As the academic year and the “No Limits?” column draw to a close, I find myself reminiscing over the many topics covered by this column during the semester. In January, I set out to start a discussion in the Grinnell community about the financial challenges faced by the college. “No Limits?” has explored the endowment, need-blind financial aid, fundraising and alumni giving, net student revenues and rising higher education costs. While I will graduate in a few weeks and move on to the next stage of my life, Grinnell—and its financial challenges—will remain. The road ahead is filled with difficult decisions, but there are concrete objectives Grinnell can measure its progress towards.

The first order of business is increasing net student revenues (collected tuition minus financial aid). In order to preserve a need-blind admission policy and meet 100 percent of demonstrated financial need, Grinnell must attract more students that pay “sticker price.” This can be accomplished without diminishing the academic profile of incoming classes. The majority of our peer liberal arts colleges have higher percentages of full-paying students, which allows them to offer generous financial aid packages without draining other financial resources. In the near future, net student revenues should grow from its current 36 percent of the annual budget to over 40 percent (Amherst is at 43 percent). Grinnell must also reduce its discount rate (financial aid provided to students divided by collected tuition and fees) from a whopping 61 percent to the low 50s. This will alleviate annual budgetary pressure and allow Grinnell to offer comprehensive financial aid to those who need it.

Second, Grinnell must not deplete its endowment. The $1.45 billion endowment is the college’s most valuable resource and sets Grinnell apart financially from many peer institutions. The endowment must support Grinnell in perpetuity, but it will be increasingly unable to do so if it continues to fund 53 percent of the annual budget. This is problematic for two reasons: (1) It exposes the college to market vulnerabilities and, if the endowment value falls, the annual budget will disproportionately suffer; (2) It pushes the endowment toward short term, more liquid investments, which restricts its long-term growth potential. Further, our endowment receives far less in gifts than most other liberal arts colleges, constraining its growth even more. Grinnell must look to increase endowment gifts and reduce the percentage of the annual budget that is endowment-funded to around 45 percent.

Third, fundraising must improve substantially for Grinnell to remain competitive. Peer institutions dramatically out-raise Grinnell across the board, with higher rates of both total fundraising and alumni participation. The College has made significant changes to its alumni and development offices that will improve results, but Grinnell remains years away from closing its $22.2 million annual fundraising gap with Carleton. Short-term goals should be to raise $10 million annually and increase the alumni participation rate to 50 percent. Over the long-term, Grinnell must create an impetus for giving and lay the foundation for a large-scale fundraising campaign for capital improvements and program expansion.

Finally, Grinnell must manage itself prudently. It must continue to raise the college’s academic profile by recruiting talented faculty and staff and admitting high-achieving students. Efficient cost cutting is essential: higher education costs cannot rise forever and Grinnell must carefully allocate resources to core items. Most importantly, Grinnell must not shy away from challenges. Many changes will buffet higher education soon, including the Supreme Court’s ruling on affirmative action, declining government support for Pell Grants, shifting racial and geographic population demographics and the emergence of online education. Grinnell cannot blindly defend the liberal arts model: it must lead, embrace change and adapt in order to thrive.

These issues will involve many serious tradeoffs. Sacred cows will have to be sacrificed and there will undoubtedly be resistance to change from various parts of the Grinnell community. But the fact that choices are difficult does not mean that choices do not need to be made. Strong leadership, fiscal prudence, widespread engagement and pragmatic vision will maintain and improve Grinnell’s status as a world-class institution and premier liberal arts college. We can succeed, and I hope we do.

Ishan Bhadkamkar ’13 is an intern with the Grinnell College Investment Office.

If you have read my column in the past, you know the last two weeks of school at Grinnell are weird. People write a lot of essays and study for many hours, but also seem to socialize and relax in a more intense and purposeful manner. I have a theory of why this more frenzied socializing occurs, not only because of the higher stress felt due to the increased workload and subsequent smaller pockets of time you have to socialize. It is also due in large part to the fact these last two weeks are the last moments your social group will exist exactly how it is. Summer changes things, and a new year means new living arrangements, new classes and for many, a slightly different friend group. Some Grinnellians won’t be coming back to campus in the fall at all. The chanting of a senior class year on a weekend seems to become more and more common as seniors realize along with the celebration that these are the last essays at Grinnell they are turning in, these are also the last days they will have with their friends on campus, as Grinnellians. So what to make of all this; how does one handle this increased pressure to both lay out in the sun with the people you have spent this whole year with before summer and a new year inevitably shifts things, and also hit up Burling like never before to knock out that research paper? I do not have any easy solution to this dilemma, but I do have some suggestions based off observation.

One phenomenon I have observed, as everyone on this campus has, is the reintroduction of beautiful warm weather. Is there not a more perfect capsulation of this dilemma of friendship versus schoolwork than all your friends sprawled out on blankets chatting aimlessly about life, while Burling looms in the background? The very act of hanging out with your crew is made so much easier when you guys have not only a dining hall table, or dorm room to gather in. As the weather gets warmer, the whole campus becomes your oyster. I truly believe that the amount of social activity on this campus doubles when the sun is out and it is warm enough to hang out outside. Back to the dilemma these deliciously balmy May days create. Why not both do homework and sun tan with your friends outside? This seems like an obvious answer. But at least personally, I have found that the increase in focus and effort necessary to complete lots of the work in these last two weeks of school, not to mention the increased need for a computer for writing essays, makes it hard to work on Cleveland Beach or Mac Field. Another barrier to being productive outside is the very fact that you are sitting with your friends and will most likely end up socializing. Perhaps then, the unfortunate but necessary solution for all this sun and all this work better completed inside is to just do this work inside.

When reality hits and you do end up giving in and doing this homework inside, you may give in to a phenomenon I have noticed occurring during these last two weeks: the transformation of status as social college student into casual hermit. Let’s imagine a scenario where a Grinnell student has lots of essays they don’t really want to write. This work becomes overwhelming and they don’t really know where the essays are going so they take liberal social media breaks. This leads to said individuals forcing themselves to stay in Burling until close as punishment for that hour and a half Facebook coma. Hell Week and Finals Week can wear down one’s willpower—the willpower both to stop procrastinating on Burling fourth and also to get yourself to shower and go to dinner with your friends.

But wait, these last two weeks, as I’ve said, are intense in that they are the last time your friend group will exist exactly how it is. Even if all of you all remain just as close next year, with no one graduated or abroad, it will simply be a new year and you won’t have the same inside jokes or crushes. It is extremely tempting for many, including myself, to use the increased workload and stress as an excuse to not see friends as much during the week. Yet the end of Spring Semester 2013 here at Grinnell College, the unique vibe the campus has, will never exist again. Not to be too dramatic, but remember to hang out with those people you appreciate right now, do the things you love to do here at Grinnell. Instead of scrolling Facebook alone when your brain just can’t find another JSTOR article, acknowledge that you are human and need study breaks. Take these purposefully and physically move locations from where you study to somewhere else. Get out on that loggia with music blasting, or stroll through the golf course (which is so beautiful right now) with a friend.

Jonathan Bloom addresses audience in JRC 101. Photograph by Joey Brown.

What has been the response, post-release of your book, from the industrial farming community?
I don’t know that the industrial farming community has paid much attention to the issues because they are the ones who waste the least because they harvest in a mechanized way. They usually harvest all that they have planted. I don’t think that they are paying much attention to food waste, unfortunately. Most of the food being wasted is happening in households and on farms with crops that are handpicked.

Do you think that less food would be wasted if more people ate vegetarian?
Yes. You are wasting less food if you are eating as a vegetarian because meat is a very inefficient food the way we produce it. One calorie of meat needs ten calories of grain to produce it. So, from an efficiency standpoint, it makes a lot of sense to eat as a vegetarian. Furthermore, when you are eating as a vegetarian, you tend to be a more mindful eater and I have found that that, in general, leads to less waste.

Did you ever feel in danger or at risk in writing your book, like you were uncovering a truth that players in the food industry wanted to remain concealed?
I never felt in danger personally. But I found that there were plenty of people in the retail food environment that don’t want to think about food waste and there are plenty of people in the agricultural circles who dislike the amount of food waste. Some are embarrassed about the amount of waste that is happening on their farms. Even for people in the Department of Agriculture, there might be a bit of reticence to talk about food waste because they see it as something that they could be doing a better job about curtailing, but they aren’t. Whenever I would talk to people about food waste, I was always careful about the semantics. When you use the words “food waste” with some people it connotes culpability or guilt. If you are a journalist and you want to get people to talk about the issue, you have to be careful about the language you use.

What role do you see spiritual communities playing in food waste reduction and change in consumption behaviors?
I think there’s a real role for spiritual communities to be involved in raising awareness about how much food is being wasted and then to prompt action to reduce that waste simply by being good stewards of the earth. If, in some way, your faith can lead you to that conclusion—that wasting food runs counter to theology—I think there’s a real power there and I have seen that in most faith groups that I have come across. In today’s massive agricultural system, that notion is sadly forgotten and oftentimes a bit antiquated.

To what degree do you think that some of the measures taken on college campuses that you advocate for (i.e. eliminating trays from the dining hall, organizing public awareness campaigns) could just be treatment of symptoms to a more rooted, systemic problem?
I don’t think that they are mutually exclusive. I think you can work to reduce waste on a personal level, or even on a college level, and then also try to impact the modern industrial, monoculture agricultural system. In the long run, I think it will be more helpful to reform the system directly, but I do subscribe to that idea of thinking globally and acting locally.

Closing remarks?
I think people would be amazed at how easy it is to reduce the amount of food we are wasting if we just took a step back and thought about it. It’s not difficult, its the green thing to do, it makes economic sense and its ethically sound.

