Swarthmore Bulletin Spring/Summer 2023

Spring+Summer 2023
in this issue
Interfaith leader
robert O. williams
Zeynep Emanet ’24, an Economics & Islamic Studies double major, won an Intercultural Center award for Interfaith work. Emanet, co-vice president of the Muslim Student Association, is from Cherry Hill, N.J. “The Muslim Students Association and the Interfaith Center have given me the opportunity to produce our Instagram (@swatmsa) and share aspects of Muslim life on campus. Following earthquakes in Turkey and Syria, Tolga Atabas ‘23, Mehtap Yercel ‘24, Asli Yuksel ‘26, and I organized a vigil and fundraiser on the steps of Parrish to raise awareness and monetary funds for the nearly 18 million people impacted by the tragedy.”
features
Alumni look back on memorable, live, loud performances over the decades.
by Ryan Dougherty
WSRN is revived.
by Tomas Weber
Arachnologist Anne Danielson-Francios ’90 wants you to watch spiders with wonder.
by George Spencer
Interfaith leader
robert O. williams
Zeynep Emanet ’24, an Economics & Islamic Studies double major, won an Intercultural Center award for Interfaith work. Emanet, co-vice president of the Muslim Student Association, is from Cherry Hill, N.J. “The Muslim Students Association and the Interfaith Center have given me the opportunity to produce our Instagram (@swatmsa) and share aspects of Muslim life on campus. Following earthquakes in Turkey and Syria, Tolga Atabas ‘23, Mehtap Yercel ‘24, Asli Yuksel ‘26, and I organized a vigil and fundraiser on the steps of Parrish to raise awareness and monetary funds for the nearly 18 million people impacted by the tragedy.”
features
The community of non- human living beings is much bigger, much vaster than us.
by John Freeman ’96
Brothers Evan Gregory ’01 and Andrew Rose Gregory ’04 found an outlet for their musical interests at Swarthmore.
by Bayliss Wagner ’21
Black and white image of a professor and students sitting in Adirondack chairs in front of Clothier Hall.
INCREDIBLY INFLUENTIAL: An Honors seminar circa 1977-1979. See Peter Grambs ’79’s letter about Honors at Swarthmore on pg. 3
DIALOGUE
Jessica Carew Kraft ’99
Quincy Ponvert ’23
Timothy Harrison ’87
On the cover

Artist Laura Greenan puts Parrish Hall center stage in this whimsical tribute to iconic concert posters of the 1960s.

common good
class notes
spoken word
Provost and Dean of the Faculty Sarah Willie-LeBreton
On the cover

Artist Laura Greenan puts Parrish Hall center stage in this whimsical tribute to iconic concert posters of the 1960s.

dialogue
Editor’s Column

Naturally Connected

by

kate
campbell
Editor
Picture of the Scott Outdoor Amphitheater with white flowers
LAURENCE KESTERSON
sometimes it only takes a few notes of a song to transport you. Alumni responded in a windfall to writer Ryan Dougherty’s callout for memorable concerts to include in his story “I Was There” (pg. 22). They reflected with fondness, intensity, and humor about the bands and artists who helped shape their Swarthmore experiences with the transcendental magic that is music. There have been hundreds of extraordinary and historic performances here over the decades. Crowd sizes varied, but the emotional reverberations remain vast.

We then turn the dial to WSRN in “Silent No Longer” (pg. 40). The recent resurrection of its airwaves transmits this satisfying message: Radio is poised for a comeback on campus.

In “Forever Trending” (pg. 50), the Gregory Brothers of YouTube fame share their recipe for creating appetizing musical hits and how their Swarthmore bonds continue today. We’re also excited to spin a yarn about spiders in “Spider Senses” (pg. 42) and take you on a stroll with a dog, and confidant, in “Walking Martha” (pg. 46).

These features remind us of the importance of caring for the natural world and each other, two-footed, four-footed, eight-footed, even. After enjoying this splashy, spring-like bounty of stories from and about your fellow Swarthmoreans, take yourself outside and continue to commune — and communicate — with nature. It keeps us connected.

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Swarthmore College Bulletin/Spring+Summer 2023

swarthmore college bulletin

Vice President for Communications
Andy Hirsch

Director of Content Strategy
Mark Anskis

Editor
Kate Campbell

Senior Editor
Ryan Dougherty

Editorial Specialist
Nia King

Class Notes Editor
Heidi Hormel

Designer
Phillip Stern ’84

Photographer
Laurence Kesterson

Administrative Coordinator
Lauren McAloon

Editor Emerita
Maralyn Orbison Gillespie ’49

swarthmore.edu/bulletin
Email: bulletin@swarthmore.edu
Telephone: 610-328-8533

We welcome letters on articles covered in the magazine. We reserve the right to edit letters for length, clarity, and style. Views expressed in this magazine do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors or the official views or policies of the College. Read the full letters policy at swarthmore.edu/bulletin.

