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The Nation’s Oldest Continuously Published College Weekly Friday, April 10, 2020 Volume 149, Number 21 bowdoinorient.com

Course registration Students and faculty find creative solutions

pushed to mid-June, to online classes
will feature new by Diego Lasarte
disciplines, everyone is adjusting
to the demands of remote learn-
who is now home in Kuching,
Malaysia, has had to adjust her
to a different space, streaming
her classes from a makeshift bed-

interface
by Tianyi Xu
Orient Staff
The College announced on
Sunday that course registration
for the fall semester will be
postponed from April 9 until
mid-June, pending a decision
about whether students will
be able to return to campus in
the fall. Additionally, Senior
Vice President of Information
Technology (IT) Michael Cato
notified students in an email
last Thursday that class regis-
tration for next semester will
feature a new interface as the
result of an important system
maintenance.
In a campus-wide email on
Sunday, Senior Vice President
and Dean for Academic Af-
fairs Elizabeth McCormack
explained that the decision to
postpone course registration
was driven by the continued
uncertainty caused by the
coronavirus (COVID-19) pan-
demic.
“The predictions about the
Orient Staff
ing, from managing family ten- daily routine. room her parents set up so that
As students and faculty wrap sion to keeping students engaged “What’s hard is the time dif- she could quarantine away from
up their third week of online thousands of miles away. ference. I have night classes now, the family upon her return from
classes and settle into their new Students from around the which is weird because I am so the United States.
COVID-19 outbreak are that routines, many have stories to world are attending classes, used to having morning class,” Twelve time zones away,
Maine may peak in 10 days to tell about their new virtual-class- sometimes at odd hours of the Eraou wrote in an email to the
two weeks, so there’s a lot of room reality. Across academic day. Song Eraou ’23, for example, Orient. She has also had to adjust Please see ONLINE, page 4
uncertainty on how this out-
break is going to really impact
Bowdoin,” said McCormack
in a phone interview with the
Orient. “Given all that un-
certainty, and given that we
don’t absolutely have to lock
in the curriculum now … why
couldn’t we buy ourselves some
time [to] let events unfold?”
McCormack also said that
some faculty members had re-
quested a delay so they could
adapt their courses to the on-
line setting, in the event that
the College determines that
students will be unable to re-
turn for the fall semester or
will be able to do so with new
restrictions.
“[Faculty] could have a
much better sense of how their
courses could be delivered if
we had a little more time,” said
McCormack. “For example, if
Please see COURSES, page 5

College to host first ANN BASU, THE BOWDOIN ORIENT

responders and
SEE YOU NEXT YEAR: The Class of 2020 will not have their commencement exercises in Brunswick this spring. Instead the College plans to hold the event in May 2021.

CLASS OF 2020 COMMENCEMENT TENTATIVELY

emergency personnel SCHEDULED FOR MAY 2021

in on-campus housing
by Aura Carlson
and Emma Sorkin
Orient Staff
The College announced on
Sunday that course registration
for the fall semester will be
postponed from April 9 until
two weeks, so there’s a lot of
uncertainty on how this out-
break is going to really impact
Bowdoin,” said McCormack in
a phone interview with the Ori-
ent. “Given all that uncertainty,
and given that we don’t abso-
lutely have to lock in the curric-
by Kathryn McGinnis
Orient Staff
President Clayton Rose an-
nounced preliminary plans to
reschedule commencement
exercises in the wake of the
coronavirus (COVID-19) pan-
demic in an email to the Class
of 2020 on Thursday morning.
Rose stated that, in addition to
a virtual gathering on May 23,
current seniors will be invit-
ed back to the College in May
2021 to walk across the steps of
the Walker Art Building.
“I made the decision after
consulting with a number of
folks,” wrote Rose in an email to
the Orient. “We thought about
the summer and fall, but the
continued presence of the virus
made the idea of the large so-
cial gatherings associated with
Commencement inadvisable.”
The Senior Class Council will
assist in the planning of next
month’s virtual commence-
ment, but a detailed schedule
has yet to be released. Tradi-
tions, such as the selection of
commencement speakers, have
been postponed indefinitely.
In addition, the Senior Class
Council will be instrumental
in deciding the events for the
physical graduation next May.
There will be separate events
for the Class of 2021.
Rose’s email also notified
seniors that production delays
due to COVID-19 will mean
that diplomas will not be de-
livered in time for the virtual
graduation. Though they are
expected to arrive in mid-
June, they will still be dated
May 23, 2020.

In memory of David Driskell H’89: From the

mid-June, pending a decision ulum now … why couldn’t we
about whether students will be buy ourselves some time [to] let
able to return to campus in the events unfold?”
fall. Additionally, Senior Vice McCormack also said that

pines of Falmouth, and beyond

President of Information Tech-
nology (IT) Michael Cato no-
tified students in an email last
Thursday that class registration
for next semester will feature a
new interface as the result of an
important system maintenance.
In a campus-wide email on
Sunday, Senior Vice President
and Dean for Academic Af-
fairs Elizabeth McCormack
explained that the decision to
postpone course registration
was driven by the continued un-
certainty caused by the corona-
virus (COVID-19) pandemic.
“The predictions about the
COVID-19 outbreak are that
Maine may peak in 10 days to
some faculty members had re-
quested a delay so they could
adapt their courses to the online
setting, in the event that the
College determines that stu-
dents will be unable to return
for the fall semester or will be
able to do so with new restric-
tions.
“[Faculty] could have a much
better sense of how their cours-
es could be delivered if we had
a little more time,” said McCor-
mack. “For example, if we have
a seminar course of 20 people
… we could put that course in
a larger classroom and people
Please see HOUSING, page 5
by Sabrina Lin
Orient Staff
David C. Driskell H’89, artist,
scholar, curator and titan figure
in the field of African Ameri-
can art history, died on April 1
at 88 years old from complica-
tions related to the coronavirus
(COVID-19).
His death was announced
This print edition of the Orient was produced on Friday, April 10, 2020, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it will be physically printed at a later date.
by the University of Maryland,
which founded the David C.
Driskell Center for the Study
Of The Visual Arts and Culture
of African Americans and the
African Diaspora in his honor
in 2001. Driskell received the
Presidential Humanities Medal
from President Bill Clinton, and
his 1976 exhibition at the Los
Angeles County Museum of Art,
“Two Centuries of Black Amer-
ican Art,” is considered a water-
shed study in the scholarship of
African American art. He is the
recipient of 13 honorary doctor-
al degrees in art, including one
from Bowdoin in 1989.
As an artist, Driskell—the son
of a minister, Georgia-born and
Appalachia-raised—produced
rich imagery rooted in nature,
religion and Black American life.
Maine became a constant ele-
ment in Driskell’s oeuvre after he
attended the Skowhegan School
of Sculpture and Painting in
1953. He was a visiting professor
at Bowdoin in the spring of 1973
and owned a summer home in
Falmouth.
Please see DRISKELL, page 8

N ZOOMER’S LICENSE F REACHING OUT A FESTIVITIES NO MORE S HEALTHY AT HOME O AN UPDATED OFFER
After “Zoombombing” incidents, BSG Bowdoin community explores virtual Eboard members revealed their plans for Bowdoin athletic trainers unveil virutal The Editorial Board updates the Offer of
contributes to expand Zoom licenses. Page 5. volunteering opportunities. Page 6. Ivies 2020, which is now canceled. Page 8. “Sunday Stretches” initiative. Page 10. the College. Page 11.
 2 PAGE TWO
2 Friday, April 10, 2020

by Lily Randall
Orient Staff
Saturday marks one month
since President Clayton Rose
took a shotgun to the semester
(rest in power Miss Bowdoin,
1794-2020), which means it
has now been one month since
I’ve felt any sense of agency. I’d
like to think that I’ve kept some
semblance of my college self to-
gether, but considering my tol-
erance is now half a White Claw
and I can slowly feel myself go-
ing illiterate, that one might be
a bit of a stretch. On top of all
of this, I don’t leave my house
unaccompanied anymore, I go
to bed at like 10 p.m., and I’ve
been on a strict diet of pasta and
grilled cheese since I got home.
Now, if you had told any of
this to Lily of six weeks ago, she
probably would have respond-
ed with some shit like “omfggg
that’s like the f***ing dream
bro,” but considering I’m pretty
sure I’m just 8 years old again, I
can confirm that this is actually
NOT the f***ing dream, bro. At
this point I’m just waiting for
iCarly to reboot so this thing
can be a slam dunk on reliving
my childhood. (Side note: is Mi-
I’ve regressed.
randa Cosgrove alive? Was she
just a fever dream? Shoot me a
text if you know.) But such is
not the case and I’m pretending
I like Parks and Recreation so
my family doesn’t start renting
out my room. So, in the spirit of
regression, I’ve decided to in-
dulge every guilty pleasure that
crosses my path because I know
my third grade self would, and
at least that bitch had some or-
ganically-produced serotonin.
I know I’m about to lose some
major audience support with this
one, but on god the best guilty
pleasure I have indulged in this
quarantine is listening to One
Direction again. I kinda became
an indie music snob in high
school, and attending Bowdoin
College in Brunswick, ME has
honestly only made it 10 times
worse (this is a public apology
to anyone I ever forced to listen
to Hippocampus or Snail Mail
or something in that vein… I
was too far up my own ass to
know better). But redemption
truly is a beautiful thing, and I
am SHAMELESSLY listening to
One Direction again.
I could probably (definitely?)
get into a long spiel about how
rejecting 1D was likely a man-
ifestation of some internalised
STUDENT SPEAK:
sexism/“I’m-not-like-other-
girls” headassery, but I’m over it! What’s a silver lining of remote learning?
I’m not going there! I’ve seen the
light, and I want to talk about the
incredible lyricism in “18” writ- Nailah Khoory ’22
ten by Ed Sheeran for 1D’s plati-
num album FOUR instead! In all “Being able to watch little siblings grow up.”
seriousness though, if you were
ever a Directioner, fire up your
favorite album for old times’
sake. I just remembered Zayn a
few days ago and had to have a
moment of silence.
Gail Saez Hall ’23
Another fun, cute and quirky
thing I’ve been doing this past “Locking eyes with Halina Bennet in class.”
month is taking pictures on
my “Quarantine Camera.” The
quarantine cam is a three-years
expired disposable I found in
my kitchen cabinet while look- Solomon Aborbie Jr. ’22
ing for scissors, and I decided to
document my family’s ~adven-
tures in social distancing~ with
“My grandparents have been taking care of me since I was a
it. As of right now, the camera is kid, and now I’m home to help them around the house.”
mainly photos of my half-asleep
dog or me with my ear in a bowl
of saltwater trying to nurse my
infected ’cartilage piercing back Jordy Dushime ’23
to health. But I have high hopes
for its future! I’m especially ex- “I get to expand my culinary skills.”
cited to see what the first shot
on the roll is, because when I
found it, one picture had been
taken. Updates to come luvs xx. COMPILED BY AYUB TAHLIL AND LILY RANDALL

