The Miscellany News
Volume CXLIX | Issue 9
November 17, 2016
Since 1866 | miscellanynews.org
Vassar College Poughkeepsie, NY
Activist reflects on VC Divest
Campus discusses poll results
Jakob Eckstein
Laurel Hennen Vigil
Guest Reporter
Reporter
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D Courtesy of Sam O’Keefe
ophie Cash ’19 reflected, “[I’ve] always been interested in the environment. My dad worked in environmental policy, so the saving-the-earth narrative was always big for me.” True to her word Cash wasted no time getting involved with the Vassar College Fossil Fuel Divestment Campaign, or VC Divest, as it’s commonly referred to on campus. She’s been a highly active member of the campaign, quickly becoming one of its de facto leaders. Cash became convinced of the power of activism during her gap year after high school. She remembers, “I went to the big climate rally in New York two years ago, and then I visited a friend at her university in Edinburgh where she was also helping lead their divestment movement. I was there during a week of really climactic protests, and then victory. So that gave me a really heady taste of successful activism, which was really exciting and made me feel like this is something I really want in my life. So I came to Vassar knowing that I wanted to do divestment here.” During her time at Vassar, Cash has learned about the complexity and intersectionality of climate change, and how it harms those whose identities are marSee DIVEST on page 6
First-year student Sam O’Keefe attended a rally in New York City on November 11 to join protesters marching from Union Square to Trump Tower in solidarity with those mourning the results of the 2016 presidential election.
Students trump hate with protest Andrea Yang Reporter
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y the end of election night, Vassar campus was filled with faces of somber disbelief. Social media outlets were flooded with indignant outcries and passionate remarks. Around 3 a.m. of Nov. 9, frustrated students gathered for an impromptu primal scream on the quad. They found fleeting solace in each other’s
company, screaming together in a brief and raw moment of solidarity. Fortunately, students soon found a more proactive way to spread love, show support for one another and find inner peace at such a historically tumultuous moment. Many rallied in Union Square, on streets of New York City and outside Trump Tower as well as the Poughkeepsie City Hall, carrying
signs reading, “HATE won’t make us GREAT” and “My body, my choice,” among other emotionally charged slogans. The Vassar community has shown overwhelming support for students attending these protests. Many professors extended their paper deadlines. Organizations like VSA and ASA See PROTEST on page 7
onald Trump’s victory in the presidential election on Nov. 8 sent shock waves across the Vassar campus—students raged, sobbed and protested. On Thursday, Nov. 10, dozens of students attended a discussion entitled “Where Do We Go From Here? A Post-Election Panel,” hoping to gain an understanding of the factors that lead to Trump’s election, as well as to find out what could be done now that the seemingly impossible had come to be. Attendees Chris Allen ’19 and Nell Compton ’20 both described themselves as “distraught” in the wake of the election results. Allen addressed the confusion of the situation, adding, “I’ve been to two Political Science lectures...about why the election played out the way it did, and I still don’t know why. I’m looking for answers.” Co-President of Vassar’s Democracy Matters chapter Chris Clark ’18, explained that a similar panel is held by the Political Science Department and Democracy Matters after each election. He commented, “[This election’s results] should make students fight even harder and commit to polSee PANEL on page 4
Drama project probes identity Mosier unites LGBTQ+ community, athletes I Noah Purdy & Elena Schultz Arts Editors
Inside this issue
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White liberals called upon to step up for OPINIONS social justice
Lindsay Wolk
Guest Reporter
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Courtesy of Imrul Islam
n a New York Times review of the original 1977 production of the Tennessee Williams play “Vieux Carré,” critic Clive Barnes wrote, “It is a play of blatant melodrama and crepuscular atmosphere—poetically speaking, and he never tried anything less; Mr. Williams always writes of violence at twilight. Its qualities are those of texture rather than form. It is a series of vignettes, based on fact, falsified by art, transformed into short stories, and woven into a play.” Despite the show’s relatively negative reputation in light of Williams’s overall success as a playwright, drama students at Vassar tackled “Vieux Carré” head-on and the production was a resounding success. The show was a senior project in drama, an optional thesis project undertaken by drama students with a focus in areas such as directing, dramaturgy and stage design. “Vieux Carré” was a combined senior project by the director, set designer and choreographer Matt Goldstein ’17; casting director Naa Nikoi ’17; actress, choreographer and props designer Becky Wilson ’17; and actors Sally Roberts ’17, Billy Porges ’17 and Dan Thompson ’17. Members met for 16 hours of rehearsal each week and senior project members dedicated another three hours to weekly meetings outside of regular rehearsal. “In five short weeks we cast the See DRAMA on page 15
Pictured above is Billy Porges ’17 in the role of The Writer in last week’s production of Tennessee Williams’s “Vieux Carré,” a senior project in drama.
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Humor section heals pain of election HUMOR through art
n Monday, Nov. 14, Vassar students from all different communities joined together in the Villard Room to hear Chris Mosier speak about his life and experiences. Mosier is the first ever transgender athlete to compete on Team USA. The lecture began with Mosier addressing a question he was asked in a prior talk about the moment he knew that he identified as transgender. This led to his explanation of the idea that one moment in time can change everything and a million moments lead up to that one piece of time. That one moment for Mosier came in 2009 on his 29th birthday, when he decided that he never wanted to feel so unhappy, especially on a birthday, ever again. When asked to describe himself, the first two words that come to Mosier’s head are “athlete” and “competitive.” While he was always uncomfortable in his body throughout his childhood into young adulthood, Mosier was certain of one thing: he identified as an athlete. In high school, Mosier competed as a tri-sport athlete in volleyball, basketball and softball, earning honors in each. However, as college approached, he decided to end his organized athletics career, citing his desire to focus on academics, get a job to pay
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for school and join different clubs to explore his interests. In hindsight, Mosier states that the true reason that he didn’t continue his athletic career at a higher level was his fear of being labeled a ‘woman athlete.’ Following college, Mosier picked up recreational running as a hobby with fitness as the main goal. Through running and lifting weights, he was able to feel more connected with his body, altering the way he looked by slimming down in areas and building muscle in others in order to appear more physically masculine. In 2009, Mosier competed in his first triathlon, where he won first place in the women’s beginner division. This first race served as another moment in which everything changed. He wanted to see just how far he could push himself athletically. In 2010, Mosier began his transition, taking testosterone and competing in men’s races, which to him finally felt right. In 2011, two years after winning his division as a woman in a New York City triathalon, Mosier competed in the same race; his first triathlon as a male. Following his transition, The New York Times wrote an article about Mosier and his experiences. The writer stated that even though Mosier was an elite female athlete, when he competed as a man, his skill level would See ATHLETE on page 18
Troupe works asps off to raise curtain on drama