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The Nation’s Oldest Continuously Published College Weekly Friday, March 30, 2018 Volume 147, Number 19 bowdoinorient.com

Acceptance rate for class of 2022 is lowest ever

by Devin Mckinney
Orient Staff
The acceptance rate for the
Class of 2022 was 10.3 percent,
the lowest ever and a decrease
of over three percent from last
year’s rate of 13.6 percent. The
applicant pool consisted of
9,081 candidates, up from 7,251
for the Class of 2021, represent-
ing a 25 percent increase.
Dean of Admissions and Fi-
nancial Aid Whitney Soule was
surprised by the surge in applica-
tion volume.
“I mean certainly we do a lot
of purposeful recruiting and a
lot of trying to think about how
we can present Bowdoin in the
traditional places that already
know the College, but also [how]
to present Bowdoin in places that
may not be familiar with liber-
al arts [colleges] or maybe not
Bowdoin in particular. We real-
ly put a lot of emphasis on that
and so we would hope that that
would increase our reach of stu-
dents. But a 25 percent increase
was unexpected,” Soule said.
Soule attributes this substan-
tial increase in applications to
increased awareness of Bow-
doin’s elimination of the appli-
cation fee for students who are
applying for financial aid, a poli-
cy that began during the admis-
sions cycle for the Class of 2021,
coupled with the domestic and
international outreach efforts
from the College itself.
“We had some growth in in-
ternational applications, which
makes sense because we travel
internationally and travel with
groups of other colleges where
we can share our message of lib-
eral arts,” said Soule.
The College also saw a sig-
nificant increase in students uti-
lizing fee waiver options, which
it provides for low-income and
first-generation college students.
It also saw increases in students
using an alternative application
form, such as the Questbridge
College Match Program and the
Coalition Application, which
also intend to make the college
application process more accessi-
ble to students from low-income
backgrounds.
Just under half of the students
Please see 2022, page 5

Roxane Gay talks

#metoo, Black
Panther and
imperfection
by Anna Fauver
Orient Staff
In the introduction to her
book “Bad Feminist,” Roxane
Gay accepts the moniker be-
cause she is “flawed and hu-
man,” but that she feels a re-
sponsibility to raise her voice
“to show all the ways we have
room to want more, to do bet-
ter.” At Gay’s Monday night
talk, the Bowdoin community
proved anxious to listen to
that voice.
Not only did the talk fill
Pickard Theater, but a large
actual consequences, but it’s
not enough,” Gay said. “I also
resent this idea that women or
anyone who has been a victim
of sexual assault have to share
our stories and that that is a
moral responsibility, and that
it’s for the greater good—that
we have to cannibalize the
worst things that have hap-
pened to us to increase aware-
ness.”
According to several stu-
dents, it was this honesty and
fearlessness that made Gay’s
talk so accessible.
“It’s just so wonderful to ANN BASU, THE BOWDOIN ORIENT DAKOTA GRIFFIN, THE BOWDOIN ORIENT

crowd in Kresge Auditorium
also watched Gay on lives-
tream as she blended humor
and gravitas discussing a wide
range of topics such as body
image, pop culture, feminism,
social movements including
COAST TO COAST: Over Spring Break, Bowdoin students took part in the
hear people who come from
a background that isn’t privi-
leged and to be able to relate
to experiences they’ve had March for Our Lives protests across the nation. Protesters argued for stricter gun laws
and to hear someone speak so
thoughtfully and eloquently following the shooting in Parkland, Fl. which killed 17 high school students earlier this year.
about their experiences and

BSG constitution passes with 76% of votes, low

#MeToo and her writing pro- just know that you’re not
cess. alone in that,” said Sophie Sa-
Gay, the New York Times dovnikoff ’19.

student participation prompts complaints

bestselling author of books
including “Hunger: A Memoir
of (My) Body” and “Bad Fem-
inist,” began her talk by read-
ing an excerpt of “Hunger,” a
book she said was especially
hard to write.
“As I was thinking ‘what
do I want to write?’ I thought,
‘the thing I want to write
about least is fatness,’” she
said during her lecture. “And
in that moment I realized,
‘Oh crap, the thing I need to
write about is fatness.’ I’ve
found throughout my career,
the things that I’m most afraid
of are the most intellectually
satisfying.”
Gay demonstrated these
same qualities in her talk—
not shying away from topics
such as the sexual assault she
experienced as a 12 year-old,
the effect it had on her body
and the problems with the
#MeToo movement.
“I think #MeToo is an im-
portant moment and I’m glad
to see more attention and
Gay, who wrote “World of
Wakanda” for Marvel Comics,
also discussed many aspects
of pop culture, including in-
tersectionality and identity
in “Black Panther,” noting
the lack of happy endings for
LGBTQ characters.
“At one point, Erik Kill-
monger kills his girlfriend
point blank,” Gay said. “And
that’s okay to the Disney view-
er, but two women loving each
other is not? So I think we
need to think about what our
cultural threshold for queer-
ness is and that we are more
comfortable with murder than
we are with queerness.”
Gay also pushed back
against the refrain that “Black
Panther” was one of the first
movies to provide black he-
roes.
“The idea that black people
haven’t had heroes before this
movie is horrible, it’s offen-
sive,” she said. “It’s offensive
Please see GAY, page 4
by Elizabeth Fosler-Jones
Orient Staff
The student body approved
changes to the Bowdoin Student
Government (BSG) constitution
on March 5, although low turn-
out in the vote prompted some
concerns about the validity of
the voting procedure. A total of
461 students, roughly 25 percent
of the student body, participated
in the vote. Among voters, 76
percent supported the changes to
the constitution.
The vote marks the first major
constitutional change to BSG in
ORIENT NAMED NEW ENGLAND COLLEGE NEWSPAPER OF THE YEAR. SEE PAGE 3.
over a decade. The updated ver-
sion of the constitution includes
a new committee on diversity
and inclusion, gender neutral
language and new positions to
allow first years and sophomores
to become leaders on BSG. The
constitution now also includes a
clause requiring it to be reviewed
and updated every two years.
“I really want to push people
to think about this macro-change
[and] talk about the next 10
years,” said BSG President Irfan
Alam ’18. “The constitution that
we are looking at was written
10 years ago and hasn’t been
changed since then, so that’s 10
years of students at Bowdoin who
have been affected by that consti-
tution and existed through that
BSG. So that’s the scope that we
are talking about. I want to push
students to think about how this
will affect the broad term.”
However, some students ex-
pressed concern about the low
participation rate in the consti-
tution vote and BSG’s bylaws.
Sophomores Rodger Heidg-
erken, Alex Banbury and Matt
Swiatek attended public com-
ment time at the March 7 BSG
meeting to voice their concerns,
which focused on the ambiguity
of the language regarding how a
referendum is passed.
According to the constitution,
there are two ways to amend the
constitution: by student body
action or by assembly action.
The assembly refers to voting
members of BSG. A referendum
by student body action requires
one-third of the student body to
participate in the vote to be valid,
whereas a referendum by assem-
bly action does not.
The changes proposed by BSG
Please see BSG, page 4

N WHO’S IT GONNA BE? A READING ROOM F DIVERSITY BY NUMBERS S ONE LAST SHOT O BOOK REVIEW
E-Board announced this year’s Ivies artists Seniors Hailey Beaman and June Lei Sociology students share their research on The women’s basketball team finished second Professor Rael critiques Larry Lindsey’s
last night. Page 3. premiered their new exhibit. Page 6. social segregation at Bowdoin. Pages 8-9. in the NCAA DIII tournament. Page 11. newest book. Page 14.
 2
2 Friday, March 30, 2018

PAGE 2
SECURITY REPORT
3/19 to 3/29
STUDENT SPEAK:
What’s your most cherished item of clothing?
Rowan Warren ’20
"I had a pair of jeans that I really
liked and then I ripped them. That
was sad."
Caitlin Loi ’20
"My grandpa gave me his ski jacket
from the 70s. It’s bright orange and
I look like a cheeto when I ski. "
Meera Prasad ’19
"My glasses because otherwise I’m
blind."
DIANA FURUKAWA

Grace Pettengill ’21

Monday, March 19 After a few hours, it was determined that the alert signal
• An employee at the Hawthorne-Longfellow Library was activated accidentally.

"I like my blue clogs. Everyone from

was reported to be choking on an object that was stuck • A contractor’s vehicle backed up and struck an em-
in her throat. A security officer performed the Heimlich ployee’s parked vehicle in the Dayton parking lot, causing
maneuver and dislodged the obstruction. minor property damage.

Tuesday, March 20 Sunday, March 25

• A local man was asked to leave campus after he was
observed doing skateboarding tricks on the flagpole me-
morial near Gibson Hall.
Monday, March 26
Thursday, March 22
• An intoxicated local man was asked to leave campus
after he was observed trying to enter Sargent Gym and
Studzinski Recital Hall at 2 a.m.
• Fence damage was noted and reported at the Stowe
Inn upper parking lot.
high school called me clog girl, but
• A student requested an escort to the Mid Coast
Walk-In Clinic to evaluate a foot injury.
since lots of people wear them at
Bowdoin. I guess I’m ordinary now. "
• A student reported the theft of a bright blue Trek
Verve 3 bicycle from the Coles Tower bike racks. The
bike had a wicker basket attached to the handle bars.
Leaf Ma ’18
"I wear my knock-off Bean boots
• A student reported the apparent theft of a hooded
sweatshirt from the Buck Fitness Center. The item was
taken by mistake and has been returned.

Friday, March 23 Thursday, March 29

all the time. I love them because
• A GPS emergency alert signal was received from an
Outdoor Leadership Club (OLC) group on a wilderness
• A student reported receiving harassing text and
phone messages.
they give me the illusion that I fit
hike in the Monson-Greenville area. An emergency ser-
vices response was initiated to attempt to locate the group.
COMPILED BY THE OFFICE OF SAFETY AND SECURITY
in but am also slightly unique."
COMPILED BY HAVANA CASO-DOSEMBET