I overheard my girlfriend complaining about how she’s always getting UTIs to her friend on the phone. I didn’t know what she was talking about and am afraid to ask.  Is this just one of those mysterious “lady problem” things? Am I going to catch it?

- Caught or not?

Dear Caught or not,

UTI stands for urinary tract infection. It is not, however, a sexually transmitted infection. UTIs come from germs, often bacteria that get into the urethra and then the bladder. Both men and women can get UTIs; they’re simply more common in women because the urethra is shorter and closer to the anus. The symptoms of a bladder infection include: cloudy or bloody urine, which may have a foul or strong odor, low fever, pain or burning with urination and a strong need to urinate frequently. If you go to the doctor about it, they might take a urine sample to look for white blood cells, red blood cells, bacteria and to test for certain chemicals. Antibiotics are a frequently recommended treatment because there’s a risk of the infection passing to the kidneys, which can be serious. The good news is, there are several things you can do to prevent UTIs. No matter what parts you have, the best way to prevent UTIs is by keeping your genitals clean! Make sure you use the bathroom before and after sex, drink lots of fluids, and avoid clothes that will irritate your genitals (synthetic fabric, tight-fitting pants, etc). If you have a vagina, don’t douche and make sure you wipe from front to back when you use the bathroom. Stay safe!

Love,

SHIC

Dear SHIC,

I recently visited your office to buy some condoms, and was overwhelmed with the amount of choices there are! I’d like to try a variety of condoms to see which ones I like best, but my friends all have really strong opinions about certain brands that they say always break. I really want to experiment, but I’m scared of the condom breaking! What should I do?

Thanks,

Condom Cautious

Dear Cautious,

We understand, choosing the right condom for you can be a daunting task! As far as condom safety goes, though, the FDA approves all condoms that are available to consumers. No matter the brand, latex condoms that are labeled as disease preventative (not novelty condoms) are 87-97 percent effective at preventing STIs and pregnancy if used perfectly. That being said, condoms can get damaged through daily wear and tear! It’s always a good idea to check your condom for damage like holes or brittleness, and, of course, check the expiration date! To prevent damage, store condoms in a cool, dry place when possible. If you’re taking your condom on the go, don’t just throw it in a bag or even a wallet. Try protecting your protection in a condom compact, available at SHIC for just $1! You can also stop by the SHIC and have an educator demonstrate the correct way to put on a condom. Proper contraception usage is key to safer sex.

Of course, no barrier method will completely protect you from STIs or pregnancy. The fact of the matter is that sometimes condoms break. That’s why we encourage you to explore other methods of making your sex safer. Try getting tested at Central Iowa Family Planning and encourage your sexual partner(s) to do the same! While you’re there, check out the wide variety of birth control options CIFP has to offer, usually at a low price. There are a lot of things to consider when you are trying to have safer sex. Luckily for you, condom brand is not one of them.

Love,

SHIC

10. Don’t take the college provided mattress cover ($23) with you. At the end of the year your mind  may be playing tricks on you, but that thin covering was there when you moved in and it should still be there when you move out.

9. Make sure that all of the college provided furniture is still there when you move and that there is nothing extra. A furniture move charge will net you a $50 fine.

8. If you took out your window/screen during the course of the year, put it back in. However, know that most people put it back in wrong or damage it in the process, so if you removed your window it is likely that you may be facing a fine ($25 to put back in/$50 if broken).

7. Remove any tape, nails, hooks, etc. from your walls. The charge for removal of these items is $25. If the holes are large (or excessive in number) you may also be facing a repair charge in addition to removal.

6. Do not cover or tamper with your smoke detector. In addition to being illegal and a major fire safety hazard, this will earn you the largest fine of all ($500).

5. Sweep up any extra items lying on your floor (coins, hair ties, paper clips, etc.). If there are numerous small items left behind or spills/stains on the floor and furniture you may be facing a $30 excessive cleaning fee.

4. Take your trash/recyclables/donate-ables out. There is a $25 per bag ($50 if FM has to bag it) charge for junk left in your room and for junk left in the hallway, so encourage your neighbors to take care of their trash too!

3.  Start planning/cleaning now. Box up your winter items, take out large amounts of recycling, sweep up those dust bunnies, talk with your roommate about who is responsible for which tasks. Every little bit helps.

2.  Lock your door when you leave at the end of the semester and turn in your key to your RLC in an envelope labeled with your name and room number. You are responsible for damage others do to your room after you leave if you do not take these preventive measures.

1. Sign up for a check-out time with your RLC. You can review your yellow room inventory form together to ensure you are leaving your room in the same condition as when you moved in. This is the number one way to reduce/prevent fines. If you do not check out with your RLC, you lose the right to appeal fines assessed to your room.

Good luck on finals and I hope you have a happy, fine free move out!

Autumn Wilke, Jamaland RLC

Photograph by Devon Gamble

Brown graduated from Luther College with a B.A. in Political Science and from Iowa State University with an M.A. in Political Science. He is currently pursuing a PhD in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies, with an emphasis on higher education and administration.
President Kington contacted Brown through e-mail regarding the position.
“I returned two weeks later with a proposal he asked me to put together, where I showed him what I thought the interim would look like,” Brown said.
While he hasn’t specifically worked in diversity programming on campus, Brown feels he will bring a useful personal perspective to the job.
“In all reality, I’ve done student programming before, but this was outside of my focus,” Brown said. “I think my lived experience and my own interest in diversity—and what that means and how to define it—really puts me at a good place to serve the interim role.”
Brown expects to create stronger relations with SGA, strengthen the Multicultural Leadership Council (MLC) and work with other student affairs divisions. This includes working with Grinnell Science Project, International Pre-Orientation Program and Peer Connections Pre-Orientation Program to create more purposeful interaction within and between the programs.
“I want to build on a strong relationship that [Michael Benitez] has established with Raghav [Malik ‘13] and the SGA, and streamline a funding request system … and I want to build on MLC,” Brown said. “I think it’s a great council that has a lot of critical and tough conversations … that build cross-cultural and intercultural communication.”
Brown is expected to hold the position until December 31 of this year, by which point the College expects to have the permanent Director in place.

Andrea Lakiotis ’15 presents during the Humanities Symposium. Photograph by Gregory Hinton ’14.

“Our model last year was good, so we hope to keep to that structure,” Kapila said. “I might look for other avenues to advertise for this at [the] beginning of the semester.”
One unintended change Kapila noted was a decrease in the variety of applications. In future years, she hopes to encourage a diverse assortment of applicants with unique presentations, as well as expand the event to other places on campus.
“We would like to see more specific departmental proposals. Last year we had many more from Music and Arts,” Kapila said. “Maybe we could vary the panel to get a variety of presentations and maybe vary the locations—for instance, we could have some of these in Bucksbaum or some in the amphitheater.”
One of the presentations that did cater to this demand for stylistic variation was an original one-act play written and directed by Anna Banker ’15. Her piece, I Dream Before I Take the Stand, was the final project for her Theatre and Dance 235 Directing class. Though it had already premiered in a festival held last semester, Banker believed that the symposium would give her project greater depth.
“We decided to have this performed at the Humanities Symposium to have it critically discussed, to think about creative means of using theater as a vehicle for civic reflection,” Banker said.
Assessing the Symposium, Banker believes that it reveals the breadth of the Humanities and she views this as a vehicle for bringing together a diverse range of interests. Additionally, she hopes that more people will be able to participate in this process of having a wider audience critically reflect on your work in the future.
“I hope that more people attend and that it just becomes a bigger event every year, I think this one was bigger than [the] last and I hope it can continue to grow,” Banker said.
Another student who presented her work at the symposium was Eunice Ahenkorah ’13. Ahenkorah discussed her term paper about the Muslim experience in France for a class on Middle Eastern politics. She had initially thought that presenting in front of professors would be a daunting task; yet, once she went through the motions of working with the Writing Lab, she felt comfortable in the role.
“You take a much more adult role when you are up at the podium and you get a large boost of confidence because you are doing something for yourself and not just a class,” Ahenkorah said.
The Symposium also gives students the opportunity to assume a larger sense of ownership over their work and Ahenkorah would encourage more students to get involved.
“The Symposium helps students delve more into a subject by picking up a term paper that they may have put down,” Ahenkorah said. “Taking the chance to go back allows one to rethink the subject and have a sense of ownership for the project.”
Another highlight was the keynote speech from Christopher Newfield, Professor of English at UC Santa Barbara. His talk, titled “The Return of Creativity: Literacy Theory v. Innovation Theory,” asserted the need to refocus our attention in higher education on the Humanities.
Reflecting on the event, Kapila believes that she gained substantially from listening to students’ work and having them present in front of professors.
“It was rewarding to see how sophisticated our students are when reading the essays and I like the formality of what they wrote, because that is something that we don’t often see,” Kapila said. “Students are the ones up there and we are in the audience; that reversal is very satisfying.”

SGA Cabinet 2013-2014 (from left): Roni Finkelstein ’15, Clare Mao ’14, Thomas Neil ’14, Opeyemi Awe ’15, Joe Wlos ’15, Gargi Magar ’16, Aaron Levin ’14, Natalie Richardson Gentil ’14. Not pictured are Sam Offenberg and Remy Ferber (both ’14). Photograph by Avery Rowlison.

