FebruaryMarch 2022
In This Issue:
Staff Spotlight: Hannah Dickinson- Page 3
Alpine Skiing Club - Page 4
Controversial Housing Changes - Page 5
Winter Wonderland at HWS - Page 6
New Sports Starting in the Fall - Page 7
Opinion on new masking rules- Page 8
New Student Gallery in Scandling - Page 9
Opinion on Safety - Page 10
Letter from the Editor- Page 15
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Associate Professor of Writing and Rhetoric Hannah Dickinson has been involved with numerous social movements in the Geneva area, specifically surrounding the Sixth Ward of the Geneva City Council.
The Sixth Ward of the City of Geneva is located on the Northeast of the city, bordering Seneca Lake. It is described by Dickinson to be “one of the most diverse, one of the most economical ly disadvantaged, and one of the most historic” areas of the City of Geneva. The Sixth Ward also has a large number of Spanish speak ers. Dickinson has lived in the Sixth Ward of Geneva for about two years.
Throughout her time in Geneva, Hannah Dickinson has participated in various social movements. Much of her work has been in con junction with the Geneva Women’s Assembly, a femi nist grassroots organization, and the Geneva branch of the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL). Recent ly, her work has focused on building community in the Sixth Ward, through numerous different projects, including work surround ing the resignation of John Pruett.
Pruett, a Republican, was the Geneva city coun cil representative from the Sixth Ward until late 2021. According to Dickinson, he “ran on the Republican ticket, although identified as Libertarian.” During his tenure, Pruett voted on many progressive reforms, including the Police Review Board and Food Security legislation. Pruett resigned in August 2021, citing
job-related stress and health reasons.
For 32 days following the resignation of Pruett, the Sixth Ward was left without representation on the City Council. Many Sixth
without consulting the resi dents of the Sixth Ward.
Salone will serve until January 2023. The City Council members all have concurrent terms, meaning an entire new Council is
as much of the Sixth Ward is Spanish speaking. Other work that she has contrib uted to organizing within the Sixth Ward includes advocating for greater lake access for the community (the nearest access, despite close geographical location, is the Finger Lakes Wel come Center), the building of a community garden, and the People’s Free Pop Up, a free clothing shop organized by the Geneva Women’s Assembly (GWA).
Photo By Ani FreedmanWard residents, including Dickinson, pressured the City Council to appoint a new representative for the Council.
The Council decid ed unanimously on John Salone to replace Pruett in early February 2022. Al though Ward 6 is described by Dickinson as, “heavily democratic,” Salone is a Republican. The Council justified their decision on Pruett’s run on the Repub lican ticket, despite Pruett being self-described as an independent and Libertari an. This decision was made
elected at the same time, with the exception of re elected representatives.
While Pruett’s resigna tion may have been sen sational, it does not fully encapsulate the extent of work Dickinson has done for her community. Many neighborhoods in the Sixth Ward were subjected to lead contamination. Dickinson responded to this event by organizing “community meetings, door to door can vassing with petitions and health information.” She also worked to ensure that canvassers were bilingual,
When asked what she would recommend to students who want to get involved in local politics and social movements, Dickinson provided many examples of work easily accessible for students of HWS. Places students can volunteer include the People’s Free Pop Up and the community garden located in the Sixth Ward. Students could become a part of include the Geneva Women’s Assembly, which meets weekly on Mondays, and engages in community volunteering, as well as the Community for Education and Transformation and Police Review Board.
Dickinson also recom mends that students read local news. A news source she recommended, the Ge neva Believer, is no longer publishing, but has archival records of events in the greater Geneva community. She also recommended be ing on the Geneva Women’s Assembly mailing list, which provides information on news and events in Geneva. GWA is holding an Interna tional Women’s Day Rally on Saturday, March 12, at 3pm in Bicentennial Park, open for all to attend!
By Molly Mathews ‘22 Staff Writer
In the Fall of 2021, Hobart and William Smith Colleges announced that there would be an addition of twelve new varsity sports over the next five years. Two of these will be Varsity Alpine Skiing teams for both Hobart and William Smith.
The school currently has a very successful club Alpine ski team with both men’s and women’s teams currently being run as one fully student-led program. They hold practices twice a week at Bristol Mountain Ski Resort in Canandaigua and compete in 14 races each season—for members who wish to compete—and continue on to USCSA National Championships if they qualify. However, it is not required that you compete in order to be on the team. In fact, some don’t race at all but still regularly attend practices and races to cheer on their teammates. This team is one of the most successful ones at the Colleges, having collectively qualified for the National Championships 11 times with the women’s team placing third in the nation during the 2020 season— the last one they were able to compete in until this year due to COVID-19.