QUARANTINE CORONAVIRUS
FLATTEN THE CURVE
WORK FROM HOME
REMOTE LEARNING
WIFI
NO IVIES

WORD SEARCH QUARANTINE

DISTANCE
ZOOM
SCREEN ADDICTION
LONELY
SAD
We know you’re bored. MASK MICROSOFT TEAMS EGGS

D H W H K I G F Q B O O K D S F N O I T C I D D A N E E R C S S
E A A C M N A E S C Z Z H J K U I O O Q S E G Z Q X C I H N P G
F E Z O A M E S D H V C X F O U H G M E E A S D F F E O K I O F
G I G R S A W E F H J K I B N C D A I T A M E I O D A N B I I R
H J H O R A E R F L A T T E N T H E C U R V E G G J O P E F U H
A G J N D D B S G H R M E R V G K I R O M A S K A K R Z G E Y K
J V E A S A C D F G H J T Y U R E C O Q S G K L O E V E I L T G
U N S V B H P A Q A U E N C T U N J S Q W E R T M E N U K O R F
I M C I V P O J I U A N Y H D R N Y O Y U I O O P C B I N N E D
O M V R U C V I O B A S R D N H A O F A S D T F G O A N V E W S
H K B U J O H U B I X R E D X R I U T H J E K L Z O R B C L A U
N O N S G G E A O U H K A I R D B D T X L C V B N J I G I Y B I
R E U O J A Q B O U Y S O N E N I Z E E M J U G E N A F N E C J
E F F I K M E M M A N X U P T B E X A D A B F R I A E D O G T H
A S F Z C M N V F O U J D A P I U R M V R I A N V E K E I B H G
R A E E E N E N U J D A E O E A N O S T V B M O O Z L P V H J F
J Z A A Q E P A H G E L L B R I X E C Y J I N B L Y I A I I I D
U E V S O A L E B Y H U K N N R E A B D B F R I L B X T E G E E
G R I H R D I S T A N C E G A D F H I N G S E D Q A N D S K I N
W O R K F R O M H O M E O K F O E H J U B C D W S A Q R C L F B
J G F G H I D S C B H Y P P R D S A F E A B H J U E W Z A E I M
Q J T H B O G I D S X V G U I E F H J U H G N E D C G F D E W J
Friday, April 10, 2020 NEWS
NEWS IN BRIEF Head football coach sued in Title IX lawsuit
COMPILED BY HALINA BENNETT AND ELLERY HARKNESS
by Ian Ward
Orient Staff
Head Football Coach B.J.
Hammer has been named as a
defendant in a federal sexual
harrassment lawsuit filed by
a former player at Allegheny
College alleging that the school
ignored reports of sexual mis-
conduct and discrimination.
The complaint was filed
in the United States District
Court for the Western District
of Pennsylvania on February 5.
The filing alleges that Sa-
ANN BASU, THE BOWDOIN ORIENT
mantha Simonetta, a female
ONE DAY: Due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, Bowdoin OneDay, kicker on the Allegheny team,
originally scheduled to be April 7, will be postponed indefinitely. Despite the
reported multiple instances of
event being cancelled, Scott Meiklejohn, senior vice president for development
and alumni relations, said that alumni donations are more critical than ever. sexual assault and harassment
by fellow players to Ham-
ONEDAY POSTPONED, mer’s staff during the 2018
ADMINISTRATION SAYS NOT THE off-season. According to court
documents filed by Simonet-
TIME TO “FOCUS ON BOWDOIN” ta’s attorney Kristen Weidus,
Hammer’s staff violated Title
Bowdoin OneDay, the largest annual fundraising event for the IX regulations by failing to re-
Alumni Fund, has been postponed indefinitely due to the corona- port the complaints to school
virus (COVID-19) pandemic. This year’s event had been scheduled authorities and subsequently
to take place on April 7. attempting to force her off the
Scott Meiklejohn, senior vice president for development and team.
alumni relations, explained that the Alumni Fund is working to Hammer served as the head
reschedule the celebration. coach at Allegheny from Janu-
“OneDay has become an important celebration of the College ary 2016 until December 2019,
and a huge part of our Alumni Fund year, so we were sorry to post- when he was hired by Bowdoin.
pone,” Meiklejohn wrote in an email to the Orient. “However, we In a one-sentence statement
decided that it wasn’t the right time to ask everyone to focus on to the Orient, Hammer indi-
Bowdoin given all of the other things people are navigating right cated that he and Allegheny
now.” intend to fight the case.
Meiklejohn wrote that despite the event’s postponement, alumni “I have been working with
donations and the Alumni Fund are more critical now than ever,
Students spearhead mutual aid effort to
“The Alumni Fund has never been more important given all the
unexpected costs the College has absorbed over the last month or
so,” he wrote.
assist students and staff members in need
Meiklejohn added that he is hopeful the OneDay event can be
held in May, but his office has not made a final decision about a
new date.
IRB REQUESTS ANY RESEARCH
by Kate Lusignan
REQUIRING IN-PERSON Orient Staff
INTERACTION STOP IMMEDIATELY On the morning the Col-
lege announced the decision
The Bowdoin Institutional Review Board (IRB) announced last to move to remote learning,
week that any research requiring in-person interaction with sub- Anibal Husted ’22, like many,
jects, previously approved or exempted, should stop immediately. didn’t know how he was going
The announcement applies to faculty, staff and student research. to meet the costs of leaving
The decision was made by the IRB in consultation with the campus.
Senior Vice President and Dean for Academic Affairs Elizabeth “I didn’t know how my
McCormack due to concerns about the spread of the novel coro- family was going to afford a
navirus (COVID-19). plane ticket. I didn’t know
If students desire to continue pursuing their research projects what to do with all my be-
that involve in-person interaction, they can petition the IRB to longings that I couldn’t take
continue research, change the research interactions from in-person with me. I left one box with
to remote or delay their research until the IRB lifts the restrictions. eight different people because
Students who petition the IRB to continue their research must I couldn’t pay for a storage
prove that the benefits of the study outweigh the risk of the coro- unit,” said Husted in a video
navirus and must modify their consent form to explain the higher call with the Orient.
risk of contracting the virus to participants. Changing research After hearing stories about
interactions from in-person to remote only requires informing the staff members struggling to
IRB and does not need official approval. pay bills and students losing
The IRB will continue to review and accept new applications for their on-campus jobs, Husted
research projects. and a group of five other stu-
dents created a mutual aid
fund to support the Bowdoin
community. The fund, which
launched on April 2, allows
In recognition of the COVID-19 pandemic, community members to re-
quest up to $400 for personal
The Orient is offering free advertising for use.
Brunswick businesses. The Orient is an So far, the fund has re-
ceived more than $9,000
effective way to reach Bowdoin students, worth of contributions from
faculty and staff as well as parents, alumni anonymous donors. Of the
and community members. 39 requests made as of Thurs-
day, 21 have been fulfilled.
According to the completed
We believe that this initiative can help you requests, the majority of the
and your customers during this difficult time. funds will assist with rent,
grocery bills and utilities.
Requests and donations are
Please contact orientads@gmail.com for processed online. Request-
ers must include a paragraph
details. describing their relation to
the College and details about
the intentions of the potential
Allegheny College and its
counsel and they intend to vig-
orously defend the case,” wrote
Hammer.
Simonetta became the first
woman on the Allegheny foot-
ball team when she joined as a
prospective kicker in the win-
ter of 2018. According to the
court documents, Simmonetta
immediately began experienc-
ing harassment from her male
teammates, who “inappropri-
ately leer[ed] at her buttocks”
and told her that they wanted
to “fuck her silly.” Teammates
also allegedly made unwanted
sexual advances on Simonetta
during off-season practices,
including putting their arms
around her and “telling her she
was beautiful.”
In February of 2018, Simon-
netta reported the misconduct
to one of Hammer’s assistant
coaches, Curtis Bailey, who
told her that he would report
her complaints to Hammer.
Bailey later admitted that he
had never done so.
The lawsuit alleges that
Hammer’s staff responded to
Simonetta’s reports by attempt-
ing to force her off the team by
placing her on academic pro-
bation despite the fact that her
grades were above the specified
threshold, by failing to include
her in team correspondenc-
es and by excluding her from
funds. This paragraph is then
uploaded onto a webpage for
interested donors who can
choose which person they’d
like help. When envisioning
how the fund would work, the
six students concluded that
this personal element would
be important to ensure the
success of the fund.
“The story and voice defi-
nitely makes it feel more per-
sonal and not like it’s a sterile
donation request where you
don’t even know what this is
going towards or who it’s go-
ing to,” said Sylvia Bosco ’21,
one of the students working
on the initiative, in a video
interview with the Orient.
One student requested
$400 to help pay for rent and
groceries after her moth-
er—”the head of the house-
hold”—lost her job.
“Life is looking pretty
rough the next few weeks for
food and other things,” part of
the request reads. “Moreover,
rent next month will be hard
to pay without making many
sacrifices. Therefore, I’m
requesting $400 to help pay
for food and rent (coming up
May 1st). Thank you!!”
Of the 39 requests submit-
ted, 32 of them came from
students. The other seven
came from staff.
“I am a housekeeper and
my husband is disabled. I’m
asking for 350.00 for a car
payment. I was doing side
cleaning jobs after working to
meet our bills. My husband is
disabled and a diabetic, and
now I can’t do the side jobs
because he can’t get the virus,”
team activities.
“It became clear to Ms.
Simonetta that the football
coaching staff had deliberately
elected not to proceed with an
investigation, opting instead to
‘resolve’ the issue by forcing her
off the football team,” Weidus
wrote in the court documents.
According to the complaint,
Simonetta continued to experi-
ence harassment even after she
left the team in August of 2018,
including having a teammate
attempt to kiss her without her
consent and pull her into his
dormitory room.
Simonetta later reported the
attempted assault directly to Al-
legheny’s Title IX office, which
found that the the accused stu-
dent had violated the school’s
gender discrimination and sex-
ual harrassment policies.
The 15-page lawsuit alleges
that Allegheny violated Ti-
tle IX regulation and accuses
Hammer, Allegheny’s director
of athletics, two of Hammer’s
assistant coaches and another
Alleghany staff member of neg-
ligence, tortious interference
with contractual relations and
negligent infliction of emotion-
al distress.
The filing is requesting un-
specified compensatory and pu-
nitive damages for Simonetta.
A court date has yet to be
set for the case, pending a re-
reads a request from a staff
member.
Though interpersonal con-
nection is critical to the proj-
ect, the group also felt it was
important to keep personal
information about requesters
and donors anonymous.
“[Their] identities aren’t
the core of our mission,” said
Ben Ray ’20, another fund
coordinator, in a video inter-
view with the Orient. “The
core of our mission is to make
sure that people can afford
the things they need and live
their day-to-day life.”
Although requesters’ iden-
tities are not disclosed to
the public, the request form
requires contact informa-
tion because each requester
is assigned to a point person
within the group of six coor-
dinators. Each contact person
checks in with the recipient
about how they prefer to re-
ceive the grant—by check,
direct transfer or PayPal. The
six coordinators also reach
out even after the aid has
been received.
“These are members of
our community that we care
about. So we want to make
sure that if there are other
needs or other questions, or
just things in general, they
can reach out and talk to us,”
said Amanda Trent ’20, an-
other fund coordinator, on a
call with the Orient.
The organizers credit the
quick success of the fund to
social media. Information
about the fund and the links
to the request form and dona-
tion pages have been shared
3
sponse from the defendants’
lawyers.
Bowdoin’s Ashmead White
Director of Athletics Tim Ryan
declined to comment on the
lawsuit, other than to say that
the College was aware of the
proceedings. Ryan declined
to specify whether Hammer
would face disciplinary action
from the College if found liable.
Bowdoin’s Freedom from
Discrimination, Harassment,
Sexual Misconduct & Gender
Based Violence Policy states
that “[a]ll employees are ex-
pected to respect the rights of
their coworkers and conduct
themselves in a way that sup-
ports the inclusion of students
and employees of all different
backgrounds. Employees who
engage in unlawful harass-
ment, sexual misconduct or
gender based violence or dis-
crimination will be subject to
disciplinary action, up to and
including immediate termina-
tion of employment.”
The policy does not apply to
