The Dartmouth: Being Pro-Life at Dartmouth

Shared from The Dartmouth:

The pro-life coalition formally constituted as Vita Clamantis is best known on campus for its controversial anti-abortion display last spring.

The 546 American flags that peppered the Gold Coast lawn each commemorated the 100,000 abortions in the United States since the monumental Roe v. Wade decision in 1973, and were met with a significant outcry regarding both the display and the issue of abortion in general.

When the display went up demonstrators were stunned to see a car bearing a "Coexist" bumper sticker bulldozing across the line in defiance of their their pro-life statement. The demonstrators said they regarded the driver's actions and other negative reactions as a misinterpretation of the demonstration, as well as of the organization's purpose.

"We have to accept that at a liberal school like Dartmouth we're going to get somewhat of a heated response," member Bridget Shaia '15 said. "But the goal isn't to upset people. The goal is to get a discussion going."

While pro-life organizations existed at Dartmouth in the last 20 years, they eventually died out when their membership waned. Vita, in its current form, is relatively new. Founded four years ago by Peter Blair '12, Vita describes itself as the leading advocate for the pro-life cause on campus that aims to "boldly" speak out against abortion, embryonic stem cell research, euthanasia and capital punishment. The group's name is inspired by the College motto "Vox Clamantis in Deserto," or "the voice of one crying out in the wilderness."

President Robert Smith '14 said that the "Cemetery of the Innocents" exhibit was "never a protest [against abortion]. The way in which the event was advertised and the way in which we acted was misconstrued."

Smith, along with other members of Vita, said they hoped that the public demonstration would spark productive dialogue about the creation of safe environments in which pregnant women would not feel pressured to get abortions.

In this regard the event succeeded, Callista Womick '13 said.

Womick organized a pro-choice demonstration the same day to counter the Vita display. Students hung white flags across the street from the Gold Coast lawn in an attempt to highlight a woman's right to choose. The evening of the protest, however, Womick said she was inspired by the moderated discussion hosted by the organization to pursue an independent project that would create more resources for Dartmouth students with children.

"Dartmouth got rid of [College] housing for married students, there's no DDS policy for bringing children into the dining halls, and there aren't child-care services available at the College for students' children," Womick said. "They're little things I wouldn't have thought about unless Vita had done what they did."

Nevertheless, the overwhelming negative reactions to the "Cemetery of the Innocents" display prompted Vita to rethink executing similar large-scale demonstrations in the future.

"We still stand by our event last year," Smith said. "That being said, we're looking for ways in which we can possibly be more productive in engaging with campus."

Smith said Vita views its role on campus as primarily educational, serving to inform its own members as well as the larger student body about pro-life issues while providing forums in which matters can be discussed openly and constructively.

"We're confident that the rationality behind a pro-life position is in many respects unimpeachable," member Chris Hauser '14 said. "If we can create the right environment, we're confident that we can have productive discussions."

Along these lines, Vita organizes a variety of events throughout the term to promote healthy dialogue and debate regarding all pro-life issues. The group hopes to continue to branch out from solely discussing abortion by taking stands against the death penalty, euthanasia and stem cell research.

In the past, the coalition has coordinated events such as a dinner with Alliance Defending Freedom, a pro-life legal advocacy group as well as a constitutional law debate on whether Roe v. Wade should survive another 40 years. Vita also hosted a lecture by bioethicist William Hurlbut, the main advocate of a scientific process known as altered nuclear transfer that derives pluripotent stem cells without the creation and destruction of human embryos.

Looking forward, the group has already scheduled two film screenings by Jennifer Lahl, president of the Center for Bioethics and Culture Network in the spring. As a non-partisan, non-religious affiliated group, Vita plans to coordinate with Chi Heorot fraternity and the Knights of Columbus to hold a fundraiser for local mothers in March, Smith said.

"We have been active," said Smith. "There is just a lot going on in campus so it's easy for these [events] to get lost between everything students have going on."

As Hauser explained, the fact that so few students are openly committed to the pro-life cause prevents the group from holding regular meetings.

"I know we are a small organization and aren't able to do much," Hauser said, "but I think that nonetheless what we do is important. The fact is that one conversation can save an innocent life. "

Hauser, like many other Vita members, first heard about the organization through his affiliation with the Aquinas House.

