The Dartmouth 02/26/2021

VOL. CLXXVII NO. 9

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2021

HANOVER, NEW HAMPSHIRE

Increase in COVID-19 cases prompts Two new restaurants shutdown of on-campus facililties coming to Hanover

BY Manasi Singh

The Dartmouth Staff

ELIZABETH JANOWSKI /THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF

All indoor gathering spaces have closed until at least Tuesday.

BY The Dartmouth Senior Staff This article was originally published on Feb. 25, 2021.

Following Wednesday’s surge in active coronavirus cases, the College has closed all indoor gathering spaces until at least Tuesday as more students continue to test positive.

As of Thursday evening, the COVID-19 dashboard shows 37 active COVID-19 cases among students — up from 25 yesterday evening — and 102 students in quarantine or isolation. Thirtyfive of the cases have been recorded since Sunday — yielding a 0.77% positivity rate for the week of Feb. 21 and comprising roughly 30% of the student COVID-19 cases that the College has seen since it began recording cases on July 1.

Among these cases, the College has identified three clusters of students with

PARTLY CLOUDY HIGH 36 LOW 18

COVID-19, defined by the state of New Hampshire as groups of three or more linked COVID-19 cases. The College is currently investigating if these clusters are related after initially reporting on Wednesday that two clusters — one of three students and another of four — were unrelated. As of Thursday, the College reported that all three clusters include at least three students, but it did not disclose exact numbers.

Though there are no active cases among faculty or staff members, four are in quarantine and six are in isolation.

Individuals in quarantine do not have symptoms and have not tested positive, but have been identified as a close contact or as having some other risk of exposure. Those in isolation have either tested positive for COVID-19 or have symptoms and are awaiting test results.

In response to the rising COVID-19 cases, the College closed all indoor

gathering spaces as of 4 p.m. on Thursday. Baker-Berry Library, Collis Center, the Hopkins Center for the Arts and Robinson Hall, among other spaces on campus, will not reopen to students until at least Tuesday. Laboratories and “project spaces,” which will remain open under COVID-19 protocols, are the only exceptions to the closures. Dining also remains “grab-and-go” only.

Additionally, all in-person classes will be moved online for their Friday and Monday class sessions.

Athletic facilities, including Alumni Gymnasium, closed on Wednesday until further notice. Though outdoor activities remain in place, transportation to and from the Dartmouth Skiway, as well as transportation for Dartmouth Outing Club trips, have also been suspended.

Data collected during daily tests on March 1 will determine whether spaces will reopen next week.

Departments react to closure of libraries

ELIZABETH JANOWSKI/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF

Department professors were not consulted prior to the closure of two libraries.

OPINION

TESZLER: WHY SO LOW, JOE? PAGE 3

ARTS

HOPKINS CENTER HOSTS COMEDIAN NICK KROLL PAGE 4

SPORTS

PETER ROBY ’79 APPOINTED INTERIM ATHLETICS DIRECTOR PAGE 5

MIRROR

Q&A: ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES PROFESSOR ELIZABETH WILSON PAGE 6

CROSSWORD

SLOAN: REQUIRED READING PAGE 6 FOLLOW US ON

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@thedartmouth COPYRIGHT © 2021 THE DARTMOUTH, INC.

BY Arielle Beak The Dartmouth Staff

In the wake of the College’s Feb. 16 announcement that Kresge Physical Sciences Library and Paddock Music Library will permanently close at the end of the academic year, students, faculty and staff have pushed back on the decision, citing impacts on accessibility to collections and the lack of input solicited in the process.

On Feb. 22, music department chair William Cheng penned an open letter titled “Illiberal Tyranny at a Liberal Arts College,” criticizing the College’s “ambush strategy” of closing Paddock Library before notifying faculty. The letter is included in a document soliciting testimonials from Dartmouth community members on their experiences with Paddock’s space and resources. As of Thursday, the document is over 120 pages long and contains over 150 testimonials from music majors, non-music majors, graduate students, professors, previous library staff, alumni and more.

Physics and astronomy professor Robert Caldwell has also invited community members to share their stories and testimonials with Kresge’s space in a growing 23-page document.

Earth sciences chair Robert Hawley started a similar document for alumni.

In his open letter, Cheng wrote that he learned of Paddock’s closure the morning after the announcement was made to campus. Hawley noted that he received the news from one of the head librarians “maybe six hours” before the information was released

publicly and that he was “definitely not consulted in any way.”

“I was shocked and dismayed, and I was sort of trying to figure out how to react to myself and therefore how to break the news to my department,” Hawley said.

According to the College, the decision stemmed from a structural financial deficit that existed before the COVID-19 pandemic. Chemistry department chair Dean Wilcox echoed that the College is in a “dire financial situation.”

“COVID is less of an issue than this systemic infrastructure problem that Dartmouth is facing right now,” Wilcox said. “It’s kind of a unique situation that we got ourselves into, and we have to figure out how to work our way out of it, so I understood that the libraries were going to have to make some cuts.”

According to Dean of Libraries Sue Mehrer, the libraries have undergone significant budget cuts over the past five years with equally significant declines in overall staffing. There has been a 35% decrease in the circulation of materials in the library system overall from 2008 to 2018.

Mehrer noted that the decision to close Kresge and Paddock was made after consulting with Provost Joseph Helble. In an email statement to The Dartmouth, Mehrer wrote that she also held meetings with Dean of Faculty Elizabeth Smith, associate dean for the sciences Daniel Rockmore, dean of the Guarini School of Advanced Studies Jon Kull, associate dean for the arts and humanities Samuel Levey and relevant

After a challenging year for local restaurants and businesses, two new restaurants — an Italian eatery and a sports bar — are opening in downtown Hanover this May. Over the past year, five food establishments — Morano Gelato, The Skinny Pancake, Swirl and Pearl and Noodle Station, Salt Hill Pub and Market Table — have closed, leaving multiple spaces empty in downtown Hanover.

Now, in the space formerly occupied by Market Table, Murphy’s on the Green owner Nigel Leeming will be opening Impasto, an Italian restaurant. In the former Salt Hill Pub location, Molly’s Restaurant and Jesse’s Steakhouse owner Anthony Barnett will open Dunk’s Sports Grill.

Both owners explained that plans for the new establishments have been in the works since last year but have slowed due to the pandemic.

After an incredibly popular community response to outdoor dining, Hanover town manager Julia Griffin said that it will likely start again May 1, around the time the two new restaurants plan to open.

Leeming’s Italian eatery Impasto, meaning “dough” in Italian, will feature a blend of Italian and Mediterranean dishes with a focus on flatbreads and other bread-based dishes.

“There will be a lot of really fresh ingredients,” Leeming said. “It’s going to be a lot of classic dishes with culinary twists and some Mediterranean influences.”

Leeming emphasized that the eatery will concentrate on enhancing the experience of eating and sharing with friends and family. The restaurant will feature an open kitchen to allow for those visiting to have an immersive and “intoxicating” dining experience.

Barnett described Dunk’s Sports Grill as a response to what he identified as another missing aspect in Hanover’s culinary scene.

“We’ll have big screen TVs; we’re working with Dartmouth on some images so that the artwork will reflect Dartmouth athletes and Dartmouth sports,” Barnett said.

Dunk’s — named after Barnett’s son Duncan — will feature a “classic,” yet “elevated” sports bar menu. This will include wings, hand-cut fries, griddle burgers, shrimp buckets, lobster rolls and many other popular American dishes.

While he hopes people will enjoy the food, one main focus of the restaurant will be its drinks menu.

“We really want to be like the Dartmouth bar,” Barnett said. “We want to be like the place where everyone goes before a game, the place where everyone goes after a game.” library department heads to discuss the intentions, financial challenges and trends that came together to inform the decision.

The College has stated that it plans to integrate Paddock and Kresge staff members into Baker-Berry Library operations, though the student employment budget will be dissolved, and the new location of STEM and physical science collections within Baker-Berry is yet to be decided.

Mehrer wrote that the College has begun the process of meeting with departments and working through how the spaces will be used, how the collections will be managed and how the library services will be offered.

