VOL. CLXXVIII NO. 33
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2022
HANOVER, NEW HAMPSHIRE
Abrupt shutdown of Librex prompts Students propose zoning mixed reactions from students amendments that could increase housing capacity in Hanover
HANNAH LI/THE DARTMOUTH EMIL LIDEN/THE DARTMOUTH STAFF
BY THOMAS WHITE The Dartmouth Staff
Librex founder Ryan Schiller announced in a Feb. 17 post that the anonymous discussion platform would be shutting down, citing a lack of time to manage the anonymous discussion app and commitments to other projects. The end of Librex — an app that, according to Schiller had approximately 2,000 users at Dartmouth — has prompted mixed reactions from the student body. In an interview with The Dartmouth, Schiller said that the speed of the move was intentional. “I get that it was tough for people,” Schiller said. “Over half of Dartmouth’s campus signed in every day to the app. I wanted to make it as easy as possible for people … but also not to create a space for speculation or hysteria.” Schiller wrote in the Librex post that, in keeping with its mission of
anonymity, matches along with all school emails and private user data will be deleted in the coming weeks. He further noted in the interview that his team will not sell any private user data or keep any personal user data, adding that anonymity was “something [his team has] upheld since day one.” Launched in March 2020 just as the pandemic began sweeping across the world, Librex provided a space for both conversations and controversies on campus, including public, anonymous attacks on candidates during the 2020 Student Assembly elections. In the wake of the app’s sudden closure, many Dartmouth students were left surprised and have been reflecting on the app’s impact. While some students said Librex provided entertaining content, others said they were disturbed by the controversial comments on the app. Nicholas Higginbotham ’25 said that while he does not use Librex frequently, he will miss the app for
some of the lighthearted content he had seen on the platform. “I wasn’t a big user of Librex, but, from what I saw, it had a mixed impact on the community,” Higginbotham said. “I definitely saw a lot of negative things on there, but I know a lot of people enjoyed using it, and some of it was pretty funny. I think I’ll miss it.” Alex Bramsen ’22 said that after some of the posts on Librex took a more racist and xenophobic turn in 2020, she had to get off the app for a while. She added that the only reason she redownloaded the app afterwards is because she wants to check out the trends that her friends were commenting on. One student, who requested anonymity in order to speak candidly, said that they used the app “more than [they are] willing to admit,” for “entertainment, procrastinating and genuine questions.” SEE LIBREX PAGE 2
As COVID-19 cases decline, campus sees uptick in influenza A
SNOWY HIGH 25 LOW 12
BY EMILY FAGELL
The Dartmouth Staff
NEWS
DARTMOUTH POLITICAL UNION HOSTS STUDENT DEBATE ON ABORTION PAGE 2
OPINION
VERBUM ULTIMUM: LET LIBREX DIE PAGE 3
ARTS
REVIEW: ‘MOONFALL’ IS A RIDICULOUSLY FUN TIME PAGE 4
SPORTS
WOMEN’S SWIM AND DIVE TEAM TAKES SEVENTH AT CHAMPIONSHIP MEET PAGE 5
MIRROR
A LOOK AT DARTMOUTH’S PRO SKIERS PAGE 6 FOLLOW US ON
@thedartmouth COPYRIGHT © 2022 THE DARTMOUTH, INC.
Over the past few weeks, Dick’s House has recorded an increase in influenza A cases among Dartmouth students — reaching 23 total cases as of Feb. 21 — clinical medical services director Ann Bracken wrote in an emailed statement. Dick’s House associate director and nurse Daniela Agusti also wrote in an emailed statement that the nursing department has seen more than a 200% increase in triage calls in recent weeks. These numbers only account for students who have contacted the Dartmouth College Health Service and excludes those who may have received an external diagnosis. Afflicted students have reported a range of symptoms, including “fatigue, fever, coughing, sore throat [and] congestion,” Daniel Lampert ’25, who caught the flu this term, said. While Lampert said the flu has been “way worse” than his experience with COVID-19 earlier this term, Bella Police ’25 said she “felt a little less sick than COVID” but still “pretty bad” when she caught it Tanner Randall ’23 agreed that the flu induced “terrible” symptoms. “I had not been sidelined that hard probably since high school,” Randall said. “I was in bed, not being able to move, and my stomach was a little bit queasy.” Randall said he first felt symptoms on Feb. 14, initially attributing his illness to a “hard weekend” of schoolwork. The next day, Randall said he felt like “death” but has now recovered with “some residual chest issues.” Lampert said he got sick on Feb. 15 and was “pretty much bedridden” for the next five days. Police said she started feeling symptoms on the evening of Feb. 16 and “got over it” roughly four days later. While Bracken wrote that Dick’s House has “nurses available 24/7 to answer questions and has health service staff available to evaluate students if needed,” Randall said that he had to ask more than once to be tested for the flu, as Dick’s House nurses wanted to free up space for other appointments. He added that determining the cause of his illness did not seem like
Dick’s House’s “top priority.” “I’m sure they’re overwhelmed and there’s a lot of the campus [that is sick], and I do feel for that,” Randall said. “But it definitely seemed as though they kind of wanted to get me out of there.” Agusti explained that the nursing department lacks “capacity to test every student for influenza,” and instead has developed a new protocol to “expedite care” and treat symptoms. “Since yesterday, due to [a] high volume of students with flu symptoms and lack of capacity to test every student for influenza, a protocol was developed to expedite care,” Agusti wrote on Feb. 24. “Following [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] guidelines, students that have a negative COVID antigen test and meet influenza criteria can be empirically treated with Tamiflu, medicine used for treatment of influenza without a test.” Agusti added that students “with specific medical problems, chronic conditions or other social circumstances” may be tested, and that the department has focused on “prioritizing students with urgent needs.” Randall said two of his roommates, both of whom also contracted the flu, ended up visiting Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center due to severe symptoms. While one roommate was helped by staff, another was “violently sick in their waiting room, showing physical signs of sickness and was still not being seen.” “The doctor basically told him he was young and healthy and he would be fine, [but] he was still debilitatingly sick,” Randall said. “They ended up [treating him], but it was definitely a very roundabout, multiple hours-long process. That was just a little bit obnoxious when he’s in peril in a waiting room.” Lampert, on the other hand, said he never visited Dick’s House or DHMC, instead calling the nurses and sharing his symptoms. He said they diagnosed him by phone and said he did not “need to bother coming in.” Police said she skipped a visit to Dick’s House altogether, as she has “had flus before and knew that it was the flu.” SEE FLU PAGE 2
The College’s decisions have historically implicated the town of Hanover, including through construction projects and business sales.
BY ANGUS YIP The Dartmouth Staff
Thirty Dartmouth students have signed onto three amendments that propose changes in Hanover’s zoning rules. The amendments, which were submitted by David Millman ’23 and Nicolás Macri ’24, aim to alleviate the persistent housing shortage in Hanover and the wider Upper Valley and will be voted on by the public at the next town meeting on May 10. The first petition, if approved, would amend the zoning code to limit legal housing occupancy to the number of bedrooms plus one additional person, instead of the current cap on more than three unrelated persons living together. The second would approve the Main Wheelock District, a proposal to increase housing density on West Wheelock Street that was approved by the town but rejected by voters in 2015. The third would allow the construction of student residences and solar panels without a special permit from the town. The petitions will be discussed at a formal public hearing on March 1, when the planning board will vote on whether to recommend the petition to the voters of Hanover, according to Hanover planning, zoning and codes department director Robert Houseman. He added that while the petitions will be presented to registered voters in May regardless of the planning board’s decision, the ballot will state whether the planning board has approved or disapproved of the petitions. Rohan Menezes ’23, who signed the petitions, noted that though he has not been personally affected by the housing shortage, some of his friends have struggled to find off-campus housing. He noted that increased demand for on-campus housing in the fall of 2021 resulted in the creation of a waitlist and lottery system, and “dozens of students had no other choice but to stay offcampus.” “Every year, the situation is just getting worse, and we just don’t have a real long-term solution plan,” Menezes said. “That’s why I supported the petitions.” According to Millman and Macri, the petitions are a response to the College’s proposed housing development on Lyme Road, planning for which has since been postponed due to a faculty vote and pushback from local residents. “Building housing that’s a 30-minute walk away from campus doesn’t just hurt students, it also hurts the greater Hanover community,” Macri said. “There are so many sites nearer to Dartmouth’s campus that are developable … It’s time to start building.” Macri added that the College has previously cited “lengthy zoning processes” and the need to obtain a special exception as a difficulty in constructing new on-campus housing, which the third petition hopes to address. Houseman explained that to obtain a special exception, the College must demonstrate that the construction will not adversely impact the town’s infrastructure, including roads, sidewalks and nearby schools. Houseman also noted that the town had attempted to pass a similar motion for new housing on West Wheelock Street in 2015, but the initiative failed at the town meeting despite educational outreach efforts and public hearings where the town solicited feedback from residents.
