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JB Wells of Endicott College named head coach of Bowdoin football team
Bowdoin announced JB Wells as its 29th head football coach Wednesday morning. Wells joins the Polar Bears by way of Endicott College, where he was the first coach in program history and accrued a 75-48 record over his 12 seasons with the Gulls.
The announcement came directly after a 7 a.m. meeting in Kresge Auditorium where Wells introduced himself to the entire team.
Wells knows the NESCAC well, as he graduated from Trinity College in 1991 and started for three years as an offensive lineman for the Bantams. He also held assistant coaching positions at both Trinity and Bates during the '90's.
"This was really less of a football decision and more of a career decision," said Wells. "I played in the conference, and the NESCAC means a lot to me. I've always seen myself as returning to the NESCAC in one of the positions, I just didn't know where it was gonna be."
For Wells, the decision to leave the Endicott program, which he built from the ground up, was not an easy one.
"I can't thank Endicott enough for the opportunity I was given as a 31 year-old, unproven head coach," he said. "They handed me a blank canvas and all the art supplies I needed to paint a picture and put my vision on that canvas. To see it come to life and see it succeed in the way that it did was remarkable. It was hard to leave."
After Dave Caputi stepped down this fall after 15 years as head coach, Ashmead White Director of Athletics Tim Ryan sat down with the team and established a set of desired characteristics for its next coach. He then narrowed the applicants down to those which he presented to the selection committee.
The selection committee was headed up by Ryan. Also on the committee were team captains Parker Mundt '16, Brendan Lawler '16 and Dan Barone '16, Assistant Athletic Director for Communications Jim Caton, Assistant Dean of Admissions Zakaree Harris, Assistant Director of Employment and Staffing Meredith Haralson, Associate Head Athletic Trainer Megan Thompson, Head Coach of Field Hockey Nicky Pearson, Head Coach of Baseball Mike Connelly and Associate Professor of Africana Studies and History Brian Purnell, who is the faculty liaison to the football team.
"Before we could even look at it, Tim Ryan sifted through upwards of 100 applicants," said Mundt. "It came down to the final 12 or 15 guys who he thought were appropriate."
Mundt said it was not difficult to decide on the top four candidates.
"In their cover letters, it was really quite obvious," he continued. "Even just the language some of the guys were using, it was pretty clear that they were not fitting our standards. It was a really quick process."
After narrowing it down to four, the committee closely evaluated the remaining candidates. Lawler, Barone and Mundt conducted phone interviews.
"A couple of the other phone interviews I had were 20 minutes long, very meat and potatoes, question and answer," said Mundt. "And that's not what I was looking for at all."
"My interview with [Coach Wells] was different, and I knew it was different," said Mundt. "We had a conversation for an hour and a half, which was exactly what I wanted. I got a really good feel for what he's about, and he got a feel for what we're about here."
But while Wells is still yet to move any of his possessions from his Beverley office to his Brunswick one, he has already turned his thoughts toward his new roster. He plans to leave Bowdoin's base 4-2-5 defense relatively intact, including coverages and blitz schemes similar to those he employed while with the Gulls.
The offense, though, will have a new look next year. Tyler Grant '17 is the attack's best returning weapon, having led the NESCAC with 893 rushing yards last season. He also had over 75 more carries than any other back in the league despite standing only 5'10" and weighing just 158 pounds.
"I've always been in favor of having a two-headed monster, two guys that can shoulder the load," Wells said. "It makes them both better. So the scheme on running the football will be different. They ran a zone scheme and I'm more of a gap scheme kind of a guy. I love the traditional power play. I'm an offensive line guy, and it kind of speaks to my soul as a football player."
"I've also had a lot of success in my career throwing the football. I look at guys like Seamus Power ['16] and Danny Barone that stood out to me on film. I'd like to see us be a little more vertical in our passing game. We have to throw for more than one passing touchdown in the season."
Wells takes over a Polar Bear squad that finished 2-6 last year and has an all-time record of 392-502-44. And while he plans to bring cultural changes to the program, a full overhaul is not to be expected.
"I heard one of the players allude to us making a turnaround," he said. "Well, a turnaround says that you're going in the wrong direction. I don't think that Bowdoin's going in the wrong direction, I think that we just need to get a little more in line, a little bit more focused and get everybody—everybody—headed in the right direction."
According to Wells, heading in the right direction means an intense focus on oneself.
"One of my idiosyncrasies is that I will never mention an opponent by name," he said. "They're just 'that team over there in Lewiston,' or whatever. I don't talk about those guys, because the focus should always be on us. Your opponents are just a sounding board for how good you can be."
As the football team moves into this new era, all involved are focused on the future.
"There's no magic wand you can wave as a college football coach coming into a program that's historically been a 3-5, 2-6 team," said Mundt. "We're expecting to win this year, but it's something where you'll want to come back and see success later. I know they're going to be winning five, six, seven or eight games a year. If you can set your guys up for success and in five years come and watch them win games, that's awesome."
"At the end of the day, it was 'Can you be successful?'" said Wells. "And I wouldn't be sitting in this seat if I didn't think that we could. I left the program that I built from scratch and I was only going to do that if I could be at a special place."
- 2 days ago
Snapshot: What a difference a day makes in Smith Union
On Monday afternoon, Smith Union was packed with students, faculty, staff and community members to welcome President-elect Clayton Rose to campus. Today, Smith Union was quiet as much of campus was closed and some classes were cancelled because of winter storm "Juno."
Photos by Hy Khong (Jan. 26) and Jono Gruber (Jan. 27)
- 2 days ago
Snapshot: Snowpocalypse 2015
Winter Storm Juno
- 3 days ago
Trustees elect Clayton S. Rose 15th president of the College
President-elect introduced to Bowdoin community on campus this afternoon
This morning the Board of Trustees unanimously elected Clayton S. Rose the 15th president of the College, effective July 1. President-elect Rose, who is currently a professor of management practice at the Harvard Business School (HBS), accepted the position shortly after the vote.
Prior to his time at HBS, Rose worked for 20 years in the financial services industry, serving as vice chairman and chief operating officer at J.P. Morgan in 2001 when he decided to return to academia. He enrolled in a doctoral program in sociology at the University of Pennsylvania in 2003, where he studied race in America and graduated with distinction in 2007. Rose's other academic credentials include a B.A. and M.B.A. from the University of Chicago. He is originally from San Rafael, Calif.
The College held a brief ceremony at 3 p.m. in David Saul Smith Union to introduce Rose to the Bowdoin community. President Barry Mills, Chair of the Presidential Search Committee and member of the Board of Trustees Jes Staley '79, Rose and his wife Julianne were in attendance. Several hundred students, faculty, staff and Brunswick residents filled Morrell Lounge and lined the ramps of Smith Union to hear Rose speak.
Staley, representing the search committee, noted that the body tirelessly pursued the right candidate.
"We came from different backgrounds and ages," said Staley. "The search committee clearly reflected the diversity of Bowdoin. The search committee worked incredibly hard. We poured over hundreds of résumés and discussed dozens of potential candidates."
Staley said that the search committee was confident that Rose is the individual best-suited to guide Bowdoin into the future.
"The search committee was convinced that Clayton has thought deeply about the values of a liberal arts education and the challenges that lie ahead. He has the intellectual strength and quiet confidence to engage with our faculty as we consider the issues facing modern education—from technology to accessibility," he said.
Rose's candidacy came from Isaacson, Miller, the search firm Bowdoin employed in finding its new president, but Rose and Staley in fact worked together at J.P. Morgan.
"Jes [Staley] made it clear at the start of the process that he had a relationship with Clayton [Rose]," said Chair of the Board of Trustees Deborah Barker in an interview with the Orient.
Rose also facilitated a portion of a retreat for the Board of Trustees five years ago.
Rose began his first address to the Bowdoin community by acknowledging Mills' accomplishments during his 14-year tenure. Resounding applause followed this recognition, demonstrating the esteem in which the Bowdoin community holds Mills.
Earlier in the afternoon during an interview with Orient, Rose explained the decision he made in 2001 to leave the world of finance and return to academia.
"In the business sphere you kind of think of things as a mile wide and an inch deep, and I wanted to flip that and see if I had the intellectual chops to be able to go a mile deep and an inch wide," said Rose. "The issue that I wanted to go a mile deep into was the issue of race in America, so sociology was the natural academic platform to pursue that interest. I had never taken a sociology class in my life until I showed up at Penn to begin the program—it's quite a remarkable and powerful discipline actually as I discovered."
Rose also spoke to the pressures faced by today's liberal arts colleges. He acknowledged that the public is becoming increasingly conscious of the value of higher education in terms of dollars and cents, but said that there is still a need for the liberal arts.
"It is essential to helping us grow, to shaping us, to creating fulfilling lives, meaningful lives for each of us, and then there's the value it brings to society more broadly, an engaged and informed citizenry," Rose said.
He added that a liberal arts education does not disadvantage students as they enter the job market.
"I actually see no tension, no tradeoff between a very high quality liberal arts education that's dedicated to the notion of the individual and society," Rose said. "The skills and tools that you develop in liberal arts education—critical thinking and the ability to communicate and understand the world—are incredibly important to whatever vocation someone is going to have. Those are deeply meaning and powerful skills."
For more on today's event, including student commentary, visit the Orient's Twitter page. More coverage on President-elect Clayton Rose will be published in Friday's edition of the paper.
- 3 days ago
Emails: Clayton Rose announced as 15th president of the College
Clayton S. Rose, Ph.D., a professor at Harvard Business School, will be the 15th president of the College, according to a community-wide email from Chair of the Bowdoin College Board of Trustees Deborah Jensen Barker '80. Students will have the opportunity to meet President Rose this afternoon at 3 p.m. in Morrell Lounge. Read the full text of Barker's email below:
Dear members of the Bowdoin community,It is my privilege to report to you that following a unanimous vote of approval this morning by the Board of Trustees, Clayton S. Rose, Ph.D., has been elected president of Bowdoin College, effective July 1, 2015.Clayton, who earned his doctorate in sociology with distinction at the University of Pennsylvania, is currently a professor at the Harvard Business School. I join my colleagues on the search committee and on the Board who believe he is the ideal person to lead Bowdoin into the future. He is immensely qualified academically, combining a passion for the liberal arts and a dedication to teaching and learning with extensive leadership experience. He's going to be terrific as Bowdoin's next president.Clayton was the unanimous choice of a truly extraordinary Presidential Search Committee led tirelessly by Jes Staley '79, P'11, to whom I and the entire Bowdoin community owe a great deal of thanks. The search committee received many, many nominations, suggestions, and ideas and carefully considered the qualifications of a truly impressive pool of potential leaders for Bowdoin. In the end, Clayton Rose was the clear choice, and all of us involved in this process couldn't be more excited about his selection.I invite you to read the official announcement about Clayton's appointment appended below, and to visit the Bowdoin website for more information on the search. I also invite you to gather this afternoon at 3:00 p.m. in the Morrell Lounge of the David Saul Smith Union with me, President Mills, Jes Staley, and Clayton and Julianne Rose, as we introduce Clayton to the campus community.The entire Bowdoin community—faculty, students, staff, alumni, trustees, and friends of the College—is responsible for the extraordinary success of this search. Because of you, Bowdoin is an incomparable institution that attracts the very best, and in Clayton Rose, we have found the very best leader for our future. My sincere thanks to each of you and especially to President Mills for his leadership, his unrivaled energy, and his total and unwavering dedication to Bowdoin.Sincerely,Deborah Jensen Barker '80, P'16Chair, Bowdoin College Board of Trustees CLAYTON S. ROSE TO BECOME THE 15TH PRESIDENT OF BOWDOIN COLLEGEBRUNSWICK, Maine — Clayton S. Rose, Ph.D., of Brookline, Mass., has been elected president of Bowdoin College, effective July 1, 2015. The announcement was made today by Bowdoin Board of Trustees Chair Deborah Jensen Barker (Class of 1980) following the unanimous and enthusiastic recommendation by an 18-member Presidential Search Committee and a unanimous vote of approval this morning by Bowdoin's Board of Trustees. Rose will become the fifteenth president of the 221-year old college.Rose, 56, is currently a member of the faculty at the Harvard Business School (HBS) who teaches and writes on the responsibilities of leadership and managerial values. He succeeds Barry Mills, who will step down June 30, 2015, after a highly successful presidency spanning fourteen years."Clayton Rose is the ideal person to lead Bowdoin into the future," said Barker. "He is immensely qualified academically, combining a passion for the liberal arts and a dedication to teaching and learning with extensive leadership experience. He's going to be terrific as Bowdoin's next president."Rose was selected for the Bowdoin presidency following an eight-month international search conducted by a committee comprising Bowdoin trustees (several of whom are also current Bowdoin parents); faculty, students, administrative and support staff; and a representative from Bowdoin's Alumni Council. Current Bowdoin Trustee James E. Staley, a member of the Class of 1979, chaired the effort."Our search committee was a marvelously dedicated and eclectic group that worked hard and got along really well," said Staley. "That said, with faculty, students, staff, alumni, trustees and parents, we never had a problem finding issues where people disagreed or had different points of view. We met many great candidates but in the end, the committee just rallied around Clayton because of his remarkable record of success throughout a varied career, his passion and vision for the liberal arts, and his ability to be embraced by very different communities."Rose earned his undergraduate degree (1980) and M.B.A. (1981) at the University of Chicago. In 2003, following a highly successful 20-year leadership and management career in finance, he enrolled in the doctoral program in sociology at the University of Pennsylvania to study issues of race in America, earning his master's degree in 2005 and his Ph.D. with distinction in 2007. He joined the faculty at HBS in 2007 and was named professor of management practice in 2009. He currently teaches an elective course that explores business engagement with society's larger problems ("Reimagining Capitalism"), and has taught several others, including the required course on ethics ("Leadership and Corporate Responsibility") and an elective titled "The Moral Leader." He has also been engaged administratively at HBS, dealing with issues of community values and standards (including matters related to Title IX) and the school's honor code, and has been part of a faculty group advising on improving the experience of women faculty and students at HBS. He has received awards at HBS for innovation in teaching and for service to the community.He is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the nation's largest private supporter of academic biomedical research, having joined in 2009. He previously served on the board of the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago.Rose is a native of San Rafael, Calif. His wife of 32 years, Julianne H. Rose, originally from Rosemont, Penn., earned her undergraduate degree in biology magna cum laude at Boston College and her M.B.A. at the University of Chicago. She began her career in finance, held elected office at the municipal level for many years, and is preparing to launch a business in the summer of 2015. "Bowdoin is an exceptional liberal arts college, with a rich history, distinct set of values, and a gifted, engaged and devoted group of faculty, students, staff and alumni," said President-elect Rose. "I am honored and excited by the opportunity to lead this special institution, and Julianne and I are very much looking forward to becoming part of the Bowdoin and Brunswick communities." Members of the Bowdoin community, including outgoing President Barry Mills and those who served on the Presidential Search Committee, expressed their enthusiasm for the appointment. "This is a terrific choice for Bowdoin," said Mills. "Members of the search committee, led with great dedication for the College by Jes Staley, faced very high expectations from a Bowdoin community that always demands excellence. The committee has done impressive work. Clayton Rose is a wonderful person and an accomplished leader. He will be a great fit for Bowdoin and I am confident that he will lead the College into a very bright future."Faculty representatives to the search committee said Rose's teaching experience will be invaluable in helping him understand the needs of Bowdoin's faculty."Clayton's thoughtfulness, ability to listen, and desire to engage with the issues that matter most to faculty will make him an effective partner," said Bowdoin Professor of Government and search committee member Paul Franco. "Also, as someone who has moved from the corporate world to academia and is convinced that liberal education is the one thing needed in our increasingly utilitarian universe, Clayton will be a powerful spokesperson for the value of the liberal arts.""Clayton has a deep knowledge of what we do at every level, from students and staff to faculty and trustees," said search committee member Tess Chakkalakal, associate professor of Africana Studies and of English and program director of Africana Studies. "He also has a thorough understanding of the complex challenges, both financial and political, that liberal arts colleges face today. He is a reflective person who will consider multiple perspectives before taking action. He also has a true commitment to transparency and openness, which I believe will be appreciated by the faculty. Most importantly, he will listen to their concerns and be attentive to the differences among members of the faculty.""Clayton Rose is quite thoughtful with a great sense of integrity and a passion for social justice," said Assistant Professor of Biology and search committee member Jack Bateman. "He beautifully articulates the value of a liberal arts education, yet he understands the pressures facing the College now and in the future. Of all of the amazing individuals that the committee considered, in the end it was clear that Clayton Rose is the right choice to be our next president."Student representative to the Presidential Search Committee Dustin Biron '15 predicted that Rose "will be a strong presence in the life of the College," while fellow student representative Oriana Farnham '15 said she was impressed with Rose's willingness to listen and his ability to ask thoughtful questions."I was convinced that Clayton Rose is the right person to lead Bowdoin when we had a conversation about the Women's Resource Center over lunch," said Farnham. "He asked me many thoughtful questions about what issues and programs Bowdoin women care about. His questions helped me frame the salient issues on campus in a way I hadn't thought about before, and I could tell that he was sincerely curious about and invested in student life and our campus culture. I think he will relate to students by finding out what they care about. He will find out by asking them directly and respectfully, and he won't be afraid to challenge them a little bit by asking even more questions. I think he will learn from Bowdoin students, and we will learn from him, too. I'm really excited by that prospect."Rose's current and former colleagues echoed the enthusiasm of search committee members and trustees."Clayton Rose has a powerful commitment to the liberal arts and to the value of that kind of education, no matter what a person goes on to do," said Dr. Hanna Gray, the former president of The University of Chicago and the Harry Pratt Judson Distinguished Service Professor Emerita of History at Chicago, who has known Rose since he was an undergraduate and has served with him on the HHMI board. "He sees the liberal arts as a way of enlarging and enriching the ways in which people can understand, help interpret, and help make a difference in life, whether it's the life of the mind or the life of the world." Clayton is an exceptional person," said Sir Paul Nurse, Nobel Laureate in medicine, president of The Royal Society, fellow HHMI board member, and former president of Rockefeller University. "He has a very quick and perceptive mind, which allows him to get to the crux of matters quickly and to analyze them very effectively. He also understands people, their motivations, their strengths and their weaknesses. As a leader, he isn't locked on 'the transmit button.' He listens, and that is particularly important in the leadership of an academic institution. He is an articulate, cultured and charming man with wide interests and breadth, and I believe he will be very effective as president of Bowdoin College."In 2001, at the time of his decision to leave the world of finance to pursue his academic interests, Rose was vice chairman and chief operating officer at J.P. Morgan, the investment bank created in 2000 when J.P. Morgan & Co. merged with the Chase Manhattan Corporation. He previously served as head of global investment banking and head of global equities, among other positions at J.P. Morgan & Co. Clayton and Julianne Rose have two sons: Garett, a graduate of The University of Chicago and the University of Chicago Law School; and Jordan, a graduate of Dartmouth College and Harvard Business School. Garett and his wife, Meredith, reside in Washington, D.C., and Jordan lives in New York City.Rose will be joining Bowdoin as the College prepares to begin its 214th academic year. Founded in 1794 when Maine was still part of Massachusetts, Bowdoin is one of the nation's oldest and most prestigious liberal arts colleges. Today, Bowdoin enrolls approximately 1,800 students from across America and around the world who are admitted for their accomplishments and promise without regard for their financial circumstances. Approximately 45 percent of Bowdoin students receive need-based financial aid. Loans are not required, and the average financial aid grant is nearly $40,000 a year. Admission to Bowdoin is highly competitive. In 2014 the College received nearly 7,000 applications for about 500 spots in the Class of 2018. Bowdoin students study with highly accomplished and dedicated faculty in small classes (9:1 student/faculty ratio) and in world-class facilities that include modern and technologically advanced classrooms and laboratories, coastal research stations, a state-of-the art recital hall, two theaters, a renowned art museum, and a new facility for art and dance. With 31 varsity sports, many club teams, a well-equipped fitness center, and food that is consistently considered to be among the very best at any college or university in America, Bowdoin encourages health, fitness, teamwork, and competition. A Bowdoin liberal arts education and residential life experience instill principled leadership, lifelong learning, and service to the common good.Notable Bowdoin alumni include:Franklin Pierce (14th U.S. president)Nathaniel Hawthorne (writer)Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (poet)John Brown Russwurm (abolitionist and editor)Oliver Otis Howard (Civil War leader)Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain (Civil War leader)Robert E. Peary (Arctic explorer)Alfred Kinsey (sex researcher)Peter Buck (physicist; co-founder, Subway Restaurants)Thomas R. Pickering (U.S. ambassador and diplomat)George J. Mitchell (U.S. Senator and peacemaker)Leon Gorman (chairman, L.L. Bean)William S. Cohen (U.S. Sen. and Sec'y of Defense)Kenneth I. Chenault (chairman and CEO, American Express)Geoffrey Canada (educator and author)Stanley F. Druckenmiller (investor and philanthropist)Christopher Hill (U.S. ambassador and diplomat)Cynthia McFadden (NBC News)Joan Benoit Samuelson (Olympic champion)Reed Hastings (founder and CEO, Netflix) For more information about the appointment of Clayton Rose and Bowdoin College, visit bowdoin.edu.
- 6 days ago
Search for director of center for multicultural life begins
The College will hire a director for the recently-approved Student Center for Multicultural Life by this summer. The director will work to develop and coordinate multicultural-oriented programs and events.
The idea of creating a new multicultural center with a new director began in fall 2013, when Dean Leana Amaez led a committee to reassess her position, its responsibilities, and how it could better serve the College.
"I began working on the center two years ago," said Amaez. "We met with a group, came up with a proposal, gave it to Dean [of Student Affairs] Tim Foster and he said 'This is fantastic, but it looks like another job.'"
Once Amaez returned from maternity leave last summer, the conversation picked up again and details were finalized during the fall semester.