High-use material from the Kresge and Paddock collections will be relocated to Baker-Berry Library in the coming months, and the rest of the libraries’ collections will be stored in the off-site shelving facility in Lebanon. Materials will be available by request.

According to Hawley, there are two primary problems with the announced library closures — first, students and faculty will lose physical library spaces essential to their scholarship, and second, there was seemingly no “decision-making process” that involved faculty.

Given the significant portion of time faculty spend participating in various committees and councils to advise the College, Hawley attributes much of the “disenfranchisement” to the lack of communication from the administration.

“Most of us were pretty upset that such a big decision with so much

Students are optimistic about the new openings. Chait Mehra ’23 expressed his excitement for a place to gather with friends to watch sports games. He shared that especially amid the pandemic, gathering with classmates to watch sports has been difficult.

“I’m really excited about this because I’ve been looking for a community of people to enjoy games with for the longest time,” Mehra said.

Barnett plans to add large screen TVs throughout the restaurant and extend patio seating, similar to Salt Hill Pub. Barnett said he is also considering hosting trivia nights similar to Salt Hill Pub’s trivia nights once the pandemic subsides.

Leeming and Barnett estimate both restaurants will open the first week of May, allowing students to enjoy the new culinary options for at least one month before the end of the term.

“We’ve been down negatively with COVID, and people have been suppressed,” Leeming said. “I think coming out in May at the start of the summer is going to be a breath of fresh air.”

Leeming said that Impasto will be heavily relying on the local delivery platform, UVER, or Upper Valley Eateries Retail, to continue business and ensure safety protocols are met.

Hanover town safety guidelines are not expected to change significantly in the near future, Griffin said.

“Our restaurants have really operated under the worst of conditions,” Griffin said. “So it’s nothing but better for them going forward in terms of what they will have to do to remain open.”

She noted that vaccine availability and administration, as well as general national COVID-19 trends, will be two critical factors in deciding how to proceed this summer with dine-in options and outdoor seating.

Barnett and Leeming shared that while they had some concerns about starting a business during a pandemic, they are optimistic about the chance of creating a successful restaurant.

Barnett sees the business openings as a chance for community members to reconnect after a distanced year and hopefully regain a sense of normalcy, especially over food, drinks and sports.

Griffin echoed this sentiment, specifically citing the small town environment and tight-knit community of Hanover as a driving factor behind the two restaurants being able to open. She shared her hopes that the restaurants will become another place for the community to gather safely.

“You almost feel like you’re eating with family when you take out or you support [these restaurants],” Griffin said. “And so even if you’re only here as a Dartmouth student for four years, it’s still an important social gathering place for our small town.”

impact on a lot of our departments could be simply made in absence of any discussion with the stakeholders,” Hawley said.

Wilcox said he recently spoke with Mehrer at a meeting of the Committee on Priorities and communicated to her that the situation was “not handled very well,” and that she should have consulted with the relevant departments.

Staff members have indicated being similarly blindsided by the announcement. Access and collections specialist Craig Pallett, who has worked in Paddock Library for the past three years, said he was informed of the closure on the day of the announcement.

Based on prior struggles to develop a 10-year plan for the future of the library, Pallett said that while he could see Paddock’s closure as a logical step taken to cut costs, he was still “very surprised” to hear the news.

“Whoever came to this decision not to inform the chairs of the departments. … I can see where that’s led to a lot of discontent,” Pallett said.

Head of research and learning for STEM, business and economics Jane Quigley said the news was not a “total shock” for her, as the closures had been “discussed as a possibility … for some time toward the middle or late part of last year.”

“One thing that I think is important to acknowledge … is that this is a hard decision,” Quigley said. “It’s really painful and I do feel some regret, but the important things are … the SEE LIBRARIES PAGE 2

PAGE 2

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2021

THE DARTMOUTH NEWS

‘Brothers and Sisters’ vigil commemorates victims of police brutality

BY Madeleine Bernardeau The Dartmouth

This article was originally published on Feb. 25, 2021.

Nearly 125 members of the Dartmouth community attended the “Brothers and Sisters” vigil on Tuesday night, which honored Ahmaud Arbery on the one-year anniversary of his killing. The event served as a space to pay respect to Arbery and other victims of race-based violence, including Michael Brown, George Floyd, Trayvon Martin and Breonna Taylor.

The vigil, which was co-sponsored by the Guarini School of Graduate and Advanced Studies, the Tucker Center for Spiritual and Ethical Life and the Office of Pluralism and Leadership, included both in-person and Zoom components. While nearly 100 participants attended the event on Zoom, another group of 25 gathered in person outside the Hopkins Center for the Arts with candles and a poster board to write messages of love and hope.

The Zoom event began with a short introduction by Awo Adu ’22 before switching to a livestream of the participants outside the Hopkins Center. Attendees observed a moment of silence for eight minutes and 46 seconds, a nod to the amount of time former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin knelt on the neck of George Floyd in May. In-person attendees held candles, and Zoom participants were invited to share “comments of love, hope and reflection within the Zoom chat.”

The event was organized and led

by Guarini fellows Isaiah Diaz-Mays GR’22 and Lessley Hernandez ’20 GR’21. According to Diaz-Mays, the idea for the event started out of interest among himself and a small group of friends, who then encouraged him to open it up to the community.

“Initially, this was just something of self-interest that is important to me,” Diaz-Mays said, adding that Arbery was around the age of many college students when he was killed. Diaz-Mays presented the idea at a weekly Diversity

COURTESY OF POLINA CHESNOKOVA

Twenty-five Dartmouth community members gathered outside of the Hop to commemorate victims of race-based violence, joining nearly 100 participants on Zoom.

Fellows meeting, where Hernandez offered her support and came on board as a co-organizer.

Hernandez commented on the importance of holding a vigil of this nature at Dartmouth in particular.

Especially with the fast-paced nature of Dartmouth’s quarter system on top of the stress of the pandemic, she said that “creating that space and having these moments is super important.”

Diaz-Mays and Hernandez originally hoped for a larger in-person event, but both noted that they faced challenges organizing the event due to College restrictions amid the COVID-19 pandemic. As interest and support for the event grew, they realized they would not be able to have a traditional in-person vigil as they had imagined and instead adapted to a hybrid in-person and Zoom format.

The event was approved to have 25 people attend in person, including technical staff, Hernandez said. The in-

person participants were students who had expressed personal interest in the event to Diaz-Mays and Hernandez and those who were involved with planning.

“We’re not trying to be gatekeepers for emotions of vulnerability,” Hernandez said. “We wanted to be very conscious of the space that we’re creating because [we wanted] to bring dignity to it.”

Adu, who attended the event via Zoom, echoed the importance of the Dartmouth community making space to honor Black lives.

“Visibility is really important,” she said. Noting that the Upper Valley is “very white,” she added that “as far away as they might be geographically, these atrocities are still very much [present]. “[The Dartmouth and Upper Valley communities] have responsibility, as human beings, to respond to these matters and to make sure that they’re doing their part too to prevent these atrocious cycles from continuing,” she said.

Adu considered the vigil to be similarly significant to a protest or rally.

“We are resisting the modern day effort to sort of sweep these names under the rug,” she said. “The vigil was a way of being like, ‘We’re going to keep saying their names, and we’re just never going to stop saying their names.’”

Hernandez highlighted how the virtual format allowed a broader audience, including those not physically in Hanover, to participate. The live chat feature also allowed participants to share poems and other words of support throughout the event.

Rena Mosteirin, a lecturer in the Masters of Arts in Liberal Studies program at Guarini, shared the poem “The World We Want Is Us’’ by Alice Walker in the Zoom chat during the event. In an email to The Dartmouth, she wrote that she shared the poem because “[Walker] writes so perfectly about this generation stepping into their power.”

Mosteirin added that she found the vigil to be a powerful event.

“At the vigil last night, [DiazMays and Hernandez] created a very important space for the community to share grief and loss,” Mosteirin wrote.

“I see their work as a refusal to allow Ahmaud Arbery’s name to be erased.”

However, the shift to Zoom allowed for one “zoom-bomber.” During the event, a participant joined the Zoom call and began displaying obscene images and playing music. The participant was quickly removed, and the Zoom room was subsequently locked.

