Boston\u2019s Black women activists walk a historic path and look toward the future \u2014 The Boston Globe<\/em><\/h5>\n\n\n\nA story by Dasia Moore in The Boston Globe<\/em> about young female Black activists quotes Alexandria Onuoha \u201920, director of political advocacy at Black Boston 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\nMoore describes Black Boston 2020 as \u201can organization founded by Black college-aged women last spring [that] hosts programming and develops curricula for people of all ages. The group also advocates for policy changes at the city and state levels and has led <\/strong>protests against police brutality.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"Alexandria](\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2020\/06\/Alex_5_0768.jpg\")
<\/a>Alexandria Onuoha ’20, who delivered the Class of 2020’s Senior Address at Commencement last May, poses for a FaceTime portrait in a park near her home in Malden. Mass., last spring. (Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates College)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nOnuoha, who gave the Senior Address<\/a> last May at the Bates Commencement and is now a doctoral student in applied developmental psychology at Suffolk University, said, \u201cIt\u2019s very rewarding to know that you\u2019re part of something bigger and that there are also Black women that share the same values as you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cBlack Bostonian women have a history of getting things done,\u201d Moore says, outlining the achievements of Boston activists throughout history. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cContemporary activists say they proudly carry on the legacy of these women and countless others like them who may not be as well known today as they ought to be, <\/strong>but who changed the history of this old, obdurate town.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n- Read the story: \u201cBoston\u2019s Black women activists walk a historic path and look toward the future<\/a>,\u201d The Boston Globe<\/em>, Dec. 28, 2020<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nSue E. Houchins<\/h4>\n\n\n\nThe complicated racial history of the high school D.C. is renaming \u2014 The Washington Post<\/em><\/h5>\n\n\n\nAssociate Professor of Africana Sue E. Houchins was quoted in a Washington Post<\/em> story about the ongoing project to rename the district\u2019s former Woodrow Wilson High School, whose namesake is now recognized as a white supremacist.<\/p>\n\n\n\nOne name in the running is that of Edna Burke Jackson, the school\u2019s first female Black teacher who taught at the school from 1955 to 1976, enduring all manner of racism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Houchins was a close family friend of Jackson\u2019s. \u201cIt\u2019s not that Edna was first \u2014 that\u2019s important \u2014 it\u2019s that Edna was an instrument of change, both for white students and for the few Black students who had to negotiate their way through that place,\u201d said Houchins. \u201cThat\u2019s reason enough\u201d to name the school in her memory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- Read the story: \u201cThe complicated racial history of the high school D.C. is renaming<\/a>\u201d The Washington Post<\/em>, Dec. 28, 2020<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nSix Alumnae Friends<\/h4>\n\n\n\nTrivia Night garners big bucks for scholars \u2014 The Bedford Citizen<\/em><\/h5>\n\n\n\nSince early in the pandemic, a group of Bates alumnae have Zoomed every Thursday night. \u201cWe\u2019ve celebrated accomplishments, cheered each other on, and kept our spirits up during challenging times,\u201d says Jenn Lemkin Bouchard \u201999. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
They used their friendship, smarts, and perhaps some experience from WRBC Trivia Night to win a trivia contest to benefit scholarships for graduates of Bedford (Mass.) High School.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On Feb. 6, the friends defeated 23 other trivia teams while raising money for CSF Dollars for Scholars, a volunteer community organization that provides college scholarships to local high school graduates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- Read the story: \u201cTrivia Night garners big bucks for scholars<\/a>,\u201d The Bedford Citizen<\/em>, Feb. 8, 2021<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nTher\u00ed Pickens<\/h4>\n\n\n\nMiya Ponsetto\u2019s apology interview for attacking teen over a lost phone reveals a pattern of behavior \u2014 The Washington Post<\/em><\/h5>\n\n\n\nOn Dec. 26, 2020, in the lobby of Soho\u2019s Arlo Hotel in New York, Miya Ponsetto assaulted Keyon Harrold Jr., a Black teenager she accused of taking her phone, then falsely accused Harrold\u2019s father of assaulting her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In an oped in The Washington Post<\/em>, Professor of English Ther\u00ed Pickens looks at the incident and its aftermath, specifically Ponsetto saying, \u201cI don’t feel like this one mistake…define[s] me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cMiya Ponsetto\u2019s story follows a pattern we\u2019ve become familiar with when White women are caught on video engaging in racist behavior,\u201d writes Pickens. \u201cShe denies that she is racist; she apologizes, insisting that this behavior is out of character. Her denial coupled with an apology fuels a narrative of White women\u2019s racial innocence.