This is Vassar...                        March 2008

All College Day Brings the Vassar Community Together for Reflection and Interaction

The eighth annual All College Day took place on February 20. The day is planned by the Campus Life Resource Group, a committee of students, staff, faculty, and administrators, and has the goal of fostering open, engaging, and honest dialogue on matters of campus life and community. (Edward Pittman ’82, associate dean of the college, chairs the Campus Life Resource Group.) Everyone is encouraged to play a role and participate in the day’s focus, which this year was “Be the Change,” an outgrowth of conversations about the nature of change and how every member of a community can feel empowered to be involved in the process.

One aspect of the day was a blank mural placed in the College Center, on which all members of the Vassar community reflected on the day’s theme and expressed their ideas and thoughts. Other events included a lunch called “Soup and Substance,” which brought people together — over a bowl of soup — to talk informally about issues of campus community; President Hill hosted this year’s soup and substance lunch. The day culminated in a community gathering that featured exhibits by campus groups and performances, and a follow-up conversation dinner was held on February 27.

Last year’s event, which focused on college involvement in the greater Poughkeepsie community, helped to spark the foundation of a new Campus-Community Advisory Committee that has worked to assess Vassar’s community relationships. Out of that committee has come increased support for Vassar volunteers who work in Poughkeepsie schools and other institutions, the establishment of a downtown shuttle system for students, and work to improve the experience of visitors on campus.

Photo credit: Craig Burdett

Humorist Gail Collins of The New York Times Delivers the 2008 Alex Krieger ’95 Memorial Lecture

The sounds of laughter filled Students’ Building even more than usual last month during a lecture by New York Times op-ed columnist Gail Collins. The first woman ever to be named editor of the paper’s editorial page, Collins is known for her ability to deliver newsworthy information infused with a healthy dose of wit and sarcasm.

Collins is best known for her colorful political pieces. Recent articles have taken a closer look at the many quirks of the presidential candidates and responded to readers’ questions about voting. She is also the author of Scorpion Tongues: Gossip, Celebrity, and American Politics; The Millennium Book (co-authored with her husband Dan Collins of CBS), and, most recently, America’s Women: 400 Years of Dolls, Drudges, Helpmates, and Heroines.

The Alex Krieger ’95 Memorial Lecture is an annual event that honors a Vassar student who died in a car accident during his freshman year. His parents established the series as a tribute to their son’s love of literature containing sharp social commentary and humor. Other recent speakers have included Sarah Vowell, David Sedaris, and Michael Chabon.

Photo credit: Photo courtesy of The New York Times

Poetic License: Molly Finkelstein ’08

It seems that the rest of the class of ’08 loves the library as much as I do. Hundred Nights [Before Graduation] is being hosted in the library lobby this year, in honor of our very exciting class gift of . . . more senior thesis carrels in the basement of the library. And people are excited about this gift. I’m excited about this gift. Everyone wants a carrel — a place to research, store your books, cover in post-its, a place you’ll end up never wanting to see again. That’s what I hear, anyway. I don’t have one. Not that I actually need a carrel, really, anyway — the beauty of the “creative thesis.”

My thesis, conveniently due the Tuesday after spring break, is a collection of poetry. I always feel a little bit pretentious — but also like a quintessential liberal arts student — when I finally admit what my project is. I feel a certain guilt about not doing a research thesis, but, in the end, I’m glad not to spend hours and hours of my life locked in a cubicle trying to decipher Dada poetry and its role in politics (none?). I actually enjoy working on my thesis; I like the possibilities. If I really wanted to, I could have a section called “Ryan Cabrera is a Tool and Other Poems.” As it stands now, my thesis includes poems about the President of France jogging in shorts, Mr. Peanut, vomit, mashed potatoes, and a girl who tries to seduce Michelangelo’s David.

The creative thesis is one of my favorite things about Vassar. We really get the opportunity to explore whatever we want, to a large extent. One of my housemates was in a play for her thesis; another housemate did an opera performance. Not every thesis needs to born in the basement of the library. Academic freedom is really the greatest gift of all.