There have been several changes already, such as the introduction of an online application in order to accommodate students living off-campus. Because there was an influx of applicants, the selection process was especially challenging.
“I think we had a lot of very qualified people—Grinnellians, and what it really boils down to is sometimes the roles were fairly specific … some people were very exceptional and we didn’t necessarily find the right role for them or they didn’t express interest in a role that we thought that perhaps they were a perfect fit for,” Neil said. “We had so many applicants that we couldn’t really interview a lot of people, which I think, as someone who wants to make SGA an open door, it was tough to confront that reality. There’s only so much time, we can’t interview everyone.”
Those involved in the process of selecting were Neil, Awe, Ferber, Finkelstein and Wlos, once he was selected as Administrative Coordinator.
The new SGA cabinet has already been highly involved in putting forward possible changes to be made next year. One significant change to be made is extending the title and role of Outreach Coordinator to include diversity as well.
“I think it’s easy to come into this position with a lot of gigantic goals and then to be dissuaded. I would say [that we need] to first get our act in order: organize funding, having a more streamlined process, improving the accessibility … social media, outreach and diversity,” Neil said. “Priority number two is building a unit that can be a contributor to the discussions that are going to have to happen next year.”
Each of the designated cabinet members has also been coming up with ideas for their respective positions.
“I really enjoy throwing events, they’re, to some extent, giving back to the community. My main priority is to focus on smart programming and making sure we have events available to different publics and that we’re sponsoring more events than just Harrises on the weekends,” Richardson Gentil said. “And I know that’s very hard, but I think if we introduce a couple more events … things where alcohol isn’t the focus [it] would show that we are trying to provide entertainment for everybody and you don’t have to get wasted on the weekend to have a good time.”
“I like movies—I know that’s a cliché thing to say, but I do and I’m very interested in filmmaking and film production … I’m trying to get myself immersed in that and change the way film is figured in Grinnell, because it seems the interest is generally low,” Kyerematen said.
Some of Kyerematen’s ideas for the Films position include film festivals and film competitions with more specific themes, engaging more with student groups and the community and getting more opinions from the student body.
“Every student could be Films Chair—everyone has 20 movies they like, but my aim is to show things that people want to watch. It’s amazing how many resources we have at our disposal at this school. We have one of the best school cinemas and one of the most comprehensive media libraries in the Midwest,” he said. “For college students, that’s a great outlet—to be able to watch movies with friends for free.”
The Cabinet is eager to hear back from the student body. Kyerematen encourages students to email him with their suggestions.
“I want to hear what people want to see because I don’t want the money that they’ve paid to go to waste,” he said.
“If every student at the start of the semester felt empowered enough to go to SGA and request a budget, then I would be happy,” Neil said. “Whatever we can do to become more approachable in that process and make this whole thing a little more simple … that’s what I’m looking forward to.”

We feel that the behavior of the College over the past year does not represent an adequate commitment to diversity, which is listed alongside high quality education and social justice as one of Grinnell’s core values. The President’s own webpage includes the intention to cultivate a community that includes a “wide diversity of people and perspectives.” Given the key role diversity appears to play in Grinnell’s institutional ideology, the issue deserves more serious attention than it has received in recent semesters. While we understand the essential place academic rigor must play in an institution of Grinnell’s caliber, the pursuit of academic excellence does not have to come at the cost of the College’s other core values.

The S&B would particularly like to draw attention to the issue of administration-student communication. Consistent to recent conversations about College diversity is a call for the President to hold town hall meetings to discuss the matter as a campus community. While members of the administration have acknowledged student concerns and attempted to address it through all-campus emails and meetings between the administration and concerned student leaders, we have seen no steps towards the scale of conversation that we experienced surrounding the issue of financial aid over the last two semesters.

In an interview with the S&B last week, Kington seemed to put the ball in the students’ court, urging them to visit his office hours and calling last week’s meeting at Nollen House “the first meaningful conversation I’ve had.” While we in no way wish to dismiss Kington’s office hours as a viable path for students to discuss a broad range of issues, when it comes to something that is so closely tied to Grinnell’s mission and that will directly affect such a large number of students, a campus-wide, public conversation should be a higher priority. At the same time, we must commend the President’s call for increased student input. While students are consistent in their demand for transparency, their stated agenda—as articulated in their posted literature, as well as in interviews with the S&B—has thus far contained no specific allusions to their actual vision for what the Office of Intercultural Leadership and Engagement should be doing.

While we support the functional existence of such an office, we feel this lack of specificity regarding the ways in which the problems in the Office are affecting students ultimately alienates much of the campus community from the conversation.

The administration must be held publicly accountable for the direction in which they plan to take the College’s commitment to diversity and this is not going to occur through private conversation. With this sentiment in mind, the S&B joins the many voices already making themselves heard around campus in requesting that President Kington schedule town hall meetings for next semester to give students the chance to voice their opinion about a matter that is intimately related to their ability to thrive at Grinnell. In anticipation of this kind of campus-wide conversation, however, we must also encourage students to work to articulate the specific ways in which they wish to see the Office of Intercultural Leadership and Engagement work for them.

When I was visiting colleges and universities as a high school senior, one of my visits stood out to me in the worst way possible. It was at a state school—very different from Grinnell’s atmosphere—but it was a small state school, one of the tiniest undergrad programs in New York. What I remember from that visit was this:
I was sitting in a café (much like the Grille) with a friend from high school that was on my overnight tour group. We were talking to then-current sophomores about a student that died on campus that semester from alcohol poisoning. And you know what? The sophomores laughed about it. They called him “a f**king idiot” because he had been binge drinking at a frat party (another phenomenon alien to Grinnell’s culture) and he was left on a couch by the people that lived there—because those students, the ones who lived in that house, never bothered to check if he was okay.
I recently shared this story with Travis Greene, our Dean of Students. His reaction was similar to mine: shocked, disturbed, saddened. And then, considering the newly acquired information about alcohol consultants coming to campus this fall, I asked him, how many instances have occurred at Grinnell since my first year where a student could’ve easily died from alcohol poisoning?
His answer: there have been repeated instances where it could have gone either way. Travis is speaking from his experience—he started working at Grinnell in the fall of 2008.
The way that our campus functions on the weekends, we are teetering on the edge. It’s as though we’re waiting for this to happen.
You might look back to the S&B article from the April 19 issue, with the front page spread about alcohol policy consultants coming to campus. The article details significant changes that the college and the Harm Reduction Committee (HRC) have implemented over recent years, such as strengthening the terms of the alcohol agreements, enforcing wrist-banding, beefing up ACE Security and implementing other policies to increase the accountability of event organizers and servers. But we are still hiring consultants to examine our policies and hopefully this decision will lead to some sort of positive outcome on the culture surrounding alcohol.
But consultants won’t be enough. It is the responsibility of these consultants, as well as the responsibility of the administration and myself as co-chair of the HRC, to address the holes within our policies. But who is responsible for consuming the alcohol?
It’s me. You. Us. The student body.
To think for one second that our extreme alcohol culture is solely up to the administration to fix is absurd. They are doing their best to take care of us and we consistently overstep what is acceptable. No student should be looking to drink so much as to black out and vomit over the weekend. Is this what we’ve set as our standard? We’re already at a point where we’re simply expecting a hospitalization to occur after bigger events; and on more than one occasion, even events that are less widespread in their appeal to the student body rack up multiple hospitalizations in a single night.
And yes, liability is a major concern. There is no administrator at any college that doesn’t worry over students dying from alcohol poisoning. While this fear may be extreme to us as students, we have also not yet had a student death due to alcohol poisoning in any recent memory (if ever). Should a student die from alcohol poisoning, what do you think will happen? Will the Harm Reduction Committee reconvene and write another policy? Will we hire more consultants to take another year or so to write a report about it?
Please.
That being said, we can change the culture surrounding alcohol. In fact, students are the ones with the most power to do so. Learn your limitations. Drink at a moderate pace. Carry a BAC card. Remember to drink water. No, just because a party doesn’t have alcohol there does not mean you have to leave so you can drink some more. Do what you need to do to keep yourself in check. Self-govern! Because not only will it help you retain your integrity after the weekend, but it will also help you protect yourself.

Signed,
Sivan Philo ’13

Ray Kuntz, an external consultant, was hired as Interim ITS Director in July 2012 and has since been working to restructure ITS. The College is now searching for someone to replace Ray Kuntz as ITS Director and plans to fill the position by June.

“We’re moving more towards a team structure,” Kuntz said. “Teams are going to be a little more self-directed than they have been in the past, as opposed to hierarchical management.”

The new structure entails restructuring ITS internally and the termination of three members. Kuntz explained the need to let some staff members go.

“There [are] skills we need to bring in that we don’t have,” he said. “And we’ve been trying to build skills within our staff in some of the roles, but it just takes so much time to build the skills—years and years—that you’ve got to bring in some leadership that can jumpstart you in a lot of critical areas, if you’re going to really move the needle on change.”

The changes were announced with only a couple of weeks remaining in the school year. Kuntz said this plan has been in the works since January, with the decisions being made in a “collaborative decision process” with Kalkbrenner, Smith and senior ITS members. After the announcement on Tuesday, ITS is wasting no time in taking action.

“Changes are effective right now,” Kuntz said. “We just want to keep this thing moving in a positive way … We’re ready.”

Three people have been let go by ITS, but three leadership positions have opened up.

“We’re adding three new roles, which are Relationship Manager, Project Office Manager and Operation Manager,” Kuntz said.

Some students have expressed discontent with the release of College employees and don’t see the College’s reorganization as justified, especially at this time of the semester.

“ITS made these changes suddenly, with no warning, two weeks before the end of the semester, without considering the fact that next week is arguably the most difficult of the semester, with exams to follow,” said Amber Gruner ’13, who is a Technology Consultant (TC).

Additionally, students expressed concern at the lack of transparency in the process.

“I was very surprised to hear the news of the ITS reorganization occurring. But then again, I really shouldn’t have since they never consult students about their changes. They just do what they think is right,” wrote Nancy Hernandez ’13, a TC who completed an Assistive Technology internship last fall, in an email to the S&B.

Despite these concerns from students, Kuntz believes this reorganization is the right move for the College.

“Our goal is to increase efficiency … We must add resource to areas that the campus is screaming for help on and we just don’t have the skills,” Kuntz said. “So we’ve got to respond to that. You’ve got to keep the ship running.”
Kuntz says the changes ITS has made this week were in the best interest of providing support to the student body.

