VOL. CLXXVIV NO. 9
FRIDAY, MAY 27, 2022
HANOVER, NEW HAMPSHIRE
Discussion of date-rape substance use Construction to continue increased during the last two terms inside Dartmouth Hall during Commencement
CAROLINE KRAMER/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF
BY ANGUS YIP The Dartmouth Staff CAROLINE KRAMER/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF
BY Daniel Modesto, Arielle Feuerstein and Kristin Chapman The Dartmouth Staff
This article was originally published on May 24, 2022. During the second week of spring term, a member of the Class of 2024 — who requested anonymity to speak candidly about her experiences — said she heard rumors of an increase in date-rape drug use, also known as roofying, around campus. This was the first time she heard such rumors, she said. “I was having a conversation with a handful of girls in my sorority who were talking about [date-rape drug use] and kind of making jokes specifically about [a specific fraternity], but in a way that seemed like it was common
knowledge — or at least something that they were all in on,” the student said. After hearing about the potential increase of date-rape substances on campus, the student said that she realized she may have had a first-hand experience with date-rape drugs. “As a result of that conversation and pretty much right in the middle of it, I kind of just had this flashbulb moment realizing that I had been roofied in February in [that fraternity].” Discussion of date-rape drug use has become more commonplace across campus: Each source The Dartmouth spoke to shared that they have heard such rumors in recent weeks. Several students reported that they have heard about date-rape drug use at multiple fraternity houses. According to College health service director Mark Reed, the term “roofie”
is derived from Rohypnol, a sedative that can be easily put into drinks. However, it can also refer to GHP and a “large class of different types of sedatives” that can incapacitate or compromise people. The scope of these discussions has extended to Greek leadership. An anonymous source from the Class of 2022, who also requested to remain anonymous to speak candidly about her experiences, said that she first heard about discussions of roofying through her Greek house during week three or four of spring term. “We got an email from our president [which was] forwarded from [the] Inter-Sorority Council that basically said, ‘Please be aware — there’s an increase in reports of people possibly having their drink spiked. There hasn’t SEE DRUG USE PAGE 2
12 Dartmouth students and alumni awarded Fulbright scholarships
CLOUDY HIGH 83 LOW 64
SUMMER HARGRAVE/THE DARMOUTH
NEWS
KAPPA PI KAPPA CHANGES NAME IN YEAR-LONG PROCESS PAGE 2
OPINION
VERBUM ULTIMUM: SAFETY FIRST PAGE 3
ARTS
AIRES REUNITE FOR 75TH ANNIVERSARY PAGE 4
SPORTS
ATHLETES HONORED AT CELEBRATION OF EXCELLENCE PAGE 5
MIRROR
THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS: HAPPY ACCIDENTS PAGE 6 FOLLOW US ON
@thedartmouth COPYRIGHT © 2022 THE DARTMOUTH, INC.
BY ADRIANA JAMES-RODIL The Dartmouth Staff
This article was originally published on May 26, 2022. On May 19, the College announced that 12 students and alumni were awarded Fulbright scholarships, in which they will either pursue graduate study, conduct research or teach English abroad, according to the Fulbright Program website. This year’s Fulbright recipients will travel to various countries including Luxembourg, Taiwan, the Czech Republic, New Zealand and Indonesia. Shera Bhala ’22, Matthew Chen ’21, Margaret Ferris ’22, Alexandra Hawley ’19, Lucas Joshi ’23, Sophia Miller ’22, Dominique Mobley ’22, Ethan Moon ’22, Zonía Moore ’16, Mia Nelson ’22, Samuel O’Brien ’22 and Ian Reinke ’22 were each awarded Fulbright scholarships for 2022-2023. The Fulbright scholarship program is sponsored by the U.S. government and offers educational programs in more than 140 countries, with the goal of connecting Americans with communities around the world, according to the College’s announcement. According to English professor and assistant dean of faculty for fellowship
advising Christie Harner, advising for a fellowship typically begins the spring term a year before a student is planning on applying. “When students start thinking about it, they begin to think about which countries would make sense for them, and that has something to do with languages they speak, interesting research they may have done, family connections to particular countries, previous study abroad and they are also thinking about the type of Fulbright,” Harner said. Harner noted that there are three types of Fulbright scholarships: A yearlong English teaching assistantship in a foreign country, independent research for one year in affiliation with an existing organization or an academic mentor and enrollment in a master’s or doctoral program in another country. The Fellowship Advising office assists students with the application process by helping brainstorm essay topics and identifying who would be the best recommender, while also reading and giving feedback on student applications later in the process. Those applications are then read by a College committee that interviews applicants in September, after which they receive further feedback before the application deadline in SEE FULBRIGHT PAGE 2
This article was originally published on May 24, 2022. As the College nears the end of its renovation of Dartmouth Hall, which introduced open study spaces and new mechanical systems, it is gearing up for a number of updates to residential buildings. Starting with Andres and Zimmerman Halls in East Wheelock House, the College plans to update nearly every dorm on campus over the next 10 to 12 years. After a two-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the College is slated to host Commencement festivities on the Green in June, during which the ongoing renovations of Dartmouth Hall will continue with interior work, according to vice president of campus services and institutional projects Josh Keniston. Dartmouth Hall Keniston said that Dartmouth Hall is scheduled to reopen in the fall, but will remain under construction during Commencement. Construction began in January 2021, and more than $25 million was donated by alumni for the renovation, according to the College campus services website. “We’re currently focusing on doing some landscaping, and the goal is to make [Dartmouth Hall] look less like a construction site during Commencement,” Keniston said. He added that internal construction will continue during Commencement, but the College will minimize noise and focus on making Dartmouth Hall “visually appealing.” Keniston noted that when constructions are complete, Dartmouth Hall will contain an updated ventilation and insulation system, and the floor plan will be more “democratic,” with more study and group discussion spaces located along the windows facing the Green. Externally, the building will be repainted and have a new roof, and entry will be made more accessible, Keniston said. The College focused on minimal external interventions to retain the look of “one of the most iconic buildings on campus” as much as possible, according to Keniston. According to director of project management services Patrick O’Hern, Dartmouth Hall will house the French, Italian, German and Spanish and Portuguese departments as well as the Leslie Center for the Humanities, most of which were originally located in Dartmouth Hall before the renovations began. He added that the building will be ready for faculty and staff by August. North Fayerweather Hall resident Cameron Gilmore ’25 said that he is relieved about the upcoming end of noise from Dartmouth Hall’s renovations. “They use jackhammers, moving equipment and vehicles that are really loud,” Gilmore said. “I’m waking up way earlier than I would like sometimes, so this has definitely affected my sleep schedule.” Residential buildings The College intends to renovate Andres and Zimmerman Halls, both dorms in East Wheelock House, over the next two years by adding additional study areas, installing elevators in each building and modifying rooms into primarily singles and doubles, O’Hern said. He noted that these plans are modeled after the Morton Hall renovations in 2017, which received “a lot of positive feedback” from students. O’Hern also said that the renovations in Andres and Zimmerman will help to alleviate any concerns about mold after the discovery of mold in the two halls last
