Swarthmore Bulletin Winter 2023

Swarthmore Bulletin logo
Honors at 100:
Something of an Adventure
Winter 2023
in this issue
focus point
sam Hiscox
Zoé Whitley Richmond ’01 is an American art curator who lives and works in London. “Art History Honors at Swarthmore is the genuine starting point of my curatorial career,” says Whitley Richmond. “Honors taught me to look closely, to ask questions and to be unafraid to draw my own conclusions.” She is director of the Chisenhale Gallery, and past curator at the Victoria and Albert Museum, Tate Britain, Tate Modern, and Hayward Gallery. She serves on the London Mayor’s Commission on Diversity in the Public Realm and is a trustee of the Teiger Foundation. See p. 20.
features
The Honors Program is a century old. It likely shaped your time at Swarthmore (even if you never took a class in Honors).
by Heather Rigney Shumaker ’91
focus point
sam Hiscox
Zoé Whitley Richmond ’01 is an American art curator who lives and works in London. “Art History Honors at Swarthmore is the genuine starting point of my curatorial career,” says Whitley Richmond. “Honors taught me to look closely, to ask questions and to be unafraid to draw my own conclusions.” She is director of the Chisenhale Gallery, and past curator at the Victoria and Albert Museum, Tate Britain, Tate Modern, and Hayward Gallery. She serves on the London Mayor’s Commission on Diversity in the Public Realm and is a trustee of the Teiger Foundation. See p. 20.
features
Art and sport meld with beautiful results.
by Sherry L. Howard
The new Dining Center brings a reimagined eating experience grounded in Swarthmore’s values of sustainability, community, and inclusivity.
by Roy Greim ’14
Across generations, art of the Celtic Renaissance strikes a chord.
by Nick Forrest ’08
DIALOGUE
June Xie ’11
Simon Ji ’23
Mitzie-Ann Woldegebriel (née Davis) ’02
common good
Erik Cheever ’82
Katherine Buttolph ’74
Yuan Liu ’09
class notes
spoken word
Tiffany Thompson, associate dean of inclusive excellence and community development.
On the cover

Celebrating the Honors Program at 100 years. Illustration by Iratxe López de Munáin.

Illustration of students speaking with professors.
Honors Turns 100 pg. 20
dialogue
Editor’s Column

The World in Our Hands

by

kate
campbell
Editor
Hands hold a bottle filled with liquid, plant life, and glitter.
BOB WILLIAMS

The new year is underway as are many changes across campus. The Dining Center was unveiled and the ambitious To Zero By Thirty-Five energy plan is in motion. But pillars of the College remain. We celebrate the Honors Program and the milestone of 100 years of academic absorption. “Something of an Adventure” (p. 20) explores the history of Honors. Groundbreaking when it began in 1922, it continues to shape Swarthmore’s culture. It was the opportunity to become so completely immersed in a subject of study that made it such a life-changing experience, alumni say.

In “Designed to Succeed” (p. 34) Omri Gal ’20 reveals how a passion for soccer led him to create a program for young students in Chester, Pa. Gal helps artists at Stetser Elementary find a vibrant place to voice their emotions in the form of soccer jerseys!

At a time when the world seems to be moving so rapidly, Swarthmoreans kept pace with positive change. Students and faculty attended the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27) in Egypt; Kilan Tang ’25 created a way to expand voting access to transgender and nonbinary students; and staff member Luis Alvarez received the inaugural Greg Brown Award, recognizing extraordinary contributions in the areas of Campus Services, Facilities Management, and Public Safety.

On a smaller scale, the Arboretum staff held a workshop to make snow globes. Pieces of evergreen and holly placed inside a bottle seemed a simple project. This photo is an evocative reminder that we do hold worlds in our hands. It’s inspiring to imagine that each of us can create new environments in big and small ways, too.

Happy 2023 from Swarthmore in Pennsylvania to Swarthmore across the globe!