“Our objective here is to serve the students, serve the community,” Kuntz said. “That’s why we exist as a department.”

Photograph by Tela Ebersole.

6:45 a.m.—Wake up, search for Gatorade or water to cure hangover.

6:48 a.m.—Fall back asleep.

7:10 a.m.—Use bathroom, fall back asleep.

7:45 a.m.—Third attempt to wake up. Regret poor decisions made last night, fall back asleep.

8:20 a.m.—Wake up, seriously this time. Start seminar paper due at 10 a.m.

8:23 a.m.—Log on to ESPN TENNIS, check any Serena Williams updates.

8:40 a.m.—Search for new music. Still can’t find Great Gatsby Soundtrack anywhere.

8:55 a.m.—Actually start paper. Listen to the XX and Michael Bublé playlist.

9:56 a.m.—Finish seminar paper. Contemplate rewarding myself with a shot of honey-jack.

10:02 a.m.—Make it to seminar.

10:30 a.m.—Write Pub Quiz.

10:50 a.m.—Make French Open, Rome and Madrid predictions. #SerenaWilliams.

10:55 a.m.—Text Chris Marsho [’14] and Becca Richman [’15] and complain about how much of a joke my life is.

11:30 a.m.—Seminar out early. Shoutout to Cara Jones [Political Science].

12:00 p.m.—Send Snapchats to everyone.

1:00 p.m.—Ping pong with Le Gern [John Gernon ’15].

2:15 p.m.—Go to other seminar.

2:17 p.m.—Day-dream about Lonnski’s artichoke dip.

2:18 p.m.—Is this class over yet? Proceed to read Game of Thrones on iPad.

3:30 p.m.—Finish Pub Quiz.

4:10 p.m.—Contemplate going to tennis practice. Head to Grill.

4:11 p.m.—Bison [Ian Luby ’13] and Pun [Winichakul ’13] force me to go to tennis practice.

6:30 p.m.—Dinner/countdown to Pub Quiz and Rabbits Karaoke T-minus three hours.

7:15 p.m.—Pre-game Pub Quiz.

9:00 p.m.—Host Pub Quiz with Becca and Consta [Constanza Alarcon Cordon ’13].

10:00 p.m.—PUB RAVEE.

11:30 p.m.—Head to M00$e.

11: 30 p.m.—Weird Wednesday with tennis team.

11:45 p.m.—Head to Lonnski’s, pray kitchen is not closed for artichoke dip.

12:40 a.m.—Rabbits Karaoke time = Time for KC ice waters.

3:00 a.m.—Watch old Serena matches on YouTube … fall asleep.

“I contacted them and just asked if they were interested and went out there and ended up spending an extremely long amount of time out there on the first day just getting to know them and talking with them,” Clymer said.

The club seeks to bring students at all levels of riding ability together on weekend trips to the Triple V training facility.

“We basically just want to get people out to get experience,” Clymer said. “Luckily Triple V has a huge indoor arena so a lot of times we will ride in there. That way people can get used to sitting on a horse.”

In addition to this strong relationship with Triple V, the Equestrian Club has received funding from SGA to subsidize the cost of lessons for any student who would like to try riding for the first time or who would like to improve their existing skills.

“Now people can take lessons … and the Equestrian Club can reimburse them for half the cost of the lesson, which is a good deal. Ten dollars for a personalized hour long lesson is great,” Clymer said.

For students who came to Grinnell with plenty of experience riding, the Equestrian Club provides the opportunity to continue to pursue a lifelong hobby.

“I’ve always loved horses. I want to go to veterinary school and do large animal work, maybe do equine only,” said Marta Andelson ’14.

Andelson first began riding through 4-H in Grinnell when she was in fourth grade. Although it wasn’t until seventh grade that she convinced her parents that she could take care of a horse, she received experience from her 4-H leaders, who allowed members to practice riding on their own horses.

“I started showing horses in the local county fair and I did that actually until I graduated high school,” she said.

Clymer’s interest in riding largely stems from a childhood friend who gave her access to horses.

“I think I got into horses when I was about seven. My best friend had two horses ,” she said. “I started taking lessons with her and then I really got into doing trail rides.”

Despite their different backgrounds, both Andelson and Clymer agree that riding horses in Grinnell has added another dimension to their college experience by connecting them to the community.

“I’ve definitely felt like it’s given much more balance to my life to be able to get off campus … even if I don’t go out and ride but if I just go out and just talk to the Van Dykes,” Clymer said.

Andelson points out that life outside of the Grinnell bubble can be just as rewarding as life inside it.

“I think, in general, for students who participate in the program and who have horses on campus, it’s a good way to remember that there is an outside world,” Andelson said. “I think that’s one of the really special things about it.”

“Since it’s my first summer here and growing season, it’s thrilling for me, too,” Hill said. “The four students are really passionate and they are all passionate to play outside and work hard.”

The group will manage the goats, which are doing savannah restoration themselves by eating the invasive species that have been negatively affecting the native prairie plants. They are hoping to eliminate as many of these unwanted plants as they can through cutting and spraying herbicide on their roots.

Meanwhile, the group will also be monitoring small mammal trappings, completing snake surveys, restoring bluebird nests, doing butterfly surveys, weeding and planting, amongst other ecological projects. Finally, the group will be working in town at three sites: campus prairies, the Grinnell Middle School’s 2.6-acre prairie and Drake Community library’s yard. This will provide for a very full schedule and Hill is passionate about getting started.

“I’m very excited about the superhuman amount of work that we are going to bang out this summer,” Hill said enthusiastically.

The students involved in this project come from all different disciplines, such as Biology, Chemistry and Anthropology, so this will be a fine opportunity for them to complete fieldwork relating to their interests, as well as work with people outside of their major. They all expressed excitement over the chance to spend time in the prairie and learn more about how prairies function as complex ecosystems.

“I would like to have a career in environmental biology and this seemed like a great opportunity to gain knowledge and skills in that particular field of study,” Guen-Murray said. “This summer position will allow me to learn new techniques for the practice of field biology, as well as provide me an in-depth look into a prairie ecosystem.”

Furthermore, while many of them believe that this will assist with their career aspirations, they are also enthusiastic about working at a location they have wanted to become more familiar with.

“It’s a great opportunity to work outside, to learn about Iowa’s natural history and to contribute to CERA’s conservation efforts and ecological research,” Shoemaker said. “Plus, there’s an ongoing goat grazing project.”

Shoemaker is originally from Iowa and has seen many prairie restoration projects that have happened throughout the area. She is also looking forward to the opportunity to actually participate in one herself. She believes that this will be a great learning experience, which she might apply to a career after Grinnell.

“This position is also an opportunity to try out conservation work and to learn more about Iowa, just in case I decide to stick around,” Shoemaker said.

Photo by Tela Ebersole

How would you describe this season?

Coming into the season, I was very excited because I was just happy to do track again from my study abroad. It’s been good in a sense that I started placing better compared to two previous seasons.

Did you keep yourself in shape during your semester abroad?

It was very hard to stay in shape because it wasn’t easy to find a gym that had the same [facilities] as the ones we have here. There would only be one or two running machines.

Was there a difficulty in transitioning from not practicing to an actual track season?

Yes, because coming into the season I suffered a couple of injures and I’m actually still recovering from a quad injury. I feel like maybe if I had more off-season practice, I would not be in a position where I’ll be getting injured.

Favorite meet of the season?

The Drake Relays because the 4×400 team managed to qualify for the Drake Relays and it was inspiring to be in a place with Division I athletes and be able to run with players with such high caliber.

What is the best part about running relays?

I just enjoy working with people. People I run relays with are people who I get along well with and who I like to be with.

What is the biggest difference between running indoors and outdoors?

The curves. Outdoors curves are less sharp. For a runner, you’re able to run 400 meters in a much shorter time outside because you only have to run around once. In indoors, you have to run twice. Psychologically, it feels good to only have to run around once.

Who is your funniest teammate?

Ronald [Edwards] ’14. He knows how to turn any situation into a funny one. We could be having the hardest workout and he would just say one thing and he would make us laugh.

How does it feel to be a senior next year?

I’m ready for it. Right now, I have ideas of what to do after Grinnell. I feel like as a senior, I’ll have more concrete ideas. I just want to know what my next steps will be.

The Pioneers defeated Carroll 5-1in the semifinals and handled Lawrence 5-0 in the title match.

“I had fearful thoughts that if we don’t win [Conference] this year, how are we going to rebuild 10 years of winning?” said head coach Andy Hamilton. “It is always a piece of success that we want the most because it can be our culminating experience each year.”

The Pioneers faced Carroll in the semi-finals. The No. 2 doubles team of Tracy Johnson ’16 and Colin Johnson ’13 and No. 3 doubles team of Benjamin Charney ’15 and Aaron Lapkin ’15 got the Pioneers up 2-1.

Then, singles victories by Emilio Gomez ’15, C.J. Ray ’16, and Tracy Johnson propelled the team to a finals matchup against Lawrence. Facing a talented Lawrence team, Grinnell won all three of its doubles competitions.

“Lawrence has a deeper team than us, so it was important for us to get out of the gates quickly,” Gomez said. “The moment we captured three doubles victories [and] were up 3-1, it was a great feeling to know that we only needed to win two singles [to win conference].”

The Pioneers did just that, finishing a complete sweep against Lawrence.

The team attributes their tough regular season schedule to its dominance in conference.

“Compared to last year, we tried to beef up our schedule,” Hamilton said. [Our record] is 22-11, and many of those 11 losses have come from regionally ranked opponents in NCAA Division III or [National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics] ranked opponents.”

Men’s Tennis prepares for next week’s Nationals Tournament at practice. Photo by Greg Hinton.