conduct performed by an indi-
vidual before they became an
employee of the College.
Players from the football team
and members of the Bowdoin
Student-Athlete Advisory Com-
mittee (BSAAC) did not respond
to requests for comment.
Andrew Bastone contributed
to this report.
throughout the Bowdoin
community through on-cam-
pus organizations’ social me-
dia pages and private group
chats.
Although the initiative is
student-led, the support of
campus organizations have
contributed to its success.
Currently, the mutual aid
network is being hosted on
the Bowdoin Labor Alliance’s
website.
Due to the general uncer-
tainty about the novel coro-
navirus pandemic and its eco-
nomic impact, the students
anticipate that the fund will
continue to operate for the
foreseeable future.
“Requests keep trickling
in. And if we can expand
our donor outreach to match
that, that would be amazing
because I don’t think any-
one envisions things getting
that much better,” said Diego
Grossmann ’20, another stu-
dent involved in the initiative,
in a video interview with the
Orient.
The coordinators are
pleased with the overwhelm-
ingly positive response to the
fund, though they acknowl-
edge that the fund’s existence
also underscores how many in
the Bowdoin community are
unable to support their basic
needs right now.
“The fact that we raised this
much has been really wonder-
ful,” Trent said. “But, on the
flip side, the mutual aid fund
is really highlighting the class
differences in our community
and those who have been left
behind in the crisis.”
4 NEWS
GETTING CREATIVE: Senior Lecturer in the Classics Department Michael Nerdahl embraces the challenges that accompany virtual learning and often lectures in front of fun green screen backgrounds.
ONLINE
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
Nicholas Bower ’22 joins Zoom
classes from his backyard in the
Bahamas, complete with tropical
fruit trees blooming in the back-
ground, generating much envy
amongst his classmates.
“Every time I have an individ-
ual conversation on Zoom … it’s
like ‘I’m so jealous’ or ‘It’s a cold
rainy day here,’” Bower said in a
phone interview with the Orient.
According to Bower, his deci-
sion to do his classwork outside
was out of necessity. He lives with
his parents and two siblings who
have also returned home due to
the pandemic, which has made
studying indoors more difficult.
“This [is] the first time that
my family and I [have been] back
together since we were kids, and
now we are back as fully-grown
adults. So the only space left for
me to claim was my garden, and
so I have set up a makeshift office
in my garden. It is the place I get
the most privacy. I have had a
conversation in pretty much ev-
ery class about it,” he said.
For other students, especially
those who were studying abroad
this semester, online courses
seem pointless. Facing difficulties
with asynchronous class times
and crowding at home, some
students have decided online
classes are not worth the effort.
Aine Lawlor ’21 has opted out of
the online classes offered by the
program that she was enrolled
in while studying abroad in Val-
paraiso, Chile.
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.
“I was in class in Chile for
[fewer] than two weeks and
didn’t think it would be worth it
or the same experience. … It is
all a big bummer and I’m upset
to not [study] abroad at all, but
also I’m lucky to be in a position
to opt-out of classes,” Lawlor said
in an email to the Orient.
Since President Clayton Rose
suggested last week that the Col-
lege may not be able to bring “ev-
eryone” back to campus for the
fall semester, students have be-
gun to consider the possibility of
continued remote learning. Deva
Holliman ’23 said she finds her-
self unable to imagine doing an
entire semester of classes online.
“I definitely think that if classes
are only offered online in the fall,
I will take the semester off,” she
wrote in an email to the Orient.
“While I’ve been very impressed
by my professors’ ability to transi-
tion to remote teaching—and am
so grateful to be able to finish the
semester at home—I’ve begun to
realize that I value my college ed-
ucation for [many] more reasons
than the pursuit of a degree.”
These concerns have also im-
pacted potential Bowdoin stu-
dents. In an email interview with
the Orient, Juliana Vandermark,
a high school senior who was
recently admitted to Bowdoin
regular decision, voiced the diffi-
culty she faces while considering
which school she will attend in
the fall.
“Our current situation as a
whole, and the prospect of the fall
semester being completely online
is making the college decision feel
HAVE AN OPINION?
Friday, April 10, 2020
COURTESY OF MICHAEL NERDAHL
impossible. … Everyone I’ve talk-
ed to at each of the schools I am
means in a time of global crisis
to the syllabus of his course about
have embraced the challenges
that come with virtual classes.
and illogical, so to come at a story
from the perspective of someone
considering described the ‘vibe’ happiness throughout history en- In an email to the Orient, Senior who experienced it is a fun take.
on campus as one of the best titled “The Good Life.” Lecturer in the Classics Depart- A blinded and bloodied Oedipus
parts. Suddenly a huge portion of “[The class] is about what peo- ment Michael Nerdahl wrote that narrating and complaining about
what makes a school unique and ple have thought it means to lead for his class, Classical Mythology, his post-Thebes life seemed more
special is hidden from the deci- an excellent or meaningful life. he decided to create a series of interesting and memorable than
sion process,” Vandermark said. And so if we read these different videos for his students to watch simply summarizing it. Dressing
Despite these concerns, stu- philosophers and thinkers about weekly. up like Daedalus and singing a
dents and faculty across different this topic, we might get ideas “In creating videos, I take ad- Velvet Underground song made
disciplines have found ways to and tools for ourselves, right?” vantage of the format to do new the loss of his son Icarus more
adapt. In an email to the Orient, Denery said in a phone inter- things—I created a green screen, poignant for me.”
Lucia Gagliardone ’20, a dance view with the Orient. “So when for example, to lecture in front Nerdahl also admittedly has
major, expressed how the De- COVID-19 hit, and the school of—and I take inspiration from begun to enjoy his new creative
partment of Theater and Dance went online, it seemed like the what I love: music, classic movies, license, in the same way students
faced the challenge of online perfect opportunity to try to real- acting melodramatically, corny might.
courses head-on. ly demonstrate to [students] that jokes, irony,” he wrote. “Sometimes, though, there’s
“The theater and dance de- a humanities course on the good In many ways, Nerdahl has no lofty motive, [I’m] just doing
partment has definitely rallied life is actually a really practical, found the new format to be a things for the sake of self-enter-
around all of us in this time and useful course. It seemed like the different way of looking at the tainment,” he said. And to reas-
created really innovative and obvious thing to do.” material he teaches. sure his students: “That blood on
lovely ways to continue staying Like Denery, other professors “Greek Myth is violent, odd Oedipus’s face? Ketchup.”
connected and practicing per-
formance arts. In my Advanced
Repertory class, we have had
weekly dance classes where we
all follow along with a series of
warm-ups, and then our profes-
sor, Gwyneth Jones, teaches us
a phrase designed for confined
spaces.”
Gagliardone has found the
class to be a calming presence in
the hectic reality of a global pan-
demic.
“It’s been really lovely moving
with everyone, even though it is
virtual. It helps keep the feeling
of connection,” Gagliardone said.
In the history department,
Professor of History Dallas
Denery saw the pandemic as a
learning opportunity. He added REUBEN SCHAFIR, THE BOWDOIN ORIENT
Albert Camus’ “The Plague” and IN THE ZONE: Micah Wilson ‘22 focuses on his homework. Wilson has been living in an off-campus residence since
an essay about what happiness classes resumed online.
Friday, April 10, 2020
SAFC reopens budget requests for the Bowdoin IT expands
remainder of the spring semester
by Diego Velasquez
Orient Staff
Student organizations can
once again request funds for
club activities despite the Col-
lege’s move to remote learn-
ing, announced the Student
Activities Funding Committee
(SAFC) on Tuesday in an email
to club leaders.
Chair of the Treasury for
Bowdoin Student Government
(BSG), Charlotte Hall ’20,
oversees the SAFC, which is
responsible for allocating funds
to student groups and organiza-
tions throughout the year. Hall
said that with the transition to
remote learning, both the SAFC
and individual clubs have refo-
cused their goals.
The SAFC allocates the ma-
jority of its annual $810,000
sum to five groups on campus:
the Entertainment Board, BSG,
the Bowdoin Outing Club, the
Joseph McKeen Center for
the Common Good and Club
Rowing, which leaves roughly
45 percent for other student
groups’ expenses. At the mo-
COURSES
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
we have a seminar course of
20 people … we could put that
course in a larger classroom
and people could observe so-
cial distancing if we decide
we need to. There’s a lot of di-
mensions to explore [with] the
prospect of having everybody
back, but the details of what
they find will have implications
“The upgrade has been available to
[the College] since 2014. Bowdoin
intentionally avoided being ‘an early
adopter’ and waited until it was
rolled out and vetted by some of our
peer institutions.”
–Michael Cato, Senior Vice President of
Information Technology
YOUR AD HERE
The Bowdoin Orient offers advertising space in
our 24 print editions each year and continuously
online. The Orient is a tremendously successful
advertising platform: there’s a reason our repeat
advertisers keep coming back.
Zoom licenses to
ment, $15,000 remains in the
SAFC budget.
“This year will be different
and there is a likelihood for
there to be funds remaining,”
said Director of Student Ac-
tivities Nate Hintze in a phone
interview with the Orient.
In past years, the SAFC has
always allocated all the funds in
its budget. But this year, Hintze
and the SAFC will work together
to determine how any remaining
funds will be used. Hintze is cer-
tain that the amount will not roll
over to next year.
For the remaining months of
this year, the left-over $15,000
will be available to student
groups who wish to continue
their activities in creative and
adaptive ways. Hall suggested
that some groups might start
book clubs to help maintain
community virtually.
“I think the 136 student or-
ganizations that we have are a
great resource during this time
to create a community for stu-
dents and help keep them con-
nected to the College,” Hintze
said.
for how to prepare for offering
courses.”
McCormack also said that
a mid-June course registration
process will give all students,
especially those students consid-
ering studying abroad in the fall,
more time and information to
make a final decision about their
enrollment.
According to the student
handbook, students who register
for courses incur a legal obliga-
For more information, visit
bowdoinorient.com/advertise/.
NEWS
The SAFC has reopened the
process for clubs to request funds
and the first funding decisions
will be made April 13. Only two
student groups have requested
funds so far—the Bowdoin Com-
mons Podcast and the Beartones
acapella group.
Typically, each time a student
“I think the 136 student
organizations that we have are a
great resource during this time to
create a community for students and
help keep them connected to the
College.”
–Nate Hintze, Director of Student Activities
organization submits a funding
request, it meets with the SAFC
to explain its budget proposal.
Now that the College is operating
remotely, the SAFC has opted to
send club leaders questions about
their budget request over email
instead of meeting in person.
The SAFC will also work
with clubs that have operating
tion to pay tuition and fees for
the following semester.
The time frame won’t be the
only new thing about course
registration this year. Students
will now have the option to use a
new interface, “Registration Pre-
view,” which includes a Calendar
View feature that allows students
to more easily identify potential
scheduling conflicts. The tradi-
tional interface, “Registration
Classic,” will still be available.
In an email to students, Cato
acknowledged that IT was hes-
itant to roll out a new interface
while students are away from
campus but said the changes
are necessary to keep the system
running smoothly.
“The upgrade has been
available to [the College] since
2014,” wrote Cato in an email
to the Orient. “Bowdoin inten-
tionally avoided being ‘an early
budgets to determine funds for
the next academic year. These
allocations will not come from
