September 2021
In This Issue:
New Masters Program: Page 3
Sophmore Experience: Page 4
COVID-19 Policies: Page 5
Global Village at HWS: Pages 6 & 7
Writing Colleagues: Page 8
Opinions: Page 10 & 11
Haughnted Houghton: Page 14
Letter from the Editor: Page 15
www.HWSHerald.com
Ani Freedman, Editor-in-Chief
Paul Janes, Design Editor
Morgan Murphy, Copy Editor
Hrithik Biswas, Operations Manager
Molly Matthews
Liz Crimmins
Julian Gurman
Rafael Aguilar Brayton Slusser Kseniya Slutskaya
Cameron Guan Mary Hanrahan Abby Leyson Mikayla Gullace Katelyn Oswalt
Copy Editing Morgan Murphy
Katelyn Oswalt
Caitlyn Carr
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Molly Matthews
Professor Tom Dren nen, professor of economics and environmental studies, follows his passions around campus whether it be sus tainability, economics, or finding practical solutions for students of the future. Drennen is the chair of the entrepreneurial studies program and launched the new Master of Science in Management program. The following is a selection from the Herald’s recent conver sation with him regarding his professional interests and hopes for the new pro gram.
What course do you consider to be most re flective of your academic specialty?
My specialty is Environ mental Economics– specifi cally, ECON 212 and ECON 348. I want to show stu dents how to find solutions to complex environmental issues by using economic principles. For example, any technological solu tion you come up with will only work if the economic principles align with it; it’s more than just coming up with a technology, you must have the complete package to make something work. Something I am proud of that a lot of my students say is that in other courses they discuss problems, but in my courses, we also talk about solutions. I’m very solutions-based and give students the tools needed to create solutions rather than just recognizing problems.
PHOTO BY EMMA LUCASWhat inspired you to start the master’s program?
Last summer, when comparing HWS to her previous institution, Pres ident Jacobsen noticed that we were lacking the fifth-year masters programs that other schools had, and she asked me to spearhead it, so I got it done. I was intimidated because I had to get approval from the entire faculty as well as from the state. The coach es on campus were also a big proponent in making it happen this year because they had athletes who want ed to come back for a fifth year, so having this pool of students pushed us to make it happen.
A year ago, President Jacobsen and I created a rough outline and an nounced our goal to the
faculty. We received feed back from faculty and staff which created new ideas. One important result of these discussions was the introductory course “Man agement Strategies for a Changing World” with fo cuses on key issues such as diversity, equity, inclusion, sustainability, and ethics. We created one course to break down these topics and discuss how to build an inclusive workplace. We look at where is HWS on that scale, examples of no tably inclusive companies, and the shortcomings of other companies. For sus tainability, many companies are setting major goals, like Amazon creating a plan to be carbon neutral by 2035. In fact, an HWS Economics alum is one of two Amazon employees responsible for pulling that off and he will be coming to speak to the class. We also have several alums in finance working with the large up-and-com ing investment category called ESG (environment, social, and governance) funds. In the future, we may find that people will be less likely to invest in companies without these structures. Therefore, to keep this co hort at the cutting edge, we must understand these de velopments and be forward thinkers.
On day one I told them “I’m invested 100% in this program, and this program only works if it gets you into the career that you wanted, that’s how we succeed. So,
we have to work together alongside career services to make that happen.” This cohort is mostly made up of philosophy, history, and media and society majors, which is cool because the philosophy student answers an ethical dilemma question much differently than an economics student, creating a much richer experience. I will continue to emphasize that this is a master’s pro gram for anyone with a lib eral arts degree who wants to learn the basic skills they need to be successful and dynamic managers and I hope to ensure that we stay a diverse cohort each year.
What is one piece of advice that you would give to our COVID students?
COVID is going to be a defining moment in your lifetimes because it changed everything. A lot of people are not going to go back to the office, and we are going to figure out different ways to do things; and that’s what’s exciting. Too many of my students when I ask, “what do you want to do with your life” respond “I know I don’t want to sit at a computer 8 hours a day,” so this is opening more possibilities. I always tell students: I want you to find your passion. If you are in a job that you don’t care about, you are wasting your time. If you figure out what you are passionate about, we can figure out how to make it happen.
The Classes of 2024 en tered college in perhaps the most unique, distanced, and nerve-wracking semester in HWS history. While COVID is still present, the Classes of 2024 have been able to experience some normalcy this semester.
The Classes of 2024 had the typical unpredictability of the first year of college, plus the added stress of COVID. Kennedy Jones ‘24 described her experience having a single dorm room by saying, “The pandemic already created a feeling of loneliness, then I was alone in a room that I was afraid to leave as COVID was rampaging through cam pus.” Class President Jesse Whelan-Small ‘24 echoed this statement by saying, “I think there was a lot to be desired in terms of the social life.”