He added that though the town has not figured out the exact differences between their original proposal and this petition amendment, it appears Millman’s petition proposes housing with a higher building height and occupancy calculation. “In 2015, we came up with an occupancy number which was vetted through the public process … now we have a petition with different numbers, and I don’t know how it got there,” Houseman said. According to the petition, the planning board approved the “exact” language of the petition in 2015. In an emailed statement, however, Macri wrote that there are minor differences between the 2015 version and the amendment to ensure consistency within the ordinance, noting that the 2015 version “stated two differing height restrictions.” Houseman said that when a petition amendment is submitted, the town cannot modify the proposed bill before it is voted on by the public. In contrast, he added, when the town plans a zoning amendment, it conducts several public workshops soliciting feedback to modify the terms of the amendment. “Complicated zoning amendments … need to play out in a very public way so that those who are going to be impacted can understand, digest and participate in the formation of those regulatory tools,” Houseman said. He added that the town staff advises the planning board to disapprove of any petitioned amendment “because there was no public process in generating the ordinance,” though the planning board has the power to decide whether to support the petitions in March. Referencing the petition’s call to allow more than three unrelated individuals to live in the same unit, Millman said that in practice, “no landlord follows the [current regulations].” “Students are afraid to report bad conditions because they’re afraid of being evicted, and they think that they can deal with this as long as they get to actually be in Hanover and go to school,” he added. Houseman said if more than three unrelated people live in the same unit, the apartment must be reclassified as a lodging unit in accordance with NFPA 101, the New Hampshire state life safety code. He noted that the town’s zoning rules do not currently permit lodging units. “[Lodging] triggers a different set of rules –– exit signs, wider corridors, hallways which are larger than conventional housing units,” he said. He noted that the Town has not determined the exact changes that are required to start permitting lodging units. “If the vote passes and we know where it’s headed, we can then advise property owners on how to deal with this change,” he said. Houseman noted that the town has attempted to address the housing shortage by building affordable senior housing, as well as collaborating with nonprofit Twin Pines Housing to build Summer Park Residences on Summer Street. He added that the town intends to propose another zoning amendment this year to build more workforce housing. “The return on investment in Hanover is much higher with one house [than with building apartments],” he said. “The only way it gets done is if we interfere with the market conditions by acquiring land, donating land and assisting in the development of the site.”
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2022
PAGE 2
THE DARTMOUTH NEWS
Dartmouth Political Union hosts Faculty vote 89-4 to student debate on abortion pause new housing on Lyme Road
Courtesy of Emma Elsbecker
B Y ARIZBETH ROJAS The Dartmouth Staff
On Feb. 23 — less than a week after New Hampshire lawmakers passed a bill that added exceptions to the state’s new 24-week abortion ban — the Dartmouth Political Union hosted a student debate on abortion in Filene Auditorium between six debators: Advaita Chaudhari ’24, James Eiler ’25 and Jordan Narrol ’25 spoke for the pro-choice side and Kevin Larkin ’22, Keli Pegula ’24 and Grayling Peterson ’24 spoke for the pro-life side. The goal of the debate was not to have a “winner,” but to instead provide a space for student debaters to share their views, Dartmouth Political Union debate director and the debate’s moderator Emma Elsbecker ’24 said in the introduction. The debate began with each panelist delivering an opening speech and then moved to a discussion, ending with a Q&A section with audience members. Prior to the debate, each panelist took a COVID-19 rapid test in order to participate in the debate unmasked, though some debaters still chose to wear their masks. There were 110 attendees, according to Elsbecker. Narrol — who spoke first for the prochoice side — said that according to his research, consciousness first arises between week 30 and week 36 during pregnancy, referring to the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision, which protected the right to seek an abortion up to the beginning of the third trimester at week 27. During the Q&A section, however, audience members questioned Narrol’s statements. “How can you be so confident about consciousness starting at 36 weeks given that the soft problem of consciousness has yet to be solved?” Harrison Fell ’25 said. Narrol replied that the development of consciousness is a “gray area,” which is why he had initially said the process of consciousness occurs between weeks 30 and 36. Eiler, also speaking on the pro-choice
side, said that “forcing” women to carry on a pregnancy would be “a fundamental violation of [her] individual rights.” Chaudhari, the final speaker for the pro-choice side, said that according to her research, restricted abortion access does not reduce the number of abortions that occur. She added that the criminalization of abortion contributes to increasing wealth stratification and health disparities. “When we think about abortion, it’s worth considering abortion as a global health matter, not as one that is strictly moral or governmental,” Chaudhari said. On the pro-life side, Larkin said that abortion is “murder” and “immoral,” but clarified in an interview after the debate that he does not believe that abortion should be illegal. “I don’t think I fall neatly into pro-life or pro-choice, in that I think [abortion] is wrong, but it should not be illegal,” Larkin said. Elsbecker said that planning for the debate began eight weeks ago, with much of that time spent recruiting the “perfect” panel to represent a full range of views. “We may have two speakers who are more classically pro-life and classically, pro-choice, but [the other speakers] are all on a diverse range in spectrum,” Elsbecker said. Peterson, speaking on the pro-life side, said that he had not been raised to support one side over the other. He added that it was not until high school that he realized that he did not have an opinion, despite it being such a “divisive” topic. “I went and I did some research and figured it out for myself,” Peterson said. “I came to the conclusion that scientifically, life does begin at conception.” Another pro-life speaker, Pegula, compared the number of deaths in World War II and the Civil War to the number of “deaths from abortion” since Roe v. Wade was enacted in 1973. “Abortion is a violent act against two human beings, the mother and the
preborn,” Pegula said. The next segment of the event involved a discussion among the panelists. Pegula asked Chaudhari if she believed a decrease in abortion is a positive outcome of increased sex education and access to birth control. “Like with any other medical procedure, if you don’t have to undergo it, that is a good thing,” Chaudhari said. “I’m not pro-abortion, I’m pro-choice.” The final segment of the event involved an Q&A section with the audience. One audience member referenced former United States surgeon general Charles Everett Koop, who had discredited the idea of post-abortion stress syndrome — a similar syndrome to post traumatic stress disorder where women experience heightened feelings of anxiety or depression following an abortion. The audience member then asked Pegula for her evidence to support her claims earlier in the debate that women who have had abortions “suffer mentally and physically.” “34% of women have abortions are more likely to experience anxiety,” Pegula said. “37% more likely to experience depression, 110% more likely to abuse alcohol, 154% more likely to develop suicidal behavior and 81% more likely to experience mental health problems in general.” As a follow up question, the audience member asked what Pegula’s sources were. “Women who have had abortions,” Pegula said. Though Eiler said that she thinks no audience member left the debate with a changed mind, he still believed it was a “good dialogue” to have. “It was very interesting to see people on the pro life side and pro choice flesh out why they believe something does count and doesn’t count as life,” DPU vice president Vlado Vojdanovski ’22 said. “It’s such a fun philosophical question. It’s always good to hear what people other than yourself believe about that.”
