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The Nation’s Oldest Continuously Published College Weekly Friday, April 24, 2020 Volume 149, Number 23 bowdoinorient.com

New committee prepares for possibility of remote fall semester

by Emily Cohen
Orient Staff
President Clayton Rose
has formed a new working
group to develop a model for
remote teaching and learning
in the event that the College
determines students cannot
return to campus in the fall
semester or should they have
to leave campus again. Rose
announced the formation of
the group, called the Conti-
nuity in Learning and Teach-
ing Group, in an email to the
campus community Tuesday
morning.
The group, composed of 12
faculty, six staff members and
three students, will survey
students and faculty to gauge
the successes and pitfalls of
current remote learning and
teaching and will then rec-
ommend a new model to be
followed in the case of con-
tinued remote classes.
“Hopefully we’re going
to start meeting tomorrow
and start having substantive
conversations about our con-
tingency plans to how we’re
going to provide a quality
Bowdoin education, should
we be forced off campus once
again,” said Richard Broene,
professor of chemistry and
the chair of the working
group, in a phone interview
with the Orient.
“I would really like it if
what we develop is never uti-
lized,” he added.
The formation of the
group is not indicative of the
College’s plans for the fall se-
mester, Rose assured.
“We’re doing this because
we need to be prepared, not
because we have a desire to
go into a remote learning
model … We’re working as
hard as we can to figure out
if there’s a way not to be re-
mote,” said Rose in a phone
interview with the Orient. “If
we can’t be on campus … or
we’re on campus but we have
another outbreak or the gov-
ernor or the federal govern-
ment makes a decision that
requires us to again to move
off campus, we want to have a
Please see REMOTE, page 3

Amid shelter-in-place order,

downtown restaurants find creative
solutions to keep business afloat
by Aura Carlson
Orient Staff
On March 23, the staff of
Wild Oats Bakery and Cafe
had been preparing baked
goods and soups since 4:30 a.m.
when owner Becky Shepherd
received a text saying that a
shelter-in-place order had been
announced for the Town of
Brunswick. After dealing with
the hectic crowd of customers
yelling their food orders, Shep-
herd decided to close for several
weeks to craft a more effective
way to serve people.
Wild Oats is only one of the
many restaurants and business-
es in downtown Brunswick that
have been forced to transition
to new food-serving models
with revised hours and adjust-
ed menus since the town and
the state announced shelter-in-
place orders last month due to
the coronavirus (COVID-19)
pandemic.
Wild Oats has stayed closed
since, with its staff hard at work
on coming up with a plan.
Shepherd created an app that
takes online orders and allows
customers to pick up their food
at the curb within 45 minutes.
With new tools in their kit and
an adjusted menu, Wild Oats
will reopen today, though Shep-
herd acknowledges that it won’t
be a substitute for the way busi-
ness was before.
“We thought we were doing
well with doing take-out and
pre-packaged goods, and all of a
sudden we could only do curb-
side, and obviously our whole
business model is built on cus-
tomers coming in and seeing
products and sitting down and
having an experience, so it was
pretty disruptive,” Shepherd
said in a phone interview with
the Orient.
Little Dog Coffee Shop also
started taking online orders
shortly after the shelter-in-place
mandate went into effect. Own-
er Mason Palmatier reports
that, since the shelter-in-place
order, he has experienced an 80
percent loss of daily business.
“I realize that since this has
all occurred, coffee isn’t our
main business,” Palmatier said
in a phone interview with the
Orient. “It’s not selling coffee,
it’s just providing a comfortable
and safe place for people to
meet and to study and to work,
and with what’s going on, that’s
why we have been affected pret-
ty hard.”
DOWNSIZING STAFF,
DOWNSIZED DEMAND
Palmatier has had to lay off
nine employees, now maintain-
ing a staff of five rather than
14. Meanwhile, Portland Pie
Company in Brunswick has had
to lay off 50 percent of its staff,
while Shepherd let 60 percent of
her employees go.
Newer restaurants such as
Maine St. Steak and Oyster,
which opened in February, and
Odd Duck, which opened at
the beginning of January last
year, are now each run by two
people—the owner and the ex-
ecutive chef.
All of Odd Duck’s reserva-
tions, including many Bowdoin
graduation events, have been
cancelled up until June, accord-
ing to owner Becky Marcos.
“Within the next month we
had six events booked, one of
them being a Kentucky Derby
party … I had birthday parties
and a wedding event and all
kinds of things that were all can-
celled,” Marcos said in a phone
interview with the Orient. “It’s
been devastating. We were do-
ing well and were on target to
break even this year, and the
whole virus has knocked the
wind out of our sails.”
In addition to the cancel-
lation of Bowdoin graduation
reservations, Odd Duck relied
on its seasonal patronage from
the Maine State Music Theatre,
which was called off on April 21.
“Now that they won’t be hav-
ing a season at all this year …
it’s really going to hurt us hard,”
Marcos said.
In an attempt to bring more
of their staff back to work, some
restaurants have applied to the
Paycheck Protection Program
(PPP), a Small Business Associ-
ation (SBA) loan program that is
part of the federal Coronavirus
Aid, Relief and Economic Se-
curity (CARES) Act which was REUBEN SCHAFIR, THE BOWDOIN ORIENT
signed into law on March 27. ORDER’S UP: Ben Gatchell, owner of Dog Bar Jim, works at the coffee shop’s pick-up window serving coffee to
customers. Since the Town of Brunswick and the state of Maine put a shelter-in-place order, downtown restaurants
Please see BUSINESS, page 4 have found creative ways to serve customers following CDC guidelines.

Student organizers end mutual aid fund after pushback from College
by Ian Ward
Orient Staff
Members of the Bowdoin
Labor Alliance (BLA) shut
down their online mutual aid
fund on Tuesday after Col-
lege administrators notified
them that the effort violated
College policies that prohibit
independent student fund-
raising.
Before closing on Tues-
day, the fund had raised and
distributed over $15,000 to
Bowdoin students, staff and
other community members
struggling with the econom-
ic fallout of the coronavirus
(COVID-19) crisis since
April 1.
“The fundraising effort
was not permitted by [Stu-
dent Organizations Oversight
Committee (SOOC)] poli-
cies,” wrote Dean for Student
Affairs Janet Lohmann in an
email to the Orient.
Both the Student Hand-
book and SOOC guidelines
limit independent fundrais-
ing efforts by student-run
clubs. According to the Stu-
dent Handbook, student or-
ganizations may only fund-
raise for charitable causes
only if they solicit donations
exclusively from current stu-
dents and have received prior
permission from the director
of Student Activities.
Clubs that violate SOOC
policies risk losing their
SOOC charter, which allows
them to hold events on cam-
pus and receive funding from
the Student Activities Fund-
ing Committee (SAFC).
According to Sonia Shah,
the chair of the SOOC, the
committee asked the fund’s
organizers to clarify that the
fund was being organized
independently of the College
and of BLA activities, but it
did not request that organiz-
ers shut the fund down.
“When the SOOC reached
Please see MUTUAL AID, page 3

This print edition of the Orient was produced on Friday, April 24, 2020, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it will be physically printed at a later date.

N ARCHIVING THE PRESENT F WHY BOWDOIN A BOWDOIN TO BROADWAY S OFF TO THE RACES O FEDERAL AID
Special Collections reaches out to community Students reflect on what drew them to Tina Satter ’96 receives a Guggenheim Lubrano ’19 helps raise over $25,000 in Bowdoin must help students ignored by
to document COVID-19 pandemic. Page 4. Bowdoin. Page 6. fellowship. Page 9. virtual 5k fundraiser. Page 10. the controversial CARES Act. Page 11.
 2 PAGE TWO
2 Friday, April 24, 2020

If housing had majors

by Lily Randall
Orient Staff
Sometimes I think Bowdoin
was just a fever dream. After
only getting to spend a semes-
ter and a half there, the whole
thing could’ve just been an ex-
tended psychotic break, maybe
a really vivid dream if I was
lucky. I’ve lost a disheartening
amount of motivation (sor-
ry Professor Nerdahl/Franz/
Mohandesi/Jones, it’s nothing
personal), and I’ve also forgot-
ten how to read (I’m dictating
this whole article over Siri).
Clearly, I have been no match
for quarantine. I even got a job
at Target in the hopes it would
give me some sense of normal-
cy, but there’s this cute old man
who works there that looks a
little too much like my grand-
father, so I’ve spent a lot of time
just worrying about this man
and his safety. I’ve also started
impulsively popping my pim-
ples again since no one’s seeing
my face anyways, and yesterday
I put on track pants for the first
time in two weeks and thought
that was kinda fancy of me. So
that should give you a good
idea of how I’m doing right
now.
Additionally, I’ve been
spending a lot of time on Twit-
ter which is both awful and
kinda magnificent, although
it’s been doing numbers on the
amount of intrusive thoughts
I have per day. Anyways, last
week I saw a tweet declaring
that yellow, the number three,
the letter C and Wednesday all
have the same energy, which
I kinda get, but I think that’s
just because they’re all the
third thing in their respective
categories. Anyways, it got me
thinking about what on cam-
pus has similar energies. My
first thought was which Col-
lege Houses professors would
belong in, but considering I’ve
literally only had 10 profes-
sors, it stopped short pretty
quickly. The more I thought
about it, though, the more I
realized that a lot of Bowdoin’s
majors and on and off-campus
housing have similar vibes. I’ve
done my best to pair them as I
see fit below, but as always, if
you disagree, I don’t want to
know <3.
First year bricks: Psychology.
Everyone has this phase, but
you’ll grow out of it eventually.
Lighthouse: Economics.
Maybe it’s because Lighthouse
is home to a decent chunk of our
athletes, and I feel like econ is
oversaturated with varsity bros,
but this one just seems to work.
Whether or not this is true, you’d
think they’d at least have some
sense to invest in a mop, but I
guess I’ll just keep destroying
my sneakers on their sticky base-
ment floors until they do so.
Brunswick Apartments: Gov- cidence that Reed rhymes with outta the way, but once you’re
ernment. weed. there, you don’t want to leave.
The degree and housing of
the people. Noble Street: History. Belmont Street: Legal Studies.
If anyone’s planning a revo- After last year’s porchfest,
Page Street: German. lutionary coup, it’s these guys. anything to prepare for a future
You studied abroad in Ber- case with the BPD.
lin, host parties with European Burnett House: Art History.
electronica and have an obses- No one really knows who Pine Street Apartments: Bio-
sion with red. This is also the you guys are, but you like being chemistry.
off-campus house I have dis- elusive. You’re quirky, you don’t You probably hate yourself.
sociated the most at, but that’s mind having a window that
besides the point. goes to nowhere (it’s artistic Baxter House: Sociology.
commentary!) and you proba- Baxter basement is where
Reed House: Biology. bly smoke cigarettes. morality goes to die, and hon-
Okay, I might be biased estly so much weird shit hap-
since I’m supposed to live in Coles Tower: Environmental pens down there I wouldn’t be
Reed next year and am loosely Science. shocked if you could make a
planning on having some sort Considering Coles had a few case studies out of it. Also,
of degree in Bio, but I KNOW bug infestation this spring, first-years think you’re cool
I can’t be the only one that this one feels like a no-brainer. until they’ve had a few weeks
thinks this. I think having Also, everyone talks about both of you, after which the “new
that huge backyard definitely of these like they’re super cool college shine” starts to rub off
contributes to this vibe, and and fun, but once you’re inside, a bit.
also the whole ~not like oth- it’s honestly like a seven at best.
er girls~ aspect of residing on Park Row: Neuroscience.
Boody Street is part of it as Mayflower Apartments: English. You have your life together,
well. I mean, it can’t be a coin- Unproblematic vibes. Kinda and I hate it. F*** you.

