The Dartmouth 09/17/2021

VOL. CLXXVIII NO. 16

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2021

HANOVER, NEW HAMPSHIRE

Back in the classroom at last: New allegations claim students and professors react to BVAC donor Leon return of in-person instruction Black ’73 sexually harassed Russian model

BY Daniel Modesto The Dartmouth Staff

NAINA BHALLA/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF

BY Sydney Wuu The Dartmouth Staff

After over a year of Zoom learning, thousands of Dartmouth students and professors have returned to the classroom to welcome the new school year.

The 2020-21 school year consisted predominantly of virtual classes, with roughly 10 courses being offered in person during the 2021 winter and spring quarters. Summer term featured 19 fully in-person classes as students and faculty alike received their COVID-19 vaccines and submitted documentation to Dartmouth College Health Services.

In a sharp transition from recent terms, 634 classes are in person this fall, according to an email sent to campus from Interim Provost David Kotz and Dean of the Faculty Elizabeth Smith.

The email noted that a few professors

PARTLY CLOUDY HIGH 75 LOW 63

with “exceptional” circumstances requested to opt out of in-person instruction. Only 13 courses were granted such accommodations.

Students share first impressions Aspiring doctor Ramsey Ash ’24 has enrolled in CHEM 51, “Organic Chemistry,” INTS 18, “Global Health and Society” and SPAN 2, “Spanish 2” this fall.

“We had a class discussion in [INTS 18] yesterday, which was so cool because we weren’t in breakout rooms on Zoom,” Ash said. “I really liked being able to meet other people in person and feel like I’m connecting with people who have similar interests as me.”

Adriana Chavira-Ochoa ’24 lived on campus for all three terms of her freshman year and took online classes.

Chavira-Ochoa said that it is “a huge shock” to be back in person after the

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Q&A with National 9/11 Memorial designer Michael Arad ’91

BY COALTER PALMER

NEWS

summer and believes in-person classes will allow her to “learn and perform better.”

“I’m loving it so far — it’s so different,” Chavira-Ochoa said.

“Meeting the professors in person and my classmates has been such a blessing. I feel more motivated to stay on top of my classes and feel much more interested in my coursework. The last three terms felt so isolated and bland — now the school feels alive.”

Marina Wang ’25 was admitted as a member of the Class of 2024 but decided to take a gap year during which she taught reading, math and science to school-age children via Zoom and road-tripped across the U.S. with other gappers. A large factor contributing to her decision was the shift to online learning, she said.

Wang emphasized that there is “so

Michael Arad ’91 is the designer of the National September 11 Memorial at Ground Zero in New York City. His design — titled “Reflecting Absence” — was selected from more than 5,200 proposals submitted to a 2004 competition organized by the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation.

The memorial, which features two waterfall pools in the footprints of the North and South Towers, is intended to convey “absence made visible,” according to Arad, and displays the names of the 2,983 people killed in the Sept. 11 attacks and in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. These names include the 12 Dartmouth community members who died on that day — Paul Ambrose (Dartmouth Medical School Residency ’96-’99), Juan Cisneros ’99, Christopher Colasanti ’90, Kevin Connors Tu’73, Kevin Crotty ’80, Brian Dale ’80 Tu’81, Joseph Flounders ’77, Jeffrey LeVeen ’68, Frederick Rimmele III (Maine-Dartmouth Family Practice Residency ’97), Thomas Theurkauf, Jr. Tu’81 and Richard Woodwell ’79.

In the days after the 20th anniversary of the attacks — this past Saturday — The Dartmouth sat down with Arad to discuss his work on the memorial, how his Dartmouth experience informed his work and his recent projects.

What motivated you to submit a design to the memorial competition and to ultimately take on the task of building the memorial?

MA: I think what motivated me initially was very much being in New York and witnessing the attack, which motivated thousands of New Yorkers to get engaged — not just people in the architectural community, but everyone seemed to be very engaged in the question of, “How do we respond as a city to these attacks?”

Here in New York, places like the Javits Convention Center became sites where people came together to look at different

design plans, and to opine on them with a level of civic engagement I don’t think you’ve ever seen in New York City. I think that was really important, and that sort of propelled me to start thinking about the question of how to respond as a city and how do we create a place, a memorial, that reflects on what occurred here with the attacks and the way that the city responded to them.

The memorial’s early design was quite different from the final one. Can you briefly describe the creative process you went through, from your early designs to the memorial we see today?

MA: I actually started thinking about a design for the memorial before there was a memorial design competition.

The initial impulse I had was to think about a memorial in the Hudson River, in part because, early in this process, the idea of rebuilding anything at the World Trade Center felt fraught with so much difficulty and emotion. Ground Zero then was a six-story-high, 16-acre pile of smoldering rubble, with recovery crews climbing across the hellish landscaping and pulling bodies out of the debris. So, at the time, I couldn’t actually imagine what you would rebuild at the site.

I imagined the surface of the river shorn open and forming two square voids, symbolically marking the Twin Towers somehow, and these empty spaces would remain empty: Even though the river would flow into them, they would never fill up. I spent months trying to understand if it could actually be built and ended up creating a small desktop model of the fountain at home and taking a picture of the model, superimposed over the Hudson, from the rooftop of our apartment building against the skyline — and this is a process that took over a year.

I could see the absence of the towers in the skyline mirrored and reflected in these twin voids that I’d created. I set it aside and came back to it a year later, following the selection of a master plan for the World Trade Center site that

More allegations against former trustee Leon Black ’73 have come to light after an internal review ordered

by Black’s company revealed that Black paid convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein over $150 million dollars from 2012 to 2017.

Last October, a New York Times report revealed that Black had paid Epstein at least $50 million in the years after Epstein first pleaded guilty to charges of sex crimes in 2008.

After the New York Times report was published, Black requested that the board of his company, Apollo Global Management, conduct a review.

The results of the review, which was released in January, indicate that Black had paid more than $150 million to Epstein for services related to trust and estate planning, taxes and philanthropy. The review also found no evidence that Black played a role in Epstein’s criminal enterprise.

In June, former model Guzel Ganieva filed a lawsuit against Black, claiming that Black sexually harassed and abused her over the course of seven years. Ganieva has also alleged that Black flew her to Florida against her will to meet Epstein in 2008.

Community members at Dartmouth have on multiple occasions lobbied the College to take action about Black’s ties with Epstein and change the name of the Black Family Visual Arts Center. Dartmouth Community Against Gender Harassment and Sexual Violence, an advocacy group comprised of alumni, students, faculty and other College affiliates, called on the College to remove Black’s name from BVAC in February.

Ruth Cserr ’88, a founding member of the group, said that the recent allegations have “distressed” several members of the group and have caused her perceptions of the building to change.

“I feel like every time I walk in, now that I know about Black and his relationship to Epstein, it’s an affront to all the survivors of sexual violence and harassment,” Cserr said. “It’s just a constant reminder.”

College spokesperson Diana Lawrence declined to comment on the recent developments, noting that the allegations were part of an “ongoing legal matter.” She confirmed that there were no plans to rename the arts center.

Cserr said that the College’s inaction indicates a lack of “will or bravery or concern [regarding the allegations against Black].” She stressed that the College should respond promptly given Black’s recent tenure on the Board of Trustees and the history of sexual misconduct at Dartmouth.

On Jun. 1, Ganieva filed a defamation lawsuit in a New York

state court against Black. According to the lawsuit, Black falsely accused her of extorting him in a Bloomberg article, which was published shortly after Ganieva alleged on Twitter that Black had sexually harassed and abused her. In the article, Black stated that he had a “consensual affair” with Ganieva and that her allegations were unrelated to his decision to step down as CEO from Apollo Global Management.

The lawsuit details Ganieva’s relationship with Black, alleging that Ganieva experienced a cycle of “intimidation, abuse and humiliation by Black” including “forced sexual conduct against her will” and an instance of rape in 2014.

Ganieva added that Black exhibited “ d e ro g at o r y a n d c o n t ro l l i n g conduct,” including belittlement and physical intimidation.

In early July, Black’s lawyers filed a counterclaim, in which they wrote that the allegations made by Ganieva were a “work of fiction” and contend that the relationship between Black and Ganieva was “casual, episodic and completely consensual.” According to the counterclaim, Ganieva initiated an extortion campaign in which she “would harm Mr. Black’s personal and professional life” if he didn’t send her “exorbitant sums of money.”

