SPRING 2019 | VOLUME 96 | NUMBER 4
By Design Puzzle It Out! Inaugural Women of Color Summit
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President Margee Ensign Vice President of Marketing & Communications Connie McNamara Editor Lauren Davidson Lead Designer Amanda DeLorenzo Class Notes Designer Neil L. Mills College Photographer Carl Socolow ’77 Contributing Writers MaryAlice Bitts-Jackson David Blosser ’19 Matt Getty Kandace Kohr Tony Moore Magazine Advisory Board Alexander Becket ’08 Catherine McDonald Davenport ’87 Jim Gerencser ’93 Donna Hughes Gregory Lockard ’03 David O’Connell Megan Shelley Dapp ’05 Adrienne Su Kirk Swenson Alisa Valudes Whyte ’93
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© Dickinson College 2019. Dickinson Magazine (USPS Permit No. 19568, ISSN 2719134) is published four times a year, in January, April, July and October, by Dickinson College, P.O. Box 1773, Carlisle, Cumberland County, PA 17013-1773. Periodicals postage paid at Carlisle, PA, and additional mailing office. Address changes may be sent to Dickinson Magazine, Dickinson College, P.O. Box 1773, Carlisle, PA 17013-2896. www.dickinson.edu/magazine | dsonmag@dickinson.edu | 717-245-1289
ON THE COVER
Anthony Bush ’11 crafted his current position as diversity, equity and inclusion coordinator at a KIPP Preparatory School in the Bronx, and he creates curriculum and coursework connected to those themes. Read more about Dickinsonians who delve into design starting on Page 22. Photo by Matt Zugale.
Printed by Progress Printing Plus in Lynchburg, Va. SUSTAINABLY PRODUCED
Printed using wind energy and soy-based inks on Finch paper. All Finch papers are produced in Glens Falls, N.Y., using 66% on-site sustainable energy sources: emission-free hydroelectricity from the Hudson River and biomass co-generation from wood waste. Finch sustains natural American forests, supports independently certified fiber sourcing and reduces fossil fuel emissions.
Head to the web for more. View a related video.
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Zoë Josephina Moon ’20
Courtesy of Vincent Paterson ’72 (pictured at left)
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[ contents ] DICKINSON MAGAZINE SPRING 2019 | VOLUME 96 | NUMBER 4
UP FRONT
MIDDLE GROUND
IN BACK
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useful for the common good
36 beyond the limestone walls
3
your view
18 Puzzle It Out Get your pencils ready! Gil Ludwig ’69 has designed a crossword puzzle just for us, featuring several iconic Dickinson women as the primary answers.
4 events 6 kudos 14 in the game 19 fine print
22 By Design Meet six Dickinsonians whose careers enable them to create everything from buildings to dance moves to fashion trends.
38 our Dickinson 54 obituaries 56 closing thoughts, written by Professor of Creative Writing Susan Perabo and illustrated by Gracyn Bird ’21
Also inside: A look at the inaugural Women of Color Summit (8-9); a club spotlight on the Red Devil Sports Network (12-13); a sneak peek at our 2019 Commencement speakers (10); an exploration of the art & art history senior capstone experience (16-17).
Carl Socolow ’77
[ useful for the common good ]
Diversity and Inclusivity MARGEE ENSIGN, PRESIDENT
I
believe that one of the key purposes of Dickinson’s liberalarts education is to open minds and prepare our students to live larger, fuller lives. When I refer to “opening the mind,” I mean to all sorts of things: To music. To science. To arts and athletics. To philosophy. To Chinese literature and microbiology and statistics and organic farming. That’s what makes a liberal-arts college different from a professional school. It is our mission, and we are passionate about it. Part of the way we perform that mission is by bringing to campus students, faculty and staff of very different backgrounds and life experiences. We work to create a community as diverse as the world. When Dickinson was founded, it was not a very diverse place; it was male, white, relatively affluent and Protestant Christian. Everyone had somewhat similar life experiences— and hence similar ideas—and held the same prejudices and preconceptions. Today, Dickinson recruits students from across the country and internationally. We make sure that we include students who belong to groups that have been previously marginalized in our society. We do this not in service to political correctness. We do it directly in service to our mission—to open minds.
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Dickinson has worked hard to create a more diverse institution, particularly in the last decade. Currently, 14 percent of our students are international and 21 percent are domestic students of color. In 2009, those percentages were 6 and 14, respectively. Our students come from 38 states and territories and 49 foreign countries. We continue to make Dickinson an even more diverse place. For many students, Dickinson may be their first introduction to living and learning in a diverse environment. Suddenly they are elbow to elbow with people who are very different from them, who have views that differ from their own. Just bringing a diverse campus together does not automatically result in a harmonious, conflict-free community— or even in learning from one another. How could it? The possibilities for misunderstandings and miscommunications are endless. So what is to be done? At Dickinson, we seek to forge a living-learning community that is inclusive—where everyone feels welcome and all voices are heard. We have instituted a number of programs, including an array of intercultural trainings and development opportunities for students, faculty and staff. We have established the Office of Institutional Effectiveness & Inclusivity led by a vice president and tasked with advancing the college’s mission to build and maintain a diverse and inclusive community committed to equity. We are working to further diversify our employees and offer programming like inclusive pedagogy workshops for faculty and Campus Inclusion Week activities for the entire community. We have in the last decade enhanced the diversity of our curricular offerings, adding majors in Africana studies and Latin American, Latino & Caribbean studies and a new faculty position in Native American studies. In 2014 we revised our U.S. Diversity requirement to better equip students to engage a complex, diverse world. But even with all that, we know we are not finished. We recognize that there are still those on our campus who feel like they don’t have a voice, or that they aren’t as valued and respected as their peers. We must work harder to hear and work with people who have been marginalized. And each year brings yet another incoming class of students, each with a unique set of experiences and preconceived ideas. We are committed to welcoming everyone to a campus where we can share our norms of inclusivity and teach the skills necessary to live successfully in a diverse community. It requires patience. It requires hard work. It will not always be successful. But we will continue to focus on building an inclusive community, and we look to you, our alumni and parents, to find ways to help share your experience and expertise to help our community continue to grow and strengthen.
[ your view ] On “What We Talk About When We Talk About Research” Great job on the research article [in the winter 2019 issue]. I mean really great. I loved how Tony Moore made it so personal—very fitting for how we see research at Dickinson! SCOTT BOBACK
Associate Professor of Biology
Just a note to say Tony Moore’s piece on research (!!!) [in the winter 2019 issue] is awesome on so many levels. I hope the magazine will do more coverage like this—maybe a projects-in-process feature or some such? Our faculty research output really is extraordinary among small liberal-arts college peers, and it’s at the heart of the college’s intellectual mission. I especially appreciated how Tony’s piece made the case for how vital research is to our teaching, too, but without hammering that nail too much.
Spotted on Social Media
CLAIRE SEILER
Associate Professor of English Chair, American Studies
Correction and Kudos I was saddened to read about the death of Robert “Magee” Seelinger ’73. He and I were fellow classics majors at Dickinson, and we also were grad-school classmates at the University of Missouri-Columbia. I write to inform you of an error in his obituary [winter 2019, Page 55]. Bob taught at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri, not in New Wilmington, Pa. Thanks for all your work on the magazine. I enjoy keeping up with the news from Dickinson through your good work! LOUISE “LOUANNE” WALKLING SMITH ’75
SPARKS GLENCOE, MD
Perfectly Captured I loved the cover of the new Dickinson Magazine. I am framing it. As an early alumnus of Bologna, Dickinson always had an international meaning to me. That sign says it all. And, it was captured so perfectly by Carl [Socolow ’77] and the magazine. LOU GROSSMAN ’73
SARASOTA, FLA.
We want to hear from you! Send letters via email to dsonmag@dickinson.edu or mail to: Dickinson Magazine, P.O. Box 1773, Carlisle, PA 17013. Letters may be edited for length and clarity.