SEND A SHOUT
INTO THE VOID.
Ranging from lighthearted moments to serious
reflections about life at and beyond Bowdoin, Talks
of the Quad feature the Bowdoin community’s best
short-form writing. They are published every other
week and can be written by any member of the
Bowdoin community. Generally 700-1,000 words.

email orient@bowdoin.edu
Friday, April 24, 2020 NEWS 3

NEWS IN BRIEF Course registration delayed REMOTE

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

until July, McCormack says

COMPILED BY REUBEN SCHAFIR better remote learning model
to be able to carry on.”
CXD INTERNSHIP RECIPIENTS AND Broene and Rose did not
MCKEEN FELLOWS WILL NOT BE say specifically what aspects

ALLOWED TO LIVE ON CAMPUS First-years may register during summer of the current model would
be changed, though Rose
commended both faculty
THIS SUMMER at the end of Orientation after semester. and students for their ability
by Emily Cohen meeting with their pre-ma- The Return to Campus to quickly adapt to remote
Orient Staff
Though recipients have not yet been informed, the Office of Residen- jor advisor, may also register Group is expected to submit teaching and learning, noting
tial Life decided last week that students awarded Career Exploration and Registration for next semes- for classes in the summer a recommendation regarding that faculty overhauled their
Development’s (CXD) Funded Internship Grants will not be permitted ter’s classes may be delayed this year, which, McCormack fall classes to Rose by June 15. courses in about two weeks.
to live on campus this summer. Mckeen Center Fellows were notified in until early July as the College wrote in her email, is a “signif- According to the email McCor- The group will submit its
individual emails that campus housing would not be available to them considers its decision about icant departure from our past mack sent to faculty, fall 2020 recommendations to Rose
either. fall semester learning. Dean practices.” courses will be available on and the dean for academic
The College has not yet made an announcement about whether any for Academic Affairs Eliza- McCormack had previous- Classfinder on July 6, and reg- affairs by June 30, approxi-
students will be allowed to stay on campus this summer. beth McCormack informed ly informed students in an istration will begin on July 9. mately two weeks after the
Typically, students who have received fellowships through the Col- faculty of the tentative time- email on April 5 that registra- The decision to further de- Return to Campus Group is
lege or are working at least 20 hours per week for the College may reside line for course registration in tion was delayed until mid- lay registration was made to expected to make a recom-
in campus housing for a fee of $65 per week. Recipients of a Funded an email on Monday. June pending the Return to allow faculty time to adjust mendation regarding if and
Internship Grant who work off-campus are typically allowed to petition McCormack also an- Campus Group’s recommen- their courses and proposals how campus can reopen in
for on-campus housing, though it is not guaranteed. nounced in the email that dations to President Clayton according to the group’s rec- the fall.
“With strict adherence to social distancing and keeping everyone safe first-year students, who tra- Rose regarding if, and how, ommendations and Rose’s de- Broene anticipates that his
in the midst of COVID-19, Residence Life has let us know that there ditionally register for classes campus can reopen for the fall cision. group will share recommen-
will not be housing available for our grant recipients,” said Meg Springer, dations with faculty ahead
associate director of Career Exploration and Development in an email of the June 30 deadline if the

top 1 things to do during quarantine:

to the Orient. College decides to continue
Tom Ancona, the associate director of the Joseph McKeen Center remote learning in the fall to
for the Common Good, wrote to the McKeen Center Fellows that they allow professors and the Of-
“are still welcome to work with [their] community partner as long as fice of the Registrar to make

1. Read The Orient

[they] can secure housing off-campus or commute from [their] home.” adjustments ahead of course
Ancona added that students arriving from out of state must comply with registration, which has been
any applicable municipal, state or federal lockdown orders and might pushed to July pending the
have to self-quarantine for 14 days if Governor Janet Mills’s out-of-state Return to Campus Group’s
travel order is still in effect. recommendation.
“President Rose has said that a final decision about housing any stu- follow us on social media, or visit bowdoinorient.com/subscribe “[The Return to Cam-
dents on campus will be made by the beginning of May,” Ancona wrote. pus Group’s] final decisions
need to feed into our final
decision,” said Broene. “Best
MUTUAL AID “We changed our language
to try to disconnect [the fund]
they were surprised by the
pushback they received from
tion of these kinds of rules,”
Grossmann said in a phone
students are leading an ini-
tiative to help others, we spe-
practices and remote learn-
ing and online learning are
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
from BLA … but unfortunate- the College. interview with the Orient. cifically have these policies best practices regardless, and
out to BLA regarding the ly, the fact that it was hosted “We had thought that the “We’re getting emails from to ensure that any club who I don’t think that’ll change.
initiative, we had simply on the BLA website was still fact that we’re living in real- the administration telling us chooses to fundraise can be The question is whether or
asked them to completely a concern for them,” said Ben ly exceptional times and that to care for each other and do held accountable in case any- not the faculty should be
disconnect the Bowdoin La- Ray ’20, one of the organizers these are truly unprecedented anything that we can to find thing goes wrong,” she wrote. planning on implementing
bor Alliance and Bowdoin and a founding member of circumstances would validate creative solutions to support In lieu of the fund, orga- them immediately or later on
from this mutual aid network the BLA, in a phone interview the fact that people need this each other, and that’s exactly nizers have posted links to in the summer.”
and update the language on with the Orient. “[Admin- resource right now,” said Ray. what we’re doing.” local organizations and oth- Ultimately, the goal is to
their website,” wrote Shah in istrators] made it clear to us Diego Grossmann ’20, Shah acknowledged the er mutual funds supporting standardize students’ expec-
an email to the Orient. “The that if we couldn’t migrate to a another student organizing need for flexibility in imple- Brunswick residents during tations if they cannot be on
SOOC did not push the stu- new webpage, the fund would the COVID-19 crisis on the campus, Broene said.
dents who started the initia-
tive to shut down the mutual
have to be taken down for us
to maintain our charter.” “We’re getting emails from webpage. A statement an-
nouncing the suspension
“We have a bunch of dif-
ferent modes being utilized.
aid network in any way.” Ray said organizers con- the administration telling us of the fund at the top of the Some of those I am certain

to care for each other and do

But according to the fund’s
organizers, administrators
continued to take issue with
the fact that the fund was
hosted on the BLA website,
sidered moving the fund to
another online platform but
found the associated techni-
cal difficulties to be prohibi-
tive.
webpage does not mention
the College’s involvement.
anything that we can to find Grossmann said the orga-
nizers are not actively plan-
creative solutions to support ning to launch a new aid fund
are going to be better re-
ceived by students than oth-
ers. And so we just have to
figure out which ones those
are and then think about how

each other, and that’s exactly

even with the additional lan-
guage clarifying its indepen-
dence from both BLA and the
College.
Lohmann wrote in an email
that “using the term ‘Bowdo-
in’ suggests it is a Bowdoin
sponsored initiative, which it
was not.”
Neither the Student Hand-
book nor SOOC guidelines
explicitly prohibit using the
College’s name in fundraising
efforts.
The College maintains its
own support fund to provide
financial assistance to staff
members facing financial
emergencies.
Before taking the fund of-
fline on Tuesday, organizers
had completed all 47 of the
requests for aid that they had
received, using over $15,000
in donations. Ray said he and
his co-organizers were hop-
ing to continue to receive and
fulfill requests as needed, and
what we’re doing.”
–Diego Grossmann ’20
the fund, shared Ray’s disap-
pointment.
“Honestly it was surpris-
ing and so contradictory to
get pushback from Student
Activities and from the ad-
ministration about a viola-
menting SOOC policy during
extraordinary circumstances
but said that hosting the fund
on the BLA website too close-
ly associated the fundraising
effort with the club.
“While we appreciate that
but indicated that they are
staying in touch with com-
munity members who are
continuing to face financial
struggles.
“We’ve already received
messages from aid recipients
talking about new situations
and the fact that they need
more help, and if we see that
need is ongoing and that no
one is filling that need, then
we might step in and do
something again,” he said.
we can present a consistent
experience so the students
will know what to expect …
if they have to walk into an
online environment,” he said.
“No one’s under any il-
lusions that this is going to
resemble the learning experi-
ence that goes on on campus
or replace the campus life,”
added Rose. “That is not go-
ing to be true, which is why
we all want to be back on
campus if we can.”

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4 NEWS Friday, April 24, 2020

Archiving a pandemic: Special Collections gathers

oral and written histories
by Eliana Miller
Orient Staff
As the College transitioned
to remote learning last month,
weekly town halls and daily
updates from President Clay-
ton Rose and deans for the
College have become the norm,
prompting a mix of anxiety
and relief amongst readers. Af-
ter just a few days of working
from home, Meagan Doyle, a
digital archivist in the George
J. Mitchell Department of Spe-
cial Collections and Archives,
began collecting these emails.
It was clear to her that this is
a historic moment, and that
someone needs to record the
College’s actions during the
pandemic.
A few weeks later, she cre-
ated the Documenting Bow-
doin & COVID-19 project, in
which Bowdoin community
members can submit written
documents—prose, poetry, art,
journals—and oral histories
to record and preserve their
thoughts on the novel corona-
virus (COVID-19).
“Collecting journals or real-
ly any form of reflection people
create is really important so
that we can try to fill in the
gaps and have fewer silenc-
es in the record,” said Doyle
in a video interview with the
Orient. “However close in the
future or distant in the future,
someone will be using [these
documents] to understand this
particular moment.”
Bowdoin students, faculty,
staff and alumni can contribute
by emailing Doyle their per-
sonal accounts of the pandemic
and signing a few waivers. Al-
though Doyle is still creating an
online portal for submissions,
the project’s website includes
various resources, including
information about ways to con-
duct an oral history, suggested
topics for interviews or written
accounts and a matchmaking
form to pair up individuals in-
terested in conducting an oral
history with another Bowdoin
community member.
The project is similar to
many other past documenta-
tion projects in Special Collec-
tions and Archives. The College
has collected journals from
students, faculty and alumni
practically since its founding,
and there have been oral his-
tories conducted to record the
stories of the first women at
the College, the first African
American students and alumni
more generally.
In most of these projects,
individuals submitted their tes-
timonies years after the events
that are discussed occurred,
retrospectively commenting
on their lived experiences. But
the Documenting Bowdoin &
“It’s a unique way of capturing
the stress, anxieties and
uncertainties that sometimes
get foreclosed, neatly
packaged and presented in a
history class 30 years later.”
–Salar Mohandesi, Assistant
Professor of History
COVID-19 project records his-
tory in real time.
“It’s valuable to get people’s
reflections now because if peo-
ple are in the moment, maybe
they’ll accurately remember
what happened yesterday, as
opposed to talking about it 25
years from now,” said Marieke
Van Der Steenhoven, Special
Collections education and
outreach librarian, in a video
interview with the Orient. “It’s
also very valuable in 25 years to
have oral history projects about
COVID-19 because then we’ll
have sort of more context, and
people will understand more
how this disease and the pan-
demic affected their lives. So I
think it’s all worth doing.”
Van Der Steenhoven is
working with Doyle to inte-
grate the project into Bowdoin
classrooms. She hopes to help
professors design assignments
for students to do journaling
or oral history work as part of
their coursework.
Assistant Professor of His-
tory Salar Mohandesi already
uses oral histories in his re-
search and in some of his class-
es, and this semester, students
in both his Transatlantic Sixties
and Seventies course and his
History of the Present class are
conducting what he calls “per-
sonal histories,” recording their
thoughts on 2020 in a written,
audio or visual format.
“When you do an oral his-
tory in the present, you’re able
to capture your thoughts in the
here and now. You don’t know
what’s going to happen. You
probably don’t have a highly
coherent narrative, and you’re
struggling to figure out things
as you go,” Mohandesi said in
a video interview with the Ori-
ent.
“It’s a unique way of cap-
turing the stress, anxieties and
uncertainties that sometimes
get foreclosed, neatly packaged
and presented in a history class
30 years later,” he added.
Mohandesi is not requiring
students to submit their work
to the Special Collections and
Archives project, but he hopes
that they do.
“Even though a lot of stu-
dents might feel like they’re
just being pushed by the stream
of history, they also are a part
of this history, and I think their
stories are just as valuable,” he
said. “History should not just
be the story of elites. It should
also be the story of masses of
people who have real concerns
and desires.”
Doyle is also documenting
the small mass that is the Bow-
doin community through web
crawls, which use screenshots
from various days to capture all
the updates to Bowdoin’s web-
site, such as the additions to
the COVID-19 FAQ page. Ad-
ditionally, she is cataloging all
COVID-related emails, which
she said “seems like all emails
lately.”
Beyond simply generating
primary source documents for
historians to use at a later date,
Doyle said that recording one’s
thoughts can be cathartic and
therapeutic in these tumultu-
ous times, and it is “still worth
doing for your own personal
archive or for generations to
come after you.”
She also hopes the project
creates an opportunity for the
Bowdoin community to come
together.
“An oral history in which
you’re interviewing someone is
both a way to get at connection
and community by sharing sto-
ries,” she said. “Hopefully we’re
leaving space for reflection
but also leaving space for con-
nection during these strange
times.”