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bulletin@swarthmore.edu

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records@swarthmore.edu

The Swarthmore College Bulletin (ISSN 0888-2126), of which this is volume CXXIIII, number 2, is published in October, January, and May by Swarthmore College, 500 College Ave., Swarthmore, PA 19081-1390. Periodicals postage paid at Philadelphia, PA, and additional mailing offices. Permit No. 0530-620. Postmaster: Send address changes to Alumni Records, 500 College Ave., Swarthmore, PA 19081-1390.

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Please recycle after reading.

©2023 Swarthmore College.
Printed in USA.

dialogue

On Our Radar

Yes to Shepherd’s Pie!

Thanks for your “Looking Back” at dining at the College. My mother arrived at Swarthmore in the fall of 1954 and ate meals in Parrish. I arrived in the fall of 1976, when Sharples was the dining hall. When I called my mother to report on orientation week, her very first question was: Do they still serve shepherd’s pie? The answer was YES.

—MARIAN F. BOCK ’80, Los Ranchos, N.M.

forks, spoons, and snow

During the evening hours before commencement of the 1955 winter holiday, someone entered the dining area on the first floor of Parrish and removed the forks and teaspoons. The following morning, those students who had not departed were restricted to soup spoons and knives during breakfast. The missing silverware was located subsequently in a snow bank adjacent to the Phi Psi fraternity house. None of the fraternity members who voted to disband in 2019 were alive when the prank was executed.

—GEORGE C. ESKIN ’59, Santa Barbara, Calif.

Alumni celebrating theri classmate Honorable Arianna Freeman '01
courtesy of arianna freeman ’01
SWATTIES CELEBRATE the investiture of Honorable Arianna Freeman ’01 (center, holding pennant) to the U.S. Court of Appeals in Philadelphia this April. From left: Liz Derickson ’01, Sonali Shahi ’06, Matthew Feldman ’02, Arianna Freeman ’01, Lynn Trieu ’02, Justin Kramon ’02 and Susan Lin ’00.

Incredibly Influential

Thank you for that wonderful article on the Honors Program. Great to see it is still alive and well. My experience from 1977-79 was probably the most formative and challenging experience of my life. The critical thinking, intellectual challenge, and debate that took place was intense but incredibly influential in my professional development. I dare say it helped me immensely in achieving success in my business career — though there are some folks who got tired of my willingness to debate almost every topic that came up.

—Peter Grambs ’79, Fairfield, Conn.

bending but not breaking

It amazes me that the Honors Program is a century old! When I was at Swarthmore, there was a sharp division between the “course” curriculum and “Honors.” I liked the flexibility of course, but there were some Honors seminars that covered subjects that weren’t available in course. I got permission to take “Perception” in the Psychology Department and “Sensory Physiology” in biology from their professors. Dean Susan Cobbs called me in to her office, telling me that I was bending the rules. Fortunately, she didn’t forbid me from doing so, however. That flexibility allowed me to take Spanish 1-2 my senior year, and to fulfill the requirements for majors in both psychology and zoology.

­— RICHARD (DICK) GROSSMAN ’65, Bayfield, Colo.

the process shapes the scholar

Thank you for including Jed Rakoff’s experience in your review of the Honors Program’s 100 years at the College. As a fellow Honors flunkee (if that is the word), I can attest to the fact that the process itself shapes the scholar, even if s/he fails to meet the exam standards at the end. Just FYI — what I flunked was my major, economics, in which I got a Ph.D. with minimal preparation for my qualifying exams. Honors was much tougher.

—PETER B. MEYER ’65, New Hope, Pa.

daily walkers

A classmate who got her Bulletin before I had mine emailed me re: “Famous Walking Couple” appearing on p. 65. I don’t know anything about a Famous Walking Couple, but there I was with my wife on page 65. My wife is Sari Steuber. We walk through the campus every day.

—Patton Steuber ’68, Springfield, Pa.

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dialogue
community voices

Wild Life

You’re actually a bipedal social hominid — get back outside!
by Jessica Carew Kraft ’99
Jessica Carew Kraft '99 enjoying time in the woods
SCOTT KIRSCHENBAUM
“Some scholars have posited that we industrialized people have become genetically domesticated, like our pets and farm animals,” says author Jessica Carew Kraft ’99.

You may have heard (especially from paleo diet advocates) that your body and brain are remarkably similar to those of your hunter-gatherer forebearers. It’s just that the lifestyle you’ve grown up with doesn’t align with your biology.