Diaz-Mays noted the overall success of the event, however, and said that he hopes that the vigil will become an annual one.

“As human beings, we’re always moving, so it’s natural to forget,” he said. “But it is imperative that we do not forget, because forgetting is what allowed those two men to think that it was OK to kill Ahmaud.”

PaaWee Rivera ’13 to serve as White House director of tribal affairs

BY Soleil Gaylord The Dartmouth Staff

This article was originally published on Feb. 22, 2021.

On Feb. 12, the Biden administration announced PaaWee Rivera ’13 as its pick for senior adviser to the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs and director of tribal affairs.

Rivera, of the Pueblo of Pojoaque, is the second Native American Dartmouth alumnus to serve as the primary liaison between the White House and the nation’s 574 federally recognized tribes, according to Native American studies professor Bruce Duthu. Jodi Archambault Gillette ’91 of the Standing Rock Sioux served in the role under the Obama administration.

In a Feb. 13 tweet, Rivera expressed his excitement, saying he will support President Joe Biden’s “commit[ment] to strengthening tribal sovereignty and advancing the Nation-to-Nation relationship.”

Rivera graduated from Dartmouth

with a major in government and a minor in Native American studies.

He then worked as a government relations adviser for the law firm Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP before serving in various positions in the Democratic National Committee, including as Native American and rural engagement director. Rivera also worked on the presidential campaign of Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and later on Biden’s campaign as its Western coalitions director.

Duthu, who had Rivera as a student, said Rivera “stood out” as an undergraduate for his interest in politics and tribal issues. Rivera grew up in a political background, with his father, George Rivera, serving as governor of the Pueblo of Pojoaque from 2004 to 2015.

“Politics ran deep in his family, and he seemed really excited and genuinely engaged with political issues relating to tribes and their relationship with states and the federal government,” Duthu said. “This role gives him an amazing perch from which to live out

Closing of libraries frustrates professors FROM LIBRARIES PAGE 1

purpose of the library to support research by providing the access to the resources, the access to the people, the librarians, and the staff who can support and help and serve — and we will continue to do that.”

Alongside reactions from staff, many students have voiced discontent with the decision.

Music major Zack Olsen ’21 was the first to contribute to the Paddock document upon receiving the email from Cheng. Calling Paddock library an “escape from the intense city of Baker-Berry Library,” Olsen echoed Cheng’s sentiment of a misunderstanding of actual usage patterns of Paddock’s resources.

“They have these big, complete work editions of all the famous composers, like hundreds of scores that are very big and unwieldy,” Olsen said.

He added that simply examining the circulation numbers of these scores would be inaccurate, as he believes they are used “very frequently” by

students working within the library, and it would prove “very inconvenient” to move them to an off-site location due to their size.

Music major Virginia Wei ’22 said she contributed to the Paddock document “almost right away” after receiving an email from her music professor. Wei said she was touched to hear the variety of testimonials from people beyond her professors and fellow students.

“It was so clear to me how impactful our little library in the Hopkins Center is to campus culture in general,” Wei said.

As testimonials continue to pour in, students and community members alike have rallied for the College to reassess its priorities.

“It sends a bad message about what Dartmouth values as an institution,” Olsen said. “They’re going to miss out on students who are interested in the arts because of this and faculty members too. … It’s going to have a lot of negative repercussions in terms of the academic reputation of these departments.”

that interest.”

Duthu also said Rivera’s marked passion and thorough comprehension of tribal issues and local governance would serve him well in his new position, where he will work in partnership with tribes throughout the nation. He noted that assuming a senior White House role such as director of tribal affairs is rare for someone as young as Rivera, who is 29.

“It is an amazing testament to [him] that people with whom he has worked would tap him for this kind of assignment,” Duthu said.

Government professor John Carey, who also taught Rivera, said he is excited for Rivera to bring a uniquely “young perspective and a lot of energy to the role.”

Carey, like Duthu, recalled Rivera was a “very good” student in his class GOVT 4, “Politics of the World,” where they studied how countries with multiple sovereignties operate — a challenge Carey said Rivera will directly address in his White House job.

Duthu noted that Rivera and the Biden administration face historic challenges in addressing the issues confronting Indigenous communities.

The pandemic has disproportionately impacted Native Americans, with American Indians and Alaska Natives among the demographics at highest risk of contracting COVID-19, according

to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. North and South Dakota, home of the Lakota Nation, lead the nation in per capita COVID-19 rates.

Many tribes have also grappled with the loss of elders, and thus, their tribal languages.

Rivera’s role will most likely focus upon tribal outreach, vaccine administration and addressing other inequities exposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Duthu. For example, Rivera will likely work on improving telecommunications infrastructure and technology, as tribal nations are among the “least connected” societies to high-speed internet in the United States, Duthu said.

Rivera’s hiring also comes after the nomination of Deb Haaland, D-N.M., as secretary of the interior. Haaland, a member of the Laguna Pueblo, would be the first Native American to serve in a cabinet position. The Biden administration will also include Robert Anderson of the Bois Forte Band of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, who will serve as the U.S. Department of the Interior’s principal deputy solicitor.

Despite these recent nominations, Native Americans remain largely underrepresented in the federal government — four Native Americans served in the previous Congress, then a record, and six serve in the current

Congress.

Hilary Tompkins ’90, former solicitor for the U.S. Department of the Interior and a member of the Navajo Nation, added that during the Obama administration, there were strong ties between the federal government and federally recognized tribes, a relationship she expects to be revitalized under the Biden administration.

She said that she anticipates the Biden administration will also focus on issues such as racial justice, tribal economic development opportunities and the expansion of renewable projects in Indian Country.

“Clearly, the tribal voice will be an important voice at the table,” Tompkins said.

She added that she looks forward to Rivera’s accomplishments under his new position.

“It gives me great Dartmouth pride and Native pride to see [Rivera] get appointed to this role,” Tompkins said. “I think it is important that we continue to see Native Americans put in these important posts of leadership in the government. I think it sends an important message to society that Native Americans are ready and willing and able to serve in leadership roles within the highest levels of government and across society.”

Rivera could not be reached for comment by press time.

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2021

PAGE 3

THE DARTMOUTH OPINION

GUEST COLUMNIST LUCAS VALDES ‘20

Keep Kresge

Kresge’s closure highlights Dartmouth’s neglect of the physical sciences.

This article was originally published on Feb. 25, 2021.

It’s no secret that the physical sciences are one of the cornerstones of a Dartmouth liberal arts education. Historically, investment, faculty recruitment and generous undergraduate research grants have solidified the College’s position as a uniquely engaging place to receive undergraduate training in the sciences. The maintenance of the Kresge Physical Sciences Library was one of those important investments.

The College cited a 12% drop in print circulation over the last few years in its decision to close Kresge. Such a modest drop in print circulation is an inadequate reason for closure, and regardless, print circulation is a poor proxy for Kresge’s value. Kresge’s true value lies in its position as a confluence of expertise, resources and community. Young science students go to Kresge because they need to use resources stored there, and they find a community of people working on similar problems alongside librarians capable of connecting them with the right resources. This source of camaraderie and support is invaluable in the face of the often grueling challenges of the physical sciences.

I know that was my experience during my time as an undergraduate in the chemistry department.

I spent a lot of time in Kresge — not only using it as a study space, but as a path from lecture to my research lab, a place to see friends from my major, a place to obtain reference texts and a place to find textbooks and solution manuals I couldn’t find elsewhere. Having all of these things in one place was important to me. It provided a muchneeded home on a campus seemingly dominated by economics majors, and a place where I could find a centralized repository of resources, help with my science problems and a community that understood my struggles. Decentralizing these resources and decoupling them from the community, as the College now intends to do, threatens to isolate science students and weaken science at Dartmouth.

