The Awl: Five Years in New York: To the Class of 2010 from the Class of 2005

“Good job, Mytheos,” I thought. “You pulled off your insane media coup, dismissed liberal students’ lack of serious engagement with your columns as proof of political aloofness when really your arguments were so nonsensical that nobody knew where to begin, and inadvertently perhaps pulled off a weird kind of postmodern performance art.”

So I felt mildly amused when I saw that someone posted a link in the Shoutbox under the pseudonym “FUCK YOU MYTHEOS.” It leads to an article called “Elegy for Academia,” penned by the man himself and published as a guest article with Accuracy for Academia, a conservative nonprofit that “wants schools to return to their traditional mission–the quest for truth.” I don’t know what I expected. Maybe Mytheos got a full-time job in journalism and someone was jealous. Whatever, ha ha.

Then I actually read beyond the first few paragraphs, and it turns out that this article is annoying enough to drag me back from the proverbial grave.

Mytheos goes right for Unspeakable Acts, that “radical feminist nightmare” wherein “students are … treated to a list of masculinity-vilifying, hysterical monologues … as well as some truly bizarre performance pieces.” The performance is “dangerous,” he says, because it nearly lies about “the legal definition of sex crimes,” leading students to arrive at an understanding of sexual assault that goes against what has been defined in court.

Seriously? Is it really a good idea to advance this line of argument after it has become painfully clear that rape is truly an actual issue on campus? After a whole Argus page of students, faculty, staff, and alumni called for a full-time staff member to address sexual assault because sex crimes are usually insufficiently addressed both on-campus and in the public legal system?

That’s only my biggest problem with the article. You can check it out yourself and form your own opinion of his attack on BiLeGaTAs and the word “heternormative.” Whether the article makes your blood boil, inspires an apathetic shrug, or prompts amused chuckles at the absurdity of it all, it’s certainly an engaging read.

But one more thing. On a broader scale, Mytheos’ attack of frosh orientation as a “truly invidious” program that “in effect [injects] its students with an intellectual auto-immune disease which will brutally break down their every critical thought” ultimately fails at being an “elegy for academia.” Clearly, orientation didn’t squelch his own critical thought–he made a name for himself in his department and pulled off a brilliant thesis about modern conservative thought that won top distinction. Maybe Mytheos is the exception that proves the rule, but I think it’s more likely that his article is a lament that he ended up at Wesleyan, not Yale.

Link: “Elegy for Wesleyan” at Accuracy in Academia

Over Reunion weekend, the Class of 2000 had set up a Twitter account and provided the access information to the public, where “public” was intended to express “members of the class of 2000″ but unsurprisingly included “a member of the Class of 2005 who took the opportunity to exploit the open account access.”

And, perhaps aware of where suspicion might inevitably fall, Jesse adds:

I became aware of this because of a very inconsequential exchange of heated words between members of the Classes of 2000 and 2005.

With no further ado, I present some highlights from the Class of 2000’s hopelessly hijacked, NC-17 Twitter stream:

The Spirit ‘81 writes:

The Spirits’ Spring Jam! Come see it. Big things. New musics. A life-changing experience. A waste of your time. All wrapped into one hour of songs you love and other songs too. A revelation; a revaluation! A cappella–without boundaries!

Plus, it’s your last chance to see senior Phi Beta Kappa members Daniel Charness ‘10, Justin Bours ‘10, and Hansel Tan ‘10 do the only thing they are good at!

Date: May 7th
Time: 9pm
Place: Memorial Chapel
Price: Fo FREE

The one-year anniversary of Johanna Justin-Jinich’s murder is fast approaching. This Thursday, May 6th will mark for the Wesleyan community one year that has passed since we lost Johanna in what was undeniably one of the most horrific acts of violence this campus has, and ever will, experience. Her murder was a hate crime, a ruthless act of gender violence and anti-Semitism.

Gender violence is a persistent problem on this campus, as was once again brought to the fore by the recent Wespeaks written by students who have been sexually assaulted at Wesleyan, as well as those written by staff and students calling for greater administrative accountability to issues of gender violence prevention and response. Additionally, at the forum on campus violence on Tuesday, April 27th, students, staff, and alumni came together to discuss possible improvements to Wesleyan resources.