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ponsetto has tried to capitalize on the one-mistake narrative. Sometimes, invoking that narrative works, giving \u201cpeople who stumble the courage to go out and succeed, conquer their fears.\u201d But beware the person who uses the narrative as a coverup. \u201c\u201cOne mistake can define you \u2014 especially when it appears to be a pattern,\u201d writes Pickens, who quotes Maya Angelou: \u201c\u201cWhen people show you who they are, believe them the first time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- Read the story: \u201cMiya Ponsetto\u2019s apology interview for attacking teen over a lost phone reveals a pattern of behavior<\/a>,\u201d The Washington Post, Jan. 13, 2021<\/em><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nDan Sanford<\/h4>\n\n\n\nThe words, terms, and phrases that reflect the events of our times \u2014 Maine Calling<\/em><\/h5>\n\n\n\nArriving quickly last winter, COVID-19 forced us to quickly get up to speed with the lexicon of a pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dan Sanford, director of Writing at Bates and the college\u2019s Academic Resource Commons, talked to Maine Calling<\/em> about how language responds to the need to communicate something new.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"Dan](\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2021\/02\/160812_Academic_Resource_Commons_Tour_0037.jpg\")
Dan Sanford, director of Writing at Bates and the Academic Resource Commons leads a walkthrough of the Commons. (Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates College)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n\u201cWe have three options,\u201d he said. \u201cBorrow a term from another language. Coin a new term. Or repurpose existing language. The pandemic arrived so fast that I think what we\u2019ve seen is a lot of repurposing existing words and existing language in English to describe it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One example is the term \u201csocial distancing.\u201d Sanford says that he \u201ccan’t think of a better example of a phrase that so quickly became so widespread.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A second term is \u201cflatten the curve,\u201d which conveys a highly complex idea involving parabolic functions and probability distribution, but nevertheless \u201cgives us a shorthand for understanding something that has a lot of nuance.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- Listen to the story: \u201cThe words, terms, and phrases that reflect the events of our times<\/a>,\u201d Maine Calling<\/em>, Feb. 5, 2021<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nNoelle Chaddock<\/h4>\n\n\n\nWork happening across Maine to forward greater racial justice \u2014<\/em> Maine Calling<\/em><\/h5>\n\n\n\nVice President for Equity and Inclusion Noelle Chaddock joined other state leaders on the Maine Public\u2019s radio program Maine Calling<\/em> to talk about various efforts focused on racial justice.<\/p>\n\n\n\nAt Bates, an emerging institutional goal \u201cis to make sure that our students encounter curricular content that addresses race, racism, power, and privilege\u201d in whatever field of study they choose, Chaddock said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bates is also looking at how it has told its origin story, often highlighting the abolitionist roots of founder Oren Cheney. What\u2019s less talked about is the college\u2019s early funding, from industrialist Benjamin Bates, whose mills used cotton grown by enslaved persons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe have had students on campus work with faculty to go ahead and really antagonize that origin story,\u201d Chaddock said. \u201cYes, it\u2019s aspirational, but I also find a lot of evidence that over the years folks have tried to meet that aspiration. I think it\u2019s really important in the truth, racial healing and transformation work that we\u2019re doing that we grapple with that truth and that we articulate that truth. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAnd I\u2019ve waited a long time to work in an organization where the president comes out and says \u2018We have not hit this mark yet, this is aspirational.\u2019 And President Spencer has invited all of us to come to the table for this heavy lift.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- Listen to the story: \u201cWork happening across Maine to forward greater racial justice<\/a>,\u201d Maine Calling<\/em>, Feb. 8, 2021<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nJ.J. Cummings \u201989<\/h4>\n\n\n\nUSS Gerald R. Ford<\/em> holds change of command ceremony \u2014 WTKR <\/em><\/h5>\n\n\n\nJ.J. Cummings \u201989 has concluded his service as commander of the Navy\u2019s newest aircraft carrier, USS Gerald R. Ford<\/em>, reported television station WTKR and other media outlets.