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May 18 Baccalaureate
John Dickinson Campus
May 19 Commencement
John Dickinson Campus
Events music art history
MAY 18-19
Army Heritage Days
U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center JUNE 7
Downtown Carlisle First Friday
Art & Wine Walk JUNE 23-JULY 4
Carlisle Summerfair
Calendar of Arts: dickinson.edu/coa Carlisle Happenings: lovecarlisle.com
JULY 13
Bluegrass on the Grass
John Dickinson Campus AUGUST 22-25
Corvettes at Carlisle
Carlisle Fairgrounds SEPT. 2
June 7-9 Alumni Weekend
Donald Bowers Photography
John Dickinson Campus
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First Day of Classes
[ college & west high ] BRAGGING RIGHTS
Received NAFSA’s 2019 Senator Paul Simon Award for Comprehensive Internationalization. We won the inaugural Paul Simon Award in 2003 and are the only college to win the Comprehensive Award more than once.
Top Fulbright-producing college for the seventh time in the last decade —U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs
Top-performing institution for graduating Pell grant recipients at or higher than the rate of non-Pell recipients. — The Wall Street Journal’s report on graduation gaps for poor students
#7 2019 list of
on the Princeton Review’s
IMPACT SCHOOLS
2019
TOP
Peace Corps volunteerproducing college
High Street residence hall earned LEED Platinum status. It is the only residence hall in Pennsylvania with that designation. Dickinson’s leadership in admitting high-achieving transfer students from other four-year institutions and community colleges was highlighted in the Inside Higher Ed story “The (Missed) Potential of Transfer Students at Elite Colleges.”
CONGRATS
to Amy Nauiokas ’94, whose production company, Archer Gray, was behind Can You Ever Forgive Me?, a film that was nominated for three Academy Awards.
Dickinson’s podcast, The Good, won a CASE District II Gold Award for Digital Communications. 5
[ college & west high ]
Dickinson faculty members and administrators continue to be go-to sources for major media outlets, from The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal to NBC News and NPR. This winter, their research made headlines in major journals, and their expertise was cited in a variety of trade publications. Dickinson.edu/inthenews
Associate Professor of Psychology Suman Ambwani was the keynote speaker at the
Professor of Psychology Marie HelwegLarsen’s latest opinion piece, “A Danish
Center for Eating Disorders at Sheppard Pratt’s annual conference in Baltimore.
Word the World Needs to Combat Stress: Pyt,” was published in The Conversation. Pyt was voted the most popular word by Danes. Its closest English translation is “Don’t worry about it.”
In advance of that, the center published a Q&A with her titled “When Pseudoscience Becomes Trendy.” Professor of Earth Sciences Ben Edwards explained the different ice formations— from icecaps, ice shelfs and ice sheets to icebergs, ice fields and ice mélange—for a story published in Live Science. Associate Professor of Music Lila Ellen Gray was interviewed about her book, Fado Resounding, on WARA radio in February.
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Associate Professor of Physics & Astronomy David Jackson, Associate Professor of Physics & Astronomy Brett Pearson, Natalie Ferris ’18, Ruthie Strauss ’18 and Hongyi Li ’19 had a second paper, “Measurements of Slit-Width Effects in Young’s Double-Slit Experiment for a Partially-Coherent Source,” published in a new open-access journal called OSA Continuum. In addition, Jackson published “The Mysterious Spinning Cylinder— Rigid-Body Motion That Is Full of Surprises” with a different set of Dickinson students (Julia Huddy ’19, Adam Baldoni ’19 and William Boyes ’19), which was featured on the cover of the American Journal of Physics.
Jeff McCausland, retired U.S. Army colonel, visiting professor of international security studies and former member of the National Security Council, published an op-ed, “Trump’s Reported Desire to Leave NATO Is a Belated Christmas Present for Putin,” on NBCnews.com.
Part-time Associate Professor of Religion Ted Merwin’s op-ed, “What Hanukkah’s Portrayal in Pop Culture Means to American Jews,” was published in The Conversation and carried by the Associated Press. Assistant Professor of Political Science David O’Connell and his new research
on Instagram use by members of Congress were referenced on the NPR Politics podcast. O’Connell’s research, “#Selfie: Instagram and the United States Congress,” was published in Social Media + Society. The Chronicle of Higher Education published
an essay by Professor of Creative Writing and Writer-in-Residence Susan Perabo. In it, she recalls the support she received from students—past and present—while promoting her latest novel. Read an excerpt on Page 56. Professor of History Matthew Pinsker was quoted in the Illinois Times story “Lincoln: Boss or Compromiser?” He and several of his student researchers were interviewed by The Sentinel for the Dickinson and Slavery project (read more
on Page 11). ABC27 also broadcast a story on the project. Following the death of President George H.W. Bush, Professor of History Karl Qualls provided expert commentary on Bush’s handling of relations with the Soviet Union and his response to the fall of the Gorbachev regime for History.com. Jorge R. G. Sagastume, associate professor
of Spanish & Portuguese, published “Isaías Lerner: diferentes metodologías en la crítica literaria cervantina” in Literatura: teoría, historia, crítica, University of Bogota Press. Additionally, the literary online journal Tuerto Rey (Buenos Aires) published nine poems from his cycle titled El abuelo (The Grandfather). Associate Professor of Philosophy Crispin Sartwell’s op-ed “What’s Worse Than Facebook?” was published in The Wall Street Journal. Sartwell also was quoted extensively in The Christian Science Monitor story “In #MeToo Age, Can We Love the Art but Deplore the Artist?” He also published “The Oscars and the Illusion of Perfect Representation” in The New York Times and “Bend Into the Mountain,” a piece about Friedrich Nietzsche, in The Times Literary Supplement. Associate Professor of American Studies Cotten Seiler was quoted in a New York Times opinion piece on Green Books. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette republished Seiler’s widely read op-ed, “ ‘Traveling While Black’ Guidebooks May Be Out of Print, but Still Resonate Today,” which was originally published in The Conversation. Seiler also was a live guest on WITF’s Smart Talk discussing the guidebooks in advance of the Oscars.
Carl Socolow ’77
Research by Associate Professor of Psychology Sharon Kingston, in collaboration with the Columbia University School of Nursing and Mailman School of Public Health, was featured in key consumer and trade media, including Crain’s Health Pulse, Healthline and Medical Xpress. Their study on undiagnosed asthma in adolescents was published in the Journal of Urban Health.
Administrator Accolades Samantha Brandauer ’95, associate provost and executive director of the Center for Global Study & Engagement, who has studied the gender gap in study-abroad participation, was quoted in The Atlantic’s story “Why Aren’t More Men Studying Abroad?”
Vice President for Enrollment and Dean of Admissions Cathy McDonald Davenport ’87’s article “Transferring From One College to Another—Successfully” was published in Collegiate Parent magazine. Cathy (pictured above) also was interviewed by The Wall Street Journal for “Colleges Mine Data on Their Applicants,” a report on demonstrated interest in the admissions process. Deans Damon Yarnell and Tara Vasold Fischer ’02 wrote about the important links between choosing a major and pursuing authentic interests for Collegiate Parent magazine.
President Ensign in the News • A t the invitation of editors at Inside Higher Ed, President Margee Ensign participated in a panel discussion on international student recruitment with representatives from Penn State and Hamad Bin Khalifa University (Qatar). The special event was covered in Inside Higher Ed, Gulf Times and Al Bawaba. • P resident Ensign also was profiled in The Sentinel’s series on women in leadership in Cumberland County.
(Kudos as of March 1, 2019)
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Women of Color Summit Inspires, Empowers, Connects
Spearheaded by a dozen current students, the inaugural Women of Color Summit attracted roughly 200 Dickinson women of color and allies. The March 1-3 event offered a platform to empower a rising generation while fortifying the multigenerational community of Dickinson women of color.
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Through guest speakers, themed meals and interactive sessions, the summit explored ways to find purpose and meaning in life and how to successfully leverage your Dickinson education and the global Dickinson community. Attendees also discussed how to maintain a sense of identity in new communities, create lasting change and build partnerships with allies.