Despite your 21st-century digital trappings, you are actually a bipedal social hominid who thrives outdoors collecting and preparing food in a tight-knit group. You evolved to range over the landscape, build simple tools and shelters, recount your tales, and dance your dreams around a collective fire. If it weren’t for your technological dependence and lack of training in a clan, you would excel at finding everything you need in nature.

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Swarthmore College Bulletin/Spring+Summer 2023
dialogue
Ponvert plays an accordian-like instrument the bandoneon, accompanied by classmates on violins.
laurence kesterson
Quincy Ponvert ’23 (right) started learning the bandoneón, a type of concertina, in their sophomore year. They founded Swarthmore’s first student tango group, Sexteto Strapatta, also featuring Daniel Song ’25 and Emma Gabriel ’25.

studentwise: LET’S TANGO!

by Corinne Lafont ’26
QUINCY PONVERT ’23’S senior recital marked the capstone of their highly memorable stretch of music as a student. It included arrangements of tango standards and modern pieces played by Swarthmore’s first student tango group, Sexteto Strapatta, as well as arrangements for solo bandoneón, original compositions, and taiko pieces with members of the Swarthmore Taiko Ensemble.

The recital followed a workshop and concert in March in which Sexteto Strapatta, which Ponvert founded, collaborated with the professional ensemble Abaddón.

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Submit your publication for consideration: books@swarthmore.edu

HOT TYPE: New releases by Swarthmoreans

Christopher Lukas ’56

Carrying a Torch: And 24 Other Tales of Love, Lust & Loss
Stephen F. Austin State University Press

Carrying a Torch: And 24 Other Tales of Love, Lust & Loss Cover
Through a series of short stories arranged in three sections — “Lust and Love,” “Love and Loss,” and “At Close of Day” — Carrying a Torch leads readers through a progression of the human experience: We lust for what we wish to have, and, in the process, discover love and loss. Lukas shows us how we make the journey in human, sensitive, personal terms.

Christine “Tina” Shepardson ’94, Michael Penn, Scott Johnson, and Charles Stang

Invitation to Syriac Christianity
University of California Press

Invitation to Syriac Christianity cover
Despite their centrality to the history of Christianity in
the East, Syriac Christians have generally been excluded from modern accounts of the faith. Collecting foundational Syriac texts from the second to the 14th centuries, and co-edited by Shepardson and colleagues Michael Penn, Scott Johnson, and Charles Stang, this anthology provides unique access to one of the most intriguing, but least known, branches of the Christian tradition.
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Swarthmore College Bulletin/Spring+Summer 2023
dialogue
navigation

health & humanity

Extending the social safety net to vulnerable communities

by Tara Smith
Tim Harrison ’87 has spent decades working at the federal level to reduce infectious disease health disparities and improve health outcomes for people of color. While monitoring emerging and never-ending public health threats can feel like Whac-A-Mole, he says, vigilance, ongoing research, increasing equitable access to prevention and care, and education all make a difference — as does effective communication.
Close-up shot of Tim Harrison '87 standing in front of an arch-shaped window wearing a suit.
laurence kesterson
“One of the greatest things about my job is getting to talk with people ­— and to listen with intention and humility,” says Tim Harrison ’87, principal deputy director of the Office of Infectious Disease and HIV/AIDS Policy at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
tim harrison ’87
Principal Deputy Director
“Words matter,” says Harrison. “One of the great things about my job is getting to talk with people — and to listen with intention and humility.” Both the devastating losses and the tremendous progress he’s witnessed over the past 19 years in this field have fueled his passion to help vulnerable communities.
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Swarthmore College Bulletin/Spring+Summer 2023

sharing success and stories of swarthmore

common good

Aerial long shot of Parrish Hall and Clothier Bell Tower
natavan werbock
A NEW CHAPTER: President Smith wrote to the community to apologize for a chapter in the College history. In 1899, a human skeleton and funerary items were removed from a Native American burial ground in Chester County by a Swarthmore professor and later displayed on campus.
pledging awareness

Facing the Past

In a message to the community on May 1, President Valerie Smith apologized on behalf of the College for the actions of a Swarthmore professor who removed a human skeleton and funerary items buried alongside it from a Native American burial ground in Chester County, Pa., in 1899. The professor, Spencer Trotter, later displayed the remains and items on campus.
“No matter the educational intentions, or that these practices may have been commonplace at the time they occurred, these remains should have been treated with dignity and respect and should never have been removed from their burial site,” said Smith who, after learning of this information, tasked a small group of colleagues to determine if the remains were still held on campus.

The team interviewed College faculty and staff to document any knowledge of the holdings of human remains and Indigenous American artifacts.