The College's Multicultural Life has traditionally been supportive of student-led programs and activism but Amaez and Associate Dean of Student Affairs and Director of the David Saul Smith Union Allen Delong explained that the College has been looking to have college-led programs.
"Bowdoin continues to evolve in this really beautiful way—if you look at the demographic of the student body and in some ways, you all have evolved quicker with our administrative structures," said Delong. "We're good, but we have students come to campus with a really sophisticated vocabulary in their own identities in a way where they didn't when I went to college."
The new Center and its director's office will be located at 30 College Street and will share the space with the Student Center for Religious and Spiritual Life. However, the Center will host some events and programming at the John Brown Russwurm African American Center as well.
"Russworm has a historical place in the College and 30 College Street houses Multicultural life," said Amaez. "The Center is comprised of two sister spaces."
The director will serve to centralize and coordinate various programs from different organizations at the College such as the McKeen Center, the Resource Center for Sexual and Gender Diversity, and the Schwartz Outdoor Leadership Center.
"Really, this position will serve as the hub on the wheel," said Delong. "This person will be the central clearinghouse to ensure that if there are areas that we can improve, then we'll do that."
"I can't tell you exactly how this Center is going to evolve," said Foster. "But I have no doubt that when we look back on this a year, two, three years from now, we're going to see a vibrant Center that's offering lots of programing but also support for the community in ways that are going to be pretty exciting for the place."
Amaez and Delong intend on posting the position publically and finish assembling the search committee of faculty, staff and students by next week.
"When I think about a year or two from now, I think the question will be 'what did we do before without this person?'" said Delong.
- 6 days ago
Mills proposes starting semester after MLK Day
President Barry Mills has recommended that the College begin the spring semester after the Martin Luther King Jr. Day when planning future academic calendars.
Mills sent an email to the campus community last Thursday detailing the recommendation. With the holiday scheduled to fall during winter break for the next four years, Mills' proposed change to the calendar would begin in 2020.
Currently, the College begins the spring semester on the holiday three out of every seven years, falling on the final week of winter break in the other four.
Mills said in an interview with the Orient that he had been thinking about the change for a number of years. However, the political climate on campus played a role in the timing of his recommendation.
"As I was thinking about what we've seen over the last number of months, the feeling that people have towards Martin Luther King Jr. Day has really intensified and the day has taken on more than just being a national day of remembrance," Mills said. "It's a national day of service in a lot of ways."
In a follow-up email to faculty and students, Dean for Academic Affairs Cristle Collins Judd reiterated the College's policy regarding the holiday. Bowdoin's course catalogue specifies that, as with major religious holidays, students are allowed to miss classes or exams for Martin Luther King Jr. Day observances.
This year, the College held several events for the holiday: a commemoration breakfast, a children's event in Hawthorne-Longfellow Library, two panels in a course taught by Consortium for Faculty Diversity Postdoctoral Fellow in Government Cory Gooding, and a performance by civil rights activists and musicians Bernice Johnson Reagon and her daughter Toshi.
During the performance, Toshi playfully criticized the school for holding classes on the holiday, and called for a wider variety of programming for the holiday.
"A lot of holidays we have are so far off the mark from what we would like them to do, but this one has so much potential to bring up so many issues," she said.
"I don't know why you would bring students to school on MLK Day unless you were giving them the opportunity to express all of the different movements that are concerning them that they would like to give voice to," she continued.
Ashley Bomboka '16 was among the students who chose not to attend classes. She attended the breakfast, participated in a panel, and attended the concert.
"It was an educational experience—I'm learning a lot more about his work, his change over time, and the way that we've appropriated his life to fit our civil rights narrative," she said. She added that her professors were "very supportive" of her decision not to attend class.Bomboka said she supported the recommendation from Mills.
"It makes sense to honor what [King] did and where he pushed us to go as a country—how he was able to be a role model for so many other activists," she said.
Some students felt that the change was overdue.
"I'm pretty excited about it. I think it took long enough for it to happen," said Michelle Kruk '16, who helped organize campus responses to the non-indictments of the officers in the Michael Brown and Eric Garner cases last semester.
"I'm disappointed that it's not going to happen during my time here, because I think the College tends to do what's easy a lot of the time," she added. "The better alternative would have been to just have the day off this year."
Most of Bowdoin's NESCAC peers without a winter term are given the day off already, including Amherst, Connecticut College, Hamilton, Trinity and Tufts. Bates holds themed workshops in place of classes, while at Wesleyan the day is used for enrollment for the spring semester.
Mills acknowledged that the policies of other colleges factored into his decision.
"A whole lot of other schools have decided to start the day after," he said.
Ultimately, Bowdoin's Calendar Committee will make the final decision.
"I decided not to declare this as some sort of edict, because the calendar is something that many people on the faculty and staff consider carefully, and any modifications to the calendar attract a lot of attention," Mills said.
Mills said that while he would not support mandatory events in place of classes during the holiday, he did see the potential for College-organized activities on the holiday in lieu of classes.
"We sometimes forget that Martin Luther King Jr. Day has really been designated as a national day of service, so if everyone were back on campus and classes weren't starting until the next day, one could see the McKeen Center organizing another Common Good Day where students reach out to the community," he said.
The Calendar Committee will be meeting this spring to decide on future changes to the academic calendar.
- 6 days ago
Administration falls silent on "Cracksgiving" appropriation incident
Bowdoin officials have no comment on several students being disciplined for dressing at Native Americans at an off-campus party
The administration has fallen silent on the incident of cultural appropriation that took place shortly before Winter Break at an off-campus party and developed into an embarrassing news story for the College, with dozens of news outlets reporting on it.
Dean of Student Affairs Tim Foster and Jason Archbell, head coach of men's lacrosse, both declined to comment for this story.
Ashmead White Director of Athletics Tim Ryan wrote in an email to the Orient that "the message conveyed by Dean Foster has been received across our campus community and we are all moving forward" before declining to comment further.
Ryan was referring to an email Foster sent to the student body on December 9 expressing his "frustration and disapproval of harmful behavior by students who should know better." The full text of the email can be found on the Orient's website.
The email was written in response to "Cracksgiving," a party thrown at 83 1/2 Harpswell Road—a house rented by members of the men's lacrosse team commonly known as Crack House. In spite of recent programs to educate the student body about the harmful nature of cultural appropriation, 14 members of the team dressed up as Native Americans at the party.
In the email. Foster wrote that "Bowdoin will not condone or tolerate behavior that divides our community and denigrates others, nor will we accept a plea of ignorance as license to avoid accountability."
The College plans on taking disciplinary action against those who dressed up as Native Americans, according to Foster, who has not indicated what form this punishment will take.
Several members of the lacrosse team have recently decided not to return for the spring season, but there is no evidence linking their departure to this incident. The captains of the team refused to comment on both the party and the departure of their teammates.
- 6 days ago
Professors, students begin to plan teach-in for environmental reform
A group of professors and students have begun to plan a day-long, campus-wide teach-in that will examine the intersections of climate change and society this coming fall.
The proposed event is intended to engage the entire College for the purposes of education and action. Organizers of the event also hope to offer a broad view of the complex causes and effects of climate change and propose viable options for action.
"Our goal at this point is to have an event in the fall that is high profile and substantive, and addresses climate change and social justice, and involves the largest possible segment of the Bowdoin population," said Associate Professor of Physics and Astronomy Mark Battle, one of the faculty members actively involved in the planning.
"We will structure it in whatever way is required to meet those goals," he added.
While the group has received administrative support, specifically from President Mills, the proposed format of a day-long teach-in has yet to be approved. Typically, a teach in would involve the cancellation of all regularly scheduled classes on the day of the event.
The scope and ambition of this event has little precedent at Bowdoin. The teach-in is a commonly used format, but Associate Professor of Biology and Neuroscience Hadley Horch, who is also helping to plan the event, said that Bowdoin has not canceled classes for the entire school since an event following the Kent State shootings in 1970.
Horch explained that she would be willing to compromise about the format of the teach-in if certain changes needed to be made.
"A teach-in would be really symbolic and great and important, but I think there are ways of having these conversations on a Saturday or evenings," she said. "I would love to see it be a teach-in, but it's not a deal-breaker for me."
Battle also stressed that the group is still in the planning stages and the content and structure of the event could change drastically between now and the fall.
In a campus-wide email sent on December 16, Battle initially indicated that the event would be held this spring.
Battle explained that following recent events in Ferguson, Cleveland and Staten Island, the scope of the event was expanded to cast a greater focus on the social impacts of climate change, causing the decision to delay until the fall.
"My vision is to have a community wide discussion about how climate intersects with society," said Horch. "That means we need to understand the science of climate change and we have to understand the implications for different societies. How is it affecting people in different locations? Of different classes? Of different races? Of different countries?
"One of the great tragedies and challenges of climate change is that it affects everyone and it affects the disadvantaged more," Battle added. "The wealthier you are the more you can insulate yourself from the effects of climate change."
Sinead Lamel '15, one of several students directly involved in the planning process and a member of the student group Radical Alternatives to Capitalism, explained how corporate control of resources is a significant factor in the climate issue and hopes for it to be addressed during the event.
"Our club, Radical Alternatives to Capitalism, thinks that climate change is a result of irresponsible corporate control of resources," she said. "For example, deforestation happening all over the world and the burning of fossil fuels. We have the technology to not do that but there are certain corporations that are, for example, fighting wars for oil and pushing the car model."
Battle also explained how in addressing social aspects of the climate issue, he hopes to speak to a desire he sees in the student body for more intense discussion of important issues.
"One thing that has become very clear for me [is that there is] the desire for substantive, difficult conversations about issues people feel have gone unaddressed for a long time, and you can't separate any of these tensions on campus," he said.
While the organizing group has received input from students and many members of the faculty, it is actively seeking more students and faculty wishing to get involved in the planning process.
They also intend to write an open letter to the campus in the coming weeks announcing a more formal plan and soliciting further community involvement.
- 6 days ago
Martina Duncan '97 named new registrar of the College
Newly appointed registrar Martina Duncan '97 says she hopes to improve Polaris by considering feedback from students and faculty. Duncan worked in the Office of the Registrar during the initial implementation of the system and said she believes it can be improved further.
"We're always going to continue building on our system's functionality," said Duncan. "Our goal is to understand what comes next and always make sure that Polaris is providing the kind of functionality to the campus that is needed."
Dean for Academic Affairs Cristle Collins Judd announced that Duncan had been promoted registrar of the College in an e-mail sent out to students and staff on January 15. Duncan will officially transition from her current role as an associate registrar to registrar on February 2, taking over responsibilities from the Interim Registrar Jim Higginbotham, who is also a Classics professor.
Duncan's appointment was approved by a search committee which was convened by Judd and comprised of faculty members Professor of Sociology and Anthropology Sara Dickey, Associate Professor of Biology and Biochemistry Anne McBride, Professor of Mathematics Adam Levy and Senior Associate Dean of Student Affairs Kim Pacelli. The committee unanimously recommended Duncan's promotion, according to Judd.
"[Duncan] has wide-ranging administrative, academic, and managerial experience; she has quickly become a valued member of the registrar's office since her appointment as associate registrar a year ago; and she is an established and valuable member of the Bowdoin community," wrote Judd in an e-mail to the Orient. "The committee was impressed by the depth and breadth of her experience, her problem-solving skills, and her commitment to maintaining and enhancing the excellent service the registrar's office provides to the campus community."
As registrar of the College, Duncan's responsibilities will shift from chiefly academic-related duties to a focus on the student and faculty interactions with the Office of the Registrar.
"In my former position I focused more on the curricular side; now I'm trying to really learn more about the student side," said Duncan.
"I really like working in an office that has such a great staff and I really enjoy working with all the faculty and students," said Duncan. "I'm a Bowdoin grad so it's nice to work in my alma mater and feel that what we do is really central to the campus."
Due to some restructuring and shifting in the office based on the needs of the new program, no one has been appointed to take over Duncan's former role as an associate registrar. The office recently hired Brett Bisesti as a systems specialist for the Banner program, the program that is the basis of Polaris.
- 6 days ago
Delong, Hintze receive new campus roles
Dean of Student Affairs Tim Foster announced on Monday a resuffle in positions that play a role in student life.
Former Director of Student Life Allen Delong will become associate dean of student affairs and director of the David Saul Smith Union, while former Associate Director of Student Activities Nate Hintze will become the director of student activities, effective immediately, according to Dean of Student Affairs Tim Foster in a campus-wide email on Monday.
"A lot of it's more representative of the duties I was already doing," said Hintze. "[It's] really exciting to be able to have a new title but be able to continue doing the fun things that we were doing in our office all along."
As director of student activities, Hintze will be responsible for a range of student programming such as free bowling on Thursdays and hot dogs at the Colby hockey game. His new position will also include budgeting, attending meetings and other administrative tasks.
Hintze is also helping organize this year's Winter Weekend, which he said will include horse-drawn carriage rides, sled dogs and a throne of ice.
Hintze will continue to work closely with the Office of Residential Life, College Houses and Bowdoin Student Government in his new role. He said that he enjoys hearing from students at his office behind the information desk in Smith Union, and that his door is always open.
"The spring is such a fun time because there are so many things going on, and we're just excited to work with students and have everybody back on campus and have a really fun and safe spring," Hintze said.
Delong will now have a role in the development of the new Student Center for Multicultural Life, and he is currently working with the Resource Center for Sexual and Gender Diversity and alumni programs to organize a reception during Spring Break in New York City for LGBTIQ alumni and students.
"Our goal in student affairs, in student life is to support your education. Sometimes that's co-curricular, it's extracurricular, and sometimes it's, 'I need a good place to sit and plop and meet my friends,'" Delong said.
- 6 days ago
Snapshot: This Little Light
- 6 days ago
Editorial: A more vocal majority
Why a productive campus conversation needs to involve all students, not just students of color
"If your conscience stops at the border of Maine then you are less than who you should be," Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. explained while at Bowdoin on May 6, 1964. King's words should resonate for the many students who find that Bowdoin's New England location isolates them from recent national racial issues. As these issues make headlines both nationally and at Bowdoin, the College is primed for dialogue about race relations; however, that conversation will not be productive without participation from students of all races. While many students of color have mobilized in response to recent events, there has been a lack of engagement from the majority of Bowdoin's largely-white student body.
There is no excuse for such apathy at Bowdoin. Recent events have demonstrated that Bowdoin is neither immune to insensitivity regarding race and culture, nor isolated from national events. In November, members of the men's lacrosse team hosted an annual party where some guests wore Native American costumes, despite warnings from other students and the administration that doing so would be offensive. The administration rightfully chose to punish the guests involved. Then, in December, a man reacted to the non-indictments in the Michael Brown and Eric Garner cases by murdering two New York City policemen, an event that directly impacted the Bowdoin community.
Bowdoin has begun to facilitate conversations about race. The new Student Center for Multicultural Life will serve as a hub for programming on campus. President Mills indicated that classes will likely no longer be held on Martin Luther King Jr. Day beginning in 2020, the next time the start of the semester coincides with the holiday. Furthermore, College policies regarding bias incidents and the College's responses to national race-based events show a willingness to confront those who are racially insensitive.
Nevertheless, it is the responsibility of the student body to take advantage of the resources provided by the administration, and not leave them just for the minority members on campus. At a panel held as part of the Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebrations this Monday, a number of minority students expressed frustrations at the microaggressions they still face regularly on campus. However, as the panel was mostly attended by students of color, those comments were not able to reach those who would most benefit from hearing them.
While Bowdoin can provide the spaces for discussion, they cannot force students to participate in them. Students must choose to do so on their own, whether by attending organized forums or by having casual discussions with their peers. We understand that this kind of engagement can be uncomfortable—that is part of what makes it so important.
As Elina Zhang '16 wrote in her December 5 op-ed, "Always assume you have the legitimacy to be concerned about other peoples' struggles." For any substantial conversation to occur on campus, students of all colors must participate.
This editorial represents the majority view of the Bowdoin Orient's editorial board, which is comprised of Garrett Casey, Ron Cervantes, Sam Chase, Matthew Gutschenritter, Nicole Wetsman and Kate Witteman.
- 6 days ago
Kicking the can: State of the Union offers hope for next two years
With the midterm elections far behind us and the new Congress in session, there is reason to hope that President Obama's last two years in office may be his two most productive. The last four years under a divided government have been bleak, to say the least.
Obstructionist Republicans have bitterly fought nearly everything the president and his party have wanted, including must-pass bills such as continuing resolutions and debt ceiling increases, leading frustrated Democrats to all but shut out Republicans in the Senate.
Meanwhile, conservatives demonize the President and the Democratic Party, sometimes with bizarre theories. Former Sen. Scott Brown, for example, claimed that terrorists would take advantage of the "porous" border to infect Americans with Ebola (which is actually the exact plot of a Tom Clancy novel), and then-Rep. Tom Cotton asserted that ISIL and Mexican drug cartels would team up to kill innocent Americans.
Both are smart enough to know that those claims are patently ridiculous. One of the two was elected, partially thanks to such fear-mongering. But now that Republicans have more than achieved their midterm goals and attained large (but not filibuster- or veto-proof) majorities in both houses, it seems possible to move beyond such childish stunts and get on to legislating.
In his State of the Union address to the new Congress on Tuesday, President Obama laid out one policy that many Republicans wholeheartedly support. He asked Congress to give him fast-track authority on trade deals such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) that would open many Asian markets to American business and strengthen intellectual property rights around the world.
Fast-tracking would essentially give the President the power to negotiate trade deals independently of Congress, then submit the finished product to Congress for a quick, amendment-less, up-or-down vote.
Predictably, many Democrats and their allies are none too pleased with the president's intentions, claiming that the deals will cost innumerable American jobs. They're probably wrong, but that's not really the point here. Rather, the point is that the president and a Republican-controlled Congress agree on something. It's really just a cherry on top that the bill in question will help ensure American competitiveness in the 21st century global economy.
What else can the president and Congress do to cooperate and get things done? The approval of the Keystone XL pipeline comes to mind. The unfortunate thing about the pipeline is that it has become a symbol in the fight over climate change.
Its approval should have been routine, and experts (such as, you know, the U.S. Department of State) have found that its environmental impact would be negligible. Of course, the pro-pipeline jobs argument is ridiculous as well—perhaps a double-digit number (!) of permanent jobs would actually be created by its construction.
In fact, oil companies don't particularly care about the pipeline anymore. They're transporting the fuel they extract via rail, rendering the pipeline superfluous for their purposes. If anything, the pipeline would reduce the environmental impact of the tar sands oil extraction in question, as a pipeline is much less prone to spillage than a train.
Ultimately, it's just an empty fight between conservative firebreathers and environmentalists opposed on principle. In the past, the president has signaled that he might not be opposed to the pipeline's approval, and it is likely that his recent veto threat is no more than posturing. The president wants Congressional Republicans to know that he won't just swallow whatever bill comes before him. He should use the pipeline as a bargaining chip, perhaps in exchange for the closure of a major tax loophole or a part of the his ambitious community college plan. He and the minority Democrats will get something they want, and Republicans will be able to claim a major victory that really doesn't cost anything. The best part? It's even more than win-win: such a deal will set the stage for future cooperation.
Perhaps the clearest signal that congressional Republicans are ready to get down to the business of governing comes from what they're not saying. It's been a while since I've heard the oft-repeated campaign promises to repeal Obamacare and tear down the president's health care policies.
The official Republican response to the State of the Union, delivered by Sen. Joni Ernst, only contained three sentences about the law, and although she used the word "repeal" once, she was much less confrontational than during her campaign, when she promised to "make 'em squeal" in Washington.
Republican leadership knows that repealing the law is unfeasible and appears to be backing off and focusing on more practical targets.
Enacting fast-track authority for trade deals could be one of the first steps in building a productive relationship between President Obama and a Congress that sounded awfully bloodthirsty during campaign season.
If the legislative and executive branches can get off to a good start, perhaps Obama's last two years can resemble President Bush's last two years. Bush and the Democratically-crontrolled 110th Congress took steps to save the American automobile industry and passed legislation to bail out the U.S. financial system. Republicans may be willing to govern with the help of the president and Democrats, but after a sweeping victory they will want to claim some of the spoils if they are going to sit down at the negotiating table and do business.
- 6 days ago
Home In All Lands: Americans abroad should not be forced to pay United States taxes
At the State of the Union address on Tuesday, President Obama proposed a change to the tax code that, in his words, "truly helps working Americans trying to get a leg up in the new economy." Whether or not you agree with the president's plan, it is clear that America's tax policy is far too complicated and unfair to millions. Perhaps the most staggering aspect of American taxes is the concept of taxation by citizenship rather than residency. In other words, US citizens and green-card holders must pay the IRS no matter where they live. The US essentially stands nearly alone in practicing this bizarre approach to taxation; Eritrea is the only other country with a similar policy, according to the Wall Street Journal.
There is no compelling argument that justifies penalizing Americans who have made the decision to work and live overseas. A large number of US citizens abroad are ambassadors for American enterprises, researchers at the forefront of their fields or retirees enjoying their post-work years. They are not all, as the Democratic Party would have you believe, fat-cat billionaires seeking to use offshore havens to hide their money. There seems to be an illusion amongst the political class, both left and right, that the sole purpose of moving abroad is tax avoidance. Now, I do not dispute that Americans who reside permanently in the United States should pay taxes based on their wealth, no matter where it may be held in the world. But to suggest, as this policy essentially does, that a tycoon is somehow analogous to a middle-level manager at a major international firm is laughable.
