The Miscellany News
Volume CXLVII | Issue 18
April 9, 2015
Since 1866 | miscellanynews.org
Vassar College Poughkeepsie, NY
NY Times columnist brings civil rights debate to campus Chris Pompetzki Guest Reporter
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Emily Lavieri-Scull/The Miscellany News
n Thursday, April 2, Vassar hosted New York Times Op-ed columnist Charles Blow for a lecture entitled “Civil Rights Today,” which sought to critically examine the current relationship between minority communities and law enforcement. Blow earned his first praises for his infographics on the Sept. 11 attacks and on the Iraq War as an art and graphics editor for The New York Times. After leaving to work for National Geographic for a short time, he returned to the Times in 2008 and began to write as an Op-ed columnist, focusing on politics, public opinion and social justice today. The event, which was proposed by Associate Professor of English, Urban Studies and American Studies Tyrone Simpson and sponsored by the Dialogue and Engagement
Across Differences Fund, was largely motivated by the recent tragedies in Ferguson, Staten Island and Cleveland, and other events that have highlighted racial and social inequality in the United States. “Through courageous and unflinching commentary, Mr. Blow explores the experiences of the forgotten and the invisible in the hopes that the nation can earn its healing through more caretaking and compassion,” explained Simpson. Discussion revolved around complex issues imposed by the intersection of race, poverty, and criminal profiling. Blow’s lecture voiced the concentrated anger and dissatisfaction with what he sees as counterproductive police actions and strategies that result in the loss of innocent lives. He asserts that support for certain law enforcement strategies stem from flawed notions See BLOW on page 3
Acclaimed New York Times Op-ed columnist Charles Blow addressed the Vassar community about issues concerning institutional racism in America and the implications of concerning facts surrounding race in the American justice system.
Juniors create software Campaign calls VC to face privilege programming club Marie Solis
Contributing Editor
with additional reporting by
Eloy Bleifuss Prados Reporter
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new student club is hoping to one day improve how students access online college resources on their computers and mobile devices. Created by Jayce Rudig-Leathers ’16 and Tim Brown ’16, the organization VC++ launched as a collaborative community for student programmers or anyone else interested in software or mobile app development. The name VC++ derives from a code
pun. If “VC” were a variable in a program, then “VC++” would mean “VC plus 1” or “VC increased.” At the same time, however, the joke is an earnest statement of the club’s wider goals: to enhance the everyday lives of Vassar community members through software and app development. “We are bringing together the people who can build things with the people who have ideas to build things,” said co-founder Rudig-Leathers. AlSee VC++ on page 14
Palak Patel
Editor-in-Chief
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heck your privilege. It’s a neat catchphrase thrown around as reminder that some of us were born with advantages others are systematically denied. It’s easy to say, but keeping our privileges and biases in check requires constant vigilance. To the end of fostering an environment where students, faculty and staff work toward developing this social consciousness, the Bias Incident Re-
sponse Team (BIRT), the Campus Life and Diversity Office and the Campus Activities office launched Vassar’s second-annual Privilege Campaign last week. The installation of photo portraits on the second floor of the College Center has participants’ privileges literally written across their faces. “We decided to change the location and make the portraits more visible. The College Center second floor… is heavily traveled and we hope that the exposure leads people to engage,” wrote Associate Dean of the College for Campus Life and Diversity Ed Pittman in an emailed statement.
Students anticipate Chin’s poetic passion Saachi Jain
Guest Reporter
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Staceyann Chin brings activism and personal history to spoken-word style poetry and will perform at Vassar. The Sexual Assault and Violence Prevention Program and CARES will be hosting the artist on Wednesday, April 15.
Inside this issue
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NEWS
Ingraham runs fastest 400 in nation Winnie Yeates
courtesy of Staceyann Chin
n her book, “Words in Your Face: A Guided Tour Through Twenty Years of the New York City Poetry Slam,” Cristin O’Keefe Aptowicz said of Staceyann Chin, “To watch Chin perform is to watch the very essence of poetry manifested: her performances are imperfect, volatile and beautiful. Chin’s poetry is passionate and well-written, sure; but it’s her ability to communicate that passion in performance that is unparalleled. She becomes the poetry.” On Wednesday, April 15 at 6 p.m. in Rocky 300, the Sexual Assault & Violence Prevention Program (SAVP) and CARES brings this renowned poet, performer and activist to Vassar for a spoken word event as a part of the two-week Sexual Assault Awareness Program. The event is also co-sponsored by the LGBTQ and Women’s Centers. Charlotte Strauss Swanson, the SAVP coordinator, said: “Our goal for Sexual Assault Awareness [Weeks] is to engage students in activism and dialogue to raise awareness around issues of sexual violence. In doing this work, it is important to us to highlight how diverse groups, such as LGBTQ communities and womSee CHIN on page 17
Though Pittman didn’t contribute a portrait this year, he emphasized the positive impact the campaign could have on campus. He continued, “I think that anytime the campus community can interact with questions of identity and one’s sense of who they are, it can be transformative.” Last year, the Privilege Campaign was comprised solely of faculty and administrators, a focus that was meant to emphasize employees’ commitment to these initiatives which are typically student-driven. “Too often on campus, only students are asked to be vulneraSee PRIVILEGE on page 14
Faculty proposes new curriculum requirements
15 ARTS
Early photographs make a flash in the Loeb
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Guest Reporter
ast year, the Vassar women’s track and field team sent two runners to the NCAA championships, with both returning from the event as All-Americans. The team also had 17 qualifying times for the ECAC championships, which also proved to be a program-best. Sophomore Molly Crowell said, “Last year was an excellent year for Vassar’s women’s track team. We made several notable appearances at elite levels and established ourselves as a force to be reckoned with in many different events. Coming off that, our goals this season definitely include carrying that momentum and making as big (or hopefully bigger!) of an impact as we did last year.” The team has been working tirelessly to prepare for the 2015 season in an attempt to top their success in 2014. Crowell praised her team’s hard work: “I am extremely proud of the time and effort that every member of our team has been putting in in preparation for the 2015 season. Since we first gathered as a full team in January, I have seen everyone, without exceptions, determined to improve themselves in order to See TRACK on page 18
Men’s volleyball steps up to the net SPORTS for playoffs