the remaining funds in the
SAFC budget from this year.
The SAFC’s most pressing
concern is the finalization of
expenditures. To that end, Hall
and the SAFC are collecting
outstanding receipts from stu-
dent groups to ensure that all
expenses paid for by individual
students are reimbursed before
allocating the rest of the budget.
She is confident that the
SAFC will work through these
difficult times and “hope[s] that
clubs will be understanding” of
the changes.
adopter’ and waited until it was
rolled out and vetted by some
of our peer institutions.”
IT ran a pilot program last
semester to test the new system,
and Cato said the new interface
received good reviews—two-
thirds of the 15 students polled
reported that the new interface
was easier to use than the old
one.
Despite the looming uncer-
tainty, McCormack assured
students that the College’s top
priority is ensuring that stu-
dents will be able to earn credit
towards their degrees. “We
want to make good decisions,
and having more information
will help us do that,” McCor-
mack said. “While it’s a little
disconcerting that things aren’t
normal, in some ways, we’re
being responsive to [that] fact
… in a thoughtful way.”
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
students, increases
security
by Sophie Burchell
Orient Staff
Student organizations can
once again request funds for club
activities despite the College’s
move to remote learning, an-
nounced the Student Activities
Funding Committee (SAFC) on
Tuesday in an email to club lead-
ers.
Chair of the Treasury for Bow-
doin Student Government (BSG),
Charlotte Hall ’20, oversees the
SAFC, which is responsible for al-
locating funds to student groups
and organizations throughout the
year. Hall said that with the tran-
sition to remote learning, both
the SAFC and individual clubs
have refocused their goals.
The SAFC allocates the ma-
jority of its annual $810,000 sum
to five groups on campus: the
Entertainment Board, BSG, the
Bowdoin Outing Club, the Joseph
McKeen Center for the Common
Good and Club Rowing, which
leaves roughly 45 percent for oth-
er student groups’ expenses. At
the moment, $15,000 remains in
the SAFC budget.
“This year will be different
and there is a likelihood for there
to be funds remaining,” said Di-
rector of Student Activities Nate
Hintze in a phone interview with
the Orient.
In past years, the SAFC has
always allocated all the funds in
its budget. But this year, Hintze
and the SAFC will work together
to determine how any remaining
funds will be used. Hintze is cer-
tain that the amount will not roll
over to next year.
For the remaining months of
this year, the left-over $15,000
will be available to student groups
HOUSING
could observe social distancing
if we decide we need to. There’s
a lot of dimensions to explore
[with] the prospect of having
everybody back, but the details
of what they find will have im-
plications for how to prepare for
offering courses.”
McCormack also said that
a mid-June course registration
process will give all students,
especially those students con-
sidering studying abroad in the
fall, more time and information
to make a final decision about
their enrollment.
According to the student
handbook, students who regis-
ter for courses incur a legal ob-
ligation to pay tuition and fees
for the following semester.
The time frame won’t be the
only new thing about course
registration this year. Students
will now have the option to use
a new interface, “Registration
Preview,” which includes a Cal-
endar View feature that allows
students to more easily identify
potential scheduling conflicts.
The traditional interface, “Reg-
istration Classic,” will still be
available.
5
who wish to continue their activi-
ties in creative and adaptive ways.
Hall suggested that some groups
might start book clubs to help
maintain community virtually.
“I think the 136 student orga-
nizations that we have are a great
resource during this time to cre-
ate a community for students and
help keep them connected to the
College,” Hintze said.
The SAFC has reopened the
process for clubs to request funds
and the first funding decisions
will be made April 13. Only two
student groups have requested
funds so far—the Bowdoin Com-
mons Podcast and the Beartones
acapella group.
Typically, each time a student
organization submits a funding
request, it meets with the SAFC
to explain its budget proposal.
Now that the College is operating
remotely, the SAFC has opted to
send club leaders questions about
their budget request over email
instead of meeting in person.
The SAFC will also work with
clubs that have operating budgets
to determine funds for the next
academic year. These allocations
will not come from the remaining
funds in the SAFC budget from
this year.
The SAFC’s most pressing
concern is the finalization of ex-
penditures. To that end, Hall and
the SAFC are collecting outstand-
ing receipts from student groups
to ensure that all expenses paid
for by individual students are
reimbursed before allocating the
rest of the budget.
She is confident that the
SAFC will work through these
difficult times and “hope[s] that
clubs will be understanding” of
the changes.
In an email to students, Cato
acknowledged that IT was hesi-
tant to roll out a new interface
while students are away from
campus but said the changes are
necessary to keep the system
running smoothly.
“The upgrade has been
available to [the College] since
2014,” wrote Cato in an email
to the Orient. “Bowdoin inten-
tionally avoided being ‘an early
adopter’ and waited until it was
rolled out and vetted by some of
our peer institutions.”
IT ran a pilot program last
semester to test the new system,
and Cato said the new interface
received good reviews—two-
thirds of the 15 students polled
reported that the new interface
was easier to use than the old one.
Despite the looming uncer-
tainty, McCormack assured
students that the College’s top
priority is ensuring that stu-
dents will be able to earn credit
towards their degrees. “We want
to make good decisions, and
having more information will
help us do that,” McCormack
said. “While it’s a little discon-
certing that things aren’t nor-
mal, in some ways, we’re being
responsive to [that] fact … in a
thoughtful way.”
 F FEATURES
6 Friday, April 10, 2020
Bowdoin community seeks virtual volunteer opportunities
by Eliana Miller
Orient Staff
Every afternoon, Annie Rose
’20 calls the same home-bound
senior citizen in Brunswick. Their
conversations flow naturally from
topic to topic, just as a conversa-
tion with a good friend would.
“How’s your family these
days?”
“What do you think of the pres-
idential primaries?”
“Have I told you my story about
a seagull eating raw meat from the
back of my pickup truck?”
Rose and this woman have
never met in-person. They were
connected only a week ago
through a call-in program run by
People Plus, a nonprofit that helps
support and foster community
for older adults in Brunswick.
Nearly 30 other Bowdoin stu-
dents, faculty and staff members
also signed up for the program.
As a McKeen Center Communi-
ty Engagement Fellow, Rose has
worked with People Plus before
and used to volunteer regularly
at various other organizations
in town. But now that she’s back
home in New York, she has had
to find new ways to volunteer and
stay connected to Brunswick.
“I think it’s really wonderful to
be able to start a new relationship
during this time of isolation,” Rose
said in a phone interview with the
Orient. “A lot of people are expe-
riencing feelings of loneliness, and
human connection is one way to
combat those feelings, so I really
enjoy it. I look forward to it prob-
Curating life online in the time of coronavirus
I Said What
I Said
by Aisha Rickford
A few days ago, I unfollowed
my favorite influencer (the fact
that I even have a favorite influ-
encer is the kind of admission
that makes me realize how much
I am a part of Gen Z, despite my
attempts to claim otherwise).
With so much free time on my
hands and the social distancing
mandates of our new coronavirus
era making it perfectly acceptable
to spend hours on my phone,
I found that the social media
breaks I was taking between
doing homework or tuning into
my virtual classes were growing
alarmingly long. I also found that
I knew way too much about this
influencer who, besides respond-
ing to one of my DMs or liking
maybe one of my comments, was
a complete stranger.
Through inferences made from
social media and various web ar-
ticles, I knew many details of her
life, from where she grew up, to
how she met her partner, to her
morning routine. During a period
a few months back when I took
an Instagram break altogether, I
would check in on her page just to
see if she posted something new.
At first, it was innocent. She
reminded me of myself and made
me feel, through her presence,
that things were possible for me.
(Who remembers Laverne Cox’s
ably as much as she looks forward
to it. I’m there to listen to her, and
she’s there to also listen to me.”
The call-in program is one
of the McKeen Center for the
Common Good’s new virtual
volunteering efforts. Although
many individuals are eager to stay
involved, health risks and stu-
dents’ distance from campus have
impeded the Center’s usual oper-
ations. All direct volunteer activi-
ties affiliated with the College have
been cancelled, and instead the
Center is helping students, staff
and faculty determine how best
to volunteer and help out in their
home communities or online.
“We are physically located in
Brunswick, but now students are
located all over the world. And
so we see our role in the McKeen
Center as two-part,” said Sarah
Seames, director of the McKeen
Center, in a Zoom interview with
the Orient. “The first part is to
maintain the connections to place
that we have here in Maine and
the partnerships that we’ve built
over time [and] to support the or-
ganizations that are so important
to this community. The other part
is to help individual students think
through what they see their role as
now, wherever they may be.”
Seames said that the McKeen
Center’s biggest challenge is main-
taining relationships between
Bowdoin students who serve as
mentors to kids in the Midcoast
area. Nearly half of the Center’s 38
student-led service organizations
work with kids, and now that all
Maine schools have transitioned
cute rebranding of “role model”
to “possibility model”? It was like
that.) From observing her routines
and the products she endorses,
I learned how to integrate new
things into my life that would
make me happier. But it soon
turned sinister. I’d compare my life
to hers, from her relationships to
her sense of fashion.
Yet, I couldn’t allow myself to
unfollow her, like I would so eas-
ily unfollow a company that was
tempting me with a few too many
posts advertising products that I
simply couldn’t afford.
Why? Because I felt like I knew
her, even though I didn’t. Unfol-
lowing her would feel like abruptly
stopping an exciting new show in
the middle of a season, or losing
the phone number of a really good
friend. I had to keep up.
Part of my interest in follow-
ing her had to do with a desire
to craft the kind of life I’d imag-
ined and was imagining for
myself. Myself, but older, more
grounded and successful, able
to afford the $100 dollar face oils
or custom-made hair products
that so many influencers tout on
their profiles. But the problem
is the life I was seeing wasn’t a
whole one. They were highlights,
carefully curated, and one can’t
base a life off of a selection, just
like you can’t fully appreciate
an artist by just looking at a few
of their paintings. You’ve got to
watch the tell-all documentary
that comes out a few years after
to remote learning, keeping in
touch with mentees is difficult.
“There are privacy issues. A lot
of parents just don’t want to release
home addresses and phone num-
bers and such,” said Nora Greene
’22, a leader of Harpswell Com-
munity School (HCS) Mentoring,
in a phone interview with the Ori-
ent. “Some of the kids don’t have
a stable environment, and they’re
not in the same home all the time.”
After talking with school social
workers and parents, only three of
the 11 members of HCS Mentor-
ing have been able to contact their
mentees. Greene, whose mentee
will graduate from the program at
the end of this year, was originally
hoping to mail letters back and
forth but has not even been able to
email her buddy.
Though she is disappointed by
this lost connection, she’s grateful
that at least some students can
keep in touch and hopes that more
students are motivated to partici-
pate in McKeen Center programs
next year after things settle down.
“It shows how important it
is that Bowdoin students really
reach out to the community,”
Greene said. “We don’t know how
these kids are feeling, and we can’t
provide any sort of happiness or
support for them anymore … I
hope that more people will see
how many people are actually
affected by this pandemic and
really give back to the greater
Brunswick community.”
Seames said lots of Bowdo-
in students and faculty have