For a squad with just two healthy seniors that was forced to rely heavily on underclassmen, the tough schedule paid off. Competing in the National Tournament next week, the Pioneers will test their endurance once more. They will first compete in the regional round.

“Hopefully we can advance as far as we can. We know we’re going to run against some tough teams,” Gomez said. “We played a lot of tough competition this season, so we’ll see how we stack up.”

“My hope is that we can translate that good performance against Lawrence into Regionals,” Hamilton added. “The likelihood is we’re going to be either the number four or five seed in a seven team regional, which means we’re going to play someone very similar to us. If we can win on Saturday and make it to the final sixteen, that would really be special.”

With no third year athletes, underclassmen’s performance, again, will be crucial in the tournament. While they played an essential role this year, there is still a need to grow and expand. To climb up the ladder, players need to continue to encourage each other and to possess a resounding sense of confidence.

“We need to keep getting better. If we stay where we are we will be good, but not beat the really good teams,” said Charlie Wilhelm ’15. “When we’re in a tough match, it’s important to pump up each other— not just to fold and accept that we are playing poorly, but to stay positive.”

While Hamilton is hopeful of advancing far into the tournament, he is already very pleased with what he has seen this season.

“My hopes, at the end of the season, are always that we play our best tennis,” he said. “This is sometimes difficult time to play tennis just because of academic rigor. But I’ve been speaking with our team about having all nine positions playing their best. I think we came as close to accomplishing that this season as ever in the championship match.”

The victory halted a losing streak that dated back to 2010 and also marked Grinnell’s first win against Monmouth since 2006.

“The victory was very sweet,” said head coach Amanda Reckamp. “This team has come a long way. We have seen the bottom, but it was so nice to be the ones celebrating at the end of a huge comeback in the bottom of a seventh inning.”

The Pioneers trailed the Fighting Scots 1-0, unable to record a hit until the sixth inning. The team stranded two runners in the sixth, but took full advantage in the seventh inning.

Robin Campbell ’16 and Jordan Matosky ’16 each hit singles to start the seventh. Lindsay Fujimoto ’15 reached first base safely on a fielder’s choice to load the bases. Alissa Hirsh ’16, a basketball player who was playing softball for the first time this weekend to cover for injured players, drove in a run to tie the game thanks to Monmouth shortstop’s error.

“We were all super pumped and proud of all of the contributions everyone made to make the last inning comeback,” Hirsh said. “I was really nervous so Coach Reckamp tried to calm me down by telling me it was just like a free-throw. I guess it worked.”

Then, Aniela Wendt ’14 smacked a game-winning line drive single to drive in the second run, sending the athletes, coaches, and fans into celebration.

“I was extremely happy for Aniela Wendt,” Reckamp said. “She had struggled prior to that at bat; popping a lot of pitches up. But once the ball came off the bat, it was no doubt a line drive up the middle. The players were excited, but I think mostly relieved that we had finally pulled something great off.”

Jennifer Fulton ’15 agreed that the intensity of the game was through the roof.

“I couldn’t watch the batters. We were all cheering in the dugout, hoping we can pull it off. It was perfect when Aniela stepped to the plate and hit a line drive to score a run. I don’t think any of us have been that excited. One of my favorite quotes is from Connie [Lee ’15], who said ‘I’ve never had that much adrenaline even in an organic chemistry test.’”

Photo by Alysia Horcher

The Pioneers seemed to carry this momentum into the second game of Sunday’s double-header, when they almost achieved another comeback performance. Down 2-0, Matosky hit a single to drive in Alyssa Bean ’16 home in the seventh inning.

Then Campbell walked and both runners stole a base, inching closer to another thrilling seventh inning finish. Unfortunately, a groundout ended the game at 2-1.

On the previous day, the Pioneers nearly tasted victory against conference-leading Lake Forest. In the second game of a double-header, Bean hit a two-run home run in the first inning to take a 2-1 lead. Bean also pitched a five-hitter, but gave up four more runs over the rest of the game as Grinnell lost 5-2. Grinnell lost 18-0 in the first game, mustering only five hits.

With Tuesday’s double-header finale against Greenville College canceled, the Pioneers have ended the season with a record of 1-28. But perhaps the team’s season was more promising than their record would indicate.

“We have a lot of new players this year. We have some players who haven’t seen a lot of time in sports general,” Fulton said. “That one win told us that yes our work is paying off, yes all of our time going over the basics is helping. It’s just taking its time.”

The team also suffered from injuries this season. In a team of only 13 players, four suffered season-ending injuries, forcing youngsters to play bigger roles earlier than they expected.

“I am encouraged by the fight our new players have had this year,” Reckamp said. “They were put right in a starting role, had to play major positions and got a lot of balls hit at them.”

Reckamp is hopeful that this season’s challenges means a stronger next season is waiting, driven by these new recruits.

“They all improved greatly from the beginning of the season and they will continue to get better each year,” she said. “They will continue to be major contributors to our program.”

Data from the Student-Athlete Survey of Social Norms, conducted in the fall, reveal only 6.6 percent of current Grinnell student-athletes say their sport is the most important thing in their life. However, for many prospective student-athletes, their biggest link with Grinnell is through the coaching staff.

“I knew that I wanted to keep playing football coming out of high school and so, when I was contacted by [head coach Jeff] Pedersen [’02] and [assistant coach Jason] Martinez, I looked at Grinnell as a prospective school,” said Pioneers defensive back Brendan Ramirez ’16. “I came on a few visits and was happy to see that all the guys on the team acted a lot like my friends back home, which certainly played a factor in my decision to come to Grinnell.”

Recruiting is vital to the existence of competitive varsity athletics at Grinnell.

“You wouldn’t have a team without recruitment,” Pedersen said. “We would have a roster in the single digits if we didn’t spend countless hours recruiting.”

For the struggling softball team, recruiting will be particularly key to turning around the program.

“Especially for softball, it’s crucial for the rebuilding process we’re in,” said softball head coach Amanda Reckamp. “Recruiting is the life of your program—to keep it going, to keep it strong. As of now, we have four committed for softball and are looking for two more to commit in the coming weeks.”

Some other teams in particular will be especially reliant on a strong incoming freshman class next fall. Women’s basketball, for example, is graduating six seniors from its 14-player squad.

“We have eight student-athletes coming in, three posts and five guards,” said women’s basketball head coach Kate Gluckman. “Our incoming freshman class consists of women from many different states—from the Midwest, California, Colorado and Oklahoma—a real diversity of hometowns.”

The swim team is one of the most geographically diverse teams, with players hailing from 25 states and five countries. Assistant men’s and women’s swim coach Tim Hammond attributes this to the effort coaches and student-athletes put into the recruiting process, as well as the team’s structure.

“We try to be really efficient about [recruiting],” he said. “We have a no-cut policy, with a baseline of being able to swim 100 yards of each of the four strokes competitively to be on the team.”

Hammond also looks over high school state meet and club meet results. In swimming, it isn’t as necessary to travel to meets. Divers will send videos to coaches, so their ability can be assessed without traveling.

“Times are pretty telling,” Hammond said.

Other coaches travel throughout the Midwest to gather names and make contacts.

“During the summer, I choose one tournament out of the Midwest to go to and I go to several tournaments in Illinois, Iowa, and Missouri,” Reckamp said. “We get huge recruitment booklets and I evaluate academic and athletic standards and make contacts with individuals and teams to start getting a database of recruits.”

Gluckman conducts her recruiting in a similar fashion.

“I find [players] at AAU tournaments and they also contact me,” she said. “Last summer I traveled to Nebraska, Kansas City, Minneapolis, Chicago and places in Iowa like Ames, which has a really good tournament.”

After making an initial connection, coaches stay in constant contact with recruits. They send basic information about the College, as some recruits have never heard of Grinnell. They notify Admissions for coordination purposes. Then coaches continually update recruits on news about the team and Grinnell, and make sure that they are aware of timelines. Many teams have a Facebook page or a blog that recruits can read.

“As the year goes on, I gauge the mutual interest between me and the recruit about what they are looking for academically and athletically,” Reckamp said.

Current student-athletes play a large role in the recruiting process as well. Coaches rely on their teams to host recruits and to introduce them to Grinnell culture.

“Generally our freshmen and sophomores host. We try to make some kind of connection, either geographic, academic interest or another variable,” Pedersen said.

Hammond agreed. “If they’re a diver, we want to house them with a diver. We want to pick somebody who has a similar disposition, someone they’re going to get along with. Sometimes we choose someone who swims the same events,” he said.

Ramirez emphasized the importance of the host-prospective student relationship.

“I feel that hosting a [prospective student-athlete] allows the host to better acquaint themselves with a future teammate,” he said. “This is important for student-athletes, considering strong bonds between teammates are a quality of any successful team. Acting as a host for a prospective student and teammate is a valuable experience that people should try out at least once while they are here at Grinnell.”

Did you always see yourself as mayor?  

No, not at all. I’ve always been active in politics, Republican politics, back when it still wasn’t such a bad thing. The former mayor was active in local politics and I saw him and became friends with him through that. Well, right before he died he called me over and said ‘I’d like you to be mayor of Grinnell’ and, well, I’ve been elected every two years since! Going on 15 years, I think, [since 1997]. Nobody else wants the job evidently. Nobody’s ever run against me. And I have no concept of how to mount a campaign because I’ve never done it. For all these years, 15 years or so, I have spent a total of $38. And that was for a thank you note in the town paper a few years ago.

What are some of the challenges facing Grinnell as a city?

A lot of challenges to me are opportunities that just haven’t been met yet. There are many people in town who would like to see Grinnell stay a small town, just like it was 50 years ago, but that’s not possible. The challenge is to keep families moving in … The biggest challenge for the city is to keep the environment open in such a way that companies will come here and bring their families here. You’ve got to have kids to fill up the classrooms in school.

