The Dartmouth 05/21/15

VOL. CLXXII NO. 86

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THURSDAY, MAY 21, 2015

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Panel talks Asian/American issues SAPA changes

name, has added focuses

B y Lauren budd

The Dartmouth Staff

SPORTS

SENIOR SPRING: MADISON HUGHES ’15

KATELYN JONESTHE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF

Student panelists shared stories about their identities as Asian and Asian-American students.

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B y erin lee OPINION

PEREZ: MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING PAGE 4

ARTS

GOSPEL CHOIR BRINGS INTERACTION PAGE 7

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The first time Akiko Okuda ’15 visited Dartmouth, she said her mother asked her, “Where are the Asians?” Last night this question was the defining theme of a panel, as six seniors — Carla Yoon ’15, Justin Sha ’15, Diksha Gautham ’15, Shweta Raghu ’15, Aditya Shah ’15 and Okuda — spoke to an audience of 150 people in

Collis Common Ground about their experiences as Asian and Asian-American students at the College.

The panelists shared stories about race and identity, touching on topics such as Greek system affiliation as a minority student and anonymous, racially-insensitive comments on social media platforms. The second annual event, titled “Where are the Asians?,” was hosted by the Asian/Asian-American

Students for Action, or 4A@ Dartmouth.

Co-organizer Moulshri Mohan ’15 said the organization was formed after a group of students thought it was important to highlight the racial and political experiences of those who subscribe to any kind of Asian identity at the College.

“We hadn’t seen Asians aside from ourselves in conSEE PANEL PAGE 5

To better reflect the mission of the program, the Sexual Assault Peer Advocate program — formerly Sexual Assault Peer Advisors — has changed its name and is now running training courses only during the fall and spring terms, survivor advocate Ben Bradley said.

Previously, SAPA training was not run on a regular basis.

This winter term, a training session was also offered to rejuvenate the program, Bradley said. Last term, 12 students graduated from the SAPA training program, and this term 16 more are set to complete training, which will wrap up on June 2.

The training lasts an entire term and follows a regular class schedule, meeting during the 2A period. The SAPAs gain a deep understanding of sexual assault, sexual violence, relationship violence and stalking during their training, he said.

Bradley described the curriculum as including defining terms related to sexual assault, understanding the effects of sexual assault on survivors, the nature of the trauma of the experiences and how that relates to experiences as a Dartmouth student, a general college student or simply as a person. The course also covers perpetrator behavior, including how to identify it and the motivators behind such behavior.

Recently, the training program has come to focus more on identity, especially how one’s social identity affects his or her experience as a survivor, Bradley said.

This can include differences in access to services, differences in comfort levels when seeking support and the best ways with which a SAPA can advise a range of different experiences, he said.

“We spend a lot of time practicing, placing ourselves in different scenarios, workSEE SAPA PAGE 3

Dartmouth participates in green power partnership B y BOB WANG

Although Dartmouth and the University of Pennsylvania were the only two schools in the Ivy League to participate in the Green Power Partnership 2014-2015 College and University Green Power Challenge, the Ivy League comes in third out of about 39 participating conferences in terms of overall green power usage. This is largely due to Penn’s more than 200 million kilowatthours of green power, as compared to the College’s 7.3 million.

Director of the Green Power Partnership at the Environmental Protection Agency James Critchfield said that the focus of the national program is to work with organizations nationwide to reduce the environmental impact of their electricity purchases.

“College and universities are a significant portion of the program,” Critchfield said. “They are obviously very interested in sustainability issues with the climate.”

The American College and University Presidents’ Climate Commit-

ment is a public effort to re-stabilize the earth’s climate by eliminating net greenhouse gas emissions from campus operations. Dartmouth is not yet a signatory.

“Seven hundred different college and university presidents have signed on to publicly [commit] to reduce the impact of their institutions, and buying green power is one of the options they have available,” Critchfield said. “[The] purchase of electricity is often one of the largest sources of an organization’s carbon footprint.”

He said that the EPA applauds Penn and Dartmouth for their leadership in the Ivy League.

“Penn has been for a long time the leading purchaser [of green power] amongst higher education,” Critchfield said. “Dartmouth is buying less, but that is not to be underestimated [when compared to other Ivies].”

Green power is produced using renewable energy from third-party providers, such as geothermal and solar, that reduce the carbon footprint.

SEE GREEN PAGE 2

THE DARTMOUTH NEWS

PAGE 2

DAily debriefing Brown University: Provost Vicki Colvin has announced that she is stepping down to further pursue her own research after serving as the University’s Provost for only one year, the Brown Daily Herald reported. Her successor will be Brown’s fourth provost in a six-year span. Colvin will stay at Brown as a member of the faculty.

