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The Nation’s Oldest Continuously Published College Weekly Friday, December 6, 2019 Volume 149, Number 12 bowdoinorient.com

Housekeepers start unionization effort, but face hurdles

by Alyce McFadden
and Diego Lasarte
Orient Staff
Members of the house-
keeping staff have begun the
process of unionization with
the help of organizers from
the Maine State Employees
Association (MSEA). Union
representatives declined to
comment on the number of
housekeepers supporting the
initiative, but efforts to collect
enough signed union autho-
rization cards appear to have
come to a standstill.
Director of Organizing
and Field Operations for the
MSEA Angela MacWhinnie
began distributing the union
cards on November 19. MSEA
is a chapter of the Service Em-
ployees International Union
(SEIU) and represents cus-
todial workers at the Maine
Maritime Academy and vari-
ous local community colleges.
According to its website, the
union helps members navigate
issues “from day-to-day work-
ing conditions to health and
safety issues to the bargaining
table, [to] ensure [that] all
workers are treated fairly so
we all can do our jobs well.”
Housekeeper Bonnie Per-
kins is among those in favor of
unionization. For her, mem-
bership in the MSEA would
mean dignity and recognition,
something that, according to
past testimonies from over a
dozen housekeepers, has often
been missing from their work.
“We don’t get no respect.
None at all,” Perkins said. “I
think if we had a union they
would give us more respect.”
Sandy Green, another
housekeeper, also supports
unionization, believing a
union will help housekeepers
advocate for new equipment
and the ability to decide their
own schedules.
“We are overworked and
understaffed big time, and
[the College] tells us we have
enough employees, and we
obviously don’t,” Green said.
“We’re covering between 13
and 15 assignments a day be-
cause people are out, and our
bodies are breaking.”
Not all housekeepers agree
that unionization will solve
their problems. Housekeep-
er Sonya Morrell declined to
sign the union card when a
Please see UNION, page 3

Town Council declares climate DISAPPROVAL APPROVAL

emergency ahead of climate rally

President Clayton Rose’s Approval Rating

ises to forward the resolution tinue to push [the Brunswick

by Holly Harris
Orient Staff
In the lead up to today’s
climate rally, Bowdoin Cli-
mate Action (BCA) co-lead-
ers Perrin Milliken ’22 and
Leif Maynard ’23 stressed the
importance of acknowledging
the urgency of the climate cri-
sis at Monday night’s Bruns-
wick Town Council meeting.
The council unanimously
passed BCA’s proposed res-
olution, which declared an
official climate emergency in
Brunswick.
By agreeing to the propos-
al, Brunswick committed to
work on developing an action
plan that would potentially
eliminate carbon emissions by
2030. The council also prom-
to the Maine state legislature.
In the past month, cli-
mate advocacy in Maine has
focused on passing climate
emergency declarations at the
municipal level in an effort
to kickstart action around
climate change at the state or
national level. Brunswick be-
came the fourth town council
in Maine to pass a similar
resolution, following South
Portland, Bar Harbor and
Portland.
Maynard noted that while
passing the resolution estab-
lishes a new sense of urgency
surrounding environmental
issues, the resolution only
represents the first step to-
wards Brunswick addressing
climate change. “We will con-
FALL 2018
Town Council],” said May-
nard in an interview.
“I hope that through the
Planning Board and the ac- SPRING 2019
tion plan they’re developing,
[Brunswick] will meet the
goals we set in the resolution.
Now it’s up to them, and up to
us to pressure them to follow FALL 2019
through,” Maynard contin-
ued.
20% 0% 20% 40% 60% 80%
Members of BCA are op-
timistic that with other town CLAYTON FELL: President Clayton Rose’s approval ratings have been declining over the past semesters
councils following suit, Maine from 74.1 percent last fall to 59.8 percent last spring to 42.5 this semester.
will become the first state to
declare a climate emergency.
The group is hosting a rally
today at noon at the Bruns- For the complete approval rating results and more from
wick Town Mall. The rally is
taking place in conjunction the Bowdoin Orient Student Survey, SEE PAGE 8.
Please see CLIMATE, page 5

Local keg supplier closes after 62 years Jill Lepore discusses

by Reuben Schafir
Orient Staff
“I’m excited for it … I’m
free!” said Dan Bouthot, own-
er of Uncle Tom’s Market, as
a sizeable grin emerged from
underneath his unruly white
beard. After 62 years and sev-
en months, the market, locat-
TAPPED OUT: Uncle Tom’s Market on Pleasant Street closed after more than six decades of serving Brunswick. The
family-owned business was passed down from father Thomas “Uncle Tom” Bouthot to son Dan Bouthot.
ed on the corner of Pleasant
Street and Westminster Ave-
nue, has closed its doors.
Uncle Tom’s Market was
nothing short of an institution
in Brunswick. It was the pri-
mary supplier of kegs to Bow-
doin students and, over the
last several decades, became
widely known for having one
of the most diverse selections
of beer in the region.
At the age of 27, Bouthot’s
father, L. Thomas “Uncle Tom”
Bouthot, opened the Mod-
el Market store on April 25,
1957. Dan was born five years
later, and he began working
there around the age of seven.
The elder Bouthot owned and
REUBEN SCHAFIR, THE BOWDOIN ORIENT
operated the market until June
of 2011, two weeks before his
death at the age of 81.
“Uncle Tom” Bouthot
changed the name of the store
to Uncle Tom’s Market in
1976. Despite its proximity to
Harriet Beecher Stowe’s home
and her abolitionist novel
“Uncle Tom’s Cabin,” the name
change had no connection to
Stowe’s book.
In the 1960s and 1970s, the
elder Bouthot’s sister lived
across the street with her five Lepore in the introduction to
children, who all frequented
their uncle’s shop. Before long, single-volume history of the
their moniker for him, “Uncle
Tom,” caught on throughout
the neighborhood.
“There were probably about
50 kids that would come to
this store at that time … and
are calling him Uncle Tom,”
said his son. “That’s what it
became, you know?”
Uncle Tom was a beloved
figure in town, well-known
to many of midcoast Maine’s
beer-lovers.
Jesse Bishop, the last em-
ployee hired by the elder
Bouthot before his death, was
hired in 2009 and worked at
Please see KEGS, page 5 versity, is a prolific American
US political climate
by Ian Ward
Orient Staff
Jill Lepore H’15 is worried
about the nation, and she thinks
that you should be too.
“It has often been said, in
the 21st century and in earlier
centuries, too, that Americans
lack a shared past and that, built
on cracked foundations, the
Republic is crumbling,” writes
“These Truths,” her 930-page
United States, published in Sep-
tember 2018. “The United States
is founded on a set of ideals, but
Americans have become so di-
vided that they no longer agree,
if they ever did, about what
those ideas are, or were.”
The narrative of this centu-
ries-long contest over the idea
of America formed the through-
line of Lepore’s Kenneth V. San-
tagata Memorial Lecture which
she delivered before a packed
Kresge Auditorium on Thurs-
day night.
Lepore, the David Woods
Kemper ’41 Professor of Amer-
ican History at Harvard Uni-
historian, journalist and public
intellectual who has written 11
monograph-length works, one
of which earned her a Bancroft
Prize and two of which have
been nominated for Pulitzers.
She also contributes regularly to
The New Yorker, where she has
been a staff writer since 2005.
Over the course of her
45-minute talk, Lepore offered
an abridged version of the sto-
ry of America that she tells in
“These Truths,” of the nation
from before it was a nation to
2016–which, she admitted, feels
like a “very long time ago.”
“It’s a ridiculously ambitious
project,” Lepore said of “These
Truths.” “It’s a little bit like if
you’ve ever seen the complete
abridged works of William
Shakespeare. Yes, I’ve somehow
managed to compare myself to
William Shakespeare.”
Pacing back and forth across
the Kresge stage, Lepore used
graphic representations of
America—everything from Az-
tec maps to early republican po-
litical cartoons to Jasper Johns
paintings—to illustrate how
Please see LEPORE, page 4

N ADMISSIONS F BACK IN BLOOM A DANCIN’ TIL THE END S THE WEAPON OF HOPE O MEME TIME
Admissions reports a a 12.5 percent Pretty Flowers specializes in custom flower Performances mark end of the semester Siya Kolisi and political power of South The FoxBox takes a look at the impact of
increase in ED I applications. Page 3. arrangements and wreaths. Page 6. for Dept. of Theater and Dance. Page 9. African rugby. Page 11. memes on Gen Z culture. Page 15.
2 Friday, December 6, 2019

2 PAGE TWO
Wondering what happened to the Security Report?
Randy was out today, so check out these holiday cards instead.
STUDENT SPEAK:
Please behave yourselves. What caused the Thorne fire alarm to go off ?

Lauren Hickey ’20

DIY HOLIDAY CARDS
"Someone put raisin bread in the
toaster."

YOUR
Safa Salman ’23
FACE
HERE "The Indian food was too fire."

Emmeline Flagg ’22

"Ryan started the fire."

Warm wishes, The Nichols

Ryan Kovarovics ’23

"Someone ate too many chickpeas and
YOUR
FACE
farted."
HERE

Hayden Keene ’22

"Cody’s sass. "

xoxo, The Dempseys COMPILED BY DIEGO LASARTE AND LILY RANDALL

Bowdoin’s Spotify Unwrapped

by Lily Randall
Orient Staff
HIGHLIGHT MOMENTS
TOP 15 SONGS OF 2019 1. You spent 22 hours listening to Mr.
1. Bells, Bitch by The Chapel Brightside in Baxter Basement.
2. F*** the Police by Red Brick 2. You spent four days listening exclusively to
3. You’re Out of Swipes by Irene ft. Connie Maggie Rogers after your BOC trip.
4.Where Are My Blundstones? by the BOC 3. You listened to the entire discography of
5. Daddy by Randy Nichols Cigarettes After Sex after your breakup in
6. Sober Semester by The BPD ft. the Sirens October. Sorry we didn’t send anyone to check
on you.
7. I’m Oppressed by Patrick Dempsey 4. You searched for “The Bus” on Spotify 15
8. New Login Detected by Duo Security times over the course of a single week.
9. Sticky Floors by Lighthouse 5. You listened to Tobi Lou for the first time
10. Where’s My OneCard? by the First Years in early November. You skipped the song after
11. Fight Night by Ladd ft. Bates 30 seconds and never listened again.
12. Just Tryna Live by the Housekeepers 6. You felt alternative for listening to Rex
13. $$$$$$$ by Clayton Ro$e Orange County, Tame Impala and Mac
14. Get Wrecked by the J-Board Demarco. You were shocked to find out people
15. Wasn’t Me by Jes Staley had, in fact, heard of these bands before.
Friday, December 6, 2019 NEWS 3

NEWS IN BRIEF Revamped Leadership Training program

COMPILED BY LILY RANDALL AND HALINA BENNET

BOWDOIN RECEIVES RECORD

NUMBER OF APPLICANTS FOR
experiences hiccups in its first year
EARLY DECISION ROUND 1
Last month, 820 high school students submitted early decision I
(ED I) applications, a 12.5 percent increase from last year and the
most ED I applications Bowdoin has ever received.
Bowdoin provided accommodations for early decision appli-
cants affected by the extended teacher strikes in Chicago as well
as natural disasters in California and Texas. Though most students
ultimately did not need them, the accommodations included an
extension on the application deadline, the option to solicit letters
of recommendation from community members and allowing the
uploading of a graded paper in lieu of a recommendation letter.
Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid Whitney Soule did not
attribute the increase to any singular effort by the Office of Admis-
sions.
“Our recruitment efforts, our messaging campaigns, and broad-
ening [the] reach of awareness of Bowdoin are probably all im-
portant influences,” Soule explained. “We are still working through
the reading and selection process for this round, but the group is
incredibly talented, making our work both really interesting and
really complicated at the same time.”
ED I applications were due November 15, and applicants will
receive a decision on December 15.

