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YALE DAILY NEWS · WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 28, 2013 · yaledailynews.com
FROM THE FRONT
“A library implies an act of faith.” VICTOR HUGO FRENCH NOVELIST
Singing Group Council Darnell sanction extended updates rush rules A CAPPELLA FROM PAGE 1 Coons said groups had been “surprisingly unanimous” in requesting a shorter, more streamlined rush process, as well as an end to the policy mandating that groups have at least one “rush meal” with every rushee. SGC member Harry VanDusen ’14 said a cappella groups have been “begging” to change the rush meal policy for years, and that eliminating the rule will simultaneously save groups’ time and spare freshmen from forming inaccurate expectations about groups not truly interested in them. Keren Abreu ’15, who served as one of Shades’ rush managers last year, said she is nervous that freshmen will not have enough time to get to know the different groups very well and might make their decisions based solely on first impressions. Still, she supports the changes. “[The changes] will be really, really good in terms of giving freshmen their lives back,” Abreu said. “When I rushed as a freshman, I felt that for the first month of school I wasn’t meeting other freshmen. I was very overwhelmed by the process as a whole, [and] I didn’t feel I was making friends with my class.” Abreu added that by taking a harder line on rush violations this year, the SGC is putting freshmen’s feelings above the a cappella groups’ perceived needs. “The new motto is, ‘Don’t be an a--hole,’” Abreu said. Coons said that in the past, the SGC has turned a blind eye to rush violations such as “sketch walks” — meetings with rushees not sanctioned by the rules of rush, which often take place late at night. “[Violations] are almost as traditional as any other a cappella tradition — but that doesn’t mean they’re right,” Buechler said. This year, the SGC has authorized a new type of meeting, which must take place during daylight hours and in a college courtyard or common room between pre-tap and Tap Night, in an effort to acknowledge and
avoid the need for such clandestine meetings. Buechler said he hopes these meetings will give groups a legal opportunity to communicate their enthusiasm to pre-taps in a more heartfelt way than an email. The SGC has also set up email hotlines where freshmen can anonymously report any form of harassment from the groups.
As [rush] drags on, the politics between the groups and rushees … amplifies. NIMAL EAMES-SCOTT ’15 Former rush manager, The Duke’s Men of Yale Nimal Eames-Scott ’15, a former rush manager for The Duke’s Men of Yale, said the appeal of the non-SGC-sanctioned “sketch walks,” as well as elaborate gifts and rituals to entice pre-taps, is partly in their illegality. “I got sketch walked as a freshman,” Eames-Scott said. “You know it’s illegal. … They say, ‘We’re not allowed to say this, but we want you in our group.’ The rush from that is … you know that they’re breaking the rules for you.” After having been on the other side of the table for three years, Eames-Scott said he hopes shortening rush will curtail the spread of gossip. “As it drags on, the politics between the groups and rushees and the general nastiness amplifies,” Eames-Scott said. “When rush goes on for that long, it becomes about other things. Rumors get spread, and the longer the process is, the more those kinds of seeds are planted in freshmen’s subconscious, and the process is suddenly warped.” Tap Night last year was Sept. 19. Contact ANYA GRENIER at anna.grenier@yale.edu.
COMPARISON A CAPPELLA RUSH Old Rules
New Rules
3 weeks
Duration of rush
2 weeks
1-4
Number of rush meals
0-3
No more than 2
Number of singing desserts per night
2-4
Allowed meetings between callbacks and Tap Night
One meeting with up to two members of the group in a college common room or courtyard in daylight hours
No meetings
Conservative group to move to Taft Mansion BUCKLEY FROM PAGE 1 graduates inspired by Buckley’s 1951 book “God and Man at Yale”, the Buckley Program aims to inject new opinions into campus dialogue by offering a conservative speaker series, funding summer internships for undergraduates and hosting debates and workshops. After receiving $500,000 from a single unnamed donor, the program will move into the 27th U.S. President’s house next January with a two-year lease and an option to buy. According to board members of the program, the building will serve as a space for speakers and events and will potentially house conservative thinkers and writers as fellows in the future. “This was our first choice, and our idea of having a permanent home for the program was pursued with this specific building in mind,” said Lauren Noble ’11, executive director of the program. “It’s a great building and a wonderful location — and the added Taft history is just a bonus.” Although the eventual purchase of the building will cost an additional $2 million, Noble said she is not worried about raising the money because of the support from alumni and old friends of William F. Buckley Jr. Donald Kagan, Sterling Professor of classics and history and one of the key figures in the Buckley Program’s founding, said the program’s mission is to broaden intellectual understanding at Yale by addressing the shortage of politically conservative thought on campus. Nathaniel Zelinsky ’13, a member of the Buckley Program’s board of directors, said Kagan urged the group to seek a physical space on campus to ensure
the group’s staying power. By obtaining the building, Kagan said the group seeks to establish a stronger presence within Yale. “Of course the people in the program are very interested in politics, but they’re interested in something bigger and broader than politics,” Kagan said. “The main activities have been — and I think will continue to be — along the lines of education in the broader sense of the word.” Harry Graver ’14, president of the Buckley Program’s student program and a columnist for the News, said the mansion will enhance the program’s academic presence by providing a space for long-term residential scholars and fellows. Graver added that the venue will also provide a new social space for political discussion. Though conservative groups on Yale’s campus are smaller in number than their liberal counterparts, they still maintain a presence. Despite the common perception that Yale leans toward the politically liberal, Nicole Hobbs, president of the Yale College Democrats, said she has definitely seen political diversity on campus. “I think that the reality is, all of us — whether Dems or Buckley or YPU — we’re all out there, we’re all hosting different things and doing different things,” Hobbs said. The Taft Mansion is located at 111 Whitney Ave. After moving into the space in January, the Buckley Program will decorate and furnish the building, although it does not expect to conduct any major renovations. Contact JANE DARBY MENTON at jane.menton@yale.edu . Contact AMY WANG at amy.wang@yale.edu .