This decision to cut a valuable resource in exchange for modest savings is made even more alarming by the fact that the physical sciences facilities at Dartmouth have seen little investment since Burke Laboratory was completed in the early 1990s at the cost of $26.5 million. While the College should be applauded for finishing the much-needed $93 million Class of 1978 Life Sciences Center in 2011 and continuing to support the Dana

Biomedical Library, that should not distract us from its neglect of the physical sciences. Compare Dartmouth to smaller colleges like Williams College and Amherst College, which have recently spent $204 million and $214 million, respectively, on their integrated science facilities, and Princeton University’s 2010 completion of the $278 million Frick Chemistry Lab and 2002 completion of the Lewis-Sigler Genomics Institute, and it becomes clear that Dartmouth isn’t as interested in investing in the core sciences. A look at the College’s recent $200 million investment in a computer science facility and $160 million Irving Institute for Energy and Society, $80 million of which came from the petro-billionaire Irving family, and it becomes clear what Dartmouth wants to invest in: projects that draw big-ticket donations and high-earning alums flush with cash for the endowment.

This isn’t to say that we need a $100 million renovation for the physical science facilities, but it is to highlight the gross negligence of the administration’s decision to close Kresge. At a time when peer institutions are investing in science across the board, the College chooses to selectively invest in the pockets of science that are most financially profitable while divesting from the basic sciences on which the College’s liberal arts education relies.

What makes the loss of Kresge so hurtful is the College’s willful decision to dismantle a pillar of the scientific community in order to chase minor cost savings while they dump money on tangential endeavors.

As a chemistry student, I can’t speak for the Paddock Library, but I have no doubt that music students have feelings for it that are quite similar to the feelings I have for Kresge. I am urging all students and alumni to pressure the administration to walk back on the elimination of these important community spaces. However, in light of this decision and the recent reinstatement of certain high-rent sports teams, I am pessimistic about the prospects of saving spaces that are important to the half of the Dartmouth community that doesn’t have a fat checkbook to wave in the administration’s face.

Valdes is a member of the Class of 2020.

The Dartmouth welcomes guest columns. We request that guest columns be the original work of the submitter.

Submissions may be sent to both opinion@thedartmouth. com and editor@thedartmouth.com. Submissions will receive a response within three business days.

THE DARTMOUTH EDITORIAL BOARD

Verbum Ultimum: Under Cover of Darkness From library closures to study abroad cuts, Dartmouth’s authoritarian decision-making process has neglected the groups it is supposed to serve.

On Feb. 16, the College abruptly announced its decision to close the Kresge Physical Sciences Library and the Paddock Music Library. According to a widely shared open letter by music department chair William Cheng, not a single music professor was consulted, or even alerted, before the administration eliminated the department’s library.

This omission ought to shock anyone. Sadly, few in the Dartmouth community will be surprised by the administration’s underhanded attempt to eliminate two beloved libraries.

Recent decisions have only emphasized the intentional opacity with which the administration operates. Under the cover of the pandemic, the administration has rammed through a series of controversial measures with little or no input from students, faculty or other members of the Dartmouth community.

Since the start of the pandemic, the administration has unilaterally cut — and then reinstated — five sports teams. It slashed study abroad programs, again allegedly without much input from the departments affected. The list goes on. Some may support these decisions, and some may oppose them. But all can agree that these major decisions were made with almost no input from the Dartmouth community members most impacted by the changes.

By maneuvering under cover of darkness, then presenting drastic moves without consulting the necessary parties, the administration has very publicly revealed the bankruptcy of its decisionmaking process.

The administration’s goal should be to serve the College; yet this administration has shown little desire to facilitate, or even listen to, the goals of the community. Instead, in the worst sort of bureaucratic politics, it has acted almost solely on its own interests. One would be hard-pressed to find a single student or professor who supports the recent elimination of the two libraries. That, presumably, is why the administration chose to implement the cuts with little warning, in what Cheng’s open letter aptly called an “ambush.”

RACHEL PAKIANATHAN, Editor-in-Chief ELIZABETH JANOWSKI, News Executive Editor EILEEN BRADY, Managing Editor

PRODUCTION EDITORS CHANTAL ELIAS & CALLUM ZEHNER, Opinion Editors SARAH ALPERT & NOVI ZHUKOVSKY, Mirror Editors ADDISON DICK, JUSTIN KRAMER & LILI STERN, STERN Sports Editors FLORIDA HUFF & LAUREN SEGAL, SEGAL, Arts Editors NAINA BHALLA & DIVYA KOPALLE, Photo Editors WILLIAM CHEN & AARON LEE, Data Visualization Editors SOPHIE BAILEY, BAILEY Design Editor GRANT PINKSTON, PINKSTON Templating Editor

But why is the administration — an entity that should exist solely to lead and serve the Dartmouth community — consistently disregarding students and professors?

Many voices, including that of this Editorial Board, have previously called for transparency and consideration of constituents’ voices in the College’s decision-making process. Yet, despite cursory measures like Dean of the College Kathryn Lively’s handpicked “student advisory board,” which purportedly weighs in on COVID-19 policy decisions — while other students rely on crowdfunded financial support — this administration still seems to show little interest in anything resembling accountability or transparency.

When appeals for transparency have not led to any substantive change, we must advocate for true accountability. In the long run, this means elected representatives of students and faculty holding seats on the Board of Trustees. This step may seem radical, but it is incumbent on the College. After all, should the true purpose of the College — to educate students and discover new knowledge — not have the final say in how the College operates?

This step is not unprecedented. Numerous peer institutions — including Cornell University and the University of Massachusetts system — have student representatives on their governing boards.

The Board of Trustees has the ultimate say over what happens at the College, and with student and faculty representatives at the table, administrators will no longer have free reign to ignore the two most critical groups on Dartmouth’s campus.

In the short term, however, we propose a moratorium on all fait accompli style decisions, together with a requirement that the administration substantively consult relevant stakeholders before making decisions for them.

The clock has run out on an administration that has consistently failed to fulfill its purpose. Now is the time to stand up for the College, and for ourselves.

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STAFF COLUMNIST SYDNEY ALLARD ‘21

An Optical Illusion Dartmouth’s racial justice goals miss the mark.

This article was originally published on Feb. 23, 2021.

Last summer, in the wake of George Floyd’s killing and the ensuing Black Lives Matter protests, College President Phil Hanlon sent a number of emails promising institutional reforms and shiny new initiatives toward racial equality.

One such promise was to “make implicit bias training mandatory for all students, faculty and staff.” This certainly sounds like a step in the right direction. But, time and again, implicit bias training has shown little evidence of actually changing behavior. The fact that so many institutions — Duke University, the New York City department of education and police force and the city of Los Angeles, to name a few — have implemented, or plan to implement, implicit bias training shows that they are more concerned with optics than with tangible change. Implementing implicit bias training allows institutions to pat themselves on the back without taking on the root causes of racial inequity in their organizations.

Implicit bias training is only one of many changes Dartmouth promised in the wake of Black Lives Matter protests, but few of the other proposed actions seem any more promising. One of Hanlon’s emails last summer provided a link to Dartmouth’s “Inclusive Excellence” website.

The website lists six initiatives the College is undertaking to improve institutional diversity.

Each initiative is broken down into a checklist of action items. Most of the items are already checked off — a quick perusal of the website leaves the impression that Dartmouth, by its own account, has already completed most of its goals to improve racial justice on campus.

One section of the website includes ways for Dartmouth to “build a more inclusive community.” Seven out of 10 goals have already been checked off. Completed actions include tasks like “incorporate diversity and inclusion discussions in house communities,” “incorporate diversity and inclusion training into orientation for new students” and “sponsor annual debate on [a] topic of political and social import.” Never mind that none of these three items seems like the kind of ambitious goal befitting the heading “build a more inclusive community” — there’s no reason to believe that these actions will be effective at all.

I do not know anyone who attends discussions in house communities. The suggestion that the house system would be an appropriate venue for reforming the Dartmouth community is, at best, entirely out of touch. At worst, it’s an attempt to placate students’ desire for change without putting in any substantial effort. Implicit bias training, as discussed earlier, has not shown itself to be effective. Sponsoring an annual debate could be interesting (albeit unambitious), but it’s hard to imagine that doing so would actually help us “build a more inclusive community.”

Given the sheer volume of events Dartmouth hosts already, just adding another seems unlikely to facilitate substantive change. And given that even intentionally designed trainings don’t mitigate the effects of bias in practice, it seems almost impossible that attending an event would fundamentally change one’s worldview or combat institutional racism.