Students have been working with the university for years to improve University policy, response, and prevention around issues of sexual and gender violence on campus but still have found little sustained administrative support. The only way more effective resources, policies, and prevention efforts can be put into place is to establish a full-time staff position that would be responsible for advocating on behalf of survivors of sexual and gender violence, heading sustained prevention efforts, and helping all members of the Wesleyan community work together to build a campus that is safe for everyone. Safety means a community in which everyone is accountable for creating an environment that promotes respect, consent, critical thinking, and sex-positivity.

Persistent student pressure on the administration resulted in the creation of the Sexual Assault Response Team (SART) Intern, but this position alone cannot adequately address a campus climate of gender violence. The intense responsibilities of the position are too demanding for any one student to carry out effectively. Although there are various support systems in place for students (i.e. the faculty/staff on SART & OBHS), it is unfair and unsustainable that the only person on campus who is paid to be specifically knowledgeable about sexual assault and gender violence is a ten hour per week student position that isn’t even written into a specific departmental budget. The Intern position currently gets its funding through the SBC.

The University has a responsibility to invest in a staff position which would allow us to address this pervasive violence. This isn’t a question of available funding, but a question of priorities. Comparable schools such as Barnard, Amherst, Trinity, Bates, Bard, Skidmore, Bowdoin, Colorado College, Lewis and Clark, Whitman, and Brown have invested in at least one staff position, and it’s time for Wesleyan to follow suit.

The above document circulated via the internet for only three days and, in that time, received formal support from 536 members of the Wesleyan community: 405 students, 47 alum, 37 parents/family members, and 27 members of the Wesleyan faculty/staff.

Current Students:

