VOL. CLXXVIV NO. 6
FRIDAY, MAY 6, 2022
50th annual Dartmouth Powwow, lū‘au to be held this weekend
HANOVER, NEW HAMPSHIRE
Collis staffer Donna O’Gara remembered for her warmth and selflessness
COURTESY OF MEGAN O’GARA
A “ray of sunshine” who went above and beyond for the people around her, Donna O’Gara formed deep relationships with students and coworkers.
BY Adriana James-Rodil The Dartmouth Staff
MICHAEL LIN/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF
The Powwow is organized by the Native American Program, while Hōkūpaʻa puts on the lūʻau.
BY Aryanna Qusba The Dartmouth
This article was originally published on May 3, 2022. Dartmouth’s 50th annual Powwow, hosted and organized by the Native American Program, will take place on the Green on Saturday, May 7. The Powwow will feature dances, food and music to honor and celebrate Indigenous communities, according to Powwow co-chairs Ahnili JohnsonJennings ’23 and Jess Meikle ’23. On Sunday, May 8, Hōkūpaʻa, the Pan-Pasifika student organization on campus, will hold the Dartmouth Annual Lūʻau on the Gold Coast lawn to celebrate Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander identity on campus, according to an announcement on the
NAP website. Johnson-Jennings and Meikle said that the celebration honors Indigenous students, faculty and alumni in a festival that unites the entire campus. Johnson-Jennings and Meikle noted that the Powwow is one of the largest on the east coast and is also one of the largest student-run events on campus. According to the NAP website, the event brings together over 1,500 people from all over the country. “We are proud Native folks and we belong here on our own terms,” Johnson-Jennings said. “So I’m really excited that we’re still having it on the Green this year and that we still have that tradition, and I’m really proud to be upholding that.” In celebration of the 50th anniversary, Meikle said that NAP will “highlight members of our community who
have passed and members [who] are retiring,” adding that this year will be “a healing-based Powwow.” According to the program, there will be a memorial honoring for Beau DuBray ’24, who was a member of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe. The co-chairs said that the festivities will open with the lighting of the traditional fire led by a faculty member the night before the Powwow, which is open for anyone to observe. On Saturday, the main events begin at noon with intertribal honoring songs and various rounds of social dances with prizes. The day will conclude with a closed dinner for the Native community and alumni. Johnson-Jennings emphasized that the Powwow goes beyond a structured perfor mance and is more of an SEE POWWOW PAGE 2
Saint Motel, KYLE to co-headline Green Key
CLOUDY HIGH 64 LOW 36
MICHAEL LIN/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF
BY The Dartmouth Senior StafF This article was originally published on May 1, 2022.
NEWS
RUSSELL WILSON TO SPEAK AT 2022 COMMENCEMENT PAGE 2
OPINION
MOORE: AN INJURED MORALE PAGE 3
ARTS
SPOTLIGHT ON THE HOUSE OF LEWAN PAGE 4
SPORTS
WOMEN’S SAILING FIFTH AT NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS PAGE 5
MIRROR
HANOVER’S LITTLE SLICE OF PARADISE PAGE 6 FOLLOW US ON
@thedartmouth COPYRIGHT © 2022 THE DARTMOUTH, INC.
Saint Motel and KYLE will perform as co-headliners with Doechii set as the opening musician for the Programming Board’s Green Key concert on May 20, the Programming Board announced today via Instagram. The concert, which will take place at 6:30 p.m. on Gold Coast Lawn, will kick off the first Green Key festival since 2019. Doechii will perform first after a set from student band Moon Unit, which recently won the Battle of the Bands competition. The rapper rose to prominence for her 2020 EP “Oh the Places You’ll Go,” the 2021 EP “BRA-LESS” and her single “Yucky Blucky Fruitcake.” She was recently signed by Top Dawg Entertainment and recognized as a “Most Necessary Artist to Watch in 2022” by Spotify and an “Artist to Watch” by Rolling Stone. “We could see that there was a lot of interest in female rappers,” Programming Board concert director Emma Elsbecker ’24 said. “So it’s so exciting to get this artist who is blowing up and is making waves in the rap community.” Saint Motel, a Los Angeles-based indie pop band, will perform after Doechii. The group was established at Chapman University film school and have since headlined at music festivals like Coachella, Lollapalooza and Bonnaroo. Saint Motel saw breakout success for its EP “My Type” in 2015 and subsequently released the critically acclaimed full length album “saintmotelvision” in 2016, featuring the
hit single “Move.” The band has appeared on NBC’s TODAY, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, The Late Show with James Corden and other nationally televised venues. KYLE will be the final performer of the evening. Also known by his stage name SuperDuperKyle, KYLE gained notoriety for his breakout single “iSpy” in 2017 and has since become platinum-certified for his 2018 debut album ”Light of Mine.” KYLE has also collaborated with artists such as Kehlani, Lil Yachty, G-Eazy, Chance the Rapper and Miguel. In 2022 KYLE released his third album, “It’s Not So Bad.” Elsbecker said that the “most exciting” thing about the lineup is that co-headliners were the two most popular artists from the survey sent to the student body in the winter, with 80% of students who filled out the survey expressing interest in KYLE or Saint Motel. “This lineup is noteworthy in being able to appeal to such a large and diverse cross-section of respondents,” Elsbecker said. “We’re excited to have picked a lineup that directly reflects what people expressed in the surveys.” In an email sent to campus on April 29, the Programming Board specified that in anticipation of a large wave of alumni returning to campus who missed Green Key due to the pandemic, guests except for alumni who graduated in 2020 and 2021 will not be allowed at the concert. The Programming Board cited concerns from the town and strain on safety resources. The Programming Board has sent registration information to current students and members of the Classes of 2020 and 2021 to obtain wristbands, which will be required for entry.