Heads Up!
Upcoming events at Bowdoin
by Samuel Rosario

April April April April

2 LOTTERY LIVE 3 DECISIONS COLLEGE HOUSE

12 OPEN HOUSE 27-29 IVIES

The time to decide next year’s housing is
fast approaching. The link to enter the lot-
tery goes live on April 2. Have you made
your sacrifices to the goddess of Lisa Ren-
dall? Have you fed your local estranged
squirrel? Because you are going to need all
the good fortune you can get. There will
be four separate lotteries. April 17 will
be quads and quints, April 19 will be the
chem free and April 23 will be for triples
and singles/time to tell your roommate
their snoring bothers you. Finally, April
25 will be doubles and open rooms (with-
out open bars). Students will get a random
lottery number based on year of gradua-
tion, which basically decides whether you
can or cannot get a single.
First years have been waiting for this
day ever since first meeting their atten-
tive and loving college house buddies.
Students will see the results of next
year’s college house occupants. Will we
finally get some house playlists without
Mr. Brightside? It is time to see if cut-
ting off all your friends was worth it.
However, don’t be discouraged if your
block gets backhanded by karma—you
can still put up tents on front lawn of
your house of choice. Just be ready to
scatter when you see Security.
Get your maps ready! There will be a
bunch of prospective students roaming
around trying to understand what it
means to be a Polar Bear. So make sure
to carry some breath mints because
you are going to be advocating for your
school to all manner of folk. But seri-
ously, the advice and information you
give prospective students can have a
substantial impact on their futures. You
were in their shoes not too long ago (ex-
cept Seniors, y’all are old). So be open
and be honest. Help the common good
of prospective students.
While Ivies kicks off with the AJR con-
cert on Thursday night, some students
decide to unofficially begin the festiv-
ities up to a full week beforehand. On
Friday, many rise early and head to the
Brunswick Apartments Quad, where
the debauchery may reach its zenith.
Saturday, D.R.A.M. will perform, and
those who have taken the oft-repeated
“it’s a marathon, not a sprint” advice to
heart will be in attendance. The photos
of basic Bowdoin students smiling with
little life left in their eyes next to Randy
Nichols will fill your Instagram feed on
Sunday, but it’ll take a truly unique act
to live on in Ivies infamy.
Friday, March 30, 2018 NEWS
NEWS IN BRIEF D.R.A.M., AJR to headline Ivies
COMPILED BY JESSICA PIPER
PRESIDENT ROSE SIGNS LETTER
by Kodie Garza
OPPOSING ENDOWMENT TAX Orient Staff
Along with 48 other college presidents, President Clayton Rose Rapper D.R.A.M. and in-
signed a letter to Congress at the beginning of March, calling for die-pop band AJR will headline
a repeal or amendment of the recently-passed tax code, which im- this year’s Ivies weekend, the
poses a 1.4 percent tax on certain college endowments. The updated Entertainment Board (E-Board)
code, which passed in December, requires all private colleges and announced last night at a silent
universities with endowments greater than $500,000 per student to disco in Jack Magee’s Pub and
pay the tax on new earnings each year. Grill.
“Some significant part of the motivation for this tax is generated D.R.A.M., who will be per-
by the animus that some parts of our country have towards selec- forming in Farley Field House
tive institutions of higher learning,” Rose said. “There’s no question on Saturday, April 28, is best
about that. In this political moment we’re in, [there is] the notion known for the song “Brocco-
that there’s a perceived political agenda on these campuses.” li,” which features Lil Yachty.
The letter, dated March 7 and addressed to eight legislators from The song has over 450 million
both parties, argues that the endowment tax will hurt the ability of streams on Spotify, and the mu-
colleges to give financial aid and support students and faculty.
Students critique Lindsey’s views,
“[T]his tax will not address the cost of college or student indebt-
edness, as some have tried to suggest,” the letter reads. “Instead, it
will constrain the resources available to the very institutions that
lead the nation in reducing, if not eliminating, the costs for low- and
appreciate engagement at lecture
middle-income students, and will impede the efforts of other insti-
tutions striving to grow their endowments for this very purpose.”
The National Association of Independent Colleges and Universi-
ties estimated in December that 30 colleges and universities, includ-
ing Bowdoin, would currently be affected by the tax, although that
number would grow if endowments continue to perform well.
Supporters of the endowment tax, such as Representative Tom by Nina McKay
Reed (R-NY), argue that the tax is important as a form of trans- Orient Staff
parency. Among Maine’s senators, Susan Collins voted in favor of Students and faculty came
the bill that included the endowment tax, while Angus King voted prepared with questions to a
against it. talk by Larry Lindsey ’73, H’93
Rose noted that Bowdoin will do its best to provide financial aid on Wednesday night, challeng-
in spite of the tax. ing him on issues ranging from
“We’re going to continue to raise money for financial aid,” Rose climate change to racism while
said. “It’s a central piece of who we are.” President Clayton Rose mod-
erated. Lindsey is an economist
who served in the White House
ORIENT NAMED BEST COLLEGE as director of the National Eco-
NEWSPAPER IN NEW ENGLAND
nomic Council under President
George W. Bush.
The Orient was named the 2018 College Newspaper of the Year “Larry is an amazingly ac-
by the New England Society of News Editors (NESNE) and the New complished public servant, gov-
England Newspaper and Press Association (NENPA) in an announce- ernment figure, economist and
ment on Wednesday. someone who has not only a
In an email to the Orient, Sydney Conway of NENPA, wrote “It is Bowdoin degree but an honorary
clear that in the past year you have produced great material, and that degree, so having someone come
lots of hard work has been put in by the newspaper’s staff.” back and share his experiences
The editors of the Orient will travel to a reception at the Boston in government and insights into
Globe on April 19 where all NENPA AND NESNE honors will be the economic and political world
presented, joining editors and reporters from news outlets across New that we’re in today, given how
England. thoughtful he is, how experi-
In last year’s awards, the Orient placed second to the Harvard enced he is and how plugged-in
Crimson. he is [is a great opportunity],”
Rose said in an interview with
the Orient prior to the talk.
COUNCIL APPROVES SECOND At the event, Rose also noted
PHASE OF WHITTIER FIELD PLAN that Lindsey’s talk was an op-
portunity for students to hear
The Brunswick Town Council formally approved the second from “someone who may have a
phase of Bowdoin’s plans to renovate Whittier Field, the Forecast- different point of view or a dif-
er reported yesterday. The project includes building a new road ferent perspective.”
to connect Pine Street and Bath Road. The decision this Tuesday However, many students and
followed a vote in December to allow the College to discontin- faculty expressed frustration
ue Pine Street in order to build new athletic facilities alongside with some of Lindsey’s ideology
Whittier Field. and scholarly work.
Council members discussed adding a two-way left turn lane “I think it is very important
from Bath Road onto the newly constructed street, citing the that we bring serious conserva-
possibility that cars could be rear-ended while waiting to make tive thinkers to campus,” said
the turn. The measure was rejected after concern that it would Associate Professor of Classics
encourage cut-through traffic on the connector and Pine Street. Robert Sobak. “What we want
Instead, the Town Council voted to add road signs saying “No to be doing here is to be gen-
Thru Traffic” on the connector street and conduct traffic studies erative of new ideas through
six months and one year after the connector road opens to decide the tension between arguments
if adding a left-turn lane is necessary. of due weight. Unfortunately,
The second phase of the Whittier Field renovation plans in- I think that what we saw last
cludes the addition of a 9,000-square foot facility as well as night was someone … who has a
house training, locker and equipment rooms. The first phase of very narrowed domain of exper-
the project, which was completed last September, upgraded the tise—that is in economics and
field to turf, resurfaced Magee-Samuelson Track and restored the tax policy—step well outside his
grandstand. lane such that he revealed more
breadth of ignorance than any
depth of knowledge.”
Assistant Professor of History
Meghan Roberts read Lindsey’s
most recent book, “Conspira-
cies of the Ruling Class: How to
Break Their Grip Forever.” Rob-
erts found that the main targets
of the book are educated bu-
reaucrats, who Lindsey believes
constitute our society’s ruling
class and use issues like climate
change and global warming to
exercise their control.
sic video has nearly 300 million
views on YouTube. His name is
an abbreviation for “Does Real
Ass Music.”
AJR, which will perform in
David Saul Smith Union on
Thursday, April 26, is composed
of brothers Adam, Jack and Ryan
Met. The band is originally from
Manhattan, New York City; its
music includes elements of pop,
electronic and dubstep. In 2017,
it released its second studio
album, “The Click,” which in-
cluded the songs “Weak,” which
cracked the top 100 last sum-
mer, and “Sober Up.”
Roberts criticized Lindsey’s
failure to provide evidence in the
book, referring to a passage in
which Lindsey asserts that global
warming and racism are “man-
ufactured issues” that have been
“made up as a fig leaf to cover up
a power grab by those experts.”
“It seems to me like there
is, in fact, an extraordinary
burden of proof that should go
into making a claim like that,”
said Roberts. “And yet [the
paragraph containing these as-
sertions] does not have a single
footnote.”
During the audience Q&A
period of the talk, Roberts quot-
ed from this passage and asked
Lindsey to further elaborate on
his claim that racism and global
warming are “manufactured is-
sues.”
Lindsey initially responded
that “in the real world out there,
most people spend their lives not
thinking about the particular
traits of the other person,” an
answer which received pushback
from Rose, who pressed him to
answer how this meant racism
was a “manufactured issue.”
In response, Lindsey dis-
cussed the Black Lives Matter
movement, saying that people
were quick to jump to conclu-
sions on issues like police brutal-
ity rather than waiting for facts.
“We both agree that we want
a colorblind society, the ques-
tion is how to achieve it,” he said.
“I mean, here we’re going to get
into real politically incorrect
territory … if you look, for ex-
ample, at the Black Lives Matter
[movement]. I think, actually, I
believe all lives matter. [There
are] particular cases that, when
they were litigated, there were a
lot of politicians out there who
were prejudging cases and often
turned out to be wrong. Why
would a politician be prejudging
cases? There’s a lot of posturing
going on.”
“I thought that the commu-
nity members and students were
really awesome because I felt like
Larry Lindsey was not always an-
swering the questions adequate-
ly, and they kept pushing back on
him and asking for more,” said
Aliya Jessa ’19. “I thought that his
assertion that racism and global
warming are manufactured was
reactionary and false.”
“I thought that his assump-
tion that everybody wants a
colorblind society was problem-
Given a specified budget,
E-Board annually chooses two
to three acts to perform at Bow-
doin during Ivies weekend. The
group attempts to gauge student
opinion on artists through a
survey distributed each fall.
Last year, the group brought the
band Smallpools, DJ Vanic and
rapper A$AP Ferg.
“We survey the Board and try
to come up with a really large
group of artists from several
genres—pop, hip pop, EDM and
alternative. Just like a list of 20
that we think are up-and-com-
ing and within our price range,”
PRESIDENTIAL CHAT: Larry Lindsey (right) talks with President Rose in a
lecture entitled: “A Washington Insider’s View of Issues Facing America.”
atic,” said Alexa Gray ’19. “[He]
thinks that programs helping
people who are systematically
disadvantaged and who our
institutions are leaving behind
is not a good thing which…is
highly problematic.”
Nina Alvarado-Silverman ’19
was troubled by Lindsey’s usage
of the phrase “all lives matter,”
but was encouraged by the way
in which President Rose re-
sponded to Lindsey during the
portion of the talk in which race
was discussed.
“I think that as a moderator
[President Rose] really had [an op-
portunity to] cop-out … and could
have not said anything when race
came up,” said Alvarado-Silver-
man. “That he did [respond] and
[that] he did it in a respectful way
… he did show that we don’t accept
racism on campus.”
Emlyn Knox ’19 was frustrat-
ed because she felt Lindsey was
using unnecessarily complicated
language during the portion of
the discussion that dealt with
economics.
“One of the reasons I do
sometimes go see conservative
3
said E-Board chair Isel Fitzger-
ald ’18.
E-Board does not announce
artists until contracts are made
official. The silent disco was
a new announcement mech-
anism. In past years, the an-
nouncement has come via a
hype video or email.
While the professional acts
have already been named, a
student band that has yet to be
chosen will open the show on
Thursday night. The competi-
tion for this spot, known as Bat-
tle of the Bands, will be held on
April 12.
CAROLINE FLAHERTY, THE BOWDOIN ORIENT
speakers is that I think they can
explain things in a way that a lot
of the media I consume doesn’t
explain to me,” Knox said. “It
was frustrating to me that he
didn’t take advantage of that op-
portunity to explain [his point
of view] to people who probably
don’t read the newspapers he
writes in or don’t engage with
the sources he uses.”
Sobak shared Knox’s view
that the event was a missed op-
portunity for Bowdoin students
to engage with Lindsey’s opin-
ion on economic issues.
“I think we actually could
have learned something had
we been able to be treated to
Dr. Lindsey’s thinking about
[President Trump’s tax bill], in
the context of being really seri-
ously engaged with two to three
faculty from the department of
economics here,” Sobak said.
“That shows not only that we’re
taking these ideas seriously, but
also that the students, who have
a relationship with these faculty,
are given a chance to see how
their faculty interact with out-
side experts.”
4 NEWS
Safe Space introduces hotline for victims of sexual assault
by Mollie Eisner
Orient Staff
Safe Space launched a sup-
port line for students who have
experienced sexual harassment
or sexual assault on Wednesday.
Student representatives of Safe
Space, previously accessible via
their mailboxes, emails or social
media, will now be on-call every
night of the week, including later
hours on weekends, to provide
confidential assistance and sup-
port. The support line is one of
the group’s many efforts to make
resources more available to sexual
harassment and assault survivors.
Discussion about the support
line began this past fall. Safe
Space co-leader Shea Necheles
GAY
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
that people think that we are
desperate. We aren’t desperate
for heroes, we’re desperate for
representation.”
Leana Amaez, associate
dean of students for diver-
sity and inclusion and the
co-director of the Sexuality,
Women and Gender Center,
believes that Gay’s wide range
references to pop culture and
other novels and writings
demonstrates the empirical
value of knowledge.
“[Gay’s] ability to pull from
popular culture—to pull from
literature and then to create
arguments and shed light on
things that are right in front
of us, about our own soci-
ety, about our own selves but
that we aren’t seeing yet in a
particular way, or to get us
to see them in any way, that
comes from a certain degree
of knowledge,” Amaez said.
“That doesn’t just come from
being an opinionated person,
it’s based in some real knowl-
edge.”
Gay used another pop cul-
ture reference, ABC’s “The
Bachelor,” to describe her
views on imperfection, a
theme that Amaez believes is
another important takeaway.
“ABC has decided to get
rid of morality and ethics and
there I was watching and be-
ing implicated in their lack of
ethics,” Gay said. “I thought
[the most recent season fina-
le] was a new low in reality
television … I felt like it was
such an intimate and painful
moment and I watched it. I
watched it because it was voy-
euristic and it was interesting.
But I think we have to ask our-
selves, how much pain do we
have to consume because it’s
BSG
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
to the constitution this spring fell
under assembly action and thus
only required that the assembly
“take appropriate measures to
educate the student body about
changes proposed,” according
to the constitution. There is no
minimum participation rate nec-
“It would be unconstitutional
of us to not listen to the people
who voted.”
–Vice President for Student Affairs Benny Painter ’19
’18 highlighted data from the
2016 Bowdoin Experiences and
Attitudes about Relationships and
Sex (B.E.A.R.S.) Survey as a cata-
lyst for the creation of the support
line. According to the survey, only
16 percent of people who have ex-
perienced sexual assault have told
a member of Safe Space.
“We recognize there is a huge
disconnect between students who
have experienced gender violence
on campus and students who are
receiving support,” said Necheles.
She hopes the support line will
help to diminish this gap.
Associate Director of Gender
Violence Prevention and Educa-
tion Lisa Peterson explained that
the support line simplifies the
process of contacting Safe Space
SHE’S GOT SWAG: (ABOVE): Author, professor and cultural critic Roxane
Gay poses for a photo with the staff of the Sexuality, Women and Gender
Center. (RIGHT): Gay reads aloud from her bestselling novel, “Hunger,” to a
packed crowd in Pickard Theatre on Monday night. Gay mixed humor with
personal reflection and searing social criticism.
entertaining?”
This contradiction is sim-
ilar to what Gay talks about
when she discusses being a
“bad feminist.” Amaez be-
lieves that this ability to be
imperfect but still be a good
person is an important mes-
sage for students to remem-
ber.
“I think we live in a world
and maybe a culture partic-
ularly in higher ed, particu-
larly at Bowdoin where our
students are so high achieving
and really want to get it right,”
essary for the vote to be valid.
The concerned students at
the BSG meeting accepted this
explanation for the validity of the
election, but still took issue with
this model.
“Why isn’t there a one-third
quorum on both executive and
student action? That’s confusing
to me,” said Heidgerken. “I’m not
saying that a one-third quorum
advocates, who have been spe-
cially trained to support and assist
survivors of sexual harassment or
assault.
“Our hope is that having a
central support line will make
it that much more accessible to
folks—that they know there’s one
number they can call, that they’ll
be able to connect with an advo-
cate ... at any point,” said Peterson.
According to Necheles, “The
hope of the support line isn’t to
provide all the support you need
on one phone call. It is meant to
connect people to other services,”
such as the Counseling Center,
the Health Center or another Safe
Space advocate.
“We take a very empower-
ment-based model to survivors
COURTESY OF MICHELE STAPLETON
Amaez said. “And I don’t mean
that—I’m not talking about
just getting good grades—I’m
talking about wanting to do
good, by their peers, by their
families, by their commu-
nities and they want to do
it right. It’s one of the great
things about Bowdoin stu-
dents right?”
“But I think her message is
that you can do it right and
still sometimes get it a little
wrong,” she continued. “That
you can be a complicated per-
son.”
is a good amount. Is one-third
a good minimum, is one-fourth
a good minimum? Even having
a quorum of any [amount]. If a
vote passes and only five people
vote, that’s not valid.”
Alam agreed that greater stu-
dent participation would have
been beneficial.
“There’s like 1,400 people who
didn’t even want to click the link
and it’s a one question survey. So,
yeah, as the president of BSG, I’m
frustrated because I obviously
think that it’s really important,”
Alam said.
Still, he noted that the mea-