Due to the sensitivity of the topic, however, the organization runs into trouble when trying to outwardly recruit new members.

"We're not scared to set up a booth at the activities fair in plain view," Shaia said, "but campus blitzes are just not very effective."

Instead, the group aims to educate individuals in the middle ground who do not hold particularly strong views on abortion through personal outreach and conversation. Hauser believes there are many more students who support the pro-life cause, "even if they themselves are either too busy, too non-confrontational or even too frightened to publicly advertise their pro-life sentiments," he said.

Smith agreed that part of the problem is an atmosphere at the College where "fringe" viewpoints are not frequently encouraged.

"Even if you do hold these beliefs, you might not feel particularly willing to be the on-campus voice for it," he said.

Regardless, the organization still feels a personal responsibility to engage campus in an immensely difficult debate that perhaps, as Hauser notes, "involves the lives of over 50 million innocent children, countless mothers and even forgotten fathers."

"It's not an easy question to ask, and at times it can seem distant," Hauser continued. "Nonetheless, we have to ask it."

The privilege of anonymity

When Bored@Baker returned in September after a summer-long hiatus, the site’s sole owner and administrator, “Jae Daemon,” welcomed us back as “Friends and Family-

“This is a magical place. While it has the potential for ugliness in extreme forms, it also has the potential for extreme love, kindness and support. With that said, I have a simple ask. Find the kindness in your heart to support the community as you would your own family. We are all in this together and we should love and support one another. Think about this when decide what words you chose to use.” 

This doesn’t sound like the b@b you hear about, does it?

 It seems that b@b is only ever invoked because of the extreme cruelty for which some members of our community choose to use it. It is cited as a haven of racism (“Gil: Shared Responsibility,” Jan. 23), sexism (“Feiger: Taking Back Dartmouth,” April 18, 2012), and the counter to productive campus dialogue (“Dean Johnson addresses campus inquiries,” May 11, 2012).

Big Green Micro-Aggressions, a new Tumblr for the exposure of bigotry and aggression at Dartmouth, proposes shutting down b@b as the number one goal toward “a more compassionate, inclusive Dartmouth College.”

Shutting down b@b would be counterproductive to this end. b@b itself is as neutral as a whiteboard, but the anonymity of b@b encourages us to discuss issues that otherwise we would not be willing to discuss, to ask questions that otherwise we would not ask, and to experiment with different ways of thinking. Race, gender, and all those aspects of identity we use to define ourselves and others can act as barriers to open and honest dialogue or, sometimes, any dialogue at all. By obscuring all but those aspects of identity we choose to make known, anonymity makes unlikely conversations possible.

Unfortunately, there are those who abuse the service. The site’s Terms of Service explicitly forbid content that is “unlawful, harmful, threatening, abusive, harassing, defamatory, libelous, invasive of another's privacy, or is harmful to minors in any way,” “that harasses, degrades, intimidates or is hateful toward an individual or group of individuals on the basis of religion, gender, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, age, or disability,” or “that includes personal or identifying information about another person without that person's explicit consent,” among many other things.

Abuse is a problem that Jae and many members of the community take very seriously. In May, Jae announced the development of a new Moderator System to allow users to remove harmful content “with compassion and humanity instead of an algorithm.” Community members help clean up the forum by reporting content and Moderators, chosen by Jae, vote to remove content that is in violation of the terms of service. Because five moderator votes are needed to remove a post, and moderators are students and young alumni, content removal can be slow. All reported posts are reviewed by the moderators, though.

Goal three of Big Green Micro-Aggressions is “To bear witness to the lived experience of those students who feel invisiblized and silenced at Dartmouth.” In his welcome back message, Jae promised “to do everything in [his] power to continue to provide this service for you free of charge as an outlet and platform for you to speak your mind when in other circumstances it would be silenced.”

When awful things appear on b@b it's a symptom of a much bigger problem at Dartmouth. I support b@b for the same reason I support Big Green Micro-Aggressions: both give us a platform on which to share our stories and a forum in which to find that we are not alone.

Preservation Services: History of the (Big) Book

The Preservation Services Blog's latest post features my final book project for Professor Alex Halasz's "History of the Book" class!