FOLLOWING STUDENT COMPLAINTS,

DINING REMOVES
BULLETIN BOARD POSTERS COURTESY OF MASON WINTER
PEAKED: Leadership Training participants were all smiles on Bigelow Mountain during an expedition over fall break. Some of the program’s participants are
Posters on a Moulton Union bulletin board detailing the calo- now facing the choice of staying in Maine after the second semester finishes or waiting until next year to complete their certification.
rie counts of standard Thanksgiving foods were taken down after
students anonymously pinned angry comments to the board. students have to go on both the next fall. … I think having one director in
The posters, which included “strategies to decrease intake by Aura Carlson winter and spring break trips. Students who were not given charge of the leadership training
and manage weight,” were posted on the Thursday before and Andrew Bastone This has led to massive over en- a spot on the spring break trip program would be extremely
Orient Staff
Thanksgiving—the day of Bowdoin Dining’s annual Thanks- rollment in the outing planned expressed frustration at the pros- beneficial for this program to
giving dinner. Following the overhaul of the for spring break—a skiing trip in pect of having to stay after school make sure things are running
“The bulletin board was put up in [an] earnest attempt to sat- Bowdoin Outing Club’s (BOC) Canada. More than 40 students finishes in order to be certified smoothly.”
isfy requests by students and staff who had asked for nutrition Leadership Training (LT) pro- requested a spot and only 14 before next fall. “I’ve heard just generally
information,” wrote Susanne D’Angelo-Cooley, Moulton Union’s gram this fall, participants may participants, chosen at random, “I think now I’ll have to go on that the club is rather disor-
operations manager and nutritionist for Bowdoin dining, in an have to finish their certification were given a spot in the trip. the trip after finals end in May, ganized this year, in terms of
email earlier this week. One poster claimed, “The average per- next fall due to lack of space on Noa Schumman ’22 believes which I didn’t really want to do,” transition to this new system,”
son gains seven pounds between Thanksgiving and Christmas.” a trip taking place over spring that the BOC has legitimate Mason Winter ’23 said. Maynard noted.
D’Angelo-Cooley explained, “The board was taken down af- break. reasons for limiting the num- “I want to go home. I have Next Thursday, BOC will
ter insulting and negative comments were posted.” To complete LT, students are ber of spots. summer plans,” said Leif May- host a meeting with this year’s
Some students, including Sydney Burton ’23, found the sig- required to go on two separate “[There are] 14 spots avail- nard ’23. “I really wanted to fin- LT participants, the first time the
nage to be more harmful than helpful. expeditions, which are held over able because [BOC] wants to ish LT this year, [but] now I’m program has met as a full group.
“This seems incredibly unnecessary—especially the calories. fall break, winter break, spring keep the cost down,” Schumann struggling to see how that’s gonna “I’m assuming they’re going
When I was eating my Thanksgiving dinner, I certainly wasn’t break and after the end of the said. “It made sense. It’s a long happen.” to tell us an alternative option
thinking about that. Nobody should be,” Burton said. “I should spring semester. drive [and] they will only have According to Schumann, the to spring break or another op-
not have to be guilted into feeling concerned with my weight on Students were accepted into one van. And also it’s a backcoun- BOC needs to hire more staff, tion for how you can complete
the one night a year where I should be concerned with my own LT in three waves. The first group try skiing trip—you can’t really possibly someone to be in charge LT this year without having all
feelings of gratitude.” of participants was accepted prior take more than 14 without people of the LT program, in order to of the expedition requirements
Rather than focusing on the importance of giving thanks to fall break, and some were able getting lost.” make the changes students are done,” Schumann said. “But I
during the holiday, Burton believes Moulton Union’s weight to go on the fall break expedition. The students who were not requesting. hope that they do address the
warning added pressure to the festivities. The second and third groups, placed in the spring break trip “The leaders of the BOC work issue.”
“It’s honestly appalling how dining felt the need to take the joy however, were accepted after fall may now have to attend an ex- so diligently and work so hard,” Outing Club Director Mike
out of the meal by illustrating the gritty reality of the food’s effect,” break. So to complete LT before pedition after school finishes in Schumann said. “But the three Woodruff did not respond to
Burton said. “But no regrets because that pecan pie was amazing.” the end of the school year, these May or finish their certification [directors] are spread too thin comment.

UNION nobody said a word,” Green

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
co-worker approached her
towards the end of Novem-
ber. After doing her own re-
search on unionization, Mor-
rell became concerned that
unionization could lead to a
re-evaluation of existing ben-
efits for housekeepers.
“We need to be working on
a lot of things in our depart-
ment: management, issues
and all of the things that have
been … said,” Morrell said.
“But I personally do not feel
that unionization is the best
way to do that.”
Morrell shared some of her
concerns at a staff meeting at
the end of November, which
was attended by members of
the College’s administration
and Human Resources staff.
Green believes that Morrell’s
comments may have made
housekeepers who were other-
wise supportive of unionizing
nervous about repercussions.
“She asked if anybody was
against having the union, and
said. “And of course, I wasn’t
going to speak up in that
meeting and start arguing
with her, but it was pretty bad.
It was very scary to a lot of the
housekeepers.”
At that same meeting,
Senior Vice President for
Finance and Administra-
tion and Treasurer Matthew
Orlando circulated a letter
to housekeepers that encour-
aged them to think carefully
before signing union cards.
“No one should be made to
feel they need to sign a union
card against their will just to
stop being pressured or ha-
rassed,” the letter reads.
The document clarifies
that the College “does not
have a problem with unions”
and that it will “respect the
right of employees to union-
ize if that is what they want
to do.”
The Office of Communica-
tions published the full letter
in full on its website on De-
cember 5.
In a statement to the Ori-
ent on behalf of the adminis-
tration, Director of Commu-
nications Scott Hood reiterated
that the College respects the
unionization process and en-
courages employees to make
their own decisions on the
question of union membership.
“We know there are some
who have been talking about
unionizing the housekeeping
staff here at Bowdoin. Our
housekeepers are vital mem-
bers of the Bowdoin commu-
nity, and they have every right
to explore joining a union,”
Hood wrote in a statement.
“We simply want to make
sure that each employee has
the ability to consider the
decision on their own with a
full understanding of the pros
and cons of being represented
by a union, and that they are
able to decide free from coer-
cion, harassment, or retalia-
tion. We ask members of our
community and those from
outside the College who are
encouraging this move to be
respectful of each other and of
everyone’s right to support or
not support the union as they
see fit.”
Based on her professional
experience as an organizer,
MacWhinnie assumes that the
College is following the advice
of contracted lawyers.
“My guess is they probably
hired a very expensive law
firm,” she said. “They’re get-
ting advice about how to run
an [anti-union] campaign.”
The difficulties of union
organization are not unique to
Bowdoin. On October 31, the
Middlebury Campus reported
that ongoing efforts to union-
ize members of the college’s
facility staff had ground to a
halt. MacWhinnie, however,
is optimistic about the future
of organized labor on college
campuses.
“[There are] a lot of work-
ers that are coming together
and deciding to organize even
if it’s challenging, and we’ve
seen a lot of amazing success
of people coming together
and making real change,”
MacWhinnie said. “People in
education institutions [are] a
part of that, whether it’s high-
er ed or K-12.”
The unionization effort
comes just weeks after Presi-
dent Clayton Rose announced
a series of wage increases for
full-time hourly staff, with the
ultimate goal of a $17 mini-
mum wage by 2022. In 2018,
the Orient reported that some
Bowdoin housekeepers strug-
gle to make ends meet with
the salary and benefits provid-
ed to them by the College, and
they regularly work second
jobs to supplement their Bow-
doin income.
Bowdoin Student Govern-
ment (BSG) has spoken out
in solidarity with college em-
ployees in the past and passed
a motion in October that
praised the wage increase.
The motion’s author, Caroline
Poole ’22, explained the im-
petus behind the motion and
its sustained relevance in the
context of unionization.
“I fully intend to follow up
and continue discussing ques-
tions of wages and working
conditions so that we can get
a guarantee from the school
beyond oral testimony that
workers will not face intimi-
dation, retaliation or termina-
tion for speaking their truths,”
Poole said.
The student-led Bowdo-
in Labor Alliance issued a
statement in response to the
housekeeper-led unionization
effort.
“Over the last year and a
half, the Bowdoin Labor Al-
liance has worked to support
campus staff in their fight for
just compensation, inclusion
and respect. We will continue
to stand beside our friends
in the housekeeping depart-
ment as they embrace a bet-
ter future for themselves and
for this institution,” read the
statement.
Green acknowledged the
support from students and
reaffirmed her commitment
to the cause of unionization
going forward.
“Everybody that we spoke
to said that we need change.
And we need it now, not a year
from now.”
 4 NEWS Friday, December 6, 2019

Local man’s death shows extent of Maine’s housing shortage

by Emily Cohen
Orient Staff
A Brunswick man was
found dead in his sleeping bag
by the train tracks on Federal
Street on November 23. Rus-
sell Williams, 64, was reported
missing on November 5.
The death is not consid-
ered suspicious, according to
Brunswick Police Department
(BPD) Commander Mark
Waltz, though the official
cause of death is not yet avail-
able.
Williams was born and
raised in Brunswick and had
been experiencing homeless-
ness for years. He was a fre-
quent visitor of The Gathering
Place, Brunswick’s day shelter.
Executive Director Mary Con-
nelly told the Times Record
that Williams “could never re-
ally quite get on his feet” due to
a struggle with mental health.
“This is not someone who
was from away,” Connelly
said. “This was his home. This
community is not somewhere
someone should be able to
freeze to death. He deserved
better. His life mattered.”
Annie Rose ’20, who has
volunteered at The Gathering
Place since June, said Russell,
despite the obstacles he faced,
“was always warm and kind
and tried to see the good in
people.”
As of January 2018, an es-
timated 2,516 people were
experiencing homelessness
in Maine on any given day. In
Brunswick, Tedford Housing
served 86 individuals and 23
families between July 2018 and
June 2019, but the organization
still had to turn away 251 indi-
viduals and 205 families due to
lack of space in its two shelters.
Williams was not a guest at ei-
ther of Tedford’s shelters.
Shortly before his death,
Williams had received a
housing choice voucher that
subsidizes rent for affordable
housing. He was unable to find
housing before the voucher
expired after 60 days.
“I’m hopeful that Bruns-
wick will recognize this trage-
dy for what it is—a man ready
to be housed, voucher in hand,
but denied a home due to the
incredible lack of affordable
housing in our area,” said
Rose. “I think it’s important
for Bowdoin students to rec-
ognize how these social prob-
lems affect real individuals.”
A lack of affordable hous-
ing in Maine means demand is
high for housing vouchers, but
it also means that recipients of
vouchers have difficulty using
them before they expire.
Data from the 2018 Picture
of Subsidized Households
study show that recipients of
housing vouchers in Maine
had to wait an average of 33
months before receiving one.
Daniel Brennan, director
of the Maine State Housing
Authority, told WGME that
there are currently more than
19,000 people on the voucher
waiting list.
According to the National
Low Income Housing Coali-
tion, the shortage of available
affordable homes for ex-
tremely low-income renters in
Maine is upwards of 20,000.

LEPORE the Orient. “I get a lot of emails

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
America, as much a set of ideals
as a geographical unit, has nev-
er been an uncontested concept.
From Columbus to Trump,
Lepore argued, America has ex-
isted in between what it is and
what its citizens, defenders and
critics believe it ought to be.
Covering over four centuries
of history, Lepore attempted
to give “a sense of change over
time,” as debates over the na-
ture of America, who counts
as American and who gets to
say who counts as an American
have evolved—or stayed the
same.
Although distilling 400 years
down to a single narrative is no
small task, according to Lepore,
it’s important to try.
“Our past is as polarized as
our present,” Lepore said. “Most
political arguments are actually
just super abridged historical
arguments. ‘Make America
Great Again’ is a four-word in-
terpretation of all of American
history.”
Lepore’s own three-word in-
terpretation? Up on the screen
flashed a demonstrator holding
a sign reading “WTF.”
“I did write ‘These Truths’
with the idea that it could—and
it was my hope that it would—
reach a wide audience, that it’s
not engaged in an ideological
battle really with anyone,” said
Lepore in an interview with
Give the gift that
keeps on giving.
bo oino nt.c /su ribe
bo oin nt.c /su ribe
bo oino nt.c /su ribe
bo oin nt.c /su ribe
from readers of that book, a lot
of people who are studying for
the citizenship exam … people
who say ‘I don’t really feel like
I belong somehow,’ or it’s been
a very painful experience
immigrating to this country,
and that there was something
about the experience of read-
ing the book that’s made them
feel they belonged.”
Many of the attendees believe
that Lepore’s talk was a success,
pointing to the skill with which
she convened a broad topic.
“I thought it was fascinating,”
said local resident Al Miller,
who attended the talk. “I had
no idea how she [was] going to
cover what she did, but she has a
good sense of humor, great pre-
sentation. She’s wicked quick.”
Students also enjoyed the
talk.
“It was an ambitious endeav-
or,” said Gabrielle Maffezzoli
’20. “She’s got this 1,000-page
volume and she tried to sum it
up in 45 minutes, but despite
that challenge I enjoyed it,
and I thought she did a good
job. I’ve now just got her book
and got it signed, so I’m feel-
ing inspired.”
Asked to offer a prediction
of the direction of American
democracy, Lepore declined,
citing the “secrets of the histo-
rian’s guild.” bo
wd
“What the hell is going on? bo oin
[That] is my final exam ques- wd ori MINDY LEDER, THE BOWDOIN ORIENT
o ent
tion for you.” b ow inor Staff
HISTORY MAKER: .co writer for the New Yorker and Harvard professor Jill Lepore H’15 delivers a talk about her one-volume history of the U.S. Thursday.
d ie m
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Friday, December 6, 2019 NEWS 5

Student panel on disability calls for empathy, not sympathy

by Horace Wang and
Samira Iqbal
Orient Staff
The College celebrated In-
ternational Day for Persons
with Disabilities this week with
programming that included
the DisAbled Students Associ-
ation (DASA) tabling in David
Saul Smith Union, a “lunch and
learn” with the Accessibility
Task Force and a student panel
on disability at Bowdoin.
“The primary goal of the
programming for International
Day of Persons with Disabilities
was to raise awareness about
disabilities at Bowdoin and
encourage discussion about
inclusivity and accessibility for
people with disabilities,” Di-
rector of Student Accessibility
Lesley Levy wrote in an email
to the Orient.
The events, which were
scheduled throughout the day
on Tuesday, were organized
by the Student Accessibility
Office, DASA and the Accessi-
bility Task Force.
The student panel featured
six students who had disabil-
ities ranging from dyslexia to
chronic pain. Despite markedly
different experiences with dis-
ability, the panelists all stressed
the importance of showing
empathy as opposed to sym-
pathy or frustration. Panelists
explained that empathy allows
students with disabilities to
take the lead in discussions
about accessibility.
The students noted that as
minorities on campus, it is of-
ten their responsibility to ad-
vocate for themselves and call
attention to inaccessibility.
“I’m not here to fix Bow-
doin’s problems,” said panelist
Thais Carillo ’23. “I’m here to
be a student.”
Levy identified three main
themes she hoped students
who attended the program-
ming for International Day of
Persons with Disabilities took
away. First, students, faculty
and staff living with disabil-
ities are integral members of
the Bowdoin community who
deserve to be included. Second,
people should not assume that
a person with a disability is
incapable, fragile, lives a less-
er life or wants to be “cured.”
Lastly, it is the Bowdoin com-
munity’s responsibility to make
the College more accessible to
those with disabilities.
“We need to get the entire
school to be more proactive in-
stead of reactive,” said Benjamin
Wu ’18, one of the panel’s mod-
erators, in an interview with
the Orient. “Professors should
have access to accessible mate-
rials and teaching tools before
a blind student comes to cam-
pus so that the student doesn’t
have to pave their own way and
spend so much time and energy
just trying to go to class.”
The Student Accessibility Of-
fice supports students with dis-
abilities, impairments and access
needs. This year, it has extended
its reach and infrastructure.
“The Student Accessibility
Office had other priorities in
its first two years, including
opening the Test Center and
implementing a new software
system to manage student
accommodations and faculty
notification letters,” Levy ex-
plained. “Now that those are
up and running, the Office can
devote more time and resourc-
es to other needs, including
awareness and education.”
Prior to its creation there
was a smaller Americans with
Disabilities Act committee that
considered ways to improve
the accessibility of Bowdoin’s
facilities.
The Accessibility Task Force,
chaired by Senior Vice Presi-
dent for Finance and Adminis-
tration and Treasurer Matthew
Orlando, is broader in scope
and assesses accessibility at
Bowdoin. Now in its third year,
the task force features working
groups in areas such as accessi-
bility awareness, assistive tech-
nology, curricular accessibility,
facilities and web accessibility.