fall. He said that interior materials in the dorms, including “structural steel,” will be replaced and the renovated dorms will have improved air circulation. Keniston noted that renovations at Andres will begin right after Commencement and reunions in the summer and that the building will likely reopen next summer or fall, while renovations at Zimmerman will begin in the summer of 2023. O’Hern added that the decision to renovate Andres and Zimmerman was not directly motivated by the discovery of mold, but rather because of multiple “overdue issues” involving plumbing and other mechanical systems, adding that older buildings on campus have held up better than newer ones. “One motto of our industry is that we don’t build like we used to,” O’Hern said. “The construction from the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s is, in some ways, not up to the longevity of what you see from Mass Row, for example.” Keniston added that in the next “ten to twelve” years, the College also intends to renovate the Fayerweathers, the Choates residential cluster, the River cluster, Massachusetts Row, the Gold Coast cluster, Butterfield, Russell Sage, Ripley-Woodward-Smith, Topliff, Richardson and Wheeler Halls, in addition to the Maxwell and Channing Cox senior apartment buildings. He noted that the College has not decided on the order of renovations yet but will determine the next few buildings in the sequence after discussions with the Board of Trustees in the summer or fall. O’Hern said that improving accessibility and air conditioning systems is a top priority, but the exact plans will only be determined later this year. Hopkins Center for the Arts Earlier this year, the College announced plans for the expansion and redesign of the Hopkins Center for the Arts, which will be led by Snøhetta, a Swedish architectural firm. According to architectural design renderings released in April, the Hop will feature a new outdoor central forum, recital hall, dance studio, performance lab and theater rehearsal lab while existing spaces like Spaulding Auditorium will be modernized. Keniston noted that the renovations will also improve accessibility make the building more navigable. “The Hop is a little bit like a maze right now, with multiple levels within a floor … We’re trying to make improvements for it to be easier to navigate,” he said. O’Hern said that the College has recently completed “design development” and hopes to finalize construction documents in October and is also working with the town of Hanover to obtain the required building permits. He added that construction is currently planned to begin in the winter and is expected to last 18 to 24 months. Keniston added that the College hopes to keep some areas of the Hop open during parts of the renovation, such as the Courtyard Cafe and Spaulding Auditorium. “They may be closed partially for a term or two, but we’ll try and do it in phases so that some of these key spaces stay open even while some of the construction is still ongoing,” he said. Other projects O’Hern noted that Rollins Chapel is receiving a mechanical system renovation starting later this summer and will likely be operational by winter term. O ’ H e r n added that Silsby 28 is currently being renovated to create two new classrooms with updated technology.
FRIDAY, MAY 27, 2022
PAGE 2
THE DARTMOUTH NEWS
“There’s a huge sense of fear”: Talk Kappa Pi Kappa changes of date-rape substance use increases name in year-long process FROM DRUG USE PAGE 1
been reporting to the College, but there’s been an increase in reporting to Dick’s House [and Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center],’” the source said. T hese discussions have been brought up in meetings between Greek houses, the Greek Leadership Council and other College bodies, according to Gamma Delta Chi fraternity president Nick Howard ’23. “I have heard it brought up from a lot of other Greek spaces, particularly in our meetings with the GLC and some of our interactions and meetings with [the Department of Safety and Security],” as well as the Hanover Police and Fire Departments, Howard said. Official campus sources and reports Despite the prevalent dialogue on campus, College administrators said they have not received a substantial increase in reports of date-rape drug use compared to previous years. Title IX coordinator Kristi Clemens said that the office has received “few reports” of date-rape drug cases. According to Clemens, most reports of potential date-rape drug use did not include reports of sexual assault. “That’s one of the gaps for me with this. If somebody is trying to roofie you with the intention of assaulting you, they are going to stay with you until that drug kicks in — like they’ve done it for a purpose,” Clemens said. “So some of the [people who have filed reports and] who think that they were drugged were with their girl friends all night or didn’t have anything happen to them, thankfully, but still feel kind of weird.” According to Reed, Dick’s House has seen “some increase in the last two terms” of students arriving believing they have been roofied, though these are “very small numbers.” Official statistics from the College regarding date-rape drugs are harder to come by, for a variety of reasons, including a lack of leadership and a lack of information sharing between offices. An anonymous student source, who works with the Sexual Violence Prevention Project and requested to remain anonymous to speak candidly about her experiences, said she felt frustrated by the lack of professional leadership in positions overseeing Greek life. She cited that there had been a number of sexual assault cases involving affiliated students over the 2021 summer term, and expressed her frustration that the Office of Greek life had just recently appointed a new director at the start of the spring term after seven months without one. The source also said that she perceived a lack of infor mation sharing between College offices that deal with gender-based violence. “In general, the privacy rules re g a rd i n g s ex u a l v i o l e n c e a n d reporting make it really difficult [for offices] to share sensitive information between [each other], and DHMC is a separate institution [from the College],” she said. A termly comparison graph from the Student Wellness Center’s website shows that from January to March 2022, there were 30 Good Samaritan calls, 22 “medical encounters for alcohol intoxication” and 53 “alcoholrelated incidents” involving Safety and Security or Residential Education. I n fo r m at i o n f ro m 2 0 2 2 w a s affected by “restrictions related to gatherings” and data from 2021 was also affected by “reduced number of students on campus.” Due to these circumstances, the number of reported Good Samaritan calls and medical encounters from January to March 2021 were less than five, while that same year saw 28 alcohol-related incidents. Data from 2019 and 2018, however, show alcohol-related incident data in the absence of the pandemic. From January to March 2019, there were 27 Good Samaritan calls, 37 medical encounters and 62 alcohol-related incidents. The same time period in 2018 had 25 Good Samaritan calls, 52 medical encounters and 119 alcoholrelated incidents. When compared to these two years, the winter 2022 term’s data appears to match pre-pandemic levels. Student experiences Despite a lack of official College reports, several students reported personal encounters with date-rape drugs on campus. The anonymous member of the Class of 2024 who believes she was roofied in the winter said that although
she typically has a “good gauge” of how intoxicated she is, she noticed atypical symptoms after drinking that night, such as feeling like she was “watching [herself] through a foggy mirror” and that her memory seemed disproportionately afflicted compared to the amount of alcohol she had consumed. She also said that, after she went to sleep, there was a moment during the night when she woke up and was unable to move her body. “ N o m at t e r h ow mu ch I ’ve [mentally] gone back to that night or talked about that night, [I haven’t] regained any memories, which I think is a little bit weird for blacking out,” she said. She said she made an official report to the Title IX Office in late April; when the office responded, they said they had received no other reports regarding date-rape drug use at the time. The anonymous SVPP student worker said that the first time she heard about instances of roofying was during the fall term, though she has friends who may have encountered roofies in the winter. “Right at the beginning of the [winter] term, I had a couple of close friends who I was with at the time when we believe they were roofied,” she said. T he source said that to her knowledge, her friends did not receive a drug test to confirm or deny whether they had been roofied. “It’s really difficult to access a testing kit, and there’s such a wide array of date-rape drugs. It’s really hard to even know if your testing kit [tests for all date-rape drugs], and some of them didn’t even want to confirm [if they were roofied] because that would be such a scary thing to confront,” she said. “But then, [informally], there were just more and more stories, and it felt like everyone was getting roofied.” The anonymous member of the Class of 2022 said that earlier this term, her partner seemed heavily intoxicated during an on night at their own Greek house. “I’ve seen them drunk plenty of times, [but] this was something different — they were just really incoherent, and I would try to talk to them, [and] they would talk about