SWARTHMORE

SWARTHMOREC O L L E G E B U L L E T I N S E P T E M B E R 2 0 0 0D I S T U R B I N GT H E P E A C EO F R A C I S M

SWARTHMOREC O L L E G E B U L L E T I NS E P T E M B E R 2 0 0 0F e a t u r e sF r o m t h e B a r d t o B e l o v e d 1 2Why the English curriculum is always changingBy Tom KrattenmakerD i s t u r b i n g t h e P e a c e o f R a c i s m 1 6Kathryn Morgan’s story—in her own wordsBy Laura Markowitz ’85C a t h e d r a l s , C a s i n o s ,& C u l t u r a l C o n t e x t 2 4Learning from what you hate,with architect Steve Izenour ’62By Bill KentS w a r t h m o r i s m s 3 0A lexicon of Swarthmorelanguage through the ages16By Andrea HammerON THE COVER:KATHRYN MORGAN WAS SWARTHMORE’S FIRSTAFRICAN-AMERICAN PROFESSOR. AFTER NEARLYA DECADE OF RETIREMENT, SHE SPEAKS ABOUTHER STRUGGLES AND JOYS AT SWARTHMORE.PHOTOGRAPH BY JIM GRAHAM.3024

DepartmentsL e t t e r s 3Our “No Smoking” sectionC o l l e c t i o n 4Campus and CommencementA l u m n i D i g e s t 3 2A new alumni director and more12C l a s s N o t e s 3 4See anyone you know?D e a t h s 4 3Swarthmore remembersA l u m n iP r o f i l e sC o s m i c C o n c e r n 4 1Richard Setlow ’41 radiatesexpertise.By Andrea Juncos ’01O n B r o a d w a y 5 8Jessica Winer ’84 paints theGreat White Way.By Audree PennerW a l k i n g f o rP e a c e 6 6Crispin Clarke ’98 seeksharmony with the Earth.By Jeffrey Lott472Books & Authors 52Stop bowling, and read a bookI n M y L i f e 6 4Learning to pack lightlyBy Kirsten Schwind ’96Our Back Pages 72Han-Chung Meng’s wartime journey64

P A R L O R T A L KS W A R T H M O R E C O L L E G E B U L L E T I NRegular readers of this column stop here to learn something about thecurrent issue of the Bulletin, but I suspect that a few of you may bereading “Parlor Talk” for the first time, searching for a clue as to whathappened to your magazine. It looks different, doesn’t it? Our new designer,Suzanne DeMott Gaadt, has done some serious renovations.A magazine designer arranges words and images to invite you into ourpages and deepen your understanding of our articles. Good design ismore than decoration; it complements and enriches the ideas and storiesthat are the heart of this magazine. Yet, until a magazine’s readers noticea change, they may not ever consider how carefully it’s done.In colleges as with magazines, change is something we notice. Whenalumni return to Swarthmore, they comment more frequently on the newthan the familiar—new buildings, new faculty members, a more diversestudent body, new areas of study. AllIn colleges as with are examples of the constant, measuredchange that takes place in themagazines, change islife of a thriving, forward-looking college.Society doesn’t stand still, andsomething we notice.neither does knowledge; thus, Swarthmoreisn’t the same college it was in ...Swarthmore isn’twell, you pick the year.the same college itSeveral articles in this issue areabout change. Tom Krattenmakerwas in ... well,writes about new ideas and authors inyou pick the year. the English literature curriculum.Kathryn Morgan, professor emerita ofhistory, speaks her mind about the changes she’s witnessed—andwrought—in the racial consciousness of the College. Throughout thesepages, you will find dozens of examples of how Swarthmore students, facultymembers, and alumni are agents of change.Yet there’s one important transformation you might overlook becauseoutwardly it appears to be the same each year—Commencement. To me,this ceremony is the ultimate symbol of change because it celebrateshundreds of young people whose lives have been altered by the experienceof Swarthmore College and who will go on, in one way or another, tochange the world.That’s the design of a great college. In the scheme of things, a littlechange in the Swarthmore College Bulletin doesn’t seem like much, does it?—Jeffrey LottSWARTHMORECOLLEGE BULLETINEditor: Jeffrey LottManaging Editor: Andrea HammerClass Notes Editor: Carol Brévart-DemmCollection Editor: Cathleen McCarthyStaff Writer: Alisa GiardinelliDesktop Publishing: Audree PennerDesigner: Suzanne DeMott GaadtIntern: Andrea Juncos ’01Editor Emerita:Maralyn Orbison Gillespie ’49Contacting Swarthmore CollegeCollege Operator: (610) 328-8000www.swarthmore.eduAdmissions: (610) 328-8300admissions@swarthmore.eduAlumni Relations: (610) 328-8402alumni@swarthmore.eduPublications: (610) 328-8568bulletin@swarthmore.eduRegistrar: (610) 328-8297registrar@swarthmore.eduWorld Wide Webwww.swarthmore.eduChanges of AddressSend address label alongwith new address to:Alumni Records OfficeSwarthmore College500 College AvenueSwarthmore PA 19081-1390Phone: (610) 328-8435. Or e-mail:alumnirecords@swarthmore.edu.The Swarthmore College Bulletin (ISSN0888-2126), of which this is volumeXCVIII, number 2, is published inAugust, September, December, March,and June by Swarthmore College, 500College Avenue, Swarthmore PA 19081-1390. Periodicals postage paid atSwarthmore PA and additional mailingoffices. Permit No. 0530-620. Postmaster:Send address changes to SwarthmoreCollege Bulletin, 500 College Avenue,Swarthmore PA 19081-1390.©2000 Swarthmore CollegePrinted in U.S.A. on recycled paper2

LAY OFF THE BEEFI was very sorry to read in the JuneBulletin about the fire at the IngleneukTea House.How many of you worked there? Icleared tables Tuesdays through Fridaysand made desserts on Saturdaysfor three memorable semesters during1952–53. In addition to lunch and ashare of the tips on days worked, wewere served dinner also as regularcustomers. If I chose not to eat dinner,I could take 75 cents in cash or, better,bring a guest on another day. Giventhe quality of College food in thoseyears, my guests appreciated theopportunity to enjoy dinner at theIngleneuk.There was one drawback. Often Iforgot to mention to my date ahead oftime that we had a $2 maximum fordinner. So, before we ordered, I had topeer over the top of the large menuand whisper, “Don’t order the roastbeef,” which costs $2.25.CHARLES “BUCK” JONES ’53McLean, Va.GRAMMAR, LOGIC,AND RHETORICProfessor [T. Kaori] Kitao’s article “TheUsefulness of Uselessness” (June Bulletin)is a sad and flawed attempt tojustify an anachronistic system of educationdevised centuries ago for anidle elite. It is sad because she seemsto feel the need to justify liberal artscourses as a method of improving students’ability to think and learn. AsProfessor Kitao indicates, such coursesare often intrinsically interesting.They need no further justification.The article is also flawed becausethere are far more efficient methods ofenhancing students’ ability to learn, tothink, and to be creative than studyingChaucer and hoping for a serendipitousmind-improvement by-product.Perhaps a return to the trivium ofgrammar, logic, and rhetoric should beconsidered by Swarthmore.RICHARD KIRSCHNER ’49Albuquerque, N.M.WORK ETHIC ISA SOCIAL CONSTRUCTI read with great interest the article onEmpowered Painters (“Collection,”June Bulletin). As Swarthmore graduatewho worked in Philadelphia’sKensington neighborhood for almosttwo years, I became acutely aware ofthe need for sustainable jobs for residents.Although I applaud the students’efforts, I was greatly disturbedwhen they implied that most of theworkers they employed from Kensington/NorthPhiladelphia did not havethe “right work ethic.”Work ethic is a social construct,and no one has any right to deem oneas the correct one. We need to examinepeople’s situations in the full contextof their lives, not judge them bymiddle- and upper-class values. Andany work ethic is difficult to buildwhen jobs are unavailable and do notpay a livable wage. Good, productivework with disempowered peopleneeds to be done not by judging thembut rather by trying to get a sense ofthe full context in which they live.As Swarthmore alumni, we are privileged.I would hope we use that privilegewith a true sense of social responsibility.Impoverished and disempoweredneighborhoods do not needmoralistic judgment. I do not think anyof us wants to resurrect the culture ofpoverty argument from years ago. Iapplaud the work Empowered Paintersis doing. I hope that the characterizationof people from the neighborhoodswhere the company works changes.JOANNE WEILL-GREENBERG ’96PhiladelphiaUNHEALTHY BEHAVIORI was surprised to see the poem “LastDay” and the accompanying photographin the June issue of the Bulletin(“Collection”). Part of the poem reads:“I sit on the steps / of the dorm andsmoke a cigarette,” and the photodepicts a girl, puffing away, surroundedby smoke.This implicit—if unintentional—endorsement of smoking disturbs me.We are all aware that cigarette smokingkills. Would you publish a similarpoem about students playing Russianroulette in the dorms as if it were themost everyday activity in the world,next to a photograph of a studentholding a gun to her head?If such unhealthy and often fatalbehavior were not so socially acceptable,it would not find its way intosuch forums as the Bulletin. Part of theproblem with getting people to recognizeand accept the dangers of smokingis that it is so deeply entrenched inour society—as American as apple pie.Although a single poem may not convincean adult to take up smoking,thousands of such words and imageslegitimize smoking, adding to itsacceptability and downplaying thedanger involved. As the publication ofa socially conscious institution, theBulletin should refrain from supportingthe harmful status quo.AMITA SUDHIR ’98Falls Church, Va.SMOKING DECEPTIONReading the June 2000 issue of the Bulletin,I was shocked and then angeredto see in the “Collection” section aphotograph of a young woman smokingand to read the adjacent poemwith the line, “I sit on the steps / of thedorm and smoke a cigarette.” The photographappears to be a portrait of thepoet, accompanying her republishedliterary contribution. In this context,your readers might reasonably expectthat the person and her behavior aremeant to be admired.Portraying smoking as admired (oreven acceptable) deceives young peoplewho have not seen the ugly truthabout nicotine addiction; tobaccoinducedcarcinogenesis; and the consequent,very painful, fatal diseases.Of all places, I expected Swarthmorewould not tolerate the deception.MARK DEWITTE D.V.M. ’73Downingtown, Pa.Editor’s Note: College policy prohibitssmoking in all public spaces. Accordingto Linda Echols, director of the WorthHealth Center, although the College’sgoal is a smoke-free campus,“when wetalk about quality of life for the community,we still debate smoking—a person’sright to do so and others’ right notto have to breathe smoky air.” Thehealth center offers smoking cessationprograms and provides access to otherPlease turn to page 71L E T T E R SS E P T E M B E R 2 0 0 03

4C S W A R T H M O R E C O L L E G E B U L L E T I NO L L E C T I O N2000C o m m e n c e m e n t 2 0 0 0Amid mortarboards decoratedwith the requisite trappings ofCommencement—happy faces,origami, pinwheels—hundreds of familiesand friends gathered to cheer theseniors receiving their degrees onMemorial Day.In addition to the Oak Leaf, Ivy, andMcCabe Engineering awards, the presentationof a new special award wasadded to the ceremony. Established byEugene Lang ’38, the Lang Award isgiven by the faculty to a graduatingsenior in recognition of outstandingacademic accomplishment. JacobKrich, a Rhodes Scholar, is its firstrecipient. Of the 377 graduates, 359collected the bachelor of arts degreeand 21 the bachelor of science. Highesthonors were awarded to 10, highhonors to 52, and honors to 37.“We decided long ago never to walkin anyone’s shadow,” said senior-classspeaker Rhiana Swartz, a political sciencemajor from Amherst, Mass., paraphrasinga line from a song. “Swarthmoregave us all an inner drivestronger than we had ever experiencedbefore. It is this that will staywith us.”RHODES SCHOLAR JACOB KRICH ‘00,WINNER OF THE FIRST LANG AWARDFOR OUTSTANDING SCHOLARSHIP,CHATS WITH EUGENE LANG ‘38.Photographs by Steven Goldblatt '67W I S D O M A N D C O M M I T M E N TThe first to receive one of three honorarydegrees was Ian Barbour ’44,a theologian and physicist internationallyrecognized for his pioneeringefforts to forge a dialogue between scienceand religion. An emeritus professorof religion at Carleton College, Barbourwon the Templeton Prize forProgress in Religion in 1999. In hismany books, he has also exploredsocial, environmental, andethical issues related to technology,energy policy, and genetic engineering.ELIZABETH “BETITA” MARTINEZ ‘46,HONORARY DEGREE RECIPIENTBefore beginning his preparedremarks, Barbour reminisced aboutcurfews and physics labs in TrotterHall. He also recalled witnessing as afreshman John Nason’s inaugurationas president and expressed gratitudethat, at age 95, President Nason was inattendance for the day’s events.But Barbour’s real message wasabout the future, not the past. He suggestedto the graduates three ways inwhich new discoveries would challengetheir thinking: “Molecular biologywill vastly increase our understandingof biological phenomena, and wewill be tempted to think that it will beable to explain everything.… Astronomywill challenge our ideas of God.…

C o m m e n c e m e n t 2 0 0 0Technology and the application of sciencewill raise new ethical issues.…“As you leave Swarthmore, you willbe under various kinds of pressure tospecialize. Some of you will be in competitivejobs in which your success isjudged by narrow criteria. Others willbe in graduate programs requiringintensive specialization, and it will betempting to think that your disciplinehas all the answers. So let me encourageyou to keep an interdisciplinaryperspective as you encounter the discoveriesof the new millennium. I hopeyou will reflect on the ethical issuesarising from your work and seek waysto express your concern on your joband through public interest groups,community organizations, and politicalprocesses. My wish for you is wisdomand commitment in working for justiceand sustainability on our amazing andbeautiful planet.”A D A R E T O D A N C EExtemporaneous remarks from a selfdescribed“48-year-old radical”clearly resonated with graduates. In arich baritone, acclaimed dancer andFLANKED BY JAMES HORMEL ‘55 AND“My wishPRESIDENT ALFRED H. BLOOM,CHOREOGRAPHER BILL T. JONESfor you isRECEIVES HIS HONORARY DEGREEMARI MCCRANN ‘00wisdom andcommitmentin workingfor justice andsustainability.”—Elizabeth “Betita”Martinez '46choreographer Bill T. Jones began bysinging a verse from a spiritual, thencommented:“Lovely, isn’t it? It’s lovely, but it’salmost too easy ... good old-fashionedreligion. You know, they say AfricanAmericans can sing the phone book,and it sounds profound. It can be acheat, and excuse me in front of suchan august company of thinkers tocome out with such a performativestrategy. I am a performer. And in myworld, sometimes [being] a performermeans you are lacking intellect. I am aperformer. And words like performerequate with narcissism, self-indulgence,alienation, self-involvement—allqualities that have been exorcisedfrom the curriculum of your school, Iunderstand.”“So I say to you, what can I chargeyou with?” Jones asked, then presentedhis own philosophy of life: “I’mS E P T E M B E R 2 0 0 05

6C S W A R T H M O R E C O L L E G E B U L L E T I NO L L E C T I O N2000C o m m e n c e m e n t 2 0 0 0gonna dance in one door; I’m dancingout the other. I want my dance to bebigger and more generous, and youknow what? When people say to me atcocktail parties, ‘Oh, I have two leftfeet; I’m too fat; I’m too old,’ I’m saddenedby that. Dancing is like yourvoice…. It’s a gift to you. Everyone cando it. I danced with a woman with noarms and legs three years ago in Vienna.What was that dance? It was sexy.It was real. And if dancing is a symbolDESIREE PETERKIN ‘00 (CENTER)of what it means to be alive, I dare youto dance bravely. I dare you to befierce, and I dare you to be outrageousand generous.”To conclude, Jones sang again, thistime part of the chorus from “Brass inPocket.” And then his long framebecame a whirlwind of twirling academicrobes as he danced across thestage and bowed.G I V I N G T H A N K SElizabeth “Betita” Martínez ’46, a lifelongadvocate for civil and politicalrights, received an honorary doctor oflaws degree. In her remarks, she notedhow proud she is to be the College’sHONORARY DEGREE RECIPIENTIAN BARBOUR ‘44 (BELOW)CHRISTINA SORNITO ‘00 AND SAMANTHA LAPETER ‘00 GRADUATED IN STYLEfirst Latina graduate. “My father, whoimmigrated to the United States fromMexico, would be so proud. But I ameven prouder of the fact that therewere seven more Swarthmore graduatesnamed Martínez in the 1990s! Solet me give a special salute to the Latinaand Latino graduates here todayand all their familias.”Recalling her childhood in Washington,D.C., Martínez said she learnedabout racism and the common experienceof blacks and Latinos. She alsosaid that World War II, which startedwhen she was 14 years old, taught hersimilar lessons about anti-Semitismand the dehumanization of Asian peoplesduring the internment of JapaneseAmericans in U.S. concentrationcamps.“The great social movements of the1960s, which I quickly joined, confirmedthat people did not have to liedown and let such injustice roll on forever.Women like Ella Baker and FannieLou Hamer, men like Corky Gonzalesand César Chávez—those are all peoplewho taught that truth and whom Imust thank.“Those were years of great courage,personal sacrifice, and real achievement.But we should also recognizethat being part of the global humanstruggle for social justice can bring asense of personal fulfillment and happiness.I deeply hope all of you graduatesmay someday know that kind ofhappiness.”—Alisa Giardinelli

H u m a nc o m m o n a l i t yF R O M P R E S I D E N T A L F R E D H . B L O O M ’ S C O M M E N C E M E N T A D D R E S SBefore you set out further into the world, let me drawyour attention to a habit of mind that Swarthmorehas reinforced in you and that will be critical to theleadership you provide—namely, your readiness to seebeyond differences to the astounding commonality in conceptual,emotional, and ethical life, which similar geneticcodes, combined with fundamentally similar experience,have conferred on all human beings—a commonality thathas become all the more encompassing as global communicationand contact have spread common aspirations, andcommon modes of thinking and valuing, more broadlythan ever before.You have come to recognize that, although the particularsof what is learned will be different, except in caseof severe impairment, all human beings share the abilityto learn, to stretch conceptual categories, to discriminateamong them, to build new ones, to think with words andbeyond words, and to combine the words of their own languageto capture ideas expressed in another.You have come to recognize that, although emotionsmay be expressed or suppressed differently,all human beings share thecapacity for being amused or bemusedby irony, for being inspired by beautyor heroism, for appreciating a pat onthe back or a wink of an eye, forengaging in conscious deception orwell-intentioned white lies, for feelingrespect in the presence of anadmired teacher, or stage fright inthe face of a large audience, or amixture of elation and anxiety at aceremony marking the passage to anew stage of life.And you have come to recognizeas well that, although virtues andresponsibilities will be defined differently,all human beings share a senseof moral obligation to social groupsor to religious or ethical principlesbeyond themselves; judge moral conducton the basis of both intentions and actions; valuequalities akin to integrity, fairness, and trust; expectappropriate reciprocity; appreciate generosity; and resenttreatment they deem oppressive or unjust.You have built that recognition of fundamental humancommonality through exploring the universalities ofhuman physiology, psychology, language, and behavior;through discovering the similar ends for which humaninstitutions, across time and cultures, have beendesigned; through becoming aware of the contributionsthat diverse cultures have made to universal advances inmathematics, technology, and science.I believe there is nostronger argument fordiversity on collegeand university campusesthan its crucial rolein developing aninternalized recognitionof fundamentalhuman commonality.You have built that recognition of commonalitythrough being moved intellectually, aesthetically, emotionally,andethically by thevoices of othercultures, times,and circumstances,as expressedin theirart, literature,music, and philosophy;and by realizing how often those voices speak toideas, sentiments, and values that are meaningful to you.You have built that recognition by witnessing in yourown engagement with other languages and cultures howmany of the subtleties of other worlds can ultimately beunderstood, precisely because we share the underlyingfoundations of our conceptual, emotional, and ethicallives.And I would suggest that no experience has beenmore critical to developing that habit of recognizing commonalitythan living and working together in a diversecommunity, dedicated to shared goals.It is often harder and more transformingto recognize similarity acrossdivides closer to home—over race,class, sexual orientation, ability, disability,accents, interests, beliefs, orlifestyle—than across more distantand thus less threatening divides.And the diversity of this communityhas allowed you, in one instance afteranother, to discover how much youshare beyond those socially constructed,initial perceptions of difference.In a world of unprecedentedwealth and opportunity, your readinessto recognize human commonalitymakes clear that those who have notbenefited from that wealth and opportunityare not fundamentally differentfrom yourselves or fundamentally lessdeserving.And that recognition prompts you to use your voiceand talents to awaken collective responsibility to createconditions that allow everyone the real chance to achievea better life.In a world that tends to dismiss humane approachesto conflict resolution as weak or naïve because it perceivesthose on other sides of international culturaldivides as responsive only to threat and punishment, yourrecognition of human commonality makes clear thatresponsiveness to extensions of generosity and trust—andcapacity to be moved by shared vision—are as distributedin other societies as in our own; and that the resultsPlease turn to next pageS E P T E M B E R 2 0 0 07

