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BOWDOIN ADAPTS TO PANDEMIC
Community
member
presumed
positive for
coronavirus
Three students
self-quarantine
after contact with
an infected person
by Andrew Bastone
Orient Staff
A Bowdoin community
member is presumed to have
the coronavirus (COVID-19)
and three students were in con-
tact with another individual
during spring break who tested
positive for the virus, accord-
ing to emails sent by President
Clayton Rose.
The community member’s
test results had not come back
as of Thursday afternoon, wrote
Senior Vice President for Com-
munications and Public Affairs
Scott Hood in an email to the
Orient.
The individual, who is under
a doctor’s care and is self-iso-
lating at home, has not been on
campus since March 17. Rose
wrote that the College has been
in communication with the
individual to “document their
movements on campus prior
to that date” and will “imme-
diately notify anyone known to
have been in contact with this
person.”
Hood declined to specify
how many people the commu-
nity member came into contact
with, but wrote that those in-
dividuals were “provided with
guidance recommended by
Please see POSITIVE, page 2
Acceptance rate reaches a record low as College
prepares for virtual admitted students’ events
by Lily Randall
Orient Staff
Bowdoin’s regular decision
admittance rate hit an all-time
low of 8.3 percent for the Class
of 2024, down from 8.9 percent
last year. The College received
9,402 applications, the greatest
number ever received. Deci-
sions were released on Friday,
March 13.
Like many of its peer insti-
tutions, the College decided
to cancel its admitted stu-
dents’ open house and Bow-
doin Experience programs
due to the novel coronavirus
(COVID-19). As a result, some
accepted students will have
to make their enrollment de-
cisions without ever visiting
campus.
To mitigate the loss of ad-
N HOME AWAY FROM HOME
Students return to Brunswick to finish the
semester in off-campus housing. Page 3.
WORK HARD PLAY HARD: After moving into an off-campus house on Atwood Street on Monday, Nathan Ashany ’21 conducts remote school work on his
new bed. To read about students living off-campus in Brunswick, SEE PAGE 3.
International students transition to remote learning on an empty campus
by Reuben Schafir
Orient Staff
Since March 18, Shuhao Liu
’22 has been the only student
living in Quinby House, a Col-
lege House that, just two weeks
ago, 24 students called home.
“It’s kinda spooky, honestly,”
Liu said.
In one week, Liu, a native
of Beijing, China, will return
home, where he will be placed
under a 14-day quarantine.
According to Liu, however,
this will not be less social than
his current situation.
“It’s really surreal, and it can
mitted students’ weekend, the
Office of Admissions has sched-
uled livestreams and compiled
extensive online resources with
the hope of providing informa-
tion for prospective students.
“To prepare, our admissions
staff covered the campus for
days, talking with students,
staff, and faculty to get a bank
of terrific video[s]—Bowdoin
faces and voices that we can
use through next month with
our admitted students,” Dean
of Admissions and Student
Aid Whitney Soule wrote in an
email to the Orient. “Since ad-
mitted students everywhere are
having to choose schools with-
out spring visiting available, we
fully invested in the challenge
of capturing the attention of
our admitted students in the
crowded space of ‘virtual con-
F ALL HANDS ON DECK
Faculty and staff support students through
move-out process. Page 7.
Friday, March 27, 2020
feel kind of lonely,” said Nirhan
Nurjadin ’21, who has been
living alone in his Pine Street
apartment since his roommates
moved out on March 18. Nur-
jadin, the president of the In-
ternational Students Associa-
tion (ISA) at Bowdoin, grew up
in Indonesia but is a Malaysian
citizen.
Nurjadin and Liu are two of
the approximately 50 students
who have been granted permis-
sion by the College to remain
on campus through May 17.
The Office of Residential Life
declined to confirm whether or
not all of the students on cam-
tent’ right now.”
Three Zoom livestreams,
aimed at tackling diverse ar-
eas of student life, have been
scheduled for prospective stu-
dents. The first livestream was
held on March 18 with Soule,
President Clayton Rose and
other members of the admin-
istration and admissions team
present. Admitted students and
parents could submit questions
beforehand, and over 350 peo-
ple tuned in to the livestream.
The next livestreams are sched-
uled for April 2 and April 23
and will feature different offic-
es including Residential Life,
Counseling and Career Explo-
ration and Development.
Besides livestreams and
online material, the Office of
Please see ADMISSIONS, page 2
A SINGING WHILE SEPARATED
Theater and dance faculty starred in an
uplifting lip sync video. Page 5.
Volume 149, Number 19
pus are international students.
On March 11, President
Clayton Rose announced that
classes would move online for
the remainder of the semester,
and students would be expect-
ed to move out of their rooms
by March 18. On March 12,
Senior Vice President and
Dean for Student Affairs Janet
Lohmann sent an email revis-
ing the College’s policy, allow-
ing international students to
stay on campus. International
students are allowed to live on
campus if they meet one of four
criteria: if they need to remain
in the country to meet visa re-
College braces for “significant economic impact” of
coronavirus crisis, delays construction projects and
fundraising efforts
by Ian Ward
Orient Staff
As the COVID-19 epidemic
continues to roil global financial
markets, colleges and universi-
ties around the United States are
entering uncharted economic
waters.
In Brunswick, Bowdoin is bat-
tening down the hatches.
“It is really too soon to know
how severe the impact will be or
how this compares with economic
challenges of the past, but there
is no question that this is a very
difficult environment for invest-
ments,” wrote Matt Orlando, the
This print edition of the Orient was produced on March 27, 2020, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it will be physically printed at a later date.
S E PLURIBUS UNUM
Hasson ‘20 named Division III National
Player of the Year. Page 9.
bowdoinorient.com
REUBEN SCHAFIR, THE BOWDOIN ORIENT
quirements, if leaving would
potentially prevent them from
returning to the U.S. in the fall,
if they need to stay for academ-
ic or professional purposes or
if flights to their home country
had been suspended due to the
COVID-19 outbreak.
In a virtual town hall with
President Clayton Rose on
March 12, Lohmann said that
although the College had
initially suggested that inter-
national students seek other
homes domestically, feedback
Please see
INTERNATIONAL, page 4
senior vice president for finance
and administration and treasurer
of the College, in an email to the
Orient. “[T]here is no doubt that
this will have a significant impact
on College finances, as it will for all
sectors of the economy.”
Orlando did not provide up-
to-date figures for the losses to
the College’s endowment, which
was valued at $1.74 billion in June
2019. However, based on public
market indexes, it is likely that
the College’s endowment, which
is invested in over 1,700 individ-
ually-managed funds, has experi-
enced sizable losses in the past two
weeks.
O WHO’S LEFT?
How the pandemic has affected the race
for the Democratic nomination. Page 10.
1st CLASS
U.S. MAIL
College scraps
letter grades
for spring
semester,
despite
objections
by Diego Lasarte
Orient Staff
Despite some opposition
from students, the College
adopted a mandatory credit/
no-credit grading system this
week for all spring classes,
sparking a debate among stu-
dents and faculty about the
merits and mechanics of on-
line learning.
Senior Vice President and
Dean for Academic Affairs
Elizabeth McCormack origi-
nally announced the policy in
an email to students on March
20. McCormack’s email in-
cluded a memo outlining the
recommendation from the
Faculty Committee on Gov-
ernance and Faculty Affairs
(GFA), which was responsible
for crafting the policy.
On Monday, President
Clayton Rose sent a follow-up
email reaffirming McCor-
mack’s statement after stu-
dents and faculty submitted a
petition asking the College to
allow students to opt in to re-
ceiving a letter grade.
Drafted and circulated by
Aaliyah Biondo ’22 and Aneka
Kazlyna ’20, the petition stated
that the current policy would
“fail to account for the full
scope of student needs” and
would cause “many students to
treat their courses without the
due diligence they deserve.”
Please see GRADING, page 2
On March 18, Moody’s Inves-
tor Services, a credit rating agency,
downgraded its financial outlook
for institutions of higher educa-
tion from “stable” to “poor,” citing
steep decreases to revenue streams
and potentially devastating rates of
deficit spending.
Although the size and diversity
of Bowdoin’s investment profile
places it on relatively sturdy finan-
cial footing, the College has taken
a number of measures to mitigate
the effects of the financial down-
turn.
In an email to students on
Please see ECONOMIC, page 4
 2 PAGE TWO
2 Friday, March 27, 2020

How to pass the time while in quarantine

by Lily Randall
Orient Staff
With almost two weeks of so-
cial distancing under my belt, I’m
about one bad Zoom call away
from talking to the walls. I’ve run
the gamut of classic quarantine
activities, from finally purging my
wardrobe of nostalgic high school
t-shirts to telling myself I have
the personality to get into baking
(wrong). I’ve started re-watching
“The Office,” which is so off-brand
I can’t believe I’m memorializing it
in this article forever. Point is, this
quarantine and I are in a serious
battle of the wits, and I’m getting
absolutely destroyed. If you’re in
a similar boat, and you’re looking
for a way to ~find yourself~ again,
consider some of these sugges-
tions on how to pass the time.
3. Day drink. crossed the line into unbearable.
STUDENT SPEAK:
Now that we’re all in different
timezones, it really is five o’clock
This is one of the few suggestions
on the list I’ve actually done, and
Who are you flirting with over Zoom?
somewhere. Stand in solidarity I have to say, my skin has cleared,
with your West coast peers who I no longer have student debt and Kat Daley ’22
are pulling up to 8:30s and take I’ve lost 20 pounds. If this sounds
one down for them. hard, it’s okay, at least try to do it
Until Tomorrow.
“The girl who got bangs.”
4. Do a social media cleanse.
Now that the entire Instagram 5. Throw off the shackles of do-
community has decided it’s 2011 mestication and become com-
again and that posting challenges pletely feral. Ray George ’23
is okay, social media has officially There’s no time like the present.
“Someone in my Econ class had a gerbil named Cyril in the
background of his zoom frame... he was kinda thicc ngl.”
Brooke Vahos ’21
“Both of my abroad boyfriends... on the same call.”

1. Risk it all and profess your love

for a prof over email.
I can’t say this is one I will be Francesca Mauro ’22
personally trying, but I can imag-
ine the experience would be pretty ’
“Dr. Anthony Fauci.”
cathartic. With at least five months
between now and next fall, any
serious fallout is sure to blow over
by the time you see them again, so
why not give it the ol’ college try? Amie Sillah ’20
I think my adrenaline receptors
are fried from a lack of use at this
point, so avoid my fate and keep
“I’m just staring at myself, we all are, this is coronavirus times,
your blood pressure high as you no space for lies!”
compulsively refresh Outlook
every 12 seconds waiting for their
response. Hannah Konkel ’20
2. Tap into your telepathic abilities.
This was actually my Costar
“The one kid whose camera is still on.”
for today. I thought it was worth
sharing. COMPILED BY AYUB TAHLIL AND LILY RANDALL