Housing is a tremendous problem. We have to convince [businesses] that Grinnell is the place and they get leery about expanding here because of housing. A lot of people don’t believe these studies are accurate that show 26 percent of workers in-commute. They don’t live in this zip code.

There has been a lot of publicity surrounding the increasing numbers of CAFOs around Grinnell in Poweshiek County. What is your perspective on that trend?

That’s strictly a rural problem. All I can say is that a lot of this isn’t so much against raising pigs as it is against large corporate farms. But those people who make those objections should know that even as a family farmer, in order to make a living, you don’t raise a few pigs, you raise many pigs. It’s not our fight, and I’m glad it’s not ours—it belongs to the rural areas … [but] you would hear us raising hell if they decided to put a CAFO within two miles of town.

What have been your favorite and least favorite parts of your job?

I enjoy being around people. I really do. I’m not a highly educated person but I love being around people in Grinnell because there’s such a mix. I get to hobnob with college students and college faculty, and administration, and I sit and have coffee with some of the reddest rednecks you’d ever seen! And I just absolutely love it, all people. Every town has some strange people in town, but I always say ‘they all vote!’ I try not to have any enemies. I say kind of tongue-and-cheek but kind of not, in order to be mayor to all people in Grinnell, you have to be half socialist and half Republican. I’ve become much more liberal.

[As for least favorites,] well I hate to say no to people, and there are times when it’s hard for an ordinary citizen to understand why we have a certain ordinance of one kind or another, and they don’t wish to comply with it and they think they’re in the right.

What are some projects you have been working on?

In addition to being mayor, I’m also president of the Iowa Association of Railroad Passengers (IARP). We’re a small organization, but we’re a group of people who have been promoting for many years for the reprise of passenger rail service. And it’s pretty darn close to happening; we are that far away. But that far away is millions of dollars [laughs]. A study has been made and the first part of the study shows that the best path to go from Chicago to Omaha is this line, so we definitely are going to use Iowa Interstate Railroad. It’s also pretty definite that we will have a stop in Grinnell, but now having said that, that depends on how much support we get to have it stop here. … If you think of Iowa out here in the middle of nowhere, what happens to the product of Iowa? Where do they sell it? China, Korea, Russia … In other words, we’re a global producer, and we’re not a consuming state, we’re a producer state. We’ve got to get product to the world, not just to Chicago or Omaha. So if we can enhance rail service to move freight faster to the destination, then that will increase the competitiveness of Iowa. At the same time, that improvement will mean that passenger rail service could be a regular thing here. So that’s kind of what I go on. Passenger rail, it’s going to happen. The site has tentatively been chosen, you’ll be glad to know it’s fairly close to the College—it’s just across on High Street. All this is yet to happen. The first rough estimate is about 2.5 to 3 million dollars. When it all gets set up, they estimate Grinnell to Chicago will take around five hours, $60 round trip. I think it’ll run the buses out of business.

Mayor Gordon Canfield, long-time resident and head of Grinnell’s community since 1997.

This summer’s festivities start with a blast of energy in the Grinnell Games. The second annual Grinnell Games will bring athletes of all calibers from multiple states to compete in a variety of both traditional and novel events between June 7-9.

This year, a 10K twilight run around Rock Creek State Park will join the 5K and half-marathon races around town. A popular and fun-spirited returning event offered in the Grinnell Games is the “Warrior Race,” a 5K race filled with a multitude of obstacles, including mud, climbing walls and hands-and-knees crawls.

“We’ve spent a lot of time developing new obstacles with fun names for this year,” said Chamber of Commerce Communications Manager Emily Counts. “It’s a really popular race and even if someone doesn’t want to do all of the obstacles, they have a great time. A lot of friends race together, helping each other to complete the challenges.”

Other events include both fast-paced and family bike races, in addition to a scavenger hunt-style race that takes competing teams around the town sights and businesses.

“We’d love to see any students that are here for the summer come compete and have fun,” Counts said.

The prizes are worth competing for, especially with some of the events offering a range of cash prizes for the top finishers, as well as merchandise prizes for teams with the wildest costumes and team spirit.

If athletics are not one’s idea of fun, the Grinnell Area Arts Council (GAAC) has a host of art-themed activities, camps and projects going on over the summer season.

“There’s a variety of awesome performances happening this summer,” said Kate Baumgartner, Arts Center Coordinator of the GAAC. “We’ve got the large performance of Peter Pan happening in town in July, as well as weekly musical performances at our Music in the Park series.”

In addition to organizing the various performances around town, GAAC offers a range of classes on different topics, from creative writing to dance to the visual arts. “Spirited Sketching,” an arts class offered by Evan Hockett ’12, blends sketching lessons with wine sampling, a combination that Baumgartner claims to be popular across the community.

To learn more about the collection of classes offered this summer or how to get involved, Baumgartner recommended checking out the GAAC’s website (www.grinnellarts.org) or contacting them directly at their offices (641-236-3203).

“We’ve got a lot to offer and we’re always looking for new ways to connect with students and artists,” Baumgartner said.

In addition to the special events, there are quite a few regular events and activities that those spending a Grinnell summer will have time to take advantage of. The town Aquatic Center, replete with twisting towering slides, distance pools and lazy rivers, is a refreshing option. The Aquatic Center is close to campus, up 8th Avenue, and free for all students who show a college ID.

Another great opportunity is the downtown Farmer’s Market. Every Thursday and Saturday, local vendors will sell fresh produce, baked goods and more. The shops in town are also open and nice summer weather combined with no classes give students the chance to really explore the downtown area.

“We’d definitely encourage students to check out all the great places downtown,” Counts said. “It’s an amazing area and you can really enjoy it all in the summer.”

The Prairie Pals program is for children up to the fifth or sixth grade and the Conservation Corps is for older children. A prairie space that both groups will be working on is currently being established on the south side of the Drake Library.

“We want to use the space to do programming and to educate and to invite the kids out in the space,” said Drake Library Youth Services Director Karen Neal.

Vic Verrette, a community member and local gardener, came up with the idea for Prairie Pals and Conservation Corps through his past experience with similar programs and approached the library’s youth services committee about his plan. Verrette serves as the designer for the program, planning and managing a schedule for what and when to plant during the summer.

The south side of the library already has tables, made from reclaimed timber, set up in circles in the area planned to be the staging area.

“The spirit [of the program] would be kids working, reading and playing together and listening to other people tell them about natural things,” Verrette said.

The library hosts a summer program every year, so they plan to make Prairie Pals and Conservation Corps a part of the existing program.

“The prairie is really a unique and wonderful feature to our building, so we want to have something that continues yearlong that connects to that,” Neal said.

The program will include planting flowers, planting a butterfly garden and building structures for the birds. Verrette also plans to have a garden with native vegetables, like corn and potatoes, where children would have an opportunity to grow foods. The purpose of the space is to provide an outdoor setting for library programming and educating children in the community.

“The prairie needs a little bit of work, so we thought we’d invite the community to help us. Since it’s going to be a children’s space, we want the kids and the teens to help us make it into their space,” Neal said.

During the first event, scheduled for May 18, children will get started on the prairie by planting flowers outside along the sidewalk of the space. Events on June 8, 15 and 22 will feature both the Prairie Pals and Conservation Corps. An invitation has also been extended for other community members to join in the planting.

“Our goal is to connect the community with the prairie and let them understand that it is an extension of the library and that it is a usable space,” Neal said.

A variety of community members have worked together in the planning and organization of the program, and the library personnel is looking forward to seeing the product of their ideas and plans.

“[We want] to get kids to work together and enjoy what they’re doing,” Verrette said. “[To] discuss things at their own level and feel encouraged to do it—to learn something about nature.”

Crawford began boxing in Grinnell at the age of eight, when Grinnell still boasted a local boxing club.

“When we first started, there were six people that were involved. We built the club clear up to about 200, over a 10-year period,” Crawford said. “Then all of sudden it started dwindling down, and I was the last one there when it was said and done.”

A fear of fighting Crawford might have had something to do with the decline in membership. Crawford boxed in 175 amateur fights and along the way managed to win five regional Silver Gloves Tournaments, three regional Golden Gloves tournaments, and the entire Junior Olympics Tournament. During that time, Crawford was named Most Outstanding Fighter in Iowa five years in a row.

While most of us might not expect “Iowa Nice” to carry over into the ring, with Crawford it certainly has – at least until the fight starts.

“A lot of people tell me, ‘Oh, you’re too nice to fight,’ and I say ‘Ring the bell, and I’ll show ya,” he said with a laugh.

Shortly after retiring from amateur boxing, he decided to give a professional boxing career a try. And he was good at it too, winning his first 18 fights.

Crawford’s professional career has taken him around the world, where he fought for an International Boxing Federation super-middleweight title.

“If you go overseas a lot, you learn to appreciate what we have here. When you start going to Romania and some of these crazy places, you realize that we got it good [in Grinnell],” he said.

Even at the ripe age of 42, Crawford stays in training shape. Boxing and training for boxing, he said, “is just like riding a bike.” He is looking forward to his next fight, which will likely be against Roy Jones Jr. in Copenhagen, Denmark.

“He’s got a good fan base there, so they’re talking about the two of us fighting over there. If that fight comes together, that’s who I’ll fight next,” he said.

However, time away from the ring gives Crawford the chance to reflect on and appreciate all the opportunities that professional boxing has given him.

“I enjoy it,” he said. “Just to say I’ve done it and traveled. I’ve been to Madison Square Garden, met Sugar Ray Leonard, Larry Holmes, Leon Spinks, Joe Frazier. The people I’ve been around and met through boxing—these legends—it’s just been a great opportunity.”

Crawford wants to share the opportunities he’s experienced with the Grinnell community by opening up a new boxing club.