Americans who live overseas are unnecessarily burdened by a tax bill twice over: once from their country of residence and once again from the IRS. In some cases, treaties between the United States and other countries help to mitigate the yoke of double-taxation. But this does not change the fact that these hard-working Americans are subject to a financial cost greater than that of their neighbors and of their compatriots stateside. Unfortunately, a recent law has only made their lives more difficult. In 2010, the Democratic-controlled Congress passed FATCA, the "Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act." Ostensibly, the law sought to prevent US taxpayers from concealing their wealth in offshore accounts and shell corporations. This is, in and of itself, an entirely reasonable proposition. If you live in a country, you should pay the taxes that are required of you. But the law has had an unintended consequence: Global News has reported that this act has made it more difficult for millions of Americans to open bank accounts, begin mortgages, or take out loans overseas. Indeed, FATCA includes extremely harsh penalties for banks that, in the IRS' determination, have allowed Americans to avoid paying taxes, an issue The Economist has reported on. Again, I wish to emphasize that Americans residing in the United States have to pay their fair share, and the financial institutions that enable them to dodge their due should be rightly punished. By making it tougher for overseas Americans to support themselves, Congress has essentially said that Americans should just stay home. What kind of message is that for the small startup that wants to expand? Or for the young woman recently promoted to her company's head office in Singapore?
In response to these growing challenges, many Americans have decided to follow a drastic path: renouncing their citizenship. As the vice has tightened, more and more Americans are casting aside an important part of their identity. At U.S. diplomatic posts in several countries, the waiting lists for renunciation are many months long, according to Forbes. Rather than recognize that an idiotic tax policy is at the heart of Americans coming to this painful decision, the government recently increased the fee for renouncing citizenship by 422 percent from $450 to $2,350; which strikes me as a cynical attempt to squeeze out every last dime before you stop feeding the IRS. In recent years the number of renunciations has exploded, from only hundreds annually in the 1990s to a record 3,000 in 2013, according to the Washington Post. It is unreasonable and cruel for the government to place so many Americans in such a difficult position.
Some may argue that paying taxes is a sign of continued patriotism to the United States. But if we are going to be using tax payments as a metric for loyalty, then quite a few individuals and corporations should probably be charged with treason! And besides, if you are not using the fruits of taxation on a regular basis, why should you have to pay for them? Except for Eritrea, every other country on Earth knows that this is too much to ask in our modern, interconnected world. It is time that the United States realized that as well.
- 6 days ago
My 77 Cents: Feminism: a charged term undeserving of society's stigma
I recently learned that an anti-feminism party, Justice for Men and Boys (And the Women Who Love Them), is standing for a few seats in the Parliament of the United Kingdom in May's general election. Apart from being deeply annoying, its platform sparked a number of questions about how "feminism" as a movement—and even as a word—should be thought about in this day and age. It seems as though feminism-as-a-movement has become less specific as time continues. Or rather, it has become a signifier for a number of behaviors, thoughts and political ideals, many of which women are hesitant to align themselves with. And this seems fair enough—after all, no one wants to be reduced to one single attribute or to a misleading stereotype.
Yet, when we talk about feminism, it seems like everyone has a different concept of what the word actually means. Some assume feminists fit the stereotype of the man-hating woman (a concept Emma Watson addressed nicely in her speech at the UN last year), while others might eschew the movement as antiquated, or antagonistic or purely irrelevant. Indeed, some argue that we live in a post-feminist society, one which no longer needs a feminist movement for social equality.
These varying perspectives raise a number of questions. One essential question seems to be, firstly, who can call him or herself a "feminist"? Last year, the media scandal surrounding a Duke University student's involvement in the porn industry sent this debate hurdling into the public consciousness. The student explained that her participation in pornography made her feel empowered as a woman. She identifies as a feminist. On the opposite side of the spectrum, women clad in burqas are very often chastised for participating in institutional misogyny. Women should be able to identify as feminists whether or not they are at an extreme in terms of modesty. A feminist can come in any garb from any perspective, so long as they self-identify as such.
It would be foolish to give a definitive viewpoint of these issues here; they are far too complex and, admittedly, I'm not sure how I myself feel. What if a woman is pro-life? Can she be a feminist? Is there some universal definition to which one must adhere to be a "proper" feminist?
I have encountered many women and men who express the follwoing sentiment: so long as I think women are equal, why do I need to call myself a feminist? I see this point. And yet, despite my slight confusion about what constitutes a "feminist," it always concerns me when a women does not identify as one. It seems that where feminism can most firmly establish its identity is in its core political views.
Last year Salma Hayek accepted an award at Equality Now's "Make Equality Reality" event for her work in women's rights. In her speech she stated, "I am not a feminist. If men were going through the things women are going through today, I would be fighting for them with just as much passion. I believe in equality." Why can't one believe in equality and be a feminist at the same time? What is so wrong with the word?
On a political scale, a "feminist," it seems to me, would be an advocate of equal pay for equal work, would support justice for women regarding domestic violence and street harassment, and would be in favor of access to childcare and reproductive rights. If you believe in these things, do you have to call yourself a feminist? If you believe in the political, social and economic equality of women, I would argue that you should.
Feminism, like any concept rooted in social ideals, brings with it political and social extremes. But aligning yourself with a word does not mean you have to burn your bra (though if you want to, do that too). To refuse to call oneself a feminist—or to chastise another for doing so—is troubling to me, since we women are standing on the shoulders of the Feminist movement! We are here today at Bowdoin because of it.
I hear a lot of arguments about how we shouldn't be surprised when women are powerful, but rather just think of them as people. But why can't we see them as people deserving of equality while still acknowledging that they are members of a previously disenfranchised and oppressed social group? This isn't a post-feminist society. Feminism isn't dead. And it is these sorts of multifaceted debates that keep it rigorously alive.
- December 22
"A Rape On Campus": why everybody lost
On November 19, Rolling Stone published "A Rape on Campus: A Brutal Assault and Struggle for Justice at UVA." The article chronicles the shocking story of Jackie, a University of Virginia (UVA) student who was allegedly gang raped by seven Phi Kappa Psi fraternity brothers during her first few weeks on campus.
Author Sabrina Rubin Erdely's account is comprehensive and deliberate. Using quotes and narrative, Erdely extensively describes the events surrounding Jackie's assault. The Phi Kappa Psi Fraternity house is singled out for perpetuating a culture of assault and apathy.
The scope of the Rolling Stone article, however, transcends Jackie's individual story. Erdely examines federal investigations and student testimony to delve deeper into sexual assault on college campuses. She describes rape as a systemic problem at UVA, in which both students and administrators are complicit. The story immediately elicited strong responses from officials and students, both in Charlottesville and nationwide.
Days after the initial Rolling Stone article was published, the Washington Post launched an inquiry into the facts presented by Erdely. On December 5, the Post published an article questioning the veracity of key aspects of Jackie's story. Soon after, Will Dana, the managing editor of Rolling Stone, issued a partial retraction of "A Rape on Campus."
"In the face of new information, there now appear to be discrepancies in Jackie's account, and we have come to the conclusion that our trust in her was misplaced," he wrote.
The public reaction to this second wave of information was both swift and concerning. To be frank, we are deeply unsettled by much of the dialogue surrounding this unfolding story.
"A Rape on Campus" was marketed as a testimony-driven, numerical account. Jackie's story, however, was a narrative. It was a reflection, from a survivor's memory, of an event that happened three years prior. Erdely attempts to paint an accurate picture of occurrences that took place long ago, through the eyes of a woman who has been diagnosed with PTSD and depression. We do not say these things to discredit Jackie. Rather, we want to explain how we understand the unfolding discrepancies.
Jackie chose not to pursue her case in the criminal justice system. Midway through the Rolling Stone article, Jackie attempted to pull out. Erdely told her it was too late. Later, when speaking with the Washington Post, Jackie would comment that she felt "out of control" of her own story. As advocates, we want to affirm her experience. We want to say that the minute details of an event that happened so long ago are unimportant. We want everyone to focus on the bigger picture.
The shocking and sensational allegations of the Rolling Stone article made that impossible. Administrators, desperately seeking to do the right thing, were quick to condemn an entire fraternity.
Possibly even more damning was the swift conviction of the court of public opinion. Reputations were damaged. Cinder blocks were thrown through the windows of the Phi Kappa Psi house, a home for many students. We can only imagine how terrifying that must have been.
The implications of this irresponsible journalism have been very real for very many. UVA lost. The brothers of Phi Kappa Psi lost. Jackie lost. And we are petrified that everyone has lost. Next time a survivor seeks to come forward, how will he or she be received?
We worry that sensationalism has trumped the overarching message of this story—that sexual assault is a very real problem on college campuses.
Here are some statistics from RAINN, the Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network: 60 percent of rapes go unreported. Of the assaults brought to the police, 4 percent lead to a felony conviction. Among those convicted, only 3 out of 100 rapists will ever spend a day in jail.
For many survivors, empirical analysis is a powerful deterrent to coming forward. Their healing processes may be greatly impeded by the harrowing task of testifying in court. Imagine describing the worst night of your life to a room full of total strangers. Then imagine being told you are lying. Imagine being asked why you were drunk, or what you were wearing, or why you went home with your assailant in the first place.
We present these statistics and ask these questions to refute a tired refrain—"Why didn't he/she go to the police?" This accusation, repeated far too many times in the coverage of Jackie's case, demonstrates a misunderstanding of a survivor's needs.
In the wake of the Rolling Stone article, various interest groups have emerged. We fear that the vernacular differences between legal authorities, school officials, sexual assault prevention advocates and regular students build barriers to productive dialogue. We fear that the media's response to factual discrepancies has misdirected the focus of a crucial conversation.
As members of Safe Space and students at Bowdoin, we wear two critical hats on campus. We want to break down the barrier between these roles. Through our advocacy training from Sexual Assault Support Services of Midcoast Maine (SASSMM), we learned how to support survivors of sexual assault. We learned how to listen and how to be empathetic, without claiming we understand what a survivor is going through. We learned to validate the words confided in us. We learned how to provide a space in which a survivor feels safe.
Importantly, though, we learned the language of advocacy. We learned to call survivors "survivors" instead of "victims," a label used by legal authorities. We learned the delicacies in labeling. If a survivor describes an experience as sexually violent, but not rape, we refer to the experience as sexually violent.
Though we are grateful for our SASSMM training, we also view these issues through the lens of Bowdoin students. We understand that sexual assault is hard to talk about. More than anything, though, we don't want this conversation to be exclusive to trained advocates.
Since Erdely's article and Rolling Stone's partial retraction, numerous discrepancies in Jackie's account have surfaced. As advocates, we validate and honor Jackie for coming forward. As Bowdoin students, we find it difficult to ignore all that's come to light in the past few weeks.
Arguing over these discrepancies, however, confuses the larger issue. Williams, Amherst, Vanderbilt, Penn. State, Harvard, Notre Dame, Columbia—students at a growing list of schools are coming forward and sharing stories about their experiences with sexual assault. UVA is now one of 86 schools under federal investigation for denying students their equal right to education by inadequately handling sexual violence complaints.
As both Safe Space advocates and members of the Bowdoin community, we find our greatest concern is that this story is a regression. We are petrified Jackie's story and media experience will cast doubt on future survivors who choose to come forward. Let us be unequivocally clear: as both advocates and students, we stand with survivors.
Both Shannon Dominguez and Rachel Gladstone are members of the Class of 2015.
- December 5
Editorial: Give us a break
Renewing the case for a week-long Thanksgiving vacation
The two weekdays on campus before the start of Bowdoin's Thanksgiving Break are surreal. Professors announce "sick days" well in advance. Class attendance plummets. The dining halls are conspicuously empty, and students who live close enough to drive start taking off by Monday afternoon.
In the last three years, the faculty has rejected two separate proposals by the Office of the Dean of Student Affairs and BSG respectively, that would have extended Thanksgiving Break to a full week and moved up the beginning of the academic year by two days. Faculty members voiced concerns that the plans would hinder their summer research and would be unfair to students who would not be able to afford a week-long trip home for this holiday. We do not feel that the faculty acted in the best interest of all students in making their decisions.
While the faculty's arguments for vetoing a longer Thanksgiving Break are not invalid, they are a selective reading of the facts. The proposal would indeed lessen professors' research time by two days at the end of the summer, but it would also give students and faculty four extra days for Thanksgiving Break. And although lengthening the break to nine days would leave a few students on a quiet campus for a longer period of time, it would also grant about an additional 20 percent of the student body the opportunity to share Thanksgiving dinner with their loved ones. According to a survey conducted by the College in 2011, 84 percent of respondents said they would be able to travel home during a week-long break, compared with the 64 percent who said they would go home either way. The percent of students from outside New England has increased from 62 to 66 percent just between the Class of 2017 and the Class of 2018. For the extra Bowdoin students who could see their families those few days would make all the difference.
Without faculty approval for a schedule change, students and professors currently get the worst possible outcome. Classes empty out on the Monday and Tuesday of Thanksgiving week as students from outside the Northeast vote with their feet and schedule earlier flights home. In seminars, the absence of only a few people significantly affects the quality of discussions, while some professors cut back on lesson plans or cancel their lectures altogether. Those who do fly on Wednesday are subject to the most expensive ticket prices, a schedule too tight to account for weather emergencies and the threat of delays on one of the busiest travel days of the year.
This issue has been in the minds of students for at least the last four years. The Orient editorial board has voiced its support for a longer break in 2010 and 2012. The faculty has repeatedly failed to consider how important this issue is to students. Thanksgiving is an important family holiday that is celebrated nationwide, and many students would undoubtedly appreciate the opportunity to spend it with their loved ones.
After returning from this year's Thanksgiving vacation, students quickly needed to get back into the swing of things. In the Bowdoin way, everyone greeted each other by asking how their breaks were. The common refrain given by almost every student was: "Too short." It is time to re-examine the case for a longer Thanksgiving break.
- December 5
Kicking the can: Embracing the right to human dignity
Lately, Bowdoin has been full of events that point to one question. What do freedom of speech and critical inquiry mean on our campus, particularly in relation to each other?
Undiscussed is a student group that has brought speakers with opposing viewpoints on abortion to campus to spark conversation and thought.
Much of the campus recently participated in Yellow Shirt Day, an annual event inspired by a protest of an anti-gay marriage speaker who visited Bowdoin in 2005.
Last year, two student group advisors were booted from their positions for failing to sign a non-discrimination agreement that they felt ran contrary to their faith.
In an inappropriate letter to the editor, a trustee condescendingly chastised a student for his pro-Palestine views and accused him of not understanding the First Amendment. As a campus, we tend to be very progressive and are often loudly proud of that fact. But we also had all seen the Offer of the College innumerable times prior to signing the matriculation book and began our first years at Bowdoin ready to gain a standard for the criticism of our work and views.
Can Bowdoin have a specific viewpoint and still claim to be an institution of critical inquiry, or does the College's adoption of an idea preclude it from fairly weighing different viewpoints?
First, let us dispense with the idea that this is a First Amendment debate. It's not. The First Amendment prevents the government from restricting freedom of speech, not private institutions like Bowdoin. However, Bowdoin does exhort the importance of free speech and states that it is the "cornerstone of intellectual life" at the College. Thus, it is our own standards, not those of the government, to which we must hold ourselves.
In the Faculty Handbook, immediately after the lionization of free speech, there is a passage that in some interpretations may serve to limit it.
In it, the College affirms its responsibility to protect its community from discrimination and intimidation, and says that "[E]very student and faculty member at Bowdoin must maintain toward every other student and faculty member an unqualified respect for those rights that transcend differences of race, sex, or any other distinctions irrelevant to human dignity."
Now, first, let me say that that is a fantastic sentence. Were I in a lazier mood, I would leave the discussion right there because there is absolutely nothing that can follow the message and construction of that phrase, which came from a book with possibly the dullest title ever.
It is easy to dismiss a person whose ideas, routines, preferences or culture do not fit into your ideal. But differing opinions and the experiences that shape them can challenge our own opinions and experiences, and we should not shy away from that.
Learning about a different view might add nuance to our own opinions, even if they are changed very little or not at all. It seems that if we are serious about our inquiries and our desire to sharpen our minds and our arguments, we must not ignore our critics.
Perhaps the most cherished idea at Bowdoin—and indeed in the entire American experiment—is that human beings are equal at their core. This does not mean that differences in characteristics that lead to success do not exist. Clearly, some people are better equipped to succeed in today's world than others. Others get lucky.
But we are all afforded an equal measure of human dignity, and a right that is given to one of us should not be withheld from another. We have tried to build a society on that idea, and we will continue to progress with that principle squarely in our sights.
Bowdoin has consistently affirmed its commitment to the common good and its unequivocal stance on political equality, and it has no obligation to give a platform to speakers with views contrary to that mission.
If a certain political statement cannot be made without "unqualified respect for those rights that transcend…distinctions irrelevant to human dignity," then it has no place in a pluralistic society or an intellectual tradition like Bowdoin's, and we do not need to give it the time of day.
Even keeping in mind, that we should constantly be engaging in self-criticism and questioning whether or not our views are correct, there are certain things that we can take as given. Human dignity is one of those things.
If an argument does not begin under the assumption that humans must have political equality, there is no reason for Bowdoin to provide a purveyor of that argument with a soapbox.
While Bowdoin should not be in the business of rejecting an argument's conclusion, it can and should be in the business of rejecting premises that deny human dignity.
All too often, the first people to complain that their freedom of speech is being trampled are the ones with arguments that relegate an entire subsection of humanity to a second-class position. Along with freedom of speech comes a marketplace of ideas. Time and space are valuable, and we should not expend such scarce resources giving a platform to valueless positions.
Bowdoin, as both a buyer and seller in that marketplace, has no obligation to use its resources to further arguments that are contrary to its pluralistic worldview. If you are losing in the marketplace of ideas, you should perhaps re-evaluate your position.
- December 5
My 77 Cents: Cover up your judgement: clothing choice does not reflect sexual desire
Three girls walk into a bar. They look around, surveying the territory when their eyes fall upon two other young women. These other ladies are wearing short dresses, five-inch pumps and a lot of makeup. "They're such sluts," the three girls whisper spitefully. "Put some clothes on."
Before you roll your eyes at what has become the Feminism 101 cliché of "slut-shaming," I want to look into what these circumstances actually suggest. Firstly, the notion of "slut-shaming" is troublingly unspecific. Are we chastising women for the actual act of sleeping with multiple partners, or for dressing like they want to be doing so? This is, of course, not to label all women mean-spirited, but to expose clothes-shaming, or the "Crop Top Effect" (patent pending), as an issue that merits equal attention.
While I want to focus on girls' critiques of each other, I do think it's relevant to examine some instances of clothing-shaming that have recently come to light but are in no way new phenomena. For years and years, schools have instilled strict dress codes stating that women are forbidden from wearing items like tank-tops, shirts that show their bra straps, or short skirts. I do think these early instances of clothing-shaming contribute to the way we judge women later in life.
All that should matter in a school is that students come to class ready to learn. And sure, dressing respectfully can be important in instances such as say, interviewing for a job. The reasoning behind school dress codes is that classrooms deserve an equal level of professionalism and respect. Makes sense. But what exactly does "appropriate" or "respectful" mean?
What if a student came to school wearing a gigantic M&M costume? That's not exactly professional, but if her bra isn't showing, is it considered permissible? The real question is, why are the majority of these rules so quick to police the female body? Why is it so quickly assumed that someone's wardrobe choices are intentionally sexually provocative rather than merely comfortable or convenient?
When younger girls are sent home for wearing their skirts too short, or wearing a "skimpy" top, this only teaches girls to be ashamed of their bodies. It also dangerously implies that their education is in some way subordinate to their appearance.
Now, why are girls so hard on each other? One argument is that girls feel competitive with one another for male attention, and thus feel threatened when other women dress to impress men.
People generally tend to make "thinking errors" in these types of situations. A "thinking error" means that we tend to invent reasons for other people's behaviors that often have no basis in reality, but are instead the projected products of our own insecurities or beliefs.
So, we might think, "this girl wore that sexy outfit to purposefully undermine me and my subtle beauty" instead of, "that girl looks great in those pants and I am not going to assume that the reason she wore those clothes has anything to do with my personal reaction to her!"
Obviously I'm being a bit facetious here, but I'm sincere in my overall belief that clothing is often an unfair standard by which to judge other women. If we are to assume a girl is dressing to make it "easier" for men to see she is interested in having sex, this has serious consequences. This kind of thinking is deeply problematic, and I don't think it would be too far of a stretch to say that it falls directly in line with the "she was asking for it" paradigm. It is just not our job to ascribe motives to another person's way of presenting themselves to the world. To do this is presumptuous and unfair. When will a girl's body just be able to be her own?
What would be better than covering women up would be providing them with educational opportunities, sex education, media literacy, and the ability to make informed choices about their own bodies. And yes, the way we dress can make a statement about who we are or how we feel, but it doesn't necessarily. To assume that it does is, at best, catty, and at worst, hazardous. We have power in setting the standards, and we can do better.
- December 5
Doing it wrong: In defense of looting: how protesters can challenge corporate systems
Society divides protesters into a binary of good and bad. Good protesters are peaceful, nonviolent and non-threatening. Bad protestors are aggressive, threatening and rule-breaking.
Since the Civil Rights era, the dominating rhetoric has privileged peaceful protests. The only reason that legislation in support of Civil Rights was passed was supposedly because the movement was largely nonviolent. Yet let us not forget that the champion of nonviolence within the Civil Rights movement, Martin Luther King Jr., was killed by the same system of oppression that claims to respect nonviolence.
Good protestors do not loot—only thugs loot. This is the message fed to us by the white supremacist media, government and police force.
On Black Friday, I attended a peaceful protest in honor of Michael Brown in front of the Macy's in Herald Square, the largest department store in the United States. The protest called on people to boycott Black Friday in an effort to not exercise spending power in favor of corporations that profit off of marginalized communities around the world.
The protest was not that large; there were at most a couple hundred people. Yet there were several dozen NYPD officers, all armed. And once protestors started walking into the Macy's, almost every single officer followed, because although the police claim to protect and serve all people, including protesters, they clearly serve sources of power, including corporations.
Marginalized people constantly have to defend themselves as peaceful in a culture that has violently created a system of domination that works against them. We may voice our grievances, but to take action—even with something as simple as a boycott or as intense as looting—is to go too far. Corporations may exploit us, and that is legal and alright, but the people may not exploit corporations.
