one-half of each incoming class. In order to create a Williams with students as smart as those at Harvard, Yale, Princeton and Stanford (HYPS), we need to replace about 100 of these “other” admits with “academic” admits. First, we need to loosen the admissions goal for international students, which is currently at 8 percent. Besides the problematic morality of a policy that is indistinguishable from the Jewish quotas implemented by elite colleges a century ago, treating an (English-fluent) applicant born in Shanghai differently from one born in St. Louis makes little sense. The best college in the world will have the best students, regardless of the color of their passports. Second, we need to significantly decrease the admissions preferences given to athletes. The College has been decreasing these preferences for 15 years. Despite much grumbling from coaches and predictions of mediocrity from fans, the Director’s Cup trophies continue to roll in. It turns out that Williams coaches are excellent recruiters even when admissions

standards are raised. Let’s raise them some more. Third, we should decrease the preferences given to under-represented minorities (URM) and to students from low income families. Of course, there are scores of such students with top-notch academic credentials. They would still be admitted and, eagerly, enrolled. But, given a choice between a URM or poor student with a 620 SAT average and a non-URM (perhaps an Asian-American?) or non-poor student (perhaps the middle class child of public high school teachers?) with a 770 average, we should prefer the academically more talented applicant. Fourth, we need to recruit more seriously. The number of Tyng Scholarships should be increased and their use should be focused on the most desirable applicants, almost all of whom will be African-American. Rather than offering them for incoming first-years, we should use the Summer Science Program and Summer Humanities and Social Sciences Program to target highquality poor and URM high school juniors, potential applicants that we currently lose to HYPS. Senior faculty at the College should devote as much effort to attracting excellent students as our coaches do to recruiting excellent student-athletes. A Williams whose student quality matched Yale’s would be halfway to meeting its mission of being the best college in the world. Such a Williams, at least in the short-term, would have about as many URM students as Middlebury, as many Pell Grant recipients as Colby and athletic team winning records similar to Hamilton’s. That seems a reasonable trade-off. David Kane ’88 lives in Newton, Mass.

FROM THE ARCHIVES

Calen Firedancing ’20 is from Phoenix, Ariz. He lives in Mark Hopkins.

Rethinking purple

JAs consider standards of inclusivity R

R

The following piece was written with the intent of being included in last week’s issue alongside the views of other Junior Advisors (JAs). We chose to separate it purely for space issues. The JA system is from a time when Williams was an institution that served entirely white men, and JAs were meant to be “informal counselors and mediators, but above all … friends, who just happen to know the lay of the land.” This does not seem a terribly difficult task when the demographics are all the same. However, as Williams is only too eager to remind us, the College has evolved since then. The institution proudly holds up its demographic numbers as proof of diversity and holds up programs such as first generation and international orientation as proof of inclusion. Additionally, the entry continues to be “a thoughtfully constructed microcosm of the Williams community.” This phrase is meant to convey the amount of learning and growth that takes place in the entry, from JAs and other first-year students. However, it doesn’t relay the fact that the JA and entry system places a lot of the burden of educating on students of marginalized identities and furthermore leaves these students without institutional support. The entry is a diverse community only for those who make up a majority on campus, and it separates minority populations, essentially tasking them with speaking for entire groups of people. Continuing to wear the purple shirt, for a lot of JAs, implied that we were buying into a system that had not been fully supportive of us. For me, that was the main issue I wanted to highlight in supporting a change in color of the JA shirt. To wear something that was so quintessentially Williams while holding identities that have historically had to fight for space at this institution seemed a dissonance too large to ignore. I made a patch that mirrors the logo of the First Generation shirt to attach to my sleeve, to give representation to what is often called an “invisible identity,” and dip-dyed my shirt from the bottom up, effectively changing the color of at least part of the shirt.

The most significant piece, however, is a quote from one of my fellow members of the JA class that reads: “Some people are uncomfortable wearing the purple shirt. Williams doesn’t represent all of its students. And in turn, some of its students are uncomfortable representing Williams. Forcing these students (remember, these are our peers! our friends!) to do so is inconsiderate and disrespectful. Therefore, the shirt color must change.” I left the top half of my shirt purple to call attention to the fact that, despite reading these words and many other similar sentiments, over half of the class voted to keep the shirt purple. Some did this with the intent of bleaching or customizing their shirt, but others certainly chose the aesthetic preference or historical tradition of purple over the requests of their peers. It is important that we do not gloss over this fact, and acknowledge that it is hard to break from our history, which makes it all the more important for those of us who would have felt and continue to feel comfortable to take a stand on behalf of those who don’t. It’s easy to claim that those of us who were disappointed are missing the bigger picture, that a shirt does not change anything and that it detracts from the actual work of improving the system. To that, I hope to remind my peers, and the larger Williams community, that the most important part of supporting students of marginalized identities is to listen to them, and when a specific action is requested, to believe that it is important and needed. I believe this is a place where the JA class could have pushed themselves to empathize more fully with each other. The role of JA has evolved, and according to the Dean of College’s JA page, we “must be able to make ties with students of all genders and sexual orientations, domestic and international students and students of all religions and ethnicities.” That is no small task, and it will certainly push all of us to be our kindest and most compassionate selves but also to hold each other to the highest standards for inclusivity. I have no doubt that we are ready. Andrea Quintanar ’19 is a political science major concentrating in justice and law and Latinx studies from San Diego, Calif. She lives in Williams Hall.

ADAM STONER ’11

Chinks in the armor

a ced di ere ces are sabota i R

t e emocratic art

Bernie Sanders’ 2003 lecture to a group of high school students. SandDemocrats should have learned ers explains that there are basic valtwo very difficult lessons from the ues of the Democratic party that a 2016 presidential election: People do majority of the country agrees with, not care about racism and sexism as and that are in direct opposition to much as they are made out to, and Republican goals. there never seemed to be a real reason For instance, the Democratic Party to vote for Hillary Clinton other than believes that everyone should have afthat she wasn’t Donald Trump. Sadly, fordable healthcare. Healthcare has it’s unclear if they have learned either. become one of the most important Rather than realizing how they were issues for all Americans, who would suckered into a character-bashing re- rather have healthcare than not have ality show in 2016, they seem to be rev- it. Democrats believe that the govving up for a new season. ernment should in“Love Trumps Hate” crease funding for was arguably the worst education. A maThe core of the campaign slogan since jority of Americans President Jimmy Carter’s Democratic Party’s share this belief. 1976 “Not Just Peanuts.” Republicans want to belief system While on the subject, it’s cut money for pubworth noting that John lic education. The is currently Kerry’s 2004 slogan “Let Democratic Party under attack. America Be America wants to protect the Again” rivals Trump’s environment and “Make America Great battle global warmAgain,” although it’s even more vague. ing, while Republicans are focused on Democrats’ inability to come up with new ways to destroy the earth. Demoeffective campaign slogans is among crats (better) fight for women’s rights, the many reasons they lose easily including access to better healthcare winnable elections. Clinton had never (Planned Parenthood) and the ability been a symbol of love and equality, as to choose what to do with their bodies. her record on LGBT rights and crimi- Republicans fight to take away these nal justice clearly indicated. Only options. The Democratic Party has a juxtaposition handed her that brand, history of improving the lives of workwhich created the flimsy “lesser of two ers, such as establishing a minimum evils” argument for her presidency. wage and increasing it over the years. Unfortunately, along with large There is no excuse for losing the vote parts of the country, Democrats of the working class when Republibought into Trump’s circus act. The cans actively try to make sure workmessage became “Trump should not ers are making less money and have be president” rather than “Clinton worse benefits than they deserve. should be president” and people lost Any Democratic candidate in sight of why they should vote Demo- 2020, whether they embody Al Francrat. In order to remember why to ken or Jim Costa, believes in the platvote Democrat, one can look to Sen. form mentioned above. There will be

disagreements on how to achieve those things. There will be disagreements on issues not mentioned. But those disagreements do not matter because the core of the Democratic Party’s belief system is currently under attack. Unfortunately, Democrats seem to be more focused on the nuanced differences that divide them instead of uniting to fight back. The house is on fire and Democrats are arguing over which fire hose should be used to put it out. For now, any of them will do. Pick one and turn it up full blast. As excruciatingly painful as it might be, Democrats must learn from Republicans. Although several key Republicans came out against Trump early on, they came to support him when they recognized his nomination was inevitable. They accepted his flaws because they knew they could work with his policy (even if there was none). Although overlooking sexual assault and blatant racism is despicable, a similar type of strategy is crucial for Democrats. The stakes are too high for intraparty differences to weaken a presidential campaign. The Democrats’ unity in fighting to protect the Affordable Care Act was a good sign, and that strength of party must not waver in 2020. Selecting the right candidate will take analysis and debate, but it cannot turn into a civil war. The goal is not to advance the leftist agenda or the centrist agenda. It is to advance the agenda of the Democratic Party, which benefits 99 percent of Americans. David Hourin ’18 is an English major from Austin, Texas. He lives in Garfield.