It is easy to point to what doesn’t work, and Dartmouth can’t be blamed for missing the mark from time to time. But Dartmouth can be blamed for consistently ignoring bigger problems, even if they have less obvious solutions.

For example, Dartmouth’s preferential admissions status for legacy students creates an exclusive culture in which predominantly white, wealthy students arrive on campus feeling comfortable and self-assured, while others struggle to find their way through confusing traditions and administrative acronyms. Not to mention that legacy preference makes demographic change more difficult by definition.

An honest attempt to make Dartmouth more racially and socio-economically inclusive would include rethinking legacy preference in admissions.

There are smaller actions, too, that Dartmouth can take. The College could make transportation from urban centers free, so that our remote location does not make us even more exclusive than we already are.

Superficial actions like implementing a mandatory implicit bias training are worse than ineffective. They allow Dartmouth to evade big, controversial issues. Policies like legacy preference in admissions are entrenched parts of Dartmouth culture, and changing them risks angering wealthy donors. Instead of pursuing change, Dartmouth has chosen the easy — and ineffective — way out.

STAFF COLUMNIST MAX TESZLER ‘23

Why So Low, Joe?

The Biden administration’s goal of 1.5 million vaccinations a day is a paltry and underwhelming target. It’s time to ramp up expectations.

This article was originally published on Feb. 23, 2021.

Last December, people across the globe watched with hope as American nurses and doctors received their first COVID-19 vaccine doses — only to see our country fall flat on its face as the rollout stalled despite the U.S.’ place as an epicenter of international vaccine development. Now that President Joe Biden has taken office, vowing to “listen to the scientists” and “shut down the virus,” things must have turned around, right? Not so fast — while the federal government’s leadership has undoubtedly improved, the Biden administration’s goals for vaccination are relatively tame, at least according to many health experts. Under former President Donald Trump, the federal government falsely promised a nearmiraculous rollout of the vaccine. We now face the opposite problem — the Biden administration is underselling the vaccine. It’s time to ramp up expectations and engage in a full bore campaign to get doses into arms as fast as the vaccines are manufactured.

The administration’s hesitancy is perhaps understandable, for both political and practical reasons. By under-promising and over-delivering, Biden could get a shot of political popularity if the vaccine arrives sooner than the public expects.

The Trump administration’s failures show that false hype and over-promising can cause tremendous damage. Under Trump’s leadership, state and local governments were left with little guidance on how to coordinate mass vaccination, while total production numbers fell far short of lofty expectations. As late as December, Alex Azar ’88, the former Health and Human Services secretary, was claiming that 20 million people would be vaccinated by the end of 2020. The actual figure? Only about a seventh of that target. These failures were a national disgrace, but that doesn’t mean we need to permanently lower expectations or aim below what’s achievable. Just as overselling the vaccine damages public trust, setting underwhelming goals neglects the urgency for people to get vaccinated as soon as possible. Public health leaders are sounding the alarm, worrying again about lack of planning for faster vaccination, even as manufacturing finally begins to ramp up.

A quick look at the numbers reveals just how pitiful some of Biden’s goals are. The administration has pledged to reach for 1.5 million doses a day (a number raised after many criticized their one million vaccines per day target as too conservative). But despite the administration framing their current target as ambitious, the U.S. has actually exceeded 1.5 million vaccines in the daily rolling average since Feb. 10, starting before some of Biden’s biggest measures to support vaccination were even implemented. We’ve already hit the administration’s loftiest expectations without much effort. So when is the new target coming? Unfortunately, the administration has shown no clear signs of adjusting its numbers.

In addition, the administration has taken a conservative line on vaccine rollout timing, with Biden talking about an end of July goal post for full public availability. Meanwhile, Biden’s chief

medical adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci took to the interview circuit these past few days, clarifying that full public availability is likely to start in mid-May. So why the discrepancy? Biden’s end of July goalpost marks the time when 660 millions doses (enough for everyone in the U.S. to receive two doses) will have been manufactured. But not everyone will rush to get vaccines as soon as they’re available, and the public needs to start booking their appointments in advance so states can manage demand — full eligibility will open up before every single dose is manufactured. So, the talk of “end of July’’ for general availability is confusing at best, and could cause public misunderstanding when vaccine access begins to increase well before July.

What would a more ambitious campaign look like? The national message should be clear: The public should begin signing up for vaccines as quickly as possible, beginning in May, or early June at the latest. In terms of numbers, many public health experts say the daily vaccination goal should be around twice the current level, or about three million shots per day by April and increasing beyond. That’s where production levels are heading; and in fact, they might hit close to five million doses per day by the end of June, as Johnson and Johnson — whose vaccine candidate will likely soon be approved for use in the U.S. — also ramps up production.

The goal needs to be to get people shots as fast as we can make them. As the initial rollout debacle illustrates, we need to start planning in advance to actually make use of the available supply — every day we keep the goal at 1.5 million is another day wasted, when the Biden administration could be rallying states and marshalling federal resources for a far more ambitious target. It’s the United States’ duty to its citizens to get doses into arms as soon as they’re made — vaccines sitting around in cold storage will not do anyone any good. We also should hope to vaccinate as quickly as possible so our extra unused doses can be donated to global vaccination programs such as the World Health Organization’s COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access initiative. It’s in our direct interest to stamp out global spread of the virus, both morally and for the practical reason of avoiding further mutations and potential new variants of the virus.

So, Joe — now is not the time to hedge bets or deliberately lower expectations. The message must be: “Vaccines will save the lives of you, your family and your community — and we aim to open up availability to the public by mid-May.” The powers of the federal government are truly astounding. The government can more aggressively use the Defense Production Act to boost the supply of items like vaccine vials, provide funding for state vaccination programs and launch campaigns to convince the public to get their shots. Just yesterday, Biden held a powerful vigil to eulogize the 500,000 Americans lost to COVID-19, calling on the country to “remember each person and the life they lived.” How better a way to honor their memory than by moving as quickly as possible to vaccinate this country — so that one day, no more lives must be added to the grim toll?

PAGE 4

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2021

THE DARTMOUTH ARTS

Hopkins Center hosts conversation with comedian Nick Kroll

BY Elle Muller

The Dartmouth Staff

This article was originally published on Feb. 25, 2021.

On Friday night, actor and comedian Nick Kroll, co-creator of the Netflix series “Big Mouth,” participated in a live conversation hosted by Latif Nasser ’08 of WNYC’s “Radiolab.” Throughout the conversation, presented by Collis Programming Board and the Hopkins Center for the Arts, Kroll discussed his career in television and how his personal experiences inspired his work.

Nasser kicked off the event by asking Kroll about how his reportedly “awkward” childhood influenced “Big Mouth.” Kroll said that although his childhood was relatively normal, he exaggerated his awkward teenage experiences to inform the show’s themes of discomfort and embarrassment, noting that he wanted to create a show that explores how debilitating puberty is for everyone, even the “quote-unquote normal kids.”

Even as a 42-year-old man, Kroll said his struggles and uncomfortable experiences continue to inspire the show.

He added that “Big Mouth” provides an outlet for him to process emotions and life events, stressing the importance of acting and writing as a form of therapy for him.

Reflecting on his childhood, Kroll shared that his love for performing developed during his time at the Mountain School of Milton Academy in Vershire, Vermont, where he frequently found opportunities to perform and practice his craft. He added that attending college at Georgetown University also played a key role in his development as an actor, noting that he still collaborates with people he met there, including his close friend,

Nick Kroll talks to the Dartmouth community about his awkward teenage years and how his experiences influence his work.

comedian John Mulaney.

Following Kroll and Nasser’s conversation, Emma Johnson ’24, Elise Avila ’22 and Max Fuster ’21, whose questions were selected from those solicited by the Hop in advance, asked pre-recorded questions to Kroll.

Johnson asked about Kroll’s friendship with Mulaney; the two act together on “Big Mouth” and cowrote the screenplay for “Oh, Hello on Broadway,” a stand-up comedy film.

Kroll said that he and Mulaney have a relationship that thrives because they both find each other funny. He stressed the importance of finding people you enjoy working with and of healthy

competition.