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Swarthmore College Bulletin/Winter 2023

swarthmore college bulletin

Vice President for Communications
Andy Hirsch

Director of Content Strategy
Mark Anskis

Editor
Kate Campbell

Senior Editor
Ryan Dougherty

Staff Writer
Roy Greim ’14

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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The Swarthmore College Bulletin (ISSN 0888-2126), of which this is volume CXXI, number 3, 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

swarthmore was paradise!

I wanted to tell you how much I enjoyed the fall issue of the Bulletin. I read it from cover to cover and it was splendid! I particularly resonated with the female computer scientist. She described a situation exactly parallel to my experience from 1948 to 1952, for women in science. There were always roughly equal numbers of men and women in all the science courses I took. In our senior year the National Science Foundation offered fellowships for graduate work for the first time. Swarthmore won five of them (a large number!) and all the winners were women! Only when I got to graduate school, and found myself only one of a handful of women in every class, did I realize that Swarthmore was paradise!

­— BARBARA SEARLE ’52, Carlsbad, Calif.

Let’s Organize

The fall 2022 issue is a particularly good one, especially the article about Lucretia Mott. Last July 4th, I participated in a public reading of Frederick Douglass’ famous speech, “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” Thanks to the Swarthmore Bulletin, perhaps next year we’ll organize a public reading of Lucretia Mott’s “The Law of Progress.”

— PAUL LAUENSTEIN ’72, Sharon, Mass.

Luis Alvarez
laurence kesterson
STAFF STAR In recognition of his service to and impact on the College community, Luis Alvarez from Events Management has received the inaugural Greg Brown Award. “It’s nice to feel appreciated,” says Alvarez. “I feel grateful for the nomination.” The award recognizes extraordinary contributions in the areas of Campus Services, Facilities Management, and Public Safety.
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Swarthmore College Bulletin/Winter 2023
dialogue
June Xie '11 is pictured as a baby (left) with her mother on the right.
courtesy of june xie ’11
June Xie ’11, who was born in Beijing, with her mother Sufang Cao. They immigrated to New York City in 1997, when Xie was 7.
community voices

IN DEATH, LIFE

How I grew, involuntarily, into myself
by June Xie ’11

FINDING DIRECTION has always been hard for me. In 2007, I entered Swarthmore thinking I’d major in sociology, or education, or philosophy, convinced I’d know by the end of my first semester who I’d be, what I’d like. After suffering through a dark sophomore slump, it took until my junior year to discover that what I really wanted to study — and what would change my entire life lens — was religion. By my senior year, I’d accumulated enough credits for a religion minor, an educational studies minor, and an English major. Half of me felt like a failure: I’d relinquished applying myself to be part of the Honors program, struggled to write essays despite literature being my main area of study, and had no clue what I wanted to do with my life after college.

But I was also, for the first time in my years at Swarthmore, happy. I’d become known and welcomed as the campus photographer-stalker; I was absorbing the concepts from postmodern religious thought into my being and leaning on them to help me navigate my existence; I’d found, in morsels that became small meals over time, meaning.

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Swarthmore College Bulletin/Winter 2023
dialogue

studentwise:
Battery Life

by Kate Campbell

The title of Simon Ji ’23’s research poster is daunting: “In-situ investigation of NaFePO4 Coin Cells through Mossbauer Spectroscopy and Galvanostatic Cycling.” But Ji explains it concisely. “In the hunt for more economical and sustainable battery materials, Sodium Iron Phosphate (NaFePO4) has emerged as a promising candidate due to the abundance of the elements that make up its structure,” Ji says. He hopes his research with Assistant Professor of Physics Hillary Smith will help understand this battery material’s behavior under real-life operating conditions, and provide insights to improve its safety, energy density, and longevity.

