VOL. CLXXIX NO. 15
FRIDAY, JULY 29, 2022
HANOVER, NEW HAMPSHIRE
‘It’s about time we have a female Town businesses president’: Campus reacts to respond to rising rent President-elect Sian Leah Beilock BY BEN FAGELL
The Dartmouth Staff
COURTESY OF LESLIE JENNINGS ROWLEY ’96
BY DANIEL MODESTO The Dartmouth Staff
Last Thursday, the College announced that Sian Leah Beilock — the current president of Barnard College — would serve as the first female president of the College. Campus leaders and students expressed excitement and high hopes for the new president, who will assume the post on July 1, 2023, following College President Phil Hanlon’s retirement in June 2023. Beilock visited campus last Friday, meeting with students, faculty, staff and alumni, according to the College. Approximately 400 people greeted the president-elect at a two-hour reception at the Hanover Inn. Devontae Lacasse ’24 attended the meetand-greet on Friday afternoon. He said he appreciated how Beilock’s background in cognitive science will help her tackle some of the issues on campus, such as mental health,
which she stressed as a priority during the meet-and-greet. “Hearing her say that [mental health was a priority] definitely was something that resonated with a lot of students and resonated with me because I know that’s something that we are trying to make better,” he said. “Seeing that her priorities line up with one of [our] main priorities, especially mental health at an institution like Dartmouth, was something that was definitely very reassuring.” In an interview after the reception, Beilock said that the reception demonstrated the strength of the Dartmouth community, which she had “already suspected during the interview process.” She noted that many people appreciated that she will be the College’s first female president, a responsibility that she takes seriously. “I think a lot of people resonated with the fact that I’m the first woman president, and it’s something that matters to me,”
Beilock said. “I am a cognitive scientist, and I’ve spent a lot of my research career studying how women and girls succeed in math and science, oftentimes when they’re underrepresented, so I take that responsibility to heart.” In addition to students, alumni, including actress Connie Britton ’89, Jake Tapper ’91 and Mindy Kaling ’01, also reacted to the announcement on social media. Some students at Barnard shared positive sentiments about Beilock, who is the institution’s current president. Teri Franco, a rising senior at Barnard, posted a TikTok in which she expressed her sadness about Beilock’s departure. In an interview, Franco said many students at Barnard “across the board” felt upset upon hearing the announcement. “From my experience, everyone was SEE BEILOCK PAGE 2
Classes of 1995 and 1996 celebrate in-person reunions back in Hanover
SUNNY HIGH 86 LOW 63
BY EMILY FAGELL
The Dartmouth Staff
SPORTS
STUDENT-ATHLETES EARN ACADEMIC HONORS PAGE 2
OPINION
DE WOLFF: YES, THIS IS A RECESSION PAGE 3
ARTS
STUDENTS CREATE MURAL IN IRVING INSTITUTE ATRIUM PAGE 4
FOLLOW US ON
@thedartmouth COPYRIGHT © 2022 THE DARTMOUTH, INC.