random stuff that didn’t make any sense,” the source said. The source said that she had checked in with her partner over text about an hour before meeting up with them, and that they seemed “fine” at the time. However, when her partner woke up the next morning and could not remember what had happened after four or five drinks, she wondered if one of those drinks had been spiked. “I know my partner, and they can have far more than four or five drinks and be fine,” she said. “And so it was that fourth or fifth drink [when] they went from being totally fine to [not] — it was like zero to 100.” The source added that several others — both men and women — at that Greek house had “similar experiences” around the same time as her partner. Her partner got drug tested at DHMC the next day — partly because they felt extremely nauseous, and also because another student was filing a report to Title IX after similarly “blacking out” at the same Greek House the night before and was trying to provide evidence, she said. “We went to DHMC, [they] got tested, and nothing showed up, but [the test administrator] also said that they don’t test for GHP or Rohypnol,” she said. “I’m not sure why they don’t test for them, especially because Rohypnol can stay in your system for 72 hours or something … they were testing for LSD, or cocaine or something like that.” When students go to either Dick’s House or DHMC, they can ask to be screened for date-rape drugs, which tests for “upwards of 200 [substances],” including Rohypnol, according to Reed. He also expressed the difficulty of detecting daterape drugs due to how quickly they metabolize — within five to 10 hours, he said. The student’s partner did not file a Title IX report, since they “ended up okay” and the two expressed a desire to “leave [that night] behind.” Discrepancy between campus dialogue and official reports Some administrators suggested possible explanations for the discrepancy between campus dialogue and official College information. Reed noted that the slight increase in students visiting Dick’s House with roofie concerns follows a trend where discussions around date-rape drugs circulate “on and off for years.” He
believes that the current discussion reflects this larger pattern. “There will be periods of time where there’s a heightened concern on campus, and that will happen every few years,” he said. “Certainly we’re in one of those periods right now.” Similarly, Clemens said that, during her time at Dartmouth, cyclical discussions of date-rape drug use have not been uncommon. “I’ve worked at Dartmouth for 12 years and I think that different rumors come and go — that, you know, X fraternity is putting this in their batch … I think everyone is returning to normalcy, for lack of a better word,” Clemens said. In addition, Reed noted that alcohol is the most common date-rape drug, although students often do not perceive it as such. When people are unaware of the alcoholic concentration of what they are consuming, this can catch them off guard, and alcohol will essentially function as a date-rape substance, according to Reed. “What can also happen is that people drink out of common containers or batches, and they don’t know what’s in it,” Reed said.“They can have a plastic cup and think it’s the equivalent of one or two drinks and it could really be the equivalent of six.” According to policy chair of the Student and Presidential Committee on Sexual Assault Madeline Gochee ’23, the disconnect between officially reported date-rape drug cases and campus discussion may be attributed to students not wanting to go through the process of reporting their experiences. “I’ve had people talk to me who believe that they may have experienced some sort of nonconsensual ingestion of a substance that then caused them to black out,” Gochee said. “But the thing is that those people have not been interested in reporting or going through that process for a variety of means.” According to Clemens, there is a misconception that reporting to Title IX automatically prompts an investigation or forces the reporter to take further action, which Clemens said is “fallacious.” Instead, Clemens said that many students reach out to Title IX for “supportive measures,” which can include academic and residential accommodations, among other supports. When a student reports to Title IX, Clemens said that the Title IX office will either follow up with the student, or they can refer the incident to the Department of Safety and Security, depending on the facts of the individual case. The anonymous SVPP student worker said while she acknowledges that there seems to be very few formal reports of encounters with date-rape substances made to Title IX, she hopes that the College will provide “mental health” support to students who have experienced these encounters. “There’s not really much of an advocacy presence on campus or much activism around this, which is difficult — but there’s a huge sense of fear, I think, and also Dartmouth normalizing these attitudes,” the source said. “I think Dartmouth just really needs to step up their game.” The authors of this article reached out to various students, campus advocates, Greek chapter presidents and employees of the College. Representatives of the Sexual Assault Peer Alliance (SAPA) did not respond to requests for comments as of press time. SWC assistant director for violence prevention Benjamin Bradley and SWC associate director Amanda Childress did not respond to requests for comment. SWC director Caitlin Barthelmes and SWC healthy relationships and sexual health specialist Brailyn Davis declined to comment. Safety and Security director Keysi Montas did not respond to request for comment. College spokesperson Diana Lawrence did not respond to request for comment. Greek chapter presidents — the 23 chapters that compose the InterSorority Council, the Interfraternity Council and the Gender-Inclusive Greek Council, in addition to the presidents of these councils — either did not respond for request to comment or declined to comment, with the exception of Epsilon Kappa Theta sorority, Gamma Delta Chi fraternity, Phi Tau coed fraternity and Theta Delta Chi fraternity. Production executive editor Mia Russo ’23 was not involved in the editing of this article due to a conflict of interest. Infor mation and resources regarding sexual violence can be found on the College’s Title IX page as well as WISE’s website.
BY THOMAS BROWN
The Dartmouth Senior Staff
Last week, the fraternity previously known as Kappa Kappa Kappa announced that it has changed its name to Kappa Pi Kappa. According to Kappa Pi Kappa vice president Ethan Lang ’23, 80% of the fraternity’s alumni and 88% of current fraternity undergraduates approved of the name Kappa Pi Kappa in a final survey sent to all fraternity members. In an email sent to campus on May 19, the fraternity wrote that the chapter acknowledges the resemblance of the three “Kappas” of Tri-Kap to the three “Ks” of the Ku Klux Klan — a white supremacist organization founded 25 years after the fraternity — which “ caused discomfort to members of the Brotherhood and to the Dartmouth community.” “There’s less of a specific trigger right now [motivating the name change]. It’s more about … there was a resolution that this name didn’t necessarily align with our values, and it was time to rectify that,” former president Max Pumilia ’22 said. “I wouldn’t say there’s anything specific about this moment in time or these undergraduates — it was just sort of a final realization and push to amend that discrepancy.” Pumilia said that the name change process began “in earnest” in the spring of 2021 when he became the chapter’s president. He added that the renaming process originated within the current undergraduate members of the chapter and eventually involved more than 1,000 alumni. Although Kappa Pi Kappa informed the Office of Greek Life of their plans to change the name of the organization, the chapter did not have to follow any requirements stipulated by the College, Pumilia said. “Once we got into the more sort of technical, collaborative effort, making decisions that did involve the whole corpus of [Kappa Pi Kappa] members, including undergraduates and alumni, then it became a lot more [centered around] alumni engagement,” Pumilia said. After obtaining the perspectives of current undergraduate members, Kappa Pi Kappa began fielding alumni perspectives. Lang said that Zoom town halls helped to facilitate communication with the larger brotherhood and “spurred development” on the name change process. According to Kappa Pi Kappa alumni councilor Bruce Danziger ’83, the fraternity’s corporation board “brought everyone together” to ensure group satisfaction with a final decision. Danziger said that most of the fraternity’s alumni agreed with the name change. “The undergraduates clearly realized that you cannot have [the name Kappa Kappa Kappa]. It’s damaging to the house,” Danziger said. “You just can’t be associated with those letters for all the obvious reasons we know about.”