Cornell University: Ryan Lombardi has been appointed vice president for student and campus life for the University, the Cornell Daily Sun reported. He is replacing longstanding vice president Susan Murphy, who has held the position for over 20 years. She will assist with fundraising activities and alumni affairs through June 2016 as Lombardi prepares to begin Aug. 1.

Columbia University: Columbia senior Emma Sulkowicz — the student who made headlines for carrying a mattress around campus to protest the University allowing her alleged rapist to remain on campus — brought the mattress to her Class Day ceremony, the Columbia Spectator reported.

Although a new policy barred students from bringing “large objects” to the festivities, Sulkowicz was allowed in with her mattress.

Harvard University: David Hunter, the associate dean and professor at the School of Public Health, will serve as the school’s acting dean pending a search for a replacement, the Harvard Crimson reported. The search will seek to replace Julio Frenk, who is leaving Harvard after serving in the position for six years and has been named president of the University of Miami. An alumnus of the School of Public Health himself, Hunter specializes in cancer prevention and has significant experience with student and academic affairs.

Princeton University: The University adjusted its yield rate from 69.4 percent to 68.6 percent after 14 students deferred admission for the incoming fall class, the Daily Princetonian reported. Due to the adjustment, Princeton’s yield rate is no longer a record for the University.

University of Pennsylvania: Former professor of the Fels Insitute of Government and longtime city councilman Jim Kenney is likely to become the next mayor of Philadelphia, the Daily Pennsylvanian reported. In the November general election, he will face Republican candidate Melissa Murray Bailey, but with Democrats comprising 78 percent of the electorate, a victory for Kenney is likely.

Yale University: Vice President Joseph Biden delivered a commencement address to the Yale Class of 2015 on May 17, the Yale Daily News reported. In his speech, Biden encouraged students to get out of their comfort zone and work to find a balance between happiness and success. Biden reportedly sported his trademark black aviator sunglasses to the event.

THURSDAY, MAY 21, 2015

College commits to sustainability FROM GREEN PAGE 1

The EPA’s green power partnership has about 133 higher education partners in the program, Critchfield said. To qualify as a partner, green power must represent at least 2-10 percent of an institution’s total electricity use.

This is determined by an institution’s reporting to the EPA and the program.

Associate vice president of facilities operations and management Frank Roberts said that last year, Dartmouth went into a five-year green power contract. According to the EPA, the College currently uses 7.3 million kilowatt hours in green power, making up to 10 percent of its base electricity.

In 2008, then-College President James Wright strengthened Dartmouth’s environmental commitment by pledging to cut greenhouse gas emissions by at least 30 percent.

“We’ve been able to reduce our fossil fuel use by about 23 percent, which is about 1.6 million gallons, and in the meantime, the campus has grown by about a million square feet,” Roberts said. “The trustees have approved about $16 million to go toward energy conversation projects, and those dollars have

been reinvested into the College.”

In spring 2014, the EPA designated Hanover as an EPA Green Power Partner Community to recognize the town’s initiative to reduce the risk of climate change.

Hanover electricity use consists of

“This is an investment for our community for the long term and an investment in the belief that a better world is possible.”

- ROSI KERR ’97, DIRECTOR OF SUSTAINABILITY

17 percent green power.

“The College is such a significant portion of the town, we thought it would be great to help them with their efforts,” Roberts said. “We believe in sustainability, we believe in conservation and renewable choices and this is to show our commitment.”

Roberts said he would like to

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see more investment in renewable energy in the future.

“I think we need to balance the operations needs of the college, the financial resources of the College and come up with a long-term sustainability strategy,” he said.

“That usually takes place best in a diversified portfolio.”

Sustainability director Rosi Kerr ’97 said that she feels that the College is heading in the right direction in terms of taking more steps in to improve energy efficiency.

“Shifting our thinking to a longer-term horizon is a critical part of sustainability,” Kerr said, later adding that “I think we can do a lot more.”

She said that the sustainability office is currently working on a list of recommendations for reducing the College’s environmental impact. Kerr said, for instance, that shifting to cleaner fuels and setting sustainability goals around providing opportunities for handson learning would greatly benefit the campus and the community as a whole.

“We all love the Upper Valley,” Kerr said. “This is an investment for our community for the long term and an investment in the belief that a better world is possible.”

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THURSDAY, MAY 21, 2015

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New SAPA program increases focus on diversity of survivors FROM SAPA PAGE 1

NATALIE CANTAVE/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF

The Sexual Assault Peer Advocate program is based in the Wellness Office.

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ing with survivors of all different experiences,” Bradley said. “I really try to emphasize a lot of real-world experience and understanding so our SAPAs walk away feeling empowered themselves and feeling comfortable.”

A major focus of SAPA training involves interpersonal skills, he added, such as how to support survivors, what language to use, how to refer survivors to other resources and how to be a resource yourself.