In an emailed statement to The Dartmouth, Black’s attorney Danya Perry wrote that Ganieva’s alleged Florida meeting with Epstein was “made up,” adding that recorded conversations reveal that “Ms. Ganieva acknowledged… she never met Jeffrey Epstein in Mr. Black’s presence.” She denounced the “sham lawsuit” as an attempt to “destroy” Black’s character.

A month following Black’s counterclaim, Ganieva alleged in an amended version of the lawsuit that Black flew her “down to Florida [in 2008] without her consent to satisfy the sex needs of Epstein.” According to the lawsuit, Black warned her to not tell anyone or “he would frame her with possessing ‘very serious’ drugs that would make her family and son ashamed of her.”

The lawsuit claims that once Ganieva arrived at Epstein’s home in Florida, she was uncomfortable being in the presence of both Black and Epstein, who allegedly coerced her into “[laying] in between [them].” It states that Ganieva recalled feeling “disgusted” and “caught off-guard” and that she clearly stated that she would not have sex with Epstein. The lawsuit states that Black then flew her back to New York in silence.

G a n i e v a ’s l a w ye r Je a n n e Christensen wrote in an email statement to The Dartmouth that she and her firm will continue to “aggressively litigate the claims alleged against Leon Black on behalf of our client Guzel Ganieva.”

NIK MEDRANO/THE DARTMOUTH STAFF

began to restore the site into the fabric of the city. This plan broke down the 16-acre super-block created for the World Trade Center in the 1960s into four smaller city blocks. These four quadrants were different in size — the largest was about eight acres in size, about half the size of the site. And this quadrant was where the Twin Towers had once stood, and that became the basis for the memorial design competition.

However, the competition guidelines called for that eight-acre memorial site to be some 60 feet below the surrounding

streets and sidewalks — at the time, after the recovery effort had concluded, the site extended roughly this distance below the surrounding streets and sidewalks to the lowest basement slab within the World Trade Center complex. In thinking of my own experiences in places like Washington Square and Union Square, and of how important it was for me to be able to go to these public places and to feel connected, the guidelines of the competition seemed to call for something that was very different than what I had SEE MEMORIAL PAGE 2

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FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2021

THE DARTMOUTH NEWS

Expanded, month-long FYSEP program features inperson courses and social events for FGLI first years

BY Kristin Chapman The Dartmouth Staff

An expanded First-Year Student Enrichment Program took place in person this August, following last year’s virtual programming. Students who participated in the program said FYSEP equipped them with knowledge of academic resources at Dartmouth and helped them develop communities.

The updated four-week program was made possible by a $13 million donation that allowed the College to establish a new First-Generation Office this summer and hire former Office of Pluralism and Leadership program coordinator Theresa Hernandez as its assistant director. In the past, the program ran for only five days.

The expanded FYSEP program, which started on Aug. 9 and will continue to connect students with resources throughout the year, featured three summer courses that prepared first-generation and low-income students for the academic and social environment at Dartmouth. The program also included social events — such as arts and crafts and outdoor hikes — that encouraged students to meet each other.

According to FYSEP director Jay Davis, the new program allowed FGLI

students “more opportunity to build deeper connections, build deeper trust, ... connect with faculty, do work over a period of time and learn from balancing things they wanted to do with perhaps the academic work they had to do.”

Davis said that because of the extended timeframe, he felt that the academic portion of the program improved the most because professors could better simulate a college course load over a longer period. During their time at FYSEP, students took three courses that cover college knowledge, introductory STEM and culture, identity and belonging.

FYSEP participants reflected on their uncertainties before arriving at Dartmouth and said their experiences with the program have been positive.

“Before FYSEP, I felt extremely nervous,” Rosario Rosales ’25 said.

“I knew that the environment and everything was going to be different compared to where I’m originally from … I wasn’t sure if I was going to find my community, my people –– I knew that I would eventually find it, but the question was how for me.”

Luka Faccini Zanon ’25 said that he felt less prepared for writing and discussion-based courses before going through FYSEP because of his high school’s emphasis on STEM.

“Usually, back in Brazil, I would have classes with 50 people, and we wouldn’t really have many discussions, so raising my hand and speaking up was a bit of a challenge in the beginning,” Zanon said. “The good thing is that all the professors and the staff [in FYSEP] always encouraged us to raise our hand –– they always said, ‘You should participate.’”

Psychology professor John Pfister, who taught one section of the culture, identity and belonging course, said he encouraged his students to speak up in class and wanted them to know that they had a voice on campus.

“My big thing was to give students the chance to see their voice matter in the classroom and out of the classroom –– what they had to say was important and should be listened to,” Pfister said.

Pfister said he enjoyed seeing the “resilience” and “passion” of his students during FYSEP. He also noted that being a first-generation student himself, he thinks it is important to reach out and ask for help.

FYSEP participant Ar mita Mirkarimi ’25 explained that in her experience, FGLI students are often accustomed to being independent, which is why they might hesitate to ask for help.

“We’re always having to do

everything ourselves because we don’t have a parent, or somebody else to show us the road maps, so we’re all kind of like, ‘I’m going to do this by myself,’” she said, adding, “ … [FYSEP] really prepared me that it’s okay to ask for help, and there are a multitude of resources that you need to reach out to as soon as possible to maximize your impact here.”

In addition to the three courses, Zanon and Rosales said that their favorite social event was “Wandering with Jay,” which involved leaving campus to explore the surrounding area, visiting Davis’s home in Lyme and going swimming in a nearby stream.

Davis said he was able to transport 44 students off campus over the course of the program and hopes to continue the tradition into fall term.

“I think I’ll continue that through the fall, not every week, but an opportunity for groups to come out and then to mix them with upper-class students,” he said. “ … Just getting off campus, I think, is a healthy thing, and I wanted to have [FGLI students] experience that early on.”

Davis stressed that although the FYSEP summer session ends at the start of fall orientation, FGO programming will continue throughout students’ time at Dartmouth. Students will have the

opportunity to meet with him as much as they see fit, he added.

“We have a network now of almost 95 alumni who are part of a support network –– first-gen alums who want to be there to support undergraduates who have questions about life beyond Dartmouth,” Davis said. “It’s not just, ‘Good luck.’ It’s, ‘We’re here for you and we will continue to be here for you.’”

Mirkarimi said she was touched by Davis’ support and encouragement.

“One thing Jay said that really stuck with me was that Dartmouth has an impact on you, but you are also having an impact on Dartmouth, so the sooner that you maximize these resources that are available to you, the more you are going to touch the school and the more that the school is going to touch you,” she said.

Another FYSEP participant, Alejandra Carrasco Alayo ’25, said she feels confident that she and other FYSEP students will look out for each other –– and other FGLI students –– going forward.

“I feel confident in my classes, confident that I will do a really good job,” Alayo said. “I have people that are really taking care of me, too, even though we are not [living] together anymore … we have each other’s backs.”

Arad proposal differed from original plan for 9/11 site FROM MEMORIAL PAGE 1

envisioned: a place that would forever be severed from the city and that only people going explicitly to visit the memorial could experience but nobody else.

We wanted to make Ground Zero a space that would make living here and working here — or visiting here — a more emotionally meaningful experience. So I sent in a proposal that basically ignored the guidelines and laid out a different direction than the one outlined in the Master Plan. My proposal was quite polemical because I was also emotionally invested in the design, and when I submitted it, I didn’t anticipate that it would actually be selected. But then when it was, we faced a very difficult process of reconciling the memorial proposal with what the Master Plan had suggested and with what the many other projects that were being built on the same site were moving forward with. This process took eight years, until we dedicated the memorial on the 10th anniversary of the attacks.

What do you hope that visitors take away from their encounter with the memorial?

MA: I think a lot of it is up to the visitors. I think what the memorial can do is connect people to the history of the site, and to make that history very explicit and tangible in a way that should have an emotional impact. How visitors respond to that emotional impact, I think, is up to the individual. There’s no

didactic, singular response — different people will walk away from the site with a different set of emotions, a different set of thoughts and beliefs. But if the site doesn’t prompt some introspection, some call to action, some change, then it’s not achieving its goals.

In implementing your vision for the memorial, you were faced with balancing the wishes of the victims’ families, navigating bureaucratic red tape and fitting the design into the overall Ground Zero Master Plan, among other challenges. Can you speak to some of these challenges you faced and how you were ultimately able to overcome them?