This article was originally published on May 5, 2022. Donna O’Gara sought to see the good in each person, encouraging others to do the same and to have a positive outlook on life. All who knew her remember her as radiating kindness and joy. O’Gara, who worked at Collis Cafe for more than 26 years, died from stomach cancer at 64 on Monday, April 11. She was at home surrounded by her family. She is survived by her husband Robert O’Gara and daughter Megan O’Gara, along with five siblings and several relatives. Even though O’Gara was diagnosed with cancer in December 2020, O’Gara was only out of work for about three months, demonstrating her commitment to Collis and the students with whom she had built relationships, her husband said. O’Gara was born on May 27, 1957 in Boston, the fourth youngest among six siblings. She married Robert in 1980 and moved to West Lebanon in 1982 when she began working for the College. Their daughter, Megan, was born in 1992 after a 10-year battle with infertility. Robert O’Gara said he remembers his wife as a “very forgiving person.” “When I started to fault her in my life, she would turn around and look me right in the eye and say, ‘Get on your knees and pray, brother,’” Robert O’Gara said. “She’s just a kind soul who loves people. She never saw the faults in people for some reason. She would always look past people’s faults.” Donna O’Gara loved Hawai‘i, so they visited the state four times in the past 30 years. She also enjoyed gardening and crafting. Before working at Collis, O’Gara spent about two years working at the Courtyard Cafe, her first position at the College. At Collis, she began working at the deli station and then transitioned to making smoothies. O’Gara loved to make sandwiches and smoothies but had a “disdain for kale,” her husband said. O’Gara went beyond her necessary work duties in an effort to make sure all coworkers and students felt loved, appreciated and at home in Hanover. In an emailed statement, Dartmouth Dining director Jon Plodzik wrote that O’Gara always exuded “a wonderful laugh, a big smile and [had] such a kind way about her.” In her pursuit of fostering an environment of warmth and kindness, Plodzik wrote that O’Gara made each of her co-workers a holiday jam this past winter. Plodzik’s was a “delicious” piña colada-flavored jam. Collis manager Doreen Blake described O’Gara as “special” to the cafe. Blake said she has yet to meet another person as open, giving and caring. “She was always a ray of sunshine and always upbeat and laughing,” Blake said. “She got along with all the employees and students and took the time to get to know them.” O’Gara was a familiar face to Ciara Gaffney ’19, who ate most of her meals at Collis with her teammates from the women’s rowing team. She was formally introduced to O’Gara by one of her teammates during her sophomore summer — an interaction which led to a years-long friendship between
O’Gara and Gaffney. “She was always so warm and welcoming. Every time I entered Collis or saw her around campus, she would have the biggest smile on her face,” Gaffney said. “She really had the biggest heart and shared so much love with all of the students.” O’Gara’s caring nature made Gaffney and other students feel at home. Gaffney said O’Gara would frequently check up on her, even hosting dinners at her own house for Gaffney and her teammates. O’Gara also shared her love of crafts with Gaffney, gifting her a handmade pair of earrings that Gaffney said she “absolutely adored.” Gaffney said she remembers O’Gara for her attention to the little things. She recalls telling O’Gara that her teammate’s birthday was approaching in the coming weeks, and on the day of the celebration, Donna and Robert surprised the teammate with a birthday cake. “It’s amazing to think of all the students she made a positive impact on during their Dartmouth experience,” Gaffney said. “I feel very lucky to be one of them.” Becca Thomson ’20 Th ’25 said she also knew O’Gara from her daily visits to Collis. O’Gara’s “warm and bright presence” would prompt conversations which developed into a friendship among the two, Thompson said. “She was so selfless that she always put the students and the people she was close to first and was always checking in,” Thomson said. “Taking her view of life, which was always so wonderful, and trying to emulate that in my life, I think really impacted me and my time at Dartmouth.” O’Gara made a difference in her church community as well. Strong in her faith, O’Gara was a prolific and dedicated member at Christ Redeemer Church, which she and her husband began attending around 2003. There, she met Jeff Fan Tu’14 who moved from the west coast to attend the Tuck School of Business. “She was one of the people who welcomed me with open arms,” Fan said. “We clicked and had a bond. We knew that we were there to support each other through the good and the bad.” Fan said that O’Gara’s optimistic outlook caused others to turn to her for counsel and solace when their lives went awry, and she would never hesitate to offer advice and cheer someone up even in the midst of her own struggles. “She was just somebody who, no matter the hardship, was always able to say good and positive things about others and to view life optimistically,” Fan said. In 2008, O’Gara became the first person to be awarded with CRC’s Excellence in Vocation Award, given to one church community member each year who has exemplified the genuine service of Christ in their daily lives by treating others with kindness. CRC pastor Don Willeman said that he remembers O’Gara’s “infectious laughter,” which showed her sincere commitment to making those around her feel happy as well. “I would say that she was one of those people who was just 100% pure encouragement. She had an incredibly gracious and compassionate manner about herself,” Willeman said. Her celebration of life will take place Saturday, May 7, at 11 a.m. at The Hilton Garden Inn in Lebanon.
FRIDAY, MAY 6, 2022
PAGE 2
THE DARTMOUTH NEWS
NFL quarterback Russell Wilson Brian Markee remembered to speak at 2022 Commencement as compassionate with a “can-do attitude”
their shared love for the “absurdist” jokes in the television series South Park. The Dartmouth Staff Benash recalled an episode of the show Brian Markee’s colleagues fondly where Bono — the lead singer for the remember him as a compassionate band U2 — appears and shouts “Yeah library staff member who maintained Yeah Yeah,” sparking a long-running a positive outlook during his time at joke where Markee and Benash would the College. Markee, who died on quote Bono at each other or leave March 29 at age 60 from cancer, left an pictures of Bono for each other to find. indelible impact on his workplace with Outside of work, Markee loved to his charm and dedication, according hike and regularly wrote blog posts to his coworkers. on New Hampshire hiking trails and Markee is survived by his partner, portions of the Appalachian Trail, Mary Guerin; his parents, Nancy and according to Taxman. Benash noted Dale; and his sister, Deidre. that Markee hiked the three highest According to associate librarian peaks in New Hampshire, Vermont Jennifer Taxman, Markee joined Baker- and Maine and hiked to the top of Berry Library in 1984 and worked as Mount Washington multiple times. a shelver and bindery assistant before Markee was also an avid golfer assuming the role who enjoyed o f c o n s e r vat i o n playing with his s p e c i a l i s t i n He never threw in friends on the golf 1998. In an email the towel because course and had won Taxman sent to two club member library staff, she something was proving championships at noted that Markee too difficult … he really t h e B l ack m o u n t was “exceptional” o u n t r y C l u b, struck me as someone Caccording at his job and was to an a “skilled trainer” who put a lot of pride obituary published who w o r k e d and love into his work. by Ricker Funeral with student Home. Benash assistants, summer said that Markee p r e s e r v a t i o n -RYLAND IANELLI, DIGITAL was “better than interns and library anyone else”’ at the PRODUCTION TECHNICIAN library at golfing staff. “[Markee] was and was always the first person I deliberately paired met at any job who talked to me and with a bad player during library staff didn’t talk down at me,” information tournaments in order to balance out access assistant Wes Benash said. the teams. Benash added that he first met Markee Furthermore, Markee was also a when interviewing for a job position fan of music and regularly shared this at the library in 2012, and Markee passion with others. Ianelli said that “made him feel welcome” through his he first befriended Markee through genuinity. The two of them quickly watching the music video of Patrick became close friends. Hernandez’s “Born to be Alive,” which Benash emphasized how much both of them found hilarious because Markee “legitimately cared,” noting of the song’s “stupid” title. that when Benash’s mother experienced Benash said that even when Markee a stroke, Markee ensured that Benash was first diagnosed with colon cancer could take time away from work to in 2017 or 2018, he took it in stride, care for her. recounting how Markee walked up to Si m i larly, d i gi tal p ro d u c ti o n him and said that “it’s a pain in the technician Ryland Ianelli, who worked ass, both literally and figuratively.” with Markee in the preservation “[Markee] knew the seriousness of services department, said that Markee it, but he was not the type to wallow had a “very inviting presence” and in self-pity … we thought about it, of was “never condescending in any course, but he tried to focus on other way.” Ianelli also said that Markee was things and think positively,” he said. always willing to help him, including Though Markee was in remission, in overcoming his initial uncertainty his cancer relapsed in the summer over whether to continue working at of 2020 and was much worse than the library. before, Benash said. According to his “He was very, very down-to-earth,” obituary, after Markee’s final hike up Ianelli said. “I completely leaned Imp Mountain last November, “his on him and his expertise to get me pain became chronic, and [Markee] through, and the fact that I’m still referred to [the mountain] ruefully as here … [Markee] has so much to do ‘the Imp that made me a gimp.’” with that.” Benash added that Markee still Ianelli added that he was struck by tried his best to maintain a positive Markee’s “can-do attitude,” noting attitude despite his diagnosis, and it that he constantly volunteered for only became apparent to everyone special projects and put in more effort how serious his condition was when he than others expected of him. stopped going to work after Christmas “Even when he was out sick, he of last year. never considered not pitching in,” Both Benash and Ianelli said that Ianelli said. “He never threw in the Markee’s legacy and impact on others towel because something was proving will continue to live on even after his too difficult … he really struck me as death, with Benash adding that Markee someone who put a lot of pride and made an “incalculable impact” on his love into his work.” life. Benash also emphasized Markee’s “I will forever be in his debt, and I “sharp sense of humor,” recounting will be forever grateful,” Benash said.
BY ANGUS Yip
DIVYA KOPALLE/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF
Wilson and seven other distinguished speakers will be awarded honorary degrees.
BY THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF This article was originally published on May 3, 2022. Russell Wilson, an NFL quarterback and nine-time Pro Bowl player, will deliver the Commencement speech for the Class of 2022 on June 12, the College announced on Tuesday. Wilson, who led the Seattle Seahawks to a Superbowl victory in 2014, is also recognized for his commitment to community service. He won the Walter
Payton NFL Man of the Year Award in 2020, one of the league’s most prestigious honors awarded for excellence on the field and through community impact. Wilson also founded the Why Not You Foundation in 2014 to promote children’s health and education and to reduce poverty. Following a trade in March, Wilson will play with the Denver Broncos in the 2022-2023 season. Wilson has numerous connections to the Big Green — his father, Harrison Wilson III ’77, played for Dartmouth as
a receiver on the football team and on the baseball team, and three uncles also attended the College. In high school, Wilson was coached by Big Green head football coach Buddy Teevens ’79. Wilson will receive an honorary degree alongside seven other individuals in physics, engineering, economics, media, business and finance and international development. Those recipients include Shobhana Bhartia, Shyam Bhartia, Claudia Goldin, Kul Chandra Gautam ’72, Charles “Ed” Haldeman ’70, Fiona Harrison ’85 and Dave Newman.