BUSINESS what will happen with the gov- Tony Pastor, said it would be weeks. Wild Oats is also offering

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
“If we did $3000 a day and
now we are doing $3000 a week,
ernment recommendations and
how customers use all the curb-
side and delivery services as
they adapt to the ‘new normal.’”
difficult to bring back staff to
the months-old restaurant.
This is the first week Maine
St. Steak and Oyster has done
HAVE AN
grocery items such as flour, eggs
and yeast to provide the ingre-
dients necessary to complete
their recipes as well as help

there needs to be some assis-
tance or we are unable to help
the people that we employ,”
said Ashley DeSilva, executive
chef for Odd Duck, in a phone
Shepherd added, however,
that it has been difficult to bring
back employees on unemploy-
ment benefits.
“We’ve struggled with how
take-out orders, receiving about
120 orders—30 of which were
purchased by one customer who
donated them to the Brunswick
Police and Fire Departments.
OPINION?
customers avoid long lines at
grocery stores.
“It was much more than we
ever could have hoped for, and
it did help us pay for staff insur-

interview with the Orient. The
restaurant has applied for PPP
aid and is awaiting a response.
Little Dog, Wild Oats and
Maine St. Steak and Oyster have
also applied and are waiting to
hear back, while Portland Pie,
Gelato Fiasco and Bolos Kitch-
en, Cantina and Candlepin have
already been approved for the
PPP loans. The loans have en-
the majority of our employees
are on unemployment, and they
are getting their full compensa-
tion for what they would have
been making, plus $600, so it’s
hard to get people to come back
to work when they are being
compensated so well,” Shepherd
said. “I value that everyone is
getting compensated … I really
applaud that, but it also makes it
“That was a boost for us to
feel busy [and] to get our sys-
tems down because restaurants
are all about repetition and get-
ting down systems to create a
very consistent product,” Pastor
said. “It was a very good first
week. It wasn’t very busy, but it
was a nice start because we feel
like this will be our reality for
the next couple of weeks.”
Submit an Op-Ed or a
ance and premiums,” Shepherd
said. “We put so much time
into it, and it was a labor of love
and [there] was such incredible
feedback.”
Letter to the Editor to
Shepherd added that Wild
Oats is still on target to move orientopinion@
locations to Brunswick Land-
ing in the early winter, keeping bowdoin.edu by 7
p.m. on the Tuesday
guidelines from the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention

of the week of
Other Brunswick restaurants in mind as they work on the
have received mass orders, like new space.
“I value that everyone is Portland Pie and Little Dog Additionally, Little Dog is

getting compensated ... I really

Coffee Shop, who both have
contracts with Bath Iron Works
also offering grocery items in
addition to sanitizing products,
publication. Include
applaud that, but it also makes to supply workers with lunch.
Pastor said he offers Bath Iron
and has partnered with FIORE
Artisan Olive Oils and Vinegars your full name and
it hard to fully staff up.” Works 300 lunches per week,
partnering with Big Top Deli-
as well as Maine Street Sweets
by posting their products at phone number.
–Becky Shepherd, owner of Wild catessen, which provides sand- cost to the website. Meanwhile,

Oats Bakery and Café

abled Portland Pie to hire some
employees back, according to
Director of Administration for
Portland Pie and Bolos Saman-
tha Moore.
According to Mitch Newlin,
an employee-owner of Gelato Fi-
asco, the shop is selling 800 pints
per week, the amount normally
sold on “a busy summer Satur-
day,” and the loan will help busi-
ness for the next eight weeks.
“The PPP loan will really
help for the next few months,”
Newlin wrote in an email to the
Orient, “[But] it’s too hard to
speculate what will happen after
[eight weeks] without knowing
hard to fully staff up.”
CREATIVE SOLUTIONS:
NEW DEALS, LOCAL
PARTNERSHIPS
Marcos said that, regardless
of how busy the restaurant is,
she is hoping to bring all staff
members back.
“We can polish the floors, we
can paint the walls,” she said.
“There are plenty of things to
do to keep my employees busy
whether we are busy enough in
the restaurant or not.”
Others, like Maine St. Steak
and Oyster Executive Chef
wiches, while Little Dog pro-
vides cookies, bags up the meals
and delivers the food.
To boost business and en-
courage more customers,
restaurants have implemented
other creative solutions. Al-
though Wild Oats previously
declined to distribute recipes,
the restaurant has created a reci-
pe subscription program to stay
connected with the community
and add a revenue stream. Cus-
tomers can pay $25 to subscribe
to receive the bakery’s most re-
quested recipes. The first round
of 17 recipes received between
300 and 400 subscribers, and
with the second round under-
way, there are now 600. Shep-
herd plans to release a third
round of recipes in the coming
Odd Duck has partnered with
Pauline’s Bloomers, a local flow-
er company, to provide flower
arrangements on the menu.
Additionally, the restaurant is
offering charcuterie picnic “date In recognition of the COVID-19 pandemic,
night” baskets and family meals. The Orient is offering free advertising for
“I’m thinking that right now
people just want comfort food,”
Brunswick businesses. The Orient is an
Odd Duck’s Marcos said. “I effective way to reach Bowdoin students,
don’t want anything fancy or faculty and staff as well as parents, alumni
special. I want turkey dinner, I and community members.
want something that reminds
me of home and happy times—
easy food.”
We believe that this initiative can help you
“Our motto is, what can we and your customers during this difficult time.
do to be relevant and still put
out good food and stay alive?” Please contact orientads@gmail.com
Marcos asked. “When this is for details.
all said and done, we can crawl
up from the ashes, and we’ll
still be here.”
 F FEATURES
Friday, April 24, 2020
A reflection: what students value in a college
by Annika Moore
Staff Writer
Kate Kiser ’21 visited 19 differ-
ent campuses throughout her col-
lege search process. But nowhere
felt quite right—until she arrived
at Bowdoin for an overnight visit.
“Once I stepped foot on Bow-
doin’s campus, it was game over,”
she said. “Everything that people
say about the Bowdoin hello and
just feeling inclusive—that’s true.”
The campus atmosphere also
stood out to Emily Jacobs ’23,
who, coming from Los Ange-
les, appreciated the friendliness
she encountered upon visiting
Bowdoin.
“When I was walking around
on campus, people would say hi
even if they had no idea who I
was or who I was walking with,
Nights that won’t happen, saying goodbye to Bowdoin
I Said What
I Said
by Aisha Rickford
About two weeks into isola-
tion, I started watching Hulu’s
revival of the 2000 movie “High
Fidelity.” It’s exactly the kind of
self-referential, music-snobby,
Gen Z/millennial television
show that is so ubiquitous these
days—characters who are unbe-
lievably self-absorbed, yet un-
comfortably realistic. A brood-
ing, complicated, emotionally
vulnerable female lead, black or
racially ambiguous, navigates
the same perils of one’s twen-
ties that all the cookie-cutter
white men of movies past have,
and then some. She negotiates
Instagram, dating apps and the
other bizarre realities of our in-
creasingly interconnected age
while still somehow affording
a one bedroom apartment in
New York City on the salary of
a record store owner. The best
and worst of the past and pres-
ent are wedded together in a way
that allows viewers—especial-
ly younger ones—to suspend
their disbelief and step into the
characters.Rob lives a life I have
often imagined for myself after
graduation: residing in cultural-
ly-diverse Brooklyn, somehow
making a living while creating
and appreciating art at the same
time, cultivating a rich social life.
Yet this fantasy and our current
reality are horribly unaligned.
There’s something so uncanny
about watching a show that was
meant to reflect a time that hasn’t
passed yet or a time that never
really existed and now certainly
never will.
Just like this year’s Ivies, the Orient is operating online
visit us at bowdoinorient.com for all your (talk of the) quad day needs
and you really just don’t get that
in the city. I really appreciated
that environment,” Jacobs said.
Due to the coronavirus pan-
demic, some students admitted
to the Class of 2024 will not be
able to experience campus in
person before making their en-
rollment decisions. In place of
attending an admitted students’
weekend or going on a campus
tour, admitted students can learn
about Bowdoin through a series
of live-streamed Q&A sessions
with students, alumni, faculty
and staff. The admissions office
has also compiled a variety of
digital resources on a web page
geared specifically toward admit-
ted students.
“Bowdoin students, faculty
and staff have been absolutely
amazing in their ability to con-
One of the hosts of The New
York Times’s podcast “Still Pro-
cessing,” Jenna Wortham, com-
ments on the bizarre experience
of watching the characters of
“High Fidelity” explore her city
as she stays locked up self-iso-
lating in her home. “It’s like …
a virtual 3D tour of this place
that we can’t go anymore,” she
says. Wesley Morris, her co-host,
adds, “everything that happened
before a couple weeks ago is in-
stant nostalgia. It is instantly the
past … It automatically makes
everything romantic.”
And it really does. Not just
watching “High Fidelity” or sea-
son four of “Insecure,” a show
that has carried me diligently
through my college career from
its season one premiere in 2016.
Just existing in the era of the
coronavirus, we are living in
this distinctly in-between phase,
where we know that the past
as we knew it no longer exists,
though it feels like it’s right there
within a few inches of our grasp.
A scene of Rob and her friends
from “High Fidelity” rubbing
their elbows into the curve of
the bar while out drinking in
Brooklyn or a gorgeous scene in
the latest episode of “Insecure”
where Molly and Issa hike in Los
Angeles, gloriously socially near
to each other and the life of their
city, is terribly romantic. It’s ter-
ribly sad, too.
However, living in this time
comes with a dose of self-denial
and dissociation. We are all stuck
inside our homes. Life feels fro-
zen, stuck, and we remind our-
selves of what it looks like in our
televisions and in our memories,
digital and otherwise. But life is
going on. I can’t help but think
vey the essence of Bowdoin—
through all the virtual methods,”
Whitney Soule, Dean of Ad-
missions and Student Aid said
in an email to the Orient. “Each
livestream that we have done has
represented a warm, intentional,
intellectual community that is
spirited and curious.”
This community is one of the
reasons many students, such
as Prithvi Gunturu ’22, cite in
explaining why they selected
Bowdoin.
“From the second we arrive
on campus for our pre-orienta-
tion trips, what we do individu-
ally is far surpassed by what we
do together. And while Bowdoin
emphasizes the importance of
collaboration, it does not un-
dermine the importance of our
individual strengths and talents,”
about
all the
moments
at Bowdoin I
romanticized and
the ones I didn’t.
Like nervously danc-
ing at what was then
AfAm’s “Rep Your City”
party in September 2015,
when I participated in Ex-
plore Bowdoin as an overzeal-
ous high school senior. Embar-
rassing SuperSnacks encounters
freshman year. Singing along
to The Smiths under twinkling
fairy lights on many evenings
sophomore year. Finding any
excuse to escape campus on the
weekends during what felt like
my never-ending junior year.
Finally finding my stride senior
year, only to leave too soon. My
experiences at Bowdoin, like the
worlds of television shows none
of us can ever really inhabit, have
always been tinged with nostal-
gia and yearning, the wedding
of the bad and the good, the
bittersweetness of knowing that
the moment you’re living in is so
blissfully and irrevocably imper-
manent, intangible.
Gunturu said. “Bowdoin really
encourages us to use our indi-
vidual strengths as part of a team
to benefit our community.”
Jeremiah Brown ’23 also felt
drawn to the College by the per-
sonalities of its students.
“I really do think that the peo-
ple that are admitted and espe-
cially people who choose to come
here are some of the most curious,
inquisitive, warm, loving, kindest,
people that I’ve ever met. Bowdo-
in really does invest in who their
students are individually and in
how those individual pieces come
together to form something larger
in a class of whatever graduation
year you are,” Brown said.
“You’re not just there to be an
academic student, you’re really
there to develop yourself as a
person, as a whole,” he added.
My
junior
year I wrote about
this feeling for a previous column
and got a comment that I haven’t
been able to stop thinking about
ever since. CSR wrote, “while
reading your piece, I could pic-
ture myself during those years,
reveling in the silence and the
obvious, ubiquitous beauty of
our surroundings. Being at Bow-
doin was complicated but deep
and full.”
This is how I feel as I escape
via my favorite television shows
during quarantine, as I blink
back memories too painful to
bear: hilarious late night con-
For others, diversity within the
student body and inclusion on
campus have proven to be key fac-
tors in their Bowdoin experience.
“I feel like I’ve grown a lot as
a person. College has been some
of the best and most stressful
moments of my life, and I think
going into it I was just looking
forward to academics and vol-
leyball and campus, but now
I really value inclusiveness,”
Kiser said. “At Bowdoin there
are people that I haven’t really
encountered in my area before,
people from China, people who
are from Ghana. It’s crazy how
many different people there are,
and I think now that I value
people from different walks of
life that I didn’t get to experi-
ence before and how college
incorporates that.”
N
TA
YRA
K
versations in Russwurm with
friends, running in freezing
weather through the snow to
off-campus parties, the many,
many times I slipped and fell flat
on my back while walking across
the icy campus on winter nights.
This is how I feel, remem-
bering the privilege I had to
even attend this institution.
The privilege to be able to write
self-indulgent, long, meandering
columns, to have the luxury of
time spent doing nothing but
thinking deeply about the world
and my place in it. The privilege
5
While many students’ re-
flections on their favorite parts
of Bowdoin heavily feature the
social aspects of their college
experience, many also cite a sat-
isfaction with the academic com-
munity the College offers.
“As I’ve progressed during my
first year at Bowdoin, I’ve started
to understand that college is re-
ally about the relationships that
you build and finding what you
are really interested in. There
are so many more academic op-
portunities at Bowdoin besides
getting a good grade in classes,
which is something that I never
experienced in high school,” said
Evan Bay ’23. “I chose Bowdoin
because it fosters a collaborative
and welcoming environment
that makes Bowdoin feel like a
second home.”
to be able to watch shows like
“High Fidelity” and believe that
there’s a world where nothing
matters more than how good
your music taste is and whether
your crush likes you back.
This is that feeling of deep
gratitude we all experience
walking across the quad on
particularly starry nights, faced
with the undeniable beauty of
Hubbard Hall bathed in moon-
light: complicated but deep and
full. Forgive the lack of subtlety,
but isn’t that the way life should
be?
6 FEATURES Friday, April 24, 2020