Simon Ji '23 stands in front of a poster explaining his research.
courtesy of simon ji ’23
“Batteries made from sodium iron phosphate will be much cheaper and easier to manufacture, leading to less expensive electric cars or grid storage devices for solar and wind [energy],” says Simon Ji ’23. “We hope that these batteries will bring us one step closer to a zero carbon future.”
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Swarthmore College Bulletin/Winter 2023
Submit your publication for consideration: books@swarthmore.edu

HOT TYPE: New releases by Swarthmoreans

Carolyn Dewald ’68 and Rosaria Vignolo Munson, the J. Archer and Helen C. Turner Professor of Classics

Herodotus: Histories Book I
Cambridge University Press

Herodotus: Histories Book I<br />

In the Histories, the ancient Greek historian and geographer Herodotus tells how the Persian Empire began, grew, and met defeat during his parents’ generation. Book I begins that story by introducing the world in which the Persian imperial war machine began to operate and then expanded. This edition helps intermediate and advanced students read the book in the original Greek and will also interest advanced scholars. The commentary provides information about dialect, grammatical forms, syntax, and other properties of his language.

Laura Markowitz ’85 and Amy S. Cramer

Voices on the Economy, Vol. I: How Open-Minded Exploration of Rival Perspectives Can Spark New Solutions to Our Urgent Economic Problems
Voices On The Economy, Incorporated

Voices on the Economy, Vol. I: How Open-Minded Exploration of Rival Perspectives Can Spark New Solutions to Our Urgent Economic Problems
This book presents the award-winning curriculum of Voices on the Economy (VOTE), an economics education program dedicated to presenting multiple perspectives without bias toward any point of view. It offers basic tools to analyze economic policies from the conservative, radical, and liberal perspectives. Readers can learn practical methods for engaging in passionate advocacy, respectful listening, and intelligent debate, and become fluent in multiple points of view.
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Swarthmore College Bulletin/Winter 2023
dialogue
navigation

Full Circle

Opportunity, skill — and her mother’s devotion — paved the way

by Tara Smith
Mitzie-Ann Woldegebriel (née Davis) ’02, now a gynecologic oncologist at Piedmont Fayette Hospital in Georgia, was 17 when she left Jamaica with her mother and sisters to settle in Philadelphia. Although she had completed her A-levels under the British system, she hadn’t taken the SATs. So she repeated the last year of high school.

“Sometimes you have to step back to take 10 steps forward,” she says. She quickly adapted and did well, but the landscape of higher education in the U.S. was yet another foreign country.

Mitzie-Ann Woldegebriel ’02
Leticia Andrade
“My story is one of opportunity, disappointment, perseverance, and being open to this human experience called life,” says Mitzie-Ann Woldegebriel ’02.
mitzie-ann
woldegebriel ’02
Clinician
Uncertain how to navigate a large Philadelphia college expo, Woldegebriel was grateful when a Swarthmore admissions counselor took the time to talk with her and told her it would be worthwhile to consider Swarthmore. She applied and was admitted.
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Swarthmore College Bulletin/Winter 2023
sharing success and stories of swarthmore

common good

Mertz lawn under construction.
laurence kesterson
Mertz Lawn is the site of the first phase of the geoexchange well field that is part of Swarthmore’s new energy plan “To Zero By Thirty-Five.”
new energy plan

Ahead, a Carbon-Free Future

At The moment, the fenced-off site on Mertz Lawn is the most visible evidence of the transition from a multi-year planning effort to execution of the College’s new energy plan.

“To Zero By Thirty-Five is a bold and exciting articulation of the College’s intentional approach and forward momentum, and it holds us accountable to our goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2035,” President Valerie Smith said.

All of campus will be connected to a central geoexchange plant by 2035, says Associate Vice President for Sustainable Facilities Operations and Capital Planning Andy Feick. The system, powered by renewable energy, works by extracting heat from buildings during the summer for cooling and storing it underground for use in the winter for heating — all while producing zero carbon emissions.

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Swarthmore College Bulletin/Winter 2023
PROGRAM LAUNCH
Faculty of the new Tri-Co Asian American Studies Department.
The new Asian American Studies Program provides a point of entry for new faculty and students engaging in Asian American studies. From left: Shu-wen Wang, Lei X. Ouyang, Bakirathi Mani, Heejung Park, and Gina Velasco.