4 NEWS

The Williams Record

September 20, 2017

Stevenson speaks to students on social justice By JI WON SUNG CONTRIBUTING WRITER Last Thursday, founder and executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI) Bryan Stevenson visited the College as part of this year’s Williams Reads Program. During First Days, first-years had the opportunity to listen to a panel of professors discuss a few key themes of this year’s Williams Reads book, Just Mercy, and continue this discussion on social justice, racial inequality and mass incarceration through breakout sessions with their entries. Dean of the College Marlene Sandstrom opened the night hoping that this year’s Williams Reads program and Just Mercy provided students with a unified learning experience. Stevenson is a public interest lawyer who advocates for reduced sentences and appeals of condemned death row prisoners. His work focuses on exonerating wrongly convicted prisoners, eliminating excessive sentences and aiding the mentally ill and children being tried as adults. Since the beginning of his career, Stevenson and the EJI have won 115 reliefs, appeals and releases for condemned death row prisoners. His most recent accomplishment includes winning a Supreme Court ruling that mandatory life sentence without parole for children 17 years of age and under are unconstitutional under the Eighth Amendment. He is also a professor of law at New York University School of Law and has received 26 honorary degrees from various universities, including the College. In the beginning of his speech, Stevenson emphasized the importance of students and the younger generation changing the world. “I could talk all night about all the problems we face: I could talk about how we’re

rative that black people are different from white people, and it was long overdue that these narratives change to truly liberate America. Next, Stevenson asked students to remain hopeful. “You have to be careful about the hope dynamic that you carry inside you because I am persuaded that hope is your superpower,” Stevenson said. He recalled an encounter with a white-supremacist prison guard who was incredibly difficult to deal with. That prison guard took his mentally disabled prisoner to Wendy’s for a chocolate milkshake once he realized they were both raised in foster homes, and later told Stevenson to keep fighting for justice. Stevenson stressed the importance of believing in change when no one else does. “Hopelessness is the enemy of justice,” he said. Finally, Stevenson urged students to do uncomfortable things. He stressed that we actively have to make the choice to do uncomfortable things, since we naturally want to do what is comfortable. He acknowledged that, when we do uncomfortable things, there will be moments of anger, agony and anguish. “But it is the broken among us that will teach us how mercy works. It is the broken that will appreciate the power of justice, ... that will teach us how to be human,” he said. “Our character will not be judged by how we treat the privileged or ones with resources, but how we treat the poor and incarcerated,” Stevenson said as his speech came to an end. He said he truly believed that, if we get closer to the issue, change the narratives, remain hopeful and do uncomfortable things, we can change the punitive, divisive and unequal society that penetrates every aspect of our lives.

JUNE HAN/PHOTO EDITOR

As part of this year’s Williams Reads Program, executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative Bryan Stevenson spoke about social justice. dealing with the elderly; I could talk about climate change; I could talk about how we’re dealing with religious minorities; how we’re dealing with security, terrorism and threats abroad – but I want to talk about solutions,” Stevenson said. Throughout his talk, Stevenson noted four ways to change the world: Gain proximity, change the narrative, stay hopeful and do uncomfortable things. He first urged students to find ways to connect with those who are poor, excluded and marginalized in our community. “I am persuaded that, to change the world, you cannot stay in the classroom.

... You’re going to have to get close to people who are suffering and get proximate with those who are neglected and abused,” he said. He was hopeful that, once we become proximate, we will be able to see and hear things that we would not have seen and heard otherwise because of the sheer distance and disconnection. Stevenson also mentioned that he had found a purpose for his legal career once he became proximate. Until then, he was disillusioned in the classroom environment because no one seemed to talk about the things that he thought were the most important in the legal field:

poverty, racial inequality and social justice. Disappointed, he left law school after his first year and went to earn a master’s degree in the Kennedy School of Public Policy, only to find himself more disappointed than he was at law school for the exact same reasons. It was not until he worked in a non-profit organization that aided condemned death row prisoners and interacted with his first condemned prisoner that he realized he wanted to devote his career to helping those who needed him. “Don’t wait until you think you have solutions, until you think you have something concrete,” Stevenson said.

Stevenson went on to talk about changing the narrative beneath the policies and issues that dominate society. He was concerned that today’s society is controlled by the “politics of fear and anger,” which allows people to tolerate things that should not be tolerated. “Fear and anger are the essential ingredients of oppression,” he said. What allowed today’s society to prosecute children as adults is the narrative supported by criminologists that “some children aren’t children.” He also added that America’s history of racial inequality – slavery, lynching, the KKK, Jim Crow – has been dominated by the nar-

Congressman Neal addresses tax reform in Griffin Hall By WILLIAM NEWTON NEWS EDITOR Last Friday, U.S. Congressman Richard Neal (D-Mass.) spoke before an audience of students and faculty in Griffin Hall about the difficulty of accomplishing meaningful tax reform. Neal, who has served in Congress for over 25 years, is the ranking member of the House Ways and Means Committee, which plays a crucial role in policy decisions regarding taxation.

According to Neal, Congress is hoping to introduce extensive tax reform this year, which would be the first major tax reform since 1986. While there is considerable disagreement among members of Congress on how to enact new tax code, there is widespread agreement amongst members that the current tax code, which has grown to over 70,000 pages, needs to change. Neal noted that both parties want a revenue neutral tax

reform – a new tax code that generates the same amount of revenue as the previous one – but there is widespread disagreement on how money will be redistributed. “One of the biggest issues that’s gotten in the way of tax reform in America is ideology,” Neal said. Neal was accompanied by a panel that consisted of two of his senior staff members who are experts in tax code: Kara Getz, chief counsel to the Ways and Means Com-

mittee, and Brandon Casey, legislative director and tax counsel to Neal. Casey elaborated on the expansive role of the Ways and Means Committee, which is tasked with establishing and regulating Social Security, Medicare and unemployment benefits, among others. “The Ways and Means Committee is like a leviathan; we have our hands in many different areas,” Casey said. During the panel discussion, Neal joked that con-

gressional staffers often face the unenviable task of approaching their members of Congress, who are normally convinced that their ideas will always work, and showing them that they may not be taking the best approach. “One of the difficult things for staff members that like facts is when they have to present to their member that their [member’s] facts don’t work,” Neal said. Looking toward the future, Neal told the audience that

he hoped the Democratic Party could gain a majority in Congress during the next election because he believes he could better serve the people of the United States in a more prominent role on the committee. “The aspiration is to be the chairman of the Ways and Means Committee,” Neal said. Following the panel, Neal, Getz and Casey opened the floor to any questions among the audience.

Mount Greylock Regional School undergoes construction Jonathan X. By MICHAEL GREEN EXECUTIVE EDITOR The Mount Greylock Regional School construction project, which began in July 2016, is continuing on schedule, according to School Committee Chairwoman Carrie Greene. The gym will be ready for use in November, while the new academic wing will open in April. Once the new academic facilities are open, the construction team will proceed with the demolition of the old ones and the landscaping of the space. The final process is expected to end in October 2018. From the project’s initial budget of $64.8 million, there is more than $2 million in contingency funds yet to be spent. The School Building Committee has been considering whether to use these funds for an outdoor learning space and a new parking lot. At its Sept. 12 meeting, the School Building Committee recommended a new parking lot, with an estimated cost of $700,000, to the School Committee. This recommendation is predicated on contingency funds remaining at the time of construction. The parking lot must be finished by summer 2018, though other proj-

ect deadlines fall after this time. Some of the contingency fund could be needed for these other projects, potentially complicating the decision to authorize its use for the parking lot before this information is known. If there is not enough money in the contingency fund, the $5 million Williams College Capital Gift will instead pay for the parking lot. The parking lot was initially included in the scope of the project, but was removed to reduce its costs. According to iBerkshires, the School Building Committee would prefer to use the contingency fund, in order to save money from the College to use for potential projects in the future. The School Building Committee made no decision on project recommendations for the outdoor learning space. Initially, a $250,000 amphitheater was proposed. According to Greene, however, this element was scaled down, and the new plan for the space will be included in the project. Greene emphasized that the main challenge of the project has been its timing. “This project was phased very carefully in order to keep overall costs down, to enable our students to stay

in the current building until the turnover of the academic wing and to have an October turnover of the gym, among other things,” Greene said. “With such a tight timeline, however, there is very little wiggle room for delays or sequential alternations.” Since the gym will open in November, rather than October, the high school had to find alternate facilities for volleyball practices and home games, choosing Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts as the host. “This has been an inconvenience in some respects, but also just one example of the generosity of our neighbors in supporting Mount Greylock during this project,” Greene said. The College, Williamstown Elementary School and Lanesborough Elementary School have also lent their facilities to Mount Greylock for events such as the fall Shakespeare performance, the fall concert, the spring musical and the spring play. The School Committee met yesterday and discussed the status of the parking lot, but the results of the meeting arrived too late to print.

Meng ’18 wins prestigious Goldwater Scholarship for chemistry, math

PHOTO COURTESY OF SCOTT STAFFORD

Mount Greylock Regional School plans to open a new academic wing, a gym and a parking lot in the coming months.

September 20, 2017

NEWS 5

The Williams Record

Seth Wax begins as new Jewish chaplain Committee searches By REBECCA TAUBER CONTRIBUTING WRITER As Rosh Hashanah marks the start of the Jewish New Year, it also marks the start for Rabbi Seth Wax in his position as Jewish Chaplain of the College. Wax is replacing Cantor Bob Scherr, who retired in January, and Rabbi Rachel Barenblat ’96, who acted as interim Jewish chaplain until Wax started at the College this fall. Prior to working at the College, Wax worked at Congregation Mount Sinai, an unaffiliated synagogue in Brooklyn. There, he took on a variety of responsibilities, including leading prayer, teaching and helping manage the congregation. He credits the Brooklyn community for shaping him into the rabbi he is today. Before his synagogue work, Wax gained a diverse spiritual background from a variety of institutions. A Massachusetts native, Wax grew up in Sharon, in both a conservative synagogue and a conservative youth movement (United Synagogue Youth, or USY). He majored in religion with a focus on Buddhism at Columbia University, even studying Buddhism and meditation in Japan and completing a senior thesis on the intersection of Buddhist meditation and Judaism.

His postgraduate research on ethics and professions and his interest in Buddhism made him realize he “especially liked connecting with and counseling people,” leading him to Harvard Divinity School and eventually Hebrew College Rabbinical School, a pluralistic institution outside Boston. During those years, he had many opportunities to work with young people, from teaching meditation at

future, and has faith in the importance of spirituality to provide balance. “It takes a deliberate effort to take a step back to pause, reflect and ask big questions – maybe the most important questions – that can help us figure out what we are doing, what this life is and where we are going,” Wax said. “[I believe] that religious and spiritual traditions often ask us these questions.”