Bradley facilitates the training, but also hosts guest speakers from various resources across campus to describe their expertise over a variety of different issues.

The primary focus, skills and goals of SAPA training have remained largely consistent, Bradley said, and the increased emphasis on survivor identity has evolved along with the national dialogue.

As a result, more focus is being given to survivors who are male, trans, people of color or members of the LGBT community, Bradley said, which comes with the understanding that sexual violence happens to everyone.

“Those groups have been silenced a lot of the time,” Bradley said. “And they have additional or different barriers to gain support.”

Bradley emphasized that when he

developed the curriculum, he hoped to create a comprehensive experience for those undergoing training and added that the term-long training results in students becoming especially knowledgeable.

The increase in students who participate in SAPA training is encouraging, Bradley said, as he believes that reflects more students recognizing the value of the program. He said he hopes SAPAs will become a more cohesive group on campus, and will gain recognition as important, valuable resources to students.

Title IX coordinator and Clery Act compliance officer Heather Lindkvist said that SAPAs provided initial support, education and information for students on campus about further resources related to sexual misconduct, as well as valuable sources of training and outreach on campus.

Lindkvist said that Bradley’s work upon his arrival on campus last August “revitalized” the SAPA program and that he created an intensive and comprehensive program for SAPAs. “His involvement in the program has been fundamental to any shift that has been going on with the SAPAs,” she said. “And the outreach that he has been doing with [sexual assault awareness program coordinator] Amanda Childress to reinforce the importance of SAPAs on campus has

been instrumental, too, to the shifting of attention to the program.”

Having students in this role can be important for times when students feel more comfortable speaking to other students, Lindkvist said. The advisor can be a valuable gateway for connecting a student affected by sexual misconduct with the proper resources for taking the next steps, she added.

SAPAs are trained to provide information to students about confidential and private resources on campus.

Megan Mounts ’18, who is poised to complete SAPA training this term, said she decided to become a SAPA because she saw sexual assault as an issue that extended beyond campus and into her community. SAPA training focuses on lots of “paths” to help survivors cope with their experiences, Mounts said.

Mounts emphasized the importance of listening skills to the SAPA program, and she said the most influential and powerful part of her training has been practicing real-life scenario, because it taught her the potential difference she could make in her role.

“SAPA training isn’t about telling someone who’s experienced sexual assault what they should do, how they should go about it, how they should deal with it,” she said. “We’re peer resources, just to talk.”

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THE DARTMOUTH OPINION

PAGE 4

THURSDAY, MAY 21, 2015

Staff Columnist SARAH PEREZ ’17

STAFF COLUMNIST MICHELLE GIL ’16

Much Ado About Nothing

Dartmouth Does Teach Me

The College’s calendar adjustment to fall term does not warrant complaints.

To the dismay of many, classes will be held on two Saturdays of the upcoming fall term. This change comes as the starting date of the term has been moved forward to Sept. 16 from Sept.

14 to accommodate the Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashanah. This information provoked outcry in social media circles — many a Yak decried the loss of two “chill” Saturdays, comparing the College to an overgrown boarding school with nanny administrators.

Though the response was not overwhelmingly negative — other students, including members of the Jewish community, welcomed the schedule change — it’s not hard to understand why Saturday classes might cause an immediate backlash. Anyone who has been through a 10-week term knows that Saturdays offer valuable spurts of reprieve after a whirlwind week. They are a time for Lou’s brunches, hikes and catching up on much-needed sleep.

And while I love my Saturdays as much as — if not more than — the next student, the College was correct in its decision. Saturday classes may not be ideal, but the schedule change is in the best interests of the whole community.

First and foremost, Jewish students will be spared of the need to juggle religious and academic commitments. Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, which both fall in September, are considered the two most significant holidays in the Jewish calendar, and many students partake by attending services or fasting. As we know too well, the beginning of the term is already an extremely busy time. There are meetings, move-ins, practices and the onslaught of new course work. By adjusting the academic calendar to accommodate Rosh Hashanah, Jewish students will have the option of celebrating at home with their families and returning to Hanover before their classes begin. Without the schedule change, students who observe the holiday would likely start the term at a disadvantage, forced to balance the stresses of the first two days of the term with religious obligations. The College has not overstepped its bounds — rather, it is acting in a way that is sensitive to the needs of its students.

While this perspective focuses on the initial rationale for delaying the term start date, it is also important to remember that Saturday classes are the best way to accommodate this change, which, despite the backlash, benefits all students. Though a few Friday night revelries may be cut short, students will be receiving the total instruction time they paid for. Whether you think about it or not, each class period is an investment. Many students, myself included, often forget the price tag attached to each 9L, 10A or 12. With tuition showing no signs of decline, it is more important than ever for students to maximize their time at the College and take full advantage of the resources it offers. If this means attending class for a couple hours on a Saturday, then so be it. Many families are making immense sacrifices to send their children to a top institution of higher education. The scheduled Saturday classes ensure that students are getting their money’s worth and that hard-earned tuition dollars are not wasted.