I don't consider myself an explicit supporter of looting, but I am wary to criticize it. Companies like Walmart and Target are known to exploit workers here and abroad; top executives profit while factory and store workers barely scrape by. To loot companies like these is one method of civil disobedience against this system of exploitation.
Furthermore, why shouldn't impoverished communities take advantage of an opportunity to acquire free things? Private property only benefits those in power, so what is the point of abiding by rules that do not benefit us?
We live in a country where corporations own everything, and marginalized communities hardly own anything. It is no coincidence that the media vehemently opposes looting when they profit off of the same system these corporations do. It is no surprise that the police and government protect corporations when they are generously funded by them.
Not only does looting actively resist a system of capitalist repression, it is also a method of gaining attention and pushing those in power to listen. If you are a person of color, you don't have a dominant voice, so if looting is what gets those in power to listen, so be it.
The media tries to portray looting as a violent, chaotic, selfish and apolitical act when it really is none of these things. It would be easier to not take a risk, to stay docile, to go by the terms of the dominant few. To loot is an act of aggression against the system of oppression that was founded on the domination of people of color.
I support those who loot because I value human life over the life of a corporation, over the sale of a manufactured object, and I have no interest in preserving the racist system that thrives off of capitalism.
- December 5
All students need to show support for marginalized individuals
"No one has the right to hurt you. You have the right to feel better."
This is what Benje Douglas, Bowdoin's director of gender violence prevention and education tells all sexual assault and abuse survivors. It would be a simple, almost poetic sentiment if it were not so painful.
When I interviewed Douglas a few weeks back for a class assignment, I was asking specifically about how he talks to survivors of sexual violence, but his words have resonated with me on a multitude of other issues.
This year alone, photos of the nude bodies of a number of female celebrities were released on the Internet, a student at University of Virginia (UVA) described how she was brutally assaulted by seven men at a frat party during her freshmen year, and a black 18-year-old body lay on a street in Ferguson, Missouri for over four hours.
These events have done nothing but remind us that this country privileges certain bodies with an excess of power, and allows them to exert themselves violently over other bodies—specifically those women, transgender men and women, queers and people of color. The perpetrators of these events more often than not go unpunished, which signals to the masses that no, you do not have the right to feel better and yes, someone does have the right to hurt you.
Under what circumstances does someone have the right to hurt you? For the above events, the narratives presented by the media blame the victim and vindicate the perpetrator. The media manages to obscure truth with a sleight of hand, momentarily manipulating the power imbalance by holding the victim accountable.
Sexual violence survivors have become familiar with this kind of victim-blaming, specifically what Douglas calls "participatory victimization," comparable to being blamed "when you leave the key in the ignition and your car gets stolen."
The problematic rhetoric he said he often hears from survivors who have internalized their own role in their assault is "I shouldn't have been doing this, why did I call my ex-boyfriend…"
When Jackie told her story about being gang raped by seven men at UVA to Rolling Stone, she described how her friends would find her crying and ask, "You're still upset about that?" and "Why didn't you have fun with it?" Not only was Jackie held accountable for being raped, she was portrayed as a threat to the university when her roommate asked her, "Do you want to be responsible for something that's gonna paint UVA in a bad light?"
When officer Darren Wilson told the grand jury what he saw right before he killed Michael Brown with six gunshots, he described Brown's face as "the most intense aggressive face" and said Brown looked "like a demon." These words invoke a white perception of blacks as "a supernatural threat," a phenomenon that was examined in a study at Northwestern University.
Wilson's testimony recasts him as the victim and Brown, unarmed and with his hands up, as the demon. For this and other reasons, the jury chose not to indict Darren Wilson, the supposed victim.
Whether you are comfortable with it or not, I hope you recognize that you are a part of a country that has given certain bodies to have a degree of excessive, unearned power. As a Bowdoin student, society has arbitrarily decided that your life is more valuable than somebody who is less educated. The key word is arbitrarily. No life is more or less valuable than the next one.
Please understand that beyond these power structures that have shifted blame to the victim, real people with real lives are hurting. Survivors still have to walk around their campuses, places they call home, with their rapists possibly living in the dorm next door. Michael Brown's family still has to hear their dead son be demonized by a murderer who told ABC News that he has "a clear conscience."
Please understand that many of these marginalized individuals, be they sexual violence survivors, people of color or members of an oppressed group, live on Bowdoin's campus and hurt every day.
In order to return power to members of these groups who live on this campus, the student body needs to demonstrate broader immediate support. Not speaking out and acting out is sheer apathy about issues where people's lives and well-being are at stake. Always assume you have the legitimacy to be concerned about other people's struggles and recognize it is in your interest to participate in groups like A.D.D.R.E.S.S. and Safe Space, just to name two.
We need you, even if you are not a person of color or a survivor of sexual violence. Do not look away when we are talking about the lives of your peers.
Elina Zhang is a member of the Class of 2016.
- 6 days ago
Bun Bun's Bakeshop comes out of a lifelong dream
Just in time for Valentine's Day, Bun Bun's Bakeshop is opening in Brunswick at 30 Bath Road on February 2.
Owner Laurie Smart-Pottle said she is enthusiastic for the grand opening of the bakery, which boastsfree WiFi, comfy booths, and of course, baked goods.
"It's so exciting sometimes I just feel like I am going to burst and other times I think, wait a minute, am I dreaming?" said Smart-Pottle.
Owning a bakeshop has been a dream of Smart-Pottle's for her entire life. She said she initially started decorating cakes so she could stay home with her children and stepchildren, who are now adults.
As a self-proclaimed military brat, she traveled while young, and briefly worked with water waste in the military before marrying a career soldier. No matter where she was living, Smart-Pottle found herself happiest in the kitchen.
"Family and friends are everything to me—I'm just a real down-to-earth person who loves to be around people and make them happy with really good food," she said.
The decision to make a leap from her normal life and open up her own bakeshop started with her husband.
"My husband and I just got to thinking, because he'd been thinking of retiring—he's been in the Guard for 28 years—we were thinking, 'what can we do to get our retirement years going?'" she said. "So we started thinking of opening a restaurant, a little buffet kind of idea."
The idea seemed far-fetched and expensive to them at the time, but they eventually decided that their dream might actually be a possibility.
"One night [my husband] looked at me and was like, 'Why don't you open up your bakery?' and I was like 'Really?' and so that's what we did," said Smart-Pottle. "We just found a location, got the town involved to get the required codes, started hiring the right crew—plumbers, electricians, that kind of crew—and it kind of snowballed."
Small-Pottle is cultivating a warm and inviting feel for the bakery.
"[It's] super friendly, almost like a going-home-to-mom's kind of place, because everything you're going to eat is going to be homemade, not pretentious—something that you'd probably get at your mom's dinner table—hopefully," said Small-Pottle.
Due to staff restrictions, the bakery will not deliver to Brunswick, but it will make an exception for Bowdoin. Smart-Pottle said she envisions parents sending eight-inch cakes to students on their birthdays.
"We would deliver it with a card and balloons to the location—that way you have a little piece of home on the occasion," she said.
Smart-Pottle has a number of ideas for the future of her business. She already sees the need for more space and has thought about opeing a food truck that would sell coffee and muffins. She also hopes to put tents and picnic tables in the parking lot so she and her husband can hold lobster bakes and pig roasts.
"I'm just really excited to open the doors, because so many people have stopped by and are really excited about a bakery coming," she said. "They have all been so supportive and so friendly, I think I'm just ready to open the doors and be a real legitimate business."
- 6 days ago
Mind the gap: Meyers '17 reflects on travels, service
Sophie Meyers '17 has had plenty of time to reflect on how her decision to take a gap year affected her Bowdoin experience.
When Meyers graduated from high school, she said she felt burnt out academically. In order to take a break from the books and try a different kind of learning, she left home to explore other options in Pittsburgh, Pa., Lexington, Mass., Washington, D.C., and even farther away in Costa Rica.
"I'm very into the idea of learning by doing," she said. "There's a lot you can learn from the classroom, but there's so much to learn about the world and yourself by putting yourself in situations where you're not necessarily comfortable."
Meyers' first stop was in Pittsburgh where she joined the Obama campaign. There she worked as an organizing fellow, canvassing, phone banking, and training new volunteers. She even had the opportunity to work at events which featured Bill Clinton and Bruce Springsteen. Next, Meyers moved back to her hometown, Lexington, Mass., where she volunteered in Boston at an independent school for students from low-income families. There she helped students prepare to apply to private high schools."I was working with eighth graders on applications and trying to get them to dig deeper with essay questions," she said.
In the spring, Meyers traveled to Costa Rica, where she lived in a rural village with a host family—a highlight of her gap year. She spent most of her time teaching English and math at an elementary school, but outside of work, she learned how to make empanadas with her host family and immersed herself in its culture. "That was an unbelievable experience," Meyers said. "I love the country and I want to go back and visit my host family."
With her gap year coming to a close, Meyers continued to try new things and moved to Washington, D.C., for ten weeks as an intern for the global trade watch team at Public Citizen, a non-profit organization and think tank that advocates for consumer rights.
For Meyers, every experience was an opportunity to think about different options and possible careers.
Meyers felt like she came to some conclusions about her future that she would not have reached if she had gone straight to school. "It's nice to have those experiences when I'm thinking about going forward," she said. "At the end of the Obama campaign, you could have asked me, 'Do you want to be in politics?' And I would have said, 'Yes. Totally.' But by the time I got back from Costa Rica I had reflected a lot more on that experience, and I think that might not be where I'm headed."
Brunswick is Meyers' most recent stop. Many students who take gap years worry about the transition to college life and the possibility of feeling disconnected from their peer but Meyers feels that her transition was fairly smooth.
"I would not have been as comfortable here my freshman year if I hadn't gone and done my gap year," she said. "I think I needed that time to regroup, reflect, and think about what I wanted to be like moving forward."
Meyers' transition was also aided by the fact that she kept in touch with some friends from high school who also took gap years.
"Some of them had easy transitions to college, some of them had harder transitions to college. But that was the same with my friends who didn't take gap years," she said. "So I think that sort of just depends on the person."
This year, Meyers plans to declare a major in math and a minor in education. She discovered her love of teaching in Costa Rica and Boston, and it was only when she was reunited with math at Bowdoin she reached her decision to major.Although Meyers has decided what to study, her gap year experiences have shown her that our futures rarely turn out exactly as we plan.
"What you're doing right now doesn't necessarily dictate what you're doing five years from now as much as we're conditioned to think," said Meyers.
Next for Meyers, she may study abroad in Edinburgh and see what else she can learn there.
- 6 days ago
Grain to Glass: Maine beers offer quality, classic underdog story
While I was home for Thanksgiving in New York last November, I met up with a couple of Bowdoin alums at a craft beer bar on West 45th Street. The place looked like a trendy cellar—slender, dimly lit, and a few steps down from the sidewalk outside.
And perhaps cellar is the right word, because while the bar had a few taps, this was really a bottle shop.
The real selection resided in a long wall of coolers containing an enormous array of bottles representing some of the finest beers available. Jostling between several groups of stylish, bearded people, I made way from the fridges and hunted for one of my favorite IPAs from the West Coast.
Returning to our table—a varnished plank straddling two upturned oak barrels—I was surprised by my friend's selection: an elegant, slender brown bottle, with a simple, unmistakable white label. She'd found Zoe, an amber ale from a small craft brewery, Maine Beer Company (MBC), located twenty minutes from Bowdoin's campus in Freeport.
The design of the bottle, clean and unassuming, suggested it might have been out of place among craft ales (it looked almost like a wine bottle). But that assessment was soon belied by the flavorful contents within. MBC wasn't out of place—it was distinctive.
It's a brewery with the unassuming charm of a local business and the prowess to compete in the big leagues. I wasn't surprised to find MBC among such a fine company of beers because their beer is excellent. I was simply surprised to find it so far from its home in Maine.
MBC is a real "started-from-the-bottom" story. Begun as a hobby then founded in a garage, it eventually grew from nano-brewery to microbrewery to the brewery that produces beers so popular that it can't meet its demand—good luck finding bottles of their IPA Lunch.
As an indication of MBC's success, prominent beer writer Joshua Bernstein uses its flagship brew, Peeper Ale, as a paradigmatic example of the American Pale Ale style in his bestselling coffee table book on beer tasting. Truly, their story is so quintessential and inspiring that you can find it on their website, presented in a digital chapter-book format. Read it to your kids—or someone's kids.
But although MBC's reputation began to extend well beyond mid-coast Maine with a demand to match it, it chose to stay small. When I asked an employee about expansion over a beer last October, she implied that the owners were happy with what they'd built. They didn't feel the need to expand.
What MBC does feel the need to do is the right thing—this doesn't just mean drinking beer. "Do what's right" is the brewery's slogan, or more aptly put, the brewery's mission statement. One percent of their gross sales are donated to environmental non-profits and each beer contains a paragraph on its label describing the non-profit towards which its sales contribute.
All craft beers wear a noticeably higher price tag than their mass-marketed compatriots, but at least with MBC you can feel like the few extra dollars are truly well spent.
Now, reader, do what's right and drink MBC's beers.
I may be exposing a bias, but I think its hoppier offerings are where the brewery excels. As a general note, MBC beers are not assertively bitter—even those which showcase their hops at the front of the palate. I love MBC because I can rely on interesting, delicious hop profiles when I'm not in the mood for an astringent beer. I recommend MBC pale ales and IPAs to those of you who typically aren't fond of IPAs or those who are interested in working their palate up to more daring, hoppier experiences.
In his book, Bernstein describes Peeper Ale as a "sunny" beer. Maybe this is a nod to its hazy, yellow appearance, but more likely it characterizes the effervescent, citrusy tang. Peeper Ale finishes dry, with lingering buttery-malt sweetness. Mo is an equally delicious, slightly hoppier, piney pale ale. I can't decide which I like better.
Lunch is MBC's most popular beer. Drinking it for the first time, I remember feeling surprised by the complexity of unexpected, even unconventional hop flavors that gave way to an almost graham cracker-y finish. The name is not a suggested replacement for the meal itself, although you have my permission.
Zoe is the outlier of my recommendations in that it's an amber ale. However, as MBC has termed it a "hoppy amber". Zoe is a great beer for those in the mood for malty, heartier and darker beer with some hoppy distinction.
You can try most of these and more down at the brewery in Freeport, and I suggest that you do. It's totally unlike the bar in midtown—the place seems designed to resemble its beer labels, with clean, white, understated walls and an elegant bar to the side. You really do feel like you're drinking the beer at its home.
- 6 days ago
Function follows form: the art of crafts
Art has existed for thousands of years, but our definitions of and uses for art have changed over time. This is the first in a series of pieces that will explore the perception and use of art and crafts throughout history, as well as their place and relevance in the modern world.
Around 1.76 million years ago, early humans created the first hand-axe by striking the edges of stones into flat, pointed shapes. Fast-forward to 40,000 years ago—almost nothing on the evolutionary timeline—and humans wrought five-note flutes from mammoth tusks. Thirty-thousand years ago, bone needles stitched clothing from rough hides and skins. And over the next 15,000 years, humans developed all major forms of art, using pigments, stones, animal parts and clay to paint, draw, sculpt, engrave and make music.Two years ago when I got into Bowdoin, my mother began sewing me a quilt. She chose a pattern (repeating Xs and Os). She selected favorite, familiar scraps from her rag bag—flowers, pinks, greens and oranges. She cut, pieced, pinned, sewed, batted, backed and finally machine-stitched smooth whorls through the layers of fabric.
When I moved into Maine Hall, she told me that if I didn't want to keep it on my bed—if I thought it was embarrassing that my mother made me a quilt, or if I didn't like the pattern—I could put it right in storage. I kept the quilt.
My mother's quilt falls into the legacy of millions of years of human creations. Quilts and quilt patterns are prominent in American history. Generations of frontier women taught their daughters the useful arts of quilt -making, knitting, lace-making, weaving, spinning and dyeing, which all developed alongside human civilization as homo sapiens moved indoors. Long after the needle was invented, the domestic arts were born.
Tools made for pure necessity began a tradition of human creation to memorialize culture and to demonstrate love. From the bone needles that brought life-saving warmth in furs and hides were born the silver needles that stitched African visual traditions into slave quilts; one of those silver needles latched into the sewing machine that my mother keeps by the big window in our home studio.
The earliest examples of pigmented stone, crude flutes, and even simple needles and axe-heads are treasures because they document the origins of humans' creative expression, the very beginning of humans' unique desire to expose their souls through a particular medium.
Modern forms of creative expression are innumerable—digital arts, writing, performances, 100 iTunes music genres, and the vestiges of the once-necessary domestic arts.
Today, the domestic arts are likely the least respected, least popular form of creative expression, but perhaps the most used art form for demonstrating love. To make a person an item to wear, to use—a scarf or a dress or a blanket—in an era when Walmart and Amazon bring commodities cheaply to our fingertips, is an ultimate labor of love.
Unlike fine arts, which are not purchasable in the same way a quilt is purchasable, crafts turn creative expression into a form of love, for the self, for someone else, for the very act of sewing, knitting, or weaving. New to our time is the qualifying statement when the quilt is finished—you don't have to keep it if you don't want to.
My mother told me I didn't have to keep the quilt she made me, that I didn't have to use the quilt, and so I wonder: when did homemade quilts become embarrassing, instead of precious? How did acts of creative expression—from weaving to sculpting—that have been part of human history for legions of time shift from ways of recording stories, of celebrating tradition, of exploring the beauty of the world, to the trope of the starving artist?
In the pieces that follow in this column I hope to explore what we can learn from considering the breadth, depth and width of human expression through creative arts—in history and in modernity. I will also address the significance of making things—for ourselves and for other people—and what that does for self-image, personal growth and the growth of societies.
Humans make things. We make useful things, pretty things and superfluous things. Things for each other, for ourselves, for pets, for the dead. Forty-thousand years from now, when archaeologists uncover our civilizations, what will their findings tell them?
-Penelope Lusk is a member of the Class of 2017
- December 5
Campus leaders organize responses to non-indictments
Since a grand jury in St. Louis County, Mo. decided against indicting Darren Wilson, a now-former police officer, for the August 9 shooting of Michael Brown, protests have raged across the nation—and have even spread to Bowdoin. Student activists have held a candlelight vigil, joined protests off campus and are currently planning more events to raise awareness and spur action.
Across the nation, many have felt called to action to protest the racial dynamics present in law enforcement and to demand justice for these civilian deaths.
Over the past few months, students on a large number of college campuses such as Stanford University, Oberlin College, Texas A&M, Harvard University, Yale University, Colorado College and Howard University have taken action.
At Harvard, for example, students staged a traffic-blocking die-in at Harvard Square where people lay down as if they were dead; Oberlin held a walk out, workshops, and class discussions; and students at Howard took a photo with their hands in the air to demonstrate solidarity and mobilized others to participate in marches in Washington, D.C.
As for Bowdoin, on the night of the grand jury decision, Symone Howard '15 and the Central Committee of the African American Society organized a campus-wide vigil on the Bowdoin College Museum of Art steps—the first organized event on campus that directly addressed the grand jury decision.
"As soon as the decision came out, we knew we needed to do something because the issue hit so close to home as black women and men," said Howard. "In the back of our heads, we knew that was the likely outcome."
Between 75 to 100 students arrived at the John Brown Russwurm African American Center at 10 p.m. for the vigil. Candles were distributed, but the organizers eventually ran out.
On the way to the Museum steps, the group stopped outside of Hawthorne-Longfellow Library (H-L) to announce that the vigil was about to take place, and more students joined them.After the stop at H-L, the group assembled on the steps for five minutes of silence—a minute to represent each of the 4.5 hours that Brown's body lay in the street.
Following the minutes of silence, several students spoke and read poems, and then the group made a silent walk around the quad.
Michelle Kruk '16, who read a poem entitled "Cuz He's Black," said in an email to the Orient, "As a campus, we have done an unsatisfactory job–in my opinion–in discussing what is happening in Ferguson and taking some sort of concrete action about it. I am deeply disappointed in the administration's silence surrounding this topic."
The vigil lasted about 45 minutes. Noting the diversity of students at the protest–different student organizations, athletic teams and individuals–Howard found the vigil to be very meaningful.
"Honestly, I think that Bowdoin students could do a bit more [about the issue]. The vigil was a start to that," said Howard. "It shows that even though we're all part of these different organizations and we all have really busy schedules and do many different things we can come together to confront this issue."
Throughout the latter part of this semester, there has been a group of students participating in weekly Intergroup Dialogue discussions regarding race and training students to facilitate such conversations.
During their discussion on Monday, the group split into two—people of color and caucasians— to discuss what students of color want from their white counterparts, and vice versa.
"A big thing for people of color asking white people was to use your privilege and be confident and brave enough to know that you have a part in the struggle," said Zhang. "A lot of people who are white really question their legitimacy in participating in these actions, but I definitely think that people of color were asking for the courage to speak not on behalf of people of color, but with people of color."
Zhang also said that the group of white students asked for patience and for there to be a readiness to correct their mistakes.
"A lot of them talked about how they're here to learn from these conversations and they want to be called out if necessary," said Zhang.
One of the more powerful things Zhang heard at the Intergroup Dialogue discussion was when one person of color asked that white people interact more with people of color.
"I thought that was really powerful because [the student of color] talked a lot about how the only way to feel like black lives matter is if you actually interact with black people," she added.From these meetings, A.D.D.R.E.S.S., another student organization, has gathered questions to create further dialogue on campus.
After the stop at H-L, the group assembled on the steps for five minutes of silence—a minute to represent each of the four hours that Brown's body lay in the street.
Following the minutes of silence, several students spoke and read poems, and then the group made a silent walk around the Quad.
Michelle Kruk '16, who read a poem entitled "Cuz He's Black," said in an email to the Orient, "As a campus, we have done an unsatisfactory job—in my opinion—in discussing what is happening in Ferguson and taking some sort of concrete action about it. I am deeply disappointed in the administration's silence surrounding this topic."
The vigil lasted about 45 minutes. Noting the diversity of students at the protest—different student organizations, athletic teams and individuals—Howard found the vigil to be very meaningful.