Liz Krushnic `10, Arielle Tolman `10, Sarah Abbott `10, Camara Awkward-Rich `11, Monica Vitti `12, Joanna Bourain `12, Brenna Galvin `11, Monica Fuhrmann `12, Michelle Garcia `10, Anne deBoer `12, Stephanie Hucker `11, Darien Combs `11, Eliza Jane Gordon `11, Jeanne McPhee `13, Jane Petzoldt `13, Zak Kirwood `12, Mica Taliaferro `11, Emilia Levitas `11, Stephanie Quainoo `10, Caitlin MacLeod-Bluver `11, Elizabeth Spergel `12, Lauren Wynn `12, Genelle Faulkner `13, Toni Zosherafatain `10, Aaron Khandros `13, Carolyn Cohen `12, Melody Oliphant `13, Jourdan Hussein `11, Stephanie Huezo `13, Dana Pellegrino `12, Adrienne Russman `10, Mikhail Firer `13, Julissa Peña `12, Eric Stephen `13, Cristine Khan `13, Dan Ping He `13, Cheryl Walker `12, Kerry Klemmer `13, Barbaralynn Moseman `13, Alexandra Ketchum `12, Noah Heau `12, Katherine Eyster `10 Sarah Gokhale `13, Julia Black `13, Franz Spillenger `13, Hannah Berkman `12, Bryce Hollingsworth `13, Frank Fineis `13, Martha L. Liskow `11, Melanie Hsu `13, Michael Cifuentes `10, Evelina Pierce `10, Angela Ei Hay Mann `13, Marjorie Dodson `13, Anna Susman `13, Hannah Cressy `13, Deena Godfrey `12, Cara Tratner `12, Hannah Marqusee `10, Samuel Roth `13, Evan Jay Baum `13, Adina Teibloom `10, Katherine Marcus `13, David Shor `13, Katherine Kitfield Bascom `10, Nicholas Davenport `10, Paulie Lowther `13, Marsha Jean-Charles `11, Abigail Major `11, Paolo Speirn `10, Meyer H Meyer `10, Katie DiBona `11, Julia Christie `13, Noa Wotton `10, Kelsey Townsend `11, Rudisang Motshubi `11, Olivia Postell `10, Elizabeth Damaskos `12, Charlotte Christopher `12, Susanna Myrseth `10, Margo Tercek `13, Janine Wiley `13, Menherit Goodwyn `11, Kerry Klemmer `13, Trevor Michelson `13, BJ Lillis `12, Meggie McGuire `12, Peter Myers `13, Nicholas Orvis `13, Arielle Berrick `10, Peter Hull `10, Ariel Schwartz `12, Julianne Edwards `13, James Gardner `13, Emma Leonard `13, Charlotte Heyrman `13, Ro Seidelman `10, Elizabeth Reagan `13, David J. Thompson `11, Katherine Yagle `12, Lex Horan `10, Ellika Healy `10, Kayla Rodriguez `11, Ariana La Porte `10, Miriam Berger `12, Charlie Kurose `10, Indee Mitchell `10, Jake Schofield `12, Meera Bhardwaj `10, Emily Caffery `10, Allegra Stout `12, Alexandra Patrick `13, Kanyakrit Vongkiatkajorn `13, Sarah Brown `10, Sara Shor `10, Ellika Healy `10, Asa Horvitz `10, Sylvie Stein `12, Jessica Steinke `10, Sierra Bintliff `12, Jessica Steinke `10, Leslie Pyne `12, Leah Aronowsky `10, Kira Akerman `10, Franni Paley `10, Emma Burrows `10, Shauna Pratt `13, Dan Schniedewind `12, Susannah Young `11, Nellie Triedman `13, Caitlin Colasacco `11, Julianne Hall `10, Deepti Sood `10, Kaitlin Ashley `11, Nora Christiani `11, Lesley Faulkner `11, Mary Lauran Hall `10, Meredith Holmes `10, Taylor Morales `13, Emily Iversen `11, Emily I. Kianka `13, Daniel Mendelsohn `11, Kiah McAndrew-Davis `10, Rayna Edwards `10, Eli Timm `13, Joseph O’Donnell `13, Kate Finley `13, Antoine Cadot-Wood `10, Cara Colker-Eybel `13, Nick Petrie `12, Sarah Tracy-Wanck `10, Guy Geyer `13, Alex Pfeifer-Rosenblum `10, Rebecca Lange `13, Jelisa Adair `13, Benjamin Abravanel `13, Samantha Melvin `13, Laura Scholten `10, Marjorie Rivera `12, Elizabeth Waugh `13, Madeline Caldwell `10, Sabine Vilsaint `10, Kelly Morgan `11, Alexandra Wang `12, David Barach `12, Joseph Cribb `13, Matias Seijas `12, Sydney J Berkman `10., Jordana Hoyt `11, Jennifer Corcoran `12, Samantha Santaniello `13, Emma Kravet `09, Lydia Kring `13, Benjamin Firke `12, Hannah Monk `12, Matthew Carney `13, Rebecca Koppel `13, Dorisol Inoa `13, Ryan Sheldon `13, Eliana Theodorou `12, Miriam Leshin `10, Katherine McDonald `11, Hilary Burke `10, Kim Segall `10, Rachel Miller-Howard `10, Emily Pontecorvo `11, Eduardo Gomez `13, Sophia Duncan `13, Nicholas Fesenko `10, Emily Brown `12, Alyssa Bogdanow `11, Sam Bernhardt `10, Rachel Merzel `12, Charlotte Cef `11, Gianna Palmer `10, Miriam Rosenau `11, Emily Hoffman `10, Elizabeth Malkin `11, Anthony Hinds `12, Vernie Chia `11, L. Mamut `13, Jaimie Huntly `10, Matthew Fox Larkin `11, Melina Aguilar `10, Liz Wojnar `12, Jiun Kimm `10, Ravy Uong `13, Janine Zaltsman `11, David Markowitz `11, Graham Richman `11, Estee Rubien-Thomas `13, Anna McKinsey `12, Miriam Kwietniewska `13, Max Perel-Slater `11, Kaylin Berger `13, Emma Drew `10, Jennifer Cheng `11, Eugenie Carabatsos `10, Miles Tokunow `10, Mandela Kazi `12, Danielle Mor `10, Kenny Feder `12, Liam Stansen `10, Kaitlin DeWilde `13, Sena Ito `11, Rebecca A. Snelling `12, Wendy Jacqueline Escobar `12, Jake Nussbaum `10, Liza Goodstein `13, Alix Haber `11, Reiss Clauson-Wolf `13, Austin Cotant `13, Hyo Jeong Lee `13, Linnea Damer `10, Shamar Chin `13, Alexandra Ellerbeck `13, Alanna Badgley `13, Matthew P Motta `13, Micah Geurin Weiss `10, Matthew Perry `11, Greer Dent `12, Claire Tradewell `11, KaYa Lee `13, Guangshuo Yang `11, Naakai Addy `12, Linda Mondschein `12, Hannah Bailenson `13, Carolyn Sinclair McCalla `10, Leigh Stewart `13, Katherine Wolf `12, Katherine Scahill `11, Kathryn McConnell `13, Sherry Cho `10, Danielle Adam `13, Zuleikha Hester `11, Laura Heath `11, Katherine Rodriguez `10, Joyce Wong `12, Steven Scarborough `11, Daniel O’Sullivan `11, Grace Kredell `10, Phillip Ross `12, Greta Hartenstein `11, Lotus Thomas `13, Susanna Banks `13, Ruby B. Hernandez `11, Leah Shesler `11, Ellen Bartolini `11, Samuel Cohen `10, Samantha Pop `11, Evelyn Israel `10, Nora Hansel `11, Aileen Rowan `11, Laura Yim `13, Erin O’Donnell `12, Emily Kossow `11, Scott James `10, Gus Seixas `10, Yelena Niayzan `11, Meghan Twible `12, Alexandra Bean `11, Nichola Samponaro `11, Michele Markowitz `10, Sarah Ann Shackleton `13, Ned Bean `11, Elizabeth Fossel `11, Ravenna Neville `10, Kimberly T. Prosise `11, Emilie M. Knight `10, April Trovillion `10, , Jared Blake `10, Lucas Guilkey `10, Adeneiki Williams `10, Alexander Hoyle `13, Joseph Chadwick `10, Nomi Teutsch `11, Jon Myers `11, Elissa Martel `10, Alex Ray `13, Andrew Pfeiffer `13, Valerie Pucilowski `13, Kristen Salustro `13, Rachel Santiago `12, Molly Friedemann `11, Jadeene Gabay `10, Nicole Bonneau `13, Eli Meixler `13, Chalmers Morgan Hamill `11, Tess Parker `10, Amelia Tatarian `13, Elizabeth Busch `10, Sara Quinn `11, Ashleigh Corvi `13, Alexandra Beatty `13, Drew Flanagan `10, Anna Cash `11, Pushpa Neupane `10, Hannah Barber `10, Carina Kaufman `10, Sara Thomas `11, Lila Murphy `13, Todd C. Keats `11, Ann Wheeler `12, Sarah Chrystler `13, Juliet Nebolon `11, Navpreet Sidhu `11, Stephanie Lee `11, Michael Yu `11, Allana Kembabazi `11, Samara Ressler `13, Sarice Greenstein `10, Eleanore Pankow `12, Sarah Hoefle `10, Jean Pierre Valette `10, Eliza Fisher `13, Zoe Jick `11, Adrian Hernandez `11, Jeremy Keim-Shenk `12, Jonna Humphries `10, Kevin Walters `12, Stephanie Clemente `11, Averill Roberto `13, Margaret R. Cohen `12, Mariel Matze `10, Matt Nestler `10, Inslee Coddington `10, Gideon Finck `11, Charles Baron `12, Catie Steidl `11, Margaret Aldredge `11, Teju Adisa-Farrar `13, Bonnie Quach-Wong `12, Sophia Hussain `13, Aaron Greenberg `11, Maia Weiss `11, Eric Sherman `10, James Gardella `12, Madelaine Jane Woolfrey Harrington `11, Kalen Flynn `10, Miles Bukiet `11, Graham Richman `11, Michael Gaines `11, Miranda Becker `11, Carley Russell `12, Patrick O’Brien `12, Zachary J. Libresco `13, Madeline B Holland `13, Jorge G. Delgado `10, Hanh Le `12, Frank Melendez `12, Erwin Dwi Saputra `11, Mairead Maguire `10, James Wong `11, Claire Randall `12, Leslie Tan `11, Oluwayimika Taiwo-Peters `12, Emma Daniels `13, Michelle Kae `12, Jiaxin Xu `12, Christina Boyd `10, Gloria Fanchiang `10, Zachary Rosen `11, Craig Ewer `10, Justin Schwartz `11, Alessandra Stachowski `11, Chantal Ferguson `13, Rachel Levenson `12, Hortencia Rodriguez `10, Aaron Freedman `10, Nicholas Wenpin Quah `12, Sarah Stein `12, Maren K. Ellingboe `10, Priscilla Bustamante `10, E. Rose Agger `10, Louis Russo `11, Bryan Marsh `13, Andrea DePetris `10, Katherine Shervais `13, Ariana Todd `13, Ari Fishman `13, Melody Chang `12, Zachary Rebich `11, Melody Wang `10, Emily Wenzel `10, Caitlin Kent `10, Jeffrey Bizinkauskas `10, Catherine Reed `12