<\/p>\n\n\n\nCummings oversaw a \u201cmonumental period for the first-in-class aircraft carrier,\u201d said reporter Todd Corillo, in helping the ship prepare for active duty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With trademark irony, Cummings said that his mission was \u201csimple<\/a>\u201d \u2014 he and his crew just had to \u201ctransition [Ford\u2019s] new technologies into proven, reliable operational capabilities. And with 12 at-sea periods and 200 at-sea days over the last 16 months, we got exactly what we needed.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"J.J.](\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2018\/08\/180810_Cummings_4636362.jpg\")
J.J. Cummings ’89 (right) assumes command of USS Gerald R. Ford<\/em> from Capt. Richard C. McCormack during the ship\u2019s change of command ceremony, a time-honored Naval transfer of responsibility, authority, and accountability from one individual to another. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Cat Campbell)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nRear Admiral John Meier, commander of Naval Air Force Atlantic who served as the first commanding officer of Gerald R. Ford<\/em>, said, \u201cI can\u2019t tell you how impressed I am with what you\u2019ve done with the crew and your ability to value this crew and the quality of their work. If it weren\u2019t for your leadership, your preparation, and qualifying the youth, the future of naval aviation, we wouldn\u2019t be here, where we are today.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\nThe change of command ceremony was held aboard the ship at Naval Station Norfolk, Va., on Feb. 12. Cummings is slated to begin his next assignment as Chief of Staff at U.S. Second Fleet in Norfolk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- Read the story: \u201cUSS Gerald R. Ford<\/em> holds change of command ceremony<\/a>\u201d WTKR, Feb. 12, 2021<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nNathaniel Boone \u201952<\/h4>\n\n\n\nVermont celebrates Nathaniel Boone Day on Feb. 17 \u2014 Brattleboro Reformer<\/em><\/h5>\n\n\n\nNewspaper columnist Don Keelan writes about the achievement of Nathaniel Boone \u201952, who endured Marine training in 1946 at Montford Point at Camp Lejeune, where thousands of Black Marines broke the Corps\u2019 color barrier in a time and place where desegregation was anything but welcome.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"Shown](\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2013\/03\/E7-Boone_0341-adj.jpg\")
Shown at his Manchester Center, Vt., home in September 2012, Nathaniel Boone \u201952 displays the Congressional Gold Medal he received for his service as a Montford Point Marine. \nPhotograph by Phyllis Graber Jensen<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n\u201cMontford Point…was to the Marine Corps what Devil\u2019s Island must have been to its French inhabitants \u2014 made only worse for the trainees by having only white officers, many of whom would have preferred that the Corps stay all white,\u201d writes Keelan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Boone once told Bates Magazine<\/em><\/a> that nothing would deter him from becoming a Marine, \u201cbecause the only way I could go to college was the GI Bill.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\nIn 2017, Vermont Gov. Governor Phil Scott proclaimed Feb. 17 of that year as Nathaniel Boone Day. \u201cAs we celebrate Black History Month,\u201d wrote Keelan, \u201cone can only be disappointed that despite the tearing down of segregation and discrimination barriers since Montford Point, we are still dealing with racism and other biases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- Read the story: \u201cVermont celebrates Nathaniel Boone Day on Feb. 17<\/a> \u201d Brattleboro Reformer, Feb. 17, 2021<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nWhitney Soule \u201990<\/h4>\n\n\n\nWhitney Soule named vice provost and dean of admissions at Penn \u2014 Penn Today<\/em><\/h5>\n\n\n\nWhitney Soule \u201990 becomes vice provost and dean of admissions at the University of Pennsylvania<\/a> effective July 1, according to Penn Today<\/em>. Soule is currently senior vice president and dean of admissions and student aid at Bowdoin College. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cIn our numerous discussions with Whitney, it became very clear that her vision and philosophy for admissions \u2014 along with her proven track record as a leader \u2014 will perfectly position Penn to carry forward our Penn Compact vision of ever-increasing inclusion, innovation and impact,\u201d said Penn President Amy Gutmann and Provost Wendell Pritchett.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Soule began her career at Bates, becoming associate dean and director of transfer admissions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