sure had firm support from the
seeking support,” said Peterson.
“It’s not up to us to decide what
the best way for folks to get that
support is, but just to make sure
that the avenues to that are really
transparent and easy for folks to
access.”
“We recognize there is a huge
disconnect between students who
have experienced gender violence
on campus and students who are
receiving support.”
–Safe Space co-leader Shea Necheles ’18
Even though the support line
may refer callers to other ser- confidential, they are not anony- speak to a Safe Space advocate:
vices, Peterson believes that it is mous due to caller identification. 207-208-0642.
students who did vote.
“If people know it was hap-
pening and you really just don’t
care enough to vote, then of the
400 people who actually cared
enough to learn about and vote
on it, yes or no, those are the peo-
ple who should be able to deter-
mine how the vote goes,” he said.
“It would be unconstitutional
of us to not listen to the people
who voted,” added BSG Vice
President for Student Govern-
ment Affairs Benny Painter ’19.
“We can’t redo it because that’s
not OK to do—because people
did vote and we got four-fifths of
the assembly.”
Friday, March 30, 2018
crucial that Safe Space advocates
“The Safe Space advocate will
are fellow students. According to
keep the information confiden-
the B.E.A.R.S. survey data, after
tial, but [the caller’s] identity
being sexually assaulted students
won’t necessarily be anonymous
are more likely to confide in a to whomever is answering the
friend than an administrator or phone,” said Peterson.
counselor. However the only instance
in which a Safe Space advocate
would ever break confidentiality
is if they have reason to believe
that the caller was at risk to harm
themselves or others.
The support line operates
Sundays through Thursdays
from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. and Fri-
days through Saturdays from
5 p.m. to 1 a.m. Students can
also call after hours and leave
Though the phone calls are a message. Call this number to
YOUR AD HERE
Want to advertise your event, service or local
business to thousands of Bowdoin students and
community members? The Bowdoin Orient
wants to help you out.
Visit bowdoinorient.com/advertise or email
orientads@bowdoin.edu for details.
Friday, March 30, 2018
‘Psychos, assholes, perverts and trolls’: Brooklyn-
based lawyer fights sexual abuse on the internet
by Surya Milner
Orient Staff
Brooklyn-based lawyer Car-
rie Goldberg knew nothing
about revenge porn—until she
became the victim of it. The
pawn of an ex-boyfriend’s on-
line and offline sexual extor-
tion, Goldberg says she started
her own law firm to become
the lawyer she needed when
she was under attack.
Two months after receiv-
ing a restraining order, she
opened C.A. Goldberg, where
she worked as a one-woman
show until the outfit gained
traction. Since its inception,
C.A. Goldberg has removed
over 18,000 revenge porn
images from the internet, ob-
tained 88 orders of protection
and is currently litigating five
cases against Harvey Wein-
stein.
Goldberg shared her story
and several others to a largely
female audience in Kresge Au-
ditorium last night. Contem-
plating the notion of privacy,
she asked her audience to
close their eyes and envision
their biggest secrets—things
Googled, buried lies, hidden
curiosities.
“I want you to imagine if
your name was typed into a
search engine and the first five
pages of results were dom-
inated by things about you
and that secret of yours—how
would you feel?” she asked.
This is the crux of Gold-
berg’s practice, which de-
mands justice for targets of
blackmail, sexual assault and
2022
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
expected to matriculate were
admitted through early decision
I and II, which are binding. In
addition, the College admitted
12 students through the Quest-
bridge Match Program, com-
pared to 11 students in the Class
of 2021. Aside from the Com-
mon Application, the Quest-
bridge Application was the next
Acceptance Rate
most popular application plat-
form, followed by the Coalition
Application. The diverse pool of
admitted students represents all
50 states along with D.C., Puerto
Rico, Guam, the Virgin Islands
and 40 countries.
The Bowdoin application also
included a new supplemental es-
say this year. The essay presented
the Offer of the College to the
applicants and prompted them
to pick their favorite line in the
offer and explain why it was their
favorite. For the counselors at the
Office of Admissions reading the
essays, this prompt presented a
different perspective on the ap-
plicants than those of previous
application seasons.
“It was a different way for us
to read about them that was new,
that was really interesting and
really fun to see students take in
the Offer and think about it and
write about it,” said Soule.
The acceptance rate for the
Class of 2021, the previous record
low, was reported as 13.4 percent
in March of last year, but rose
stalking. Goldberg uses law as
a tool of creative resistance,
straddling the line between
victims’ rights and internet
privacy.
She described her clients as
victims of “psychos, assholes,
perverts and trolls.”
Social media companies
like Snapchat, Facebook, In-
stagram, Grindr and even
Google can be the most harm-
ful perpetrators of online sex-
ual abuse, Goldberg said.
“In the last four years,
there’s been such a pivot—
kind of a groundswell of rec-
ognition—that tech is really
something that can destroy
lives,” she said. “It’s not that
tech is the problem, but the
people who are using it are.”
Goldberg’s practice is
gaining traction at a crucial
moment with the #MeToo
movement and the rapid digi-
tization of our social lives.
“With the internet we can’t
really escape our pasts,” she
said. “And we lose control
over parts of our future.”
Goldberg was invited to
Bowdoin by Associate Di-
rector of Gender Violence
Prevention and Education
Lisa Peterson, who was struck
by Goldberg’s grasp on both
technology and the law. Peter-
son noted that many students
are unaware of the challenges
that their peers can face.
“On campus there’s more
going on than students re-
alize—students experienc-
ing stalking or monitoring
through their social media
accounts” Peterson said.
34.3%
35.0
30.0
25.0
20.0
15.0
10.0
5.0
0.0
1990
GETTING IN: Bowdoin’s acceptance rate has declined steadily over the last two decades, hitting an all-time low of 10.3% for the class of 2022. Decisions were sent to high school seniors on March 16.
to 13.6 percent after the College
accepted some students from the
waitlist over the summer.
Several other NESCAC
schools also saw declines in their
acceptance rates compared to
previous years. Williams accept-
NEWS 5
“So I think raising people’s
awareness of that and hav-
ing really hard conversations
about [that is important but it
is also] responsibility of these
tech companies to be more
proactively protecting users,”
Tech companies are pro-
tected in the Communica-
tion Decency Act of 1996,
but Goldberg was hopeful
that recent events regarding
Cambridge Analytica’s fraud-
ulently obtained Facebook
data might convince users to
hold social media companies
responsible for the abuse that
occurs on their platforms.
“The firm stands for the
fact that every single one of us
is a moment away from cross-
ing paths with somebody hell-
bent on our downfall,” Gold-
berg said. “We believe that
nobody should intentionally
violate another person—not
physically, not emotionally,
not financially, not sexually,
not online, not offline, not the
person sitting next to you, not
the president of the United
States.”
Monica Xing ’19 took away
valuable lessons from the lec-
ture.
“In the modern age of tech-
nology we’re all so vulnera-
ble,” she said. “What Carrie
said about how we’re all one
step away from being victims
of online abuse—it’s so rele-
vant to our lives. I’ll be more
alert of what I post but also
the platforms that I choose to
use in the future.” PJ SEELERT, THE BOWDOIN ORIENT
Mollie Eisner contributed to SPEAK OUT: Lawyer Carrie Goldberg speaks in Kresge Auditorium last night. Golberg is a New York lawyer who
this report. advocates for victims of revenge porn, blackmail and other internet- and sex-related crimes.
Bowdoin Acceptance Rate by Year
10.3%
1995 2000 2005 2010 2015
Year
COMPILED BY DREW MACDONALD. SOURCE: BOWDOIN OFFICE OF INSTITUIONAL RESEARCH AND WHITNEY SOULE.
ed 12.2 percent of applicants, cent of applicants this application Admissions’ excitement about year for us in Admissions. It was
down from 14.6 percent the season, but accepted 19.9 percent the admitted students and the a lot of application reading, but
previous year. Colby accepted last year. incoming class. it was really affirming that stu-
13 percent of applicants for the Soule emphasized the tough “We really hope that students dents who understand Bowdoin
Class of 2022 compared to 16 decisions made in the large ap- we’ve admitted see the fit that we are applying, and it was a really
percent for the Class of 2021. plicant pool this year; however, see between them and Bowdoin,” amazing group of students to
Middlebury accepted 18.4 per- she highlighted the Office of she said. “It was a really exciting read about.”
 A ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
6 Friday, March 30, 2018
‘Celebrating Women’ champions choice through photos
by Nicole Tjin A Djie
Orient Staff
Over the next two weeks,
the Lamarche Gallery in David
Saul Smith Union will showcase
photos of Bowdoin women as
part of photoshoot and exhibit
“Celebrating Bodies, Celebrating
Women,” coordinated by the Sex-
uality, Women and Gender Center
(SWAG). The project—holding
a different significance for each
participant—was designed to give
women choice in self-expression.
“This is by women for wom-
en,” said Anu Asaolu ’19, one of
the project’s four organizers. “It
is something for themselves as
opposed to, again, producing
something that’s for the rest of the
campus to see.”
This focus on agency—where
participants were given say in all
aspects of the shoot—was a par-
amount consideration for SWAG
student directors Kendall Schutzer
’18, Scout Gregerson ’18, Rebkah
Tesfamariam ’18 and Asaolu.
“The whole point of the project
was about choice. Giving women
the choice in how they want to
represent their bodies and if they
even want to participate at all,”
said Gregerson.
From how much of their
bodies they wanted to expose to
the option to have their pictures
shown in the exhibit, participants
determined every step of the pro-
cess.
“People could choose a pho-
tographer that they prefer[red] to
work with. They could do it alone
or do it with a group of friends.
The photographers were really
Please touch: interactive ‘Reading Room’ opens in museum
by Eliana Miller
Orient Staff
The newest exhibit at the
Bowdoin College Museum of
Art (BCMA) consists of one
room with couches, chairs,
bookshelves, two iPads and a
chalkboard. “Reading Room:
Experiments in Collaborative
Dialogue and Archival Prac-
tice in the Arts” is a social
practice art exhibit, part of an
art discipline that views the
creation of a social situation as
art in its own right. The exhib-
it encourages visitors to make
the space their own and engage
with the exhibit’s material and
immaterial artifacts, such as an
online archive of texts, books
and writings.
Functioning as both a
community space and an ex-
hibit, “Reading Room,” which
opened March 29, explores
the interaction between mu-
seum space, text, technology,
perception and the individual.
Curators Hailey Beaman ’18
SEE IT YOURSELF
“Reading Room” will be on display in the Bowdoin College Museum
of Art through June 3, with weekly office hours with the curators on
Thursdays from 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.
receptive to what your vision was,”
said Julianna Burke ’18, who par-
ticipated in the shoot.
“I think doing this was an exer-
cise in how far I’ve come with my
own relationship with my body,”
said Burke. “It also made me real-
ize how far I need to come in the
way I think about my body.”
This amount of freedom made
the event a rewarding experience
for Louisa Izydorczak ’20, another
participant.
“To have these photos of your-
self to save and show other people,
I think is really special and really
empowering,” said Izydorczak.
In planning the event, the orga-
nizers made an effort to acknowl-
edge the diversity of participants’
relationships with their bodies.
They recognized that the title
“Celebrating Women, Celebrat-
ing Bodies,” which dates from the
first iteration of the event in 2010,
might not reflect the experiences
of all participants. For the women
who participated, the shoot was a
medium for self-representation,
which, the directors noted, does
not necessarily translate into an
act of embracing or celebrating for
everyone.
“For some people it can be
really difficult and it can not be
a celebration at all, and we just
wanted to be mindful of that,” said
Gregerson.
In light of the #MeToo move-
ment, student directors believe
that the exhibit provides a chance
to continue an important con-
versation about the way women’s
bodies are looked at and talked
about.
“I see the #MeToo movement
and June Lei ’18 hope to cre-
ate a communal space within
the museum, spark public dis-
course and challenge visitors
to rethink the role of museums
in society.
“We want to open up the
museum space and make it
more of a communal, social
space on campus,” said Lei.
“We took inspiration from
people sitting in Smith, for ex-
ample, where people are com-
fortable, but that’s not neces-
sarily the case in the museum.”
Each week, a new ques-
tion will be posted on the
chalkboard and visitors will
be encouraged to share their
responses on the board. The
first question, and the central
theme of the exhibit, is “How
can art act as a mechanism for
social action?”
“Social change is open to
interpretation,” wrote Lei in an
email to the Orient. “We are
hoping that people can consid-
er what art can do to improve/
change society, whether this be
was a way for women to take
ownership of themselves and their
experience,” said Tesfamariam.
“Similarly, I think that this pho-
toshoot is making conversations
about women taking ownership of
their own bodies.”
Women often face challenges
in controlling the representation
of their bodies online and through
social media. Organizers took
extra precautions to protect the
privacy of all participants.
“This was done completely
without using the internet. Every-
thing was password-protected to
keep people’s images really secure
and safe,” said Schutzer.
Directors also made an effort to
ensure that the project remained
as inclusive as possible despite the
gendered title of the event.
“We were also really thoughtful
about language and how we can
make it inclusive to all women
including trans women [and] also
enable nonbinary folks who have
a relationship to womanhood to
participate,” said Schutzer. “I hope
we did, but it is always a challenge.”
As evidenced by the written
responses of participants on dis-
play outside the exhibit, the event
elicited a range of reactions.
“Every woman came to this
photoshoot and participated in
it for their own reasons, and I
hope that people ask questions,”
said Tesfamariam. “I hope that
people consider why this is
important, that it’s not about
sexualizing ourselves. I think it’s
more about making a statement
that we are people who are your
friends and allies.”
The exhibit is open to people
in service of community, poli-
cy or representation.”
“We wanted to play with
the idea of visualizing political
and social change and com-
munity discourse formation
over time,” said Beaman. “We
wanted to find something that
would allow for an opportuni-
ty of collaboration within the
Bowdoin community, [for]
people to be able to contribute
and have a part in this.”
The books in “Reading
Room” were chosen by Bowdo-
in students, faculty and staff.
Beaman and Lei emailed the
Bowdoin community asking,
“What is a book or text that
has been foundational in the
formation of your ‘practice,’
however you might define
that?”
Beaman thinks of practice
as “an intellectual practice,
defined either by your major
or, if you’re a professor, then
by what you research and
study. Or just as your personal
practice … something that has
been formational.”
The curators received over
50 responses and were able to
acquire nearly every book sub-
mitted. They did not vet the
reading list, a process which
they felt would have counter-
ANN BASU, THE BOWDOIN ORIENT
RECLAIMING REPRESEN-
TATION: ‘Celebrating Women,
Celebrating Bodies,’ a photoshoot and
exhibit coordinated by the Sexuality,
Women and Gender Center, aims to
give Bowdoin women agency in how
their bodies are represented.
of all identities. Both Schutzer
and Tesfamariam urge visitors to
be mindful of their assumptions
while viewing the photographs.
“I hope that they can see the
joy that is in so many of the
photos, particularly the photos
of friendship,” said Schutzer.
“I hope that they catch them-
selves in their initial thoughts
and where they come from, and
whether they are being judg-
mental or not.”
“Respect us,” said Tesfamari-
am. “Be our allies in all spaces,
not just when it’s convenient to
you. I think this is one of the
acted the communal goals of
the exhibition. Every week, 16
books will be on display, each
with a placard inside explain-
ing its importance to a Bowdo-
in community member.
“The books are everywhere.
Professors tended to choose
books that were relevant to
their fields of study ... stu-
dents picked novels, classics,
children’s books, theoretical
books. It’s really across the
board,” said Lei. “The plural-
ism of Bowdoin really comes
out in something like this.”
Though the exhibit itself
has a neutral tone, some of the
books have a political bent.
“These come from people’s
personal experiences, so nat-
urally some of the books have
perhaps an explicitly political
charge, but that’s based on
the individual, and that was
something that we wanted to
encourage,” said Beaman.
The exhibition is a product
of two years of conversations
between Lei, Beaman and By-
ron Kim, a renowned abstract
artist and senior critic at the
Yale School of Art. In 2016 the
curators met Kim at an event
for the museum’s exhibit “This
Is a Portrait If I Say So: Identity
in American Art, 1912 to To-
best ways that … we can ask the
Bowdoin community to wake
up and really consider how they
see women both as their peers
and in public culture.”
“[The photographs are a] re-
SEE IT YOURSELF
“Celebrating Women, Celebrating Bodies” will be on display in
Lamarche Gallery select hours through April 9.
day,” which featured his work.
Since then, Lei and Beaman
have explored myriad topics
with Kim, ultimately deciding
to create a space focused on
community and social dynam-
ics.
“A lot of our conversations
were in reaction to some of
the polarizing social events
that were happening two years
ago [such as the gangster par-
ty],” said Lei. “That sort of
discourse around difficult,
controversial issues was some-
thing that really fueled the
need for a space like ‘Reading
Room.’”
The pair aims to keep
discussions alive inside and
outside of the museum. The
exhibit’s website contains
process documents from the
creation of the exhibit, weekly
snapshots of the chalkboard,
documents from related pro-
gramming and the evolving
personal reflections from the
curators. Visitors are encour-
aged to browse the site on
museum iPads and their own
devices, and to comment and
suggest prompts for the chalk-
board.
The curators were especially
interested in using “Reading
Room” to combat the concept
minder that bodies are just bod-
ies, but all bodies are beautiful,”
added Schutzer. “I hope people
go away thinking that.”
Jill Tian contributed to this
report.
of the exhibit, the viewer-ob-
ject dichotomy and museum
hierarchies.
“We thought a lot about the
museum space and the muse-
um as an institution and what
kinds of power dynamics and
traditions are coded within
the space of the ‘white cube,’
as it’s often called,” said Bea-
man. “We wanted to challenge
those traditions of exhibitions
and create a very comfortable,
seemingly democratic space.”
“How can we personalize
the museum space?” added
Beaman. “How can museums
function in that role of bringing
people together as opposed to
perhaps reinstating or reifying
certain hierarchies that exist
outside of the world, recontex-
tualizing them in the space.”
Lei lamented that many se-
niors have never been to the
BCMA, and yet every student
matriculates and graduates on
the museum steps.
“I think that everyone
should feel comfortable [in
the museum]. We really want
student representation and for
‘Reading Room’ to be a student
space inside the museum,” said
Lei. “But at the same time, once
it’s in the museum, all these
questions about art are raised.”
 F
Friday, March 30, 2018 7