The student organizers were inspired by the leaders they met, and they were empowered to see their successful, large-scale event take shape. The alumni enjoyed making and rekindling connections and connecting with a new generation of Dickinsonians. —MaryAlice Bitts-Jackson dson.co/woc19
Photos by Zoë Josephina Moon ’20
[ college & west high ]
“ The summit not only empowered women of color who are members of the Dickinson community but also was a space for healing for both women of color and our allies.” —Titilope Ogunsola ’19
“ In this time of becoming for college students, it’s easy to feel lonely, lost and confused. This summit was a space where those feelings were OK. Everyone had the opportunity to share their opinions, feelings, concerns, reflections.” —Madison Braybrooke ’19
“ Representation matters, and seeing oneself reflected back is an important part of cultural socialization. To have an intentionally curated space where voices, stories and perspectives are given a platform and celebrated, and where students can be proud of their heritage and see themselves reflected in the alumnae present, translates into increased confidence, self-worth and self-esteem.” —Tiffany Chang Lawson ’11
“ There were many reminders that we have more in common than what divides us. We don’t often get a chance for all these groups to converge and remember that we are better united.” —Alexis Henry ’09 “ It was a welcome opportunity to draw alumni back to Dickinson in between Alumni Weekends, and I think it gave the students a lot of skills and insights they can use for their careers.” —Rosalyn Robinson ’68
“ There are so many women of color doing amazing and wonderful work on campus and beyond, and it was rejuvenating to see people share their achievements and stories.” —Eun Jun ’19
“ I was able to ask alumnae questions about their experiences, as well as learn from them. Knowing that they persevered just validates that I am able to do it too.” —Keyshana Edwards ’21
“ It was amazing to witness a vision come to life. We want to continue empowering women of color on campus and beyond. What we experienced at the summit is the start of something bigger than all of us.” —Rediet Patterson ’22
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[ college & west high ] LOOKING AHEAD:
Commencement 2019 The 2019 Commencement weekend begins on Friday, May 17, with a toast to the class. Saturday, May 18, is filled with recognitions and celebrations, from the Phi Beta Kappa Initiation and Posse ceremonies to the Senior Athlete Reception and ROTC Commissioning. The midafternoon Baccalaureate ceremony is a time for students to reflect on their years at Dickinson through speeches, music, multifaith prayers and other means of expression. On Sunday, May 19, the class of 2019 will celebrate the close of their undergraduate experiences with Commencement. Environmental activist, actor and producer Pierce Brosnan will deliver Dickinson’s Commencement address and receive an honorary doctor of environmental advocacy degree. He will be joined onstage by fellow honorary degree recipients Karen Attiah, global opinions editor for The Washington Post, and Adrian Zecha ’52, one of the world’s leading creators and operators of awardwinning international luxury hotels and resorts. Additionally, in keeping with a Commencement tradition established in 2012, the Sam Rose ’58 and Julie Walters Prize at Dickinson College for Global Environmental Activism will be presented. This year’s recipient is the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC). Brosnan, a longtime supporter of the NRDC, and Joel Reynolds, NRDC’s western director, will accept the prize. Tune in to the livestream to watch the Commencement ceremony from anywhere in the world, and share your congratulations with the graduates using #dson2019. Dickinson.edu/commencement
Addressing the ‘Critical Questions
Carl Socolow ’77
Carl Socolow ’77
of Climate Change’
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In a landmark ongoing legal case, 21 young people—backed by Our Children’s Trust—are suing the federal government over its treatment, or lack thereof, of the climate-change issue. The lawsuit, Juliana v. United States, was filed in 2015 and aims to compel the government to develop and carry out a science-based climate-recovery plan. And in early March, Dickinson hosted the executive director of advocacy group Our Children’s Trust, Julia Olson, and awarded the organization the 2018-19 Sam Rose ’58 and Julie Walters Prize at Dickinson College for Global Environmental Activism. “Sam Rose and Julie Walters instituted this amazing opportunity for people and organizations working on the critical questions of climate change,” says Olson, who spent three days on campus as part of the Rose-Walters residency. “And one thing I’ve noticed [at Dickinson] is that, with faculty across many
disciplines … there’s a deep level of understanding and a commitment to integrate sustainability and climate change into the curriculum.” Our Children’s Trust—which received $100,000 as part of the prize—has ties to Dickinson through Sophie Kivlehan ’21 (pictured, bottom left), who is one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit and the granddaughter of former NASA climatology expert and activist James Hansen, who received Dickinson’s Joseph Priestley Award in 2013. Also, Patrick McGinley ’68, who teaches environmental, administrative and natural resources law at the West Virginia University College of Law, serves on Our Children’s Trust’s board of directors. —Tony Moore dson.co/rosewalters19
“ Dickinson’s story is the story of the nation folded into one small place.”
housedivided.dickinson.edu
Project Tells Forgotten Stories of Slavery
I
n the late 1860s, Robert C. Young traveled the dusty road from Virginia to Carlisle to build a new life. Across his decades of service as a Dickinson employee and local civil-rights leader, this former plantation slave became a national news sensation when he sparked a movement to integrate the college. But his name had been lost to history—until now.
Young is just one of the African Americans whose stories are brought to light through Dickinson and Slavery, a new project that examines the college’s ties to the rise and fall of slavery, commemorates the lives of Dickinsonians during and after the Civil War and depicts a community ablaze with intense debates about the social changes afoot. It launched with a Feb. 1 open house and exhibition, 150 years after Young’s arrival on campus and 400 years after the beginning of enslavement in America. A new initiative of the college’s House Divided Project, Dickinson and Slavery helps teachers initiate nuanced classroom conversations about early American history by viewing it through the lens of Dickinson, a college chartered just north of the Mason-Dixon Line in 1783, when slavery was still legal in Pennsylvania. “Dickinson’s story is the story of the nation folded into one small place, because it was one of a few antebellum-era colleges that enrolled roughly an equal percentage of students from Northern and Southern states,” says Matthew Pinsker, director of House Divided and Brian C. Pohanka ’77 Chair in American Civil War History. “So it serves as a great teaching tool, because you can see many of the battles and stories that matter in a larger sense playing out.” The students on Pinsker’s Dickinson and Slavery team have done extensive research to build online content and used Photoshop to colorize historic photos of Dickinson’s early African American employees. This spring those students included Becca Stout ’19 (English, history), Cooper Wingert ’20 (history), Sarah Aillon ’19 (political science), Amanda Donoghue ’19 (history), Naji Thompson ’19 (Africana studies, anthropology) and Frank Kline ’19 (history). Dickinson and Slavery research is also shared with researchers at other American colleges and universities through the Universities Studying Slavery Consortium, a group of more than 40 invited institutions studying post-emancipation, racism and slavery. (Current membership includes Brown, Columbia, Georgetown and Harvard universities; the College of William and Mary; the universities of Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina; and Virginia Tech.)
Participants in the Dickinson and Slavery project enhanced and colorized the image at top right. The original cyanotype was by Charles F. Himes, c. 1890 (Himes Family Papers, PC 2000.1, folder 254, Dickinson College Archives). It was adapted in 2018 by Professor Emeritus of History John Osborne and then colorized by Amanda Donoghue ‘19.
Through a grant awarded by the President’s Commission on Civic Engagement, House Divided will also contract with local teachers to build a Dickinson and Slavery curriculum for use in middle- and highschool classrooms. A teacher workshop took place in March, and discussions about possible wayside markers and plaques, community workshops and walking tours are underway. “Most of this history has been forgotten or ignored, and it raises a lot of questions, such as how best to remember this, and what should the college and Carlisle be doing to commemorate the stories like this?” Pinsker says. “We’re just starting to uncover the information, which is the first step.”—MaryAlice Bitts-Jackson housedivided.dickinson.edu/sites/slavery
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d n i beh IC M e h t DICKINSON STUDENTS EXPLORE SPORTS COMMUNICATION THROUGH RED DEVIL SPORTS NETWORK Photos by Maureen Moroz ’19, Sean Simmers and Erica Wells ’19.