CLIMATE
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

with the Sunrise Movement’s

plan for a nationwide protest
at politicians’ offices today.
“[The purpose of the rally]
is to expose the urgency of
the crisis so that people are
compelled to take action,”
said Milliken. “We’re trying
to make people realize it’s af-
fecting Maine right now. It’s
not just an issue of the future.”
While BCA focused its
efforts on student outreach
for the Global Climate Strike
Rally held in late September,
the leaders expanded their
attention to the Brunswick
community for this rally by
hosting the event in the cen-
ter of town and advertising to
local schools and businesses
with posters and emails.
BCA strove to include a
variety of perspectives in the
lineup of speakers at the ral-
ly. The speakers list will fea-
ture two Bowdoin students, a
representative of the Citizens
Climate Lobby, Visiting As-
sistant Professor of German
Andrew Hamilton and John
Newlin, a member of Grow-
ing to Give.
“I think the narrative that
we’re trying to uphold is that
SOPHIA WEI, THE BOWDOIN ORIENT
we as a group are part of a
bigger national network and
SUN’S OUT: More than one hundred students and members of Brunswick
gathered at the steps of the Bowdoin College Museum of Art for the Global
movement, and this event
Climate Strike Rally in September where Senate candidate Betsy Sweet
is part … of what’s happen- addressed the crowd. (Bottom) BCA co-leaders (left to right) Ayana Harscoet
ing in the coming months,” ’21 and Perrin Milliken ’22 at the September rally
said BCA co-leader Ayana
Harscoet ’21. it doesn’t matter,” said Millik- once [the movement] grows,
Milliken sees the rally on en. “You need to keep coming then we become the first
Friday as a sort of “training” back.” state, and then pretty soon it’s
for rallies to come next year. Maynard said he wants national,” said Maynard.
She explained that it is crucial members of the Bowdoin and Students will gather on the
for people to not only attend Brunswick community to steps of the Bowdoin College
today’s rally, but also contin- understand that their partic- Museum of Art at 11:45 a.m.
ue to show up to events in the ipation is the beginning of a today to walk to the rally on
coming months. “ripple.” the Brunswick Town Mall.
“People need to make this “It might not seem like BCA leaders are encouraging
a part of their life, otherwise Brunswick is a big deal. But participants to wear yellow. REUBEN SCHAFIR, THE BOWDOIN ORIENT

KEGS Maine, in a message to the Ori-

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
the market for roughly three
years.
“That store gave me a start
and gave me a purpose in life,”
Bishop said in a message to the
Orient. “It’s because of Uncle
Tom’s Market [that] I am now
working for the Brunswick
School Department.”
“Everyone working at [Bath
Iron Works] traveling South
stopped there for snacks, beer,
homemade peanuts, whatever,”
said Lenny Roy, a Bath Iron
Works employee of Falmouth,
ent. “Tom was a great guy.”
This sentiment was also
echoed by Bowdoin students.
“There’s this type of beer
called Duchesse that I couldn’t
find anywhere else,” said Elise
Lindbergh ’21. “It’s a good,
weird beer, and I wanted to see
if they had it and they did.”
When it first opened, the
Model Market sold a variety of
produce and grocery products. As
supermarkets moved into town,
meat counter business declined,
and the Bouthot father-son team
increasingly focused the market’s
business on beer.
Over the decades, the two
grew the shop’s beer selection
to over 500 varieties through
a process of trial and error—
they would order new beers
and, if they sold quickly,
they’d order more. Though
Dan Bouthot admitted that he
“doesn’t get much,” in the way
of knowing what’s popular,
he said that customers often
hailed his selection of beer as
the best anywhere east of Port-
land, Maine.
After the elder Bouthot
died, Dan ran the business
more or less single-handedly
until two weeks ago. Though
he had one part-time employ-
ee, Bouthot himself has put in
over 60 hours per week for the
last eight and a half years.
Bouthot has a son and a
daughter, who both have oth-
er careers—neither has any
interest in running the mar-
ket. Without an heir, Bouthot
finally made the decision to
close the business on Saturday,
November 23.
“I just got to the point
where this is a little bit much,”
Bouthot said. “I’m done being
done down.”
Business had also slowed
down. Before the dismantling
of Bowdoin’s fraternity system
in 1997, kegs constituted a
much more substantial source
of income for Bouthot.
“It wouldn’t be unheard of
to sell 20 kegs in a weekend,”
he said.
His record was a whopping
107 kegs during Senior Week
in 1995. Though odd and
unique craft brews made up
for the decline during peak
season, it was the keg sales
that had kept business going
during the winter.
Legal tussles with the Li-
quor Board and the Brunswick
Police Department, as well as
the continuous hassle of paper-
work, also made the decision to
close easier. Though kegs can
still be obtained from Boot-
leggers Beverage Warehouse in
Topsham, the closing of Uncle
Tom’s Market marks the end of
a beer dynasty in the area.
Bouthot looks forward to
tackling a variety of projects
at home and having more time
to cook extravagant meals for
his family. He has no specific
plan for the future, other than
to finish what stock remains
of his favorite beer, a Flemish
Red Ale from BFM called Ab-
baye de Saint Bon Chien.
6 Friday, December 6, 2019
F FEATURES
Students engage with refugees in Brunswick and beyond
by Jane Godiner
Orient Staff
The recent influx of asy-
lum seekers in the American
Northeast has motivated
Bowdoin students to engage
with refugees in Brunswick
and its surrounding cities and
develop new service programs
tailored to meet the needs of
these communities.
Caroline Daigle ’20, a spe-
cial projects fellow at the Jo-
seph McKeen Center for the
Common Good, is currently
developing new programs to
connect Bowdoin students
with Midcoast Literacy, an
organization that provides En-
Always in bloom, Pretty Flowers changes with the seasons
by Emma Sorkin
Orient Staff
When you walk into Amy
Maloney’s house, it looks like
any ordinary house. Magnets,
pictures and notes cling to
the fridge, art hangs from
the wall and light streams in
from the windows. There are
three cups on the kitchen ta-
ble, each full of pencils sorted
by color, with a large sheet of
paper showing Maloney’s lat-
est landscape design laid out
beside them.
The door adjacent to the
kitchen leads downstairs,
marking the barrier be-
tween Maloney’s house and
her workshop. Wood tables
are covered in flower stems,
leaves and paper. Pots line the
shelves, soft yellow lights hang
from the ceiling and green
wreaths are laid out across the
table in the back room, sur-
rounded by piles of ribbons
and pinecones.
Maloney runs her busi-
ness Pretty Flowers out of her
Brunswick home and has done
so since 1991, after her daugh-
ters were born.
“I decided I didn’t want to
work outside the house, so I
had to figure out something I
could do at home. I grew up in
California, and I followed my
grandmother around in her
gardens and always loved that
and thought, ‘you know, I can
do that’,” Maloney said.
Pretty Flowers began with
casual sales from her home
on Mere Point Road. A big
break for her, she said, was the
chance to do arrangements for
Bowdoin and design gardens
glish-language tutoring to asy-
lum seekers living in Maine.
“[Refugees] need to find
ways to transport themselves
[and gain access to] health
care. Education, and then
language, is a barrier for all of
these things,” Daigle said. “All
of the issues surrounding that
can be so overwhelming.”
Because the 12-month com-
mitment of a full-time tutor is
not feasible for most students,
Daigle is working to create
meaningful positions with a
less strict time commitment
available to members of the
Bowdoin community. Such
programs will include oppor-
tunities to work as a tutoring
ALL SMILES: Founder of Pretty Flowers Amy Maloney specializes in custom floral arrangements, wreaths and landscaping. The business crafts arrangements
from largely locally-sourced flowers.
on campus.
“That was huge. [Doing
an arrangement for the Col-
lege] really got things going
because I’d do something
here and something there
for somebody because they’d
asked, but it wasn’t really a vi-
able business,” Maloney said.
“So that was when it all kind
of started.”
Today, Pretty Flowers has
seven employees and takes on
projects ranging from wedding
flower arrangements to holiday
wreaths to landscape design.
assistant, a back-up tutor or
a participant in English-lan-
guage discussion groups, as
well as providing transporta-
tion for students and watch-
ing the children of students
during lessons.
Kim Hancock ’21 is the
leader of Bowdoin’s Portland
Housing Authority Mentoring
and Tutoring Program (PHA).
Along with the rest of the club,
Hancock travels to a subsi-
dized housing community in
Portland each week to work
with students aged four to 15
years old that primarily come
from immigrant and refugee
families—playing outside,
working on art projects and
Whenever possible, Ma-
loney tries to source flowers
from local farms. “I do depend
more and more on local flower
farms. I’m very much into not
harming the earth any way that
I can, but I also like things to be
unique,” Maloney said. “There
are limits to locally grown
flowers [because farms] tend to
grow the same things.”
When she cannot find a
flower she needs locally, she
drives to Boston to hand-se-
lect it from the New England
Flower Market.
TALK TO US.
Ranging from lighthearted moments to serious reflections about life at and beyond Bowdoin, Talks of the
Quad feature the Bowdoin community’s best short-form writing. They are published every other week
and can be written by any member of the Bowdoin community. Generally 700-1,000 words.
tutoring them. This is her sec-
ond year working with PHA.
“I think my favorite part [of
working with PHA] is building
relationships with kids,” Han-
cock said. “I’ve been working
with the same couple of kids
and building relationships
with them, and I feel like hav-
ing that kind of one-on-one
interaction has been really
rewarding.”
Daigle’s work with Mid-
coast Literacy informed her
perspective on issues relating
to immigrants and refugees
and strengthened her desire to
support these communities.
“I have a greater understand-
ing of the complete breadth of
She used to travel to the
New England Flower Mar-
ket to pick up flowers once
a week. These frequent trips
helped Maloney separate her
business from other Bruns-
wick florists in terms of types
of flowers available.
“When I started, there were
20 vendors. I think they’re
down to eight [now],” Maloney
said. “Things have changed. We
get things shipped up as much
as we can, but I liked [going to
Boston]. I’ve always loved to
just go see. I’m not very good at
EMAIL ORIENT@BOWDOIN.EDU
support needed to help people
enter a community for the first
time,” Daigle said. “Just even
being on the periphery of peo-
ple helping support this group,
it’s overwhelming how much
needs to be done.”
Similarly, Hancock’s work
with PHA has led her to bet-
ter understand the disparity of
privilege in Midcoast Maine
and the vast amount of work—
by both community members
and policy-makers—that is
required to create a safe and
stable environment for asylum
seekers and other vulnerable
marginalized populations.
“[I realized] that Portland
isn’t just this place where
REUBEN SCHAFIR, THE BOWDOIN ORIENT
planning things—I go with my
gut a lot.”
A flower business in Maine,
however, comes with its share
of challenges, Maloney ex-
plained. When business slows
in January and February, Pretty
Flowers plans for the coming
seasons. In winter, the business
sells wreaths, each one deco-
rated by hand with specialized
features, intricate ribbons and
colorful arrangements.
“It’s had ups and downs
because there’s a price point
people don’t want to pay. We
Bowdoin students can go to
shop around,” Hancock said.
“It’s more diverse than I ever
thought a city in Maine would
be. And learning more about
the struggles that are going
into the town policy … and
redefining what homelessness
means within a city that does
have a lot of inequality has
been really eye-opening.”
But at the end of the day,
Hancock’s work has made her
more optimistic, not less.
“Given everything—I
mean, I don’t know the details
of their home lives, but just
seeing that [a] kid has such a
positive attitude on the world
is very hopeful.”
charge $125 for ours, and they
last for a long, long time, but
people have a tough time when
they can buy one for 40 bucks
from L.L. Bean and have it sent
wherever,” Maloney said. “But
we’ve got people that have been
buying wreaths from us for 20
years, so I guess we’re doing
something right.”
Today, people can buy flow-
ers from the internet with a
simple search, which, along
with social media, Maloney
cites as a reason for the shrink-
ing of the flower market in
Boston and other specialty
orders. Maloney, however, still
values personal relationships
with vendors, customers and
employees for the success of
her business.
“I rely on [the market ven-
dors] to make sure I get the
best product, and hopefully
that’ll keep going. I do worry
if I can’t just go and depend on
those really crucial people that
helped me make my business
unique,” she said. “I lead by
example.”
Having worked in sales, Ma-
loney values the creativity and
freedom that having her own
business affords her. Her favor-
ite thing about Pretty Flowers
is “the fact that it’s mine,” she
said. “I worked for other peo-
ple for the first 30 years of my
life, and I’m glad to work for
myself.”
“I just [enjoy] making peo-
ple happy with what we can
do, being artistic, and having
a business where people ap-
preciate our artistry and want
to have us do things for them,
whether it be in their garden or
on their kitchen table.”
Friday, December 6, 2019
Russwurm Center: a missing link in the Underground Railroad?
Poke the Bear
by Sela Kay
If you’re familiar with Bow-
doin, you’re probably familiar
with the Russwurm African
American Center. This house
was constructed in 1827 and
named after John Brown Russ-
wurm, an 1826 graduate of
Bowdoin and the first African
American to receive a Bowdoin
degree.
While it now boasts the
name of one of Bowdoin’s fin-
est scholars, the building was
formerly labeled as the Pack-
ard-Smyth House—a tribute to
former Bowdoin Professor of
Ancient Language and Classi-
cal Literature Alpheus Spring
Jacob Baskes: student chef extraordinaire
Forking Around
by Will
Donaldson
The other night, I had the
immense pleasure of eating a
meal cooked by Jacob Baskes
’20, a fantastic chef and the
most eligible bachelor at Bow-
doin. Jacob and I have been
friends since our first year
when we both joined the fris-
bee team. The same year, he
spearheaded a team dinner.
He got permission from the
residents of Howell to use their
kitchen and made gourmet ta-
cos—outshining the rest of our
dishes with ease.
Jacob’s love of cooking comes
from his family; he learned to
cook from his mother, who
made dinner most nights
during his childhood. In middle
school, he even cooked for the
family from time to time.
Holidays, especially Thanks-
giving, were a production in the
Baskes household. Jacob took
inspiration from the dishes his
Packard and Professor of
Mathematics William Smyth.
Regardless of its name, this
building has stood the test of
time and been a part of nearly
two centuries of American his-
tory. Its story goes far beyond
sleepy Brunswick’s College
Street and serves as a reminder
that history can be found in the
least likely of places.
As this house has survived
hundreds of years of residen-
cy and academia, it has also
survived centuries of hidden
agendas. While sources cannot
directly prove that the house
was one of many stops on the
Underground Railroad System,
there is significant speculation
regarding its role in housing
escaped slaves during the Civil
War.
relatives prepared on those spe-
cial occasions, such as paella
and Thai basil chicken. He loves
the social aspect of cooking.
“The joy of cooking, to me, is
that it creates a celebration with
food at the center,” he said.
Cooking is just one of Jacob’s
many hobbies. He is a triath-
lete and recently competed in
the Lobsterman Triathlon. He
is also an expert guitar player;
later this year he will play in a
secret show with some of Bow-
doin’s best musicians (wouldn’t
you like to know where). Jacob
compares cooking to making
music. For him, both include
a good deal of improvisation,
since he does not cook from
recipes. He prefers to try out his
own combinations of flavors. A
good dish of food, like a good
piece of music, should be “sym-
phonic,” Jacob explained.
“I really enjoy taking the raw
ingredients and transforming
them into a beautiful meal that
people can enjoy,” Jacob said.
“It’s one of the best uses of three
hours I can imagine.”
FEATURES
One historical account
states that, “[in] about 1980,
my wife, while working at
the Peary-MacMillan Arctic
Museum, was shown a tun-
nel beneath the campus by a
custodian at the College …
from her description it seems
to be similar to those I have
seen in Topsham, [and] the
Packard-Smyth House …
[and] is thought to have been
a part of this network of safe-
houses.” From this account, it
becomes clear that not only is
there proof of tunnels under
Bowdoin’s campus, but there
have also been accounts of the
Russwurm Center’s very own
building being utilized for an
anti-slavery agenda.
And while the term “Un-
derground Railroad” is often-
Jacob makes time to cook at
Bowdoin as well; he is on the
14 meal plan, largely because
he likes to socialize in the din-
ing halls. He often cooks for his
friends on special occasions.
Last year he cooked an eight-
course meal in a Brunswick
Apartment kitchen for eight of
his friends featuring coconut
carrot soup, pan-seared sumac
salmon and steak with roasted
bok-choy, bacon fat-tomato
sauce, gooseberries and crispy
farro.
“When you’re doing some-
thing like that, timing is the
hardest part,” he said.
While making dinner for
me, Jacob pulled sliced sweet
potatoes from the oven, causing
the house’s overly sensitive fire
alarm to go off. He rushed over
to the alarm and waved a towel
at it until it died, adding the fin-
ishing touches to each dish, he
plated them and brought them
to the dining room table.
There were two courses. The
first was a cut of duck, pan-
seared with smoked paprika
times symbolic and does not
actually mean that slaves were
transported below the ground,
certain paths in Maine were, in
fact, underground. This same
source explains that tunnels
ran between several safehouses
in Brunswick and Topsham,
and some of these tunnels were
actually wide enough to allow
the comfortable passage of
horse and buggy between their
walls. So, when the author ex-
plains that the tunnels below
campus resemble those in Top-
sham, he stipulates that per-
haps Bowdoin’s tunnels served
the same abolitionist purposes
as well.
In addition, unpublished
writings from William Smyth’s
son lead readers to believe that
many fugitives passed through
then baked for 45 minutes in
the oven. Jacob poured a shal-
lot, sherry and red wine sauce
over the duck; he served it
alongside crumbled pecans and
leaks propped upright and filled
with a beet and cocoa puree.
The second was a Mediterra-
nean-inspired roasted vegetable
dish with sliced sweet potatoes,
red onions and broccoli stalk,
served with tahini sauce, lem-
on, parsley, za’atar and, to add
brightness, pomegranate.
I tried the duck first. It was
extremely tender, perfect for a
cold fall night and perked up by
the tart flavor of the sauce. The
leeks were cool and delicate.
The Mediterranean-inspired
roasted vegetable dish com-
plemented the duck perfectly,
offering a milder flavor palate
while remaining warm and rich.
Jacob does not plan to cook
professionally after Bowdoin,
but he does plan to cook for
himself and his family in the
future. He dreams of one day
owning a small restaurant and
coffee shop in Chicago. It would
their family’s home. Such writ-
ings explain that these men
and women entered their home
during the night and were gone
by dawn, signaling a clandes-
tine system. Smyth himself was
also a self-proclaimed aboli-
tionist who strongly believed
in social justice, which further
points to the likelihood of his
home’s second use as a step in
the Underground Railroad.
What makes this theory
even more plausible is that sev-
eral sources have commented
on the undeniable existence
of Underground Railroad
systems not only in Maine,
but specifically in Brunswick
as well. Many slaves seem to
have escaped through Portland
before heading either up the
coast toward Canada or fur-
TIME TO EAT: Jacob Baskes ’20 finds time to craft intricate and delicious
dishes for his friends and family at home and at Bowdoin.
serve a small tasting menu at
night and fresh pastries and
healthy breakfast bowls in the
morning, along with coffee.
Jacob Baskes is a fantastic
chef, a talented individual and a
good friend. He relishes cooking,
racing, playing guitar and mak-
ing people laugh, not because he
7
KYRA TAN
ther inland. Those who went
through Brunswick could often
rely on quilts hanging from the
porches of houses to determine
which homes were safehouses
for runaway slaves, taking this
route of escape due to its prox-
imity to Canada.
So, whether the Russwurm
Center did, in fact, physically
provide safe passage for slaves
from house to house or merely
served as a place of acceptance
and refuge, it is clear that this
building has a rich abolitionist
history. The Russwurm Center
deserves to capture Bowdoin’s
attention and we should al-
ways recognize and appreciate
the tangled history surround-
ing us. Besides … who knows
what else could be hiding on
campus?
COURTESY OF WILL DONALDSON
is competitive or ambitious, but
because of the intrinsic joy he
finds in doing those things. He
encouraged me to tell my read-
ers that he would like to cook for
you, as long as you pay him back
for ingredients.
You can follow Jacob Baskes
on Instagram @Jacobaskes.
8 SURVEY Friday, December 6, 2019