Broadening Perspectives

New Asian American Studies Program Begins
by Ryan Dougherty
A

NEWLY CREATED Asian American Studies Program at Swarthmore, Bryn Mawr, and Haverford will build upon existing courses and programs and create opportunities across the Tri-College Consortium.

“I love the fact that students and faculty will have a space to think, reflect, and learn more about what it means to be a racialized minority in the U.S., a space to explore what it means to be Asian American now, and the ways Asian American immigrant histories relate to global movements of peoples and ideas and cultures in the early 21st century,” says Bakirathi Mani, professor of English literature and co-director of the new program.

The program centers on Asian American perspectives and contextualizes them within the wider field of critical race and ethnic studies, including Black studies, Latinx studies, and Indigenous studies.

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Swarthmore College Bulletin/Winter 2023
sound scapes

New Spaces for Music

Renovations Unveiled at the Lang Music Building
by Ryan Dougherty
T

HE COLLEGE marked the completion of a yearslong effort to renovate the Lang Music Building in fall 2022. Nearly 200 students, faculty, staff, and members of the Board of Managers gathered for the event, which featured a plaque unveiling and concert by acclaimed organist Mark Loria ’08 on the newly restored Holtkamp Organ.

The renovations have brought new life to the nearly 50-year-old building. In addition to the restored Holtkamp Organ, the space now boasts enhanced acoustics, a new accessibility ramp in the building’s lobby, full updates of the restrooms, and a new egress pathway outside the concert hall.

Mark Loria '08 plays the new organ.
LAURENCE KESTERSON
The dedication program last fall included a variety of styles and traditions of organ music, with an eye toward the music of composers of color, says Mark Loria ’08. “My hope was to showcase the versatility of the new instrument in the rendering of these different styles and how, in spite of its relatively small size, it is up to the task of succeeding in whatever scenario it is called to serve — just like any other Swattie.”
“These improvements reflect a community that values the study and performance of music in liberal arts education,” said Associate Professor of Music Lei X. Ouyang, who serves as the Music Department’s chair. Ouyang also touted the updated Presser Room, where the most visible transformation took place.
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Swarthmore College Bulletin/Winter 2023
Numbers Game
Erik Cheever '82
Laurence Kesterson
“To have thousands of people using it was never my goal,” Erik Cheever ’82 says about his website. “But it’s satisfying.” See bit.ly/CheeverMath
Erik cheever ’82
Engineering Maven

Adding Something Positive

His mathematics website is a global hit
by Ryan Dougherty
Nearly 20 years ago, Erik Cheever ’82 created a simple web resource to help him organize his mathematics courses. Last year, one of its pages, a no-frills breakdown of linear algebra, drew more Google searches than the entire Swarthmore homepage.
Erik cheever ’82
Engineering Maven
Find that surprising? You’re not alone.

“I had no idea — I haven’t touched that [part of the website] in 20 years,” says Cheever, the Edward Hicks Magill Professor Emeritus of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, who retired from the College in May. “To have thousands of people using it was never really my goal, but it’s satisfying.”

In the early days of the site, Cheever would post notes from lectures, as an aid to his students. But the site grew, demonstrating an appeal to a broader community.

“I wanted to make well-written and easily used resources available for all,” says Cheever, noting the prohibitive cost of textbooks. The site still looks mid-’90s; you can practically hear the AOL dial-up squeal. But it boasts an array of tools and tutorials for anyone seeking to master linear physical systems analysis. And the clicks, from as far as India, keep coming. A second subpage, on binary numbers, also cracked the top five in Google searches among all Swarthmore-hosted sites last year.