Following Librex shutdown, new anonymous chat apps appear on campus FROM LIBREX PAGE 1
Another student claimed that he had been a prolific figure on the site, spawning several trends, including one which dominated the final weeks of the app: the “Hmmm…” trend. “I’m shocked and devastated — I probably spent about four to five hours on Librex every day,” he said. “It was a meditative experience.” While Schiller acknowledged that the app was not perfect, he said he believes the platform ultimately did more good than har m. In particular, he noted instances in which Librex facilitated discussion about administration policy, gave a group of undergraduate women a space to come together through matches to form a finance club and hosted a live
Q&A for a speaker. Harshit Yadav ’22, president of the Dartmouth Mixed Reality Club — which launched the anonymous campus-wide chat application Airfeed after Librex shut down — said he was disappointed by what he sees as a lack of progress made on Librex during its lifespan. He noted that overall, he thinks the app, which only had a feed and match feature, did not live up to its possibilities. “I think Librex was extremely short-sighted and focused, and we’re not trying to do that,” Yadav said. Advertisements for Flok, another new anonymous chat app, have also appeared around campus and in group chats. Schiller said he is now planning a new project that is not college-focused
and targets a much larger community, adding that he and his team are currently in “stealth mode.” He added that he believes Librex fulfilled its original purpose, which was “to create a forum on campus where people could discuss important issues that were happening in their lives and in the community at large, and to create a sense of community within the campus where people could connect to each other through these issues.” Overall, he said he feels that the app has been a success and achieved its goal of connecting people. “In particular, I will never forget the people who told me that Librex may have saved their life by providing support during the pandemic when they felt alone and needed a friend,” he wrote in his message.
Dick’s House: Students with flu symptoms should self-isolate for 24 hours post-fever FROM FLU PAGE 1
While on his call, Lambert recounted that the nurses shared “pretty standard instructions” to curb his illness, including fluids, pain killers, rest and fever reducers. “Students who are otherwise healthy and not at higher risk for flu complications do not need to be treated with antiviral drugs and can improve with supportive care measures, fluids, rest and over-thecounter medications to treat symptoms,” Bracken wrote. “Students who are at risk for complications can benefit from treatment with antiviral medications and should contact the Dartmouth College Health Service.” Randall said his bout with the flu has
caused him to fall behind in his classes, but noted that his professors have been understanding of his sickness and have granted him extensions on assignments. Likewise, Police and Lampert said they were both able to either skip classes or attend on Zoom. Lampert even took an online midterm during his sickness. While Bracken wrote that “students should self-isolate for 24 hours after being fever-free,” Lampert noted difficulties containing the spread when planning his meals. “The meal setup for COVID was definitely a lot better at containing the virus, whereas for the flu, I’m still going to Foco or I’ll order takeout,” Lampert said. Lampert added that fatigue made
the trek to the Class of 1953 Commons challenging, and he often would find himself either eating or alone or with his roommate. Agusti wrote that students who suspect they have the flu should “keep away from others as much as possible, ideally at least 6 [feet] apart [and] remain in a room separate from common areas in your residence hall/home.” The surge in cases comes amid “documentation for [roughly] 2500 student flu shots.” Bracken wrote. According to Bracken, students still wanting to get their flu shot can go to the Mediquick station at ’53 Commons on Tuesday between noon to 1:30 pm or make an appointment at Dick’s House.
Courtesy of Beyer Blinder Belle
DANIEL MODESTO The Dartmouth Staff
This article was originally published on Frbruary 24, 2022. At Monday’s annual winter term faculty meeting, faculty members and administrators voted 89-4 to pause further development of the proposed new undergraduate housing on Lyme Road — a plan proposed in November 2020 and rolled out in January that is intended to create more undergraduate housing amid a housing shortage and planned renovations for a number of undergraduate dorms. According to a Feb. 21 College press release, the administration will seek “further engagement sessions” from students, faculty and community members regarding the project’s impact on traffic, transportation and disruption to undergraduate students’ experience and community recreation spaces. The College is expected to review the project plans through the end of May. Government professor Michael Herron — who initiated the vote — said that the Lyme Road plan did not “seem to fit Dartmouth’s mission,” noting that many faculty were worried about the impacts of distant housing on the “intellectual life” of students. “There was a general sense in the committee that the plan, as we had presented to us, didn’t seem to fit Dartmouth’s mission as a primarily undergraduate institution, and the location of the dorm doesn’t really fit the way that I think the faculty view the campus and the value of the campus in terms of the intellectual life of the students who attend Dartmouth,” Herron said. Herron added that the “inexpensive” and quick nature of the construction project did not “fit the institution.” “I don’t think that really resonate[d] with the faculty,” he said. “And for good reason, because I don’t think being inexpensive and fast is the way you build an institution.” In January, the College announced that new undergraduate housing on Lyme Road would be located in Garipay Fields, a plot of land located 30 minutes north of Baker Library by foot. The proposal drew criticism from the Garipay Neighbors Association, who in a Jan. 13 letter to the College raised their concerns about the environmental impacts of the dorm construction, in addition to disruptions to outdoor recreational activities such as the Ford Sayre Nordic Ski Program. English professor and committee on priorities chair Colleen Boggs — who was present at the faculty meeting — wrote in an emailed statement that the Lyme Road proposal raised “significant concerns” regarding the undergraduate student experience, such as the long distance from campus and the potential negative impact on “students’ connection to the vibrant living-learning communities.” In addition, she wrote that she appreciates the College administration for “listening to these concerns”
and for creating plans to consider alternatives “in consultation with the Committee on Priorities and other stakeholders.” Anthropology department chair Jesse Casana said he believes that the Lyme Project proposal was “not a good idea,” noting that the proposal ran against some of the principles of the Dartmouth Strategic Master Plan announced in July 2021. In the Dartmouth Strategic Plan, the College proposed several projects, such as the construction of new undergraduate dorms, sustainable infrastructure and increased green spaces. Casana said that although the College noted the Dartmouth Strategic Master Plan is not “prescriptive,” he agreed with its principles, such a s a c o m m i t m e n t t o h av i n g a walkable, central campus core and the maintenance of green spaces. As a result, Casana – who seconded the motion brought by Herron – said that he disagrees with the proposal. “I think that we need to do the thing that is not faster and cheaper, but that is better and that conforms with our own stated principles and priorities,” Casana said. According to Casana, there were around 130 people present at the winter term meeting, which includes voting and non-voting members. When the Lyme Road project came up on the agenda, Casana said that senior administrative officials spoke about reasons to support the project. Afterwards, Casana said that around 15 faculty spoke “quite strongly” against the proposal. After Herron drafted a motion, Casana seconded the motion and a vote was called. According to Casana, the result was a “pretty resounding message from the faculty.” “Obviously, 89 of my colleagues apparently agree,” he said. “If the response from the community is any gauge, I’d say that [we’re] in good company there.” College spokesperson Diana Lawrence wrote that following the faculty vote, the College will continue to look into the Lyme Road proposal, specifically “relative to the student experience and programming, traffic and transportation,” in addition to considering how to support outdoor recreation. When asked whether the College would reconsider the construction of apartments on Lyme Road, Lawrence wrote that the pause in the project is intended to “further understand these critical components,” which could lead to changes in the project. However, the College “still intend[s] to move forward with building more housing,” Lawrence wrote. Executive vice president Rick Mills did not respond to requests for comment by the time of publication. Vice president of campus services and institutional projects Josh Keniston did not respond to multiple requests to comment. Dean of the faculty of arts and sciences Elizabeth Smith declined to comment, noting that she did not chair the winter term meeting.