From July 22-24, alumni from the Classes of 1995 and 1996 gathered on campus for their first in-person reunion since the beginning of the pandemic. Although the celebrations were postponed in 2020 and 2021 due to COVID-19, the event — dubbed the “25th[ish] Reunion” in an email sent to alumni — aimed to commemorate the quarter-century milestone. According to Alumni Council president and reunion committee member Laurie Lewis Shapiro ’95 and Class of 1996 president Leslie Jennings Rowley ’96, roughly 275 members of the Class of 1995 and 240 members of the Class of 1996, along with hundreds of their children, attended the event. Jennings Rowley said the turn-out was “on par with past reunions” with these classes. She noted that the 25th reunion typically draws a larger crowd but that the pandemic likely prevented some classmates from traveling. According to the Class of 1995 and Class of 1996 webpages, the weekend included events such as group meals, campus tours, panel discussions and a “Reunion On The River,” during which alumni had access to swimming, kayaking and paddle boarding at the Ledyard Canoe Club. Class of 1995 president and reunion chair Alyse Kornfeld Streicher ’95 said the reunion committee aimed to create a lowkey atmosphere, calling on alumni to “relive [their] sophomore summer.” Nakiah Cherry Chinchilla ’96, the reunion chair for the Class of 1996, agreed that the weekend had an “authentic” feel. “The entire vibe from Thursday’s ‘Early Bird’ mixer to the post-Sunday brunch goodbyes up and down Main Street was so positive … [It] made me so proud to be a member of the Class of 1996,” Cherry Chinchilla wrote in an emailed statement. “[The reunion exceeded] every expectation I had for it, honestly.” Planning for the reunion began a few years ago – specifically 2019 for the Class of 1996, according to Cherry Chinchilla and Lewis Shapiro. When the Class of 1995 reunion was postponed in March
2020, the reunion committee had almost finished planning for the event, forcing the group to cancel their vendors and “almost … restart again,” Lewis Shapiro added. “It was so heartbreaking because you do look forward to it, and by that time it was March, so we were only a few months out,” she said. “Obviously none of us knew that it would last this long, so it was just a huge bummer. The committee had already done the work.” Both reunion committees adapted to the postponement. Kornfeld Streicher said that some committee members stepped down, allowing new classmates to join and Kornfeld Streicher to assume the chairmanship. Lewis Shapiro said that the Class of 1995 also switched its theme to “sophomore summer” to “embrace that [the reunion] was a little campy-er, a little chiller [since] it’s not the 25th.” She added that the College had never held a reunion in July, calling the weekend a “grand experiment in terms of who would come and how it would work.” Although the Class of 1996 had not yet fully planned their reunion when the pandemic struck, the group also experienced COVID-related changes and challenges, according to Jennings Rowley. Cherry Chinchilla wrote that the reunion “went from being a weekend full of College programming to one [essentially] with no College programming,” adding that flights also became more expensive in the past six months. She wrote that the 1996 committee still came in under budget, using registration fees — the primary funding for both classes — to finance the reunion. Ultimately, the College allowed both classes back on campus for their 25th reunion — a special accommodation that Jennings Rowley said not all classes received — under the restrictions of Dartmouth’s current COVID-19 policy. Other reunions were canceled entirely, but the 25th reunion committees convinced the College to postpone, rather than cancel, according to Rowley. Despite the delay and ensuing challenges, Jennings Rowley said the celebration was a success. SEE REUNION PAGE 2
Hanover businesses have faced varying degrees of difficulty adjusting to a post-pandemic environment, with one factor playing an outsized role: rent. While some already-strapped businesses are no longer able to stave off rising rent, others own their storefronts and have avoided financial hardship. Acco rd i n g t o Han over town manager Alex Torpey, affordability has been a recent challenge for the town’s businesses, noting that he has heard over the past month how tough it is to rent commercially. Bryan Smith, the owner of Records, Posters, and Memorabilia New Hampshire, said that his rent is slated to triple over the next few months — back to prepandemic levels. To cover rising property costs, “landlords want to go back to prepandemic rents, but costs are going up and sales are not returning,” Smith said. When the College buys real estate, Smith said it takes those properties out of the tax base, which increases property taxes for landlords. “We want one of the best public school systems in the country. We want quality of life. Our streets have no potholes, so they charge high property taxes,” Smith said. “...The prices that landlords get for rent around here are equivalent to major cities.” During the pandemic in 2021, Smith said he was two days from having to shutter his store, but his landlords lowered the rent to allow rpmNH to stay. Without reduced rent, he said he is struggling to stay afloat. Smith said that the store has been hit hard by a lack of employees, increasing shipping costs and reduced foot traffic — all of which have compounded with high rent to hurt rpmNH financially. He noted that costs of goods have increased 25% since January, with sales being down 20% in May and 30% in June. Jarrett Berke Tu’17, the owner and CEO of Lou’s Restaurant, noted that he has not faced the same difficulties. When he took over the restaurant, he bought Lou’s real estate, one of six condos within a singular building. Compared to 2021, Berke said Lou’s revenues are up 25% and patron count is up 10%, largely due to increased outdoor seating. “We, fortunately, are not subject to rent increases,” Berke said. “But … the rental market around Hanover just continues to increase, and, I think