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Swarthmore College Bulletin/Winter 2023
land lover

A Lawyer for the Land

Preserving parcels as a land conservation specialist
by Elizabeth Redden ’05
katherine buttolph ’74
Land Conservationist
Katherine Buttolph '74
courtesy of katherine buttolph ’74
“Working in this field makes me feel as if I can make a difference somehow,” says Katherine Buttolph ’74, a land conservationist for the Massachusetts Audubon Society. “Connected preserved land helps wildlife adapt to climate change and provides safe corridors for their movement.”
For her second act in her legal career, Katherine Buttolph ’74 found a niche in conservation.

“I’m considered the project manager — that’s a good term for what a land-protection specialist does,” says Buttolph, who’s worked for the Massachusetts Audubon Society since 2016.

Buttolph talks to the experts — surveyors, appraisers, and title attorneys — who are part of the process of a real estate transaction for land conservation. “That also includes the scientists who know the nitty-gritty about a particular parcel, the wetlands, the soils, and plants, and why that property is worthy of conservation,” she says. “It’s basically herding a lot of cats and trying to put together all the facts about a property.”

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Swarthmore College Bulletin/Winter 2023
ode to joy
Yuan Liu '09
nick stevens
“Swarthmore molded me into a conscientious person who thinks about how to better the world,” says Yuan Liu ’09, a psychiatrist in New York City. “It was a formative time in my life.”
Yuan liu ’09
Psychiatrist

rediscovering joy

Psychiatry starts with understanding people’s stories
by Sherry L. Howard
On any given work day, Yuan Liu ’09 sees an ethnically diverse roster of patients with depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia. As a psychiatrist in the outpatient clinic at Bellevue Hospital, part of the NYC Health + Hospitals system, Liu says the demands and needs of her patients are varied. Interestingly, she often draws on her English literature degree for her work in medicine. “Being an English major is understanding people’s experiences, their narratives,” she says. “I realized that psychiatry was the opportunity I wanted to really get to know patients and follow them through their journeys.” After receiving a degree in English literature and studio art in 2009, she joined AmeriCorps and worked in marketing for Philadelphia Young Playwrights. During a Philly Fellows fellowship, she volunteered as an interpreter and women’s health counselor at a medical-student-run clinic in Philadelphia’s Chinatown.
Yuan liu ’09
Psychiatrist
Liu’s work at the Chinatown Clinic, operated jointly by Drexel and Thomas Jefferson universities, shifted her path. She witnessed the health disparities and social barriers that thwarted patients’ access to care. “That inspired me to go to medical school at a pretty late age,” she says. “It would’ve been nice to make that decision a little bit younger.” (She was 26 at the time). She attended the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine and did her residency at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York. Liu says she chose to join the safety-net hospital last summer because she wanted to work with a high-needs patient population. Bellevue accepts uninsured patients for full-service medical care.

Liu also works at a counseling center and is building her private practice. Her aim is to “help people be more authentically themselves and reach their goals.” She was inspired by her mother, who obtained a master’s in nutrition after arriving in the United States. She had to leave the 4-year-old Liu in China with her father, but the two of them were able to join her two years later. Her mother, who had been a doctor in China, felt that she could find better opportunities for herself as a woman — as well as for her young daughter — in the U.S., Liu says. Liu is seeing the limitations of the American system firsthand, limitations made more apparent by the pandemic. The counseling center has long waiting lists, she says, because more people are seeking help for psychiatric issues, including from the stress of the pandemic.

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Swarthmore College Bulletin/Winter 2023

Something of an Adventure

Something of an Adventure title
iratxe lópez de munáin
The Honors Program is a century old. It likely shaped your time at Swarthmore (even if you never took a class in Honors).
by Heather Rigney Shumaker ’91
M dropcap
ost people would agree: Swarthmore equals intellectual rigor. It’s tough to get in, you have to work hard, and intimate class sizes let you interact directly with your professors.

That hallmark of intellectual intensity is thanks in large part to the Honors Program.

Whether you took Honors or not, Swarthmore’s Honors Program had an enormous impact on liberal arts education across the country and contributed to creating what is quintessentially Swarthmore.