FEATURES
BOWDOIN BACK HOME

COUTERSY OF SURYA MILNER COUTERSY OF IRFAN ALAM

DEEP IN THE HEART: Irfan Alam’ 18 ruminates on his connection to his hometown of Austin, Texas and the role of family in creating a sense of place. Alam plans on moving to Boston this summer after graduation.

A home of one’s own: forging a Lone Star inheritance

by Surya Milner
Orient Staff
Irfan Alam ’18 isn’t sure how to
pronounce his first name. The con-
fusion stems from the varied into-
nations of his friends at Bowdoin
(air-fawn), his family (air-fawn)
and his friends from his largely
white private high school in Aus-
tin, Texas (urr-fawn).
Austin, Texas: a city blanket-
ed by rolling juniper hills and
limestone balconies. For many,
it’s a political and cultural oasis, a
blue iconoclast whose liberal core
finds respite within a largely red
state. Despite its relative tolerance,
Austin is a city divided—by the
snaking Colorado river, a popular
destination of the city’s nearly one
million residents, and the goliath
Interstate Highway 35, which has
served as the city’s unspoken racial
boundary since 1928.
Like Austin, Irfan resists easy
categorization. Raised by his
grandma—who he calls Nanoo—
in an affluent Pakistani, Sunni
Muslim, immigrant family, he is
both Pakistani and Indian, a comi-
cal cultural schism that he says has
always collapsed into one unitary
“brown” identity when immersed
in predominantly white popula-
tions, such as Bowdoin or his Epis-
copal high school.
Caught between many worlds,
Irfan remembers growing up
with Nanoo and his parents, who
worked often and were active mem-
bers of what he calls the “brown
community”—a group of Pakistani,
Sunni Muslim families who reside
primarily in South-Central Austin.
This world existed entirely apart
from that of his school, a K-12 oasis
whose iconographic coat of arms
accompanies its mascot, the cru-
sader. Irfan remembers one other
Muslim peer.
The common denominator was
his Nanoo, who drove Irfan and
his brother to and from school
and packed their boxed lunch-
es—always filled with some “super
cultured” South Asian cuisine, not,
as Irfan wished at the time, a fruit
rollup and turkey sandwich.
When I meet Irfan in Austin,
he tells me to meet him by “the
cows”—a grouping of marble cows
in a wooded cove overlooking
highway 360, on which Irfan will
travel home after we speak. Adja-
cent to an Amy’s Ice Cream and
the city’s largest Barnes & Noble
Booksellers, the cows are a popular
weekend destination for families
and the stuff of elementary school
suburban dreams.
“My Nanoo used to take me
here as a kid,” he says. Then he
tells me that he’s currently wor-
ried that a member of the brown
community might happen to see
us; upon his departure his mom
questioned him, ‘what if one of
my Desi friends sees you guys?’ He
references the Hindi phrase “log
kya kahenge,” which translates to
the rhetorical question, ‘what will
people think?’
“It’s a classic phrase that’s every-
where in the brown community.
Mom says it, grandma says it: what
will the community think.” Irfan
says it as a statement, though the
phrase operates as a question in
and of itself. “’You’re going to
Bowdoin, no one will know Bow-
doin’—that’s a classic example. My
decisions I make are always com-
pared to the community.”
It’s a story that feels familiar.
I think about my mom and her
journey from Mumbai to Austin
and the insularity of our home life:
idli in the skillet, no phone calls
after 9:30 in the evening and my
mother’s fondness for old Bolly-
wood flicks that remind her of my
grandfather, a sound recordist and
freedom fighter for Indian inde-
pendence.
Sitting on the cows, I tell Irfan
about my first ‘not-a-date’ date in
this same place; the way I told my
mom I was just browsing books
and how the boy who I had snuck
away to see had similarly fibbed to
his father, the patriarch of a strict
Hindu home. Irfan can relate, and
together we tie together the simi-
larities between our upbringings:
the inextricable bond between
home and family, the longing
to resurrect a homeland that is
oceans away and the pressure: to
make sure that this life, removed
from that of our heritage, is worth
the costs of assimilation.
Irfan pauses. This is not an
emblematic portrait of American
adolescence, nor of growing up in
Austin. Known for Texas football,
South by Southwest and all that the
city does to “Keep Austin Weird,”
Austin captivates the modern
urban imagination in the way it
evades classification; neither the
deep South nor the wild West, it is
part rancher, part genteel. But it is
also heavily entrepreneurial, inno-
vative in a way that has precipitat-
ed a boom of immigrant commu-
nities like that of Irfan’s family.
The Asian Pacific Islander com-
munity, which the state census uses
as an umbrella category to include
South Asians, is Austin’s fastest
growing demographic, compris-
ing eight percent of the current
population. Within that, Indian
Americans comprise the largest
Asian-ethnic group in the city. It’s
a demographic that will likely ex-
ceed the city’s African American
population in coming years, ac-
cording to the City of Austin.
“I don’t actually feel like I ex-
perienced the city of Austin until
after I left for Bowdoin,” Irfan said.
“[Growing up] I was always con-
fused about why that was the case—
why classmates of mine were always
into new ‘Austin’ places and did fun
‘Austin’ things while I didn’t.”
As Irfan lists all of the ‘Austin’
events that he’s found in college,
the city that he splutters to de-
scribe crystallizes. As an adjective,
the idea of ‘Austin’ is recognizable
to anyone from the city or the
surrounding area. Not marked by
the city’s museums, geographic lo-
cation or even world-class institu-
tions, it’s a lifestyle, as well as a type
of aesthetic ideal, one that’s teth-
ered to an ever-rotating spectacle
of kite festivals, live music shows,
barbecue and seasonable weather.
Instead of hanging around
after basketball games in middle
school like most of his friends and
their families did, Irfan remem-
bers spending time at home with
Nanoo, talking in the kitchen, lis-
tening to her stories about life in
Pakistan and blasting Bollywood
music on the way to school.
“Her whole life story is all about
sacrifice. She sacrificed everything.
All of her interests, everything, al-
ways for my grandfather, my mom
and her siblings, basically raising
me and my brother. That level of
sacrifice—that kind of keeping it
in—I could never emulate that. I’ve
been raised to fight for what I want
and to go after what I want. And
she just put everything behind her,
getting and education and all those
things—that was never in her life
plan.”
“It’s hard for her to rationalize
why I left to Bowdoin, it’s hard for
her to rationalize why I’m leaving
to Boston. Because part of the im-
migrant mentality is to stay with
yourt family and to stay united
as a family. For Pakistani people
in our community, I was the only
person ever, I feel, to actually have
left Austin for college. Everyone
else went to UT Austin or tried to
ultimately get to UT Austin.”
In May, Irfan will graduate as
Bowdoin Student Government
President. In August, he will move
to Boston to start his job at a
healthcare consulting firm. When
asked what he will miss the most
about his hometown, Irfan allows
the question to hang in the air.
“Austin? Ah, I don’t know. I don’t
think I’ll ever really have an answer
… I do love being here. When I
come back from Bowdoin on va-
cation, I get this sick pleasure from
just driving on 360 bridge. And I’m
just like—I’m home. But it’s not
South Congress or Sixth Street or
Zilker Park. I don’t know what it is.”
Finally, almost defeatedly, he
arrives at the answer he’s known
all along. “My relationship to
Austin is directly impacted by my
relationship to home—my rela-
tionship to my family,” he says. “It
is only because of that sacrifice that
I was able to become the person I
am, and I will forever be grateful
for that.”
Speaking with Irfan, I can’t
help but think about Bowdoin’s
core value of connection to place.
I wonder about how those connec-
tions change within an immigrant
family, when the place you call
home is worlds apart from your
cultural home—Irfan’s and my
mom’s shared homelands across
the ocean. Driving home from the
cows, I experience Irfan’s sick joy:
the thrill of a body moving across
a landscape that our families, in
their own particular ways, have
made our own. For the first time
since leaving, it feels enough to
call these rolling hills and soaring
highways home.

End of the line: journeys on the Downeaster

Space, Place and once the train turns around in or graduate school applications
Sucking Face Portland.
by Jonah Watt
I love my Amtrak Downeaster
six-trip college pass. For 86 dol-
lars, I can take three round trips
from the doorstep of campus
to Woburn, the gateway to JOB
(Just Outside of Boston) land. My
three—or four or five, depending
on weather and track repair—
hour rides have punctuated my
seven semesters on campus,
bookending Thanksgiving and
spring breaks. My six-trip pass
ticks down the train rides until
the end of each year.
The Amtrak has been an exten-
sion of my life at Bowdoin, bring-
ing me to and from the College.
Its familiar seats have become as
comfortable as my regular perch
in the Moulton Light Room, al-
though I still don’t know where to
sit if I want to be facing forward laptops, getting to work on theses summer I spent on campus.
before the train even pulled out of of excited first years. Looking of uncertainty, my friends and I By that time, all the snow will be
I see many familiar faces as I
pace the aisles on my way to the
dining cart, fantasizing about
taking advantage of my legality to
buy orange juice and a mini bottle
of champagne to make a mimosa
(my looming deadlines urge me
otherwise). Some are classmates
and fellow JOBs that I frequent-
ly see on these trips—my travel
companions, if you will. And
others are bleary-eyed, fresh off a
redeye from the west coast, mak-
ing the sacred pilgrimage back to
campus.
Last Sunday, three friends and
I boarded at North Station and
scouted out a four-seater. (Two of
us are semi-proud JOBs; the other
two flew in and spent the previ-
ous night at my house, a refuge
for Logan arrivals.) We settled in
and immediately pulled out our
Across the aisle sat a group see-you-laters leading up to a life week periods before I am gone.
the station.
As we left the Boston skyline
behind us, the train attendant ap-
proached our seats and I scram-
bled to pull up my Amtrak app
on my phone. He scanned my
electronic barcode and informed
me that this was my last ride. “I
know,” I replied. It’s fitting that my
pass ran out on this trip, my last
train back to campus.
I took periodic breaks from my
work, glancing out at the bleak
New England landscape that I’ve
come to know through these trips.
March is ugly. Everything is na-
ked and gray and Maine’s spring
is still weeks away. I remembered
the brilliant oranges and yellows
over Fall Break and the bareness
and dark skies of Thanksgiving
break and even the lush green and
inviting tidal inlets from that one
for distractions from our work,
my friends and I casually eaves-
dropped on their conversation.
One of them was nervous about
College House decisions—“I
think Burn would be really
quirky and fun,” she said. A few
minutes later, the conversation
turned to study abroad, and they
all agreed that Spain or New Zea-
land would be so cool, or maybe
England because they already
knew the language. As jaded
College House alumni and study
abroad veterans, we listened in
on their conversation and silently
remarked via text message how
old we felt.
Bright-eyed and excited, these
first years returned to campus
awaiting College House decisions
and internship offers. Dreading a
full Sunday evening of work and
two months of goodbyes and only have four-and-a-half two-
couldn’t have felt more distanced
from these peers.
As we disembarked, I zipped
up my jacket and braced myself
for a blast of cold Maine air and
several feet of snow. Instead, I
was met with bright sunshine and
could discern patches of grass
beneath piles of dirty snow. Dead
grass, but still an improvement.
Just two weeks earlier as my
housemate and I departed for
Spring break, our suitcases ac-
creted sludge as we trekked down
Union Street. We muttered curse
words at Maine’s weather and
breathed a sigh of relief, excited
to escape for two weeks. I was
reminded of how long two weeks
is, of how much the weather can
change in a short period of time.
But I also remembered how
quickly two weeks pass, that I
melted and the artificially green
seed that Facilities lays down for
graduation will have begun to as-
similate into its surroundings.
My house is a three-minute
walk from the train station. I hear
the Amtrak arriving at 11 p.m. or
sometimes at 2 a.m. on those rare
occasions when I am still awake.
Gone is my chapel bell alarm
clock that would wake me at 8
a.m. when I lived in Hyde Hall.
Further removed from the nu-
cleus of campus, I do not hear its
familiar toll every 15 minutes. In-
stead, I hear the Amtrak and am
reminded of the world beyond
campus, of Freeport and Portland
and Saco and Wells and “last stop,
North Station!” and everything
else beyond this sleepy town and
its train whistles that sometimes
wake me up at night.
8 FEATURES Friday, March 30, 2018 Friday, March 30, 2018 FEATURES 9

DIVERSITY MATTERS
Students from the Diversity in Higher Eduction seminar share their research
DIANA
FURU
by Sophie Cowen, Sydney Avitia-Jacques KAWA

and Hannah Berman

Orient Contributors

When we applied to Bowdoin, we checked
boxes on the Common App designating our
“official” identities, which suggest to Admis-
sions how we might add to “diversity” on cam-
pus. But what happened next, after arriving
on campus? Once we began taking classes and
found friends, how did we come to understand
our identities here, if at all? How did we reckon
with difference?
Last October, a group of seniors and juniors
in Diversity in Higher Education, a sociology
seminar taught by Professor Ingrid Nelson,
interviewed 57 Bowdoin seniors in search of
answers as part of our research project, Un-
derstanding Diversity. In interviews that lasted
from one to three hours, respondents shared
their stories from childhood through high
school, brought us through each year of their
Bowdoin experience, reflected on social class,
race, gender, and sexuality, and explained their
understandings of campus diversity, contro-
versies surrounding racial bias and incidents
of gender violence.
Unsurprisingly, diversity matters for all
of us at this school—but with this comes the
challenge of defining what we mean by “di-
versity.” We have brought together analyses of
48 student interviews to explore the state of
diversity at Bowdoin and to start answering
important questions. This week’s piece will
focus on housing and self-segregation. Over
the coming three weeks, we will share data on
academics, campus climate and student con-
ceptions of diversity. We will direct attention
to campus structures, explore how student
actions and inactions shape this community,
and raise questions about what “diversity” re-
ally looks like on this campus, beyond admis-
sions numbers.
We share these snapshots of our research
findings, based on the real and personal ex-
periences of our peers, in hopes of starting
meaningful conversations about difference at
Bowdoin without burdening the students con-
stantly facing inquiry.
We gave considerable thought to the de-
mographics of our respondents, intentionally
over-representing students of color to gain
insight into the experiences of the huge mul-
titude of identities within that category, and
because we were interested in their experienc-
es at this predominantly white institution. We
sent email solicitations to 111 randomly-se-
lected seniors, with a response rate of 51 per-
cent. Women of color had the highest response
rate (78 percent) and white men had the low-
est response rate (41 percent). The sample is
about 50 percent men, 50 percent women, and
includes one person who identifies as non-bi-
nary. This is representative of the senior class.
The sample is about 50 percent white students
and 50 percent students of color, compared
to the senior class which is 69 percent white
students and 31 percent students of color. Al-
though the latter is using an oversimplified
category, we will refrain from more specificity
to protect confidentiality. While 57 interviews
were conducted, due to time constraints, 48
total respondents are included in this anal-
ysis. Throughout the interview and analysis
processes, student identities and data have
been kept confidential. As we will discuss later
in more detail, higher response rates among
women and people of color point to a general
disparity in who takes on the work of discuss-
ing issues of diversity and inclusion.
Our interviews confirmed current sociolog-
ical literature: the burden of this work is large-
ly carried by the students who actively feel the
effects of elite higher education’s white, up-
per-class history. Bowdoin has become more
racially diverse since its beginnings as an in-
stitution for white men of elite backgrounds—
campus is now 15 percent less white than in the
2001-2002 academic year—but it still remains
a predominantly white institution in the whit-
est state in the United States. More important-
ly, the effects of that history remain prominent
for students in their academic, extracurricular,
and social lives; our interviews show a dispar-
ity in the ways students define and experience
diversity at Bowdoin. Many students of color,
first-generation students, low-income students
and people of other historically marginalized
identities tend to think about diversity more
frequently and more personally than do most
white students of wealthy backgrounds.
As we assess the situation facing us at this
moment, we encourage you to challenge what
has become habitual and what feels ordinary
at Bowdoin. We ask that you consider where
you fit in this conversation, where you stand
and what brings you to feel that way. More
importantly, we implore you to act on those
thoughts; paired with your action, our data
can facilitate the shift from conversations and
thoughts to concrete change that contributes
to the greater task of dismantling racism.

Dorm(ant) divergence: unequal understandings of housing, self-segregation and inequity

In February, Dean of Student Affairs Tim Foster
emailed students, urging them to take advantage of
the diversity on campus when picking housing for
next year. Dean Foster’s plea to “Mix it up!” points
to a reality at Bowdoin: call it cliquey, exclusive, or
segregated, students tend to share social spaces with
people “like them.”
To seniors—several years out from being placed
on intentionally diverse floors—Dean Foster’s rec-
ognition that students spend more time with peers
like them than different from them is no shock.
year] floor as much ‘cause I felt like I was forcing
it.” She continued, “race became a bigger factor in
my social relationships [after my first year].” While
mandating housing situations after the first year
seems restrictive, our autonomy to select room-
mates leaves no mechanism in place to combat
self-segregation by race in housing.
Most students in our sample expressed a keen
awareness of racial segregation on campus. The
reasons students provided for this, however, varied.
Over half (53 percent) of the students who felt
and understanding as factors that drive students student viewed such white spaces as the least inclu- can both avoid their white peers’ racisms and in- uates inequity—with little consequence to the stu- to understand race. While the College’s structure work will explore the failures and promises of dis-
to divide by race. At Bowdoin, students reflected, sive. Another student implicitly acknowledged the habit spaces of solidarity. dents who are (color)blind to it. fails to seriously challenge its whiteness, integration tribution requirements to provide students with
these needs often remain unmet. predominantly white demographics of extracurric- ••• The question, therefore, is not, “Why do stu- is no perfect solution. tools to understand race.
Students mentioned how specific campus spaces ular groups, claiming athletic teams, similar to the Bowdoin and its student culture do little to ad- dents self-segregate?” but rather, “What are the Next week, we will exit dorm rooms and enter This article also draws from analyses by Sophie
are unwelcoming to students of color. One student Outing Club, contribute to a campus divided by dress the social segregation by race on campus. The structural obstacles to true integration?” In reality, classrooms in an investigation of academics. Our Sadovnikoff and Parker Lemal-Brown.
of color said, “there are so many areas of Bowdoin race. Additionally, two students of color suggested Office of Residential Life’s hands-off approach in and as students shared, friendships at Bowdoin are
that are just like practically completely white.” This that, by virtue of sticking together, students of color housing beyond the first year and the persistent ra- often built on the need for racial acceptance on a How do Bowdoin Seniors Understand Racial Self-Segregation?
cial homogeneity of extracurricular groups, among campus that does not provide enough of it. Percentages are for the 70.83 of students surveyed who believe self-segregation is present at Bowdoin
Where do Students at Bowdoin Perceive Self-Segregation? other forces, indicate that students’ social segrega- Social segregation is a matter of group patterns
60%
Percentages are for the 70.83% of students surveyed who believe self-segregation is present at Bowdoin tion by race is neither interrupted nor prevented by sustained by larger forces, and the power dynamics
the College or its social culture. at this institution, historically and presently, favor
40% 53%