On choosing Bowdoin: words of

wisdom for the Class of 2024

From near and far, Polar Bears choose Bowdoin for many
different reasons. Here are some current students’ reflections
on academics, community and why they chose Bowdoin.
ANN BASU, THE BOWDOIN ORIENT

ACADEMICS: “What I wish I knew beforehand was that it’s okay to get the help
that you need and it’s okay to need help, because Bowdoin’s going
“I would recommend reaching out to someone they know that
goes to Bowdoin, or if [you] don’t know anyone try to find people in
“One thing I wish I knew before coming to Bowdoin is that you have to provide that help and they really want to. I think that would the Facebook groups, because what sold Bowdoin for me was defi-
to give 110% effort every minute of every day. Being a Bowdoin student have made my first semester a lot easier if I would have reached out nitely the connections that people had with each other. Just getting
is hard! Bowdoin students are active academically in the classroom, when I needed it.”-Jeremiah Brown ’23 in touch and maybe asking like a question or two.” – Emily Jacobs ’23
athletically on the field and socially on campus. They are fierce when
it comes to completing a task—whether it is a homework assignment, “I also wish I knew how cold 10 degrees actually is. I wanted
competing against our rivals, or advocating for an idea they believe in, a school with cold weather, but it was definitely a surprise to feel
no task is bigger than a Bowdoin student.” – Prithvi Gunturu ’22 what it was like being that cold.” -Sophie Bell ’23 WHY CHOOSE BOWDOIN:
“I think the mission statement of the common good was one of the
“Professors really want you to succeed and do your best. There are things that drew me the most to Bowdoin. I’m super involved in com-
so many resources at your disposal for help. The college environment
is rigorous, but the faculty is extremely aware of it and is ready to help CHOOSING A COLLEGE: munity service and engagement, and it was a big part of my high school
career, so when I saw that Bowdoin was into community service and
in any way. Sometimes I went into a professor’s office hours without a “I would definitely do whatever virtual tours the college is offer- the common good, I thought that was pretty cool.” – Kenya Mathieu ’23
specific question and let them know that I just needed help and they ing. Visiting the college was a large factor in me deciding to move
have never let me down.” – Evan Bay ’23 to a small town after living in a big city. Also, reach out to a diverse “I got to come visit Bowdoin overnight and stay with one of the
group of students to get a wide range of perspectives! Hearing what freshman girls [on the swim team]. And what was so amazing about
it was like for different students was really helpful in deciding, espe- it was, they really worked academic and social life into their routines,
COMMUNITY: cially if you’ve narrowed it down to two or three schools.” – Sophie they didn’t have to sacrifice anything for swimming—that sold it for me.
Bell ’23 And I got to meet the coach and he was very clear that academics came
“Sometimes what’s really cool is our community does challenge each first.” – Emily Jacobs ’23
other … there are opposite perspectives or there are similar perspectives “Check out the media pages that colleges offer. Bowdoin has so
for different reasons. So [with] those things it’s really cool and important many interesting pages that you can find right off their website. I “Bowdoin was around the size of my high school, and I knew that I
that you learn from and grow from as well.” – Jeremiah Brown ’23 would say look at the YouTube channel first because it’s the most wanted smaller class sizes because I want to be able to have a relationship
interactive and you can see examples and experiences that students with my professors. I also wanted something where academics were pri-
“I wish I knew how insular it can get. As much fun as it is being on have at Bowdoin. I used it when I was making my decision to come oritized over sports.” -Kate Kiser ’21
campus, it’s always important to take a day and explore Brunswick or to Bowdoin and I highly recommend any prospective student do the
Portland or just take a day trip off campus to remember there is another same!” – Evan Bay ’23 “I think for a person of color to say they feel a sense of belonging in a
life outside school.” – Sophie Bell ’23 place like Maine, I think that goes a long way to say just because there’s a
“The most important things I was looking for in college [were] lack of diversity, and people of color tend to gravitate towards other peo-
“I also wanted [a school] where the town was incorporated into the one, obviously money. And then two, it was more about the kinds of ple that have similar experiences to them. And at Bowdoin I just didn’t
college, and I thought Bowdoin did a really great job of doing that. Ev- opportunities that I would have socially, emotionally and academi- see that. … There’s this like sense of community, a sense of welcoming
erybody at Bowdoin is extremely friendly, and I come from a small town cally while I was there.” – Jeremiah Brown ’23 and this sense of openness.” – Arturo Linan-Martinez ’23
so I just felt more at home.” – Kate Kiser ’21

“I would say that for me personally when I was looking at colleges,

I really wasn’t thinking about the other type of students that were at-
tracted to the college, but now that I’m at Bowdoin I see that they are
looking at how a class will come together and how they will work to-
gether. They’re looking at creating something that reflects the student
body and something that is bigger than just Bowdoin but is indicative of
our society as a whole.” – Jeremiah Brown ’23

WELCOME TO CAMPUS:
“[Hawthorne-Longfellow Library] is a very very collaborative
space. The way that it was—not just the way that students use the
space but the way the spaces are actually set up—it was intended for
people to come together and converse and talk. There [aren’t] really
single desks. Everything was very communal, and I’m a very social
person; it was exactly how I like to study.” – Jeremiah Brown ’23