In the grand scheme of things, making such a fuss over two weekend class days is much ado about nothing. There are 52 Saturdays in 2015. For this fall term, class is scheduled on Sept. 26 and Oct. 24 — which amounts to just 3.8 percent of all Saturdays. While the D-Plan may cause some individual variation, students will, on average, spend roughly 100 Saturdays on campus during their careers at the College. This is not by any means an argument in favor of Saturday classes. I agree that weekend classes should be avoided as much as possible, only to be used as a last resort measure. In these circumstances, however, it seems that the two Saturday class periods represent the most satisfactory solution to a scheduling dilemma. The College’s decision to alter the schedule is the best way to provide all students, their families and faculty with a smooth start to fall term without reducing its value. While criticism of the schedule change is likely to continue, students should put their grievances in perspective. After all, we still have 96.2 percent of Saturdays left free to rage.

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We can learn much more than a narrow focus on curriculum topics suggests.

For all of the dissatisfaction I might be feeling toward administrators, one thing I cannot deny is that the quality of academics at the College is phenomenal. My classes, along with the overall community here on campus, have taught me a tremendous amount. Thus, I cannot endorse the “What Dartmouth Doesn’t Teach Me” campaign, for I believe its message to be misleading and untrue.

I am not commenting on the overall argument that a specific Asian-American ethnic and cultural studies program should be created — rather, I argue that the campaign is flawed and does not give due credit to the professors, students and overall Dartmouth community. It’s unreasonable to expect every topic to be taught as a course.

Moreover, much of the knowledge learned during one’s time here is gained through interaction with the community at large — just because a specific topic isn’t included in a course syllabus does not mean that Dartmouth doesn’t teach it.

In my view, the topics supposedly not taught at the College, as cited by some of the signs posted on Facebook in support of the campaign, are ridiculous and obscure. Posts display such messages as, “Dartmouth doesn’t teach me about the solidarity between Asian and Mexican farm workers in the U.S.” or, “Dartmouth doesn’t teach me about intergenerational differences in Asian-American families.” There are also no courses on 15th-century Sino-Slavic relations, but I don’t consider a lack of courses on fairly esoteric subjects tantamount to institutional failure.

A few of the posts seem to be specific to the students holding the signs in the photos and not reflections of the College’s failures. A few choice selections — Dartmouth has allegedly failed to teach students “self-worth,” “how to fight microaggressions” and “how to deconstruct the poisonous hegemonies that enslave my mind.”

I do not believe the College has a responsibility to offer classes on these topics. These are lessons students can learn in everyday life on campus, whether in interactions with peers and students in the classroom, speaking to friends and acquaintances at club meetings or in the dining halls or even by conversing anonymously on Bored at

Baker or Yik Yak. These skills don’t get handed to you along with your diploma — part of making the transition into adult life is identifying the personal skills you want to attain and using your life experiences to hone those skills.

Unfortunately, limited word count precludes my refuting all of the “Dartmouth doesn’t teach me” posts point by point. There are a few claims in particular, however, that I would like to directly address. Dartmouth students purportedly are never taught “anything that’s not rooted in upholding white supremacy,” “the history of Asian-American discrimination and oppression in the U.S.” or “that American exceptionalism is a myth,” nor do we learn about “the sexualization of Asian-American bodies” and “deconstructing Islamophobia.” I can say that, without a doubt, I have learned about each and every one of these topics in classes offered by the College. While these topics may not have been the primary focus, I have certainly picked up a fair amount of knowledge in various government, history, geography and women’s and gender studies classes that I have taken in my three years. A small sampling of these classes includes “Feminism in Islam and Modernity in the Muslim World,” “U.S. Foreign Policy” and “Geopolitics of Third World Development.”

Some of the posts cite topics that are not esoteric, personal or even immediately apparent in any class syllabi, such as eastern philosophy or immigration and labor patterns of Asian persons.

While there may not be classes dedicated exclusively to those subjects, I would expect that they are discussed to some degree in various other courses. The Dartmouth to which they refer, though, is not just about classes. The College doesn’t just teach us what is written in formal lesson plans. There is valuable knowledge to be gained beyond our syllabi. Dartmouth is also about clubs, programming and interactions with your peers and professors inside and outside the classroom. So while the College may not ostensibly be teaching students about these topics, it indeed offers me — and anyone else willing to listen — the opportunity to discover ideas and skills beyond those listed in the course catalogue.