Quote:

In my role as a Book Arts Instructor, opportunities arise to work with students on book projects for their academic work. This past fall semester students in Professor Alexandra Halasz’s History of the Book class participated in a hands-on letterpress and binding exercise in class, and then had the option of producing a hands-on book project in lieu of a final term paper. Of the 17 students enrolled, 10 students chose this option, with three pairs of students choosing collaborative work.

Students employed a variety of facilities and workshops on campus: the 3-D printer at the engineering school, the woodshop and jewelry studios in the Hopkins Center, as well as the Jones Media Center, the Book Arts Workshops, and the Preservation Services conservation lab here in the Library. Each of these projects had their complexities, and students called on the expertise of instructors and technicians as needed. These photographs illustrate some of the steps Cally took to make her big codex book. She, along with other students, worked in our lab in Preservation Services, where her proximity to all of us allowed for instruction and advice as needed. 

Callista Womick '13 sews the light green endsheet onto her textblock of newsprint folios

Callista Womick '13 gluing up the spine

Callista Womick '13 rounding the spine

Callista Womick '13 preparing to cover the plywood boards with white bonded leather,
assisted by Book Arts Instructor Elizabeth Rideout

Callista Womick '13 done! Home to dry the book under weight.

Callista Womick '13's finished book displayed open

All of the pages are blank newsprint except for several somewhere in the middle, upon which is handwritten in graphite, a non-fictional narrative poem I captured in 2008, "SOS." The pale green endsheets are adorned with rubbed-out silhouettes of dogwood flowers, some so worn that they reveal the plywood covers beneath.

The Dartmouth: Students attempt to create a more positive Homecoming

Shared from The Dartmouth:

Several student groups are spearheading new initiatives to cultivate a more positive bonfire experience for freshmen in response to increased discussions of hazing on campus. Some have argued that running around the bonfire, students "yelling touch the fire'" and similar incidents could be considered acts of hazing under the College's new hazing policies, according to Green Key Society President Andres Ramirez 14.

The Green Key Society's bonfire committee is leading a number of new projects aimed at replacing negative traditions with more positive ones, Ramirez said. The society is generally involved with traditional campus events such as Commencement and Winter Carnival, he said. Its bonfire committee, led by co-chairs Jose Rodarte-Canales '16 and Amanda Winch '16, has been organizing the group's Homecoming plans.

"There was a big push in our bonfire council meetings to reinforce the idea that it's not something people would be nervous about," Winch said. "It's all about doing as much or as little as you want and participating in the tradition as much as you can."

This year, the College encouraged the bonfire committee to make running around the bonfire optional to ensure that no students feel they are being hazed, Rodarte-Canales said.

"This year we are telling the students that you can run, but you can also not run," he said. "We don't want the non-runners to be ostracized."

In a campus-wide email, Dean of the College Charlotte Johnson said on Thursday that members of the Class of 2016 should make their own choices over Homecoming weekend and not feel obligated to participate in the bonfire or the freshman sweep.

An exit tunnel will also be put in place this year to ensure that freshmen do not feel trapped in the circle designated for running, according to Rodarte-Canales.

Other initiatives include a positive poster-making session at 5:30 p.m. on Friday, a group of upperclassmen that will cheer on freshmen as they run laps and food and water stations, Ramirez said.

"We've expanded the amount of food that will be provided," Ramirez said. "There's going to be donuts and cider at Collis from 8 to 11 p.m. to distract the students that usually participate in the negative side of the bonfire."

Although students have not been punished in the past for shouting negative comments, such behavior should be avoided because it encourages students to try to touch the fire, an activity which can result in arrests or injuries, Ramirez said. Students who arrive obviously intoxicated at the bonfire also risk being turned away, he said.

"It's weird coming in from Trips and everyone expecting you to be the best class ever [and] everyone singing to you," said Ramirez. "Then during Homecoming, it's a complete turnaround. We want to maintain that positive momentum from Trips to Homecoming to the rest of the year."

Enforcement mechanisms are still being developed, and specific rules may not be decided until Homecoming weekend, Ramirez said.

"If we do hear negative responses, we are just gonna be like, Yo, be more positive,'" Ramirez said.