All Kappa Pi Kappa brothers who were interviewed said the potential renaming of the fraternity had been discussed for a “long” time. Lang said that the Kappa Pi Kappa Class of 2017 had entertained talks of a name change. Max Weintraub ’22 said that the earliest discussion of the matter he remembers was during the fall of 2019, when he first joined the fraternity. Danziger said that he remembers hearing about an attempt at a name change in the 1990s, but that “it never really went anywhere, and there was a fair amount of opposition to it.” Danziger added he does not recall any discussions of a name change when he was an undergraduate. While many students colloquially refer to most Greek organizations on campus by shortened monikers, the fraternity has not officially determined an informal name for itself, Weintraub said. Although Pumilia, Lang and Weintraub all referred to Kappa Pi Kappa as “Pi Kap” several times, Pumilia said that he wouldn’t be comfortable saying all other brothers have adopted that nickname for the fraternity. “I think it’s a very easy transition — we used to be Tri-Kap, now we’re Pi Kap,” Lang said. “I’ve heard Kappa Pi used a few times, I’ve heard KPK… these things do change, but I think right now probably ‘Pi Kap’ is where we’re heading.” Pumilla said that while obtaining brothers’ perspectives on the renaming of the fraternity was straightforward, the “infinite number of responses” on potential new names for the chapter required much more work, leadership and organization to manage. “We chose a name that maintained our values and our history without retaining the obvious connection to the Ku Klux Klan,” Pumilia said. Pumilia, Lang and Danziger all expressed their support for the name change. “I’m just happy that the [new] name better reflects the values of the society,” Lang said. “Now that we are no longer held back by having these conversations about our name, I think we can better show campus who we are as a group.” Weintraub initially did not want to change Tri-Kap’s name, citing the fact that Tri-Kap predates the KKK and his disbelief that anyone “in their right mind” would think that Tri-Kap was the KKK. However, he eventually came to support the name change and is “pretty happy with the outcome.” “After seeing how much support [the name change] had among my brothers, and how passionately a lot of people felt about it, and the fact that it was overwhelmingly supported by almost everyone in the brotherhood, I agree with the decisions of my peers,” he said. “I joined the house because of the amazing brotherhood, and that’s really what matters, so that’s not going to change with the letters.”
Fulbrights to continue research and education FROM FULBRIGHT PAGE 1
October, according to Harner. “I think the most important thing for people to know is that fellowship advising is there, and it’s never too early to start the conversation,” said Harner. Chen — one of this year’s recipients — is a recent graduate from San Marino, Calif., who majored in quantitative social science as an undergraduate. He was awarded an English teaching assistant grant in Taiwan. “I was really interested in going abroad for a year. I had gone to Taiwan previously to learn Mandarin, and I really wanted to return one day. I just really aligned with the goals of Fulbright and the idea of cultural exchange,” Chen said. Chen will be assisting English language classes in rural Taiwan alongside another Taiwanese teacher. After his Fulbright year, he said that he plans to attend medical school. Joshi, a Hispanic and Lusophone studies major from Easton, Md., was awarded a research and study grant in India. For nine months, Joshi said that he will be working in Goa alongside other professors from Goa University who have expertise in Indo-Portuguese culture and literature, and have familiarity with his research project from prior experiences. At the end of the project, he said
their joint research will “hopefully” be published in a journal article. Because of the pandemic, Joshi said that both of his study abroad programs — one in Madrid and the other in São Paulo — were canceled. As a result, he said his inability to immerse himself in another country during his time at Dartmouth is partly what prompted him to apply for the Fulbright scholarship. “Most of my research has been concentrated in Goa, India, and looking at different questions of Afro-Asian identity, mourning, memory, and postcolonial legacies,” Joshi said, “I knew that after working on this project here at Dartmouth, I wanted to see it come to fruition in person.” Following his Fulbright year, Joshi said that he will begin graduate school at Brown University in the fall of 2023. Chen said he felt lucky for all the resources afforded to him through the College and at home that made the scholarship possible for him, specifically research at the Geisel School of Medicine and involvement with the Upper Valley speed skating club. “I think this fellowship is an embodiment of the fantastic community around me both at Dartmouth and at home,” Chen said. Shera Bhala ’22, Dominique Mobley ’22 and Mia Nelson ’22 are members of The Dartmouth staff.
FRIDAY, MAY 27, 2022
PAGE 3
THE DARTMOUTH OPINION
THE DARTMOUTH EDITORIAL BOARD
SENIOR COLUMNIST KYLE MULLINS ’22
Verbum Ultimum: Safety First
Mullins: Lions, Tigers and… The Big Green? Oh My.
Campus leaders have a responsibility to assuage students’ fears about potential threats on campus.
Almost anything would be better than the current College symbol.
This column was originally published on May 24, 2022.
SOPHIE BAILEY/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF
Earlier this week, The Dartmouth reported on the increased discussion of the use of “roofies” or date-rape drugs on campus. Although sources from the College suggest a lack of official reports to back up the rumors that date-rape drug use has increased, one thing is clear: Students fear that they or their friends will be roofied. In many ways, this fear is not unfounded; the idea of unintentionally blacking out for hours and never regaining the memory of that period is terrifying. After all, anything could have happened during that period of time, and you would have no memory of it. Nonetheless, the best way to handle this situation is with reason and information — a hard ask in the face of paralyzing — and understandable — worry, but also a more effective method of preventing harm. Learning what to do if you suspect that you or a friend has been roofied, how to create an environment that reduces the risk of date-rape drug use and how to report a potential drugging incident may come with difficult conversations, but would also provide students with some tangible ways to deal with this issue. Concerningly, most of campus has become aware of date-rape drugs through stories and rumors. Despite several weeks of whispers between friends, or even friends of friends, this week was the first time that, to our knowledge, any College employee has publicly commented about the situation. To be fair, there are very few official reports of roofies; nonetheless, alleviating students’ fear with something as simple as a campus-wide email — one that legitimizes students’ concerns and provides helpful education to the student body — would be of far more help than the silence of the administration thus far. While the College has a significant role to play in addressing student concerns, we recognize that leaders within the student body itself are also crucial in these conversations. Despite fervent efforts on the part of the Sexual Assault Peer Alliance to offer education to Greek spaces, few houses took up the group’s invitation to educate members on safety regarding date-rape drugs. At most, the Inter-Sorority Council sent member sororities an email with basic information about date-rape drugs that chapters shared with their individual members. Given their accessibility to campus, their lack of oversight and the copious amounts of alcohol they offer, Greek houses are easy targets for predatory behavior. Having these conversations in Greek spaces — including fraternities, the primary social space on campus and where the majority of drugging incidents are rumored to have occurred — is therefore especially important. Education about the realities date-rape drugs is crucial to creating a safe environment for students,
especially when fear and misinformation fueled by the rumor mill circulate so easily among the student body. For example, the idea that outsiders bring date-rape drugs into campus social spaces may stoke some students’ fears — but in reality, this form of “stranger danger” is in many cases just a scary story. Focusing on this narrative rather than critically examining the rape culture present on our campus causes the student body to focus on risks that are less pervasive over real, systemic issues. Part of this awareness is recognizing that date-rape drugs can impact people differently. These drugs can interact with other medications students may be taking and lead to unpredictable effects, meaning that signs and symptoms may differ drastically across individuals. Similarly, as there are hundreds of substances that can be used as date-rape drugs, there is often no easy way to objectively determine if students were drugged — most readily available test kits are prohibitively expensive and only test for a handful of substances. And while much of the language surrounding roofies focuses on substances like Rohypnol and GHB, the most common date-rape drug of all is alcohol — if students are unaware of the strength of their drinks or pressured to drink more than they intend, they may experience symptoms that mirror those caused by more commonly feared substances. If students are taught to fear Rohypnol but disregard the often nonconsensual nature of Dartmouth’s extreme drinking culture, this problem will not go away. When so little is known about an issue that students fear so much, the answer isn’t to simply ignore the problem and hope it goes away. Campus leaders — both students and administrators — must not wait until there are numerous reports or official data to warrant a response. Rather, we all must be proactive in cultivating a safe culture and campus. It is easy to dismiss rumors as nothing more than trivial gossip; however, when that “gossip” concerns something serious enough to cause major harm, choosing ignorance is both irresponsible and a slap in the face to the student body. We urge leaders around campus, from those in Greek spaces to those in the administration, to refrain from sweeping this issue away or engaging in fear-mongering; instead, provide students with the information and knowledge they need to feel safe.