“Oh, Hello on Broadway” was built slowly, with Mulaney and Kroll each bringing in a joke and improvising to create the complete set over a span of several days. Whereas Kroll said that Mulaney’s jokes always hit the mark, he felt like his seemed to fall flat until he worked with Mulaney to improve them.

At one point during the discussion, Kroll and Hop film management fellow Zea Eanet ’21 began to discuss graduate school applications and their shared experience with rejection. Sarah Jewett ’23, who attended the event, appreciated this exchange, which she said made the event feel more personal.

“Hearing him talk to [Eanet], who was talking about her application process for grad school, and see[ing] him give advice about our generation and how we’re in a unique position, was interesting to hear from a millennial,” she said. “It was nice to see him actually engage with his interviewers and not just talk about himself.”

Melanie Kos ’20, who attended the talk, added that the YouTube chat feature helped make the event feel more lively and interactive, as students had an outlet to make jokes and “side comments” throughout the conversation.

Jewett said that she particularly

SOURCE: HOPKINS CENTER FOR THE ARTS

enjoyed the energy from Nasser and Kroll during the conversation.

“I really enjoyed Latif Nasser,” Jewett said. “… He was just such a great interviewer — his energy brought a lot to the conversation.”

Eanet added that she appreciated the efforts of Collis Programming Board and the Hopkins Center to invite a high-profile comedian to speak to the Dartmouth community.

“Especially now, when our turnout has been low for a lot of Hop events, it’s really nice to be able to bring somebody that I feel like students will actually be really interested in hearing from,” she said.

Student Spotlight: Kevin Soraci ’18 finds beauty in the mundane

By Julia Robitaille The Dartmouth Staff

This article was originally published on Feb. 25, 2021.

Studio art intern Kevin Soraci ’18 seeks to find beauty in the ordinary.

Soraci’s exhibition “The Comforts of Home,” currently displayed in the Barrows Rotunda of the Hopkins Center for the Arts, features paintings of scenes from everyday life, capturing a space that can feel both familiar and peculiar.

All of the paintings in the exhibition were made in the past year; however, Soraci said they were not inspired by the pandemic. Soraci said that he’s always been drawn to painting everyday scenes and the relationships between figures and interior spaces. “[The paintings] felt a bit eerie,” said studio art professor Esmé Thompson, who taught Soraci in SART 25, “Painting I,” as well as his senior seminar. “To me they felt like the light you’d have in a dream.”

Soraci’s current exhibition builds on his time as an undergraduate at Dartmouth. Soraci painted throughout high school and came to Dartmouth planning to pursue a major in engineering with a minor in studio art, followed by a bachelor of engineering degree from the Thayer School of Engineering. It wasn’t until the summer before his senior year that he realized he wanted to consider a career in the arts. That summer, Soraci worked in Morocco with artist-inresidence and Montgomery Fellow Eric van Hove, where he utilized 3D printing to help with one of van Hove’s projects.

Soraci subsequently decided to take more studio art classes during his senior year. He graduated in 2018 with a double major in engineering and studio art and opted to take a gap year before completing his remaining requirements at Thayer. At the time, he moved to Montana to work as a machinist, where he did hands-on work engineering and made art on the side.

Soraci never came back to finish the engineering requirements. He stayed in Montana for two years, eventually deciding to focus more on his art.

“I think you have to do both [work and art] until you’re ready to just do one,” Soraci said. “If your art isn’t good enough yet, you have to find a way to support yourself. You have to just do art on the side until it becomes good enough that you could do it full time.”

Since the start of the academic year, Soraci has been working as an intern in

the studio art department. He credits his internship for allowing him to focus on his craft while also being supported by a robust faculty network.

Soraci’s access to the studio as an intern allows him and his fellow interns to spend time working on their own projects.

Soraci’s current work includes facultydirected projects and commissions — mostly from family and friends — as well as some projects of his own.

Soraci said that faculty members in the studio art department at Dartmouth — especially professors John Lee, Karolina Kawiaka, Colleen Randall and Thompson — have all had positive influences on him.

Thompson in turn praised Soraci’s artistic abilities, discussing his interest in painting nocturnes, which are paintings that depict nighttime scenes.

“From the very beginning, he was just amazing,” Thompson said. “During the term, he would go out into the streets at night and do night paintings of people in Hanover.”

When Soraci started painting nocturnes, he didn’t have any conceptual goals in mind.

“I just liked them because you have a really strong sense of color and light in night paintings, because they’re emphasized by the darkness,” Soraci said.

“There’s something isolating about the night. There’s something dark, but then the lights and the colors give you hope.”

Part of Soraci’s fascination with darkness and painting nocturnes is inspired by American singer-songwriter Bruce Springsteen. Soraci listens to music while he paints — almost exclusively Springsteen, classic rock and classic funk.

Soraci said his work strives to connect with Springsteen’s on both an abstract and spiritual level.

“Sometimes I have a hard time explaining how I draw inspiration from Bruce Springsteen in my work,” Soraci said. “The best way I can describe it is that my paintings feel like his songs. I think that’s the case with my night paintings, especially.”

One of Soraci’s past collections, titled “Night Scenes,” is described on his website as “an exploration of the magical qualities of night.”

“My work is not in the kind of echelon that [Springsteen’s] work is, but they do share some thematic similarities in that they both strive for a universal human experience, and they both dig deep into human psychology, weighing both the suffering and the beauty, the pain and the hope,” Soraci said.

Soraci cited Caravaggio, Edward

Hopper and Flannery O’Connor as other artistic influences. But he said his faith is the primary motivation for his work.

“I am a Catholic, and beauty is a tradition of the Church,” Soraci said.

“That is something I always pursue in my work — to try to evoke and express beauty.

I think beauty could address some of the cultural divides that we’re experiencing, so one motivation is trying to inject beauty in a culture that’s fragmented, in trying to bridge some of that cultural divide.”

Soraci’s faith manifests throughout his portfolio, which often contains subtle liturgical references. During Soraci’s senior year, he undertook an independent study under the guidance of Randall; Soraci cited this experience as his most influential experience during his time at Dartmouth. In this project, Soraci reimagined Francisco de Zurbarán’s famous painting, “Agnus Dei,” which harshly illuminates the image of a bound sacrificial lamb surrounded by an obscured darkness.

“The symbol of the lamb represents something extremely profound, which is a kind of sacrificial love — an entire religion,” Soraci said of the painting.

Soraci drew inspiration from the painting and created his own “Agnus Dei,” painting an emoji-like lamb grazing on cartoon pasture scenes.

In addition to the “Agnus Dei” painting, Soraci printed stickers of his emoji lamb and distributed them to peers and professors, acknowledging the limited audience that a gallery painting might have.

“I think where we are now, in our culture, our symbols are emojis, and there’s not much meaning imbued within those symbols — as opposed to a symbol like the sacrificial lamb,” Soraci said. He described his work as “a critique of postmodernism” that “juxtapos[ed] contemporary modes of communication and symbolism with traditional symbolism.”

Randall noted this contrast between the traditional and contemporary makes Soraci’s art distinctive.

“He roots himself in long-respected and deep traditional knowledge, and then he develops a new point of view on it,” Randall said. “He rearticulates that technique and that knowledge for more contemporary situations.”

Randall also emphasized the thread of hope that runs through Soraci’s art.

“There is always some kind of virtuous content to his paintings, his imagery and his art that is optimistic without being unrealistic,” she added.

“It’s aspirational.”

Kevin Soraci’s exhibition “The Comforts of Home” is currently displayed in the Barrows Rotunda at the Hopkins Center.

COURTESY OF KEVIN SORACI

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2021

PAGE 5

THE DARTMOUTH SPORTS

SPORTS

Peter Roby ’79 appointed interim athletics director B y Matt Krivan & Jason Norris The Dartmouth Staff

This article was originally published on February 22, 2021.

On Tuesday, Peter Roby ’79 assumed the role of the College’s interim athletics director, which he will serve as through June 2022.

Roby, a varsity basketball player during his time at Dartmouth and athletics director at Northeastern University from 2007 to 2018, succeeded former athletics director Harry Sheehy, who announced his retirement earlier in February after months of controversy surrounding the elimination and eventual reinstatement of five varsity athletic teams.