Despite this, Whel an-Small found a bright side of the social restrictions of Fall 2020 and Spring 2021. He described this silver lining by saying, “The guy I was in high school was not the most academically fo cused…. I think with COVID and the social restrictions it was really easy to focus on my academics and my extracurriculars, and I was proud of how I did.” Jones highlighted how helpful her professors were, telling the Herald, “I was so apprecia tive of how my professors changed their expectations due to the pandemic. As a freshman who had no idea what college was going to consist of, it
PHOTO BY EMMA LUCAS ‘22was comforting at the time.”
At the beginning of the summer of 2021, students were anticipating a full return to campus due to low COVID rates and the dropping of mask mandates across the country. How ever, the rise of the Delta variant made those plans get a little complicated. “I was hoping we wouldn’t have to wear masks. I was hoping there would be no restrictions on anything,” Whelan-Small remarked. Despite this, he expressed the importance of wearing a mask saying, “I’ll wear a mask in class. It’s not a big deal to me. It keeps me safe; it keeps professors safe.”
Although Delta put a damper on some social and mask-less expectations that students had, it did not prevent HWS from being able to have in-person classes this semester. Jones showed her excitement toward in person classes by saying, “Thankfully, we are still participating in classes in person, which has been amazing. I feel like I did
not get to see the real HWS last year, and as time goes on and more things are beginning to happen again, it helps me remember why I choose HWS in the first place.”
Adjusting to a fully open campus has had its ups and downs for sophomores. COVID is still spreading around our campus and the world, which has caused stress for students. “The hardest part of adapting to a more open campus is hands down the fear of getting COVID. It is hard to be completely confident and trust in the people around you, which can add another layer of stress. At the same time, you still have to live, especially after 2 years and continuing to live in a pan demic,” Jones remarked.
Although the campus is somewhat more normal than last year, sophomore students are still looking forward to a complete re turn to normalcy. “The best part is… walking around not having to wear a mask. It feels more normal… it’s
just more vibrant,” Whel an-Small said about being maskless outdoors. Jones discussed her hopes for the future by saying, “In the least cheesy way possible, I am looking forward to having a real college expe rience. Being that this is the first semester of my sopho more year, I still have some hope. I think college already puts a lot of stress on people alone. Add the struggles that the pandemic creates, it is all the more stressful.”
Both Whelan-Small and Jones concluded our in terview by offering some ad vice for the Classes of 2025, who are beginning their college experience in a pan demic as well. “For all the things that COVID will re strict you on, the one thing it shouldn’t restrict you from is trying new things,” Whelan-Small remarked. During the pandemic, he was able to become involved in Student Government and Debate Team. Jones echoed a similar sentiment by say ing, “Do not use the excuse of the pandemic to not get involved. Freshman year is built to teach you the ropes of college, but to also let you try new things. HWS offers so many different clubs, and if you can’t find one that interests you, you can start your own.”
While Fall 2021 may not have begun the way that many expected it, the Classes of 2024 still have hope for a more normal future. In the meantime, they are attempting to find regularity and joy in these circumstances.
The health and safety of students, faculty, and staff are the primary concerns of Hobart and William Smith Colleges this academic year, ensuring that students can fulfill their academic goals, while still preventing the spread of Covid-19. With many of last year’s major restrictions being lifted, the administration is focused on returning the campus to certain stages of normal cy, while also maintaining the wellbeing of faculty, staff, and students. The Herald conducted interviews with Vice President for Campus Life and Dean of Students, B. Barile as well as several William Smith students including Natalya LaLiberty ’23, Sarah Shields ’22, Jasmine Pellegrin ’23, and Katherine Healy ’23 to gain further insight into the experi ence of students in quarantine.
With students eager to socialize and leave the all too familiar confines of their dorm rooms this semester, the challenge of balancing a return to nor malcy and campus health is extremely complex. Numer ous factors must be consid ered to avoid the spread of Covid-19. During an inter view with B. Barile, they stated to the Herald that student vaccination rates were “Very high, well over 90% when we had students arriving at campus,” which
prompted the Colleges to only ini tially focus on identifying and testing those who had not been fully vaccinated.