GRADING “Students and faculty are

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
In his email, Rose acknowl-
edged the petition, calling it
“well-reasoned and legitimate,”
but wrote that after reviewing
the policy again, he continued
to believe that a blanket policy
would serve the student body
best. He cited the GFA’s recom-
mendation for credit/no-credit
grading as well as further dis-
cussions with McCormack as
the basis for the decision.
McCormack said the deci-
sion was two-pronged.
“The two key points [in our
decision] were one, the integ-
rity of the grading process in a
new format, and two, the large
uncertainties of how this situ-
ation might unfold,” she said
in a phone interview with the
Orient. “There is going to be a
variety of circumstances stu-
dents will be dealing with for
the rest of the semester. Some
students may have work obli-
gations, family responsibilities
or different situations in [their]
ability to access technology.”
The student petition was
forwarded to all faculty, and
many replied to the message,
weighing in on the unprece-
dented decision.
Professor of Education Do-
ris Santoro, who advocated
against the option for letter
grades in an email response to
the petition, explained her ra-
tionale in simple terms: having
grades during this crisis makes
students’ lives more difficult.
all facing different sorts of
hardships, and I think it’s rea-
sonable to expect that some
of those may increase as the
weeks go on,” Santoro wrote in
an email to the Orient. “If we
could move to giving students
feedback on their work that
focuses on if they have met or
not met the course standards
to receive credit, then every-
one’s stress level decreases. We
can continue to offer quality
courses without adding anxi-
ety to the world.”
Santoro also said that, as
someone who has extensively
researched different models
of educational practices and
forms of assessment, she did
not think it would be logis-
tically possible to accurately
grade students remotely.
“Any grades that are giv-
en [in this situation], will be
suspect. Any transcript that
doesn’t have grades due to uni-
lateral institutional decisions
won’t be suspect,” she wrote.
The decision, however, was
not supported by all members
of the faculty, including Pro-
fessor of Economics Zorina
Khan.
“Bowdoin primarily exists
for our students,” she wrote in
an email to the Orient. “Many
of our peer colleges have cor-
rectly chosen the more stu-
dent-oriented policy. As such,
administrators need to listen
to our students, and respect
their democratic right and
ability to make the choices that
are best for themselves.”
Khan also echoed Biondo’s
petition, suggesting that the
rigor of classes would decrease
without the opportunity to
earn letter grades.
“A unilateral decision to
take away the ability to earn
grades is a tax on students who
strive to overcome obstacles.
Individuals rationally respond
to such incentives, so overall
quality at Bowdoin is likely to
fall,” she wrote.
Other colleges are also grap-
pling with whether or not to
allow letter grades during their
semesters of remote learning.
Some colleges like Williams
College and Harvard have
instituted mandatory credit/
no credit systems like Bow-
doin, while other comparable
institutions like Middlebury
and Bates have announced the
option for students to receive
letter grades.
Biondo is disappointed that
the school did not respond to
the petition as she’d hoped.
“We live in a democratic so-
ciety.” Biondo said in a phone
interview with the Orient.
“We’re putting Bowdoin at a
national disadvantage when
all these peer institutions are
giving people the option. And
we’re [the] students, we should
have our own agency.”
At the time of publication,
336 people have signed the
petition.
Associate Professor of En-
glish Emma Maggie Solberg,
who is a member of GFA, said
she found it sad that students
were petitioning for grades
amidst a global pandemic.
Solberg added that the petition
meant that faculty and admin-
istrators were not effectively
de-emphasizing grades as an
accurate metric of success.
“[The petition] is a sign
of how grades are misunder-
stood,” she said in a phone
interview with the Orient. “We
say all the time that grades are
not important, and nobody
believes us. And this scenario
has shown me how badly that
communication is being put
across. Students are not getting
it.”
In his email to the student
body, Rose reassured students
who hope to continue their
education in competitive
post-graduate programs, em-
phasizing that these are ex-
traordinary times.
“Given that all schools ... are
contending with similar circum-
stances around the crisis, [em-
ployers and graduate schools]
will appreciate the unique nature
of this semester,” he wrote.
Director of Health Profes-
sions Advising Seth Ramus
said that he has been in fre-
quent contact with pre-med
students and has paid close
attention to medical school
statements. In an email to the
Orient, he explained that most
schools have said they will ac-
cept a student having credit/no
credit marks instead of letter
grades in their transcript only
if it was mandatory. If the stu-
dent was given the option to
have a letter grade and refused
it, the school would not accept
that class for credit.
“The short of it is that if the
faculty had given students a
choice for a grade, that would
have been no choice at all. Stu-
dents would need to take their
classes for a grade, or need
to repeat those courses for a
grade at a later time,” he wrote.
As a student on the pre-med
track, Maria Camila Riaño ’22
said that she understands the
frustration with the policy but
urges her fellow students to
think about the bigger picture.
“[The] bottom line is that
it’s a bummer because a lot of
people were counting on this
semester as a chance to show
improvement in certain class-
es,” Riaño said in a phone in-
terview with the Orient. “But
the [reasoning] for credit/no
credit definitely takes priority
… I think that as future health
care workers we can practice
empathy and expect that med-
ical schools will do the same
when they see that we had no
choice about this.”
McCormack encouraged
students to practice empathy,
too, and think collectively
during this time of uncertain-
ty.
“We don’t know how bad
this is going to get for some
people .… We wanted to adopt
a policy that benefited all stu-
dents,” she said.
Alyce McFadden contributed
to this report.
POSITIVE
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
health officials.”
Rose explained that the
three other students have not
been tested but are presumed
to have contracted the virus.
They are currently self-isolating
outside of Maine. He added that
the students came into contact
with the infected individual
outside of Maine and none of
them have been on campus or
in Brunswick since interacting
with them.
ADMISSIONS
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
Admissions hopes to connect
prospective students directly
with the Bowdoin community.
“We are setting up some op-
portunities for current students
and some Bowdoin alumni to
chat with admitted students,”
Soule wrote.
New this year, admitted
students were sent a “Bowdo-
in box” containing a range of
gifts. These boxes were sent to
all admitted students, early and
regular decision alike.
“[The Bowdoin box] in-
cludes a collection of gifts that
not only represent key aspects
of Bowdoin, but also reference
something that students men-
tioned in their applications,”
Soule said. “We’re pretty excit-
ed about it! We expect the box-
es to land at students’ homes by
the weekend.”
Friday, March 27, 2020 NEWS
NEWS IN BRIEF COMPILED BY EMILY COHEN
Students return to Brunswick off-campus housing for
remainder of semester
BRUNSWICK ORDERS ALL
by Aura Carlson
NONESSENTIAL BUSINESSES TO Orient Staff
CLOSE Over the past few weeks, a
small group of students have
The Town of Brunswick declared a civil state of emergency Mon- returned to Brunswick to live in
day night in response to the growing coronavirus (COVID-19) off-campus housing and com-
outbreak, ordering all businesses to close except those included in plete the semester of remote
the 29 types of sanctioned “essential businesses.” The order is in learning close to campus.
effect for seven days, after which it is expected to be renewed. Sarisha Kurup ’21, who is
On Wednesday, Governor Janet Mills issued an executive order now living on Atwood Street,
closing all nonessential businesses for two weeks across Maine, created a Facebook group for
which currently has 155 confirmed cases of the coronavirus. Cum- these students and titled it
berland County, where Brunswick is located, has 90 confirmed “Study Abroad Brunswick.” In
cases. an introduction post she wrote,
President Clayton Rose conveyed the news of the emergency “some of us were thinking of
proclamations in an email to the Bowdoin community Tuesday. He establishing a little community
noted that while Bowdoin is exempt from both orders, the College in Brunswick. We thought we’d
has “already implemented [a] plan that has all but essential campus create this group for anyone po-
staff working remotely.” tentially interested in returning
Under the plan—the Essential Staffing Only Plan—the Col- to Brunswick to finish off class-
lege asks the fewest number of employees to come to work who es in off-campus residences.”
are considered necessary to maintain “the most essential services Kurup said she made the
for the safety and security of students who remain on campus, as Facebook group prior to un-
well as those needed for essential College operations.” According derstanding the gravity of the
to Bowdoin’s COVID-19 FAQ, these include employees in Din- coronavirus (COVID-19) pan-
ing Services, Safety and Security and the heating plant. However, demic.
which staff members are considered essential is subject to change. “It wasn’t clear to me yet the
Since his initial email announcing the move to online classes seriousness of the crisis,” Kurup
and the requirement that students vacate campus, Rose made as- said in a phone interview with
surances that staff would continue to receive pay for their regularly the Orient. “I thought it would
scheduled hours. Senior Vice President for Communications and be fun to have everyone living
Public Affairs Scott Hood wrote in an email to the Orient this week here and doing online classes
that essential hourly staff would be paid time-and-a-half for hours together … But I think that
worked on campus. people should be where they
feel most safe and comfortable
at this point. It’s been nice to be
[in Brunswick], but it’s certainly
not necessary to be here.”
So far, the majority of stu-
dents who have returned to
Brunswick are returning to
off-campus houses that they
had already been leasing.
Kurup, however, was living
on campus this semester, so she
decided to rent a home for the
As coronavirus uncertainty mounts, some students
reconsider abroad
by Andrew Bastone
Orient Staff
In the face of the uncer-
tainty caused by the novel
coronavirus (COVID-19), 15
students have withdrawn from
fall semester study away, and
more are expected to follow
suit, according to Director of
Off-Campus Study (OCS) and
International Programs Chris-
tine Wintersteen.
Roughly 160 students were
originally scheduled to study
away in the fall, Wintersteen
told the Orient in a phone in-
terview.
In an email sent to students
planning on studying away
in fall 2020 and for the entire
2020-2021 academic year,
Wintersteen detailed the ques-
tions students should consider
as they decide whether to study
abroad.
The email also highlighted
relevant upcoming housing
lottery and course registration
dates and provided a link to a
withdrawal form for students
who no longer wish to study
abroad in the fall. Students who
submit the withdrawal form by
April 5 are able to enter the
housing lottery. Those who
send in the form after April 5
will be assigned housing over
COURTESY OF THOMAS MARTIN the summer, the email stated.
SHOULD I STAY OR SHOULD I GO: Students planning on studying The message also cautioned
abroad in the fall now face a difficult decision in the face of the uncertainty students that the College could
caused by the coronavirus. not guarantee credits in the
rest of the semester along with
four other students who could
no longer stay in their on cam-
pus residences.
She said she preferred to stay
in Maine for the remainder of
the semester rather than return
to her home in Santa Clara,
California, which is currently
under a statewide lockdown.
“Going on walks means
walking around your neighbor-
hood, which isn’t the same thing
as being able to be in Maine and
go outside all the time into these
beautiful landscapes,” Kurup
said. “I think I have more op-
portunities to be outside here
[in Maine], and that’s been re-
ally incredible. I’m really, really
grateful.”
Although students living in
Brunswick are unable to gather
in large groups, Kurup empha-
sized that they still can go on
socially distanced walks with
friends in the Brunswick Town
Commons, watch sunsets at
Simpson’s Point and drive to
a deserted Popham beach on
rainy days.
Augustus Gilchrist ’20, who
lives on Noble Street, decided
to return to Brunswick because
many of his friends were doing
the same. Gilchrist also said he
did not want to stay at home,
where he might put his father,
who has pre-existing health
conditions, at an increased risk
of contracting the virus.
“I think not being around
one’s parents, for example, has
felt good—not in an ‘I don’t
want to be around them’ way,
but [living in Maine will] hope-
fully decrease a degree of that
event that a program transi-
tioned to online courses. “Bow-
doin may not be able to guar-
antee credit transfer in the case
that you find yourself on-site
and the study abroad program
cancels and offers academic al-
ternatives,” Wintersteen wrote.
Wintersteen told the Orient
that this warning was intended
for a situation where a single
“I know people say that going abroad is
a once in a lifetime opportunity, but so is
being able to be on campus as a student.”
–Chapman Odlum ’22
program, or a small number of
programs, have to move classes
online, as opposed to a situa-
tion as drastic as this semester’s.
All students who were forced
to transition to online classes
at their abroad programs this
semester will receive full credit
from the College.
“I don’t want the norm to
be, ‘I can go anywhere where
there’s potential risk and still
end up in a situation where I’m
earning credit online, when
I could be at Bowdoin [in-
stead],’” Wintersteen said.
Wintersteen explained the
email sought to inform stu-
dents that programs may be
different than originally antic-
ipated.
“The purpose of that email
was to let students know [that]
anxiety,” Gilchrist said in a
phone interview with the Ori-
ent.
Gilchrist has also found ac-
tivities to do with roommates
and other friends during quar-
antine.
“From cooking food to
building fires [in the backyard]
together, walking through the
woods and playing with a BB
gun, I don’t think we’re prac-
ticing a lot of social distance
amongst the people who live
directly in the house,” he said.
“But as for other people, I’ve
kept my distance with the ex-
ception of a few and, even then,
we’ve gone on walks or been out
in nature.”
Gilchrist, who previously
worked three campus jobs,
commended the College for re-
funding students’ dining plans
and compensating students in
accordance with their expect-
ed earnings from the Federal
Work Study program. He said
that these measures have helped
him afford groceries and other
necessities.
Although many of Maine
Street’s businesses are shutting
down, Gilchrist said that “places
are being inventive,” and some
restaurants are still accepting
take-out orders.
“Today, I saw Ben, the guy
who runs Dog Bar Jim, setting
up a makeshift drive through,”
said Gilchrist.
Despite the attempts at keep-
ing business open, Gilchrist
said there are “visual cues in
the environment to tell you that
something is going on.”
“I used to work for the alum-
even in a best case scenar-
io, even if a program runs, it
might feel very different than
when a student initially applied
and thought about studying
abroad,” she said.
Wintersteen said she has
told students that the situation
they are facing is unique.
“I’ve been telling students
that this type of situation has
never happened before in a
global sense,” she said. “The
students that were abroad could
[have expected] home sickness,
food poisoning, making a fool
of themselves speaking a new
language, but they probably
never could have anticipated a
global pandemic.”
Chapman Odlum ’22 was
originally planning to study in
New Zealand in the fall, but re-