"Honestly, I think that Bowdoin students could do a bit more [about the issue]. The vigil was a start to that," said Howard. "It shows that even though we're all part of these different organizations and we all have really busy schedules and do many different things we can come together to confront this issue."
Bowdoin President Barry Mills sent an email to the student body Thursday evening addressing the issue.
"Everyone in America must be able to be confident in the rule of law and in the equal and fair application of the law to each of our citizens," he wrote. "This is a basic tenet of our society. Here at Bowdoin, our steadfast focus on serving the common good means that we must continue to engage these issues that are so central to our future growth, wellbeing and humanity."
Throughout the latter part of this semester, there has been a group of students participating in weekly Intergroup Dialogue discussions regarding race and training students to facilitate such conversations.
During their discussion on Monday, the group split into two—people of color and Caucasians— to discuss what students of color want from their white counterparts, and vice versa.
"A big thing for people of color asking white people was to use your privilege and be confident and brave enough to know that you have a part in the struggle," said Elina Zhang '16, the head of A.D.D.R.E.S.S. "A lot of people who are white really question their legitimacy in participating in these actions, but I definitely think that people of color were asking for the courage to speak not on behalf of people of color, but with people of color."
Zhang also said that the group of white students asked for patience and for there to be a readiness to correct their mistakes.
"A lot of them talked about how they're here to learn from these conversations and they want to be called out if necessary," said Zhang.
One of the more powerful things Zhang heard at the Intergroup Dialogue discussion was when one person of color asked that white people interact more with people of color.
"I thought that was really powerful because [the student of color] talked a lot about how the only way to feel like black lives matter is if you actually interact with black people," she added.From these meetings, A.D.D.R.E.S.S., another student organization, has gathered questions to create further dialogue on campus.
On Tuesday, they held a meeting on the shooting and lack of indictment. After setting some ground rules for discussion, eight groups were formed to talk about the Intergroup Dialogue's questions, including: What was the most prominent and immediate emotion after the non-indictment? And, were you or your family immediately or personally affected by the events in Ferguson?
The gathering began with a moment of silence followed by a video. Zhang, said the film discussed the inherent frustration of how repetitive and cyclical events like these are. She added that human beings have limits, which is why protesters are now hitting the streets.
For Zhang, it is most infuriating to hear people deny the gravity of what happened.
"[I want Bowdoin students to] at least acknowledge what's going on, take time to do research and understand why people are literally quitting their jobs to protest peacefully," she said. "I want to beg the Bowdoin population to go out of their way to learn about what's going on. I really, really wish people cared more."
Zhang also said there will be a die-in, which will take place today in the dining halls. Another member of A.D.D.R.E.S.S., Caroline Martinez '16, is from St. Louis and went to Ferguson for the city's Weekend of Resistance, a weekend of protest and demonstration, in October.
On October 8, her first day there, another young black man, Vonderrit Myers, was shot in St. Louis by a police officer. Seeing the action, including marches, protests, and vigils every day, moved Martinez.
"It was great and powerful. It was incredibly sad and at the same time it gave me a lot of hope," said Martinez. "People were in pain and mourning together."
One of the more powerful actions she took part in was a protest outside of the Ferguson police station.
"It was pouring rain and people would just not leave," said Martinez. "In the end, police officers did not end up arresting many people, but it was great to be there with people who I loved and deeply care about his issue and are willing to sacrifice their comfort and financial stability for it."
Martinez also spoke to the power of hearing people chanting, especially lines such as "Black lives matter."
"It is incredibly important because I think that in the U.S. we can see that so many policies or lack of policies show that black lives don't matter—the fact that Darren Wilson was not indicted, the fact that there's really poor housing and people of color do not have access to the same type of educational resources," said Martinez.
Another chant she remembered was, "The whole damn system is guilty as hell. Indict, convict, send that killer cop to jail."
Martinez said this chant is important because it shows the connection between Wilson and other systems of oppression that are in place in the United States. To her, and to many others, it is not just about Brown but also a reflection of all the systems of injustice that she feels are in place in the United States.
"When I think of Ferguson, I'm not scared of the protesters," said Martinez. "I'm scared of the police that are literally there with sniper guns and I don't think there's been enough attention put on this as much as there has been on the rioting."
Martinez said that more action is needed–especially on campus.
"I haven't seen people connect this with how race is dealt with or not dealt with at Bowdoin," said Martinez. "If we just think about important resources and groups on campus—for example, if we think about the Outing Club, the Outing Club is the largest club on campus and it is predominantly white. I love the Outing Club, but most trips that I go on I am not just the only Latina, but the only person of color. I think that that's very telling—that the College isn't putting a big effort getting students of color at the Outing Club."
Justin Pearson '17 would like to see more people participate in conversations surrounding race, class, gender and privilege.
"We, students at a prestigious institution and benefiting from the best education in the country, must create the initiatives and address the problems head on. We cannot become comfortable with the status quo," he said in an email to the Orient.
This week brings more developments around the issue of race in the US. On December 3, a New York grand jury did not indict white police officer Daniel Pantaleo for causing the death of a black man, Eric Garner, with a chokehold. This decision has ignited even more protests across the nation.
"Bowdoin, as an institution and as a student body, ought to, at the very least, acknowledge that these tragedies are happening and that they do affect us—even here in Brunswick, Maine," wrote Kruk in an email to the Orient. "There are students at this school who do care. We need to mobilize those students."
- December 5
Home schooled and on the road: non-traditional paths to Bowdoin
Ian Kline '15 didn't exactly follow a normal school schedule in high school. Sometimes his family jetted off to New Zealand for three weeks in November, just for fun. He learned about coral reefs, and then snorkeled in the Great Barrier Reefs. He studied opium production in Thailand, and then explored the Golden Triangle. But Kline wasn't skipping school to go on these expeditions; he was in school. Kline is one of Bowdoin's few home-schooled students.
"It was the best education ever," he said.
Marina Marlens '16 had a different home schooling experience. Marlens switched to a more traditional high school for her last two years after having been taught at home for freshman and sophomore years. Her family didn't follow a strict curriculum, choosing the path of "unschooling," a method of learning based on "customizing the academic experience to each individual," instead. Her parents objected to the idea of "uniform compulsory education," and with a large community of home schooling groups in Marlens' then-home state of California, the choice to home school was obvious."It was really good for [both my sister and I] when we were young," said Marlens, "The culture that you are home schooled in is going to have a huge impact on the experience you have. In California, we were in this huge home schooling group, there were constantly events, like museum days or hikes." Once the family moved to Colorado, however, things changed.
"Not as many people were home schooling for reasons similar to us. Most people were doing it for religious reasons. That definitely changed things," said Marlens.
Kline's family moved to Asia after his ninth grade year and instead of sending their children to a Singapore-American school, which cost 40,000 dollars per year, the family opted for home schooling, despite the cautions given out by Kline's former Knoxville, Tennessee high school.
"Before I left, I asked my teachers, 'Can you give me maybe a curriculum?' They told me if you [homeschool], you'll fail. You won't get into colleges," said Kline.
Marlens, too, was nervous when it came time to gather her materials and apply to college. "I think that it's always sort of unpredictable how any kind of alternative application is going to be received," she said. "I was definitely nervous."For Marlens, having the two transcripts, one alternative and one more traditional was an added benefit because she felt the high school transcript gave her other transcript a frame of reference. This was a reference Kline did not have.Jumping into home schooling was a risk that the Kline family decided to take, but the transition wasn't easy. Klein said that the first few months of home schooling were rocky. His mom found a curriculum online that had rave reviews, but it was incredibly Christian, and the first line of the curriculum's Chemistry textbook was 'Evolution is fake." This curriculum wasn't suited to Kline, who had been in AP Chemistry beforehand. Halfway through the year, Kline took it upon himself to find a new path of study, and ended up using an online resource called "Think Well" which consisted of online lectures.
"That first year was definitely about figuring it out," he said. "What if those teachers were right, back in Knoxville? When we applied to colleges, it was really scary."The warnings from the teachers back in Tennessee haunted the family, especially when Kline got rejected from the first three schools he applied to.
"Oh, no, we were thinking. We've ruined my future. We were crying," recalled Kline. However, he was then accepted to three schools on the same day, one of which was Bowdoin.
"It was like, okay, breathe," he said.
Kline and Marlens are members of the small and relatively unexplored home schooled population here at Bowdoin.Janet Lohmann, the dean of first-year students, noted that there have been home-schooled students on campus from time to time.
"I don't necessarily see [home-schooled students] as having a collective or finding one another, but I would say that often times there are similar issues that they face," said Lohmann, who has in the past been able to connect home-schooled students to one and other.
"I'll say, you know, this might be a good person for you to talk to; they can help you figure out this place," said Lohmann.Lohmann has noticed that sometimes the transition to Bowdoin can be difficult for home-schooled students."I think there are certain articulated expectations here: how to meet deadlines, how to communicate with faculty," explained Lohmann.
Lohmann described one occasion where a student did not realize that showing up for an exam at the time when it was scheduled was a requirement. It seems absurd, but the student explained that he had never had to show up to take an exam at a specified time. For home-schooled students, a big part of the adjustment is learning expectations, like what it means to go to class, meet deadlines, ask for help and use resources.
"While lots of people think of this place as very small, for home- schooled students, this place can feel very big," said Lohmann.
Kline said that he does not know of any other home schooled students at Bowdoin, which Lohmann also noted."I don't know what the critical mass is," said Lohmann, "I certainly could talk with Admissions and say, how do we identify those students and how do we create sort of a [community]. There are so few of them that it becomes hard to get a critical mass."
"It would definitely be cool to talk to other people about their experiences. It was obviously a huge part of my life, but it isn't something I think about day to day," said Marlens, who also is not aware of other home-schooled students on campus.
Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid Scott Meiklejohn said that Bowdoin gets between 20 and 30 applicants from home schooled students each year.
"It's like everything else," Meiklejohn said, "It's really hard no matter where you're from or what you've done. Some years we've admitted some home schooled students, and some years we haven't."
Marlens said that when she applied, with her transcript mainly from her home schooling and partially from her high school, she felt that Bowdoin was accommodating.
The Bowdoin admissions website specifies that "Home school applicants are required to submit ACT test results or SAT test results with two or more SAT Subject Test results. SAT Subject Tests should include a science and Math Level 1 or Math Level 2." Applicants from regular backgrounds are not required to submit test scores, since Bowdoin is test-optional.
Kline took six SAT subject tests and five AP tests. His mother felt comfortable grading his English assignments, but everything else was based off of his grade on the AP.
"If I got a five on the AP, I got an A. If I got a four, I got a B, and so on," said Kline. "It was all based on that final grade."Meiklejohn said that though home schooled students send in slightly different materials, Admissions reviews their applications like all others.
"We see academic achievement and talent and promise and personal qualities and ways to add to Bowdoin community. The review is not any different, but the contents of the application are sometimes different," said Meiklejohn.Marlens does not regret the way she conducted her education. However, she does think the application process would have been easier had she switched to traditional schooling freshman year of high school.
"If I could do it again I would absolutely still home school up until that point," said Marlens, adding that she "probably have decided to start going to school freshman year. It would have been less stressful."
Lohmann said she thinks students who are admitted to Bowdoin are usually prepared to take on the challenge."I think while every student has transitions, some students are fine with figuring this place out on their own. I think students find their way here," she said.
While Lohmann may have heard of some students struggling to adjust, Kline found the switch from homeschooling to Bowdoin relatively easy.
"I found it way easier academically here," said Kline, "because I had people telling me what to read, when to read it, and what to write a paper on."
Back at home, Kline's mom would have him pick a book that he liked, design a schedule around it, read it, discuss it and write a paper on whatever he wanted.
Marlens also enjoyed the switch from home schooling to the more traditional model, because she craved more structure."I like a lot of structure. [Home schooling] works in different ways for different people," said Marlens. "I am pretty self-motivated and I was able to get a lot done, but I wanted external requirements and guidelines."
Kline felt similarly, saying, "I was very used to doing things independently, so when I came here, having other people structure things, it was very easy."
Home schooling was never easy for Klein. He recalls handing in his first ever paper, and having his mom rip it up, declaring that they needed to work on his writing skills.
"She really made sure that when I made a point, I knew how to defend it," said Kline, "I was able to write argumentative papers very well coming into college."
Marlens said that her education was rigorous, but also incredibly untraditional. She just picked it up on her own. "Kids want to figure it out," said Marlens, "It depends on the person, but kids want to learn things. Kids are naturally curious, I think."
The biggest benefit of Marlens' home schooling was her time spent outdoors.
"I cannot emphasize enough how much time I spent outside as a child. An unbelievable amount of time...that's the biggest thing I cannot imagine. I can't imagine being inside for 8 hours a day my entire childhood," she said.In terms of the social adjustment in coming to college, Kline and Marlens felt very well prepared, though they have both found that home schooling stereotypes still exist and often get surprised reactions when they mention their backgrounds. However, both feel that being home schooled enhanced their social abilities.
According to Kline, the nice thing about home schooling is it did not limit him to talking to only people of his same age. With a family that traveled a lot, Kline got to talk to people who were anywhere between the ages of four and 87. "You get to meet people from all walks of life, and you learn how to talk to people from all walks of life," said Kline. As a result, Kline has friends on campus from all over the world.
"I'm really lucky because I'm friends with Allison [Voner] in the mail center, Sue [O'Dell]from the science library, Guy Mark Foster, an English professor, Sandy, on the housekeeping staff," said Klein. "I have a lot of people whom I consider really great friends who are not students here. And I feel like that's because of home schooling."Marlens too found herself in groups of people outside her own age range while being home schooled, noting that it feels almost unnatural to be kept alongside kids of only her age, as in the traditional school setting.Growing up, Kline initially felt forced to meet people outside his age range, but eventually, he started looking out for friends who were different than him. In Singapore at outdoor eating areas, Kline would strike up a conversation with the people cooking.
"I got whoever I could interact with," said Kline.
Kline feels like the biggest transition for him was switching from spending his time with his family to living with roommates not related to him, but even that didn't trip him up too much.
Home schooling worked for Kline. He found his way around Internet censorship in China, and smuggled educational resources into the country. He bought himself textbooks and watched biology experiments on YouTube. Each Sunday, he would write out a schedule for himself, and by the end of the week, he made sure everything had been accomplished, even if he had to scoot things around to accommodate for unexpected outings in Singapore, like mid-day family hikes. Kline would write his own exams trying to trick himself.
"I'm very self motivated. Homeschooling works when you have that self-motivation," said Kline, "It might not work for somebody else."
"It's so dependent on the individual. For some kids, [traditional] school is great, and for some kids, it's destructive," said Marlens.
Home schooling, according to both Kline and Marlens, gives students the opportunity to explore. Both studied what interested them and read what they enjoyed.
"There's a difference in the work that you do when you have a consciousness that you are doing it of your own volition," said Marlens. "Most kids don't really think about school as something that is optional. I think I had a greater awareness, like, I don't want to waste my time here."
"I feel that flexibility is really powerful in education," said Kline, "I feel like you can't learn something if you don't feel motivated by it. And I felt motivated by what I was studying, so that got me to study more."
- December 5
Behind the Name tag: Books a constant companion for Tucker
Although Course Materials and General Book Manager Michael Tucker is a lifelong bibliophile, it took him a while to find his calling.
"I originally thought that I was going to be a physical therapist, so I started my college career at [Ithaca College]," said Tucker. "I remember sitting in chemistry class and my professor was passing back the exams. She said, 'the grades ranged from a 44 to a 99 percent,' and I looked at mine and it was a forty-seven. I just realized that I kind of picked the wrong field."
Born and raised in Syracuse, New York, Ithaca College was only the start of Tucker's college career. After his change of heart, he transferred to Syracuse University—which was too big for his liking—and eventually found his place at Le Moyne College. "I had a great professors there—Dr. Clarkson—she used to smoke a cigar and we'd go into her office and she'd have a little teacup," said Tucker. "She was just a character, but she was a great teacher."
The small, Jesuit, liberal arts school gave him the one-on-one relationship he wanted with his professors, and helped rediscover his true passion: English.
"In high school I wrote for my school newspaper, and when I got to college I began writing for my college newspaper," said Tucker. "Books have always been there, writing has always been there, and I have done other things with my life, but I have always fallen back into being around books."
About 15 years ago, Tucker and his wife moved to Maine. Prior to their move, they had both worked at the bookstore chain Barnes & Noble. Whenever a new store would open they would be relocated, moving from Syracuse to Rochester to Buffalo.
"We just got tired of moving and we decided that we were just going to pick a place to settle down. We just decided on Maine," Tucker said. "When we first got here, neither of us had jobs, which was kind of scary...Then I saw an ad in the paper advertising for this job. I loved books and had the background in it and applied."
This December is his 10-year anniversary working at the College.
Some of his responsibilities include ordering the textbooks—searching for used books and putting in orders for new books—and coordinating with the Events Office when there are events on campus that involve book signings. Tucker said the people are by far his favorite part of working at Bowdoin.
"There are so many creative and interesting people. We just have a great community," he said.
Tucker finds many ways to diversify his hobbies. From surfing lessons to cricket, from printmaking to learning to play the electric guitar, he pursues various passions. It all comes back to books, however.
"I do write a lot for myself, creatively," he said. "I travel to Woodstock, New York. Every year there's a festival down there, and I meet a lot of creative people there...I promised my mom that I would get published in her lifetime."
- December 5
Ben AppÉtit: Beale Street BBQ boasts southern authenticity
It's that time of year again. I know what you're thinking, but rest assured that I'm not prematurely suggesting any yuletide, Maccabean or Kwanzaa-related feasts. Rather, I am referring to the gustatory gap between Thanksgiving and peak holiday season where many Bowdoin students sustain their morale only with fond flashbacks of gravy-drenched turkey and daydreams of the coming late-December feasts.
I think this lull in culinary excitement is poorly timed. With the combined onslaught of upcoming exams and treacherous weather, it only makes sense that Polar Bears should find indulgence somewhere amidst the hardship. A quick trip to Beale Street Barbecue in nearby Bath can help us all traverse the pre-finals fjord with some comfort food.My own inspiration for finding decent Southern fare near Bowdoin came from a conversation with the illustrious Evan Montilla '17, who was born and raised in Mississippi.
Though you may know him as one third of Treefarm, one twelfth of Ursus Verses or one whole of his solo act, the down home dreamboat also has a classically-trained palate for all things barbecue. Singing and making strange percussive noises gets me very hungry (that's normal, right?), so it was only natural when I asked Evan to share his wisdom during a late-night a cappella rehearsal.
"To be honest, I haven't even tried to find good barbecue up here," he told me as a single tear welled up and dropped from his eye.
Alas, I hadn't bothered to seek out any slow-smoked delicacies either. In my mind, Maine had its regional specialties, some solid international offerings and not much else. But talking to Evan made me wonder: if Maine is the "South of the North," then shouldn't some Southern-style dining be a perfect fit?
Though I am no bona fide Southerner, my hometown boasts several joints that challenge the regional limits of good barbecue. If New York City can pull it off, maybe BBQ also has a home in Maine. With that hunch, I was determined to find some Southern comfort food to satisfy our craving, authenticity be damned. What we found at Beale Street Barbecue exceeded our expectations.
The short drive into Bath's historic downtown felt like a road trip, nay, a veritable quest for smoky meaty goodness in the frozen north we call home. Walking in, I noticed the wood pile and barrel smoker set up in the parking lot. This was a good sign. I second-guessed the omen when I saw that the brick-walled interior had plenty of open booths and empty bar stools, but held out further judgment until my take-out order was ready.
Back at Bowdoin, I unveiled the heaping plate of ribs, brisket, corn bread, coleslaw and mashed sweet potatoes. Wordlessly, Evan and I investigated the supposedly Tennessee-inspired meal before us.
After a few moments of reassuring silence, we looked up from our feast and began to over-analyze what we tasted."Okay, so the ribs are actually really good," Evan said. "You can tell that someone in the kitchen is from the South.""There's something crazy about the barbecue sauce, " I ventured.
Pairing equally well with the spice-rubbed bark on the ribs and the charred seasoning on the sliced brisket, the tangy sauce was—if you'll excuse the Fieri-ism—boss.
Both the pork and beef were also perfectly smoky and so the prophecy of the barrel-wood smoker proved legitimate. The ribs were textbook-executed in the St. Louis style, with a peppery dry rub that complemented the chewy crimson bark deliciously. Though somewhat lean, the thin-sliced—nearly shredded—brisket was juicy inside and chewy around the edges.
"You can also tell it's legit because they actually give you solid pickles and onions to go with the brisket," Evan added. Admittedly, the coleslaw and mashed sweet potatoes that accompanied our $21 meal for two left something to be desired, but the quality of the meat overwhelmed their mediocrity.
The cornbread, on the other hand, proved polarizing. With subtle hints of jalapeño and a sliced-bread appearance, Evan was less receptive of the starchy sacrament, noting how it was "somewhere between moist and dry." I enjoyed the dense cornbread, but agreed that recipes usually end up moist and chewy or dry and crumbly.
If Thanksgiving Break can teach us anything positive, it should be an appreciation for slow cooking and voracious eating. Though preparing for finals doesn't leave much time for the lethargic digestion period that many of us enjoyed after devouring our turkey, I would still recommend Beale Street Barbecue as a great take-out or eat-in option to break up an arduous study schedule.
Though it's only 15 minutes away, a BBQ jaunt to Bath has the soul-rejuvenating (and artery-clogging) effects of a road trip down South.
- December 5
Bottom of the Barrel: Slip into the ambiance of this Cali Riesling
Going into the end of the semester is a trying ordeal for any stressed college student. We wholeheartedly endorse using wine as a medicinal coping mechanism for when you can no longer deal with reality. Brandon is a psych major, so you know our advice is legit.*
Deciding to kick the class up a notch this week, we chose Spotify's "Coffee Table Jazz" to play as we expertly sampled our wine, a California Riesling appropriately labeled "Belle Ambiance." Our spit cups nowhere to be found we decided to drink the whole bottle like we usually do. Keep the music classy, but true wine connoisseurs need to be able to taste the entire bottle.