On August 23rd, the first day of classes, 14 cases had been reported, with only 2 of them being unvac cinated students. As cases began to increase in the following days, the admin istration reimplemented weekly routine testing for all students. While precau tions had been taken, HWS
students in quarantine, Sar ah Shields and Natalya LaL iberty, most of their prob lems during their isolation period had gone ignored and unanswered. According to Barile, “Students should reach out to the Covid-19 Resource Center’s to answer questions around quaran tine light or regular quaran tine.” Barile further clarified that there is a dedicated Covid-19 Resource Coordi nator, Michael Kelly, who is in charge of communication with students in quarantine and working with the Re
the isolated students and on-campus staff.” All four students reported that their questions to Kelly had gone unanswered or that Kelly taken up to two days or more to answer. Both Pellegrin and LaLiberty reported having symptoms of “lung pain” and “low oxygen” and stated that it took “two days of contin uous texting” before they received a response. Healy also expressed concern over the lack of medical care and supplies accessible to isolated students, stating that, “They are leaving students here to fend for themselves.”
faculty have expressed relief that students are taking the initiative to be tested at Hubbs when feeling symp tomatic, and according to Barile that is what will help continue to reduce cases as the semester goes on.
While HWS students have a relative understand ing of testing procedures, there are still several ques tions that are unanswered, especially for students within the confines of quar antine. According to two
source Center to ensure that questions are answered, and students needs are met.
All four students interviewed by the Herald expressed satisfaction with how well prepared their rooms were upon arrival, in addition to microwave and fridge access, allowing them to “keep track of our own nutrition.” Howev er, Pellegrin and Healy reported that they are “frustrated with the lack of communication between
These students also highlighted major academic struggles for quarantined students, as three of the four students reported having difficulties with at least two or more of their classes providing accommo dations during their isolations. Covid-re lated concerns are still prevalent on campus, but students, admin istrators, and staff are continuing to work to wards better commu nication for the health and safety of individuals and the community.
Six Fulbright re cipients from different parts of the world came to HWS this year to both teach their native languages and study. The Fulbright is the US program which provides grants for foreign stu dents to travel to the US and be Foreign Language Teaching Assistants (FLTA) as well as for the American students to go abroad for the same reason.
This program is not only about teaching the language, but mainly about being an ambassa dor of your country and destroying stereotypes about different aspects of foreign cultures. This is the reason why HWS FLTAs are organizing conversation tables, discussions, cultural events besides teaching. Read about these unique personalities and feel free to contact them!
Name: Joubert Max ence (France)
Education: BA in French Literature, First year of MA, French as a Foreign Language
Course taught: French language (101, 201), French conversa tion table (Thursday, 3:30 pm-4:30 pm)
E-mail: JOUBERT@ hws.edu
I had thought about my Fulbright program 5 years before my actu al application. I was in my first year of bachelor when I was discovering the advantages of this program, especially its financial benefits. This is a very important aspect for me since I come from a low-income family and can’t afford a trip to the US on my own. [Check hwsherald.com for the rest of the interview!]
Name: Matías Fernández (Argentina)
Education: Teacher of English (BA)
Course taught: Spanish 101 & 201, Span ish conversation table (Thursday, 12:30 pm –1:30 pm)
E-mail: FERNAN DEZ@hws.edu
On the one hand, those basic everyday things which I cannot find in my home country. On the other hand, the things that I knew before coming and now I have a chance to compare. During my stay here I have been surprised by the size of things in America: buildings, the colleges, supermarkets, parking lots, food pack ages and many other things. [Check hwsher ald.com for the rest of the interview!]
Name: Reem A. H. Elhanafi (Egypt)
Education: B.A. in English Language and Literature
Course taught: Ara bic, Arabic conversation table (Thursday, 7 pm –9 pm, biweekly)
E-mail: elhanafi@ hws.edu
I would not start by teaching them the lan guage, but the culture, which will get them in terested more about the language. [Check hwsher ald.com for the rest of the interview!]
Education: English, Philoso phy, Education MA
Course taught: German 102
E-mail: Elhouari@hws.edu
What are the things you are missing very much here?
My family, my friends, rou tine, and my boyfriend. It’s like a two-edge sword: you have the new things here, but on the other hand they scare you as well and you don’t have this stability you are used to, and you have to create a new one. It is a character-build ing process, but it’s hard. And you have to watch out for your mental health. [Check hwsherald.com for the rest of the interview!]
Education: Languages and intercultural communication in Euromediterranean area (MA), Linguistic and Cultural Mediation (BA)
Course taught: Italian for beginners (101)
Italian conversation table (Thursday, 5 pm – 6 pm)
E-mail: mmerola@hws.edu
I think that each person is a representative of their culture, that is why it is so important to have a native speaker as a teacher of a foreign language. Culture can be transmitted only by a person who lives that kind of experience. I think my culture can help the students to learn the language, that is why I try to include it in my every lesson. [Check hwsherald.com for the rest of the interview!]