Wesleyan professor gives talk about effect of Chauvin trial on US legal system BY SHENA HAN
The Dartmouth Staff
This article was originally published on May 3, 2022. On April 28, the Rockefeller Center for Public Policy invited Wesleyan University government professor Sonali Chakravarti to speak about jury impartiality in the 2021 trial of Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin for the 2020 murder of George Floyd. The talk was titled “How Woke Can a Juror Be? The Jury in the Chauvin Trial, Critiques of Law Enforcement and a New Model of Impartiality.” The majority of attendees joined the event online, although it was also broadcast to a few in-person attendees in Carpenter Hall. During the first half of the hour-long lecture, Chakravarti explained how the jury selection process in the Chauvin trial indicated an evolution in America’s understanding of jury impartiality. In the latter half, Chakravarti responded to a series of questions from event moderator and government professor Julie Rose before answering a number of student questions. According to The New York Times, Chauvin murdered Floyd on May 25, 2020 by kneeling on his neck for nine minutes and twenty-nine seconds. In April 2021, a jury found Chauvin guilty on all three charges of seconddegree murder, third-degree murder
and second-degree manslaughter. According to Chakravarti, the jury that convicted Chauvin consisted of four Black, eight white and two mixed-race jurors. Chakravarti said that the Chauvin trial “unexpectedly” produced a jury that was more racially diverse than the county the trial took place in — a departure from precedent. She explained that potential Black jurors have long been dismissed from service in some trials because of their different views on racial discrimination. Chakravarti added that because Floyd’s death led to increased awareness of and support for the Black Lives Matter movement among white people, more of the white jurors questioned for the Chauvin trial expressed antidiscrimination sentiments. She added that broader support for Black Lives Matter from jurors of all races makes it harder for lawyers and judges to “single out” Black jurors for their views and dismiss them. “Jurors of all backgrounds have begun to see how legal judgment must include conversations about racial dynamics in everyday life, and they must continue to speak about it in the jury selection process to create a new understanding of impartiality,” Chakravarti said at the event. Ultimately, Chakravarti said jury impartiality should not mean that jurors are completely neutral on the facts surrounding a case, but rather that they are willing to prioritize legal
scrutiny over their personal opinions. Evelyn Hatem ’24 said that she learned about the event from a newsletter from the Rockefeller Center and chose to attend because of a class on federal Native American law she is enrolled in this term. “I’ve been thinking a lot about how the law and courts over the centuries have been a tool for some serious harm in the country and how they could also be a tool for good,” she said. Isabelle Cheney ’24 said that she was intrigued by the name of the event, which emphasized the Derek Chauvin trial. “Obviously, there’s been a lot of coverage about Floyd’s death and Chauvin’s actions,” she said. “So I was interested in learning more.” Cheney said that she felt like a “sponge” trying to absorb as much information as she could from the guest speaker. Hatem added that attending the lecture gave her a new perspective on the role of jury selection in the legal process. “I think the notion of impartiality is interesting because as I was hearing the case being decided, I wasn’t really thinking about it as much from a legal or judicial point of view,” Hatem said. “I was more hearing about the social justice side of things. So it’s interesting to hear that [Chakravarti] is reimagining it for the future based on what happened in the Chauvin trial.”
Powwow on the Green to feature celebration, remembrance FROM POWWOW PAGE 1
“ongoing, fluid event.” While the Powwow has performance elements intended to be a spectacle, according to Johnson-Jennings, the act of participation in the Powwow is healing and celebratory. “It’s an opportunity for us to celebrate our Indigeneity with the broader Dartmouth community, which is not necessarily something that we get to do on an everyday basis on this large of a scale,” she said. The day after the Powwow, Hōkūpaʻa will hold a lūʻau to honor Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander culture on campus, according to lūʻau co-chair Kala Harman ’23. Harman said that the NAP has been working to plan the
event since February and specified that they are trying to accommodate and feed at least 350 people. Harman added that she hopes the lūʻau will be a chance to celebrate Native Hawaiian culture and educate the Dartmouth community. “A lot of people’s idea of lūʻau in the U.S. is wearing coconut shells and grass skirts, but lūʻau is more of a big feast and gathering for our Native Hawaiian community and Polynesian cultures in general,” Harman said. “It’s about bringing people together through food and music.” Beyond enriching the Dartmouth community, Harman said that the lūʻau provides an opportunity to support businesses in Hawai‘i. According to a
campus-wide email from Hōkūpaʻa, the event will feature vendors from Hawai‘i. In an effort to include non-Native groups in the Powwow celebration, Johnson-Jennings explained that there will be a street clothes dance contest open to everyone, unlike other Powwow events which are reserved for members of tribes wearing traditional garments. Meikle said that after two years without the Powwow due to the pandemic, she is excited for this year’s celebration and “proud to see everybody’s hard work pay off.” Johnson-Jennings said she is also looking forward to the event, adding that the Powwow will allow the Dartmouth community to “learn from Native peoples on our own terms.”
FRIDAY, MAY 6, 2022
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THE DARTMOUTH OPINION
THE DARTMOUTH EDITORIAL BOARD
SENIOR COLUMNIST KYLE MULLINS ’22
Verbum Ultimum: A Voice Crying Out in a Community
One Weird Trick to Build More Housing
Dartmouth must emphasize the importance of understanding the history of and community surrounding this place students call home.