Bowdoin Orient Student Survey FALL 2019 RESULTS

Compiled by Rohini Kurup, Gwen Davidson
and Drew Macdonald

DISAPPROVAL APPROVAL
BRUNSWICK POLICE DEPT.
BRUNSWICK
ENTERTAINMENT BOARD
JUDICIAL BOARD
Strongly disapprove
THE BOWDOIN ORIENT
Disapprove
STUDENT ACTIVITIES FUNDING COMMITTEE Approve
YOUR CLASS COUNCIL Strongly approve
BSG PRESIDENT URAL MISHRA
BOWDOIN STUDENT GOVERNMENT
THE LIBRARIES
COLLEGE HOUSE SYSTEM
OFFICE OF OFF-CAMPUS STUDY
COUNSELING SERVICES
CAREER EXPLORATION AND DEVELOPMENT
DEPARTMENT OF ATHLETICS
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
HEALTH CENTER
REGISTRAR
DINING SERVICES
SAFETY AND SECURITY
RESIDENTIAL LIFE
THE FACULTY
OFFICE OF THE DEAN OF STUDENT AFFAIRS
OFFICE OF THE DEAN OF ACADEMIC AFFAIRS
PRESIDENT CLAYTON ROSE
BOWDOIN COLLEGE

100% 80%
This week, the Orient sent
out its biannual approval rating
survey, known as the Bowdoin
Orient Student Survey, to gauge
student opinion on campus in-
stitutions. The survey was sent
to all 1,973 students and yielded
504 responses (25.5 per-cent).
Like previous iterations,
this semester’s survey included
questions about demographics,
academics, lifestyle and approv-
al of campus figures and organi-
zations.
Dining Services and the fac-
ulty continue to have the high-
est approval ratings, 95.3 and
94.3 percent respectively, while
Brunswick Police Department
(BPD) again received the lowest
approval rating—15.1 percent—
and a 53.9 percent disap-proval
rating after months of tension
60% 40%
between students and the police.
President Clayton Rose’s
approval ratings dropped 17.3
percentage points from last se-
mester. His approval numbers
have been declining over the
past years, from 74.1 percent
last fall to 59.8 percent last
spring to 42.5 this semester.
Several other institutions saw
significantly decreased approval
ratings compared to last year.
Bowdoin Student Govern-ment
(BSG) president Ural Mishra
’20 received an approval rating
of 36.9 percent, a 28.5 percent
decrease from the approv-al
rating of the BSG president this
time last year. Approval of In-
formation Technology (IT) also
fell almost 12 percentage points,
likely a result of Wi-Fi issues this
semester. The Student Activities
20% 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Funding Committee’s approval
rating dropped 10 points. Do you believe the world will be
New leadership in the Office
of the Dean of Student Affairs better or worse in 25 years?
following the replacement of
Tim Foster with now-Dean of
Student Affairs Janet Lohmann Better
does not seem to have changed
student approval of the office,
remaining at around 45 per-
Worse
cent. The rebranded Career
Planning Center, now called
Career Exploration and Devel-
opment, has slightly improved
its ap-proval rating from 40.7
percent last semester to 46.5 this
45% 55%
semester.
Respondents were slightly
more optimistic than pessimis-
tic about the future, with 55
percent saying they think the
world will be better 25 years
from now.