Name: Kseniya Slutskaya (Russia)
Education: PhD in Compara tive linguistics
Course taught: Rus 410, Rus 101, Rus 201
Russian conversation table (Wednesday, 2 pm – 3 pm)
E-mail: slutskaya@hws.edu
Painting and art in general are my passion. I can’t paint, but I love doing it! It’s a form of meditation for me. I am also a certified NL coach (neuro language), so I like reading about the brain and how it functions to use this knowledge to speed up foreign language acqui sition. Recently I have discovered neurographics (which is also about the brain) and was completely involved into it! [Check hwsherald. com for the rest of the interview!]
On September 5th, the Writing Colleagues program held its first professional development workshop of the year with a focus on antiracist pedagogical practices. The five-hour long program involved remarks given by various members of the program, several group activities, large group discussions, and a presenta tion by visiting speaker Alex Hanson. The large group discussions were led by current writing colleagues, Litzy Bautista ’22 and Nu zhat Wahid ’22.
The workshop was organized by Writing Colleague program directors Professor Hannah Dickin son, Professor Amy Green, and Professor Ben Ristow, of the Writing and Rhetoric department, along with the assistance of the Assistant Director of the Center for Teaching and Learning, Ingrid Keenan and Writing Colleague program intern, Ani Freedman. The pro gram addressed the urgent need for a change in writing colleague practices to adapt to a reforming curriculum centered around antiracism.
As articulated by Writing Colleague program director, Hannah Dickinson, this workshop was an essen tial step in the reformation of Writing Colleague prac tices, redefining and rein forcing the antiracist ideals that serve as its foundation. “In many ways the Writing Colleagues program, at least when I started working with it in 2011, has always had antiracist and social justice commitments. Students that take the Writing Colleagues seminar
are exposed to issues of language, justice, and con versations about the ways that standardized English can work to exclude peo ple. Questions of power in
community within a cultural context.
Per the opening statements of the workshop, “It is out of this context that we find the exigence for this workshop: as a program we are hopeful that the larger institution will take seri ously the Rising Panther’s demands and will make some progress in all areas, particularly those related to the first-year experience of which Writing Colleagues are such an integral part.”
toral candidate for Compo sition and Cultural Rhetoric at Syracuse University, presented upon these no tions. Hanson provided the Writing Colleagues with updated rhetoric, a defini tion of linguistic justice, and a PowerPoint outlining the oppressive nature of stig matizing accented English, standardizing white main stream English, and mar ginalization of multilingual writers.
as well as committee efforts from multiple groups of faculty members such as FEMCOC, COVID on Cam pus, the CET, and especially the proposal for revising the first-year experience,” Dickinson told the Herald. “All of that together made me realize that antiracist and other social justice aims of the Writing Colleagues program, while they may be clear in my head, may not be explicit in the heads of Writing Colleagues and fac ulty in the ways that I think life in 2021 requires.”
This semester, 24 out of 28 Writing Colleagues are in Freshman Seminar (FSEM) placements, high lighting the importance of the program’s influence on the first-year experience at HWS. At the beginning of the workshop, the demands of grassroots student activist group, the Rising Panthers, were projected on a screen for the program to clarify the needs of the
Following the setting of intentions and ground rules, the Writing Colleagues set to work in groups to discuss values they felt were important to strengthening antiracism within the program through the lens of pedagogy. Topics of discussion included linguistic justice, resisting standardized English and its associated hegemonic linguistic ideology, and the long overdue modernization of rhetoric used to address multilingual writers.
Prompted by facil itators Litzy Bautista ’22 and Nuzhat Wahid ’22, the group addressed scenarios of how to employ antiracism in a conference setting and within the context of the revision process. There was also discussion surrounding a Writing Colleague’s re sponsibility to reduce harm in the conference setting for both themselves and their students. Amidst discus sions with Bautista and Wa hid, the notions of linguistic discrimination and its damages were a significant concern. Resistant to the co lonial practices of standard English was emphasized as the theme for the day. Alex Hanson, doc
Education, as de picted by the directors of the Writing Colleague program, can be a space for both liberation and oppression. On the aims and outcomes of this workshop, Dickin son emphasized Writing Colleague action, stating to the Herald, “One concrete outcome of the workshop and our work this year will be an action plan from the Writing Colleague program and an articulation of our antiracist values that will be collaboratively authored with the writing colleagues.” The important outcomes of the workshop will take form through resistance to oppressive forces within the education system, including ongoing efforts to employ antiracist values as a com munity.