C O L L E C T I O NS W A R T H M O R E C O L L E G E B U L L E T I NH U M A N C O M M O N A L I T Y ( C O N T I N U E D )achieved through affirmative, and particularly mutual,initiatives are more likely to be lastingly embraced thanthose that are unilaterally imposed.And that recognition prompts you to use your voiceand talents to insist that approaches based on the constructiveattributes we share have been adequatelytried.In a world in which single-dimensional human differencesare so readily inflated into stereotypes thatdistance and discount the other as a whole, your recognitionof fundamental human commonality compels you,in your personal interactions with individuals andgroups, to refuse to define others by their differenceand rather to reach for the common ground you knowyou share.And that recognition prompts you to use your voiceand talents to lead our societies both to respect differenceand to understand how easily exaggerating differencecan destroy community and undermine justice andpeace.I believe there is no stronger argument for diversityon college and university campuses than its crucial rolein developing that internalized recognition of fundamentalhuman commonality.You, the Class of 2000, have been the most diverseclass in the history of this College and have drawn onthat essential context to respect what each other bringsand to see beyond it to what you share.In so doing, you have each developed a habit ofmind that transforms you into an agent of connectionamong the individuals and across the groups and societiesof our world. And you have collectively defined aclearer standard of distinctive achievement for all futureSwarthmore classes to meet.Thank you, Class of 2000, for that central contributionto this institution’s remarkable educational legacyand for the multiple additional ways in which you havehelped Swarthmore to become an even finer institutionas it enters the 21st century.P O S T D O C P R O G R A M S F U N D E DFor the past three years, Swarthmore has hosted postdoctoralteaching fellows in several fields in the humanities,such as religion, classics, and philosophy. Now a $1.5million matching grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundationwill help endow the program.“By creating an endowment for the program, we will beable to continue to attract a more diverse faculty,” saysProvost Jennie Keith. “We will also be able to enrich thecurriculum, especially in small departments in which certainfields may get little or no attention.”The Mellon Foundation also continued its support of afellowship program intended to increase the number ofminority students in Ph.D. programs in the arts and sciences.With funding assured through 2005, an additional20 Mellon Minority Undergraduate Fellows will be able toparticipate in the program.JIM GRAHAMF O R M E R D E A N G E T ST O P P R I N C E T O NP O S I T I O NJanet Smith Dickerson,who served as dean of theCollege from 1976 to 1991,has been named vice presidentfor campus life atPrinceton. She has served asvice president for studentFORMER DEAN JANET SMITH affairs at Duke UniversityDICKERSON’S SMILE STILL GRACES since 1991. Dickerson will bethe first African-AmericanPARRISH PARLORS, THANKS TO THISwoman to reach the level ofPORTRAIT PAINTED IN 1991, THEvice president at Princeton.YEAR SHE LEFT SWARTHMORE. “One of the things thatappealed to me about thisposition was my recognition that Princeton was probablysomewhere between Swarthmore and Duke in its size, spirit,culture, and intellectual nature,” Dickerson said from hernew office. “Swarthmore was a very seminal experience forme.”BOARD ASKS FOR ATHLETIC REVIEWAcommittee appointed by the Board of Managers has metfour times since February to review the intercollegiateathletics program at Swarthmore and address concernsraised in recent years by the Admissions Office as well ascoaches and student athletes.The Athletics Review Committee is charged with assessing“the health of the intercollegiate athletics program”—inparticular, the quality of experience it offers to student athletes—andof “the relationship between that program andthe mission of the College.” Members of the committee willdecide which areas need improvement and make recommendationsin December.“The overall goal is for us to have a strong intercollegiatesports program,” explains Provost Jennie Keith, chair of thecommittee. “There have been tremendous changes in collegeathletics in recent years, and we are trying to understand theimpact these changes have had on our program.”Committee members include the president, the dean, thedean of admissions, five members of the faculty, five membersof the Board of Managers, and four students. “We’rehoping that the work of the committee will strengthen thequality of the athletics program and the experience it providesstudent athletes as well as the quality of the College’sadmissions,” Keith says. “It’s an incredibly broad charge.”N E W J O U R N A LTeaching emerging diseases and using computer technologyin science education were some of the subjects tackledin the first issue of Microbiology Education, a new quarterlyjournal put out by the American Society for Microbiology,published in May. Amy Cheng Vollmer, associate professor ofbiology, spent several years helping to develop the journaland now chairs its editorial committee.8

F A N T A S Y F O O T B A L L G U R UTED CHAN ‘02Pro football is back in season,which means ultrabusy Sundayafternoons for Ted Chan ’02.Besides watching a couple NationalFootball League (NFL) games at a timeon television, Chan can be found monitoringanother half-dozen matches viathe Internet. Who’s piling up theyardage and touchdowns? Who’s beeninjured? Who’s earning a one-way ticketto the bench?It’s more than football fanaticismthat drives Chan to keep track of theNFL the way day traders watch themarket. Despite his mere 20 years ofage, Chan is a nationally known profootballsage, part of a team thatwrites The Guru Report for the growinglegions of fantasy football enthusiastsacross America. The report has itsown Web site (www.gurureport.com)and is also seen by thousands onESPN.com, one of the most popularsports sites on the Internet.“Most readers don’t know my age,”says Chan, a Boston-area native andNew England Patriots fan who becamea “guru” at 15. “The editor of The GuruReport didn’t know for the first two orthree years I wrote for him.” By thetime he found out, Chan was a seniorwriter with a big following.For the uninitiated, fantasy sportsare a wildly popular spin-off of realsports that allows fans to form andrun their own teams and competeagainst one another. “Owners” accumulatepoints based on the real-lifeperformances of players they acquirein their leagues’ annual draft or auction.Although fantasy basketball,baseball, and football leagues havebeen around for decades, the pastimehas grown exponentially since theadvent of the Internet, with a satelliteindustry of league management toolsand inside information sources boomingalongside it.Game-day action is only one part ofthe seven-day-a-week, year-round jobof staying on top of pro football. Midweek,Chan, an Honors history majorand member of the varsity wrestlingteam, is busy keeping track of rostermoves and analyzing upcominggames. How will the Colts’ EdgerrinJames perform on natural grass Sunday?How effective does the San Diegodefense figure to be against theBrowns?Chan, known to many of his fellowSwarthmore students for his outspokensports columns in The Phoenix,was first introduced to fantasy sportsin seventh grade when two mathteachers at his school started a basketballleague to teach students aboutstatistics. “My best friend, who’s nowat Harvard, took part in the leaguewith me, and we both got completelyhooked,” Chan says. “Within twoyears, I was doing football, baseball,hockey, and basketball on the Internetand in local leagues.”By the time he was 15, Chan wasspecializing in his favorite, fantasyfootball. Also interested in journalism,he wrote a sample article for the fledglingGuru Report and submitted it tofounder and publisher John Hansen,who quickly brought him on board.This season, he is fielding questionsfor the call-in segment of a Sundaypregame radio show broadcast in St.Louis.“People say I have a knack for seeingtalent well in advance,” Chan says.“Watching a lot of college footballhelps me spot talent. I also read footballinsider reports and absorb anyother information I can get.”Chan has developed his own pettheories about how best to build a fantasyfootball team. His advice in onerecent Guru Report column: If youcan’t get a big-name quarterback inthe first or second round of your draft,wait until much later—you can probablyget someone good on the cheap.Not so with wide receivers and runningbacks; the field of top performersis not as deep. Chan advises gettingpass catchers and ball carriers earlyor risk being stuck with comparativedeadbeats at those key positions.His approach is being put to thetest this fall in one of the biggest andmost high-profile challenges of his fantasysports career. Chan is runningThe Guru Report’s franchise in a newsuperleague that is pitting the topinsider reports against one another.Going head-to-head against such rivalsas Pro Football Weekly, The SportingNews, and Rotonews can be a littledaunting, he admits. “I don’t want tolet The Guru Report down,” Chan says.“A lot of money and visibility are atstake. You also realize that whenyou’re dealing with such top-notchcompetition, much of it will comedown to luck.”Despite his apparent career track,Chan does not plan to pursue sportswritingafter Swarthmore; the fieldoffers too little security, he says. He ismore likely to become a technologyentrepreneur, he says, and, towardthat end, has already started a Webdesign and marketing company. Notthat he wouldn’t love to find a professionalniche in sports. His dream job:owner or general manager of a realmajor league sports team.—Tom KrattenmakerS E P T E M B E R 2 0 0 09

C O L L E C T I O NS W A R T H M O R E C O L L E G E B U L L E T I NS a v i n g t h e b i r d sWWhen a “Green Team” was formed to advise on theenvironmental aspects of the College’s new sciencecenter—an 80,000-square-foot complex projected tobegin construction next June—its members did not havebirds in mind. The group was to research and report onsuch matters as recycling building materials; reducing stormwater runoff outside and energy usage inside; and thecost-effectiveness of wind turbines, ground-sourceheat pumps, and solar hot-water heaters.Now, minimizing bird deaths hasbeen added to the list.It seems that the center’sScience Commons,designed, in part, by MargaretHelfand ’69, an architect of Kohlberg Hall,will involve two stories of plate glass looking out onCrum Woods. There, students and faculty members will beable to relax and observe, firsthand, the natural sciences atwork.But plate glass can be hazardous to the wildlife it makesso beautifully accessible. This fact was evident in a reportforwarded to the Green Team last spring by Guido Grasso-Knight and Michael Waddington, then senior biology majorswho had conducted a study of bird deaths on campus for anornithology class taught by Professor of Biology TimothyWilliams ’64.Although they found only one dead bird during theirresearch, reports from around campus and smudges on windowsled them to estimate that about 100 birds die eachyear from hitting the windows of College buildings. Anothersix birds were found dead and four seriously injured underwindows last spring that were not recorded in the study,Williams adds. Downed birds are quickly eaten by other animals,the students reported, so evidence of collisions is difficultto track. Although they admit their methods of recordingevidence were “less than optimal,” their findings leaveno doubt that the danger zones for birds are Kohlberg Halland the Cornell Science and Engineering Library, both ofwhich sport large plate-glass windows. Kohlberg aloneaccounted for 75 of the 100 estimated deaths.Soon after reviewing this study, the Green Team invitedDr. Daniel Klem Jr., a professor of biology at MuhlenburgCollege, to lecture on bird collisions, a topic on which hehas written dozens of papers. Klem estimates that “windowmortality” claims as many as 975 million birds in NorthAmerica—10 percent of the bird population—each year. Theevolution of flight among birds, he explains, has not yetadapted to man-made phenomena like tall buildings, artificiallight, and large expanses of glass.Two years ago, five hummingbirds were found dead inKohlberg Hall’s Cosby Courtyard, a garden surrounded onthree sides by plate-glass windows. Associate Professor ofBiology Sara Hiebert ’79, who studies hummingbirds, saysthat those five represented a substantial part of the hummingbirdpopulation on campus.“The Scott Arboretum staff had planted certain bushes inthe courtyard to attract birds and butterflies,” says ProfessorWilliams. “They didn’t realize that they were actuallyattracting the birds into a death trap. After they realized theproblem in 1999, they removed the nectar-producing bushes,and we only had one or two hummingbirds killed thatyear.”Now the Green Team has begun its own research into theproblem. Their primary concern is how to prevent the College’snewest building from becoming another “deathtrap.” Carr Everbach, associate professor of engineeringand chair of the Green Team, explains that “either birdsare looking through the glass to the other side and tryingto fly through, or they see a reflection of trees andsky and fly into it.”“Hawk silhouettes,” the black birdshapeddeterrents that adhere to windows,are useless at warning birdsoff, Everbach adds. Unfortunately,he concludes, bird collisions are“a problem without a perfectsolution. Klem has made a pleafor nonreflective matte-finishedglass, but this is very expensive and would beimpractical for this project,” he says. “Any window largerthan 4 square inches looks like an opening to most birds. Ifbirds think they’re seeing a path, however narrow, they willtry to fly through. The only real solution is to build buildingswith no windows, but that won’t happen.”“In fact, birds rarely collide with any window smallerthan 1 foot across, although it does happen,” Williams adds.“The windows of other buildings such as Parrish and Martinrarely have bird collisions. It is only since the constructionof Cornell that there have been reports of collisions at theCollege. Kohlberg was the first building on campus to bringthe bird mortality to crisis levels and the first to use massiveopen-glass areas.”Among the bird-friendly measures being considered,Everbach says, is the proper placement of bird feeders.“One of Klem’s observations is that if bird feeders areplaced two to three feet from the glass, birds won’t get upenough speed, flying from the feeder, to be seriouslyinjured,” Everbach says. Feeders placed 10 or more feetfrom the glass, on the other hand, are deadly. “So item 1 isto put feeders up against the glass of the new building—which will also be nice for people who want to watch thebirds.”Another idea the Green Team is considering is the placementof finely woven, transparent mesh about a foot fromwindow exteriors. “A bird would hit a trampoline, essentially,and bounce off,” Everbach explains. “The netting wouldbe mostly invisible from inside the building. It would helpduring the bird migration season but would have to beremoved during the fall and winter when leaves and snowwould stick to it. Our idea is to have motorized rolls of thisflexible mesh that roll out under the eaves, then retract duringwinter.” (More information on the Green Team’sresearch—and a detailed look at current plans for the entirescience building—is available at http://sciencecenter.-swarthmore.edu.)—Cathleen McCarthyACADEMY OF NATURAL SCIENCES/VIREO10

GEORGE WIDMANCOACH KAREN BORBEE TEACHES LACROSSE DAYCAMPERS IN JUNE.D a yc a m p i n gWhile parts of the College campusare deserted during the summer,the athletic fields are bustling. Lookclosely, however, and you notice thatthe athletes are often smaller thanusual.Summer is sports camp time atSwarthmore, when coaches find themselvesteaching children the tricks ofthe game. This summer, four Swarthmorecoaches ran sports camps.Women’s basketball coach AdrienneShibles and men’s lacrosse coach PatGress each ran 5-day day camps, for 8-to 14-year-olds. Wrestling coach RonTirpak taught wrestling to high schoolersin the evenings for two weeks inJune. And Karen Borbee, coach of thewomen’s field hockey and lacrosseteams, ran two 5-day camps for 10- to15-year-olds: one for field hockey andone for lacrosse.Borbee started her sports daycamps at the College seven years ago,aiming at middle school students.“Now I work with students as young as8—if they’re really interested—and asold as high school freshmen,” shesays. “My philosophy is to teach thebeginner and intermediate. These areintroduction camps. We provide theequipment and let children try out thesport and see if they like it.“Teaching girls this young is fun ina different way,” Borbee says. “You’reintroducing a sport to a child. But thefunny thing is, as different as thesekids are in age and experience fromcollege students, they’re also very similar.I use the same philosophy that Iuse on my college students. Basically, Iwant it to be fun. I want them to learnthe skills and basic strategies, butmostly I want them to enjoy playing asport. If it’s not fun, they won’t continue—andwe want them to continue.”Borbee says Swarthmore is an ideallocation for sports camps. “We havebeautiful fields, and we’re centrallylocated to so many schools wherelacrosse and field hockey are popular,”she says. “With kids starting sportsyounger and younger, associationsand youth clubs are springing up allover the area. Working parents arelooking for places to send their kids inthe summer and trying to be morespecific about their interests.”She can see the effects of sportscamps on her college student athletes.“You can tell the kids who’ve gone tocamp. They have good basic skillsbecause that’s what camps emphasize.Those who just jump into scrimmagingand game situations are often missingthat.”—Cathleen McCarthyN E W L Y T E N U R E DThe following faculty members haverecently been promoted to the rank ofassociate professor with tenure: SaraHiebert, biology; Haili Kong, Chinese;Lisa Meeden, computer science; PhilipJefferson, economics; Nora Johnson,English literature; Patricia White, Englishliterature; Timothy Burke, history;Michael Brown, physics; CynthiaHalpern, political science; Frank Durgin,psychology; Sarah Willie, sociology;and Maria Luisa Guardiola, Spanish.t h i s y e a r ’ sf a l lI think about breathall the time. the breathof sky on our hands,breath of wind turningthis red autumninto another half-moonmemory.this city eases meinto smaller days,sun falling in-betweenthe hours and I watchthe breath of air alongmy back.this city cringesletters back at nightand writes an encryptedmessage: the mysteryof our ancient hearts.I touch stones,hands skimming wet,broken rock and feelthe loss of anothercity, each town returnedto oblivion.maybe it’s how deathstorms. or the threatof (another) warbut I’m tired of writingthese lettersthat crumble at the touch.I’ve heard the echoof endless grief and whatit means to be eternal.I can’t call thisthe eternal city yet.I’m too young and storiesthat rise out of milkshopsand cemeteries only make me tired.this fall cools summer’sslum as I watch a river gleamwith the memory of mythic babies.eternal. this place.it shifts words back into a languageI thought I knew but autumnhas turned this fall into ruins,the breath of wandering.—Lena Sze ’01Lena Sze is a classics major from NewYork City. She was studying in Rome lastfall when she wrote this poem. It wasfirst published in the winter 1999 issueof Small Craft Warnings, a student literarymagazine.S E P T E M B E R 2 0 0 011

From the Bard to BelovedI N E N G L I S H C L A S S E S , S H A K E S P E A R EA N D O T H E R I C O N S A R E S H A R I N G T H ES P O T L I G H T W I T H N E W E R W R I T E R S .By Tom KrattenmakerS W A R T H M O R E C O L L E G E B U L L E T I NILLUSTRATIONS BY JANE OʼCONOR12