The team has four captains: two on the men’s team and two on the wom en’s. The current captains are Camila Goclowski ’22 and Caraline Gray ‘23, joined by Hobart captains Sean King ’22 and Alex Hesketh ‘22. These four stu dents are responsible for all aspects of the team includ ing but not limited to: organizing ticket
packages, training logistics, team meetings, transpor tation organization, race registrations, applying for and managing team funds, as well as communicating and making decisions with the coaches of other teams in the league.
and currently elected social chair, spoke about her expe rience, sharing that “I love the ski team. It’s one of the only opportunities I have had in my time at HWS to connect with people outside of my immediate friend group. We all mesh so well
the team openly welcomes new people to come to the races, to learn about skiing, support their friends, or just to share a good time.
Photo By Molly Matthews ‘22A senior on the team, Alicia Quarterman ‘22, spoke about her experience as a student who does not always choose to race. She shared, “The HWS ski team does a really great job of creating an inclusive envi ronment for those who may have raced in the past, those who enjoy skiing, or even those who are just starting out. I really enjoy the team because it’s as competitive as you want it to be.”
Quarterman added, “We’re pretty unique be cause you don’t even have to race to be a part of the team. We do a really good job of capturing team comradery and even having a little ‘spirit squad’ waiting at the end of the race.”
Noel DeBruyn ‘22, another senior on the team
as a community and I am so incredibly excited to be back”.
The team works to bring people together in a vari ety of ways. The preseason takes place the week prior to spring semester classes start and before their first race of the season. The team spends their days on the moun tain skiing and training, and then focuses on team building activities once they return back to campus from the mountain. This idea of team building is continued past the ski season and into the later half of the spring semester when the team continues to organize activities and games such as kickball. They also have a formal each year, which is a highlight for many mem bers of the team. Each year,
While the current Wil liam Smith team, as well as senior captain Sean King as an individual, have already qualified for this year’s national championships (taking place the week of March 7th in Lake Placid, NY), there is still a question of what will happen with the start of the new varsity pro grams. There are some clear benefits that come with this change including expanded funding opportunities and a coaching staff who can take on the roles currently being carried about by the student captains. With the start of the new teams, some questions have arisen most specifically about if the club aspect of the team will con tinue and, if so, how it will change.
With the current way that the team is set up, there is not a real difference be tween the men’s and wom en’s teams other than when
it comes to qualifications for national events. Quar terman touched on this by explaining, “Something I re ally enjoy about the ski team is the fact that we are one team, not Hobart or William Smith, but one group. We practice and race together, which creates a really great team atmosphere.” This is something that could pos sibly change with the new teams being created.
There is already a big-time commitment for the current team that will likely increase and become more strictly monitored with change to the varsity level. Questions have arisen including: Will there still be room on the team for students who do not race or are not planning to race in upcoming seasons? Is there still an opportunity for a club team that these skiers may be a part of and how will that club interact, if at all, with the varsity teams?
On February 16th, 2022, housing information regarding the application and selection process for new Link Housing for the 2022-2023 school year was released by Student Engage ment. The email outlined a reframing of theme housing, which was received with confusion as students began to understand the realities of these changes.
Many theme houses had been discontinued or displaced without commu nication to the residents of the affected houses, with the intent of some stu dent housing being turned into office space. Student autonomy was also called into question with the em phasis of faculty input and departmental involvement in the rethinking of theme housing. Students began to organize in protest of these changes, both on campus and on social platforms with the HWS Housing Coalition.
An online petition was shared among students that demanded transparency and a reevaluation of these changes, which acquired over 400 signatures. As a result, William Smith Con gress and Hobart Student Government were able to organize two meetings with representatives from the Office of Campus Life to clarify student concerns: the first on February 22nd with Jenna Konyak, Associate Director of Housing, and the second on March 1st with Becca B. Barile, Vice President for Campus Life and Dean of Students, and Shelle Basilio, Associate
At these meetings, many students voiced their concerns surrounding the lack of communication and student autonomy with the implementation of these changes. There were also concerns over the lack of separation between facul ty involvement and their respective student theme house. Because theme houses are assigned faculty advisors and departments to facilitate programming and community, many students feared that their private living spaces would become public.
As a result of hearing these concerns, many of the housing changes have since been altered or retracted by Student Engagement. The decision to discontinue the Cultural Connections House, a valued safe space for POC at a predominant ly white institution, was acknowledged as a mistake. The Cultural Connections House will remain at their home, 730 South Main, for the following school year.
Similarly, after negative feedback surrounding the discontinuation of theme proposals, the processes for submitting theme house proposals will remain the same, allowing for new ideas to be considered yearto-year. There will now also be weekly drop-in meetings for students with building and maintenance concerns in an effort to promote dia logue around housing.