MA: Through dialogue and engagement, and by listening and responding, all while holding onto the important underpinnings of the design — which were about making absence visible and tangible and making Ground Zero a civic and urban space. Those principles guided the design, although some physical aspects of the design changed.

For example, we were asked to bring the names, which our initial designs put 30 feet below the plaza, up to ground level.

Moving the design up to the plaza, we had to find a way of making that moment of encounter with the names, standing at the threshold of this enormous empty space, just as impactful as it had been when we had the below-ground memorial galleries. I believe we were able to do that, but it took a lot — design is a long

process, and there were many iterations that came and went of how and where we would display the names. But I think as long as we had the guiding light of our design principles that underpins the memorial, we were able to keep the memorial from becoming something altogether different — something that could have become either self-pitying or jingoistic or different than what I had seen and what I experienced here in New York.

How did your experience at Dartmouth inform your work on the memorial?

MA: When I began my education at Dartmouth, I thought I was probably going to go to law school upon graduation.

I was a government major and I enjoyed those classes, but I also was curious about other things. Being in a place like Dartmouth, we have the ability to take lots of different classes in different areas. So I got my major requirements out of the way relatively quickly and had a couple of years to take studio arts classes, philosophy classes, history classes, religion classes — and I think being able to do that was a tremendous privilege. It opened my eyes and allowed me to start thinking about what I wanted to do with the rest of my life.

I applied to law school at the end of college and did not get in, so I took a gap year and was a ski bum for a year, using that time to apply again to law school and also to architecture programs. The following year, I did get

into law school at Hebrew University but decided to stay in the United States and study architecture. If it weren’t for my experiences at Dartmouth, I probably would not have had the opportunity to take those studio art classes, to be engaged in the student workshops at the Hop, and to find myself really drawn to design, fabrication, architecture and all of its various manifestations.

What other projects have you worked on since?

MA: I’m working on an incredibly importantprojectrightnowinCharleston, South Carolina — a memorial to the Emanuel Nine, who were killed in the Mother Emanuel church in June 2015 by a white supremacist — and to the five survivors. That project began not with requests from that community for design but actually through engagement and conversation, and writing an essay on the nature of forgiveness and on how a memorial could act as an agent of change to fight racism in this country.

It’s been an incredibly huge privilege and responsibility to be engaged in this project. The community reached out to me and asked me to participate in this process. We began with design ideas, and then we explored a whole range of physical design aspects, or how we could take those ideas and give them form and space. We’re hoping to dedicate the memorial in a couple of years.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity and length.

Just 13 classes are remote this fall, 687 taught in person FROM CLASSES PAGE 1

much more” of a personal connection between classmates and professors in person, noting that there is a better flow in class discussions since students can make eye contact and observe when others are preparing to speak.

“There’s never an awkward lull like in Zoom conversations,” Wang said. “This is especially important in my [HUM 1, “Dialogues with the Classics”] class, where we have a lot of small group discussions and need to hear everyone’s thoughts — and also my [CHIN 4, “Advanced First-Year Chinese”] class because my teacher will often have us recite sentences back to each other to make sure our dictation is correct. It’s great we don’t have to worry about the WiFi cutting out or [having] one person speak at a time.”

Laurel Semprebon ’22 noted that she has found taking LING 1, “Introductory Linguistics,” in person to be particularly impactful.

“The in-person format is most helpful for LING 1 because right now we’re learning a lot about the sounds of the language and how your mouth moves when you make certain sounds,” Seprebon said. “That’s a really hard thing to do over Zoom.”

For similar reasons, Ash waited until he could attend live classes to complete his language requirement to experience in-person drill, also known as the Rassias method of language education.

“I think I’m going to get the iconic [7:45 a.m.] drill slot… I feel like it’s a Dartmouth tradition to do it at least once,” Ash said.

Leina Sato ’24, an international student from Tokyo, first stepped foot on

campus as a matriculated Dartmouth student the day before this term began, having attended all of her freshman year classes online from Japan.

Sato said that in-person classes allow for more group work. For example, she tackled her COSC 1, “Introduction to Programming and Computation” problem sets alone last year, but as she transitions to the more challenging COSC 10, “Problem Solving Via Object-Oriented Programming” this fall, she will appreciate the ability to befriend classmates and collaborate on homework assignments.

“Since you can work with a partner on problem sets for COSC 10, I’m especially glad to be back in the classroom because it’s so much easier to find partners than when doing the class virtually,” Sato said.

Professors weigh in Environmental studies professor James Erbaugh is entering his second year of co-teaching ENVS 3, “Environment and Society” this fall.

Erbaugh said that in-person classes bolster his ability to teach and students’ ability to learn.

“In-person classes are great,” Erbaugh said. “For us instructors it means a lot — human interaction, having questions, seeing people, being able to read somebody’s facial expression —or at least half of it. It is a nice change, because I think there’s the very human element to teaching that both exists within remote teaching but at the same time is constrained.”

Anthropology professor Madeleine McLeester is teaching ANTH 11, “Ancient Native Americans” this term. McLeester expressed a similar

sentiment, noting that in-person classes allow her to adapt to students’ real-time reactions.

“In class, you can gauge reactions better to the discussion than you can on Zoom, so you can see where people are getting confused or excited and orient your teaching around those two different sides,” McLeester said. “If people are getting confused, you can explain — because you can see it on their faces — and if students are really gravitating towards an idea, you can spend a little more time on that topic.”

McLeester added that, in the classroom, she can overhear snippets of conversation during group discussion that she was not able to hear on Zoom.

“For example, in my last class, I heard students talking about multispecies thinking, so then we can bring that [into the lecture], whereas in Zoom breakout rooms I can only be in one at a time and I can’t hear what’s going on in the other ones,” McLeester said.

Masking policy met with mixed reactions Although the return to in-person classes resembles pre-pandemic Dartmouth, several aspects of the classroom experience have been modified. For one, the College’s COVID-19 policy requires that students wear masks in class, regardless of vaccination status.

Chavira-Ochoa noted that a major downside to in-person learning is the masking policy.

“I feel like I can’t properly express my opinions since no one can properly hear me,” Chavira-Ochoa said. “Especially in [REL 20.06, “Shamanism: The Agony and the Ecstasy”], participation

is a significant chunk of my grade, and I can talk through the mask, but it’s annoying.”

Erbaugh said that while the mask policy is a “minor inconvenience,” it protects the larger community, especially faculty’s children who are too young to receive the vaccine.

“I feel very lucky,” Erbaugh said. “I don’t really have any health concerns and I don’t have any young children who are unvaccinated. I know that’s a big concern for a lot of faculty and something we really need to keep in mind. I want to be able to teach in person for as long as possible, so if [the masking policy] does reduce transmission on the margin, I’m all for it.”

Erbaugh said his main concern about in-person learning is that it may be cut short due to an unforeseen outbreak. Peer institutions have seen such outbreaks — Brown University reported 70 asymptomatic positive COVID-19 cases from Sept. 5 to Sept.

11, prompting additional restrictions to be put in place, and an outbreak at Duke University infected 350 students and 15 employees at the beginning of fall semester, moving some classes online for two weeks.

“I’m ultimately concerned — looking at other universities around the country — that [in-person classes] won’t last, so our course design is resilient,” Erbaugh said. “We can take it remote, but it’s so nice to be back in the classroom [so] I really hope we don’t have to.”

For students who do contract COVID-19 or need time off for physical and mental health, Erbaugh records every lecture and provides the

slides online to ensure resources are accessible to all students. He, along with environmental studies professor Richard Howarth and teaching assistant Lan Nguyen GR’23, use microphones to project their voices and ensure the class recording’s volume is audible.

McLeester said that for safety reasons, she has been “very happy” with the mask compliance in her classroom and expressed gratitude that the College opted to enforce it. She added that she has changed her attendance policy and continued to post class notes online to increase accessibility.

“That way, if students aren’t feeling well, they don’t have this pressure to come into class while they wait to go get a [COVID-19] test or be having to make that decision: ‘Oh, I have a little bit of light headache, what should I do?

I don’t want to miss class,’” McLeester said. “In my small groups, we are doing online note-taking, so that way if students do end up missing a class either for [COVID-19] or for some other reason, they still have access to the in-class notes.”

Semprebon said that she supports the mask policy as a preventative health measure, even if transmission rates remain low at the College.