So there I was on Friday night — standing on Fahey lawn, on the outskirts of the huddled masses in front of the concert stage, waiting for Saint Motel to start its performance. The air was comfortable, the crowd bustling, the vibes good at the first Green Key since 2019. The seemingly random Spotify playlist that had been on since Doechii left the stage cut out, and Saint Motel ran out to cheers. That’s when lead singer A/J Jackson said it: “Let’s go, Big Green!” Middling cheers ensued. It was jarring, hearing our weird mascot uttered aloud by someone outside the Dartmouth community. But, credit to him for making an effort to connect with the college audience. Then the band began playing, and the shout left my mind. Several songs that all sounded vaguely alike — Saint Motel’s range is not exactly massive — passed, and then it happened again. “Go Green!” Jackson yelled. For many of the deeply inebriated concertgoers, the shout was no doubt lost in the music and drugfueled haze. But I, sober as the bored-looking Canaan police officers called in for extra security, remember. It was yet another reminder after four years in Hanover that Dartmouth’s mascot — the Big Green — is so weak, so forgettable, so utterly bad that even Jackson, who has to remember complex lyrics like “woah oh oh oh oh oh ohhhhhhh,” could not get the whole thing right. Of course, when the Big Green was adopted in the 1970s as a replacement for the racist Dartmouth Indian figure, it was an improvement. Few community members, outside of some particularly curmudgeonly alumni, would approve of such a mascot today. But “not racist” should not be the bar we are looking to exceed. I believe we can do better — only a narrow majority of students in 1981 supported “the Big Green,” and I have met almost none who genuinely support it today. Plus, a new mascot could help revive school spirit after the pandemic ravaged our sense of community, something we burnout-afflicted students sorely need. But what to pick? Dartmouth could look to the examples of the Brown University Bears, Columbia University Lions, Princeton University Tigers and Yale University Bulldogs and choose an animal. Suggestions in the past have included the “Timber Wolves” and the “Bucks,” both excellent choices (though they also happen to be Upper Midwest NBA teams). I would also toss out the “Minks” as an option, given their prevalence in the area. The “Dartmoose” is, however, my favorite animal option — and has a strong backer in Chuck Sherman ’66, who mans the information booth
on the Green during the summer and maintains a “Mooseum” of Dartmouth- and moose-related memorabilia. The moose is native to the area and is plenty threatening, if we’re looking for an imposing mascot. According to Sherman’s research, there is even a Dartmoose costume somewhere — in his collection, he has photos of people wearing it, possibly from the early 2000s when the moose had a surge of popularity — so the athletic department may not even need to procure a new costume for games. We could also look to the University of Pennsylvania Quakers and Harvard University’s John Harvard and pull from our history. To this end, I humbly suggest the “Judges”: Such a choice would indirectly honor Daniel Webster, Class of 1801, who famously argued the 1819 Dartmouth College v. Woodward Supreme Court case that prevented the College from being converted to a state university and strengthened contract law against government predation. Plus, it would lend itself to a number of law pun-filled chants (“Objection!” “Injunction!” “You just got served!”) that could be employed to great hilarity against opposing teams at athletics matches. Whatever the new mascot is, it should be decided by a referendum among students, faculty and staff — preferably a ranked choice, instant-runoff vote that would deliver a verdict a majority of community members back. This could be a fun side project for student body president-elect David Millman ’23, who seems to have a strong mandate from the student body. Whoever is tapped as College President Phil Hanlon’s replacement may also be looking to make a mark on Dartmouth early on, and this could be some low-hanging fruit. The one unacceptable path forward is continuing with our current mascot. As Sherman so eloquently put it in a Q&A with The Dartmouth, “I think it’s lame to cheer for a wavelength of light.” The Big Green inspires no fear in the hearts of our Ivy League opponents, and no excitement in the minds of new students. It is so weak a mascot that when one Googles “Dartmouth mascot,” the first eleven pictures are of the Jack-O-Lantern’s Keggy the Keg — which is, frankly, a better mascot than the color green, given the sloshy weekend we just enjoyed. There are definitely more pressing problems facing Dartmouth than our lackluster symbol, but that does not change the fact that swapping it is overdue. Pick a new mascot, Dartmouth — it’s long past time. 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.
Production executive editor Mia Russo ’23 was not involved in the writing or editing of this week’s Verbum Ultimum due to a conflict of interest. The editorial board consists of opinion staff columnists, the opinion editors, the executive editors and the editor-inchief.
DOMINIQUE MOBLEY ’22: THE FINAL CURTAIN
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.
PAGE 4
FRIDAY, MAY 27, 2022
THE DARTMOUTH ARTS
Aires alums and undergraduates reunite for 75th anniversary
NAINA BHALLA/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF
The celebration was marked by a series of concerts on campus that featured a variety of music styles.