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2022
PAGE 3
THE DARTMOUTH OPINION
THE DARTMOUTH EDITORIAL BOARD
STAFF COLUMNIST: THOMAS DE WOLFF ’24
Verbum Ultimum: Let Librex Die
de Wolff: So Long, Librex
With Librex gone, it’s up to students to leave the app — and all it stood for — in Dartmouth’s past. On Feb. 17, Librex — an app that allowed users from Dartmouth and other elite schools to post anonymously for all their peers to see — announced that the platform would be permanently shut down. This news sent shockwaves throughout the community. While some mourned the loss of a way to stay connected to Dartmouth culture, others celebrated the permanent end of the app. Why? Throughout its history, Librex allowed students to objectify peers, mock their friends and even target individual students with slurs. We cheer its end, and that of the harmful discourse it enabled — but we also caution the Dartmouth community against allowing yet another iteration of a venomous, anonymous app to rise from Librex’s ashes. Since its inception in March 2020, Librex proved corrosive to the community and has contributed to a breakdown in social norms and trust among members of the Dartmouth community. Although the app claimed to prohibit the targeting of individuals, users frequently circumvented this guideline by referring to individuals by their initials and class years, leading to frequent attacks on Dartmouth students — especially those in the public eye. Indeed, Librex poisoned the discourse of each Student Assembly election that took place during its existence. During the campaign period of the May 2020 Student Assembly elections, the app was awash with posts publicly and heinously attacking student candidates. One post referred to SA vice president candidate María Teresa Hidalgo ’22 as “speaking from the slums of South America.” Another post compared Hidalgo and her running mate, Olivia Audsley ’21, to Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler. During last year’s election, the same sort of hate speech against SA candidates was widespread on the app, with “racist microagressions” and “racist attacks launched against the Khan-Muñoz Student Assembly campaign.” Students running for office weren’t the only ones targeted by Librex users. Student workers at Novack Cafe have been derided on the app in “thinly veiled racist comments” for their choice of music playing at the cafe. Student journalists — including several members of this Editorial Board — have faced personal, targeted attacks for their work at The Dartmouth. Members of Epsilon Kappa Theta were targeted on the platform this past summer, with posts suggesting that the sorority “should be derecognized for trying to ban pong” — an unfounded claim resulting from speculation following the cancellation of the Masters pong tournament — and even making explicit threats that led to the Hanover police department increasing patrols. In its two years at Dartmouth, Librex also
served to normalize and perpetuate misogyny and racism on Dartmouth’s campus. Along with attacking student candidates “on the basis of their ethnic backgrounds,” posters on the app frequently made degrading comments about the physical appearance of students, often denigrating students of all gender identities — but predominantly women — as nothing more than sexual objects. Users also partook in racist discourse that took hold across the country during the pandemic, referring to COVID-19 as both the “Kung Flu” and “Chinavirus.” Some argue that Librex, despite its harmful discourse, was a net positive for the community. At the very least, this argument goes, the app helped to shed light on hateful ideas, allowing the Dartmouth community to tackle issues head-on. And indeed, the app did see occasional bright spots, such as posts by students offering mental health advice or making tributes to the students who died last year. But broken clocks are right twice a day; most of the time, Librex did not lead to constructive discussion and reconciliation. Librex was not original. Whether we like it or not, anonymous discussion platforms have had a consistent presence in the Dartmouth community. YikYak, a nationwide platform, prevailed at Dartmouth in 2014, and Bored at Baker, a Dartmouth-specific platform, took root a mere year later. As with Librex, these apps damaged the community; the latter was shut down in December 2016 due to numerous incidents, including lynching threats and rape guides. Ultimately, Librex and its predecessors are not the root of the problem. After all, we as a community have the choice to simply not engage with these anonymous vehicles for racism, misogyny and hate. That we repeatedly choose to do so speaks volumes. While we cannot change our community overnight, every Dartmouth student has a responsibility to try. In the short term, this starts with confronting bigotry where we see it and avoiding apps that foster socially destructive discourse. In their farewell message to the Librex community, the founders of Librex alluded to plans to pursue new, “bigger” endeavors. While we don’t yet know what these plans involve, we urge the Librex founders not to pursue any expansion of the app, or any similar anonymous platform. We also urge Dartmouth students to avoid the next Librex — already, within less than a week, at least two platforms have popped up in an attempt to fill the noxious void. Ignore them. Let the concept of Librex die. We as a community have participated in this twisted social experiment enough times to know how it ends.
THE DARTMOUTH PUZZLE STAFF: SECRETLY CROSSED
The app connected students in more ways than it divided them. Feb. 17 marked the end of an era: The anonymous online discussion forum Librex was permanently shut down. All posts were deleted and all user data wiped as the team behind the app decided to move on to new endeavors. Curiously, Librex’s tenure at Dartmouth mirrored that of the pandemic. A week after the app’s launch in March 2020, the effects of COVID-19 hit Dartmouth as the administration decided to move classes online for the upcoming spring term. Now, COVID-19 cases are on the decline and Librex has met its demise. Dartmouth students are currently looking forward to a spring term that resembles life before COVID-19 — perhaps the absence of Librex will help with that. During the pandemic, however, as students sought some semblance of community, Librex quietly became a fixture of Dartmouth’s culture. While Librex was not without its flaws and ugly moments, we should remember the app for its ability to connect students during challenging times. In a time when a growing majority of college students report censoring their own opinions to avoid criticism, an outlet such as Librex is vital for preserving students’ freedom of expression. Librex’s name combined “Libre-,” meaning “free,” and “-Ex,” short for “exchange,” as its goal was the free and open exchange of ideas. Librex enabled true openness by removing all personal information from posts on its platform. This emphasis on ideas rather than people was a departure from the highly personal nature of other social media platforms. Librex accomplished this goal by successfully building on the foundation laid by other similar apps. Previously, students used apps such as the nationwide YikYak and Dartmouth-specific Bored at Baker, which pioneered the concept of an anonymous platform. Unlike YikYak, Librex put its own spin on this concept by restricting access to users with Dartmouth emails, rather than just anyone in the general vicinity. Librex also ensured that posts crossing certain personal and legal boundaries were removed by a staff of moderators, which prevented much — though, admittedly, not all — of the targeted harassment that derailed Bored at Baker, which included reprehensible threats of sexual violence. In addition to spirited arguments, Librex’s feed was also full of complaints, regrets, heartbreaks, and disappointments, which students rarely post on other popular platforms such as Snapchat or Instagram. With no risk of social judgment, people could air their inner thoughts free of consequence. Sometimes, people abused this freedom. Banter would occasionally become uncomfortably personal. Derisive jokes at the expense of students or Greek organizations were not uncommon. Despite the best efforts of moderators, bouts of discrimination would often surface. Infamous examples of the darker side of the app include racially offensive comments directed at Student Assembly candidates, as well as a threat to burn down Epsilon Kappa Theta sorority following the cancellation of Masters, a pong tournament, this past summer. However, posts like these were the exception rather than the rule. Nor
were they the outbursts of some silent majority — for example, racist posts would be heavily downvoted and reported when they appeared. While anonymity brought out the worst in some people, most users behaved civilly. Dartmouth students didn’t let incidents such as these dissuade them from Librex. Indeed, while the possibility for vitriol on anonymous online forums is well-known to our generation, Librex promised something different. After launching at Dartmouth on March 5, the app saw over 2,000 students sign up just in its first month. Even one of my professors admitted that they had joined the app (but insisted they were only there to observe). The chance to speak one’s mind — and catch a glimpse of the unadulterated thoughts of others — was just too tempting. Besides, a great deal of content on Librex was positive. These bright spots were sorely needed during a period in Dartmouth’s history that included a pandemic, economic recession and a divisive presidential election. Librex provided a casual space for students to share jokes and memes, comment on campus life (for instance, complaints about the line for Foco abounded during this past fall term) or even try to find love through cryptic acronyms (“M4F,” anyone?). The most upvoted posts on the platform were often jokes — one post from last spring declaring that the author would wear a revealing onesie to class received over 1,200 upvotes — or even just feel-good personal anecdotes about doing well on an exam or gaining the courage to ask someone out. Yet over time, the very concept of the app became controversial. After a while, it seemed as though every Dartmouth student had downloaded Librex at some point and had an opinion about it. Was Librex a means of staying connected to Dartmouth during isolating times? Or did the app’s anonymity just enable trolls to spout hateful nonsense to the whole school? Regardless of the controversy it engendered, Librex provided Dartmouth students with a rare opportunity in the internet age: the chance to see what truly free speech looks like. It played a unique role in Dartmouth’s culture, and while it may have been an anonymous platform, nearly every student came to know this app’s name. Thanks to its great connecting power, Librex became a staple of many Dartmouth student’s phones. At first, isolated students seeking human interaction flocked to the app. Then came freshfaced ’24s, followed by students who’d heard their friends mention it and wanted to see what all the fuss was about. Whether it was former Dean of the College Kathryn Lively’s metaphorladen emails, Safety and Security crackdowns on student socializing or the tragedies that fell upon the student body last year, many events prompted intense debate and discussion among the app’s users. Hundreds of students, if not thousands, would come together to upvote tributes to classmates and post messages of encouragement and remembrance. Rather than an occasional offensive post, these outpourings of communal support are what should define Librex’s legacy at Dartmouth.