Percent of Seniors Who Believe Self-Segregation is Present

More than 70 percent of the seniors we interviewed
felt that students self-segregate by race.
How do student groups separate? Why? And,
why does it matter?
Many students make their first friends at Bow-
doin in shared spaces—roommates or floormates.
Housing arrangements are the primary structure
shaping friendship circles during respondents’ first
year. While first-year floors are not proportionally
representative of our racial breakdown on campus
because more students of color elect to live in chem-
free housing (in our data, 31 percent of students of
color elected chem-free floors versus 13 percent of
white students), first-year floors foster relationships
among students that are more racially diverse.
With time, however, extracurricular activi-
ties become more salient. Athletics, for example,
are a dominant force in the social scene and, due
to the whiteness of athletic teams, often solidify
friendships solely among white students. Of the
respondents who said students self-segregate, 35
percent mentioned athletic teams and 29 percent
mentioned specific non-white racial and affinity
groups. Some students of color discussed how
they interacted more with white peers their first
year, then began to develop friendships with other
students of color. One student of color said, “There
came a point where I didn’t hang out with my [first-
that students self-segregate discussed it as “natural.”
Of these students, two-thirds were white. Explain-
ing this thought, students said things like, “[people]
are gonna flock together over time” and “[students]
tend to gravitate towards people that look like
themselves” and just “happen to be of your race.”
One student interpreted this behavior as “natural
humanistic instinct.” Reflecting on his housing situ-
ation, one white student said “It just happened that
almost all the guys I live with are white.” Students
who described self-segregation as natural did not
address bigger structural factors that explain the
homogeneity of social groups. These students feel
like they “just happen.” However, as over one third
of students explained, racial separation is informed
by Bowdoin’s structures and social culture.
Thirty-eight percent adopted a view of segre-
gation on campus that linked it to Bowdoin’s en-
during legacy as a historically white and wealthy
institution. Most of these respondents (69 percent)
were students of color. To these students (all 38 per-
cent), self-segregation was an important strategy
for navigating the predominantly white campus.
One student suggested the campus, generally, is
not welcoming to students of color: “I think a lot
of it is on the community to make everyone feel
comfortable. And I don’t know if that’s necessarily
what’s happening.” Students cited needs for support
The structures of this predominantly and
historically white campus shape patterns in
35.29% 35.29%
students’ choices, particularly, as our research
shows, of friends and housing. Still, we all have
agency to pick where we live, who we spend our
30% time with, and what we do. Understanding di-
versity in housing matters to individuals and the
Bowdoin community.
The most dangerous, common misconception
among students about social segregation by race
20% is that this division is harmless, unchangeable, and
17.65%
“natural.” The illusion of equity combined with the
reality of racial segregation suggests the dangerous
idea of inherent, “natural” difference between races.
Naturalizing division is not too different from nat-
10% uralizing inequity. Acknowledging social segrega-
tion by race without considering the “how” and the
5.88%
“why,” reinforces this colorblind view of race. While
color-blindness is often deemed benevolent, it fuels
the inexcusable inequities that generate separation
0% in the first place. White students made up the ma-
Athletic Teams Dining Halls Outing Club Minoritized Racial jority of the students who naturalized racial divides
and Affinity
and did not consider the oppressive forces pulling
Groups
some students in and pushing others out of social
COMPILED BY DREW MACDONALD. SOURCE: “UNDERSTANDING DIVERSITY.” spaces.
Seventy percent of students surveyed perceived self-segregation at Bowdoin. These students noted a variety of On our majority-white campus, students sep-
spaces in which self-segregation occurs, including, athletic teams, dining halls, The Outing Club and minoritized arate by race. This separation facilitates (mostly)
racial affinity groups. white students’ ignorance about race and perpet-
whiteness. What would make an historically-white
college campus more conducive to racial integra-
tion?
Many students described racial integration as a
laudable goal, but one that’s difficult to reach. Some 45% Students of Color
raised concerns that given Bowdoin’s majority 33.33%
white student body, integration means putting the 38%
onus on students of color to join white spaces. As
one student of color stated: “If we had more [di-
versity], we wouldn’t have the problem of so many
students who feel like they didn’t fit in or can’t find 30%
their place on campus, or hesitating joining groups
Students of Color
that aren’t diverse.”
69.23%
If students of color are asked to sacrifice their
comfort for integration’s sake, the benefactors seem White Students
to be primarily white students. As one student of 66.67%
color expressed, “I feel like diversity is for the insti- 15%
tution and it’s for white people.” She was not alone:
often in our interviews, students of color expressed
frustration and feeling pressure to be a source of White Students
learning for white students in a minimally racial- 30.77%
ly-diverse community. Students’ divergence in
0%
racial awareness means the students with the most
View Racial Self-Segrega- View Racial Self-Segregation as
institutionally-backed power to change our racial a Response to Bowdoin’s White
inequalities are less aware of their power, and there- tion as “Natural”
Institutional Context
fore less likely to use it to further equity. If we want COMPILED BY DREW MACDONALD. SOURCE: “UNDERSTANDING DIVERSITY.”
to pursue integration, we need to address the fact Of the 70.83 percent of the class’ research participants that believed racial self-segregation is present at Bowdoin,
that the majority of students do not have the tools 53 percent view it as “natural” and 38 percent view it as a response to Bowdoin’s institutional context.
10
TOWARD A BETTER
MASCULINITY
In high school, I spent
countless hours babysit-
ting younger kids. It was my
primary source of spend-
ing-money and more im-
portantly an experience that
helped me grow immensely
as a person. Kids are full of
contagious enthusiasm that
makes it hard to be any-
thing but happy when you’re
around them. I cherished the
chance to be a part of helping
the next generation grow up
as confident, caring people
who knew they were loved.
The two boys I babysat most
regularly— Zach and Vin-
cent—are two of the people I
miss the most now that I’m at
college and my parents have
moved to a new city six hours
away from my hometown.
Because babysitting was
such a positive experience
for me, I always found the
pushback I sometimes got
about it odd. In short, peo-
ple felt free to offer negative
comments grounded in the
pervasive idea that men are
not supposed to care for chil-
dren. These comments were
usually easy to brush off, like
when the instructor in the
Red Cross babysitter training
I took in 7th grade repeatedly
noted with unease that I was
the only male in the class.
But sometimes the push-
back was harder to forget.
I remember a time during
my sophomore year of high
school that stands out in
particular. I was leaving AP
European History with one of
CONSCIOUS ABOUT MY
SUBCONSCIOUS
“So, you’re a vivid dreamer.
You really need to get those
dreams analyzed,” my doctor
told me with the authority of
her white coat and the distance
of a wide desk. I discussed the
recurring themes and charac-
ters in my dreams: my middle
school volleyball coach, my
first boyfriend, my second
boyfriend, my family friends,
my parents. There tend to be
celebrity guests—last week
Meryl Streep showed up in a
silver gown. “It is extremely
rare to dream in movie-like
color and action, your subcon-
scious has a lot to figure out.”
This all came about because
my doctor asked me how I was
sleeping.
“Fine,” I said, “but I am al-
ways tired because I have lots
of anxiety dreams.” I discussed
them with friends and with my
mother and sisters. I am ter-
rified of conflict and I replay
scenarios where I confront
people who have hurt me,
but they don’t listen to me or
there are a series of obstacles
preventing me from getting
the words out. I fall down a
flight of stairs, a car whooshes
past, he walks away, the phone
rings. If I actually admit what
happened, someone goes to jail
for life, or I go to jail for life.
I hate not feeling in control;
I forget a series of important
plans or assignments; I fail. I
my close friends, and he asked
my plans for the weekend. I
told him I would be spend-
ing both Friday and Saturday
night babysitting Zach and
Vincent. This was a common
weekend activity for me, so
he reacted not with surprise
but with exasperation. He
said something to the extent
of “come on, you need to get a
man’s job” and offered that he
could probably get his uncle
to hire me as part of his lawn
mowing business. I politely
declined, but left the conver-
sation confused. I figured he
knew something about being
a man that I didn’t. But I didn’t
understand why I would want
to mow lawns instead of care
for kids I knew well. More
importantly, I didn’t under-
stand that the conversation
my friend and I had just had
was incredibly political.
Our society does not view
childcare as a man’s respon-
sibility because our society
does not value emotional
intelligence, vulnerability
and sensitivity as masculine
traits. Caring for a child—
keeping them safe and hap-
py—requires an abundance
of emotional attention. The
pushback to my babysitting
I encountered was actually
reflective of a broader socie-
tal discomfort with sensitive
men who respect their own
feelings and the feelings of
others.
The idea of sensitive men
has been in the media a lot
lately, perhaps mostly thanks
to a great article in TIME ti-
tled “How to Raise a Sweet
Son in an Era of Angry Men.”
have those normal nightmares
where everyone I love dies in
a plane crash. I run away from
someone and my legs start
kicking me awake. I have re-
curring dreams where I am
trying to take care of a scream-
ing baby while attending class
and being a normal college
student. I remember every
moment of my dreams. They
can be so intensely jarring that
I am left upset all day.
I should probably write
them down and get them an-
alyzed.
Over spring break I had
two days at home in New York
City where I crammed in all
FEATURES
Talk of the Quad
I am grateful to have grown
up around a strong, caring
mom and older sister along
with a dad who valued me as
a complete person. Everyday
life with my family challenged
toxic gender stereotypes, par-
ticularly related to masculini-
ty. My family encouraged me
to express my emotions and
view them not as personal
faults but as assets. I’m only
beginning to realize how in-
credibly impactful, and sub-
versive of the patriarchy that
was.
I do not think that mascu-
linity is inherently toxic, but
a quick look at recent head-
lines reveals how much pain
mainstream conceptions of
masculinity create in our
world. At alarming rates,
men shoot crowds of people,
rape their dates, abuse their
partners, attack LGBTQ peo-
ple and stand in the way of
meaningful progress toward
racial, gender and economic
equity. These issues are all
complex, but emotionally il-
literate men who build toxic
relationships with the people
around them are a recurring
theme. Our world is hurting,
and men are to blame for a lot
of it.
To fix these issues, we
must shift societal concep-
tions of masculinity. We
need men who know how to
express emotions in non-vio-
lent ways. We need men who
are comfortable expressing
emotions beyond anger. We
need men who know how to
interact with people of all
genders professionally and
platonically. We need men
of the doctor’s appointments
I was behind on. It was during
my annual checkup that I
was asked about my dreams.
I thought she was going to
reprimand me for eating too
much pasta and not working
out enough, but instead I was
told that my dreams were un-
healthy. I have been dreaming
like this for as long as I can
remember. I used to not share
them with anybody; they were
part of my own secret fantasy
world that I lived in for most
of my childhood. I wake up
enveloped in a hazy mixture of
reality and fantasy. As I brush
my teeth, I begin to decipher
who put community before
self. Sensitive men, working
collaboratively alongside
people of all genders, will
help build the equitable and
inclusive communities we
desire. As men, we need to
think about how we can uti-
lize our own capacity for car-
ing and nurturing to disrupt
the very system that privileg-
es us. As people of all gen-
ders, we owe it to ourselves
and each other to consider
what masculinity means to
us and whether our concep-
tion of it is in line with the
broader values we hold.
For what it’s worth, I actu-
ally think the Bowdoin com-
munity does a pretty good
what happened in dreamland
and what it means.
On my report cards in mid-
dle school, my teachers would
always say that they appreciat-
ed my “quiet, thoughtful pres-
ence in the classroom,” but that
I needed to stop with the day-
dreaming. My dreaming was
constant back then. I could
control it and enter and leave
my fantasy world as I pleased.
I felt safe from the mean girls
and the pressure to be good
at sports or dance (I was atro-
cious at both) and I felt like
I fit in. I still secretly played
with my historical paper dolls
in my room and I wrote lots of
EMMA BEZILLA
PHOEBE ZIPPER
job of valuing sensitive men.
This is seen most especially
in the emotionally close male
friendships on Bowdoin’s
campus. As silly as the way we
talk about them may seem, the
“bromances” that are so com-
mon at Bowdoin defy broader
societal expectations that tell
men they aren’t supposed to
express platonic love for each
other. Late night conversa-
tions with my roommates
have driven this point home
for me as we make ourselves
vulnerable talking openly
about our evolving values
and the trials and triumphs
of college life. But we can
still do better. We all need to
think critically about how our
fictional stories on my com-
puter and in little notebooks. I
was happy with my books and
my writing and playing the pi-
ano and had lots of time to live
and explore my own thought
bubbles.
By the time I reached high
school, I was told that I had to
be more extroverted and social
and focused. I trained myself to
focus in class and to structure
my time so that I had less time
to write and read and dream. I
joined the Frisbee team, which
was accepting of my lack of
athletic ability; I did theatre
and I wrote for the newspaper.
My free thinking time was full
of anxiety over grades, the col-
lege process, the ACT, being
liked by boys, how to dress and
behave “normally.” I began to
have stress dreams and to lie
awake at night worrying.
Happy, purely fantastical
dreams are a rare treat for me
these days. Those are the kind
of dreams that feel like being
spooned, where you wake up
to gentle sunlight streaming in
and all you can do is squint and
smile. But all too frequently,
I wake up in the wee hours of
the morning, sweating, heart
pounding and sometimes cry-
ing. Those are the kinds of
dreams where I remember ev-
ery searing detail and it haunts
me for days, where all of my
insecurities and anxieties
manifest themselves into one
Leviathan of a fantasy.
Occasionally, I take natural
Friday, March 30, 2018
words and
actions—
in a variety
of contexts
from hook-ups
to career goals to
class discussions and
more—foster or hinder
a culture of sensitive men.
In the end, I realize that
this piece doesn’t offer many
answers. I don’t have them.
But my nearly four years at
Bowdoin have challenged me
to think deeply about how I
can help reduce the amount of
suffering in our shared world.
I believe that raising, foster-
ing and valuing sensitive men
is a critical part of that. So,
I’ll keep hugging my friends
and telling them I love them.
And I’ll challenge them when
I think they’re promoting a
toxic masculinity. I’m grateful
they do it back.
Nicholas Mitch is a member
of the Class of 2018.
or prescribed remedies to aid
in sleeping, to quiet my sub-
conscious and have a break
from my overactive REM se-
quences, and yes, I sleep well.
My doctor highly recommend-
ed I take more sleep aids and
have my dreams analyzed to
track them. But I worry that
if I stop dreaming I will lose a
part of myself— my connection
to the subconscious world. I
already feel less creative than
I used to be. I no longer play
the piano or write fiction or
paint landscapes. I find myself
too often seeking the rational.
Aside from my obsession with
horoscopes and The Bachelor
franchise, I spend most of my
time being analytical and crit-
ical and focused on whatever
task is at hand. When I let my-
self dream freely while I was
more introverted and I was not
always living in the present, I
was creative and original.
I analyze my own dreams
internally. They make sense
to me, the people and places
that appear in vivid detail.
Whenever I share my most
intense dreams with friends
or family or medical profes-
sionals, I feel exposed. If I
stop dreaming, I lose access
to a really wacky part of my-
self. As I learned from read-
ing Hermann Hesse in my
German seminar, the magical
theatre of the mind is as en-
tertaining as it is fucked up.
Eleanor Paasche is a member
of the class of 2020.
 S
11

SPORTS
Friday, March 30, 2018

COURTESY OF BRIAN BEARD

WHAT A POWER PLAY: The women’s basketball team fell to Amherst 65-45 in the finals of the NCAA DIII Tournament. This is only the second time in program history the team has competed in the Final Four of the tournament.