As Brandon popped the cork we noticed that our "Belle Ambiance" Riesling fit the environment quite well. With a delightful glugging akin to a cherub's laugh, the glasses were filled and the bottle was suddenly half empty.
A very light nose greeted us with floral notes, not very strong overall, but quite pleasing. Also, who really cares what it smells like as long as it tastes good, right? The color of the wine is a white gold, and the body is relatively light.
Rieslings are known to be quite sweet and low in alcohol content. This wine delivered on only one of those qualities.
Typically German, our California Reisling was sweet, but not cloying. With an American twist, however, our wine was at a comfortable 12 percent alcohol by volume, resting on the higher end of the scale for this type of wine. Have we found a wine that gives us the best of both worlds?
The wine is refreshingly sweet at first, yet finishes well with a light acidity. Easy enough to sip on its own, we didn't feel the need to pair it with anything but more wine.
The aftertaste is lovely and lends itself to making this a casual sipping wine. It also makes you want to drink more. This wine is the ultimate stress reliever. We highly suggest pairing it with some smooth jazz, even if you aren't a fan, and then just let yourself feel the stress melt away. If you wish to go into a happiness coma grab two bottles, turn on the music, and throw on the Parent Trap (Lohan version, obviously).
Remember: you're going to be okay, if you let the Belle Ambiance take you away.
Additional Notes:
Brandon: I can imagine putting on a record, curling up in front of the fire with my (as of yet, nonexistent) significant other and escaping into the Belle Ambiance.
Bryce: I am actually at such a relaxed state right now that I could find Nicolas Cage repairing the Coles Tower elevator and I wouldn't even be fazed. Nose: 3.5Mouthfeel: 4Body: 3.5 Taste: 4.5 As per the good doctor's orders go grab your weekly bottle and de-stress. $9.99 at Target. *Disclaimer: Brandon is not an actual doctor of psychology.
- December 5
Protest politics: breaking news beyond the bubble
The tales are eye opening. Tear gas, birdshot and police brutality define vivid recollections of a revolutionary time, but this week brought a reminder that nothing has really changed. No, I [Alex] am not talking about the Civil Rights Movement and Ferguson, MO, but instead about the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak during the Arab Spring and his imminent release from jail after the charges against him for overseeing the deaths of 800 protesters were thrown out by a judge.
Being abroad has given me the opportunity to interact and talk with people who lived and shaped the events that we in the bubble only read about in the international section of the New York Times. Over the past few weeks, an Egyptian professor of mine has been slowly divulging his experiences of living in Tahrir Square, while venting his frustration with the current regime for releasing back into society those who supervised the violence he experienced.
My professor joined the protests after a canister of tear gas flew through the window of his classroom at the American University in Cairo. This, among other events caused the University's administration to cancel classes and evacuate all non-Egyptian students and professors. Over the next two weeks he lived in the square, only returning home to shower, change his clothes and see his family.
During the course of the protests he documented the scenes he saw in over 13,000 photos, witnessed eight protesters die and was shot in seven places with bird pellet, one piece of which he refused to let the doctors remove so it could serve as a reminder of the crimes the regime had committed against its people.
My professor's story is just one of many, and these stories aren't a new phenomenon. Scholars and intellectuals have a long history of involvement in conflict but today, more than ever, academic institutions have become specific targets for attack. Universities, academics and students across the world, from Colombia to Pakistan, are being targeted by governments and militants for their desire to learn and engage with the global academy.
This singling out has led to a massive exodus of professors and students from conflict zones to refugee camps and areas where they are unable to continue their research and studies. The rise in academic refugees has largely been a product of the increasingly hostile stance towards scholarship taken by those fighting wars. Take Boko Haram, a militant group in Nigeria whose name means "western education is forbidden," or ISIS, which has waged a campaign of destruction aimed at academic institutions across Syria and Iraq.
This is a problem not only for the students and teachers it directly affects, but also for the international academic community that has lost valuable participants in scholarly discourse to violent conflict.
So what can we inside the bubble do for those who have been forced to leave theirs?
For one, Bowdoin could consider hosting displaced academics from conflict zones around the world that have been unable to find institutions in their immediate regions. This precedent has existed since World War II, when American colleges and universities played a crucial role in helping scholars flee Nazi Europe.
Today, organizations such as the Institute for International Education continue this legacy by facilitating temporary placements for academic refugees at willing host institutions until domestic conditions in their home countries are conducive for their return.
Hosting academic refugees would not only help these professors who wish to continue their teaching and studies, but also help our campus.
Bowdoin is a pretty homogeneous place when it comes down to it, but there exists a yearning on campus to engage further afield. This desire ought to be met by the institution. In bringing professors to campus who may have experienced first-hand what we learn about in government, history and sociology classes or who have new insights on regional topics, we would broaden our perspectives as an institution.
This is not to say that our education today is lacking—our professors foster our abilities to think critically, write well and apply what we learn to a variety of situations. However, we do need more opportunities to humanize the issues that are all too often sensationalized in the media, through the thoughts and ideas of those grappling with the issues first hand. These perspectives aren't prevalent in the American academic and scholarly discourse or in our immediate community, and these international scholars could provide them. This proposal would clearly represent a financial burden to the College, but we believe that the benefits to the College, and such an immense contribution to the common good, would greatly outweigh any costs.
Our experiences, whether abroad or on campus, have convinced us both that there are many ways that Bowdoin students can begin to unravel the problems that our world faces. As global dynamics change, it has become clear that we must work more concertedly to engage with scholars and opinions from outside the West.
Besides building a knowledge-base to tackle relevant issues, it is necessary that we as students begin thinking critically about how we engage the world through the structure and content of our Bowdoin education. Besides conventional intellectual engagement, it is important that we freely invite and explore the views of those whose experiences are truly immersed in the realities of our changing world. In other words, let's ensure that Bowdoin graduates continue to feel at home in all lands, and confident that they have the key to the world's library in their pockets for years and years to come.
Arts & Entertainment
- 6 days ago
Activist musicians Dr. Bernice and Toshi Reagon perform for MLK Day
The Bowdoin community sang and clapped through the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day celebration on Monday in Pickard Theater, led by activists and songwriters Dr. Bernice Johnson Reagon and her daughter, Toshi Reagon. The pair revisited protest songs from the Civil Rights Movement songs of freedom.
The Reagons sang familiar songs like "This Little Light of Mine," as well as originals written about social issues in South Africa and Brooklyn. The singers happily coached the crowd through their bluesy renditions as Toshi plucked a guitar.
As a member of the Freedom Singers and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), Bernice Reagon has been a major voice for social change since the 1960s. She is the founder of the all-female African-American a cappella group Sweet Honey in the Rock, which has used music as a way to speak out against injustice, and is a respected professor and curator of African American folk music.
Toshi is continuing her mother's tradition of activist music with her band BIGLovely. The band also includes Bowdoin's own Assistant Professor of Africana Studies Judith Casselberry, who originally met the Reagons in the performance circuit and has developed a close relationship with the duo.
While the College held classes on Martin Luther King Jr. Day this year, Bowdoin formed a committee to honor the holiday by organizing celebration activities in remembrance of the Civil Rights Movement.
"We wanted something to honor King, but, more than honoring just King the man, honoring his legacy and the work he was committed to," said Leana Amaez, associate dean of multicultural student programs and a member of the programming committee for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.
The programming themes in 2013 and 2014 were the eradication of poverty and activism, respectively. This year's theme was faith, and the committee thought the Reagons were a good representation of the role of faith in social movements.
"Sometimes we focus on people who are passed away. We think about these things in a historical context, which is part of how we should think about it, but there's also a very present context. Dr. Reagon is living history," said Casselberry. "I think it's important for us to all remember that this isn't a long ago history. It's a current history, and people are still living who did work in that time period."
The Reagons returned to this theme in their performance, inviting the audience to carry forward the spirit of African American folk music and protest music.
"One time I heard my mom talk about songs that came out of the Civil Rights Movement, and she told people, don't think of them as museum pieces," Toshi told the audience. "You hear a song from the Civil Rights Movement, and you kind of separate yourself from it as if you don't actually need it to be a part of your contemporary world, as if it can't still do service to so many situations that are going on in the world today."
The committee also saw the Reagons' partnership as mother and daughter as a reminder that activism requires collaboration between generations.
"To have Bernice and Toshi together is for the community, and students in particular, it's great to see the intergenerational continuity and how important that can be for how young people think about moving in the world, how young people think about the future," said Casselberry.The Reagons delighted as hundreds of audience members lifted their voices for the choruses of each new song.
"I'm gonna invite you to participate in these songs as if they're yours," said Toshi Reagon. "In case you didn't know, we like people to sing along with us."
The audience responded enthusiastically, giving the community the opportunity to experience the songs the way they were experienced during the Civil Rights Movement.
"The traditions in which this comes from—old hymns, old Negro spirituals, protest music—it's all about participation," said Dean Amaez.
The performance elicited an emotional response from the audience, ranging from excited to nostalgic.
"It was absolutely breathtaking. It reminded me of my grandmother walking around the house singing some of the same type of Civil Rights spirituals, old church songs," said Matthew Williams '16, student director for activism and social justice at the Office of Multicultural Life.The Reagons encouraged the audience and reminded them that social change is driven by the young people in a community—a particularly relevant point for student activist groups on campus.
"Young people always speak to the current and contemporary energy of the time," Toshi told the crowd. "Older people can't shape that dialogue for young people. Young people shape the dialogue, and old people get behind them and support them while they do it."
Casselberry agreed.
"Each generation has its own issues to deal with. Even if those issues are maybe not quite as clearly connected, or at least feel like they aren't as clearly connected, I think that it's important for young people to remember that they're the ones that always make things happen," she said.Williams also felt the songs were relevant to the work students are doing on campus to impact the community, like the protest acts following the unrest in Ferguson, Mo., and the petitions for divestment.
Williams said he was surprised by the diversity of the turnout.
"I did not think that place was going to be that filled, let alone that diverse," said Williams."When they turned the lights on, I saw that it wasn't just the entirety of the black population here, but it was filled with a lot of people from a lot of different walks of life."Williams added, "I think it really does show how their music can relate to things that are happening on campus or even in our world today."
The last event celebrating Martin Luther King Jr. Day will be Common Hour with Reverend Dr. Emilie M. Townes on February 27.
- 6 days ago
Professor Brock Clarke goes on tour to promote new novel
Professor of English Brock Clarke has been on sabbatical since the start of the fall semester, going on tour to promote his newest book, "The Happiest People in the World."
Clarke described "The Happiest People in the World," released in November 2014, as a "sort of literary spy novel for people who don't like spy novels. I don't like spy novels." The book is chock full of labyrinthine plot lines, characters with multiple identities and dramatic irony.
According to Clarke, the novel's complexity increased as the book developed. It started, in January 2011, with a first-person narrator, but as Clarke realized the implications of all the secrets harbored by various characters in the book, he created an omniscient narrator to provide the perspectives of multiple characters.
"I begin with a very specific idea of what the book's going to be like and then the book sort of confounds that at every turn, until I get over my original impression of the book and give in to what the book is demanding of me," said Clarke.
He added that this process of gradual transformation took place when he was writing his other books as well.
Clarke sees the act of completing a novel as less concrete than one might imagine. At one point when he felt that "The Happiest People in the World" was complete, his editor made a suggestion that resulted in Clarke's adding a completely new first chapter to the book.
"There is essentially nothing in it that, removed from context, makes any sense," wrote J. Robert Lennon in a glowing review of "The Happiest People in the World," published in The New York Times.
In response, Clarke said, "Those are the kind of books I like. They don't have any logic in them except their own logic. They don't lean on the world for the logic of their book. So I took that as total praise.
"It's sort of a book for people who like satiric literary fiction but also like their satire to have a little more emotional quality than most satire has," said Clarke. "For people who like Muriel Sparks novels, but who also like Coen brothers movies, that's how I think of it."
Although "The Happiest People in the World" is about a cartoonist who ends up running from terrorists, Clarke said he resists connections to the recent attacks on the satirical French newspaper Charlie Hebdo.
"It's difficult to talk about my book in the context of those cartoons, because the cartoonist [in the book] doesn't draw the cartoons for any kind of political purpose, and the people who burn down his house don't do it for a political purpose—they're not Jihadists and he's not a politicized cartoonist," he said.
Clarke was on tour with "The Happiest People in the World" from mid-October to mid-December, from Miami to San Francisco, reading mostly at bookstores. A day in the life of a touring author is hectic, between travel time and appearances. Clarke said he used his small pockets of free time for writing, radio interviews and taking walks outside.
Although touring requires a significant amount of what can only be described as schlepping around ("There's a lot of sitting on airplanes"), for him, going on tour is a dream come true.
"I don't know how I could complain about it at all," said Clarke, who had always aspired to be a novelist, and grew up thinking "I'd love to publish a book some day, I would love to have someone give a shit about it."
One strange phenomenon Clarke noticed in giving public readings at bookstores is the type of intimacy that the reader often assumes with the author. Some audience members presume a pre-existing rapport with Clarke, wanting to banter and acting as though they knew him really well."It's flattering, but also a little unnerving," said Clarke.
At a typical reading, there are around thirty audience members. They are fans of Clarke's work, as well as people who have read the reviews and heard the hype. Clarke said there are occasionally stray knitters, sitting in the bookstore with their balls of yarn, who otherwise don't care about the book. Regardless of the interest of the audience—or even its size, which can range from two to 80—Clarke is happy to have the forum to speak and sees the whole experience as "a dream."
Clarke will be returning to Bowdoin in the fall of 2015 and is excited to continue working with his students.
- 6 days ago
Panel of art historians discusses Duchamp's legacy
Marcel Duchamp—the conceptual artist best known for exhibiting a urinal as a work of original art—was the focus of a well-attended panel entitled "The Legacy of Marcel Duchamp," in Kresge Auditorium on Wednesday.
This depiction of a urinal was not immediately accepted into the art world. "Fountain," the title of the piece, only became well known years later, but the original dismissal of the piece did not stop Duchamp's success as an artist.
"This rejection [of the piece] occasioned an opportunity for Duchamp to collaborate with other artists to determine what the purpose of the artwork was," said Anne Goodyear, co-director of the Bowdoin College Museum of Art.
"By taking a urinal out of its everyday context…he attached a new idea to the object and transformed it conceptually. Boundaries that had previously been understood between art and everyday world fell apart."
The panel featured three individuals, each with a different perspective on Duchamp's work. Panelists included Scott Homolka, associate conservator of works of art on paper at the Philadelphia Art Museum, James W. McManus, emeritus professor of art history at California State University, Chico, and Michael R. Taylor, director of the Hood Museum of Art at Dartmouth College.
"Scott [brings the] perspective of a paper conservator who thinks about the physical evidence of a work of art; Jim brings an academic perspective and Michael has an art museum background as curator and director of the Hood Museum at Dartmouth," said Goodyear.
The panel was held in conjunction with the Museum of Art's current exhibition, "Collaborations and Collusions," which focuses on networks of modern artists including Duchamp, Pablo Picasso, Mary Cassatt and others.
"The art museum is a place where students can be exposed to ideas, speakers and artists that collectively take us beyond Brunswick," said Goodyear. "One of the goals of this exhibition is to think about ways different artists work together and inform one another. It helps us understand why one might want to engage with the everyday in the modern world."
According to the the panelists, Duchamp was a conceptual artist who made viewers question the definition of art in our society. Duchamp's extreme precision gives his artwork a deeper meaning.
"Duchamp is an outstanding example of an artist who wants us to challenge our assumptions," said Goodyear.
"Duchamp, more than almost any other artist in the twentieth century, taught us how to think about and look at works to get beyond the physicality of the object and understand the structure of the work," said McManus. "This is what makes him so attractive and challenging at the same time."
Duchamp's style of art continues to be relevant today, according to Taylor.
"Duchamp remains extremely current because he was so far ahead of his peers that we are still catching up with his ideas, which are still very radical," said Taylor. "He remains the kind of artist you can still admire and find new ideas from."
McManus had a similar assessment.
"The challenges presented by Duchamp are no less critical today than they were in 1917 when he presented "Fountain," he said. "Duchamp swung the door open to think about what can be art and what cannot be art, and it continues to have an impact."
"Collaborations and Collusions" will be on display until February 8.
- 6 days ago
Hipster drivel: Sleater-Kinney more than just riot grrrls
To call Sleater-Kinney the best rock band of the last two decades is to miss the point. It's an argument that has stormed across the internet like, well, a Sleater-Kinney song ever since the trio announced its return a few months ago after a ten-year hiatus.
But I suspect Corin, Carrie and Janet don't give a damn what we think about them. "No Cities To Love," a searing record of tight melodies and gripping charisma, asks many questions, but "do you still love us?" is not one of them. "What if your mom could kick your ass?" however, certainly is.
Indeed, these riot grrrls are now riot women. They've come a long way since the early '90s DIY punk scene at Evergreen State College in Olympia, Wa.
Carrie Brownstein's fame as curator of hipster hodge-podge "Portlandia" has eclipsed her fame as snarling guitarist in Sleater-Kinney—though you wouldn't know it from "No Cities To Love." It's less a reunion album than a reignition record. There's no painful attempt to recreate the sublime here. It turns out lightning can strike the same place twice. Or, in this band's case, eight times.
We first caught a glimpse of the album back in November, when the single "Bury Our Friends" announced Sleater-Kinney's take-no-prisoners return. The song is a piece of pop mastership, anchored by Weiss' thunderous drumming, and driven to sing-along heights by Tucker's wild-eyed yawp and the band's signature dueling guitars.
It was a reminder of what made them so good in the first place—an unpretentious dedication to craft that never sacrificed fury for listenability. Sleater-Kinney is the rare band that pulls off pissed and pop.What's all the more impressive is the trio's command of tone. Tucker sings with all the urgency of a wildfire, yet the flames never consume these songs' emotional subtlety. The fuzz-rock opener "Price Tag," for instance, evokes the concept of social cost for cheap consumer goods, as told through the eyes of single mothers stocking shelves at a department store.
The irony, of course, is that this kick in the bourgeois derrière is even more relevant now than when Sleater-Kinney soundtracked the anti-globalization debate two decades ago. "I was lured by the cost," Tucker admits of marked-down sale items, a godsend for those who live paycheck-to-paycheck. But really, "we never checked the price tag," since there is so much—child labor, dangerous chemicals, carbon pollution—unaccounted for. Call it econ 101, or call it the way Sleater-Kinney open an album, capturing consumer guilt with poise.
Of course, this whole project is kind of meta. On "Surface Envy," Tucker sings, bordering on platitude, that "we win, we lose, but only together do we break the rules." Later on, she rhymes that with "make the rules." We could take this as something of a manifesto. Sleater-Kinney have the trappings of a great punk band with distorted guitars, leftist politics, and shred-your-throat vocals. Yet they've also become everything a punk band is not supposed to be—idolized.
What happens when an anti-authoritarian band itself becomes an authority? Sleater-Kinney, after all, might be described as our version of the Sex Pistols—brash and iconoclastic, if infinitely more talented. They themselves are certainly not asking to be revered, as "No Anthem" makes clear. That is why the "best rock band" argument is absurd.
Unquestionably, Sleater-Kinney deserve to be added to the pantheon of musical divinity, not because they are the token feminist punk band, but because they are so much more. Instead of comparing legacies like phalluses, their fate is to "invent [their] own kind of obscurity," one in which the music speaks for itself.
- 6 days ago
Portrait of an artist: Carly Berlin '18
For Carly Berlin '18, writing is not just an academic interest or a frivolous pastime. An aspiring creative writer, Berlin uses her words as a medium to better understand herself and the world.
Berlin, a native of Atlanta, Ga., keeps a drawer of past journals and diaries by her bed which hold the history of her love for writing. Ever since she can remember, she has been writing and illustrating stories.
"I've been writing my whole life," she said. During high school, Berlin developed a more serious commitment to her craft. A month-long creative writing program the summer before her senior year crystallized her dedication to creating works of fiction.
About a year ago, Berlin started her blog, "Endless Foolery," where, she posts entries ranging from short stories to daily thoughts and streams-of-consciousness.
Berlin's inspiration for starting a blog came from a high school creative writing workshopping class.
"I was really happy with the things I was coming out with and I felt like I just wanted other people to see them," she said.
Several months ago Berlin committed to writing in a journal each night before she goes to bed.
"When I write something I like, I type it up and put it on the blog," she said. "That's usually about once a week."
The front page of the blog includes a Shakespeare quote: "Lord, what fools these mortals be!" After coming across this quote in a Shakespeare quote book, Berlin was struck by the word "fool" and found it expressive as a title for the blog.
"I think no matter how seriously we want to take ourselves sometimes, we are all a little foolish," she said.
For Berlin, the blog is as much for personal fulfillment as it is for sharing her work with a broader audience.
"When I'm writing, I'm writing for myself. But I am hoping that other people feel something from it," she said.
As a first year, Berlin is in the midst of the transition from living at home to college life, and she has grappled with the transition in many recent blog posts. She hopes other students sharing this sentiment feel consoled when they read her posts and realize that someone else is feeling the same way.
Berlin draws stylistic inspiration from Virginia Woolf. After reading a book by Woolf, she says she subconsciously adopted Woolf's stream-of-consciousness style, particularly in her blog entries.
As for her Bowdoin career, Berlin is on the staff of The Quill, where she will have work published later this semester. She is currently taking Visiting Assistant Professor of English's Sarah Braunstein's Advanced Fiction Workshop. Beyond Bowdoin, Berlin expressed her dreams of becoming a published fiction writer. "I see myself writing for my whole life, and I would love to think I could be this aspiring novelist," she said.
Berlin's greatest satisfaction comes from hearing that people are reading and appreciating her blog, and she hopes to get more readers interested in the blog in the future. Yet her writing also serves a personal purpose, forming a framework for how she navigates the world.