THE DARTMOUTH NEWS

Panelists discuss issues of Asian/American identity FROM PANEL PAGE 1

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versations about race and politics,” she said.

Co-organizer Sandy Kim ’15 said the panel showcased specific experiences of being Asian at the College, which she said is “very different” from the experiences of other minorities. Panelists wanted to share how the College has shaped the way they perceive themselves and others, she said.

Kim said last year’s event had a higher attendance than expected, something organizers took into account when planning this year. The event received positive feedback last year, reflecting a need for outlets where Asian students can share their experiences and talk about racial issues, she said.

Mohan said they focused specifically on advertising the event and used posts from the social media app Yik Yak to peak people’s interests “by highlighting ignorant things people said, things that were problematic on these forums, things people are saying about Asians.”

Yoon spoke about internalized racism she experienced both at Dartmouth and abroad and about her experience with the Greek system. After moving from South Korea to Bahrain when she was young, she found that her international school was racially divided.

Even at the age of five or six years old, she said she picked up the idea that white girls were better than her and was excluded from their cliques.

When she came to the College, she encountered more labels and unwritten rules, particularly in the Greek system, she said. Only four of the 37 girls in her pledge class were Asian. She noted that many people, including Asians, enjoy and benefit from the Greek system, but she said she thought the Greek system can be divisive.

“We’d all be kidding ourselves if we don’t see the enormous racial divides,” Yoon said. “The Greek system is only a stark symptom of racism that pervades Dartmouth.”

Like Yoon, Sha discussed Greek social hierarchies and talked about how they interact with Asian masculinity. He said that a common Asian male stereotype is feminine and nerdy.

“Dartmouth accentuates these racial masculine hierarchies that are already in our society,” he said.

“Our story is a uniquely marginalized one that’s often forgotten or brushed aside.”

He said that as a queer Asian male, when he rushed, he encountered externally imposed classifications based on gender and race.

He noted that he now sees more Asian-American faces in sororities, while “A-side” fraternities still have fewer Asian members.

At Dartmouth, Gautham said

she became more “hyper-aware” of being Asian. She went to high school in Hanover, a school with a largely white population, and said she was relatively out of touch with her Asian identity as a result. When she started dating a Chinese-American classmate during her freshman year, she said she noticed cultural and parental differences that surprised her. She also joined sports teams that were predominantly white, and she realized that there are certain pockets of campus culture that lack diversity, to her stated surprise.

“I think this kind of awareness is going to follow me and help me in my future career in the tech industry,” she said.

Raghu spoke of the erasure of identity and how her Asian identity is tied to her name. She said that throughout her educational career, she has gone by several different pronunciations of her name, many of which were imposed by others.

For a period of time, when she ordered coffee, she would tell the barista her name was “Jane.”

“It felt antithetical,” she said.

“My name is a connection to my Asian, Indian, Hindu identities. I was trying to erase the Asian part of my Asian-American identity.”

She said many people ask her where she is from in an attempt to discern her ethnicity or nationality, something that Okuda discussed as well.

Okuda noted that many Asians, regardless of their backgrounds, struggle to find a sense of home and a voice that matters in an adopted country, much like her parents did. She said her mother felt like she did not belong at the primarily white environment of Dartmouth, though Okuda said she has found spaces on campus where she feels comfortable.

She said she has tried to find strength and pride in her Asian identity and has come to selfidentify more with it in college.

Shah discussed the intersectional nature of the Asian-American identity and spoke about the social and cultural privileges with which he has grew up. He said that the narrative of his family’s history is one of Indian-Americans who have taught him to be proud of his heritage.

“I come from a lineage that has strongly told me to trust in my own humanity and have the utmost confidence in my own traditions,” he said. “Victimizing ourselves takes away our own agency. It silences the fight inherent in our history.”

Jungbin Choi ’16, who attended the event, said that he came because he was genuinely curious. He said this was the first time he has seen Asians come together as a group for an activist cause and liked the personal essence of the panelists’ stories.

PAGE 5

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THURSDAY, MAY 21, 2015

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THE DARTMOUTH EVENTS

THURSDAY, MAY 21, 2015

DARTMOUTH EVENTS TODAY 2:00 p.m.

“Phenomenology of Gauge and Fermion-Preheating and the End of Axion Inflation,” seminar, Wilder 202

4:00 p.m.

“What Weaponized Shark Teeth Can Tell Us About Coral Reefs, PreColonial Kiribati” with Josh Drew, Rockefeller Center, Room 003

4:30 p.m.

“DEN Six to Start,” startup essentials workshop, DEN Innovation Center, 4 Currier Place, Suite 107

TOMORROW 3:30 p.m.

“The Great Race,” lecture with Levi Tillemann of the New America Foundation, Cummings Hall, Spanos Auditorium

4:30 p.m.