Since its founding in 1769, “Vox Clamantis in Deserto” — or, “A voice crying out in the wilderness” — has been the motto of Dartmouth College, representing its unique place in rural New Hampshire and the tight-knit community that this setting creates. Understanding the origins of this motto, which we so proudly advertise, is integral to having a complete understanding of the College’s history — and of this place so many of us call home. Today, this so-called wilderness is more akin to a quaint New England town, but we would be remiss not to mention Dartmouth’s founding on stolen Abenaki land with the mission of educating Native American youth in Christian faith. And while the community surrounding our campus has grown increasingly metropolitan, the College holds tightly onto this idea of “wilderness” without encouraging students to understand the region within which they are situated. This leaves most students lacking a proper understanding of Upper Valley life outside of the Dartmouth bubble. For example, students are often unfamiliar with how the high cost of living in the Upper Valley impacts low-wage workers and employees in the service industry. Many students don’t realize that the average server serving them margaritas at Molly’s or the person checking them out at J. Crew cannot afford to live in Hanover, and in many cases can barely afford to make ends meet. Even for some College staff members, working on campus entails a long commute from somewhere with more affordable housing. To be fair, there are parts of campus that prioritize educating students on the troubled history of the College and the broader community within which it is situated. For example, the Rockefeller Center for Public Policy has the Class of 1964 Policy Research Shop — which “allows students to engage directly in the public policymaking processes in Vermont and New Hampshire” — and the Dartmouth Center for Social Impact is dedicated to local volunteerism — in which students “learn from, and with, neighbors in nearby Upper Valley communities through a wide range of service-oriented engagements.” There are also a sampling of courses offered in various departments in which professors build these issues into their course material — such as in GEOG 43, “Food and Power,” or PBPL 51, “Leadership in Civil Society.” Additionally, there are approximately 10 Social Impact Practicum courses facilitated by DCSI each term, intended to offer a “project-based experiential learning opportunity connecting undergraduate courses at Dartmouth with community needs.” However, the College itself does little to encourage students to engage with programs that promote an understanding of the Upper Valley. In fact, the only members of the Editorial Board who were even aware of these specific programs and classes were those of us who had participated in them ourselves — which does not mean that more programs do not exist, but at a minimum, they are not well advertised. What’s more, there is a clear lack of programming that educates students about Dartmouth’s problematic history with Native Americans — including that it rests
upon stolen Abenaki lands — despite the fact that this history is integral to understanding how the College became what it is today. While this information can be obtained in a variety of ways — from personally motivated research at Rauner Special Collections Library to taking classes in the Native American and Indigenous Studies department — the onus is on students to seek out this information for themselves, or on professors to add it to their syllabi. Furthermore, knowing this history is imperative in understanding and appreciating current events on Dartmouth’s campus and across the country. Jami Powell, the curator of Indigenous art at the Hood Museum, uses exhibits such as “This Land” to disrupt the norm which has historically removed Indigenous voices from American history. Being aware of this broader narrative of erasure is the first step in ensuring students understand the significance of holding events like the annual Powwow, scheduled for this Saturday, or of even having a NAIS department at Dartmouth. In short, having just a few places for students to learn about the community and place they call home is not enough. Although these resources allows interested students to learn about the dynamics of the Upper Valley or Dartmouth’s history, it also means that many students will know little about the place they will be living, learning and working in for the next several years. Dartmouth is a school that rests much of its reputation on its “compelling sense of place.” But instead of emphasizing the value of such knowledge, the College leaves it up to each student to determine how much they should learn about the “Granite of New Hampshire” around them. What’s more, having a firm grasp on the complexities of the place you live in is crucial to being a good citizen, neighbor and member of your community — a lesson that students should be taught as they go on to integrate themselves into communities across the globe. Going forward, Dartmouth must do more to guarantee that students understand the importance of learning about the history and dynamics of their surrounding community. While we do not necessarily believe that Dartmouth should make certain classes or programs a requirement, we do think they should clearly articulate the value of learning about the history and community of the College. Perhaps this may include advertising their existing programs more aggressively, adding subject matter requirements to the WRIT 5 or First-Year Seminar courses, or even creating a new section in the timetable to streamline access for those students interested in taking classes with an Upper Valley or Dartmouth history component. Although Dartmouth is in many ways a rural college, we must not pretend that students are not a part of a place with a distinct community and history. After all, if we have a “compelling sense of place” we should push students to learn about it, not just offer the opportunity passively to those who already understand the value of doing so.
Students should show up and vote for Article 11 at the Hanover Town Meeting on Tuesday. This column was originally published on May 5, 2022. Last June, I had the not-so-delightful experience of being randomly placed on the housing waitlist. Despite the College offering a $5,000 incentive for students to give up a claim to fall housing in June, I and 128 other students remained in limbo in July. It was only in mid-August that I finally learned I would live on campus. This persistent uncertainty, compounded by my work as editor-in-chief and re-entry into classes after a pandemic gap year, was exhausting. Of course, my woes are nowhere near the worst housing experiences students have had in just the last few years: Doubles converted to triples, common rooms and study spaces converted to dorms and a mold crisis forcing students to move midway through the term all come to mind. Students who can’t afford to seek offcampus housing, as I did initially, are even worse off. And the off-campus options are not much better; the Upper Valley has faced a persistent housing shortage for years, causing problems for undergraduates and graduate students alike, not to mention the folks that staff the College and Hanover businesses. Extraordinarily, as recently as 2019, 10% of jobs at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center went unfilled due, at least in part, to a lack of housing in the area. Fixing the Upper Valley’s housing crisis requires, in the long term, sweeping changes to zoning and land-use regulations that will require years of persistent pressure on local governments. But there’s something students can do next week that will dramatically change the housing landscape in Hanover: Vote for Amendment 11 at the Hanover Town Meeting. Amendment 11 revives a 2015 proposal to dramatically rezone portions of West Wheelock Street. The proposal, now dubbed the “Main Wheelock District,” is designed to “increase the number of residential units,” according to the petition submitted to the town in February. 21 lots of land, all of which lie directly adjacent to campus, will be rezoned to allow for denser housing construction. It has the support of the Hanover Planning Board and, if passed, could help alleviate the housing crisis at Dartmouth in just a couple years’ time. How? The proposal would adjust a number of onerous zoning laws to allow for more housing on the same amount of land. It would reduce setbacks — the required amount of space on a lot that is not taken up by a building — significantly in those 21 lots. It would also increase the height limit for buildings in the district. The biggest changes, however, would come from reducing the amount of required parking per unit of housing. “If a three bedroom place needs 2.5 parking spaces, and you have to round up, that’s a lot of parking spaces,” Jolin Kish of Kish Consulting & Contracting, which manages hundreds of leases across the Upper Valley, told me. “Right now — if you use 14 West Wheelock
as an example — you could have more apartments there if you weren’t required to have so much parking there.” This is where most people’s eyes glaze over. Zoning, setbacks, parking requirements? These are painfully boring, and besides, could changing them really make that big a difference? As it turns out, it can. According to a study provided to me by Student Assembly president-elect David Millman ’23, who is campaigning for the passage of the amendment, four lots in the proposed district — 14 West Wheelock, 28 West Wheelock, 41 West Wheelock and 43 West Wheelock — currently have a maximum housing capacity of about 123 units if developed to their maximum potential. Under the proposed new rules, however, that capacity could increase to as many as 400 housing units — alone, nearly enough to solve Dartmouth’s housing shortage. Of course, it’s unlikely that every property will be expanded to 100% capacity — the study explicitly notes that it did not take into account the steep topography of the area — but they don’t need to be for the housing supply to be radically transformed by this proposal. The study only looked at four of 21 lots, after all. Kish told me that if the measure passes, she’ll look at expanding the building at 14 West Wheelock right away, and I have no doubt that the owners of the other buildings on West Wheelock will do the same. Within a couple years, the stretch of road that serves as the entryway to Hanover — currently mostly occupied by old, dilapidated buildings on lots with unused space — could be filled with student-friendly housing right next to campus. Students living there will patronize local businesses, give Dartmouth the flexibility it needs to upgrade its existing dorms and free up housing further afield in town that is more suitable for working families. But all of this can only happen if students turn out and vote on Tuesday. Last time this proposal came up for a vote, in 2015, it failed despite the support of the Hanover Planning Board — but only 1,172 people voted in total. By contrast, last summer, when Millman ran his insurgent campaign for the Selectboard and drove student turnout up, more than 1,500 people voted on some amendments. This spring, when far more students are on campus, we have the power to make this happen, but only if enough of us show up to the ballot box. So show up on Tuesday at Hanover High School, and if you need to register to vote in New Hampshire, bring a letter from the Office of Residential Life or other proof of residency in Hanover, proof of U.S. citizenship and an ID to the polls. Once you’re there, vote “Yes” on Article 11 — solving the housing crisis depends on it. Kyle Mullins is the former editor-in-chief of The Dartmouth. He is now a member of the Opinion staff and his views do not necessarily represent those of The Dartmouth.
NINA SLOAN ’24: ...BRING MAY FLOWERS
The editorial board consists of opinion staff columnists, the opinion editors, the executive editors and the editor-in-chief.