reached out asking how to help.
they die, where you find out
about their secret alcoholism or
their shitty parents.
Okay, it’s not always that dra-
matic, but you do get a chance to
see that this person isn’t all walks in
the park, homemade sourdough or
perfect pictures of coffee, captured
just as the milk is swirling into the
coffee. You get the whole picture.
I unfollowed the influencer. But
in thinking about the timeline of
my obsession (all eight months of
it) I couldn’t help but think about
10 years ago, when our relation-
ships to the internet and online
community—and its expectations
of us—were far different.
In middle school, I was deeply
wedded to my online life. It was
insular and intensely private. An
avid fan of the “Warrior Cats”
book series, I would join role-
play websites, eventually launch-
ing one of my own. (Hilariously,
one of the ones I frequented most
is still up.) I wrote fanfiction on
fanfiction.net.
The internet was where I, a
kid who didn’t necessarily fit in
at school, found a community
of affirmation and validation. I’d
receive kind reviews on my fan-
fiction and watch ad-free Harry
Potter fan art videos on YouTube
set to Avril Lavigne’s “Keep
Holding On.”
At age 13, I made a Tumblr
account. I would go on to have
this account for seven years, accu-
mulating thousands of posts and
hundreds of followers and giving
She is not surprised by the re-
sponse—she is inspired.
“Reaching out and helping
others is one of the things that
can be most healing in times of
pain,” she said. “I’m really encour-
aged by folks, by students and
overall community members.
That instinct not only helps the
communities that are in need, but
it helps us all to think about how
we can be of service to others in a
time like this.”
Seames acknowledged that
one of the best ways to help out
now is through financial support
and supplies donations to local
businesses and nonprofits. But,
for members of the Bowdoin
community who do not have the
means to contribute financially,
non-monetary donations can be
just as important.
Adeline Browne ’16, a medical
student in Tufts University’s Maine
Track program, was on rotation
in a Portland hospital when she
realized the extent of the nation’s
current blood shortage.
“I was doing a rotation in a
pediatric hematology/oncology
floor. There’s a lot of kids on
that floor who are very trans-
fusion-dependent and require
daily or weekly transfusions of
blood and platelets,” Browne
said in a phone interview with
the Orient. “The last day that I
was working there, there was
a really severe shortage in the
blood bank at the hospital.
And so when we were asked to
leave the hospital [due to the
transition to remote learning], a
voice to my teenage angst. In the
mid-2010s, I learned about social
justice in ways that my school
never taught. Sadly, I deleted it
during my junior year of college,
so I can’t sift through my posts and
reanalyze them here with new-
found perspective, like The Cut so
brilliantly did once with emails in
a podcast episode.
The point is, my engagement
with the internet was a whole-
some, affirming experience,
where I sought out communities
that made me feel seen and didn’t
walk away from my socials feeling
fatigued and worse about myself
than when I’d opened them. One
of the first blogs I fell in love with
on Tumblr was a gorgeous one
called stophatingyourbody, fea-
turing selfies of people around the
world declaring self-love. What
happened to that?
But finally, toward the end of
high school, as I started to morph
into a real person and shed my ad-
olescent formlessness, I began to
stop needing my online commu-
nity of nerdiness and affirmation.
I spent more time and outside and
with real people. I started college
and my in-person life became the
rich, vibrant community I’d so
long sought after online.
Yet here we are, driven back
inside by the coronavirus, and
the internet does not seem so safe
and nurturing a place anymore.
In this case, it seems, one cannot
always return home. When did
social media stop being a place for
bunch of medical students went
to go donate that day.”
Partnering with the McKeen
Center, Browne then started the
Maine Students Blood Drive, a
competition that encourages
young, healthy students to get
out and donate by pitting differ-
ent Maine colleges against each
other to see who can rally the
most donors.
Fearing the spread of the
coronavirus, many blood drives
nation-wide have been can-
celled, including more than
4,500 of the Red Cross’s blood
drives. The remaining blood
donation sites are operating
with greater safety precautions,
limiting the number of donors
who can come into buildings
and more frequently checking
the temperature of donors and
staff members.
While donor blood is not
being used to treat coronavirus
patients, many individuals still
need transfusions, including the
children Browne treated during
her last day at the hospital. Be-
cause blood products have a
relatively short shelf-life, blood
donations are still considered to
be an essential service.
As of Wednesday, 82 people
had participated in the Maine
Students Blood Drive, including
18 members of the Bowdoin
community. The group hopes
to get 1,000 participants by the
end of the month. Participants
donate blood at their local
drives and then answer short
surveys to log the donations.
community and start becoming a
social and capitalist competition,
a dangerous and terrifying mar-
riage between the professional and
the personal? And what does that
mean for the scary time we are
living in?
I’m not the first to express
distaste over how everything
has become prepackaged and
monetized in our current digi-
tal age. You would think social
distancing would encourage a
return to online community, but
companies have simply changed
“I know people are kind of
wary to try to go out and do
anything, but this is a tangible
way that people can help and
also a way that we can bring the
community together,” said Diego
Villamarin ’21, a leader of Bow-
doin’s Pre-Health Club who is
spearheading the blood donation
campaign with Browne.
The McKeen Center is also
co-sponsoring the Distance Saves
Lives blood drive series with
MaineHealth. Every Wednesday
through June 3, the American Red
Cross will hold a blood drive at the
Portland Elks Lodge.
Seames encouraged Bowdo-
in community members to help
out in whatever way is most
comfortable for them, whether
that might be donating blood,
donating money or donating
time through virtual volun-
teering. The McKeen Center
recently launched a website
titled “Supporting Communi-
ty Organizations During the
COVID-19 Pandemic” with
more resources.
At the end of the day, though,
Seames said one of the best ways
to help out is simple: stay home.
“It’s a service, it’s for the com-
mon good and it is incredibly
important,” Seames said. “People
want to know how they can help,
and it can be hard to feel like you’re
not doing anything, but we also
want people to know that some-
times by literally doing nothing
and just staying in your house, you
are really doing something very,
very important.”
DALIA TABACHNIK
their tune, marketing products
to make you feel like you need
them even though you’re inside
all day, encouraging you to spend
money when 6.6 million Ameri-
cans no longer have any spending
money to speak of. I miss when
the internet was a safe space. But
I also recognize that it can’t just
be the internet that’s changed—I
used to admire the women I saw
on Tumblr and other socials, not
envy them until I have to unfollow
them. Clearly, the way we use the
internet has changed, too.
Friday, April 10, 2020
A REFLECTION ON LIFE AT
250 MAINE STREET
I can’t look at the pictures
yet. I know exactly which ones
I love most: PC and Ellie resting
on the grass on our first day
home, a blurry Andrew point-
ing at the camera on his birth-
day, Allyson grinning widely
with orange-painted cheeks at
House Olympics. When I think
about our lives in Quinby, I’m
reminded of what we’ve lost,
and I’m overcome by a deep,
unrelenting sadness that knocks
the wind out of me.
I’m unsure how to hold this
pain that stems from having to
leave Quinby House prema-
turely. All things considered,
I know that my Quinby-based
sadness is trivial and that I have
much to be thankful for. I have
my health. I have a safe home
to return to. I have two more
years at Bowdoin ahead of me.
Amid the horrific pandemic we
currently face, I’m privileged
to be able to mourn the loss of
a non-necessity, and I strive to
acknowledge that privilege. All
things considered, this pain is
insignificant.
And yet still, I hurt. I hurt in
a way that I never expected to
hurt over a College House. It’s
a pain that leaves me breathless.
It’s a pain I carried as I drove
to Brunswick to collect a year’s
worth of memories, as I said
physically-distanced goodbyes
to my housemates, as I packed
my car and left alone.
This pain sits inside of me
and forces me to confront the
terrifying reality that I’ve lost a
life defined by joy and commu-
nity and have gained a life de-
LIFE DIDN’T CARE ABOUT
MY PLANS: LESSONS FROM
THE PEACE CORPS
I had such great plans. I was
going to serve my country and
do something good in the world.
I was going to adventure around
obscure corners of the globe. I
was going to defer the enor-
mous student loans waiting for
me after graduation. I was going
to put my education degree and
linguistic skills to work. But, it
turns out, the world didn’t care
about my plans.
On a morning just like all the
others in my tiny village on the
high plateau of Madagascar, I
was sitting on my front porch
eating my breakfast of mofo
gasy (sweet rice cakes). I sat
watching young women, many
of them my high school stu-
dents, carrying buckets of water
on their heads (a skill I added to
my Peace Corps bucket list but
failed miserably to complete).
Younger girls, barefoot with
baby siblings wrapped to their
backs, were walking to fetch
bread for the day. My neighbor
with gray braids tied up on her
head was sweeping the red, dirt
floor. The men were already out
in the fields, sternly steering the
water buffalo through rice pad-
dies. These morning routines
and rituals gave purpose and
WE WANT YOU TO TELL YOUR STORY
Submit a Talk of the Quad to the Orient. Email submissions to orient@bowdoin.edu.
HOLLY HARRIS
fined by solitude. I’m far from
alone in confronting this reali-
ty, but it’s frighteningly easy to
feel alone in this moment; to
feel that past, cherished experi-
ences are all I have. And as of
now, I still hurt, and I will for
some time.
I leave part of myself at 250
Maine Street, in its nonsensi-
cal layout, in its worn chapter
room. On days when I felt whol-
ly alone at Bowdoin and would
fight tears on my walk home, I
found comfort in telling myself
structure to days that blurred
together and time that seemed
to otherwise stand still.
Time. Such a funny con-
struct. To go from the harried
hustle and bustle of my senior
year where there was never
enough time for anything to
living on my own in a village on
an island where I had more time
than I knew what to do with.
Time that stretches and bends
like this makes you sit with the
wide range and messy soup of
human emotions.
In fact, looking back, it was
like being on a meditation re-
treat, but I didn’t yet have any
essential tools to thrive. Instead
I have a journal somewhere
full of entries purging
loneliness, longing
for home and
frustration at
so much
dysfunc-
tion
ALEX BURNS
FEATURES
Talk of the Quad
that I could exhale the mo-
ment that I crossed the Quinby
threshold and was reunited with
the housemates I love. During
this time of pandemonium, I
want nothing more than to find
that same relief in returning to
that space and to those people,
but that space is no longer ours.
I feel haunted by the time
we’ve lost. I don’t know how to
let go of the fleeting hope for a
spring together and the broken
expectation that we would have
more time to shape our collec-
and legitimate boredom (mind
you, this was pre-cell phones,
pre-Netflix, pre-social media).
On a good day, the lack of dis-
tractions helped me notice and
be touched by some of the most
breathtaking sunrises, sit for
hours in the quiet company of
people in my village, hearing
their stories and absorbing an
entirely different way of under-
standing life.
And then one morning
wasn’t like all the others. While
eating my mofo gasy and
heating water for my bucket
shower, an official white Land
Cruiser pulled up in front of
tive experience in our House.
I’m in “terra incognita”; our lives
in Quinby have been stashed
into the recesses of ‘what once
was.’ I mourn the experiences
we never shared, the memories
we never created, the words we
never said.
I fear that I’ll describe Quin-
by and my life there with this
abrupt ending serving as a ‘but’
to my statement. I still feel that
we deserved more time, and
it’s nearly impossible for me
to feel grateful, but I can only
my yard. It was from headquar-
ters in Antananarivo. We were
being evacuated, and I had two
hours to pack my things and
say goodbyes.
I was in shock. I was angry.