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[ college & west high ]
A BROADCAST THAT OFFERS LIVE COVERAGE OF A THRILLING GAME. AN INTERVIEW THAT PUTS AN ATHLETE’S HARD WORK INTO PERSPECTIVE. A PHOTOGRAPH THAT CAPTURES THE HEART AND FOCUS OF PLAYERS ON THE FIELD. THAT’S THE POWER OF SPORTS COMMUNICATION, AND IT’S WHAT STUDENTS AT THE RED DEVIL SPORTS NETWORK (RDSN) DO EVERY DAY. RDSN is a collegiate sports broadcasting
dynamic digital content that features each of
group of first-year students at Citizens Bank Park
Dickinson’s 25 varsity programs. In the 2017-18
who were participating in an RDSN pre-orientation
academic year, RDSN served 40,000 live viewers,
program for an afternoon of sports media and
and, according to Payne, that number is expected
business education. According to Payne, “This was
to rise this year.
a landmark day for RDSN because it showed our
“When we advanced to the NCAA lacrosse
students the power of the Dickinson network. Our
tournament after beating Washington and Lee in
students saw how attention to detail in each
overtime last year, it truly felt like I was part of an
broadcast and each video is integral to shaping a
ESPN broadcast, with almost 2,000 people
career in sports.”
viewing the game over the livestream,” says Zach
For Graham Klimley ’19, RDSN’s president,
Popkin ’19, who has been involved with RDSN for
the pre-orientation was a confirmation of his
four years and serves on its executive team.
future trajectory. “Every time I watch a
“Calling the game-winner and being able to do an
professional sporting event now, I understand
on-field interview afterward are opportunities that
how much preparation the play-by-play and color
I never thought I would be able to do at any level.”
commentators do,” says Klimley, who has interned
As a student club within the Dickinson College
at NBC Sports Network, MSNBC and IBM.
Media Board, RDSN challenges students to learn,
“RDSN has given me vast knowledge about the
set goals and take on challenges by broadcasting,
sports communication world, and I can’t wait for
filming, writing, editing and managing social media
what’s next.”
accounts. But RDSN goes beyond the coverage of
Students involved in RDSN see tremendous
sports events—it’s about developing meaningful
success when it comes to landing jobs given their
relationships with coaches and student-athletes,
wide exposure to sports writing, filming and
celebrating their efforts and talents in the wider
marketing. As a result, it’s not surprising to see the
community and showcasing the excitement of
program’s alumni doing incredible things. Conor
Dickinson to prospective students.
McLaughlin ’16 took advantage of liberal-arts
RDSN has also been integral for students
principles like being creative and adaptive and
network that provides live audio and video
interested in exploring the business side of sports.
works in the athletics department at Northeastern
coverage of select Dickinson athletics events.
“I’ve been able to pinpoint exactly what interested
University as assistant director of athletics video
Since 2013, RDSN has enabled students to
me within sports multimedia, so I’ve been able to
production. Other alumni have harnessed the skills
extend the classroom into the athletics arena
home in on social media and sports marketing at a
learned in RDSN to land with companies as diverse
by offering hands-on media production and
collegiate level,” says Erica Wells ’19, who has held
as APCO Worldwide, Bank of America, Genesco
leadership experience.
internships with the National Baseball Hall of Fame
Sports Enterprises, the Madison Square Garden Company, Warner Music Group and more.
“Since we founded RDSN six years ago, our
and Museum and the New York Jets and most
goal has always been to be the best student-driven
recently held an externship in New York City at
sports network in NCAA Division III,” says Assistant
ESPN with Douglas Kramon ’93. “RDSN provides
passion for sports and to realize what kinds of
Athletics Director of Media & Administration
students with the creative freedom to really focus
careers were possible in athletics,” says
Christian Payne, who supervises the program.
on the aspects of the sports industry that interest
McLaughlin. “Without a doubt, the experience I
“We’ve taken incredible strides recently, growing
them the most, build on those experiences and
gained working with those in the athletics
our membership from five in 2017 to 20 in 2019.”
prepare for the future.”
department helped me to develop some of the
RDSN students engage all Dickinsonians—
RDSN’s focus moving forward is professional
students, administrators, professors, parents and
development. Last fall, Andy MacPhail ’76,
alumni as well as prospective students—through
president of the Philadelphia Phillies, hosted a
“RDSN gave me a way to channel my lifelong
fundamental skills that are key to working in athletics and multimedia.”—David Blosser ’19
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On and Off the Court When your dad is so into basketball that he makes sure to buy a house with a driveway perfect for a hoop, the die is probably cast with what sport you’ll end up playing. And that’s just how it worked out for Mike Hinckley ’19, who went from the driveway squad to the guard/forward spot for the Red Devils.
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“This trip allowed us to experience the Irish culture in many different ways,” he says. “Playing a handful of games against Irish professional and national teams gave us a taste of a different style of play, and we even met one of our future teammates, Adam Drummond [class of 2022], while playing against his team in Cork.” Hinckley hasn’t saved all his energy for the hardwood—he was named to the College Sports Information Directors of America Academic All-District team and is a three-time member of the CC Academic Honor Roll. The psychology and economics major also achieved Dean’s List status throughout his four years at Dickinson and was awarded the John Montgomery Merit Scholarship and the 2018 Joseph J. Myers Prize, the latter for academic achievement and contribution to a varsity athletic program. With graduation looming, Hinckley now looks to Boston University as his future home. “I’m really excited to be working with athletes and gaining the skills necessary for a career in sports psychology,” he says, noting he’ll be pursuing a master’s in counseling and sports psychology. “While I’m not 100 percent sure what type of setting I’ll be working in down the line, I know that my experiences at Dickinson on and off the court have prepared me well.” —Tony Moore Carl Socolow ’77
“Growing up, all of the kids in the neighborhood would come to my house after school and play all night,” Hinckley says, noting that he started netting shots in that driveway at age 5. “My dad eventually put in a floodlight so that we could play even later into the night, much to the displeasure of the other parents in the neighborhood.” The 6-foot-1 Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, native was named to the All-Centennial Conference (CC) Men’s Basketball Team this February, and he compiled a slew of great numbers across his four years at Dickinson. After playing in 99 games as a Red Devil, he finished with 922 career points and ranked third alltime in steals with 155 and fifth in assists with 273. “Making the All-Conference team feels like a culminating achievement for me,” says Hinckley, who averaged 12.3 points and 3.8 rebounds per game this season and led the team with 78 assists and 42 steals. “I’ve been making improvements to my game, so to finally earn this award my senior year makes me feel proud of the effort I’ve put in.” Across his four years as a Red Devil, Hinckley led the team to three CC playoff appearances and was one of the top free-throw shooters in the country, hitting 91 percent from the line. Hinckley and his teammates got a chance to show off their skills on a whole new kind of away court, when they traveled to Ireland for 10 days, an excursion Hinckley lists among his college highlights.
[ in the game ] The winter season highlighted some outstanding individual performances, both athletically and academically, as Dickinson placed 50 student-athletes on the Centennial Conference (CC) Academic Honor Roll, had five athletes qualify for NCAA championships and produced the Conference Scholar-Athlete of the Year in men’s basketball and men’s and women’s track & field.
career, leading the women’s basketball team as it battled for a playoff spot until the final game of the regular season. Deutsch was named the Mid-Atlantic Region and CC Rookie of the Year and earned second-team All-CC honors. The Red Devils won five of their final six games, finishing 13-12 overall. Swimming The women’s swim team was honored as a national scholar academic team for the 49th consecutive semester. The team went 10-4 on the season and had some great performances at the CC championships, breaking five school records. Olivia Lyman ’19 was a two-time All-American and won her fourth straight conference title in the 500 freestyle and a third straight title in the 1650-yard freestyle. Katie Schmidt ’19 won the 100 backstroke, finished second in the 200 backstroke and was part of three school records. Damon St. Prix ’22 broke the school record in the men’s 200 freestyle in the prelims at the CC championships and then again in the final. He added another school record with the 800 free relay. Will Freeman ’20 joined the relay and added school records in the 200 and 400 individual medleys, while Kiernan Jordan ’19 set a new mark in the 200 butterfly. Logan Cort ’22 and Ben Shapiro ’19 were part of the relay record as well.