it’s increasing far above what inflation is causing.” Duncan Carroll, the manager of Hanover Strings, also owns one of the six condos and has thus been insulated from the rental pressures. “We’re the oldest shop in town and the owner of this building,” Carroll said. “And that’s super unique in Hanover. Every shop gets turned over every couple years in town … most businesses don’t have that luxury of just being here forever, because we started in [1974].” Smith said he is unable to buy a storefront, as opposed to renting, noting that he does not “have a million dollars” nor the inclination to buy at age 62. According to Torpey, the town is in the process of creating an economic development committee dedicated to the sole purpose of recruiting and retaining businesses, which includes soliciting feedback about how the town can best support its stores and restaurants. Torpey noted that he hopes to form a committee composed of many different stakeholders, from tenants to landlords. Torpey added that Dartmouth “plays a huge role in downtown [Hanover].” Smith agreed, but noted that he has been frustrated by the College’s lack of concern for the town’s businesses. According to Smith, no one from the College notified him of the Class of 1995 and 1996 reunion this past weekend. “ Had I known, I would’ve had ’95 posters available out in the window,” Smith said. “And so we didn’t know until they actually started showing up. It would’ve been kind to inform the town … that there’s special things happening.” According to Torpey, the town is planning to take a closer look at turnover, understanding the root cause of the issue to better address it. “Our aim going forward is to have our finger on the pulse of who’s coming in and who’s coming out and why,” Torpey said. “For example that might mean having a database of all of the commercial property in town and who’s in it, how long they’ve been there and what features it has.” Smith said he is planning to decide in the coming months whether he will continue to run rpmNH, saying that he has already stopped buying new tapestries and intends to stop purchasing records. “I will reevaluate in October depending on what [the landlords] want to charge me,” Smith said.
KATELYN HADLEY/THE DARTMOUTH STAFF
Rising rent has impacted some businesses in Hanover, while others who own their storefronts have gone mostly unaffected.
PAGE 2
FRIDAY, JULY 29, 2022
THE DARTMOUTH NEWS & SPORTS
President-elect stops by Hanover, meets students FROM BEILOCK PAGE 1
upset,” said Franco. “…On different political orientations, different demographic groups, the various groups that I’m a part of — across the board — were all super upset. Everyone felt like this was a loss.” Rising sophomore at Barnard Amelia Lang said that she was “not entirely surprised” to hear the announcement of Beilock’s departure from Barnard, noting that she had heard rumors about Beilock leaving. She added, however, that it was interesting to see other people’s reactions to the announcement given that Lee Bollinger, the president of Columbia University, also announced plans to retire in June 2023. According to the Board of Trustees chair Elizabeth Cahill Lempres ’83 Th’84, the presidential search process started with the appointment of 19 faculty, staff, students, alumni and trustees to the presidential search committee to create a “truly representative of the community at large.” The committee then held 12 public listening sessions and sent a survey to encourage participation and collect names for their consideration. Lempres said that the presidential search committee — both at large and in small groups — conducted interviews with candidates, sometimes in a “relaxed atmosphere” to get to know the candidates as individuals. She noted that the committee also spoke with people who had worked with Beilock because the committee wanted to see how she would fit into the Dartmouth community. “That was a big factor for us, making sure that the community would fully embrace the individual and also that the individual would be excited to be part of the Dartmouth community,” Lempres said. “And I think [Beilock] checks both those boxes very fully.” The presidential search committee
recommended Beilock to the Board of Trustees meeting on June 19, Lempres said. The trustees were able to meet Beilock inperson before they voted unanimously in favor, according to Lempres. Student Assembly president David Millman ’23 celebrated Beilock’s election, adding that it was “about time we have a female president.” “I think that’ll bring such a needed perspective in that role to the College,” he said. Millman said that he hopes Student Assembly will work with Beilock throughout the transitional process and start informal conversations with Student Assembly to “tackle some of the pressing issues” and make sure that “student perspectives are heard throughout the process.” He took issue with the lack of participation from Student Assembly in the presidential search committee. In 2012, the presidential search committee that elected President Hanlon was composed of 14 faculty, staff, students and alumni — the sole student representative was the student body president that year, Suril Kantaria ’13. “There’s precedent for involving student government, in some capacity as the elected representation of the student body, in that sort of committee, or some type of session or feedback gathering or some part of the process,” Millman said. “And that just didn’t happen this time.” According to Millman, it is important that Student Assembly works with Hanlon in his final year on student issues, such as mental health and student housing. “I think that there’s a tremendous opportunity to work with President Hanlon throughout this last year, and try to make substantial progress on issues that he may consider to be his legacy that he’s leaving at Dartmouth,” he said.