cently changed his mind.
“The idea that going abroad
means not being back on cam-
pus until January of 2021 is
tough to grapple with. I know
people say that going abroad is
a once in a lifetime opportuni-
ty, but so is being able to be on
campus as a student,” Odlum
wrote in a message to the Ori-
ent. “I’ll be able to travel the
3
ni phone on the third floor of
the Town Hall, and that is now
barred with traffic tape to pre-
vent people from coming in,”
he said Gilchrist “It feels very
quiet.”
With classes having start-
ed remotely on Wednesday,
Gilchrist and Kurup both said
that living with fellow students
can be beneficial.
“It definitely puts you in the
right mental state to be in on-
line classes more than I think it
would be if I was at home with
my mom and brother, neither of
whom are doing online classes
right now,” Kurup said. “It’s nice
to be able to keep talking after
the cameras are off.”
Mostly enrolled in human-
ities classes, Gilchrist acknowl-
edged that despite the challeng-
es it entailed by remote learning
it can be helpful to have “moral
support [from other students]
about how wonky online class
can be.”
Gilchrist said he is grateful
to be with friends during this
health crisis.
“I’m worried about the same
thing that a lot of people are
worried about—my parents,
my grandparents. I’m worried
about graduating into a reces-
sion. But insofar as quality of
life, living with three friends
during this has been really
good,” said Gilchrist. “We’ve
been a support system for one
another. I feel like I did not ful-
ly lose my senior spring in the
kind of catastrophic way that I
think has happened to a lot of
other seniors I know.”
world later in my life, but I’ll
never again have the chance to
be a college student living with
my closest friends.”
Wintersteen said that she
does not know whether Bow-
doin can cancel the fall study
away program altogether, and
she added that no discussions
have been held yet about that
prospect. She said a study away
semester has never previously
been cancelled.
Wintersteen explained that,
for now, the OCS office is rely-
ing on the programs and uni-
versities themselves to make
decisions about the fall. “We
are really relying on program
providers and universities to
make decisions about whether
they will also run programs,”
she said. “I don’t think anyone
has made a decision about fall,
completely pulling out yet. I
think it’s just too early.”
Wintersteen also attributed
the lack of decisions about the
fall semester to program pro-
viders being preoccupied with
the current transition to online
courses and changes in sum-
mer programs, none of which
have yet been cancelled.
In a time of uncertainty,
Wintersteen said the OCS of-
fice would continue as it did
this spring.
“Just as we were doing for
the spring cohort, I think every
decision we made was reas-
sessed daily and weekly.”
4 NEWS
INTERNATIONAL
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
from students caused them to
reconsider.
“We realized that those
situations—those extreme,
rare and compelling circum-
stances—required us to say,
‘international students, if you
can’t find another place domes-
tically—and we recognize that
domestically is the best place
for international students to
be—that we will house [you]
here on campus,’” said Lohman.
Nurjadin said that as soon as
students received Rose’s initial
If approved by Student Employment Office, student employees
permitted to work remotely
by Eliana Miller
Orient Staff
Laila McCain ’21 is accus-
tomed to working 18 to 20
hours per week. She gives tours
and hosts information sessions
for the Office of Admissions,
works in the Center for Cocur-
ricular Opportunities and is
employed by the Office of Res-
idential Life (ResLife) as a Resi-
dential Advisor in Chamberlain
Hall. Now that the College is
operating remotely, however,
she can only keep her job work-
ing for ResLife.
“I only work seven hours a
week now,” said McCain in a
phone interview with the Ori-
ent. “Luckily, ResLife is paying
me the same amount per week
that they would have if I was on
campus. It’s nice to have some
sort of income, but it’s also a lot
of money that I’m losing ulti-
mately.”
McCain is one of a small
number of student employees
who are able to earn a paycheck
in the final months of school by
working remotely. No students
are permitted to work on cam-
pus, and no students currently
living outside of the US, regard-
less of their citizenship status,
are allowed to work remotely.
If a department wants a
student employee to continue
working, the supervisor must
submit a request to be reviewed
by the Student Employment
Office. The Office’s website
states that only students who
are “essential to supporting” a
department and are in a “criti-
cal position” will be approved to
work remotely.
email announcing the move to
remote learning, the interna-
tional students’ group chat was
immediately abuzz, since the
announcement made no men-
tion of international students’
particular circumstances.
“Early on, when we first got
[the remote learning] email, a
lot of us were saying, ‘Maybe
we should give them a little bit
of time,’ because this was such
a crazy, unprecedented deci-
sion,” Nurjadin said. “And then
as time progressed and we still
didn’t get an email, I think a lot
of us were starting to mobilize.”
Within roughly 24 hours of
While most student employ-
ees will make less money this
semester than expected, the
College has made adjustments
to work-study grants for stu-
dents on financial aid. These
adjustments reflect the stu-
dent’s expected earnings for the
remaining eight weeks of the
semester. Ava Jackson ’20 said
she was surprised to receive the
adjustment and that the amount
was “spot-on.”
Jackson previously worked
five to 12 hours per week in
Thorne Dining Hall in addi-
tion to working off campus at
her parents’ restaurant in New
Hampshire. She’s grateful for
the work-study adjustment now
“We’re figuring it out as we go, and
it’ll be different. I love working with
them, and I’m so grateful for all the
technology that lets us stay connected.”
–Callie Kimball, Theater and Dance Department Coordinator
that both the restaurant and the
dining hall are closed.
“I think Bowdoin is doing
the right thing. Students are
missing out on this opportunity
to work and, therefore, the right
thing to do is to compensate
students for that time,” said
Jackson in a phone interview
with the Orient. “There are
probably still some cases that
have fallen through the cracks,
but generally the College has
been pretty good at working
with students and meeting their
needs.”
As the job market contin-
ues to suffer from the impact
of the COVID-19 pandemic,
CRICKETS: Approximately 50 students were approved by the College to remain on campus until May 17. The students remaining on campus will move to
Brunswick Apartments on March 28 and are not allowed to congregate in groups larger than three.
the College’s announcement, an
informal coalition of interna-
tional students had reached out
to the administration regarding
their needs, and the College
soon changed its course.
“I think all of us were kind of
pissed off that they weren’t ad-
dressing [the issue],” Nurjadin
said, noting that international
students constitute 6.6 percent
of the student body. “But once
we were able to talk to them
and express our concerns … I
think they realized [they had
to] tweak [their] policy.”
The students who remain on
campus will move from their
it is difficult for students such
as Jackson and McCain to find
work at home. Many businesses
in the food and service indus-
tries have closed or signifi-
cantly reduced their business
hours. McCain has worked at
a restaurant near her home in
Boston nearly every break since
her senior year of high school,
but now they don’t have hours
for her. Similarly, Jackson had
planned to continue working
as a bartender this summer, but
if restaurants remain closed or
open only for delivery, she said
that she will file for unemploy-
ment benefits.
The lack of on-campus jobs
means that students face not
only a loss of revenue but also
a loss of community. Individ-
uals who work in an office on
campus often befriend other
students, faculty and staff while
on the job.
Jackson wishes that she could
still have that sense of commu-
nity. She said that, especially
as a graduating senior, she will
miss the connections she made
in Thorne.
“My supervisor sent a really
sweet message about how he
was going to miss us,” she said.
“Other dining hall employees
also reached out to me just
to see if I was doing okay and
offer[ed] any support if they
current residences to Bruns-
wick Apartments on March 28
this weekend. Students were
given the option of living in
either a one-bedroom apart-
ment alone or a two-bedroom
apartment with a roommate.
Those who elect to live with a
roommate must sleep in sepa-
rate bedrooms and cannot con-
gregate in groups larger than
three people.
The College stated that they
will help students move their
belongings from their current
residences to Brunswick Apart-
ments. However, Michelle Lu
’20, who is from Shanghai,
could … help, which was very
sweet. And they said that Bow-
doin is treating them extremely
well during this time.”
McCain appreciates that she
can continue to be a part of
the ResLife community despite
working remotely.
“Even though we’re not phys-
ically there, ResLife is a huge
chunk of kids. There are 80
people on staff, which is a big
amount, and still being able to
have some sort of cohesion and
sense of a group is really nice,
especially now,” she said. “A lot
of students and staff members
see the ResLife staff as a cohe-
sive group that can make the
community stay close in hard
times, so I’m glad that that is
still a resource that we all have.”
On-campus employers also
miss their in-person interac-
tions with student employees.
After receiving approval for
her two student employees to
continue working remotely,
Callie Kimball, the academic
department coordinator for the
theater and dance department,
said she now looks forward to
their weekly Zoom meetings.
“I’m a very social person,
and I’m going to miss working
in the same office with [these
two students], but luckily we
can do so much digitally and
online,” she said in a video call
with the Orient. “We’re figur-
ing it out as we go, and it’ll be
different. I love working with
them, and I’m so grateful for all
the technology that lets us stay
connected.”
The Office of Student Em-
ployment was not available for
comment.
China, said she was expected
to rely on host families or other
resources to transport most of
her belongings.
“[The College] sent out an
email offering to move large
furniture and that was it. They
kind of implied that you should
take care of the rest yourself,”
said Lu.
While on campus, students
have access to the Moulton
Union dining hall from 11:30
a.m. to 1 p.m. to pick up take-
out lunch and from 5 p.m. to
6:30 p.m. to pick up dinner and
collect their breakfast for the
next day. Only 10 students are
ECONOMIC
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
March 17, President Clayton Rose
announced that the College has
delayed construction on Mills Hall
and the Center for Arctic Studies
indefinitely. Both projects were
set to break ground on March 19.
The ongoing construction of the
new Harpswell Apartments and
renovations to the Schiller Coastal
Studies Center will be completed
on schedule, according to Rose.
According to Orlando, the
College will be unable to set a new
timeline for the delayed projects
until the public health and finan-
cial crises resolve. The delay is
expected to affect future construc-
tion projects as well, including a
planned renovation of Sills Hall
that was set to begin in the sum-
mer of 2021.
“The timing of the Sills Hall
renovation is inextricably linked
to the completion of Mills Hall,”
said Orlando. “We cannot take
Sills Hall offline without the added
classroom capacity of Mills Hall.”
Orlando said that he has yet to
determine the ways that the losses
will affect the College’s operating
budget for next year and beyond—
including whether those cuts will
entail laying off employees.
“We’re just beginning to dig
into now to assess the financial
impacts and challenges,” wrote
Orlando. “Our priority is to main-
tain the excellence of what we do
at Bowdoin and to preserve jobs,
and that’s what will guide us.”
For fiscal year 2019-20, roughly
35 percent of the College’s $175.8
million operating budget was
drawn from returns on the en-
dowment.
The ongoing financial crisis has
also slowed fundraising efforts for
the College’s recently-announced
$500 million capital campaign,
which entered its public phase on
Friday, March 27, 2020
ANN BASU, THE BOWDOIN ORIENT
allowed into the dining hall at
a time. Students can also col-
lect mail from the Mail Center
in David Saul Smith Union
on Wednesdays and Fridays
during a two hour window.
These strict policies have
created an eerie atmosphere on
campus, residents say.
“It kind of feels like you’re
stranded on an island,” said Lu.
“I’m just afraid of the mo-
ment [when] it’s going to be
normal for us to not see any-
one and not talk to anyone
potentially all day and ... not
having social interaction at
all,” said Lu.
February 6. As of March 24, the
campaign had raised $331.5 mil-
lion—up roughly $10.5 million
from the campaing’s launch event
in February.
“The only thing that’s changed
about the campaign so far is the
level of gift and pledge activi-
ty, which is slower,” wrote Scott
Meikeljohn, senior vice president
for development and alumni re-
lations, in an email to the Orient.
The development office has
also suspended fundraising efforts
that require any travel.
“We have hit the ‘Pause’ button
on most (but not all) conversa-
tions that have to do with multi-
year commitments,” Meikeljohn
wrote.
As of now, the College is still
expecting to meet its $500 million
goal by June of 2024, though the
development office would con-
sider extending its timeline if the
crisis worsens.
“[It] remains to be seen if we
will need to adjust,” Meikeljohn
wrote.
Despite the slowing rate of do-
nations, Meikeljohn said a number
of existing donors have accelerated
their scheduled pledge payments
to financial aid and other essen-
tial campaign priorities, and 125
donors have contributed to a fund
devoted to underwriting the sig-
nificant cost of moving students
off campus and transitioning to
online classes. The Alumni Fund,
an annual fundraising effort, is
also ahead of the benchmark set
in 2019.
“One of the best parts of ev-
ery day has been the incoming
messages of support, concern for
Bowdoin students and offers of
help from many, many alumni,
parents and others connected
to Bowdoin,” Meikeljohn wrote.
“That sort of underlying care and
connection says a lot about what
Bowdoin is.”
 A ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
Friday, March 27, 2020
Theater and dance department shares lip sync video
by Cole van Miltenburg
Orient Staff
Dancing outdoors and shar-
ing snapshots of quarantined
family life, faculty from the De-
partment of Theater and Dance
relayed an exuberant and spirit-
ed message to the Bowdoin com-
munity last week. With 2,500
views and counting, professors
starred in a video cover of The
Temptations’ 1960s Motown hit
“Can’t Get Next To You,” taking a
humorous—albeit important—
stance on the social distancing
measures prompted by the coro-
navirus (COVID-19).
Chair of Department of The-
ater and Dance and Associate
Professor of Theater Abigail
Killeen thought of the project
after faculty met last week to
plan their transition to remote
learning for the remainder of
the semester.
“One of the central themes of
our discussion was the serious
value of play and how to help
students foster joy, especially in
difficult circumstances,” Killeen
wrote in an email to the Orient.
“Very soon afterwards I was out
running, and I remembered the
Temptations song, ‘Can’t Get
Next To You’ and laughed out
loud … and then the idea just
tumbled out of my brain.”
Killeen first reached out to
Senior Lecturer in Dance Perfor-
mance Gwyneth Jones, and soon
Art departments persist despite challenges of remote learning
by Julia Jennings
Orient Staff
As two of the departments
most dramatically affected by
the transition to remote learning,
the Department of Theater and
Dance and the Department of Vi-
sual Arts have had to substantial-
ly restructure courses previously
dependent on live performance
and in-person collaboration.
The faculty, however, remain
hopeful.
“While it’s sad, and we tru-
ly miss the students, it’s also
an exciting challenge,” Chair
of Department of Theater and
Dance Abigail Killeen wrote in
an email to the Orient. “Theater