DISAPPROVAL APPROVAL DISAPPROVAL APPROVAL

Class Year vs. Counseling Services Approval Class Year vs. Class Council Approval
2020
2020

2021
2021

2022
2022

2023 2023

40% 20% 0% 20% 40% 20% 0% 20% 40%

CLASSY DATA: Members of the Class of 2022 have the lowest approval rating and highest disapproval rating of Counseling Services. The first-year class council has the lowest approval rating, while the senior class council has the highest
approval rating. Responses from the Class of 2019 or older are not included in this graph due to small sample size.
Friday, December 6, 2019
A ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
DANCE THE NIGHT AWAY: Samara Nassor ’22 and Gabriela Inoa ’22 take center stage in a performance to culminate the Introduction to Carribean Dances and Cultures course taught by Assistant Professor of Dance Adanna Kai Jones.
Theater, dance performances highlight a semester’s work
by Julia Jennings
Orient Staff
Promising dazzling cho-
reography and powerful
theatrical pieces, the theater
and dance department will
bring the fall semester to a
close with an array of student
works. These culminating
performances will be show-
cased in the December Dance
Concert and performances of
directing class projects over
the next week.
A record number of stu-
dents took courses in the
theater and dance depart-
ment this semester. Sixteen
students are set to present
directing projects and over 70
will perform in this weekend’s
dance concert.
“It’s been really amazing
seeing how many students on
campus [are involved], from
quite a large amount of stu-
dents who are exceptionally
BODIES IN MOTION: The Making Dances and Improvisation and Partnering dance courses rehearsed extensively for the December Dance Concert. Each group will showcase their skills tonight and on Saturday at 7: 30 p.m. in Pickard Theater.
well trained, brilliant dancers
and also a bunch of students
who are dancing for the first
time,” said Lucia Gagliardone
’20, who will perform in the
show. “That full range of beau-
ty and art being displayed in
the concert is really amazing.”
The dance concert includes
choreography by Assistant
Professor of Dance Adanna
Jones, Senior Dance Lecturer
Gwyneth Jones, Adjunct Lec-
turer in Dance Shaina Canti-
no, and Visiting Professor of
Dance Vanessa Anspaugh, as
well as some student choreog-
raphy and improvised work.
Gagliardone, Bowdoin’s
first—and so far only—dance
major, will also be performing
a solo piece in the dance con-
cert, an excerpt from her se-
nior thesis which will be pre-
sented in full later this spring.
“It’s very vulnerable to show
your own work.” said Gagliar-
done. “Part of the magic of
the dance department and the
show … is the ability to share
it with the community. It’s
very reciprocal.”
Several first-time dancers
have reflected positively on
their experiences leading up
to the concert.
“Everyone when you first
get in there is kind of ner-
vous. But once everyone starts
dancing, after a couple weeks,
everyone is really comfort-
able,” said Jack Selig ’23. “And
they have a great time.”
“It’s a really good way to
try to get out of your com-
fort zone and push yourself
emotionally,” said Tess Huck-
aby ’22, a student in Making
Dances. “I’ve really enjoyed
the class, I’m really happy that
I took it.
Combining several genres
of dance, the concert will fea-
ture work from a variety of
courses including Afro-Mod-
ern II, Introduction to Carib-
bean Dances and Cultures and
Introduction and Advanced
Modern Dance, as well as
Making Dances and Impro-
visation and Partnering, two
classes that allow students to
Part of the magic of the dance
department and the show ... is
the ablity to share it with the
community. It’s very reciprocal.
–Lucia Gagliardone ’20
explore the creation of their
own dances.
The December Dance Con-
cert will take place in Pickard
Theater on December 6 and 7
at 7:30 p.m..
The next week, students
in Professor of Theater Da-
vis Robinson’s directing class
will be presenting their se-
mester’s work to the college
community.
“I’m excited to see everyone
else’s [projects],” said direct-
ing student Fiona Carey ’20.
“I think we all have a sense of
what our projects are like, but
for most of the people in the
class I haven’t actually seen
the finished product.”
The course first studies
theories of dramatic structure
and the strategic communica-
tion required for directing. In
the second half of the semes-
ter, students choose their own
10-minute scene to direct
from a play of their choice.
“It’s a very critical thinking
exercise in terms of how to
tell the story they want to tell
because some of these plays
are pretty complicated.” said
Robinson. “But on a practical
level, they’ve got to be orga-
nized, they’ve got to get their
people together, they’ve got
to get them off book [and]
they’ve got to rehearse.”
The directing projects
introduce many students to
the theater and dance depart-
ment, Robinson explained.
Each piece requires a number
9
ANN BASU, THE BOWDOIN ORIENT
of actors, allowing students
to try acting with the depart-
ment without committing to a
full-staged production.
Wayne Harding ’21 said
that the class has allowed him
to experience and experiment
with another side of theater.
Being in charge of an entire
performance can be a chal-
lenge, he explained, but it also
creates the opportunity for a
more fully realized creative
process.
“As a director, you should
know the whole play to see
how that dictates the things
you do in each scene. And
then … you have to develop
all the bits and pieces of the
puzzle to develop that jump-
ing point for your actors to
get in and start tweaking and
filling your vision,” he said.
The directing projects will
be presented in Wish Theater
on December 9 and 10 at 7
p.m..
“It’s like a quick tour of
what’s going on in the world
these days on stage,” said
Robinson. “You get ideas that
are worth entertaining, that
give you something to think
about.”
ANN BASU, THE BOWDOIN ORIENT
10 ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT Friday, December 6, 2019

Multiracial students showcase identities

ANN BASU, THE BOWDOIN ORIENT

STRENGTH IN DIVERSITY: Finny Doherty ’20, Isaac Cooper ’23, Brigita Kant ’22 and Peyton Tran ’23 were featured in the Multiracial Student Union’s portrait project which is now on display in Lamarche Gallery for the remainder of the semester.
by Sophia Burchell
Orient Staff
“What are you?”
For many members of the
Multiracial Student Union
(MRSU), this question is a
frequent probe into their ra-
cial or ethnic makeup. In a
portrait series project debuting
today in the Lamarche Gallery,
members of MRSU answer this
question in their own terms.
The project consists of por-
traits of students along with their
responses to the question “What
are you?” Members of MRSU
shared different aspects of their
identities, giving responses such
as “a woman in STEM,” “a Gem-
ini” and “full of love!”
“Sometimes asking ‘what are
you’ can be a little invasive,”
said Brigita Kant ’22, MRSU’s
secretary. “Identities are very
complex and they are a lot more
complex than where you’re
from, where your parents are
from [and] the things that you
do because each person is made
up of a lot of different parts and
a lot of different identities.”
“[The project] really re-
claims the question and shifted
away from [it] being an inher-
ently racialized question,” said
Ayana Harscoet ’21, co-found-
er of MRSU and an organizer
of the project.
MRSU was created in the
spring of last year by Harsco-
et and Flora Hamilton ’21. In
addition to the group’s weekly
dinners which began this se-
mester, members wanted to
create awareness of their pres-
ence within the broader Bow-
doin community.
The project was inspired
by other groups on campus,
particularly the Asian Student
Alliance (ASA) which put up
a portrait project earlier this
month that similarly showcas-
es students’ complex identities.
MRSU hopes to collaborate
with other affinity groups on
campus in the future.
“[This project] kind of pro-
vides a node to connect all
those groups,” said Hamilton.
Inspiration for the exhibition
was also drawn from artist Kim
Fulbeck’s “The Hapa Project,”
which features portraits of peo-
ple of mixed Asian descent also
responding to the question of
“What are you?” Harscoet and
Hamilton wanted to bring this
question to mixed students of
all racial and ethnic identities.
Members of MRSU hope
that this project can bring more
visibility to the group, both for
mixed students who may be
interested in joining and for
others who are interested in
learning about their peers.
“Given that Bowdoin is such
a white space, and that affini-
ty groups have really distinct
identities that can sometimes
be hard to access for people
who bridge a lot of those iden-
tities, [we encourage] thinking
about mixedness as another ra-
cial identity that’s really valid,”
said Harscoet.
“Maybe you know people
who have these really complex
identities but don’t really talk
about them, or they might
not be as visible,” continued
Harscoet. “This gallery space
[is] a way for people to think
about that a bit more.”
MRSU will host an opening
reception for the portrait proj-
ect in the Lamarche Gallery in
David Saul Smith Union at 7
p.m. tonight and it will remain
open until Winter Break.

Campus literary journal seeks out diverse written perspectives

by Aadhya Raminemi
Orient Staff
The Foundationalist sets
its sights beyond the Bowdoin
Bubble. The editorial maga-
zine accepts submissions from
undergraduates across the
country, regardless of genre,
length or theme.
Aleksia Silverman ’19 and
Sydney To ’19 founded The
Foundationalist in the spring
of 2018. To explained that
the title “Foundationalist”
ironically refers to Founda-
tionalism, the belief that all
knowledge must be based off
of non-inferential knowledge
or justified belief.
“It’s ironic because our
literary attitude is anti-foun-
dationalist, anti-canonical
and motivated by a wish to
embrace minor literatures and
more global critical positions,”
To said in a phone interview
with the Orient.
In its current form, the edi-
torial board, which consists of
12 members including leaders
Kyubin Kim ’22, Lily Poppen
’22 and Rachel Yang ’22, meets
weekly to read and discuss
submissions. The organization
advertises for new submis-
sions through “all-call emails,”
that they send out to as many
colleges as they can.
The board is currently re-
viewing over 100 submissions
for Volume IV, which will be
published at the end of this
month. After discussing an
individual submission, each
member assigns it an “A” for
acceptance, “B” for maybe, or
“C” for rejection. Sometimes
the board suggests specific
revisions, allowing writers to
edit their work and resubmit.
As of the last volume, The
Foundationalist published 24
percent of the total submis-
sions it received.
Board meetings are an open
platform for members to ex-
press their opinions on sub-
missions which vary greatly in
style and worldview. One ex-
ample is a coded poem written
by a Texas A&M student.
Kim appreciates these devi-
ations from the artistic norms
she feels dominate Bowdoin.
“I feel like Bowdoin of-
tentimes teaches in one style
which is academic, and even
in creative writing there’s a
distinct creative writing style
that you notice Bowdoin stu-
dents have … quirky, satirical,
dark but funny,” said Kim.
Co-leader Poppen ex-
pressed a similar sentiment,
highlighting The Foundation-
alist’s emphasis on diverse
written perspectives.
“Careers in English range
from creative writing to edito-
rial experience to copy editing,
et cetera,” she said. “And we’d
love to make a really holistic
writing scene [at Bowdoin].”
Nailah Khoory ’22 and
Liam Healy ’22 appreciate
that The Foundationalist
offers them an opportunity
to read diverse student per-
spectives, Khoory has gained
knowledge that she is able
to incorporate in her poetry
class this semester.
“What we talked about last
year in The Foundationalist…
I’ve applied that to my poetry
class, and vice versa into The
Foundationalist,” Khoory said.
“It adds another layer when
reading a professional poet’s
work and then reading stu-
dents’ work.”
The Foundationalist’s arti-
cles are published on a data-
base called Academia through
Bowdoin College’s English
Department, where they have
accrued around 11,000 views.
While the publication’s leaders
would like to create a maga-
zine, they are unsure how they
would share a paper publica-
tion with people around the
world. In the future, when the
organization has grown, lead-
ers hope the publication will
include photography and art.
While The Foundational-
ist has a chapter at Yale Uni-
versity and is soon opening
one at the University of Iowa,
Yang expressed difficulty in
expanding the club’s reach to
Bowdoin students.
She explained, however,
that the Foundationalist plans
to collaborate with other lit-
erary presences on campus
to advertise and attract more
members.
“We have a vision for the
future,” Yang said.

It’s never too early to be thinking about

gifts for the holiday season...
No pressure, but nine out of 10 Orient editors recommend a
subscription to the Orient as the perfect gift.