“No matter the educational intentions, or that these practices may have been commonplace at the time they occurred, these remains should have been treated with dignity and respect and should never have been removed from their burial site.”
—President Valerie Smith
They also consulted with a Temple University bioarchaeologist who provided expert consultations concerning bone specimens for other institutions, and with representatives from the National Museum of the American Indian who have extensive experience with repatriation. In addition, the team received guidance from an official with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act division of the National Park Service.

The result: there is no indication that the remains unearthed by Trotter and his student, Bird T. Baldwin, Class of 1900, are on campus, and there is no evidence that the College held other Native American human remains. It is also not known how long the remains that Trotter took were on campus or where they currently reside. Work to try to answer those questions is ongoing.

Calling the act of collecting of Native American remains “unethical and inexcusable,” Smith said that “none of these facts change the distressing truth that more than 120 years ago and for an unknown period thereafter, these remains were held and displayed here.”

“Learning about this disturbing aspect of the College’s past has been difficult,” says Associate Dean of the Faculty for Academic Programs and Research and Associate Professor of Psychology Cat Norris, who helped conduct the investigation. “But as challenging as this situation is, it’s also been reassuring to see how committed we are to Swarthmore’s mission, which continues to guide our efforts to address the harm this has caused, improve our current practices, and commit ourselves to educating our community more about this and related topics in the future.”

Some of the efforts to repair that harm are already underway.

The College investigation prompted a reevaluation of the Biology Department’s osteology collection overall.

Based on research and practices at the time, the human specimens in the collection were most likely sourced sometime before the 1940s through medical supply companies from marginalized people without their consent. Although the majority had not been used for decades, all human specimens in the collection have now been officially decommissioned.

A collegewide, comprehensive review is also necessary to better understand the College’s holdings. A new audit committee will conduct such a review to ensure the College is not in possession of anything it should not have.

Trotter, who taught natural history and biology at Swarthmore for nearly 40 years, lent his name to a new wing of then-Science Hall in 1920. He retired in 1926 and died in 1931. When Biology moved to Martin Hall six years later, the building was named for him.

In addition to the historical evidence regarding Trotter’s activities in the excavation of a Native American burial site and the collection and display of human remains at Swarthmore, Trotter wrote on racial hierarchy and promoted the nefarious belief that some races are superior to others. Given these facts, Smith stated in her message that a process to reexamine the name of Trotter Hall will be developed. Smith is also committed to finding opportunities in the next academic year to discuss and continue to reflect on these and related topics.

“As a community of thinkers, learners, and doers,” Smith said, “together we will shape a future aligned with our mission and our shared commitment to building a better Swarthmore and a more just world.”

— ALISA GIARDINELLI

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Swarthmore College Bulletin/Spring+Summer 2023
legacy of leading

HONORARY DEGREES AWARDED

Notable Service and Innovation
by Nia King
headshot of Marianne McKenna '72
courtesy of Guntar Kravis
Marianne McKenna ’72 is a founding partner of KPMB Architects, a leading Canada-based firm committed to “shaping a sustainable and equitable future to improve people’s lives through design.”

She is an advocate for using architectural design to foster community and positively impact the urban and natural environment.

headshot of Karama Neal '93
courtesy of Karen E. Seagrave

Karama Neal ’93 has dedicated her career to promoting equity and opportunity for underserved communities, focusing on improving the lives of those who live in rural America.

She currently serves as an administrator for the Rural Business-Cooperative Service within the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which helps create jobs and support economic development with a particular focus on the bio-based economy, food supply chain, and energy sectors.

headshot of Bill Weber '72
courtesy of Harvey Locke
headshot of Amy Vedder '73 wearing glasses
courtesy of Harvey Locke
Conservationists Bill Weber ’72 and Amy Vedder ’73 are co-founders of the Mountain Gorilla Project, now known as the International Gorilla Conservation Programme.

Their work is credited with helping bring mountain gorillas back from the brink of extinction, while also developing the concepts of ecotourism and local benefits as new approaches to supporting conservation.

headshot of Bill Weber '72
courtesy of Harvey Locke
headshot of Amy Vedder '73 wearing glasses
courtesy of Harvey Locke
Conservationists Bill Weber ’72 and Amy Vedder ’73 are co-founders of the Mountain Gorilla Project, now known as the International Gorilla Conservation Programme.

Their work is credited with helping bring mountain gorillas back from the brink of extinction, while also developing the concepts of ecotourism and local benefits as new approaches to supporting conservation.