Photo credit: Craig Burdett

Calling All Powerhouse Apprentices!

Intense. Amazing. Life-changing. These are just some of the words Powerhouse Theater Apprentices use to describe their experience at Vassar.

Vassar College and New York Stage and Film are now accepting applications for the 2008 Powerhouse Theater Apprentice Program — a leading theater-immersion program that exposes young artists to a range of theatrical experiences in order to help them develop their own voices. Now in its 24th year, the Powerhouse Theater Program is a collaboration between Vassar and New York Stage and Film, a professional theater company.

Apprentices choose a discipline (acting, playwriting, or directing) and then work alongside some of the country’s leading and emerging theater professionals for six weeks, observing and participating in the process through which new works are created.

This year’s program will run from June 20 through August 3, 2008, at Vassar. It is available to rising high school seniors through college-aged students. Applications are due April 18, 2008.

For more information and how to apply, please visit http://powerhouse.vassar.edu. Prospective applicants may also call Producing Director Edward Cheetham for more information at 845.437.5902.

Photo caption and credit: The 2007 Powerhouse Apprentice Company performing A Long Fatal Love Chase;
photo by Roger Yerdon

Students and Alumnae/i Remember to Mind the Gap

On Thursday, February 7, the Vassar campus welcomed more than two dozen alumnae/i for the first annual Mind the Gap Day. The program was put together by the Council for Alumnae/i and Student Advancement, a collaboration designed to increase communication and transparency between AAVC, the Office of Development, the Office of Career Development, Campus Activities, and the student body. The day marked the point in the academic year at which average tuition, room and board fees no longer cover the cost of education; the college’s expenses and operations for the remainder of the year are made possible largely through gifts from alumnae/i, parents, and friends of Vassar.

Each alumna/us, accompanied by a current Vassar student, attended two to three classes, heard an address by Laurie Schwab Zabin ’46, recipient of AAVC’s 2008 Award for Distinguished Achievement, and witnessed firsthand the effects of giving as they spent time on campus.

Host student Nate Silver ’10 recognized the significance of the day’s events. “It was such an important day because it acknowledged that without the generosity of alums, parents, and friends of the institution, a Vassar education would be an impossibility.” All students were able to contribute to the day by expressing messages of gratitude on postcards sent to alumnae/i who could not be there to enjoy the day. Students were also given the chance to participate in a raffle by guessing how many donors had supported the college in the past year: 13,112. Such an impressive number of supporters serves as proof that, no matter the day, the Vassar community will continue to Mind The Gap.

Photo Credit: Ben Rutkowski ’09

Memory Lane is Just a Click Away

Have you ever daydreamed of the quad on a sunny day? Wished you could have a chance to admire the splendor of Thompson Library one more time? Just craved a walk around campus? You can satisfy all of these longings and more with a few simple clicks.

The virtual tour of the Vassar campus on the admissions web page offers a chance for prospective students, current students, and alumnae/i alike to relish in the beauty of the Vassar campus. The site offers an overview video tour, an interactive campus map, and even 360-degree panoramic views of the insides of dormitories, a variety of academic and student buildings, and picturesque outdoor locations.

As the 7,357 applicants for the class of 2012 hear back from Vassar this spring, the virtual tour serves as a convenient option for those who cannot revisit campus: all 50 states were represented in the applicant pool, as well as 92 countries.

A trip to Poughkeepsie has never been so easy!

Alumnae/i and Current Students Find New Way to Collaborate

Aaron Naar ’08, Woodrow Travers ’09, and Seth Cuddeback ’08 spearheaded a film project this past January in New York City. Written by Cuddeback, a film and Hispanic studies double major, Fades with Age is a short, narrative film about an elderly man’s attempt to connect with his son and grandson in an increasingly fast-paced and modern world, one he struggles to understand.