Alumni gather on campus for reunions
COURTESY OF ALYSE STREICHER ’95
FROM REUNION PAGE 1
“It was fabulous, aside from the heat — or maybe in addition to the heat,” Jennings Rowley added. “Our energy in the tent and everywhere that ’96s were and ’95s were was electric, and people were so glad to have a way to come together and see one another, particularly many of whom hadn’t seen each other for many, many years.” Official festivities began on Friday, July 22, during which alumni could attend a tour of the Hood Museum of Art, enjoy a barbecue class dinner, take their children to the “BEMA Kid Space” — replete with lawn games, crafts and an inflatable movie screen — and socialize in the class tent, according to the Class of 1995 reunion schedule. On Saturday, both classes held memorial services to commemorate their lost peers. Alumni could also attend tours and open houses of campus spaces, including the Baker bell tower, the Bartlett Tower, public art on campus, and the newly-unveiled West End. At a class dinner, attendees also enjoyed a reception and a performance by the Dartmouth Summerphonix, according to
Summerphonix member David Katz ’24. Theweekendalsoincludedseveralpanels. The Class of 1996 held a “Celebrating 50 Panel” discussing gender and race in the 1990s, while the Class of 1995 hosted two panel discussions. One was entitled “What’s Happening Now at Dartmouth” and the other “Empathos,” which was focused on support and reconnection, according to Empathos committee chair Ray Wadlow ’95. While many alumni said they enjoyed the planned events, Tiernan Sittenfeld ’96 and others said the best part of the weekend was reuniting with old friends and classmates. “I think for me the biggest highlight was getting to see so many friends and classmates, both people who I am lucky to get to see periodically but also people I hadn’t seen in a really long time,” said Sittenfeld. Wadlow added that this reunion felt “fundamentally different” than other reunions he has attended. “I don’t know whether it’s the magnitude of it being the 25th,” Wadlow said. “But everybody’s getting to the stage now where, whether you sort of say it out loud or not, you realize that time’s moving on. … There
really is nothing like the bond you have with the people that you spent four years with at Dartmouth.” Some alumni said they also enjoyed interacting with students on campus, such as the student reunion workers or those on campus for sophomore summer. Wadlow, for example, said he had dinner with a group of brothers in his fraternity, Psi Upsilon. Head student worker for the Class of 1996 Moonoka Begay ’23 added that she naturally got to know alumni as part of her job. “Every time we were around the tent, moving things around, we were directing people where to go, giving them helpful tips or just really connecting on a base level,” she said. Colton Sankey ’24, the head student worker for the Class of 1995, said that he helped organize a reunion for his Greek space. “I was able to see a lot of [alumni] come back to their Greek space — which I now share with them — and hang out and continue to talk about what they did back when they were here and be able to internally compare that to the experience that I’m having right now,” Sankey said.