Before Honors: “Conventional and Undistinguished”

When Frank Aydelotte, Swarthmore’s seventh president, arrived on campus in 1921, he considered it a “conventional and undistinguished school.” The College had 525 students. Academics were so-so. Campus life prioritized socializing rather than challenging course work or a global outlook.
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Swarthmore College Bulletin/Winter 2023

Designed to Succeed

Art and sport meld with beautiful results

by Sherry L. Howard

photos by Laurence Kesterson

Omri Gal '20, Oliver Steinglass '20 (left) and Ayo George '22 (right)

Designed to Succeed

Art and sport meld with beautiful results

by Sherry L. Howard
photos by Laurence Kesterson
Omri Gal speaks to students in a classroom.

Designed to Succeed

Art and sport meld with beautiful results

by Sherry L. Howard

photos by Laurence Kesterson

Omri Gal speaks to students in a classroom.
Omri Gal ’20, Oliver Steinglass ’20, and Ayo George ’22 at Stetser Elementary in Chester, Pa.
A
s a boy growing up in Brooklyn, Omri Gal ’20 was obsessed with soccer. His father, Miro, who played street soccer as a child in Jerusalem, rolled balls for him to chase in their apartment.

The sport quickly became the center of Gal’s life. As a teenager, he traveled across New York and the Northeast for matches and played with the New York Red Bulls Academy team.

Recruited to play soccer at Swarthmore, he felt at home on the team. And when he received a Eugene Lang Opportunity Scholarship in 2018, Gal committed to finding new ways to share his love of the game.

Eventually, he launched Design FC, an after-school program that works with youth to encourage creative thinking and autobiographical storytelling through the design of athletic jerseys and apparel. The program is based primarily at Stetser Elementary School in Chester, Pa.

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Swarthmore College Bulletin/Winter 2023
Students enjoy spacious new dining hall, which offers lots of natural light. In the foreground, a student ascends the dining hall stairs holding a plate of food and wearing a mask. In the background, students dine outside, as seen through the window.
The Dining Center, part of the larger Dining and Community Commons project, opened in the fall.

Digging In

The recently opened Dining Center brings a reimagined eating experience grounded in Swarthmore’s values of sustainability, community, and inclusivity.
by Roy Greim ’14

photos by Laurence Kesterson

The Dining Center, part of the larger Dining and Community Commons project, opened in the fall.
letter P
rior to the opening of Sharples Dining Hall in 1964, Swarthmore College President Courtney Smith described dining on campus as a “struggle for survival.” Growing enrollment and cramped quarters necessitated the construction of a new building and thus, Sharples was born.

Over 50 years later, Smith’s observation remained apt: long lines snaking out of the servery into the foyer, tight corners that felt perilous to navigate during peak traffic, limited hours for evening meals, and a lack of natural light all made for a less-than-ideal dining experience.

It was clear that Sharples, originally designed to accommodate around 900 students, could no longer meet the needs of the campus community of more than 1,600 students. Thus, the Dining Center was born.

As part of the larger Dining and Community Commons (DCC) project, the Dining Center brings to campus a reimagined dining experience grounded in Swarthmore’s longstanding values of sustainability, community, and inclusivity.

Eating Green

The College’s commitment to sustainability is evident from top to bottom, quite literally: More than 800 solar panels covering the entire roof will meet roughly 28% of the building’s eventual power needs. The basement will eventually house the geoexchange plant that is central to the College’s ambitious energy plan, To Zero By Thirty-Five.
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A Collection Revived

Across generations, art of the Celtic Renaissance strikes a chord
by Nick Forrest ’08
LAURENCE KESTERSON
While digitizing and cataloging the prints, Lemuel L’Oiseau ’25 was captivated by the collection’s evocative imagery — often inspired by esoterica, including the tarot.
Lemuel L'Oiseau '25 handles woodblock prints from the Celtic Renaissance. They wear a mustard-colored sweater over a turquoise-collared shirt and glasses. Their long braids are black at the root and become dark red towards the ends.
LAURENCE KESTERSON
While digitizing and cataloging the prints, Lemuel L’Oiseau ’25 was captivated by the collection’s evocative imagery — often inspired by esoterica, including the tarot.