There it is in black and white in Swarthmore’s coursecatalog—evidence of what some claim is a politicallydriven preoccupation with present-day issues like raceand gender in America’s English literature departments.As the catalog puts it, “A special effort is made to keep inview, at all times, the application of the works studied to thelife and problems of the present day.” One problem: Thepassage comes from the College’s 1930 catalog.Perennial charges that English literature curricula aremired in political correctness and disrespect for theWestern canon were back in the news in recent months,prompted by a well-publicized report from the right-leaningNational Association of Scholars (NAS).“Want to major in English at one of America’s ‘top’ universities?”asked the headline of the news release issued bythe NAS last spring. “Don’t expect to learn much about greatliterature or authors.”But as the English faculty members at Swarthmore arequick to point out, the NAS report and similar broadsidesexaggerate the extent to which Shakespeare and other iconsof the Western canon have yielded turf to newer writers.Although today’s English literature students read a somewhatdifferent mix of writers than previous generations—and surely with different critical approaches—two constantsremain: high standards for analysis and writing and theinevitability of curricular change.“Looking over the old catalogs, it’s clear that the wholeenterprise has always been in flux,” said Charles James, theSara Lawrence Lightfoot Professor of English Literature andchair of the department, as he paged through the 1930 edition,“and that is as it should be.“There is also stability. No matter what year’s catalog youlook at, you’re going to find lots of Shakespeare. Our criticssay they are concerned about tradition. But in our view,change, alongside an appropriate amount of stability, is animportant part of that tradition.”The report by the Princeton, N.J.–based NAS, which generatedcoverage by the Chronicle of Higher Education andscattered newspapers around the country, went on to detaila supposed dumbing-down and politicization of the Englishcurricula at 25 leading liberal arts colleges. Swarthmore waslisted as a chief offender.Among the principal charges: That courses dealing withrace, gender, and sex—almost unheard of 40 years ago—areproliferating, revealing “an infusion of terminology more ideologicalthan literary”; that traditional greats such asShakespeare, Henry Fielding, and Jonathan Swift are beingcrowded out by the likes of Toni Morrison and Zora NealeHurston; and that broad survey courses are waning, as theyare replaced by tightly focused and highly theoretical coursesthat leave English majors without an adequate literaryfoundation.The report concludes: “Many of the graduates of theseprograms, though no doubt priding themselves on havingreceived a first-class literary education, must possess onlythe most rudimentary knowledge of English literature’slonger history, or of its greatest writers and works. Whatthey’ve probably gotten instead is ... an exposure to dubious‘theoretical insights’ and a familiarity with trendy authors ofapproved identity and outlook, likely to soon be forgotten.Anyone concerned about preserving our rich and creativeliterary culture has good reason to be alarmed.”The trend to which the NAS objects is typified in manyways by English 054, “Faulkner, Morrison, and the Representationof Race,” a course taught by the Alexander GriswoldCummins Professor of English Literature Philip Weinstein,who joined the faculty in 1971. One of the department’sadvanced offerings, Weinstein’s course juxtaposestwo great American writers of different eras, sexes, andraces and assesses their achievement with an eye towardthe role of race as well as more traditional criteria.“The central argument of the course is that race is primary,but that lots of other questions are as well,” Weinsteinsays. “We need to acknowledge race and what it brings tothese writers’ unique voices but also see that whiteness andblackness are not the only things affecting their work.”Weinstein, who is a former department chair, says hedesigned the course as a way to stake out a middle groundbetween two extreme approaches to English literature. Inone such approach, which prevailed until the 1960s, race isdeemed irrelevant. Literary masterpieces are thought topossess a universal greatness because they capture thetimeless essence of the human condition. The fact that mostof the favored writers are white males from long ago doesn’tmatter from this viewpoint. Until things began to change inthe 1960s, “hardly anyone,” Weinstein said, “ever talkedabout race as a shaping factor.”According to the other extreme position he sees, race isthe only issue. From this angle, the recognition accorded thesupposed masterpieces is merely the product of the privi-A U T H O R , A U T H O R !The 1999-2000 Swarthmorecourse catalog listed morethan 100 courses in theDepartment of EnglishLiterature. All of the authorsmentioned in course descriptionsare noted on thesepages. (Thanks to intern—and English major—AndreaJuncos ’01 for compiling thislist.) Read full descriptions ofthese courses at www.swarth-more.edu/Home/Academic/-catalog/dept/english.html.Chinua Achebe Theodor Adorno Aijaz Ahmad Ama Ata Aidoo Chantal Akerman Sherman Alexie Dorothy AllisonSamir Amin Hannah Arendt Nancy Armstrong Matthew Arnold Isaac Asimov Margaret Atwood W.H. AudenJane Austen Mariama Ba Francis Bacon Joanna Baillie Mikhail Bakhtin James Baldwin Charles-Pierre BaudelaireSamuel Beckett Aphra Behn René Benjamin John Berger Marshall Berman William Blake Eavan BolandJorge Luis Borges David Bradley Bertold Brecht Split Britches The Brontës Elizabeth Barrett BrowningRobert Browning Emil Brunner Edmund Burke Fanny Burney Judith Butler Octavia Butler Lord ByronItalo Calvino Maria Campbell Elias Canetti Thomas Carlyle Ciaran Carson Angela Carter Elizabeth CaryWilla Cather Aime Cesaire Theresa Hak Kyung Cha Raymond Chandler Geoffrey Chaucer Charles ChesnuttLydia Maria Child Noam Chomsky Kate Chopin Caryl Churchill Sandra Cisnceros Arthur C. Clarke Jean CocteauJudith Ortiz Cofer Samuel Taylor Coleridge Wilkie Collins Joseph Conrad Stephen Crane e.e. cummingsTsitsi Dangarembga Dante Charles Darwin Maria Amparo Ruiz de Burton Michel de Certeau Daniel DefoeThomas Dekker Martin Delany Teresa de Lauretis Nuala Ni Dhomnaill Charles Dickens Emily DickinsonS E P T E M B E R 2 0 0 013

leged positions of the white men whowrote them and the other white menwho taught them in colleges and universities.From this viewpoint, no workis inherently better than any other;everything is relative and the productof the writer’s orientation. By thisapproach, “we can no longer speak ofliterary masterpieces because all we’retalking about is literary politics,”Weinstein says.“My aim with the Faulkner–Morrisoncourse is to give race and gender the full play they deservewhile keeping Faulkner from disappearing into his whitemaleness and Morrison from fading into her black femaleness.”Weinstein’s is hardly the only course at Swarthmoreexamining literature with an eye toward the issues of thelate 20th and early 21st centuries. For example, AssistantProfessor Carolyn Lesjak teaches “Modern Bodies in theMaking: The 19th-Century Novel,” which examines works byAusten, Dickens, Eliot, and others to explore the formationof class, gender, and racial identities. Associate ProfessorNora Johnson teaches a course called “RenaissanceSexualities,” which mines Renaissance-era texts to understandthe sexuality of that time. How were concepts ofchastity, friendship, marriage, and homosexuality differentin the Renaissance? “This is the place where we study thecanon and at the same time use a tool that has the excitementof postmodern inquiry,” Johnson explains.Is this legitimate grist for the Swarthmore classroom?Absolutely, says Associate Provost and Professor CraigWilliamson, a scholar of medieval British literature and formerdepartment chair. “Is love in Elizabethan England thesame as in today’s America?” he asks. “Is the idea of genderthe same? If not, how is it different? Is the idea of sin thesame? The answer to all these is ‘no, not exactly,’ and it’simportant to understand the differences. Without courseslike these, students are tempted to talk about love inShakespeare as if Shakespeare were the person livingaround the corner from them. Many things change in culture,and that’s one of the dialogues we’re trying to create.What is consistent? What is different? If you’re really goingto understand Shakespeare, you have to know.”Johnson disagrees with the NAS contention that questionssuch as these are better left to historians. “No, thisAlthough today’s students read atwo constants remain: high standards forand the inevitabilityW I L L I A M F A U L K N E RHilda Doolittle John Donne Fyodor Dostoevsky Frederick Douglass Rita Dove Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Theodore Dreiser W.E.B. Du BoisS W A R T H M O R E C O L L E G E B U L L E T I NMarguerite Duras George Eliot Queen Elizabeth I Ralph Ellison Buchi Emecheta Olaudah Equiano Louise Erdrich Franz Fanon William FaulknerHenry Fielding Gustave Flaubert John Ford Maria Irene Fornes Edward Morgan Forster Michel Foucault Mary Wilkins Freeman Sigmund FreudErnest Gaines Gabriel Garcia Marquez John Gardner Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell William Gibson George Gissing Susan Glaspell Guillermo Gomez-PenaSue Grafton Radclyffe Hall Dashiell Hammett Peter Handke Donna Haraway Thomas Hardy David Harvey Nathaniel Hawthorne Eliza HaywoodSeamus Heaney Felicia Hemans Ernest Hemingway George Herbert Mary Herbert Robert Herrick Etty Hillesum Alfred Hitchcock bell hooksW.D. Howells Langston Hughes Ted Hughes Zora Neale Hurston Aldous Huxley David Henry Hwang Luce Irigaray Henrik Isben Henry JamesFredric Jameson Charles Johnson James Weldon Johnson Ben Jonson James Joyce Franz Kafka John Keats Margery Kempe Adrienne KennedyJack Kerouac Maxine Hong Kingston Jamaica Kincaid Rudyard Kipling Aemilia Lanier Nella Larsen D.H. Lawrence Ursula Le Guin L.E.L.Claude Levi-Strauss Matthew Lewis Kenneth Lincoln Audre Lorde Gyorgy Lukacs Thomas Mann Christopher Marlowe Paule Marshall Andrew MarvellKarl Marx Medbh McGuckian D’Arcy McNickle Herman Melville James Merrill Thomas Merton Thomas Middleton Tiffany Midge John Stuart Mill14

somewhat different mix of writers,analysis and writingof curricular change.T O N I M O R R I S O Nkind of inquiry shouldn’t be the only thing we do inEnglish literature,” she says. “We still need to study thebeautiful words. But knowledge has changed so muchover the last century that we need to have this kind ofconversation.”Although critics of curricular change contend thattoday’s scholars have no business imposing their concernson the great old literature, Weinstein and otherscontend that this approach has always been the practiceand, in truth, is the only possible way to read literature.“There’s nothing else we can do,” Weinstein says.“We can’t take off our year-2000 glasses. They’re notexchangeable. What you can do is be aware that you’rewearing those lenses and seek to accent them as much aspossible with what you can learn about the lenses of a differenttime. But you can never put yourself back in time insome naive way and see Hamlet as a man or woman in the1600s would.”Speaking of Hamlet, Beowulf, and the like, have they reallygone the way of the literary buffalo? Contrary to the claimsof the conservative critics, James notes that Shakespeareand other members of the pantheon still have a strong presenceon Swarthmore syllabi. Fourteen of the 18 introductoryEnglish courses offered in the 1999–2000 course cataloginclude works by the Bard. By comparison, Toni Morrison,the Nobel Prize–winning author whose inclusion in theEnglish curriculum is decried by the NAS, is taught in just 2of the 18 and Zora Neale Hurston in 1. It is true, as the NAScharges, that studying Shakespeare is not required of Englishmajors, but as Williamson notes, nearly all majors do so atsome point in their Swarthmore career. Further deepeningthe department’s roots, Williamson’s survey course,“Beowulf to Milton,” covers the literature of Anglo-Saxon,Middle English, Renaissance, and 17th-century periods.Like other elite liberal arts colleges, Swarthmore hasn’tcrowded out the canonical authors. Rather, the College hassimply expanded the universe to accommodate newer writerswithout displacing the old. Excluding theater courses,the department offered just 24 courses in 1964; by this year,the number had grown to more than 100.The worthiness of newcomers like Morrison for a place inthat wider universe is another question, one that Williamson,the medievalist, answers passionately. The NAS andother conservative critics, he believes, “want to teach TheNorton Anthology from 30 years ago.” That many of the new-Please turn to page 69John Milton Anchee Min N. Scott Momaday Cherrie Moraga Sir Thomas More William Morris Toni Morrison Paul Muldoon Bharati MukherjeeFriedrich Nietzsche Flora Nwapa Flannery O’Connor Sharon Olds Eugene O'Neill Sembene Ousmane Sara Paretsky Marge Piercy Harold PinterLuigi Pirandello Alexander Pope Katherine Anne Porter Marcel Proust Thomas Pynchon Ann Radcliffe Ishmael Reed Adrienne RichSamuel Richardson Rainer Maria Rilke Tomas Rivera Mary Robinson Richard Rodriguez Salman Rushdie Joanna Russ Edward W. Said SapphireFerdinand de Saussure Olive Schreiner William Shakespeare Ntokaze Shange Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley Percy Bysshe Shelley Julie ShikeguniSir Philip Sidney Leslie Silko Georg Simmel Susan Sontag Gary Soto Stephen Spender Edmund Spenser Olaf Stapledon Gertrude SteinWallace Stevens Sara Suleri Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey Jonathan Swift Torquato Tasso Drew Hayden Taylor Alfred, Lord Tennyson Ngugi Wa Thiong'oDylan Thomas Henry David Thoreau James Tiptree Jr. Leo Tolstoy John Kennedy Toole Jean Toomer Amos Tutuola Mark Twain Jules Verne VirgilGerald Vizenor Alice Walker Ian Watt Max Weber John Webster Rebecca Wells Nathanael West Edith Wharton Walt Whitman Oscar WildeRaymond Williams Terry Tempest Williams William Carlos Williams Barbara Wilson Jeanette Winterson Virginia Woolf Dorothy WordsworthWilliam Wordsworth Richard Wright Mary Wroth Sir Thomas Wyatt Wakako Yamauchi William Butler Yeats Ray A. Young BearS E P T E M B E R 2 0 0 015

D I S T U R B I N GT H EP E A C ES W A R T H M O R E C O L L E G E B U L L E T I NWhen I came toSwarthmore College inLounging on her sofa on a bright summer afternoon at Swarthmore’s Strath HavenCondominiums, the Sara Lawrence Lightfoot Professor Emerita of History KathrynMorgan grins and tells you she was not your typical Swarthmore professor. No sir,Morgan says, she was not typical at all. She was the first African-American woman tobe given tenure at Swarthmore; in fact, she was the first-ever African-American professorthe College hired.That was back in the early 1970s, and Morgan was a pioneer. A graduate of HowardUniversity, she completed her doctorate at the University of Pennsylvania, the onlyAfrican American in the program. “It takes a toll on you at times, it does, being theonly one,” she says. “When I came to Swarthmore, it was because I thought the studentshere needed me—not just the black students, but I knew they needed anAfrican American on the faculty. I mean, there wasn’t even one!”Today, Swarthmore has a much better record on faculty diversity. Of the 166 fulltimeinstructional faculty, 25 are minorities, and 14 of those are African American (8with tenure). Among the faculty hired into tenure-track positions in the last 5 years,25 percent are people of color.The College’s Minority Scholars in Residence Program, begun in the 1980s by PresidentDavid Fraser, has been an important strategy for bringing more people of coloronto the faculty, says Provost Jennie Keith. Minority scholars are invited to be residenton campus during the period just before or after they receive a Ph.D. The programprovides time to complete a dissertation or launch postdoctoral research—alongwith the opportunity to teach in a liberal arts setting. Several minority scholars havejoined the permanent faculty after this program.But when Kathryn Morgan first came to Swarthmore, there were no such programs.She was breaking new ground. “I was not what they were used to,” she remembersabout her interview with Harrison Wright, then-chair of the department. “I was not awhite person in black skin. I was a black woman, OK? And they hired me! They wantedme to come! That speaks well of Swarthmore!” she says, with her trademarklaugh—half-giggle, half-cackle.For more than 20 years, Morgan taught Swarthmore students oral history, folklore,and folklife—an alternative view of history preserved in oral tradition, sometimeshanded down from generation to generation. During her childhood in Philadelphia,Morgan was raised on those kinds of stories of her own mother’s families and hergreat-grandmother, Caddy Buffers, who was born a slave. Morgan’s book Children ofStrangers: The Stories of a Black Family is an oral history of her mother’s family.“I heard stories all my life,” she says. “This is the history that people kept alive.We need a history in which we can see ourselves reflected.” Morgan paraphrases aquote from one of her favorite thinkers and writers, W.E.B. DuBois: “History that hasbeen accurately written is just a pinpoint in the sea of human experiences,” she says.“He called attention to the significance of oral traditions. We all have stories. Andthe thing I like about oral history is the fact that it’s ever changing. It’s not static.”To Morgan, and to many students who felt history come alive in her courses, oral1970, it was quite anaccident. I never heardof Swarthmore, eventhough I was raisedin Philadelphia.JIM GRAHAMO FR A C I S MA N O R A L H I S T O R Y O F T H E O R A L H I S T O R I A N K A T H R Y N M O R G A NBy Laura Markowitz ’8516

COURTESY OF KATHRYN MORGANhistory is the deepest kind of poetry. Personal accounts of struggle and wisdom andtriumph against the backdrop of larger events—wars, social movements, and economicchanges—reveal the essence of humanity, says Morgan. “It is absolutely beautifulbecause it reveals what people know in their souls. So many academics are concernedwith objective truths, but if they’re really interested in where ideas come from, theywould also be interested in oral history,” and then she shakes a finger at you andlaughs again, “You know exactly what I’m talking about!”This is Kathryn Morgan’s story about racism as she experienced it at SwarthmoreCollege. As she will tell you about any oral history, even her own, “This is my story. Iam speaking for only myself as I perceived it.”“ WhenI was a little girl—I wasabout 10 years old because Iknow that my feet didn’t touchthe floor when I sat in a chair—we hadthis movie house down the street fromus that was all white, and they madeblack children sit up in what wascalled the “nigger gallery.” This wasthe late 1930s in Philadelphia. Mymother said it was wrong, and shewouldn’t let us go to the movies onSaturday, which we thought was a punishmentfor something that we hadn’tdone. So one day, my mother, tired ofme standing by the window, looking alldreary and crying because I couldn’tgo to the movies—I didn’t understandthat she didn’t want us to sit up in thenigger section—so she said, “OK. Youwant to go to the movies? I’m going totake you to the movies!”Now, my mother looked white. Shehad blue eyes and light hair and whiteskin, so we had a problem every timewe went out together. Anyway, shetook me to the movies and she said,“There’s one condition. You’re notgoing to sit up in the ‘nigger’ gallery.“YOU COULDN’T BE ACOWARD WITHCHILDREN IN THOSEDAYS BECAUSE IFYOU WERE, YOUWOULD BRING UPCOWARDLY CHILDREN.”LEFT: PROFESSOR EMERITA OF HISTORYKATHRYN MORGAN. ABOVE: MORGAN AND HERAUNT ADELINE IN PHILADELPHIA, CA. 1930.You’re going to sit down in the frontwith the white people.” That was allright with me because I thought shewas going to go with me. But she saidto me—and this is a very importantlesson—she said, “Go in there, and yousit there in the front, and don’t youmove. Don’t come home. Don’t do anything.Don’t you move.” My motherwas worried about what was going tohappen to me and my personality if Iwas discriminated against and acceptedthat I was inferior and all the nonsensethat comes along with racism.So there I was, at the movies andterrified. I remember the picture; it wasShirley Temple and some little somethingor other she was doing withBojangles. Yes. She was tap dancing upthe steps. I remember that even today.So then a little usher came down, andhe said to me, “Nigger, you’re not supposedto be here. You’re supposed tobe upstairs.”And I said, “I can’t move becausemy mama told me not to move.”He said, “I’m going to get the policeon you. You’re breaking the law.”S E P T E M B E R 2 0 0 017

S W A R T H M O R E C O L L E G E B U L L E T I NWell, I was so scared that he’d putme out, but I couldn’t go upstairs [tothe nigger gallery] because my mamatold me not to go upstairs. So hepushed me out the front door, and Iran home. And she was standing in thekitchen cooking. I never will forget this.She said, “What are you doing home?You wanted to go to the movies!” I toldher what happened. She said, “Allright. Where’s your money? Did youget your money back?” I didn’t get mymoney back. They just put me out ofthe movies, right? She said, “All right.We’re going back, and we’re going toget your money. We’re going back tothat movie. Now I’m going to sit downstairswith you,” she said. Well, wewent back to the movies, and she wentin front of me instead of next to me.The little man didn’t know that shewas my mother. He thought I was tryingto get back into the white sectionagain by myself. So he grabbed me. Hesaid, “Sister,” and he pulled me back,and she turned on him. She said, “Doesshe look like your sister to you?” Theboy was so shocked. What’s this whitewoman doing here? He was so upsetthat we went right on down in thewhite section and sat again, my motherand I, both of us. We didn’t know thathe had gone to call the police. Shesaid, “I’m leaving, and you are sitting.”She left me there. So when thepolice came, I was crying. I can stillremember the little tears. I wasn’t evenlooking at the movie. I was looking atmy feet and praying that I would livelong enough so that my feet one daywould hit the ground [laughing]! Thepoliceman came down. I rememberthis as clear as if it was yesterday. Hehad really red hair, brilliant red hair,because that’s all I remember. He saidto me, “Little girl, we have a report thatyou’re disturbing the peace. Are youdisturbing the peace?”I said, “I don’t know. My mama toldme to do this. I don’t know.”He said, “Well, look. This little girl isdisturbing the peace. I’m going to haveto sit down here with her to see thatshe doesn’t disturb the peace.” Peoplejust left empty seats all around. So hetook off his cap, and he sat right nextto me. He was sitting there, and hesaid, “Little girl, are you all right? Areyou disturbing the peace?” I wasn’tlooking at the movies. I was praying. Iwanted that movie to end so badly. I“I THOUGHT, ‘OHGOD. A POLICEMANWALKING ME HOME!WHAT’S MAMA GOINGTO SAY?’ I WASN’TSCARED OF THEPOLICE, BUT I WASSCARED TO DEATH OFMAMA.”KATHRYN MORGAN FIRST TAUGHT AT SWARTHMOREIN 1970—THE FIRST AFRICAN AMERICAN ON THEFACULTY. DESPITE HER DEGREES FROM HOWARDUNIVERSITY AND THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVA-NIA, SHE SAYS SHE FELT “MORE IN COMMON WITHTHE BLACK PEOPLE WHO CAME TO CLEAN, COOK,AND SERVE” AT THE COLLEGE.JIM GRAHAMtell you, I wanted that movie to end.When it finally ended, he said, “Littlegirl, I’m going to walk you home.”I thought, “Oh, God. A policemanwalking me home! What’s Mama goingto say? I’ll be in all kinds of trouble.” Iwasn’t scared of the police, but I wasscared to death of Mama.He said, “Do you want an ice creamcone?”I said, “Yes.” So he bought me an icecream cone. I was too scared to eat it.So it was dripping all down. I said,“Would you do me a favor?”He said, “What?”I said, “Don’t walk me home!”I ran home with this melting icecream cone, and my mother was still inthe kitchen. She turned around, andshe said, “How are you?” or somethinglike that. I don’t remember exactly, butI know she said, “Where did you getthat ice cream cone?”I said, “The cop bought it for me,”or something like that.She took the ice cream cone andthrew it away. She said, “There are certaintimes in life when you must disturbthe peace. You must disturb thepeace of racism. You must disturb thepeace. You must never, ever be peacefulin the fight.” You couldn’t be a cowardwith children in those daysbecause if you were, you would bringup cowardly children, and you had toremember that there were certainthings worth dying for. So I learned at10 years old to disturb the peace ofracism, and I will continue doing so foras long as I live.Years later, I wrote my book [an oralhistory] about my mother’s family, theGordon family. My mother was a Southernmigrant in Philadelphia. My mothernurtured me on stories of my grandmotherand especially my great-grandmother,Caddy. I loved them, and theywere my inspiration. I would alwayssay, “What would Caddy do in a situationlike this?” I would tell myself,“This situation, no matter how bad itis, could not possibly be as bad asbeing kidnapped when you were 8years old and sold into slavery.”When I came to Swarthmore Collegein 1970, it was quite an accident. Inever heard of Swarthmore, eventhough I was raised in Philadel-phia. Ihad a master’s from Howard, and Iwent to Penn for another master’s and18