SPORTS
Student-athletes from track and field, volleyball, men’s hockey and women’s lacrosse earn national academic honors BY Lanie Everett The Dartmouth Staff
Student-athletes from men’s hockey, track and field, volleyball and women’s lacrosse received various academic recognition awards this past week. While students balance work, life and play differently, many shared that they rely on their coaches and each other to find success. Men’s Hockey Last Wednesday, Mark Gallant ’23, Tyler Campbell ’23 and Steven Townley ’25 were awarded All-American Scholar honors from the Krampade American Hockey Coaches Association for this past academic year. The three hockey players received the honor by upholding a 3.75 GPA each semester while appearing in 40% of varsity games in season. Townley said that during his first collegiate season, he quickly learned to get into the habit of practicing an efficient routine. “It’s pretty much going to your workout, go to practice, eat and then get right to the library and start studying until bedtime,” Townley said. Gallant –– a two-time winner of the award –– said he relies on time management skills to balance playing hockey with performing well in his classes. Gallant added that he believes hockey helps him to get into a solid routine that increases his overall productivity. “Honestly, having hockey [at Dartmouth] gives me a level of discipline because it gives me structure and makes me focus more than I would if I wasn’t playing hockey,” Gallant said. “I feed off of hockey, and I allow it to force me to manage my time.” Both Townley and Gallant noted that older teammates and coaches have supported them on and off the ice. “[The coaches] always check in with us to make sure we are on top of our classes –– similar to what the older guys will do if they see someone struggling,” Gallant said. Track and Field Both the men’s and women’s track and field teams were honored as 2022 AllAcademic Teams by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association on Wednesday. Although the award requires every member to have a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or higher, the Big
ASPEN ANDERSON/THE DARTMOUTH STAFF
Green women’s track and field boasted a 3.504 GPA across all members while men’s track and field achieved a 3.494 GPA. These marks put both men’s and women’s track and field fourth among Ivy League schools. Julia Fenerty ’23, member of the track team and a winner of the 2022 All-American Award granted by the USTFCCCA, said that when she is not in season, she feels motivated to focus on her classes more because she doesn’t have rigorous training each day. During the season, Fenerty said track practice offers a nice break from time spent doing homework and allows her to return to work with a fresh mindset. “When we go to practice, it only takes up a couple of hours a day, but during those hours you are so focused on it that it’s nice to have a complete break from everything else stressing you out with your work,” Fenerty said. “It helps you organize [your day] a little more.”
Alongside Fenerty, Lily Lockhart ’21 and Anoush Krafian ’23 also earned the distinction of 2022 All-American on the women’s track and field team. To earn this award, athletes must have achieved a 3.25 GPA or greater while simultaneously placing in the top 96 in an individual event, participating in the NCAA DI Outdoor Championships or finishing ranked in the top 48 for eastern academic institutions. From the men’s track and field team, Jake Dalton ’23, Karl-Oskar Pajus ’25 and Myles Schreck ’22 were recognized as 2022 All-American Athletes. Fenerty said her teammates help her succeed on the track as well as in the classroom by holding each other accountable to stay on top of such a demanding schedule. “If you leave practice and have to do work, it’s a lot better to go with a group of friends who just went through the same thing you did at practice and are just as tired,” Fenerty said.
Volleyball Last Monday, Big Green volleyball received the United States Marine Corps and American Volleyball Coaches Association Team Academic Award. The team averaged a 3.567 GPA throughout the year and ended strong with a 3.702 GPA for spring term. Karen Murphy ’24, co-captain of the volleyball team, said that academics and athletic priorities are valued on the volleyball team. According to Murphy, each member of the team plans out their week using an online calendar or agenda, and the team members and coach share a mass calendar to schedule practices and meetings around the availability of team members. While Murphy expressed that she has limited free time, she said believes it is also important to take time for self-care. “We are student-athletes and the student comes first, but volleyball is a really close second to that,” Murphy said. “It is a huge time commitment, and you have to learn
how to deal with that.” Volleyball head coach Gilad Doron said he is committed to leading his team to success on the court as well in the classroom, adding that he understands his athletes are also students at Dartmouth to learn. “We always have these discussions of what excellence means at Dartmouth. You are an excellent student and you got here because you have to be.” Coach Doron said. “I’m really proud of the work they put in.” Women’s Lacrosse Most recently, five team members on the women’s lacrosse team earned a spot on the 2022 Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association’s Division I Academic Honor Roll. Annika Begley ’22, Anna Griffith ’22, Adrie Luster ’22, Nina Nesselbush ’23 and Jazmyne Ward ’22 achieved this distinction as juniors or seniors with at least a 3.5 GPA.