I was devastated. I was worried.
I packed my essentials and
walked around the village, giv-
ing away everything I didn’t
need and wanted them to have
(which was most of what I
owned at that point). I tried
to explain why I had to leave
despite spending the past year
growing a life there, investing
in relationships and building
a home. It was confusing and
hope to one day remember this
year through the moments that
make clear why I feel this pain
so acutely. Quinby mattered
and loss stings. To preserve my
sanity, I have to hold onto the
moments that stand out.
It’s a Friday in November,
and I’m back. The party we are
hosting is nothing more than
an abject failure, a near total
no-show. The presence of a
handful of first-years momen-
tarily boosts morale, but for
all intents and purposes, our
disheartening to leave all these
plans I had at the drop of a hat
and at the expense of so much.
Little kids chased our Land
Cruiser as we drove away, wav-
ing, not understanding any of it.
It was not a complete sur-
prise that we had to leave the
country. We had suspicions that
this might be The Peace Corps’
next move but were hoping
that it wouldn’t come to this.
Months earlier, there were pres-
idential elections which led to
discord and social disturbance.
The cities grew more unsettled,
violence began to erupt and
government systems started to
shut down. It had been stress-
ful for months throughout the
entire country although it was
slow to ripple out to our
remote villages, where
we would hear ru-
mors of it on
the radio.
7
basement is empty. Eva and
Lauren, our dutiful E-Hosts,
wait upstairs for party-goers
who will never appear. Con-
sidering the sparse crowd,
tonight, we’re playing what we
want. And we want Robyn’s
“Dancing On My Own.” The
song’s iconic synth floods
the room. We few remain-
ing Quinby residents begin
the “Dancing On My Own”
experience slowly; we dance
half-heartedly until the build-
ing energy is irresistible, and
we give in completely to the
heartbroken anthem.
Just as the song swells to its
phenomenal, explosive chorus,
Lauren and Eva burst in to join
the moment. Our E-Hosts have
abandoned their sworn duties,
but as Eva explains, “if nobody
else is coming, who cares?”
And so, alone in the base-
ment, Quinby dances. Regard-
less of how absurd we look to
the few remaining first-years in
our home, we dance, laugh and
sing along with wild abandon.
I hold onto this moment now.
I hold onto the door swinging
open and the two young women
running to join us. I hold onto
the lights illuminating the hun-
dreds of names spray-painted
on the basement walls.
This moment serves as a re-
minder that yes, we were here.
Quinby was once ours and we
knew it and we loved it and
we mattered to each other and
Quinby mattered to us. I take a
breath, I shut my eyes, I hold on.
For a moment, the dust settles,
the world slows its turn and it’s
almost like I’m home again.
Blaine Stevens is a member of
the Class of 2022.
In retrospect, it was the
right move. The Peace Corps
could no longer ensure our
safety. The country had more
pressing issues to address
than me having adventures,
teaching English and making
friends. Madagascar had to
stabilize itself. As disappoint-
ing as it was, it was time for
us to leave.
This remains one of the
most stressful experiences of
my life—so much upheaval,
being so far from my family,
the uncertainty around what
was next, my heart aching for
those left behind. It was one
of the most impactful experi-
ences on me as a person and
how I continue to understand
the true nature of the world.
It was an experience of hu-
mility, in which I realized that,
despite all my great plans and
good intentions, the world
did not revolve around me.
This may sound harsh, but I
am grateful for the lesson. It
has softened other suffering
for me when life did not un-
fold as planned or hoped. It
taught me about the fragility
of the lives that we work so
hard to build. And it taught
me that we will be okay.
Kate Nicholson is the assis-
tant director of student well-
ness programs.
 A ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
8 Friday, April 10, 2020
Ivies 2020: eBoard saddened by event’s cancellation
byJane Godiner
Orient Staff
On March 19, during a virtu-
al ‘town hall’ about the corona-
virus (COVID-19) and its im-
pact on the College, President
Clayton Rose confirmed the
cancellation of this year’s Ivies
weekend. The news saddened
members of the Bowdoin com-
munity, including those on the
Entertainment Board (eBoard)
who plan the annual spring
concert.
“Although I was certain that
a move to virtual classes meant
that Ivies was cancelled, it wasn’t
until I watched the live [town
hall] that it actually hit me,”
wrote eBoard Co-Chair Joshua
Brooks ’20 in an email to the
Orient. “It was heartbreaking,
knowing that you would not be
able to see something that you
had worked very hard towards
come to fruition.”
The eBoard was responsible
for organizing all aspects of
the Ivies concerts, including
reaching out to and hiring the
entertainment. On Tuesday,
DRISKELL
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
“Maine was an important
part of the rhythm of his year.
Maine, the state’s resilient
people, trees and light were
fodder and foils for his art,”
noted Assistant Professor of
Art History Dana Byrd in an
email to the Orient.
Among his many accolades
and accomplishments, Dris-
kell’s role as an educator and
advocate for the arts was cen-
tral to his life’s work and still
holds profound resonance in
the Bowdoin community.
“Driskell was indefatiga-
ble in his educational mis-
sion that was both pastoral
and creative. For him, being
an educator equaled being
an artist, professor, curator,
historian, philanthropist and
family man,” wrote Julie Mc-
Gee ’82, associate professor of
Africana studies and art his-
tory at the University of Del-
aware and a former visiting
professor at Bowdoin, in an
email to the Orient. McGee
is lead curator of Driskell’s
upcoming retrospective at the
High Museum in Atlanta, the
Portland Museum of Art and
The Phillips Collection.
“David Driskell loved Bow-
doin and we shared this pas-
sion,” she wrote. “He champi-
oned my endeavors to provide
African American and Af-
rican diasporic art history
courses there … He did what
few could, which was embody
the humanistic study of art.”
Driskell’s colleagues,
friends and students alike re-
member his deep kindness and
his commitment and generos-
ity to share his knowledge and
cultivate the creative spark in
whomever he came into con-
tact with. Just last fall, Driskell
and McGee came to campus
and spoke on the importance
of Africana Studies and the
Visual Arts for AF/AM 50, a
eBoard announced on its Insta-
gram that this year’s headlining
act was KYLE. The rapper and
musician is most famous for his
collaboration with rapper Lil
Yachty on “I Spy,” which peaked
at number four on the Billboard
Hot 100 Chart in 2017.
“I really like KYLE as an artist
because he knows how to have
fun with music,” said eBoard
member Mamadou Diaw ’20
in a phone interview with the
Orient. “He presents himself in
a very unique way that I really
appreciate.”
“He has great energy and
great songs,” eBoard co-chair
Sabrina Hunte ’20 added in an
email to the Orient. “Thinking
about him not performing for
us is making me sad.”
While the eBoard devoted a
significant amount of time to
hiring the headliner, Brooks was
excited for the chance to create
an enjoyable weekend beyond
KYLE’s performance. In the
fall semester, Brooks attended a
conference geared towards stu-
dents in organizations similar to
Bowdoin’s eBoard. The confer-
celebration of 50 years of Afri-
cana Studies at Bowdoin.
“David’s connection to the
art world remained totally
fresh and engaged,” said Anne
Goodyear, co-director of the
Bowdoin College Museum of
Art, in a video interview with
the Orient. “So even late in
his career, he was continuing
to travel extensively around
the world, to support contem-
porary artists, contemporary
scholars, and to continue
to nurture the art historical
community with his wisdom,
his sense of humor and shar-
ing his experiences with us.”
During his half-centu-
ry-long sojourn in Maine,
Driskell’s presence touched
the lives of many in Bowdo-
in’s creative community. He
has remained a mentor and
friend to numerous alumni,
both those just discovering
their passions or advancing
far into their careers.
Kinaya Hassane ’19 met
Driskell three years ago while
researching collectors of Afri-
can American art, a topic that
ultimately became the focus
of her honors project.
“The afternoon that we
spent at his home discussing
his prolific career as an art-
ist, scholar and collector not
only shaped the trajectory of
my project, but it also fueled
my personal growth as a re-
searcher,” wrote Hassane in a
message to the Orient.
Ahead of his time in many
ways, Driskell laid the foun-
dation for the understanding
and appreciation of African
American art. His endeavor
in promoting Black art as the
backbone of American culture
is not to be underestimated.
Alvin Hall ’74, renowned
financial educator and art
collector, likewise credits his
early encounters with Driskell
for opening his artistic eye.
“David was the first African
American art teacher and art-
ence, Brooks wrote, gave useful
information on how to plan and
execute campus-wide concerts.
“I was looking forward to be-
ing able to implement some of
those things into our show and
the week leading up to it,” wrote
Brooks.
Other senior board mem-
bers, such as Diaw, are disap-
pointed to miss their last Ivies.
“I think it would have been
a phenomenal, really fun cap-
stone to four years at Bowdoin,”
Diaw wrote.
Though the concert weekend
is cancelled, eBoard hopes to
connect with the Bowdoin com-
munity through its Instagram
account, @bowdoin_eboard.
The group still plans to hold
the annual contest for an Ivies
t-shirt design and will accept
applications for next year’s
eBoard.
“The eBoard will continue to
make progress on our normal
end-of-year processes,” Brooks
wrote. “And [with] regards to
Ivies 2021, I can finally say that
I have absolutely no idea who’s
coming!” SARA CAPLAN
COURTESY OF LONE SPRUCE CREATIVE
REMEMBERING AN ICON: Renowned artist and scholar David Driskell H’89 visited campus in December to partake in Bowdoin’s AF/AM/50 celebra-
tion. Driskell held roots in Maine, owning a summer home in Falmouth and joining Bowdoin’s faculty as a visiting professor in the spring of 1973.
ist I had ever met,” Hall said hegan—Driskell was not only larly when it comes to black Driskell’s lasting impact
in a phone interview with the a role model professionally, but male or black masculinity.” on the art world will be re-
Orient. “And we sat there and also a guiding force personally, While grieving this deep alized only with time’s pass-
talked about artists like Alma through his wisdom, humility loss, among the many others ing, through the countless
Thomas. We talked about Ja- and calm reassurance. that have been caused by the individuals he has guided in
cob Lawrence. We talked about “There are many celebrated pandemic, the Goodyears are search of their paths. From
all of these artists I had never young and mid-career black reminded that it is during one creative spirit to the next,
heard of. At the time, I did not artists, male black artists … these times that art matters Driskell’s legacy will continue
know about Norman Lewis. I But to this day, it’s not that even more as a form of cul- to reverberate from the stu-
didn’t know about Jack Whit- easy to look out in the world tural memory. dio, to the classroom, to the
ten, and all these other artists and find a black male men- “Bowdoin is really proud to museum walls and beyond.
who today are huge people in tor,” Leonardo said in a phone have collected David’s work,” “[His influence] wasn’t
the art world … and that was interview with the Orient. Frank Goodyear said. “You about the width. It wasn’t about
my really first introduction to “[Driskell] resembled the kind know, why do we collect? Be- the celebration. It wasn’t about
the names. And it just stayed of person that I could look to, cause David’s voice is in those even marking these moments
with me.” or attempt to be, in his compo- works, his contributions to of brilliance … it was about
For contemporary artist sure, in his scholarliness and larger common global conver- committing every single day
Shaun Leonardo ’01—who was his kindness … To have some- sations are contained in those of your life,” said Leonardo.
introduced to Driskell’s work one like that in the art world works. And I think having a re- “What David would want from
his senior year at Bowdoin is unmeasurable, and people ally lovely collection of David’s me is what he did for me every
by McGee and who befriend- don’t quite understand that work … keep[s] him at his own single time we were together—
ed the artist while at Skow- type of mentorship, particu- voice, close to us forever.” to move it forward.”
Friday, April 10, 2020 ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT 9