“I wish I would have known that it could have ended at any mo-
ment. Just so in the fall when I was there, even the first two years I
was there, I could have been more present in the moment and not
have taken it for granted. It may seem like such a small thing, but
just sitting on the quad with your friends or even just grabbing a
meal with people in the dining hall—just really being more present
in the moment. I wish I would have known how valuable those
ANN BASU, THE BOWDOIN ORIENT
times were.” – Kate Kiser ’21
Friday, April 24, 2020
MAKING MEANING WHILE
MOURNING IN PLACE
It’s mid-afternoon on a
Monday, and my ability to fo-
cus is at an all-time low. I’m
in my bedroom at home, sit-
ting at my desk. On my laptop
screen, an instructor from my
abroad program is starting a
remote class session from her
home in southwest England. I
try to silence my thoughts and
listen to her, but my hands are
shaking and sweating. Less
than a minute into the class,
a framed photo on my desk
catches my attention, shat-
tering my fragile focus and
sending flutters through my
chest and tears to the corners
of my eyes.
It’s actually only one corner
of the picture that remains
unobscured by my computer:
my grandfather’s face. Surren-
dering to the distraction and
hoping my instructor won’t
notice, I push the laptop aside
and allow myself to stare at
the photo.
Taken nearly 15 years ago,
it captures me, aged six; my
sister, aged nine; our grand-
mother and our grandfather.
We’re posing together at the
end of a dance recital. My
grandmother stands behind
me, in between my sister and
my grandfather, with an arm
wrapped around the front
of my torso. My grandfather
stands with his hands clasped
behind his back, dressed in a
button-down shirt and sport
coat, looking as though he’d
been in the middle of speak-
ing when the photo was taken.
Back in the present, I sit
frozen, trying to figure out
what to do about my class as
I feel the tears threatening to
spill over. It’s been about 15
minutes since my mother told
me that my now 96-year-old
grandfather, who was admit-
ted to the hospital in New
Rochelle, New York on Fri-
day, has tested positive for the
coronavirus. I shift my gaze to
the right, where a card bear-
ing a picture of my grand-
TIK TOK IS MY
UNLIKELY HERO
A little over a month ago,
I left school for spring break.
Little did I know that not even
a week later I would be asked
to pack my dorm room, say
goodbye to my friends during
a short visit and complete
my first year of college from
home.
This felt like the end of
the world to me. I had final-
ly found a steady rhythm at
school, and for the first time
since moving in, I felt com-
pletely comfortable. But my
worries over losing six weeks
of my precious four years of
college, never solidifying new
relationships and leaving my
projects unfinished proved in-
significant.
Every day, I am reminded
of my privilege as I watch as
the COVID-19 infection and
death rates rise, small busi-
nesses close one after the other
and families across the world
are torn apart by disease. My
only job is social distancing.
To isolate within my house
and help flatten the curve.
But does this mean that my
mother’s face balances against
my desk lamp. We’d had the
card made only three-and-a-
half months earlier, after her
sudden death on the last day
of classes in December, which
hastened my departure from
school and led to me com-
pleting my final papers from
home—a painful memory
that is becoming an increas-
ing source of déjà vu.
I manage to get through
Monday’s remote class ses-
sion, but the next seven days
become a blur of hours spent
on hold, updates on continu-
ally changing vital signs and
rushed conversations with the
overworked but incredibly
diligent team of doctors and
nurses staffing the corona-
virus floor at New Rochelle’s
feelings due to displacement
are invalid?
College students across the
country are grappling with the
same question. We sit inside
our homes, helpless to the
pandemic spiraling outside
and isolated from the lives we
were all beginning to lead. We
have missed out on studying
abroad, and we are almost
all guaranteed to miss out on
graduation ceremonies and
work opportunities. But these
are not complaints that we
are empowered to voice. And,
frankly, they shouldn’t be at
the top of anyone’s laundry list
of concerns. But that does not
mean that our feelings aren’t
legitimate.
We may not be those most
at risk, and we will likely not
be most affected by the virus.
But we are all experiencing a
unified wave of panic, as we
are pulled out of our commu-
nities and asked to readjust to
lives that many of us never ex-
pected to return to.
Having been sent back
home to every corner of the
world, college students are
using Tik Tok to connect
FEATURES
Talk of the Quad
Montefiore Hospital.
He seems stable; now he
seems worse; now there’s
hope; now there’s not.
My dread and confusion
increases as his fight with
the virus drags on. Restor-
ative sleep is replaced by
nightmares and waves of anx-
iety. We can’t visit him, so we
concentrate on sending him
mental messages, on imagin-
ing we are holding his hand.
And then, suddenly, it’s
over: a phone call from the
hospital, an assurance that
he had died peacefully. I had
dreaded the sound of my
mother’s ringtone for 11 days,
but suddenly I’m seized with
a fierce wish for it to keep
ringing. I longed for more
updates, for more news of any
kind other than that which we
had just received. But, after
my grandfather had fought
harder and longer than any of
us or his doctors expected he
would, the time for updates
had passed. I know that he is
now at rest, having joined my
during the time of the greatest
global disconnect that many
of us have experienced. It has
also given us a creative outlet
during otherwise complete
constriction. The app is filled
with ways individuals are
occupying their time during
quarantine. From dances and
music tutorials to art proj-
ects and challenges, users are
helping one another cope with
restrictions. On Tik Tok, we
find solace in the jokes about
Zoom classes, cleaning out
dorm rooms on a week’s notice
and living in the clothing left
by the wayside in our child-
hood bedrooms.
Unlike Instagram, Twitter
or Facebook, where a user’s
profile is confined to their per-
sona—funny, candid, posed,
happy, polished—Tik Tok is
a space where users can try
anything. A friend of mine
whose Instagram is a careful-
ly curated space for selfies in
proper lighting and deliberate
angles recently posted a short
film about rubber ducks on her
Tik Tok. Admittedly, I laughed
harder than I should have. I
appreciated this moment of
still newly-departed grand-
mother.
And yet, inner peace still
eludes me. We phone in for
the burial that we can’t attend,
with my sister and her partner
standing six feet away from
me and my parents in our
backyard, a bouquet of flow-
ers on the ground between
us. I think back to December,
when I watched my mother
and her sisters hold hands
as we walked away from my
grandmother’s grave, when we
were able to come together to
partake in ancient rituals that
made me feel a bit less help-
less in the aftermath of death.
In the age of the coronavirus,
all of this has to be postponed;
there cannot be such a gather-
ing in an age of social distanc-
ing. Instead, while sheltering
in place, hundreds of thou-
sands of families will have to
figure out how to mourn in
place as well.
Then comes Holy Week and
Passover, the first of either
since the death of my Jewish
lighthearted creativity that my
life has recently felt void of.
COVID-19 is devastating
our globe in ways that we
cannot yet fully comprehend.
Thousands of people are fall-
ing ill and passing away every
day. Healthcare workers are
DALIA TABACHNIK
grandmother and, now, my
Armenian grandfather. We
have a family Zoom seder on
the second night of Passover,
and I sit with my mother to
watch two live-streamed ser-
vices on Easter morning, one
Armenian Orthodox and one
Episcopalian. Having this
multifaceted heritage has not
always been easy, but this
year it’s somehow incredibly
inspiring; I feel more hopeful
after hearing these different
groups use major holidays
to spark conversations about
how this pandemic can be
an opportunity to be more
generous, compassionate and
loving than we were before.
This message makes me
think of all of the examples
of selflessness that already
surround us. I’m reminded of
my grandfather’s courageous
doctors and nurses, especial-
ly the nurse who helped our
family arrange the phone call
that allowed us to say good-
bye. I’m also reminded of all
medical professionals; of all
DALIA TABACHNIK
asked to work around the clock
in high-risk environments.
Among other immediate con-
cerns, our economy cannot
sustain these restrictions.
However, there is another
problem that is not discussed
nearly as much: mental health.
7
essential workers (especially
those who are marginalized or
underprotected); of all fami-
lies mourning a loss or fear-
ing for the future; of everyone
who is struggling to make it
through this truly challenging
period but still finds it within
themselves to reach out to a
loved one, friend or stranger.
None of us know what the
other side of this pandemic
is going to look like. I know
that, for me, this period will
always be a deep source of
sadness. I also know that I
still have hope, and I feel truly
lucky for the people in my life
who I can look to for love and
support. This still includes
my grandparents, whose fac-
es I see echoed in my own
whenever I look in the mirror.
I think of my grandfather’s
enduring sense of humor and
incredible strength and of my
grandmother’s wry smile and
deep commitment to her fam-
ily, and I know they are still
with us.
But even as I process my
own loss, I also feel called to
action. I’m privileged that I’m
able to grieve without worry-
ing about going hungry or not
having a place to live, and I
feel devastated that this is not
the case for so many. I think
about my grandparents’ fam-
ilies—pogrom and genocide
survivors who sought refuge
in the United States—and
I feel deeply saddened that
inner-city immigrant com-
munities in our country have
been left especially defense-
less against this pandemic. I
know that my grandparents,
progressive-minded people
who were deeply involved in
fighting for equity in their
communities, would’ve felt
the same. I hope that, after
this pandemic has passed, we
remember what it has taught
us about what we must prior-
itize if we aspire to continue
building a more just, equita-
ble and compassionate world.
Nina McKay is a member of
the Class of 2021.
Confined to the indoors, we
are asked to live without phys-
ical touch, in-person social
interaction and other sources
of happiness on which we oth-
erwise rely.
Tik Tok has helped alleviate
some of these feelings of lone-
liness. It is a platform which
permits typically discouraged
behavior such as ranting. We
are excited to spend an after-
noon learning a 30-second
dance. We are challenged to
lead our families in themed
dinners and try out new hacks
and recipes that would oth-
erwise seem futile. We are
inspired to revel in the small
ways that we can enjoy life
from home.
My parents are not thrilled
with the amount of time that
my sisters and I have spent on
Tik Tok. Nor are they always
on board with the short vid-
eos that we periodically send
of families doing ridiculous
activities. But I take comfort
in the fact that I can turn to
it for a laugh, for new ideas or
simply to feel a little less alone.
Halina Bennet is a member
of the Class of 2023.
8 FEATURES
STRUCTURES OF
SELFLESSNESS:
REFLECTING ON
20 YEARS OF ICE HOCKEY
Among the many life-al-
tering disruptions caused by
COVID-19 was the cancelation
of spring semester sports. As
someone who bawled his eyes
out onto the shoulders of 30
scantily-clad men at the end
of my final Bowdoin hockey
season—an end that I was com-
pletely prepared for—I cannot
imagine how difficult it has been
for spring athletes who have had
their opportunity to write their
final sports chapter unexpected-
ly and abruptly taken from them.
This loss has made me reflect on
my own sports journey: the fun,
the struggles and the lessons the
game taught me. I hope that by
sharing some of these reflec-
tions, I can encourage those who
lost their seasons to reflect as
well and realize that all was not
lost when the games ended. We
have all been shaped in profound
ways by the games we love to
play. I’m going to tell you a story
about hockey, why I love it and
the lessons it taught me.
It begins, funnily enough,
with basketball. As an athlete,
hockey is my sport. As a fan,
however, my game of choice
is basketball. NBA, WNBA,
BWVBB—give me all of it. The
thing I love about basketball is
that it has real-life superheroes,
people who are larger than life,
who defy the limitations of
anatomy, physics and gravity. If
sports are a modern facsimile for
war, basketball is like “The Iliad,”
with mythical heroes slaying en-
tire armies by themselves, com-
ing together in the heat of battle
for epic one-on-one struggles to
the death. Basketball is individu-
alistic. The structure of the game
allows individuals to have a pro-
UNEXPECTED LESSONS
IN RESILIENCE ON THE
COLORADO
We’ll admit, it’s a bit of a
strange moment to memorial-
ize. Our Zipcar, a black Subaru
Crosstrek, is parked at the Pot-
ash Boat Launch on the Col-
orado River, a gear explosion
surrounding the vehicle and
PC, Ellie and Chelsea digging
through bags, boats and splash
jackets. It’s an image Holly
captured on day five of our Be-
yond the Pines grant in Utah’s
Canyonlands National Park. In
the photo, we are packing up
after camping in a parking lot
that, as you might imagine, was
not on our itinerary.
Five days earlier, we’d
grabbed lunch from Thorne
and headed to Boston. Ev-
erything went according to
schedule, from our flawless
trip to Denver, to miraculously
squeezing supplies inside the
Zipcar, to our drive through
Independence Pass and to vari-
ous stops to pick up fresh food,
fuel and carabiners. By the
time we got to Utah, we felt like
veritable rockstars, badasses
and prepared outdoors-women
who were totally in control.
Yet this shared feeling of
invincibility and dominance
diminished as we made our
way down Shafer Trail Road,
a fearsome beast of a four-
wheel drive experience that
was to take us from the rim
found impact on the outcome.
Stoppages in play and freedom
of movement are such that, in
the moments that matter the
most, the best players are going
to get the ball and have an op-
portunity to make a play. While
everything leading to these key
moments still matters, the most
iconic and impactful plays are
often decided in large part by
individual excellence.
Hockey is the opposite. For
starters, the best players can
be on the ice for at most half of
the game, and often it’s closer
to about a third. When they do
get on the ice, there is no con-
venient way for them to get the
puck. The stoppages in play
don’t help, as even the best
centremen win just over half
of their faceoffs. The game
itself is frenetic, chaotic and
wonderfully unpredictable.
People are constantly running
into each other, intentionally
and otherwise. The referees
always seem to be in the way.
The puck bounces, rolls and
sticks to the ice for no appar-
ent reason. The best skaters
in the world trip and fall and
bring others down with them.
Sticks snap in half at inoppor-
tune moments. All of this is to
say that it is incredibly diffi-
cult for a single player to affect
the outcome of a hockey game.
If basketball is “The Iliad,”
hockey is like “Band of Broth-
ers.” Great hockey players aren’t
athletic phenoms with 45-inch
verticals and Go Go Gadget
arms. They look a lot like the
guys who sit in the corner of
the Moulton dark room: broad
shoulders, big butts, loud laughs
and wide smiles. The reduction
in the power of the individual
elevates the impact of not only
all the other players, but also the
importance of seemingly trivial
of the park to the river at the
bottom of the canyon. With
each switch back, the road
became progressively steeper,
muddier and icier until we
were traversing with one side
of the car inches from a cliff
drop. Despite our determina-
tion to make it to our trail-
head, as the sun set, our pros-
pects of accomplishing day