Department of music junior recital, student performance with Jimmy Ragan ’16, Hopkins Center for the Arts, Faulkner Recital Hall

6:30 p.m.

“While We’re Young” (2015), film screening, Black Family Visual Arts Center, Loew Auditorium

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THURSDAY, MAY 21, 2015

PAGE 7

Gospel Choir will bring interactive style to Spaulding

B y HALLIE HUFFAKER The Dartmouth Staff

This Saturday, the Dartmouth Gospel Choir will take the Spaulding Auditorium stage for its only concert this term, performing more than 10 songs. Highlights among the various pieces slated for the performance include a call-and-response rendition of the Lord’s Prayer and a cover of “Glory,” the Academy Award-winning track from the film “Selma” (2014), according to performers interviewed.

Walt Cunningham, the group’s director, said that he looks forward to ushering in Memorial Day with the group’s music, as he has never directed a performance on a holiday weekend in his 10 years directing the Gospel Choir. As is standard in the Choir’s performances, efforts will be made to get attendees up and moving during the show and to encourage audience participation, Cunningham said.

“I encourage people to stand up, clap, dance and sway to the music,” he said. “Sometimes I even encourage them to talk back to the choir.”

One of the College’s larger performing groups, the Gospel Choir counts over 50 students and community members among its performers and boasts a wide repertoire of music ranging from traditional gospel standards to pieces Cunningham called “new school.” Despite its large size and mix of ages, many performers interviewed about the upcoming show praised the group’s close-knit nature — and its joyful performance and rehearsal styles.

“I always feel so refreshed after rehearsals,” Nushy Golriz ’15, an alto in the choir, said.

“I’ve never felt so happy as I have after coming out from singing.”

Chad Piersma ’13, a baritone, echoed Golriz’s sentiments, adding that he also enjoyed the spontaneity of the group’s performances.

“No matter how bad of a day I had, I always look forward to rehearsal so I can end my day on a good note,” Piersma said. “It is the most stress-free, uplifting environment where you can really be yourself.”

Both Cunningham and students interviewed said they appreciated the diverse mix of age groups and spiritual and ethnic backgrounds in the choir. Although the group tends to sing songs based on Christian tenets common to traditional gospel music, Cunningham said he also attempts to walk a fine line between staying true to traditional gospel style and recognizing the diversity of beliefs at the College.

“I tend to pick messaging that is universally agreed upon,” Cunningham said. “We focus on themes like helping each other out, supporting each other and making the world a better place.”

“I encourage people to stand up, clap, dance and sway to the music. Sometimes I even encourage them to talk back to the choir.”

-WALT CUNNINGHAM, DARTMOUTH COLLEGE GOSPEL CHOIR DIRECTOR

Piersma, who has been in the group for six years, said that he is particularly excited for the group’s rendition of the Lord’s Prayer.

Although the choir has prepared

the piece’s call-and-response components, he said there is always some spontaneity involved in performances.

“We have some moments that are decided by [Cunningham],” Piersma said.

In addition to preparing for its upcoming performance, the group has also worked to honor its seniors as the spring quarter draws to a close. Margaret Fiertz ’15, an alto who has been involved with the group since her freshman year, said that Cunningham has specifically worked to remind seniors that they will not leave the group permanently after graduation, noting that he always welcomes alumni to sing with the choir whenever possible.

“This week [Cunningham] had all the seniors come up and talk about their experience,” she said.

“Afterwards he said to us, ‘This is never the end.’”

In the fall, the Choir modified its traditional performance to include two other musical groups — the Dartmouth Rockapellas and the

Dartmouth Glee Club — for a performance titled “Dartmouth Sings!” At the time, Cunningham emphasized a goal of encouraging learning about diversity through

collaboration.

The Dartmouth Gospel Choir will perform this Saturday at 2 p.m. in Spaulding Auditorium. Tickets range from $10 to $15.

WHEN IN ROME

CHERRY HUANG/THE DARTMOUTH STAFF

Gioia Timpanelli, a radio host and storyteller, performs a traditional Italian story.

hopkins center for the arts fri & sat

MaY 22 & 23 8 pm

$5

the moore theater

sat

MaY 23 2 pm

$5

spaulding auditorium

dartmouth dance ensemble

John heGinBothaM & reBecca stenn guest directors Four seasons and 16 dancers from throughout the Dartmouth community coincide for a joyful, inventive program. Nationally renowned choreographers John Heginbotham and Rebecca Stenn direct this talented, dedicated ensemble, and Geisel School of Medicine student Philip Montana, a professional dancer, contributes a solo work.

Includes live music.

dartmouth college gospel choir Walt cunninGhaM director

Celebrate spring with Dartmouth’s gospel choir, renowned for bringing crowds to their feet with traditional and cutting-edge spiritual music. With high-energy numbers, a punch-packing 20-piece band and soloists from within the choir and beyond, it’s great music, heartfelt community and an all-out good time.