“So far, my classes haven’t been overcrowded and people have been good about wearing masks,” Semprebon said. “I’m in support of the mask policy because I think even if we don’t have a lot of [COVID-19] on campus right now, we’ve got plenty of coughs and colds, and I feel like the policy about wearing masks and not coming in when you’re sick is in general a good health measure.”

THE DARTMOUTH OPINION

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2021

PAGE 3

THE DARTMOUTH EDITORIAL BOARD

Verbum Ultimum: We’re All in This Together

Following a disrupted and tumultuous academic year, it is vital that students work together to create an inclusive and cohesive Dartmouth experience.

For the first time in nearly eighteen months, Dartmouth has welcomed a majority of its undergraduate students back to campus and into classrooms. Many returning students have embraced this development as a welcome return to the Dartmouth of pre-pandemic times. Yet, for many others, this development represents a clear divergence from the Dartmouth experience they have had thus far. In-person classes, non-socially distanced dining halls and open-to-campus events hosted by Greek houses are entirely foreign to many students.

For them, the Dartmouth experience they are familiar with is not the one they have encountered upon returning for the fall term.

Members of the Class of 2024 are not the only ones who have encountered a completely new version of Dartmouth upon returning to campus. Some students, such as some members of the Classes of 2022 and 2023 who have not been on campus since, in some cases, March 2020, are returning to the College as upperclassmen after last occupying the campus as freshmen or sophomores. By now, at the tail end of their Dartmouth careers, these students have spent almost as much time away from campus as they have spent on it.

Supposedly veterans of the College, they have spent the last 18 months experiencing a significantly watered-down version of the Dartmouth they had come to know.. Even

if they recall a time when it was safe to sit in a classroom with professors and peers without masks, the experience of doing so feels like a lifetime ago for so many.

For those who have been on campus this past year, the return to in-person instruction and abandonment of social distancing policies represents the resumption of the college experience they have been yearning for since the pandemic began. For students who have returned to Dartmouth after enduring the loss of loved ones at the hands of the pandemic, the return is bittersweet: The College was a place they called home before their worlds were forever altered.

No matter which of these groups students identify with, this past year has been full of challenges, disappointments and frustrations. It is thus vital that students work together to cultivate an inclusive and cohesive Dartmouth experience as the College begins its return to normalcy. For all the variation that exists in students’ relationships to Dartmouth, we all are united by our shared grief for the memories we could have made in the absence of COVID-19.

As a student body, we all understand to varying degrees many students’ sorrow over losing almost a year and a half of inperson instruction, the four big weekends that are traditional hallmarks of the Dartmouth experience and all the Friday

STAFF COLUMNIST KAMI ARABIAN ’23

Building a New Middle East

In order to quell terror, the United States should bolster its relief programs and business partnerships in the Middle East and surrounding countries.

T h i s a r t i cl e w a s o r i g i n a l l y p u bl i s h e d o n S e p t e m b e r 1 4 , 2 0 2 1 .

Last month, an Islamic State sponsored attack on the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan killed dozens of people — among them, 13 American soldiers. As my immigrant mother watched the coverage in horror, she said it brought back painful memories of the 1983 Marine barracks bombing in Beirut, which she had witnessed first-hand.

U.S. Marines were deployed to Beirut in 1982 to facilitate the removal of the Palestine Liberation Organization from Lebanon. However, similar to the current crisis in Afghanistan, Lebanon was soon inundated by an endless stream of internal problems and a massive death toll.

Following months of discontent among the occupied, a suicide bomber drove his explosive-filled car into the barracks, killing 241 Marines almost instantly.

One of the survivors, Colonel Timothy J. Geraghty, later claimed that this event was the starting point of the “War on Terror.”

Years later, Geraghty, connecting Beirut to the September 11 attacks and the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan, stated, “Who would have thought years later, here we are [fighting] essentially the same crowd?”

Almost four decades have passed since the bombing, and while much has changed in the Middle East, a fundamental characteristic of American foreign policy remains unaltered: The U.S. continues to react to terrorism retroactively rather than proactively. For years now, we have been fighting terror abroad without attempting to understand its origin.

When it comes to mapping motives, the details matter. According to Lance Corporal Eddie DiFranco, one of the most unsettling aspects of the barracks bombing was the expression on the perpetrator’s face. “He looked right at me… smiled, that’s it,” the soldier reported. “Soon as I saw the truck over here, I knew what was going to happen.” Later, intelligence discovered that the driver — eerily designated “Smiling Death” by survivors — was essentially a nobody, with no previous record of violence.

This prompts the question: What drew this man, alongside the many terrorists before and after him, to feel such immense pleasure in the mindless suffering of others?

The answers: hopelessness, pessimism and alienation. By 1983, the civil war in Lebanon had been raging incessantly for eight years with no end in sight. Many people felt no confidence that a better future was coming and blamed the West for the destruction of their country. Those who resonate with this sentiment and similar ones have been the primary target for terrorist recruitment across the Middle East and surrounding countries. In fact, a recent study conducted by the American Enterprise Institute and published by the United Nations found that, in addition to “ideological appeal,” “real or perceived exclusion, grievance, or cultural threat” have attracted many to extremism.

Thus, the U.S. and global community would benefit from sponsoring hope in the region — inspiring the “American Dream” in people that are in desperate

need of it. As Afghanistan and Lebanon spiral into a state of economic ruin several times worse than the Great Depression, the U.S. should be there to remind them of the light at the end of the tunnel. This would entail, of course, an expansion of the relief programs already in place. However, it must also entail business partnerships and reinvestment in the region. After all, if there is one lesson that the West should learn from the Arab Spring in 2011, it’s that the Arabs want to be seen as agents of their own fate — they wish to be treated as a partner of the West, not a subordinate to it.

As the U.S. struggles through a humiliating withdrawal from Afghanistan, Iran and Syria have rallied behind depressionstricken Lebanon. Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah — leader of Hezbollah, the Lebanon-based terror group responsible for the Marine barracks bombing — announced that an Iranian fuel tanker will provide emergency relief to Lebanon. One would only imagine that the people of Lebanon, crippled by fuel and electricity shortages, are grateful for this assistance, despite its questionable source and driving motives. In a similar vein, Syria’s dictatorial regime began conducting highlevel meetings with Lebanese officials in an attempt to bolster diplomatic ties between the two countries. If the U.S. does not offer similar humanitarian relief and diplomatic support to Lebanon, it risks forfeiting the hearts and minds of its people to adversarial forces in the region. Leaving those who are willing to engage with the U.S. and its liberal ideals to their own devices in this way will only worsen an already grim situation on the ground in Afghanistan and Lebanon.

In Afghanistan, President Joe Biden promised that, if there were any Americans or American allies left, “we’re gonna stay to get them all out.” This did not happen.

Unfortunately, White House estimates suggest that, as of August 31, there remained as many as 200 Americans in Afghanistan who intended to leave but were unable to.

When it comes to our allies, however, the numbers are even more dire. On August 25, The New York Times reported that at least 250,000 visa-eligible Afghans — men and women who had risked their lives in the pursuit of freedom — had not been able to evacuate the country. Worse, there are reports that the Taliban has launched a door-to-door manhunt in search of people who worked for NATO or the fallen Afghan government. Needless to say, these developments are contrary to American interests in the region and only serve to further alienate our current and former allies.

My parents are old enough to remember a time when Lebanon and Afghanistan were not in a state of perpetual internal turmoil.

In fact, the Beirut of their childhood was a land of coexistence, wherein all communities — the Shiites, Sunnis, various Christian sects and Druse — could enjoy relative peace and young men and women dreamt of a future in their country. Today, with that hope in peril, the U.S. must do everything in its power to inspire the Lebanese and Afghans. The promise of immediate humanitarian relief and more long-term business partnerships that can provide a stable income for millions of people will restore hope for generations to come.

nights we would have gone out with friends.

Sure, some of us have lost more time at Dartmouth than others — members of the Classes of 2023 and 2022, for example, have spent six terms learning largely via remote instruction. For members of the Class of 2024, the bulk of their Dartmouth experiences have been through a computer screen. And members of the Class of 2025 are beginning their Dartmouth careers during a time when Dartmouth itself is experiencing an identity crisis.

As we begin to grapple with which aspects of the different Dartmouth experiences we want to maintain and those which we wish to change, it is crucial not to discount, delegitimize and dismiss the experiences of our peers simply because they are different from our own. Arguing over which class has had it “worse” over the past 18 months is unproductive and divisive. If part of what makes Dartmouth such a special place is the close-knit community and the care we exhibit for each other and the campus we call home, then it is time we, as a student body, start acting like it.