BY Madeline Sawyer The Dartmouth
This article was originally published on May 24, 2022. The Dartmouth Aires Reunion Concert, part of the a cappella group’s 75th anniversary weekend, featured 120 alums and 20 undergraduates in a dynamic performance on Saturday, May 14. The show included a roster of both contemporary and classic tunes. The Aires kicked off the show with a lively rendition of the alma mater, which the audience stood for and joined in singing. Other fan favorites included “Football Medley,” “Sh-Doom (Life Could
Be a Dream),” “Desperado” and “Mood Indigo.” For current Aires member Sheil Sharma ’23, singing and interacting with alums was a highlight of the event. “It was so special to see the connection that I didn’t realize we had to such an insane number of alumni,” Sharma said. “[They] are so supportive, talented, excited and so passionate about what the undergrads do and about Dartmouth in general.” The Saturday show was part of the Aires’ four-day reunion weekend, which brought together more than 100 alumni. The Dartmouth Aires was founded in 1946 as the College’s first a cappella group. The reunion began with an impromptu rehearsal on Thursday afternoon at Tom Dent Cabin and concluded with a
brunch on Sunday morning, according to Dartmouth Aires alumni board reunions chair Matthew Schwartz ’06. Preparing for the Saturday show required more rehearsals in the prior week than the Aires have ever done for other reunions, Schwartz said. “I myself — in some way, shape or form — have been working on this particular reunion for about three years,” said Schwartz. To plan this elaborate event, the alumni board appointed graduated members from each decade to reach out to other members to engage early on in the project. They compiled old sheet music, found recordings of songs that alumni could use to practice their parts and encouraged alums
to gather on a regional basis in advance of the reunion. Show-related details, including the set list, were handled by musical director Adamah Cole ’06 and show director Adam Frank ’09. They solicited alumni to pick their favorite songs from each era and voted on the songs that they wanted to perform. These songs were added to the “perennial songs” that all Aires learn and maintain in their repertoire. On Saturday morning, the Aires conducted a two-and-a-half hour structured set of rehearsals in the basement of Silsby Hall. Even with all of this planning, a lastminute change of venue required the Aires to scramble to set up a sound system and redirect audience members, as Channing Cox lawn tent, the original location, was unsafe in Saturday’s 90-degree weather. The atrium of the new Class of 1982 Engineering and Computer Science Center ended up being the ideal space — the size accommodated a large crowd, who sat on tiered steps and stood on upper levels looking down on the stage, and the natural light and high ceilings made the show feel as if it was outside. “It is such a testament to the group’s professionalism, years of experience doing performances in the oddest and strangest of locations and being a fun-loving crowd that is not too concerned with formality,” Schwartz said. At the show, alums introduced songs from different decades and shared their Dartmouth experiences. Before intermission, the current undergraduate members joined in a high-energy rendition of Taylor Swift’s “Blank Space” — a song randomly chosen by spinning a wheel during the show. “It was an amazing experience, especially after a few years without live music. It was great to see them having fun,” Emilie Hong ’25, who attended the performance, said. The combination of the randomly selected song and the “heartfelt and
humorous” introduction of each decade by emcees created an authentic and informal tone that epitomizes the Aires group, Schwartz said. While the show was more formal than in previous years, the group still wanted to maintain an “impromptu, fun-loving energy,” according to Schwartz. Aires reunion weekends traditionally include two shows: an alumni-led informal show on the steps of Dartmouth Hall and the undergraduate show in Spaulding Auditorium. For the outdoor show, a crowd organically gathers, members sing tunes that anyone shouts out and shows can last up to four hours. This year’s show was more structured, with a set list and time limit. “We wanted the 75th reunion to be special,” said Schwartz. “We wanted it to feel elevated … I think we all perform better when there is a great campus crowd there to experience it with us.” After the Saturday show, another set of private performances at the Dartmouth Skiway gave the Class of 2020 — who missed their final show due to the COVID-19 pandemic — the chance to sing together again. “It was really moving to see that connection manifest itself over the weekend through interactions we were having with alumni,” Sharma said. An in memoriam video, created by John Sadd ’70 to honor the Aires who have passed away, played at the end of the Aires’ Saturday morning rehearsal. Members described this celebration of the history and heritage of the Aires as a particularly special moment. “The experience of living through the history and the memories of the group, doing this memoriam service…celebrating the history of the group was just an incredible bonding experience,” Schwartz said. Video footage of the event will be available on the Dartmouth Aires YouTube channel.
Q&A with photographer and filmmaker Hollye Swinehart ’18 BY Gianna Totani The Dartmouth
This article was originally published on May 26, 2022. During her time at Dartmouth, Hollye Swinehart ’18 discovered her love for art and photography at the Hopkins Center for the Arts. Now, Swinehart is preparing to film her senior thesis for her masters in filmmaking at the London Film School, a short film called “Cotton Something.” Swinehart is set to graduate in December and submit her film to festivals such as the Telluride Film Festival and Sundance Film Festival. The Dartmouth sat down with Swinehart to discuss her journey from photography to filmmaking and her advice for Dartmouth students on pursuing a career in the arts. What did you major in and what other things were you involved in at Dartmouth? HS: I was a double major in Government and Studio Art. I did my honors thesis in photography, but I also did an Art History study abroad. I worked in the Claflin Jewelry Studio, spent some time with the Dartmouth Law Journal and the Italian Club and was the marketing intern at the Hopkins Center for the Arts my senior year. The Hop and the people there offer a really good look into engaging with press materials, dealing with agents and summarizing events. Those are all skills that I honed while I was there, so that was something I really enjoyed. Once I realized I wanted to go into photography, I ended up working for The Dartmouth as a photographer. I didn’t do any filmmaking at all. When I started in the fine arts, it was more towards the art history side of things. Then, I realized that I just really loved filmmaking, and I had always wanted to try photography. I produced massive amounts of photos when I was at Dartmouth. A lot of it related to documentary work and social issues. I was always thinking about socially conscious narratives. But I felt like the film department at Dartmouth was very theoretical. After I developed my photography interest, I realized that I really wanted to have motion and the freedom to have a longer form narrative. I started dabbling in film a little bit more, and did some short video art things on my own.
What was the process that led you into filmmaking? HS: When you’re a kid, television and film hold this mystical power. I was curious about it, but I quickly moved on. Then, as I got older, I realized that my best pieces of photography were always things that could speak to a huge number of people. That was what really excited me, and so film just made sense. It just was one of those things where you kind of can feel it. After I finished at Dartmouth, I did a fellowship with the Studio Art department. I produced a pretty massive body of work of photographs that were documenting the degradation of the rural communities in New England. While I was doing that, I was questioning what my true attraction to the medium was, and what I really wanted to get from it. When it came time to think about my masters, I considered photography but I knew what I really wanted. With a photo, people can interpret it different ways. With a film, there’s always a core narrative to it that people can latch on to. When you’re directing a film, you get more control and you have your audience for an extended period of time, so you’re getting to really drive what they take away from it. Once I got to film school, I very much felt at ease. What I was doing with photography always felt like there was a little bit more I could push and change. While no director is ever 100% happy or feels completely finished, I do feel like the medium is conveying what I want as an artist.
How was the process of coming up with the characters and the plot for “Cotton Something?” HS: I feel like I definitely start with characters. The whole initial inspiration came from me contemplating a bit about the substance abuse and opioid crisis in the United States. I started to realize that I had had my own experiences with surgeries where pain medication was offered to me, but I was anxious to take it. I started entertaining other outcomes: If you do say yes to these things, how much of addiction is in your control, and how much of it is circumstantial? From that, I could think of characters that were related to experiences I have and know, but were in an alternate reality. From there, I knew I wanted it to be about women and how they relate to each other within a family. So that’s why it made sense for the characters to be a grandmother, a mother and a daughter. I felt like my characters needed to be really true to the existence of single motherhood and what that looks like. The film is about what it means to be a woman and suffer from an addiction and how that can potentially villainize
you. I want the film to allow people to reflect on what it means as a woman to be judged by your ability to be a mom, as opposed to anything else.
What advice would you give someone considering a masters in the arts? HS: It’s better to chase your dreams early and just go for it. When you come to Dartmouth, there’s a lot of pressure to pursue certain careers. I was still coming to terms with what I wanted my own career to look like. But I have no regrets about pursuing a masters in the arts. I think if you’re going to do it, it’s best to do it and throw yourself into it wholeheartedly. Take advantage of everything at Dartmouth. The Studio Art department and the Hop are so well equipped. Even though at the Hop I wasn’t necessarily dealing with film, it is all related. Those sorts of skills and being exposed to other people who have careers in the arts can really serve you well. I think if you’re questioning it, the Studio Art department or the Hop are really good places to get a feel for if a career in the
arts is what you want. If you’re considering a masters abroad, I would definitely recommend visiting the places where you want to go. I did visit a number of other Art and Film programs, but London is a great place to live. I do think if you’re considering living abroad, make sure that you like the place and enjoy the culture, because it can be difficult. If you have friends who are recent graduates, definitely keep in touch with them. I was really lucky that on my study abroad there were older people I could speak to after they had graduated. I think it was really helpful to know what I potentially wanted to replicate and other elements that I wanted to adjust for my own career. I would also say don’t forget to stay in touch with your professors. Don’t be shy about asking for letters of recommendation and asking about graduate schools. It was always so helpful to hear their opinions and perspectives. This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity and length.