Women’s basketball places second in NCAA DIII Champs

by Kathryn McGinnis
Orient Staff
In a packed stadium in Roch-
ester, Minn., the women’s bas-
ketball team (29-3, NESCAC
9-1) faced defending champion
Amherst (33-0, NESCAC 10-0)
in the NCAA Division III cham-
pionship. While the first three
quarters remained close, the
Mammoths pulled away from the
Polar Bears in the final quarter,
winning 65-45.
This is the second year in a
row NESCAC teams have met
in the championship game, with
Amherst beating Tufts last year
to win the title. This is the second
time in program history that the
Polar Bears have made it into the
Final Four of the NCAA tourna-
ment and the team completed the
season with the second-most wins
on record.
Captain Kate Kerrigan ’18 said
that in the final game, Amherst
tested the Polar Bears’ defense.
In the fourth quarter, Bowdoin’s
defense broke down completely,
thwarting any potential offensive
momentum, when the Mam-
moths went on a 17-point run.
“We lost a little bit of our de-
fensive edge,” said Kerrigan. “We
have a rule where we try not to let
a team score more than six points
in a row without us scoring, and I
don’t think we had a keen focus on
that at that point. They went on a
big run and it hurt our defense.”
A struggle to make shots was
another factor that contributed
to the team’s defeat. Bowdoin
connected just 27 percent of its
shots compared to Amherst’s 48
percent.
“We missed shots,” said Head
Coach Adrienne Shibles said.
“It happens.”
“We could have tried to force
the issue more of getting into the
paint [and] getting better ball
movement,” said Kerrigan.
Shibles believes that in a cham-
pionship game, referees expect
higher standards from the players,
refusing to overlook commonly
ignored calls during the season.
This can have a negative impact
on a team.
“We had some unfortunate
things that didn’t go our way,”
she said. “[Abby Kelly ’19] made
a key three and the [referees]
called three seconds in the paint,
a seldom used call. Not to blame
the officials, but I’m saying
things didn’t quite go our way in
certain moments.”
Despite the loss, the team has
been getting an immense amount
of support from the Bowdoin
community. On Wednesday, Steve
Loebs ’60 organized a reception
for the team that was attended by
approximately 45 fans, parents
and staff.
“After spring break, I think
that’s when for me I realized how
much support we had throughout
the tournament,” captain Lydia
Caputi ’18 said. “A lot of people
have come up to everyone on
our team and different people to
different players have shown a ton
of support after the fact. There was
no way we would know in the mo-
ment [because we were in Minne-
sota], but a lot of people have been
giving us some really kind words.”
Leading up to the final, Bowdo-
in beat undefeated Wartburg Col-
lege in the Final Four with strong
defensive play.
“They hadn’t seen NESCAC
Recently, Kerrigan was award-
ed D3Hoops.com Northeast Play-
er of the Year and WBCA’s DIII
Player of the Year in a field of 6,000
athletes, among other awards.
Shibles recognized the team’s work
behind her success.
“Player awards like the one
she received are really a credit to
the team as a whole,” said Shibles.
“[Kerrigan] wouldn’t even have
had the opportunity of being rec-
ognized if she hadn’t led and if her
teammates hadn’t performed on
the national level.”
After an upsetting 60-48 loss
in the NESCAC tournament to
Tufts, the Polar Bears had to
rely on an at-large bid to partic-
ipate in the NCAA tournament.

Kate Kerrigan ’18 receives WBCA Player of the Year

by Roither Gonzales
Orient Staff
The Women’s Basketball Coaches Asso-
ciation (WBCA) named Kate Kerrigan ’18
the WBCA Division III Player of the Year
after an exceptional season. Kerrigan joins
Eileen Flaherty ’07 as only the second Bow-
doin player to receive this award.
Kerrigan was a frequent standout on
the team. She was also named the 2018
NESCAC Player of the Year, NESCAC
Defensive Player of the Year, NEWBA
Player of the Year, D3hoops.com North-
east Region Player of the Year and First
Team All-NESCAC.
Head Coach Adrienne Shibles believes
that Kerrigan’s strength comes from her
dependability and versatility on the court.
“[Kerrigan] is special because she’s in-
credibly consistent and she does it all,” said
Shibles. “She doesn’t average a ton of points
in comparison to other players in the na-
tion—she averages around ten points a
game—but she also rebounds incredibly
well for a guard and averages seven re-
bounds in a game. As a guard that’s incred-
ible. She is the biggest assist leader in the
conference, and she leads the conference in
steals.” said Shibles.
Shibles emphasizes Kerrigan’s attitude
as well. “She’s unselfish. She involves her
teammates. She’s just a really special player,
who will be missed,” said Shibles.
Kerrigan’s recent awards help illustrate
the impact that she has had on the Bow-
doin women’s basketball program as both
a player and a captain. Kerrigan is the first
player in the program to accumulate over
900 points, 600 rebounds, 300 assists and
200 steals throughout her career.
Yet, despite receiving these honors, Ker-
rigan has always focused on improving her
team as a whole.
“For me it’s always been about the team,
what the team can achieve together and
how can I best get the team to where we
want to be,” said Kerrigan. “There’s a ton
of great players in DIII and to receive that
award is a great honor, but it’s never really
COURTESY OF BOWDOIN ATHLETICS
a goal of mine. It’s all about how we can get
to the national championship and how [we
can] make a deep run in the tournament.”
Kerrigan intends to remain involved in
basketball after her graduation as an as-
sistant coach for Smith College’s women’s
basketball team.
level defense prior to that [game],”
said Shibles. “I’m a very defensive
minded coach so it’s always an em-
phasis and always something we’re
working on every day at practice.”
According to captain Lauren
Petit ’18, the commitment of
returning players to improving
upon last year’s performance gave
the team a competitive edge going
into this season.
“We always have good chemis-
try amongst our team,” said Petit.
“But after an early loss in the tour-
nament last year, we worked really
hard in the off season and really
tried to do the little things during
pick up [games] in the fall [to]
come in more prepared.”
Between tournament games
the team continued to improve,
focusing on a mix of offensive and
defensive skills.
“Coach talked a lot about trav-
elling with our defense and re-
bounding,” said Kerrigan. “Those
were two common themes that
got drilled into us during those
weeks and the weeks prior as well.”
Bowdoin was not expected to be
a national contender as it had to
face teams it had lost to in the
regular season.
Despite the predicted brack-
ets, the women’s basketball team
fought hard for its spot among
the elite.
“Once you’re in the tourna-
ment, anything can happen,”
said Kerrigan. “When it’s game
time [we] perform the best we
can. We all had confidence in
each other and the team, that
we could make a good run, and
that’s what we did.”
The Polar Bears will use this
year’s tournament experience to
its advantage next season.
“We still have so much pride
and joy in our journey,” said
Shibles. “If there’s one good
thing that could come out of los-
ing the national championship
game, [the loss] will certainly
keep the returners hungry to get
back there again and to achieve
that highest level of success: a
national championship.”
12
HIGHLIGHT
REEL
QUEENS OF THE
TRACK: The wom-
en’s distance medley
relay team won by four
seconds with a time of
11:37.18 at the NCAA
DIII Indoor Track and
Field Championships.
The team, consisting
of Caroline Shipley ’20,
Sara Ory ’19, Claire
Traum ’21 and Sarah
Kelley ’18, beat the
school record by six
seconds, becoming the
first Bowdoin compet-
itors to win a crown
since 2014. The men’s
distance medley relay
came in tenth, while
Brian Greenburg ’18
finished in ninth in the
triple jump.
WHAT A STERLING
JOB: Jake Adicoff
’18 earned his first
Paralympic medal
after earning silver
in the 10-kilometer
cross-country ski races
at the Pyeongchang
Paralympic Games. He
also finished fourth in
the 1.5k sprint classic
nordic race and fifth in
the 20k freestyle event.
This was Adicoff ’s
second appearance in
the Paralympic Games
after going to Sochi
four years ago.
LAX TO THE MAX:
The men’s lacrosse
team (5-2, NESCAC
2-2) is on a five-game
winning streak after
beating Middlebury
(3-4, NESCAC 1-3)
17-8 on Saturday and
Clark University (4-3)
18-9 on Tuesday. Brett
Kujala ’18 led the Polar
Bears in goals against
Middlebury with four,
while Matthew Crowell
’18 led against Clark.
The team looks to
continue their streak
against Trinity on Sat-
urday at 1 p.m.
CHICKS WITH STICKS:
The women’s lacrosse
team (6-2, NESCAC
2-2) ended a four-
game win streak after
a 14-4 loss to No. 2
Middlebury (6-0, NES-
CAC 4-0) on Saturday.
The Panthers scored
the first six goals of
the game, getting off
to an early lead. The
Polar Bears will try to
get back into the win
column on Saturday
against Trinity at 12
p.m.
COMPILED BY ANNA FAUVER
Men’s tennis stays perfect in California
PERFECT SHOT: (LEFT): Kyle Wolfe ’18 competes in California. (TOP RIGHT): Grant Urken ’19 and Luke Tercek ’18 celebrate. (BOTTOM RIGHT): Wolfe, Tercek, and Gil Roddy ’18 pose after winning the tournament.
by Kate Lusignan
Orient Staff
The men’s tennis team (8-
0) is ranked second in the
nation after an undefeated
run in California over Spring
Break, including a 7-2 victo-
ry against then-No. 2 Clare-
mont-Mudd-Scripps (CMS)
(7-2) during the Stag-Hen
Invitational.
The team’s success comes
after ending its 2017 season in
a disappointing 5-2 loss in the
NCAA Division III semifinals
to eventual champions Emory
University.
“Sometimes the best thing
that can happen to a team is to
lose a match like that. We lost
a heartbreaking match against
Emory,” captain Gill Roddy ’18
said. “It definitely gave us se-
rious motivation to work with
this off-season.”
The motivation paid off, as
the Polar Bears not only beat
CMS, who they lost to in the
Softball looks to continue six-game winning streak against Tufts
by Ella Chaffin
Orient Staff
The softball team is on a
six-game winning streak after
going 13-3 over Spring Break
in Florida. The team is look-
ing to continue this success
going into its first NESCAC
series against Tufts, who beat
the Polar Bears in the series
last year.
However, according to
Claire McCarthy ’18, compet-
ing in Florida is very different
than competing at home.
“The NESCAC competi-
tion is super tough especial-
ly this year,” McCarthy said.
“The competition in Florida
is tough, but it is a different
game here in the NESCAC.”
McCarthy believes that the
distinct makeup of the team
has contributed the most to
its early success.
“I think it is mainly the
SPORTS
tournament finals last year,
but also various others top-ten
teams, including No. 5 Univer-
sity of Chicago.
In order to succeed, the
team went into the tourna-
ment well-prepared and with
high expectations after three
weeks of focused practice and
intense off-season training.
“We wanted to feel like we
were confident and ... ready
to compete and have fun out
there. I think we definitely
succeeded in doing that,” said
captain Luke Tercek ’18. “We
played a ton of good teams
out there. We were focused
on things we can control like
good energy and good body
language, good competition.”
Looking towards the sea-
son, the Polar Bears are look-
ing to use the confidence built
in California to propel them
forwards.
“Coming back [from Cali-
fornia], it gives us confidence
to play the NESCAC matches.
depth of our team [that con-
tributed to our success in
Florida], up and down the
order, all different class years.
Everyone really showed up
and was producing a lot,”
said McCarthy. “We had a lot
of different line-ups going
on in Florida, and no matter
who was out there, we had a
chance to win.”
The team’s supportive na-
ture also allows each team-
mate to perform her best on
the field and will be import-
ant for the team’s perfor-
mance moving forward.
“[We will continue this
success by] just continuing
to be the best that we can be
when we are out there,” said
McCarthy. “It’s hard when
you don’t have a set line-up
that you can fall into, so just
being really open-minded
and confident in ourselves
and not being concerned if we
It’s a little different because the
first couple of matches will be
inside [rather than outside like
over spring break], but it sets
us up well for the rest of the
season,” captain Kyle Wolfe ’18
said.
Despite this, the team is not
overly concerned with the rank-
ings this early in the season.
“It’s definitely nice [to be
ranked second], but as we see
a lot of years, there are some
teams that are really tough in
March and April who peak
during that time, and that’s not
a team we want to be,” Roddy
said. “It’s nice to be high in the
rankings, and that is a reflec-
tion of the hard work we put
in in California.”
The team is primarily fo-
cused on short-term goals
such as doing well throughout
the regular season and NES-
CAC matches instead of con-
centrating on larger goals.
One of the team’s long term
goals, however, is to peak in
sit out a game since our team
is so deep—supporting each
other and competing together
instead of competing against
each other.”
Caroline Rice ’19 said that
the preseason plays a vital
role in the outcome of the
team’s season as a whole.
“It all starts in preseason
for us,” said Rice. “The fact
that we get along so well,
[like] a smaller team, it is a
family unit. We start in pre-
season making sure that ev-
eryone is communicating and
everyone is comfortable with
each other, and that really
translates itself onto the field
when we play because every-
one trusts each other. We all
play well and play as a unit,
because everyone knows that
everyone else has their back.”
Last year the Polar Bears
had one of their most suc-
cessful seasons to date—they
May.
“A long-term goal is to
keep improving and playing
our best tennis and peaking in
May. Our goal is stay around
there [in the rankings] and
not be one of those teams who
fall out after their first month
or two of the season,” Roddy
said.
The first years have also
played a key role in motivating
and improving the team. The
team has 14 members, which
is the largest it has been in
the last four years. The size
increase has had a positive
effect.
“A huge impact [first years
have had on the team] is the
energy they bring during the
matches. It helps a lot to have
individual guys watching
each of the courts,” Tercek
said. “They push all of us to
get better every single day in
practice.”
“Some of the guys who
weren’t playing were some of
made it to the postseason for
the fourth time in five years
and hosted the NESCAC
Championship for the first
time in program history. Al-
though it has not begun NES-
CAC play, this year’s team is
already exceeding Rice’s ex-
pectations.
“Our team last year was ab-
solutely incredible,” said Rice.
“We did things probably no
one thought we could, which
was amazing. I think this year
is going to exceed that. We
have five new first years and
they are all incredible. We
also have six seniors that are
leading us, and I think this
season is going to go even
better than last year.”
Moving forward, the team’s
long-term goals are winning
the NESCAC championship
and advancing to the NCAAs,
but members do not want to
get too ahead of themselves.
Friday, March 30, 2018
COURTESY OF GIBBS RODDY
the most important pieces to
our success in terms of being
loud, making noise, being real-
ly invested in the matches and
making us feel like we have 50
guys on our team when we re-
ally have 14,” Roddy said.
The Polar Bears will face
MIT this weekend. The team
is focused on No. 21 MIT due
to their historical strength.
“MIT is a team that we’ve
played every year that I’ve
been at Bowdoin, and they are
one of the most talented teams
in the country, so we consider
that a very dangerous match,”
Roddy said. “They could come
out and beat us any given day.
For this weekend, our focus
is just trying to keep our la-
ser-like focus we had in Cali-
fornia and come out with two
wins.”
The Polar Bears will travel
to face off against MIT on Fri-
day at 3 p.m., followed by their
first NESCAC game against
Connecticut College at 2 p.m.
“NCAAs are a big [goal],”
Rice said. “Of course we all
think it is really important
to take it one game at a time.
Taking it step by step is a
big thing for us. Our goal is
to win NESCACs and get to
NCAAS this year.”
The team will face Tufts
this weekend and has high
expectations.
“[Our goal against Tufts] is
to beat them, but more spe-
cifically to sweep them,” Rice
said. “We want to continue
to focus on the details and
take it each at-bat at a time.
Our lineup is very strong up
and down; everyone has been
contributing, so [we want to]
continue that.”
The Polar Bears will begin
conference play at Tufts on
Friday at 3 p.m. and will con-
tinue the series with a dou-
ble-header on Saturday at 12
p.m. and 2 p.m.
 O OPINION
13 Friday, March 30, 2018

Not-so-scary Larry
On Wednesday, conservative economist Larry Lindsey ’76 H’93 gave a talk
moderated by President Rose in Pickard Theater. The event with Lindsey, an
outspoken right-wing pundit, and the discussion that has followed provid-
ed a model for the sort of productive and respectful discourse that can and
should arise from events that challenge our campus’ political consensus.
In Pickard, Lindsey faced tough, substantive questions from both the
audience and President Rose. The questions addressed Lindsey’s views on
this winter’s tax bill, President Trump’s new tariffs, the role of the political
elite and racism in America. Assistant Professor of History Meghan Roberts,
reading from a section of Lindsey’s most recent book, asked Lindsey to give
evidence for his claim that a number of societal ills, including racism, are in
SOPHIE WASHINGTON
part manufactured by the political elite. After Lindsey offered an equivocal
answer both to Roberts’ initial question and to a follow-up question, Rose