Regardless of students’ individual

experiences, it is critical that we be willing to work together to determine what a post-pandemic Dartmouth ought to look like. We have an opportunity to create a version of Dartmouth that is better than that which we have experienced. By discounting other students’ Dartmouth experiences simply because they are different from our own, we fail to realize how much we have in common with each other — and we waste an opportunity to learn and grow from the events of the past year.

Have kindness and compassion for your peers. Listen to their experiences. Learn from each other. For all of the setbacks of the past year, there remains a lot to be learned from the pandemic — and, by extension, from the experiences of everyone who lived through it. It is only by working together that we can build a Dartmouth experience that truly reflects the values and interests of the entire Dartmouth community, one that everyone can share in.

The editorial board consists of opinion staff columnists, the opinion editors, the executive editors and the editor-in-chief.

STAFF COLUMNIST SPENCER ALLEN ’23

Refinance our Houses

The house communities’ budget must be reinvested in more worthwhile causes.

T h i s a r t i c l e w a s p u bl i s h e d o n S e p t e m b e r

originally 16, 2021.

Established in 2016 as part of College President Phil Hanlon’s Moving Dartmouth Forward initiative, the house communities were designed to revolutionize the social lives of students. A way to subvert the influence of Greek life, the advent of the six house communities brought a Harry Potter-esque promise of camaraderie and continuity to what some would consider an otherwise disjointed campus.

In the last five years, it has become apparent that the system has failed. This is not news; previous columns have lamented the house communities, and surveys conducted by The Dartmouth show that the system is overwhelmingly unpopular. What’s worse, millions of dollars have been poured into the system despite its failures. Dartmouth cannot maintain the house communities.

In its place, the system’s budget ought to be reinvested in other institutional necessities — mental health support chief among them.

Officially, the house communities aim to foster — you guessed it — community among students. They have, in fact, built community, but have done so by uniting students against it.

In two surveys conducted by The Dartmouth of the Classes of 2020 and 2021 — the first two classes to experience four years of the house communities — only 14% and 13%, respectively, said that the system was important to their life on campus. What’s more, the houses are immensely unpopular: The system earned a net favorability rating of negative 22% among the Class of 2020 and negative 31% among the Class of 2021.

Students have also often complained that the houses impose unnatural barriers on their social lives by preventing friends from rooming together if they are not members of the same house.

Unofficially, the house communities are known as a way to mitigate the influence of Greek life on campus — they were announced in the same 2015 speech that Hanlon laid out new regulations on Greek organizations and the hard alcohol ban. That goal has squarely failed: Greek membership has not changed in any noticeable way since the house communities were introduced. In the first four academic years that the house communities existed, Greek membership hovered between 63% and 69% among eligible students, roughly the same as the 65% to 69% in the four academic years before the house system, according to statistics from the Office of Institutional Research. Students are also much more fond of Greek life than they are of the houses: 66% and 59% of members

KYLE MULLINS, Editor-in-Chief SAVANNAH ELLER & REILLY OLINGER, News Executive Editors COALTER PALMER, Production Executive Editor

of the Classes of 2020 and 2021 surveyed, respectively, saw the Greek system as important to their lives, and Greek life had a 24% and 17% net favorability in those classes, respectively.

Despite consistent failure of the house communities, Dartmouth continues to waste money on them. It’s hard to know the exact scale of the house communities’ budget — the figure, as far as I can tell, is not public — but it is contained within the $285 million that the Call to Lead allocates to “build[ing] a stronger community through strategic investments in the residential life experience.” Other items in this category include building a new 350-bed residence hall, endowing the FYSEP program and expanding mental health services. Associate dean of residential life Mike Wooten has also previously called each house’s individual allotments “generous,” suggesting that the entire system’s budget is indeed bountiful. While it is true that much of the funding goes to projects that are well-attended — like field trips and free swag giveaways — that does not mean the house communities are popular. Rather, it only indicates that those particular events are successful. Instead, the dismal favorability of the house communities demonstrates that, at its core, the whole system is not producing the results the College so desperately desires.

The money that is being poured into the house communities would be better spent elsewhere.

For example, as others have argued over the past several months, improving Dartmouth’s mental health resources is a worthwhile place to redirect that money. Following three suicides of first-year students and reporting by The Dartmouth highlighting areas to reform mental health infrastructure, the need to overhaul mental health support at Dartmouth has never been greater. The house communities’ budgets can be reinvested to hire enough counselors to meet the needs of the student body and expand access to mental health services outside of normal business hours, among other things. Simply diverting the system’s budget to mental health resources will not magically fix the perception of those resources on campus — students are still enormously distrustful of the Counseling Center, for example — but attempting to fix the present shortcomings is a good place to start.

The house communities system was a fun experiment, but it is no longer tenable. The College has far more pressing issues than eradicating Greek life that it ought to shift its attention to. Distributing free food or hoodies won’t solve the mental health crisis on campus; it’s time for Dartmouth to actually put its money toward services that will support its students in constructive — and not flippant — ways.

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THE DARTMOUTH ARTS

PAGE 4

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2021

Hood Museum reopening to public with celebration

BY PAULINA MARINKOVICH The Dartmouth Staff

This article was originally published on September 14, 2021.

After a year and a half of closures and restrictions due to the pandemic, the Hood Museum of Art will host a reopening celebration on Saturday, Sept. 18. to officially welcome both the Dartmouth and the Upper Valley community back to the museum, with no appointment necessary during open hours.

Curator of academic programming at the Hood Amelia Kahl ’01 encouraged the College community to explore the eight exhibitions that will be featured and take advantage of the Hood’s new hybrid programming, which incorporates both in-person and virtual components.

“The galleries keep changing,” Kahl said. “We’re excited to share those shows with our audiences, and we’re also very excited for a slate of programming.”

RTR Jami Powell, curator of Indigenous art, shared Kahl’s excitement about the Hood’s reopening celebration. She emphasized that even though the museum reopened to the public in August, she is looking forward to not having any visitor limitations.

“This event is just really an opportunity for us to welcome the public back into our galleries,” Powell said. “But also to welcome students back to campus and back into the museum for public hours where they don’t have to schedule an appointment to come and see the galleries.”

The event will be held in the North Plaza, Russo Atrium and Hood galleries, where curators and other

staff members will be stationed inside to guide folks who come through and answer questions about the exhibitions on display. The official ceremony will be inaugurated by Stomberg and followed by musical performances from two student groups, The Barbaloot Suits Trio and The Sings. Rather than structuring the opening celebration as a formal tour, Powell said that they opted for an open gallery event to make the re-inauguration of the Hood more conversational.

Powell added that this open house event is a way to introduce the Class of 2025 to the museum and for other Dartmouth students who may not have had the opportunity to visit the galleries because of the pandemic to re-familiarize themselves with the College’s art collections.

Lauren Tan ’23 said she is looking forward to taking advantage of the Hood’s programming and exploring the art collections in person after studying remotely from home in Vietnam. While she was able to stay connected with the museum through its remote components, she said that she is excited to recreate the in-person experiences she missed the past year.

“Even though they were mostly hosted on Zoom, events such as the virtual storytime in the galleries allowed me to participate in the sharing of art stories from all over the world,” Tan said. “By leveraging the unique conditions of virtual activities, I was able to stay involved with the Hood all the way from Vietnam.”

Now that the Hood has opened to the public, Tan said she is excited to attend the fall opening celebration to reconnect with friends and engage with the creative outlets the museum has to offer.

“I’m looking forward to simply venturing into the galleries to discover

MICHAEL LIN/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF

something new with friends,” Tan said. “I’m also excited to attend writing workshops in person, as it’s a great way to relax in a creative space.”

Currently on view is “Form and Relation” –– a show curated by Powell and Morgan E. Freeman, a Diversifying Art Museum Leadership Initiative Native American Art Fellow. Powell said that “Form and Relation,” which showcases the works of six Indigenous artists, was supposed to go on view on March 14, 2020, but when the Hood closed on March 13 due to the pandemic, the museum decided to postpone this exhibition.

“The public hasn’t until now had an opportunity to see that installation,” Powell said. “A lot of

that exhibition is thinking about clay as a medium that helps us think about our relation to place and to the land, and how we might reimagine our relationship to place and to nonhuman beings as one based on kinship or relational, rather than ownership and extraction.”