Otoboke Beaver challenges notions of feminist expression

Unheard Voices
by Jack
Swartzentruber
Otoboke Beaver is an all-fe-
male punk quartet from Kyoto,
Japan which plays incredibly fast,
angular rock music fueled by lib-
erated rage. The original lineup,
composed of singer Accorinrin,
guitarist Yoyoyoshie, bassist Ni-
shikawachi and drummer Pop
formed in 2009 at Ritsumeikan
University’s music club.
The group’s name was in-
spired by a ‘love hotel’ in Osaka,
a specialized type of accommo-
dation designed primarily to
allow guests privacy for sexual
activities.
The band’s music is com-
posed of incredibly calculated
bursts of energy and fury, with
Accorinrin singing primarily
about experiences from her
own life regarding everything
from romance and overly-enti-
tled men to monotonous office
jobs. Her fierce and mind-bend-
ingly fast vocals are bolstered by
the other members of the group
who often sing behind her in
perfect unison.
The band released a demo in
2011 and a live album in 2012
that gained traction in Japan.
They began touring interna-
tionally in 2016, and played
shows at South by Southwest
and Coachella. In the years
since 2009, their blistering
unique style has received praise
from well-known Japanese mu-
sicians like Emi Morimoto of
Shonen Knife as well as interna-
tional artists like Paul Thomson
of Franz Ferdinand and Lars
Ulrich of Metallica.
Otoboke Beaver’s 2019 album
“Itekoma Hits” is a compilation
of older singles combined with
new material. It squeezes 14
songs into a mere 26 minutes,
averaging less than 90 seconds
per song. This intense brevity is
a testament to the band’s point-
ed energy and fury regarding
the topics they sing about. This
is shown in the hyper-specificity
of many song titles which often
seem to reference events from
Accorinrin’s life.
The first song on the album
is “datsu.hikage no onna,”
which she opens by singing “I
hate you” in English, before re-
turning to the verse in Japanese
in which she laments being “a
woman in the shadows.” When
the English line comes back lat-
er in the song, it is sung by all
the members, lending to a sense
of unification and solidarity. The
KAYLA SYNDER
band members are never afraid
to express exactly how they feel,
although their assertiveness
often grows and explodes over
the course of each song. They
continue to demonstrate this
joyful assertiveness with names
of later tracks such as “I’m Tired
of Your Repeating Story” and
“After Making Love With Me,
You Eat Your Wife’s Meal.”
It is important to note that
the explosiveness of the band’s
lyrics does not overshadow the
explosiveness of its instrumen-
tal mastery. The musicians rare-
ly ever miss a beat, and even the
most cacophonic bursts of noise
are still precise, transitioning
from melody to chaos and back
with ease. One of the most in-
strumentally impressive songs
is “Introduce Me to Your Fam-
ily,” in which the song changes
tempo and style multiple times
while maintaining the same
nimble and catchy bassline. In
“Bad Luck” the band members
blend their voices together,
speed-talking in such precise
unison that it’s hard to tell that
it’s actually multiple people.
What ties this album together,
amidst the impressive instru-
mentals and clever wordplay, is
the sense of sheer joy and fun
that the music evokes. Although
their songs often criticize men,
members of Otoboke Beaver
have stated, “We don’t try to sing
about women’s rights or women’s
issues in our music.” The root of
the band’s energy and anger is
not in an abstract political agen-
da, but reflects upon the direct
experiences of its members.
Listening to Otoboke Beaver
feels like listening to someone
vent their anger and frustration
in ways they’ve always been told
not to. (While it is not part of
this album, I would highly rec-
ommend the music video for
their most recent single, “Dirty
Old Fart is Waiting for My Re-
action.”) The album doesn’t try
to appeal to specific groups of
people, and it doesn’t seek to
compromise on anything. In-
stead, “Itekoma Hits” represents
the journey of four people
learning how to express their
rage as something fun, joyful
and absurd.

‘Honey, I’m Home’: senior theater majors adjust to off-campus life

by Elizabeth Flanigan
Orient Staff
For Tori Clarke ’20 and
Caroline Farber ’20, a lunch-
time conversation in the
Moulton Union lightroom
became the inspiration for
their co-written senior proj-
ect, “Honey, I’m Home.”
The play, which the two
have been working on since
SMILES ON STAGE: Ellie Pike ’22 (left) and Caroline Farber ’20 (right) shared laughs during a rehearsal for “Honey, I’m Home.” The production
is now indefinitely postponed due to the coronavirus.
September, explores the break
up of friendships in a theater
space. Weeks before the proj-
ect was set to finally be per-
formed, however, Bowdoin
transitioned to remote learn-
ing due to the coronavirus
(COVID-19).
“Honey, I’m Home” follows
two best friends, Millie and
Claire, from college to life as
roommates in New York City.
The play explores issues sur-
rounding changing circum-
stances and shifting dynamics
within a close friendship.
“I find, as I prepare to gradu-
ate, looking at this story is kind
of scary to think about,” said
Clarke in a Zoom interview
with the Orient. “The transi-
tion is going to put a strain on
my friendships because I’m not
going to be living next door to
my friends anymore.”
At the moment, however,
their project is on pause.
“The theater department
has been attempting to be very
receptive to the fact that what
it looks like to be a student off
campus is not the same as what
it looks like to be a student on
campus and that the expec-
tations have to be different,”
Clarke said.
COURTESY OF TORI CLARKE
Although the shift in learn-
ing is hard, Clarke feels the
department is being exception-
ally present and understanding
with its students.
“This is really hard, espe-
cially for seniors and especially
in the case of the studio stu-
dents,” she said. “People who
were working on these projects
since September—that had
taken a lot of emotional energy
and physical time—to then be
uprooted from that [is hard].
But it is not within the depart-
ment’s power to fix that.”
Clarke and Farber are both
members of the senior studio
class for performance arts ma-
jors. Clarke is a performance
arts and Gender, Sexuality and
Women’s Studies double major,
while Farber is an English and
theater interdisciplinary major.
Clarke had a history of theater
involvement at Bowdoin while
Farber did not, but they both
decided to include theater in
their majors during their soph-
omore year. That same year, the
pair met in Assistant Professor
of Theater Sally Wood’s Acting
II class.
“In the class we did physi-
cal combat … when we were
physically fighting each other
was how we became friends,”
said Clarke.
Good friends as well as col-
laborators, the duo envisioned
that they would write, direct
and act together in their play.
But as they got farther into the
demands of the writing process,
they realized that directing each
other would take a toll on both
the piece and their friendship.
So, they decided that Clarke
would direct and Farber would
act. Before Thanksgiving
break, the duo cast Ellie Pike
’22 to star opposite Farber in
the show.
“We are both still learning
as writers and artists, but this
piece is something that we
made from scratch, and it is
important that we are able to
see it through until the end,”
said Farber in a Zoom inter-
view with the Orient.
Clarke and Farber are
grappling with the uncertain
future of their production
given the current situation
with COVID-19. The theater
and dance department wants
to bring all of the senior stu-
dio students back to campus
at some point next year to
perform their showcases in a
festival-style weekend. How-
ever, this is contingent on the
College’s decision to resume
on-campus classes in the fall
semester.
“Because of my relationship
with the theater department at
Bowdoin, I would really love
to see it performed at Bowdo-
in and have some closure to
my theater career in that way,”
said Clarke.
Farber noted how these
emotions extend beyond than
her project with Clarke and
towards the work of her peers.
“That’s why the studio stu-
dents have been so nice to be
able to speak to. [We are] going
through the exact same things,”
she said. “We’re grieving the
loss of our own project but also
theirs as well.”