Although many revi sions have been made to the initial plan regarding Link Housing in the 2022-2023 school year, there are still losses to student living op
tions. Two student houses, the Sill House (623 South Main) and the Carr Mcguire House (775 South Main) are being converted into office space. Although the theme houses residing in these spaces have been relocated, these decisions raise ques tions of priority. Some of the nicest spaces on campus are being converted from student living to offices— spaces that can no longer be fully enjoyed or utilized by students.
The demonstrated ef forts of students to preserve their living communities proves how vital safe and inclusive spaces are on campus and how important a variety of housing options are at an institution that re quires four years of on-cam pus living.
Please look to our next issue for more in-depth coverage of this developing situation
On January 29, 2022, the Campus of Activities Board hosted the Colleges’ annual Winter Wonder land, an event that welcomes students back to HWS for their spring semes ter and embrac es the winter season in Geneva, N.Y.
This year, CAB kicked off Winter Wonder land with skis, sled rides, and tubes to take advantage of the recent snow that fell upon cam pus. The quad was covered in thick layers of icy snow made for students to flock and enjoy their inner-child spirits in the snowfall with fires nearby for s’mores to be enjoyed.
Assistant Dean of Stu dents Engagement Kristen Tobey shared that Winter fest is
“a celebration of our winter experience in Gene va” and this year it definitely was.
Over 450 students at tended Winter Wonderland to enjoy the recreational activities and food offered. The event was spread across campus, so students are able to visit
places like JPR and gather in popular spots on campus, such as the Quad and Scan dling Center.
Each designated area
burned, oozing marshmal lows placed onto graham crackers with chocolate for delectable s’mores. The Roc City Sammich Truck, which
out at this campus I’ve been on for so long and take in its beauty during the winter.”
One way to have a hap py student body at HWS is to provide good food, and CAB delivered at Winter Wonder land. Hot food was served all night with recreational activities for students to indulge in before the spring semester begins to pick up.
had activities and food trucks with hot cider and hot chocolate to brace the cold.
JPR’s parking lot was converted into an outdoor skating rink and curling rink for students to enjoy a latenight skate and pair it with a classic HWS meal of piping hot mac-and-cheese from Macarollin Food Truck.
Senior Emma Cusanelli raved about the Macarollin Food Truck and shared, “100% Macarollin was what I was most looking forward to due to them not being at Haunted Houghton last semester.”
The iconic HWS Quad had fire pits set up for marshmallows to be roasted to each student’s liking. Charred, lightly
came previously to Haunted Houghton, made a return to HWS due to popularity amongst the Colleges’ com munity.
By Scandling, multiple events were taking place including horse drawn carriage rides, an HWS ice sculpture, an HWS winter hat giveaway, and the fan favorite food truck: Tony’s Wood Fired Pizza Truck.
Tobey shared, “It was a beautiful night with fresh fallen snow to enjoy a ride in a beautiful carriage across campus.”
“The best part about the carriage rides is that I can enjoy campus from another point of view,” said Cusanel li. “I enjoyed being able to bundle up for warmth inside the carriage while looking
“The tempera tures this year were especially cold, so we appreciate our student staff and student attend ees braving the frigid air,” Tobey exclaimed. “I believe that Winter Wonderland is a special event because it helps students to embrace the cold weather and enjoy making memories with friends on our beautiful snow-covered campus!”
Indeed, Winter Won derland is a lovely event for HWS students to create memories with their friends outdoors and welcome the brutal cold to enjoy some thing as simple and delecta ble as a s’more.
This fall, there will be six new teams added to the Colleges: William Smith (WS) bowling, WS volley ball, Hobart swim and dive, Hobart baseball, Hobart and WS alpine skiing! The Her ald sat down with Associate Vice President and Director of Athletics and Recre ation Brian Miller and new WS volleyball head coach Derryk Williams to find out what they have to say about the new changes in the athletic department and the new volleyball program.
On the administration side of athletics, Brian Miller has built up a “dream team” around him that helps him around the inner workings of the athletic department. Liz Denni son, Chris Gray, and Sean Cunningham ’17 make up this dream team. Each of them plays a special role in the decision-making pro cess of the department and help make it run smoothly. Miller is excited about the addition of the new teams saying “there is a rise of excitement around athlet ics” with the fall and winter teams this year going the extra mile– especially WS soccer, Hobart football, Ho bart basketball, and Hobart ice hockey.
HWS President Joyce P. Jacobsen has made the introduction of new sports teams to campus part of her mission. As a result of her collaboration with the Athletics leadership, there will be 12 new teams in the next five years. Phase one is during the 2022-23 school year with the addition of WS bowling, WS volleyball, Hobart swim and dive, Ho
bart baseball, and Hobart and WS alpine skiing. Phase two is during the 2023-24 academic year with the ad ditions of Hobart volleyball, indoor and outdoor track
career at Ithaca in 2015, then moving to Syracuse University to coach there the last four years. Williams is already recruiting stu dents both on and off cam
direction he will take the volleyball program because it will be built from the ground up. Volleyball will join Liberty League, com peting against all teams ex
Photo By Emma Lucas ‘23and field for both Hobart and WS, and softball. By spring 2024, there will be 35 teams on the HWS campus.