“I’m in the process of opening a gym in Grinnell. If something opened up, I’ll start training some guys to fight,” he said.

One major disappointment was that the Grinnell Boxing Club closed down before Crawford reached the peak of his amateur career.

“When I fought in the Silver Gloves Tournament and Golden Gloves Tournament, that was with clubs from other towns. Grinnell has faded out as a boxing club itself, so that’s what I want to try and re-open.”

Boxing taught Crawford a lot, and he views opening the club as just another way to share his skills with the community.

“What I learned from [boxing], when I was eight years old, was to respect people. You may be a fighter inside, but you also learn a lot of discipline,” he said.

Hopefully most students at the College haven’t taken as many punches as Crawford has, but we share at least one thing in common with him: a sense of gratitude towards this town.

“I just want to say thanks for all the support that this town has given me,” he said.

Crawford’s boxing club will be opening soon near the Prairie Fire Gymnastics club on Industrial Avenue. Although the club hasn’t been officially named yet, there’s at least one guarantee about it: the name “Smooth One” will be in there somewhere.

This year’s Grinnellian features 28 campus groups including the G-Tones, juggling group the Jugglenauts and The Funk Upstairs, a faculty member band lead by John Edwards, Associate Director of Admission. The festival is designed to be a showcase of all types of campus music, so a wide variety of acts will be represented.

The Grinnellian Festival saw its inception last year under the leadership of Charlie Kessner ’12. Kessner was involved with both KDIC and the greater campus music scene and wanted to leave a lasting impact on Grinnell. He decided to combine his interests and create a student music festival. KDIC took the project under their wing, funding and organizing last year’s festival. Daniel Kisslinger ’14, current Broadcast Manager of KDIC and an organizer of the Grinnellian, described last year’s event as “kind of thrown together” but “very successful.” According to Kisslinger, the seven-hour festival was well-attended and showcased quality music.

Kisslinger and KDIC have taken lessons from last year to create a festival that is bigger and better organized. Other festival organizers include Jack Menner ’13, Station Manager; Ryan Moorehead ’13, Publicity Director; and Connor Schake ’14. They have been working together to plan the festival, which will have many more features this year, since before spring break. In addition to the musical showcase, KDIC will be setting up a vinyl pop-up shop, which will only take cash, to sell a small portion of the radio station’s record library. Kisslinger hopes this sale will act as both a fundraiser for the station and a way to get people excited about the musical resources the station owns. The vinyl records for sale will be just a small part of an expansive record collection available to all Grinnell students in the KDIC station. KDIC will also have a grill to make hamburgers, hot dogs or vegetarian alternatives for festival attendees.

The Grinnellian is also expanding this year in documentation and broadcasting. Although it is currently uncertain whether the festival will be broadcast via KDIC’s station, due to possible mature language, the event will definitely be available online. The festival will be video live-streamed on both KDIC’s website and the Grinnell College homepage. The video will be recorded with multiple cameras and professional-level audio to make the live-stream the highest possible quality. This will allow not only students on campus, but also alumni, family members and friends a chance to experience The Grinnellian from off campus.

In addition, Donovan will be bringing a bit of gender diversity to the position as the first female Concerts Chair in current institutional memory.

“Even though Pooj [Padmaraj ’13] is the Concerts Chair, the committee is very largely, at this point, women,” Donovan said. “It has just [been] a man at the top and almost all women.”

Future Concerts chair Moira Donovan ‘14 debates next year’s possibilites. Photograph by Devon Gamble.

In terms of experience, Donovan is more than qualified to head the illustrious Concerts Committee, with a little over two years of band-wooing involvement at Grinnell, and a lifetime of musical discernment under her belt. During the three most recent semesters, in particular, Donovan has spent much of her time on the rough and tumble streets of Grinnell’s musical scenes, herding bands and musically-deprived students into the same dance-inducing pens around campus, focusing particularly on the subterranean haunts of Gardner and Bob’s.

“I’ve been working every single concert for the past three semesters that I’ve been at Grinnell,” Donovan said. “I’ve been there from 4:30 [p.m.] to 2 o’clock a.m, so I know what goes on.”

Information about next year’s line-up is strictly confidential at this point, and only distributed to the members of the Concerts Committee. Overall, Donovan’s game plan seems to just barely one-up current Concerts Chair Padmaraj, who will find himself headed out of Grinnell in cap and gown just a few weeks from now.

“No one is confirmed yet, but I’m trying to continue in the arc of where music’s going now.”

Despite the lack of certitude on next semester’s itinerary, Donovan is committed to the current initiative to blanket Gardner and other campus venues in an unremitting presence of as-yet-to-be-heard-of bands.

“I think it’s more cost effective to bring smaller bands and … there are people that come to every show and they appreciate having an alternative thing to do on the weekend from whatever else is going on,” Donovan said.

While some have voiced interest in bringing larger acts like Grimes and Macklemore to Grinnell, these artists’ significantly higher price tag would limit the Committee’s ability to have shows on a near-weekly basis.

“I’m going to be focusing on smaller bands and trying to keep up with having 14 to 15 shows per semester,” Donovan said.

Therefore, look to a number of new discoveries next year for additions to your musical library, possibly with a few slightly more recognizable names in the mix. Currently, the Concerts Committee discusses possible bands as a group and Donovan is committed to those democratic discussions in the coming year.

“I’m really trying to work on getting the committee involved more,” Donovan said. “Every single time an artist emails me, I’ll consult the committee, try to get more of their input and more representation of what everyone wants on campus.”

The Concerts Committee is a gathering place for concert connoisseurs to do more than provide simple feedback to their royal leadership. It meets on Mondays at 9 p.m., on the second floor of the JRC. Members sign up for various employment positions from setting up the equipment and running sound to bringing food to band members and chauffeuring them to and from the airport. Others take on poster and website duties and write blog posts.

“There’s a lot for people to do when they come to the committee to get engaged, without necessarily just being the Concerts Chair,” Donovan said.

Additionally, Donovan is hoping to work with the publicity position to bring more events and talks on band-related themes and provide context outside the obscure echoing of guitars and drum sets.

Music-wise, the sets will continue in their tendency towards electronic shows, in preference over garage rock.

“Right now I see that there’s less attendance at the garage rock shows and more attendance at the electronic shows,” Donovan said. “We’ve been getting more connections with those managers and those booking agents and just have been trying to gauge what people like and what’s going on in music to try to maintain both Concerts’ artistic vision, while also catering to the tastes of the campus.”

Donovan will also be pushing for more quiet shows in Bob’s, which have been absent many weeks over the past few months. One band she would like to bring to Grinnell again is Balmorhea, a musically minimalist group of Texans who performed here during the fall of 2011.

Finally, one of Donovan’s projects for next year will be to ante up the sound education on using concert-focused sound equipment.

“I’m really trying to work on getting the sound system both simplified so more people can use it, and getting as many people educated about [sound] so that we can be successful,” Donovan said. “If anyone wants to throw a dance party in Gardner, we won’t necessarily have to hire someone from the Concerts Committee to be there the entire night to make sure the soundboards and all the amps are okay.”

All said, Donovan and the Concerts Committee seem well on their way to preparing an entertaining year awash with all kinds of sound.

Sam Brody-Boyd ‘15 ponders pop culture and entertains every Tuesday evening on 88.5 FM. Photograph by Tela Ebersole

“The show is really on pop culture and movies and music and video games and the intersection of all of those things together, and my take on a lot of them. Sometimes I get pretty deep, like my discussions on the show Girls are not frivolous. I think about what are the actual gender politics going on,” Brody-Boyd said. “And then there are times when I say, ‘Guys I’m tired of arguing this with you, “Robot Rock” is the best Daft Punk song,’ and then I just play it.”

“It Came From Beneath Grinnell” melds well with many areas of study on Grinnell campus. Brody-Boyd has noticed a trend that classes will incorporate and analyze today’s media into the course work in a way that connects academia to the world outside the Grinnell bubble.

“I think it fits in well with the overall theme of Grinnell. Something Grinnell has done so well is make pop culture a part of its curriculum. You take a class and it can be so very intrinsically tied to pop culture. We can’t ignore it,” Brody-Boyd said. “It’s part of our lives as college students. What’s brilliant about Grinnell is that they bring that into the classrooms. And I think that if I can up people’s awareness of the things going on in pop culture, I get to bring all of those things together. If you broaden your awareness to anything, it increases your potential to learn new things.”

One fun thing Brody-Boyd will sometimes do on his show, because interviews with actual pop-icons can be hard to attain, is have conversations with or question people that he himself impersonates.

“I’ll do impressions. I’ll frequently do an impression of Christopher Walken. I’ll use it for when it ties in with the theme, but also sometimes when it doesn’t. It works well enough that when people listen in on the radio they think it’s funny. I have done a fake interview where I will just shift side to side in the studio with Nigel from Spinal Tap. So, I’ll do pseudo-interviews,” Brody-Boyd explained.

The overall experience has been one of enjoyment and exploration. As his first year of “It Came From Beneath Grinnell” draws to a close, the general recollection is happy.

“I couldn’t be happier on the air—I couldn’t be happier making the show. I get nothing but joy from it. Even when I’m stressed, even when I’m trying to make stuff fit, it’s still very visceral and there’s such a madness of the microphone,” Brody-Boyd said. “You feel very in control even when the pieces are completely all over the place. I love it. I wouldn’t trade it for the world.”

If delving into the deep dark spaces of today’s media is alluring, then “It Came From Beneath Grinnell” is the quintessential show to add to a Tuesday evening. Tune in from 5-7 p.m. to hear Brody-Boyd jump in and explore pop culture.

This action is the latest in a number of protests and expressions of student dissatisfaction with the administration’s diversity policies. Previously, a group of students put up posters protesting the understaffing of the Department of Intercultural Engagement and Leadership, formerly the Department of Diversity and Inclusion, as well as a lack of transparency in decision-making, such as moving the office under Academic Affairs with inadequate explanation.