“[I hope] to work with students, faculty and staff on campus as we find ways to stand up for each other and for the inherent dignity and worth of all beings.” Rabbi Seth Wax, Jewish Chaplain a juvenile detention facility to working with Jewish high school programs and synagogues. Wax is excited to create new connections and support College students. He remembers “the grind” of college life and the uncertainty of the

In addition to asking questions, Wax is thrilled to work with the Williams College Jewish Association and the Jewish Religious Center to plan events and continue to nurture Jewish life on campus. He especially wants to

reach out to as many students as he can and adapt to students’ needs. “Judaism is vast, and there are so many ways that a person can engage with it; there is really no one way to be Jewish,” Wax said. He wants his position to reflect the diversity of Judaism, and is especially interested in exploring meditation, music, social action and other alternative types of learning and worship. Beyond Jewish life at Williams, Wax enjoys collaborating with the College's other chaplains, Rick Spalding, Gary Caster and Sharif Rosen. “[I hope] to work with students, faculty and staff on campus as we find ways to stand up for each other and for the inherent dignity and worth of all beings,” Wax said. When asked what message he would send to the student body, his response was to encourage students to invite him to get coffee. “I love it when students – whether they are Jewish or not, religious, agonistic, curious, non-religious or whatever – email or text me and ask to meet,” Wax said. “We are here to be with you, to talk, process, reflect, ask questions, process emotions, celebrate, be angry, be sad, be joyful and bear witness to this crazy experience of life.”

for next president

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 the role of the president inside this community is really important.” While the committee will continue to gather community input throughout the process, that part of the search will be most intense in the late fall and early winter. The need for confidentiality, according to Eisenson, will be crucial throughout the search, in order to attract the best candidates to participate in the process. “The level of confidentiality may be a little frustrating to people,” Eisenson said. “My hope is that we’ll be fully transparent about the process, but that the community will

understand we can’t be transparent about the people.” The search will then move on to vetting and selecting candidates to present to the board of trustees. “In an ideal world, and the world isn’t always ideal, the search committee will present to the board a small number of well-vetted and highly qualified candidates sometime in the April timeframe and the board will select a candidate around that time,” Eisenson said. “If everything works, there will be a new president in post at the start of the first semester next year.” Additional reporting by William Newton, news editor.

College undergoes extensive reaccreditation process CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Despite their evaluative nature, the College accreditation committee and NEASC commission do not create College policy. The committee's report and the

commission’s letter, however, will serve as a starting point for changes made by administrators in the years to come and can offer a glimpse of what the College could perhaps look like 10 years into the future.

6 FEATURES

The Williams Record

September 20, 2017

One in Two Thousand By JANE PETERSEN FEATURES EDITOR Olivia (“Liv”) Carlson ’20 and I became friends freshman year. This week, I took the time to catch up with her and discuss laundry, basketball, summer internships and why we should all go to the garlic festival in Bennington, VT. So, let’s start with how you walked on to the basketball team. I played three sports all throughout high school, and I played AAU [Amateur Athletic Union] basketball. I got recruited by a few smaller schools, mostly state schools, my senior year, but Williams searches for really high caliber athletes and hadn’t reached out to me. Actually, I was early decision when I got accepted and it was still basketball season, so I sent Coach [Pat] Manning an email and I was like, “Hey! I’m already in, do you think you can catch one of my games?” So she and a few of her assistant coaches came and they were like, “Yeah, we like what we see and we like your attitude.” So they gave me a spot, and it’s been great! That’s great! So, you really asserted yourself there. Yeah, I really didn’t think that athletics would be a part of my college experience, but I think as senior year went on I realized that I would miss more of the community aspect of it. That really keeps me tethered here at Williams, some structure and an extra support system. Why did you originally choose Williams? I live 17 minutes away, so I guess I’m a local. I toured 29 schools all up and down

the East Coast, so that was kind of a wildfire summer sophomore year and junior year, and I kind of just overlooked Williams. I did not even consider it. I thought I wanted to go city; I thought I wanted to go bigger, big research institutions. And then I think it was just always like school [winding] down and senior year and I was like, “I like my small classes; I want my professors to know me.” I sat in on Professor [Charles] Lovett’s [chemistry] class, and he literally broke in the middle of a lecture to play his guitar. He was in jeans and cowboy boots and a tie-dye shirt, and he knew every single student’s name. There was just a great rapport between him and the students, and I was just like, “I want this to be my college experience.”

OLIVIA “LIV” CARLSON ’20

And how do you like being a housing coordinator this year?

I also heard you had an interesting job over the summer. Can you tell me about that? I was at Berkshire Medical Center, the local hospital here, so it was kind of the classic pre-med internship where I spent a week in each different unit kind of trying to figure out what aspect of medicine I want to go into. There are a lot of things in this community that we’re kind of hidden from at Williams. I saw a lot of overdoses in the ER; I saw lots of mental health problems in the behavioral health unit. I saw almost 40 percent of the babies being born in the maternity unit were born with Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome, which happens when mothers use illicit drugs or opiates during the pregnancy and the babies actually get part of that drug through the pregnancy and are born in withdrawal from drugs. It was really interesting to see

[Laughs.] Last year, which is totally embarrassing, I did not do a single load of laundry at Williams. Those every two weeks that I see my dad or after basketball games we would do like a laundry hand-off. [Laughs.] So, super embarrassing, but I think he liked it because he felt like he was contributing to my kind of emerging adulthood. But this year, I promised myself that I will do my own laundry! [Laughs.]

JANE PETERSEN/FEATURES EDITOR LIV’S HOMETOWN STAMFORD, VT

LIV’S RESIDENCE FAYERWEATHER HALL

another side of this community other than the Williams side, and to see that there’s so much we can do and so much that needs to be fixed. You also lead a 5k for charity every year. Yeah, so my mother battled colon cancer for seven years, and I lost her my senior year, which I think also contributed to me wanting to stay close to home, stay tethered and stay local. So the summer before I came here I started a nonprofit called Train for Trish, and our main fundraiser is a 5k race that I do in my hometown. It usually draws around 300 runners, and it’s just a

FAVORITE EVENT THE GARLIC FESTIVAL

very beautiful, very scenic 5k. People run, walk, walk their dogs. It’s something that my mom did every morning when she was healthy, I remember. So, it’s a nice way to remember her and raise money for a good cause and get the community together. Since you live so close, do you go home often? [Laughs.] I wouldn’t say I go home often. I do see my dad, I’d say at least every two weeks. We grab coffee at Tunnel [City Coffee] on his commute to work. He comes to every single basketball game, every single one, even though I don’t play.

I love it! I think it’s a good role. We had our first snacks the other day. I’m excited to kind of get to know some of the other people that I might not have interacted with otherwise. It kind of combines all of my interests. I love cooking, I love meeting new people and kind of forming another community. It’s interesting, Williams is very … there’s lots of cliques and it’s kind of nice that when you live together, you’re sort of merging all those cliques into a new community. I’m excited. On top of that, weren’t you also a Where Am I?! leader this fall? Yeah, I loved it. I had a great group, of course. I think I take a lot of aspects of our landscape and our attractions for granted, so being able to show what makes the Berkshires so special is really fun for me because when students are gasping at the mountain views on Mount Greylock, or having so much fun at the garlic festival, or seeing how cute downtown North Adams is, it makes me appreciate things that I’ve taken for granted, because I’ve lived here for 19 years.

Wait, what the hell is a garlic festival? The garlic festival is this awesome thing that happens in Bennington every year since 1995 – you should totally go, it’s over Labor Day weekend. It started as just garlic, but now it’s evolved. There’s lots of homemade jams, cheeses, wines and there’s lots and lots of taste testing. But people aren’t just taste testing like straight up garlic, right? There’s garlic pickles, garlic relishes, things like that, but now there’s lots of different herbs too. Okay, so what’s one place in the Berkshires or in the southern Vermont area that everyone should go to? Definitely the top of Mount Greylock, whether that’s by hiking or driving. And also, I think hiking up Stony Ledge is just beautiful in the fall. It’s the longer hike on Mountain Day, so a lot of people don’t do it, but it is well worth it, even if it’s not on Mountain Day. Also, the little shops and restaurants. I think we get really stuck with the storefronts on Spring Street, but if you can get together and find someone with a car and explore the other little towns, you’ll meet a lot of great people that you wouldn’t have otherwise met. Do you have a friend, classmate, entrymate or dining buddy that you think could be the next One in Two Thousand? Email your nomination to rbs2@williams.edu with a brief description of why they would make an interesting feature! All students are welcome.