GABRIEL MODISETT ’25: A THREE IN ONE
CLUES FOR THIS PUZZLE WERE WRITTEN BY: NINA SLOAN, THOMAS CLARK, ELLA GATES, INDIA JONES AND ALISYA REZA.
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FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2022
THE DARTMOUTH ARTS
Review: ‘Moonfall’ Offers a Ridiculously Fun Time By CAITLIN MCCARTHY The Dartmouth Staff
This article was originally published on February 24, 2022. Let’s get one thing straight: “Moonfall” is a ridiculous movie. From poster promotions featuring various angles of a gigantic moon, to its absolutely wild explanation of what the moon “really is,” to its effective, selfdescriptive title, “Moonfall” is a showcase of the dramatic excess that characterizes apocalyptic movies. The film demonstrates what happens when disaster director extraordinaire Roland Emmerich has fun. I’ve been looking forward to “Moonfall” since I saw the first trailer, which premiered on Sep. 2 with the ominous and hilarious tagline “In the year 2022, the Moon will come to us.” I threw myself into transforming other movies’ posters into “Moonfall” themed designs on PowerPoint, coming up with creations like “tick, tick… MOONFALL!” and earning myself a few retweets from the official “Moonfall” account. Disaster movies have always evoked a fascinating curiosity for me: each one is a perfect mix of incredibly obvious tropes, manufactured melodrama with surprising heartfelt moments, and — of course — a great big disaster. Plus, it doesn’t hurt that the word “MOONFALL” is incredibly fun to type in capital letters. The plot of “Moonfall” is fairly easy to follow … at first. We meet ex-astronaut Brian Harper (Patrick Wilson), who was fired years ago after a mysterious incident in space resulted in the death of a coworker. After conspiracy theorist K.C. Houseman (John Bradley) discovers that the moon is out of orbit, he brings his evidence to Harper, confident that the moon is a megastructure — an artificial creation of aliens. After the
information gets out and NASA’s attempts to fix the problem fail, Harper, Houseman and new NASA deputy director Jocinda Fowler (Halle Berry) travel to the everapproaching moon to find out what’s really going on. The rest of the movie … well, you need to experience it to believe it. The disasters in “Moonfall” start off slow — yes, even in a movie where the first scene features an unknown black cloud in space flying toward astronauts, killing one of them by pushing them out into space counts as slow. As the moon approaches, we see flooding in Los Angeles, but it’s a much slower process than what is characteristic of disaster movies: once the main characters get above the waterline, they don’t seem too worried about the potential of being whisked away by water. Much of the big destruction scenes occur as the moon gets closer to earth, from gravity waves that create huge tsunamis to parts of the moon breaking off and hitting skyscrapers. Where “Moonfall” soars is in its creativity in its disaster scenes. Given the freedom to move beyond regular natural disasters, like tornadoes and earthquakes, the movie showcases characters being lifted up by the gravity of the approaching moon and rapid drops in oxygen on earth. There’s a great quick shot of two scientists escaping the space shuttle launching facility, the strange gravity causing them to bounce into the air as they run to a helicopter. As the moon orbits faster and faster around earth, it picks up large trucks and bits of the ground, which is something I can confidently say I’ve never seen before in a disaster movie. And, I didn’t notice any obvious lapses in CGI, other than a scene at the very end that featured a helicopter, which ironically might be the simplest effect in a movie where the moon constantly looms over the earth. Partway through the film, I had a peculiar thought: I wanted more earth destruction. Call it catharsis, call it awe, call
LILA HOVEY/THE DARTMOUTH STAFF
it my own amazement at spectacles reduced instantly to nothing, but I had felt a little bit let down on that front. There wasn’t much attention given to people on earth other than the main trio’s families, and, apart from a few confrontations and news clips, the movie missed opportunities to display the general social unrest that knowledge of imminent destruction would bring. However, the absolutely wild twist near the end of the film, where we learn the moon’s backstory, made me forget all of my other complaints. Above all, I watch disaster movies to see something ridiculous, and this development checked that box. I don’t want to spoil it here, but whatever you’re thinking, I guarantee that the movie’s explanation is stranger. While the characters don’t give much for the audience to chew on, I thought Berry gave an earnest and heartfelt performance as she tried to save her teammates and family. Bradley’s character
was also unexpectedly endearing, playing the role of the audience surrogate who is constantly amazed by every development as the moon’s story unravels. This movie is cliché city. Harper, divorced, runs late for a presentation at the nearby Griffith Observatory. Fowler is divorced as well, and each astronaut has kids they are desperately trying to protect on earth. The government’s last-ditch plan, as it always is in these movies, is to send nuclear weapons to the moon. The product placement in this movie is as exorbitant as everything else, with obvious promotions given to Google and Lexus — the latter of which takes center stage in a car-chase where the camera zooms in on a character pushing a button on the dashboard to help them survive. To me, all of these obvious flaws are a feature of the genre, yet they are entertaining and I was cheering in my seat every time. Watching “Moonfall,” I realized that
what draws me to disaster movies is my search for escapism. The disaster genre allows us to explore that primal fear of the earth turning against us; it’s a way to cope with the thought that our end might come at any moment, dealt by the hand of unfeeling nature. I turn to each of these movies to see something larger-than-life, something that I can laugh at, something ridiculously fun. Disaster movies offer something that is so close to being real, but also so out-of-this world that it can be enjoyed without fear. Is “Moonfall” a good movie? I’m not sure. What I am sure of, though, is that I had the best time at a matinee screening with my friend in an empty theater at The Nugget Theaters, gleefully pointing out the moon and saying “it’s so BIG!” over and over again. “Moonfall” was not the disaster movie I expected it to be, but it fulfilled expectations I never knew I had. If sequel plans end up shaking out, I’ll be first in line.
Dartmouth Symphony Orchestra to perform in-person at Hop BY JAYDA FOOTE The Dartmouth
This article was originally published on February 24, 2022. This Saturday, Feb. 26, the Dartmouth Symphony Orchestra will perform inperson at the Hopkins Center for the Arts for the second time since the pandemic began. The performance will feature Gustav Mahler’s “Fourth Symphony” and the “Knoxville: Summer of 1915” rhapsody by Samuel Barber. The students involved in DSO are looking forward to performing the “Fourth Symphony” in front of a live audience of students and the Upper Valley community according to concertmistress Kimberly Tan ‘22, who joined DSO her freshman year in 2018. She is proud of the growth within the orchestra, which played Mahler’s “Fifth Symphony” the first year she became a
member. “I think it’s interesting because now that I’ve played Mahler before, I can see some similarities and some differences,” said Tan. “[The Fourth Symphony] has an element that’s often been described as more pastoral and a little lighter. And in the last movement is a poem that’s going to be sung by a soprano — it talks about heaven and joy and this idea of lightness.” Tan said she finds the “Fourth Symphony” and its four movements to be a unique piece for the DSO, and for her as a violinist. “I think every movement is a little bit different,” said Tan. “The second was meant to be really interesting, because I have to take a separate violin ... and there’s a higher tension because you tune it up.” To round out the performance, the DSO invited soprano Michelle Johnson to sing American composer Samuel Barber’s lyric rhapsody, “Knoxville: Summer of 1915.”
