The Miscellany News
Since 1866 | miscellanynews.org
Volume CLI | Issue 19
April 4, 2019
Talya Phelps/The Miscellany News
VSA funds disputed panelist Mack Liederman
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Senior Editor
reaking from the run-of-themill law and order of chair updates and speedy consensus agendas, all attending the March 24 VSA Senate paused to hone in on a series of images, projected loud and clear onto the wall of Rocky 112. In one, an illustrated bust of a Palestinian woman takes an impassive glare as silhouettes of men toting guns run down the length of her burqa. In another, a man is honored on the anniversary of his martyrdom. These images—initially shared by Palestinian activist Zachariah Barghouti on Facebook—raised concerns for members of VSA Finance, leading the committee to first withhold funding requested by Students For Justice in Palestine (SJP) to bring Barghouti to campus. SJP was planning on having Barghouti speak on a panel, “One Year Later,” scheduled for Thursday, April 4. See SJP SPEAKER on page 4
Pictured above is Professor and Chair of Computer Science Luke Hunsberger in his home. Come June, Hunsberger expects to be pushed out of his residence on College Avenue for the Inn and Institute.
Faculty housing to be demolished ley’s announcement on Dec. 21, 2018, alerting professors that the Williams faculty housing complex was to be torn down in order to construct a parking lot. This parking lot would complement the Inn and Institute—a building that will combine an inn with a space dedicated to conferences and other events that will, according to Bradley, “put Vassar on the map.” Originally, faculty members were instructed to vacate Williams by December 2019. However, in re-
Talya Phelps and Jessica Moss
Contributing Editor and News Editor
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n a letter early this February, Professor of Chemistry Miriam Rossi invited President of the College Elizabeth Bradley to read the lyrics of “Big Yellow Taxi,” by folk singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell: “Don’t it always seem to go/that you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone/ They paved paradise/and put up a parking lot.” Rossi was responding to Brad-
Vassar College Poughkeepsie, NY
sponse to criticism on the part of Williams residents and other empathetic residential faculty, the College moved the evacuation date to June of 2020, when Williams is scheduled to be demolished. The decision comes after a lengthy string of negotiations. According to Professor and Chair of Computer Science Luke Hunsberger, the proposal to tear down Williams—where he is a resident— was originally taken off the table by See HOUSING on page 3
RecWeek refocuses restfulness Lindsay Craig
“I
Guest Colunmist
am a sex addict,” declared a written statement on the dusty window of an abandoned storefront in Chinatown, Manhattan. While thousands of New Yorkers power walked past the dilapidated window daily, my group intentionally stopped and huddled around it. In our circle of six, we mourned and prayed in silence, and then out loud. Inside, I could vaguely envisage mats and posters traditionally found in a massage parlor, the remnants of a common site of sexual exploitation in this part of New York. This particular walk was dubbed the Jericho Walk, in reference to the biblical Battle of Jericho. In this powerful account, Joshua’s Israelite army crumbled the walls around enemy-city Jericho by simply blowing their trumpets. The walk was our version of the same battle: prayerful resistance against sexual See RECWEEK on page 10
Series explores ‘passing’ narratives Abby Tarwater Arts Editor
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Courtesy ofThe Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center The above photo is a still from visual artist Melanie Gutierrez’s video “Clubbing,” being screened in the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center exhibit “Quiet as It’s Kept: Passing Subjects, Contested Identities.”
Inside this issue
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Student models celebrate Asian cultural FEATURES diversity at ASA fashion show
In response to “A White Lie” and the 90th anniversary of the publication of Nella Larson’s seminal novel “Passing,” Professor of Film Mia Mask and Associate Professor of English Hiram Perez organized an event series that explores the topic. On Feb. 28, The Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center opened the exhibit “Quiet as It’s Kept: Passing Subjects, Contested Identities,” which surveys art’s modern and historical engagement with passing through video, photography and paintings. The exhibit is supplemented by three presentations and panel discussions, a keynote address and a film screening and various corresponding conversations, all of which will take place from April 5 to 7. The art exhibit takes place in the Focus Gallery and the Hoene Hoy Photography Gallery. Curator Mary-Kay Lombino selected multimedia works by seven contemporary artists, as well as two historical examples, to provide varied perspectives on the topic of passing. In an email interview, Perez articulated the purpose of the exhibit: “[It] includes work by established as well as younger See PASSING on page 7
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Overlooking shooter manifestos exacerbates mass OPINIONS violence, white supremacy
Courtesy of Nick Jallat
he idea of “passing for white” has held historical significance for people of color in America since it emerged as a prominent literary theme during the abolitionist movement, the postbellum era and the Harlem Renaissance. However, the theme of passing remains prevalent in film, literature and art today, and it has expanded to include subversions of class, gender and sex-
uality. This continued relevance is especially palpable on Vassar’s campus in light of the upcoming Zendaya and Reese Witherspoon-produced film “A White Lie,” which tells the story of Anita Hemmings, the first known African-American woman to graduate from Vassar. The school accepted Hemmings under the impression that she was white, and her forthcoming biopic has renewed campus discussions of passing in its various forms.
Sophomore catcher Brent Shimoda slides into base during a recent game. Shimoda went 5-10 at the plate in four weekend games against Clarkson, but his play was one of only a few bright spots for Vassar.
Baseball drops first four in league play Jonah Frere-Holmes Guest Reporter
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aseball season is notoriously long. With their first home series of the 2019 campaign in the books, the Brewers of Vassar baseball are glad of that. After getting swept in four games by
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Clarkson, and outscored 49-17 in the process, the Brewers’ focus is perhaps more forward-facing than the average team. To their credit, Vassar isn’t hiding from its shortcomings. First-year second baseman Sam See BASEBALL on page 19
Relaxing spring break somehow leaves sleepy, HUMOR stressed, sullen student in its wake