With these additions, there are plans to bulk up the support staff for all teams including equipment managers, athletic commu nication staff, and athletic training staff. Miller states that he and Jacobsen hope this will bring new students to campus that would not have otherwise considered the Colleges and will lift school morale following the Covid years.
As a new team coming in fall 2022, WS volleyball found head coach Derryk Williams. Williams played club volleyball at Ithaca before starting his coaching
pus. There is prospective representation from Califor nia, Texas, Florida, Oregon, Colorado, Kentucky, and Tennessee, along with two WS students already com mitted.
He says that the easiest selling point is the athletic success of HWS teams. Wil liams is enthusiastic about being on campus and being surrounded by the athletic success and he aims for his team to win a nation al championship. While recruiting, he looks for women who have the drive to win, compete and be part of a team. Hard work and dedication go a long way in the world of sports.
Miller is very excited about Williams and the
cept RPI. Williams says that “whatever the tone is at the start, that is what it will be for the rest of the programs future”. He says that coming into a brand-new program, the enthusiasm and excite ment around volleyball is amazing.
Another piece from the Herald about COVID-19. No surprise there, but here’s the catch: we have unmasked. This semester at HWS has manifested trials and tribulations amongst the student body and HWS community as a whole.
In the beginning of the semester, like any other, the Involvement Expo took place, but due to the mask mandate that was in place, it was hosted online on Feb ruary 1. Despite this, Greek Recruitment––a week-long event where students are able to learn more about HWS’ recognized Greek organizations––took place in-person the same week from January 31-February 7.
On January 31, two days before the digital Involve ment Expo, the Colleges approved for Greek organi zations to camp out in Scan dling Center’s Cafe for an in-person meet-and-greet exclusive event for Greek organizations and those interested. On the same day, Greek organizations were also approved to meet students outside of Scan dling Center while making s’mores. Later that night, Kappa Sigma fraternity and Sigma Chi fraternity hosted open nights at their houses on South Main Street.
Throughout the week, Meet the Greeks was a way for Greek organizations to constantly interact with potential students that would like to join Greek Life on campus by hosting Taco Tuesday, “Barbecue with the Brothers”, Open House Dinners,
“Grill’n & Chill’n”, “Wing Night with the Brothers”, a “Pool Tournament and House Tour”, a “Gaming Night with the Boys”, MiniGolf in backyards, and the list goes on. All of these events took place in person, with no one to hold those attending accountable with the mask mandate on campus during the week of Janu ary 31, but the Involvement Expo took place online to abide by the campus rules and took COVID-19 policies into consideration for the com munity.
There seems to be a split between the HWS student body regarding Greek Life. One side is against the favoritism that seems to be geared towards Greek Orga nizations, and the other is those that partake in Greek Life.
Photo By Emma Lucas ‘23Two students in the library after HWS announced that masks were no longer required in indoor spaces on campus
Yashimabet Drummond ‘24 is a member of the Ca ribbean Student Association (CSA) and shared her expe rience with the Herald.
“With the Involvement Expo being put online, I see why it was done for COVID, but not many people came to CSA. If it was in-person, I think more people would have been able to be aware of the clubs on campus and see the opportunities they bring,” Drummond said. “Greek life is prioritized over other clubs because it brings in donations and other things like that. I don’t think nepotism is the right word, but there is a favoritism towards Greek life, so I was not surprised when Meet the Greeks had a week’s worth of in-person events planned.”
Samari Brown ‘24, a member of Theta Phi Alpha, shared her thoughts on the controversy of Meet the Greeks occurring in-person the same week the Involve ment Expo was taking place virtually.
“I, personally, am thankful for recruitment to have been in-person be cause we were masked the whole time while spending time with possible girls looking to join, but I do think that academic related events should have had the opportunity to be in-person as well,” said Brown. “It cre ated an inconsistent amount of participation for Greek Life versus academic clubs and events like the Involve ment Expo.”
Two weeks into the semester, Provost and Dean
of Faculty, Sarah Kirk, and Vice President for Campus Life and Dean of Students, Becca B. Barile, sent an email to the student body stating that “in-person meetings and events may occur, but we encourage you to consider the size of the group and the space the event will take place in when planning.”
This email was sent out the week of January 31–the same week Greek Recruit ment and the Involvement Expo took place. That being said, it is interesting that the Involvement Expo typically has a large turn out, but since it was hosted virtually out of concern for COVID-19 and the Colleges’ policies, it was disregard ed by the student body. Yet, Meet the Greeks was a popular event amongst the entire student body, espe cially underclassmen in trigued by Greek Life, due to being more present by being in-person. One would think that if Meet the Greeks and the Involvement Expo typ ically have large in-person
attendance that they both would have been restricted to being online.