FRIDAY, JULY 29, 2022
PAGE 3
THE DARTMOUTH OPINION
STAFF COLUMNIST: THOMAS DE WOLFF ’24
Yes, This Is a Recession
Playing word games won’t disguise the fact that Americans are hurting. For the second straight quarter, the United States’ economy has shrunk, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis. What does this mean? Conventional wisdom would say the economy is in a recession. But statements coming from the upper echelons of our government, such as Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen’s denial of this fact, would lead one to believe that this is not the case. Their motivations for doing this are simple: If the economy is doing poorly, that bodes ill for the ruling Democratic Party come November. Official recognition of this fact would mean an admission of guilt, but no amount of hemming and hawing can disguise the fact that the economy is approaching a dangerous place. Instead of trying to cover up their mistakes, the Biden administration should own up to the situation it is in or else they will be soundly rebuked in November. Democrats used to think differently about defining a recession. On Tuesday of this week, one of President Biden’s chief economic advisors,
National Economic Council director Brian Deese, insisted that two negative quarters of GDP growth is not the technical definition of a recession. However, back in 2008, he stated that “economists have a technical definition of recession, which is two consecutive quarters of negative growth.” In 2008, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi also said that a recession is two quarters of negative growth in a row. Even the media agrees with this diagnosis. More recently, in 2015, the Washington Post explained that “two negative quarters in a row is a standard indicator for an economic recession.” In 2020, CNN Business stated that “economists normally define a recession as consecutive quarters of negative growth.” What changed? Unlike in 2008 and 2020, Republicans are no longer the ones who will take the blame for a recession. Now, the Democrats are in power, with midterm elections being just three months away putting them in the hot seat. Any official acknowledgment of a recession will
ZOELLA LIN ’24: NEED ONE
not help their precarious position heading into November. This approach, while misguided, is hardly surprising. These are the same people who tried to argue that inflation would only last for the duration of the pandemic, when data revealed in June that inflation actually increased 9.1% from one year earlier. When Democrats tell Americans that we are not in a recession right now, but prices on everything from gasoline to bacon and eggs are soaring, and real wages are stagnant or falling nationwide, this will only further erode the already-fractious relationship between Americans and their government. Bereft of any meaningful guidance from the top, when it comes to recessions, perhaps people should borrow from former Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart. Referring to obscenity, he said, “I know it when I see it.” Americans facing rising prices, falling wages and a contracting economy — plus no acknowledgment of their plight by their government — know a recession when
they see one. Instead, they will turn to those who acknowledge the hard facts of this predicament. George H.W. Bush faced a recession leading up to his 1992 re-election campaign, and his lack of empathy for the economic struggles of Americans dealing with the recession was a definite factor in his defeat. Similarly, disparaging the harsh realities facing Americans today will hurt Democrats on the ballot this year. Democrats should be wary of continuing their foolish approach where they deny basic reality. Only three in 10 Americans approve of President Biden on the economy. Recently, even 56% of Democrats think we are in a recession. What’s more, 62% of Democrats say that things in this country are going at least “pretty badly” in general. When Democrats, who are most likely to think the best of Biden’s presidency, are panning it, Democrats should take heed. Stop this feeble attempt at countersignaling before it’s too late, or else Americans will thoroughly reject Democrats and their agenda at the polls in November.
ANSWERS FROM LAST WEEK’S MINI
EMILY LU, Editor-in-Chief DANIEL MODESTO, Production Executive Editor ADRIANA JAMES-RODIL, News Executive Editor
AMY PARK, Publisher
BEN FAGELL Managing Editor
PRODUCTION EDITORS THOMAS DE WOLFF, Opinion Editor OMALA SNYDER, Mirror Editor KRISTIN CHAPMAN, CHAPMAN Sports Editor JAYANTH UPPALURI, UPPALURI, Arts Editor KATELYN HADLEY, Photo Editor ZOORIEL TAN, TAN Design Editor ARIELLE FEUERSTEIN, FEUERSTEIN Templating Editor
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
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 royalty-free, irrevocable, perpetual, worldwide and exclusive license to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish and create derivative works from such content.