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 FS SPORTS
10 Friday, April 10, 2020

Keeping in touch, athletic trainers unveil

new ‘Sunday Stretches’ video program
by Andrew Chang
Orient Staff
Even in these times of dis-
array—or perhaps because of
them—new routines and pat-
terns have begun to emerge.
From President Clayton Rose’s
bi-weekly email updates to
various Zoom classes and Mi-
crosoft Teams meetings, one
thing’s for sure: these routines
mean more time looking at
screens and less time ventur-
ing outdoors. As a means to
promote health and wellness
during quarantine, the Ath-
letics Department debuted a
“Sunday Stretches” program
on YouTube last weekend.
The short and informative
videos are designed and pro-
duced by Bowdoin athletic
trainers, featuring tips and
stretches for students to stay
healthy and injury-free at
home. Episode One was put
together by athletic trainers
Ashley Stambolis, Gretchen
Henderson and Joe Shaw, and
offered tips for setting up a
comfortable, “ergonomically
correct” workstation at home. COURTESY OF BOWDOIN ATHLETICS
Five more episodes have STAYING LOOSE: Athletic trainers debut “Sunday Stretches” miniseries over Zoom in effort to promote wellness during quarantine.
been planned, and they will from Assistant Athletic Di- bolis, Henderson and Shaw in trainers wrote. “We’ve received all happen!” After a shout-out in Rose’s
cover upper and lower ex- rector for Sports Performance an email to the Orient. great feedback from staff, Over the next few weeks, email Tuesday and the ini-
tremity stretching, myofascial and Head Trainer Dan Davies. This is the first time the coaches, and student-athletes, the three will look to involve tial positive reception, will
release (a technique for easing “[Davies] presented us with athletic training department so that’s positive. We are using more members of the training the training staff expand the
pain in various “trigger points” this project as a way for us to has ever done a social media a lot of technology [and] pro- staff in the videos. “Sunday Stretches” program to
on the body), breathing tech- reach out to our student-ath- program. Despite their relative grams some of us haven’t used “Our entire staff will be in something more ambitious?
niques and tips on progressing letes and show them we are inexperience, the trainers en- before … Thank goodness front of the camera to help “[We] think that is to be
from prolonged sitting to ac- still here to support them in joyed making the first episode. for Micki Manheimer in our deliver encouragement and determined—who knows
tivity as the quarantine eases. injury prevention and care, “It was a lot of fun and Sports Information depart- support through these trying where this newfound fame
The idea for the series came even from afar,” wrote Stam- way harder than it looks!” the ment—she was able to make it times,” they wrote. will take us!”

Here’s the link to our zoom call:

In recognition of the COVID-19 pandemic, The Orient is offering free advertising
for Brunswick businesses. The Orient is an effective way to reach Bowdoin bowdoinorient.com
students, faculty and staff as well as parents, alumni and community members.
Hm wait sorry I’m not sure why that
We believe that this initiative can help you and your customers during this got pasted.
difficult time.
Let me try again.
Please contact orientads@gmail.com for details.
bowdoinorient.com

Idk why this keeps happening. Let

Good Friday?
me try copying the zoom link again.

bowdoinorient.com
Every Friday is a good Friday when you check out
the Bowdoin Orient. bowdoinorient.com

bowdoinorient.com

Don’t Passover an opportunity to peruse Ugh, I guess we should just check

this website out instead.
the pages of the Bowdoin Orient. bowdoinorient.com
 O OPINION
Friday, April 10, 2020 11

The Offer of the College, adapted QUESTION OF THE WEEK

The Offer of the College is a sort of mission statement for Bowdoin. And,
though its meaning holds up through the years, it has undergone several re-
visions since it was written in 1906. This week, we made some changes of our
own to reflect the new reality that we face as a College.
HAVE YOU BEEN “ZOOM-BOMBED”?
Answer at bowdoinorient.com/poll.
T O BE AT HOME in all lands and all ages;
To count your backyard a familiar acquaintance, and Netflix an in-
timate friend;
To gain a standard for the appreciation of the work of medical profession-
als and essential employees,
And the criticism of your own (but don’t be too hard on yourself);
To carry the keys of the world’s library as a JSTOR login,
Last issue’s response:
And feel its resources (still) behind you in whatever task you undertake;
To make and keep hosts of friends on Zoom… Who are to be leaders in Q: WOULD YOU ENROLL FOR A COMPLETELY
ONLINE SEMESTER IN THE FALL?
all walks of life;
To lose yourself (and your sanity) in generous enthusiasms, like baking
sourdough.

15% YES
And cooperate with others for common ends by staying home to flatten
the curve-
This is the offer of the college for the best (almost) four years of your life.

This editorial represents the majority view of the Orient’s Editorial Board, which is 85% NO Based on answers from 285 responses.
comprised of Emily Cohen, Roither Gonzales, Ellery Harkness, Julia Jennings, Alyce
McFadden, Rebecca Norden-Bright and Jaret Skonieczny.

ESTABLISHED 1871 You may be missing out on...

bowdoinorient.com orient@bowdoin.edu 6200 College Station Brunswick, ME 04011
The Bowdoin Orient is a student-run weekly publication dedicated to providing news and • In-person classes • The Mary Frances Searles
information relevant to the Bowdoin community. Editorially independent of the College
and its administrators, the Orient pursues such content freely and thoroughly, following • Parties Science Building
professional journalistic standards in writing and reporting. The Orient is committed to
serving as an open forum for thoughtful and diverse discussion and debate on issues of • Seeing your friends • Clubs and activities
interest to the College community.
• Laying on the quad • Awkward eye contact
Editor in Chief Editor in Chief • Brunswick restaurants • The new HAIM album,
Emily Cohen Alyce McFadden
• Graduation delayed to summer 2020
Digital Director
Steven Xu
Managing Editor
Maia Coleman
News Editor
Andrew Bastone
• Spring Gala • Fulfillment
Anna Fauver
Roither Gonzales
Aura Carlson • Hookup culture • Laying out the Bowdoin
Photo Editor
Ann Basu
Rohini Kurup
Ian Ward
Features Editor • Seeing ‘The Hunt’ in theaters Orient in person
Emma Sorkin
• Senior Week • Finding a job
Layout Editor Sports Editor
Emma Bezilla Executive Editor Dylan Sloan • Ivies • Confidence in the system
Jaret Skonieczny
Ian Stewart
Eliana Miller
Reuben Schafir A&E Editor • Studying abroad • The Bowdoin Seven
Data Desk Editor
Cole van Miltenburg
• The Chicken Pesto Panino, • Simpson’s Point
Opinion Editor
Gwen Davidson Associate Editor Diego Lasarte only $6.50 at the Pub • The outdoors
Drew Macdonald
George Grimbilas (asst.)
Ellery Harkness
Conrad Li Page 2 Editor • On-campus employment • Security
Nimra Siddiqui (asst.) Sabrina Lin Lily Randall • Dining hall brunch • Your younger sibling’s prom
Head Illustrator
Sara Caplan
Calendar Editor • Recitals and performances photoshoot, but you didn’t
Copy Editor Jane Godiner
Sebastian de Lasa • College house initiation want to go to that anyway
Social Media Manager Danielle Quezada Senior News Reporter
Ayub Tahlil Emily Staten Horace Wang • Grades • Happy hour
The material contained herein is the property of The Bowdoin Orient and appears at the sole discretion of the • Meeting new people • Your radio show
editors. The editors reserve the right to edit all material. Other than in regard to the above editorial, the opinions
expressed in the Orient do not necessarily reflect the views of the editors. • Saying ‘let’s get a meal • Having a reason to wear
sometime’ business casual attire
• Late night chats • Any semblance of a normal
HAVE AN • Independence life

OPINION? But at least you don’t have to miss out on...

Submit an Op-Ed or a Letter to the

THE BOWDOIN ORIENT
Editor to orientopinion@bowdoin. Published online every Friday.
edu by 7 p.m. on the Tuesday of the
week of publication. Include your full We don’t have a cool tag line like the Washington Post,
name and phone number. but we’ll get through this together!
16 Friday, April 10, 2020

APRIL
“I want to know if you can see beauty even when it’s not pretty, every day, and if you can source your own life
from its presence.
FRIDAY 10
I want to know if you can live with failure, yours and mine, and still stand on the edge of the lake and shout to Write a story that begins with one character in some sort
of water—anything from the Atlantic Ocean to a shower.
the silver of the full moon, ‘Yes!’
The story ends when the character gets out and dries off.
It doesn’t interest me to know where you live or how much money you have. I want to know if you can get up,
after the night of grief and despair, weary and bruised to the bone, and do what needs to be done to feed the
children. Write about your favorite weird thing that the C-Store
sells and why you like it.
It doesn’t interest me who you know or how you came to be here. I want to know if you will stand in the center
of the fire with me and not shrink back.
It doesn’t interest me where or what or with whom you have studied. I want to know what sustains you, from Bonus activity: Have a third-night Passover seder,
because what else are you doing with your time? Try not
the inside, when all else falls away.
to act visibly annoyed when your family refuses you a
I want to know if you can be alone with yourself and if you truly like the company you keep in the empty second glass of wine because “this isn’t college.”
moments.”
–Oriah Mountain Dreamer, “The Invitation”

SATURDAY 11 SUNDAY 12 MONDAY 13

Write a letter to your favorite graduating senior. Remind Things have felt quiet lately. Open your window and Write about the most revolting food you’ve ever tried in
them that they were appreciated on campus and that make a list of all of the sounds you hear. disgusting, excruciating detail.
Bowdoin will miss them.

Write about your least favorite song, what makes it so
annoying and the memories that you have attached to it.
Bonus activity: Get out of bed before noon. Trust me,
it’ll be so fun and interesting!
Write about someone who, quite literally, sees their entire
life flash before their eyes. Write about each milestone
from the perspective of the character, who should act as
a spectator to the events of their own life.
Bonus activity: Re-read one of your high school essays.
Feel shame.
Write a story about two people eating dinner together.
The first half of your story is from the perspective of one
character, who thinks it is a date; the second half is from
the perspective of the other character, who is completely
oblivious to the first character’s intentions.
Bonus activity: Read the Orient online! Thanks for
making it this far.

TUESDAY 14 WEDNESDAY 15 THURSDAY 16

Write about a time where you had to make a difficult Write about the last person you said “I love you” to, Write a story about the lives of your next-door neighbors,
choice, but, per Robert Frost’s advice, “took the one less whether it be a family member, a friend or a partner. Was either at home or at Bowdoin. The less you know about
traveled by.” Did it make all the difference? it out of emotion, obligation or something in between? their lives, the better the story will be.

Make a list of all of the people that you want to hug
when you can see people again. Stir the pot by writing
the names in order of priority and sending it to everyone
on the list.
Bonus activity: Put on pants.
Write a recipe for a “Quarantini.” It shouldn’t be drink-
able.
Bonus activity: Tune in to a virtual yoga class led by Siri
Kazilionis ’23! Live on Wednesdays at 5 p.m. Eastern on
the Bowdoin Wellness Instagram page (@bwellbowdoin).
Watch a music video with some sort of narrative storyline
and transform it into a short story (I did this for Katy
Perry’s “The One That Got Away” and wound up crying,
so, trust me, this is legit).
Bonus activity: Reach out to an estranged lover.
Rekindle the passion over Zoom.

17 18 19 20 21 22 23
Read The Orient Do some spring Reconnect with an Write a song Hug something or Start a new TV Cook something
cleaning old friend someone series new