The Green Key Society also wants to involve other organizations, including Class Councils and Greek organizations, in its push for a more positive bonfire experience, according to Ramirez. On Tuesday, Ramirez sent emails to the heads of the Council on Student Organizations and to every Greek letter society detailing the purpose and endeavors of the Green Key Society's initiatives, with the hope that on Friday other students will join in its positive poster-making session, he said.

"I think that the main thing these organizations can do is participate in the Dartmouth Night parade," Ramirez said.

The parade through downtown Hanover is an annual tradition, and Ramirez said that the Green Key Society hopes more students will participate this year. The Green Key Society sent emails to Dartmouth student organizations with details about the parade, encouraging students to join and become positive leaders on campus.

The Class Councils and Student Assembly also emailed campus Tuesday night to outline the potential dangers of the bonfire, specifically citing an incident at Texas A&M University where students died during a bonfire.

"We're trying to split up the different things we're talking about so it's not one really long email," Ramirez said. "We're just trying to divide and conquer."

Outside of campus organizations' efforts, individual students are also aiming to make the bonfire more positive. Karolina Krelinova '14 said that she and some friends are hoping to support the '16s with signs, boomboxes and positive cheers.

"The whole thing was started in the Fall of 2010 by the action of people like Farzeen Mahmud '12 and Callista Womick '13," Krelinova said. "They didn't like the atmosphere around Homecoming and decided to make things better, and I believe that their efforts these past two years have actually made a lot of students change sides from hazers to supporters."

Krelinova's group will meet in the basement of Robinson Hall on Friday afternoon to make posters and may organize more activities depending on turnout, Krelinova said.

Not all freshmen are worried about the negative taunting associated with past bonfires, according to Tori Nevel '16.

"Overall, everyone seems excited and most people gave me a blank stare when I asked them about hazing," Nevel said. "Hazing doesn't seem to be a huge issue for freshmen I know."

DOSC bios are up!

Here's mine, shared from the DOSC blog:

CALLISTA “CALLY!” WOMICK {CHOATES}

Major: Studio Art

Hometown: Ramseur, NC

Internship/Research Experience: Diversity Peer Program (DPP) Intern with the Office of Pluralism and Leadership (OPAL); Communications Design Intern with Global Grassroots in Lyme, NH; Intern at Trees NC in Asheboro, NC; Independent Research Project regarding Anonymity and Community, ongoing.

Extra-Curricular Involvement: DPP; Dartmouth Outing Club (DOC) First-Year Trips (Trip Leader Trainer, 2012; Trip Leader, 2010 and 2011); Council on Student Organizations (COSO); Phi Tau Coeducational Fraternity (Vice President, 2010-11); Great Issues Scholars (Mentor, 2010-11; Participant, 2009-10); Rape Aggression Defense (RAD) Instructor; Tucker Foundation Alternative Spring Break (ASB) to Immokalee, FL; The Dartmouth Ears; and lots of jobs.

Post-graduation Plans: My foremost interests include sustainability, community, education, privacy, and art. After Dartmouth I intend to settle among people who will support these interests, or at least not deliberately thwart them; to raise goats and/or children; and to fix humankind. Or die trying.

The Dartmouth: Registrar pursues online projects

Shared from The Dartmouth:

The newest initiative will be an online major declaration system available on BannerStudent to members of the Class of 2015 beginning Winter term, according to McAdams, who served as the project's leader. The system will replace the previous process of having to file three paper cards in order to declare or change a major, with one card each for the department, the Registrar and the student.

"It's good to have anything that's easier, that you can do with a laptop you already have, instead of walking to three different offices," Callista Womick '13 said. "Environmentally speaking, that's a pretty huge impact."

Despite the elimination of paper forms, students will still need to meet with a major advisor and obtain approval for any changes to a major. However, students will not need to meet with an advisor to obtain a signature on paper, a change which may reduce personal interaction, according to Womick.

"I think if this leads down the path of adding and dropping courses late in the term online, that would be bad," she said. "I think it's important to do some things in person."