HAPPY ADD/DROP I
You don’t need instructor permission to add the Bowdoin
Orient to your doorstep.
bowdoinorient.com/subscribe
Friday, December 6, 2019
S SPORTS
Hope, the Springboks’ most powerful weapon
The Sideline
Story
by Julius Long
On June 24, 1995, what is like-
ly the most iconic image in rug-
by history was captured in Ellis
Park Stadium in Johannesburg.
Then-President of South Africa
Nelson Mandela stood proudly
on the podium congratulating
then-Springboks captain Fran-
cois Pienaar, an Afrikaaner man,
before handing him the Webb
Ellis Rugby World Cup trophy.
This summer, that photo was rec-
reated, this time featuring South
Africa’s recently-elected Presi-
dent Cyril Ramaphosa and the
Springboks’ first black Test match
captain, Siya Kolisi.
The political significance of
South Africa’s 1995 World Cup
victory is widely known. It was
a rebirth for the Springboks as a
symbol of Mandela’s post-apart-
heid rainbow nation, rather
than the team being an emblem
of racial segregation, which it
represented for almost a centu-
ry before that. The Springboks
would remain a special part of
the Mandela presidency, one of
the many tools he would use in
his efforts to heal the wounds of
apartheid. Kolisi’s captaincy and
this summer’s World Cup victory
might not hold the same level of
political significance, but it has
surely made a difference in lifting
what can only be described as a
broken national spirit.
After Elite Eight run, volleyball looks ahead
by Dylan Sloan
Orient Staff
This season was one of
highs and lows for Bowdoin
volleyball. Coming hot off the
heels of a run to the NCAA
Sweet Sixteen and a NESCAC
Championship in 2018, the
UP, UP AND AWAY: Cori Gray ’22 leaps up for the kill in a home match against Bates earlier this season. After a historic run to the NCAA Elite Eight last month,
the volleyball team is not resting on its laurels, already anticipating how the experience gained from this tournament will set up future years’ teams for success.
As Mandela once said, sport
has the power to change the
world, and in many ways, that
1995 World Cup victory did. But
24 years after that iconic victory,
it is evident that the residue of
apartheid still stains the fabric of
the nation.
In terms of wealth distribu-
tion, South Africa is the most
unequal country in the world,
according to a 2018 World Bank
report. Years of corruption under
Ramaphosa’s predecessor, Jacob
Zuma, contributed to setbacks af-
ter years of progress before 2011.
Poverty levels still follow racial
lines, with only one percent of
white South Africans living be-
low the poverty line. Unemploy-
ment is at 29 percent, and more
than half of working-age South
Africans below the age of 35 live
without jobs.
In recent years, tensions over
the social and economic condi-
tions in South Africa have spilled
into the streets in the form of pro-
tests and riots. Just as economic
inequalities have deepened, so
has the disillusion of the country’s
black, biracial and ethnic groups
who account for over 90 percent
of the population.
Where Kolisi is from, the
prospects for prosperity are slim.
Growing up in the impoverished
township of Zwide, he vividly
recalls the food insecurity, crime
and violence that he faced until
receiving a scholarship to Port
Elizabeth’s top boys’ school. He
humbly reflects on the fact that
Polar Bears started the season
slowly, sinking to a 4-6 record
near the end of September.
From those depths, howev-
er, Bowdoin surged, with a
14-game winning streak, and
qualified for the NCAA Elite
Eight for just the second time
in program history, making
when South Africa last won the
World Cup in 2007, he did not
have a TV at home to watch it
on. Despite being among the
first generation of South Afri-
cans to grow up without govern-
ment-sanctioned segregation and
economic restrictions, Kolisi was
never supposed to make it out of
poverty. He was never supposed
to play rugby at the professional
level. And he was never supposed
to captain the Springboks. But
the improbability of his
success is what has
turned him into such
an inspiring figure—
perhaps because it is
reminiscent of Man-
dela’s improbable
rise as South
this season quantifiably one of
the team’s finest.
New England college vol-
leyball has traditionally been
underrepresented at the na-
tional level, with teams from
California and the Midwest
generally dominating the tour-
nament bracket and winner’s
GRAHAM BENDICKSON, THE BOWDOIN ORIENT
Africa’s first black president.
Zwide today is not much dif-
ferent from how Kolisi remem-
bers it as a kid. The rugby pitch he
grew up playing on is still lined
with patches of gravel. The dan-
gers of poverty and marginaliza-
tion still linger. But one thing has
changed—the amount of hope
and optimism throughout the
town and the nation at large.
In “Notes to the Future,”
Mandela tells us that, “hope is a
powerful weapon and
one [that] no one
power on earth
list. However, in the past few
years, NESCAC teams—most
notably Bowdoin and Tufts,
who combined have qualified
for the NCAA championship
tournament three times in the
past five years—have started
to buck this trend.
The Polar Bears qualified
can deprive you of.” While the
legacy of apartheid still casts a
dark shadow over the Rainbow
Nation, Kolisi and his Springboks
are reminding South Africans
and the world just how powerful
that weapon can be.
As the Springboks gear up for
the 2020 Summer Olympics in
Japan, they’ll undoubtedly have
the backing of an entire nation.
There is mutual understanding
between the players, coaches, and
politicians that the people’s hope
and patience is, at least in part,
contingent on the team’s success.
But, win or lose, Kolisi will re-
main a much-needed source
of inspiration for the black
South Africans that pro-
test in hopes of redefin-
ing their all too slender
odds of prosperity.
A just 1.04 goals per game
BEZILL
EMMA
for the NCAA Elite Eight for
just the second time in pro-
gram history last month, trav-
elling to Cedar Rapids, Iowa,
to compete in the champion-
ship tournament. Ultimately,
it was Carthage College out
of Kenosha, Wisc. that ended
Bowdoin’s remarkable season,
defeating the Polar Bears in
a three-set sweep. Carthage
then lost to eventual nation-
al runners-up Emory in the
semifinal.
After Bowdoin secured a
thrilling victory over Tufts
in the regional semifinal and
a relatively easy victory over
Johnson and Wales Universi-
ty to capture the regional title
that sent Bowdoin to the finals,
Carthage proved a stubborn
opponent. The Polar Bears only
came close in the third set, los-
ing 25-22, but that proved too
little and too late to resuscitate
the team’s semifinal hopes.
“Carthage was a solid team
that was very difficult to
score on,” wrote Head Coach
Erin Cady in an email to the
Orient. “Knowing that now, I
would have prepared our team
for longer rallies.”
Despite losing in the first
round of the championship
tournament, Bowdoin’s per-
formance is inspiring not just
for the program but for the
conference at large.
“The fact that in the past
Please see VOLLEYBALL, page 13
11
HIGHLIGHT
REEL
SCIPION TOP:
Sophie Barber ’23 and
Deven Kanwal ’23 were both
named NESCAC Players of
the Week for women’s and
men’s squash, respectively,
following the pair of first-
years’ performances against
Hamilton and Wesleyan
on November 23 and 24.
Barber came back from
a first-game loss against
Hamilton to win three
straight and narrowly clinch
victory. Kanwal, playing at
first position on the ladder,
swept his weekend matches
and led the men’s team to
back-to-back team victories,
propelling the Polar Bears to
their best start since 2007.
LOCKDOWN D, ALL-
REGION TEAM THREE:
In the final round of
individual postseason
accolades, Morgen
Gallagher ’20 was named
Third Team All-Region by
the United Soccer Coaches
Association. Gallagher, a
defender on the women’s
soccer team, moved from an
attacking midfield to a more
defensive role this season
for the Polar Bears and
was a stalwart in one of the
NESCAC’s most consistent
defenses—Bowdoin allowed
over the course of the
season. This award capped
a standout four-year career
for Gallagher, who started all
16 games for all four of her
years on the team.
HITTING THE BOOKS:
Seventy-four Bowdoin fall
athletes were named to the
NESCAC All-Academic
team, which honors
students in sophomore
year and beyond who have
maintained at least a 3.5
unweighted GPA. All-
Sportsmanship awards are
handed out by the NESCAC
Student-Athlete Advisory
Committee to one athlete
on each team. Five Bowdoin
athletes—Dani Abrams ’20
(volleyball), Edward Bull
’20 (men’s cross country),
Joe Gowetski ’20 (football),
Lizzie Sands ’20 (women’s
soccer) and Kate Toll ’20
(women’s cross country)—
were named to both the all
All-Academic and All-
Sportsmanship teams.
YOU’RE THE
(SCHWARZ)MAN,
JERRY:
Bowdoin alumnus and former
tennis standout Jerry Jiang ’19
was awarded a Schwarzman
Scholarship this past week.
He was one of 148 winners
from a pool of close to 5,000
applicants. The scholarship is a
prestigious award that pays for
a year of graduate school at
Tsinghua University in Beijing,
China. Jiang, last year’s tennis
captain, won the Division
III Doubles Championship
along with co-captain Grant
Urken ’19. He holds the
record for most doubles wins
in Bowdoin history and is
currently coaching tennis at
Claremont, Mudd and Scripps
colleges before he departs for
Beijing next fall to continue his
studies.
COMPILED BY DYLAN SLOAN
12 SPORTS Friday, December 6, 2019

‘Love the fight’: women’s

basketball enters season
of high expectations
by Andrew Chang
Orient Staff
For the past two years, the
women’s basketball team made
it to the NCAA Division III
championship game. The fact
that both appearances resulted
in losses should not overshadow
the magnitude of what the team
has accomplished: to be one of
two teams standing after 424 oth-
ers have fallen is itself a historic
achievement.
“It’s so hard to get to where
we’ve been the last few years,” said
Head Coach Adrienne Shibles.
“And so while I’m disappointed
we fell short, I’m just incredibly
proud [of the team] and what
we’ve accomplished.”
Less than a month into a new
season, the team has continued
its streak of excellence, surging
to a record of 6-0 after taking
down Bates 59-42 last night in
Lewiston. The team has done so
despite the losses of four senior
players, including Abby Kelly
’19, who became the 15th player
in Bowdoin women’s basket-
ball history to score over 1,000
points—making her one of the
highest-performing players the
program has ever seen—and
Taylor Choate ’19, an All-NES-
CAC defensive player.
In their absence, previous role
players and even first years have
stepped up. Sela Kay ’22 and Moi-
ra Train ’21 have been consistent
performers this season and have
seen their scoring tallies increase
from 5.7 to 10.8 points per game
and 3.7 to 12.0 points per game,
respectively. Encouragingly, first-
year guards Ali Meade ’23 and
Megan Tan ’23 have also provid-
ed valuable minutes off the bench
right away.
Co-captain Samantha Roy ’20,
was especially impressed by the
first-year players.
“Our five first years are ab-
solutely amazing. They’re great
basketball players. And there
hasn’t been one time this year
where, as a senior captain, I’ve
second-guessed their commit-
ment to the program … They’re
so special,” she said.
Despite surging to a number of
lopsided early-season victories, in-
cluding an 83-47 win over Univer-
sity of Southern Maine and 80-35
trouncing of Colby-Sawyer, both
Shibles and Roy are aware that the
team’s play is far from perfect.
Shibles, in particular, pointed
to the first half against last Sat-
urday’s 66-40 win over Massa-
chusetts Institute of Technology
(1-6), in which Bowdoin strug-
gled and trailed by 11 points. The
team finished the half down 21-
25, shooting just 31 percent from
the field. Bowdoin bounced back
to outscore MIT in the second
half, 45-15. The comfortable final
scoreline is deceptive, for the win
was not easy.
“[A game] may look like a
blowout, [but] when we go back
and review the film, there are
generally a lot of things that we
need to improve on,” said Roy.
“So the scores right now aren’t
that important to us.”
Both Shibles and Roy are
committed to constant improve-
ment. According to Roy, this
sort of commitment is central to
the team culture, which has also
made it easier for the first-year
players to become integrated into
the atmosphere.
“Since the standards have al-
ready been set, it’s the first years’
job to come in and maintain
them,” Roy explained. “[Our
culture] revolves around our
high standards, and the way we
conduct ourselves as Bowdoin
students and athletes. That’s
everything from when you run
a sprint you touch the line to if
you have to miss a practice for
something school related, you
communicate with Coach as
soon as possible.”
In Shibles’ view, this is also im-
portant to a young team that has
to figure out its identity on the fly
while under pressure to perform.
ANN BASU, THE BOWDOIN ORIENT
OFF TO THE RACES: The women’s
basketball team has stormed to an early
7-0 start this season, setting a high bar
for the start of NESCAC play in January.
Samantha Roy ’20, right, and Maddie
Hasson ’20, above, square up against
opponents from Hunter College in the
first round of last year’s NCAA Division III
Tournament, a 93-73 Bowdoin victory.
“I love the fact that the team
motto for this year is ‘Love the
Fight.’ I really think it speaks to
the fact that we did lose a big core
of our team and we have a young
group ... there are going to be
those moments of adversity. And
in those moments, you’ve got to
love those challenges and have
a positive attitude about rising,”
Shibles said.
Thus far, the team seems to be
doing just fine.
“Everyone around here has
certain expectations about what with at times. We have to just The team will continue its
these women should be doing,” stay focused on the process and pre-NESCAC matches this
continued Shibles. “And that kind stay together. And if we do those Saturday at home against Col-
of pressure can be tough to deal things, we’ll be good.” by at 3 p.m.

Sophomore stars spark Bowdoin swim and dive squads

by Thomas McEvoy
Orient Staff
The men’s and women’s swim
and dive teams opened their
respective seasons with a joint
meet against Worcester Poly-
technic Institute (WPI) (Wom-
en 6-5, Men 3-6) and the Massa-
chusetts Institute of Technology
(MIT) (Women 4-1, Men 4-1)
on November 23. Coming off of
a disappointing seventh-place
NESCAC finish last winter, the
women’s team tallied an en-
couraging 220-78 win over WPI
while falling to MIT 185-113.
The men’s team, finished fourth
at NESCAC championships ear-
lier this year, but was swept by
both opponents.
Despite a 1-3 aggregate per-
formance, promising individual
performances will give the Polar
Bears hope for the remainder of
the season. Sophomores Kate
Fosburgh and Ted Mebust both
took home NESCAC Swimmer
of the Week honors.
After achieving moderate
success in their respective
2018-2019 seasons, several
key contributors graduated on
both the men’s and women’s
teams this past May. However,
Bowdoin’s underclassmen were
well-represented at NCAA DIII
Championships last March,
with a number of returning
swimmers qualifying for finals
at that meet.
“We graduated a few people
who certainly contributed a
ton during their career, and I
think that they, as you hope for
in a team, passed along work
ethic and an example of how
to improve throughout your
career,” said Head Coach Brad
Burnham.
Burnham continued, “We
have a lot of kids this year, re-
turning kids, who really got that
[work ethic], and I think under-
stand how [our team mentality]
works.”
Discussing the improve-
ments that swimmers make
between their first and second
years on the team, Burnham
added, “First-years can go al-
most any direction, and then
what we really love is when
people build on their experi-
ences and take ... what they’ve
learned [and are] ... ready to do
the right thing [when they hit]
sophomore year.”
Both the men’s and women’s
teams have a robust base of
young talent to turn to. Mebust
and Fosburgh, for example,
have already demonstrated
their ability to both build off of
their first-year experiences and
lead the 2019-2020 squad.
After a largely successful
first year campaign that end-
ed with an underwhelming
performance at NESCAC
championships, Fosburgh
trained hard all offseason to
refine her stroke technique.
Fosburgh won the 200 free-
style race, placed second in
the 100 freestyle race, and
placed third in the 100 fly
with a time of 59.02 seconds.
“I really focused on like
changing some things in my
technique … throughout the
spring and summer, I was really
working hard on changing some
little things about my stroke
that I had talked to [Burnham]
about during the season,” said
Fosburgh. “I’ve been working
with [Burnham] a lot. And he’s
so great at helping you with
your goals.”
Mebust, on the other hand,
compiled two separate top-
three finishes and contributed
to a medley relay team that
placed third. He credits some
of his early-season success to
“much more technique-driven
practicing,” also noting that he
has benefitted from “starting off
the season knowing what to ex-
pect, and training towards that.”
Looking ahead to the remain-
der of the season, Burnham
noted the significance of small,
incremental improvements.
“I always sort of talk about
just improving one percent
better than you were last year
... one percent better for ev-
erybody on the team would be
a massive improvement and a
really great accomplishment,”
Burnham said.
Both Mebust and Fosburgh
believe that they still have room
for improvement, and that they
hope to further refine certain
aspects of their technique.
“There are still so many
things I can work on and im-
prove on,” said Fosburgh. “Even
just last week after this meet, we
started focusing a lot on turns
and that’s somewhere I can
definitely improve … and that’s
what I want … if I’m going to
keep improving like this I just
have to keep working on the
little things.”
Although swim and dive may
celebrate individual achieve-
ments, both Fosburgh and Me-
bust highlighted the importance
of prioritizing team success over
personal accolades. Mebust
even commended swimmers’
ability to “be a part of some-
thing bigger than themselves.”
“Everybody wants the ab-
solute best for their teammates
because if you’re swimming well
individually and your team-
mates are swimming well indi-
vidually, that obviously means
you’re going to swim better as a
team,” Fosburgh said.