PAGE 4
FRIDAY, JULY 29, 2022
THE DARTMOUTH ARTS
Q&A with Hopkins Center executive director Mary Lou Aleskie BY ARIELLE FEUERSTEIN
The Dartmouth Senior Staff
With plans for the renovation of the Hopkins Center for the Arts underway, executive director of the Hop Mary Lou Aleskie has committed to serving in the role for another term. Aleskie began in the position in 2017, and during her first term, the College announced an $88 million dollar expansion to the Hop. The Dartmouth sat down with Aleskie to discuss her role as executive director and what she hopes the renovation of the Hop will bring to the local arts community. What are some of the accomplishments you’re most proud of since arriving at Dartmouth in 2017? MLA: I think we’ve really built an opportunity for people to understand that the arts are with us everywhere across campus; while you can come and witness art by sitting in a seat, there are lots of additional ways that the arts at Dartmouth are being amplified. I would say that was represented very thoroughly during the pandemic when we created Hop@Home so that we could still have artistic events and bring people together, even though they were far away and, in some cases, extended around the world. What was exciting about Hop@Home was that it led to another accomplishment. As we were thinking about the expansion
of the Hopkins Center for the Arts, we were able to have the College embrace the idea that we’re building an arts district. This phase of construction of the Hopkins Center is the launch of a plan that extends beyond the Hopkins Center to the relationship between the Hopkins Center, the Black Family Visual Arts Center, the Hood Museum of Art as well as other surrounding buildings. The College’s press release about the announcement of your second term at the Hop states you will expand your vision of the Hop. How would you describe your vision of the Hop, both in terms of Dartmouth’s campus and outside the Upper Valley? MLA: I think that the work that is being done in the Hopkins Center will expand our capacity not just in terms of the volume and the amount of work that we’re able to do, but for the diversity of our work. For example, “The Ritual of Breath is the Rite to Resist” is a piece that we’re producing that is a multi-dimensional opera — in the form of an offering — for the healing of Black lives who have been impacted by police violence. And it happens with a stage experience that’s fully immersive but also extends to a series of community activities and rituals that build community in support of what’s being experienced on stage. I would say
that the resonance of the artistic work that we’re involved in is now expanding by building in opportunities to actually have impact beyond the stage and and bring in a lot more voices than we would normally have.
As the Hop undergoes renovations over the next couple of years, performances and events will instead be hosted at the Black Family Visual Arts Center and similar spaces. Do you think these performances will be able to replicate the Hop experience, and how will the Hop ensure that performances maintain the level of quality and production in these new spaces? MLA: I do think that there is an opportunity to replicate the experience, but there’s also an opportunity to innovate and experience what we might be able to do more of in an expanded and more adaptable Hopkins Center. With the Hopkins Center being built in the mid20th century, it is set up for the audience to be completely separate from the artistic experience and to be there as witnesses only. I think when we’re in other spaces — and when we come back to the Hopkins Center — we will have opportunities for more adaptable ways in which our audience can interact with artists and how we can interact with technologies that allow us to expand even beyond the
walls of the new Hop. I think for our own creative community, it’ll be an opportunity to not only respond to the performances that are coming to us from visiting artists, but also to think more creatively about how we execute things that we’ve been doing in one way since the building opened. We know that culture and the arts have changed significantly, and the role of the arts in addressing human need, in responding to issues of the day, in generating empathy and response from our community is even more heightened now.
What are some of the developments that you are looking forward to in your second term as Hop director? Are there specific goals you have in mind? MLA: I would say groundbreaking and opening for sure. I think the other thing I’m excited about is making sure that we’re maintaining enough of the traditions while expanding the capacity: Making sure that the Hop still feels like the familiar place that we’ve loved but still having the capacity to do new and dynamic and interesting things. What are these traditions that you want to preserve after the renovation of the Hop? MLA: We have such great student-led dance groups and acapella groups. Many of them rehearse and perform in the
Hopkins Center, but many of them are always looking for space. I’m hoping that we can have a more rich arts community in the Hop because we’ll have more opportunities for those groups to have space to be in. We, of course, love our town-gown relationship with the Handel Society and want to make sure that community feels welcome — not only in the audience, but also in our ensembles. Those are some of the iconic traditions of the Hopkins Center. And there are other things, like burgers and fries in between shows. Having it all back in one space that allows us to feel like we’re united as a community is pretty amazing. Do you have any closing thoughts about your experience and goals as the executive director of the Hop? MLA: The idea of an expanded arts community where the arts are an important part of every student’s life is becoming more tangible. In a place like Dartmouth — which is so focused on the liberal arts — we have an opportunity to make sure that the arts are centered in a way that’s harder at other institutions which are larger and less collaborative. I really can’t wait to see what our community does with the arts district as we move forward. This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity and length.