Ephs at the Clark spurs student initiatives By TARAN DUGAL STAFF WRITER By LYDIA DUAN CONTRIBUTING WRITER It’s the background hum in class, the jackhammering echoing students’ early morning caffeinated thoughts, the streets cordoned off and the sidewalks redirected into zigzag patterns. By now, the constant presence of construction all over campus has become as familiar as the buildings themselves. Students hardly bat an eye when a new gravel pit appears next to their dorm overnight, or a bulldozer trundles down Route 2. But few students are familiar with the people behind all the buzz. I set out to get to know one of the many construction workers that labor to renovate our campus. In a hard hat and dust-covered jeans, Albert Cummings greeted me with a wide grin and a twinkle in his eyes. Five minutes later, I was in a vest and hard hat myself, caught up in Cummings’ detailed account of his work. Cummings, who works for Cummings General Contractor, Inc., is the general contractor for the renovation project underway at the Center for Developmental Economics. This two-story, double-layered set of dorms is in its relative infancy, having recently passed project day 50. Having worked on projects such as The Log in the past, Cummings is a seasoned veteran, explaining that each project consists of months, even years of planning in advance. With each project being bigger than the last, this current one is being brought to life by a massive collaborative effort among architects and engineers, supervisors and workers alike. If it takes a village to raise a child, it takes, as Cummings notes, “a whole lot of everyone” to see a project like this from the literal ground up. He took me on-site to detail this process. It began with a pre-construction “mock-up,” a model that displayed the exact materials and structural design of the project. It ensured that when various inspectors came in, they could understand exact-

ly what the final building would be. “Construction,” Cummings said, “is all about the checks and balances.” From the head of Facilities to the design team, each person has their own valuable contribution, so everyone needs to be on the same page. And in terms of pages, he showed me an entire stack of architectural blueprints with floor designs drawn to absolute precision. No stone went unturned, quite literally, in this construction.

shooting, Cummings smiled. “I’ve always said that Murphy must have been in construction. Because if anything can go wrong, it will,” he said. But technology, Cummings asserted, has been instrumental in making construction better than ever before. As a Williamstown native and a fourth-generation builder for Cummings, “we’ve been in this business for a long time,” he said. In this time, he’s seen technological advance-

“It’s laying down every brick just right. ... Brick by brick, I can see the results of my work immediately, and that’s what I get out of this.” Albert Cummings, General Contractor, Cummings General Contractor As for what Cummings does on the daily, he laughed. “I’m running around like a chicken with its head cut off,” he said. Responsible for coordinating all activities on-site, Cummings ensures that everyone has the equipment, materials and instructions necessary to make this project happen. He relays information back and forth so that “the mason never assumes we need a six-inch brick while the architect is asking for an eight-inch,” he said. It’s a lot of multitasking, day in and day out. “I’ll have days where it’s noon and I already have to charge my phone,” Cummings said with his trademark humor. But every time his phone buzzed, Cummings’ eyes lit up, and he was ready to answer whatever question was on the line. There are times, however, when things don’t go smoothly. When asked about trouble-

ment transform construction for decades. His father had to mix cement and pour foundation by hand. 30 years later, there’s now machinery for that entire process. Perhaps most inspiring is Cummings’ belief in his work. What the common eye may see as plain concrete, Cummings can already see as the finished product. As he pointed out every part that needed to be poured or framed or wired, his energy was infectious. Ultimately, when asked why, Cummings paused. He thought for a moment. “It’s laying down every brick just right,” he said. “Brick by brick, I can see the results of my work immediately, and that’s what I get out of this. My grandfather told my father who told me that we’re building something that’ll last much longer than ourselves. That’s what I want to do.”

On Sept. 10, Ephs at the Clark hosted its opening event, a back-to-school barbecue at the Stone Hill Lunder Center. The barbecue drew students from every class and major, mirroring the representation of the College’s student body that Ephs at the Clark hopes to achieve in its membership. The Lunder Center is a conservation center that is just a short walk away from the Clark Art Institute itself. Tucked away in the mountains, the Center is currently home to the critically-acclaimed exhibition “As in Nature: Helen Frankenthaler Paintings.” Students attending the barbecue had exclusive access to view Frankenthaler’s work, a striking collection of impressionist landscapes that are still on exhibition in the Lunder Center. Perry Weber ’19, president of Ephs at the Clark, described the process of getting the club off the ground this fall. “Ephs at the Clark has been a Clarkled initiative for the past several years,” she said. “I was hired by the Clark at the end of my freshman year not only to lead and improve the COWS [Clark Outreach to Williams Students] program, but also to create original programming that directly engages students with the Clark. However, I realized [that] one of the biggest problems with the existing program was that, even though I was creating all of these events, they truly weren’t student-run,” she said. “I proposed the idea of the club

as a way to break away from the stigma that Ephs at the Clark is simply a Clark-led solicitation. Thankfully, right after the club was approved, my wonderful copresident Katie Priest [’18] began interning at the Clark with me, and we have been working on creating more events and recruiting since.” The barbecue was the first event of the year hosted by Ephs at the Clark, and it seemed to fulfill the club’s intent of increasing student involvement and engagement. “One of our goals in the next year is to have programming that targets students who may not find a reason to come to the Clark otherwise. Katie and I did extensive survey research over the summer to discover what students truly like to do at the Clark universally,” Weber said. “Unsurprisingly, many students love to come to the patio by the reflecting pool to do homework, or simply walk up Stone Hill on a beautiful day. This has inspired us to create more outdoor programming that allows students to engage with the art and with nature.” The Clark’s location relative to campus is not exactly central, and it can be hard for students not studying art or art history to truly get involved or to get to know the institution itself. Many students that attended the barbecue were unaware that the Lunder Center even existed, let alone that it was home to such impressive pieces of work. Ephs at the Clark’s mission is to acknowledge the Clark’s potential to educate and inspire, and to bridge any gaps that might exist

between the College community and the Clark. Ephs at the Clark plans to host numerous events this year, intended to help students get more involved and engaged with the Clark. For those who are more academically drawn, the club offers student-led gallery talks, at which students can both meet fellow classmates while increasing their knowledge of the world of art. Ephs at the Clark also plans to bring in speakers to give talks on their specialties and to engage with students. One of the club’s primary goals is to connect students that are already involved with the art history department at the College with alumni and other figures who are currently working in the field, such as curators, researchers and scholars. For those students who are seeking something a little more casual, Ephs at the Clark also hosts yoga on the Clark patio, as well as Clark art trivia nights for all students. Weber shared her vision for the club’s future moving forward. “As a junior, I plan on staying on this project for the next two years to hopefully watch Ephs at the Clark become a sustaining presence on campus,” she said. “I hope we gain future leadership that isn’t necessarily connected to the Clark through an internship or even an interest in art history, but rather a passion for connecting students with this incredibly underused resource just a fiveminute walk away. Most importantly, we want to create really fun programs that students are excited about attending.”

PHOTO COURTESY OF PERRY WEBER

Ephs at the Clark hopes to open up the museum’s unique resources to artists and laypeople alike.

September 20, 2017

The Williams Record

FEATURES 7

Dr. Herchel Smith Fellowship

to support post-­‐‑graduate study at the University of Cambridge, UK

Current seniors may apply for one or two years of funding, with the possibility to renew for up to two years for those continuing to the PhD at Cambridge Seven to ten awards to members of the Class of 2018

Martin-­‐‑Wilson Fellowship

to support two years of post-­‐‑graduate study at University of Oxford, UK One award to a member of the Class of 2018 All seniors are eligible, all majors welcome. More information is available on the Office of Fellowships website. Application deadline: Monday, Oct 24, 2017

Info-­‐‑Session Monday, Oct 2, 5pm Hopkins Hall 001

8 ARTS

The Williams Record

September 20, 2017

Davis produces quality-made foil against single-mindedness By CARLOS CABRERA-LOMELI STAFF WRITER For some time, I’ve seen a cartoon floating around Twitter of two crowds marching against each other. One group is protesting for equal rights and protection of all under the law; the other group is composed of white supremacists. Then there is a solitary figure in the middle, suggesting the two parties should find a consensus. The cartoon is made to satirize individuals who believe that both of these groups are right in their own way, or that there is blame on both sides. At first glance, Accidental Courtesy – an independent festival film focusing on the adventures of successful African-American musician Daryl Davis to befriend members of the KKK – can be tossed into the middle category. But there is a lot more to this film and to Davis. Davis, son of diplomats, has had quite a successful career, having played with rock-androll icons like Chuck Berry and Jerry Lee Lewis. Throughout the film, Davis sits down with KKK members and strives to have pleasant conversations with them (sometimes in his own home and other times in the houses of the Klan members themselves). His attempts have been met with some degree of success, resulting in deep friendships between himself and Klan members; one Klansman even attend-

PHOTO COURTESY OF LOS ANGELES TIMES

‘Accidental Courtesy’ director Daryl Davis shows that through dialogue and mutual respect, people can change for the better. ed Davis’ wedding with his white partner, although the KKK has explicitly stated that it believes interracial marriage is an abomination. Other times, however, Klan members ultimately cast Davis as an exception and retain their racist ideologies, drawing back to one of the most dreaded expressions for people of color: Davis being ‘one of the good ones.’ So why does Davis risk his life for this quest? The an-

swer becomes apparent as the viewer gets to know his personal life. In Accidental Courtesy, Davis relates several stories of how he was a direct victim of racism growing up (being verbally and physically assaulted, even having trash thrown at him), but he also has stories of how, through talking to and getting to know white people, he was able to drive prejudices away. Since then, his philosophy has been to get