This is one discrepancy that should have been ac knowledged by the Colleges, but with COVID cases at the time being so low, it did not seem to be a priority to address.
A little over a week later, on February 10, President Joyce Jacobsen, Provost Sarah Kirk, and Vice President for Campus Life Becca Barile sent a Campus Life email to the student body stating that Governor Kathy Hochul lifted New York State’s indoor mask mandate and conveniently corresponds with the Col leges’ decision to evaluate their policies for the spring semester.
The email declared that as of February 11, “mask ing will not be required in residence halls or dining facilities” and starting on February 14, “masking will not be required for all in door spaces across campus.”
This was a big step for HWS to take after being masked indoors for over a year. Of course, several departments on campus de clared that students should continue to stay masked in classes until further notice.
This email left the HWS community in an odd gray area of To-Mask or Not-toMask.
Sarah Spears ‘23 sided with Not-to-Mask with joy and claimed that she was not concerned with what would happen to the HWS community regarding COVID-19 cases.
“I was not worried be cause I was already social izing with friends outside of classes in indoor spaces,” said Spears. “For some time, I was questioning why I still had to wear a mask in the library because I saw the
same people without a mask in Kappa Sig’s basement not too long ago. I was relieved, to say the least, because I could finally work out at Bristol gym without sweat ing through a mask.”
There are obvious plea sures in life that are able to be experienced again with the lift of the mask mandate put into place on February 11. There are positives and negatives to both wearing the mask and lifting the mandate, especially con sidering there have been 96 confirmed positive cases on campus this semester.
The positives are you don’t have to sweat with a mask on, you get to not wear a mask in a crowded dining hall, you don’t have to wear a mask in some classes now. You don’t have to wear a mask! Basically. That is the only positive in this situation, according to this student.
On the other hand, 96 confirmed positive cases have been reported since the beginning of the semes ter, 11 new cases today as of March 2, 27 students are in quarantine or isolation, and testing for COVID-19 is no longer required. These are the downsides of lifting the mandate.
With a possible buildup of COVID-19 spreading on campus as more people un mask in public indoor spac es, frankly, it is due time for the Colleges to acknowledge that a college campus tends to be a bubble waiting to burst with illnesses.
The Provenzano Student Art Gallery is coming soon to Scandling Center! The future student gallery space will be housed in the ATM lounge, a central location
your
space!” says Anna Wager, the Visual Arts Curator at the Davis Gallery on cam pus.
This exciting oppor tunity for student repre sentation, expression, and
that is accessible to stu dents, faculty/staff at HWS, and outside communities. The art gallery will be run by students, for students, and will showcase a diverse collection of art made by the HWS school community.
This space will priori tize the visibility of student art and will allow students interested in gallery man agement, curation, and art installation to get hands-on experience working within these professions through mentorship opportunities. This collaborative and creative space will also host events like artist workshops, poetry slams, open mikes, and music performances.
“Although students will be guided through men torship, they will have full agency over this space—it’s
collaboration will bring new life and energy to the HWS campus.
Editor’s Note: The opinions of this article do not reflect the overall position of The Herald, but rather offer insight from the author.
could be very difficult” and even dangerous, HWS pro ceeded to do what has been typical of terrible weather conditions throughout my four years here – nothing. Whenever there is a storm that impedes safe
to take individual responsi bility for how they navigate the paths, traffic, and icy wind. Unfortunately for stu dents, they aren’t the ones responsible for managing the paths nor are the ones with the power to ensure the
es can lead to circumstance where students are hurt or worse while traveling to class. Four of the students interviewed with respect to these concerns all high lighted the variability and unpredictability of paths on
Photo By Emma Lucas ‘23The HWS Campus right at the start of the snowstorm that started on February 3rd
The Colleges rang out a familiar tune on Feb. 3rd and 4th when they warned of poor weather conditions in an email to the campus community. The Colleges’ action in response to a storm barreling down on Geneva, NY was to suggest to students, “Use good judgement and caution when travelling to or around campus.” Despite expected snow accumulations of over 12 inches, and the ex pectation that “travel
travel, students of HWS receive the same message: “use good judgement.” But the Colleges routinely do not take much action or responsibility for the safe travel of students around campus and places respon sibility onto individual students and professors. Rather than the school man dating a snow day (which now is even more accessi ble since the prevalence of Zoom learning over the last two years), students trudge through the terrible weather
paths are safe to navigate. This dynamic of per sonal responsibility forces students to navigate paths marred by thick ice and heavy snow, and amidst biting icy wind. Although HWS may be suggesting students use good judge ment, oftentimes the best judgement when there are inches of snow and ice on the ground and biting wind chill, is to stay inside. Leaving it up to professors to dictate classes in times of environmental circumstanc
campus. Thankfully, most professors see the problem with forcing kids to class in inclement weather condi tions and according to a William Smith senior, “Gen erally professors are pretty understanding.” However, we still do hear of students who break something due to the thick ice and biting wind every winter, and this year has been no different. Three students I interviewed all communicated their con cern over a fellow classmate
who has broken bones due to the negligent salting of pathways. A Hobart se nior described a situation where “students called on the school to remove the ice for days and it never was addressed in a timely manner.” A William Smith senior said the situation was “so preventable.”