"I know that for me it's such a therapeutic thing to write; it helps me stay sane and self-aware," she said.
Visit Berlin's blog here.
To suggest an artist for Portrait of an Artist, email Arts & Entertainment editor Emily Weyrauch at firstname.lastname@example.com.
- December 5
Rickey Larke '15 to premiere 'SurvIvies' film next Friday
Rickey Larke '15 has never attended Ivies. But that hasn't stopped him from creating a 45-minute documentary about the notorious spring music festival.
Captain of the track team, Larke has missed Ivies every year because of a NESCAC meet. Larke, an Africana studies and government and legal studies double major with a cinema studies minor, has had aspirations of creating a film since his sophomore year when he took a documentary course with Visiting Assistant Professor of Cinema Studies Sarah Childress.
"I wanted to make a film that would make people forget about their homework, all these lofty ideas and serious themes we always talk about at Bowdoin," said Larke. "I wanted to make a fun film, and Ivies is the perfect subject."
For an independent study, Larke created a documentary, "SurvIvies" (inspired by Director of Safety and Security Randy Nichols' iconic name for the event), that was about the creation of a film about Ivies (it's "pretty meta," he said). The film begins 50 days before Ivies and ends on the Sunday of Ivies.
"It's kind of an exploration of me trying to make this film, getting all my equipment, getting everything together, getting people to agree to film their Ivies, that's half of the film. And then the other half is just the weekend," said Larke.
Larke set his sights high: he wanted to explore Ivies not just from one perspective, but through several different lenses. And high-quality ones, too.
Larke rented three GoPro cameras from Bowdoin and attached them to volunteers who would take them around for the entirety of their Ivies experiences: Alex Marecki '14, Nick Benson '17 and Regina Hernandez '17. Larke filmed the creation process as well as the festivities with a DSLR camera until he left for his meet on Saturday, when Destiny Guerrero '14 volunteered to film the concert.
"You see it from the perspective of the kid in the crowd, crazy, pushing everyone," said Larke.
"Then you see it from the perspective of the kid in the crowd getting pushed around for what appears to be no reason, so it's really interesting in conversation with one another."
One challenge Larke faced was financing. Larke bought his own DSLR camera, lenses, microphones, lighting equipment and personal GoPro camera for the process. To do so, he got multiple jobs on campus and saved up his earnings.
Larke also had to collect release forms for students who were filmed—he estimates probably about 70 in total. Although some students were understandably reluctant to have their weekends filmed, Larke explained that there are no illegal or immoral activities taking place on camera.
"All the drinking [other than myself] is from water bottles and solo cups, it's not from cans or handles or things like that," said Larke. "No one's smoking in the film. No one's doing all these crazy things that you would expect to be in the film—not explicitly."
The conception of Ivies as "some crazy bacchanal of debauchery" is something Larke wanted to examine in his film. In order to understand Bowdoin's—and his own—identity, Larke had questions he wanted to explore in this film.
"Is Ivies an outlier of our character as a community, or is this our true essence?" asked Larke. "Is this us really showing who we are, or is this us performing who we'd like to be?"
After creating "SurvIvies"—which he is still fine-tuning before its release on December 12—Larke is tired, but excited to create another film in the future, most likely after he graduates. He is fascinated by the idea of capturing the same event from multiple perspectives and comparing how people experience it.
Although Larke produced the entire film, he is extremely grateful for everyone involved and those who supported him throughout the process. He thanks Childress (his adviser for the independent study), the entire cinema studies department, Assistant Professor of Government and Legal Studies Ericka Albaugh, Associate Professor of English Guy Mark Foster, Associate Professor of Africana Studies Brian Purnell as well as everyone he interviewed and each student who agreed to be filmed.
"SurvIvies" explores an event experienced by most Bowdoin students and Larke is not going to show the film to the outside world.
"Bowdoin students should see it because it's for them, it's about them, it's for their eyes only," he said. "The purpose is holding a mirror up to Bowdoin."
"People have this idea of Ivies as being crazy, everyone's just blackout drunk—but that's not the case! There's way more footage of people Snapchatting than drinking," said Larke.
"I think people will be surprised," he added.
The film will be shown Friday, December 12 in Smith Auditorium in Sills Hall at 7 p.m.
- December 5
Dance concert puts eclectic spin on department showcase
This weekend, the tradition of the December Dance Concert continues as 20 students showcase their course work from the fall semester. Contributions from Bowdoin and Bates faculty accompany the student performances creating an exciting and diverse exhibition.
Students from Modern I, II and III: Repertory and Performance will perform in three different acts. Bates faculty members Carol Dilley and Rachel Boggia are visiting to perform a duet, and Chair of the Theater and Dance Department Paul Sarvis will show a short dance film. This performance showcases work from a variety of student experience levels.
"You'll see some students who have never danced or performed ever and then other students who have more previous experience," said Assistant Professor of Dance and producer of the show Charlotte Griffin.
The dances for the Modern I and II classes are choreographed by Senior Lecturer Gwyneth Jones. Griffin choreographed Modern III's piece. Despite the professors' obvious influence on the artistic direction of the shows, there is still collaboration from their students.
"Even when it's specifically constructed [by faculty], it's for that particular body, for that particular student, for that particular artist, so it's always a collaboration, it's always a conversation," said Griffin.
Five of Griffin's students perform in a piece titled "Threshold."
"It's an abstract work and has a range of emotional tones, but it's very rhythmic and has a really strong kinetic spark," she said. "It definitely makes you want to move."
"Threshold" was the favorite piece of Fiona Iyer '18 who saw the show Thursday night.
"While it was well rehearsed, it came across as spontaneous," said Iyer.
In contrast to the student performances, Dilley and Boggia of the Bates dance faculty perform a duet. Griffin said she is excited to have them share their work, as they are artists from two different generations.
"[Dilley] is a mature artist who's been running the dance program at Bates for some time, and [Boggia] is newer faculty," said Griffin. "It's really lovely seeing them work together."
This collaboration between Bowdoin and Bates is part of a recent push to bring the dance departments of Bowdoin, Bates and Colby together.
"We've been building some bridges that have been really enriching for the program and for the students," said Griffin.
Students and visiting artists have been traveling between the campuses, and Griffin felt that it was important to invite these two Bates professors to share their work. The performance by guest artists is a new addition to the show this year.
"They're not just teachers, they're also artists themselves, and I thought it would be nice to give them the opportunity to share work that way," she said.
The final component of the show is the digital media that Sarvis will present. It is also a way for him to showcase his work as an artist to a community that sees him mainly as a professor.
"It's nice to see the juxtaposition of live performance next to digitally mediated performance," said Griffin. "I'm interested to see how the audience feels about [this added dimension]."
Iyer, for one, received it well.
"It was edge, moving and so fresh," said Iyer.
"Sarvis' piece really made the dance show dimensional and added depth."
Last year, the December Dance Concert was performed in the dance studio in Robert H. and Blythe Bickel Edwards Center for Art and Dance. It was the first time the space was used for this show since the transformation of Edwards Art Center from an elementary school into Bowdoin's arts facility. This year, the department decided Pickard Theater was a better space for the audience and the performers.
"We have a nice large house to accommodate the guests both from the campus and the community," said Griffin.
In addition to the performance that was given last night, there will be two more performances on Friday and Saturday at 8:00 p.m. in Pickard Theater. Tickets are free at the Smith Union information desk and at the door.
- December 5
'Sleep Dealer' uses sci-fi to talk immigration
Filmmaker and digital media artist Alex Rivera screened his film "Sleep Dealer" on Wednesday in Kresge Auditorium, followed by a discussion on the issues of technology, immigration and globalization highlighted in the film.
"Sleep Dealer," released in 2008, imagines a dystopian future in which poor workers on the Mexican side of the border with the United States digitally control robot factories that have replaced the need for their labor. The film raises questions about the injustices of border control and economic globalization through the story of Memo Cruz (Luis Fernando Peña), who flees his family's home after a deadly drone attack and ends up connecting his body from a digital factory in Mexico to a robot laborer in the U.S.
In addition to his 2008 feature film "Sleep Dealer," Rivera's works include two music videos, including one for popular R&B artist Aloe Blacc, as well as various short films, websites, and other projects. His films have been screened at venues such as the Museum of Modern Art, The Getty and Lincoln Center. "Sleep Dealer" won multiple awards at the Sundance Film Festival and the Berlin Film Festival.
"Using sci-fi as a way to talk about issues in the contemporary moment provides a way to think about how far we can push immigration," said Assistant Professor of Sociology and Anthropology Marcos Lopez, who helped bring Rivera to campus.
Rivera's film made its way onto several syllabi at Bowdoin before the director's visit this week. Three upper-level Spanish classes, a labor course taught by Lopez and a film course taught by Visiting Assistant Professor of Cinema Studies Sarah Childress use "Sleep Dealer" as a source on issues of labor, immigration and place.
While fictional, the reality of the film anticipated legal and cultural questions that have attended more widespread use of technology in the developing world.
"This idea that was at first political satire is now becoming reality in so many ways," said Rivera.
"Sleep Dealer" critiques the digitization of the modern world and the U.S.'s exploitation of migrant workers for cheap labor and reflects on the human cost of quickening globalization.
"The accelerated cross-border migration that we've seen in the past 20 or 30 years is a different side of the extraordinary explosions in technology that have also occurred," said Rivera. "It's all one process of globalization and of disintegration of space."
In the film, Rivera draws a parallel between the sense of alienation that comes with life in the digital world and that which comes from living on the U.S.-Mexico border.
The film questions the purpose of incremental changes in technology, who they serve, and how to reconcile the personal disconnections created in the digital age.
"It's a chance to ask these questions through a multicultural point of view, and that's how technology, which is an international matrix, needs to be seen," Rivera said.
Immigration, Rivera added, is the only part of globalization that is criminalized. Though migrant workers are a necessary element of the American economy, he wanted to highlight the barriers to entry that remain prevalent.
"There's this xenophobic, nativist rhetoric that [people use to refer to] undocumented people and treat them as these precarious laborers," said Lopez.
"We, in this capitalistic society, exploit those who don't really have a voice and who we deem as lesser than us," said Michelle Kruk '16, one of the leaders of the Latin American Student Organization (LASO). "But at the same time we rely on their labor to function."
Kruk said that LASO had hoped to bring the issue of immigration to the surface, and the group played a major role in bringing Rivera and his film to campus. She noted the film's relevance to the student body.
"There are a lot of Latino students who either were undocumented or have family members who are or were undocumented and it's a really difficult discussion to have," Kruk said.
The event was sponsored by the Blythe Bickel Fund, Sociology and Anthropology, Romance Languages, Latin American Studies, Cinema Studies, the Office of the Dean of Multicultural Student Affairs, the McKeen Center for the Common Good and LASO.
- December 5
Survivors tell of sexual assault, by the numbers
An exhibit in the Lamarche Gallery in David Saul Smith Union displays multicolored hand-written posters created by victims of sexual assault. The display is in partnership with "Surviving in Numbers," a non-profit organization launched in October of 2012 by Alison Safran, an activist, who collaborated with senior Gabriela Serrato Marks to bring the show to Bowdoin.
Safran's goal is to bring attention to the prevalence of sexual assault on college campuses across the country by developing and implementing prevention curricula for high schoolers. The organization provides an online forum for survivors to share their experiences. Safran has shown her exhibit at the U.S. Consulate in China, the Massachusetts State House and colleges across the country.
Marks was inspired by her friendship with Safran to organize the exhibit.
"[Safran] told me she was looking for different colleges to show her exhibits so I thought we might as well do one here at Bowdoin," said Serrato Marks. "She started it as a way to have survivors of sexual assault tell their stories in a format that they were able to control."
The large marker-decorated posters use numerical information and statistics to illustrate the realities of surviving sexual assault.
"I think [Safran] liked the idea to use numbers because it quantifies things in a way that would otherwise be hard to describe. It separates you a little from the story and I think that makes you realize that these posters could be anyone," said Serrato Marks. "I really like the format for that reason."
The statistical content of most of the posters also makes clear both the challenges victims of assault face and the successes they can achieve in the process of recovery.
"Some people are still affected by their assault 50 years later and that's significant," said Serrato Marks. "Other people are able to write down that it's been 12 months since their last panic attack. That's also highly significant and a great victory for that person. Putting numbers to things helps outsiders understand the experience."
Serrato Marks hopes that the exhibit will help members of the Bowdoin community understand the impact that sexual assault has on individuals.
"I can't say that the exhibit will prevent assault; I think that only changes in behavior can prevent assault," she said. "I hope that the exhibit will make people think twice about their interactions and remind them to make sure they're being careful to get consent every time."
The exhibit is meant to reach everyone at Bowdoin, regardless of prior exposure to or knowledge of sexual assault.
"I like to think that [the exhibit] will help people understand survivor experiences a little bit better because unfortunately, there are a lot of survivors on this campus," said Serrato Marks. "Ideally, because of this exhibit, there wouldn't have to be any more survivors, but for now I think that love and support is what we can offer."
"Surviving in Numbers" came to Bowdoin with the help of many campus groups and offices including Residental Life, the Women's Resource Center, The Department of Gender Violence Prevention and Education, Bowdoin Men Against Sexual Violence, V-Day, Safe Space, the Bowdoin Queer Straight Alliance and the Alliance for Sexual Assault Prevention.
"We all have similar missions but we seldom cooperate because of issues such as scheduling," said Serrato Marks. "It was really nice to work together."
Members of the Bowdoin community who have survived sexual assault as well as people not affiliated with the school contributed to the exhibit by creating the posters."Surviving in Numbers" will be on display in Lamarche Gallery in Smith Union through Sunday December 7.
- December 5
Portrait of an artist: Isaac Jaegerman '16
For most, doodling represents absentminded gibberish. For Isaac Jaegerman '16, it has always been a passion.
"I've loved art for as long as I can remember," Jaegerman said. "I was always doodling."
Jaegerman, a visual arts major from Portland, Maine, decided in high school that he wanted to pursue art in college. It was not until he began classes at Bowdoin that he realized he wanted a degree in visual arts. Jaegerman's portfolio includes drawings, paintings and printmaking. "I've found paintings to be the most intellectually intensive [art form] and I really enjoy [that] process," he said. "But I have the most fun with printmaking."
Jaegerman spent this past summer interning at Pickwick Press, a print studio in Portland. There, he was able to learn woodblock printing and use presses not available at Bowdoin.
Although Jaegerman said that there is not a consistent theme throughout his portfolio, most of his pieces fall into the genre of realism.
"I've been most inspired by realism so far. Claudio Bravo is one of my favorite painters. I also did a copy of one of Richard Estes' paintings just this year," Jaegerman said. "It's easy to fall back on realism, but I'm still trying to figure out what my style is."
Bowdoin's art department is allowing Jaegerman to expand his artistic horizons. This semester, he is taking Landscape Painting with Associate Professor of Art James Mullen. He's currently working on an oil-on-canvas painting of a forest setting. He's also working on his own self-guided projects, as he is a teaching assistant for Printmaking and is always in the studio.
As for his creative process, Jaegerman sticks to a calculated, organized method.
"I usually have a good sense of what I want my project to look like before I begin," he said. "I move very logically, step-by-step. I work progressively from area to area. There's a lot of planning involved."
Jaegerman is a prominent artistic figure on campus. His art is featured both in the Visual Arts Center (VAC) and in the Robert H. and Blythe Bickel Edwards Center for Art and Dance. His panorama painting of the Quad is on display in the fishbowl in the VAC, and one of his landscape paintings hangs in Edwards. His work was also on display in Bowdoin Art Society's fall show "340 Miles North."
While Jaegerman's pieces remain on display for the enjoyment of students, faculty and visitors alike, the artist himself will be taking his talents overseas. Next semester, Jaegerman will travel to Florence, Italy, where he will study etching, drawing and art history at SACI, the Studio Art Centers International.
This summer, following his semester abroad, Jaegerman will hike across Iceland with Adeline Browne '16 and Matthew Goroff '16, thanks to a fellowship from the Bowdoin Outing Club. Jaegerman is planning an independent study using photos from his Icelandic journey to create landscape paintings.
"It's exciting because I've never really done a series before," he said.
Jaegerman feels that the Bowdoin arts community has something special.
"You can go into Edwards at any time of night, like two or three in the morning, and there will be several people there working on their projects," he said. "It's really nice."
Jaegerman's multimedia portfolio can be accessed online through his Weebly account.
- 6 days ago
JB Wells of Endicott College named head coach of Bowdoin football team
Bowdoin announced JB Wells as its 29th head football coach Wednesday morning. Wells joins the Polar Bears by way of Endicott College, where he was the first coach in program history and accrued a 75-48 record over his 12 seasons with the Gulls.
The announcement came directly after a 7 a.m. meeting in Kresge Auditorium where Wells introduced himself to the entire team.
Wells knows the NESCAC well, as he graduated from Trinity College in 1991 and started for three years as an offensive lineman for the Bantams. He also held assistant coaching positions at both Trinity and Bates during the '90's.
"This was really less of a football decision and more of a career decision," said Wells. "I played in the conference, and the NESCAC means a lot to me. I've always seen myself as returning to the NESCAC in one of the positions, I just didn't know where it was gonna be."
For Wells, the decision to leave the Endicott program, which he built from the ground up, was not an easy one.
"I can't thank Endicott enough for the opportunity I was given as a 31 year-old, unproven head coach," he said. "They handed me a blank canvas and all the art supplies I needed to paint a picture and put my vision on that canvas. To see it come to life and see it succeed in the way that it did was remarkable. It was hard to leave."
After Dave Caputi stepped down this fall after 15 years as head coach, Ashmead White Director of Athletics Tim Ryan sat down with the team and established a set of desired characteristics for its next coach. He then narrowed the applicants down to those which he presented to the selection committee.
The selection committee was headed up by Ryan. Also on the committee were team captains Parker Mundt '16, Brendan Lawler '16 and Dan Barone '16, Assistant Athletic Director for Communications Jim Caton, Assistant Dean of Admissions Zakaree Harris, Assistant Director of Employment and Staffing Meredith Haralson, Associate Head Athletic Trainer Megan Thompson, Head Coach of Field Hockey Nicky Pearson, Head Coach of Baseball Mike Connelly and Associate Professor of Africana Studies and History Brian Purnell, who is the faculty liaison to the football team.
"Before we could even look at it, Tim Ryan sifted through upwards of 100 applicants," said Mundt. "It came down to the final 12 or 15 guys who he thought were appropriate."
Mundt said it was not difficult to decide on the top four candidates.
"In their cover letters, it was really quite obvious," he continued. "Even just the language some of the guys were using, it was pretty clear that they were not fitting our standards. It was a really quick process."
After narrowing it down to four, the committee closely evaluated the remaining candidates. Lawler, Barone and Mundt conducted phone interviews.
"A couple of the other phone interviews I had were 20 minutes long, very meat and potatoes, question and answer," said Mundt. "And that's not what I was looking for at all."
"My interview with [Coach Wells] was different, and I knew it was different," said Mundt. "We had a conversation for an hour and a half, which was exactly what I wanted. I got a really good feel for what he's about, and he got a feel for what we're about here."
But while Wells is still yet to move any of his possessions from his Beverley office to his Brunswick one, he has already turned his thoughts toward his new roster. He plans to leave Bowdoin's base 4-2-5 defense relatively intact, including coverages and blitz schemes similar to those he employed while with the Gulls.
The offense, though, will have a new look next year. Tyler Grant '17 is the attack's best returning weapon, having led the NESCAC with 893 rushing yards last season. He also had over 75 more carries than any other back in the league despite standing only 5'10" and weighing just 158 pounds.
"I've always been in favor of having a two-headed monster, two guys that can shoulder the load," Wells said. "It makes them both better. So the scheme on running the football will be different. They ran a zone scheme and I'm more of a gap scheme kind of a guy. I love the traditional power play. I'm an offensive line guy, and it kind of speaks to my soul as a football player."
"I've also had a lot of success in my career throwing the football. I look at guys like Seamus Power ['16] and Danny Barone that stood out to me on film. I'd like to see us be a little more vertical in our passing game. We have to throw for more than one passing touchdown in the season."
Wells takes over a Polar Bear squad that finished 2-6 last year and has an all-time record of 392-502-44. And while he plans to bring cultural changes to the program, a full overhaul is not to be expected.
"I heard one of the players allude to us making a turnaround," he said. "Well, a turnaround says that you're going in the wrong direction. I don't think that Bowdoin's going in the wrong direction, I think that we just need to get a little more in line, a little bit more focused and get everybody—everybody—headed in the right direction."
According to Wells, heading in the right direction means an intense focus on oneself.
"One of my idiosyncrasies is that I will never mention an opponent by name," he said. "They're just 'that team over there in Lewiston,' or whatever. I don't talk about those guys, because the focus should always be on us. Your opponents are just a sounding board for how good you can be."
As the football team moves into this new era, all involved are focused on the future.
"There's no magic wand you can wave as a college football coach coming into a program that's historically been a 3-5, 2-6 team," said Mundt. "We're expecting to win this year, but it's something where you'll want to come back and see success later. I know they're going to be winning five, six, seven or eight games a year. If you can set your guys up for success and in five years come and watch them win games, that's awesome."
"At the end of the day, it was 'Can you be successful?'" said Wells. "And I wouldn't be sitting in this seat if I didn't think that we could. I left the program that I built from scratch and I was only going to do that if I could be at a special place."
- 6 days ago
Women's hoops high on thirteen game win streak
The women's basketball team dominated its competition over Winter Break, posting double digit victories over seven of eight opponents and extending its win streak to 13 games. Tuesday's win at Husson brought the Polar Bears' overall record to 16-2 (4-0 NESCAC).
The team opened up with a dominating 90-29 win against Clark University (3-12). All 12 Polar Bears on the roster logged double digit minutes and scored at least one basket.
The Polar Bears then coasted through their final three non-conference games, crushing the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (7-10) 63-45, Rhode Island College (4-11) 75-56 and Emmanuel College (8-9) 70-49.