World music percussion ensemble wed

afro/anDean fusion • hafiz shaBazz director

MaY 27

Join this musical trek combining the rhythms and melodies of West Africa and South America’s great mountain chain. This engaging ensemble is joined, on pan pipes and vocals, by Chilean multi-instrumentalist Roberto Clavijo, a veteran of the internationally touring groups Guamary, Gypsy Real and Viva Quetzal; Venezuelan pianist Abe Sanchez, from Viva Quetzal; and, on reeds, Jon Weeks, whose affiliations include Viva Quetzal and The Temptations.

7 pm

$5

spaulding auditorium

sun

MaY 31 2 pm

$5

spaulding auditorium

dartmouth symphony orchestra

Mahler: sYMphonY no. 6 • anthonY princiotti conductor One of Mahler’s darkest works, his Sixth is an unforgettable trip through human heights and depths, complete with special percussion meant to sound like “hammer blows of fate.” The third Mahler symphony the DSO has played in the past five years, it’s an extraordinarily rich universe of experience, emotion and expression from one of the giants of classical music.

hop.dartmouth.edu • 603.646.2422

Dartmouth college • hanover, nh $5 for Dartmouth students

THE DARTMOUTH SPORTS

PAGE 8

SPORTS

THURSDAY, MAY 21, 2015

THURSDAY LINEUP

No athletic events scheduled

Senior Spring: Madison Hughes ’15, face of U.S. rugby sevens

B y RAY LU

The Dartmouth Staff

It’s probably safe to say that professional rugby player Madison Hughes ’15 has one of the more distinct D-Plans on campus. He has been off-campus for the last two terms of his senior year, completing his assignments while captaining the United States Eagles sevens squad. This past weekend, the Eagles dominated Australia 45-22 to win the Marriott London Sevens Cup final and claim win their first World Rugby HSBC Sevens World Series title.

“It was an absolute dream come true to win the tournament,” Hughes said.

“Having grown up in London, I went to that tournament as a young boy and dreamed of playing there.”

Hughes was born and raised in a suburb of London to an English father and an American mother. He first started playing rugby at the age of seven, and hasn’t looked back since.

Hughes’s father had played rugby at the school level, but Hughes said that the decision to stick with rugby his entire life was his own. He said his parents were supportive of his wanting to play rugby, but never pushed him to make any particular commitment.

As Hughes progressed through the school rugby system and played club rugby for his county, more opportunities began to open up. Recruiting for college in England, however, was different from that in the United States, and the status of rugby in the U.S. is still developing. While he had been in a professional academy in England, the importance of his academics made himsift his focus to universities in the U.S. Hughes began getting in touch with a few coaches in the U.S., which led him to Alex Magleby, the former head coach and current technical advisor of Dartmouth’s rugby team. Hughes was immediately drawn to the College’s academic caliber, and he visited Hanover in the summer. Throughout the visit, he said, Hughes had the feeling that Dartmouth was the school he wanted to attend.

“I distinctly remember having a feeling that I didn’t have at any of the other schools that I visited,” he said. “This was where I wanted to go to college. I was immensely lucky that where I got that feeling, I was able to go.”

He said his freshman year was a fairly typical one, at least until the summer came around and he was selected for the team that would represent

Dartmouth at the Collegiate Rugby Championships. The Big Green came to the tournament looking to defend its national title and defeated the University of Arizona Wildcats in the finals for its second consecutive championship.

Hughes finished as the tournament’s third-leading try scorer and was named to the all-tournament team, a selection he would repeat in 2013 and 2014. He attributed much of his success to the upperclassmen on the team and Magleby.

“My transition to college rugby was helped immensely by the senior class at the time,” Hughes said. “The Dartmouth rugby [Class of 2012] was an immensely strong one, with lots of really strong leaders that I think really helped me get adapted to college rugby and progress to that high level. It really was a pretty seamless transition.”

The tournament was an important moment for Hughes. He had previously gotten recognition as a fullback for the U.S. national under-20 rugby union team. At the 2012 IRB Junior World Rugby Trophy, Hughes was the tournament’s top scorer and led the U.S. team with four tries. After the collegiate championships, however, Hughes was put even more firmly in the spotlight.

“I was competing against guys, some of whom were four or five years older than I was at the time, and I was doing pretty well there,” Hughes said. “That was a big turning point where I was like, ‘Wow, this is really something that could start going to a high level pretty quickly.’”

After growing up in England and living in the U.S., Hughes said he can perceive a difference between the two countries in their respective styles of play. He does, however, believe that the difference is shrinking.