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Swarthmore College Bulletin/Spring+Summer 2023
justice seeker
Medium close-up of judge Wilma Lewis '78 in her U.S. Virgin Islands courtroom
courtesy of wilma lewis ’78
Wilma Lewis ’78 has enjoyed being active on boards, including Swarthmore’s Board of Managers, the D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics, the Moravian Theological Seminary Board of Trustees, and the D.C. Judicial Nomination Commission. A lifelong member of the Moravian Church, she founded and directed several handbell choirs.
wilma lewis ’78
Judge

A Public Servant for Justice

Her parents were an inspiration
by Heather Rigney Shumaker ’91
Wilma Lewis ’78 began her journey in public service in the U.S. Virgin Islands with her tight-knit family. “Both my parents were St.Thomians,” says Lewis. “St.Thomas is home.”
wilma lewis ’78
Judge
Her mother worked for the U.S. Customs Service, and her father worked at the U.S. Postal Service in the same building. “They both had long federal government careers,” she says. “I always thought I would try public service.”

She may also have acquired some of her tremendous drive from her parents. In addition to advancing in their federal careers, her parents owned and managed two general merchandise stores and ran a small guest house below their home. Her mother also fashioned funeral wreaths and floral wedding favors. “I didn’t have to look beyond the four corners of my home for the best role models,” says Lewis. “I saw them day to day.”

She fell in love with law as a schoolgirl.

“My godmother was the first female judge in the Virgin Islands,” says Lewis. “The courthouse was just down the block from the Customs and Post Office building. I’d often sit in her courtroom waiting for my parents to get off work.” In the back of the courtroom, Lewis listened carefully to legal cases and analyzed them.

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taking the reins

life on the edge

Helping businesses embrace an increasingly unpredictable world
by Tomas Weber
duleesha kulasooriya ’92
Managing Director
Kulasooriya family on vacation in Borneo. With red background
courtesy of duleesha kulasooriya ’92
Duleesha Kulasooriya ’92 and his wife Suellen Lee ’00 at a traditional local wedding hut on a family trip to Borneo last summer. Their sons left to right: Devin (9), Jehan (9), and Rohan (13).
Duleesha Kulasooriya ’92 joined Deloitte after graduation with no firm plans for a career. In 2008, he was thinking about quitting. But at the last minute, he was convinced to take the reins of the new think tank Deloitte was then setting up in Silicon Valley called the Center for the Edge.

Though plans for his own future had once been hazy, Kulasooriya is now tasked with pursuing society’s big questions about the future as it relates to commerce and technology.

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art works
Alexis Gander Deise '96 sits in front of her quilt. The quilt features four identical houses with guns visible through the windows.
nick stevens
“If you’re making artwork that matters and has meaning, putting it out into the world is an act of supreme courage,” says Alexis Gander Deise ’96, with her quilt Family Fire (2020). A lawyer and artist, she works to bring attention to the crisis of gun violence in the U.S.
alexis gander deise ’96
Lawyer & Artist

Piecing Her Message Together

How art brings attention to gun violence in America
by Mara Willard ’96
The ongoing gun violence crisis in the United States can leave us at a loss for words. But the artwork of Alexis Gander Deise ’96 focuses our eyes and generates conversations.
alexis gander deise ’96
Lawyer & Artist
Deise is a full-time attorney with the federal judiciary. After Swarthmore, she went on to earn a law degree at the University of Pennsylvania.

But her award-winning creative and critical work, calling for a confrontation with America’s culture of guns, violence, fear, and loss, comes from a different part of Deise’s life.

Her medium is quilting.

A delicate, tough, and time-intensive textile art, quilting is deeply associated with American female creativity. In 2022, the Modern Quilt Guild awarded First Place for Handwork to her American Album Quilt (2018). The project is profiled in Quilt out Loud: Activism, Language, and the Art of Quilting, out this year from C&T Publishing, as exemplary “Text without Letters.”

School shootings and other indiscriminate murders of innocent civilians in public places grab headlines and the public’s attention, Deise says. “Yet the majority of mass shootings on United States soil — 57% — are domestic incidents,” she says. “And women and children are the most frequent victims.

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Swarthmore College Bulletin/Spring+Summer 2023

I Was There!

Alumni look back on memorable, loud, live performances over the decades. Concerts by some legendary acts before they became famous shaped the experiences of those who were there.

by Ryan Dougherty

lively scout
A multi-colored curvy illustration - Headline: I was there! Image features hands and musical instruments, including drums, trumpets, keyboards, and guitars, rendered with wavy lines in bright, creating a psychedelic effect.
lively scout

I Was There!

Alumni look back on memorable, loud, live performances over the decades. Concerts by some legendary acts before they became famous shaped the experiences of those who were there.

by Ryan Dougherty

I dropcap
n April of 1990, Jonathan Beams ’92 knew nothing about Nirvana, the Seattle rock trio that would soon upend the charts and youth culture. But some enduring memories quickly took hold.