MARTIN NATVIGa Ph.D. When the semester started, aprofessor came to a department meeting.He said, “We have the best peoplein our class. They come from the highestacademic circles. We have studentsfrom Harvard, and we have studentsfrom Princeton. So, therefore, you allare in a wonderful group, with theexception of you,” and he pointed tome—the only black person in theroom-—and said, “I understand youhave come from an inferior educationalbackground.” I’m not lying to you.He said that. He said, “You have comefrom an inferior educational background,so we’ll make exceptions inyour case.” It was 1966. I was the onlyAfrican American in the entire program.I sat there, and I said to myself, “I’mnot going to let him get away withthis— even if I get thrown out of graduateschool.” And I said to myself, “Disturbit! Disturb it! Because you can’t lethim get away with it! Disturb it! Disturbit! Because you can’t allow it!” So Isaid, “I’ve only taken one course here,but I agree with you. That course(which he taught) was totally inferiorto what I have been used to.”He said, “I’m sorry. I’m sorry.” Doyou know, that man turned out to be“WHAT I RESPECTED,WHAT GOT METHROUGH, WERE THESTUDENTS ... HOWBRIGHT THEY WEREAND HOW THEYTHOUGHT. I ALSOWANTED TO BE HEREFOR THE BLACKSTUDENTS.”DENIED TENURE, MORGAN WENT TO COURT,JOINING A DISCRIMINATION SUIT BROUGHT BYSEVERAL FEMALE EMPLOYEES. BEFORE THEVERDICT, THE COLLEGE CHANGED ITS MIND.my best friend in graduate school? Hereally got me through. He said he wasyoung. He was inexperienced, and hehad a graduate school class that wasoverwhelming for him. And he didn’tknow what else to do. He was totallyinsensitive. He didn’t know, and hebecame my best friend. He’s dead now,but I will never forget him.So I had gotten a Danforth Fellowship,along with a white woman. Webecame friends, and she lived inSwarthmore. I had never heard ofSwarthmore. She had never known anyAfrican Americans. Anyway, she calledme up one night. She said, “You’regoing to kill me.”I said, “Why? What have you done?”She said, “I’ve dropped your name.Swarthmore College is a wonderful college.It’s very unique, and people aredying to go there. Well, they were sayingthey couldn’t find any AfricanAmericans qualified to teach at SwarthmoreCollege. So I dropped your name,and they will be in touch with you.”I wanted to teach, but my ambitionwas to go to Lincoln University, a blackuniversity right up here in Pennsylvania,not too far from Swarthmore. Ithought, “If they can’t find any qualifiedAfrican Americans, then I don’tS E P T E M B E R 2 0 0 019

“SO MANYACADEMICS ARECONCERNED WITHOBJECTIVE TRUTHS,BUT IF THEY’REREALLY INTERESTEDIN WHERE IDEASCOME FROM, THEYWOULD ALSO BEINTERESTED IN ORALHISTORY.”S W A R T H M O R E C O L L E G E B U L L E T I Nwant to go there either!” And then I forgotall about the telephone conversation.Some time later, I was looking at television,and there came a news storyabout black students who had takenover the president’s office at a college.I said, “Where is that? Where is that?”Turns out it was at Swarthmore College.I said, “I don’t believe this! That’sreally cool!” So when I got the telephonecall to come to Swarthmore College,I said, “I’m gonna go!”I had nothing to wear that lookedprofessional; I didn’t have any stockingsbecause I never wore stockings.But I borrowed a pair of my daughter’sstockings—-they were sort of pinkish—and some kind of presentable shoes.So I showed up in that, and I rememberthe interview process. One of the peopleon the interview committee said tome, “I know more about Negroes thanmost people.”I said, “Really?”She said, “Yes, and these studentshere will not even speak to me, won’teven talk with us! They took over thePresident’s Office, and you know ifA FEMALE COLLEAGUE WARNED MORGAN NOT TOWEAR EARRINGS, LONG DRESSES, AND SANDALS.MORGAN REPLIED, “LOOK, THIS IS ME....IF YOU WANT BLACK PEOPLE WHO LOOK LIKEWHITE PEOPLE, WHO ACT LIKE WHITE PEOPLE,GET A WHITE PERSON.... IF YOU’RE LOOKING FORDIVERSITY, YOU WANT THE REAL THING.”push came to shove, they would losethe battle.”So I said, “Yes, I bet they would.”She said, “Now what do you think ofMalcolm X?”I said, “Well, the one thing I rememberabout Malcolm X, he talked aboutreciprocal bleeding—if you hit me, I’mgoing to hit you back by any meansnecessary. So maybe these studentsaren’t talking to you. Maybe you couldMARTIN NATVIG20

throw them out, and maybe you wouldwin. But I’ll tell you, there will be somereciprocal bleeding up here.”She said, “The interview is over.”The black students asked me why Iwanted to teach here. They weresmart. I said I didn’t particularly wantto come until I had seen them on television,and I thought they neededsomebody like me. That really waswhy I came to Swarthmore. It was1970, there still wasn’t one African-American professor on the faculty.I fully expected not to get an offer.Before I left that day, I said to HarrisonWright, “You’ve got some problems uphere.” He was a fair person. I told him Iwasn’t interested in the position. But Iwas also thinking Swarthmore was themost beautiful campus I had ever seen.Harrison said, “I really do understand.”He knew if he offered me the position Iwouldn’t take it. So I went home andforgot about Swarthmore College. ThenI got a telephone call. Harrison Wrighthad asked the head of the Black Students’Association to offer me the positionin the History Department.I asked, “Well, why didn’t he call mehimself?”She said, “Because he felt that if hecalled you, you wouldn’t accept theposition, but if we called you, youmight accept the position.”I realized I was probably the firstand only African-American professorthe College had ever hired in 106 years!Now, they had a couple of African professorsup here who, if they didn’tbehave, they could send back toAfrica, but they couldn’t send me backto Philly. You understand? There’s adifference [laughing]! It’s to their creditthat they wanted me—because I didn’tpull any punches. I was letting themknow I was someone who would disturbthe peace of racism. And theyoffered me the position. How do I knowwhy? There were some very radicalpeople up here at that time. I had alliesfrom the very beginning.I taught one course at Swarthmorein 1970. Then, I accepted a position inthe English Department at the Universityof Delaware and went back toSwarthmore as an assistant professorwith a three-year appointment. Theytold me it was not sure I would gettenure with my next appointment, andI accepted that. I said yes because Ididn’t know what I was doing. I had noidea how very political and very racistSwarthmore could be. Yes, some peopleat Swarthmore would not believehow racist it really is. Yes, I’m saying it,yes. They do not understand thedynamics of racism, how deep it goes,and how I understand it on an entirelydifferent level.For example, when I moved into myapartment [30 years ago], I was theonly African American in the building[Strath Haven Condominiums] and stilltoday there is only one other African-American couple living here. The swimclub in town did not allow blacks inthe pool when I first moved here, andthey had to desegregate that. Theseare the kinds of things most of thewhite students and faculty never haveto put up with, but we African Americansknow.ONE OF THE PEOPLEON THE INTERVIEWCOMMITTEE SAID TOME, “I KNOW MOREABOUT NEGROESTHAN MOST PEOPLE.”I SAID, “REALLY?”There were also other differences.My people don’t come from money,but several of my colleagues in the HistoryDepartment had family money. Ihad more in common with the blackpeople who came to clean, cook, andserve at Swarthmore College. Butwhen I first came to Swarthmore andwas looking for black community, Ifound that they didn’t want to be tooclose to me. Some of them were makingbelow minimum wage after 25years, you see? So I joined a group offaculty who were trying to get themunionized so they could get bettersalaries. The attempt failed becausethe black workers voted it down. Theywere afraid they were going to losetheir jobs. But some of those peoplereally took pride in everything I did.One, in particular, would come out atgraduation and say, “Kathryn, yougonna wear your gown?” I would do itbecause it mattered to her. Most ofthem I had deep respect for, and theyhad deep respect for me.Being African American at Swarthmore,you almost have to fight foryour identity every single day. For me,as a professor, it’s different from a studentbecause a student has other studentsto relate to. I had no AfricanAmerican colleagues until Jerry Woodwas also hired in the History Departmentsoon after I came. And thenChuck James came into the EnglishDepartment. Both of them are wonderful,talented people, and I was glad tohave them here.So I taught, and my courses werepopular. But there was politics inthe department. Some professors werehostile because they thought oral historyand folklore were not “real” history.They even told students—-whitestudents—-not to take my coursesbecause they weren’t historically valid,and they wouldn’t learn anything.Some students came and disrespectedthe whole thing until they began to listen,and then they grew to love oralhistory and folklore. But it was hard,day by day, to be in a departmentwhere some of your colleagues lookeddown on your field.There were other issues. One femalecolleague, who was the most sincereand nice, told me, “I want you to gettenure in the worst way. I’m going totell you something. Don’t wear thoselong earrings to work, and don’t wearyour hair like that.” I had a naturalhairstyle. “And don’t wear those dressesthat you wear, those long dresses,and those sandals. We don’t wear sandals.”I said, “Look. This is me. This is me,and I am going to be like I am. If youwant black people who look like whitepeople, who act like white people, geta white person! You don’t need a carboncopy of a white person. If you’relooking for diversity, you want the realS E P T E M B E R 2 0 0 021

thing.” I mean, I did not come here tobe a “diverse.” You understand me? Iam not your diversity. I’m a humanbeing with a unique body of knowledgeto pass on.But what I respected, what got methrough, were the students. I respectedthe students at Swarthmore, howbright they were and how theythought. I also wanted to be here forthe black students. I thought thereshould be more black students. Ithought more black professors wouldbe hired, but it has not been done yet.When I came up for tenure, thecommittee asked Chuck James if hewould come up at the same time. Hewas not scheduled to come up untilthe next year. But now they wantedhim to come up for tenure a year early.He didn’t know what the politics were.He said sure. So they gave him tenureand denied me tenure.The place blew up! I mean, whitestudents, black students--it all cameout. I mean, this campus was in a riot!It was 1976. People who didn’t evenknow me came out and said this waswrong. It was wrong. They had signsand protested. All over the place. Imean, they had loud speakers. Theblack students started it. They askedthe white students to join them inprotesting the fact that the college wasgetting rid of their one African-Americanwoman teacher who taught courseson their lives, their history. Oh, I feltso good! Most of them were white studentswho never even took my classes!Lots of professors joined in from allthe departments. I had a lot of supporters.One, in particular, was Carl“AT LEASTSWARTHMORE WASTRYING TO DOSOMETHING.... I HADWHITE ALLIES FROMTHE BEGINNING—EVEN WHEN I WASDISTURBING THEPEACE.”“MY EARLY LESSON STAYED WITH ME: DISTURB THEPEACE OF RACISM BY NOT MOVING WHEN THEYWANT YOU TO MOVE. EVENTUALLY, I MENDEDRELATIONSHIPS WITH THE PEOPLE WHO HADFOUGHT AGAINST ME. I STAYED ALMOST 24 YEARS!”Barus in the Engineering Department.Chuck James was upset about whathad happened. It was purported thathe told them, “You’re not playing meoff against another African American.”It was a mess. Harrison Wright wasbehind me 100 percent. He was behindme, but he couldn’t come out and say,“I’m behind her.” But it was reportedthat he supported me—not to me, butto others.Then I was approached by a womanprofessor who was involved in a classaction discrimination suit against thecollege with two other women. I agreedto join it, and now I had eight attorneys!They came and said, “You’ve gotto appear in court to testify against theCollege about its discriminationagainst women. When you go up onthe witness stand, don’t bring theracist thing in because we don’t wantto spoil our case.”So I got up there, and the judgeasked me questions. I answered thequestions honestly. And then I said tomyself, “This is not right. You’ve got tobring the racist thing in here whetherthey like it or not.” So I said, “I knowthat this is a case about women, butI’m a black woman, an African-Americanwoman.” And I looked right at thejudge because they told me to look atthe judge whenever I had something tosay. “And judge,” I said, “I cannot—under any circumstances—separatemyself into a woman, just a woman,when I’m a black woman. I can’t dothat.”The court ruled that there was noquestion that I should have gottentenure. I was the only woman in theS W A R T H M O R E C O L L E G E B U L L E T I NJIM GRAHAM22

MARTIN NATVIGsuit who won. The others lost. But theday before I was to go on the stand,the College granted me tenure. I wenton the stand anyway. After that, theCollege started hiring more women—but not African-American women. Ithas taken them 20 years to hire 4more! Here I am, disturbing the peaceof racism in the Swarthmore CollegeBulletin! I hope they let us print this!I was tired and worn out from all thefighting. A lot of friends and familysaid, “You ought to leave after this isfinished.” It was hard to stay, knowing Ihad not been wanted, but some peoplehad wanted me to stay, and I felt I wasneeded. And my early lesson stayedwith me: Disturb the peace of racismby not moving when they want you tomove. Eventually, I mended relationshipswith people who had foughtagainst me. I stayed almost 24 moreyears! I knew I was respected by thestudents, and that is always what hasmattered most to me. I am a teacher.My reward was the excitement ofteaching here. I mean, the studentskept me going!I can still get angry about racism;injustice is something to be angryabout! But I remained at Swarthmore.I didn’t have to stay, did I? I could have“I CAN STILL GETVERY ANGRY ABOUTRACISM; INJUSTICE ISSOMETHING TO BEANGRY ABOUT.”IN 1991, MORGAN WAS THE FIRST RECIPIENT OF ANAWARD NAMED IN HER HONOR. THE KATHRYN MOR-GAN AWARD, HONORING SIGNIFICANTCONTRIBUTIONS TO THE BLACK COMMUNIT Y AT THECOLLEGE, WAS PRESENTED ON BEHALF OF HER FOR-MER STUDENTS BY CAROLYN MITCHELL ’74.gone somewhere else. I stayed becauseI wanted to stay because I actuallyliked the place. I liked the fact thatSwarthmore encompassed the Quakerphilosophy about the Light inside. Thephilosophy is that there’s an innerLight inside each one of us. And thisgoodness within you, if you workedhard enough, you’d get to that Light.At least Swarthmore was trying to dosomething about moving toward thatgoodness. It wasn’t and isn’t perfect,but at least you had people up herewho were trying. And I had white alliese ven from the beginning. Swarthmorehas that sort of Light, and it made itpossible for us to work together—evenwhen I was disturbing the peace ofSwarthmore College. I don’t regret aminute here. ■La ura Ma rkowitz ’ 85 conducted athree-hour interview with Ka thrynMorga n on June 30 a nd selected theportions of tha t conversa tion publishedhere. During her senior yea r,Ma rkowitz took Morga n’ s course onora l history. She ha s used interviewtechniques lea rned in tha t coursethroughout her ca reer a s a n a wa rdwinningjourna list a nd editor/publisherof In t he Family ma ga zine.S E P T E M B E R 2 0 0 023

cAtHedrAls,cAsinos,& culturAl conteXtA R C H I T E C T S T E V E I Z E N O U R ’ 6 2 F I N D S B E A U T Y I N C O M M O N T H I N G S .By Bill KentSTEVEN IZENOURS W A R T H M O R E C O L L E G E B U L L E T I N24Steve Izenour adores pink flamingos, porcelain lawnstatues, and the speedy efficiency of roadside hamburgerjoints.A partner in the Philadelphia-based Venturi, Scott Brownand Associates (VSBA), one of the world’s most controversialarchitectural firms, Izenour, age 60, eschews flashyclothes. In good weather, a cotton shirt and cargo pants arebetter to commute by bicycle from his house near the Universityof Pennsylvania, where he teaches, to his firm’s Manayunkoffice, where he works six to seven days a week withRobert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown, Venturi’s wife.Of the firm’s controversial body of work, Izenour says,“We’re just a bunch of architects who want to design goodbuildings and teach on the side. If we have a characteristic,it’s that we’re unpredictable. You never know what we’regoing to come up with next.”DRAWING FROM THE ROADSIDE VERNACULAR OF A-FRAMES AND LOBSTERSHACKS, VENTURI, SCOTT BROWN AND ASSOCIATES CREATED A HOME FOR ASUMMER ARTS PROJECT IN MAINE. THE BUILDING IS TYPICAL OF THE FIRM’SWORK, WHICH OFTEN CELEBRATES THE EXTRAORDINARY IN THE ORDINARY.But their writings and innovative use of decoration, unexpectedcultural references, and graphic displays show thereis more to architecture—and art—than the austerely geometricglass-and-steel boxes of the 20th-century modernism.Swarthmore’s William R. Kenan, Jr., Professor of Art HistoryT. Kaori Kitao put it this way: “Though he denies that he isthe creator of postmodernism, Robert Venturi is, in fact, that.Modernism emphasized innovation and form. In their writ-

JULIE MARQUARTARCHITECT STEVE IZENOUR ’62ings, Venturi, Scott Brown, and Izenour inquired into themeaning of the form.They looked at architecture as a culturallanguage. In a sense, their contribution is the revelationthat buildings speak to us. We may not hear what buildingssay, but, on some level, what is said becomes part of a larger,richer cultural conversation that has been going on sincebefore any of us were born, and continues, whether or notwe choose to take part.”Though he has been involved in one way or another witha lot of the firm’s work, the projects on which Izenour hasbeen the lead designer have been what he calls “the funstuff,” such as the Children’s Garden at the New JerseyAquarium in Camden and the spectacular animated lightingof the Benjamin Franklin Bridge, a collaboration with hisfather, lighting and theater designer George Izenour (who, inthe late 1980s, designed Swarthmore’s Pearson-Hall Theater).He has also kept one foot riveted in what he calls “thebasement of the ivory tower,” teaching seminars and architecturalstudios (postgraduate classes involving research,analysis, and design) at Yale, Drexel, and the University ofPennsylvania on such flamboyantly low-brow subjects as theVENTURI, SCOTT BROWN AND ASSOCIATESLEARNING FROM LAS VEGAS, THE 1971 BOOK BY ROBERT VENTURI,DENISE SCOTT BROWN, AND STEVE IZENOUR, BECAME A MANIFESTO FORTHE POSTMODERN DESIGN REVOLUTION. IT ARGUED THAT THE GAUDY,MATERIALISTIC BUILDINGS OF THE VEGAS STRIP WERE VALUABLEREFLECTIONS OF THE COMMERCIAL CULTURE OF THE LATE 20TH CENTURY.Las Vegas casino strip; Levittown housing facades; theAtlantic City and Wildwood, N.J., boardwalks; and, mostrecently, South Jersey suburban sprawl. Studying what isnow called “vernacular” architecture is “considered not quiteserious in most architecture schools,” Izenour says, “but it’stolerated if you don’t stick your neck out too far. A few yearsago, I had to go to bat for a student who did a master’s dissertationon miniature golf courses, but the treatment he gotwas nothing like the antagonism and resistance I had when IS E P T E M B E R 2 0 0 025

started doing it.”In 1963, when Izenour teamed up with architecture professorsRobert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown at the Universityof Pennsylvania, “to look seriously at anything that wasn’tBauhaus or Mies van der Rohe was considered subversive,insulting, highly annoying, and offensive. I just had to seewhat all the fuss was about.”It started with toys: Legos, construction toys, “things youput together that don’t have to be put together correctly tobe played with, so if it’s dumb or weird, you can either pretendit’s really cool or take it apart so nobody will know howdumb it was.”As a child growing up in New Haven, Conn., Izenour didn’tcare that buildings were created by designers called architects,but his father did. George Izenour had worked withnumerous architects in designing theatrical lighting systemsand acoustic environments and soon began to take his sonto visit building sites and architectural studios, includingIZENOUR COWROTE WHITE TOWERS,A BOOK ON THE EVOLUTION OF THEWHITE TOWER HAMBURGER STAND.“BURGER JOINTS ARE DEMOCRACY INACTION,” HE SAYS.VENTURI, SCOTT BROWN AND ASSOCIATESMATT WARGOFrank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesen studios in Wisconsin and Arizona.“Wright had just died, but he might as well have beenalive. His ghost walked the halls. For a while, I became acomplete Wright aficionado because of the way his buildingsseemed to mean something beyond just being shelter.”The younger Izenour came to Swarthmore because it was“small, close, and had that great reputation as a schoolwhere social conscience is very important. I thought itTHE CAMDEN (N.J.) CHILDREN’S GARDEN, PART OF A WATERFRONTREDEVELOPMENT PROJECT, INVITES KIDS TO LEARN ABOUT AND ENJOYPLANTS. COMBINED WITH THE ADJACENT STATE AQUARIUM,THE COMPLEX HAS A BOLD, GRAPHIC IMPACT ON THE URBAN WATERFRONT.26