“‘Knoxville,’ the piece of Barber, is a reflection on a person’s roots, the origins and the still tight connection with nature,” said Filippo Ciabatti, the director of the DSO. Ciabatti said the “Fourth Symphony” is a serene and poetic contemplation on nature. He hopes the performance reflects this notion. He elaborated that the choice of the “Fourth Symphony” is inspired by the tribulations the group has gone through during the pandemic. “I thought that in this moment of transition out of this pandemic, proposing a piece that makes us go back and think about our roots and, at the same time, do that in a reflective, pondering way, would have been an appropriate choice,” Ciabatti said. Despite COVID-19 difficulties, DSO has achieved numerous feats in the past year, including a recent tour in Italy and Ciabatti receiving the first place award from the 2021 American Prize in Conducting.
Ciabatti credits the entire DSO group for the award. “I think that really, Dartmouth is an extraordinary place,” said Ciabatti. “Because it nurtures talent. Talented people have a rounded perspective on the world and our culture. And I think that’s really what, for me, this prize was about. It was really the team that won this prize.” Miles Blencowe, a professor of physics and regular attendee of DSO performances, said the in-person show means a lot to the community amidst COVID-19. “There was a small concert spring of last year and it was a very small group of DSO students, because there’s a lot of them that weren’t there,” Blencowe said. “And it was wonderful. It was outdoors, near the math department, but it just didn’t have the same feeling ... I think there’s just that extra special thing of just being in person again.”
The DSO, according to both Tan and Ciabatti, holds itself to a high standard for performances, leading to many sold-out shows pre-pandemic. “I think it’s just the fact that students are playing it to a very high standard,” said Blencowe. While it will be difficult to reach this level of engagement due to continued public health concerns, Blencowe said there are members of the Upper Valley community who are excited to attend. He recalls sitting next to the parents of a student and a community member at the performance in the fall, and the sense of community he felt because of them. “[To] my right side was a lady who came from Kendall. She was in her mid-90s, and we got talking, and there’s this incredible kind of community feeling,” Blencowe said. The DSO performance will take place this Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at Spaulding Auditorium.
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2022
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THE DARTMOUTH SPORTS
SPORTS
Women’s swimming and diving takes seventh at Ivy League Championship meet BY Will mallory The Dartmouth
The Dartmouth women’s swimming and diving team attended the Ivy League Championship Feb. 16-19 at Harvard University’s Blodgett Pool in Cambridge, Mass. After four days of competition, the team finished in seventh place in what was the end of nine Big Green seniors’ Ivy League careers. On the first day of competition, the team scored 92 points, securing seventh place and narrowly edging out Cornell University by two points. Beginning with the 200-yard medley relay, the quad, composed of Connie Zhang ’22, Rachel Zhang ’24, Mary Howley ’25 and Zoe Wortzman ’22, finished eighth with a time of 1:44.54. In the second event of the afternoon — the 800-yard freestyle relay — the Big Green finished sixth with a time of 7:20.86. The relay was made up of Ashley Post ’22, Mia Leko ’22, Sophie Wiener ’25 and Wortzman. Head coach Jesse Moore said the seniors helped set the standard for the week. “They all came back ready to go and they led our underclassmen,” Moore said. “Since there were no sports last year, our freshman and sophomore classes didn’t have any collegiate experience and half of the team didn’t know what to expect.” The Big Green posted similar results on day two of the meet as Dartmouth maintained its seventh place standing with a two-day total of 223 points. To begin the morning, Sarah Minnigh ’22 competed in the first individual race of the long weekend, finishing 19th with a time of 4:56.03 in the 500-yard freestyle. In the 200-yard IM B Final, Leko touched with a time of 2:02.48, securing 11th place for the team. Next
in the pool was Wortzman, who took on the 50-yard free. The senior finished fifth with a time of 23.03, tallying 25 points for the Big Green. Post finished 10th in the B Final of the same event, touching the wall at 23.22. In the first diving event of the tournament, Isabella Lichen ’22 competed in the one-meter B Final, finishing in 10th place with a score of 261.85, beating her prelims score by nearly 17 points. To close out the day, Wortzman, Post, Wiener and Leko swam the 200-yard freestyle relay, finishing seventh with a time of 1:33.08. This was the first Ivy League Championship since Dartmouth suspended the swimming and diving program in July 2020. In January of 2021, the school reinstated the program, giving the team new life after a tumultuous year. The Ivy League Championship meet was canceled in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. With athletes two years out of the pool, a brief period with no head coach and recruitment processes disrupted, the Big Green’s viability in last week’s competition was not inevitable. Nevertheless, the Big Green avoided a last place finish. Wortzman said despite the troubles the program faced, she was ready to go. “From the second the team was (reinstated), I felt really ready to get right back into it and get to work. I definitely felt when the team was cut, that there was more I wanted to do in the pool, so I felt grateful for the opportunity.” Post said the meet allowed her to spend quality time with her teammates after the reinstatement of the program. “It was a great experience to be able to compete with the team especially because after being cut, we didn’t think we would have a senior Ivy meet,” Post
said. “That was amazing to be able to spend the week with them.” By the end of day two, the team found itself in seventh place, 31 points behind Brown University and 32 points ahead of Cornell. Day three of four was a busy day for the team, as 17 different athletes competed in eight events. The Big Green maintained its hold on seventh place, finishing the day with a total of 409 points. To begin the morning, Minnigh, Christina Cianciolo ’23 and Hayden Barry ’25 competed in the 1000 freestyle, finishing 11th (10:08.65), 14th (10:14.50) and 21st (10:41.50), respectively. The event secured the Big Green 33 points, and Minnigh saw a whopping 30-second improvement from her prelims time. Next, Bridget Parker ’23 raced in the C Final of the 400 IM, finishing 24th with a time of 4:40.15. Howley then competed in her first race of the day and finished 21st with a time of 55.42 in the 100-yard fly. In the A Final of the 200 freestyle, Post finished fourth with a time of 1:47.48. Leko and Wiener placed eighth and 19th in the same event with times of 1:49.29 and 1:52.36, respectively. In the 100-yard breaststroke C Final, Kenna van Steyn ’21 touched at 1:05.65 and Rachel Zhang followed, clocking in at 1:07.66. In the 100-yard backstroke, Howley completed her second event of the day, finishing 12th with a time of 55.76. Five Big Green athletes competed in the C Final of the same event, including Susannah Laster ’22 (56.31), Izzy Hamlen ’24 (56.76), Connie Zhang (57.50), Eleanor Zwart ’22 (58.15) and Katherine Kramer ’25 (58.67). In the final event of the day, Howley, Van Steyn, Leko and Post competed in the
400-yard medley relay, finishing in 3:45.35. The fourth and final day secured the Big Green seventh place (563 points) in the Ivy League Championship. Just one day after swimming in the 1000 freestyle, Minnigh, Cianciolo and Barry raced in the 1650 freestyle, finishing in eighth (16:48.35), 17th (17:11.28) and 23rd (17:54.27), respectively. Laster and Howley then competed in the 200yard backstroke, with Laster touching 16th in just over two minutes (2:00.71) and Howley right behind her in 19th (2:01.77). In the A Final of the 100-yard freestyle, Post finished eighth, touching in 50.42 seconds. Wortzman finished 21st in the C Final with a time of 50.94. Next, in the 200-yard breaststroke C Final, Van Steyn and Parker finished 22nd (2:24.01) and 24th (2:25.27), respectively. Leko then finished sixth in the A Final for the 200-yard butterfly in 1:59.70. To conclude the diving events in the Championship, Lichen and Palacios competed in the 3-meter board. Lichen finished 26th with 213.20 points while Palacios finished 30th with 185.90 points. The final event of the meet was the 400-yard freestyle relay, in which Post, Leko, Howley and Wortzman teamed up for a 3:24.03 finish, earning them sixth place. Post said she had trouble swallowing the fact that this was her last meet. “The whole meet, I was trying not to think about this being my last meet,” she said. “The last race, [Wortzman] was anchoring and we were really close to Cornell. It was awesome because she swam super hard and out-touched the Cornell girl and we beat them. She started crying right when we finished. It was a really cool experience.” Wortzman said the final-touch emotion was a combination of
excitement and exhaustion. “Finishing that race was a really cool feeling of definitely putting everything we had into that last race because we were exhausted,” she said. “It was such a blur.” Harvard took first place with 1503.5 points, while Yale University and The University of Pennsylvania followed in second and third place, respectively. Coach Moore said he was proud of all of the obstacles the team has overcome this season. “There are so many different hurdles that they overcame, like adapting to a new head coach and new assistant coaches, swimming again and having to go through this in a world where we are living a year behind the rest of the country, as far as athletics,” Moore said. “They handled all of that really well and rose to the occasion.” Due to the complications of the past few years, the seniors had not competed in the Ivy League Championship since the spring of their sophomore year, and competed in the Ivy League Championship with a small team with several walk-ons. “That group of nine [seniors has] been so supportive of this program and the underclassmen, and they worked really hard and led really well this year,” Moore said. “I feel like they laid a foundation that we can now build on top of and take this program forward in some pretty exciting directions.” Wortzman said she is proud of everything the team accomplished in her last year. “I’m really proud of the team, especially the seniors, because it’s been a crazy couple of years for us, so sticking it through is a pretty cool feeling,” Wortzman said. “I’m really going to miss it.”