A Hobart Senior sug gested the school “needs to be more mindful and proactive, because even days after a big storm, there are definitely times there are unsafe conditions and so much ice and snow just left around in really bad spots.” In the words of the William Smith senior, the key point is that “the school should be responsible for salting properly or cancelling class in extreme weather; it’s fine assuming that the profes sors are going to be lenient about class attendance, the school can say use good judgement, but professors need to not make atten dance mandatory if it is not safe for students.”
This same doctrine of personal responsibility was stark throughout the COVID crisis and how the Colleges sought to handle it. HWS approached the COVID pan demic in a strikingly similar manner to how they handle shorter bouts of inclem ent weather. The Colleges suggested all members of the community “Take per sonal responsibility for your health and well-being” through using PPE and so cial distancing as well as repeatedly emphasizing the need to “Stay home if you have flu-like symptoms.”
With regard to academics, the administration routinely stressed the need for “flexi bility” and for “faculty and staff to please work with these students [who are ill or in quarantine/isolation] so
that they can continue with their coursework and aca demic support.”
For the past year and a half, the Colleges left the de cisions about classroom at tendance, remote learning, and accommodations most ly to professors. Accord ing to one William Smith senior, “I was in quarantine twice last semester and I re ceived no accommodations for any in-person classes.” The student continued, “My professors refused to Zoom me into class. It isn’t hard to set up a camera, we have been doing this for two years now.” The response from one of the student’s professors, through email, was to explicitly state that attendance would negatively impact her final grade de spite the schools mandated quarantine.
“The only response that is appropriate in that situa tion should have been him asking if I’m okay, consider ing I was quarantined twice within a one-month period,” she continued, expressing, “How about you consider the mental health aspects of having COVID and being locked in a room for 10 days twice!” And soon after this student was quarantined a second time she was told she would fail, all this with in the third week of classes and all due to circumstanc es outside of her control.
“If it weren’t for her [the student’s advisor], I would have had to take a fifth course my senior spring or graduate behind schedule. After being a student here for four years, this is how the school treats students during a global pandemic?”
Although the Col leges suggested professors accommodate students by amending their attendance policies, we also soon saw the nature of attendance
change in substantial ways.
In some cases, “Participa tion” soon took the place of overt attendance policies with an increased propor tion of student grades taken up in classroom participa tion. In my opinion, as we get the pandemic under control, COVID slips into the background with other ailments and carrying your illness to the classroom sim ply doesn’t matter anymore, or at least this is what rigid attendance/participation policies might show.
In the words of one Ho bart senior, “Some teachers are understanding, but a lot of teachers haven’t been understanding about illness and attendance; a lot of teachers are forgetting there are other illnesses out there, and just because you don’t test positive for COVID doesn’t mean that we should go.” He continue to say, “If I had the flu, I would lose a lot of the leniency I had in the past, because so long as it isn’t coronavirus, ‘we don’t care, you have to go to class.’
This student expressed further concerns about sick ness and attendance, stating, “It is not healthy and safe to leave so many decisions up to professors regarding at tendance, I feel like there is this newfound serious pres sure that even if I am really sick, and it’s not COVID, I am out of luck, especially with how much I have to do all the time. Some professors have been very understand ing, but then others, you know… not so much.” He finished with,”There should be a universal basis for these policies.”
Due to the apparent doctrine of personal re sponsibility, the Colleges fail to secure the interest of students in both small and large environmental
crises. A dictum to “Use good judgement” is just not sufficient to address com munity issues or to secure the health and safety of students. Many students, in cluding myself, understand a lot of people are doing their best to be helpful and understanding. Rather than take this critique harshly, or as a personal affront, this is an opportunity for HWS to take a definitive stance on behalf of students and to act as an institution rather than suggest that individuals use good judgement.
On February 4, the Da vis Gallery showcased their latest exhibition, Portraits HWS Art Collections and Institu tional Faces. By using the Collections of Hobart and William Smith Colleges, the exhibition explores the artistic genre of portraiture.