Powell hopes that in addition to the Hood’s new digital programming developed during the pandemic, the reopening of the Hood and the in-person events will allow the Dartmouth community to foster a greater appreciation for art on campus.

“I think that one of the positive things that has happened through the pandemic is that we’ve all been able to reflect,” Powell said. “We’ve become more introspective and

reflective about our lives and the role that museums and other public institutions play in our lives for better or worse. And so, I think a lot of people have a newfound appreciation for things that they maybe took for granted before.”

Like Powell, Kahl hopes that this celebration will inspire the community to interrupt their days, which have been, until recently, largely lived on a screen.

“I think we’re all perhaps a little excited for some to see something new,” Kahl said. “I see a lot of repetition, a lot of routines. So we’re hoping people can come in and discover something, have a new experience, connect with a friend or a family member over some art and just have a great time.”

Green To Go: Going Off the Wagon at Red Wagon Bakery

Toast, and went along with it.

To accompany my entree, I Contributing Writer ordered an oat milk latte to wake This article was originally me up and a mini key lime pie published on September 14, 2021. as dessert. The latte came out first in a classic solo cup with a This is the first edition of Green removable, clear, plastic lid. It To Go, a fortnightly column that will tasted decent for its $3.75 price review restaurants in the Upper Valley tag. I remember muttering, “Meh, with a focus on vegetarian options, but still enjoyable.” I would detailed accounts of the food and place it a little under Still North ambiance and accessibility to a variety Books and Bar’s oat latte, but of students, especially FGLI students. above Starbucks. The creamy consistency of what tasted like

I recently went on my first Oatly brand oat milk rectified the Dinertoure trip, visiting Red otherwise mediocre espresso shot.

As I waited for my breakfast, I Wagon Bakery, a small diner in Canaan, New Hampshire. For studied the bakery more, looking those who have never experienced past the three small yet crowded Dinertoure, it’s a Dartmouth tables of the cozy room. In the Outing Club-sponsored program corner of the store was a red wagon, that takes students to diners in like something you would imagine the Upper Valley every Thursday out of a children’s book. My friend morning via DOC vans — typically caught me staring at it and told departing around 6 or 7 a.m. me that Nellie Smith, the store’s Upon entering the bakery, the owner, would sell baked goods teenage staff behind the register from that wagon when she was greeted us warmly and in unison a kid. I enjoyed the memorabilia with a “Good morning and of the place — and maybe I’m welcome to Red Wagon Bakery.” It just a romantic, but the wagon was a simple introduction, yet their alongside the crudely-written authentic enthusiasm nurtured a “Nellie’s Baked Shop” in crayons welcoming atmosphere. My eyes on the sign next to the bakery case danced around the room, taking entertained me while I waited in its grandma-esque, nostalgic for my meal. The kitchen behind furniture, the color palette and the counter allows guests to see fabrics. The restaurant’s interior every part of the cooking process.

After twelve minutes, our food reminded me of the Morgan Hill Bookstore in New London, NH. arrived. Tina’s Toast consisted Our DOC group chose some of two slices of toast next to tables to sit at, and I settled into some dressed leaves of lettuce. one covered with a blue and white The simple idea of avocado toast juxtaposed the square-patter ned vibrant textures and yarn tablecloth. colors on the plate, Each table covering By this point, I in the restaurant was about to start creating a pleasing aesthetic balance. was unique.

The dish echoed At this bakery, drooling. I bit the restaurant’s you order at the into the floating ambiance: simple counter. A majority garden, and in concept, yet of the offerings purposefully are vegetarian the experience intricate upon — the only meat surprised me. closer inspection. option I saw was The toast was bacon, which can loaded, yet nothing be substituted or removed from an order. I spilled off of it. They made sure decided on Tina’s Toast, which to confine all the contents squarely the menu describes as “smashed between the crunchy crust of avocado, everything seasoning, each slice of toast. It signaled goat cheese, heirloom tomato, abundance, but not vanity. All the two fried eggs, red pepper flakes colors paired well. The whites of on locally-made sourdough.” I the goat cheese emphasized the usually don’t opt for avocado whites of the egg and vice versa; toast, but I was intrigued by Tina’s the green leaves of lettuce matched

BY ALEJANDRO MORALES

PHOTO COURTESY OF ALEJANDRO MORALES

‘Tina’s Toast’ at Red Wagon Bakery in Canaan, New Hampshire

the green paste of avocado; and the red, matte pepper flakes paired nicely with the moisture of the cherry tomatoes. All together, the three colors brought about a feeling of freshness to the plate — everything sparkled.By this point, I was about to start drooling. I bit into the floating garden, and the experience surprised me.

The crunch of the sourdough sharply contrasted the light, fluffy crumb that lay beyond it.

The same crunch balanced out the mush of the avocado spread, the tender egg white, and the tomatoes. The tomatoes brought an explosion of water to each bite.

In a dish with such richness from starches and fats, the freshness of the tomatoes changes the game.

Tomatoes elevate the dish from something you can only take a few bites of before feeling full to one which allows you to enjoy every bite of the dish without feeling too heavy at the end.

At first, I was uneasy about the choice of goat cheese with egg, but the citric tang that it added to the creamy bites of avocado allowed for a great experience.

I felt the acid cutting through the fat, which, like the tomatoes,

made the dish lighter and easier to enjoy. The tang also served as an opener to the kick of the red pepper flakes, which didn’t come into play until the goat cheese subsided, keeping the experience active and ongoing. It’s fair to say I enjoyed this dish, but it wasn’t perfect. After the crust, it lost that nice textural contrast in each bite, especially near the middle of the toast. It became too mushy: the fluffy crumb, the dripping egg yolk, the creamy avocado, the malleable cheese. I wish the chefs had done something to counteract this effect, to maintain that contrast throughout the toast. This is, however, a regular American breakfast diner, and this was a reasonable $10 plate. All in all, I consider Tina’s Toast a great dish given these limitations.

Finally, the key lime pie arrived. As a native Floridian, I kept my expectations low. When the servers gave me the plate, the first thing I noticed was how pale the pie looked. Usually, my key lime pies take a more yellow hue due to the quantity of egg yolks in the custard. My pies also smell more fragrant because of the obscene amount of lime juice

and zest. None of these nuances existed here. I also noticed that this pie had a matte texture on the custard, almost as if a film developed on top. But, it tasted good for a $4 pie; I would rate it as average for an Upper Valley key lime pie, and although this matte texture intrigued and surprised me in a positive way, I still prefer the traditional, creamy style.

For my first DOC Dinertoure trip, I would give this experience a fairly high rating. The other students in my group agreed, raving about the cuisine. Despite the fact that Red Wagon Bakery is a small, family establishment, it still has a solid grasp of what works and what doesn’t. The taste and presentation of Tina’s Toast was surprisingly more intricate than what I expected, and the vegetarian options were plentiful.

I give them bonus points for the look of their establishment, which I think is truly a feast for the eyes in itself. If you find yourself in Canaan, stop by and give Red Wagon Bakery a moment of your time. I didn’t regret it, and I doubt you will either.

Rating:

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2021

PAGE 5

THE DARTMOUTH SPORTS

SPORTS

The Weekly Roundup: Fall Pre-season

BY LANIE EVERETT, OLIVIA MORTON AND ETHAN WEBER

SAILING

The Dartmouth Staff

M SOCCER Dartmouth men’s soccer is looking to bounce back after a tough three-game road stand to open the season. The team jumped right into a challenge when they took on No. 3 University of Washington. The Big Green suffered a 3-0 loss to the Huskies after initially holding their opponents to just one goal in the first half. Goalkeeper Alex Budnik ’22 was a bright spot with his eight saves, but Dartmouth could not overcome a Huskies offense that outshot the visitors 21-5.

The Big Green then moved across town for a hard-fought overtime battle against Seattle University. Dartmouth rebounded from a 1-0 first-half deficit with timely goals from midfielder

Trevor Gee ’24 and defender Matt Pickering ’22. But Seattle battled back, scoring a goal in the 88th minute and sealing the 3-2 win with another goal two minutes into overtime.

Dartmouth then headed back east to visit the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where the Big Green fell 2-1. Dartmouth jumped out to a 1-0 lead with a goal from midfielder Ben Jenkins ’25, but UMass took the win after two goals in the second half. UMass is led by head coach Fran O’Leary, who coached at Dartmouth from 19942000 and joined UMass in 2015.