Men’s hockey sweeps Princeton, falls to No. 4 Quinnipiac BY HEATH MONSMA The Dartmouth Staff
This article was originally published on February 21, 2022. This week, the men’s hockey team played three games, two against Princeton University — one home and one away — and one against No. 4 Quinnipiac University. The Big Green took care of business against Princeton, completing a season sweep, but fell to Quinnipiac for the second time this year. Dartmouth came into the Princeton game on Monday riding high off of a hard fought win over Yale University two days prior. The momentum showed from the drop of the puck: Matt Hubbarde ’25 and Sean Chisholm ’25 each pumped in goals within the first six minutes of the game, giving the Big Green a 2-0 lead. Princeton responded with a goal midway through the period, but was unable to catch Dartmouth as a power play goal from Joey Musa ’24 extended the lead back to two before the end of the period. After the first, the Big Green kept their foot on the gas, extending the lead to 5-2 in the second and ending the game with a 7-3 final score. The four-goal margin of victory was the biggest in three seasons and the wealth was spread amongst seven different scorers. “Seven goals doesn’t happen very often in college hockey, so it was more a matter of circumstance than anything,” head coach Reid Cashman said. Dartmouth returned to Hanover to
face Quinnipiac in what proved to be one of their toughest tests of the season. Initially, the Bobcats were slow to get back on defense as the Big Green saw chances on odd man rushes through the neutral zone. This culminated in a Quinnipiac slashing penalty halfway through the first, which gave Dartmouth an advantage that they nearly capitalized on. However, after Tanner Palocsik ’23 pinged the post on the power play, the Bobcats bore down, outpossessing and outshooting the Big Green throughout the rest of the period. They were able to find the back of the net with four minutes remaining in the period and never looked back. The floodgates opened in the second as Quinnipiac extended their lead to 4-0, and tacked on one more in the third to make a 5-0 final. The next day, Dartmouth had a chance at redemption on senior night in front of a crowd of 1,803 at the annual “tennis ball game” against Princeton. Captain Harrison Markell ’22 was excited to play in the atmosphere of Thompson Arena. “It’s a great feeling because we weren’t able to play last year,” Markell said. “It was one of the first normal moments we’ve had at Dartmouth hockey in the last couple of years.” Cashman was excited to play in front of fans in a rivalry game. “When you have fans, you get that extra half a stride, you get that extra shot block, so we’ve got to find a way to put a product on the ice that makes them want to come back,” Cashman said. Both teams were fired up to start the
CAROLINE KRAMER/THE DARTMOUTH STAFF
game, as pucks skittered over sticks and struggled to maintain possession. As play settled down, Dartmouth appeared to have a slight edge as they saw several quality chances off of rebounds and outshot
Princeton 9-7 in the first. In the second period the battle continued as both teams had near misses on odd-man rushes. Dartmouth goalie Clay Stevenson ’24 was named the ECAC Goalie of the Week the week prior — and showed why, staying calm and collected between the pipes and making several impressive glove saves. “Everyone obviously builds off the energy of the fans, but my key is to stay present and move on to the next save,” Stevenson said. After the dust settled at the end of the second, the 0-0 deadlock remained intact as both teams appeared evenly matched. “We got away from our foundation because we wanted to win so badly,” Cashman said. In the final period, both teams played defensively, as there were only 13 shots that made it through to the goal. The Big Green threatened on a couple occasions though, with a wide open turnaround shot that nearly beat the goalie and another shot that went off the crossbar with three minutes remaining. Just as the game seemed destined for overtime, Dartmouth maintained possession in the offensive zone and got the puck up to Chisholm at the top of the circles. Meanwhile, Braiden Dorfman ’25 snuck behind the Tiger defense and was
able to find clear space in front of the net. “I was yelling at [Chisholm] to shoot, I got a tip on it and saw it go through the goalie, but not all the way, so I turned around and shoveled the goalie into the net,” Dorfman said. “When I realized it went in, I just started yelling. I was overcome with emotion.” The second that the puck crossed the goal line, hundreds of tennis balls began raining down from the stands, creating a surreal moment. “It was so cool to see everyone throwing the tennis balls,” Dorfman said. “It was an absolute avalanche.” With only 30 seconds to go in the game, Chisholm scored an empty net goal to solidify the 2-0 victory. The win meant that much more to the five seniors who were playing the last home game of their careers. “They’ve been incredible. Their attitudes are phenomenal whether we win or we lose,” Cashmand said. “I’m just so happy that they get rewarded with a victory in front of a thousand students.” The Big Green will have its final two games of the regular season next weekend as they travel to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute on Friday and Union College on Saturday.