“The stage might have been eight square feet crowded into the eastern end of the first floor; the band completely filled it,” remembers Beams. “ [They were supposed to be] the opening act, but played a long set.

“I’ve never seen anything like it,” he says.

For Dave Scheiber ’76, the “magical moment” happened in the Scott Outdoor Amphitheater, as he and his friends were introduced to a sly, fedora-wearing dynamo.

“We knew nothing about [Bruce Springsteen], but it was a beautiful, balmy April afternoon, and a free show, so we went,” he says. “And from the instant the band took the stage, we knew we were experiencing a show unlike any we’d ever seen.”

Forty years later, all the way across campus in the Fieldhouse, Sean Anthony Bryant ’13 had his moment, watching Big Boi, half of the chart-topping rap duo Outkast, electrify a capacity crowd.

“He brought me and a handful of other Swatties on stage. It was awesome!” recalls Bryant, who later got backstage to take photos. “A night I’ll never forget.”

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Swarthmore College Bulletin/Spring+Summer 2023
laurence kesterson
In the 1980s, the radio station was the hub of a thriving alternative rock scene. Michael Wehar (left), a visiting assistant professor of computer science, worked to bring it back to life. Martin Tomlinson ’23 is a WSRN DJ.
laurence kesterson
In the 1980s, the radio station was the hub of a thriving alternative rock scene. Michael Wehar (left), a visiting assistant professor of computer science, worked to bring it back to life. Martin Tomlinson ’23 is a WSRN DJ.

Silent No Longer

Silent No Longer
WSRN Is Revived
by Tomas Weber
in the fall of 2021, Zeus Borrego ’22, together with Michael Wehar, a visiting assistant professor of computer science, unlocked the door to the graffitied studios of Swarthmore’s student-run radio station WSRN, which occupies the fourth floor of Parrish Hall.

The station had been silent for over a year, and the space was in chaos. Posters drooped off the walls, hanging by a single corner. Scattered across the floor were nails and fallen chunks of plaster. “It was a mess,” says Wehar. “But it was beautiful.”

Borrego and Wehar were surrounded by the remnants of a rich heritage. Vintage audio equipment was piled on the shelves, gathering dust. A library of 10,000 vinyl records, including rarities from the 1940s, lined the walls. Fascinated, Wehar removed a couple. He noticed that the sleeves were covered in witty and irreverent scrawls from long-ago student DJs.

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LAURENCE KESTERSON
Anne Danielson-Francois ’90’s scientific interest in spiders began at Swarthmore. She learned about the science of animal behavior in a class taught by Professor Emeritus of Biology Tim William ’64.

Spider Senses

Arachnologist Anne Danielson-Francois ’90 wants you to watch spiders with wonder
by George Spencer
G

rowing up in Joppatown, Md., Anne Danielson-Francois ’90 led neighborhood children on backyard tours to find worms and salamanders.

When she was 10, she had a pet tarantula named Dracula. And as a teenage summer camp counselor, part of her job involved squashing spiders who snuck into tents. But more often than not, she gently wrangled them out.

Spiders scare people, says Danielson-Francois. She works to change that notion. Now an associate professor of biology at the University of Michigan-Dearborn, she makes it her mission to educate students and the public about the eight-legged creatures dwelling in dark corners of our homes — and minds.

“I think the only way you can get a love of spiders is to encounter them and see their beautiful webs and watch them eating mosquitoes,” says Danielson-Francois, whose views have appeared in USA Today, The New York Times, Parade, and CNN.

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Walking Martha

The community of non-human living beings is much bigger, much vaster than us

by John Freeman ’96

A

lready the time has begun to fade, but if I pause in my day I can remember how it felt.

Leaving the house in the gloomy dark, driving to the Common with Martha in the back seat. Watchful, whimpering with impatience. Barking if we took a wrong turn. At the entrance to the park, other dog owners unloaded their animals with tenderness, or long-suffering abasement.

I often saw two men in particular, washing the paws of their spaniels with tiny portable spray guns before lifting their dogs, pasha-like, into the boot of a sensible hatchback.

This was absurd, wasn’t it? Carrying our animals to a wild-seeming but constructed woodland for an hour each day, picking up their excrement with our hands, cleaning them like penitents, as if this tiny reversal in our dominance over nature was a stay against what may one day come.

courtesy of john freeman ’96
WAITING: John Freeman’s beloved Weimaraner, Martha. During the pandemic, their walks became a touchstone for the family and a form of quiet communication between Martha and Freeman.
Gray-brown large dog turns to look at camera framed by a doorway that leads to an empty hall.
courtesy of john freeman ’96
WAITING: John Freeman’s beloved Weimaraner, Martha. During the pandemic, their walks became a touchstone for the family and a form of quiet communication between Martha and Freeman.