At the end of August, the Colleges’ first exhibit of the 2021-22 school year started with the showing of Telluric Transformations. Rebecca Murtaugh, the John and Anne Fischer Professor of Fine Arts at Hamilton Col lege, presented 25 different sculptures. These sculp tures aimed to capture the relation between nature and humanity’s manipulation of it. Entering this fall semes ter, this acknowledgment of humanity’s connection with the world is necessary, because nature is ever-pres ent.
Murtaugh’s exhibition explores the sculptor’s thought process navigating the world. They present a world in plain view of hu mans, but also, our blind ness to it. Telluric, meaning of or relating to the Earth, is a description of the sculp
tures which bring varied colors, hues, and textures to its audience.
Telluric Transforma tions reveals humanity’s capability to shape the world. Murtaugh describes that these sculptures have been pinched, paddled, and shaped to
“elicit a desire to touch... to engage our sense of cu riosity with the unknown,” attempting to facilitate con nections between the viewer and the Earth’s materials; the sculptures needing only creativity and commitment to shape them.
The audience engag es with the artistry and completes the act: to look through the gaps and see the world as the artist does.
The general success of Murtaugh’s exhibit this month is a hopeful sign that the Davis Gallery, despite COVID-19 restrictions, can deliver on its mission: a re source for students and the greater community to wit ness, experience, and learn from art and architecture.
Telluric Transforma tions will be on exhibit until September 25th. The next exhibition: Afrofutures: Before and Beyond will be presented from October 15th to December 1st.
There were many aspects of freshmen ori entation that made it a memorable time for all of us first years. There was a mixed bag of fun activities, in formation, and new friendships. Even though many people could say that through orienta tion they forged new bonds with their peers, there seemed to be a disconnect between the time that we as first years were afforded to go about personal activities, there was no time for anything outside of orien tation. This was the biggest downfall and ended up impacting the experience that most first-years had. It turned an experience from an enjoyable, light-heart ed experience, to one that pushed people to dread having so many activities in one day.
Beginning with the first time you step on campus, the anxiety-ridden first year is only given about an hour to unpack their room, and then it was off to the first activity to meet with your designated group. While some students believed that they were given enough time to get their spaces situated, others believed that more time was neces sary to properly unpack. While the time to unpack varies from person to person, it can
be overwhelming to rush through your unpacking to be able to arrive on time for your activity. The experience of interacting
opening ceremony, there would have been at least an hour where parents could properly process their emotions with their child.
with the peers on your floor through your OM group was a positive one for most. The one complaint that seemed to be the same across the board was that there should have been more of a variety of people first-year’s had around them. Some stu dents wished they had the opportunity to make their friends outside of the group they had been placed in, while others found the con sistency useful in making new friends.
By the time that we finished the first day, some people looked back at the day to see that it was parentless. While it is necessary to create the aura of independence on the “first day of college”, some students wished they had been afforded more time with their family members. Instead of having a rushed goodbye at the end of the
The day for parents and students looked completely different, so after unpacking their child’s dorm they had to spend the day without them. Yet, students worked around this issue by going on a small dinner with their parents to spend some qual ity time with them.
After the first day, orientation took the same route by staying pretty consistent on one aspect; always having an activity to do. While some students did say that this impeded on time that they wished they had to partake in personal activities, others enjoyed having the schedule to dis tract them from the drastic change that they were going through. Always having the option to go out and partake in a fun activity was ideal for students who felt home sick after the first couple of days on campus.
There were many options for nightly activi ties that were thoroughly enjoyed by the student body. Students’ favorite night seemed to be tied between the hot air balloon and the food trucks. They were exhilarated by the opportunity to soar above the clouds, and it helped that it gave you the best view of our beautiful campus. The food trucks al lowed for some choice when it came to what you wanted to eat. According to one of the students I interviewed, the PB and J truck was im maculate. On top of having options at night, there were small activities in between the bigger ones that were uplifting during times when the schedule would pile up. Snow cones after a long presentation are a great example of a small touch. While orientation fostered many different emotions for each student, we can all agree that the best part was the amazing performance of “Let it Go” by our school’s president.
The past few months have undeniably shown record effects of climate change, ranging everywhere from some of the most destructive hurricanes in history to rampant forest fires across the globe. These natural disasters tend to impact marginalized groups, specifically people of color, more than any other.
According to many scientific studies, two-thirds of the emitted greenhouse gases triggering these cli mate change-driven disas ters are emitted by only 90 corporations. Out of these 90 corporations, 83 are in the fossil fuel industry (i.e. natural gas, oils, coal, petro leum, tar sands, etc.).
In recent years, HWS has made some substantial strides to become more sustainable, whether it be in expanding our yellow bike system, purchasing more solar panels, or composting our dining hall food waste. These accomplishments are not to be overlooked, as they are a step in the right direction.