STAFF COLUMNIST CHELSEA MOORE ’22
An Injured Morale
After three years of loving Dartmouth, an injury is making me lose faith in its professors and support systems. This column was originally published on May 3, 2022. While the administration recently promised to reorient its focus toward student health, there are still some critical gaps in campus support systems. Despite my love for this school, the illusion of care spread by certain professors and disability services is an aspect of Dartmouth that disappoints me. In early January, alongside one-fifth of the campus, I got COVID-19. After a week of quarantining in my room and missing our first varsity race, I went to the skiway, where I crashed and was sent into a 10-month knee recovery process. Three days after that crash, I was crutching to class when I got hit by a car, adding a concussion and some broken ribs. I considered withdrawing from courses altogether and moving back to my home across the country. But after hearing so much about the provost’s renewed commitment to student health in the winter, I was confident I could stay afloat with a solid support system and professors on my side. Only a few weeks in, however, I was seriously regretting my decision to stay on campus and take classes. Rather than working with me, Student Accessibility Services, the Department of Safety and Security and most especially my professors made my return to school much more stressful and complicated than I had expected. I found that due to my temporary injuries, I was forced to pick between focusing on my mental and physical health and academically succeeding — a compromise I don’t believe students should have to make. After multiple visits to Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center, I met with my professors to explain my prognosis. Not only would I be missing class for surgery, but I would also be taking fentanyl and oxycontin for the pain, along with managing my concussion for the remainder of the term. Despite the physical signs of my injuries and my doctor’s notes, one professor found it suspicious that my surgery date lined up with the midterm and suggested that I wasn’t telling the whole truth. Another said that although he empathized with my situation, he still expected me to perform exactly the same as my peers, completing assignments and exams without flexibility. Furthermore, two professors stated that if I missed
class — no matter if it was due to surgery, concussion haziness or pain levels — they would dock my grade for lack of participation. To me, this was the most twisted part of my situation, because these same professors offered virtual participation options anyway for those who had to miss class due to COVID-19. When I was already in harrowing pain, experiencing the mind-altering effects of medication and concussion and struggling to maintain my relationships and daily routine, this harshness felt punitive. As recommended by my undergraduate dean, I explained my frustrations to SAS and Safety and Security, both of whom expressed sympathy and warm wishes. However, because my disability was only temporary, supposedly neither office could interfere with my professor’s conduct or offer anything besides wellness counseling through Dick’s House. According to those in charge of the school’s disability services, my arrangement was to be handled entirely by the same professors who either didn’t believe I was injured or didn’t really care — end of story. I’m a student who genuinely loves learning and forming relationships with professors. I am also a student who used to be a huge advocate for Dartmouth, barring the administration’s lack of mental health awareness and focus. In fact, I convinced my little brother to apply and have spoken at many high schools to the excellence of Dartmouth’s education. However, I’m beginning to have second thoughts about my unconditional love for this school, as I find myself yet again disappointed in its support network — the most critical part of campus life. After student suicides and hard lessons learned from COVID, shouldn’t the health of our students still be a priority? I do recognize that my temporary injury pales in comparison to many, and it’s important that SAS prioritizes more permanent and lasting accessibility issues. That said, if professors continue to be this unaccommodating, there is a need for more standard practice and SAS protection when it comes to temporary disabilities. The College must recognize that, despite their general effort towards improvement of student health, individual professors carry the most weight in students’ day-to-day lives. If there is no standard of care among the faculty, and SAS does not cover the gaps in such care, then student health is not a decided priority.
EMILY LU, Editor-in-Chief MIA RUSSO, Production Executive Editor LAUREN ADLER & ANDREW SASSER, News Executive Editors
AMY PARK, Publisher
THOMAS BROWN, CASSIE MONTEMAYOR THOMAS, JACOB STRIER Managing Editors
PRODUCTION EDITORS KAMI ARABIAN & NATALIE DOKKEN, Opinion Editors ARIELLE FEUERSTEIN & CARIS WHITE, Mirror Editors WILL ENNIS & JASON NORRIS, NORRIS Sports Editors DANIELLE MULLER & ELEANOR SCHIFINO, SCHIFINO, Arts Editors CAROLINE KRAMER & ANGELINA SCARLOTTA, Photo Editors PHILIP SURENDRAN, Data Visualization Editor LUCY HANDY & ZOORIEL TAN, TAN Design Editors GRANT PINKSTON, PINKSTON Templating Editor ELEANOR RYAN, Multimedia Editors FARAH LINDSEY-ALMADANI & EMMA NGUYEN, Engagement Editors
BUSINESS DIRECTORS DIVYA CHUNDURU & SAMUEL WINCHESTER Strategy Directors MEHAK BATRA & ISABELLE KITCHEL Development Directors RACHEL ORLOWSKI Digital Media & Analytics Director EMILY GAO & BRIAN WANG Finance & Sales Directors EMMA JOHNSON Director of Software
NINA SLOAN Crossword Editor
SUBMISSIONS: We welcome letters and guest columns. All submissions must include the author’s name and affiliation with Dartmouth College, and should not exceed 250 words for letters or 700 words for columns. The Dartmouth reserves the right to edit all material before publication. All material submitted becomes property of The Dartmouth. Please email submissions to editor@thedartmouth.com. For any content that an author or artist submits and that The Dartmouth agrees to publish, the author or artist grants The Dartmouth a royaltyfree, irrevocable, perpetual, worldwide and exclusive license to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish and create derivative works from such content. CORRECTION: In last week’s print edition, the story “Family Weekend Returns for the Class of 2025” was incorrectly attributed to Carly Retterer. The article was written by Adriana James-Rodil. The Dartmouth regrets this error.
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FRIDAY, MAY 6, 2022
THE DARTMOUTH ARTS
The House of Lewan shares drag with Dartmouth community BY Michaela Gregoriou The Dartmouth
This article was originally published on May 5, 2022. The House of Lewan, Dartmouth’s first recognized drag club, hosts free, all-inclusive drag workshops and will be performing at the upcoming Transform event on Friday, May 6th at 8 p.m. in Kemeny Courtyard. Transform, one of Dartmouth’s traditional PRIDE celebrations, will feature drag performances from students and Adore Delano, a drag icon and season six finalist on “RuPaul’s Drag Race.” The House of Lewan was founded this past winter by Jaime Aranzabal ’24 and Richard Lai ’23. The club is named after Stuart Lewan ’79, an alum who was one of the first advocates for queer student rights at Dartmouth, Lai said. Now, decades after Lewan’s time at the College, Dartmouth has a space dedicated to the art of drag. “I feel like Dartmouth in general does not really have any spaces for, first of all, queer expression but, second of all, drag. There’s not really any institutionalized drag organization,” he said. For Lai, drag represents a sense of liberation and freedom. “What [drag] means to me is being able to find that freedom of expressing whatever you want to express without having to feel the constraints of any societal expectations,” he said. “... It’s like living a fantasy that you might not have access to in your real life, but you can experience it for a brief moment.” Aranzabal also described the House of Lewan as a space of queer expression. “We’re not just fighting for our right to be here and be valid in the Dartmouth community, but to express ourselves and be as vulnerable as possible,” Aranzabal said. “When you’re fighting for your place in this school, you have to put up a lot of fronts and this is about tearing down those fronts.” Omar De La Osa Febles ’25, a member of the House of Lewan, explained that one reason he joined the club, aside from improving his drag skills, was its emphasis on inclusivity. “A lot of queer spaces on campus, [including] Greek houses, are somewhat divided so taking eveything I love about
drag and performance art and putting it in one space together I [thought] this is definitely a space for me and for a lot of other queer and non-queer people to come and enjoy the art of drag,” De La Osa Febles said. Speaking on his desire to create a drag club at Dartmouth, Aranzabal said that he wanted to make drag financially and socially inclusive on campus. “Where our goal came from was trying to work as a community to provide a space that will let people do drag in a way that’s inclusive in terms of money and [the ability] to learn from others within the club,” he said. In the beginning of the term, the club hosted open-to-campus makeup and fashion workshops, with the goal of educating the community on drag. Aranzabal said the fashion workshop highlighted the inspirations of drag fashion and how it differs from ‘everyday’ fashion. Additionally, at the workshops, members were guided through the costume designing process, from sketching to construction. The makeup workshop functioned as a tutorial session on drag makeup and how to customize makeup according to one’s individual features. The workshops also established the House of Lewan as a safe space where people were encouraged to share their interest in drag, Aranzabal said. “Although those workshops were informational, the main purpose was setting ourselves as a third space, somewhere that you can go and feel safe and able to talk about your interests because there’s a lot of places on campus that you can’t talk about [drag] because a lot of people will judge you,” Aranzabal said. Aranzabal and Lai both explained how drag performance, consisting of several components like makeup, garments, wig styling and shoes, is incredibly complex and often very expensive. They added that The House of Lewan is committed to financial inclusivity and provides all materials to their members for free. “The concept for this term [was] that we would build up our reservoir of drag clothing and drag wigs through the customization that the performers had earlier on … They ideate their stuff, they send it to me and we purchase it,” Lai said.