COURTESY OF BRIAN BEARD

GOING FOR A DIP: The women’s and men’s swimming and diving teams competed against Worcester Polytechnic Institute and Massachusetts Institute of Technology in their first meet of the season two weeks ago, finishing 1-3 combined.
Friday, December 6, 2019 SPORTS 13

NESCAC Standings Men’s basketball gears up for

MEN’S BASKETBALL
NESCAC OVERALL
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
NESCAC OVERALL
NESCAC play after winter break
SCHOOL W L W L SCHOOL W L W L
build our team chemistry.” the whole complexion of the
Amherst 0 0 3 2 Amherst 0 0 3 1 by Tianyi Xu The team routinely profiles team changes for whatever
Bates 0 0 4 1 Bates 0 0 3 4 Orient Staff other teams to review oppo- reason,” said Gilbride. “So you
Bowdoin 0 0 3 4 Bowdoin 0 0 7 0 After a 72-58 non-conference nents’ strategic strengths and really have to look at each year
Colby 0 0 8 0 Colby 0 0 3 3 loss to Bates on Thursday, the weaknesses. Gilbride said anew and … maximize what-
men’s basketball team stands at Thursday’s game against Bates ever strengths that team might
Conn. Coll. 0 0 3 4 Conn. Coll. 0 0 3 3
3-4 heading into its final game could serve as a good future be showing.”
Hamilton 0 0 7 0 Hamilton 0 0 5 1 of the fall semester on Sunday reference and give insight into Ferraro said that this year’s
Middlebury 0 0 7 0 Middlebury 0 0 6 0 at UMaine Farmington. Ahead Bates’ style of play. team is more cohesive and has
Trinity 0 0 4 4 Trinity 0 0 6 1 of the beginning of conference Gilbride added that coach- improved maneuvers special-
play after winter break, the chal- ing the team means balancing ized for different opponents
Tufts 0 0 5 1 Tufts 0 0 6 0 lenge for the team will be gain- individual strengths and group predicated upon past experi-
Wesleyan 0 0 4 2 Wesleyan 0 0 6 2 ing momentum to start strong efficiency. ence. He stressed that develop-
Williams 0 0 4 2 Williams 0 0 6 0 once it returns. “The fun challenge is trying ing a group identity is instru-
Before Thursday’s game, to maximize the strength of in- mental to improving games and
SCHEDULE SCHEDULE Head Coach Tim Gilbride said dividuals … and figure out what creating solidarity.
Sun 12/8 @ UMaine Farmington 2 P.M. Sat 12/7 v. Colby 2 P.M. that the team was optimistic combination of players work “We are [still] forming our
and motivated heading into best together,” said Gilbride. identity, and hopefully with
Tues 12/10 v. UMaine Farming- 7 P.M. this season’s first game against a Despite the departure of key more practice and more games,
ton NESCAC opponent. players in last year’s graduating that identity will come togeth-
“We’ve improved since the class, Gilbride remains satisfied er,” said Ferraro.
MEN’S ICE HOCKEY WOMEN’S ICE HOCKEY beginning of the year, and I with the general direction of the Despite a 4-6 NESCAC finish
NESCAC OVERALL NESCAC OVERALL think that it’s a positive trend,” team and praised the efforts of last season that saw the team
SCHOOL W L T W L T SCHOOL W L T W L T said Gilbride. “I’m hoping that players from all class years. miss out on the conference
that continues as we head into “We’re trying to blend to- playoffs, the Polar Bears are op-
Trinity 4 0 0 7 0 0 Colby 4 0 0 5 0 0 games for second semester.” gether some new players with timistic that this year can yield
Williams 4 0 0 5 1 0 Middlebury 3 0 1 4 0 2 According to captain Stephen some veteran players,” said Gil- different results.
Middlebury 3 1 0 4 2 0 Bowdoin 2 2 0 4 2 1 Ferraro ’20, the team learned bride. “We have guys who can “The beauty of the confer-
Wesleyan 2 2 0 3 3 0 Conn. Coll. 2 2 0 4 3 0 from its early-season losses, step up and fill different roles ence is that there is not much
including a 78-77 overtime loss … some younger guys contrib- difference between the top
Amherst 1 2 0 2 3 1 Williams 2 2 0 4 3 0 to the University of Southern uting with some older guys. I’m teams and the bottom teams,”
Bowdoin 1 2 0 3 3 0 Amherst 1 2 1 2 2 2 Maine which put the team at 1-2 happy with the progress we’ve said Gilbride. “It’s not like who-
Colby 1 2 0 3 3 0 Hamilton 1 3 0 2 3 0 after the first three games. How- made.” ever the bottom team is can’t
Hamilton 1 2 0 2 4 0 Trinity 0 2 0 2 3 0 ever, despite those setbacks, the Gilbride emphasized that upset the top teams.”
team looks forward to starting each year’s team makeup is Ferraro said the conference’s
Conn. Coll. 1 3 0 2 4 0 Wesleyan 0 2 0 3 2 0 the next semester with renewed unique, and this means adapt- strength pushes the players to
Tufts 0 4 0 1 6 0 SCHEDULE determination. ing in accordance with the be more ambitious in their en-
“We’re definitely headed in team’s distinctive personality in deavors.
SCHEDULE Tues 12/10 @ Univ. of Southern 7 P.M. the right direction,” said Ferra- any given year. “I think it’s just tougher, but
Fri 12/6 v. Conn. College 7 P.M. Maine ro. “Even in the losses, I think “Every year is completely it brings out the best in us,” said
there are good signs of a lot different. It’s interesting be- Ferraro.
Sat 12/7 v. Tufts 3 P.M. Compiled by Dylan Sloan of potential within our team. cause there have been years The team’s final game before
Sources: Bowdoin Athletics, NESCAC [With] more practice and more where you return the exact Winter Break is on Sunday at 2
time to work together, [we will] same list of players and yet … p.m. away at UMaine Farmington.

VOLLEYBALL practice schedules and differ-

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 11
three years there’s been a NES-
CAC team in the Elite Eight
shows that the conference is
getting a lot stronger,” said
captain Caroline Flaharty ’20.
Qualifying for the NCAA
championship is a rare and
exciting experience for any
Bowdoin team, and the Polar
Bears took full advantage of
the tournament experience.
“[We tried to allow] our-
selves to enjoy each moment,”
wrote Cady. “We enjoyed
traveling, our community
outreach program with the
Special Olympics, practices,
the banquet and just having
another opportunity to be to-
gether as a team.”
“Right from the start, it was
a really special experience,”
added captain Dani Abrams
’20. “Walking into the hotel,
they had all these giant NCAA
stickers everywhere and the
room keys had NCAA volley-
ball written on them. Every-
thing about it felt like it was
planned to the T.”
In such a competitive set-
ting, the challenge for Bow-
doin was staying centered
and focused on the game
rather than the excitement of
the tournament experience.
The teams were given plenty
of space to mingle with each
other, but Abrams said it was
challenging to get too friendly
with future opponents.
“We talked to some of the
coaches from the other teams,
and everyone was friendly,
but every [team] had different
ent meeting [times] and people
were doing work in different
spaces,” said Abrams. “There
was some interaction, but ev-
eryone was in their own zone ...
It’s hard to strike up conversa-
tion with someone you’re about
to play the next day, so you
didn’t see many bonds being
made, but there were definitely
some fun interactions of getting
to know people’s personalities.”
The Final Four remains
uncharted territory for any
NESCAC volleyball program.
Bowdoin is the team that has
made it the closest, qualify-
ing for the Elite Eight twice.
Wesleyan and Tufts have also
made tournament appearanc-
es in recent years.
Making the leap from qual-
ifying for the NCAA champi-
onship tournament to becom-
ing one of the nation’s top four
teams is on the horizon for
Bowdoin, and this year’s per-
formance will set a precedent
for future teams. Experience
participating in such an event,
especially for underclassmen,
will be vital if the team is to
eclipse this fall’s performance
in future years.
“Experience is one huge
thing. [The 2015 team] made
it to the Elite Eight, and they
had that experience ... but
this year, none of us did,” said
Abrams. “Hopefully, we’re able
to break the five-year cycle
and get some girls back there
who have already been [to the
tournament] and want more.”
“Experiencing the Elite
Eight will be key to future
success,” added Cady. “Not
only will it motivate us to push
to get back to the Elite Eight,
next time we will be prepared
and know what to expect.”
Led by a strong core of first
years and sophomores, the
team will be loaded with play-
ers who have experience not
just going to, but playing in
these postseason matches. First
years Jaida Hodge-Adams and
Ella Haugen saw significant
playing time all year, and both
made appearances on the court
throughout the NESCAC play-
offs and NCAA tournament.
With this year’s success in
context, Bowdoin will surely
be the team to beat in the New
England region next fall. How-
ever, the Polar Bears remain
unfazed by that top-dog status.
“This year, the underdog
mentality and knowing we had
to earn everything we were
going to get … was definitely
what worked for this team,” said
Abrams. “I think [next year’s
team] will have to work at the
beginning of the season with
the realization that they have a
different team, and they need to
find what messaging works for
that team in that moment.”
One attribute remains
constant: the desire to suc-
ceed and return to the NCAA
championships in search of
that elusive Final Four spot.
“Honestly, we are going to
work to eliminate the idea that
we have a target on our back
and focus on how we com-
pete,” wrote Cady. “We are so
excited to get back in season!”
Editor’s Note: Caroline Fla- DIEGO VELASQUEZ, THE BOWDOIN ORIENT
harty ’20 is a member of the EVASIVE MANEUVERS: Men’s basketball captain Zavier Rucker ’20 dribbles away from a Babson defender in a 76-66
Bowdoin Orient. home loss to the Beavers last Sunday. The team has started the season 3-4 ahead of the start of NESCAC play in January.
14 Friday, December 6, 2019