one plummeted. That night,
at our impromptu glamorous
roadside campsite, we choked
down dinner and huddled
around our headlamp-illu-
minated map, hashing out a
reroute.
Another road we could easi-
ly connect to would lead us out
of the park, where we could
reevaluate, but this meant we
would no longer be able to
paddle the Colorado. From a
risk management standpoint,
this was the right decision. But
after lugging four packrafts
across the country for our “wild
women” adventure, it hurt to
abandon the plan to enter the
river. It was upsetting to come
to terms with our inability to
fulfill the unspoken “wildness”
we had set out to vanquish. No
longer would this journey be a
test of strength and endurance
and an exhibition of womanly
outdoor finesse. The ferocious
wind that slapped our tent
all night seemed to shame us
further. We had failed in our
mission. Little did we know,
Talk of the Quad
ALEX BURNS
moments. Accomplishing any-
thing in hockey requires string-
ing together dozens of small
accomplishments and efforts,
without any one of which the
collective endeavor fails.
Let me give an example. Over
the course of my four-year Bow-
doin hockey career, I scored one
goal, one measly muffin of a goal
that I shot off the wrong foot on
the ice between the legs of the
University of Southern Maine
goalie in a game that ended in
a tie. That is to say, I basically
scored zero goals. I was, howev-
er, rather good at killing penal-
ties. I love killing penalties. All
the pressure is on the other team.
You don’t have to worry about
doing anything skillful with the
puck (you are in fact encouraged
to shoot it as hard and as far
from you as you can the moment
this would be the first of many
reluctant reroutes.
Shortly thereafter, on our
way out of the park, we hap-
pened upon a boat launch that
allowed us to enter the Colo-
rado upstream, which seemed
preferable to relinquishing
packrafting altogether. We
paddled late into the afternoon,
you get it). Instead, you just get
to skate around and hit people,
two of my favorite things to do.
Killing penalties also allows
me to utilize my greatest hockey
skill, which is getting the puck
away from people. This ability
probably sounds like nothing to
you. If you watched a game, I
doubt it looks like much either.
Everyone loses and wins the
puck all the time. How could it
possibly matter that I am five
percent more likely to come out
of a scuffle in the corner with the
puck than the next guy?
Well, let’s imagine one such
play, one where I’m hacking
and clawing and falling down
in the corner and just managing
to kick the puck behind the net
to my buddy. That might just
be the play where he makes a
great pass, that sets up a great
HOLLY HARRIS
giggly with the good fortune
of our newfound plan. Again,
with darkness came unease, as
the solution to reversing Hol-
ly’s hypothermia was snuggling
into a sleeping bag with PC,
whose climbing fever posed
concern. Then, ready to send
our updated itinerary to Mike,
we discovered our satellite
shot, that causes a rebound, that
leads to a goal. And the amaz-
ing, wonderful, beautiful thing
about hockey is that the guy who
scored that goal is going to turn
around and point to the guy who
took the shot, who is going to
hug the guy who made the pass
and they are all going to look
around for me, on my butt 200
feet away when the puck went in.
And when I finally skate down
there to embrace them all, they
are going to look me in the eye,
and with complete honesty say,
“F#*&$^ rights, man. That was
all you.”
I think this has to be the most
magical feeling in sports: the
feeling that you, with all your
flaws, are part of something big-
ger than yourself, something you
alone could never achieve. These
moments have for me been em-
phone had died. Though Ellie’s
attempt to trouble-shoot con-
nection with the outside world
via Kindle is now a comedic
memory, in the moment, our
situation seemed too dire for
laughter. We had surpassed the
“wild” we were once so heart-
broken to have abandoned: no
one knew where we were.
The next day, we rerouted
yet again. And again. And
again. When the sun rose, we
pushed our rafts off the sand-
bar, paddled what would have
been our next three days of
mileage at a scorching speed
to arrive by lunch that after-
noon and hike miles up a steep
canyon to attain cell service on
the aforementioned horrifying
(and as we learned, sweltering
and bone dry) road.
We eventually found our-
selves hitchhiking three hours
in the bed of a stranger’s truck.
Held in by a precarious mesh
net, we reflected on our un-
deniably vulnerable situation,
grateful for a different “wild”
than anticipated.
Yet as we congratulated each
other on surviving this feat
and eventually returning to
civilization, we remained ig-
norant of the current struggles
of the world at large. Powering
on our phones and refreshing
our inboxes to find President
Rose’s email would bring to
light the extent to which the
coronavirus would soon trans-
Friday, April 24, 2020
powering, humbling and liberat-
ing all at once. They taught me to
take pride in what I am good at,
even if it’s not the most glamor-
ous thing in the world, because
in the right context those skills
add incredible value. They made
me aware of my own limitations
and allowed me to revel in the
fact that I can surround myself
with amazing people whose
strengths and talents can more
than make up for them. Most
of all, they showed me what it
feels like to be free of the need
to be anything more or less than
myself. Those are lessons I will
carry with me for the rest of my
life, and that I was never going
to learn anywhere but on the ice.
Hockey taught me that, and for
that I will be forever grateful.
Caleb Perez is a member of the
Class of 2020.
form society with much more
significant, costly and emo-
tional implications than those
we experienced on our privi-
leged wilderness fellowship.
Looking back on our trip,
the uncertainty and vulner-
ability we experienced could
not have been more timely.
With each loss of control came
strengthened camaraderie and
confidence.
Coronavirus is teaching us
about the fragility of our plans
and preparations. It is chal-
lenging our notions of identity
in relation to the spaces which
we inhabit and utilize. It is ex-
posing our illusions of control.
Managing the novel corona-
virus parallels navigating the
wilderness, uncharted territo-
ry that requires a confluence
on every level of society, from
the household to local govern-
ments and even to internation-
al leaders.
With each reroute, we are
learning, refining and im-
proving. Every day, we witness
unbelievable feats of human
resilience, new perspective and
decency to work across party
lines. And this collaborative
problem-solving is revealing
a silver lining: when the chal-
lenges of our future arise, we
will have the strength to mobi-
lize again.
Holly Harris and Chelsea
Puckett are members of the
Class of 2022.
 AS ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
Friday, April 24, 2020
On a changing stage: Tina Satter ’96 named
a 2020 Guggenheim Fellow
by Brianna Cunliffe
Orient Staff
Tina Satter ’96 got the
news that she had received a
Guggenheim Fellowship in
Drama and Performance Art
just as the entire landscape of
her life’s work began shifting,
maybe for good.
“The big question, and the
constant micro-question of
every day [is]: ‘How does the-
ater exist on the other side of
[the COVID-19 pandemic]?’
That I don’t even know how to
answer, but you go back to the
work,” Satter said in a phone
call with the Orient.
According to the John Si-
mon Guggenheim Memorial
Foundation website, fellow-
ships are presented to “in-
dividuals who have already
demonstrated exceptional
capacity for productive schol-
arship or exceptional creative
ability in the arts.” The fel-
lowship is competitive; out of
3,000 applications reviewed
each year, only 175 are award-
ed fellowships.
As a playwright and the
artistic director of Brook-
lyn-based theater company
Half-Straddle, Satter’s story-
telling is all about bodies on
stage and people sitting in
theaters. Satter has written
and directed 10 plays, draw-
ing inspiration from role
‘Contents Under Pressure’: senior playwright
grapples with authority over his work
by Elizabeth Flanagan
Orient Staff
Many of the seniors work-
ing on performing arts proj-
ects set to debut in the spring
are crushed by the fact that
they won’t see their capstone
projects performed during
their last year at the College.
Sebastian Hernandez ’20 has
a slightly different perspective.
After reworking his final
project for a senior studio
course—a play called “Con-
tents Under Pressure,”—time
and time again, Hernandez
went into spring break nervous
about what would come next.
“Everything kept changing
every single time [my profes-
sors and I] met, so I had no
idea what was gonna hap-
pen when we got back from
break,” Hernandez said in a
Zoom interview with the Ori-
ent. “[It was] kind of a bit of
a relief when I found out we
couldn’t do [the play].”
Hernandez rewrote his
script at least six times
throughout the course of the
year. The final product cen-
ters around a teenager who is
struggling with loneliness and
creates an imaginary friend
models in the New York the-
ater community, such as Hol-
ly Hughes, Richard Maxwell
and Erin Courtney, several
of whom she now joins as a
Guggenheim fellow. The val-
idation of joining the ranks of
her artistic heroes is incredi-
bly meaningful to Satter.
“I’m so used to sort of put-
ting my head down and work-
ing, having kind of a chip on
my shoulder, just me and my
weird plays,” said Satter. “But
now, no. I can say really proud-
ly that I’ve won a Guggenheim.”
As one of this year’s four
recipients of the prestigious
fellowship, Satter is focused on
making innovative work that
moves theatrical discourse
forward despite the challenges
presented by the pandemic.
“The thing I can do inside
my apartment is write. You go
back to the work, you dream
up what things look like,”
said Satter. “It isn’t a seamless
or easy thing to do, but it is
the grounding thing one can
do—to think, no matter what,
I will write this play.”
The new play she is writ-
ing, which will be supported
by the grant’s funds, was en-
visioned before the onset of
the coronavirus (COVID-19)
and was originally inspired
by the painting of artist and
friend Heidi Hahn. Satter
describes it as “domestic hor-
SIMPLER TIMES: Nathan Ashany ‘21 and Enrique Mendia ‘20 rehearse “Contents Under Pressure,” a project written and
directed by Sebastian Hernandez ‘20. The play was set to open this spring, but has been postponed due to the coronavirus.
who becomes emotionally
manipulative. The story ends
with the teenager eventually
realizing this friend is not real
and that he has begun to close
himself off from his family
and the world.
Though the transition to
remote learning has been
something of a reprieve for
Hernandez, the coronavirus
(COVID-19) has added some
new uncertainties to his
project. The play will be per-
TACKLING CONTROVERSY: Since leaving Bowdoin, Tina Satter ‘96 has established herself as a writer and director in New York’s theater scene. Satter’s most
recent play follows a the story of Reality Winner, a member of the Air Force who was interrogated by the FBI after leaking sensitive government information.
ror,” centered on a house full
of women.
“Will it feel the same,
post-pandemic?” Satter said.
“Now, houses and shelter
clearly have taken on a new
significance.”
Her Off Broadway de-
but and most recent play,
“Is This a Room,” recently
closed at the Vineyard The-
atre in New York City. It is a
staged transcript of the FBI’s
interrogation of Air Force
linguist-turned-leaker Reality
Winner, raising questions of
honor, information and the
public good that feel especial-
ly urgent today.
Satter’s sharp and deeply
formed next year, overseen
by a professional director,
and Hernandez is not sure
what that means for his own
role in the project after the
semester ends.
“I don’t know who owns
the work at this point,” said
Hernandez. “I don’t know
how much say I [will] have;
my actors [will] not be in it,”
he said.
These actors were critical
to the play’s development
probing docudrama is packed
with contemporary reso-
nance. When the FBI tran-
script became available, Satter
immediately pivoted from an-
other project to stage it, com-
pelled by the question: “What
is an American supposed to
do, if you see information that
you feel the public has a right
to know about?”
She also joins an illustrious
class of Bowdoin alumni and
faculty members who have
been Guggenheim recipients.
Their projects have ranged
from Professor of Photogra-
phy Micheal Kolster’s “Take
Me to The River” collection in
2013 to Anthony Doerr ’95’s
COURTESY OF SEBASTIAN HERNANDEZ
in the months leading up
to spring break. Following
the suggestion of Associate
Professor of Theater Abigail
Killeen, Hernandez relied on
suggestions and alterations
from his actors—Enrique
Mendía ’20, Nathan Ashany
’21, Jacqueline Boben ’22 and
Catherine Crouch ’23.
“We were encouraged to
chime in and give our opin-
ions on blocking and the
script,” Boben said. “Some-
2010 grant for fiction; Doerr
would go on to win the Pulit-
zer Prize for Fiction in 2015
with his novel “All the Light
We Cannot See.”
While at Bowdoin, Satter
was enormously impacted by
her time on the Field Hockey
team under then-coach Mo
Minicus. Taking to the field
with a team, was, in a way
for Satter, like writing a play
together.
“In that moment [on the
field], it’s about possibility
and working together and
making something that hasn’t
been there before,” said Satter.
Academically, she also
credits an intimate seminar on
times [Hernandez] would tell
us to improv and let go of the
script. This allowed him to
change scenes and make the
characters more real.”
The current iteration of
“Contents Under Pressure”
is quite different from Her-
nandez’s original concept.
The play began as a Spider-
man-esque narrative in which
a man is bitten by a dog and
becomes convinced that he
possesses superpowers. Her-
nandez admits that he was
asking for too much from
that idea, but said that with
Killeen’s help, he was able to
reevaluate his concepts for
the best final result.
“I had turned in some bad
drafts, and [Killeen] told me
to not do the [“Spiderman”]
bit and focus on the loneli-
ness aspect of my project,” he
said in an email to the Orient.
This, though frustrating
for Hernandez, ended up ben-
efitting his play.
“I don’t think I would have
cared so much or gotten to
real emotional complexity
without [Killeen]’s sugges-
tion,” said Hernandez. “I
think the characters are more
specific.”
9
COURTESY OF TINA SATTER
Henry James with former Pro-
fessor of English Celeste Go-
odridge for introducing her to
discourse, writing and female
characters, which have shaped
her thinking and storytelling.
For Satter, being named a
Guggenheim Fellow provides
far more than just reassuring
financial stability in an uncer-
tain landscape—it reaffirms
her belief in producing work
that is creatively meaningful
and socially engaged.
“To be recognized as some-
one who’s part of our social
and artistic fabric, who has
made something meaningful
and important … I don’t take
that for granted,” she said.
Ultimately, Boben believes
that the play allows Hernandez
to demonstrate his unique per-
sonality and sense of humor.
“[Hernandez] is a quiet
force who is completely origi-
nal. He has the wittiest humor
that is realistic and relatable,”
said Boben in an email to the
Orient.
Crouch believes that Her-
nandez’s involvement and dedi-
cation to the play was extremely
important to the process..
“Rehearsing was fun and
lighthearted but you could
also tell how much he cares
about this project,” she said.
“It’s so sad that his friends
and family and the school
community can’t see the fin-
ished product.”
Hernandez has been re-
writing the script again
during quarantine. He is add-
ing the latest revisions made
in rehearsals prior to spring
break, including new stage
directions. What comes next?
Hernandez isn’t sure.
“I’ve been [thinking of]
sending it out to other festivals
and other play writing compe-
titions or something,” he said.
“But, I don’t think that [the
department] want[s] that.”
 S
10 Friday, April 24, 2020