“I think right now you’ve just got a lot more people in England who have grown up with the sport and had those years of experience [which] really [does] allow for a much more nuanced look at [rugby],” Hughes said. “But, at the same time, that gap is rapidly closing, I feel, especially as more people in the U.S. do start playing rugby at a younger age.”

Hughes says that the athleticism of the United States and the way that Americans approach sports can definitely push American rugby to greater heights.

Hughes has also dealt with the challenge of playing on both the international and college circuit.

“I think the athleticism and the size and the speed of the guys on the inter-

national circuit is a big thing,” Hughes said. “The speed of the game is faster, the gaps are smaller, and you have less time to make decisions, which really forces your skills to be higher and your decision-making skills to be under even more pressure.”

Back at Dartmouth, Hughes was voted by his peers to be the first junior to captain the men’s rugby team.

“I understood that it was an immense privilege and that it was something that I had to live up to,” Hughes said. “I couldn’t rest on the laurels of ‘Oh this has happened’ and be satisfied with that.”

The men’s rugby assistant coach and strength and conditioning coach James Willocks said that Hughes’ desire to live up to the title of captain was easy to see on the field. Willocks described Hughes as a “fantastic leader” and a great communicator who always leads by example.

“He is absolutely fantastic. I can’t speak highly enough of him as leader, as a person and as a rugby player,” Willocks said.

Peter Savarese ’15, who played on the Dartmouth rugby team with Hughes, reiterated the athlete’s ability to lead on the field. “[Hughes] is definitely a quiet leader for the most part — he leads by example,” Savarese said. “He makes the players around him better…by just the way he does things on the field. It’s a really huge thing to look for in a captain.”

Savarese recalled one match in a national sevens tournament in North Carolina in which he broke his ankle and was watching the game from his phone.

Hughes, he said, took over the match, and after winning the game, Hughes did a celebration that he and Savarese had joked about earlier — something Savarese said is rare for rugby players to do after scoring. “[Hughes celebrated after scoring], and whether it was because it was for me or not, I always sort of think of it that way,” Savarese said. “So between that and putting the team on his back to just sort of having a funny character side to it as well, it was just a pretty great moment.”

This past year has been challenging for Hughes, a history major with a concentration in modern European history, as he has had to balance national team duties with his schoolwork. He took classes in the fall while competing in camps in San Diego. He accredited much of his ability to manage academics and rugby to the flexibility of his

TRACY WANG/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF

Hughes ’15 recently led the U.S. Eagles to their first Sevens World Series title.

professors, but regardless, he has had to make difficult decisions. He said that it is difficult not to think about what could have happened if he devoted one more hour to studying for a test or one more hour spent at practice.

“For me, the realization that it was necessary for me to sacrifice on both ends of my focus — playing rugby at the highest level and pursuing an Ivy League degree — has pretty much meant for me that anything other than those two goals has had to be laid by the wayside,” Hughes said.

Hughes’ drive to succeed in the classroom and on the field, Willocks said, is clear to those work with the athlete behind the scenes.

“What the other people in the college don’t see is [Hughes’] incredible work ethic” Willocks said. “Outside of structured team practices, while he was training to go to the Olympic Center...I would be with him four times a week doing extra conditioning sessions and extra lifting sessions.”

This spring, Hughes has spent all of his time with the Eagles, touring around the globe and bringing home the World Series title. “[The title] was a mark of how much our hard work has been paying off for us, and I think it really showed that what we’ve been doing is working,” Hughes said. “As long as we stick on the same path, we keep working hard and we stay committed to what we’re doing, I think good things will continue to happen.”

Hughes is the youngest player on the team but also serves as the captain. He draws from his experiences of leading the College’s rugby team to help fulfill

his obligations and accredits his “incredible” teammates for their support.

“When we’re working for a common goal, as we are on the national team and as most sports teams are in general, it does mean that individual egos do have to be laid aside,” Hughes said.

The media attention is an aspect of success that has posed different challenges to Hughes and the Eagles, but Hughes tries not to let it draw him away from the game.

“I just try to stay true to myself and true to what I believe in,” Hughes said. “It’s not something that I try to overcomplicate.”

On June 13 and 14, Hughes and the rest of the national rugby team will compete in the North American and Caribbean Olympic qualifiers in North Carolina for a chance to play at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

As for his guiding life principles, Hughes tries not to impose any sort of limitation on himself.

“It’s important to stay grounded and just stay focused on the task at hand, trying not to look too far ahead or impose an overarching message on everything, because as soon as you have one overarching mantra, that can limit you and it means that you’ve imposed yourself in one direction,” Hughes said.

“It’s important to adapt and focus on whatever you’re doing at that particular moment.”

One of the biggest stars in a growing sport in America, Hughes has the opportunity of a lifetime to make his impact count. Rugby is now more than a sport for Hughes — it is his career.