Chris Knight
The men’s indoor track & field team was fifth at the conference championships. Adam Gamber ’20 was named the Conference Scholar-Athlete of the Year and won the pole vault, while the Red Devils combined to score well in the weight throw, finishing second, fourth, fifth and ninth. Bryce Descavish ’20 added a pair of silver medals in 3000- and 5000-meter events, and Eric Herrmann ’19 ran to silver in the mile and to bronze with the 4x400 relay. They both earned All-Region honors in the 5000.
Matt O’Haren
Kate Deutsch ’22 had an outstanding start to her
Track & Field The women’s indoor track & field team placed third at the CC championships, finishing just five points behind second-place Swarthmore. Naji Thompson ’19 matched her own school record in both the prelims and finals to win her second title in the 60-meter dash. The Red Devils also won the distance medley relay and captured silver medals in the 800 meters (Allyson Yanega ’21), the mile (Isabel Cardi ’21) and the 3000 meters (Sarah House ’20). The Red Devils earned four All-Region honors, while House was named the CC Scholar-Athlete of the Year. Cardi ran to All-America honors, joining House and Emma Johnston ’21 at the NCAA Division III national championships.
Squash First-year Head Coach Chris Fernandez and the men’s squash team had a great finish, winning the Conroy Cup Division at the College Squash Association (CSA) team championships. They finished 7-12 overall and ranked 25th nationally. Abdelrahman Elsergany ’20 captured the consolation title in the Molloy Cup B Division at the CSA individual championships. The women’s team won six of its final seven matches to finish 11-8 overall. The team advanced to the semifinals of the Walker Cup Division and finished 19th in the CSA standings. Courtney Trail ’22 and Lindsay Kuracina ’22 had strong starts to their careers, qualifying for the individual championships. Trail advanced to the quarterfinals of the Holleran Cup B Division bracket.
Cheer on your Red Devils! Check out all the stats, scores, schedules and highlights at dickinsonathletics.com. Watch free live broadcasts online, produced by students in the Red Devil Sports Network (RDSN). Follow @DsonRedDevils on Twitter, Dickinson Red Devils on Facebook and @DickinsonAthletics on Instagram for daily updates. #DsonRedDevils
Chris Knight
Basketball Head Men’s Basketball Coach Alan Seretti recorded his 200th career win, and Mike Hinckley ’19 received All-Conference and Academic All-Region honors to highlight the season for the men. Bryce Allen ’20 moved into the top 10 for career 3-pointers made and 3-point field-goal percentage. He is also one of the top free-throw shooters in the conference, ranking sixth on the career list while moving toward the top 10 in assists and steals.
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Andy Bale
[ college & west high ]
A Brief (Art & Art) History There’s a telltale sign that distinguishes every new Dickinson art & art history graduate in the applicant pool. It’s the exhibition catalog—a full-color, professional-quality publication that students carry with them into grad school and job interviews. And it paints a vivid picture of the highlevel work they not only can do but have already done. Dickinson’s graduating art & art history majors divide into two camps: studio art and art history. Each group hosts its own capstone exhibition, designed and presented by the students and shepherded by a different dedicated faculty member every year. As part of that work, they must produce an exhibition catalog, start to finish. For the studio artists, the catalog is a showcase of highquality original artwork, contextualized by artist’s statements. For the art historians, it’s a means to present the research they’ve conducted on items in The Trout Gallery’s permanent collection or acquired from galleries, experts and collectors. Both catalogs are available at The Trout Gallery and troutgallery.org, and the art history catalogs are uploaded onto Dickinson Scholar and catalogued internationally, with their own ISBN numbers.
Top: Roses, 2019, acrylic, marker, foamcore, by Adya Zecha ’19 for “Kinky Sink,” the senior studio-art majors’ capstone exhibition. Bottom: Yamaguchi Susumu (1897–1983), Mt. Hodaka at Day Break, 1957 woodblock print, ink and color on paper. Featured in “Timely and Timeless,” the 2019 senior art history majors’ capstone exhibition.
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“Because of the college’s ties with high-level galleries, experts and collectors, the students have access to extraordinary resources and works, and their original research has value in the scholarly community,” says Melinda Schlitt, professor of art history, who connected art history majors in the class of 2017 with Italian 15th- through 18th-century drawings. “It’s the culmination of their education put into practice, and I don’t know of any other liberal-arts programs that do quite what we do.” —MaryAlice Bitts-Jackson
Fine-arts department approved at Dickinson in
1962
(renamed Department of Art & Art History in 2001)
Average of
9 students
in senior seminar (since 1989)
Highest number of
works shown =78
in one student exhibition
(typically, 40-60)
52” average hanging
height of gallery pieces
(from floor to center of work)
~400 catalogs printed for each exhibition
First art history catalog was placed online in
2004
The most downloaded art history catalogue on Dickinson Scholar, “Bawdy Brits & West End Wit,” has been retrieved
1,750 guests
1,286 times
(300-400 on opening night)
Furthest-traveled work in The Trout Gallery collection voyaged
at student exhibitions, on average
9,000 objects
in The Trout Gallery’s permanent collection
8,975 miles from Papua, New Guinea
“ The seminar and experience at The Trout Gallery afforded me and other students the unique opportunity to gain real-world experience in understanding what it takes to plan, curate and mount a temporary art exhibition—a rarity for undergrad majors. Many art history graduate students do not even get that chance. I am still applying elements of what I learned to my job as a curator.” —Scott Schweigert ’92, curator of Reading Public Museum
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(Mainly) Dickinson Women By Gil Ludwig ’69 ACROSS 1
45 across, for a quick profit
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Hanks role
64 Professor emeritus of classical studies _____ Fitts
10 1977 alumna, professor and Community Studies Center director
65 Showed humility, in a way
14 Adjective for “opposites”
67 Mystery thread
15 Words before and after “what”
68 Lew who played Dr. Kildare in the movies
16 Part of Q.E.D. 17
Comment to the audience
66 See 63 Across
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“Are you calling me ____?”
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21 Labor
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22 Secretary of State under JFK (a different 34 across)
Stefani Germanotta’s other name
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_____-med
23 Dickinson’s leader
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Hasbro “soldier”
26 Off-campus residence (abbr.)
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Annual campuswide yard sale
27 Cosa _____
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37 Run on radio, maybe
10 Shows you’ve seen before
38 Woman who was a Dickinson pioneer
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42 Type of tree, several of which can be found on Dickinson’s campus
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43 Nullify
21 State of the Kline Center pool?
41 Friend of many, many years 46 TV hosts
45 What a “flipper” tries to do
24 The heaviest of the three modern fencing weapons
47 Completely out of it
48 Part of some country addresses
25 Quaint hotels
48 Grave acronym
49 Woman of legend buried near Dickinson
28 Prepares to feather?
50 Boutonniere location, maybe
56 Apple products
29 Teeming (with) 30 Sounds from dogs
51 Company name derived from a Swift neologism
“It’s either them _____.”
12 Its capital is Regina (abbr.) Common ordinal suffix
19 2012 Oscar-winning film starring and directed by Ben Affleck
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Republic of _____ (abbr.), a landlocked country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia
60 Sorority that started at Dickinson in 1903
32 Chip and _____ (chipmunks)
62 Arias, e.g.
34 “_____ Quixote”
33 Banking aids
63 With 66 Across, Wheel and Chain women’s honorary
Puzzle it out!