The team opened up its NESCAC play with a decisive 87-53 win over Connecticut College on January 9 (12-2 overall, 2-1 NESCAC), which pushed its win streak to nine games.
Shannon Brady '15, Sara Binkhorst '15, Marle Curle '17, and Kate Kerrigan '18 all had double-digit performances, helping the team rout the Camels.
After eight minutes of play, Bowdoin already held a 19-6 lead and continued to dominate in the opening half, entering halftime with a comfortable 41-23 advantage. The Camels narrowed the gap to six points in the second half, but the Polar Bears quickly responded and jumped ahead to a final score of 87-53.
Bowdoin continued its impressive play when they welcomed Wesleyan on January 10 (7-8 overall, 0-3 NESCAC) with a 75-52 stomp.
The team then traveled to Williamstown, MA where they dealt 18th-ranked Williams their first home loss of the season 59-50.
The team was "very proud of the win at Williams," said Head Coach Adrienne Shibles. "They are a great team and they always play well at home, so we were excited to get the victory on the road."
Binkhorst, Brady, and Curle all reached double digit figures, a feat no Williams player matched.The Polar Bears headed into halftime with Williams holding a slight edge 31-29, but soon after the second period began the Polar Bears gained a six point lead, rounding out the score to 35-29.
With less than 14 minutes left in the game, Bowdoin never trailed again. Despite tying the game at 46-46 with just 7:13 remaining, the Polar Bears defense kept Williams scoreless for the remaining 4:18 of the game.
In their most recent conference game, the team traveled to New York to play Hamilton College, dominating the Continentals 75-48.
Brady and Binkhorst each posted double-digit figures while Curle, Kerrigan, and Siena Mitman '15 all added key figures, helping the Polar Bears secure the win.
The Polar Bears then traveled to Husson University (8-6), winning their final non-conference game 81-51.
Although the starting lineup has stuffed the stat sheet as of late, Shibles credits the team's recent success to the depth throughout its roster.
"While we have some players who have been putting up big numbers and who have garnered some nice recognition we have a deep and balanced team," said Shibles. "On any given night, someone else could be the leading scorer or rebounder. Our balance, depth and team chemistry are our greatest strengths."
Shibles hopes to keep the team focused despite its recent success.
"Rather, we talk about treating each game with the same intensity, focus and preparation. Our goal is to get at least 1 percent better each day."
The Polar Bears look to extend their win streak tomorrow at 3 p.m. when they welcome Colby to Morrell Gymnasium.
- 6 days ago
Men's basketball finishes break strong
The men's basketball team didn't miss a beat Wednesday night, defeating UMaine-Presque Isle (9-8) 78-57 in Morrell Gym after winning five out of six games over Winter Break. Point guard Bryan Hurley '15 paced the Polar Bears, scoring 17 points, with eight assists and three steals. The Polar Bears (12-4 overall, 3-1 NESCAC) are tied for first place in the NESCAC.
A week after they returned to campus on December 28, the team hosted the University of Southern Maine. John Swords '15 led the team with a double-double, tallying 19 points and 12 rebounds in the team's 76-61 win.
Two days after the win, the Polar Bears travelled to Bridgewater St., where Lucas Hausman '16 stole the spotlight and put up an impressive 28 points to lead the team to a 84-78 overtime victory. Bowdoin was leading 68-59 going into the final minutes of play. Bridgewater St. made a late run to bring the game to 71-71, forcing the game into overtime. After the extra five minutes, Bowdoin held onto an six-point lead.
The day after the closely contested game against Bridgewater St., Bowdoin arrived at Connecticut College ready to play, beating the Camels 77-48. Hausman again led the team in scoring, this time with 22 points.
"The team is starting to come together more as a unit," said Hausman. "If we put everything together, if we work hard, have chemistry and do what coach tells us to do, I feel like we honestly have the potential to beat anyone."
With their win streak at five, the Polar Bears faced the Wesleyan Cardinals in Connecticut on Saturday, January 10. Bowdoin kept the score close in the first half, with the game tied at 31 at halftime. Despite Hausman scoring 26 points, Wesleyan overpowered them in the second half, winning 77-62.
The team took no time to hang their heads, as they immediately prepared to host reigning D-III runner-up Williams. The Ephs remain a NESCAC heavyweight this season, but the Bowdoin veterans were determined to fight for a win. This time it was captain Keegan Pieri '15 who lead the way with 20 points and 10 rebounds in a 67-60 victory.
The final game of the break was against Hamilton. Hausman continued his streak, scoring 28 in the team's 89-74 win.
"I've seen it every year," said Pieri '15. "The second half of the season, especially coming off of Winter Break, the team seems to be clicking better, whether it's the basketball itself, us starting to get in a rhythm from all the practices, or just being together all the time over Winter Break."The team will play on Saturday afternoon at Colby, a team ties with Bowdoin for first place in the NESCAC and whodefeated the Polar Bears in December.
- 6 days ago
Women's hockey skates into third place in NESCAC
The women's hockey team played seven games during winter break, going 4-2-1. The team's record is currently 8-3-3 (4-1-1 NESCAC).
In the second day of the New Year, the Polar Bears traveled to Minnesota to take on the University of St. Thomas. Bowdoin defeated the Tommies 4-3 in overtime. One day later, Bowdoin beat Hamline University 4-1.
According to Head Coach Marissa O'Neil, the team built important chemistry during their trip to the Midwest.
"We played against two tough teams out there, but the bonding and chemistry we were looking for was really getting built," O'Neil said. "It's tough in the first semester when we have fall athletes joining us, and we have exams and reading period. That chemistry definitely contributed to our success while we were out there and since we've been back."
That Friday, Bowdoin played Connecticut College in the first game of its doubleheader. The Polar Bears lost 2-1 but avenged the loss with a 3-1 win the next day. On January 13, Bowdoin lost 6-3 to the University of Southern Maine.
Last weekend, Bowdoin played back-to-back games at Wesleyan. In Friday's game, the Polar Bears were able to strike first, when senior captain Schuyler Nardelli scored with three minutes left in the first period. The Cardinals tied the game in the second period and took the lead with fewer than four minutes left in regulation play. The Polar Bears were able to answer, with Julie Dachille '18 scoring less than a minute later to push the game into overtime. Neither team was able to score during the five minute overtime period, leaving the final score at 2-2.
The next day, Bowdoin shut out Wesleyan in a 2-0 victory. O'Neil believes that seeing Wesleyan play in the first game helped the Polar Bears prepare for the second game."Going into Saturday, we knew some areas where we could tighten our game and execute better," said O'Neil. "Also, having seen them, we realized how we could best play to our strengths given what they were trying to accomplish out there."
Captain Chelsea MacNeil '15 scored first for the Polar Bears in the first period. With fewer than four minutes left in the second period, Maddie Baird '15 added another goal to extend the lead. Lan Crofton '17 made 30 saves in net in her third shutout of the season. The Polar Bears will conclude their season with ten conference matchups.
"Hopefully, we'll be in contention to be in the NESCAC playoffs," O'Neil said. "Our goal would be to host a quarterfinal game, which would mean we end up in the top four. That's where we have our sights set now, but certainly nothing is decided just yet."
In order to finish the season strong, O'Neil believes the team can be more consistent. "We've talked about being able to play for 60 minutes and not to start off slow or have a let down throughout the game," O'Neil said. "If we can put together 60 minutes, teams are going to have a tough time beating us."
Bowdoin returns to the ice tonight at 7 p.m., starting a weekend of back-to-back games against Middlebury.
- 6 days ago
Men's track races to fast winter start
The men's track and field team had a swift start to its season, competing in two home meets in twp weeks. The Polar Bears won first against Connecticut College and University of Maine Farmington on January 10 and came in third as the host of the Bowdoin Invitational a week later.
There were a number of strong showings for the Polar Bears in the first meet. First year Conor Donahue sped to a victory in both the 1000m (2:43.29) and the mile (4:27.32). Senior Christian Sleeper continued the Polar Bears' success in mid-distance, winning the 600m in 1:28.16.
In the sprints, junior Jibrail Coy won the 60m in 7.20 and senior Captain Jarred Kennedy–Loving handily won the 200m in 23.31. Also on the track, first year Nathaniel Kent won the 60m Hurdles in 8.88. Continuing the first year trend, Colin Litts '18 won the high jump with a flight of 1.8 m as well as the triple jump with 13.61 m. First year phenom Stephan DeCarlo won the long jump with an effort of 6.29m. In the throws, senior Captain Cam Woodford won the shot put (13.16 m) and the weight throw (14.28 m).
Altogether the Polar Bears had a strong showing, boosted by a capable first year class and returning upperclassmen. Bowdoin won the meet definitively with 300 points, followed by the Conn. College Camels (107), the UMF Beavers (41) and the Dirigo Running Club (12).
"There were great performances all around from both veteran and new team members," said Woodford. "I was proud to see everyone do well even after a long week of double sessions."
The Polar Bears hosted the Bowdoin Invitational I on January 17 against tougher competition. In a meet that saw Farley Field House records broken in the weight throw and 600m run, Kent continued to shine by breaking the school record in the 60m hurdles with a time of 8.61 seconds. Senior captain Chris Genco provided Bowdoin's sole win of the day, topping the high jump field (1.88 m).
"It is always good to go up against good jumpers this early in the season and it was great to see our jumpers perform well against high caliber athletes," said Genco.
Other top performances included Kennedy–Loving's third place finish in the 200m. Senior captain Rickey Larke finished third in the 60m dash with a time of 7.21. Donahue placed third in both the mile and the 1000m run (with times of 4:25.35 and 2:36.00, respectively).
"This time my legs hurt even more, but I just kept putting one foot in front of the other and it worked," said Donahue.
Sophomore Matt Jacobson and junior Nick Walker finished second and third respectively in the longest event of the afternoon, separated by only one one-hundredth of a second in the 5000m run. In the long jump, Stephan DeCarlo '18 posted a new personal record (6.53 m) to finish third.
MIT (204.33) finished the day in first, followed by Worcester Polytechnic Institute (102), Bowdoin (95), Rochester Polytechnic Institute (41), Springfield College (56), and Colby-Sawyer College (4).
Next up for Men's Track is the Bowdoin Invitational II, tomorrow at Farley Field House, as the Polar Bears take on Tufts, Coast Guard, Colby, the University of Southern Maine and Merrimack. The meet begins at 1 p.m.
- 6 days ago
Men's hockey splits its games over break
The men's hockey team recovered from a three-goal deficit, besting Wesleyan (2-12-0 overall, 1-7-0 NESCAC) 4-3 in a battle on Saturday evening in Watson Arena. Three days later the Polar Bears returned to the ice and beat the University of New England (6-10-1) 4-2. The victory brought the Polar Bears' record to 9-4-2 (4-4-2 NESCAC).
After falling behind 3-0 in the first period against Wesleyan, the Polar Bears scored one in the second and notched three in the final period to secure the win.
The team's success was limited in the three games prior to this comeback. The team tied 4-4 at Hamilton (5-5-4 overall, 4-3-2 NESCAC) on January 9 before falling 4-2 to Amherst (10-3-2 overall, 6-3-2 NESCAC) on January 10 and 2-1 to Trinity (12-1-1 overall, 7-0-1 NESCAC) on January 16.
"Hamilton is a very difficult trip, the longest trip we made. We were behind and we showed resiliency and came back," said Head Coach Terry Meagher. "On Saturday we played a good game as we played all year and we ended up losing to Amherst."
In the tightly contested matchup against Amherst, the Lord Jeffs' goalie Dave Cunningham made a total of 45 saves in the face of heavy pressure from Bowdoin's offense.
"They have one of the top goaltenders in the East," said Meagher. "Again, we played a solid game. But goal sports, especially ice hockey, are challenging as the goaltender is so significant in the play."
Bowdoin sits at fifth in the NESCAC behind Trinity, Williams, Amherst and Hamilton. "We've done well in handling adversity," said Captain Ryan Collier '15. "We had some challenges in scoring goals in the last eight games or so. But we keep our heads high and keep going, which we know will eventually allow us to get back to scoring goals and winning more hockey games."
This year, 20 of the 34 team members are underclassmen. The first-years and sophomores have managed to hold their own. Forward Matthew Melanson '18 scored the winning goal against Wesleyan.
The Polar Bears return to NESCAC play tonight at Middlebury (6-2-2 overall, 3-2-2 NESCAC) and will play at Williams (9-3-2 overall, 5-2-1 NESCAC) tomorrow at 3 p.m.
- 6 days ago
Squash teams serve up slow start to seasons
The women's squash team (4-7) rebounded with a 9-0 win over Mount Holyoke (10-12) last Saturday after a 0-9 loss to Drexel (4-6) earlier that afternoon. The Polar Bears went on to defeat Wesleyan (4-7) and Smith (0-11) by scores of 5-4 and 8-1, respectively, at the Pioneer Valley Invitational on Sunday, while the still winless men's team suffered three tough losses to Drexel, Hobart, and Wesleyan.
Head Coach Tomas Fortson praised his athletes and their performances this past weekend, remarking that he was impressed by many moments throughout the string of matches. "All of our players are on a committed road to improve and most have competed very well," he said.
Co-captain of the men's team Max Bearse '15 attributed the scrappy 5-4 losses against Hobart (7-5) and Wesleyan (4-4) to its thinned lineup, with "a couple key players" injured after the teams' intensive winter training.
"5-4 losses…are obviously as close as it can possibly get, and I think if we had healthy lineups for all of those, [if] everyone was 100 percent physically ready to go, a couple of those would have gone our way. But it's very tough to say that. I think we competed very well despite such difficult matches," he said.
On Saturday, the women's team lost to Drexel 0-9 before turning the tables on Mount Holyoke, crushing the Lyons 9-0. The dramatic shift in the team's performance may have resulted from what Emily Simonton '15 said are long-standing traditions that have helped facilitate team bonding in preparation for crucial matches at the start of a new semester.
The match later in the day against Smith was easier for the women, who handily beat a pioneer team that Bowdoin has dominated historically, winning 8-1.
"The competition was different—we only played one NESCAC [school]. The previous weekend, we played Williams, Amherst, and Middlebury, who are all extremely talented, as are we, but in the NESCAC…it's really competitive," said Simonton.
In preparation for these recent matches, the men's and women's squash teams logged grueling workouts and competed frequently during Winter Break. Fortson mentioned the significance of winter training as a springboard for success later in the season.
"Winter training is the most important segment of our season, in terms of athletic growth and team dynamics. We only had two weeks this year [versus three in past seasons] but much was accomplished in both areas. We have a solid foundation to face the final month of the season," said Fortson.
Both Bowdoin squads will travel to Brown Saturday before facing Colby this Sunday at 1 p.m. at the Lubin Squash Center.
"The key to this weekend's matches will be how we practice this week. One day at a time," said Fortson.
- 6 days ago
Athlete of the Week: Chris Genco '15
Track and Field
In high school, Chris Genco '15 acknowledged that he passed on the long jump simply because he did not like sand in his shoes. In college, after winning the event at last weekend's Bowdoin invitatoinal, he is more open-minded, calling it the next logical progression for someone who can "run fast and jump high."
When he arrived at Bowdoin, Genco anticipated competing in the high jump and as a sprinter. But what propelled his leading score for the men's tream at the Bowdoin Invitational on January 17 was in fact his performing the long jump. Genco also finished in third place in the high jump, raising his score to 15. The team gained 95 points in total. His first-place finish was Bowdoin's only top finish of the Invitational. Genco's winning long jump occurred in the first set of jumps, allowing him to sit out the final heat when no one could match his best jump.
Genco competed in the long jump only once during his first year at Bowdoin and performed poorly. At the time his jump approached only 4.27 meters (His winning jump at the Bowdoin Invitational last weekend was 6.66 meters). Having never jumped in that event competitively before, he felt discouraged, even though Head Coach Peter Slovenski believed the jump correlated perfectly with his natural athletic abilities.
"I would have thought he would have picked up the long jump in high school," Slovenski said. "Long jumpers benefit from having a lot of speed. As a high school sprinter, he picked it up quickly."
Slovenski observed that Genco shares physical similarities with most long jumpers, compared to being shorter than some high jumpers. He particularly praised Genco's "intuition for jumping" and his "technical IQ," which he believes pervades most track and field events."He can make most adjustments to his technique and understand them better than most athletes in any sport," Slovenski said. "If someone gets ahead of him, he knows what he has to do to catch up."
By his sophomore year, he was practicing the long jump consistently. However, he retained the high jump, a strange pairing given their wildly different and sometimes conflicting techniques. Genco called it "counterintuitive."
"I struggled at the high jump after I started the long jump," he said. "My approach got faster."In addition to the long jump's faster approach, the two jumps have very different penultimate steps. The long jump emphasizes lowering the hips in preparation for the outward jump while the high jumpers tend to keep their hips higher.
"A lot of track events have a natural simplicity," Slovenski said. "They look natural. But there's a lot of complex things to bring together—to accelerate on the runway, get a good takeoff, and then get a good jump. One of the ways he makes it look easy is that he has a good sense of how to bring it all together."
Slovenski noted the improvement in Genco's performance in the long jump. Genco said that it has been his primary focus this season.
"His sophomore year he was very competitive at the state level," Slovenski said. "His junior year he became very competitive at the New England level."
The hope is that Genco can be competitive at the national level in his final year. Having never qualified for Nationals, this is the goal he set for himself.
More than anything, Slovenski praised Genco's contributions as a teammate and captain."What really stands out about Chris is not how he continues to place first. It's what a great teammate he is."
The sports editor of the Orient chooses the Athlete of the Week based on exemplary performance.
- December 5
Women's hockey dominates early in the season
The women's ice hockey team is off to its best start since 2002, staying undefeated at 3-0-2 after beating Nichols College on Wednesday.
In their season opener, the Polar Bears handily defeated Colby (2-4-0) in Waterville, winning 6-1. First-year Miranda Bell stepped up for the team that had two of its top six scorers from last season graduate, scoring a hat trick in her first game as a Polar Bear.
Bell scored once, unassisted, in each of the first two periods, giving the Polar Bears a 2-0 lead going into the final 20 minutes of play. Colby scored early in the third off of a power play, but fellow first-year Julie Dachille answered a minute later to re-establish Bowdoin's two-goal lead. The floodgates opened seven minutes later as the Polar Bears scored three goals in three minutes to put the game away.
The next day, the team welcomed the Mules to Brunswick. Although it failed to find the back of the net as easily as it had the day before, the team was able to shut out Colby and earn a 1-0 victory.
The game stayed scoreless through the first two periods as Lan Crofton '17 racked up 19 of her eventual 30 saves and Colby's Angelica Crites held her own at her end of the rink.
The only goal of the game was not until halfway through the final period when, on a power play, Marne Gallant '17 fed the puck across the ice to Schuyler Nardelli '15, who found Maryanne Iodice '18, who fired the puck just inside the left post.
Two days before Thanksgiving, the team needed a third period goal to tie The University of Massachusetts Boston (5-2-3). Five minutes into the game, Dachille fired a shot that was deflected by the UMass goalie, but Maureen Greason '18 knocked in the rebound and gave Bowdoin a 1-0 advantage.
The Polar Bears held the lead until midway through the second period, when the Beacons scored twice in two minutes against Beth Findley '16 who was making her first start in the net this season. Ariana Bourque '16 came up big for the Polar Bears three minutes into the third period, equalizing the score at 2-2.
Four days later, the Polar Bears struggled through a defensive battle against Holy Cross (7-2-1), with both teams failing to score in the 0-0 tie. While Crofton had to save 15 more shots than her Holy Cross counterpart, the Polar Bears had multiple opportunities to take the lead, including chances from Greason and Dachille.
The team hopes to continue to receive an impressive contribution from its first years when they host Saint Anselm College tomorrow and Norwich University Sunday before taking a month off.
- December 5
Men's basketball loses steam after perfect start
The men's basketball team built on its perfect performance in the Rick Martin Tip-Off Tournament with at Saint Joseph's College of Maine (3-3) and the University of New England (UNE) (1-5) before falling by double digits to Babson College (5-1) and Bates College (7-0) this week, lowering its own record to 4-2.
In the UNE game, Bowdoin dominated early, going on a 17-6 run that carried the Polar Bears to a commanding 37-26 lead at the half. The team shot 43 percent from the field and reached the free throw line 14 times, missing only once.
Captain Keegan Pieri '15, with 22 points and seven rebounds, and captain Bryan Hurley '15, with 14 points and six assists, pushed the Polar Bears to an impressive 67-48 win over the Nor'easters with their individual performances.
The Polar Bears' strong start to the season was due in part to the strong team chemistry. With only 13 players, they have been able to form an especially cohesive unit.
"Because we are such a small team, we are around and interacting with each other all the time—on the court and off the court," said Pieri. "We really got to know each other right off the bat."
The Polar Bears' perfect start ended when they traveled to Babson a week after the UNE game and suffered a 20-point loss.
Senior center John Swords led the Polar Bears with a double-double and Pieri added 11 points to the team's total. Nevertheless, the team could not keep up with the Beavers and lost the game 68-48.
"It was the first time we were really tested," said Hurley.
Both captains agreed that having all of their first six games on the road has actually been beneficial to the team.
They said that they have been able to get stronger early in the season by competing in so many different venues. It also means that they will have more home games toward the end of the season, which could lead to a late-season run.
For the Polar Bears, the Babson game was their first taste of a noisy crowd, and many players were able to feed off the energy of the away crowds just as much as their own.
"I prefer the silence of away crowds rather than excited home crowds," said Hurley.The highlight of the season so far has been the team's shooting—with a season total of 43.8 percent from the field and 81 percent from the free throw line, the Polar Bears are running a high-efficiency offense.
Yesterday the Polar Bears fell to Bates, again by 20 points. Lucas Hausman '16 had 22 points on 7-13 shooting but the rest of the team shot only 34 percent from the field.The team looks to get back on track tomorrow when it plays Colby in its home opener.