Alumni:

Emily Avener `09, JM Jaffe `09, Lindsay Kukona `07, William C. Franklin III `09, Thea De Armond `09, Arielle Edelman `06, Elaine Lauriat `09, Michele Nichols `09, Priya Ghosh `09, Erik Underwood ‘09, Samantha Hurley `09, A. Sofia C. Warner `09, Claire Greenwood `09, Elana Baurer `09, Hannah Jackson `09, Ross Heinemann`09/Grad`11, Alex Sirois `09, Isaac Maddow-Zimet `09, Lisa Zweigenhaft `09, Elizabeth Kolod `08, Aviva Tevah `09, David Altabef `08, Deirdre Salsich `07, Jennie Ehrenhalt `09, Kate Ottaviano `09, Ruby-Beth Buitekant `09, Miller Nuttle `09, Lauren Cruz `09, Daniel Latzman `09, Jessica French Smith `09, Jeff Clewell `06, Madeline Thomson `08, Jessica Houghton `08, Katie Bofshever `09, Jacqueline Cruz `07, Erin Clark `09, Stephanie Sheehan `08, Mairead Salsich `04, Nina Roma Agvanian `06, Andy Zack `09, Jessica Young, Esq. `03, Emily Rothman `94, Aram Sinnreich `94, , Vicki Cohen`80, Becky Peters-Combs `75, Tristan Taormino `93, Jaclyn Friedman `93

Parents/Family:

Nina Davis-Millis `76 & P’12, Sophia deBoer P ‘12, Monica Valenti P’12, Luellen Lucid P’10, Marcia Bourain P`12, Linda Hertzberg P ‘12, Steven Price P ‘10, Naomi Koller Fishman P’13, Patricia Sidman P `14, Susan Fishman P ‘12, Margie Bogdanow P `11, Joan Tedeschi P ‘12, Melanie Melia P’12, Dan Bogdanow: Family `11, Stephanie Fins P’11, Susan Patrick: Parent, Susan Markowitz P` 10, Karen Peterson P `12, Alice Dub P`12, Laurie Steinke P`10, Rosalind Wolf P ‘12, Kate Ramdin: Parent, Betty Phuong Quach P`12, Sandy Clark P ‘09, Deborah Fox: Parent, Lauren Rich P`11, Robin Grossman P ‘10, Ilene Schwartz P `12, Randi Kaplan P’06, Susan L. Halper: Parent, Eda Spielman P`10, Barbara Harris P`11, Wendi Gordon P ‘11, Lisa DiBona P’11, Frank Gordon P `11, Donna Weinberger P ‘07/ ‘10, Richard Krushnic P’10

Faculty/Staff:

Patricia Beaman, Joseph Drury, Matthew Garrett, Alex Dupuy, Elizabeth Willis, Margot Weiss, Melanye Price, Marc Hertzman, Natasha Korda, Susanna Fusso, Gillian Goslinga, Mary Ann Clawson, Anu Sharma, Lina Meruane, Marianna L. Litovich, Henry Abelove, Manju Hingorani, Elizabeth Traube, Ishita Mukerji, Amy MacQueen, Tushar Irani, Octavio Flores, Mary-Jane Rubenstein, Erika A. Taylor, Clare Rogan, Patricia R. Hill, Ann Wightman

Brought to you by the Hartford Courant, FOX News CT, and Wesleyan University:

“The Person You Think You Know: Signs and Solutions of Campus Violence”

Almost half of college students have experienced abuse in a relationship, according to a 2008 study. Abuse can range from cyber-stalking to beatings and rape. Four experts will look at relationship violence on campuses, how to recognize danger signs and get help.