Visual Arts Curator Anna Wager and HWS students collaborated on this exhibi tion by examining historical collections and expanding their definition of “por traiture.” This exhibition dives into the institutional power portraits have in our society. Specifically, these traditional portraits con trol a narrative and display unequal systems of power.
Gallery Assistant Claire Ka pitan ’24 feels there is a lot of work in the Gallery that bends the idea of
portraiture.
She reflected on this by saying, “When looking at traditional art made by white men, some of those portraits objectify and oversexualize women, so it’s important to realize the bias that goes into those works.”
The exhibit allows peo ple to understand the insti tutional framework portrai tures had and to debunk its power by re-defining what portraits are. Student Cu rator, Román Vargas Garcia ’24, explains that this exhi bition shows who gets to be in the portraits and why.
He reflected, “These portraits have non-tradi tional pieces such as women and people of color, instead of the standard portraits.”
While the art world typically showcased por
Two of the pieces now on display in the new ex hibit Portraits at the Davis Gallery
as an institute wants to use its space to welcome a wide range of subjects of what is a portrait.
What made the portrai ture exhibition unique to the others was the collabo ration Wager had with the HWS students. Students were able to take the lead and choose work from the Hobart and Wil liam Smith Collection that they believed represented portraits. Another Gallery Assistant, Annie Wert heimer ’22, included kinds of work that may not initial ly be considered when the portrait genre is thought of. Wertheimer goes on to say “We included photographs, oil portraits on canvas, 3D works to name just a few.”
“It was so fun to explore the variety of media here and see how the works in teracted with one another.”
The Portraiture exhibit will be open at the Davis Gallery until March 4th, with the next exhibit, Vest ed: Interest Due, opening on March 11th.
traits of white people which are seen as the “standard portraits,” the Davis Gallery
Wagner enjoyed going deep in the arts and histor ical collection that contains extraordinary results.
Alan Paynter joins the admissions team at Hobart and William Smith Colleges as its director. In his pur view, he will oversee the en tire marketing and recruit ment process. Part of the job description is to design and implement a recruiting and marketing strategy to help HWS meet its overall admissions goals.
Reflecting on his own life story, Paynter empha sized the importance of a college education and the part college played in his life—hence why he thinks it is still important and relevant. Originally from New Jersey, Paynter was a first-generation college stu dent and a college athlete; he graduated with his Bach elor’s degree from Kutztown University and a Master’s degree from Duquesne University.
Mr. Paynter told the Herald that he is excited about the future of HWS Admissions and of the recent strides the office has made to modernize and attract students with different talents, skills, and abilities, all of which will create a class of diverse ideas and backgrounds. This excitement and optimism for creating this class stems from his love for history and tradition. According to Paynter, he could not see himself working at an institution where there is no history or context for his ac tions, and he feels that HWS satisfies that requirement.
Mr. Paynter sees the history of the Colleges as something important that drives the decision he makes on a day-to-day basis. This love for
history reflects the history of Paynter himself, a 20year veteran in the field of admissions and recruitment with a focus on social media liaison work, diversity, in
ways evolving. He cited that evolution as the reason this small liberal arts school has been able to remain compet itive. He characterized HWS as one of the first colleges to
new students. Alan Paynter ended by telling the Herald that he is confident in the future of student life here and it is his expectation to see an auspicious trajectory
clusion, and athletics.
He also keeps connec tions with his professional roots in Pennsylvania in his current role as admis sions counselor for Greater Philadelphia and the Lehigh Valley area in Pennsylva nia, Montgomery County, Maryland, and the District of Columbia. Mr. Paynter is also extending beyond his comfort zone; he is getting to know more parts of the United States as the admis sions counselor for Florida and Tennessee. He travels quite frequently to give motivational speeches and talks on improving campus culture.
When asked about the value of education and how Hobart and William Smith Colleges prepare students for the future, Mr. Paynter remarked that HWS is al
offer women’s studies as an academic major.
Paynter views academ ics as ways the Colleges evolve with the time and take the appropriate actions to ensure that student suc cess is paramount to the in stitution’s interests. He ex pressed no doubt that HWS will remain competitive. He is committed to continuing the work of building classes that fully take on the history of HWS and share a particu lar vigor to carve a path that is aligned with the values that shaped the institution.
Finally, in his second admissions cycle here at HWS, Paynter admits that the job of admissions is nev er over, as there is always an element of admissions going on all year, whether that be through recruitment or the welcoming in of the
both in admissions and the wider Hobart and William Smith Colleges.
On February 2nd, stu dents were informed of the likelihood of masking re quirements loosening in the following weeks. Campus Life informed students on February 21st that masking will no longer be required for vaccinated individuals, yet students who are not fully vaccinat ed must be tested week ly and remain masked. These two emails received a mix of respons es not only from stu dents but also from staff and profes sors. Em ployees are still required to per form daily wellness assessment checks through March 17, yet there are many who believe that unmasking has happened too soon. After February 21st, many profes sors responded by sending mass emails to their depart ments and courses, express ing the need to wear masks and follow old COVID-19 protocols.