The Dartmouth: 2012 First-Year DOC Trips emphasize a ‘sustainable welcome' to '16s

Shared from The Dartmouth:

Approximately 85 percent of incoming freshmen embarked on excursions into the wilderness as part of this year's Dartmouth Outing Club First-Year Trips, according to Assistant Trips Director Farzeen Mahmud '12. The tradition, begun in 1935, incorporated a new focus on a "sustainable welcome" this year and faced a number of changes due to the adoption of a new term calendar.

This year's Trips directorate stressed their goal of a welcome to Dartmouth that is sustainable for the community as well as a concern for the environment, according to trip leader trainer Callista Womick '13.

However, changes to the academic term calendar, voted on earlier this year by the Dartmouth faculty, resulted in overlap between the start of First-Year Trips and the end of Summer term. The first members of the Class of 2016 arrived for their trips on Aug. 22, the last day of Summer term classes, and some Trips sections took place during the final exam period.

Students in residence for the Summer term were able to participate as Croo members during the exam period or as trip leaders following their exams, according to Mahmud. The schedule conflicts proved especially challenging for Croo members attempting to balance studying with their Croo duties, she said.

"[In-residence sophomores] on Croo do a couple activities a day and then go back to studying for finals, and that's something that I hope future years of Trips changes," Mahmud said. "It's really stressful and very contradictory for a welcoming party to be exhausted."

Mahmud said the Trips directorate aimed to help each member of the Class of 2016 to "build the home at Dartmouth they want one capable of lasting."

Whereas previous years have emphasized high energy and enthusiasm, the "sustainable welcome theory" encourages Trips participants to act naturally and genuinely in an attempt to foster long-lasting friendships, she said.

"Ultimately, there was disappointment after Trips because they did not reflect people's natural ways of interacting," Womick said. "We are trying to address the concern that Trips is a false portrayal of Dartmouth."

Amanda Toporek '16, who participated in a Strenuous Hiking trip, said the energy and dedication of trip leaders and Croo members succeeded in making her feel comfortable and welcomed.

"Overall, Trips made me feel at home," Toporek said. "Knowing that all of those upperclassmen were working incredibly hard to make me feel welcome at Dartmouth was pretty special."

Environmental sustainability remains an important part of the Trips program, and the DOC emphasized "leave no trace" practices for all departing trips. This year, each trip was supplied with a compost bag. In addition, barbeques are designed to be almost zero-waste, and nearly all food taken on individual Trips and served at the Moosilauke Ravine Lodge is grown locally, according to Womick.

While reducing waste required trip members to prepare simpler food, leaders and participants were rewarded with a more elaborate meal upon arrival at the Lodge.

"Our [cooking] fuel only lasted through 1.5 meals, so we did a lot of snacking on Newman O's," Brad Plunkett '16, who participated in a biking trip to Franconia Ridge, said. "My favorite food was at the Lodge, even though some of it managed to get splattered onto my face by members of the Lodj Croo."

The planning process for Trips begins nine months prior to the first trip's departure, at the beginning of Winter term, and is managed by a Trips directorate that consists of the director, assistant director, three trip leader trainers, Croo chiefs, an outreach coordinator and a sustainability coordinator, according to Trips Director Emily Mason-Osann '11 Th '12.

Upperclassmen apply for positions as trip leaders and Croo members during Spring term. This year, 286 of 630 students applying for leader positions were selected, and 59 of 150 students applying as Croo members were selected, Mason-Osann said.

Applications and training session for Trips 2012 featured a special focus on genuine interactions and community dynamics and included a new community-building workshop, according to Womick.

Trip leader trainers also guided leaders and Croo members through mandatory training sessions in risk assessment and wilderness skills, with all of the trip leaders converging on Gilman Island prior to their departures. Ryan Lisann '15, who led a cabin camping trip, said the workshops offered on the island provided the perspective necessary to ensure a good experience.

"Spending the night at Gilman Island put everyone in the right mindset before returning to campus to get their trippees," Lisann said. "We had a bunch of workshops conveying the importance of a trip leader as an ongoing resource for their trippees well past trips themselves. I felt they were extremely informative, and I received a lot of insight into what is expected from a leader from both the trip leader trainers and other leaders in the section."

Trips 2012 featured 10 sections with 32 distinct trips, whose titles were changed this year to reflect not only the trips' activities but also their destinations, according to Womick.