and Dance were made for these
times—each discipline has, his-
torically, brought people together
in crisis. It’s a fun challenge to
figure out how to do that despite
physical distance.”
Immediately after the Col-
lege officially announced its
transition to remote learning,
theater and dance faculty met
to discuss creative solutions to
keep students engaged. Though
the task presented significant
challenges, together they de-
signed adapted syllabi for the
remainder of the semester, ex-
plained Visiting Assistant Pro-
fessor of Theater Sally Wood.
“It’s really phenomenal watch-
ing creative people work. Once
we get done mourning for the fact
that it can't be the way that we all
wanted it to be in our brains, then
something happens with artists,”
ALL SMILES: Chair of Department of Theater and Dance and Associate Professor of Theater Abigail Killeen spearheaded a lip sync cover of The Temptations’ “Can’t Get Next To You.”
amassed a group of fellow faculty
members to take part in the lip
sync video.
“I knew our faculty and staff
were brave enough to appear fool-
ish for the greater good—a key to
creativity,” said Killeen. “It was a
lot to ask at a frantic and fearful
moment, but we got it done.”
said Wood in an interview via
Microsoft Teams. “People have
been losing their minds in terms
of figuring this out and then turn-
ing around and sharing it with
the world.”
Many theater classes will turn
to online video platforms to
workshop monologues and other
performance pieces.
“[The theater department is] a
blend of theory and practice, and
practice is difficult when we can’t
be together in the same room,”
wrote Killeen.
Dance courses plan to con-
tinue coursework by having stu-
dents make and record their own
dances at home, explained Senior
Lecturer in Dance Performance
Gwyneth Jones.
“They will remember the
work they’ve already done in
the dance studio and hopefully
see it change into a new form,”
Jones wrote in an email to the
Orient. “They will [also] exper-
iment with creating dance for
film,” she added.
The visual art department
will similarly have to adapt.
Being unable to meet in-person
will pose one of the greatest
challenges to visual art courses
moving forward, said Carrie
Scanga, chair of the Depart-
ment of Art and Director of
Visual Arts Division and Asso-
ciate Professor of Art.
In place of face-to-face inter-
action, Scanga plans to incor-
porate virtual studio visits with
professional artists into courses
this semester as well as exchang-
5
COURTESY OF THE BOWDOIN DEPARTMENT OF THEATER AND DANCE
Donning sunglasses and a itizing their hands with appear- has a background in video edit- skills I have been developing in my
brimmed hat, Professor of The- ances by several of their children. ing and effects. time here at Bowdoin.”
ater Davis R. Robinson can be Video clips were compiled “Making the video came out of Killeen is hopeful that the
seen jamming out on the piano and edited by Theater and [our] meeting as a way to continue video will have a unifying im-
while Assistant Professor of Dance Dance Technology Designer the sense of community that we pact on the greater Bowdoin
Adanna Kai Jones engages pas- Gregg Carville. Carville works have in our department,” Carville community during a time of
sionately in a solo dance routine. mostly with lighting, audio and said in an email to the Orient. “I stress and uncertainty.
One portion of the video features video projections in dance and had never edited a lip sync before, “There is a way to be together
faculty fervently washing and san- theater productions, but he also but it falls in line with many of the even while separate,” Killeen said.
ing letters and art with students
at other small liberal arts colleges.
“I am also considering having
optional live open studio sessions
in which I’ll be working in my
studio on Sundays with Zoom
set up and any students who want
to can drop in and work togeth-
er with me,” Scanga wrote in an
email to the Orient.
Scanga also noted that los-
ing access to equipment such
as printing presses and facilities
such as the darkroom, wood shop
and the physical gallery in the Ed-
wards Center for Art and Dance
will impact the kind of work that
students will be able to produce.
“We have shifted the materi-
als and scope of art assignments,
redirecting toward simpler
methods that can be conduct-
ed on a kitchen table at home,” GWEN DAVIDSON, THE BOWDOIN ORIENT
wrote Scanga. THINKING OUTSIDE OF THE BOX: Visual arts students received a shipment of supplies after returning home to com-
One of the most significant plete the semester online. Faculty are hopeful that students will continue to grow creatively through remote learning.
challenges faced by faculty across
art departments is the need to studio students in theater and that I don't have to find a silver and creative or emotional en-
re-imagine the presentation of dance in the coming days to dis- lining—this is just a great loss.” gagement that could be an im-
senior honors and capstone proj- cuss options for dealing with the Clarke, however, also ex- portant outlet during this time
ects designed to reflect the culmi- immense challenge of presenting pressed great appreciation for for our students,” wrote Scanga. “I
nation of a student’s work in the theater pieces remotely. the efforts of the department will try to be a role model by cul-
arts at Bowdoin. “I'm realizing right now that faculty for making the best of tivating that practice in my home
"Currently we are discussing I'm so grateful for what I've cho- such a difficult situation and studio, and then offering them a
the possibility of a virtual exhi- sen to study at Bowdoin precisely for encouraging collaboration window into my life and art.”
bition that would be mounted because it doesn't translate to among students. Other faculty members ex-
on a website,” wrote senior studio remote learning. It doesn't work,” Faculty members also ex- pressed similar wishes for the
course instructor and Associate said theater major Tori Clarke ’20 pressed their gratitude for the power of art courses.
Professor of Art James Mullen in in an interview over video call. meaningful creative work that “It's like we're all standing on
an email to the Orient. “Students “The connection of being with they do and the connections they the same tightrope. I can't even
are very interested and I am going other people in a studio and get- have forged with students during imagine what will grow out of
to reach out to IT for suggestions ting into the nitty-gritty of a piece this time. this,” said Wood. “But rest assured
about options." of theatre can't be replicated over “I do think that art courses that the artists’ community will
Killeen, Jones and other fac- Zoom. That is the beauty of what offer unique opportunities for find some way to just make this
ulty will be meeting with senior we do at Bowdoin, and it means meditative handicraft, stillness, thing explode in a really great way.”
 F FEATURES
6 Friday, March 27, 2019
Making her mark: Bowdoin welcomes security officer Braley
by Emma Sorkin
Orient Staff
When Kailyn Braley started
as a security officer at the Col-
lege late last August, as with
any new job, she had to adjust.
“I know sometimes a uni-
form can be off-putting, and
it was something that was a
struggle when I first started
working here,” Braley said.
“People see you different-
ly, and some people see you
through the uniform.”
Not only did Braley have
to get used to wearing her
new uniform, but as the only
female security officer cur-
rently patrolling the main
campus, her uniform needed
physical adjustments as well.
“It’s not quite formulated
for a woman’s body. I had to
get a lot of adjustments. Plus
I’m so much shorter than ev-
eryone else. I still usually roll
[my sleeves],” Braley said.
“But they changed the
dress code for me,” Braley
added with a smile. “They let
me keep my nose ring.”
Though there have been
female security staff members
in the past, Braley is the first
female security officer at the
College in recent years. She
said, however, that she has
been welcomed by the rest of
the security staff.
“All the other officers are
super supportive, and they’re
I Said What I
Said
by Aisha Rickford
Stage One: Denial. I arrive
in one of my last classes before
spring break in a huff. “West
Trek is cancelled,” I complain.
“All because of coronavirus.
It’s all fear mongering. I refuse
to take part.”
That day, I receive an email
from The Atlantic with the
subject line, “Why you’ll prob-
ably get coronavirus.” I delete
it immediately.
The Saturday at the start of
spring break, I take a bus from
Portland to New York, where I
plan to spend the night at my
aunt’s apartment before head-
ing home to Long Island. We
hammer out the details of my
trip to the city the following
weekend: I’m planning to stay
with her, to see family and to
visit my cousin in Brooklyn.
The news drones on with re-
ports of coronavirus growing
closer, and my aunt and my
mother consider stocking up
on groceries. My aunt tells me
I should reconsider my trip
to the city, reconsider every-
thing. I tell her to stop buying
into the collective panic.
“Don’t disrespect this dis-
ease,” my aunt tells me. “You
don’t know what could hap-
pen.”
“I’m not going to stop living
my life,” I shoot back.
A week later, I read an email
telling me to come back to
really kind. They’re respectful,”
Braley said. “It’s been awesome
being able to be a security of-
ficer and being female. I know
it’s a little out of the norm, but
I’ve always been interested in
keeping the peace.”
Though she thought it
would be easy to learn her way
around Bowdoin’s campus,
Braley, a Brunswick native, is
just beginning to adjust to life
at the College.
Braley graduated from the
University of Southern Maine
after studying criminology,
sociology and media studies.
Though she did not consider
a career as a security officer
prior to attending school, she
had been interested in crimi-
nology from a young age.
“When I was younger I
watched a lot of crime shows
that I … was too young to be
watching. And that’s what got
me interested in criminology,
and my dad was a police offi-
cer,” she said.
Having recently been a
college student herself, Braley
knew her experience would
bring a valuable perspective
to the Bowdoin security team.
“I like helping people,”
Braley said. “I like making
connections, I like meeting
students … I think they feel
like they can connect with
me because I’m a couple years
older, and I’ve been through
school … and the hardships.”
Stages of Grief: A Diary of Losing Bowdoin
campus and collect my things,
my life I’ve built over the past
four years. So far, in order to
cope, I’ve been splitting things
up like so: Tuesday, March 10,
the day I cooked chickpea stew
and went for a walk. Before.
Wednesday March 11, the day
I woke up to hear that my se-
nior year had been cut merci-
lessly short.
It felt all wrong, making the
drive up on the salt-strewn
roads, through the icy air. I
only make this drive in the
fall or spring, when Maine
is blooming, when the sky is
clear blue and the ferry I take
from Long Island to Connecti-
cut is smooth, not wrestling
with the water, an ominous
foretelling of what is to come.
Stage Two: Depression.
The stages are out of order.
That’s the point. The day I
arrive back on campus to
pack up my life is damp and
gray. I open the door to my
single and move robotically,
packing up my things before I
even realize what I’m doing. I
pause to cry when I can’t pre-
tend any longer—when I find
a Fujifilm picture I took of a
friend, when I find a receipt I
held onto from a meal with a
person I miss, when I find the
letters my friends wrote to me
while I was a camp counselor
one summer. But there’s no
time to lose, no time to fully
mourn what’s lost. The one
thing I feel most of all is how
mercilessly I’ve been forced
LOOKING AHEAD: Kailyn Braley, who started as a security officer at Bowdoin last summer, reflects on her time at the College so far.
Braley works with the rest
of the security team to cov-
er campus events, check all
buildings and residences,
provide health and wellness
checks, answer phones in the
security office and, most im-
portantly, help students.
“Randy’s model, which is
always my favorite, is ‘do for,
to uproot my life, how quick-
ly, how unexpectedly. A door
to a stage of my life that is
supposed to come to a gentle
close, facilitating the transi-
tion to adulthood with grace,
has slammed shut.
Stage Three: Bargaining. Of
my grief over losing Bowdoin
and Maine, my aunt tells me
to “hold onto the way it made
me feel.” On a day where I
don’t leave my room or open
my blinds, I blindly reach
for something to cling to. I
convince myself I need to re-
turn to Maine, find a public
service job, because losing it
has shown me that I wasn’t
ready to leave. I email Maine
employers, in hindsight a bit
desperately, and reach out to
people I know in Maine ask-
ing if they have any leads. Of
course, they don’t. The world
is shutting down, along with
any hope I had for things to be
like they were before.
Stage Four: Anger. I listen
to the town halls, arguing
and complaining in a group
chat of friends about
all the reasons they
can’t do this, why
Bowdoin is
overreacting,
how they
can’t make
us leave.
The anger
is short-
lived, espe-
cially when
I realize just
not to,’” she said, referring to
her boss, Executive Director
of Safety and Security Randy
Nichols. “I think that’s some-
thing that always goes through
our minds and something you
just replay over. We’re not
trying to catch anyone—we’re
trying to keep people safe.
That’s the whole deal.”
how serious the crisis is. My
mother, a nurse, still has to go
to work. The rising number of
infections is a ticking clock,
counting down the minutes
until the virus finds its way even
more intimately into my life.
I remember that the virus
is bigger than just me and my
cut-off senior year. It’s big-
ger than the cancelled spring
break trip. It’s healthcare
workers who are ill-equipped
and scared. It’s hospitals lying
to their nurses and doctors in
order to contain panic while
at the same time putting lives
at risks. It’s the elderly and the
immunocompromised living
in anxiety and fear. It’s selfish
people buying everything off
the shelf. It’s families having
to grieve their loved ones in
isolation, throwing grand-
parents into mass graves,
delaying funerals indef-
initely. It’s bigger than
me. It’s bigger than all
of us.
At the end of the day, Braley
takes pride in keeping students
safe and in her position as a
female role model on campus.
“The other day I was
driving, I was leaving Smith
Union, and there was this
little girl with her dad. I
had my window down, and
I heard her say, ‘Look, Dad-
Stage Five: Depression,
again. Ever present. The sadness
over the loss of Bowdoin never
really leaves me, rears its head
often, usually melodramatically.
I tell a friend who’s returned to
Bowdoin to collect her things to
breathe in some Brunswick air
for me, and I double over crying
in my childhood bedroom.
I remember trips to Port-
land’s First Friday with
friends, summer evenings at
N
TA
RA
KY
CAROLINE FLAHARTY, THE BOWDOIN ORIENT
dy, it’s a female cop!’” Braley
said, smiling herself. “It put
a smile on my face. You see
more and more females in
law enforcement nowadays,
but you didn’t used to before.
It’s nice for me to be here as
a female officer, and the fact
that Bowdoin’s so supportive,
it’s great.”
Damariscotta Lake, paddling
Flagstaff Lake along the Bige-
lows. I remember lazily swing-
ing in my hammock on the
quad in the September heat,
riding my bike to Simpson’s
Point each May at the turn of
spring.
Stage Six: Acceptance. Yet
anger, depression, denial all
swirl back, as the stages of
grief are rarely linear. I think,
dryly, that they should rename
the “acceptance” stage “resig-
nation.” Because really, what
other choice do we have?
I watch my home state be-
comes the epicenter of the
pandemic in the United States,
and feel my sense of commu-
nity and appreciation for its
leadership grow—the same
way my love for Maine grew
over the past four years.
Still aching over the loss,
I soothe myself with dreams
of reunions, my friends and
I aging like wine, drunkenly
stumbling on the quad in the
late May sunlight; taking my
future kids to Maine, writing
from a window overlooking
the rocky gray coastline and
the sea. I dream of the oppo-
site of social distancing, a re-
turn to normalcy and health.
I hope that the precious parts
of our world—the parts we so
sorely miss as we are cooped
up in our homes—remain
unchanged. I hope the insuf-
ficiencies of our world, high-
lighted by this crisis, change
for the better.
Friday, March 27, 2020 FEATURES 7