Adding on to this, many students expressed that they do feel most comfort able wearing masks
in crowded classrooms and spaces. As a community, we have seen our plastic COVID walls disappear from SAGA, the Library, and Au Bon Pain. As of February 28th, Campus Life had reported 10 COVID-19 cases with stu dents who were in isolation.
Although our policies have changed, some be lieve that no masking has helped with improving mental health. Kevin Lima
people are careful with who they are hanging out with. Several times I did have people ask me if I was vac cinated.” With mask man dates lifting, many of our students, faculty, and staff are fully vaccinated, thus many people have expressed feeling safer.
However, some students expressed concern about this switch happening too soon, as Kevin Lima ’23
to people who always wear one, to those who only wear one in group and classroom settings. Skinner points out, “Generally it’s pretty safe because most people are vaccinated, however, I was surprised by how eager and how fast people were to be fine with taking them off.”
This could be the reason why many professors still choose to wear masks. Many people are sticking to the
‘23 states, “I believe seeing more people and being more in public has helped with the mask lift. In general, I feel like I have seen more people doing well with the mask mandate being lifted.” Many others have expressed the same, as 2020 led to ex treme social distancing and communities being used to seeing just the upper parts of people’s faces.
Samuel Skinner ‘22 stated, “For the most part it hasn’t really changed, but
labeled it as a “give and choose” situation depend ing on who you ask. Lima expressed, “Socializing has gone back to normal a bit. Some people are more comfortable with not wear ing a mask and just talking with other people, while other people still don’t feel as comfortable with others taking off their mask.”
In many public spac es, we can see a divide in people who are comfort able not wearing a mask,
idea of, don’t come to class if you feel sick, as COVID-19 has taught us how easily germs can spread. Overall, we all hope to see a de-es calation of COVID cases in the future, as more people feel safer moving through their communities with or without a mask.
We are right at the halfway point of our Spring 2022 semester, celebrat ing Hobart’s 200th anniversary while nearing the end of our school year––and closing in on the final days at HWS for many students like myself. It has been a long haul to get to this moment; throughout semesters of “uncertain ty” and “unprecedented times,” we finally see one another’s smiling faces walking through the library or during a fleeting moment in a stairwell. We have made it through the most brutal parts of winter and of isolation, but not without scars and sacrifices made during the process. And that does not mean we are fully healed nor past making those sacrifices, but it does mean we can feel proud of what we have already overcome as a community.
Of course, we still have to survive the relentless struggle of balancing work and social life to push through finals and the most grueling of assign ments, and I hope everyone has enough left in them to put their hearts into what they’re doing. I don’t think I would survive if I didn’t.
As the year has gone on, I’ve been grateful to watch this first-year class grow into themselves as they arrived here unsure of what college life would bring in these difficult times. I’ve seen renewed resiliency and determination in them that inspires the classes above them, as they strive for equity and to make names for themselves here and into the future. I’ve seen collaboration and unity to hold institutions and systems accountable and continue a dis course of change, empowerment, and support for those who need it most.
Most of all, I’ve seen renewed spirit on this campus. From HWS Theatre productions to lively participation at student government, to the ever-present pride for our athletics, and of course I have to acknowledge the Writing Col leagues who are always ready on those yellow couches to support all of our writers. I can truly say that the HWS campus feels like a community again as Zoom collects dust on my computer and classes feel as engaging as they should be with a present student body to cultivate that.
Alongside this renewed life, HWS has seen capable students rise up to challenge injustice and inequity locally and internationally, with voices that continue to grow louder and stronger. And we need those voices to support one another as well as the horrors faced by Ukrainians throughout an un just, propaganda-filled war fueled by greed and power. Graduating seniors will hold onto that voice of a community that they may leave behind, but will remain a part of them nonetheless. In my final months at HWS, I cannot wait to see the mark my senior class will leave on this campus, but most impor tantly, what mark the energized classes below us will imprint on us.
I am grateful for that spirit, the faculty, and the faces who ensure that the 2021-2022 school year will mean something for those who witnessed it and those who made it come to life. Good luck to everyone as we power through midterms and shift from the bitter cold to the tolerable rain and wind that will hopefully bring warmth come springtime.
I leave readers with this: We at the Herald stand in solidarity with Ukraine and all victims of unjust wars. We must remember that Ukraine is not alone in this experience––we must acknowledge the ongoing geno cides and wars in Lebanon, China, and throughout countries often forgotten amidst the slurry of media we consume daily. The Herald remains a voice for the students throughout this time, only able to do so because of the powerful voices at HWS.
Sincerely, Ani Freedman Editor-in-Chief