The students’ most immediate proposal was the organization of a town hall meeting that would allow all students and faculty to establish a dialogue with Kington.

“I really do think that there needs to be a back-and-forth kind of dialogue between the students and the administration,” said Gregory Hinton ’14, Chair of Concerned Black Students (CBS). Hinton was present at the lunch with a number of students from CBS and other groups.

The listening session was intended to include a variety of students from groups such as CBS, Asian and Asian American Association, Stonewall Resource Center, anti-Oppression Peer Education Network, Chalutzim and Student Organization of Latinas/os.

Kington said that he found the meeting beneficial.

Students spoke with President Raynard Kington in Nollen House on Monday. Photograph by Avery Rowlison.

“I thought it was a productive meeting. I learned a lot,” he said. “I thought there were interesting comments. Some not surprising, but they helped me think about things in slightly different ways.”

The Council on Diversity and Inclusion recommended that Kington hold smaller listening sessions as a means to more easily hear student opinions.

“While town hall meetings can play a role … not everyone has a chance to talk,” Kington said. “[This] is a better form for conveying information than having conversations, especially about sensitive, difficult topics.”

Many students disagreed and felt that the uninvited walk-in sparked a conversation that was open to more students and that would not have happened otherwise.

Student Concerns

Students were consistent in identifying three issues that the College has in regards to diversity: communication, transparency and stability.

“Communication is heavily flawed,” said Deborah Tillman ’14, one student who walked in on the listening session uninvited.

Christian Snow ’13, who was selected for the listening session, agreed with Tillman.

“Decisions get made that directly affect students,” she said. “You can go and see exactly what was affected and students aren’t consulted in any way or even really told. We have to figure it out on our own.”

Multiple students who were invited to attend the listening session did not know how they were selected or why they were chosen as representatives of their fellow students. Kington said that they were chosen by the Council on Diversity and Inclusion, but many students were unaware of what the council does in general, much less the fact that they were selected by it for the meeting.

While students were appreciative of the administration’s attempt to reach out, they were frustrated that Kington did not choose a town hall format as they had wished.

Turnover at the Department of Intercultural Leadership and Engagement is the central issue for students in the area of transparency and stability. The office, formerly the Department of Diversity and Inclusion, lost Intercultural Affairs Associate Daria “Dotty” Slick in Spring 2011 and Vice President for Diversity and Achievement Elena Bernal ’94 in Spring 2012. Director of Intercultural Engagement and Leadership Michael Benitez will be leaving at the end of the semester after taking the position at the beginning of this school year.

Some students see the departures as indicators of a systemic lack of stability and support that has characterized the department in recent years.

“You have the Mike Benitez situation, so that’s another issue of lack of stability in the sense of, he was here for one year,” Hinton said.

A statement by Kington at the listening session about the necessity of hiring a Chief Diversity Officer before changes could be made also sparked frustration from students, who saw it as an excuse.

“Why wasn’t Michael Benitez moved to that position in the first place when he is highly qualified? How is it that you let a gem like him slip away and get hired to be a dean somewhere else when he’s done so much work here?” Snow said.

Hinton and other students mentioned that with departures and the movement of employees such as Intercultural Affairs Associate Marlene Jacks to different offices, they do not know who to go to with their problems.

Additionally, some students feel a lack of respect from the administration and a lack of engagement from the student body as a whole.

“We didn’t get the same type of attention that the financial aid situation got,” Snow said. “Because when things don’t affect people, they don’t care.”

President Kington’s Response

Kington agreed with students that there had been mistakes in communication.

“We didn’t do a great job of communicating broadly about the direction that certainly I was looking toward in terms of promoting and strengthening our diversity, but changing how we do diversity,” he said.

However, he noted that students could have raised the issue with him previously.

“It’s a two-way street, though,” he said. “I have open office hours. Students come to me all the time for all sorts of things and that was the first meaningful conversation I’ve had.”

He added that he is looking to move forward.

“There were ineffective steps on all sides here, but we’re over that now, I think, and we’ve begun the meaningful conversation,” he said.

Kington mentioned that the need-blind admissions discussion absorbed much of his time, preventing him from communicating about diversity. He noted that need-blind admissions affect diversity by enabling the College to achieve a diverse population without examining student need in the admissions process.

He extolled the high amounts of aid Grinnell gives to students compared to peer institutions.

“I have no doubt that we spend far more than many institutions on aid to domestic kids in general, but particularly high-need students, and domestic kids of color are more likely to be high-need,” he said.

Kington mentioned that he thought the biggest challenge for minority and first-generation students was the difficulty of their transition to college.

“For many, it’s a different world in lots of ways,” he said. “It’s a different world for lots of students, but I think a credible argument could be made that for many domestic kids of color in particular, but also I think first-generation kids from every race and ethnicity—that’s part of the diversity issue here as well—aren’t as comfortable in the transition to a place like Grinnell as some other students… That’s probably the biggest issue, but there are probably other issues as well,” he said.

Another point Kington brought up was a campus climate report released in October 2011. It laid out an extensive list of what the College was doing with diversity initiatives and what it had to do. The report mentioned that minority students did not feel as comfortable in classrooms as other students, Kington said.

It also addressed issues of faculty retention.

“I’ve been struggling with the issue of diversity in faculty, personally, for decades,” Kington said.

In terms of stability in the diversity office, Kington had the office moved under Academic Affairs to bring it to the core of the College’s educational mission.

“We know that there’s more to our college than what happens in the classroom, but what it does is say, when we do all those other things to build a more supportive social environment, that they’re all towards this core mission,” he said, adding that non-academic issues wouldn’t be marginalized by the move. “So I don’t think it precludes doing any of those things that we know are important. Students live here. They have to have comfortable lives. All students have to have comfortable lives here; we know that. But this connects those efforts to our core mission.”

The departures of multiple staff members from the office were due to their personal choices rather than the College’s actions, Kington said.

“Elena Bernal had an opportunity to go elsewhere. I can’t control that,” he said. “Michael Benitez was brought in, and to be honest it was probably unfair to him that he was brought in and was no longer working with the person who had hired him. He got a great opportunity. Mazel tov.”

Kington recognized that so many departures in the same department was cause for concern, calling it a “legitimate criticism” and he said that hiring the Chief Diversity Officer was the priority.

“We’re taking seriously the concern of staffing,” he said. “The only way to solve the stability problem is to fill the positions.”

Assistant Director of Analytic Support and Institutional Research Narren Brown has been chosen to serve as Interim Director of Intercultural Engagement and Leadership, taking over from Michael Benitez until at least this December.

Some concerns have also been raised by students on campus about the retention of the Posse Program, despite the College’s verbal commitment to renew their contract. Kington said the College will sign the contract once they finalize details about providing Grinnell with more of a role in the selection process, including the ability to select more or less than the ten students that are traditionally chosen, and the option to examine another location depending on the College’s need.

“We made the commitment,” he said.

Employee Perspectives

Faculty and staff recognize that the College has had issues with supporting diversity and in communicating policy to students. For most employees, the most important idea was that there needs to be institutional support for diversity and the campus needs to come together to help make that happen.

When asked by the S&B about what kind of support the diversity office has received, Benitez said that he is aware of student concerns and has reached out to the College multiple times to try to obtain additional support and resources for the Department of Intercultural Engagement and Leadership, but that the administration gave little to no response.

He said that the understaffing of the department resulted in him trying to juggle his own job working with students in addition to assuming some duties that should have been the responsibility of the Chief Diversity Officer. He also cited low budgets for many diversity-oriented organizations such as the Multicultural Leadership Council and the Black Cultural Center.

Furthermore, when asked, Benitez said that many students come to Grinnell for the financial aid they receive, but do not necessarily feel accepted or supported once they arrive due to a lack of resources.

One employee, who wished to remain anonymous, expressed frustration with finger-pointing and said that Grinnell has to work on fixing the problem.

“It’s not about being critical. We need to find tangible solutions,” the employee said.

One suggestion of the employee was for the College to do a better job making decisions in concert with people who are qualified to give advice.

“I think sometimes the very people who are the experts in the areas of diversity and inclusion from the faculty side and the staff side are not even asked to be a part of the solution,” the employee said.

The employee asserted that the move of the diversity department to Academic Affairs could be a good thing with the right support.

Associate Dean Heather Lobban-Viravong, English, and Henry Rietz, Religious Studies, who serve as co-chairs of the Council on Diversity and Inclusion, and Brown, the Interim Director, believe that the department’s placement in Academic Affairs suggests that it is important to everyone.

“I think having that office under Academic Affairs really anchors diversity issues even more solidly in the mission of the institution,” Lobban-Viravong said.

Dean of Religious Life Deanna Shorb said she wants to make sure diversity is still being respected as a core value of the College beyond simply being tied to academics.

“We have three core values and one of them is diversity,” she said. “It concerns me that diversity and inclusion might be regarded as purely an academic affairs or curricular concern where we only study race and culture in the classroom. It is my hope that the new Associate Dean will work with the diversity and inclusion staff to rebuild what was once a vibrant co-curricular program.”

She did acknowledge the importance of an academic angle.

“We do need to study race and culture but we also need to recognize the wonderful diversity on our campus and with it that there are unique cultural and racial needs for expression,” she said.

Faculty members see communication as key to bringing all parts of campus together to address the problem.

“For me, what’s most important is opening up lines of communication,” Rietz said. “So it’s not just sending out an email or press release or putting things out there, but opening up spaces and relationships where we can have conversations.”

The employees agreed that the diversity department needs an institutional commitment from the administration, saying it is a priority. This process will begin with the hiring of the Chief Diversity Officer, who Kington says will hopefully be chosen within the next month.