gy’s umbrella department, can accept annually has been reduced from four to three, according to Frahm’s email and two professors in the department. Students and professors said they do not know the reasoning behind the recent decisions, but that the changes hurt NELC and cast the future of Yale’s Egyptology program in doubt. Frahm confirmed with the News that Darnell will not return before the 2014–’15 academic year, but he declined to comment on any of the other changes. Upon his return, Darnell will not be able to hold an administrative role, including chair, director of undergraduate studies or director of graduate studies until 2023, according to Frahm’s email. Manassa will also not be allowed to hold an administrative position until 2018. Darnell could not be reached for comment and Manassa could not be reached for comment Tuesday night. For an undetermined amount of time, classics professor Joe Manning will serve as a supervisor for students enrolled in Egyptology as well as for Darnell and Manassa, according to the email. Manning, who studied Egyptology and Ancient History at the University of Chicago, declined to comment on what he called sensitive subject matter. “The rationale of this decision is that due to the intimate relationship between the only two faculty members in the program, students might otherwise find it hard to seek independent advice or bring complaints,” Frahm said in his email. Some students and faculty say the most recent changes threaten the future of the small Egyptology program — one of fewer than 10 that offer doctorates in the United States — at a time when Yale faces a projected $40 million budget deficit. The program is already small, with seven graduate students at the beginning of the 2012–’13 academic year. All but one of those students is slated to graduate before the fall of 2016,
when Egyptology can start admitting students once more. And without Darnell, Manassa is the only Egyptologist on the NELC faculty. Professors in the department criticized what they labeled as seemingly punitive measures by the administration in decreasing the number of students the whole department can accept after transgressions in only one program. Arabic professor Beatrice Gruendler said graduate students pass down knowledge from one year to the next. Admitting fewer students interrupts that process for Egyptology, she said, and will damage the NELC Department in the future.
I’m a senior professor in the department and I should know what is happening, but there is absolutely no information on this subject. DIMITRI GUTAS Professor, Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations “I regard it as quite unfair,” said Assyriology professor Benjamin Foster. “It doesn’t make sense to us. We regard it as, if anything, close to collective punishment.” In an email to the News, Foster said the future of Egyptology depends on two factors: when Darnell will return, and whether the University wants to restore the program’s reputation and quality. But Gruendler was more confident about the program’s restoration. “There’s no way that Egyptology at Yale will die from this,” she said, adding that programs regularly go through less active periods when prominent professors retire. Arabic professor Dimitri Gutas said he is frustrated with the way in
which administrators addressed the transgressions and failed to discipline what he called “breaches of academic integrity.” A liaison between a professor and student, he said, raises the question of who produced that student’s work, and Yale’s failure to address the issue of academic integrity makes it seem tolerant of such behavior. Gutas also said he has been upset by the lack of transparency in the investigation and by the decision to impose sanctions without providing reasons or consulting members of the department. “It’s very strange; it’s even worse than NSA. Everything is hush-hush,” he said. “I’m a senior professor in the department and I should know what is happening, but there is absolutely no information on this subject.” The Egyptology program has “passed through a difficult period,” said Graduate School Dean Thomas Pollard, who declined to comment before speaking with every faculty member in NELC. He said the University will ensure that “necessary resources are available” for graduate students in the department. University President Peter Salovey declined to comment. Frahm’s Aug. 3 email came two days after administrators released Yale’s fourth semiannual sexual misconduct report. University Title IX Coordinator Stephanie Spangler and University-Wide Committee on Sexual Misconduct Chair Michael Della Rocca would not confirm whether any items about Darnell or Manassa appeared in the most recent report. But a case involving Darnell did appear in the third semiannual report, Graduate School Associate Dean Pamela Schirmeister told the News in January, and an update to that complaint is included in the most recent report. Egyptology is one of three subfields within NELC, along with Assyriology and Arabic & Islamic Studies. Contact JULIA ZORTHIAN at julia.zorthian@yale.edu .
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EGYPTOLOGY FROM PAGE 1