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Greek letter used in physics notation
59 On campus, Popel Shaw Center for _____ & Ethnicity
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34 Catherine McDonald Davenport ’87, _____ of Admissions
58 Group for senior citizens
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18 Woman whose husband founded Dickinson
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35 Finish
36 In the past 39 Quiet period 40 Skilled at handling
52 Go to press with 53 More robust 54 Class location, in French 55 Takes a break 56 Actress Kunis
60 Lunchbox sandwich, but with honey, not jelly (abbr.) 61 The Jungfrau, e.g. 62 Reggae influence
Gil Ludwig ’69 is a retired attorney living in Pittsburgh. He took up the hobby of constructing crosswords in his late 40s, and from 1997 until 2008 he had several of his puzzles published in weekday editions of The New York Times. More recently, his puzzle has been appearing every other month in a suburban neighborhood Pittsburgh newspaper called the Green Tree Times.
57 Border on dson.co/ludwig69
The first five puzzlers to submit a photo/scan of their correctly completed crossword to dsonmag@dickinson.edu will win a $25 gift card to the Dickinson College Bookstore! The completed puzzle will then be posted online at Dickinson.edu/magazine and printed in the summer issue, along with the names of the winners.
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Dead of Winter
By Sherry Rothenberger Knowlton ’72 Milford House Press The fourth book in Knowlton’s Alexa Williams mystery series is once again set in rural south-central Pennsylvania. This time, Alexa must untangle the clues in three murders in a tale that intertwines international terrorism, martial arts, political refugees, old flames and drones.
We Are Staying: Eighty Years in the Life of a Family, a Store and a Neighborhood By Jennifer Rubin ’88 Carb House Press For 80 years, a radio repair shop named Radio Clinic existed in Manhattan’s Upper West Side. Rubin’s immigrant grandfather opened it in 1934 during the depths of the Depression, and her book explores the rise, struggles and fall of the store and the family that owned it. It’s a story about small business; a determined shop owner; immigrants; a grandfather, father and daughter; and the character a family business brings to a neighborhood.
Fiction
Nonfiction
Holding the Line on the River of Death: Union Mounted Forces at Chickamauga, September 18, 1863
Chicago and the Making of American Modernism: Cather, Hemingway, Faulkner, and Fitzgerald in Conflict
By Eric Wittenberg ’83
By Michelle Moore ’94
Savas Beatie
Bloomsbury Academic
Wittenberg’s latest book focuses on the two important delaying actions conducted by mounted Union soldiers at Reed’s and Alexander’s bridges on the first day of Chickamauga. Wittenberg brings his expertise with Civil War cavalry operations to bear with vivid and insightful descriptions and places the actions in their full historical context. It includes a detailed walking and driving tour complete with GPS coordinates and more than 60 photos and 15 maps by master cartographer Mark Anderson Moore.
Chicago and the Making of American Modernism is the first full-length study of the relationship between America’s great modernist writers and the nation’s “second city,” and it reveals an important new dimension to the rise of American modernism. Drawing on local archival content, Moore explores how the defining writers of the era—Willa Cather, Ernest Hemingway, William Faulkner and F. Scott Fitzgerald—engaged with the city and reacted against the commercial styles of “Chicago realism” to pursue their own, European-influenced mode of modernist art.
Why We Lie By Amy Shelley Impellizzeri ’92 Wyatt-MacKenzie Publishing In her latest novel, former litigator and D.C. federal court clerk Impellizzeri exposes the core of the #metoo movement in the legal/political realm. Why We Lie examines the unexpected consequences of those who tell the truth about abuse and those who lie and asks, “Is the truth always worth the cost?” Rising star politician and lawyer Jude Birch is clearly keeping secrets about his past from his wife. Jude has been the bystander to a seemingly gangrelated shooting, but as the secrets unravel—with the help of a zealous news reporter and the Capitol Police—his wife realizes he might not have been an unintended victim after all.
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in season A spring morning at the Emil R. Weiss Center for the Arts, which was converted from the Alumni Gymnasium in 1983. Photo by Carl Socolow ’77.
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[ cover ]
“Design” is a word with a multitude of meanings. As both a noun and a verb, it can be descriptive and active. It can refer to plans, drawings, renderings and spaces, as well as processes, movements and performances. Design can be visual or intellectual— or both. Design can be big like a building or little like a logo. It can be light or dark, quiet or loud, public or private. And Dickinsonians design through a multitude of mediums. They are writers, developers, costumers, choreographers and stylists. They are illustrators, architects, artisans and engineers. They are infusing their aesthetic in an array of professional arenas, and they are often behind the scenes. We’d like to introduce you to six of these inventive alumni and show you the impact of their designs. —Lauren Davidson, Editor
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Seth Affoumado
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dson.co/paterson72
Designing a Pop-Culture Moment
How do you design a pop-culture moment? For VINCENT PATERSON ’72, a globally renowned choreographer-director who orchestrated some of the most iconic pop-music moves in the 1980s and ’90s, it’s a blend of alchemy, skill and empathy—often, with a sprinkle of research. Paterson begins by playing the music over and over again. The rhythm is secondary to the melodic lines and tonality—rather than simply counting out beats, he might tap into the linear sigh of a cello or the angular squeal of an electric guitar. Usually, he feeds his imagination with research, leafing through collected clippings or clicking through websites. Once, choreographing the 1996 movie Evita, he took six months of Argentinean tango instruction before creating a step. But there’s not always time: With less than three weeks to choreograph Madonna’s Blonde Ambition tour, Paterson accelerated his process by playing a song repeatedly each night before bed. The next morning, he woke up with a completed work in mind. For the 1996 movie The Birdcage, Paterson created on the fly, remaining on set throughout filming in case director Mike Nichols needed a bit of choreography to make a scene work. When actor Robin Williams asked Paterson to develop a funny bit for an upcoming scene, Paterson emerged 15 minutes later with the now-famous “Fosse! Fosse! Fosse!” routine. Throughout the creative process, Paterson keeps the dancers’ unique physicality and special abilities top of mind, standing and moving as they would while he figures out their steps. Michael Jackson’s fluidity, Madonna’s bold sensuality, Williams’ overbubbling energy and Bjork’s flamboyant animalism call for radically different approaches, and Paterson adjusts accordingly. “I always want to make everyone look like themselves, but the most incredible version of themselves they can be,” he explains. When the routine’s set, it’s time to teach. Paterson is meticulous, and because he prepares more material than he’ll need, he’s also flexible, cutting and adding as he goes. The process is completed with the performance. “As artists, we create in a semi-vacuum, but we don’t want the work to stay there,” he says. “To create something the world has never seen before and know that it is being appreciated, you can’t ask for anything more, as an artist. There’s so much joy in that.” —MaryAlice Bitts-Jackson
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Matt Zugale
Painting With Light d ic k i n s o n ma g a z i n e Spring 2019
Imagine painting a series of moving canvases. Imagine repeating your exact brushstrokes several times for a live audience. Imagine how long planning this might take. Now imagine you have about half the time you need. Such is the task of a lighting designer, and it’s a task REBECCA FREDERICK ’84 knows well. Having spent nearly three decades lighting shows ranging from comedic and gothic plays to Shakespeare and dance concerts, Frederick can distill the work into one deceptively simple statement. “The job is a matter of using light to serve the telling of the story,” she says. But dig into that, and you’ll find a complex process of painting with light. After reading the script, she meets with the director and the costume and set designers to understand their visions. Then, after studying the theatre’s dimensions and technical limitations, she assembles her light plot. “That’s basically a plan of the theatre with overlays of where every light goes, what kind of light it is, what the gel color is, how it’s controlled and where it will be focused,” explains the former dramatic arts major who first caught the lighting design bug at Dickinson when former theatre professors Jim Drake ’70 and David Brubaker tapped her to light a Dance Theatre Group performance. Once the light plot is set, Frederick gets a run-through or two to make any adjustments in how her light paints all those canvases moving about the stage. Then she still needs to focus the lights with the electrics crew, set lighting cues and refine other technical aspects all before the dress rehearsals and previews that precede a show’s opening. “There’s never enough time,” she says with a laugh. And if she has done the job right, her biggest reward is having her work go unnoticed. Even in a production like Dracula, where her design makes a bold statement, using light and shadow to evoke a sense of dread, the goal is for Frederick’s artistry to disappear. “If it’s done well, it blends in so seamlessly that nobody thinks about the lighting,” she says. “It’s just there.” Of course, it’s all worth it when she sees the show do exactly what it’s designed to do. “There are times when you can see the audience falling into the performance, you can feel the energy, the way they’re engaged,” she explains. “You just know everything’s working, and that’s it. That’s why you do it. That’s why there’s nothing like live theatre.” —Matt Getty
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Matt Zugale
d ic k i n s o n ma g a z i n e Spring 2019
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Designing the Classroom Curriculum