Faculty and staff help

students move and cope
by Rebecca Norden-Bright
Orient Staff
Diana Grandas ’20 was
in Austria over spring break
visiting a friend when she re-
ceived word that the College
would be transitioning to re-
mote learning. Suddenly, she
found herself unable to return
to campus with no way to re-
trieve her belongings.
Assistant Professor of Phys-
ics Mark Battle, Grandas’ hon-
ors advisor, stepped up.
“When I knew she was in
Austria for her break and was
going to be coming back into
the midst of this chaos, I just
sent her an email and said, if
there’s anything you need me
to do to help you deal with all
of this, let me know,” Battle
said.
Though Grandas’ friends
were able to do most of the
packing, Battle helped retrieve
some of her belongings and
store them in his garage.
“It was really just a case of
what I would do for any friend
I knew who was in a sticky sit-
uation,” he said.
Like Grandas, many stu-
dents were unable to return to
campus and found themselves
in need of assistance from
faculty or staff. In response to
this challenge, the College cre-
ated a form for students to fill
out to request help in packing
up their rooms. About 50 re-
quests came in before the ma-
jority of dorms closed March
18.
“We had over 100 staff
across the College volunteer
to pack up rooms,” said Mike
Ranen, associate dean of Stu-
dent Affairs and director of
Residential and Student Life.
“It was amazing the amount
of people who wanted to help.
We had so many people who
volunteered to help that at
times, we had to say thank you
so much, but we actually don’t
need you right now.”
Like Battle, many faculty
members offered to help stu-
dents in difficult situations.
Some opened up their homes
to store students’ items, such
as Professor of Cinema Studies
Tricia Welsch.
Associate Professor of
Asian Studies Vyjayanthi Se-
linger volunteered to pack up
students’ rooms in addition to
storing items.
“I felt like it was the least I
could do when everything else
seemed uncertain,” Selinger
said. “What is going to happen
to your stuff is not something
you should have to worry
about.”
Heather Kenvin, senior
associate director of steward-
ship, helped pack up a room
for a student who lived far
from campus, communicating
via FaceTime with the student
to ensure that she retrieved the
correct items.
As the College transitions
to remote learning, the roles of
some staff members are tran-
sitioning as well, including Joe
Anderson, logistics manager
for facilities & rental housing.
Normally, Anderson manages
the moving and setup crew,
which does setup for campus
events.
“There aren’t any events on
campus anymore, so we just
tried to step in and be avail-
able for whatever help was
needed,” he said.
According to Anderson,
this included buying about
3,200 boxes, assembling them
and then handing them out to
students to use while packing
up their rooms.
“Since the students have
moved out, our role has kind
of shifted,” Anderson said.
“Now we’re steadily working
our way through the dorm
rooms, getting all of the stu-
dent items that were left for
storage moved over to the
storage facility and starting
to get the rooms cleaned up a
little bit.”
The staff at the mail center
also took on extra respon-
sibilities during the transi-
tion. According to Ranen,
they shipped over 600 boxes
throughout the move out pro-
cess.
“They came on the weekend
[of spring break], when they
weren’t supposed to be open,”
Ranen said. “They had an
amazingly organized system.”
Staff were also able to
provide support to students
through the use of the help-
line, which the Division of
Student Affairs operated for
12 hours a day between March
11 and March 14.
“We knew that this shift
to remote learning was going
to cause all 1,800 students on
campus to have questions and
to feel in crisis,” said Direc-
tor of Residential Education
Whitney Hogan, who helped
coordinate the help line. “We
were really trying to mimic
that one-on-one support in a
way that was sustainable and
manageable for the weeks
that students would be com-
ing back to campus or leaving
from campus. People from all
over the Bowdoin community
came and helped out.”
Despite the transition to
remote learning, faculty and
staff are continuing to find
ways to reach out to their
students and offer support.
Welsch and Selinger both
reached out to their students
and advisees. Eduardo Pazos
Palma, director of the Center
for Religious and Spiritual
Life, is also exploring new
ways to connect with students.
“I set up a booking app so
that we can do virtual office
hours, so I can still be a confi-
dential resource,” Pazos Palma
said.
For many, the outpouring
of community support has
provided comfort amidst the
challenges of recent weeks.
“The Bowdoin community REUBEN SCHAFIR, THE BOWDOIN ORIENT
thing is alive and well, from ON THE MOVE: (TOP) Izzy Cisneros ’23 and her parents help move her belongings to Cumberland Self
what I can see,” Welsch said. Storage. (BOTTOM) Emilia Majersik ’22 packs up her room before the March 18 deadline.