However, climate change won’t be mediat ed by one college making small improvements on its campus. If we want to see tangible change, we need to start questioning our own complacency towards systems that are destructive to the planet. One of the ways many individuals and institutions are working to combat fossil fuel cor porations and encourage the development of more sustainable alternatives is by divesting from the fossil fuel industry.
In simple terms, divest
ing is a way to stand up to major corporations by tak ing away money (via stocks) that has been invested in those corporations. Specifi
divest. These institutions have set great examples for HWS to follow their lead in becoming a part of the state’s larger climate
ever, not only do we have a moral obligation to divest, but we also have a financial one. The fossil fuel industry is on its way out as other in
cally, sustainable divesting involves divesting from businesses that contribute to climate change and have actively funded climate disinformation for decades. By divesting, we are actively showing that we no longer support the idea of profiting from systems that hurt the environment and margin alized groups. If the energy industry doesn’t have an incentive to begin focusing on green energy instead of fossil fuels, they never will. Divesting is a way to show that there will be a cost to not focusing on green energy. This divestment tactic has been proven to be effective. In a 2017 annual report by Shell, Shell admit ted that divesting has been seen as a direct reason for fossil fuel companies filing bankruptcies.
Many other universities, and even the entire New York State Pension Fund, have already pledged to
action project. While their endowments are much larger, HWS still has pull, especially in influencing other liberal arts colleges to follow our lead. While HWS will not disclose the exact stocks and funds that our endowment is invested in, a lack of a divestment dec laration strongly suggests that only the worst can be assumed. Sure, HWS has goals to become carbon neu tral by 2025. But how can we truly be carbon neutral if we are still profiting off and investing in the fossil fuel industry?
Knowing the destructive effects that the fossil fuel industry has had on the environment directly resulting in disproportion ately affecting low-income communities and people of color, as well as the conse quences future generations will have to face, it becomes clear that we have a moral obligation to divest. How
stitutions divest and tighter government restrictions are placed on the companies.
For example, Brown University, which has been in the process of divesting over the past decade, had a 12.8% return on endowment after investing more ethi cally. Meanwhile, in 2019, HWS had a mere 1.14% return on endowment, more than 2% lower than the average return amongst baccalaureate colleges. With those numbers, our return on investments can only improve.
HWS needs to start ac knowledging the sixth mass extinction we are heading towards and that we need to do more to combat it, start ing off with divestment.
Johnny and Evan were sneaking along the broken-down brick wall, keeping their heads low. As they neared a broken spot on top of the wall, John ny peaked out over and saw that they were getting close. Start ing to loom in the distant darkness was Houghton House, the streetlights illuminating only a small portion of the ominous house. The entire north side was shrouded in darkness and the small parts that were illuminated cast shadows over the areas already dark from the night.
“Are you sure about this?” Evan asked as Johnny started moving forward, passing one of the statues that looked like it seemed to turn with them as they passed by, and Evan was able to look at the house in the distance.
“Of course I am. Come on those are just stories, you don’t actually believe in ghosts, let alone that Houghton is haunted, do you?” Johnny responded without stopping or looking back.
“No of course not,” Evan whispered, lying to himself.
Johnny crossed an open section in the wall, but as Evan got close to it a hand is laid on his shoulder and over his mouth, causing him to jump and squeal––al most yelling, actually.
“Shhhhh you’re gonna wake the ghosts,” the person behind the hands said as they let go of
Evan.
“What in the wor––oh, hey, Marie, was wonder ing when you’d show up,”
Johnny says as he turned around to find a frightened Evan hyperventilating and a
grinning Marie. “Now come on, let’s get a closer look.”
As the trio stealthily moved away from the wall towards the house, a brick fell off the wall causing a small but audible crash.
“What was that?!” asked Evan, turning his head back and forth rapidly.
“Probably a squirrel, come on!” Marie said, giving him a look of encourage ment and that smile, that damned smile.
Johnny checked the front door while Evan stayed back, watching the building with a growing sense of dread, as he looked at the upper levels it seemed as if someone was looking out at them while curtains rustled in the wind. Johnny found the front door locked
so he began to check win dows on the first floor till he found one open on the southern side of the build ing. He called to Marie and Evan and helped them into the building. Once they had all gotten in, the window behind them slammed shut and a wave of cold immedi ately ran through them.
“Alright we got in, can we please go now? And who cranked the A/C?” Evan complained.
“No! We only just got here! We gotta snoop around at least a little,” Ma rie replied, Johnny nodding along with her.
“I’m gonna check down some hallways, there might be haunted classrooms!” Johnny stated before scam pering off.
“And I am going to check upstairs, I’ve never been up there before won der what I’ll find!” Marie added.