Walking Martha

The community of non-human living beings is much bigger, much vaster than us

by John Freeman ’96

A

lready the time has begun to fade, but if I pause in my day I can remember how it felt.

Leaving the house in the gloomy dark, driving to the Common with Martha in the back seat. Watchful, whimpering with impatience. Barking if we took a wrong turn. At the entrance to the park, other dog owners unloaded their animals with tenderness, or long-suffering abasement.

I often saw two men in particular, washing the paws of their spaniels with tiny portable spray guns before lifting their dogs, pasha-like, into the boot of a sensible hatchback.

This was absurd, wasn’t it? Carrying our animals to a wild-seeming but constructed woodland for an hour each day, picking up their excrement with our hands, cleaning them like penitents, as if this tiny reversal in our dominance over nature was a stay against what may one day come.

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The Gregory Brothers hold their platinum album and smile.
courtesy of the gregory brothers
The Gregory Brothers found fame on TikTok using quirky songs that have caught the collective attention of the social media platform. From left; Evan, Andrew Rose, and Michael Gregory.

Forever Trending

Evan Gregory ’01 and Andrew Rose Gregory ’04 found an outlet and a community for their musical interests at Swarthmore

by Bayliss Wagner ’21

I

f you’re on TikTok or any other social media platform, there’s a very good chance that you’ve heard “It’s Corn,” a musical mashup that turns a little boy’s remarks on corn cobs into song and his enthusiastic chomps into percussion. The video has more than 28 million views on YouTube and has been used in well over a million TikTok videos, as well as posts from brands like United Airlines, Dunkin’ Donuts, and Chips Ahoy!.

What you may not have heard: The quartet behind “It’s Corn” — and a number of other viral hits — includes two Swarthmore graduates, Evan Gregory ’01 and Andrew Rose Gregory ’04.

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class notes
A treasury of alumni-related items

class notes

Alumni Programs

Garnet Weekend

Oct. 6–7
Celebrate what makes Swarthmore special during our annual Homecoming and Family Weekend. swarthmore.edu/GarnetWeekend

Become a MEMBER OF THE Young Alumni Ambassadors Program (YAAP)

YAAP formed in partnership with the College to provide a supportive network, resources, and opportunities to help recent Swarthmore grads stay connected. Fill out our interest form to learn more and attend one of our monthly virtual meetings!
bit.ly/yaapapp

Alumni Events Website

Stay up to date with Swarthmore events by visiting our new Alumni Events webpage. Find information about and links to register for upcoming in-person and virtual events, as well as recordings and photo galleries of past programs. swarthmore.edu/AlumniEvents

Lizzie Agyei '25, holds a book of fairy tales, dressed as Cinderella's fairy godmother. Agyei is draped in starry blue fabric and wears long, dangly earrings.
Laurence Kesterson
SPELLBINDING: Lizzie Agyei ’25 was the Fairy Godmother in Cinderella produced by the Swarthmore Theater Department this spring. Marie Inniss ’23 directed an all-Black cast in Rodgers and Hammerstein’s fairy tale musical.
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Swarthmore College Bulletin/Spring+Summer 2023

Your support makes a Swarthmore education extraordinary and accessible.

Make your gift now: gift.swarthmore.edu
Gift hand icon

Your support makes a Swarthmore education extraordinary and accessible.

Make your gift now: gift.swarthmore.edu
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in memoriam
Close-up of yellow tulips in front of Parrish Hall
LAURENCE KESTERSON

their light lives on

our friends will never be forgotten
John Singleton NV

John, an accountant and deacon, died Dec. 26, 2022.

He served as a meteorologist on the USS Essex aircraft carrier, earned eight battle stars, was admitted into the Navy officers’ candidate program, and attended Princeton University, Swarthmore, and the University of Pennsylvania. John earned his accounting degree at the University of Richmond, retired from Reynolds Metals Co. after 41 years, and served for many years as deacon, adult Sunday school teacher, and chair of numerous committees at Bon Air Baptist Church.

Lois Wright Brown ’38

Lois, a painter, volunteer, and Unitarian Universalist, died Nov. 27, 2022.

She attended Yale for a year after earning her history degree at Swarthmore, and moved with her late husband, Sandy, to Massachusetts where he taught at MIT. They raised their children and were involved in local politics and the Unitarian church. Following Sandy’s passing, Lois remained in Henniker, N.H., where they’d retired, serving on the regional planning commission before moving in 1992 to Havenwood Heritage Heights in Concord, N.H.

Betsy Platt Weiner ’40

Betsy, a psychiatrist with an interest in performing arts, died Aug. 27, 2022.