THE ARTIST OTHERWISE KNOWN AS... BERTIE MILLER ’18 By WENDY HERNANDEZ STAFF WRITER Bertie Miller’s ’18 art evolves almost as often as she does. It is misleading to say that this geosciences and studio art double major resides in New York, N.Y., since she spends more time just about anywhere else. In fact, you would probably have better luck finding her running a haunted house in Montana, or beekeeping in Seattle, or trekking through the volcanoes and snow of the Aleutian Islands – all things she’s spent past summer vacations doing. Or, you have probably seen her around campus, since she is the co-president of the Williams beekeeping club and captain of the women’s crew team. Miller took her first art class as a high school freshman, and learned that “observational drawing is more learning how to look at things in a certain way,” she said. But that is not to detract from technical skill which develops with practice, she explained. “Really honing the process of actively creating art is in many ways a precursor to developing personal style”, she said. Miller, however, cites this class as the springboard to her artistic career. “[It gave me] a new way to look at the world I was moving through and observe things around me and consider how they relate,” she said. Since then, Miller has strayed from this classical toolkit of finding gesture or carefully identifying the differences of color with light and shadow. Now, she describes herself as “moving more towards being interested in installation that involves sculpture as well as a film component,” she said. She first experimented with this technique last spring, with a project comprised of two videos playing. Sound, Miller explained, makes for an interesting medium, because one can use it to saturate a space in different ways. For example, if “a sound comes from that corner of the room and then the left corner of the room, those different directions and what sound is coming out can change the dynamic of how a person moves in a space,” she said. Miller stresses using what she calls the “spatial quality of sound” to one’s advantage. Toggling with sound in this way, beyond simply desaturating or saturating a space, makes for an interactive experience that engages a sense that is usually neglected in conventional art viewing. Miller broke these boundaries by having two videos face and almost refract each other. “People at the gallery ended up not ever walking between the two, even though the pieces were across from each other and in different ends of the room,” she said. She had hoped that they would, pushing “the usual ‘hands behind your back, don’t touch anything’” museum boundaries. Before experimenting with interactive installation, Miller’s focus was sculpture. She drew on elements from an introductory sculpture class where she learned metalworking, welding and woodworking. Miller juxtaposed live media, like bark and moss with mesh and steel. She extended this conceit as a sort of dialogue, gently probing her audience to evaluate the relationship between how processes such as decay are distinct when they occur in the absence of social structures, like in nature as opposed to within social strata. “When something decays, you have decomposers create new life, so in nature it’s a really beautiful process. But it tends to be a more violent thing when it happens in social settings – when you’ve got people feeding off of other peo-

ple. The tactile features of steel rusting and the slight edge of danger offset natural, harmonious decomposition,” Miller said. “In nature there’s not really any intention or malice, but if you see these same actions crop up within societal structures, it tends to be a more violent process. It’s exploitation,” Miller said. The poignant and dichotomized metaphors in her work force the audience to lean into its discomforts and challenge preconceived beliefs about ourselves, the world around us and once again how we inhabit that space. Miller’s art also invokes geosciences. She recalls drawing heavily on ice as a medium for 2016-17 Artist-in-Residence Steffani Jemison’s class on transparency and opacity. Specifically, she explores “what happens when we abstract a body.” By abstracting a body, we abstract gender, she said. She then filmed with ice to better visualize these interactions. “I try to stray away from things that tend to be narrative associations, so I’ll use close-ups of how something like ribs move when I breathe, and look at that flex which is almost like a ‘freeze-thaw,’” Miller said. To Miller, abstracting bodies still allows for a “feeling of intimacy” but is made all the more interesting because “you don’t always know what you’re looking at,” and this allows for the subject to “maintain that autonomy and that power for someone to hold. Even though nudity is sometimes exposing, these were exposures that were also empowering in a way,” she said. Overall, Miller’s art continues to metamorphose. She draws inspiration from biomimicry and efficient design in nature and likes to toy with how these things can be at odds with synthetic or social structures. Moving forward, her work will delve into wearable design and more film-fused interactive installations.

JUNE HAN/PHOTO EDITOR

Bertie Miller ’18 majors in geosciences and studio art.

to know white supremacists, speaking directly to and attempting to befriend them. His conversations are guided by the question he asks: “How can you hate me when you don’t even know me?” Davis’ strategy of demonstrating to white supremacists the contradiction of their beliefs with the reality of the kindness and friendship he offers them has resulted in some of Davis’ new friends leaving the KKK.

When this happens, the former KKK member gives Davis all their gear (flags, white hood, literature, etc.). With these items, Davis has the intention of creating a museum that will showcase – but not celebrate – the long history of white supremacy in the U.S. Understanding Davis himself reveals certain flaws in his plan. He is a charismatic, wealthy and well-recognized figure who can draw media

attention to his ventures. The average person of color doesn’t have that privilege, which is one of the reasons why there aren’t masses of people of color outside of Klan rallies offering friendship. Accidental Courtesy explores pushback from the black community against what Davis does, as he meets with both old friends and Black Lives Matter activists. Two of these activists are Kwame Rose and Tariq Toure, who rose to prominence through their efforts to both bring awareness to the death of Freddie Gray when he was in police custody and demand justice from the Baltimore authorities. To Rose and Toure, what Davis does is misguided and does nothing to help the bigger cause of protecting and improving the lives of black people. In this environment, Davis appears to be condescending to Toure and Rose, making it clear that the documentary is not a celebration of his unorthodox methods, but rather a study of what drove a man of color to try to befriend white supremacists and whether this method is truly worth trying. Ultimately, Davis cannot be labeled as someone who sold out by befriending KKK members; the film exhibits his genuine desire to prevent further racial tensions and violence by turning enemies into friends. Without giving any direct answers, the film Accidental Courtesy, and Davis, make it clear that any effort is better than living in apathy.

9 ARTS

The Williams Record

September 20, 2017

‘Menashe’ quietly brings powerful narrative to cinema By CECILIA MESSBAUER CONTRIBUTING WRITER In a world full of entertainment predicated on expansiveness, sometimes a film that reminds audiences of the potential of small, self-contained and introspective stories can be a welcome change of pace. Such is the product delivered by Menashe, a film that premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in Jan. 2017, saw its U.S. release in July and now has found its way to Williamstown for a seven-day run at Images Cinema, ending tonight. The film, directed by Joshua Z. Weinstein, stars Menashe Lustig as the title character and Ruben Niborski as Rieven, his young son. Set in Borough Park, a Hasidic Jewish neighborhood in Brooklyn, the plot centers on Menashe, who is struggling to keep custody of Rieven after the death of his wife. All the while, his ultraOrthodox religious community, led by Meyer Schwartz as the Rabbi, demands that Rieven be raised in a two-parent household by Menashe’s brother-in-law Eizik, played by Yoel Weisshauss. The tension between the tragic and stressful circumstances of Menashe’s life and the rigid doctrines of his conservative religious structure forms the thematic throughline of the film. Every new complication further highlights his struggle to adapt his imperfections and misfortunes to a strict set of rules that are inextricable from a spirituality that

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

'Menashe', a poignant film that tells a simple story of a man trying to gain custody of his son, touches the hearts of audience members. is deeply important to him. There are no true villains of the piece; Menashe is in conflict with himself as much as with Eizik. Eizik’s antagonism is not due to his personal expression of faith but rather to the manifestation of broader social structures that co-opt religion to justify power imbalances. Classism permeates Eizik’s dismissal of Menashe as an incapable caregiver due

to his low-wage employment in the service sector. Similarly, the fact that Menashe cannot be a father as well as the post-mortems of his relationship with his wife are merely a finely codified pillar of virulent misogyny. Not coincidentally, the lack of women as prominent characters is one of the film’s demonstrable weaknesses, but the film confronts this issue

openly enough that it becomes a part of the storytelling as much as the filmmaking. Making matters worse, Menashe finds just as much conflict outside his religious community, as the stress of single parenthood and tenuous custody, as well as a spate of infinite bad luck, puts him in poor standing in a job he cannot afford to lose. Compounding matters further,

Rieven’s childhood is palpably on display throughout, with moments of joy that are heartstring-pulling in their earnestness and balanced by heartbreaking scenes of preadolescent frustration. That Rieven exhibits such vibrancy when he interacts with his father and his culture makes his moments of pain all the more painful, especially since the child’s un-

inhibited love for his father is put under constant stress by the impositions of his community. The strain leaves the father-son bond utterly flawed as well, as neither can really understand the pain the other experiences due to wildly different contexts for the same struggle. The film is entirely in Yiddish with English subtitles, save for one emotional powerhouse of a scene in which Menashe converses in English with his Spanish-speaking Latinx coworkers about his history with his late wife. This is a poignant exchange that simultaneously brightens the world Menashe inhabits, if only briefly, and underscores the messiness of the inner conflict that is dominating his world. The film is a brisk 80 minutes, but there is a deliberateness to its pacing that leaves time for each emotional note to sink in and the day-to-day struggles of its characters to come to life. The on-location filming in busy New York, N.Y., constantly reminds the audience that what might seem like a foreign film to them is in fact a slice of life in the modern United States. It features the complexities of life for one of this country's least represented demographics, the unapologetic immersion in Hasidic culture and the deeply humanizing exploration of the lives of Jewish protagonists. Well-made, well-told and powerfully resonant, Menashe quietly stakes its claim as one of the most affecting stories to hit the screens this year.

"...To see the world in its ambiguities, constrasts, dislocations, paradoxes, confusions, ideals, hypocrisises...to prepare students to both be perceptive about and senstitive to meanings in life." Robert Gaudino (Professor of Political Science at Williams, 19551974)

The Gaudino Fund invites applications for Winter Study and Summer Fellowships that incorportate collaborative action, learning, and that promote the development of empathy.

PHOTO COURTESY OF RANDAL FLIPPINGER

Interested in learning more?

Carol Ockman explores an unusual medium of communication across significant moments.