Evan tried to voice his concerns about splitting up, but they were gone before
the words had left his brain. As he was left to his own devices, he kept feeling like he was being watched and passed through another cold spot as he started to roam around. Evan inched through the first floor his head on a swivel, arms curled around his torso, frightened. He managed to find himself in the back art gallery, in the near-to tal darkness the statues and paintings seemed to move and watch him as he walked around.
Getting too spooked, he turned to leave before he came face to face with an eerie figure seemingly floating in space, dressed in 19th century garb with strange bruises around its neck area. It made no movements of any kind other than bobbing in the air, but stared through him into his soul.
As he stood there silently petrified, two simultaneous screams rang out through the house shak ing him from his stupor. He sprinted through the figure again feeling that frigid cold feeling as he ran into Marie flying down the stairs, toes barely touching the steps almost barreling over him. At the exact same moment, Johnny came around the hallway corner at a million miles an hour, Evan did not even need to say anything as they all sprinted for the door together, banging it open and continuing out into the cold dark night.
Upon arrival three years ago, President Joyce Ja cobsen was impressed and excited about the activities and athletics programs at the Colleges. Jacobsen told the Herald she “enjoyed the activities fair” and she was “impressed by the level of student creativity that is expressed through the development of the variety of clubs on campus.” Ac cording to the president, the administration continues to support the clubs on cam pus as it is a crucial part of student life on the campus.
As part of the residential college experience, the pres ident reiterated the need of having a wide variety of pro grams to meets the needs of our diverse college commu nity. Another way the ad ministration has sought to improve the value of student life on campus is by increas ing both the number of club sports and varsity sports on campus. This effort was made through complex eco nomic analysis that resulted in the conclusion that the institution will marginally benefit from the additions of these athletic programs.
Many competitor schools have increased their sports programs and it has worked thus far, and in fact, may be attracting students who have HWS as their first choice. The reduction in the number of sports programs offered at HWS was a deci sion that was made due to budgetary considerations in the 1990s. Women’s vol leyball is one of the sports programs that is coming back to HWS, which was in progress before Ja cobsen’s arrival. The
women’s volleyball program was originally decided to be reintroduced in 2013 and through President Jacob sen’s leadership is finally going to be implemented in the upcoming school year.
Women’s volleyball is one of the most popular sports on college campus es. Jacobsen thinks it is a major barrier for students who want to come to the colleges but really love the sport which puts them into the unfortunate position of choosing between HWS and a school that allows them to play a sport they love. President Jacobsen also hopes the Colleges increase to a 10:1 faculty-to-student ratio from the current 9:1. Adding the additional ath letic programs would allow for the increase without the bureaucratic and cost
factors that normally hinder increasing the ratio.
In comparison to schools like Cornell, Duke, Alfred University, and oth ers who required a Covid-19 vaccine prior to enrollment,
President Jacobsen stated that these changes reflect constant communi cation with the New York State health authorities and real time New York state requirements and expecta tions. Additional mandates such as indoor masking reflect the recent Hero Act that Governor Hochul signed, which is true across the board for most schools the President said.
With national Covid-19 rates going down, the president does not see an immediate threat from the virus hindering the activities nor the athletic programs at HWS. She explained that all sports teams have returned, and the fall sports at HWS have returned to playing mostly full season. The winter sports are already scheduled, and the coaches have been able to go out and recruit which are all bullish signs of a return to relative normalcy regarding the athletics programs offered at HWS.
HWS was not as early to so lidify a mandate. On August 2nd, a memo was sent out to members of the community regarding Covid-19, in that memo the apparent reason ing for a lack of vaccination mandate was “We also acknowledge that whether vaccination is encouraged or required, we will likely nev er reach a 100% vaccination rate due to medical and re ligious exemptions, as is the case for other vaccinations such as measles or mumps.” That policy was changed for students on August 23rd, and then for all members of the HWS community on August 30th.
The administration is committed to maintaining all the safety protocols to ensure safety for all mem bers of the community. The president cites the favorable trajectory of the school’s activities and athletics programs amidst Covid-19 because the administration learned how to manage Covid-19 last spring. Despite the lack of vaccines, the spring season was success fully completed by follow ing set protocols. “One of the major lessons that was learned from Covid-19,” said President Jacobsen, “was the importance of working with other schools from the area.”
Need something to look forward to this semester? The Kinetic Dance Collec tive, previously known as the Koshare Dance Col lective, will once again be putting on their annual performance at the Smith Opera House on November 12th and 13th. There will be 19 total dances in the show and a total of 102 dancers taking part.