O OPINION
Maine should take the lead
It is time for the state of Maine to be a leader.
Individual towns throughout the state of Maine—Portland, South Port-
Ava DuVernay is a true
land, Bar Harbor and, most recently, Brunswick—are already setting an ex-
ample. Each has recently passed a resolution declaring a climate emergency,
putting them in the company of cities such as San Francisco and New York
City.
At the urging of student activists—many of them students—throughout
diamond in the rough Park Five,”—Kevin Richardson and
the state, these town councils and communities have made a powerful state- Raymond Santana, both age 14,
ment. We call on the Maine State Legislature to follow suit.
Real Talk Antron McCray and Yusef Sa-
by Jared Cole
It is time for Maine to declare a climate emergency. laam, both age 15, and Korey
Maine would be the first state to do so—a fitting move, since it is especially Wise, age 16—who were all
vulnerable to the repercussions of continued inaction and increasing global As a cinema studies minor and wrongfully accused of raping
warming. The Gulf of Maine is warming more rapidly than 99 percent of the someone who is highly interested in Trisha Meili, a 28-year-old
world’s oceans, which could lead to the collapse of our iconic lobster indus- a career in the film industry, I do not white woman jogging
try. In addition, seasonal flooding will endanger vulnerable coastal commu- think that it is discussed enough just through Central Park. At
nities, and farmers will see decreased agricultural productivity and increased how inspiring director Ava DuVernay the mercy of the NYPD,
unpredictability. In short, our state and the people in it will suffer. is. In conjunction with DuVernay’s all five boys were beat-
Governor Janet Mills has already taken action against climate change. She’s rise, the dearth of female filmmakers en and coerced into
committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 45 percent by 2030 and is another topic that I think often goes confessing to the crime
by 80 percent by 2050. She has also committed to ensuring that Maine is under the radar. I have taken a num- that they did not com-
carbon neutral by 2050. These actions signal that the state has begun to rec- ber of cinema studies courses at Bow- mit. It is a truly grim
ognize the severity of the problems that it, this nation and the world face. It doin, and looking around the rooms and heartbreaking
seems like a natural next step to recognize climate change for what it is: an over the years I know that there is not narrative, and I can-
emergency. a lack of women in the film industry. not say enough good
Declaring a climate emergency delivers a mandate for further policy ac- However, when I think about the best things about the way
tion, regulation and education. It also calls for a commitment to fund these directors of all time or even the best DuVernay illustrated
initiatives. It mobilizes communities around the common and increasingly directors in the industry today, I do it. Thanks to top-
daunting threat of a planet transformed by greenhouse gas emissions. not think that there is a single female notch performances
This is not an empty gesture. In a nation where it seems impossible to even director that comes to mind, outside across the board,
agree that climate change is occurring, we lose vital, nonrenewable time in of DuVernay, and that is a problem. with Jharrel Jerome
debating the facts. Though there is a clear lack of fe- of “Moonlight” as Ko-
SHONA ORTIZ
Maine must be on the side of scientific consensus, particularly given how male directors in Hollywood, it is rey Wise standing out
much it stands to lose in the coming years. Declaring a climate emergency hardly surprising given Hollywood’s in particular, I would
unequivocally places Maine on the only side that offers any hope for a better long history of misogyny on and off go as far as to say that it is
future. the screen. Filmmaking is an indus- the most emotionally-grip-
We are grateful for the actions of Bowdoin students who are working for try that was started by men for men, ping narrative I have seen since is already a deficiency of black male
climate justice, including the members and leaders of Bowdoin Climate Ac- which is a big part of why there is Steve McQueen’s “12 Years a Slave.” directors in the industry, but I cannot
tion. They have done and continue to do all that they can to further this an absence of women in directorial DuVernay’s “When They See Us” is even think of another black female di-
cause. Now, it is up to our elected leaders to hear the fear and urgency in roles today. Throughout Hollywood’s so much more than a poignant story, rector that has found the success that
young people’s voices and enact legislation that will respond to the needs of “illustrious” history, men have made however. The miniseries also clearly DuVernay has. I have definitely found
our planet and our communities. films fetishizing and domesticating defines DuVernay as an artist and au- it intriguing that during my four years
In the face of this coming crisis, it is no longer enough to follow. It is time women for the pleasure of male view- teur rather than simply a storyteller. If at Bowdoin, I have almost always been
for Maine to lead. ers. Therefore it is no surprise that you have seen “Selma” or “13th,” then the only black student in my film class-
even in 2019, women are still objec- you will surely love “When They See es, if not one of two or three. Even so,
This editorial represents the majority view of the Bowdoin Orient’s editorial tified and underrated by a historical- Us.” If not, then I would still label it as I do not think that there is a lack of
board, which is composed of Emily Cohen, Brianna Cunliffe, Roither Gonzales, ly male-dominated industry, which a must-see miniseries. interest in the film industry from the
Alyce McFadden, Nina McKay and Reuben Schafir. makes DuVernay’s journey to the top It is, however, quite disappointing black community, though there may be
that much more impressive. that DuVernay has not been offered a lack of belief in being able to “make
I admittedly had not heard of Du- any Hollywood blockbuster films to it big.” Nevertheless, what DuVernay
Vernay until her social media-shatter- direct given all her recent success in has been able to do in the film indus-
ing Netflix drama/biopic miniseries, the industry. I have heard DuVer- try as a black woman is truly both in-
“When They See Us.” Before “When nay express in an interview with The spiring and monumental, and one can
They See Us,” DuVernay was most Guardian that she would love to make only hope that her success will open
ESTABLISHED 1871 well-known for her award-winning a film like “John Wick 3,” but that she the door for other talented women to
films “Selma” and “13th,” which I is mainly only offered historical films make a splash in the industry. The film
bowdoinorient.com orient@bowdoin.edu 6200 College Station Brunswick, ME 04011
still have yet to see but hope to in the or films about women or black people. industry as a whole can only benefit
near future. After seeing “When They Once again, this is hardly surprising and improve from more female per-
The Bowdoin Orient is a student-run weekly publication dedicated to providing news and information See Us,” I am confident that I will be given Hollywood’s history of racism spectives. Melina Matsoukas is anoth-
relevant to the Bowdoin community. Editorially independent of the College and its administrators,
blown away by those films as well. and misogyny, and it is a real shame er rising black female director, and it
the Orient pursues such content freely and thoroughly, following professional journalistic standards in
Like many others, I had never heard that DuVernay’s talent and versatility will be interesting to see how she does
writing and reporting. The Orient is committed to serving as an open forum for thoughtful and diverse
discussion and debate on issues of interest to the College community. of the Central Park Jogger case from are not being tested and put on full with her debut film “Queen and Slim,”
1989 before watching the miniseries, display the way they should be. written by award-winning writer Lena
and it was great to see such a tragic Regardless, I have a lot of respect Waithe and starring Daniel Kaluuya.
Editor in Chief Editor in Chief case finally brought into the spotlight for DuVernay having been able to Sophia Takal’s “Black Christmas” pro-
Emily Cohen Alyce McFadden thanks to DuVernay. The miniseries break into the film industry not just as duced by Blumhouse is another film to
chronicles the story of the “Central a woman, but as a black woman. There look out for.
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WILL YOU MISS US?
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A&E Editor
Cole van Miltenburg
Answer at bowdoinorient.com/poll.
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Opinion Editor
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Lily Randall
Last issue’s response:
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Q: HAVE YOU GOTTEN A PARKING TICKET WHILE
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AT BOWDOIN?
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Friday, December 6, 2019
Gen Z and the ‘memeisphere’
The FoxBox
by Jared Foxhall
It took only a matter of
hours after taking the PSAT
in high school before Arthur
the aardvark, clutching a
disposable camera in his fist,
appeared on Twitter. The cap-
tion: “When Juan Ribero re-
fuses to teach you how to use
your Kodak #psat.” I don’t at
all remember what this meant
or what section of the test it
was referring to. But in 2016,
teachers told students to
swear not to discuss any part
of the test on social media. In
flagrant opposition, we man-
aged to rapidly Tweet #psat
over 100,000 times. What sur-
faced was a general acknowl-
edgment of the absurdity of
standardized testing. Long
live the meme.
The word ‘meme’ comes
from the Greek word mimē-
ma: meaning ‘that which is
imitated.’ Internet culture is
in many ways defined by imi-
tation. We take in vast arrays
of ideas and images and work
them into our curated per-
sonas. Imitation is also how
we communicate by means
of shared belief and culture.
Evolutionary biologist Rich-
ard Dawkins introduced
‘meme’ to the world in his
1976 work “The Selfish Gene”
as a unit of replicable cultural
information.
In an interview with the
Wall Street Journal, Dawkins
explained how cultural ideas
can become selected because
of their relative transmissi-
bility. Relatable truths, like a
catchy tune, are “more likely
to get propagated from brain
to brain than a boring tune”
and, therefore, “memes may
Submit an Op-Ed or a Letter to the Editor to
orientopinion@bowdoin.edu by 7 p.m. on the Tuesday
of the week of publication. Include your full name and
phone number.
be subject to some kind of
Darwinian selection in their
propagation through the
‘memeisphere,’” meaning the
areas of the internet where
memes are made and dissem-
inated. The most viral memes
usually express the most sa-
lient truths.
The memeisphere, despite
being an obviously hilarious
word (thank you, Dawkins),
can be thought of as a re-
pository for the intimate nu-
ances of Millennial and Gen
Z culture, and a library for
the kind of communication
we know best. Exploring me-
mes is the most productive
way to understand what the
young care about, held back
only by the fact that once you
embark, you’ve already be-
come a meme. Nonetheless,
it seems only fitting to close
out the Fox Box’s semester
discussion of Gen Z by look-
ing at our most ubiquitous
language.
Memes, as we know them
in the form of layered images
and text, are used on the in-
ternet as the visual language
of a participatory media
culture where individuals
seeking to relate directly or
discursively to a conversa-
tion, political or otherwise,
innovate on comedic devices
and visual images to convey
obvious, subtle or even com-
plex social meanings. Memes
provide a way for our gener-
ation to find consensus and
comedy in virtually anything
and rely on structure, just as
language does.
Consider the following for-
mat: boyfriend and girlfriend
are walking hand-in-hand
down the street; the boy is
looking back lustily at an-
other girl on that street; the
girlfriend is looking at the
HAVE AN OPINION?
OPINION
boy looking at the other girl;
the girlfriend is visibly dis-
tressed. Each party can rep-
resent whomever the meme
artist decides, and the single
image can come to represent
an infinite combination of re-
latable scenarios. This is some
A-1 semantic sophistication if
you ask me.
A common meme strand
of the past year has been
the ‘memes then/now’ for-
mat showing, for instance,
an image from 2012 of a cat
massaging another cat next
to a 2018 deep-fried image of
Donald Trump blowing on a
water bottle because its “too
hot.” What I find interesting
about these memes is that
they acknowledge the pro-
gression and disintegration of
memes as more people adopt,
adapt, and contribute to the
medium. Memes used to be
purely sensational, like cats
doing human-like things, or
relatable, like “when you stub
your toe blah blah.” Now, with
the advent of the anti-meme,
the brilliance of a meme may
lie in its deliberate lack of
meaning, its nuanced or con-
textual meaning, or its kernel
of truth deeply hidden within
an inside joke. Consider the
following format: stock pho-
to of man in a white T-shirt,
caption, “when you exist.”
Existence is pretty relatable.
Brilliant.
Nonetheless, the best,
most influential memes are
not only funny, but also true.
This is why the “OK Boomer”
meme hit the internet like
wildfire: besides being hilar-
ious in its many adaptations,
it unearthed a very real frus-
tration that the young feel
(and have always felt through
history) toward the old. The
funniest part, I think, is how
15
awfully boomers
took the joke, some
calling it the “n-word
of ageism.” What
critics of this meme
failed to understand
was the fundamental
rule of the memei-
sphere: once you take
a meme seriously,
you become the
meme. Memes
are deliber-
ately not to
be taken se-
riously. The
“OK Boom-
er” meme
helps
classify ARRIS
LY H
memes as HOL
the language
of the young who
are in constant search
for comedic relief in
the face of absurdly
daunting facts of life,
like depression, anxi-
ety and the state of the
world—all of which are
common contenders
for meme content.
The meme, in
many ways,
is our gener-
ation’s most
productive
and common
kind of communication and er, the butt of the joke is often see that the world, as messed
catharsis. ourselves, or what we don’t like up and nonsensical as it is,
Memes are important and about ourselves. This process is actually quite hilarious.
valuable to our culture for of coping with the gross under- But while allowing us to
the same reason that comedi- belly of life by laughing at it is draw closer to shared truths
ans are. Some young people an incredibly healthy form of through satire, memes simul-
even make a living off creat- coping. Some researchers think taneously create an aloof dis-
ing meme accounts on social that laughing frequently can tance from it, gradually dilut-
media platforms. Comedy has extend your lifespan. But I be- ing our emotional responses
deep roots in Western culture, lieve that the pervasiveness of to issues that should be taken
with Aristotle arguing that meme culture may have a more seriously. Simply put, if ev-
comedy imitates “the actions cynical side for us: apathy. erything is a joke to us, how
of men worse than ourselves.” Memes touch everything, are we supposed to take the
Memes often take on this form and comment on virtually necessary collective action to
as a way of pointing out hy- every vicissitude of the hu- right some of the wrongs of
pocrisy in our leaders. Howev- man experience. They help us past generations?
16 Friday, December 6, 2019

DECEMBER
FRIDAY 6
EVENT
Brunswick Climate Rally
Bowdoin Climate Action and Maine Youth Climate Strikes
will hold a rally to raise awareness of the current climate
crisis. Bowdoin students will meet on campus and march to
the Brunswick Mall.
Bowdoin College Museum of Art. 11:45 a.m.

PERFORMANCE
December Dance Concert
Bowdoin students will perform choreography by Bowdoin
Faculty. The performance will be followed by a reception
sponsored by the Association of Bowdoin Friends.
Performances will be Friday and Saturday. Tickets are
available online.
Pickard Theater, Memorial Hall. 7:30 p.m.
ANN BASU, THE BOWDOIN ORIENT
LECTURE LET IT SNOW: Early this week, Bowdoin had its first substantial snowstorm, accumulating about seven inches from Monday to Tuesday. Snow
“White Rebels in Black, Afrofuturism showers are also expected this weekend—just in time for the end of classes.
and New Directions in German Studies”
Priscilla Layne, associate professor of German at the
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, will discuss her
2018 book, “White Rebels in Black: German Appropriation of
African American Culture.”
Shannon Room, Hubbard Hall. 3 p.m. MONDAY 9 WEDNESDAY 11
EVENT EVENT LECTURE
In Memoriam Night Meditation “The Passion and Politics of Julius Caesar”
Stowe Writers will hold an evening celebrating and honoring Bernie Hershberger, director of counseling and wellness Aaron Kitch, associate professor of English, will discuss the
the lives of women of color authors who passed away in 2019, services, will lead a meditation session. role of Roman politics in “Julius Caesar” and the relation of
including Toni Morrison and Paule Marshall. Room 302, Buck Center for Health and Fitness. 4:30 p.m. these politics to early modern England as well as today. The
Stowe House. 7 p.m. lecture will feature clips from various productions of the play.
PERFORMANCE Lancaster Lounge, Moulton Union. 4 p.m.
Chamberfest
Student Chamber Ensembles will hold an evening concert of PERFORMANCE
classical chamber music. West African Music Ensemble
Kanbar Auditorium, Studzinski Recital Hall. 7:30 p.m. The West African Music Ensemble will hold a dance-

SATURDAY 7 drumming performance featuring traditions from the

Ghana/Togo region of West Africa, conducted by Adjunct
Lecturer in Music Jordan Benissan. The performance will
PERFORMANCE involve audience participation.
Improvabilities Show Kanbar Auditorium, Studzinski Recital Hall. 7:30 p.m.
The Improvabilities will have an evening improv show involving
audience participation.
Kresge Auditorium, Visual Arts Center. 8 p.m.
TUESDAY 10
EVENT
Members’ Evening at the Museum
Bowdoin College Museum of Art Co-Directors Anne and
Frank Goodyear will host an evening featuring the Museum’s
THURSDAY 12
SUNDAY 8
recent acquisitions. Refreshments will be served.
Bowdoin College Museum of Art. 5 p.m. PERFORMANCE
Middle Eastern Ensemble
PERFORMANCE PERFORMANCE The Bowdoin Middle Eastern Ensemble will perform classical
Chamber Choir Concert Coastal Youth Orchestra and contemporary Arabic and Ottoman Turkish music on
The Chamber Choir will perform contemporary, Irish folk The Bowdoin Symphony Orchestra will welcome the Coastal traditional Middle Eastern instruments, vocals and Western
and gospel music on the theme of “Light and Shadow.” Choir Youth Orchestra, which features youth from a local music instruments. Ensemble Co-Directors Eric LaPerna and Amos
Director Robert K. Greenlee will conduct. program in the greater Brunswick area. Libby will conduct.
Chapel. 3 p.m. Kanbar Auditorium, Studzinski Recital Hall. 7 p.m. Room 101, Gibson Hall. 7:30 p.m.

11 EVENT 12 13 14 15 16 17

Visual Arts Open Reading Period Final Exams

House Final Exams
Begins