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The Miscellany News

Volume CXLVII | Issue 15

February 26, 2015

Since 1866 | miscellanynews.org

Vassar College Poughkeepsie, NY

Funny while female: Williams fuses identity politics, humor Marie Solis and Julia Cunningham Contributing Editor& Assistant Features Editor

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Sam Pianello/The Miscellany News

t’s been a tough couple of weeks for comedian, Jessica Williams. After Jon Stewart announced his exit from “The Daily Show,” all eyes turned to the 25-year-old. She’s withstood a flurry of tweets, a reporter demanding that she “lean in” and pressure to rise up from her position as correspondent to host of “The Daily Show.” She admitted all of the attention has been wearing on her, but standing at six feet tall in the front of the Chapel last Friday, Feb. 20, there was nothing small about Williams. “We’re going to get real tonight,” said Williams, after telling the audience about her drive from Brooklyn (accompanied by the “Hercules” soundtrack), her upbringing in a Black Christian community and how she believes Vassar’s Chapel is haunted. “You

know how I know a place has ghosts? Its WiFi is spotty.” Throughout the night, Williams mixed the comedic with the serious, filling the room with laughter as well as thoughtful ruminations on what it means to be a woman, a woman of color and a woman of color in comedy. “Jessica Williams isn’t afraid to bring her narratives in the spaces that typically silence them, and this is so prevalent in what she brings to ‘The Daily Show.’ The fact that her work in ‘The Daily Show’ is meant to unsettle, rather than satisfy, the audience is so important,” said Jocelyn Hassel ’16, a member of Indecent Exposure who opened for Williams. She added, “There are many painful things that Jessica produces discourse on; pain through comedy is an art form, and it is not an easy task. It is serious, See WILLIAMS on page 6

On Friday, Feb. 20, Jessica Williams came to speak to a packed Chapel. After two opening acts from Indecent Exposure comedians Jocelyn Hassel ’16 and Caitlan Moore ’16, Williams spoke about how identity politics inform her humor.

After months, Safety Faculty relationships re-evaluated and Security unionizes T Rhys Johnson News Editor

Emily Hoffman Reporter

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fter two failed attempts in the past 15 years, Vassar’s Safety and Security officers have formed a union and have ratified a contract. The officers have made several attempts to organize a comprehensive union in the past but haven’t been successful. In May 2014, however, organizing officers were certified by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to be represented by the Bard College Safety and Security Officers Union, which changed its name to

the Hudson Valley Safety and Security Officers Union in July 2014. After this step, negotiations for a contract began in September 2014 and the union ratified a tentative agreement on Thursday, Feb. 5, 2015. The union was initially formed by security officer Zakiyyah Salahuddin, who is now Chair of the union alongside Vice Chair Dan Elliot and Chief Steward Tim Evans. Until this point, the Safety and Security department was the only department without a union. See UNION on page 4

he College has recently drafted a new policy forbidding consensual sexual and romantic relationships between students and faculty members. The subject is currently undergoing discussion and revision by the Faculty Policy and Conference Committee (FPCC) and is awaiting further developments. Currently, the Faculty Handbook states, “The College strenuously discourages romantic or sexual relationships between faculty members and students, administrators and students, and staff members

and students…A faculty member, administrator, or staff member who is involved in a romantic or sexual relationship with any student must disclose its existence to his or her department chair, dean or supervisor and must cooperate fully in making alternative arrangements for the supervision, evaluation, teaching, grading or advising of the student.” This policy would, however, firmly ban all relationships between students and faculty. Violations of the potential change would be investigated by the Office of Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action (EOAA), during which time alterna-

tive arrangements would be made for the future concerning issues of teaching, grading and advising. Director of the Office of EOAA Julian Williams remarked, “The reason that this policy is in my office’s area is because it has to do with our Title IX-related policy, because even in these consensual relationships there’s always questions on whether or not there’s any sexual harassment involved, whether or not their relationship is truly consensual.” He went on to say, “What we try to be is a resource for the campus, but also a resource for FPCC as they See FACULTY on page 3

Performance series complicates ‘hometown’ Teams step up to Polar T Plunge Emma Rosenthal Arts Editor

Inside this issue

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Professors open the doors to FEATURES their own homes

Erik Quinson and Zach Rippe

Assistant Sports Editor and Sports Editor

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Sam Pianello/The Miscellany News

he number one question freshmen get asked during their first week at Vassar is “Where are you from?” Although this seems like a simple answer for first years, the meaning of hometown for many seniors changes after four years at college. The complexity of this question is exactly what curator of the “Dis/Locating Home/Towns” series Kevin Ritter ’15, who is an urban studies and English double major, had in mind when creating his three-day-long performance series. Ritter described his project as a multitude of genres and mediums of art. He wrote in an emailed statement, “‘Dis/Locating Home/Towns’ is a library, performance series, reading series, participatory art installation, community dialogue, and hangout session that engages with the vast array of hometowns on Vassar’s campus and in the world.” Ritter continued, “The event tries to resist easy categorization; to acknowledge the vast array of ways that people construct ideas of home, family, and memory; to complicate the viewer’s understanding of the ways that memory, geography, and sheer will can combine to create a sense of ‘home’ or the ‘hometown.’” A member of Britomartis and a performer in “Dis/Locating Home/Towns,” Andrea Negrete ’15 wrote about her exSee HOMETOWN on page 16

Andrea Negrete ‘15 explores the transformation of her view of her “hometown” throughout her years at Vassar. Negrete worked with Kevin Ritter ‘15, the creator of the event to workshop and perfect her piece.

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One tired Bacio’s pizza delivery man HUMOR spills all

15 ARTS

ine souls braved the elements last Saturday at the 17th annual Fishkill Polar Plunge. Freshman Carolina Alvarez, junior Lucy Brainerd, sophomore Rory Chipman, junior Elias Kim, junior Sebastien Lasseur, freshman Amanda McFarland, junior Angela Mentel, junior Aimee Dubois and senior Justin Mitchell took part in the festivities. Plunges similar to the one in Fishkill are held in areas around the world for various reasons. In Canada, these “plunges” or “dips” are held on New Year’s Day to welcome in the new year. In the Netherlands and England, the traditions of “Nieuwjaarsduik” and the “Loony Dook” respectively occur on New Year’s Day as well. England’s “Loony Dook” is usually preceded by a parade of people dressed as “loonies” who often wear their costumes into the water. In the U.S., the dates are more flexible, yet the plunge is typically held to raise money for a specific cause. The annual event in Fishkill is open to all members of the Hudson Valley. It attracts many local businesses: Poughkeepsie’s Mahoney’s Pub, Beacon’s police force, as well See FRIGID on page 18

Mandolins meet banjos in Kohno’s musical mélange


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