SPORTS
Women’s lacrosse alum organizes fundraiser and
5k for COVID-19 relief
right now—to raise money for States, [even] in California
by Seamus Frey the brave people fighting for and Montana, who [were]
Orient Staff all of our safety.” participating—a lot of [peo-
Normally, warmer spring “With the circumstances, ple] who we don’t even know.”
weather means road race sea- you can’t really go out and Two of the participants
son in towns and cities across volunteer,” said Sophie in a were Karlye Pallotta ’22 and
the country, but with the phone interview with the Ori- Irene Lunt ’21, members of
dangers of COVID-19, many ent. “You can donate to a lot of the Bowdoin softball and
of these fundraising racing different funds, but it doesn’t women’s lacrosse teams, re-
events have been shut down. have the same kind of uniting spectively.
Despite the cancellation of sense, so we decided to talk to “I heard about it through
road races, the current crisis Positive Tracks (PosTracks) to a teammate on the Bowdo-
has inspired more and more figure out what the best way in Student Athlete Advisory
people to donate money to to organize an event would Committee,” said Pallotta in a
relief funds and to give back be, because this is really their phone interview with the Ori-
to their communities. specialty.” ent. “We’ve been looking for
In hopes of embracing this The partnership with ways to try and stay connect-
feeling and uniting their lo- PosTracks was natural for the ed and try and stay in shape,
cal and remote communities, Lubranos. The organization, so [this 5k] instantly caught
Bowdoin alum and former started in 2009 by a group of my eye and I thought that it
women’s lacrosse player So- ten-year-olds in the Upper was a great opportunity to
phie Lubrano ’19 and her two Valley region of New Hamp- take control of something in
sisters hosted a virtual run/ shire—where the Lubranos a pretty uncontrollable time.”
walk 5k race this past week- live—connected the sisters The event not only pro-
end, raising $27,545 for the with the CDP and gave them vided Bowdoin athletes with
COVID-19 Response Fund the tools they needed to orga- a means to make a meaning-
launched by the Center for nize the event. ful contribution to the fight
against COVID-19, but it
Bowdoin alum and former women’s also gave athletes a sense of
community that had been
lacrosse player Sophie Lubrano ’19 and lost since the cancelation of
her two sisters hosted a virtual run/ spring sports.
walk 5k race this past weekend, raising “It’s a totally different at-
mosphere than passing the
$27,545 for the COVID-19 Response crowds, running in groups,
Fund launched by the Center for or seeing water stations like
in a real road race. But there
Disaster Philanthropy (CDP). was a sense of solidarity start-
COURTESY OF SOPHIA LUBRANO
ing it at the same time,” said
Disaster Philanthropy (CDP). “At the beginning, we Lunt in a phone interview RUNNING FOR A CAUSE: Sophia Lubrano ‘19 poses with her two sisters after completing their virtual 5k run last
“We want to support all of thought that [a goal of ] with the Orient. “I felt more weekend. The sisters organized a fundraiser and donated over $27,000 for coronavirus relief.
those people who are giving $10,000 was going to be am- connected in a very different around the country who par- are obviously very tight-knit something positive for my-
everything they have to aid bitious. We hit that in a week, way because I knew we were ticipated. small colleges. And we got a self and take as much control
those around them, whether and we kept raising our goal all running for the same pur- “I would credit a lot of the ton of participation [because in this situation as we possi-
it’s the sick, the unemployed higher and higher,” Sophie pose. I thought that was really success of the event not only of that], so that was awesome.” bly could, while [also] doing
or the afraid,” wrote the Lu- said. “And then in the last few awesome to be a part of.” to the community where we She added that the desire to something productive for a
branos on their GoFundMe days, we raised over $6,000! Sophie attributed much live, but to the community give back and help out during lot of people that are kind of
page. “That’s why we’ve de- It was crazy because tons of of the event’s success to that of Bowdoin—and of Colby as a time of crisis also seemed to on the foreground of dealing
cided to use our healthy bod- people heard about it through sense of community, espe- well, because my two sisters motivate participants. That with the crisis head-on,” Pal-
ies and our spare time—two word of mouth, and we had cially when it came to the go to Colby,” said Lubrano. much was true for Pallotta. lotta said. “It was just a great
luxuries that not everyone has people all across the [United] hundreds of people scattered “Those two communities “It felt awesome to do event.”