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MIRROR THE DARTMOUTH MIRROR
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2022
One Spring at a Time: The Lives of Dartmouth’s Pro Skiers STORY
By Arielle Feuerstein
This article was originally published on February 23, 2022. It’s not unusual for a Dartmouth student to brush shoulders with an Olympian or Olympic hopeful. Currently, there are six Dartmouth students and alumni skiing in the 2022 Winter Olympics, and several current students ski for the U.S. Team or are otherwise skiing professionally. While they’re competing at such a high level, skiers also need to keep up with their academic lives as Dartmouth students. I sat down with some of Dartmouth’s pro skiers to see how they balance their athletic careers with their academic ones. Logan Sankey ’20, a ski jumper on the U.S. Team, said that she competes both in the winter and the summer. When she has an upcoming competition, she usually trains Monday through Wednesday, travels
on Thursday, and competes Friday through Sunday. She regularly travels internationally to ski and spends most of her year in Europe and Asia. In order to accommodate her rigorous training and competition schedules, Sankey said that she, along with many other professional skiers at Dartmouth, have modified their D-Plans so they don’t need to take classes during their competition seasons. “Most of us just go on spring q u a r t e r, ” S a n k ey s a i d . “ Yo u ’ l l definitely hear that referred to as the ‘twelve year plan.’ So one term a year, or summers sometimes … but the spring is kind of our off-season. I’ve never taken a winter at Dartmouth in all my time here, but then I come back in the spring and get to see everyone, and I dive into classes then.” Undergraduate dean Natalie Hoyt, who has worked with professional student skiers to assist with their
D-Plans, estimates that there are about 20 student skiers who are currently on an adjusted D-Plan. Successfully executing such a D-Plan is an exercise in planning ahead, according to Brook Leigh ’22. Leigh is a retired professional mogul skier who competed until his sophomore year. He is still involved in the professional skiing world and takes classes for two terms each year, but he leaves a few weeks early in the fall term. He emphasized the importance of finding classes that he will be able to keep up with even after leaving campus. “You have to be pretty on your game choosing classes and have already talked to know what professors are looking for — which ones are going to be more accommodating than others, which classes tend to get recorded, especially pre-COVID,” Leigh said. “When I knew I was going to have
Courtesty of Brook Leigh
to leave, I would load up on classes that are more textbook-centered, or I knew that they would be big lectures like PSYC 01, which records all their lectures.” Although a skier’s college experience is untraditional, Jimmy Krupka ’21, an alpine skier on the U.S. Team, is grateful for the opportunity to be able to ski competitively while in college. Still, he recognizes that following an extended D-Plan can be socially isolating at times. “To me, the pros outweigh the cons; I get to live out a good childhood dream: competing on the world stage,” Krupka said. “But the cons, I’m starting to realize more and more that I’m just going to start feeling older and older at college. And — because school was online, and I only do one term a year — I haven’t been on campus in three years. So everyone I rushed with, all my friends that I made originally, have graduated. So when I go back to campus this spring or summer, I’m going to have to make new friends.” Although the modified D-Plan can be isolating, there are resources to help support student skiers. Leigh expressed that the Dartmouth community has been “very supportive” of his skiing endeavors. He found that Dean Hoyt’s advising was particularly helpful in navigating through Dartmouth’s bureaucracy. “When you’re putting in D-Plan petitions and you’re doing a five-plusyear enrollment pattern and you’re changing your housing schedule like all the time, if you get an intro email from Dean Hoyt, and she says ‘this is one of my skiers’ doors just open. And that’s been incredible,” Leigh said. Professor Douglas Van Citters ’99, the Faculty Athletics Representative to the NCAA for Dartmouth, has advised and taught many professional skiers. He expressed that his job as an advisor is to look at every individual student’s goals, and for professional skiers, that includes helping them progress through their athletic careers. “College is only one of the things they do,” Van Citters said. “And in fact, in many ways their first commitment
is to their sport because unfortunately, we all get old. So sometimes, for some of these athletes, they only have four to six years where they can actually really compete at this very specific level. And so we have to do what we can to support.” Many student skiers have also found comfort in Dartmouth’s relatively high number of skiers. Leigh expressed appreciation that he has other students to look to for advice related to both skiing and Dartmouth. “Throughout high school, I was leaving for skiing a lot and I was always having to sort of cut the path, but at Dartmouth, I’m never the first person to do something,” Leigh said. “Having had people to sort of break the trail before me is really nice, and you can tell that the administration values skiers, which makes a huge difference.” Krupka echoed this sentiment. He said that he is inspired by the accomplishments of other Dartmouth skiers, both academically and in skiing, and he appreciates that he is in an environment where he can be with other skiers that understand his lifestyle and perspective. “I ended up at a house party at Dartmouth, and I sat down on the couch and next to me was the Olympian Andrew Weibrecht,” Krupka said. “I talked to him for a while and he gave me great advice … about the process of getting better at skiing and what it takes to perform on a World Cup level. He’s kind of who I look up to in terms of making it work with both getting school done and going to the Olympics.” Even though most of the Dartmouth community does not compete at a professional level, Leigh is grateful that Dartmouth fosters such an appreciation for skiing within its community. “At a lot of schools, not having that support from the student body and the community wears on you, I think,” Leigh said. “So it’s just so nice to have that, that people get why you would devote your life to skiing at Dartmouth.”
The Roommates-to-Friends Pipeline STORY
By Jayanth Uppaluri
This story was originally published on February 23, 2022. One of the more nerve-racking moments of the summer before coming to Dartmouth is learning who your roommate will be. Most students will only be lucky enough to know one or two of their new classmates, so this roommate might represent your first connection to college. I know I speak for everyone when I say that we all hope our first roommates will be people we can count on. Of course, we have all heard at least one roommate horror story. My personal favorite is that of a roommate who moved into an abandoned single to flee their roommate just two days after arriving at Dartmouth for the 2021 spring term. Yet, the most common Dartmouth roommate relationship I’ve heard about from other members of the Class of 2024 is that of neutrality, in which the roommates have an amicable, if distant, relationship. This makes the close friendships that can come from these roommate assignments all the more unique, especially the ones that have lasted four years. Riley Gordon ’22 and Rohith Mandavilli ’22 were randomly matched into a one-room triple their freshman year and became friends over the fall term. Both of them were more excited than nervous, and Gordon was more worried about their cramped living conditions — three people, all in one room? — rather than who his roommates would be. In contrast, Louisa Gao ’22 was “definitely a little bit nervous” about who her freshman year roommate would be, having come to Dartmouth from a boarding school where she had a random roommate during her first two years of high school. “One of those [random roommates] definitely worked out a lot better than
the other,” Gao said. Gao knew from “day one” that her roommate was going to be a close friend. However, for Gordon and Mandavilli, it took a particular mystery for them to start bonding. “Halfway through the fall term, we discovered that someone every day had been walking into our room, taking the air freshener plugged into the wall and moving it into the communal bathroom,” Gordon recalled. “We put together an investigation, rounded up suspects and jokingly grilled them.” While they never cracked the case, it represented the beginning of their friendship, one that developed over countless games of Cards Against Humanity and Quiplash. On the other hand, it took a full term before Grayce Gibbs ’22 and her roommate realized that they were developing a close friendship. “We spent a lot of time together in the fall, but I think at the beginning of winter term, we came back and decided we really were friends,” Gibbs said. “We have a joke that freshman fall… she hadn’t decided whether or not we were friends. Sometimes, I’ll mention something that I’ve told her about and she doesn’t remember, and she’ll say ‘that was freshman fall!’” For Gao and her roommate, it was the similarities between the two that made them great roommates and friends. “We are both pretty neat,” Gao said. “There were definitely days when both of our sides got messy, but there were very few conflicts, which is something that our other friends had issues with.” Even when roommates had very different interests, as with Mandavilli and Gordon, a shared sense of humor shaped their friendship. “We’re both very sarcastic, carefree and we don’t take each other seriously as well,” Mandavilli said. “That banter
started early and kept going, and because of that we are very comfortable around each other.” Gordon seemed to know this when he dryly stated that he was “definitely cleaner than [Mandavilli] is” as a difference between the two. Gibbs concurred with this point of shared humor, noting that she could not tell whether the jokes she and her roommate shared was the cause of their friendship or came as a result of it “We have very different academic interests,” Gibbs said. “She thinks everything I do is horribly boring; I think everything she does is horribly boring. But… we can literally sit and talk for forever… when we’re together
we’re non stop laughing.” Mandavilli, Gibbs and Gordon all emphasized how unique these friendships were, especially considering the conflicts that many of their friends got into with their freshman roommates. “I definitely think this is unique. I’ve talked to a lot of my friends, and there aren’t too many people who are still friends with their roommate as a senior,” Gibbs said. Gordon put this statement more bluntly. “Some people like their roommates. Some people don’t, and the ones who don’t find new roommates.” All of these seniors used the word
“lucky” to describe how they felt looking back on how the random roommate assignment went. Even though they do not room together anymore for a variety of reasons, they all have maintained close friendships. These friendships will last beyond college. Mandavilli added that even though their career paths will take them in different directions, he and his roommate will stay friends. “I’m gonna be an engineer somewhere, and [Gordon] is going places,” Mandavilli said. “I’m just really grateful that the survey worked as well as it did.” Grayce Gibbs is a former news staffer for The Dartmouth.
JULIA SIEGEL/THE DARTMOUTH