“I was aware of the reinstatements and all of that, so I was familiar enough with it to have some context,” Roby said. “I was sad about the circumstances, but I was humbled and honored to be asked to serve my alma mater this way, and so I didn’t hesitate to say that I was interested in and would be willing to talk with folks from the Board and [College President Phil Hanlon] some more about the possibility.”

Before assuming the role of athletic director, Roby dedicated five years of work to Northeastern’s Center for the Study of Sport in Society. The center was founded as a social justice organization that focuses on the intersection of athletics and social change, targeting topics such as gender equity, racism and discrimination.

Roby cited former Dartmouth basketball head coach Gary Walters as an inspiration to him, noting that Walters’s example ultimately motivated him to pursue a career in coaching. Throughout his career, Roby has sought to follow in the steps of Walters and use athletics to not

only educate, but also to make an impact on social issues.

Northeastern deputy athletic director Regina Sullivan noted that Roby was a spokesperson for Jane Doe, an organization that provides support to victims of sexual violence in Massachusetts.

“He led a white ribbon campaign; it was one of the most powerful things I have seen in my athletics career,” Sullivan said. “To have the athletics director invite all of the male student-athletes and coaches to a women’s event and wear a white ribbon in support of sexual violence prevention and … women who are victims of violence was tremendously powerful. That’s just the kind of person that [Roby] is.”

Roby plans to continue his social justice and community work at Dartmouth, citing Dartmouth Peak Performance as a potential tool.

“DP2 is doing a lot of great [social justice] programming,” Roby said.

“Mainly I want to support what DP2 has been about and also just on a daily basis through my own communication and what I think is important..”

In addition to these broader community goals, Roby hopes to hit the ground running in addressing the reinstatements of five varsity programs. He said he recognizes that some student-athletes hold negative views of the administration and plans to make amends with the student-athletes on the reinstated teams.

“It’s about just trying to be as empathetic as you can to those teams that have been discontinued and then reinstated,” Roby said. “It’s about trying to support them as best you can, trying to listen, making sure that all the voices have a chance to weigh in and then try to make the best decisions that you can.”

The Student Athlete Advisory

C om m ittee, which re pres en ts student-athletes in the athletic department, is hopeful that Roby will be able to connect with athletes despite the fraught circumstances.

“It is hard right now — given that a lot of athletes are not on campus — to have that open communication,” said SAAC president Nancy Curtis ’21. “Normally you see people walking through the hallways and conversations happen more naturally, but I think both SAAC and Roby will have to make more active attempts for that communication and to open those channels. From our end, we plan on doing that, and from what I have heard, he is planning on doing the same.”

Communication has been a focus of Roby’s throughout his career, having once served as the vice president of U.S. marketing at Reebok. Sullivan expressed her belief that Roby’s lengthy relationship with the College also bodes well for his ability to connect with student-athletes, coaches and staff.

A n o t h e r c h a l l e n g e Ro b y immediately faces is the Ivy League’s recent cancellation of competition this spring. While Dartmouth will not be able to compete against other Ivy League schools, the Big Green may be permitted to play against local schools, depending on public health conditions. Roby held a virtual conference with athletic personnel before the announcement of the cancellation was made official in order to prepare coaches to discuss next steps with their athletes.

“This announcement is just the beginning of a lot of planning,” Roby said. “… We’re going to do everything in our power to see if we can put some competition together for our spring athletes. … If it doesn’t happen, it won’t be due to a lack of effort.”

SOURCE: DARTMOUTH ATHLETICS

The former Big Green basketball player and Northeastern University athletics director will serve through June of 2022.

While Roby has not spoken yet with other schools regarding spring competition, he mentioned the University of New Hampshire, the University of Vermont, the University of Massachusetts Lowell and Merrimack College as nearby schools that could potentially be interested in competition this spring.

Roby has many short-ter m priorities — including coaching searches for the reinstated teams and

maintaining COVID-19 protocols — but in the long term, he hopes that with the right guidance, the department can return to normal.

“It’s been a busy first several days, but it’s not anything that I didn’t expect, and I feel that I am prepared for it after all my years of experience,” Roby said. “I’m just trying to stay focused on what’s best for the student-athletes who need me to be working on their behalf.”

Three coaches of reinstated teams return, two head coaches decline

B y Ethan Strauss & Carl Ufongene The Dartmouth Staff

On Feb. 17, the Dartmouth athletics department announced that three coaches from the five reinstated teams would return to their positions, including diving coach Chris Hamilton, men’s golf head coach Rich Parker and men’s lightweight rowing head coach Dan Roock. Former swimming and diving head coach Jamie Holder and women’s golf head coach Alex Kirk chose not to return to the Big Green staff.

Negotiations with the former coaches began shortly after the teams were reinstated, with former coaches offered the chance to retain their old posts.

The reinstatement came as a surprise to Hamilton, who said he was “sound asleep” when he received a call from a senior diver notifying him of the news. Hamilton, who had been with the team since 1999, had previously returned when the swimming and diving teams were cut in 2002 and reinstated in 2003 and said he felt an “obligation” to take his position back again after observing his teams’ efforts.

“These kids fought so hard to get this program back,” Hamilton said “...

I just felt like they deserved somebody that loved the program just much as they do.”

The suddenness of the reinstatement coupled with a residual mistrust from the summer’s cuts made some coaches apprehensive to return, but ultimately, Hamilton said the opportunity to coach his team again “outweighs all the frustrations.” Hamilton said he accepted his position on Feb. 4, less than a week after the teams were reinstated.

“My decision came [down] to me looking back and saying, ‘If this hadn’t happened, would I still be at Dartmouth?’” Hamilton said. “The obvious [answer] is yes.”

Parker also expressed initial frustration with the cuts but said he felt motivated by how his golfers handled themselves throughout the reinstatement process and their persistence in trying to bring him back as their coach.

“My players were incredible during this whole experience, even from the

day that they cut the program,” Parker nothing but the best for the student- being a college coach is unbelievable.”

Hamilton said that despite the said. “... They made it very clear [to] athletes that I brought to Dartmouth.”

Men’s golfer Jason Liu ’21 said his cuts, interest remains high in the me that they wanted me to come back National searches for new head team was “ecstatic” when they learned diving program, as seven prospective to coach. I think I felt all along that it coaches for the women’s golf team and Parker would be returning for his 16th divers still applied to Dartmouth last was going to happen.” the men’s and women’s swimming and year with the team. Instead of starting year while the team was cut. His top Parker said the situation was “hard diving teams commenced immediately over with new hires, athletes on some recruit from last summer told him one on [his] family,” but he appreciated after the previous coaches declined to of the reinstated teams will get to work hour after the reinstatement that she that Dartmouth gave him time to return. again with the coaches who recruited was still interested in joining the Big make his decision before he committed Reintegration into the Dartmouth and mentored them.

Green. to coming back. community has “It helps expedite at least some Still, Hamilton said it will be “a He said he had a already begun of the [post-reinstatement] process little tough” losing a recruiting cycle “These kids fought so for coaches who because with a new coach we would and having to compete against former productive, “deep c o n v e r s a t i o n ” hard to get this program agreed to return have to go through the search process Dartmouth swimming and diving with n e w back ... I just felt like they to the Big Green. and [having] him or her getting recruits who are now at other Ivy athletics director H a m i l t o n a n d adjusted to Dartmouth golf and the League institutions. In addition to Peter Roby last deserved somebody P a r k e r h a v e scheduling,” Liu said. “... But [Parker] recruiting struggles, multiple studentMonday night that loved the program r e u n i t e d w i t h knows what he’s doing, and we’re athletes transferred to schools across before notifying teams, while happy that with him we can just hit the the country when the teams were cut just much as they do.” their Roby the next Roock will return ground running as soon as possible.” in July. morning that he to the boathouse Parker noted that he still does not Despite recruiting issues and the would return. He -CHRIS HAMILTON, DIVING COACH on March 29. know exactly how many recruiting turmoil surrounding the cutting and officially resumed P a r k e r spots the golf teams will have as reinstatement of the five athletic his job on Feb. 17. said that he is the College undergoes the Title IX teams, Parker said he is glad the The decision to excited to get back gender equity review agreed upon in College fixed the situation and is ready come back was not as simple for other to coaching after a challenging several the settlement to reinstate the teams. to “get on with the future.” coaches, however. Former swimming months.