DO THE FIVE
and help stop the spread of the coronavirus
1. HANDS wash them often
2. ELBOW cough into it
3. FACE don’t touch it
4. SPACE keep safe distance
5. HOME stay if you can
Credit: World Health Organization
8 FEATURES
A REFLECTION ON ENDINGS
AND BUOYANCY
A month ago yesterday, I
swam in my last race ever: the
200 butterfly at the NESCAC
Championships. My coach-
es told me my fly had been
looking good. My teammates
were cheering me on behind
the blocks. I had worked hard
for a long time (13 years, to be
exact), giving my all to every
practice, staying late to work
on technique and perfect-
ing a warm-up routine that
worked for me. I was excited
to see my hard work pay off,
because that’s how I thought
these things ought to go. And
then I dove in, and I could
feel my body give up on me. It
was a painfully slow race, my
time didn’t make it back for
finals, and so my swim career
was over. I felt blindsided and
betrayed by the sport that I
loved. My goggles filled with
tears as I blew angry bubbles
from the bottom of the warm-
down pool.
My swim coach, however,
has always told me that I am
extra buoyant (“light bones,”
he says), so I have a hard
time staying on the bottom
of the pool for long. I quickly
floated back up, and rallied
to cheer on my teammates.
Because, really, moping alone
felt like a shitty alternative.
ISOLATION AND THE
BOWDOIN BUBBLE
It’s easy for me to remember
the last time I felt this hopeless
and distraught. It was in the fall
of my freshman year, after the
2016 election. Before election
night, I was really excited. It was
my first time participating in
politics, and there I was, helping
elect the first female president.
But that didn’t happen. Trump
became our president.
I’ll never forget being on
campus during that time. Ev-
erything I valued and believed
in was more or less overturned.
I went to a professor and talked
to her about how helpless I felt.
I thought it was the end of the
world. She comforted me and
shared her own experience. She
and her husband had tucked
their two-year-old daughter
into bed on election night and
said, “Just think: when we wake
up in the morning, we’ll have
the first woman president!”
As a woman and a mother,
she was devastated and scared
for her daughter. What was she
supposed to say now?
Now, my four years at Bow-
doin have sadly coincided with
the Trump Era and the crisis,
chaos and tumult it has brought.
My freshman fall was dominat-
ed by Trump’s election and now
my final semester—my senior
spring—is overshadowed by
the uncertainty and fear of the
worst global pandemic in gen-
erations.
WE WANT YOU TO TELL YOUR STORY
A month ago today, I wrote
a submission for Talk of the
Quad about the end of my
swim career. Here is an ex-
cerpt from what I wrote that
day:
“Things don’t always end
the way we want them to.
As a senior getting ready to
graduate, this is something
I am coming to terms with
more and more, and I can’t
say it’s easy. Sure, people say
that every ending is a new
beginning, or something like
that. But that doesn’t make
those endings any less pain-
ful. I know that I will keep
swimming, but it won’t be
the same as swimming for my
team. That kind of swimming
is over, and it’s an ending that
I know will hurt for a while.
I also know, however, that the
only thing I can control about
how my time with swimming
ended is how I respond to it. I
have a whole lot of gratitude
for the sport that taught me
that I am buoyant, and that,
even when I sink, eventually I
will have to float on up.”
Sounds nice enough. Little
did I know that a month lat-
er, I would be moving out of
Bowdoin permanently to go
practice social distancing due
to a global health crisis. But,
of course, things don’t always
end the way we want them to.
The end of my swim career
Though my time at Bowdoin
has coincided with the Trump
Era, it wasn’t defined by it. I
recovered from the election
results after a couple of weeks.
I’ve had conversations about my
disagreements with government
policies, sympathized with and
complained to my peers about
the state of the world and even
participated in activism on
campus. But it never dominated
my life.
I’m very fortunate and priv-
ileged to be able to say that.
Bowdoin has allowed me to
largely insulate myself from the
chaotic and tumultuous outside
world. Yes, I talked about what
was going on in the world, but
I also had the privilege to worry
more about my life within the
“Bowdoin Bubble.” While other
people may have been worrying
about the impact of policies on
their lives and their futures,
there I was, more worried about
my GPA, my German paper
and the fact that one of my best
friends made eye contact with
me in Thorne today. That’s priv-
ilege.
It’s even obvious with the
way I reacted when I first heard
that Bowdoin was transitioning
to online classes. I was worried
about not being able to get my
stuff, to graduate, to have my
senior week, to attend my last
Ivies or to perform in my first
musical. Those were the first
things that ran through my
mind, nothing else.
Going to Bowdoin has pro-
Submit a Talk of the Quad to the Orient
Talk of the Quad
was painful, but nowhere near
as painful as my drive away
from the Tower Circle, watch-
ing my best friends disappear
in my rearview mirror. I am
sure that my fellow seniors
are feeling the same kind of
pain at having our time with
friends cut short at the place
that has been home for the last
four year. I know that I will see
my friends again, but it won’t
be the same as trickling into
Moulton Light Room together
for a Sunday morning brunch.
That is over. I wrote that cute
thing a month ago about being
buoyant despite disappoint-
ment, but there’s no getting
around it now. It sucks.
vided me with the privilege
of living within its bubble. As
much as people like to hate on
it, this bubble has protected us
time and time again. At Bowdo-
in, even if there’s a power outage
or a terrible Nor’easter, I can be
sure that I’ll still have to show
up to Sills and take my midterm
in the dark.
We live in our own world,
where the headlines of our
school newspaper are dominat-
ed by news of BPD’s crackdown
on underage drinking or the
fact that ResLife has lowered the
amount of registered alcohol al-
lowed at parties. These are the
issues that excite us.
But it’s an entirely differ-
ent situation this time. This
pandemic has punctured our
bubble. We can’t hide behind
Bowdoin this time. This pan-
demic has isolated us, brought
uncertainty and overturned
our lives for the near
future. The
stability
and
email orient@bowdoin.edu
Of course, there is some-
thing going on now that is
bigger than a sucky ending,
bigger than all of us. It is a
scary time. My heart goes out
to my classmates who do not
have stable homes to return
to or do not have the means
to return home, who are im-
munocompromised or have
immunocompromised family
members—to anyone who is
vulnerable during this time.
As much as leaving Bowdoin
hurts, we must do the right
thing and stay home in order
to flatten the curve and keep
our communities safe. But
I do not want to write about
the coronavirus for my Talk
sense of community that Bow-
doin provided us was suddenly
swept away. We can’t just go
through the motions and ignore
what’s going on outside.
I want to mourn the loss of
my last semester, but I can’t. I
don’t have the time for it. I’m too
busy worrying about the fact
that I’m entering the job mar-
ket during an economic down-
turn. I’m worried about getting
sick and I’m worried about my
grandparents. I have to face
the real world, and
I have to face it
alone.
I won’t
have
the
strong
com-
mu-
of the Quad because there is
enough being written about it
right now, and I hope we are
all reading.
Despite everything that has
happened in the last month,
the same truth remains:
Things don’t always end the
way we want them to. We
can work hard, try to do ev-
erything right, and there will
still always be things we don’t
have control over. This is a
hard reality to face, and all I
can say to my fellow seniors
is that I am glad to be facing
it together (even if “togeth-
er” now means over House
Party). Truthfully, I am not
feeling super buoyant right
nity at Bowdoin to coddle and
comfort me this time. Yes, we
can still call, text or Facetime
our friends and professors, but
it’s just not the same. We can’t
get the same human connection
over the phone. It’s hard and
isolating, especially when we’re
at home. We can’t just go down-
stairs to talk to our peers who
will completely understand
what we’re going through
and the sense of loss we
feel.
KAYLA SNYDER
Friday, March 27, 2020
ER
YD
SN
AY
LA
K
now, but I still do believe that
we have control over how we
respond to life’s endings, even
when those endings do not
happen on our own terms. I
may not have another MLR
brunch to look forward to,
but I have friendships that I
know will last beyond that
horrible yellow wallpaper. We
can all check in on each other,
make good decisions for our-
selves and our communities
and carry on with the bits
of Bowdoin that we always
hold with us. Because, really,
moping alone is a shitty alter-
native.
Julianna Kiley is a member
of the Class of 2020.
These are unprecedented
times for sure, and they will re-
quire a lot from us. I’m confident
that we’ll get through this crisis,
but looking back, I didn’t expect
to realize just how dependent I’ve
become on this Bowdoin Bubble.
Roither Gonzales is a member
of the Class of
2020.
 S
Friday, March 27, 2020
SPORTS
Track and field copes with
late NCAA cancellation
by Seamus Frey
Orient Staff
In a decision that shocked col-
legiate athletes across the country,
the NCAA cancelled all remaining
winter championships as well as
the entire spring athletics season
March 12 due to concerns about
the coronavirus (COVID-19).
It took only a few minutes for
the news to reach the five mem-
bers of the women’s track and field
team who had already made the
trip to Winston-Salem, N.C., for
the Division III Indoor Track and
Field Championships. The five
athletes—seniors Sadie Saxton,
Caroline Shipley, Emma Beane,
Morgen Gallagher and junior Brit-
tney McKinley—were on-site at
the JDL Fast Track facility when the
cancellation was announced.
The decision caught the athletes
and their coaches off guard.
“There were definitely moments
where we questioned if NCAAs’
would be cancelled, but most peo-
ple were telling us that champion-
ships are fine,” said Saxton, who
was part of Bowdoin’s distance
medley relay team, in a phone in-
terview with the Orient. “[We had
heard the NCAA would] finish up
the [winter] seasons as normal. I
Nordic ski team caps historic season with
NCAA championship performance
by Dylan Sloan
Orient Staff
The Nordic skiing team con-
cluded its season at the NCAA
championships in Bozeman,
Mont., on March 12. Five Bow-
doin athletes—Christian Gostout
’20, Gabby Vandendries ’21, Elliot
Ketchel ’21, Renae Anderson ’21
and Peter Moore ’23—qualified
for this year’s event, the most ski-
ers in program history. Although
the athletes competed in the first
day of racing, the remainder of the
events were cancelled due to con-
cerns about the novel coronavirus
(COVID-19).
The event was the culmination
of what has been a record-setting
season for Bowdoin. The Polar
Bears recorded three consecutive
third-place finishes in the middle
of the season—the team’s best-ev-
er results—and won the Maine
State Championship, known as
the Chummy Cup, for the second
year in a row.
On the men’s side, Ketchel was
the team’s top finisher in Boze-
man, taking home 17th place in
the 10k skate race. In his third
NCAA championship appear-
ance, he finished one place higher
than his result in the same event
last year. Despite it being Gostout
and Moore’s first appearance at
an NCAA championship race,
both skiers posted solid results in
the 10k skate, finishing 28th and
30th, respectively, meaning that
all three mens skiers scored for
the team. In the women’s 5k race,
Vandendries bested her previous
NCAA championship finish with
a 26th place result, and Anderson
think you believe what you want
to believe, so we were like, ‘Okay,
great, we’re going.’”
Athletes nationwide found
themselves in similar positions,
as the NCAA did not commu-
nicate with individual colleges
about potential cancellations until
March 12. By then, a number of
championship events were already
underway.
“The first we heard about the
winter championships being can-
celled was a little after four o’clock
[that day],” said Ashmead White
Director of Athletics Tim Ryan in
a phone interview with the Orient.
“We could see a little bit of the writ-
ing on the wall as situations were
developing across the country, and
certainly with the actions taken by
the NBA [which suspended its sea-
son indefinitely on March 11].”
For Saxton, it was difficult news
but a necessary decision.
“It was definitely emotional. We
were upset and a little angry about
it, but I think all of us, looking back,
would say that it was the right de-
cision,” Saxton said. “There’s no
precedent for this, so I can’t really
say that they should have done X,
Y or Z better.”
McKinley, the only non-senior
athlete at the meet, agreed.
finished 37th.
However, after the first day
of competition, the NCAA an-
nounced that it would be cancelling
all spring sports and all remaining
winter championships, eliminating
the second day of races. The an-
nouncement came as something of
a surprise to the athletes.
“[Ashmead White Director
of Athletics] Tim Ryan had told
our coach that there was no way
we were coming back [on orders
from Bowdoin],” said Gostout. “So
we were all kind of like, ‘poof, we’re
in the clear.’ And then we had our
first race, and it was the second we
got back to our house after the race
[that we saw the announcement].
Wow … they had just made this
blanket call and they were like, ‘it’s
all over, everybody leaves.’”
Initially, the news was frustrat-
ing for the skiers, many of whom
were saving their energy for the
second day of racing.
“It’s not that I couldn’t have
raced harder the first day, it’s just
that there’s usually such a release at
the end of the season,” said Ketchel.
“You’ve been working so hard and
always trying to be on top of every-
thing since the end of the summer,
really. And all of a sudden, it’s just
like, ‘oh, never mind, forget about
it.’ It really just came as a shock.”
Vandendries was similarly
shocked and also angered by the
announcement.
“I was pretty mad because it
didn’t really seem that reasonable
to me, just because of how we were
all already there,” she said. “And it
wasn’t really like a big crowd or
anything. It felt more just like a
blanket for all NCAA things rath-
“I understand that there was a
lot of panic, and at the end of the
day, I think that it was a good call. It
wasn’t just track, it was everything,”
said McKinley in a phone inter-
view with the Orient. “I just think
that track got the rougher end of
the deal because everyone was [al-
ready] in North Carolina.”
Ryan conveyed his sympathy
for the athletes, especially to the
seniors, who will miss out on the
culminating event of their seasons
or of their careers.
“I hope they will be able to re-
flect on the entirety of their experi-
ence at Bowdoin as a student and as
a member of our athletic programs,
and think about the great relation-
ships and the great experiences that
they had,” he said. “And hopefully
those experiences will outweigh the
disappointment.”
McKinley said she is encour-
aged by the prospect of being back
on campus in the near future,
though she will miss her senior
teammates.
“While it all does suck right
now, especially for the seniors, it is
all going to go back to normal at
some point,” she said. “This will be
a memory, and even though we’re
living in it right now, it’s going to be
okay eventually.”
er than them looking specifically
at us, because I really do think it
wasn’t very useful.”
Despite the frustration of miss-
ing the season’s last race, the Bow-
doin team is finding ways to find
satisfaction with the season and
make peace with the situation.
“Initially I was pretty upset …
but I’ve definitely been looking
back on more positives through-
out the season and focusing less
on [the end] and more on the rest
of the season, which was just so
spectacular,” said Ketchel. “It defi-
nitely makes me figure out what
my real performance goals are for
next year. I want to [be in] this role
next year when we get this place.”
And despite missing the final
race, the results on day one were
still reflective of Bowdoin’s historic
season.
“I’m definitely satisfied with it,”
said Gostout. “Being there alone
is kind of an accomplishment …
[and] all three of our men scored,
which is just the best case scenario.
So yeah, it was a good day.”
From both the men’s and
women’s teams tallying best-ever
carnival finishes to Vandendries
securing the first women’s podi-
um finish since 2009, to sending
the most ever athletes to NCAAs,
this season and this championship
event will not soon be forgotten in
the history of the program.
“It’s easy to have everything
overshadowed by all the catastro-
phe … but we really did have a su-
per awesome season and last min-
ute got lucky enough to send five
people [to the championship],”
Gostout said. “I think we can only
look back at it as a success.”
SIZING ONE UP: Maddie Hasson ’20 squares up for a shot during a game against Tufts earlier this season.
Hasson was named the WBCA NCAA Division III Player of the Year last week.
Hasson ’20 named Division
III women’s basketball
Player of the Year
by Dylan Sloan
Orient Staff
On March 19, Maddie Has-
son ’20 was named the Women’s
Basketball Coaches Association
(WBCA) NCAA Division III Play-
er of the Year, the most prestigious
individual honor in DIII women’s
basketball. Hasson is only the third
Bowdoin athlete to win the award,
following in the footsteps of Eileen
Flaherty ’07 and Kate Kerrigan ’18.
With the announcement, Bowdoin
joins Amherst as one of only two
NESCAC teams who have had
three athletes win the award.
This award is a crowning
achievement for what was a su-
perlative senior season for Hasson.
She led the NESCAC with a 61.7
percent field goal percentage and
finished in the top five in the con-
ference in both points per game
and rebounds per game, tallying
16.7 and 7.9, respectively. As a team
captain, she led the Polar Bears to
their first NESCAC championship
in a decade and brought Bowdoin
to the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA
Division III Championships before
the tournament was cut short due
to the outbreak of the coronavirus
(COVID-19).
The Player of the Year award is
one of many individual accolades
awarded to Hasson this season.
She has also been named a first-
team all-NESCAC selection along
with fellow captain Samantha
Roy ’20, a Jostens Trophy finalist
(an award that recognizes the top
student-athlete in Division III
women’s basketball) and first-team
all-New England selection by the
New England Women’s Basketball
Association. Finally, D3hoops.
com announced on March 25 that
Hasson had also been named an
all-Region and all-American player
in its end-of-season polls.
For an award as selective as
national player of the year, it often
seems pointless to identify certain
players as candidates years in ad-
vance. But Head Coach Adrienne
Shibles suspected that Hasson
would be a special talent from the
first time that she saw her play.
“I definitely knew that she
was going to be a talented player
[coming out of high school],” said
Shibles. “But it’s … so difficult to
receive this honor with the number
of women’s basketball players who
compete in Division III that you
don’t ever stop to think about [it].
… So, you know, I knew she was a
great talent, but I never stopped to
consider, ‘is she a future national
player of the year?’”
Hasson herself never gave too
much thought to the award, even
after having played with Kerrigan
the year that she won it. Part of that
is a product of the way in which
Hasson views this recognition—
not just as an individual accom-
plishment but as a prize contingent
on the success of the entire team.
“I was aware of the award, but
I don’t think it’s necessarily some-
thing I thought of,” said Hasson.
“And I think part of that, too, is just
the fact that this award especially
goes to a good player on one of
the best teams in the country …
not to take anything away from
it, but it doesn’t necessarily mean
I’m the best player in the country.
If [I’d been on] one of the worst
teams, I never would have gotten
this award. So I think, in that sense,
it’s not really something you think
about because there’s the team as-
pect of it that comes before.”
The announcement of the award
came during a turbulent period for
the team, which learned the news
minutes after being informed that
the remainder of the Division III
Championships were cancelled due
concerns about the coronavirus.
Although the players were all aware
of the possibility of the cancellation,
the realization that the Polar Bears’
season was over, effective immedi-
ately, was a challenge.
“The tournament being can-
celled … was obviously something
we knew was a possibility, but ac-
tually hearing it out loud was really,
really hard,” said Hasson. “The over-
whelming emotion for me and all
my teammates is just very sad. And
I think that’s just a testament to how
much we put in this year and how
much confidence we had in what
we would have been able to do in
the last two weeks. Thinking about
all the laughs and new experiences
and memories we would have had
over the last nine days … to lose out
[on those] is just really sad.”
Shibles had actually been in-
formed of Hasson’s achievement
9
ANN BASU, THE BOWDOIN ORIENT
a few days before but had kept it a
secret. However, after hearing the
news of the tournament’s cancel-
lation, Shibles felt it appropriate to
reveal the good news as well.
“Of course, I wasn’t going to
tell Maddie because I didn’t want
to put additional pressure on her
with huge games coming up,” said
Shibles. “But when we gathered as a
team on Thursday to let [everyone]
know that our season was done,
I just felt like it was appropriate to
give [the players] the news together
and to give them a little bit of good
news. There were tears of sadness
before that, but the moment I said
that [Hasson had won], there was
hugging, smiles and tears of joy.”
In Hasson’s view, most of the
cause for this celebration is due to
the award being as much for the
team as for herself, and it was cele-
brated by everyone as such.
“I think we all know individual
accolades only come from team
success. Everyone’s quite aware of
that and really takes that to heart,”
Hasson said.
Despite the heartbreak of hav-
ing to end her college career early,
Hasson is already thinking about
ways to continue with basketball
after graduation.
“I want to coach next year as a
graduate assistant, but I don’t know
where exactly,” said Hasson. “I ob-
viously have great role models in
[Shibles] and [Assistant Coach] Me-
gan Phelps. So I think that’s definite-
ly something I’ve become interested
in in the past few years, and I want to
look into it for next year.”
Hasson’s achievement is a bright
spot in the heartbreak of losing the
last few games of this season. And
although Hasson’s career as a Bow-
doin athlete is over, this award will
not soon be forgotten.
“What’s so fantastic about
this award is not just the fact that
Maddie being recognized as the
top talent in Division III women’s
basketball is incredibly special. It’s
a great honor for a team, and it
really couldn’t have happened to a
nicer person,” said Shibles. “She’s
just such a remarkable teammate.
That’s just a rare combination when
someone is that talented yet hum-
ble and ‘team first’ to her core, so,
you know, [I’m] just really happy
for her.”
 O OPINION
10 Friday, March 27, 2020