Performance explores dimensions of trauma By TARUN YADAV CONTRIBUTING WRITER In "Sarah Bernhardt's Handkerchief," Professor of Art Carol Ockman not only explores the dimension that objects of power lend to our realities, but she also propounds it to spin the fine skein of personal trauma and testimony into the definition. One knows a treasure by the fact that it endures and prevails because of and in spite of changes around it. Sarah Bernhardt's handkerchief, a simple white handkerchief with a delicately tattered edge embroidered with the name "Sarah," is one such object, much akin to the icon that its first owner – a French stage actress – was. The deconstruction of personas and narratives by calling instances and objects to life segues into captivating desolation and reality to present a new, conjoint timeline. Constant eye contact, forcefully matched delivery and dynamic lighting lift the level of engagement. Everything takes place in a grand and austere setting that seems to exist on the edge of time, a twilight space where one is gazing from this world into the one Ockman tells us about. There is no plot, just fragments of memory bubbling up to recurrently play as in a fever dream. Dressed in a blue shirt and khakis – simple, grounding attire – her face expressive, Ockman cuts a vibrant figure. Her character is emotionally traumatized, lightly impulsive and reflective. The choice of dialogue and Ockman's volatile delivery repeatedly emphasize her commitment to communication. She is not afraid to be vulnerable. In the character's setbacks, her tone vacillates abruptly between a child having a full-blown tantrum and a forlorn little boy. At one moment in the show, we see a culmination of the character, emotions and memories in her account of sexual liberation. At another, we see her voice overriding a recording as if to show the trauma bridging the precedent with the current, the time shift in the

sequence of unfortunate events that the recording signifies. By setting the play in a limbo-like dream space where it is possible to jump around in time, Ockman gives herself an interpretive latitude that is usually unavailable to conventional life stories. There are moments when she treats the play as an experiment in language – not pretentious, but persistently stressing her ideas that are central to the theme of emotional connections with physical objects. Each time, she employs different emphasis, as though testing the power of diction and connections itself to express the feeling. In Ockman's handsome stage design, two chairs and pictures of her father and Sarah Bernhardt are on two easels markedly set away from the center, on the right and the left sides respectively. In the center towards the front are the chairs, following the binary, symmetrical scheme. The stage's rear screen is an endless field of color that changes with the play's emotions, from deep blue to chartreuse to blank white. The production reaches a quiet, majestic ending. Receding from the loud, central position, Ockman takes the medial spot between the portraits. She stretches her hands while channeling her story through the tips of her fingers to the audience. The relative calm of these last moments suggests that everything that has come before has been a spasmodic Freudian catharsis, exorcism in the throes of loss. After a journey through complex relationships, realizations and symbols – from her father's gun to his fingerprints on the gun, from the wishes to trace those prints from the gun onto the handkerchief and to the whim to wrap the gun with the handkerchief to hide it from sight – the rest is silence. There is too much for words, too much to gather, too much to appreciate and realize – so you walk on, promising yourself that it has been a searing flash of self-recognition.

Drop by an Open House with former fellowship recipients *Hear about their experiences in India, Estonia, Liberia, and the Navajo Nation *Get advice on crafting your own proposal *Learn about a Winter Study internship opportunity with a learning community of preschoolers and their families in the Bronx, New York

Saturday September 23 4-5:30 PM Lounge/Reading Room in Stetson-Sawyer (entrance level) Questions? Contact Prof. Banta (lbanta@williams.edu)

The Guadino Program is dedicated to promoting self-reflection and examination of biases, through immersive engagement with unfamiliar cultures, experiences, and perspectives

10 SPORTS

The Williams Record

September 20, 2017

Anik Cepeda prepares for first season as women’s tennis head coach By RACHEL LEVIN EXECUTIVE EDITOR Anik Cepeda is not new to tennis. Having grown up playing juniors from ages 5 to 18 before playing collegiately at William and Mary, tennis has always been a part of Cepeda’s life. So when the women’s tennis head coach position opened up after Alison Swain ’01 announced her departure for the University of Southern California, Cepeda applied and got the job. “This is too good to be true,” she said. While new to the head coach position, Cepeda is not new to the College. In 2013-14, she was an assistant coach under Swain and Men’s Tennis Head Coach Dan Greenberg ’08. She took a break from tennis after that year and became a wilderness therapy field instructor in Utah, taking adolescents and adults struggling with mental health issues into the wilderness. “We went backpacking, and I showed them basic life skills,” she said. Although that year did not involve tennis, she has felt the sport’s influence in every part of her life. “[Tennis] just shifted my perspective on what we can be about every day,” she said. “It helped [me] with having patience. As a coach, I ask myself, ‘What can I actually control right now? How can I actually be supportive and understanding when I’m wanting too much control, and when that frustration is bubbling up?’ It helps, too, with empathy, so I’m able to understand when wants and needs aren’t being met.” However, the year off made Cepeda think about her career ambitions. “I saw that there was a lot of overlap between what I was doing out in the field [and tennis],” she said, “but I really missed tennis.” She took an assistant position at Div. I Marshall,

in Huntington, W.V., to get back in the swing of things. In her first head coach role, Cepeda is learning how to manage more responsibilities. “You’re just calling all the shots,” she said. At the moment, she is also without an assistant coach, so she does not “have that second voice telling me, ‘yeah, go for it that’s great’ or ‘whoa, what are you doing here?’” The biggest difference between being an assistant coach and a head coach is the time commitment. “It’s your program, so you’re working with the players to create something,” she said. “As an assistant, you’re facilitating that and adding your own input, but the main idea comes from the players and the [head] coach.” Additionally, being a tennis coach does not necessarily mean you get to play a lot of tennis, a reality that is sometimes difficult for Cepeda. “I definitely miss playing,” she said. “I miss the competition of being in it, but I really love this role, of getting to see the development and progression and growth of an individual and getting to be a part of that. And [I like] introducing my own layer as well into every day or every interaction.” Cepeda’s former colleagues also expressed enthusiasm about her new position. “I was very excited when Anik decided to apply for the position and thrilled – but not surprised – when she got the job,” Greenberg said. “She was an awesome assistant coach because she always brought positive energy no matter what; she was an accomplished athlete who played and understood the game at a high caliber; and she was very balanced, setting a great example for our student-athletes. “I think she’s going to do an outstanding job as head coach, and [the College] is

definitely fortunate to have her back.” Cepeda gave credit to her predecessor, Swain, for building up the tennis program. Swain led the team to eight NCAA Div. III titles in the last 10 years, so Cepeda has some big shoes to fill. The titles, however, do not change her focus. “When I’m coaching in the moment, I’m not thinking about those things,” she said. But coming into a winning program is not always easy.

“I think we’re doing well, and I also think that there’s still a long way to go,” she said. “I think there’s still a lot of excitement for new things and a fresh start for a lot of them. And an opportunity to find their voice, if they didn’t have a voice before. The dynamic was different. So that adjustment period will take a while, and I don’t know that we’re all in sync yet, but we’re working on it.” Besides gearing up for the season, Cepeda and the team

are starting to reach out more to the community. The women’s and men’s teams are hosting a mixed doubles alumni event on Sunday. There will be an entry fee to play, and “anyone who comes and watches is welcome to donate as well,” she said. Each team will select a charity to whom the profits will be donated. Cepeda emphasized that she wanted to “start engaging with our community on a giving level,

and also encourage them to come out and be a part of that spirit that we have.” With the start of the school year and of the fall season, Cepeda will no doubt be busy in her new role. If she finds herself with some free time? “Ideally, if I did have free time, [I] would have a cup of coffee and work on a crossword,” she said. “But that will be in, I don’t know when. Not yet.” For now, Cepeda and the Ephs will be on the courts.

PHOTO COURTESY OF NEAL TROUSDALE

Cepeda, pictured playing for William and Mary, served as an assistant coach at the College during the 2013-2014 school year.

Public Invited to Comment on Williams College Accreditation As part of Williams’ 10-year accreditation cycle, a team from the New England Association of Schools and College’s Commission on Institutions of Higher Education (CIHE) will be visiting campus Oct. 22-25. For the past year and a half, Williams has been engaged in a self-study addressing CIHE’s standards for accreditation. The purpose of the visit is to gather evidence that the self-study is thorough and accurate. The public is invited to submit comments regarding substantive matters related to the quality of Williams to: Public Comment on Williams College Commission on Institutions of Higher Education New England Association of Schools and Colleges 3 Burlington Woods Drive, Suite 100 Burlington, MA 01803-4514 Email: cihe@neasc.org Comments must include the sender’s name, address and telephone number. Comments will not be treated as confidential. The commission cannot settle disputes between individuals and the college. Public comments must be received by Oct. 25, 2017. The commission cannot guarantee that submissions received after that date will be considered.

September 20, 2017

SPORTS 11

The Williams Record

Field hockey defeats Colby, Mount Holyoke, falls to Bowdoin By KIRSTEN MALES and CAMERON BROWN CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Field hockey (3–1, 1–1 in the NESCAC) defeated Mount Holyoke and Colby last week before suffering its first loss of the season to Bowdoin in double overtime. On Sunday, the No. 13 Ephs traveled to Brunswick, Maine, to play a conference game against the No. 10 Polar Bears. The women began the day with an early goal by co-captain Alex Bennett ’18, assisted by Meredith Wright ’19. Bowdoin answered at 20:50 of the period with a goal by Elizabeth Bennewitz. In the first half, the Ephs totaled six shots on goal, while the Polar Bears had just three. Goalie Emma Santucci ’19 made two tough saves in the half, while Bowdoin goalie Maddie Ferrucci had five saves. Bennett gave the Ephs the lead back in the second half, netting at 38:58. Bowdoin’s Kara Finnerty, however, quickly tied the game again

at 40:19. Bennewitz assisted on the play. Abby Lloyd ’20 replaced Santucci in goal in the second half. Lloyd defended the Eph goalbox with seven saves, keeping the game tied going into overtime. “Abby had some sensational saves,” Head Coach Alix Barrale ’93 said. The deadlock persisted after the first overtime. Ferrucci saved shots from Wright and Nina McGowan ’20. Lloyd blocked a Bowdoin shot as well. At 87:26, Bennewitz broke the stalemate. Her goal ended the hard-fought game at 3-2 in Bowdoin’s favor. Regarding the loss, Barrale said, “It’s hard to be disappointed when we played so well. As a defensive unit we were strong, and it’s a great indicator of where we are because Bowdoin is a great team.” The women defeated Colby 4-1 on Saturday in Waterville, Maine. Highlighted by two second-half goals from forward Libby Dolan ’19, the Ephs dominated offensively.