The four panelists will be:

• Jaclyn Friedman ‘93, a performer and co-editor of Yes Means Yes! Visions of Female Sexual Power and a World Without Rape (check out her recent article on the topic and the Yes Means Yes blog)
• Connie J. Kirkland, director of sexual assault services at George Mason University in Virginia and a national expert on campus stalking
• Janet Peckinpaugh, a broadcast journalist who has been a victim of stalking and domestic violence
• Claire Potter, professor of American studies here at Wesleyan University, whose research includes the study of violence against women

The panel will be moderated by Laurie Perez, of FOX News CT.

Don’t let the scare tactics in the title throw you off. I think this is going to be a really interesting opportunity to hear different perspectives on violence on college campuses, of which there are, unfortunately, far too many examples. The effectiveness of our university’s sexual assault prevention and response policies have been called into question by students and alumni as of late, and it’s worth it as members of this community to weigh in. Changes in administrative policy would affect huge numbers of our campus’ population. That’s just my two cents.

Date: TOMORROW, Tuesday April 27
Time: 6 – 7:15 pm
Place: Beckham Hall

You’re sick—again—of hearing about MGMT, and that’s fine and good, because so are we.

But few things make me roll my eyes more than mainstream press exotifications of Wes (see: naked dorm, pornography class, OMFG CO-ED SHOWERS AND GROUP SEX), leading one Wesleying alum and co-founder to theorize that any article about Wesleyan includes three obligatory mentions: marijuana, the “naked dorm”, and the pornography class. It’s about as airtight as the Caine-Hackman Theory, I’d say, and totally rife for a thesis topic (looking at you, ‘11).

As for mainstream press portrayals of Westco: again, three basic elements—drugs, jam-band music (sup, Wes circa 1995), and . . . ferrets? From a Rolling Stone profile on MGMT this week:

Wesleyan University, a 2,700-student liberal arts school in Connecticut that caters to academically advanced students who may not have fit into their high schools. Both guys had signed up for rooms in the ‘weird’ dorm, a haven for jam-band lovers, ferret owners, and kids that arrived at college very familiar with psychedelic drugs.

Thanks to Jessica Jordan ‘13 for the tip. I can’t seem to find the full article online, so feel free to comment with a link or your own ferret lolcat (lolferret?) or something equally procrastinatory and useless if the spirit moves you.

11:19 edit: And more fun MGMT Wes reminiscence, courtesy of Rolling Stone:

Wesleyan’s politically correct culture was a turnoff for both men, who thought that the focus on identity politics was unimaginatively multicultural. They preferred to align themselves with the art students who were receiving the same introduction into the horrors of the patriarchal world but resisted participating in advocacy, and they would play parties at the Art House residence hall. “As soon as you walked into those parties, there would be a guys’ or girls’ changing room, and you had to take off your clothes and put on body paint,” says VanWyngarden. “We played in a covers band there, performing songs like ‘I Melt With You’ and ‘Everybody’s Got Something To Hide Except For Me and My Monkey.’ It was so weird to play drums naked.”

Luckily for his political career, though, Mikey doesn’t have the whole mumble-and-awkwardly-lean-forward thing that Dougie is sooo good at. Compare:

[Thanks to a proud Bennet era alum for the Shoutbox tip!]

Michelle McCool ’95
Fashion Director, Cosmopolitan
“Behind the Glossies: The Filtering of Fashion from Conception to Publication”
Supported by the Wesleyan Writing Programs
Refreshments to follow

Date: Friday April 16
Time: 4 p.m.
Location: Allbritton 311 (top floor)

Amanda Palmer ‘98 has a new project, Evelyn Evelyn.  Palmer is probably best known from her Dresden Dolls years, but her stuff is generally pretty cool.  She’s very into vaudeville in her performance style, so if you’re looking for a little something different check her out. I’m going to go ahead and link in the Brooklyn Vegan story, which has tour dates and all that jazz.

http://www.brooklynvegan.com/archives/2010/04/evelyn_evelyn_i.html