The ambitious project, with a script calling for a diverse ensemble cast ranging in age from 8 to 87, various locations, and complex cinematography, lighting, and sound work, made the task of securing shooting locations in New York extremely difficult. So Naar and Travers turned to AAVC to help connect them with alumnae/i in the greater New York area — and the response was tremendous. “Dozens of alumnae/i responded within 24 hours and were very eager to help,” said Naar, a double major in Hispanic and Latin American studies. “We really couldn’t have asked for more.”

“It was nearly impossible for us to find an office building, in particular, that fit the criteria of the script,” said Travers, a double major in film and Chinese. “When Brian Tormey ’02 offered us the use of an entire floor of his Wall Street-based insurance firm, our desperate search came to an end.”

(left to right): Woodrow Travers ’09, Jon Naar (lead actor), Grace Statwick ’11,
Seth Cuddeback ’08, Paul Misak ’11, Aaron Naar ’08

“When working on projects like this, it’s rare to find people who are not only willing to help, but eager and excited to do so,” said Cuddeback. “A lot of the time you are dealing with people who don’t really understand or care about what you are trying to do, and that can be frustrating and debilitating. But with the alumnae/i, there was an inherent trust and mutual respect that fostered extraordinarily positive and productive working conditions.”

Collaboration continued when Joanna Oltman Smith ’92 and Ian Smith ’92 offered the production team unrestricted use of their brownstone in Brooklyn. “This was a particularly hectic location, as we had to rearrange their living room into their dining room and vice versa,” said Naar. “Even with the amount of noise we made, Joanna and Ian were nothing but kind and generous.” Said Cuddeback, “It was a very positive experience overall. We really couldn’t have done this without the help of the student body, the college, and the alumnae/i. We are so fortunate to belong to a community as supportive and encouraging as Vassar.”

Fades With Age is currently in post-production and will be finished by the end of the school year. Naar, Cuddeback, and Travers recently launched a Vassar-based production company called Shoot the Sky Productions, which is geared toward combining a diverse group of students, artists, and professionals in the production of topical films.

Photo Credit: Rohini Singh ’08

Vassar’s Urban Studies Program Explores World Trade Center Redevelopment

For its 2007-08 Urban Talks programming, the Urban Studies Program is hosting a series of events, “Redeveloping the World Trade Center,” to educate the Vassar community on the recent developments and unfolding debates in the redesign and rebuilding of the World Trade Center (WTC) area in downtown New York City. The events cover the crucial aspects of this project — planning, architecture, policy, media, the Ground Zero building site, and neighborhood stakeholders — and will be incorporated into the assignments and readings for at least three Spring 2008 courses at Vassar.

The first event (Thursday, March 27, 5 p.m., Students’ Building, second floor) introduces the complex and contested planning history of the WTC redevelopment after 9/11. Nicholas Adams, Vassar’s Mary Conover Mellon Professor in the History of Architecture, will interview Andrew Winters, who was vice president and director of planning, design, and development at the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation. Winters now serves in the office of Daniel Doctoroff, New York City’s deputy mayor for economic development and rebuilding. In this position, he has special responsibility for the performing arts center at Ground Zero. On Thursday, April 3, a panel discussion on the WTC redevelopment will focus on the architectural, media, and policy issues. Three scholars — New York University Professor of Architectural History Hilary Ballon, Vassar Lecturer in Urban Studies Lisa Brawley, and Vassar Professor of Geography Brian Godfrey — will each give presentations on these respective areas, referring to the prior Winters lecture to call attention to the contested aspects and depictions of the WTC redevelopment.

And, finally, students and faculty will travel to the WTC redevelopment site. Matthew Postal ’83, an architectural historian at the Municipal Arts Society, will lead a tour of the site and the day also will include discussions with representatives of neighborhood stakeholders that have challenged the closed deliberations and corporate-responsive direction of the redevelopment. The three participating classes in this field trip are “Introduction to Urban Studies” with Associate Professor of Sociology Leonard Nevarez, “Urban Geography” with Professor of Geography Brian Godfrey, and “Architecture of the Modern World” with Professor of Art Nicholas Adams. 

The first two lectures are open to the public. If you are interested in attending, please contact lenevarez@vassar.edu.