The women got off to a fast start with two shots on goal within the first three minutes. The Ephs totaled 13 shots on goal in the first half, with Wright and co-captain Hannah Goodrick ’18 providing goals for a 2-0 lead. Bennett assisted on Goodrick’s score. The offense continued in the second half, as the women generated seven more shots on goal for a total of 20 on the day. At the half, Santucci had saved the only shot on goal from the Mules. Lloyd took over in the second half, making five saves. Colby’s Riley Whitmyer made 18 saves in the game. The second half featured two tricky goals for Dolan in the span of three minutes. The first tally came at 50:14 and was assisted by Emma Ticknor ’20. Dolan’s second score came at 53:14 off of a pass from Bennett, bringing the lead to 4-0 until a tally by Colby’s Meredith Keenan moved the final score to 4-1. “We did a good job being patient and waiting for our

PHOTO COURTESY OF SPORTS INFORMATION

Libby Dolan ’19 scored five goals last week for No. 13 field hockey, which moved to 3-1 on the season. opportunities to score,” Barrale said after the game. Dolan netted a hat trick on Sept. 13, as the women topped Mount Holyoke 3-0 on Wednesday evening. Her first goal came at 41:57 and was an unassisted tally. Less than

four minutes later, she scored off of a beautiful pass from Wright at 45:48. Her third goal came at 62:08, sneaking under the pad of the goalie with an assist from Bennett. “Libby did a great job finding the back of the net, and

her persistence paid off,” Barrale said. “We didn’t come out with great intensity,” she said, “but the defense did a nice job of doing all of the little things.” The women host Smith today at 6:30 p.m.

Women’s tennis opens season at Lindsay Morehouse Invitational The Office of Communications recommends ...

“What is Interdisciplinarity?” Roderick Ferguson, Univ. of Illinois, Chicago, will discuss interdisciplinary fields as occupying a contradictory history within the academy

Monday, September 25, 4:15 p.m.
 Griffin Hall, room 3 For more events, see: calendar.williams.edu

INVITES STUDENTS TO APPLY FOR A POSITION ON THE 2017 EDITORIAL BOARD. Want to see your name in print and keep your finger on the campus pulse? Have experience with InDesign, Photoshop and/or Wordpress? Apply to be a Production Assistant for the College’s only independent newspaper. The Production Assistant works with section editors on layout, creates graphics and manages the website and social media. No journalism experience necessary. Members of the class of 2021 encouraged to apply! IF INTERESTED, EMAIL FP1@WILLIAMS.EDU TO APPLY WITH A ONE PAGE SELF NOMINATION. PLEASE DESCRIBE PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE IN GRAPHIC DESIGN AND/OR ONLINE CONTENT MANAGEMENT. THE DEADLINE IS 11:59 P.M. ON SUNDAY, SEPT. 24.

By JOHN TOOMEY STAFF WRITER Women’s tennis kicked off its fall season last weekend at the Lindsay Morehouse ’00 invitational. The tournament is named in honor of a former Eph tennis captain who died in New York in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Though there is a victor in each match, no tournament champion is crowned at the end of the tournament. Instead, the Morehouse Invitational highlights every player on a team’s roster and celebrates participation at the start of a new season. The action began Friday, with the women squaring off against Middlebury and Skidmore in doubles. Middlebury swept two matches, as sophomore duo Maddi Stow and Catherin Blayze overcame co-captain Juli Raventos ’18 and Sasha Cayward ’21 8-6. Co-captain Julia Cancio ’18 and Emily Zheng ’20 fell by a score of 8-4. The women were able to bounce back against Skidmore, sweeping three doubles matches. Chloe Henderson ’20 and Rachel Cross ’21 won 8-3, while Korina Neveux ’19 and co-captain Mia Gancayco ’18 dispatched their opponents 8-2. Leah Bush ’19 and Ksoosha Ramras ’21 prevailed 8-4 to finish Day One. “Starting the Invitational with doubles was an excellent opportunity for us to kick off some rust and nerves,” Head Coach Anik Cepeda said. “I was impressed with how the first-years carried themselves on the court.” On Saturday, the women played 21 matches against Skidmore, Middlebury and Wellesley. The Ephs compiled a 20-1 record in Day Two’s matches. Cancio swept her op-

ponent 6-0, 6-0, as did Zheng. Neveux cruised to a 6-1, 6-0 victory, and Cayward, Cross and Ramras also secured wins against Skidmore players. The women continued their singles success against Wellesley later in the day, sweeping six matches. Gancayco overcame her opponent 6-0, 6-0, while Raventos locked in her win by a score of 6-0, 6-1. In doubles, the Ephs went 4-1. Raventos and Cayward defeated their Middlebury opponents 8-4. Henderson and Bush also added a doubles win, alongside their teammates Cross and Zheng. The only Eph loss on the day came in the final doubles match against the Panthers, as Neveux and Gancayco fell to first-year duo Emily Bian and Ann Martin Skelly. The Ephs ended doubles on a high note, however, as Cancio and Ramras defeated the Thoroughbred team 8-0. The Ephs went 13-2 on the third and final day, with Sunday’s two losses coming in singles against the Panthers. “Sunday was a mental test on so many levels,” Cepeda said. “Middlebury played tough and fought hard from start to finish – well done to their whole squad for a great match and a solid tournament.” Neveux, Ramras and Zheng got the day started with three singles wins against Skidmore. Against Middlebury, Raventos bounced back from a 5-7 firstset loss to take the second 6-3. Blayze, however, battled to an 11-9 win in the third set to secure the match for Middlebury. Cross and Cayward both secured wins despite both dropping the first set. Henderson and Gancayco also secured singles victories against Middlebury. Cancio took the first set against Stow but ultimately fell in three sets.

The Ephs managed a sixmatch sweep in doubles. Bush paired up with Zheng to lock down an 8-3 win, while Raventos and Cayward overcame their opponents 8-1. Cancio and Neveux earned a win as well. Cepeda applauded her team’s endurance at the end of the long weekend. “I’m proud of our grit,” she said. “Especially on the last morning, when so much tennis had already been played, we bounced back from deficits on several courts. That is huge.” Each year, at the conclusion of the Morehouse Invitational, the College presents the Lindsay Morehouse Award to acknowledge a player who “represents the ideals of sportsmanship, friendliness, character, fair play and hard work that Lindsay represented.” This year, the College awarded the honor to Middlebury junior Molly Paradies. Coming off of a season in which they won their eighth national championship in the last 10 years, the Ephs will have to compete without All-American co-captains Hannah Atkinson ’17 and Linda Shin ’17. “At this stage adjustments happen every day,” Cepeda said. “We’re learning about each other and understanding what works on an individual and team basis. The individual successes at the fall tournaments are big for our team to continue to believe in one another and realize how high we can aim as a group this year.” The women return to the courts on Saturday for a dual match against Amherst, beginning at 1 p.m. The Ephs host ITA Regionals Sept. 29-Oct. 1 and will play at the Middlebury Invitational on Oct. 22 to round out the fall season.

ATHLETES OF THE WEEK “Frank certainly had a big day on Saturday. It was very impressive to see someone in his first collegiate game make the type of big plays that he did. In addition to the plays he made on offense, he had a huge impact on special teams.”

“Cori’s game is coming together. She drove the ball, and when the driver is on, she sees a lot of birdie chances. It's great for her to see a score under par so early in the season. She works hard at practice, and I believe we haven't seen her best yet.”

–Head Coach Mark Raymond

–Head Coach Tomas Adalsteinsson

FRANK STOLA ’21

CORDELIA CHAN ’19

FOOTBALL NORTHPORT, N.Y.

WOMEN’S GOLF WINDSOR, ONTARIO, CANADA

Stola, a wide receiver, had seven catches for 168 yards and two touchdowns in Saturday’s win over Bowdoin. He added 70 return yards and a rushing score, as football snapped a 13-game losing streak.

Chan erased a five-shot deficit on Day Two of the Batchelder Invitational to take top individual honors by three strokes. Her under-par 71 on Sunday led the Ephs to a second-place team finish.

12 SPORTS

The Williams Record

September 20, 2017

Stola scores three touchdowns in football’s first win since 2015 By KEVIN COAKLEY STAFF WRITER Last Saturday, football defeated Bowdoin 28-14 at Farley-Lamb Field. The contest marked the beginning of a new era for NESCAC football, which expanded to a ninegame schedule this season. The Ephs had won the past 11 games between the two teams at home and had not lost to the Polar Bears in Williamstown since 1979. Sticking with that trend, the Ephs snapped a 13-game losing streak. The men got off to a hot start on defense. On the first play of the game, Bowdoin running back Nate Richam fumbled. Eph linebacker TJ Rotham ’21 immediately pounced on the ball, giving possession back to the offense in great field position. The Bowdoin defense held firm, however, forcing a punt after a three-and-out. That series set the trend for the rest of the quarter. Both defenses were tough, yielding only four first downs combined. The game had the makings of a low-scoring standoff. A mistake from the Ephs nearly led to the first score of the game. Two minutes into the second quarter, quarterback Bobby Maimaron ’21 passed to Justin Burke ’21, who had a clear path to a first down with a blocker downfield. A fumble, however, led to a turnover that put Bowdoin on the Williams 35-yard line. Yet again, though, the defense came to the rescue, forcing a punt after an illegal formation penalty set the Polar Bears back five yards. After the punt, the Ephs had the ball at their own sevenyard line. On the first play

of the drive, receiver Frank Stola ’21 ran downfield and broke free. Maimaron, who broke former NFL quarterback Doug Flutie’s Massachusetts high school record with 122 touchdowns, delivered a perfect ball, letting Stola finish off the 93-yard touchdown play. Stola almost was caught on his way to the end zone, but he kept his balance after a Bowdoin defender attempted a tackle around his feet. With about four minutes left in the quarter, the Polar Bears started with the ball at the Ephs’ 28-yard line, providing another test for the Eph defense. The Polar Bears worked their way up to the one-yard line after gaining yards mostly through designed quarterback runs. Although the men forced a fourth down, quarterback Noah Nelson got over the line with a quarterback sneak. With an extra point, the game was tied at 7. The Ephs came very close to taking the lead again at the end of the half. They worked their way into field goal range, allowing an attempt in the final seconds. Unfortunately, the kick from Min Kyu Park ’21 hit the left upright and ricocheted out. In the second drive of the second half, the Ephs began moving the chains efficiently with a no-huddle offense. Starting on its own 23, the offense drove forward to the Bowdoin 23-yard line in six plays. From there, Maimaron found Stola again through the middle to give the lead back to Williams. The Ephs led 14-7 at 10:50 of the third quarter after Park’s extra point. Soon after, starting on their own side of the field again, the Ephs completed another long drive using similar tactics.