MATT WARGOwould be the right place to go to make up my mind aboutbeing an architect.”He was an indifferent student, at best, spending “entirelytoo much time exploring the aesthetics of Frisbee” and takingpictures for the student newspaper and yearbook—untilhe took a course with Hedley Rhys, Swarthmore’s architecturalhistorian. “He kind of adopted me, sat me down, and“I wouldnʼt mind it if everybody lovedwhat we did,” Izenour says. “But, ifyou really hate something, you havethe potential to learn from it.”TOM BERNARDABOVE: IZENOUR HELPED DEVELOP ANEW LIGHTING SCHEME FOR THEBENJAMIN FRANKLIN BRIDGE,WHICH LINKS PHILADELPHIA WITHCAMDEN, N.J. INNOVATIVETECHNOLOGY ALLOWS THE LIGHTSTO BE SWITCHED ON AND OFFRAPIDLY—A SHIMMERING EFFECTTRIGGERED BY THE FREQUENT PAS-SAGE OF COMMUTER TRAINS ACROSSTHE DELAWARE RIVER.LEFT: IZENOUR DESIGNED THISCONNECTICUT SHORE HOME FOR HISPARENTS IN THE EARLY 1980S.asked, ‘What can we do to keep you in school?’”Izenour took every course taught by Rhys. “I couldn’t getenough of him. It got to the point that I would look for excusesto sit in on his classes, even after I’d taken them. It was acase of fanatical discipleship. I’d carry his notes, run hisslides—anything.”While helping Rhys with his slides, Izenour met his futurewife, Elisabeth Gemmill ’63. Two of their three children,Tessa ’90, a painter who is now Swarthmore’s graphics andphoto curator, and John ’95, who runs VSBA’s computers,also went to Swarthmore. VSBA also currently employs LaurenJacobi ’98 and has welcomed numerous Swarthmore studentsas interns over the years.As a student, Izenour also became a fan of courses taughtby Bob Walker, professor of art history. “Walker was anamazing architecture groupie, a really sweet guy. He had theonly modernist house in Swarthmore, and he had a fabulousS E P T E M B E R 2 0 0 027

knowledge of Philadelphia’s architectural history. Bob couldshow you that Philadelphia wasn’t just a museum of differentarchitectural periods and styles, but that the buildings kindof resonated with each other. He made a walk through thecity a very dramatic, fun thing to do.During his college days, Izenour sat in on a lecture at theUniversity of Pennsylvania by Architecture Professor RobertVenturi and “just like it was with Rhys, Bob and I sort ofclicked. Bob’s ideas about architecture just blew me away.”They didn’t especially please the architecture faculty at theUniversity of Pennsylvania, however. “Bob knew he was controversial,and when the Yale position opened up, he wentfor it, and I followed him.”When Izenour, who was finishing a Yale M.E.D., returnedfrom a Fulbright year in Denmark and Sweden in 1967, ScottBrown persuaded her husband to bring him and other studentsout to the Nevada desert to study the animated electricsigns that were enticing gamblers to Las Vegas.“It was Denise’s idea to study stuff that nobody liked, thatFrench cathedral and showed how both were responding toa specific cultural milieu. Both used decoration to attract thefaithful and offer “propaganda.” The cathedral’s propagandawas salvation, redemption from sin; the casino sign promisedthe acquisition of riches, glamour, sex, and a chance tosee Sinatra.The book “made a splash” when it was published, Izenoursays, “because it was obvious that these big imposing modernistbuildings that had become the symbol of urban developmentweren’t doing what they were supposed to do: Theyweren’t turning the downtown, urban core of a city into aplace that people wanted to live in. The suburbs had alreadyreplaced the cities as the symbol of the good life, and sterilemodernist downtowns, with their elitism and exclusivity,appeared to be a good reason to stay out.”Izenour is also co-author of the 1979 book White Towerswith architect Paul Hirschorn on the evolution of the nowforgottenWhite Tower hamburger stands.The postmodern solution that Learning From Las VegasSTEVEN IZENOURBoth the casino and the cathedral useddecoration to attract the faithful, wroteIzenour. The cathedral offered salvationfrom sin; the casino promised theacquisition of riches, sex, and a chanceto see Sinatra.S W A R T H M O R E C O L L E G E B U L L E T I N28was considered low or junk culture,” Izenour remembers.“She came up with the concept of learning from what youhate or don’t understand.”Las Vegas was considered to be the absolute nadir ofcrass materialism and bad taste. But what surprised Izenourwas the cleverness of the place, the “way it seemed to winkat you, like this was all some vaguely naughty party andweren’t we lucky that we’d been invited.” That and the factthat the wild signs were part of a commercial culture thathad some similarities to forms of so-called high culture hallowedby academics.The result of their findings, published in 1971 in a slimbook called Learning From Las Vegas: The Forgotten Symbolof Architectural Form, became a manifesto for the postmoderndesign revolution. In the book, Venturi, Scott Brown, andIzenour compared a casino strip sign with the facade of a"DESPITE EVERYTHING THAT HAS HAPPENED WITH POSTMODERNISM SINCEBOB VENTURI STARTED TALKING ABOUT IT, WE'RE STILL LIVING IN AMODERNIST WORLD,” SAYS IZENOUR. “ARCHITECTS ARE STILL MOSTLYIGNORING THE CULTURAL OR HUMAN CONTEXT THAT A BUILDING INHABITS.”recommended was to design buildings that learned from theexisting cityscape, buildings that used familiar cultural cuesto communicate more upbeat, inviting, amusing, and otherwisehumanistic values.In the nearly 30 years since Learning From Las Vegas waspublished, the Venturi firm has grown from a six-personoffice on Philadelphia’s Antiques Row to a 50-employee operationwhose buildings have won awards and become thesubject of numerous academic studies. Izenour himself has a

ONE PROJECT THAT IS CLOSE TO STEVE IZENOUR’S HEART IS THE 1985RENOVATION OF CLOTHIER HALL TO INCLUDE THE TARBLE STUDENT CENTER.“TARBLE IN CLOTHIER” INVOLVED A BOLD PLAN THAT HOLLOWED OUT THEEXISTING CLOTHIER THEATER, WHICH VENTURI DESCRIBED AS “BUILDINGA SHIP IN A BOTTLE” TO CREATE AN ENTIRELY NEW SPACE.TOM BERNARDMARTIN NATVIGshelf of design awards, including an American Institute ofArchitects award for a house on the Long Island Sound thatIzenour designed in 1982 for his parents.He admits to being a workaholic who also organizes manyof his firm’s design competitions and graphic displays andbalances what Scott Brown calls “the firm’s tendency towardgravitas with an exuberance, wit, and intelligence.”Says Tessa Izenour: “As early as I can remember, my fatherhas been working on dozens of different things at once.Though I get much of my artistic sense from my mother,from my father I get this appreciation for the visual, howthings look, and why they look the way they do.”Adds John, who runs the firm’s graphic computers, “myfather has an irreverent side that he hides, but it comes outin different ways. He has a playfulness that I can see in theChildren’s Garden or in the Ben Franklin Bridge lighting.When things get tense, he can come into a situation and saysomething funny that’ll usually solve the problem withoutanybody thinking the solution came from him.”Izenour continues to teach because “I have a lot ofrespect for the idea of discipleship—that you can bumpalong aimlessly in life until you meet the right teacher, and,like Hedley Rhys did for me, he’s there to give you just whatyou need to get to the next level and find your own voice.Also, there’s a lot of very interesting stuff out there that’sworth studying because of what it reveals about ourselves.”He tends to avoid studying contemporary architecturebecause “despite everything that happened with postmodernismwhen Bob started talking about it, we’re still living ina modernist world. Architects are still mostly ignoring thecultural or human context that a building inhabits and goingfor the guts ’n glory stuff that flatters the client and winscommissions. I run into entirely too many architects whosay, ‘Uh-huh, we get it: fancy facades, wild colors, weirdshapes, decoration that doesn’t look like it belongs on abuilding and maybe an ironic cultural reference thrown in.’They’ve come up with buildings that look like they’re goingtrick-or-treating on Halloween. Or they go the expressiveroute and make buildings that go so far away from beingfunctional that they end up looking like oversized abstractlawn sculpture, you know, the stuff people put in their yardthat makes you stop and say, ‘What’s that?’ rather than takea good look at that great pink flamingo.”That some people stop and say similar things aboutIzenour’s buildings is not necessarily a bad thing, Izenoursays, taking refuge in Venturi’s famous quote that because nowork of art is ever accepted completely in its time, “whatmatters is only that the right people hate it.”“I wouldn’t mind it if everybody loved what we did,”Izenour says. “But, if you really hate something, you have thepotential to learn from it. At worst, you learn why you hatesomething. At best, you come up with new ways of appreciatingthings that you used to think were unworthy.” ■Bill Kent saw his first VSBA building as a student atOberlin College. He is the author of five books andteaches novel writing at the University of Pennsylvania.S E P T E M B E R 2 0 0 029

SwarthmorismsA N I N S I D E R S ’ G U I D E T O C O L L E G E L I N G OBy Andrea HammerLike many cultures, the Swarthmorean (see later entry) communityhas created code expressions and coined terminology to describecampus life. Some of the following entries—which acknowledge manygenerous contributors after each item—are dated according to the periodsrecalled by these sources, even though some may have used theseterms at other times, at the College or elsewhere. As a smattering of themany musical words and phrases that Swarthmore’s language is composedof, this selected list is offered in joyous celebration of Collegelife, lore, and lingo, cultivated over the years.dip: Reporting on amixer for new students,The Phoenix (Oct. 24,1933) described a dancingclass for freshman girls:“Here the uninitiated maylearn the mysteries of theSwarthmore dip fromupper-class girls who canlead ” (Alisa Giardinelli,staff writer).Anywhere else it would have been an A! This current expression, popularon T-shirts, claims that Swarthmore’s high standards make a B atthe College equivalent to an A elsewhere (Andrea Juncos ’01).asphaltum: In the 1934–38 era, this term referred to Magill Walk fromthe train station to Parrish (Marjorie VanDeusen Edwards ’38).barnies: This word refers to people who live in The Barn off campus(Michal Zadara ’99).beaver: During 1942–43, someone who studied aggressively or constantlywould say, I “gotta beaver for this test”; later synonym: turkey(Dick Burrowes ’45*).bird dog: This V-12 term, which came about in the winter of 1943–44and may have lived in only Wharton (i.e., USS Swarthmore), referred toa sailor who tips off his mates about a bed check or surprise inspection.This coinage was developed by one of the “colorful and pleasant” chiefathletic specialists, Chief Kelleher, who was cross when his attempts tocatch absences or errors were thwarted (Dick Burrowes ’45).BMOC: What would freshman week have been without the big man oncampus? (Dick Burrowes ’45).S W A R T H M O R E C O L L E G E B U L L E T I NILLUSTRATIONS BY JENNY CAMPBELL30

ode: In the 1960s, a beatnik, or bohemian-style, student was crownedwith this title (Chris King ’68).Book Bill: In 1934–38, each student had a deposit of $50 available tospend in the College bookstore. Ostensibly, it was for books; however,because the store carried many other things then, as now, they could bepurchased with one’s “Book Bill” (Marjorie VanDeusen Edwards ’38).can: The term for the men’s bathroom, used in 1934–38 at the Collegeand elsewhere, is still current for many today (Marjorie VanDeusenEdwards ’38).catchin’: This lively word was used to answer the important questionabout a date, “Yeah, but did you do any catchin’?” (see also pitchin’)(Dick Burrowes ’45).clinking: In 1942–43, this magical custom—occasionally embarrassingto a few but mostly an expression of joy—was the sound of spoonsagainst water glasses, in the dining room, as a tribute for any purposeor celebrity. For example, a shy man coming in with a date, a returningathletic team, or a newly “pinned” couple was often recognized with astorm of clinks! Eleanor Roosevelt’s visit to the campus in 1941 evokedthe grandest clink ever. Like many merry rituals, this one ended abruptlyon the arrival of the Navy (Dick Burrowes ’45).Crum Regatta: During this annual event, students continue to buildtheir own creative “boats” and race them on the Crum Creek (ArleneBowes ’72).cutterboy (man): In 1942–43, this suave fellow was noted for hisinterest in women (Dick Burrowes ’45).druggie: Unlike its use today, this word referred to Michael’s CollegePharmacy—one of the nearest sources for non-College eats, mostnotably, sticky buns à la mode—in the 1930s and 1940s (MarjorieVanDeusen Edwards ’38, Dick Burrowes ’45, and Robert Bartle ’47).flush it: In 1942–43, this phrase was used interchangeably with “cut aclass,” “blow a test,” and “quit a course” (Dick Burrowes ’45).Friend: For those new to the College community, the salutation “DearFriend” in e-mail messages and letters strikes the uninitiated reader asan unusually warm greeting until its Quaker reference is understood(Andrea Hammer, managing editor).fussing: During the 1920s to 1930s, an unchaperoned “date” was permittedin a first-floor classroom in Parrish for an hour after dinner.Freshmen were not entitled to this privilege, which theoretically alloweda male and female student to be alone together in a pair, until afterThanksgiving (Mary Ellen Grafflin Chijioke ’67 to Andrea Juncos ’01).gruesome twosome: In 1942–43, this type of couple was preoccupiedwith each other (Dick Burrowes ’45).Hit it!: In 1942–43, this expression was used when a student did wellon a test or paper (Dick Burrowes ’45).Hot to go!: Minus the sexual overtones implied today, this 1942–43exclamation meant “Ready and eager!” (Dick Burrowes ’45).How to go!: This remark—or “Way to go!”—was used as a loudapproval of any athletic turn (Dick Burrowes ’45).huah: In the 1940s, this exclamation was one’s reaction to almost anydispleasure as in, “How do you like the liver?” (Dick Burrowes ’45) orthe mystery balls (see later entry)—or anything objectionable (RobertBartle ’47).I am interested, Juergen Heberle: This universal signature on sign-upsheets was used in 1944–48, even though Juergen Heberle ’45 was nolonger at the College (Robert Bartle ’47).*We send Dick Burrowes ’45 heartfelt thanks for enthusiastically droppingall of his other projects midair to prepare so many generousentries for this list.late train: In 1942–43, the lasttrain from Philadelphia arrived inSwarthmore at 1:20 a.m. Womenwere required to sign out for“late train” if they wanted tostay in town that late. In accordwith the parietal rules (whichmost students probably couldn’tstretch: “Stretch wasa game we played aftermeals often, using butterknives thrown a distancewithin a knife’s length ofa bare foot. The person atwhom it was thrown had tomove his or her foot outthat distance, circulatingaround the group untilthere was only one personleft standing, stretched tohis or her limit ”(Maurice Eldridge ’61).define, even though they followed them with care), the several “late”privileges were limited more strictly for freshmen. On late arrival back atthe dormitory, one always hoped, if apprehended, to be found by Mr.Gresley rather than by Miss Stilz! (Dick Burrowes ’45).McCabe Mile: This race is held annually (when sufficient word is spread)in the basement of McCabe Library. The winner receives a roll of Scotttoilet paper (Arlene Bowes ’72).misery poker: As a current way of competing for who has the worstload of work, one student might say, “I have a paper and a lab reportdue at 8 a.m.” His friend would then say, “Oh yeah? I have two papersdue in two hours, and I haven’t started either of them” (Jenny Briggs’99 and Tom Krattenmaker, director of news and information).moverman: Surprisingly not someone who moves another’s belongings,this 1942–43 word described someone soon to be a BMOC (see earlier)(Dick Burrowes ’45).mystery balls: These dining hall gems were served as chicken croquettes(Dick Burrowes ’45) or ground meat (Robert Bartle ’47).Nice eye!: This comment, popular in 1942–43, was on a great gambitor a gross gaffe or error—often personalized as in, “Nice eye, Charlie!”pet: This sofa, which sat outside the old dining hall in Parrish (now theAdmissions Office) was removed or disappeared in March 1931.Although no hard evidence is available, some speculate that a sofa inthe Alumni Office is the “pet.” A spring from the sofa now resides inplease turn to page 70S E P T E M B E R 2 0 0 031

S W A R T H M O R E C O L L E G E B U L L E T I N A L U M N I D I G E S TC o n n e c t i o n sS W A R T H M O R E G A T H E R I N G S N E A R Y O UUPCOMING EVENTSBoston, Metro NYC, and Metro DC/Baltimore:Connections will host facultymembers in their cities this fall. Watchyour mail for more details.Charlottesville, Va.: A new SwarthmoreConnection was established by AlisonMeloy ’94 this summer. She’s eager tohear from those who would like to offerideas or help in organizing activities foralumni, parents, and friends in the area.You may contact her via the AlumniOffice at (610) 328-8402.Kansas City, Mo.: Swarthmore facultymembers are being featured this year inthe Linda Hall Library’s annual lectureseries. Michael Brown, associate professorof physics, will lecture on “Questsfor Controlled Fusion Energy” on Thursday,Sept. 14. Amy Cheng Vollmer, associateprofessor of biology, will speak onThursday, Oct. 12.RECENT EVENTSAustin, Texas: GaryAlbright ’75 and wifeStephanie Sant’Ambrogio,concertmistressof the SanAntonio Symphony,invited alums to theCactus Pear Music Festival.The programstook place in four locationsin south Texas.Durham, N.C.: Connectionchair George Telford ’84 organizedthe fifth annual Triangle ConnectionPotluck. Alumni enjoyed an afternoon ofactivities that included swimming, volleyball,soccer, and good food.Pittsburgh: Alums joined Connectionchair Melissa Kelley ’80 to cheer on thePirates in a game against the Phillies.Fans took home free golf umbrellas assouvenirs. Parents, alums, and friendsalso got together with Melissa for aThird Thursday Luncheon.L i s a L e e ’ 8 1i s n e w a l u m n i d i r e c t o rLISA LEE HAS SPENT HER CAREER INHIGHER EDUCATION, SPECIALIZINGIN GRADUATE SCHOOL ADMISSIONS.CAMPUS EVENTSVolunteer Leadership WeekendSept. 22–23Alumni Council Fall MeetingOct. 27–29HomecomingOct. 28Career Networking DinnerOct. 28Metro NYC:Alumni Councilmember DavidWright ’69teamed withNational ConnectionchairDon Fujihira’69 in hostingalums at theAustralian WineOlympics. Thewine director of theAustralian Trade Commissionled the tasting.San Diego: Yongsoo Park ’94 hostedalumni and friends at the screening ofhis film Free Country at the University ofSan Diego’s Asian Film Festival.Seattle: Connection chair Deb Read ’87led a hike into Sawmill Creek and theKelly Butte Roadless territory. Connectionmembers explored the native forest,with old-growth cedars and abundantwildlife, within the Green Riverwatershed area.Lisa Lee ’81 has been appointed Swarthmore’snew director of alumni relations,replacing Associate Vice President for ExternalAffairs Barbara Haddad Ryan ’59, wholeft the College in August to return to acareer in journalism and public affairs.Lee comes to Swarthmore from Duke University,where she has been director ofrecruiting and admissions for the GlobalExecutive M.B.A. Program at the FuquaSchool of Business. She previously held positionsin graduate school admissions at thePaul Nitze School of Advanced InternationalStudies at The Johns Hopkins University andat The Wharton School of the University ofPennsylvania.Lee majored in psychology at Swarthmoreand received a master’s degree in specialeducation at Boston University in 1983.“I loved my time at Swarthmore and amvery excited to come back to a liberal artsenvironment,” she said. “The Alumni RelationsOffice does an excellent job, and I lookforward to continuing that work.” As directorof the College’s alumni relations programs,Lee will be responsible for alumni travel programs;the Connections program in morethan a dozen cities around the world; thebiannual Alumni College; and campus eventsfor alumni, including Alumni Weekend.Dan West, vice president for alumni, development,and public relations, praised Lee’sstrong emphasis on communication withalumni using technology: “She has impressivedatabase management skills and experiencein developing Web sites and publications. Shehas organized many recruiting and orientationevents. We feel fortunate to have attractedthis young, enthusiastic, creative administratorto join our team.”“Swarthmore alumni are a marvelous, creative,intelligent, and committed group of people,”said Lee. “I look forward to reconnectingwith them.”32