Can you talk about your original short graduate thesis, “Cotton Something?” HS: “Cotton Something” is a short film about a pill-popping grandmother who moves into her daughter’s house, which disturbs the world of her teenage granddaughter. Right now, we’re in pre-production. I’ll be putting the film in production in August. I’m really excited about this film in particular because it’s the first short film where I’ve had complete control of everything. It’s still inspired and related to some of the work I did in my photography at Dartmouth. I think that my time at Dartmouth gave me the skills to critically think about stories that impact other people, and this is the first time I’m able to use those skills outside of my photography. COURTESY OF HOLLYE SWINEHART ‘18
FRIDAY, MAY 27, 2022
PAGE 5
THE DARTMOUTH SPORTS
SPORTS
Student-athletes honored at Celebration of Excellence
COURTESY OF GIL TALBOT AND DARTMOUTH ATHLETICS
Athletes recognized at the ceremony remark on how grateful they are to be a part of the Dartmouth athletics community.
BY MACENNA HANSEN The Dartmouth Staff
This article was originally published on May 23, 2022. L a s t M o n d a y, t h e a t h l e t i c department held its annual Celebration of Excellence, an event to honor and announce the student-athletes who were nominated by their coaches and captains for seven different awards. These athletes were chosen for their achievement on and off the field during the 2021-2022 academic year. The Alfred E. Watson Trophy was presented to Jalen Mackie ’22 for
being “Dartmouth’s top male student athlete of the year.” A linebacker on the football team, Mackie led the Ivy League with an average of ten tackles a game this past fall. Wo m e n’s r u g by p l a ye r I d i a Ihensekhien ’21 was given the Class of 1976 Award for the most outstanding female athlete. Highlights of her year include helping her team achieve a 7-0 record last fall, a 56-5 win in the 15s national semifinal and leading the team in the 15s national championship to victory by scoring two tries. The Kenneth Archibald Prize was awarded to Derek Kyler ’21 as the best all-around athlete of the graduating
class while also having moral worth and high standing in scholarship. Kyler, who is quarterback on the football team, was integral to the program’s back-to-back Ivy League Championship win and was ranked second in the nation this year on his completion percentage of 70.7%. He set both Dartmouth and Ivy League records in completion percentage and passing efficiency. The winners for the Class of 1948 Scholar-Athlete Award, given “to one male and one female athlete of the junior class, who have combined outstanding performance in athletics and significant achievement in academics,” were Cameron Wolfe ’23
of the men’s nordic skiing team and Samantha Yao ’23 of the women’s golf team. “I think the reason why I was able to win is that I have so many good resources around me, from my coaches to my professors and of course my family at home,” Wolfe said. Ranked the 11th best nordic skier in the east this past winter, Wolfe also holds a 3.93 GPA while pursuing a Bachelor of Engineering. Wolfe noted that while racing all winter, his professors were very understanding of his athletic commitment, ensuring that he never had to choose between skiing and classes.
“I think Dartmouth has a very open and encouraging atmosphere when it comes to trying to be an athlete and a student,” Wolfe said. “I’d say I’m super lucky to even have the possibility to do that.” Men’s soccer player Mothibi PennKekana ’22 won the Class of 1950 Award, which is given to the “varsity student-athlete who has demonstrated the most extraordinary commitment to community service.” Penn-Kekana, who is from South Africa, is the teaching assistant coordinator for the economics department and took a gap year to coach youth soccer in South Africa. Men’s basketball player Taurus Samuels ’22 was awarded the Timothy Wright Ellis 1955 Memorial Award, which is a male athlete chosen by the captains of the men’s teams who shows extracurricular and scholastic drive, spirit, loyalty and amiability. Samuels has been president of the Student Athlete Advisory Committee for the past two years and served as his team’s representative his sophomore year. He is the head of professional development for the Dartmouth Black Student Athlete Association and also ran an initiative to get student-athletes out to vote in 2020. “We got 90% of eligible studentathletes registered to vote which was super cool,” Samuels said. “It was my first time getting to lead an initiative.” Lilly Durbin ’21, who is on the women’s rugby team, was awarded the Agnes Kurtz Award, which is given to “the woman who best combines proficiency in athletics with dedication to the furthering of women’s sports.” Even after undergoing heart surgery in 2019 and facing uncertainty about the future of her rugby career, Durbin was one of the leaders of the team that won the national championship in the fall. “I think women’s rugby, as a team, we try to help further women’s sports in any way that we can,” Durbin said. “We help out with [National Girls and Women in Sports Day] and so I think [this award] is definitely a reflection of the whole team and how we embody the characteristics that rugby tries to uphold all over the world.”
Wells Willett ’24 wins title at collegiate cycling championship BY maia stewart The Dartmouth
Wells Willett ’24, a member of the Dartmouth cycling team, earned a national title at the National Collegiate Cycling Championship in Augusta, Ga. held from May 6-8. He earned two separate national championship jerseys over the weekend, taking first place in the 70-mile road race on Saturday and winning the 80-minute criterium race the next day. Dartmouth cycling as a whole also had an incredibly successful season this year, retaining the Ivy Cup this spring as well as winning the Eastern Cycling Conference — a testament to the dedication Willett and his teammates have to this program. Cycling team member Carlos Ohler Garcia ’24 described Willett’s tireless efforts this season — noting his leadership in particular, given that as a club team, cycling does not have a coach. “For the cycling team we don’t have a coach, so it means we have to organize
all our funding and all of the race accommodations,” Ohler Garcia said. “[Willett]’s sacrificed an enormous amount of time and effort, and he’s virtually planned the entire season for every single member.” Along with the challenges of a lack of staff support, the harsh Hanover winters along with COVID-19 disruptions that caused a year without collegiate racing provided obstacles that this team had to overcome. “During [COVID-19] the team was kind of struggling,” teammate Kieran Ahern ’21 said. “[Willett] and some of the sophomores did a really good job bringing the team back together.” Due to the remaining snow covering the grounds through early spring, practicing outside was virtually impossible. This forced Willett to spend his hours indoors on a stationary bike, he said. According to Willett, his teammates provided motivation and encouragement throughout this period. “Having other people to train with is
really motivating, especially in the winter,” Willett said. “A lot of our training is indoors in the spin room, [and] most of our training for the season comes in the winter when we can’t ride outside.” Willett joined the cycling team his freshman year, already a strong rider, but was able to improve even more this season, Ohler Garcia said. In the Big Green’s first race this year, Willett demonstrated that with an impressive performance that set the tone for the rest of the season. “Our first race of the season was probably the most memorable; he attacked and then he actually lapped the group,” Garcia said. “This is the men’s A field, consisting of really strong riders, and he just lapped the entire field. And he did that on numerous occasions, but witnessing it for the first time is kind of special.” Willett’s teammate attributed Willett’s success on the tracks to his extremely deliberate and intelligent cycling. Ahern noted that, like any sport, cycling takes hours of practice to master — and that Willett
embodies the level of dedication required for high-level success. “With cycling a lot of it is how much time can you put into it,” Ahern said. “You can’t really get fast quickly, and [Willett] has been putting in the time for a long time.” Going into the national championships, Willett prepared by scoping out his competitors in addition to taking care of his physical health in anticipation of the intense three days of racing. Willett said that his eventual excellent results in the championship emboldened him, giving him a renewed sense of confidence in his riding abilities. “This whole season I was racing in small fields of maybe 20 people,” Willett said. “I was doing very well against the fields, but nationals made me realize I could do well against other fast people.” Ohler Garcia said that he thought Willett was racing at a professional level from that first race, and that prediction is now being realized. Since the tournament, Willett has garnered interest from several professional
teams who have invited him to try out. Even amid this professional recognition, Willett plans to continue to dedicate himself to the Big Green team. He cited various goals going forward, but most notably expressed a desire to make Dartmouth cycling a more “accessible” team. “A lot of our effort has gone into being successful at racing, and a lot of the effort of the leadership of the team has gone into trying to make the club and the sport more accessible to people who don’t already compete, or who maybe haven’t competed for awhile, or don’t want to compete,” Willett said. On how it felt to leave Augusta with two national championship jerseys, Willett described a mix of emotions. “I went into the race weekend confident that I could win, but also knowing that a lot of things can happen in a three hour race that can change up the race finish,” he said. “It was exciting, rewarding, and surprising, even though I knew that I could do it. I don’t know if it’s sunk in yet.”