PHOTO COURTESY OF RILEY KING
The new club hopes to make drag accessible by hosting workshops and performing in shows, such as the annual Transform event.
13 members of the House of Lewan, the majority of which are novices to drag performance, will be performing in Dartmouth’s Transform celebration alongside Adore Delano. Lai also said that Transform is one of the few opportunities on campus in which drag performers are visible and celebrated, and how it can expose the broader campus to drag culture. “It will be a very rewarding and liberating experience for each one of the performers and, hopefully, provide more exposure to the rest of campus of what a drag queen or a drag king or a drag performer actually is,” Lai said. Aranzabal said that this will be “the biggest Transform [the college has] ever
had.” The gender-bending celebration will feature a runway portion, singing, dancing and the opportunity to meet Adore Delano. De La Osa Febles said he is “freaking out” about being able to perform alongside Delano, as he remembers rooting for Delano to win on her season of “RuPaul’s Drag Race.” “Me, as a kid, watching Adore Delano on a TV screen and now in a few days I’m going to perform next to Adore Delano — it’s like full circle,” De La Osa Febles said. As the first drag club at Dartmouth, the House of Lewan has encountered several challenges. While there are many
supporters, Lai said, the majority of people at Dartmouth are neutral or indifferent towards drag, as they don’t know much about it. Additionally, the social stigma of drag heightens the pressure surrounding the club’s public performances, Lai said. “Drag itself has only recently become more socially acceptable so there’s a lot of pressure to make all our public appearances super polished or flawless,” Lai said. “Being the first [drag club] really makes me feel like we have something to prove. We have to make it perfect in order for us to pave the way for future clubs or future interest to sustain.”
Student Spotlight: Eduardo Hernandez ’22 produces short film
BY Alexandra Surprenant The Dartmouth
This article was originally published on May 3, 2022. Film major Eduardo Hernandez ’22 started out behind the camera in middle school, delivering morning announcements and shooting sketches about the lunch menu. He found the experience “engrossing” — now, he is producing and directing a short film for his senior thesis titled “I Hope You Don’t Mind What I Put Down In Words.” To be completed by the end of spring, the short film focuses on the exhilarating early stages of love and features Annabel Everett ’25 and Jack Heaphy ’24. Hernandez began to take film classes as a freshman at Dartmouth, alongside motivated friends who were also eager to make art. Hernandez cites professors as being influential in cementing his passion for filmmaking, particularly film and media studies professors Mark Williams and Iyabo Kwayana. Through their classes, Hernandez said he discovered the type of movies he wanted to make. “My experience has been all about the professors,” Hernandez said. “[Professors] have always shown work that is pushing the boundary, not just to be weird or shocking, but to really drive home an emotion.” In addition to professors, Hernandez said he has thrived off the powerful, collective energy generated by the filmmaking community at Dartmouth. Hernandez described how this community of passionate students encourages creativity, rather than spark competitive tension. “A lot of people at the school are really hungry to make films,” Hernandez said. “I came [to Dartmouth] at a very fortunate time where a lot of people are equally excited and equally devoted to making good films, and also to putting in the work to become good artists.” Hernandez emphasized the power of collaboration in filmmaking, an attitude that fuels much of his process. Film and media studies professor Shevaun Aysa Mizrahi worked with Hernandez through the Leaders Program where this type
PHOTO COURTESY OF EDUARDO HERNANDEZ
of collaboration was key. According to Mizrahi, the film department selects a few “exceptional students” who serve as mentors to younger students. This year, Hernandez worked as a leader. “He’s a remarkable person and incredibly generous with his time,” Mizrahi said. “He’s been available for all kinds of projects, some that were well organized and had a clear vision but also for others that needed a lot of nurturing and attention. He’s very invested in community-building and specifically in creating a community of filmmaking at Dartmouth.” This sense of community and collaboration has proven integral to Hernandez’s upcoming short film. Hernandez emphasized the importance of a synergetic environment for the filmmaking process, where the boundaries between roles
— director, screenwriter, cast, crew — can loosen. “Everyone on my team thinks in unique, singular ways,” Hernandez said. “ … It’s a radical process that’s not centered around one director, but is more collaborative.” Malik Terrab ’25, who worked on the short film with Hernandez, said he was especially inspired by Hernandez’s diligent process and devotion to the craft. “He’s given me a lot of faith in the department because this isn’t a film school, it’s a liberal arts school,” Terrab said. “[Hernandez] is a huge advocate of production. He’s shown me that it’s possible to make quality films here.” According to Hernandez, the short film is a type of love story. Everett and Heaphy play Audrey and Max, two people who meet at a party and then leave together, leading
to an intimate interaction in Audrey’s car. Hernandez said he draws not only from his own life, but from the experiences of the entire cast. During the writing process — and even amid shooting — Hernandez asked the cast to reflect on their own memories of the exciting first moments of love. “[My short film] is about a night out with friends, but it’s really about meeting that person,” Hernandez said. “There’s this energy that’s unspoken but so present. There’s nervousness and excitement. It’s so thrilling.” Hernandez specified that the film does not take place in one time period. Rather, he characterizes the short film as a “a romcom that borrows from different eras.” Along with costume design, the film’s set design requires meticulous planning: one scene required 1,000 lights that cascaded
downwards. Hernandez hopes his short film will generate an emotional response in viewers, in contrast to other films which might trigger a logical one. “People usually watch movies in the same way they analyze literature. I want my work to be different,” Hernandez said. “I want you to feel something… to feel like something new… to return to it and watch it again because it conjures up those feelings you have for that special someone.” Hernandez articulated that his short film is most driven by an honest vulnerability and an investment in the beauty of life. “My work is most informed by emotion and the human experience,” Hernandez said. “I want to make films that have something fresh and new and nuanced to say about what it’s like to be alive and what it’s like to be human at this moment.”
FRIDAY, MAY 6, 2022
PAGE 5
THE DARTMOUTH SPORTS
SPORTS
Competition grows as season’s end approaches for baseball BY ALEX SCHMIDT The Dartmouth
This article was originally published on May 2, 2022. Coming off a strong previous week that included another Ivy League series win against Cornell University, baseball had solid outings this week to stay in the title conversation. Despite suffering a close 3-1 loss against the College of the Holy Cross on Tuesday, the Big Green was able to take care of business against Harvard University over the weekend. In the three-game series, Dartmouth won the first game with eight runs to Harvard’s six, lost by a score of 6-1 in the second and won the third 15-2. Dartmouth came into the weekend maintaining its third place ranking in the Ivy League, while Harvard was not too far behind in fourth. As the fight for the Ivy League title continues, Dartmouth improves to 21-16 overall and 12-6 in the conference. On Tuesday, the Big Green failed to get the job done against Holy Cross in a low-scoring 3-1 finish. It was a very uncharacteristic day for Dartmouth offensively, as the Big Green was only able to muster up four hits despite averaging 10 per game this season. Only one of the four hits resulted in a score — a ninth inning home run from Justin Murray ’22. In spite of the loss, Dartmouth’s pitching ensemble was able to gain some experience as six different pitchers appeared. Head coach Bob Whalen noted that while Dartmouth did not give up any easy bases, a loss is still something the team cannot afford at this point in the season. “Our season is 21 games, it’s a sprint,” Whalen said following the loss to Holy Cross. “Every game matters. If you don’t win a game that you think you should have won, you can’t get it back.” Following Tuesday’s matchup, the Big Green started its series with Harvard on Saturday with a doubleheader. In the first game, Dartmouth won 8-6 and stopped Harvard from running away with it in the end. Dartmouth appeared to be in the clear for most of the game with a 5-1 lead headed into the seventh, but a pair of Harvard home
COURTESY OF JUSTIN MURRAY
The Big Green had a week of ups and downs with its championship hopes in question.