Call-out culture vs. call-in culture:

pressed him for a more concrete response, which Lindsey ultimately gave.
Rose has, for the better part of his tenure as president, championed the
virtue which he calls intellectual fearlessness. He has argued in a number of
venues, including TIME Magazine, that liberal arts students must be capa-

the tug of war to end sexual assault

ble of engaging with and challenging a diverse range of viewpoints. Rose’s
actions as moderator, even more than his decision to bring Lindsey to cam-
pus, gave form to his creed. In essence, Rose asked our predominantly liberal
student body to hear Lindsey’s understanding of the world while marshalling
his own sociological and economic expertise to model serious engagement.
Rose showed that intellectual fearlessness entails more that extending invi- male sexual aggressor, and among these ment should be educational.
tations to controversial speakers. To be truly intellectually fearless, we must Polar Views men are those with the subconscious fear While sexual assailants may simulta-
join knowledge to conviction to publicly and honestly defend the truth. We by Osa Fasehun that they, too, could be accused in the fu- neously proceed through Title IX, this
have to enter the ring. ture. It may be anxiety-inducing to trust resource is designed to hold students
In the Orient this week, Professor of History Patrick Rael continued this Rape culture exists at Bowdoin, too. fellow students to judge fairly, but I think accountable to the student body, which
work in an op-ed demonstrating the historical inaccuracy of Lindsey’s book, The pervasiveness of sexual assault and that one of the reasons for this fear is that may be even more compelling an incen-
“Conspiracies of the Ruling Class.” In his piece, Rael does what professors sexual harassment in Hollywood is a mi- deep down, we are aware that sexism is tive for some to rethink their actions. I
urge us to do every day: to use evidence and hard facts to support our claims. crocosm of rape culture that plagues the deeply entrenched in American life. would advise that there be a diverse pool
Instead of directly challenging the morality or ethics of Lindsey’s arguments, country. Still, one can feel far removed From childhood, women are force-fed of students based on sex, race, sexual ori-
Rael examines the basic historical premises of Lindsey’s book, showing them from the high-profile cases of sexual as- notions of propriety like the banning of entation, socioeconomic class, to name a
to be erroneous or at least incomplete. sault among entertainers without a local leggings from some school dress codes few characteristics. I even wonder if Safe
As students, we should work to become capable of challenging each oth- perspective. I myself didn’t recognize the because they are “distracting” to men (an Space might be interested in forming
er and our intellectual opponents in the way that Rose, Roberts and Rael pervasiveness of rape culture at Bowdoin actual justification that my high school such a group—which I’ve dubbed “the
modeled this week: by reading speakers’ published work, researching their until my sophomore year, after hearing gave for a no-leggings policy). America is call-in system.” The proposed student
methodology, knowing the facts and finally, tactfully holding speakers to multiple reports of sexual assault against constantly policing girls’ behavior and at- resource would deliberate on accounts
account when they make spurious claims based on historical distortion or female students. In November 2015, tire so boys don’t “lose control” over their from whoever reported an assault before
pseudoscience. Armed with these skills, we can truly fulfill our obligations as Zachary Duperry ’18 created Bowdoin hormonal urges. Men, however, can go they confront the alleged aggressor in
students, leaders and citizens. Safe Walk, a Facebook group in which through their adolescent years without private. Reminders about our pledges to
students could sign up to walk or drive understanding social cues, micro-aggres- Bowdoin’s social code and basic human
This editorial represents the majority view of the Bowdoin Orient’s editorial board, others home and ask to be accompanied sions or any obvious signs that they may decency could instill in accused aggres-
which is comprised of Harry DiPrinzio, Dakota Griffin, Calder McHugh and Ian Ward. by students from the list of students who be offensive to women. The rising gener- sors a serious commitment to the com-
signed up to volunteer. Some of the stu- ations must unlearn this mis-education munity. Some students would appreciate
dents I walked home told me they were for the dream of gender equality to ever this tactic if they were behaving poorly
sexual assault survivors, so their appre- be realized. out of ignorance.
ciation of the Safe Walks deeply affected Still, some students might be ambiv- I trust the professionalism of Bowdo-
me. Those experiences defogged a lens alent about a call-out culture because in’s Title IX process, but think it could be
through which I could see sexism and there are potential dangers if the retri- helpful to provide survivors with another
misogyny at play. It would be a disservice bution becomes excessive. A student resource, one with a stronger pulse on
to all the activists in the #MeToo and might be considering a younger brother, the student body’s social expectations.
Time’s Up movements if we didn’t look wishing for him to be given the benefit This call-in system may seem, to some,
ESTABLISHED 1871
for the sexual impropriety in our own of the doubt before being condemned just as excessive as a call-out culture.
bowdoinorient.com orient@bowdoin.edu 6200 College Station Brunswick, ME 04011 communities. as a sexual aggressor. These concerns are Others could argue that the Bowdoin ad-
As with most social justice debates at legitimate, but who exactly are we trying ministration should do the brunt of the
Bowdoin, thoughtful conversations about to protect? Calling-out is a last resort, a educational work by programming and
The Bowdoin Orient is a student-run weekly publication dedicated to providing news and information the #MeToo movement are happening in sign of urgency. instilling a clearer stance against sexual
relevant to the Bowdoin community. Editorially independent of the College and its administrators, silos. I wish to share such thoughts and in- Hideyoshi Akai ’19 had a compelling violence. Ultimately, various possibilities
the Orient pursues such content freely and thoroughly, following professional journalistic standards in vite others to participate in the dialogue. solution that could not only protect sex- should be considered no matter how un-
writing and reporting. The Orient is committed to serving as an open forum for thoughtful and diverse Some Bowdoin women have expressed ual assault victims, but also attempt to conventional.
discussion and debate on issues of interest to the College community. interest in a “call-out culture.” Call-out correct sexual transgressions. Akai sug- From my vantage point, none of these
culture refers to the practice of publicly gested that there be a panel of students proposed initiatives would be necessary
naming and shaming those who violate a who nominate themselves to handle if men were holding their male friends
Sarah Drumm Harry DiPrinzio recognized moral code—in this case, the sexual misconduct reports from named accountable. To the men reading, don’t
Editor in Chief Editor in Chief violation is sexual assault. Several of the or anonymous students. Like Safe Space simply be a lip-service feminist. If you
reactions by men to call-out culture that members, these students would be in- don’t have that stern talk with your
I have heard so far were cautious of the vested enough in the cause to handle cas- friend, roommate or relative about their
Creative Director Managing Editor News Editor idea. “What if the accused person didn’t es judiciously, offering a resource that is disturbing sexual interactions with wom-
Jenny Ibsen Ellice Lueders Emily Cohen do anything? You don’t want to ruin his both hands-on and hopefully preventive en, you’re part of the problem. Be part of
Calder McHugh reputation over a lie.” Well-intentioned in the long run. Given that Bowdoin is an the solution.
Photo Editor Surya Milner Sports Editor men might choose to defend an accused institution of higher learning, the punish- Be part of the solution.
Ann Basu Jessica Piper Anna Fauver
Ezra Sunshine
Associate Editor

Letter to the Editor

Layout Editor Features Editor
Rachael Allen
Emma Bezilla Sarah Bonanno Alyce McFadden
Ian Stewart Roither Gonzales
Dakota Griffin A&E Editor
Copy Editor Nicholas Mitch Editor’s note: this letter is in response to the recent which I read as a threat to publish something similar
Isabelle Hallé
Nell Fitzgerald Louisa Moore exhibition “Texts,” held in the Blue Gallery from Feb- at Bowdoin, within the same 8x8 blue room as texts
Shinhee Kang Allison Wei ruary 27 through Spring Break. inviting someone out to drinks, I am concerned that
Opinion Editor
Thanks Steph and Lillian for thinking of this idea sexual harassment, sexual assault and unwanted
Digital Strategist Business Manager Rohini Kurup and to the women who submitted their texts. I left invitations were conflated. An exhibit that aims to
Sophie Washington Edward Korando the exhibit confused about the range of texts that examine sexual harassment in the digital age and
Ned Wang Calendar Editor made it onto the wall. I’m sure that in the context of includes references and allusions to sexual assault
Social Media Editor Avery Wolfe Kate Lusignan larger conversations or relationships these texts war- without greater explanation or attempt to explore
Gwen Davidson ranted the title of sexual harassment. However, read- the connection between these two terms is danger-
Uriel Lopez-Serrano Data Desk Page Two Editor ing through these, I saw texts ranging from repulsive ous. Many viewers may have, as I did, walked into
Faria Nasruddin Hannah Donovan Samuel Rosario solicitations to seemingly innocent invitations to this exhibit lacking clarity in definitions and ways of
drinks and finally a list of blurred out names allud- thinking about harassment and assault. I worry that
The material contained herein is the property of The Bowdoin Orient and appears at the sole discretion of the ing to the list of 33 sexual assailants at Middlebury this exhibit further confused its audience.
editors. The editors reserve the right to edit all material. Other than in regard to the above editorial, the opinions that circulated last December. In including “the list,” Isabel Udell is a member of the Class of 2019.
expressed in the Orient do not necessarily reflect the views of the editors.
14
Rael on Lawrence Lindsey’s problematic history
by Patrick Rael
Op-Ed Contributor
In his book, “Conspiracies of
the Ruling Class,” Lawrence B.
Lindsey ’76 distorts history to
make an elite argument for pri-
vatizing government look like
economic populism. Lindsey,
a supply-side economist who
served as an economic advisor
to President George H.W. Bush,
argues that over the last century a
“ruling class” of ill-defined “elites,”
convinced of its own superiority
and contemptuous of the Con-
stitution, has taken control of
government, converting it into
a “nanny state” that gives things
away to stay in power. To this
we can attribute wealth inequal-
ity, the government’s inability to
control its own spending and the
failure to deliver public goods like
infrastructure and health care.
Properly addressing all of
Lindsey’s claims is impossible in
this space, but his use of history
calls for special attention. If his
argument fails here, after all, any
claims built on it must be shaky
as well.
The first thing to note is that
all of Lindsey’s opponents are
straw men he has made himself.
His amorphous Ruling Class
appears whenever he needs it to
and is comprised of whomever
he needs it to be comprised of at
the moment. The only thing that
allegedly unites his “progressives”
across time—“a belief that, with
enough power, they could make
the United States a better place”—
is a simplistic formulation that
excludes obvious non-progressive
statists, from Reconstruction-era
Klansmen to Cold War militarists
to Christian theocrats.
Lindsey’s central historical
argument asserts that the Pro-
gressive movement of the late
nineteenth and early twentieth
centuries transformed the Amer-
ican government “from one with
self-government that was limited
in its scope to one where an expert
government required ever-in-
Dear seniors: will you condemn us to repeat history?
by Safiya Osei
Op-Ed Contributor
After reading the recent
opinion pieces by three seniors
of color on the racially themed
parties that were held on this very
campus two and three years ago,
I am struck by the lack of a white
opinion on these events. As a first
year, I am still coming to terms
with this new environment and
the demographics of my class
and the College as a whole, yet I
am keenly aware of a racial divide
that underlies many social and
academic interactions on campus.
Although we were in the crux
of midterms, I felt I needed to
read Pamela Zabala’s ’17 honors
project per the advice of a few
senior acquaintances in order to
supplement the thoughts I’ve had
since the College House Crawl.
The term “hypercultural white
spaces” jumped off the pages of
Zabala’s thesis and immediately
brought to mind nights at College
House parties: the floor is slippery
with cheap beer, “Mr. Brightside”
is blasting and white students
creasing
amounts
of power.”
Progres-
sivism did
mark the
rise of a new
era of gov-
ernment, as
state capacity
expanded to
match the needs
of regulating a
large, modern, indus-
trial, capitalist economy.
“Conspiracies,” which
cites no scholarship on
the period, completely
ignores this context,
claiming instead that
a cabal of academic
elites and self-appointed
“experts” effectively staged a
coup d’état, the consequences of
which we have been living under
ever since.
This is silly. The claim that cen-
tralization did not happen until
Woodrow Wilson’s presidency is
quickly falsified by even cursory
consideration of the long century
preceding him, which Lindsey
ignores. The Constitution has
always been a living document,
and the expansion of national
power has been its legacy—from
Thomas Jefferson’s questionable
acquisition of the Louisiana Ter-
ritory in 1803, through Andrew
Jackson’s showdowns with the
national bank and state nullifiers
in 1833, to the Civil War’s de-
mand for conscription, national
currency, an income tax and slave
emancipation.
Nor can Lindsey claim that
centralization has always been the
reserve of historical reformers. It
was slaveholders, after all, who
championed the Fugitive Slave
push me and my friends aside
as they squeal and embrace each
other. At Bowdoin parties, the set-
ting is still quite homogenous and
there seems to be a white flight
whenever the music changes to a
beat you can actually dance to.
I write this piece not as anoth-
er “angry student of color,” but
as a student who is disappointed
by people who were obviously
aware of their privilege that used
it to forcibly suppress those whose
views opposed their own. As a
class of ’21 representative and
the first year liaison to Bowdoin
Student Government, I feel it is
my duty to seek out information
that will affect not only my future,
but also the future of my class and
the classes to come. It simply is
not fair to us as first years to have
these events be whispered about
behind closed doors and never
publicly addressed and explained.
These events are so embedded in
this campus. I feel myself having
to wade through the muck of re-
pressed emotions and unspoken
opinions on my way to Druck. If
the trend documented by Zabala
OPINION
SARA CAPLAN
Law, the most sweeping assertion
of federal authority over the lives
of individual Americans in ante-
bellum history. Long championed
by conservatives, the modern
global security order rests square-
ly on large and powerful states.
So, too, do all the mechanisms re-
quired to enforce property rights,
regulate trade and provide the
critical infrastructure upon which
any healthy free market econo-
my depends. Even conservative
Christians remain hopeful this
nation will become a theocracy.
Lindsey’s claim that only “pro-
gressives” like the state cannot
bear even cursory scrutiny.
Lindsey cannot even return
to the Constitution in search of
an idealized past of weak central
power. It is of course true that
the Framers thought that, hav-
ing thrown off a king, “power
should be decentralized” in the
new American state. They lim-
ited the authority of the national
continues, then it seems we’re due
for another racially charged inci-
dent in the next two semesters.
I refuse to stand by and let this
trend continue. For students who
don’t have to care, I get it. You get
to coast through life with your
tunnel vision and exist blissfully
with a clear conscience. But tun-
nel vision can lead to a devastating
collision; a collision you will not
be prepared for because you re-
fused to take notice of the people
who are hurting right next to you.
We first years as your peers, as
your teammates, as your mentees
and as your friends, deserve a hell
of a lot better. We came here ready
for the best four years of our lives
and instead are witnessing how
the College is not what we were
hoping for. Both sides of the inci-
dent may have believed that it is
up to the administration to create
policies (or remove policies) in
order to appease their needs, but
I believe as adults we need to have
the conversations ourselves and
stop trying to prevent our peers
who are trying to heal from doing
so. The administration won’t be
government
in innumer-
able ways,
from grant-
ing small
states dispro-
portionate
power in
the House
of Repre-
sentatives
and Electoral
College, to the
Tenth Amend-
ment which explicitly
reserves to the states
the powers not held
by the national govern-
ment.
But the Framers were
more immediately motivated by
problems of national weakness.
They met in 1787 precisely to
expand state power in the wake
of the failed Articles of Confed-
eration. Key principles of our
government, such as bicameral
legislatures and separate and enu-
merated powers, emerged from
that experience, creating a consti-
tution with much more authority
than the one preceding it. The
new government had the power
to raise revenues to maintain its
own existence and the strength to
regulate affairs between the states,
as well as between the states and
foreign powers. Whereas the pa-
triots of 1776 railed against gov-
0ernment centralization, those of
1787 sought to constrain demo-
cratic impulses lest the public fall
prey to demagogues. Consider
the words of Elbridge Gerry in the
midst of the debates:
“The evils we experience flow
from the excess of democracy.
The people do not want virtue,
there to facilitate discussions once
we graduate, so we must learn to
communicate amongst each other
now.
I am not offended for the
sake of being offended. I am
concerned and I want to work to-
wards a future where students of
all backgrounds can coexist and
accept—not simply tolerate—
each other’s presence. In order to
do so, there must be a willingness
to be uncomfortable. I’ve had
but are the dupes of pretended
patriots... They are daily misled
into the most baneful measures
and opinions by the false reports
circulated by designing men, and
which no one on the spot can
refute.”
By Lindsey’s logic, modern
liberals alone are the big-state
heirs of the Progressives (even
though both parties embraced
Progressivism back in the day).
Employing words like “liberal”
and “conservative” as trans-his-
torical constants as Lindsey does
is inaccurate and misleading. For
example, the antislavery reform-
ers of the antebellum era look
like modern progressives for their
racial tolerance, but they look like
modern conservatives in embrac-
ing evangelical Christianity. As
for the Progressives, they brought
us necessary exercises of state
authority, like trust-busting, food
regulation and the referendum
and recall; but they also brought
us segregation of the civil service,
racial disenfranchisement, eugen-
ics and imperialism. Historical
legacies are always mixed like this.
Connections between contempo-
rary and past political traditions
cannot be simply asserted; they
must be demonstrated. Lindsey
never even makes the attempt.
For him, history seems to offer
little more than propaganda fod-
der. He claims to have undergone
a conversion from Washington
Insider to Man of the People, but
readers may decide for themselves
whether he saw Jesus on the road
to Damascus or Milton Friedman.
In 1995, he lauded a federal rev-
enue windfall, asking, “Wouldn’t
you think that the rich would be
at least entitled to a small thank-
you from the guys in Washing-
ton?” Two decades and an alleged
conversion later, he claims that
“the main driving force behind
why we’re spending so much” is
that politicians say “vote for me in
return for free goods.” (Remem-
ber the racist dog whistle around
“Obamaphones?”) Both pre- and
post-conversion Lindsey follow
foot-in-mouth moments myself.
With mistakes comes learning;
understanding cannot occur un-
less questions are asked.
So now I have some questions
and I hope they will be taken seri-
ously and thought through care-
fully: where are the students who
saw no problem with the theme of
SARA CAPLAN
Friday, March 30, 2018
the standard playbook of modern
corporate conservatism in calling
for a weak state. After all, weak
states are notoriously bad at rein-
ing in the excesses of large corpo-
rations and their champions.
As a literal member of a true
ruling class, Lindsey makes for
a very non-credible populist. In-
stead, he demonstrates how liber-
tarian rhetoric can be hijacked to
serve the interests of the corporate
order. Ultimately, he and his sup-
ply-side colleagues are no differ-
ent from any of the other interests
he has identified in American
history, seeking to subvert gov-
ernment to their own purposes
when they can and weakening it
when they cannot. “Conspiracies”
reveals Lindsey not as an elite
convert to populism, but as one
of Elbridge Gerry’s demagogues,
frantically manipulating the le-
vers of popular opinion in the
hope of fleecing the misguided.
Ultimately, “Conspiracies of
the Ruling Class” is not a se-
rious book. Lindsey produces
no evidence of a conspiracy of
left-leaning “elites” who have
taken control of government
and reduced it to an unconstitu-
tional tyranny. He’s wrong about
the origins of Progressivism,
he’s wrong to posit the modern
left as the uncritical heirs of
their tradition and he’s wrong
to lay the modern problems
he identifies at their feet alone.
The very crimes he attributes to
Progressivism—wealth inequal-
ity, uncontrolled government
spending and crumbling infra-
structure—are problems more
easily laid at the feet of Repub-
lican administrations since the
1980s than of an amorphous
group of progressive conspira-
tors who lived a century ago. His
simplistic and erroneous past
fails, then, to offer anything oth-
er than simplistic and erroneous
policy proscriptions. Readers
should approach his conclusions
with great skepticism.
Patrick Rael is a professor of
history.
these parties and actively sup-
pressed the voices of their peers?
Why are they refusing to speak
even now after there has been time
for reflection and reconciliation?
How can I, as a black woman,
come to terms with an institution
that is drenched in “white culture”
and normalizes silence? How can
we ensure that your experiences
are not repeated, and we first years
get the best four years of our lives
that Bowdoin presented to us?
Safiya Osei is a member of the
Class of 2021.
Friday, March 30, 2018 OPINION 15