Dartmouth hopes to turn things around in Tuesday’s game at the University of Connecticut.

W SOCCER The women’s soccer team is off to a strong start this season, currently sitting at a record of 4-2-1. The team opened with a 3-2 victory against College of the Holy Cross on Aug. 27. Forward Allie Winstanley ’23 starred, scoring or assisting on each of the Big Green’s goals and putting in the game winner with just three minutes to play.

The team kept things rolling against the University of Vermont with a 2-1 win. After a scoreless first half, the Big Green opened the scoring with two early secondhalf goals and was able to hold the Catamounts to one goal in the remaining time. Forwards Hannah Curtin ’25 and Daisy Granholm ’24 both scored their first career goals in the win.

The Big Green then came away with a 1-1 draw against No. 8 Georgetown University on the road. Goalkeeper Charlotte Cyr ’23 excelled, saving nine of 10 shots, and Winstanley scored Dartmouth’s lone goal.

Dartmouth then pulled off a comeback against George Mason University, winning 2-1 after going into the second half down 1-0.

Curtin scored the tying goal at the beginning of the second half and midfielder Tracey Mills ’22 netted the deciding goal in the 69th minute.

Dartmouth’s next game, against Sacred Heart University, was a defensive battle that came down to the wire. Sacred Heart found the back of the net in the 68th minute for the first score of the game, but forward Dasa Hase ’25 quickly responded with a goal two minutes later to send the game into overtime. Finally, with just two minutes remaining in the overtime period, Curtin netted a goal for the second straight game and secured the victory for the Big Green.

Dartmouth stumbled with two straight losses this week. The Big Green fell to Fairfield University 1-0 on Sunday, and then 2-1 to a strong University of Kansas team on Thursday. Fifth year Erin Kawakami ’21 netted one in the first half, but the Big Green could not mount a lead in the second half, ultimately giving up the deciding goal in the 79th minute.

The Big Green will next take the field at Brown University on Sept. 25 to kick off Ivy League competition.

W RUGBY The women’s rugby program has had a dominant start to the season.

In just their first match, 10 separate players put points on the board for the Big Green, resulting in a final score of 92-5 over the Long Island University Sharks. Utilizing the depth of its roster, Dartmouth controlled the match, with the Sharks scoring their first and only try while the Big Green was a man down due to a yellow card.

Facing off next against Quinnipiac University, the Big Green again came

out on top with a final score of 50-10.

Leading the pack was fifth year Lilly Durbin ’21, who finished the match with a total of 20 points off of four tries.

Kristin Bitter ’23 was also a dominant presence on the field, contributing eight points to the win from several conversions. Only in the final five minutes did the Bobcats score.

The Big Green will face up next against the United States Military Academy at West Point this Sunday, Sept. 19.

The sailing team enjoyed a solid start to their season this past weekend, competing in three regattas.

The Big Green dominated the Bears Invite at Brown University. Of the ten boats Dartmouth raced, four placed in the top five out of 18, and the Big Green took each of the top three spots. The duo of James Paul ’23 and Maya Nguyen ’24 came in first, while Gray Hemans ’25 and Reese Bragg ’25 took second and Oliver Hurwitz ’25 and Eliza Crocker ’23 finished third. A Dartmouth boat took first in each of the regatta’s seven races.

At Yale University’s Harry Anderson Trophy, Dartmouth finished sixth out of 18 teams. Boyd Bragg ’23, Chris Long ’23 and Eloise Burn ’21 competed in the

A division while Maddie Hawkins ’24, Ryan Goldstein ’22 and Yumi Yoshiyasu ’24 sailed in the B division. The Big Green missed a top-five finish by just two points.

Dartmouth placed sixth of 18 once again at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Toni Deutsch ’58 Regatta. Payton Thompson ’23 and Carlota Hopkins Guerra ’22 sailed in the A division and Taylor Eastman ’24 and Maddie Sharp ’22 were in the B division.

The team now prepares for its races next weekend, which include the Barnett Trophy at Bowdoin College, the Hatch Brown Trophy at MIT, the Regis Trophy at Boston University and the A-men’s and A-women’s singles in Boston.

MEN’S XC This past weekend, the men’s cross country team kicked off the long-awaited 2021 season at the Maribel Sanchez Souther Invitational at the Hanover Country Club.

Saturday morning, the Big Green secured its seventh consecutive Souther Invitational win. Will Daley ’24 and Albert Velikonja ’25 led the charge, placing first and second respectively in the 8k. Daley

crossed the finish line with a time of 25:20.13, just seconds before Velikonja came in at 25:26.61.

Dartmouth secured the meet title with a total of 37 points. Following close behind were State University of New York Geneseo with 39 points and the University of Maine with 54 points.

Dartmouth will face its next challenge Sept. 24 on the road against Boston College.

WOMEN’S XC Following the men’s race, the women’s cross country team also started the 2021 season Saturday morning at the Maribel Sanchez Souther Invitational. The Big Green had a successful day, taking home the trophy for the eighth straight year and sweeping the podium.

In her first season race for Dartmouth, Ellie Tymorek ’25 claimed gold with a time of 21:59.92 in the 6k. Following close behind were Corinne Robitaille

’23 and Emma Kerimo ’25 with times of 22:05.65 and 22:24.65.

Dartmouth won the meet with 21 points, putting the Big Green 27 points ahead of second place SUNY Geneseo with Towson University and Maine trailing far behind.

The Big Green will next compete at Boston College on Sept. 24.

VOLLEYBALL Despite a young roster, the women’s volleyball team is off to a hot 6-0 start.

The Big Green opened its season at the Lehigh Steel Tournament in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Ellie Blain ’24 excelled through the weekend with 55 kills total, securing the Big Green wins over SUNY Binghamton (3-0) and St. Francis College (3-1).

Although Dartmouth trailed by two sets against Lehigh University, the Big Green rallied to take the last 3 sets and solidify a win.

This past weekend, the Big Green hosted the Dartmouth Invitational. Dartmouth played a close match against the University of New Hampshire,

ultimately winning 3-1 after two close sets to start the match.

The volleyball team’s win streak continued in big matches against the College of the Holy Cross and the University of Connecticut. Ultimately, the Big Green took both matches 3-1. This is the first time Dartmouth has won its invitational since 2015. Emma Engstrom ’25 was named MVP of the tournament with a remarkable 26 digs against Holy Cross.

The team will travel to Connecticut this weekend to take on Sacred Heart, University of Hartford, and Central Connecticut State University at the Hartford Invitational.

FIELD HOCKEY The field hockey team has had a busy preseason.

Starting off on the road in California, the team went 1-0-2, with a big win against University of California Davis. After being down by one goal at the close of the first half, the team battled back and scored in the last five minutes of the game, forcing the game into overtime and marking Bronwyn Bird ’24’s first collegiate goal. After two scoreless overtimes, goaltender Hatley Post ’23 shined in the shootout, stopping three of the Aggies’ attempts — enough to push the Big Green to victory. The team’s next two games out west were hard fought, but resulted in losses to the University of California Berkeley (1-0) and Stanford University (4-1).

Back on home turf, however, the Big Green showed off its prowess. Against Central Michigan University, early goals from Holley Cromwell ’23 and Bird helped the team come out on top 2-1 at the final whistle. Just two days later, the team continued its winning streak against Bryant University with a 2-1 win. A goal from Gracyn Campbell ’22 put the Big Green ahead early, a lead that Emilia Callahan ’25 would add to in the fourth quarter. Although the Bulldogs snuck in a late goal, the Big Green held strong to secure a win.

The team will continue competition this weekend, facing the University of Vermont and Merrimack College on Chase Field.

PAGE 6

MIRROR

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2021

THE DARTMOUTH MIRROR

Notes from the Field: Shadowing an Admissions Tour STORY

By Pierce Wilson

T h i s a r t i cl e w a s o r i g i n a l l y published on September 15, 2021.

Admissions tours are the first introduction many future Dartmouth students have to the College, myself included. I still remember driving up from Boston with my dad on a brisk October afternoon during my senior year of high school and learning about all that Dartmouth had to offer.

We went into academic buildings, the library and even a dorm. My admissions tour experience sold me on Dartmouth and quelled my fears that I wouldn’t be able to survive the New Hampshire wilderness.

Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, however, the admissions office has had to adapt its tours to keep tour guides, guests and community members safe. Currently, they offer two types of tours: virtual tours via Zoom and in-person, outdoor-only tours, both of which run for 60 minutes. Both of these tour formats are different from what prospective students would have experienced prior to March 2020, but they have become the way that many prospective students are now introduced to Dartmouth.

I recently had the opportunity to shadow tour guides Max Breuninger ’23 and Chelsea-Starr Jones ’23 on a virtual tour — as, unfortunately, the in-person ones are unavailable for observation. Shadowing the tour gave me a moment of pause to reflect on my own Dartmouth experience as I enter my third year — and on how the pandemic has redefined many aspects of the College I used to know.

We set out from Novack Cafe, where Breuninger and Jones introduced themselves and explained what they do on campus. One part about this that stood out to me was when they explained that we go by our class years (e.g “I’m a ’23”) at Dartmouth — and not by the freshman, sophomore, junior and senior labels — to increase our sense of community and connect with alumni. It was odd to hear this explained, as it feels so second-nature to me at this point. Both tour guides did a good job of demystifying some of the more idiosyncratic things about

Dartmouth culture like the twilight ceremony, sophomore summer or even “warmcuts.” Having been inside the Dartmouth bubble for so long, I seldom stop to think about how strange some of our customs are.

At each stop on the tour, either Breuninger or Jones would hold a selfie-stick and talk about the location while the other would stand off to the side. They would also occasionally pan the camera to show guests in the location in question. Throughout the tour, Angie Janumala ’22 answered questions in the Zoom chat from prospective students. One that stood out to me was when the tour guides began their section about Greek life and a prospective student from Greece asked what Greek life is and if it had anything to do with the country. Janumala quickly answered her question and joked that international students from Greece are often confused about Greek life.

It was such a sweet interaction to watch, and it made me think about the types of blindspots that we all have.

After the introductions, Jones gave an Indigenous land acknowledgement and shared an abbreviated history of the College.

She began with Eleazor Wheelock and his mission to Christianize local Native Americans, explaining that Dartmouth graduated very few Native students prior to 1970 when then-College President John Kemeny pledged to redress the historical lack of opportunities for Native Americans in higher education. Jones called this a “somewhat problematic past” and then lauded the College for the “vibrant Native American community” that now exists on campus. It’s an explanation that anyone who’s been at Dartmouth for more than a term is familiar with, but felt refreshingly honest for a presentation to people who were not yet members of our community.

At the same time, I couldn’t help but feel a little uncomfortable during the land acknowledgement.

I understand why it’s important to acknowledge that we’re on Abenake land, but it also felt a little tone-deaf coming from an official

NAINA BHALLA / THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF

Prospective students have the option to attend a virtual tour if they cannot attend an in-person one.

Dartmouth spokesperson like a tour guide, considering that the College ultimately still owns the land.

From there, Breuninger and Jones led us around most of the central part of campus, stopping at certain highlights like Robinson Hall, the Hopkins Center for the Arts, Fairchild Physical Sciences Center and the Rauner Special Collections Library.

The tour was fairly accurate — and it would be both immature and a waste of time to go through and point out every small inaccuracy, but at the same time, there were several moments when I couldn’t help but feel uncomfortable with the difference between the version of Dartmouth that the tour guides presented to prospective students and what I’ve experienced for the past few years, particularly in the last 18 months of the pandemic.

For example, when we stopped at House Center B, Jones said that 90% of students stay within the residential system for all four years

and that “housing is guaranteed for all four years as a Dartmouth student.”

Those claims are suspect. For one, the number of students living off campus tripled during the pandemic.

And holding the current housing crisis in mind, I couldn’t help but feel a pit in my stomach upon hearing the term ‘guaranteed.’ Similarly, Breuninger at one point lauded the mental health services available on campus — which was particularly uncomfortable to hear after the last year, when anxiety and depression rates skyrocketed and an investigation by The Dartmouth found numerous major issues in the College’s mental health resources.

At the same time, moments like these gave me a newfound appreciation for just how difficult it must be to be a tour guide at Dartmouth — to honestly share your experiences and also introduce such a unique community to a group of people who are eager to jump into this next step of their lives. After all, if tour guides only talked about what

they didn’t like about Dartmouth and didn’t mention any of the worldclass resources and opportunities we are provided by the College, they’d run the risk of making all of the serious issues with the College sound like champagne problems.

My favorite part of the tour was when Breuninger and Jones each discussed their personal reasons for choosing Dartmouth — the same section I found quite impactful when I toured. When asked why they chose their college,, I remember the tour guides at the other schools I saw would always respond with a really generic “the community” when asked why they chose their school. This is why it stood out to me when my tour guide here, Sruti Pari ’20, was so genuine in explaining her reason for wanting to come to Dartmouth over anywhere else in the world — and that passion made me want to think more deeply about where I wanted to spend the next four years.

Making the Best of It: Reflections on First-Year Trips STORY

By Caris White

T h i s a r t i cl e w a s o r i g i n a l l y published on September 15, 2021.

For many of us over the past few months, the promise of fall 2021 felt like the light at the end of a long COVID-19 tunnel. With the beginning of fall term, we’ve seen the return of the majority of the student population to Hanover, as well the resumption of in-person classes. It feels like campus is overflowing with new faces and fresh energy, and one of the first experiences these new students had was participating in the Dartmouth Outing Club’s F i r s t - Ye a r Tr i p s p r o g r a m .

I still remember what an important introduction Trips was to my freshman experience, so when I had the opportunity to apply to be a leader this year, I jumped at the chance. Many of the upperclassmen I’ve spoken with have expressed similar sentiments.

Trip leader Jack Barksdale ’23 said that he chose to be a trip leader, in part, because of his own positive experience with Trips.

“I think it’s really important for people here to help newcomers establish their place early on,” B a rk s d a l e s a i d . “ I t ’s r e a l l y difficult to do, and I had Trip leaders who helped me do that, so I felt the duty to pass it on.”

First-Year Trips is a heralded Dartmouth tradition, and while it was cancelled for the Class of 2024, it returned to welcome home the Class of 2025 this fall, albeit with a few significant changes, both temporary and permanent.

Saige Gitlin ’22 is the co-leader of Vox Croo, the safety and logistics staff for Trips. She said that there was a major last minute shift in the Trips model due to the ongoing dangers of COVID-19.

“We basically had to do the day trips model instead of the

ALEXANDRA MA / THE DARTMOUTH STAFF

overnight model, which makes for a very different experience,” Gitlin said. “I think some of the really positive things that came out of Trips this year were that for one, in an increasingly negative COVID situation, we were able to make an accommodation that preserved all of the key elements of Trips.”

According to Gitlin, First-Year Trips 2021 centered on three day trips: a day in Hanover spent with H-Croo, a day at the Moosilauke Ravine Lodge or the Skiway Lodge with Lodj Croo and an “adventure day,” when each trip did an outdoor activity pertaining to their trip type.

Students slept in their dorm rooms instead of camping out in nature and

ate some meals in the Class of 1953 Commons instead of snacking on corn nuts and Cabot cheese, but the general activities stayed in line with the long tradition of First-Year Trips.

Reflecting on this year’s setup, Barksdale said he was initially hesitant about the format change.

“I was disappointed at first, and then I saw how hard the organizers were working to make it happen,” Barksdale said. “What actually got rid of the disappointment was at the end, when I realized that the experience was essentially the same — it’s about being outdoors, but it’s more about being in intimate settings with your group.”

Trip leader Sophie Kodak ’23

echoed Gitlin’s and Barksdale’s sentiments, acknowledging that while the format was modified, she felt that the most essential parts of the Trips experience were kept intact.

“It was just really interesting to see how the spirit of Trips was the same even though the execution looked really different,” Kodak said. “I think it was still successful in making the ’25s feel comfortable and welcome, even if it wasn’t the same nostalgic experience for the ’23s and ’22s. I also think it was great that the ’24s got to be involved since they will never have Trips of their own.”

Additionally, Barksdale said that while Trips is often seen as a chance for the older generation

of Dartmouth students to pass on wisdom to newcomer s, it also presents an opportunity for leaders to reflect on their time at the College. While considering what advice to give to the ’25s, Barksdale had to look back on his experiences and think about what he would have done differently.

“My big takeaway was that [Trips] seems like a time where you’re passing on knowledge to these kids, but it was also a really good way for me to reflect on my time at Dartmouth halfway through,” Barksdale said. “I realized that there are a lot of things I’ve learned in my two years here that I think are important to pass on.”