A L U M N I C O U N C I LY O U R O F F I C I A L L I N K T O S W A R T H M O R EALUMNI ASSOCIATIONPresidentElenor G. Reid ’67President-DesignateRichard R. Truitt ’66Vice PresidentJames P. DiFalco ’82Vice PresidentRoberta A. Chicos ’77SecretaryWilliam J. Pichardo ’71ZONE ADelaware,PennsylvaniaAllison AndersonAcevedo ’89 3Philadelphia, PARobin ShielsBronkema ’89 1Wallingford, PASusan Rico Connolly ’78 2Villanova, PAJ. Randolph Lawlace ’73 3Wynnewood, PAHenry B. Leader ’42 4York, PAHugh P. Nesbitt ’61 2Wexford, PARichard I.P. Ortega ’73 1Glen Mills, PAZONE BNew Jersey, New YorkRikki Abzug ’86 3New York, NYLauren S. Basta ’98 3Oyster Bay, NYGlenn S. Davis ’73 2Kingston, NJNancy L. Hengen ’73 1New York, NYKaren J. Ohland ’83 4Lyndhurst, NJAnna C. Orgera ’83 2Harrison, NYJed S. Rakoff ’64 4Larchmont, NYIsaac H. Schambelan ’61 3New York, NYGaurav Seth ’98 3New York, NYZONE CConnecticut, Maine, Massachusetts,New Hampshire,Rhode Island, and VermontMartha Sanders Beshers ’77 3Barrington, RIChristopher B. Branson ’84 2Falmouth, MEAndrew A. Caffrey ’99 1Somerville, MAKevin C. Chu ’72 1Falmouth, MARosemary Werner Putnam ’62 2Lexington, MADorothy K. Robinson ’72 1Hamden, CTTo contact a member ofthe Alumni Council,consult your AlumniDirectory (also accessiblethrough the SwarthmoreOn-Line Communityat http://alumni.-swarthmore.edu), orcall the Alumni Officeat (610) 328-8402.The e-mail address isalumni@swarthmore.edu.ZONE DDistrict of Columbia,Maryland, and VirginiaMargaret W. Capron ’69 3Arlington, VASteven D. Gordon ’71 1Falls Church, VAElizabeth Probasco Kutchai ’66 2Charlottesville, VAM. Regina Maisog ’89 1Baltimore, MDDavid A. Maybee ’62 3Rockville, MDDavid M. Uhlmann ’84 2Silver Spring, MD1 Term ends 2002.2 Term ends 2003.3 Term ends 2001.4 Nominating committee.ZONE EIllinois, Indiana, Iowa,Kansas, Michigan,Minnesota, Missouri,Nebraska, North Dakota,Ohio, Oklahoma, SouthDakota, Texas, WestVirginia, and WisconsinMartha A. Easton ’89 1Minneapolis, MNRobert G. Grossman ’53 2Houston, TXVida A. Praitis ’88 2Chicago, ILAshwin L. Rao ’99 1Hinckley, OHJoel S. Taylor ’65 3Bexley, OHBurnham Terrell ’45 1Minneapolis, MNHugh M. Weber ’00 2Watertown, SDLesley C. Wright ’79 3Iowa City, IAZONE FAlabama, Arkansas,Florida, Georgia, Kentucky,Louisiana, Mississippi,North Carolina, SouthCarolina, Tennessee,territories, dependencies,and foreign countriesOlushola I. Abidoye ’97 4Accra-North, GhanaRobert J. Amdur ’81 3Lebanon, NHJonathan S. Berck ’81 2Tuscaloosa, ALP. William Curreri ’58 1Daphne, ALDonna C. Llewellyn ’80 3Marietta, GAEric Osterweil ’56 3Brussels, BelgiumJoanna R. Vondrasek ’94 2Chapel Hill, NCKatharine E. Winkler ’93 1Durham, NCZONE GAlaska, Arizona,California, Colorado,Hawaii, Idaho, Montana,Nevada, New Mexico,Oregon, Utah, Washington,and WyomingVirginia L. Boucher ’73 1Santa Ynez, CAWilburn T. Boykin Jr. ’77 2Parker, COVirginia Paine DeForest ’58 2Mercer Island, WAAriss DerHovanessian ’00 2Glendale, CARichard W. Kirschner ’49 1Albuquerque, NMCarola B. Sullam ’72 3San Francisco, CADavid D. Wright ’69 1Santa Barbara, CAMEMBERS AT LARGEMarialuz Castro ’98Philadelphia, PACynthia Graae ’62Washington, DCDawn Porter ’88New York, NYCONNECTIONREPRESENTATIVESJon Safran ’94Austin, TXMarilee Roberg ’73Evanston, ILJenna Lisl Cochran Bond ’97Los Angeles, CAKathy Stevens ’89Silver Spring, MDSanda J. Balaban ’94New York, NYDeborah Branker Harrod ’89Jersey City, NJAlison J. Meloy ’94Charlottesville, VAGeorge Brown Telford III ’84Durham, NCRobert Owen ’74Paris, FranceBruce Gould ’54Philadelphia, PAJim Moskowitz ’88Philadelphia, PAMelissa Kelley ’80Pittsburgh, PANeal D. Finkelstein ’86Oakland, CARebecca L. Johnson ’86Oakland, CADeborah Read ’87Seattle, WALeah Gotcsik ’97Somerville, MANATIONAL CHAIRDon Fujihira ’69New York, NYS E P T E M B E R 2 0 0 033

S W A R T H M O R E C O L L E G E B U L L E T I N C L A S S N O T E SPHOTOGRAPHS FROM FRIENDS HISTORICAL LIBRARYG e tO u tt h eV o t eIdealism at Swarthmore is nothingnew—and neither is involvement inpolitics. In 1942, many students ralliedbehind the congressional candidacy ofVernon O’Rourke, a young political scienceprofessor running against Republicanincumbent James Wolfenden, amember of the entrenched DelawareCounty machine.A 50-member student committeeorganized legions of canvassers, whofanned out across the county, knockingon doors for O’Rourke (seen speakingin the photo at left). The student campaigndrew national attention but notenough votes to send a Swarthmoreprofessor to Congress.Among the students active in thecampaign were George Strauss ’44,Mary Louise Rogers Munts ’45, the lateJ. Allan Hovey Jr. ’48, Howard Bowman’47, and Jean Parker Castore ’44, whorecalls: “That was a ball.”34

C o s m i cAlmost 60 years after his graduationfrom Swarthmore, RichardSetlow ’41 is still making importantcontributions to the world of science.A senior biophysicist atBrookhaven National Laboratory,Setlow recently received a three-yeargrant from NASA to study the effectsof cosmic radiation on astronautstraveling in deep space. According toSetlow, NASA has been planning tosend astronauts to Mars, which isdeeper in space than humans haveever gone before. He warns that outsidethe earth’s magnetosphere, cosmicrays are filled with heavy, highenergyparticles capable of damaging,mutating, and killing humancells. Setlow says: “On a trip to Marsand back, without the appropriateshielding, about every cell in thebody would be traversed by one ofthese heavier particles.”To date, the exact dangers of suchhigh-energy particles are unknown.Numerous studies have examinedtheir effects on simple biological systems,but only one experiment, conductedalmost 10 years ago, has everattempted to determine their role incausing cancer. However, the resultswere frighteningly significant. Theyshowed that cosmic rays were 40 timesmore likely to induce cancers in micethan X-rays would be. Setlow concludes:“That’s a big number, and that’sthe only experiment.... So obviously,you need more experiments.”Such experiments require the use ofparticle accelerators that can producethe types of particles found in deepspace. But access to this type ofmachinery is limited. So Setlow and hiscolleagues have convinced NASA tobuild an addition to one of Brookhaven’saccelerators, which will beavailable to them for the next threeyears.Scientists at Brookhaven will use thenew accelerator to test the effects ofhigh-energy particles on small Japanesefish called medaka. In doing so,they hope to answer the followingquestion: “How damaging are suchheavy particles in inducing germ cellmutations—ones that would beC o n c e r nB I O P H Y S I C I S T R I C H A R D S E T L O W ’ 4 1 R A D I A T E S E X P E R T I S E .FOR MORE THAN 25 YEARS, RICHARD SETLOW ’41OF BROOKHAVEN NATIONAL LAB HAS MADE IMPORTANTDISCOVERIES ABOUT THE DANGERS OF RADIATION.expressed in the offspring?” As Setlowexplains, in addition to the risks of cancerand other cell damage to the astronauts,cosmic radiation could producecell mutations in their children as well.For these reasons, he advised NASA tolearn more about the dangers of cosmicrays before planning a mission toMars that could put astronauts andtheir families at risk.Setlow’s recent work at Brookhavenfollows a lengthy and impressive careerin biology and physics. After graduatingfrom Swarthmore in 1941, heearned a Ph.D. in physics at Yale, wherehe went on to conduct research andteach physics and biophysics until1961. He then moved to the BiologyDivision at Oak Ridge National Laboratoryin Tennessee. Among his accomplishmentsat Oak Ridge were his discoveryof DNA repair in 1963 and thefirst demonstration, in 1968, that ultraviolet(UV) light damages DNA. In 1974,Setlow joined Brookhaven NationalLab, where, in 1993, he found thatmalignant melanoma, the most seriousform of skin cancer, is caused by bothUVB and UVA rays.Today, Setlow continues to sharehis expertise with scientists aroundthe world. Since July 1998, he hasserved as a visiting director of theRadiation Effects Research Foundation(RERF) in Hiroshima, Japan.RERF is a joint Japanese and Americanresearch organization that studiesthe effects of radiation exposureon the atomic-bomb survivors andtheir children. Setlow emphasizes theunique importance of RERF’s samplepopulation, explaining that becausewe know the cause and the dose oftheir radiation exposure, “the atomicbombsurvivors make up one of veryfew good data sets indicating the hazardsof ionizing radiation.” As one of10 members of RERF’s binationalboard of directors, he travels toJapan once a year to advise the foundationin its research activities.In light of his many years of studyingthe effects of radiation, Setlowreflects: “It’s a lot of fun.... I didn’tdeliberately go out to find out anythingof this sort—I was just curious.”He credits Swarthmore for developingthis curiosity throughout his collegeyears. He says: “Swarthmoremakes one see the world and understandother people and other subjects.”As a physics major, he tookadvantage of all that Swarthmore hasto offer, taking courses in a variety ofsubjects such as chemistry, mathematics,and philosophy. Although he neverenrolled in a single biology course, theaccomplished biophysicist enjoyed discussinghis interest in the field withmembers of the Biology Department—an opportunity he attributes to Swarthmore’ssmall size. His continued enthusiasmfor the College is perhaps bestillustrated by the fact that two of hischildren, Peter Setlow ’64 and KatherineSetlow O’Brien ’68, are also alumni.With a lifetime of ground-breakingdiscoveries behind him, Setlow is stillpursuing his curiosity in true Swarthmorefashion. He says: “I have been atBrookhaven for 25 years—that’s longerthan any other place I’ve been.... I loveit!”—Andrea Juncos ’01A L U M N I P R O F I L ES E P T E M B E R 2 0 0 041

S W A R T H M O R E C O L L E G E B U L L E T I N B O O K S & A U T H O R S52B o w l i n gRobert D. Putnam ’63, BowlingAlone: The Collapse and Revival ofAmerican Community, New York,Simon & Schuster, 2000Robert Putnam’s new book haseagerly been awaited since 1995,when he first coined his famousmetaphor for civic disengagement.Remember the black-and-white scenesin the movie Pleasantville, depicting abowling league of scared traditionalists?That was a sarcastic allusion to Putnam’sidea that America is more andmore “bowling alone.” Putnam assertedthat even though bowling remainedpopular, bowling in leagues is disappearing,and a similar mutual disengagementhas occurred in almost everyaspect of our social and political life.But despite the anticipatory buzz,Bowling Alone has received somewhatmixed, if generally respectful, reviews,even though Putnam has definitivelydocumented his claim. The long wait forthe book surely has something to dowith this, for expectations could nothave been higher. But there is more atwork here. This is a book that deliverssome bad news. Are the mixed reviewsa case of healthy skepticism, or are theyinstead whistling past the graveyard?Bowling Alone is overflowing withreams of fresh data, laboriously collected,analyzed, and presented. Putnam’shandling of these data is assured andremarkably more sprightly than anyother work of social science that presentsthis many new facts and numbers.But there is a ton of stuff here to digest.In the aggregate, Putnam shows thatby percentages and degrees—whichare, in social-science terms, quite enormous—Americanshave indeed stoppedbeing as civic, philanthropic, religious,trustful, participatory, and sociable asthey used to be. He is as good a socialscientist as they come, so he checkedeverything there is to check. And themore he checked, the more he realizedhe was right.Having proved his thesis with thesedata, Putnam then explores why thishuge behavioral change has happened.Many factors are at work. Increasedfreedom to travel, greater economicA l o n eP U B L I C S E R V I C E T H R O U G H S O C I A L S C I E N C ETHIS BOOK DELIVERS SOME BAD NEWS:AMERICANS HAVE STOPPED BEING AS CIVIC,PHILANTHROPIC, RELIGIOUS, TRUSTFUL, PARTICI-PATORY, AND SOCIABLE AS THEY USED TO BE.opportunity, and new forms of massentertainment are all statistically associatedwith the overall change in behavior.Then there are the changes thathave swept through the workplace,such as flextime, frequent job or careerchanges, unpaid white-collar overtime,and two-career families with adolescentsin the workforce. There isn’t a lotof time and energy left for being civic oreven sociable and religious.Suburbanization also plays a rolebecause it promotes residential seclusionand involves a lot of commutingtime. New communications technologies,particularly the spread of television,keep people sedentary and athome for long stretches of time.Here some of his critics say, in effect,“Gee, you want to give all that up?”Repeatedly, however, Putnam politelynotes that he is not yearning for timesgone by. The real issue, he points out, iscreatively responding to the impact ofour changed circumstances, not gettingrid of the circumstances themselves.A subtler point often overlooked bycritics is that some changes have hadfar more of an effect than others. HerePutnam gets to the part that is hardestto take: We’re the problem. You andme—and just about everybody you andI know. Causally, the most importantindependent variable “explaining”behavioral change is generationalchange. Why we baby boomers andGeneration Xers are different Putnamdoesn’t say. That would be a separatebook, but there are many possibilities:prosperity, perhaps, or the completionof nation-building tasks, or the impacton character of consumerism.The ultimate question is: Does it matter?What real price is there to pay forthese changes in our habits? Has thereever been a time when America had itbetter? We’re the richest country onearth; everyone in the world wants tomove here; and if they can’t move here,they want to watch the television showsand movies we make.Or so the case against worrying toomuch about this book’s message mightgo. The philosopher Alan Ryan, reviewingPutnam’s book in The New YorkReview of Books, pointed out that suchperceptions may explain why there hasbeen less buzz about Bowling Alonethan one might have expected. Ultimately,though, this book is going tohave a great impact—and for a simplereason: It’s superb social science. It is atowering achievement comparable withGunnar Myrdal’s An American Dilemma.Such an extraordinary book couldonly come from an extraordinary person.It says a great deal about Putnam’sself-discipline and the clarity of hisinsight and thought that, despite theextremely high expectations of hiswork, he did not dither in getting it out.As Paul Starr, the Princeton sociologist,pointed out in The New Republic, thisbook is itself an act of civic engagement.I like to think that Swarthmore hadsomething to do with that. Learningpolitical science at Swarthmore mighthave introduced Putnam to the idea ofpublic service through social science. Ifso, he has finally brought that ethic toexemplary fruition.—Rick Valelly ’75Professor of Political Science

Margaret Lavinia Anderson’63, Practicing Democracy: Electionsand Political Culture inImperial Germany, PrincetonUniversity Press, 2000. This pictureof electoral culture in ImperialGermany discusses manhood suffragein a hierarchical society in 1867and how it resulted in an increasinglydemocratic culture before 1914.Ellen Argyros ’83, “Without Any Checkof Proud Reserve”: Sympathy and Its Limitsin George Eliot’s Novels, Studies in19th-Century British Literature, vol. 8,Peter Lang, 1999. This book describesthe literary and philosophical influenceson George Eliot’s conception ofsympathy.Russell Cartwright Stroup, Letters Fromthe Pacific: A Combat Chaplain in WorldWar II, edited with an introduction byRichard Cartwright Austin ’56, Universityof Missouri Press, 2000. This book,from a chaplain’s perspective, offersinsights into the effects of war.Bernard Beitman ’64, The Psychotherapist’sGuide to Cost Containment: How toSurvive and Thrive in an Age of ManagedCare, Sage Publications, 1998. Theauthor discusses the new economicorder—managed care—and outlinespotential solutions.David Bressoud ’71, A Course in ComputationalNumber Theory, Key CollegePublishing, 2000. This textbook, accompaniedby a CD-ROM, is a one-semesterintroduction to number theory.Andrew Maikovich and Michele Brown’76 (eds.), Sports Quotations: Maxims,Quips, and Pronouncements for Writersand Fans, 2nd ed., McFarland and Co.,2000. This updated collection of nearly3,000 sports quotations is divided into27 major sports categories.John Cheydleur ’66, Called to Counsel,Tyndale House Publishers, 1999. Thisbook, with a biblical framework, is atool for anyone counseling those in crises.Liza (Crihfield) Dalby ’72, The Tale ofMurasaki, Nan A. Talese/Doubleday,2000. The author presents a “literaryarchaeology” in recreating the life ofLady Murasaki Shikibu, member of theJapanese Imperial Court and author ofThe Tale of Genji.Linda Gordon ’61, The Great ArizonaOrphan Abduction, Harvard UniversityPress, 1999. Evoking the daily lives ofinhabitants of an Arizona mining town,R E C E N TB O O K Sthe author describes the racial boundariesalong the Mexican border.Kevin Hassett ’84 and R. Glenn Hubbard,The Magic Mountain: A Guide toDefining and Using a Budget Surplus, AEIPress, 1999. This book examines measuringa budget deficit or surplus.Won-Ldy Paye and Margaret (Hodgkin)Lippert ’64, Why Leopard Has Spots:Dan Stories From Liberia, Fulcrum Publishing,1998. This collection of authenticfolktales introduces the vibrant Danculture of Liberia.Lowell Livezey ’66, Public Religion andUrban Transformation: Faith in the City,New York University Press, 2000. Theauthor examines the changing Americanmetropolis and ways church leadersand members cope.Michael Meeropol ’64, Surrender: Howthe Clinton Administration Completed theReagan Revolution, The University ofMichigan Press, 2000. In an examinationof myth, propaganda, and economic illusion,the author analyzes the last twodecades of economic policy.Lise Menn ’62 and Nan Berstein Ratner(eds.), Methods for Studying LanguageProduction, Lawrence Earlbaum Associates,2000. This book presents approachesto collecting language productiondata from children and young adults.Marcus Noland ’81, Avoiding the Apocalypse:The Future of the Two Koreas,Institute for International Economics,2000. This study examines the twoKoreas in terms of three major crises.Arielle North Olson ’53 and HowardSchwartz, Ask the Bones: Scary StoriesFrom Around the World, Viking, 1999.Two master storytellers retell 22 of theworld’s eeriest folktales.Lewis Pyenson ’69 (ed.), Memory: Pastand Future, Graduate School, Universityof Louisiana at Lafayette, 2000. Thisbook contains proceedings of the fifthgraduate colloquium at the Universityof Louisiana at Lafayette.Thomas Preston ’55, Final Victory: TakingCharge of Your life When You Knowthe End Is Near, Prima Publishing, 2000.The author provides information aboutways to reduce suffering in preparationfor a peaceful, dignifieddeath.Karen Eanet and Julia (Battin)Rauch ’57, Genetics and GeneticServices: A Child Welfare Worker’sGuide, Child Welfare League of America,2000. This book helps professionalsinvolved with families dealing withgenetic disorders.Mary McDermott Shideler ’38, The Reconciling:Stage V in Visions and Nightmares,Ends and Beginnings—AWoman’s Lifelong Journey, ScribendiPress, 2000. The late author examinesher struggle to create a new identity asa single woman facing her 70s and 80s.Matthew Sommer ’83, Sex, Law, andSociety in Late Imperial China, StanfordUniversity Press, 2000. This study of theregulation of sexuality during the Qingdynasty explores the social context forsexual behavior criminalized by the Chinesestate.James Finckenauer and Elin Waring ’81,Russian Mafia in America: Immigration,Culture, and Crime, Northeastern UniversityPress, 1998. Examining Russianorganized crime both in Russia and theUnited States, this book investigates the“Russian Mafia.”Chuck Collins and Felice Yeskel M’79,Economic Apartheid in America: APrimer on Economic Inequality and Insecurity,The New York Press, 2000. Thisbook examines changes in income andwealth distribution.IN OTHER MEDIAJo Francis ’72 and John Fuegi, In theSymphony of the World: A Portrait ofHildegard of Bingen, Flare Productionsand Foreningen Casablanca, 1999. Thisdocumentary depicts the medieval spiritualleader’s contributions to music,poetry, biology, and medicine.Kiki (Skagen) Munshi ’65 (producer),Rama Lall Bhopa: Ballads of Rajasthan,Roop Nivas Palace Hotel, 1999. This CDoffers a selection of ballads that areaccompanied by the “ravanhatha,” asimple folk instrument.Roger Youman ’53, Tuscan Notes,MightyWords.com, 2000. This e-book,based on the experiences of a journalistwho has covered Italy for 20 years,offers practical tips on sites in Tuscany.S E P T E M B E R 2 0 0 053