runs in the eighth inning off of relief pitcher Cole Roland ’22 closed the gap. Nevertheless, Dartmouth’s offense took off right when it needed to, with Kade Kretzschmar ’22 responding with a home run of his own in the eighth inning — his 40th RBI of the season. The main contributor of the day was Justin Murray ’22, who racked up four RBI’s in three hits, including a two-run deep center field blast in the ninth inning to put the nail in the coffin. “Knowing that teammates have confidence in me gives me the confidence to keep going out there and just do what I know I can do,” Murray said, prior to the Harvard series. For Whalen, Murray has been someone he can rely on to perform in the clutch like Murray did against Harvard. “We’ve asked a lot of him, and he’s done incredible things for us,” Whalen said. “He has been able to carry that
load and the responsibility of hitting, defending and pitching.” Murray has been a key part of the team’s overall success this season as he continues to sport the team’s second-highest batting average at .375, which is third in the Ivy League, and the team’s highest SLG percentage at .625, which is fifth in the conference. In the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader, the Big Green was not as fortunate in the batter’s box or on the mound, as Dartmouth suffered a 6-1 loss. The trouble started out early for pitcher Trystan Sarcone ’22, allowing the only six runs that Harvard would put up within the first four innings. Although the offense has been displaying some stellar performances lately, Saturday’s game two did not follow that trend. The Big Green struggled offensively until it finally scored its only run of the game in the eighth inning, coming from Tyler Robinson ’24. Robinson managed to
tally the team’s lone run off a fielder’s choice play in which Elliot Krewson ’25 reached base. Despite Sarcone’s tough outing on Saturday, he has been playing extremely well lately, including a big performance last week where he posted a 10-strikeout game in the win against Cornell. The senior starting pitcher leads the team in strikeouts, and Sarcone noted that he understands that he and the squad need to remain focused as the end of the season quickly approaches. “We’re just keeping the mentality of knowing it’s us against the world,” Sarcone said. “We’ve been playing well but we’re still in third place and got a lot to prove with more games left.” After falling short in the second game of the weekend, the Big Green rallied to dominate Harvard in the final game of the series on Sunday. Dartmouth had a strong second inning to put the Big Green up 3-1, but neither
team was able to reach home plate in the third or fourth innings. It was not until the fifth that the Big Green ramped it up, with a home run from Kretzchmar capping off an emphatic six-run inning. Dartmouth was not done yet, though, earning six more runs to run up the score to 15-2. The Big Green continues to push on and fight for the Ivy League title, which has not returned to Hanover since 2010. The team believes that this is the year to get it done, and if the cards fall in its favor over the next few weeks, the Big Green is the team to look out for. “This has been the best team that I’ve been on, I feel really good about it,” Sarcone said. “It’ll be tough, but I think we definitely have a good enough team to win [the championship] and it will be interesting to see how it plays out over the next couple of weeks. But, if we’re in the championship, I’m taking our team 10 times out of 10.”
Women’s sailing places fifth at ICSA National Championships
BY VIKRAM STRANDER AND STEPHANIE SOWA The Dartmouth Staff
This article was originally published on May 2, 2022. Dartmouth women’s sailing competed in the Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association Women’s Team Race National Championship on April 23 and 24. The Big Green secured a fifth place finish overall with a 9-7 record after the two days of fierce competition and ranked third among the five Ivy League teams competing. The Big Green sailors have both a fall and spring season, giving them ample opportunities to evolve as a team. As the racing season ramped up this past week, the team’s practices focused on maxing out in lift and battling incredibly windy
conditions on the lake, according to Sarah Young ’25. Young, who competes at the helm, said the group focused on team strategy throughout the week. “We did a lot of practice against each other [this week] and got our communication down, really getting familiar with each other’s style,” Young said. Given that the ICSA National Championship is solely team racing — which involves three boats from each team racing each other — rather than fleet racing, which consists of one boat from each team racing head-to-head, strong communication is pivotal for success. “You really have to rely on your team to help you get around the course,” Gray Hemans ’25, who is positioned in the helm, said. First-Team All-Ivy skipper Maddie
Hawkins ’24 added that practice leading up to Nationals was centered on balancing fleet and team racing. “As this was a team race championship, we spent the week leading up to the regatta focusing exclusively on team racing,” Hawkins said. “While the team had a fleet race regatta the weekend before, we did a good job switching our mindsets in practice to focus on our next objectives.” Throughout the weekend, the Big Green faced uncertain weather forecasts and unpromising wind, which Hemans said was stressful. “It was very shifty until the sea breeze came in on Saturday and we got a lot of racing done,” Hemans said. Nine of the 11 first round races were completed on Saturday. The team was off to a strong start, winning five consecutive races to start the first day, followed by a
EVAN MORGAN/THE DARTMOUTH
The Big Green ranked third among the five Ivy League teams competing.
loss to Brown University. Despite rallying from the Brown loss to beat the University of Michigan, Dartmouth lost its two final matchups of the day to Boston College and Stanford University. “We had a tough couple of losses at the end of the day that were really close calls, so our morale was a little down,” Hemans said. “I was very impressed with how we were able to bounce back on Sunday. The second day of competition on Sunday saw the conclusion of the 12-team round robin matchups. The Big Green pulled out with wins against Cornell University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, finishing 8-3 in the qualifying round robin and earning a spot in the finals. The final round of the championship consisted of the top six teams in another round robin format. To start off round two, Dartmouth was bested by Yale University — which the Big Green had beat in the qualifying round — and Stanford, but managed to defeat Brown despite falling to the Bears in the qualifying round. To close out the day, Dartmouth fell again to Boston College and lost to Harvard University, despite beating the Crimson the day before. The Big Green’s 1-4 performance in the finals earned it fifth overall. Even with the team’s fifth place finish, Hawkins said that Dartmouth and its sailors are always looking to do better. Hawkins said she believes the team is slightly disappointed in its placement, but is excited to improve in the upcoming years as a young team. “In general, our women’s team is young and I’m excited to see how much we will grow as a group and progress in the coming years,” Hawkins said. “While we still had a strong showing now, it is inevitable that with hard work, we will do even better in the next two years.” The women’s sailing team is set to finish its season at the ICSA Women’s National Championship for fleet racing later this month in New Orleans, La.