At an institution where 70 percent of the faculty/ staff is white and all students are of color, it became apparent that a KIPP College Preparatory school in the Bronx needed to make some adjustments. ANTHONY BUSH ’11 took advantage of the opportunity, designing a 15-page proposal arguing for a school curriculum rooted in social-justice education. After his proposal was approved by the school board, Bush took on the role of diversity, equity and inclusion coordinator. “I’ve always had a passion for social justice, but having the opportunity to explore these issues at Dickinson was eye-opening,” says Bush, a Posse Foundation scholar who graduated with a major in American studies. “I was driven by exploring issues related to race, gender and sexuality, so this interest was certainly a catalyst for proposing and designing my current position [at KIPP].” For his courses, Bush determines the class objectives by having his students “think through a lens of fluency.” This means figuring out where they are in their understanding of things like heteronormativity, gender pronouns, misogyny, etc., and then designing lesson plans to explore these topics. The aim is to challenge students to think about how power, privilege and oppression impact their own identity, while also breaking down cultural stereotypes. To measure course success and student learning, Bush employs traditional assessments, but he also uses more creative approaches, such as experimentbased projects, professional development seminars and social-justice activism (where students are tasked with designing their own project pertaining to issues explored in the class). Bush is committed to making a difference through social-justice programming around the country. “In the future, I might open up a nonprofit and serve as a consultant for schools to determine effective equity and engagement programming,” Bush says. “But at this point, the world is my oyster.” —David Blosser ’19
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Seth Affoumado
Beyond the Big Screen d ic k i n s o n ma g a z i n e Spring 2019
Massachusetts native KRISTIN ACHTMEYER ’06 didn’t realize where her true passions lay until her junior year. Always having had an interest in film, TV and production, she traveled to London for a study-abroad experience and came back with a plan. “I went abroad and took a bunch of film classes that intrigued me. I took a few classes in costume design when I returned,” says Achtmeyer, a former Red Devil women’s lacrosse player. After careful consideration, knowing that the entertainment industry is often a male-dominated industry, she embarked to Los Angeles and set her sights on producing and assisting on student films. Achtmeyer began working as a costume designer on TV shows and short films in 2007. Under titles like key costumer, assistant costume designer and set costumer, she is credited among dozens of network TV shows and TV movies, including Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and American Crime Story. On the big screen, her work includes The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Parts 1 and 2 and Rock of Ages. She was also part of the costume team that took home the Emmy for Outstanding Costumes for a Series for American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace. As a key costumer, she is responsible for taking the designer’s vision and creating that same tone throughout the cast. When she’s on set, she’s checking the actors’ clothing and keeping continuity between often out-of-order scenes. Of the many projects she’s worked on, being part of the costume team for Amazon’s adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Last Tycoon is a point of pride for Achtmeyer. “It was set in 1930s Hollywood, and it was pure glamour and fashion of that era, which was amazing to work with and see come to life again,” she says, noting that she accompanied Janie Bryant, the costume designer from Mad Men, on that project. “I was able to dig deep into research and learn how people dressed back then. It becomes a research experience, which is what inspires me the most.” Reflecting on her varied career, Achtmeyer says Dickinson’s liberal-arts education helped her explore many facets of subjects both within and outside of her major. “I was fortunate to go to a school where I could explore all areas—political science, history of film and TV—before finding my focus.” —Kandace Kohr
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Photos courtesy of SHoP Architects
A Sense of Substance d ic k i n s o n ma g a z i n e Spring Winter 2019 2019 32 32
CHRIS SHARPLES ’87 graduated with degrees in history and fine arts, and he went on to found SHoP Architects, a New York–based international firm, with his twin brother and two other partners. And if you take a minute to Google the structures Sharples’ firm has been designing over the past 23 years, your jaw just may hit the floor. Start in New York City, with 111 57th St., Barclays Center, American Copper Buildings and the LaGuardia Airport Master Plan. Now jump over to Google’s Mountain View offices in California, The Q in Cleveland and Uber’s new San Francisco HQ. Jawdroppers, right? And that’s just a taste. Sharples, a SHoP principal, graduated from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, and no matter what he’s accomplished personally, he’s quick to deflect any credit directed toward him, diverting it to the team—made up of 177 SHoPpers—working in SHoP’s Broadway studio. And there’s a lot for which the team can take credit. Looking at SHoP’s designs and the resulting structures, it feels a little like looking at the future of architecture, which is probably why the Museum of Modern Art has staged exhibitions of SHoP’s designs and they’ve been referred to as “NYC’s go-to megaproject architects.” And every building you’ll see by SHoP feels like a signature piece, but if you’re not sensing a theme in the designs—as you might with, say, Frank Gehry or Frank Lloyd Wright—that’s no accident. Sharples will be the first to tell you that SHoP isn’t a style-based practice, that it isn’t shooting to impose a branded look on its works. And it could be because something more vital is at stake. “There are a lot of things in our industry that are broken, and we need to innovate to address some of the challenges in our world, especially with global warming,” Sharples says, pointing out that 48 percent of carbon emissions come from the building industry. “So in terms of SHoP’s legacy, we’re going to continue to make beautiful projects, but the thing that’s going to become incredibly important is how we manifest our built environment in a way that really starts to address some of the challenges that we’re facing on this planet.” —Tony Moore
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Rome Shaw
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Fashioning the Future
Growing up in NYC, GABRIELLE JOFFIE ’07 often found herself venturing to the nearby hair salon with her mother. And more often than not, she wasn’t actually there to get her hair done but to experience the culture—from hearing the latest neighborhood gossip to seeing a customer’s smile after a successful styling. “It was during these moments that I fell in love with beauty and health,” she says. When Joffie attended Dickinson, she played lacrosse and was often complimented by her peers as “always looking fabulous.” So it comes as no surprise that today Joffie serves as director of brand management at Indique Hair LLC, a hair-extension company based in Atlanta that helps women feel fabulous daily. The company sells premium hair extensions for venues as diverse as movie production sets, theatres and everyday beauty boutiques. In her role, Joffie maintains the company’s brand and analyzes how it is perceived in the market. Whether she’s designing the most recent marketing campaign or writing the copy for the latest product, Joffie wears many hats during the day. But to her, this variety is one of the most exciting parts of the job. According to Joffie, a branding strategy is successful when it touches the consumer emotionally and makes a meaningful difference. “There’s a stereotype that the beauty industry is vain,” Joffie explains. “But for many women, the extensions give them the confidence to get through what they’re battling—whether they’re struggling with their self-image or fighting cancer. And that’s a powerful thing.” When she’s not working her 9-to-5, Joffie runs a digital consulting agency, The Digital Mavens, alongside her co-founder, where she continues to design and manage brands. She also writes her own blog, “Around the Way Girl,” where she highlights her travels and shares her journey of working in the beauty industry. “Although I’m not sure what’s next, I see myself evolving with the brand at Indique,” Joffie says. “But who knows, before or after then, I might just end up releasing a fashion line. Stay tuned.” —David Blosser ’19
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DAVID CARLSON ’99, ALUMNI COUNCIL PRESIDENT
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eriodically, events on campus spark debate and dialogue among students, faculty, alumni and those around us. This can show up in myriad forms: a polarizing public speaker, faculty activities, opinions expressed in campus publications, or items that make their way onto various forms of online media. As president of the Alumni Council, I certainly receive my fair share of feedback from our community (and from all sides of an issue!) when noteworthy activities spur people to voice their opinion. It strikes me that this creative tension and discourse is a beautiful feature of being part of a community. On some level, there is an ownership mentality that runs deep within this Dickinson community of ours and a connection to “self.” To varying degrees, many of us derive some of our identity from the people, passions and events emanating from and involving our Dickinson. In short, we care ... and so we speak. Along these lines, the Alumni Council has made some structural changes over the past year in the form of working groups to unpack issues and events that the college or council believes warrant meaningful discussion. This allows the council to be nimble in the forms of dialogue we employ and groups that we can serve. This is the first year of implementing this new model of conversation and, in my view, it reflects the evolving need to remain a relevant bridge between the college and its base of passionate alumni. On a personal note, this year marks my 20th reunion. Whenever I return to campus, I reflect on the impact this institution has had on my life. Many of my oldest friends are alumni, and my first job came from on-site interviews, which led to a career, two businesses, a marriage and two amazing sons. If you get the chance, take some time this spring to do the same and you might be surprised at the impact this great community has had on your life. As always, don’t hesitate to reach out to me at davidcarlson2026@ gmail.com. Hopefully I’ll see you on campus or at an event near you.
