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THE INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF OSWEGO STATE UNIVERSITY • www.oswegonian.com

VOLUME LXXX ISSUE VI

Remembering Mary Walker 95 years after her death, Dr. Mary E. Walker’s influence, activism still seen on campus, in community today Ryan Deffenbaugh Editor-in-Chief rdeffenbaugh@oswegonian.com

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n 1916, the Board of Medal Awards, concerned that too many Medal of Honor awards were given away too expediently, reviewed all previous Medals of Honor given out before World War I. The review would end with nearly 1,000 medals taken away, many from veterans who had had their medals for a half-century. The recipients were ordered to return the medals to the board, and told that wearing a medal unearned was a crime. Included in this group was Dr. Mary Walker, an Oswego resident who served as the only acting assistant surgeon of her gender during the Civil War. Walker, 85-years-old at the time, did not take the ruling lying down. She countered with an impassioned defense of her medal and refused to return it. She wore the medal, despite what anyone in Washington D.C. had to say, every day until her death three years later. The medal was eventually restored by President Jimmy Carter in 1977 after lobbying done by Walker’s ancestors, 58 years after her death. To this day, she is the only woman to receive the honor. That Walker never got to see the day her honor was restored is in line with her legacy. As a woman ahead of her time, her efforts were rarely recognized as they occurred. “I have to die before people will know who I am and what I have done,” Walker once said. “It is a shame that people who

Luke Parsnow Asst. News Editor lparsnow@oswegonian.com

While many Oswego State students returned to their homes for much needed relief during spring break, some students partook in an Alternative Spring Break and spent the week doing volunteer work at various locations around the nation. The locations students can go during break vary from year to year. This year, students had the opportunity to travel to New Jersey, Iowa, North Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi, El Salvador and the Dominican Republic. “It is a really unique opportunity that you really only have the option to experience while you are in college,” Alyssa Amyott, coordinator of service learning and community service said. These services manage Alternative Spring Break. “It is a great way to meet new people, see a new place and help out a community in need.” The students who went to Iowa, Alabama and Mississippi volunteered for Habitat for Humanity, an organization that specializes in building decent and affordable housing for low income families and addresses the issues of poverty housing worldwide. “This trip literally changed my life,” Alabama group member Jen Labas said. “One reason is because the people in Alabama and their southern hospitality, and they all

lead reforms in this world are not appreciated until after they are dead.” Walker’s words were prophetic, as she would not live to see the extent of her influence on Oswego and the rest of the country. “When you enter the town now you see the signs ‘Home of Dr. Mary Walker,’” said George DeMass, the president of the Oswego Town Historical Society. “Well, she’d be flabbergasted.” A life of activism While not the first woman to practice medicine, she was among the first ever practitioners. And while she was not the first woman to abandon traditional dress, Dr. Walker was one of the most vocal advocates of dress reform for women, lecturing around the U.S. and even in England. She was also one of Oswego’s most wellknown personalities during the nineteenth century, though she was often known more for her eccentricities than her beliefs. “She had to be very forceful in getting some of the things that she believed in and fought for,” DeMass said. “So the neighbors back then would think ‘oh, she’s really eccentric,’ and so forth, and she wouldn’t wear the corsets and the dresses, because they weren’t healthy, and so most of them just didn’t really understand her.” Walker was born on Bunker Hill Road in the town of Oswego in 1832. The youngest of four sisters, Walker often did the boys’ work on the farm.

See BREAK, A5

See WALKER, A6 David Owens |The Oswegonian

Student wearing blackface sparks racial debate

BSU holds meeting discussing campus race interactions after offensive photo spreads on social media Moraima Capellán Pichardo A&E Editor mcapellan@oswegonian.com

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Moraima Capellán Pichardo |The Oswegonian Students attending the BSU meeting March 10 pose with a sign protesting against insensitive costumes.

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She immediately knew something was wrong. Everyone at the party seemed to be enjoying themselves and ignoring the elephant in the room. Julia Nuzzo, however, thought that it needed to be addressed, so she asked the student what his intentions were. According to Nuzzo, the student, Christopher Van Cura, told her and other students at the party that he had been participating in a beer Olympics (a type of party involving several beer drinking

games) and that he was part of team Jamaica. Because of this, he wore a Bob Marley shirt and his face was painted in black. Nuzzo said she asked him if he planned to remove the offensive paint off his face, to which he replied that he would not because he was representing Jamaica. This party took place the night of March 1, just a day after the national celebration of Black History Month. A photo of the costume at the party made it onto social media on March 4 and sparked anger, debate and action from the students of color at Oswego State.

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Student activity fee passes vote; stays mandatory

The mandatory Student Association fee will remain mandatory according to the SA election results. Along with the election of SA president and vice president, students also had to vote on March 11 and 12 on whether to continue the SA mandatory fee of $97 that Oswego State students pay every semester. The vote passed with 84.36 percent approval of the 243 students that cast votes on Election Day. The SA fee funds many of the clubs and organizations on campus, as well as other things like Centro bus service around town. The fee got a lot of attention this year in the elections, as the unopposed presidential and vice presidential candidates emphasized it during the campaign season, as long as a controversial affair involving disturbing posters promoting the fee.

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