A L U M N I P R O F I L ES W A R T H M O R E C O L L E G E B U L L E T I NO nB r o a d w a yT H E A T E R T R A D I T I O N S I N S P I R E T H E A R T O F J E S S I C A W I N E R ’ 8 4 .PHOTOS BY PHILIP GREENBERGJESSICA WINER’S “CURTAIN CALL” WAS PAINTEDFOR MANHATTAN’S TIMES SQUARE VISITORS CENTER.The Great White Wayhas been enhanced bya 14- by 25-foot mural ofNew York’s Broadway legendsdisplayed insideManhattan’s Times SquareVisitors Center.Titled “Curtain Call,” itwas painted and installedin 1998 by Jessica Winer inonly seven weeks. Theacrylic-on-canvas muralcaptures a century ofimages of renownedBroadway actors, actresses,playwrights, composers,and producers,including Ethel Merman,who is center stage.New York artist Winer’sgreatest inspirations comefrom the theater. Even as agirl, she created showposters for the White BarnTheater in Westport, Conn.At Swarthmore, she paintedbackdrops for playswritten by sister DeborahWiner ’83.Winer received the commission forthe project from Gretchen Dykstra,who then headed the Times SquareBusiness Improvement District. Winerhad been looking for an outdoor wall topaint, and Dykstra was looking for anartist to paint an inside wall in thesoon-to-be-renovated Embassy Theater,now called the Times Square VisitorsCenter. Ideas were meshed, and Winerundertook the job.The mural was to have displayed100 notables, but “a committee wasmaking the decisions as to who shouldappear,” Winer said. “When I got thefinal list, there were 200 names,” Winercontinued, her voice still soundingshocked. With the help of “a ton ofbooks,” Winer began the project.Among the people depicted areHelen Hayes, Ira and George Gershwin,Paul Robeson, Laurence Olivier, BenVereen, Patti Lupone, Danny Kaye,Chita Rivera, and Arthur Miller.“I didn’t just copy an image from abook. I used the pictures I saw—andthere were several for each—and determinedhow I would place them in perspectiveon the canvas,” Winer said.Installing the mural requiredresourcefulness and ingenuity. But, intheater lingo: The show must go on.“I was working with an engineer whowas going to build the stretchers forthe six canvas panels and then installthem on the wall. Unfortunately, hebroke two ribs and was unable to helpout. So my sister and I ended up goingto a lumberyard, building the stretcherstrips, stretching the canvases, andthen screwing the whole thing to thewall in a day and a half,” Winer said.“Two hours before the press were toarrive [on Aug. 31, 1998], the wholeplace was a mess, with carpenters andworkers, and stuff was everywhere. Butwhen the doors opened, everythingwas in place, including my mural. It wasincredible,” said Winer, who was followedby a PBS crew for a documentaryon the project.Although Winer was given a smallstipend for her costs, the money shereceived was a token, so contractuallythe mural belongs to her.“This means, if anythingever happens to the building,like they want it torndown, I will get the muralback,” she said.Ownership of her art issomething she learnedabout the hard way atSwarthmore.In the spring of 1983,Winer was asked by PatriciaBoyer, thendirector of theSwarthmore DanceProgram, topaint a mural onwood for the HallGym (now the siteof the Lang PerformingArts Center).When the gym wastorn down, no onethought to ask ifWiner wanted themural back, and itwas destroyed.Winer’s work isknown throughoutManhattan. Her paintings haveappeared on products for the MetropolitanOpera, in The New Yorker magazine,and in the windows of Saks FifthAvenue. She also had two solo showsat Lincoln Center. Her watercolor paintingof the famed Flatiron Building wasrecently acquired by the Museum ofthe City of New York—a gift from ElizabethSanford Carey ’82 and her husband,Jeffrey.“I enjoy working in a large format.You become one with it. It feels like youcan walk into the painting. I want thatfor the spectator, too—to be a part ofit,” she said.She remembers hearing Kaori Kitao,the William R. Kenan, Jr., Professor ofArt History, give a talk on “Why Be anArt History Major?”“Her answer was, ‘you won’t makemoney. It won’t get you a job, but you’llalways be happy.’“Art is what I do best. I understandit better than anything else. I totally getit, and I love doing it.”—Audree Penner58

I N M Y L I F ES W A R T H M O R E C O L L E G E B U L L E T I NL e a r n i n g t o P a c k L i g h t l yBy Kirsten Schwind ’96Today, I’m returning to Guatemalaafter six months at home in California.I heft my backpack around themetal bar that divides Guatemala fromMexico, shove my passport at anamused immigration official, andsqueeze onto a semiretired Blue Birdschool bus along with about 70 indigenousfarmers and local merchants sitting6 across. I’ve made the 14-hourtrek from San Cristobal de las Casas,Chiapas, to Guatemala City manytimes, and it still feels awkward: mybackpack, full of stuff that seemedimportant when I packed that morning,won’t fit in the overhead luggage rackalong with the modest bundles of theother passengers.Once again, I lose out in the subtlecompetition for shoulder space againstthe seat back and end up leaning forwardfor two hours with an elderlyman’s sleepy head knocking at myshoulder blades over the bumps. Butthe good thing is that I’m next to a window,with a view of some of the mostbreathtaking scenery in Central America:a soaring black canyon and dramaticallytilted plateaus, where improbablecornfields sprout from sheaths ofrock. Then I realize my arm is stuck toa pink blob of recently chewed gumsquashed on the window pane. My lifehere isn’t always as romantic as Iremember it.Two years in Guatemala and Chiapashave injected me into an experienceso incongruous with my comfortableSilicon Valley childhood; Swarthmoreacademia; and former Washington,D.C., government contract job thatI’m still trying to figure out how theseworlds can coexist on the same planet.In my second week of working forWitness for Peace, a social justiceorganization that educates U.S.activists about the effects of our foreignpolicy abroad (and stores itsarchives in the Peace Collection ofMcCabe Library), I visited survivors ofone of Guatemala’s 626 governmentsponsoredmassacres of civilians duringthe 36-year counterinsurgency warthat ended in 1996.I thought the first time hearing massacretestimony must be the hardest,How can peoplewho shoot theirneighbors go hometo their families?But then, knowingmy family’s taxmoney fundedU.S. military aidto Guatemala,how can I?AN ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIVIST ADDRESSES ACOMMUNITY MEETING IN NORTHERN GUATEMALA,WHERE REMAINING RAIN-FOREST LANDS AREHOTLY DISPUTED AMONG OIL, LOGGING, AGRI-CULTURAL, AND CONSERVATION INTERESTS.but it wasn’t. I got to know the survivorsas people I could joke with laterthat evening over a meal of beans andtortillas around their kitchen fire andcame to think of them as no moredeserving of tragedy in their lives thanI. In Acteal, Chiapas, a Tzotzil Maya villagethat was the site of Mexico’s worstrecent massacre in 1997, I was pulledinto a throng of dancers bouncing to abuoyant cumbia pumped out by thesame local band that had played at amass for the 45 victims a few weeksearlier. “Long live human rights!” theysang. These expressions of defiant joyand fun made their losses most humanto me, not just woeful headlines fromsome underdeveloped country, wherethese things just happen and will probablyalways keep happening.For about a year, my main reactionto hearing about human rights violationswas a low-burning, self-righteousoutrage. This was evil on a scale I hadnever met face to face in the UnitedKIRSTEN SCHWIND64

States, I thought. How can people whoshoot their neighbors go home to theirfamilies? But then, knowing my family’stax money funded U.S. military aid toGuatemala based on a policy of fear,how can I? My anger became more diffuseand personally uncomfortable aswell as tiring. Anger was inhibiting myability to joke with friends over beansand tortillas and kitchen fires as wellas my ability to enjoy life in general.Although anger was powerful motivationfor peace work in the shortterm, it blocked my ability to see thehumanity in the people behind theguns as well. When one family of survivorsstill lives in the same communitywith the family that attacked them—not an uncommon situation inGuatemala—fear and anger can preventcommunities from healing andbecoming functional again in the postwarera. In a more global sense, thepeople who wage these wars inGuatemala City; Mexico City; andWashington, D.C., are my own neighbors.And they fight these wars in myname.It’s difficult to forgive, but to build afunctional global community, whatoption do I have but to find thecourage and love to do so? I meancourage in the sense of looking violencein the face and searching out therole my own lifestyle plays in supportingit, and love in the sense of believingI have enough common ground withmy enemies so as to make dialoguepossible—having the faith in them tobelieve that they can eventually hearmy voice, whatever form it might take.I also seek the courage and love to createthe peace I would like to experiencein the world within myself.These are new ideas to me andmore easily imported into my life inthe comfort of phone conversationswith my senator’s foreign policy aidethan in the raw reality of returning toGuatemala City to find friends sweatingunder new death threats. Most of themkeep working; dealing with fear is partof the job description of Guatemalanactivists. I’ve heard that courage is amuscle that strengthens with use, but Ihaven’t undergone this sort of conditioning.I feel my muscle is weaker thantheirs.During my sophomore year atSwarthmore, I attended a talk given byan Argentinian human rights activistKIRSTEN SCHWINDJANET AND RICHARD SCHWINDKIRSTEN SCHWIND SAMPLES A FREE SCHOOLLUNCH—EGGS AND A HOT CORNMEAL DRINK—FROM A PROGRAM STARTED IN SOMEGUATEMALAN SCHOOLS AS A RESULT OF THE1996 PEACE ACCORDS.MAYAN SCHOOLGIRLS FROM COMALAPA,GUATEMALA, TAKE A BREAK FROM AN ARTPROJECT TO CELEBRATE GUATEMALA’SINDEPENDENCE DAY.about how she struggled through fear,political repression, and even physicalpain and torture to continue to raiseher voice and speak out about herbeliefs. The woman expressed arespect for her own self-expressionthat startled me at the time—howcould she think her opinions wereworth so much personal suffering? Ipersonally don’t know how much Iwould be willing to withstand for thesake of being able to express my voice.Luckily, I don’t have to know.All I need is the courage to read thenewspaper in the morning withoutskipping over the articles about warrefugees, famine, homelessness, shootingsin schools, or dire predictions ofglobal climate change. All I need is thecourage to look closely at the roots ofsuffering, to believe that I am a personwith a voice that counts to speak outagainst it, and to use that voice in themost effective ways possible. ■After breathing the diesel fumes ofGuatemala City for two years,Kirsten Schwind is starting a master’sprogram in natural resourcesmanagement and environmental justiceat the University of Michigan.She is already plotting how toreturn to Guatemala next summer aswell and still learning how to packlightly.S E P T E M B E R 2 0 0 065

A L U M N I P R O F I L ES W A R T H M O R E C O L L E G E B U L L E T I NW a l k i n g f o r P e a c e“ S P I R I T U A L I T Y I S T H E H I G H E S T F O R M O F P O L I T I C S , ” S A Y S C R I S P I N C L A R K E ’ 9 8 .CRISPIN CLARKE ’98 IS WALKING FROM SAN FRANCISCOTO NEW YORK AS PART OF THE UNITED NATIONS’ 55TH-ANNIVERSARY GLOBAL PEACE WALK. THE WALKERS HOPETO REACH WASHINGTON, D.C., BY EARLY OCTOBER ANDWILL THEN MOVE ON TO NEW YORK, WITH A PROJECTEDSTOP IN SWARTHMORE. FOR MORE INFORMATION, VISITWWW.GLOBALPEACENOW.ORG.JIM GRAHAMWhen Crispin Clarke walked intomy Parrish Hall office lastspring, I thought the conversationwas going to be political. The youngactivist had called a few weeksbefore, saying he was going to be oncampus and would like to discuss anarticle for the Bulletin about the projecthe is working on—the UnitedNations’ 55th-Anniversary GlobalPeace Walk. As sometimes happenswhen a Swarthmorean gets fired upabout a cause, I braced myself for amessage, an agenda, and a plea forpublicity.But the conversation wasn’t politicalat all; it was spiritual. Clarke iswalking across the United Statesbecause he is searching for something—forhimself and for the rest ofus. What he is seeking, he says, is “areestablishment of a spiritual relationshipwith the elements: earth,water, fire, and air.”For Clarke, the walk is a way ofgetting his life “in balance.” He’sbeen living in a tepee in northernNew Mexico (“an Earth ship, madefrom recycled materials”), learningceramics and building a kiln (“potteryis from the Earth”), and workingto build a sustainable communitywith others of like mind (“some peopleweave, some fix cars, and someraise goats and chickens”).But instead of planting vegetablesin Taos this spring, he joined a groupof about 20 other seekers of peaceon a trek from San Francisco to NewYork that will end at the UnitedNations on Oct. 25, the world body’s55th anniversary.Led by Yusen Yamato, a Buddhistmonk from Japan, the marcherscarry drums, chimes, flags, andsigns. They stop at cities and townsalong the way, declaring “globalpeace zones,” holding rallies andIndian-style powwows and seekinglocal support for causes that rangefrom stopping nuclear proliferationto alternative medicine and from theuse of industrial hemp as a naturalmaterial to changing the calendar toa year of 13 moons.The main goal, however, is “a profoundspiritual and environmentalsummit at the United Nations” thisfall.If it sounds way out and countercultural,it is. But as Clarke talked,his mind jumping from issue to issue,he kept returning to the meaning ithad for him. “A lot of it is internal,”he said, recalling a trip to post–civilwarEl Salvador, where he was ableto “peer inside” and see that “theFirst World lives in a bubble whilethe Third World is suffering behindbarbed wire fences and pollution,barely hanging on to its culture inthe face of poverty.” He saw much ofthe same in the troubled Mexicanprovince of Chiapas, where he wentas an undergraduate, part of a peacestudies mission led by Assistant Professorof Spanish Aurora Camachode Schmidt.Clarke thinks that the First World,with its nuclear weapons and powerplants, appetite for natural resources,and attitudes that celebratehuman dominance over the environment,has a lot to learn. He sighs ashe talks about the “velocity of modernsociety,” how it’s spinning out ofcontrol. “On the walk, the trees standstill, and the trucks fly by. It’s actuallydangerous; one little swerve of thewheel and....”He’s quiet for a moment, waitingfor another question from me. ButI’m quiet, too. We listen as birds rustlein the shrubs outside the openoffice window. It’s a fine spring day.Yet questions come: Why are youdoing this? Why spend a year of yourlife trying to change things that mostpeople think cannot be changed?What is the source of your idealism?In a Zen-like answer, he refers backto ceramics, to the clay, and our relationshipto the Earth: “It starts withthe relations between your neighborand yourself. People have to learn tocooperate beyond race, gender, ideology,and religion in order to protectour land and life for future generations.If I don’t make this walk, whatwill happen to Mother Earth? Youjust have to try to do something.”—Jeffrey Lott66

Bard to Beloved continued from page 15comers are women and nonwhite is not political correctness,Williamson says, but a reflection of the history of thelast century.“In the 20th century, many disenfranchised and colonizedpeoples have found the freedom and means with which touse the English language to articulate their own literaryvisions,” he says. “So when India is free, when African countriesare free, you begin to discover postcolonial literary traditionsemerging in those places.” Virtually the same pointcan be made about American minorities. Hence, Swarthmoreoffers courses such as “Literature of the AsianDiaspora,” “The Black African Writer,” “Asian AmericanLiterature,” and “The Harlem Renaissance.”Conservative critics also lament thatSwarthmore and its peer schoolsrely less on foundational survey coursesthan was the custom 30 years ago.Up through the 1960s, students atSwarthmore and elsewhere couldcount on a required introductorycourse that covered the essential writersas determined by the faculty—anEnglish 101 of sorts. Of course, choosingwhich authors to teach was anoften-rancorous process, James notes,that led to dramatically divergentresults from school to school.Two survey courses remain atSwarthmore—both of them at theadvanced level but neither of themrequired. Although Swarthmore Englishmajors are not required to take an“English 101,” James notes that theCollege is using different means toaccomplish the larger purpose behindthe old survey courses. To ensurebreadth, the department requires thatmajors complete at least three coursesin the pre-1830 period and at leastthree in the post-1830 period.Then, there is the menu of introductorycourses that freshmen and sophomoresmust choose from before enrollingin the department’s advancedofferings. With names like “Fictions ofIdentity,” “Science and the LiteraryImagination,” and “Native AmericanLiterature,” the 18 choices don’t soundlike the survey courses of old, yet theyhave a uniform purpose and method.Each covers a broad swath of literaryground, with a focused theme in mind,and each stresses the art of effectiveargument and cogent writing—the latteraccomplished through frequentshort papers with a premium on feedbackand rewriting. Although professorsare free to design the introductory“Many things changein culture, and that’sone of the dialogueswe’re trying to create.What is consistent?What is different?If you’re really goingto understandShakespeare, youhave to know.”courses to reflect their own interests, they seem to agree onthe merits of Shakespeare. Most introductory coursesinclude at least one of his plays.“To me, the decline of introductory survey courses is awelcome development,” says James, who, like his colleagues,believes such an approach is inherently superficial. “Becauseof their depth and emphasis on writing and argument, ourintroductory courses are, in my view, a much more effectiveway to equip students with the tools they’ll need to go on.”Implicit in the recent report by the NAS is the notion thatthe English curriculum had achieved an ideal state in1964, the year the organization uses as the basis for comparisonwith today. That year is not exactly arbitrary; itmarked the beginning of the move away from the so-calledNew Criticism toward the critical approaches taken today atSwarthmore and elsewhere.Yet enshrining that juncture ignoresthat the 1964 curriculum was itself theproduct of curricular evolution that nodoubt had 1930s “purists” up in arms,James contends. Gone by 1964 was theprominence of many writers who werecommonly found on syllabi from earlierin the century, such as Robert Southey,William Hazlitt, Alfred Lord Tennyson,Henry Longfellow, and Anne Bradstreet.“Shouldn’t the NAS be concerned aboutwho usurped those writers’ places?”James asks. (Gone, too, were courses inpublic and extemporaneous speaking,which had reflected the belief that theJANE OʼCONORdiscipline should be dedicated, in part,to “the speaking of clear, forceful,idiomatic English,” as the 1930 catalogstated.)As James says, things do change.The declaration in the 1930 catalog thata “special effort” be made to apply theworks to the problems of the presentday was nowhere to be found inSwarthmore’s course catalogs by thelate 1930s or in the approach to Englishliterature commonly taken over thenext several decades. The disciplinechanged, and now it has changed again.To perfect the English literature curriculumis, of course, an impossiblegoal. “This is a negotiation that no onewins,” Weinstein says. “You try to be ashonest and responsible as possible.You keep in mind that your perspectiveis in many ways shaped by the age inwhich you live, and you try to be alertto the existence of other perspectives.You’re open to criticism; when it getspowerful, you take it seriously. And yousoldier on.” ■Tom Krattenmaker is the College’sdirector of news and information.S E P T E M B E R 2 0 0 069