Fast-paced action kept the Polar Bear defense uneasy, allowing the Ephs methodically to get first down after first down. Soon enough, Williams was in the red zone again, and Stola scored his third touchdown of the day on a 1-yard wide receiver run. Going into the fourth quarter, Williams had a 21-7 lead. Although the Class of 2021 starred throughout the game, a senior completed one of the most impressive plays. Only a minute into the fourth quarter, with the ball at the Polar Bears’ 43-yard line, Connor Harris ’18 burst through the middle and carried it all the way to the end zone for the Ephs’ fourth touchdown. Credit must be given to the offensive line for creating a hole for Harris that led to his 57yard touchdown run. The Polar Bears would not go down without a fight, however. Only a few minutes later, with 7:44 remaining in the game, Nelson ran in for his second touchdown, narrowing the score to 28-14. The Ephs fired back with force right away. On the ensuing kickoff, receiver Justin Nelson ’21 made a 67-yard return, evading the Bowdoin kicker on his way to the 25-yard line. However, the offense could not take advantage of the good field position, eventually punting for a touchback. With 6:40 remaining, the defense quickly forced a punt; however, the ball landed on a Williams’ player’s back, and Bowdoin recovered. Starting its drive on the Williams 47, Bowdoin got a first down on a quarterback run. On the next play, though, they were penalized for delay of game. The Eph defense was not yielding

PHOTO COURTESY OF SPORTS INFORMATION

Frank Stola ’21 scored the first touchdown of his college career in the men’s win against Bowdoin on Saturday. any yards and the Polar Bears faced fourth and 15. With only six minutes remaining and two touchdowns to make up, they had to go for it. Although Bowdoin completed a 10-yard pass, the men regained possession and were able to coast to a victory. Throughout the game, Head Coach Mark Raymond’s first recruiting class showed their big play potential, led by Stola’s 168 yards receiving and three all-purpose touchdowns. Maimaron was also impressive, garnering 283 passing yards on 17 completions and two touchdowns.

On defense, Rothman had eight tackles and recovered an early fumble. On special teams, Nelson showed how much of a difference maker he can be with two returns totaling 75 yards. The Ephs racked up 439 yards of offense while Bowdoin had 220. Aside from the passing attack, Harris had 102 yards rushing on only 12 attempts. On defense, defensive back Desmond Butler ’19 had nine tackles, and Jameson DeMarco ’19 had two sacks. Raymond was excited after securing his first victory with

the Ephs. “I’m really proud of these guys,” he said. “They played with great determination and played hard. They had a few tough situations in the game, but they hung in there, played for each other and played really hard.” He also stressed how the win was a complete team effort. “It’s hard to pinpoint guys. We just played a really solid team game.” The men will look to maintain their momentum when they face Colby in Waterville, Maine, next Saturday at 1 p.m. Colby lost its season opener to Trinity, 35-0.

Women’s golf places second as Chan takes top individual honors By CORDELIA CHAN TEAM CORRESPONDENT Women’s golf opened its season last weekend with a secondplace finish at the Ann S. Batchelder Invitational in Wellesley, Mass. The women totaled 622 strokes over two days, while Amherst finished first with 619, Middlebury placed third and host Wellesley came in fourth. Cordelia Chan ’19 was the medalist of the tournament with a score of 148, three strokes better than the secondplace golfer. Saturday was a grind between the steep hills and thick, humid air. The Ephs battled it out but still left some shots on the course. Chan led the way with a 77, making three birdies despite a few missed putts. She finished tied for fifth individually on the day. Renee Kwak ’20 and Holly Davenport ’21 both played their first collegiate tournament in the team’s top five, although Kwak had many individual showings last year. Kwak, Davenport and tri-captain Liz Gudas ’18 all shot a solid 78, good for T-7 in the individual standings. Tri-captain Phoebe

Mattana ’18 rounded off the top five with a 79. Stella Woo ’21 played her first collegiate tournament as an individual, finishing with an 83. “Any day we have five scores in the 70s is a good day. We hit a lot of good shots but know we could have made a few more putts,” Head Coach Tomas Adalsteinsson said. “It was the first round of our season, and we were close to playing our best golf. Each player has a clear focus and is ready to compete.” On Sunday, the women equaled their first day’s score of 311 to finish the weekend with a 622. However, the Ephs came just short of the Mammoths, who scored a 310 on the day to secure first place in the team standings. Chan fired a one-under 71 that featured four birdies, overcoming a five-stroke deficit to vault into first place individually. Mattana managed to shave two strokes off her score from Saturday despite missing some putts. She shot a 77, which brought her total to 156 for T-5 overall. Gudas struggled to get her round going, but her chip-in birdie on the par-3 eighth hole

gave her some momentum as she fought her way to an 83, and she finished T-15 with a two-day total of 161. Davenport chipped in from the back of the green on the short, uphill par-5 first hole. She muscled a 3-wood up the hill and chipped in for an eagle on her way to an 80 for the day. She finished T-11 with a total of 158. Woo could not get many birdie putts to drop and decided that the only way to make a birdie was to chip in. She did just that on the short, par-4 seventh hole. She finished the day with an 82 and T-19 for the weekend. Kwak shot an 84 and finished the weekend at 162 and 17th overall. “Despite a good team effort, we needed a little more to overcome a rough start of Sunday’s round,” Adalsteinsson said. “It was great to see Cordelia shoot an under-par round and win individually. We know what we can do better, and we’re already starting to prepare for next weekend.” The Ephs will return to the links next weekend at the Mount Holyoke Invitational in South Hadley, Mass.

PHOTO COURTESY OF SPORTS INFORMATION

Liz Gudas ’18 tied for 15th with a two-day total of 161 at the Ann S. Batchelder Invitational.

PHOTO COURTESY OF SPORTS INFORMATION

All-American Anna Passanante ’20 ran a 15:47 to place 18th in the 4k at the McGill Invitational.

Cross country impresses at first meet By LIAM ALBRITTAIN, ZEKE COHEN and JULIA GUNTHER TEAM CORRESPONDENTS Men’s and women’s cross country competed internationally this weekend as they traveled to the francophone metropolis of Montreal, Quebec, Canada, to compete in the McGill Invitational. The men won and the women both earned second place. In the men’s race, baking afternoon sun and high humidity made the 6k course, which consisted of three 2k loops over rolling hills, a difficult task. The Williams top seven were up to the challenge, however, and placed 4-6-8-11-13-14. They scored 36 points in total to fend off Université Laval and McGill, who scored 61 and 87 points respectively. Sherbrooke Vert et Or came in fourth with 142, and Université Montréal fifth with 152. In the individual competition, Francois Jarry of McGill placed first in a speedy 19:38 in a field of 306 collegiate runners. Leading the charge for the men was co-captain Liam Simpson ’18 (19:56), joined by Aidan Ryan ’21 (20:02). The rest of the top-seven runners paced themselves well, exhibiting textbook pack running. Austin Anderson ’19, cocaptain Ben Decker ’18, Mitch Morris ’19, Tristan Colaizzi ’20 and Peter Kirgis ’20 all finished between 20:03 and 20:16. Several other first-year runners also had the op-

portunity to begin their college racing careers. Will Young ’21 placed 15th in 20:24. Chris Avila ’21 30th in 20:58, Jake Lange ’21 38th in 21:06, Matthew Peacock ’21 44th in 21:16 and Sam Gilman ’21 45th in 21:17 were all in close contact during the race. Chris Heckleman ’21 finished 87th with a time of 22:08. Other solid performances included Jake Kahrs ’19, 29th in 20:55, Sam Wischnewsky ’20, 34th in 21:00, and Kenneth Marshall ’20, 36th in 21:00. Head Coach Pete Farwell ’73 said he was pleased with the team victory as well as individual performances. “We’re always excited to be in Montreal,” he said. “It’s a great atmosphere. We come here because I like to see different kinds of competition, with added cultural exposure. That said, it’s a challenging course with good hills, and you have to pace yourself well in this heat. We had two top runners that did well, with five guys moving together behind and that was awesome. “I also saw unbelievable kicks today, espcially from Jacob Cytrynbaum ’18 [80th in 22:00], and his brother Eli Cytrynbaum ’20 [81st in 22:01] – overall a great start to the season, and it shows the work we put in over the summer.” The women also ran well and earned second place, finishing behind McGill. The Ephs worked together well

on the 4k course in Mount Royal Park. One of the women’s greatest strengths is their depth. There was a mere seven-second spread among the top three and a nine-second spread between the next five. “We did pretty well at following our strategy, and by and large, our whole group looked pretty strong towards the end,” Farwell said. The Ephs were led by tricaptains Anna Harleen ’18 and Victoria Kingham ’18, who came in fifth and sixth with times of 15:20 and 15:22 respectively. They were closely followed by Audrey Rustad ’20, who took eighth with a time of 15:27. This was Rustad’s first race back after significant injuries in the 2016 season and her excellent performance is “really significant for the team,” Farwell said. Rounding out the scorers were Anna Passanante ’20 and Sarah Tully ’21 who took 18th and 21st place with times of 15:47 and 15:49. Close behind them were Stella Worters ’18, Erica Barrett ’21 and tri-captain Emily Sundquist ’18 in 24th, 27th and 28th, with times of 15:53, 15:56 and 15:57. “These are great teams from Canada, and it’s neat to see that we can run neckand-neck with them,” Farwell said. Next week, both the men’s and women’s teams will host the Purple Valley Invitational on their home course.