A Collection Revived

Across generations, art of the Celtic Renaissance strikes a chord
by Nick Forrest ’08
W

HEN KEVIN QUIGLEY ’74 and his wife, Susan Flaherty, donated their collection of Cuala Press prints to the College, they wanted to ensure the community could readily access the art. Their collection includes 73 hand-colored woodblock prints and broadsides created between 1906 and 1968 at the Cuala Press in Dublin. Originally called the Dun Emer Press, it was established by Elizabeth and Lily Yeats — sisters of poet William Butler Yeats ­— along with Evelyn Gleeson and Augustine Henry.

“A key criteria was to have it be accessible,” Quigley says. So he funded a paid student internship at McCabe Library to catalog and digitize the collection. “It’s really rewarding for me to hear there’s interest on campus,” says Quigley, “ I have a lot of confidence that Swarthmore will take good care of it.”

When Lemuel L’Oiseau ’25, whose pronouns are they/them, noticed a listing for the internship Quigley had funded, they quickly applied. L’Oiseau had spent the previous year working at McCabe’s circulation desk, nurturing an interest in the behind-the-scenes work of librarians — from cataloging and shelving to research and acquisitions.

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class notes
A treasury of alumni-related items

class notes

Alumni Events speech bubble

Swarthmore in Your City

Join President Valerie Smith in your city to hear updates from campus, learn about current initiatives from faculty and key administrators, and catch up with Swarthmore friends and classmates. Spring dates and locations will be announced in early March. swarthmore.edu/AlumniEvents

Alumni Weekend 2023

Whether you are celebrating a milestone reunion (class years ending in 3 and 8) or simply looking for an excuse to come back to campus, alumni of all ages are invited to Alumni Weekend, May 26–28. Find information to start planning your trip back to campus, including discounted rates at nearby hotels, at swarthmore.edu/AlumniWeekend

Garnet Weekend 2023

Save the date for Swarthmore’s annual Homecoming and Family Weekend, scheduled for Oct. 6–7.

members of an acapella group performing at Garnet Weekend
Laurence Kesterson
Hitting the high notes with a few members of 16 Feet during Garnet Weekend.
Class Notes appear only in the print edition of the Bulletin.
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Swarthmore College Bulletin/Winter 2023

Your support makes a Swarthmore education extraordinary and accessible.

Make your gift now: gift.swarthmore.edu
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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
Natalie “Pat” Engel Torrey GR

Psychologist Pat, who loved elephants and cats, died Aug. 17, 2022.

She graduated from UPenn in 1956, pursued post-graduate studies at Swarthmore, earned a Ph.D. in experimental psychology from Cornell, and later studied at the Institute for Psychoanalysis in Chicago. Pat had a varied career, teaching child psychology at the former College of St. Catherine in St. Paul, Minn., working with chemically dependent teens, and practicing as a psychotherapist.

David C. Broscious NV

David, a civil engineer, died March 23, 2022.

He attended the College but earned his bachelor’s degree in civil engineering at Penn State, served in the Navy Reserves, and was the president of Broscious Building Center (formerly Broscious Lumber Co.). David was a member of Sunbury, Pa., Bible Church and Gideons International, president of the American Institute of Kitchen Dealers, and a volunteer at JAARS in North Carolina.

Morgan L. Miller NV

Morgan, who completed the New York City Marathon at ages 58 and 60, died Aug. 17, 2021.

He enlisted in the Navy during World War II, then attended midshipman’s school at Swarthmore and graduated from Lehigh University. He worked in the garment industry, owning his own fashion business, and joined National Spinning Co., retaining the title of chairman emeritus until his death. Morgan served in many volunteer leadership positions including with Beth Israel/Continuum (now Mount Sinai Hospital) in New York.