Here’s the link to our zoom call:

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 O OPINION
Friday, April 24, 2020 11

Bowdoin CARES An open letter to the college:

let’s talk about debt
Facing backlash from lawmakers and the public, wealthy colleges have begun to
announce that they will not accept the stimulus money they had received under the
Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. Harvard University
announced its decision to relinquish funds on Wednesday; Yale, Princeton, Stanford
and the University of Pennsylvania soon followed suit. how the college was not always ruled by quate and you appeal, it’s your inexperi-
The CARES Act allocated $1.12 million to Bowdoin, and the College has yet to the cold, cut-and-dried market logic that enced word against theirs. As someone
announce whether it will accept the money or, if it will, how and to whom it will be The Foxbox has inflated the price of higher learning that has taken out loans already and will
distributed. We trust the College to make informed decisions about this money. But, as by Jared Foxhall to unjustifiable levels. Rather, she claims likely take out tens of thousands more, I
students, we feel the need to voice our concerns about the restrictions that the Trump that the private university developed know on a personal level that the College
administration placed on these funds explicitly to exclude some Americans, including During times of economic crisis, which into a situation of financialization and has not accurately assessed my family’s
members of our community, from receiving funds. we are already rapidly approaching, mat- market governance over time, gradually financial need. I know for a fact that I am
Under the restrictions set forth by the Department of Education, colleges and ters of risk and debt become ever more removed from its previous faculty-guided not alone because of Bowdoin’s “No Loan”
universities must distribute half of the money as emergency grants to students facing relevant producers of anxiety, especially and communally centered form of gover- policy that admits, “In fact, many families
financial hardship as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the guidelines with students facing uncertain job markets nance which vanished in the mid-to-late opt to borrow part of their family’s contri-
prevent schools from distributing money to students who are ineligible for federal fi- and weighing the return on investment of 20th century. While college food may not bution.” Twenty-five percent of the class of
nancial aid—thus excluding students registered in the Deferred Action for Childhood Zoom-attendance next semester. While have been as good, college wasn’t going 2019 borrowed a federal loan—there is no
Arrivals (DACA) program and international students. The government’s decision to these pandemic conditions greatly increase to bankrupt your average middle-class information about what percent needed to
deny aid to students on the basis of their immigration status is antithetical to the Col- anxiety, for a good number of students the American and they still managed to get a take out private loans or how much (which
lege’s mission, and we ask that the College oppose such political schemes and choose conditions for worry have also been slowly worthwhile education. are way worse than federal loans because of
instead to support all students in need. building over the years in large part due Brown’s book Undoing the Demos, higher interest rates). This is really counter-
It is important to consider the broader political context within which the restrictions to staggering increases in tuition prices explains how this financialization of ev- intuitive for an institution that very aggres-
were issued: the Trump administration has been trying to get rid of the DACA program and the insistence that students and their erything under the sun, including college, sively advertises a “no loan” policy, even if it
and end deportation protections for 700,000 young people. Attaching new restrictions families take on more and more of the renders “the market as truth;” “Neolib- means something entirely different.
to a piece of legislation meant to bring relief to those who need it most is just another associated growth-risk in the form of debt. eralism involves an intensification of the The financial aid office deploys its
insidious display of this administration’s xenophobic and inhumane political agenda. It should be remembered that the Time of market as a site of ‘veridiction,’ Foucault’s sophisticated financial assessment of the
The College should bear in mind that stringent travel restrictions and dire public Shedding and Cold Rocks turned a debt coinage for the production and circula- family and the family, usually lacking
health circumstances have uniquely affected international students. Disruptions of problem into a debt crisis, from which tion of truths that are established, rather in similar sophistication, is bound to
immigration status also threaten the quality of education they stand to receive in the many have yet to recover. than foundational, but, importantly, gov- bend—it’s normal, they’ll say. Everyone is
future. As the price of a college education ern.” And govern they do. Market logic, in debt. Here’s a list of scholarships. Your
Shortly after declaring that it would not accept the allotted funds, Princeton Uni- increases, each college needs to find new while fraudulently disguising itself as a inability to understand its sophistication
versity announced that it had created its own emergency fund program that would and inventive ways to justify its value to natural, almost divine, human process, is part of how the investor class blames the
cover DACA recipients and international students. This is one way Bowdoin could take the student body. It does so by investing has turned everything into a portfolio to debtor class. Your debt is your fault; your
a stand. Alternatively, the College could accept the federal funds while promising to more capital to build new facilities while be managed, a vessel for capital accumu- inability to understand it, your shortfall;
allocate the same amount of its own funds to aid students excluded by the law. This is hedging markets, improving the quality lation: the college is a portfolio to trustees, your inability to pay it off by attaining a
a compromise solution that ensures that all of its students have access to the relief that of student life, its ratings and so on, all of the student is a resume-portfolio for em- comfortable salary, or by applying for
they need. which raises the value of the college, which ployers, the professor is a portfolio for ten- and winning scholarships is a result of
Particularly after the recent shutdown of the student-organized mutual aid fund, in turn increases its tuition. Since the aver- ure. Even the campus itself, a collection of your laziness. Again, this is what hap-
students in need may not have access to a comparable source of funding for emergency age family’s asset value hasn’t increased at facilities and structures, is a collection of pens when colleges become hedge funds;
situations. the same rate, this forces students to take appreciating assets. Each becomes a locus hedge funds are programmed to displace
The example has been set. Though Bowdoin’s financial health has been tested in on even more debt to underwrite the uni- for investment, speculation and risk, risk as much risk as possible by transferring it
recent weeks, the College must ensure that international students and undocumented versity’s accelerating valuations and capital diversification and risk management. to the buyer—in this case, the student.
students are not left without access to aid, regardless of whether or not it accepts the growth. This simplified process, when you There are certain narratives around The student takes on the risk of de-
CARES Act funds. It is particularly important now for the College to recognize the pan out, describes how U.S. debtors arrived debt and the ways it is constantly rele- faulting on his loans because he specu-
hardships of all students—not just those who hold an American passport. at $1.64 trillion in student loans. The gov- gated to the private domain. We tend to lates that the rewards in the job market
ernment seems to care very little about this publicize and admire people’s net worth, are greater than the risks. The College’s
This editorial represents the majority view of the Orient’s Editorial Board, which debt, or any consumer debt really (which not their debt. Debts are to be taken on in job is to convince him that the risk is next-
is comprised of Emily Cohen, Julia Jennings, Rohini Kurup, Nina McKay, Alyce has reached an astronomical $13.86 trillion private and shamefully, I might add. No to-none so that he agrees to enter into an
McFadden, Jaret Skonieczny, Reuben Schafir and Tianyi Xu. dollars). Of the government COVID-19 one is proud to take on a student loan and arrangement with the College where he
emergency relief packets delivered, barely you’ll certainly not find students talking takes on all the risk and the College takes
any of it has gone to consumers, and em- about it or organizing around it. Students on none. Based on the $1.64 trillion in
phatically none of it went to students. are embarrassed about loans the same student loans, I’ve concluded that colleges
This pattern is informed by higher de- way home-owners are shameful and si- have maybe exaggerated their promises a
mand and the diminishing value of a de- lent about their mortgages. We are taught little bit and it’s foolish to assume Bowdo-
gree but also this country’s skewed narra- to be shameful and, therefore, silent about in is not part of this puzzle.
ESTABLISHED 1871
tives around debt that unjustly place blame our class and our class-related struggles. But this is the modern debt crisis at
bowdoinorient.com orient@bowdoin.edu 6200 College Station Brunswick, ME 04011 on the borrowing class—which I will later This kind of collective, secret lack of credit large: the risk is ultimately always trans-
get into—while valorizing the presiding and its perverse effects happen under the ferred to and carried by the consumer,
The Bowdoin Orient is a student-run weekly publication dedicated to providing news and investor and lender class. The College is surface—it unites us, even if we don’t ac- the student, the school teacher, the home-
information relevant to the Bowdoin community. Editorially independent of the College
also, as should be remembered, governed knowledge it. owner, the dreamer, to the non-financial
and its administrators, the Orient pursues such content freely and thoroughly, following
professional journalistic standards in writing and reporting. The Orient is committed to by this investor class. The president is hired Loan-financing of higher education is financialized individual. The rat-race is a
serving as an open forum for thoughtful and diverse discussion and debate on issues of to run the college as a CEO, beholden to so secretive that the College actually ac- kind of psychological warfare that the col-
interest to the College community. our trustees who, despite not having finan- tively hides it. This is chiefly exhibited in lege-business initiates; if I just take out this
cial stake in the College, still encourage its “need-blind admissions.” Bowdoin may loan, pay this bill, get that job then I can …
Editor in Chief Editor in Chief financialization and aim to grow its capital be need-blind in the admission process, Nevermind what is sacrificed in the
Emily Cohen Alyce McFadden value. The endowment is managed more which is good, but it also takes a need- meantime. The result is always risk-man-
or less like a hedge fund with generous tax blind and, more specifically, debt-blind aged, peace of mind deferred. The num-
Digital Director Managing Editor News Editor cuts (endowments are taxed at a way lower approach in financial aid allocation which ber of 50 and 40 year-olds I know still pay-
Steven Xu Maia Coleman Andrew Bastone rate than other kinds of funds), incentiv- is, in my opinion, deeply troubling. Bow- ing off student debt speaks to this modern
Anna Fauver Aura Carlson ized to take on more risk in the markets doin, as is the case with most colleges, truth. Is it worth it?
Roither Gonzales to obtain more capital to grow the facilities determines your grant eligibility on your This is relevant now, more than ever.
Photo Editor
Rohini Kurup Features Editor to become a more valuable investment to family income and tax bracket, not your The thinly-veiled offer of the virtual col-
Ann Basu Ian Ward attract more capital, and so on and on. My actual ability to pay. They do not consider lege will become impossibly difficult to
Emma Sorkin
issue here is not with the improved quality outgoing expenses, or calculate adjusted rationalize at the current price. How far
Layout Editor Sports Editor of the College, it is that students take on the income to the cost of living by state (100k is Bowdoin willing to go to ensure that
Emma Bezilla Executive Editor Dylan Sloan risk of these improvements. goes much farther in Kentucky than New students don’t take on more risk than nec-
Jaret Skonieczny Eliana Miller Professor of Political Theory, Wendy York, for example). essary and aren’t gobbled up by the private
Ian Stewart Reuben Schafir A&E Editor Brown of UC Berkeley, argues brilliantly So if the grant turns out to be inade- lender vultures?
Cole van Miltenburg
Data Desk Editor
Opinion Editor
Gwen Davidson Associate Editor Diego Lasarte QUESTION OF THE WEEK
Drew Macdonald Ellery Harkness
George Grimbilas (asst.)
Nimra Siddiqui (asst.)
Conrad Li Page 2 Editor HAVE YOU TAKEN OUT STUDENT LOANS IN ORDER TO PAY FOR BOWDOIN?
Sabrina Lin Lily Randall
Answer at bowdoinorient.com/poll.
Head Illustrator Calendar Editor
Sara Caplan Copy Editor Jane Godiner
Sebastian de Lasa Last issue’s response:
Social Media Manager Danielle Quezada Senior News Reporter
Ayub Tahlil Emily Staten Horace Wang Q: DO YOU SUPPORT THE PROPOSED CHANGES TO THE BSG CONSTITUTION?
69% YES
The material contained herein is the property of The Bowdoin Orient and appears at the sole discretion of the
editors. The editors reserve the right to edit all material. Other than in regard to the above editorial, the opinions 31% NO Based on answers from 70 responses.
expressed in the Orient do not necessarily reflect the views of the editors.
12 Friday, April 24, 2020

APRIL
FRIDAY 24
Write about your eighth birthday; then, write about your
“All men have stars, but they are not the same things for different people. For some, who are travelers, the 18th birthday. In what ways were they similar?
stars are guides. For others they are no more than little lights in the sky. For others, who are scholars, they are
problems ... But all these stars are silent. —you alone will have stars as no one else has them ... In one of the Don’t suppress the memories of all the embarrassing
stars I shall be living. In one of them I shall be laughing. And so it will be as if all the stars will be laughing when things you’ve done—own them and make a list of every
you look at the sky at night ... You, only you, will have stars that can laugh! And when your sorrow is comforted single one that you can remember.
(time soothes all sorrows) you will be content that you have known me ... You will always be my friend. You
will want to laugh with me. And you will sometimes open your window, so, for that pleasure ... It will be as if, in Bonus activity: Post that Bill Clinton album picture on
place of the stars, I had given you a great number of little bells that knew how to laugh.” your Instagram story. Choose the most edgy and obscure
album covers so that people think you’re cool.

–Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, “The Little Prince”

SATURDAY 25 SUNDAY 26 MONDAY 27

Make a list of the lessons you’ve learned while stuck at
home. What things have become more important to you?
What things have become less important to you?
Write a story about someone who wishes that they were
someone—or something—else. Be as specific or vague as
you want.
Make a playlist and choose one song that is reminiscent
of each year of your life. Feel free to infer for—or skip—
that unconscious period between when you were born
and when you turned five.
Write a story about a hitman who is absolutely terrible at
his job.
Write a review of the story of your life, as if it were a
movie, from the perspective of a famous movie critic.
Write a story about two friends who are growing apart.
What changes does their friendship undergo as time
passes? What about the individual characters them-
selves?

Bonus activity: Put on short shorts, drink in excess and Bonus activity: We’re in the heart of spring. Bonus activity: Read the online issue of The Orient!
stream KYLE on Spotify! It’ll be just like Ivies, I promise! Celebrate by buying and wearing a pastel face mask. Thanks for making it this far.

TUESDAY 28 WEDNESDAY 29 THURSDAY 30

Write an extra verse to one of your favorite songs. It
should have the same rhythm and tune as the rest of the
song.
Write about a character that embodies and executes
all of your pet peeves. Satisfy yourself and give them a
really terrible fate.
Bonus activity: Settle down for another Zoom chat with
your friends. What’s new with them? Oh, nothing? Right.
Describe the place where you’re quarantining as if it is an
entry in a travel guide.
In Herman Melville’s “Moby Dick,” Ishmael often sits atop
of the masthead, looks out at the sea, and ponders really
useless shit. Write your own masthead meditation.
Bonus activity: Listen to the entire ABBA discography—
it’s actually a really underrated soundtrack for pondering
your mortality.
Write a story with a narrator who is a compulsive liar.
Have the reader only figure out how unreliable the
narrator is at the end of the story.
Write about the restaurant that you’re most excited to
eat at once quarantine is over.
Bonus activity: Put on CNN and listen to Jake Tapper
tell you that we’ll be locked in our homes until 2021. Flip
to Fox News and listen to Tucker Carlson tell you that
the coronavirus is a hoax but that we still need to sue the
Chinese government because people are dying.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Read The Orient Watch “Relax with Hug something or Write a poem Call a friend Listen to a new Dance in your
Sheep” someone song room