Fifteen years after the invasion of Iraq, what have we learned?

Relevant Politics
by Brendan Murtha
I do not remember the inva-
sion of Iraq. I was three years
old at the time, and although
snippets of news broadcasts
may have alerted me to the
presence of conflict, I was un-
derstandably oblivious to the
gravity of the situation.
Only relatively recently has
of privilege. The war was not
a mistake; it was a crime and
an operation deeply revealing
about America’s unsettling role
on the world stage.
We sit snug in our homes,
still applauding George W.
Bush’s occasional speech
(“What a reasonable leader!”)
and cringing over news foot-
age of Ghouta’s ruins (“so sad”)
and emaciated children in Ye-
men (“poor babies”) all while
U.S. bombs continue to fall on
wrote an Op-Ed in the New
York Times this past week
entitled: “Fifteen Years Ago,
America Destroyed my Coun-
try.” How can we move on
from such destruction—thou-
sands of civilians killed, entire
generations scarred—and call
it a simple mistake? We clearly
haven’t learned our lesson if
trauma of that magnitude is
excusable. We have yet to apol-
ogize for our actions, so clearly
our regret is minimal.
Sea, yet we cheer on our mili-
tary bases in over 70 countries
worldwide and shrug off the
fact that US soldiers are cur-
rently deployed in more than
150 countries, fighting shad-
ow wars across Africa and
still killing civilians in drone
strikes across the Middle
East.
In our criticism of Rus-
sia and China, maybe we
have learned from the Iraq
War. Imperialist shows

R
the real horror of the Iraq War seven countries (give-or-take a The problem is that we of military prowess are

DE
NY
AS
become known to me. Many few, Yemen and Syria includ- shrug off the horrors of Iraq reckless and danger-

of today’s great conflicts have
roots in the Iraq War and its
resulting instability. As I strug-
gle to understand what I see
happening around me, many
roads lead back to the events
of 2003 and the years follow-
ing. From continuing political
and extremist violence across
the Middle East to the refugee
crises and their nationalist
pushbacks, our war in Iraq
played a major role in shaping
the chaotic world we live in
today. Fifteen years after the
invasion, have we learned our
lesson?
A large majority of Amer-
icans now view the Iraq War
as a mistake and in retrospect
agree that military interven-
tion may not have been the
best course of action. Such an
admittance may be a step in the
right direction but it still reeks
ed). We are outraged when
the Assad regime uses chem-
ical weapons against its own
people or when Saudi-backed
forces bomb a Yemeni wed-
ding, yet conveniently forget
our own use of white phospho-
rus in Fallujah (responsible for
continuing birth defects in the
region) and comparable tactics
in Mukaradeeb. Iraqis have
had to live with horrors while
we watch from a comfortable
distance, many of which we
brought about. They do not
have the luxury of selective
memory nor the ability to
move on. Their country has
not recovered from a war that
lasted nearly a decade—a war
that arguably left Iraq (and
the entire Middle East) much
worse off than before America
put boots on the ground. Poet
and novelist Sinan Antoon
because we still refuse to see
ourselves as the villain. No-
tions of American exception-
alism have been so instilled
in us that we will defend our
righteousness above all else,
insisting on our noble inten-
tions and expecting forgive-
ness despite continuing bad
behavior. If any other country
circumvented the UN Securi-
ty Council and led a ground
invasion of a foreign entity,
racking up a body count that
included countless civilians
and essentially destabiliz-
ing an entire region, the U.S.
would be calling for their
blood and labeling them an
enemy to world peace. We
berate Russia for merciless
military involvement in Syria
and cry foul when China ag-
gressively expands its military
presence in the South China
YL
KA
ous. We proved
that in 2003.
Yet we clear-
ly do not
apply the
same stan-
dards to our-
selves—after
all, America
has done a phe-
nomenal job convinc-
ing itself of its superiority.
We can simply do things oth-
ers cannot, for values of “free-
dom” and “democracy” are ap-
parently only ours to safeguard was be-
and export at will. fore Trump).
It is no wonder that, across In some ways, we
the world, the U.S. is viewed are a rogue state.
as the greatest threat to world Our invasion of Iraq, the 21st selves.
peace. The results of an in- Century’s “Original Sin” (as Fifteen years later, it doesn’t
ternational 2013 Gallup poll put by Al-Jazeera’s Tallha Ab- look like we’ve learned from
found this to be an over- dulrazaq), remains the most our self-proclaimed “mis-
whelming consensus across potent example of the danger takes.”
65 foreign countries (and that we pose the world … and our- That, in itself, is a crime.

Seeing structural oppression in shades of grey

treat any action, utterance or “the problematic” to what I’ll atic to the violent, they might like this constitutes a defense woke-ness.” Twitter-shaming
by Atticus Carnell cultural artifact that reflects call “the violent.” The former instead mean to equate the of the problematic (of the Al celebrities and using only the
Op-Ed Contributor
or perpetuates structural op- includes offensive language, problematic to the violent. If Frankens for example) would most up-to-date, ostensibly
Morality has a number of pression as just as bad as all TV shows, paintings, and equating is what people mean be to miss, if not prove, the oppression-free language has
purposes. There’s a social the others—as if everything other cultural artifacts, and to do—if, in other words, underlying point. Because to become just as important as
purpose; it makes people’s that perpetuates oppressive so forth. The latter includes they mean to say that all is- conflate distinguishing the fighting the repeal of DACA,
behavior predictable and structures does so equally and police brutality, rape, the sues that reflect or perpetuate problematic from the violent demanding policing and sen-
helps us to resolve conflicts as if all the effects of these prison-industrial complex, structural oppression deserve with defending the problem- tencing reforms, supporting
peacefully. There’s also a crit- structures are equally bad and employment and housing our attention equally, that we atic would evidence a failure the people who are suffering
ical purpose, which is often therefore equally deserving of discrimination, etc. Insofar as can’t possibly address the vi- to see these issues in shades of the worst harms of climate
at odds with the social pur- our energy and attention. We both the problematic and the olent without addressing the grey, which is just what I am change, pressuring U.S. lead-
pose; morality provides the seem, in other words, to have oppressive reflect and perpet- problematic, or that the Dana arguing that we need to do. ers to do more to prevent
basis for us to criticize soci- lost our ability to weigh. uate the oppressive structure Schutzs and the Al Frankens Of course I don’t believe genocide in Myanmar, etc.
ety, government, culture and “It’s all part of the same as a whole, to link the two is of the world are just as bad as that anyone actually thinks all (On that note, I think some-
even morality itself. Finally, oppressive system” is a com- not incorrect. the George Zimmermans and issues that can be traced back thing is wrong when the term
there’s a weighing purpose; mon phrase at Bowdoin. It is But people who say the the Harvey Weinsteins—then to structural oppression are the “micro-aggression” is used far
in situations in which our at- intended, I take it, to mean phrase above might mean it the claim is wrongheaded same—very few people actually more frequently at Bowdoin
tention, energy and resources one of two things. It might in a stronger sense. Instead of and counterproductive. To mean to equate the non equiv- than the word “Rohingya.”)
are limited or divided, moral- be meant to link what I’ll call merely linking the problem- reply that saying something alent. But many people seem to I say this all somewhat ret-
ity helps us to see where they see no point in acknowledging icently, because I recognize
should go. If we are unwilling the differences between the that many of the debates that
or unable to draw moral dis- problematic and the violent occur at Bowdoin and on oth-
tinctions, we lose this ability or even seem to think that er college campuses are about
to weigh—in fact, to see. doing so contributes to struc- creating an environment that
Structural oppression is an tural oppression. Accordingly, is safe for and welcoming to
increasingly common topic in the problematic instances of marginalized students. That
political discourse, especial- structural oppression get just is a worthy goal, it should not
ly on college campuses. This as much airtime, just as much get as much resistance as it
is obviously a good thing. energy and attention, as the vi- does. And I certainly do not
Oppression will continue as olent do. intend this piece to contribute
long as oppressive structures This has real consequenc- to any effort to undermine it.
remain intact. In order to dis- es. When everything is judged But it can’t be our only goal,
mantle these structures, we solely based on whether it re- and sometimes it feels like it
should understand how our flects or perpetuates oppres- is. Despite what many would
actions (and inaction) repro- sive structures, and not by have us think, Bowdoin is
duce them. Along these lines, SARA CAPLAN any other criteria whatsoever, part of the real world—struc-
I should emphasize that what small changes in our behav- tural oppression plays out
I say here shouldn’t be taken ior and speech become just here, as it does everywhere.
as criticism of our focus on as important as real action to But changing Bowdoin will
structural oppression but dismantle oppressive struc- not change the world. To see
rather as a word of caution tures—action, that requires this requires us to see struc-
about how it is discussed. us to look beyond Bowdoin. tural oppression in shades of
I fear that our discussions Along these lines, I see this grey. Otherwise, we cannot
of structural oppression are unwillingness to weigh as see it at all.
dangerously over-simplified, the root cause of what many Atticus Carnell is a member
morally speaking. We seem to have called “performative of the Class of 2018.
 MARCH/APRIL
16 Friday, March 30, 2018

FRIDAY 30
EVENT
The Sex Project: Consensual Kink
Bowdoin Healthy Relationships will host an interactive
presentation about expanding the definition of healthy and
“kinky” sex.
24 College. 4 p.m.

EVENT
Purity Pact Stand Up Show
Purity Pact, Bowdoin’s all female comedy group, will perform
stand-up comedy.
Chase Barn. 8:30 p.m.

SATURDAY 31 ANN BASU, THE BOWDOIN ORIENT

TUNED IN: Acclaimed science reporter Robert Krulwich P ’11 talks to Drew Scheve ’20. Krulwich, the current co-host of WNYC’s Radiolab, met with
students after his talk Thursday on framing the quantitative work of science through metaphor.
EVENT
“Forward”- TEDxBowdoinCollege
Students, faculty and guest speakers will give TEDx talks that

embody this year’s theme of “forward.” The theme allows
speakers to explore progress and paths to a better future.
Speakers this year include Renita Shivnauth ’21, Patrick
O’Connell ’21, Mamadou Diaw ’20, Professor of Theater and
Dance Sarah Bay-Cheng, Assistant Professor of Sociology
Theo Greene and founder of Pareto Design Forrest T. Heath III.
Kresge Auditorium, Visual Arts Center. 1 p.m.
PERFORMANCE
“Monk Dreams, Hallucinations
and Nightmares”
Pianist and composer Frank Carlberg’s large ensemble will
perform pieces that draws inspiration from the splinters,
verbal utterances and feelings found in Thelonious
MONDAY 2
LECTURE
“Martin Luther King Jr.’s Defeat at the
Supreme Court: Walker vs City
of Birmingham”
Randall Kennedy, Michael R. Klein Professor of Law at
Harvard University, will discuss the United States Supreme
Court’s holding of Martin Luther King Jr.’s conviction for
contempt of court. The case originated when King ignored
a local order court that rejected a march for civil rights on
Good Friday and Easter in 1963 and led the march.
WEDNESDAY 4
EVENT
A Reading with Author Michael Paterniti
Award-winning journalist Michael Paterniti will read from
his most recent book “Love and Other Ways of Dying.” The
book is a collection of essays that ponder happiness, grief,
memory and the human connection.
Faculty Room, Massachusetts Hall. 4:15 p.m.

THURSDAY 5
Monk’s music. Kresge Auditorium, Visual Arts Center. 5 p.m.
Kanbar Auditorium, Studzinski Recital Hall. 7:30 p.m.

PERFORMANCE
PERFORMANCE
Upright Citizens Brigade
TUESDAY 3
The Upright Citizens Brigade, founded by Amy Poehler,
“It’s Not About Your Grandmother”
The Eisenhower Forum will host Peter Skerry, professor of
will perform sketch comedy and improv. Bowdoin’s improv
political science at Boston College. Skerry will reflect on
groups Office Hours and Improvabilities will open
current immigration policy.
the show. LECTURE
Pickering Room, Hubbard Hall. 4:30 p.m.
Pickard Theater, Memorial Hall. 8 p.m. Gallery Conversations: Reading Room
Hailey Beaman ’18 and June Lei ’18, student curators of the LECTURE
exhibition “Reading Room,” will discuss the conversations
that inspired the exhibition.
We’re All in this Together: An
Intergenerational Discussion on
SUNDAY 1
Museum of Art. 4 p.m.
Environmental Concern
LECTURE Brunswick community members and Bowdoin students will

FILM
A Fantastic Woman
Frontier will screen a movie that follows the life of fictitious
character Marina as she navigates the aftermath of her part-
ner’s death. The film explores the love between two people
that is complicated by Marina coming out as a trans woman
and their families’ reception.
Frontier. 3 p.m.
“Writing Non-Fiction in the 21st
Century: From Iraq War to
Trump’s America”
Tom Ricks, a two-time Pulitzer Prize winner from his days at
the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post will discuss
writing in America, specifically focusing on military and
national security issues.
Kresge Auditorium, Visual Arts Center. 7:30 p.m.
discuss their views and hopes surrounding action on climate
change and other environmental issues.
Room 315, Searles Science Building. 7 p.m.
EVENT
“The Moth: Story Hour”
Faculty, staff and students will discuss romantic relationships,
friendships and other stories regarding relationships.
Jack Magee’s Pub and Grill, Smith Union. 8 p.m.

6 EVENT 7 8 9 10 11 EVENT 12 EVENT

Bone Marrow Drive Maine Inside and Admitted Students

Out Weekend