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Carl Socolow ’77
Community Impact
Locker Rooms Get Major Face-lift
Photos by Joe O’Neill, Christian Payne and Sean Simmers.
The Red Devil community recently celebrated the dedication of new basketball and volleyball locker rooms in the Kline Center, thanks to the support of scores of generous donors. And more than 100 Dickinsonians, past and present, gathered for the event, whose theme was gratitude. “What a great day for Dickinson athletics,” said President Margee Ensign, addressing student-athletes, coaches, alumni and McAndrews Fund donors. “Your generosity is an inspiration to our players and to all of us at Dickinson. We’re enormously grateful.” Team gifts from the 1986-87 women’s basketball team and the 1987 and 1990-91 men’s basketball squads went a long way toward bringing the project to fruition, and the efforts paid off. “Compared to other colleges, this is definitely one of the best locker rooms I’ve ever been in,” said Tatiana Lopez ’21, a Red Devil volleyball player. “Thank you to all the people who made these new locker rooms possible, and thank you for donating and contributing to the program and the future of the program.” After a tour of the new locker rooms—one each for men’s and women’s basketball and women’s volleyball—former teammates reminisced about their Dickinson studentathlete experience and cheered on current Red Devils during the annual Red Out basketball games. And while they looked back at those on-court memories, they also looked forward to the future of Dickinson athletics. “There’s incredible enthusiasm and energy,” said Mark Copeland ’91, former Red Devil basketball player. “It’s a fabulous time to be at Dickinson.” —Tony Moore dson.co/lockerrooms19
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[ closing thoughts ]
If It Weren’t for This Pesky Teaching Job … B Y SU S A N P E R A B O, P R OF E S S OR OF C R E AT I V E W R I T I NG A N D W R I T E R-I N -R E S I DE N C E
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hen I was growing up I didn’t want to be a teacher or a writer. I wanted to be a baseball player. And we’ve all heard baseball players say in interviews, “I can’t believe someone pays me to play this game.” Honestly, most days, that’s how I feel about teaching. I can’t believe someone pays me to play this game. Last winter when I was struggling with self-doubt over my writing career, I found solace and inspiration every single time I stepped into the classroom. Every single time. I’d stop looking at my email—questions from my editor, requests from my publicist, advice from my agent—and walk up the stairs to my workshop room, and with every step I felt lighter. The solace and inspiration came from the students themselves (their enthusiasm, their generosity, their vulnerability), but it also came from the stories—both the stories that we read in our anthologies (Chekhov, O’Connor, Joyce, Baldwin) and also the students’ own stories. Sometimes people who do not teach ask me how I don’t get burned out reading so many students’ stories—especially ones by beginning, undergraduate writers. “Doesn’t it make you weary?”, people ask. “Seeing the same mistakes over and over again? And doesn’t that weariness affect your own writing?” The truth is, just the opposite. Maybe I would feel burned out if I were editor of a literary journal and spent most of every work day rejecting flawed stories. But teaching workshop is about accepting flawed stories—not dismissing them, not tossing them back into the slush pile—and working with a smart and engaged group of people to figure out how to fix
them. That’s not tiring; that’s thrilling. Not to mention incredibly instructive for me as a writer. I learn from teaching. I learn and relearn, every single week, from every single story. What is a writing career, anyway? It’s not writing. You don’t need a writing career to be a writer. All you need to do to be a writer is write. Recently, I considered other writers who did not have so-called writing careers, and I found myself somewhat ashamed by the first and most obvious example I thought of. Imagine Chekhov saying, “Being a doctor ruined my writing career.” It’s preposterous. For Chekhov, being in the company of human beings in that intimate and Gracyn Bird ’21 intense way, trusting and being trusted, stakes high, fears apparent, emotions raw—he took all that to the page. Not as material, per se, but as nourishment. Teaching has always kept me nourished, kept me connected to the world in a profound and meaningful way. Meaningful to me personally, of course, but also meaningful to me as a writer. I never meant to be a teacher. Twenty-two years ago, to support my writing, I started teaching at Dickinson. My workshop room was on the fourth floor of East College, overlooking the academic quad. I was 27 years old. I had no books and no kids and no clue. If you’d told me that 22 years later, I’d still be teaching workshop in that same classroom, I would have said you were crazy. But here I am. My writing career, elusive. My true career, evident.
Susan Perabo is professor of creative writing and a writer-in-residence at Dickinson. She teaches beginning and advanced workshops in fiction, as well as modern and contemporary literature classes that focus heavily on form and technique. She has published short-story collections, two novels and several essays for magazines and anthologies. The above is an excerpt from a full essay published by The Chronicle of Higher Education. Read the entirety at dson.co/perabochronicle.
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JOIN US IN THIS NEW EFFORT TO SHAPE THE FUTURE.
Born from the American Revolution, Dickinson has always been about big ideas and bold deeds that make a real impact on the wider world. As a signer of the Declaration of Independence, Benjamin Rush founded our college to help America thrive, to ensure this experiment in democracy would flourish. Today, we continue to carry that mission forward. Because at Dickinson, revolutionary isn’t just a word.
It’s who we are. It’s what we are. It’s why we are. As we launch the Revolutionary Challenge, we call upon all Dickinsonians—alumni, faculty, students—bring us your most audacious ideas, your most ambitious initiatives, your most daring visions for the future of Dickinson’s useful liberal-arts education.
Learn more
about this momentous initiative at dickinson.edu/revolutionary.
P. O . B O X 1 7 7 3 C A R L I S L E , P A 1 7 0 1 3 - 2 8 9 6 W W W. D I C K I N S O N . E D U / M A G A Z I N E
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well-stated
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What can we do to right the ship here? The founders tell us in plain English: We have to turn to education. We have to pursue the common good. T OM B R I E R ’ 1 4 , author of While Reason Slept, during a January interview on WITF’s Smart Talk. Listen at dson.co/brier14.
We focused heavily on research, but the time spent designing the show has given me superior insight into exhibition curation. L I L LY M I DDL E T ON ’ 19 .
Read more about the art & art history capstone experience on Pages 16–17.
Intellectually nimble, civically oriented graduates are higher education’s most valuable contribution to society. GARY KIRK,
founding executive director of Dickinson’s Center for Civic Learning & Action.
I’m not confined to a canon. In fact, I’d rather blow it all up. R E V. A N N I E L O C K H A R T- G I L R OY ’ 9 7 ,
the English department’s 2019 Cogan Alumni Fellow. Read more and watch her lecture at dson.co/cogan19.
INSIDE: Puzzle It Out | By Design | Inaugural Women of Color Summit
It was surreal to see people leaving the space we created touched, inspired and healed. In this space I was challenged and held accountable with the utmost compassion and love. That’s exactly how we should treat one another. J O A N N E A DE B AYO ’ 2 1 , one of the organizers of the inaugural Women of Color Summit. Read more on Pages 8–9.