LeRoy F. Van Scoyk NV

LeRoy, an athlete and engineer, died Oct. 31, 2021.

He attended the College and the University of Colorado, and while at Swarthmore was a member of the varsity swimming, track & field, basketball, and soccer teams, as well as participating in the Peaslee Debate Society and the College Orchestra. LeRoy retired as a design engineer for the Pima County, Arizona, Department of Transportation.

Samuel E. Woffindin NV

Sam, a human resources professional, died Dec. 20, 2021.

He attended both Juniata and Swarthmore colleges prior to his enlistment in the Navy, ultimately graduating from Juniata; worked in human resources at Fischer & Porter Co. for three decades, retiring as national marketing manager; and returned to work in human resources and sales for North Penn Transfer and Keenan Motors and later with several firms in Asheville, N.C. Sam was active in the YMCA as president of the West Bucks County, Pa., chapter; he also participated in church organizations and the Kiwanis Club.

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looking back

old black and white photograph of students eating in the old Swarthmore dining hall
friends historical library
Until Sharples opened in 1964, the College’s main dining area was on the first floor of Parrish.
GONE ARE THE DAYS of austere dining at Swarthmore, when formal dress was required and waitstaff offered table service. Until Sharples opened in 1964, the College’s main dining area was on the first floor of Parrish. As the College celebrates the opening of the new Dining and Community Commons (DCC), we reflect on some of Swarthmore’s earlier dining experiments and entrepreneurs.
In 1971, an enigmatic figure referred to in the archives only as “Sandwichman” operated on campus, slinging ham-and-swiss and roast beef sandwiches as well as hoagies and cheesesteaks for under a dollar each. Students had to call him on his landline and leave a message if he wasn’t home. Hopefully they called early, as his advertisement indicated he struggled to meet (meat) demand.

A 1973 lunch menu laments that inflation has increased the cost of meat, and a patty melt — the most expensive sandwich on the menu — now costs a whole dollar. The menu also boasts a new item, a 30-cent burrito, and lets students know they can have these, and many other foodstuffs, delivered to them between 10 p.m. and 1 a.m. nightly.

A story from the May 13, 1973 issue of The Sunday Bulletin revealed that cheese fondue and roast duck used to be available for purchase on campus, as well as a treat called “amoeba cookies,” described only as “brownie-like.”

The story also let readers know that “natural foods,” like yogurt and salads, were now standard fare in the cafeteria.

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Swarthmore College Bulletin/Winter 2023
spoken word
Tiffany Thompson
laurence kesterson
“The advocacy piece is working to make sure the students’ voices are heard,” says Tiffany Thompson, associate dean of inclusive excellence and community development.

A PLACE OF COMMUNITY

Tiffany Thompson builds community and supports marginalized students
by Nia King
A LEADER in Philadelphia’s LGBTQ community for 15 years before coming to Swarthmore in 2019, Tiffany Thompson previously worked at the University of Pennsylvania and several nonprofits serving people of color, queer and trans people, and youth experiencing homelessness. The College’s associate dean of inclusive excellence and community development sat down to explain what that long title really means.

What drew you to Swarthmore and to this position in particular?

Swarthmore’s small, liberal arts environment, which is very different from bigger institutions. When I came for the campus visit, I got the same kind of energy from everyone here: that it’s just a place of community. I knew right away that there was a different vibe here. And I was right!

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Swarthmore College Bulletin/Winter 2023
Arrow

MOTION AND LIGHT

Jake Rothman ’23 in Echo, by Bethany Formica Bender.
Fall Dance Concert, Dec., 2022.

Snow on the ground and trees in front of Parrish Hall

Back cover

laurence kesterson
You Are Here typography
To celebrate, reunite, and remember. To see what’s new and what’s exactly the same. To connect with the past and peek into the future.
Alumni of all ages are invited to ALUMNI WEEKEND 2023, MAY 26-28 swarthmore.edu/alumniweekend
laurence kesterson