Where credit is due Letter from the Editors:

Continuously, remotely publishing
Since the College’s official decision on March 11 to move to classes to a re-
mote learning format, the Bowdoin academic landscape has changed. Nearly
every facet of our academic experience has shifted and not necessarily for the
better—our classrooms, our meeting times and even our course material look
markedly different than they did three weeks ago.
As headlines seem to get bleaker every day, it’s difficult to stay focused To our readers: continue to tell the stories of Bow- we can dedicate the (virtual) pages
on schoolwork. Studying from home presents different issues for different doin’s community members—wher- of our paper to documenting the
students—some don’t have a quiet place to work, some are in a different This has never happened before. ever in the world they might be. experiences and perspectives of
time zone, some don’t have WiFi and some have to take care of their family Even in the great crises of the 20th We believe that now, more than the Bowdoin community in this
members. century—two world wars, student ever, we have a job to do (and a very extraordinary time, and we can
Because of these differences and possible future complications from the movements in the 60s and the Span- silly superlative to maintain). That only do that with your help. You
coronavirus pandemic, there have been many structural changes to classes: ish Influenza pandemic in 1918— job is not negligible and entails can support us by submitting an
the College has instituted a Credit/No Credit grading policy, classes have Bowdoin’s campus has never been reporting on the implications of Op-Ed or Talk of the Quad (email
shifted to an online format and most courses have undergone sweeping vacated in the way it has been in a pandemic on Bowdoin. How are orient@bowdoin.edu), by respond-
changes to their syllabi. For a college that prides itself on building strong the last few weeks. During all these professors coping? What is the Col- ing to polls and surveys (check
academic communities and fostering close relationships between students flashpoints in history, the Orient lege doing to support its staff ? How your inbox) and by participating
and professors, we all feel this loss. was published, each Friday, on will this affect the students looking in virtual Student Speak (via Insta-
However, amidst this chaos, we must remember that we are not the only schedule. This is why, at the top of to enter the job market next year gram stories). You can sign up for
ones presented with unforeseen challenges and difficult circumstances. Pro- each issue’s first page, we print the and the students who will come to our email newsletter or send us an
fessors are likewise being forced to adapt, and it can be easy for us to overlook words “The Nation’s Oldest Contin- Bowdoin in the fall? anonymous tip to make sure we’re
the immense weight on their shoulders as we navigate changes to our own uously Published College Weekly.” That job also entails serving as a covering all that we can.
personal lives. Now, for the first time in histo- tether to a place and a community. The College looks more different
Professors were forced to alter spring break plans and entirely restruc- ry, we have the technology to go This, in our view, is where the Ori- now than it ever has before—and so
ture their courses, cancel conferences, learn new technology and put their digital. Like the rest of the world, ent plays an especially important does the Orient—but we will keep
research on hold. Most have done so while taking care of their children or we’re taking our work home. Each role. Local news outlets will con- publishing each week until the end.
attending to their parents and other family members. They too are trying to week we will work collectively but tinue to follow the coronavirus out-
find a sense of normalcy and mediate the emotional and physical impact of remotely to report, write, edit and break in Brunswick and in Maine Sincerely,
social isolation. digitally publish this paper. We will (and we encourage you to subscribe Emily Cohen ’20 and Alyce McFadden ’20
With this semester’s suspension of letter grades, there is a definite temp- cover news as it happens; we will to them), and we will, too. But only Editors in Chief, The Bowdoin Orient
tation to prioritize other things over work. And sometimes, that’s what we

Bernie and Biden in the age of the

need to do. But in a moment that has forced us to redefine our academic
experience, the best way to acknowledge the work that professors are doing
to accommodate us is to do our part as students.
Put in the effort that they are putting in. To the extent that you are able,

coronavirus
continue to show up to your classes, engage with your course material and go
to virtual office hours. Do your work.
Even beyond appreciating their leadership in virtual classrooms, remem-
ber that faculty are a part of the Bowdoin community as well. Reach out to
them, check in with them, remain considerate and engaged. Professors have
made an effort to be there for us, so for the rest of the semester, let’s be there
with them. Who’s Left
by Livia Kunins-
This editorial represents the majority view of the Bowdoin Orient’s editorial board, Berkowitz
which is comprised of Emily Cohen, Maia Coleman, Julia Jennings, Sabrina Lin,
Eliana Miller, Alyce McFadden, Rebecca Norden-Bright and Jaret Skonieczny. In the past two weeks, the impos-
sible has come to pass. The global
economy is crashing, borders are clos-
ing and billions of people are self-iso-
lating in their homes. It feels as if the
whole world has ground to a halt. In
ESTABLISHED 1871 the midst of this crisis, however, the
battle for the Democratic nomination
bowdoinorient.com orient@bowdoin.edu 6200 College Station Brunswick, ME 04011 continues. The spectacle of campaign-
ing has, at times, seemed trite given
the crisis at hand, yet the distinctions
The Bowdoin Orient is a student-run weekly publication dedicated to providing news and
information relevant to the Bowdoin community. Editorially independent of the College between the rhetoric of Joe Biden and
SA

Bernie Sanders offer tremendous in-

RA

and its administrators, the Orient pursues such content freely and thoroughly, following
APC

professional journalistic standards in writing and reporting. The Orient is committed to sight into this moment.
LA
N