While the name is differ ent the group itself remains the same. A statement from the collective about the name change states:
“In the spring of this year, follow ing the social awakening of the summer of 2020, Koshare Dance Collec tive changed its name to Kinetic Dance Collective. This decision was made to more accurately represent our club’s mission and so as not to appropriate the Pueblo Indian Clown society to whom the term ‘Koshare’ belongs. However, our mission to cultivate a community of dancers as a student-led organization re mains the same. The integ rity of the former Koshare Dance Collective remains intact in Kinetic Dance Collective despite operating under a new, more inclusive name.
Koshare Dance Col lective, now referred to as Kinetic Dance Collective, was established in 1971 at Hobart and William Smith
Colleges to foster com munication, individuality, teamwork, and creative expression through the art of dance. Kinetic Dance Col lective continues Koshare’s legacy, celebrating 50 years of dancing in 2021.”
Due to COVID-19 re strictions, like many other things, the annual show was canceled last year. This
performing is something they would rather not do, it seems a small price for the excitement of being able to perform again. After losing a whole year of perform ing, both the co-presidents expressed their joy about being back preparing for the annual show. Because it is the 50th anniversary of the dance collective, this
hosted by the members of the collective. This was something done years ago by the collective that Gage attended as a high school student and wants to bring back, to keep the collective active and involved in the community.
Both Bryna Gage and Gemma Carr-Locke are looking forward to being
year, while there will still be some restrictions such as masks when performing, they have been able to keep things relatively normal. While talking to Bryna Gage and Gemma Carr-Locke, co-presidents of the Kinetic Dance Collective, they spoke about the restrictions. The only real difference between this year and others will be the mask mandates for prac tices and the performance at the Smith Opera House.
Having to be masked while performing was one aspect that they were con cerned about because facial expressions are so import ant to the performance. While masking up when
year’s show is a special one, with plans to invite alums back for the performance as well as making a video with past performances and interviews with alums to be presented at the show.
In the past, the collec tive has not had any activi ties in the spring semester, but this is something Gage and Carr-Locke want to change. “We definitely want to be more active in the spring than we have been,” Gage said. One thing they want to introduce is the Day of Dance. Day of Dance would be a day where local high school students would be invited to take classes
back to performing. As Gage stated, “We’ve made a lot of changes this year to the structure of how we are doing everything, so I’m excited that I’m leaving behind something for years to come.”
We have returned for another fall semester, one that simultaneously gives us of semblances of normalcy, but also one that firmly reminds us that we have not yet left our collective struggles behind. It is undoubtedly a huge ad justment, but nonetheless one where we can still find a sense of community, support, and passion to maintain our voices and determination on this cam pus. Finding that voice could not be more essential than it is now, in the wake of the shattering loss of Veronica Ashby, an inspiring young woman I knew to have one of the strongest voices out of anyone I’ve met. I only hope that we can all take the time to grieve and acknowledge the power and potential that she held within her, remembering her for that strength and channeling it into our own voices.
And that is exactly what the Herald has done and will continue to do here at HWS—maintain a strong voice for the students. As the campus adjusts to these changing, exciting, albeit frustrating times that have never been more fueled with emotion, I would like the readers of the Herald to know where our newspaper fits into this community, while also recognizing the power of using one’s voice.
Historically, the Herald has worked to challenge perceptions on campus through reportage of the truth. We have confronted issues related to Sodexo, racial and gender injustices, the influence of the Rising Panthers and stu dent initiatives, COVID (of course), while also highlighting the light shone upon this campus by students and staff who make it the community that it is and has the potential to become. A voice for the students means a voice that works truthfully, fervently, and relentlessly to report on the issues that matter to this community—meaning we only encourage those who may be reluctant to recognize the weight that their work and voice may carry, within the Herald team or not.
The past year and a half have exhausted this community beyond measure. What I continue to witness as a journalist and student is a fire that will not extinguish, a fight to speak up that will not relinquish. What we have endured here is no small feat. Those we have grieved will not disappear, so long as we remind ourselves what we can do to keep them alive and proud in our hearts.
If you see injustice, say something. Write something. Do something. The Herald will be here to capture those moments, to hear your words loud or quiet, and to seek the truth for all. We cannot forget that we are a communi ty full of bright, kind, determined people, and those with the loudest voices must lift up those whose voices have been historically brushed under the rug, walked upon and disregarded. There is much more to be done, so let your voice be heard.
In addition: Please look to next month’s issue of the Herald for a special tribute to Veronica Ashby, highlighting the light that she was and the beauty of her personality from the perspectives of those who were touched by her presence. This will also be posted to the Herald website as soon as it is put together. We will always remember you and your vibrant charisma, Veronica.
Sincerely,