He believes his team, which typically “I didn’t stop wearing my and diving assistant coach Helaina “I felt like there was unfinished has nine players, can be competitive Dartmouth stuff like all these coaches Sacco had already taken on the business,” Parker said. “Dartmouth regardless. do,” Parker said. “... I wasn’t mad at head coaching role at Colby-Sawyer golf got a bit derailed by this, “[Even] if they tell me I can only Dartmouth. It’s just a decision that College, and fellow assistant coach obviously, and we’re going to have have six kids, I’d be thrilled,” Parker was made quickly. … They righted Milana Socha became an assistant to make a quick turn around and get said. “We’re back, [and] we’ll make the ship, and that’s good enough for coach at Northwestern University. back to where we were, but in the end, the best of it.” me.”

Holder, who declined to return to his swimming and diving head coaching position, said that when the team was reinstated, he was initially “angry” about the damage the programs had experienced. However, dating violence • sexual assault • stalking he added that he is excited for his team to compete again. Though Holder plans to remain in the Upper Valley, he said that he and the College could not reach a mutually agreeable contract..

“My general sense is that [the swimming and diving team] wanted me to come back, and I wanted to come back, but I needed to come back under a set of terms that was going to make me feel supported.”

For 50 years, WISE has supported survivors in times of stress and crisis. WISE advocates are Holder said. “The [College] was not here for the Dartmouth community every hour, every day. We are completely confidential and willing to negotiate with me on that survivor-centered. We can answer your questions, help you find resources, navigate systems, and … I’ll miss the opportunity, and I’ll miss the kids, but ultimately I think support you as you think through what you want next for your life. We work with all people who it’s the right decision for me under have experienced gender-based violence, regardless of age, race, orientation, gender, or identity. the circumstances that they were Call the crisis line or chat with us online. You do not need to be in crisis to reach out to us. offering.”

Although he will not be returning, Holder said he hoped the team could “turn around.” wiseuv.org/dartmouth follow us @WISEuv “Hopefully they can rebuild the campus@wiseuv.org Campus: 213 Wilson Hall trust that was broken with the previous administration,” Holder said. “I want

You are not alone.

every hour, every day 866-348-WISE or chat online at wiseuv.org

We’re here for you.

PAGE 6

MIRROR THE DARTMOUTH MIRROR

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2021

Q&A: Environmental Studies Professor Elizabeth Wilson on Climate Change and Texas’ Historic Winter Storm

BY BRIAN ZHENG

The Dartmouth Staff

This article was originally published on Feb. 23, 2021.

Last week, a record-breaking winter storm brought Texas to a halt, leaving millions of residents without electricity, water or heat as the state grappled with the temporary collapse of its power grid.

The Dartmouth sat down with environmental studies professor Elizabeth Wilson, an expert on energy policy and climate change and the director of the Irving Institute for Energy and Society, to discuss the implications of our changing climate on energy systems and how to brace for the future.

Texas’s energy grid is famously independent from the rest of the country, and its energy model is both privatized and deregulated under the Electricity Reliability Council of Texas. This past week, a lack of winterization incentives led to the shutdown of power plants, from natural gas to coal to wind turbines. What steps can the government and energy industry take to ensure that something of this nature doesn’t happen again?

EW: One of the reasons that most of Texas is an electrical island is because you don’t have federal regulation; the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission governs interstate electricity trades, but if it’s just in Texas, then ERCOT controls itself. They really have been making their own rules for a long time, and those rules have worked pretty well.

In 2011, there was another huge cold snap that created power problems in the ERCOT region. There was a report from the North American Electric Reliability Corporation that highlighted everything they could have done to make the system more resilient. Had they done those things, this wouldn’t be the same situation we’re facing today. That would have ensured that power plants were winterized. That would have ensured that pipelines also were managed in a way where water wouldn’t freeze in the valves. They had the

information from the report, but the implementation and follow-through was never actually checked.

This event, where temperatures were 40 degrees below normal in some parts of the state, really taxed the system in a way that they hadn’t anticipated. But if they had done their work before, they could have avoided this disaster. Ensuring that those recommendations were actually implemented is the responsibility of the regulator. The follow-through didn’t happen.

Extreme weather is a consequence of our changing climate. How do you believe the frequency and severity of extreme weather events like these will change, and how might we prepare for the impacts?

EW: This is a really important question, and I think the piece to remember here is that lowprobability, high-consequence events have often affected any engineered system in unexpected ways.

There have been other blackouts, but with climate change, we’re moving into a world where none of our systems have been engineered for that future.

You have all the fires that happened last year and this year on the West Coast in California, and we’ve had the uptick in extreme weather events hitting the Gulf Coast. None of our infrastructure has actually been designed for the world we’re moving into and that variability.

Doing that requires a rethinking not only of how we supply energy, but also how we use energy.

Your research focuses on the practical implementation of environmental policies. It is undeniable that the Biden administration’s goals for climate change are ambitious, including transitioning the country to 100% clean electricity by 2035. In your view, is this goal feasible?

EW: The question of “How do we create an energy system that is reliable, affordable, sustainable and equitable?” is really one of the

big challenges facing the next few decades.

We know that climate change is coming at us like a fast train down the tracks, and we know we’re not prepared for it. Any and all things that we can do to begin to change that course and that direction are absolutely essential to help us all integrate the costs of planning for this new future into our decision making.

If those types of very aggressive goals are helping us collectively focus on this issue, then I think that’s very important.

The scale and size of a problem and the scale and size of the solution must match. This is a global problem with incredible local impacts. If we’re not dealing with it as a collective society, we’re missing huge opportunities to address this from an equity perspective, from a justice perspective and also from an efficacy perspective.

While we here in Hanover are used to the biting cold, what are some potential impacts that climate change could have here at Dartmouth?

EW: Professor Erich Osterberg in the earth sciences department is really the expert here, and the research that he’s done has projected that we’ll have more periods of drought and more periods of extreme rainfall. Looking at the models, this idea of more variability in when our precipitation happens and what that means for agriculture, what that means for our natural ecosystems, is a really important consideration, and one that I don’t think we really grasp.

I live right across the river in Norwich, on a road without any fire protection. This isn’t an ecosystem that’s normally had fires, but with prolonged droughts, fires come too.

Does Dartmouth have a role to play in all this? Should we be reassessing the sources and reliability of our energy system?

EW: Absolutely. Dartmouth has lots of low-hanging fruit. The power plant is a hundred years old and burning number No. 6 fuel oil. You walk down Mass Row on a cold day,

COURTESY OF ELIZABETH WILSON

and everyone’s got their windows open because they can’t control the temperature in their dorm room.

The basic upgrading of your infrastructure to use as little energy as possible — energy efficiency — should be where you put your money first. The other piece, ensuring your supply of energy is clean and green, that’s the mandate that everyone’s doing. It’s not being the leader anymore: It’s catching up. I mean, let’s be honest — the power plant’s embarrassing.

I think what it highlights is that building energy solutions is complicated. The power plant has been upgraded again and again; it’s amazing that it runs as well as it does. But really, it’s the leadership of all of us going forward to ensure that we have an energy system for the College that really meets these needs of both reducing emissions and also adapting to these changing environments.

Do you have any final thoughts

on the future of our energy system as a nation in the face of a rapidly changing climate?

EW: I’m on a National Academy of Science study of the modernization of the grid, and that report is being released on Thursday.

At the Irving Institute, we have a goal of ensuring Dartmouth students can become energy citizens and energy leaders. We have developed a series of programs to try and provide more access to energy because it can be pretty opaque from the outside. This term, the focus is “critical infrastructure in a climate-changing world,” so that feels absolutely on point for our discussion right now. Thinking about how we create our energy systems for this climate-changing world in a way that allows people to survive is really highlighted by an event like what happened in Texas.

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

LATE NIGHT AT ’53 COMMONS

ELIZABETH JANOWSKI/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF

Pre-outbreak, students dine in at the Class of 1953 Commons for late night.

LAST WEEK’S CROSSWORD ANSWERS