After earning her biology degree at Swarthmore, where she was a member of the Drama Board, College Dancers, and Studio Art Group, Betsy earned her master’s and medical degree in 1944 from the University of Chicago. In 1974, she earned a master’s of public health from the University of Hawaii–Manoa, and later retired as a psychiatrist for Hawaii’s Department of Human Services.

Mary Weintraub Delbanco ’42

Mary, a remedial reading teacher, died Jan. 23, 2023.

A graduate and lifelong supporter of Swarthmore, she earned a Ph.D. in education from Temple University and taught remedial reading in Philadelphia before moving to New York City with her late husband, Kurt, a businessman, art dealer, and artist. Mary was his able assistant, becoming knowledgeable about African, European Renaissance, and early 20th-century art, and moving to Baltimore in 2009 to be closer to family.

Robert K. Finley Jr. ’45

Mentor Robert, a surgeon and medical volunteer, died July 15, 2022

As part of the Navy’s V-12 program during WWII, he attended Haverford and Swarthmore colleges, Ohio State University, and Jefferson Medical College, and while a surgical resident participated in the first successful open-heart surgery using the heart-and-lung machine. Robert practiced surgery for more than 30 years and was instrumental in founding the burn unit at Miami Valley Hospital in Dayton, Ohio. Upon retirement, he volunteered overseas, including 10 years in China where he helped build a surgical residency program.

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Swarthmore College Bulletin/Spring+Summer 2023

looking back

Black and white photo of WSRN student workers in the station, surrounded by records. Some of them hold records, by artists such as Stockhausen, Minor Threat, and Rhinoceros. Other album covers are unreadable due to the lighting.
Swarthmore College Archives
AUDIOPHILES: Front row, left to right: Jerry Moye ’88, Norman Wright ’86, Jonathan Kulick ’88. Back row, left to right: Ian Samways ’87, Alex Ellerson ’86, Anna Ballard Snider ’88, Marc Bennett ’86, Tracy Korman ’86, Matt Wall ’87, Charlie Woodruff ’86.
“THE STATION TOOK UP much of the top floor of Parrish,” says Jonathan Kulick ’88, budget director at WSRN 91.5 in 1985-1986 and music director 1986-1988. “[With] the on-air studio, adjacent record library, and production studio on one side of the corridor, and offices and an overflow storage room on the other. That room had tens of thousands of records — on shelves and in piles on the floor. It seemed that no one had been in there in years — except for pigeons, which had done to the room what pigeons will do.”
Working at Swarthmore’s radio station was a formative experience for many involved. For some, it was the origin of a career path. For others, it sparked enduring romance. Alumni shared memories of bringing music to airwaves in the mid-80s.

Tracy Korman ’86 is one half of a Matchbox couple with WSRN origins.

“I asked my crush to help me out with one of my graveyard shift shows,” he recalls. “She promptly took over my show, as she had much better and more current taste in music,” he says. “We must have made a pretty good team, as Joan Hsiao ’86 and I have now been married for 33 years this spring.”

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Swarthmore College Bulletin/Spring+Summer 2023
spoken word
Medium close-up of former Provost Sarah Willie-LeBreton in front of her bookcase.
laurence kesterson
“I love watching good television, hearing live music, and exploring unusual architecture with my spouse,” says Provost Sarah Willie-LeBreton, an avid mystery and poetry reader. “I’m apoplectic with glee when my teenager wants to have a conversation with me because it’s rare these days.”

GROWTH AND CHANGE

Sarah Willie-LeBreton will be the next president of Smith College
by Nia King
PROVOST AND DEAN OF THE FACULTY SARAH WILLIE-LEBRETON will be remembered for leading with compassion. Before departing for her new role as president of Smith College, she reflected on how Swarthmore has changed and her impact as a leader.

You’ve been at Swarthmore for 25 years and served as provost for five. What changes have been most notable?

Watching the student body, administrative staff, and faculty become much more diverse has been pretty extraordinary. There are a lot more people of color on campus now then when I got here.

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Swarthmore College Bulletin/Spring+Summer 2023

A SEASON TO CELEBRATE

Swarthmore’s Vinny DeAngelo ’24
was named Player of the Year

Back cover

INVEST IN THE NEXT GENERATION

Now is the perfect time to invest in the next generation of Swarthmore students. Find out how a life-income gift can protect their future — and provide income for yours — at swarthmore.edu/giftplanning.
laurence kesterson

Back cover

laurence kesterson

INVEST IN THE NEXT GENERATION

Now is the perfect time to invest in the next generation of Swarthmore students. Find out how a life-income gift can protect their future — and provide income for yours — at swarthmore.edu/giftplanning.