COURTESY OF WELLS WILLETT
Willett comes back to Hannaover with two championship jerseys after claiming first place in two different events.
MIRROR
PAGE 6
THE DARTMOUTH MIRROR
FRIDAY, MAY 27, 2022
Bound to Change: Is the Only Certainty in Life its Uncertainty? STORY
By Selin Hos
This article was originally published on May 25, 2022. Since when is it May? What a question. It’s seemingly inevitable that I ask it once per month, usually in the single quiet moment I afford myself amidst all the chaos to just breathe. It isn’t lost upon me, however, that this question is usually followed by another: Since when is it June? As I stare the remaining two weeks of my freshman year in the face, I can’t help but feel a bit incredulous that it is all coming to an end. “Since when …?” I often lament, but the answer is simple: Since September, or perhaps even when I was first accepted in December 2020 or even when I first visited Hanover the February before the pandemic even began. Needless to say, this life that I’ve built has long been in the making, brewing slowly in the background for quite some time. The other day I got a worried message from a younger friend of mine, who was ruefully counting down her last days of high school and frantically — or rather, pleadingly — asking me to reassure her that college will be “the best time of her life.” At that moment I was in a vulnerable state; coming off of my fifth straight hour studying at the same cramped table in the library, I was tempted to give her a less-thansatisfactory answer. I stopped myself before I could, though, because I knew deep in my heart that what I was about to say was not sincere, but a product of some arbitrary stress. Such a jaded answer wouldn’t be fair — not to her, not to Dartmouth and certainly not to me and my experience here. I remembered, then, what I had felt when I was in her position just a short time ago. Had it really only been a year since I was in her place, standing on what felt like the precipice of a vast uncertainty? It
would have been easy for me to give her a dismissive answer now that I was at the end of the tunnel. I had survived, but I couldn’t forget that she was still at its opening, peering in and wondering if there’s a light to be found at its end. I thought for a moment and answered with the truth, or, at least, my version of it. I told her that it will hit you when you least expect it — this moment of realization when you look around and you realize that the life that you are leading is completely different from the one you had been leading a year earlier. It’s the realization that at its core everything has changed, from where you live, to what you eat, to how you spend your time, to who and what you’re now expected to know. Who was I, though, to reassure her? How could I possibly explain that even though the very bedrock of your being changes, it will end up alright? I could only try my best to explain the experience of what it is like to forge a new life for yourself, and the steep learning curve that comes with it. I could try to explain the feeling of no longer being subjected to nine hours straight in a school building — of being master of your own time and the crushing weight of that responsibility. I could try to explain how through trial, but mostly through error, you spend months building a reliable menu for yourself, learning what to eat and where to eat it. I could try to explain that first moment that you find yourself referring to your dorm — that unfamiliar space and bed — as home in passing conversation. Or that moment when the sleeping stranger in your room no longer fazes you, becoming instead a roommate — a comrade in arms who helps to decorate, or buy soap for the bathroom, or consult on the day’s outfit while still half-asleep and bleary. I can’t explain it. I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to fully articulate what it means
KALYN DAWES/THE DARTMOUTH STAFF
to look around and understand that this is a distinctly new era in your life. How can I possibly verbalize what it means to get swept away in it all — to redefine the standards for what is considered normal? Just a year earlier, I would not have been able to recognize anything about the life that I currently lead, not the people I eat dinner with every night, the information in all of the classes I’ve taken, or even the lingo I’ve picked up here. I’ve gotten so used to it all that I cannot even begin to imagine my life being any different than how it currently is. Yet, as I embark upon the last two weeks of my first year, I can’t help but think about how, yet again, everything is
bound to change. I remember once hearing a quip that there are only three things in this life that are certain: taxes, death and the inevitable reality of change. Thinking about next year and what has yet to come, I can’t help but feel the echoes of the anxiety that plagued me a year ago. Sure, I may think I have it all figured out right now, but with the uncertainties of next year — of a new dorm, or a new roommate, or an introduction to Greek life, or friends both on and off campus, off exploring the world and rebuilding lives of their own — everything that I currently take for granted is subject to change once more. A look into the history of human civilizations will only confirm what I know to
be true: Nothing is built to last. The question then remains, however, of how we come to terms with that notion. Is the answer found in acknowledging the unease — of owning up to it? After all, is my life at this moment what I always imagined it to be like? Maybe. But the more important question is whether it even matters. Jean-Paul Sartre once said that being both is and is what it is not, and it strikes me that so too is life. Things just seem to be not only the way that they currently are, but also what they have the potential to be. Perhaps the answer to all of this uncertainty lies in taking it one day at a time — finding comfort in the moments that have passed and recognizing the inherent wonder of the ones that soon will.
Through the Looking Glass: Happy Accidents STORY
By Naina Bhalla This photo essay was originally published on May 25, 2022. During my sophomore fall, I listened to the song “Happy Accidents” by Saint Motel on repeat. It seemed to sum up college as I was experiencing it: unpredictable, marvelous and full of serendipitous moments. (As a side note, I was so happy when Saint Motel performed at Green Key this year.) Throughout my four years at Dartmouth, I’ve meticulously journaled about and scrapbooked pictures of my life. When I sat down to write this TTLG, I knew I wanted to share photographs that I’ve taken of places at Dartmouth that were meaningful to me, and it seemed only right to share some of the happy moments — and accidents — that came along with them. COURTESY OF HARISH TEKRIWAL
My freshman dorm: May 29, 2019.
Sigma Phi Epsilon: September 26, 2019. The letters over the porch changed several times, from Sigma Phi Epsilon to nothing to “THOT,” an anonymous prank and joke about the Thought Project. The Green: September 30, 2020.
Sanborn Library: February 25, 2022.
The river: October 22, 2020. Baker Tower: October 11, 2021. This (left) is one of the first photo essays which I took for The D, back when we printed every day. I used to collect the issues which had my photos in them so I could give them to my family.
As I flipped through old journals and photo albums to write this TTLG, I kept thinking — How can I possibly express the overwhelming, so-beautiful-that-it-hurts joy that I found in this little town of Hanover, New Hampshire? How will I ever be able to share the feeling that I’m left with after experiencing so many happy accidents here? I think this series of photographs is as close as it’s going to get. Gile fire tower: October 8, 2021.