Students design and create mural in Irving Institute atrium BY ARIELLE FEUERSTEIN The Dartmouth Senior Staff
In fall 2021, a team of students received a challenge: How could they make the energy efficiency of the Irving Institute for Energy and Society more visible to everyday visitors of the building? In response, the team commissioned a mural, which a group of student artists then conceptualized in the spring. The mural is now visible to the public in the atrium of the Irving Center. “The Irving Institute is the most efficient building on campus; it’s got all these fun, cool new features that make it super amazing, but no one really would see that or really know if you just walked in the building on your own,” Avery Hormaechea ’24, one of the student commissioners, said. Hormaechea is a member of Design Corps, a program within the Thayer School of Engineering’s Design Initiative at Dartmouth. The program matches teams of students interested in applying engineering and design thinking skills with on-campus clients. This particular team of students — composed of Hormaechea, Kiera Bernet ’23 and Sanne Schouten ’23 — was paired with the Irving Center and the Sustainability Office. Irving Institute academic director Amanda Graham and Dartmouth Sustainability director Rosi Kerr requested that the Design Corps team “showcase the efficiency of the Irving building,” according to Schouten. Once the team had their assignment, they first conducted research to learn what the most interesting features of
the building were and how to best communicate those to their audience, according to Hormaechea. The team spoke to people who work in the Irving Institute, students who frequent the building and various design professors before settling on the idea of a mural. Their research also revealed four key elements of the Irving Institute that the team wanted to highlight in the mural, Hormaechea said. According to the mural’s curators’ statement, written by the the Design Corps Irving Institute and Sustainability Office team, the four features include the following: 91% of the Irving Institute’s workspaces are naturally lit; the glass facade pulls air up using fans — without expending energy — in order to operate as a natural ventilation system; the building’s heating and cooling system is water-based and the building regulates temperature and air flow using automation. Once the Design Corps team settled on highlighting these four concepts in a mural, they commissioned student artists to actualize the project in the spring. The process of designing the mural took about one month and painting the mural took about one week, according to Hormaechea. “There ended up being seven artists who went on to create the final design and then install it,” Hormaechea said. “They did all the actual creation of the design, and we just helped them along the process, giving feedback.” Harrison Munden ’23, one of the artists, described the mural as featuring many “hands in motion.” “We wanted to have it be free and flowy and sort of feel like it was a community — which is why we have
KAITELYN HADLEY/THE DARTMOUTH STAFF
The Design Corps Irving Institute and Sustainability Office team commissioned the mural to illustrate the building’s energy and sustainability features.
all those hands working together [on the mural],” Munden said. “And they flow into the painting because we are the spaces that we create.” Munden explained that the artists wanted the mural to be abstract in order to represent the creativity and “risk” that the Irving Institute embodies. “I know that changing to a hot water heating system is a huge risk for Dartmouth because it requires all new
pipes and a completely new heating system, but it’s more efficient in the future and can save a lot of money,” Munden said. “That sort of thinking is something that we wanted to keep in this painting, which is why we went this more abstract way instead of something more traditional.” The final iteration of the mural includes many bright, contrasting colors. According to Munden, the artists chose to use bright colors in
COURTESY OF AVERY HORMAECHEA ’24
order to ensure that the mural would pop” “The background that the mural was going on was going to be a frosted glass … so we chose brighter colors and we wanted it to catch your eyes,” Munden said. According to Sam Miller ’24, another artist, the only challenge he encountered while painting the mural was the difficulty of working on a glass surface. “It takes a lot of time painting on glass and getting layers of paint to show up and not translucent — to just be a solid color. It took a lot of coats, and it took a lot of time,” Miller said. Hormaechea noted that she was grateful that the mural provided a unique space on campus to display student art. “We also, through this research process, learned that there’s just not a lot of spaces on campus for student artists to present their work and have it displayed … so it was really cool to … have an opportunity for [students] to share their work,” Hormaechea said. The mural is a temporary fixture, according to Hormaechea. However, she noted that the Irving Institute and the Sustainability Office expressed some interest in continuing to hire students to design murals for the space. Miller shared strong support for this idea. “I definitely think that this should keep going and they should keep hiring student artists to do this because it really makes the space feel more like it belongs to the students and the community,” Miller said.