serving as an open forum for thoughtful and diverse discussion and debate on issues of The Democratic debate on March
interest to the College community. 15 exposed the vast differences in the
way that Biden and Sanders under-
stand the crisis caused by the corona-
Editor in Chief Editor in Chief virus (COVID-19). Biden spoke about
Emily Cohen Alyce McFadden the crisis like a war. from abroad.” Although Biden re- two weeks ago. Living in crisis is the
“We are at war with a virus,” he re- frained from the racist rhetoric used reality for millions of Americans who
Digital Director Managing Editor News Editor peated multiple times. “In a war you by President Donald Trump, they suffer from a lack of essential necessi-
Steven Xu Maia Coleman Andrew Bastone do whatever is needed to be done to both hope to portray the virus as an ties such as food and housing. Further-
Anna Fauver Aura Carlson take care of your people.” outside threat. Thus, they obfuscate more, the looming threat of climate
Roither Gonzales Employing military rhetoric is a the greater systemic inequalities and change ensures that there will be far
Photo Editor
Rohini Kurup Features Editor common strategy used by Democrats corruption rampant in America that more crises that we must weather to-
Ann Basu Ian Ward and Republicans alike to justify mass have created fertile ground on which gether; we need to create a system that
Emma Sorkin
expenditures. This is evident through the virus has wreaked havoc in our is resilient and sustainable—a system
Layout Editor Sports Editor the language used to justify the War communities. in which the vulnerable are protected.
Emma Bezilla Executive Editor Dylan Sloan on Drugs, the War on Crime and the Conversely, Bernie used the debate Again and again, Bernie correctly
Jaret Skonieczny Eliana Miller War on Terror. However, this frame- as an opportunity to connect the pan- states that the biggest obstacle to cre-
Ian Stewart Reuben Schafir A&E Editor work is dangerous in that it positions demic to the greater crises plaguing ating this new, better system is not the
Cole van Miltenburg the crisis as something conquerable America today. price tag of policies but a lack of politi-
Data Desk Editor with a definitive end. This is a naive “Last year at least 30,000 people cal courage among corrupt politicians
Opinion Editor interpretation of the crisis at hand. died in America because they didn’t who benefit from the current system.
Gwen Davidson Associate Editor Diego Lasarte
Drew Macdonald Scientists may discover a vaccine to have health insurance. I think that’s a After all, this crisis has already engen-
Ellery Harkness
George Grimbilas (asst.) Conrad Li Page 2 Editor
eradicate the virus, but the economic crisis,” he noted. dered policies that were once deemed
Nimra Siddiqui (asst.) Sabrina Lin consequences of this crisis will un- The coronavirus crisis is revealing too costly or politically impossible,
Lily Randall doubtedly persist far after the virus is the utter precarity of the system that such as paid sick leave, a moratorium
Head Illustrator defeated. Indeed, we are on the brink politicians revere as not only equita- on evictions and even universal ba-
Calendar Editor
Sara Caplan of a colossal economic collapse that ble, but almost infallible. For example, sic income. This is a moment full of
Copy Editor Jane Godiner
will likely require complete economic New York City mayor Bill DeBlasio tremendous pain, yet it also presents
Sebastian de Lasa restructuring in order to ensure that refrained from closing public schools unique possibilities. Perhaps this cri-
Social Media Manager Danielle Quezada Senior News Reporter
people who survive the coronavirus even as countless cases of coronavirus sis will be generative. Perhaps it will
Ayub Tahlil Emily Staten Horace Wang
do not die due to homelessness, food spread throughout the city because force us to act collectively, to be imag-
insecurity or the diseases of despair 114,000 homeless students rely on the inative and to confront the societal ills
The material contained herein is the property of The Bowdoin Orient and appears at the sole discretion of the that take hold in times of economic public school system for meals and that have ravaged this country since
editors. The editors reserve the right to edit all material. Other than in regard to the above editorial, the opinions anxiety. Biden went on to declare, other services. For these homeless stu- well before the first cases of the coro-
expressed in the Orient do not necessarily reflect the views of the editors. “this is like we are being attacked dents in NYC, the crisis did not begin navirus emerged in the U.S..
Friday, March 27, 2020
The Green New Deal is the stimulus package we need
by Bowdoin Sunrise Movement
Op-Ed Contributor
Over 78,000 American cases.
1,135 dead in the United States
as we write this on March 26,
2020.
Over the past several weeks,
each of us has experienced a
dramatic change in our routines
of daily life. We packed our bags
and left campus in the span of a
week, and now are all over the
country and the world, or we
remain in the eerie, empty ghost
town of Bowdoin’s campus. Our
lively and stimulating classes will
soon be replaced with pale ap-
paritions of their former selves
via Zoom. Many of us now face
fears about what our future will
look like—fears that we weren’t
expecting to have to grapple with
quite yet.
For some, this pandemic
means watching Netflix at home
or canceling an anticipated
tropical vacation. But for mil-
lions in this country, it means
lost jobs, greatly reduced hours
at work and an unaffordable
loss in income. While shame-
ful politicians are downplaying
the dangers of the virus and
making millions from selling
stocks at the right time, citizens
risk losing a safe home for their
families—or worse, risk losing a
family member to the virus. The
virus has exacerbated inequality,
putting workers who cannot af-
ford to take time off at risk and
The dead-end of corporate virtue-signaling
Workin’ on It
by Archer Thomas
International Women’s Day,
a holiday unrecognized by the
American government, was in
part inspired by a fire at the
Triangle Shirtwaist Factory
in Lower Manhattan which
claimed the lives of 146 wom-
en. Because management had
locked the doors of the sweat-
shop in order to crack down
on unauthorized breaks, many
workers jumped out of the high
building to their deaths.
For International Wom-
en’s Day 2020, Shell—the
Anglo-Dutch oil and gas be-
hemoth—released an upbeat
video announcing that it
would temporarily be chang-
ing its name to “She’ll.” The
video features phrases like
“She will be respected” and
“She will be supported,” su-
perimposed on smiling close-
ups of American-looking
women and girls. It’s the kind
of feel-good and inoffensive
ad campaign that companies
QUESTION OF THE WEEK
ARE YOU L O N E L Y ?
Answer at bowdoinorient.com/poll.
causing financial devastation to
those without paid sick leave,
adequate health insurance or
thousands in their savings.
While the scale of the suffer-
ing we are seeing in America
right now is new, the causes of
the suffering are older than any
of us would like to admit. Eco-
nomic suffering due to socioeco-
nomic inequality, physical suf-
fering due to lack of a functional
and universal healthcare system,
emotional suffering caused by
families and friends being sep-
arated—these all existed in our
world before the coronavirus.
The only difference is that now,
no one is safe, no matter how
much money or power they
have.
Thousands of people have
died from the coronavirus be-
cause U.S. politicians, who were
warned by scientists and doctors
about the risks of a pandemic
like this, ignored their words.
Climate change is no different.
We have long been warned and
continue to see its effects.
As Rep. Alexandria Ocasio
Cortez pointed out in a live
stream last Sunday, the drastic
and necessary global response to
the coronavirus crisis has proven
that we can, in fact, treat people
humanely.
“It’s never been about whether
we have the capacity to do these
things or if the logistics have
worked out,” she said. “All of
these excuses that we have been
have distilled into a science.
To give you a little back-
ground, here’s some history
about “She’ll,” the third-largest
company in the world. In the
1950s, while Nigeria was un-
der British rule, She’ll collabo-
rated with colonial authorities
to develop the rich oilfields
of the Niger Delta. Over the
next couple of decades, Nige-
ria became independent, but
She’ll continued extracting
petroleum in the Delta, lead-
ing to thousands of oil spills
that degraded the land to the
extent that agriculture was no
longer viable, impoverishing
the region’s indigenous Ogoni
people. By the 1990s, facing
the threat of total displace-
ment, Ogoni leaders began
organizing against She’ll and
the Nigerian government. In
response, She’ll encouraged
authorities to initiate a brutal
crackdown that culminated in
the execution of nine Ogoni
activists.
The unpunished ruth-
lessness of She’ll in Nigeria
demonstrates how Internation-
al Women’s Day, as a product of
OPINION
given as
to why we
cannot treat
people humanely
have suddenly gone up in smoke
… all of these issues were really
about a lack of political will and
who you deemed worthy … in
an emergency or not.”
In times of crisis like these,
the inequalities of our society
are highlighted. The ways our
systems fail to care for our most
vulnerable are put on full dis-
play. Our response to this crisis
will shape what our future will
look like.
We represent a group of stu-
dents involved with the Sunrise
Movement, a youth-led orga-
nization to stop climate change
and create millions of good jobs
in the process. Our 11 guiding
principles make clear that Sun-
rise is all about coming together.
Right now, we cannot physically
gather, but our voices are as loud
as ever. The climate crisis and the
coronavirus pandemic may not
appear to have a lot in common,
its newfound popularity among
the woke masses of the First
World, became a mockery of it-
self and its labor roots. Through
its new name, She’ll signals its
commitment to a new vision of
capitalism in which the hierar-
chy of organizational power is
free of identity-based discrim-
ination. Women and people of
color will be present at every
level of the corporate pyramid.
And who knows, maybe the
next humanitarian disaster will
be masterminded with a more
feminine touch!
Corporate America’s
ham-fisted embrace of Interna-
tional Women’s Day is part of
a new consciousness of identity
that conveniently ignores class
while co-opting the satisfying
self-righteousness of railing
against “oppression.” They see
nothing inherently amiss with
the relationship between own-
er and worker, so they must
invent a far more insidious
reason for society’s baked-in
inequalities.
It is now in vogue among
liberals to imply that the most
important social issues facing
RIS
Y HAR
HOLL but both are
threatening millions of lives
around the world and have the
potential to cause drastic eco-
nomic losses. The difference is
that climate change is seen as a
problem of the future and one
that affects only certain people,
while the coronavirus is right
in our faces. Let’s use this tragic
social and political moment to
prove that we can create strong
communities and systems of
support so that, during times of
crisis, each member of our so-
ciety not only survives but lifts
others up as well. We have the
power to change the way our
lives work, to create a way of
living that prioritizes caring for
each other and the Earth. Now
more than ever, in the time of
great social change, we have the
opportunity to create the future
we want.
The Green New Deal is a leg-
islative package that will convert
America are psychological in
nature. “Lean In” by Sheryl
Sandberg, for example, chalks
up the dearth of women in the
upper reaches of management
to implicit bias against femi-
ninity. As a solution, Sandberg
proposes that women should
pursue “success” in the work-
place just as fervently as their
male peers. She encourages
women to become their most
marketable selves at the ex-
pense of the ethical or social
frameworks that guided family
life before its colonization by
capitalism in the 20th century.
The problem with liberal
identity politics, however, is
that the gap that exists between
privileged and marginalized
groups cannot be explained
exclusively by subliminal bias
or even individual bigoted
actions as a whole. Rather, we
have inherited a class system
from a society in which bigot-
ry was ubiquitous to the point
that it was legally sanctioned.
While it’s true that studies have
shown that resumés carrying
traditionally feminine names
are somewhat less likely to be
Last issue’s response:
Q: DID YOU GET A FLU SHOT?
73% YES
27% NO
our economy to one-hundred
percent renewable energy and
create millions of good jobs,
while ensuring a just transi-
tion for America’s workers and
families. Importantly, it would
include Medicare for All—a
need that is more clear today
than ever. It would provide a
much-needed economic stimu-
lus by investing in infrastructure
and creating green jobs to fuel a
more sustainable future, while
at the same time creating sup-
port structures such as universal
healthcare that would prevent
unnecessary suffering during
the next crisis, whether it be cli-
mate-driven or not.
These structural changes may
seem drastic and nearly impos-
sible in the face of political op-
position and moneyed interests,
but we have done this before. We
have mobilized to fight a com-
mon threat before—during the
Great Depression and the Sec-
ond World War. Out of the Great
Depression came the New Deal,
which created jobs, started Social
Security, increased labor rights,
funded the arts and developed
infrastructure. During World
War II, the entire country ra-
tioned foods and started gardens
to ensure that the troops would
have enough to eat. Americans
used their time to volunteer for
the cause. Women went to work
in factories in place of the men
fighting. People’s lives changed.
We have a common enemy
selected for certain prestigious
jobs, we must also recognize
that traditionally feminine jobs
are concentrated in lower-pay-
ing, service-oriented fields.
She’ll and other stakeholders
in the current social order have
therefore resorted to “represen-
tation” as their silver bullet to
placate those who observe the
inequalities that marginalized
groups face. If we put enough
diverse faces in our ads, they
argue, Americans will be cured
of their subliminal bigotry and
no one will have anything to
complain about. Amer-
icans’ collective
bigotry in the
21st century,
however, is not
enough to
account for
the great
divide be-
tween male
and female
as well as white
and black. Rath-
er, we are suffering
from the conse-
quences of an
economic sys-
Based on answers from 304 responses.
11
now, too, and we must take this
time of change as an opportu-
nity, so those who have died
unnecessarily from a lack of
leadership and broken systems
will not have died in vain. Wars
have historically brought peo-
ple together because they have
provided, in the face of great
tragedy, a reason to unite as a na-
tion. We have experienced this
elevated level of suffering before.
We cannot forget the lessons that
we are continuing to learn over
the course of this pandemic. The
challenges that we’re facing now,
although shockingly dramatized
and exacerbated by this current
crisis, are not new.
Coronavirus is the current
crisis, and climate change is one
of the past, present and future.
Both of them require us to re-
evaluate our priorities and rec-
ognize the value of human life
over profit, and both require us
to listen to the experts and con-
sider what the future might look
like instead of clinging to the
past. Both of these crises require
our immediate, collective and
focused attention, and if we look
close enough, some of the solu-
tions may not be that different
between the two.
This article was co-written by
Hayden Keene, Leif Maynard,
Perrin Milliken, Annika Moore,
Olivia Bronzo-Munich, Lucie
Nolden and Danielle Strauss. It
represents the opinions of the Sun-
rise Bowdoin leadership team.
tem which, for the most part,
is utterly unable to mend its
past divides. The solution is to
value the work of marginalized
people for what it is actually
worth, not the value the market
assigns it. Once we tackle the
material reality of inequality,
we’ll realize that “She’ll” and
all other corporate panderings
were nothing more than grasp-
ing attempts to obscure the
role of class in society and the
workplace.
DALIA TABACHNIK
12 Friday, March 27, 2020

MARCH/APRIL
Dear reader,
Along with the many changes that you’ll see in the Orient’s first remote issue, the final page has a new look
as well. Without campus events to cover, the calendar cannot keep functioning as it has been; however, I see
FRIDAY 27
this page not as a lost cause, but as an opportunity to get the Bowdoin community thinking creatively and First, write about something you love from the
positively during a time of uncertainty. perspective of someone who hates it. Then, write
Until the end of the semester, I will be sharing three prompts for each day of the week. That gives you over about something you hate from the perspective of
150 chances to get writing, thinking and creating outside of remote classes, working from home or whatever someone who loves it.
you are doing. Most of these prompts will decidedly be not quarantine-related. Occasionally, however, some
will invite you you to see not just how these coming weeks have impacted you, but what you have learned from Write a letter to your post-quarantine self. Let it all
them as well. out: your frustrations, concerns, fears and hopes. Seal
Hopefully, they’ll also relieve some quarantine boredom. It is not a far reach to assume that the majority of it in an envelope. Open it when this is all over.
the Bowdoin community has been cognizant of helping others during this difficult time. The fact that many of
Write the most convoluted and far-fetched conspiracy
you will be reading this issue while socially isolated is indicative of that. I hope, though, that these prompts will
theory that you can come up with. Be convincing.
inspire you to think about how you can help yourself as well.

With optimism,
Jane Godiner
Calendar Editor

SATURDAY 28 SUNDAY 29 MONDAY 30

Write about a secret that you’ve never told
anyone. Explain why you’ve chosen to keep this secret
and the lengths to which you have gone in order
to hide it from others. Don’t mention the secret by
name.
Write about a time when your assumptions about
someone were completely incorrect. Were you pleas-
antly surprised?
Write about the first time you tried your favorite food.
Describe the scene—and the food—in excruciating
detail.
Write a story about a seemingly mundane event. Pep-
per the story with flashbacks and anecdotes to give it
some unexpected significance.
Write a list of random words that would make great
names if not for their actual meanings (my list in-
cludes “rubella,” “fellatio” and “rosacea”).
Write about an unpopular opinion you have. Why do
you think it is so controversial? What are the most
convincing arguments you’ve heard against your
opinion?
Write a list of songs that would comprise the
soundtrack to your biopic. Consider every
chapter of your life, including the past and the future.
Think about a significant place from your childhood.
Write about what it would be like to return to this
place as an adult.
Write a story about someone who discovers some-
thing in the pocket of a jacket that they thrifted.
Use this object to tell your reader about the jacket’s
previous owner.

TUESDAY 31 WEDNESDAY 1 THURSDAY 2

Write about the most awkard thing that has happened
during your remote classes or virtual meetings so far.
Write about a concert by your favorite artist from the
perspective of a concert-goer. Switch midway through
the piece and write about the rest of the concert from
the perspective of the artist.
Write about a sensory experience, like sticking your
hands in wet clay or feeling the wind on the back of
your neck on a hot day. Include all five senses in your
description.
Write an incantation for a potion. What will the potion
accomplish? What are the ingredients? Just for fun,
make it in iambic pentameter—”Macbeth”-style.
Write a story that begins with the protagonist running
late for something important. The story ends when
they make it.
Write about a character that accidentally—and very
quickly—becomes famous. In what ways does their life
change? How do they respond to these changes?
Write an action story from the perspective of a
sidekick. Have this sidekick elucidate the flaws of the
story’s “hero.”
Describe your favorite hobby to someone who has
never tried it or even heard of it.
Write a letter to your current self from the
perspective of you, the day before you began
something important in your life. Maybe it’s the day
before you began your first year at Bowdoin, the day
before you started a job or the day before we learned
that Bowdoin would be going virtual. Ask questions
that only this specific version of yourself would ask.
Be sure not to include anything about yourself that
you know now.

3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Read the Orient Re-organize your Reach out to Write a poem Listen to music Bake something
Meditate family and friends
room