S W A R T H M O R E C O L L E G E B U L L E T I NSwarthmorisms continued from page 31Friends Historical Library, with a plaque reading: “Presented to theCollege in the fall of 1882 by Edward Egder of the Board of Managers....Found in the possession of an innkeeper near Reading, Pa. Renovatedand re-presented to the College on Class Day, June 3, 1939, as the 25threunion gift of the Class of 1914” (Mary Ellen Grafflin Chijioke ’67 toAndrea Juncos ’01).pitchin’?: The properly worded question was, “How was your date—were you pitchin’?” (see also catchin’) (Dick Burrowes ’45).Plushie’s: In 1942–43, this “dive,” near the abandoned Plush Mills onBaltimore Pike, required a tortuous night walk through Crum Woods andwas the location of much “learning” (Dick Burrowes ’45).poor: This 1942–43 response, widely applied to all disappointments, followed:“How did you do on the quiz/ball game/date?” The answer wasalways just the one word, especially with the Philadelphia rhythm: “pooer”(Dick Burrowes ’45).Prexy: In 1934–38, this phrase was used for the president (MarjorieVanDeusen Edwards ’38).Quaker matchbox: A longtime phenomenon at the College, this termstill describes Swatties (see also s’moron) marrying other alumni(Jenny Briggs ’99).Ranger Joe: In 1942–43, this local (Chester-produced) honeyed, puffedwheat was an alternative to whatever was on the College menu (DickBurrowes ’45).ratting: In 1934–38, this term referred to entering another’s room atSwarthmore (largely confined to the male population!) and messing itup completely—even to the point of tossing contents out the window(Marjorie VanDeusen Edwards ’38).screw: This annual act involves setting up a roommate on a blind date.During a raucous gathering at Sharples, the dates are revealed in aseries of embarrassing acts (e.g., singing from the balcony or climbing arope with a rose between one’s teeth). Later, the new pair attends aformal dance together (Jenny Briggs ’99).See ya ’round the campus from day to day: This 1942–43 farewellranged from a gentle, pleasant, and expectant renewal—perhaps thesame day—to an angry dismissal after parting with a former friend (DickBurrowes ’45).sexiled: This word, bandied on campus today, describes a roommatewho is banned from his or her dorm room because of the other roomie’s“company” (Jenny Briggs ’99).short weed: In 1942–43, this cigarette break (before the serious healthrisks of smoking had been widely publicized) could be the briefest formof a date (Dick Burrowes ’45).S’moron: This word “almost sounds like a cross of the sticky campfiredessert (a s’more) and someone who has no sense (a moron), but this ishow I used to refer to myself and cronies when talking about folks whoattended Swarthmore—kind of a S’moron community (Laurie StearnsTrescott ’79). Swarthmorons (Arlene Bowes ’72), Swarthmoreans, andSwatties also refer to Swarthmore alumni, and Swat and S’more areused by more recent graduates to describe the College.spec: This term, meaning perspective student, has probably been usedforever—but certainly from 1994–2000 (Melissa Morrell ’99).steliot: Perhaps unique to Delta Upsilon in the 1960s, this word wasused for toilets (spelled backward!) (Chris King ’68).subbie: In 1942–43, the glorious sandwich was new to most andnowhere better ever! (Dick Burrowes ’45).Swarthmore Pants: This mascot was proposed for Swarthmore by Wilsonswivel: Popular todayin the College snack bar orRenato Pizza in the Ville,this fluid motion--swingingthe head over both shouldersto eyeball who iswithin earshot before sharingjuicy “news”--ensuresthat the person discussedis not nearby (AndreaHammer, managing editor).Kello ’98; also Swarthmore LadyPants (Michal Zadara ’00).table parties: In 1934–38, these involved “mixed tables” once or twicea week, when men and women ate together by prearrangement and thenwent to Bond for an hour of ballroom dancing, using old records (Earle’36 and Marjorie VanDeusen Edwards ’38). In 1942–43, the five fraternitieshad short dances in their separate lodges on Friday evenings whenregistered ahead with the dean of women (Dick Burrowes ’45).Toonerville: In 1944–48, this musical word referred to the commutertrain to and from Philadelphia (Robert Bartle ’47).Ville: Remembered as early as 1944–48, this word still refers to thetown of Swarthmore (Robert Bartle ’47). During this period, the wordwas especially targeted for scorn as being a kind of baby talk by V-12ersfrom elsewhere (see also druggie) (Dick Burrowes ’45).Ville kids: This term is used instead of the more usual “townies”(Michal Zadara ’99).Walk of shame: During 1995–99, this walk involved returning to yourdorm room in the morning, wearing the same clothes you wore thenight before—signaling that you had never returned the previousevening (Jenny Briggs ’99).WSGA: Pronounced “wizgah” in 1942–43, this acronym for the Women’sStudent Government Association was unique to the campus and—to theextent that the other acronymic groups (e.g., GWIMP, KWINK, and MEC)were “dull, secretive, or both”—a very popular force. The WSGA formalwas eagerly anticipated, planned, and held, including during the austeretimes of the war (Dick Burrowes ’45).Yo!: Still popular in South Philly, this happy greeting, saying “hi” toany and all on campus, was an almost universal custom dropped withthe V-12 (Dick Burrowes ’45).Yo, Doc: In 1944–48, this was the standard greeting among civilianmen (Robert Bartle ’47). ■JENNY CAMPBELL70

L e t t e r scontinued from page 3methods such as nicotine patches andgum. Echols estimates that 10 to 15 percentof students smoke and that abouthalf of those who try to quit are successful.ANOTHER TALE OFDAYS GONE BYI was interested to read the article “AMelody From Days Gone By” in theJune Bulletin about the shipboardband who played their way to Europeon the Europa in 1937. For severalyears, I was manager of the CollegeGlee Club, and I remember DrewYoung ’37 very well from the dayswhen he was its director.In the summer of 1939, I, too, was amember of a shipboard band on a luxuryliner, the French ship Normandie,bound for Europe. John Crowley ’41had organized a shipboard band ayear earlier, and this was his secondtime around. We had John on trombone,the late Jack Myers ’40 on sax,the late Stewart Thorn ’39 on piano,and I played drums. There was a trumpetplayer too, but he wasn’t at theCollege.As with the band in the article, weplayed primarily for second-class passengers,but every now and again, wewould go up to first class or down tothird. They served only wine with allmeals, including breakfast. I’d neverdrunk wine in my life, and I had to askthe waiters to bring me water.On the way over to Europe, we raninto a severe storm with very heavyseas. The Normandie was 1,000 feetlong but very narrow relative to herlength, so she rolled violently in theswell. My drums were rolling acrossthe floor; the piano slid away; and alot of passengers got sick, including allthe band members (except for me).When we docked in Le Havre, weheaded straight for Paris. It was fascinating.The Europeans were preparingfor war. In France, they were puttingup sandbag barriers in the streets andremoving all the stained glass from thechurch windows in anticipation of thefiring and bombing.It was the summer of 1939. In Septemberof that year, Hitler invadedPoland. I figure, they got us out just intime. As it turned out, our voyage wasthe last but one that the Normandiewould make as a passenger liner. Shewas converted into a troop ship, andone year later, she burned and sank ather pier in New York.Since those days, I’ve been and amstill active as a physician, among otherthings, and I’ve made several morerecent trips to Europe, including toGermany, as drummer and band physicianfor the Hobo Band of Pitman, N.J.Reading the Bulletin article broughtthe memories flooding back, and I’dlove to know what my fellow bandmembers are up to these days andwould really appreciate hearing fromthem or from others who know ofthem.JAMES KEHLER ’40Woodbury, N.J.WITH GLEEI was delighted to see Drew Young’s[’37] face smiling at me from the pagesof the June Bulletin. Naturally, I readthis article first, and because I have abrother-in-law who made several similartrips, I found it entertaining.But I looked in vain among thedetails of Drew’s years after the cruisefor the part of his career that broughtus together. When I got to Swarthmoreas a freshman in the fall of 1937, Drewwas the director of the glee club. Fortunately,I passed his audition andenjoyed his leadership for four years.Whether or not he continued in thatactivity beyond the spring of 1941, Idon’t know. But I do know he left hismark on a lot of young Swarthmoremale students over at least four years.ROBERT TAYLOR ’41Wilmington, Del.Editor’s Note: Drew Young reports that hehas fond memories of Robert Taylor.Young has continued to direct chorusesas an avocation and has been a churchorganist for many years.UNDEFEATED—AND IGNOREDWhen I received the June Bulletin, Iturned eagerly to the spring sportshighlights, only to be disappointed notto see anything about women’s rugby.I believe it is the only Swarthmoreteam in the College to be undefeatedin its regular season this year—theyeven pulled out a win over Princeton(nationally ranked No. 2) in their finalgame.I know that this is technically a clubsport, but it is a very popular one, andthe women who play on the team areevery bit as dedicated athletes as anyin the College. My daughter, EmilyWilkins ’01, has played since she was afreshman, and next year will be thecaptain and president of a team thatattracted more than 40 new playersthis year. They are a very variedgroup, involved in all aspects of Collegelife. I hate to see their achievementsignored in the alumni publication,which should be celebrating suchsuccess.LUCINDA KIDDER ’66Northfield, Mass.AUTHORS’ QUERIESProfessor Wolfgang KöhlerIf you studied psychology with ProfessorWolfgang Köhler (at Swarthmoreduring 1936–55) and would like toshare your impressions and memories,please help with my research projectabout his work and life in America.KATHARINA KLOSSUniversity of Colognec/o Bergisch-Gladbacher Straße 87651069 Cologne, Germanykeissi@gmx.deMargaret “Peggy” Burks ’67For a biography of Margaret “Peggy”Burks ’67, who died of cancer in 1995, Iwould like to hear from fellow students,friends, or faculty memberswho knew her. Any recollections couldbe of great importance to me.JAMES CAHALAN1776 Mansfield RoadGeorgetown SC 29440(843) 545-7395mansfield_plantation@prodigy.netCORRECTIONSSam Schulhofer-Wohl ’98 (“The NewSwarthmore Journalists,” June) wasfront-page designer at the BirminghamPost-Herald, not the Milwaukee JournalSentinel, as reported in a caption.Schulhofer-Wohl also did not serve aseditor of The Phoenix as a student. Hewas the paper’s publisher throughout1996.The photo of the Ingleneuk TeaHouse fire (“Back Pages,” June) wastaken by Nathan Ashby-Kuhlman ’02.WRITE TO USThe Bulletin welcomes letters concerningthe contents of the magazine orissues relating to the College. All lettersmust be signed and may be editedfor clarity and space. Address your lettersto: Editor, Swarthmore College Bulletin,500 College Avenue, SwarthmorePA 19081-1390, or send by e-mail tobulletin@swarthmore.edu.L E T T E R SS E P T E M B E R 2 0 0 071

O U R B A C K P A G E SS W A R T H M O R E C O L L E G E B U L L E T I NA W a r t i m e J o u r n e yH A N - C H U N G M E N G R E M E M B E R S S W A R T H M O R EI N T H E W A R Y E A R S .Editor’s Note: The U.S. Navy’s V-5 and V-12 programs brought more than 900 men toSwarthmore College between July 1943 and July 1946. Most were here for a short timein programs that trained engineers, line officers, aviation candidates, and premedicaland pretheological students. In the spring of 2000, Charles Taylor ’49, working with thestaff of the Alumni Records Office, attempted to contact as many of the Navy men asCollege and other records would allow. This project, which preceded a War Yearsreception at Alumni Weekend, brought many letters and reminiscences. From these,Taylor compiled biographical sketches of more than 80 people whose lives had beentouched by Swarthmore during the war.One unusual letter came from Han-Chung Meng in Spokane, Wash. Meng was 1 of49 Chinese naval officers who arrived on campus in the fall of 1943 for nine monthsof training, primarily to learn English. His account of coming to Swarthmore during thewar is a rewarding glimpse into a momentous time and a remarkable life.During the Sino-Japanese War,China was forced to fight againstJapan for her independence andfreedom on mainland China. TheJapanese Army invaded Manchuria in1931, then continued the fighting inNorthern China, and, in 1937, extendedthe war to Shanghai—hence, to Chinaas a whole. We tried our best to defendour territory, made a great deal of sacrifices,in all respects, and, with astrong will, we slowed down theiradvances. That was the time when wefought alone, although we did get a lotof sympathy from different righteouscountries in the world.In the early part of December 1941, Iwas a junior naval officer stationed in ariver fortress on the upper gorge of theYang-Tze River. One day, I saw the bigheadline—-the Japanese had sneakedan attack against the United States atPearl Harbor. I shouted to my unit,“Look! The Japanese attacked America,and we are not going to fight alone!”In the succeeding year, Japanesewere able to grab the Philippines, HongKong, a part of Borneo, Singapore, andVietnam. The Pacific War had changedits trend after the U.S. Navy stoppedJapanese advances to the East by winningthe Battle of Midway in June 1942.However, the general situation of thewar was still in favor of the enemy. Itwas at this moment that the U.S. governmentasked the Chinese governmentto let Chinese military personnelgo to the States for training, so thatthey could be used jointly with the U.S.armed forces to fight against the Japaneseand win the war together.It was under this arrangement thatwe, a group of 49 naval officers, wereselected and sent to the States fortraining in three main fields: generalline officers on ships, engineering officersin the shipyards, and naval architectureofficers for building ships. Iwas one of the officers in the firstgroup.This whole company of officersstarted their trip from Chongqing, inthe interior province of Sezhuan. Werode on two GM trucks to Kunmingalong the curved, treacherous, anddangerous highways. Then the U.S.Army Air Force took us over theHimalayas, and we arrived in Assam,LT. J.G. HAN-CHUNG MENG SALUTES NEARWHARTON HALL IN 1944. HE WAS KNOWNAS “HARRY” TO THE AMERICANS AND NOWLIVES IN SPOKANE, WASH.India. A narrow-gauged railroad carriedus to Calcutta, where we took anothertrain to Bombay. From there, the USSHermitage took us to America via Melbourne,the Society Islands, and ChristmasIslands.Although we had been alarmed togeneral quarters by several unidentifiedobjects (Japanese submarines) onour voyage, we arrived safely in SanDiego, Calif., with a group of ChineseAir Force officers and quite a feworphans from Poland. The U.S. Navysent a young naval officer, Lt. Cmdr.Henry T. Jarrell, to command ourgroup. He met us there together withour assistant naval attaché, Cmdr. Y.C.Yang, from Washington, D.C. They putus on a train, and we started ourCHINESE OFFICERS AT SWARTHMORE ATE AND LIVED WITH THEIR AMERICAN NAVY COUNTERPARTS.MENG REMEMBERS BEING SERVED EXTRA PORTIONS OF RICE AND OCCASIONAL HORSE MEAT.FRIENDS HISTORICAL LIBRARY FRIENDS HISTORICAL LIBRARY72

across-the-country trip to Swarthmore,Pa. The entire journey from Chongqinghad taken more than two months.There we entered the famous Quakercollege—Swarthmore College. Wespent two semesters in that college’sNaval V-l2 Unit, picking up languageand other subjects.One of the alumni of the College, Mr.McCabe of the Scott Paper Company,thought so honorably of our presencein that school that he donated a dryfountain in front of the dormitorywhere we stayed [Wharton Hall]. Thisfountain has a Chinese stone lionguarding a copper plaque on theground, where all 49 Chinese officers’names are engraved in Chinese calligraphy.I visit my school and this memorableplace whenever I am in Philadelphia.Our training there and thismemento are 56 years old now. What agreat thing to remember!While we were at Swarthmore, thelocal inhabitants were kind of pleasedto have us around. They invited us todinner, to the Thanksgiving, and to theNew Year celebration. Through thesesocial gatherings, we were able to pickup American culture as well as to presentours. I was in charge of liaisonwork for a while and had a hard timeto send our friends to attend thosegatherings because everybody wantedto go. Finally, I had to arrange theattendants to answer the call by thealphabetical order of our names.To supplement my English study, Ioften invited my English teacher, Mrs.Lincoln, to go to the movies on Saturdayafternoon. We watched a movie,and then she would explain some partsof it to me during our dinner time. Westudents were not paid very lavishlyduring the war, but the prices of thingsor standards of living were not so higheither. Five cents for a Coke, a cup ofcoffee, or a doughnut. Ten cents forbus fare, or you bought three tokensfor a quarter.As to the meals at Swarthmore, weate, like the midshipmen in our V-12Unit and other students at the College,the same food with individual plates tofollow in line and got our shares in succession.The lady who handled thissometimes gave us special treats: morerice to every Chinese student andhorse meat as a delicacy. Then theygave us free milk to drink before weturned in every night to help us sleepThey put us on a train,and we started ouracross-the-country tripto Swarthmore, Pa.The entire journey fromChongqing had takenmore than two months.so that we would not be homesick andbecome sleepless.One thing that bothered our commandingofficers, Captain Jarrell andour Unit Commander, Lt. Bartle, washow to fulfill our request to share ourquarters with the American boys. Wewanted to be put one in each roomwith an American student in the dormitoryto be mingled with the Americanboys with the purpose of knowingmore about the United States andbeing able to pick up English soonerIN JULY, MENG VISITED THE CAMPUS WITH HISSON, AN-KUO, WHO LIVES IN NEW JERSEY. THESTONE LION NEAR WHARTON HALL MEMORIALIZESTHE CHINESE OFFICERS WHO TRAINED AT THECOLLEGE DURING 1943 AND 1944.and better. The authorities were afraidof several factors and didn’t decide onit promptly. However, they finallyaccepted our suggestion after weighingall the factors, and we all thought thatwas a wise decision. One of the friendsthat I made through this keeps closefriendship with me no matter where Iam, on mainland China or in Taiwan.This gentleman, Mr. Donald Youngblood,lives happily with his wife,Marji, and their family in San Diegonow.Although we stayed at Swarthmoreonly two semesters, our College president,Mr. John Nason, still honored uswith certificates. We all attended theCommencement exercises in 1944, withthe honorable Mr. James Forrestal, thesecretary of the Navy, who delivered apromising speech. We were so happythat we could share the honor of beingstudents at Swarthmore. ■—Han-Chung MengMay 2000Han-Chung Meng spent 1944–45 atthe Naval Academy’s postgraduateprogram and was still in training inthe United States when the warended in August 1945. He returnedto China in mid-1946 as an officeraboard a ship given to the Republicof China by the U.S. Navy. Mengserved as a naval officer, first onthe mainland and later in Taiwan,for more than 20 more years, risingto the rank of captain. He moved tothe United States in 1990.COURTESY HAN-CHUNG MENGS E P T E M B E R 2 0 0 0

S W A R T H M O R EH O M E C O M I N GO C T O B E R 2 8Swarthmore in the fall ... Come to campus toexperience the beauty and spirit of Swarthmoretoday through exhibits, tours, student events,athletic contests, and more.H I G H L I G H T SArboretum TourEnjoy a guided tour of the Scott Arboretum featuringsome of fall’s finest offerings.Saturday, 10 a.m.–noonHomecoming CookoutJoin other alumni, parents, and students for lunchbeneath the trees. It’s free, but reservations arerequired. E-mail homecoming@swarthmore.edu,or call (610) 328-8628 by Friday, Oct. 13 to sign up.Saturday, 11:00 a.m.–1:15 p.m., next to theFaulkner Tennis CourtsCheer the Garnet Tide• Women’s Soccer vs. HaverfordSaturday, noon• Football vs. Franklin and MarshallSaturday, 1:30 p.m.• Men’s Soccer vs. MuhlenbergSaturday, 2 p.m.List Gallery ExhibitionWhen Tillers Dream, recent sculptures bySteve DoneganOn ViewA new outdoor installation by artist-in-residencePatrick DoughertyT R A V E L D I S C O U N T SThe Admissions Office has negotiated discounted airfaresfor October 27–30 to Philadelphia from the followingcities: Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas/Ft. Worth,Detroit, Fresno, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, andSan Francisco. Alumni, parents, and friends of the Collegemay take advantage of these rates by callingGulf Stream Travel by September 29 at (800) 844-6939(mention Swarthmore College).PHOTOGRAPHS BY TERRY WILDS E EY O UI NO C T O B E R !