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MIRROR THE DARTMOUTH MIRROR
FRIDAY, MAY 6, 2022
What’s Playing in the Background of Your Dinner? STORY
By Molly Stevens & Mariel Fulghum
This article was originally published on May 4, 2022. The other day, during the roar of the 7 p.m. Foco rush, we sat around a coveted Light Side circle booth with nothing but black bean soup in our bowls and joy in our hearts. We were, for the moment, totally content. Suddenly, we felt a peculiar feeling of loss that we couldn’t quite put our fingers on. We turned to look at one another and suddenly realized what was missing: We couldn’t hear the Foco music. It was nowhere to be found over the din of silverware on plates and the echo of voices on walls. Foco’s music seems to be a cultural touchstone for many members of the Dartmouth community, and we are no exception. Each morning of winter term, we spent a cherished half hour in Foco for our breakfast ritual. In the quiet of sparsely-populated light side, we sipped on warm coffee and took in the even warmer sounds of the eclectic Foco playlist. As we sat, we heard everything from “Bubbly” by Colbie Caillat to “Dynamite” by Taio Cruz to “Kiss Me More” by Doja Cat to an unrecognizable electronic dance music beat — an eclectic mix to be sure. T h e D a r t m o u t h h a s a l re a dy investigated the mysterious origins of the Foco playlist, but we wanted to know something arguably more important: What does the Foco playlist actually mean — if anything — to the students of Dartmouth? Jamison Poate ’25 described his recent experience hearing Jack Harlow’s new song “Nail Tech” blare through the Foco speakers. According to Poate, who called Harlow’s song “very self-loving,” it changed his mood for the better. When we asked Poate
what his ideal Foco music experience would be, he told us that this Harlow moment had taken the cake. One lyric in particular resonated with Poate that day: When Jack Harlow rapped, “I’m healthy,” Poate said he recalled thinking to himself, “You know what? I am healthy.” For Poate, “Nail Tech” was a confidence booster and exactly what he had needed to hear. Drawing from our own Foco experiences, we are inclined to agree with him. Our dining hall always seems to have an uncanny knack for playing the songs students need to hear most, and if you told us Foco’s music queue has extra-sensory perception, we would not be entirely surprised. Earlier this week, I (Mariel) sat in Foco, talking to my friend. I was having a moment, if you will, and inadvertently, I began to cry. In that instant, Foco knew just what to do. Almost immediately after my tears started falling, Fergie herself began to croon over the loudspeakers, “Big Girls Don’t Cry.” At first, I felt offended, both at Foco and Fergie. Why were they telling me how to feel? As I listened, however, I began to internalize Fergie’s message. Big girls don’t cry. I was having a momentary crisis, and it would pass. The world would keep on turning, I would be okay and I had Foco to thank for that realization. Other times, the song that comes over Foco’s speakers is, at first listen, completely out of place, but somehow just works. Caroline Mallory ’25 described a recent early morning Foco music surprise. “One time I heard ‘No Hands’ by [Waka Flocka Flame] in the morning, at breakfast, in Foco,” she said. “I’m pretty sure it was actually during the
KALYN DAWES/THE DARTMOUTH STAFF
week, too. It wasn’t even a weekend breakfast. It was maybe 9 a.m. on a Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday. That was… crazy.” Waka Flocka’s fan favorite anthem — often relegated to frat basements — rarely gets a chance to see the light of day. Thus, hearing it in Foco gave Mallory a feeling she equated to a caffeine rush. Just last Sunday afternoon, we experienced something similar while heading towards the dish drop. As we trudged, exhausted, through dark side, we heard the animated beat of an EDM song start to echo through the hall. Did it match our current moods? No, it did not. However, we won’t lie, it put some pep back in our sloth-like
step. On a day when everything felt particularly gray and sour — to quote Foco favorite Rihanna — “we found love in a hopeless place.” Alex Clarke ’25 said that he also generally enjoys the music Foco plays, especially given the dining hall’s tendency to play 80s music. Clarke said that his parents are big fans of 80s music, so it’s been nice for him to hear songs that he “heard quite a lot back at home.” A highlight of Clarke’s Foco musiclistening career was one evening during the beginning of fall term, when “Come on Eileen” graced the ears of all in Foco. Clarke reported that he’s “not ashamed to admit” that he began “kind of dancing in line while
it was playing.” Feeding over 4,000 college students is a monumental task, and if we’re being honest, it’s one that Foco doesn’t always complete seamlessly. However, even when the scrambled eggs are dry or the line for lemongrass chicken is long, moments like these bring joy back into the sometimes soulless experience of large-scale college dining. We hope that you, too, have been lucky enough to hear a song that fills you with an uncontrollable urge to dance in the dining hall. If not, the next time you’re in Foco during an hour when the chatter of students isn’t deafening, listen closely. Maybe — just maybe — your favorite tune will be floating through the air.
The Greenhouse: Hanover’s Little Slice of Paradise STORY
By Marius DeMartino
This article was originally published on May 4, 2022. The trek from the Green to the Life Sciences Center is about as long as it gets at Dartmouth. Sometimes, the LSC can feel like an enigma, waiting in a secluded corner of campus yet to be explored. On top of the building there sits an expansive glass box: Dartmouth’s very own greenhouse. I had seen the greenhouse from afar, illuminated with an eerie purple light at night, but I had never ventured into its leafy depths. The greenhouse was closed for the bulk of the pandemic, but last month it finally opened to the Dartmouth community. Naturally, I had to see it for myself. As I stepped onto the fourth floor of the LSC, I opened the door into what was practically an oasis in the often-chilly Hanover spring. The sun shone through the glass-paned ceiling, scattering light across the leaves of plants arranged around the room. While I was visiting, I spoke with both greenhouse manager Theresa Barry and greenhouse staff member Dana Ozimek about what’s growing
on the fourth floor of the LSC. Barry told me that the greenhouse has a wide variety of spaces — there are different rooms for tropical, subtropical and desert plants. “We’re trying really hard to represent as many aspects of the world flora as we can in the space that we have,” said Ozimek. Barry said that the greenhouse staff tries to curate a collection of plants which have unusual characteristics and “their own special story,” with qualities like interesting leaf patterns, pollination strategies or evolutionary adaptations. “Those things are nice to have because people can get involved in the real wonders of the plant kingdom,” Barry said. “Then they might be more excited about planting and want to explore it themselves. It’s nice to be able to create that sense of wonder in someone.” The entrance of the greenhouse — called the multipurpose room — is host to many different plants, including bougainvilleas, a collection of rare tropical and highland orchids and three
corpse flowers. Corpse flowers are the world’s largest flowers and usually only bloom about once per decade; however, one of their corpse flowers — nicknamed “Morphy” — bloomed in 2016, and then again just two years later in 2018. Whenever Morphy or another corpse flower blooms, it always attracts a crowd. “In 2016, we had about 5,000 people come to see Morphy over a period of about a week,” Barry said. The greenhouse is also an academic tool; it can be a resource for research and other academic pursuits beyond the sciences. “Photography students come in to utilize the greenhouse for their projects, or creative writing and visual arts classes as well,” Barry said. The greenhouse’s multipurpose room used to be a popular study space, according to Barry. Students once spent hours at a time in the greenhouse completing problem sets and writing papers. But to prevent the transmission of COVID, it has become more of a space “to walk through and explore,”
ZHOUCAI NI/THE DARTMOUTH STAFF
Barry said. Kocher takes care of the plants’ While Ozimek admitted that she’s particular watering needs, as well as been filling up the empty study space other duties like mixing soil and making with more plants, sure the plants’ she expressed hope signs are visible. that, as the world “There are a lot of “All of the begins to recover times when you feel plants have very from the pandemic, dif ferent needs, they can “bring weird or miss home, like certain plants b a c k t h e s t u dy but you can always just need their soil to space.” be completely dry go to the greenhouse The greenhouse or some need a ton also serves as a and none of the plants of water,” she said. place for students are judging you. All As we to simply enjoy talked, Kocher’s t h e g r e e n e r y. they need is water love for the Particularly in the and sunlight and g reenhouse was winter, the space evident; she waxed they’re happy, and I can be a refuge poetic about the from the freezing think that’s a beautiful orchids as “little temperatures just lesson.” women that are all outside its glass dressed up,” and windows. told me she plays “A lot of students IZZY KOCHER ‘22 music for them from warmer areas whenever she goes find us first because in to water them. they’re looking for that warm, green “This space is where I feel so place again,” Barry said. comfortable and so much myself,” she Students can even have a say in the said. “There are a lot of times when greenhouse’s plants. In the past, Barry you feel weird or miss home, but you said that one student from Hawai’i can always just go to the greenhouse donated a plumeria to honor her and none of the plants are judging grandmother. you. All they need is water and sunlight “If somewhere from an area of and they’re happy, and I think that’s a the world that we haven’t covered beautiful lesson.” wants something representing their After my tour of the greenhouse, homeland, we could try to get a plan my favorite of the rooms had to be the that represents that,” Barry said. subtropical, which Barry said “smells Taking care of all these plants is lovely because of the woodsiness of no easy task. In addition to Barry and the ferns, the sweet aroma of the Ozimek, there are several student citrus flowers and the gardenia.” I was workers who help to care for the diverse shocked when Barry plucked a small plants by pruning, removing pests, fruit, called a Brazilian grape, right off watering, weeding and more. the trunk and rinsed it off for me. In Izzy Kocher ’22 is one such student the corner of the room, there was even worker, and she began her job at the a tiny Koi pond next to the blooming greenhouse last summer. She previously Gardenias. In this little green corner worked at a wildlife refuge in Costa of campus, I felt entirely calm and Rica, which instilled in her a love of content. “greenery and living organisms.” The greenhouse really does feel like “I actually crave that tropical a little slice of paradise in the oftenenvironment, with a lot of oxygen dreary New Hampshire landscape. and biodiversity,” Kocher said. “It’s While it was sad to re-emerge into so nice to be in the greenhouse and the realities of the world, I know that walk around and feel like you’re in the certainly won’t be the last time I escape rainforest.” into the wondrous world of plants.