- Read the story: \u201cWhitney Soule named vice provost and dean of admissions at Penn<\/a>,\u201d Penn Today<\/em><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nSekerkhi Anderson \u201918<\/h4>\n\n\n\nLocal Hip-Hop artist Sec. wants more musicians to make it in D.C. \u2014 DCist<\/em><\/h5>\n\n\n\n\u201cTwenty-four-year-old Seker Anderson cuts an unassuming figure,\u201d writes Madeline Taub in DCist<\/em>. \u201cIn person, the D.C. native, who grew up in Brookland, appears quiet behind the yellow-tinted round sunglasses that are a staple in his wardrobe. But on stage, where he performs alternative hip-hop under the name Sec., Anderson is electric.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\nAsked about what he often writes about, Anderson said, \u201cThe daily struggle, just trying to get through the day. I touch on politics, relationships, community problems, police violence, I like it to kind of all be one.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- Read the story: \u201cLocal Hip-Hop artist Sec. wants more musicians to make it in D.C<\/a>.,\u201d DCist<\/em>, Feb. 4, 2021<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nJason Castro<\/h4>\n\n\n\nHow the brain responds to beauty \u2014 Scientific American<\/em><\/h5>\n\n\n\n\u201cWe seek it in nature, art and philosophy but also in our phones and furniture,\u201d writes Associate Professor of Neuroscience Jason Castro in Scientific American<\/em>. <\/p>\n\n\n\nHe\u2019s writing about beauty, and the various theories that have tried to explain what makes an object aesthetically pleasing. Some scientists have suggested there\u2019s a \u201cbeauty center\u201d in the brain that\u2019s activated when we see something. But recent research suggests no such single region exists, writes Castro.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIf we take this at face value, then the beauty of a face is not the same as the beauty of a painting. Beauty is plural, diverse, embedded in the particulars of its medium.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- Read the story: \u201cHow the brain responds to beauty<\/a>,\u201d Scientific American<\/em>, Feb. 2, 2021<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nHoi Ning Ngai<\/h4>\n\n\n\nBuilding belonging across (virtual) borders \u2014 SWE Magazine<\/em><\/h5>\n\n\n\nA story in SWE Magazine<\/em>, a publication of the Society of Women Engineers, about the challenges and importance of creating a sense of belonging among employees extensively quotes Hoi Ning Ngai, associate director for employer engagement and business advising at the Bates College Center for Purposeful Work.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe story cites a study that says \u201chigh belonging was linked to a whopping 56 percent increase in job performance, a 50 percent drop in turnover risk, and a 75 percent reduction in sick days.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Belonging means that \u201cpeople can bring their full selves to work and not feel they need to act differently between their workplaces and at home.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A workplace that fosters belonging \u201cdoesn\u2019t mean we have to wholeheartedly accept things we don\u2019t agree with,\u201d Ngai said. \u201cWe should be able to push back and challenge each other\u2019s thoughts and ideas.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Indeed, organizational cultures that \u201copenly and consistently recognize individuals and what they have to bring to the table \u2014 and support productive discourse and debate among those individuals \u2014 are ones that will more likely retain them over time. Ultimately, it\u2019s in those environments that we simultaneously feel heard and experience growth.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- Read the story: \u201cBuilding belonging across (virtual) borders<\/a>,\u201d SWE Magazine<\/em><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nRobert Broudo \u201971<\/h4>\n\n\n\nLongtime Landmark School leader to retire \u2014 Salem Evening News<\/em><\/h5>\n\n\n\nRobert Broudo \u201971 is retiring after three decades as head of Landmark School.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One of Landmark\u2019s first faculty members, Broudo joined the school shortly after his graduation from Bates as a psychology major. At Landmark, Broudo has served as teacher, supervisor, department head, houseparent, residential coordinator, founding director of the Outreach and Prep Programs, and head of the high school. He was elected president and headmaster in 1990.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"All](\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2021\/02\/Bob-Broudo_Landmark-Head.jpg\")
Robert Broudo ’71 retires as head of Landmark School this year. (Photograph courtesy of Landmark School)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nLandmark, which specializes in evidence- and research-based teaching for students with dyslexia and other language-based learning disabilities, celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHelping to build this school into the respected institution that it is today has been the greatest honor of my life,\u201d Broudo said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- Read the story: \u201cLongtime Landmark School leader to retire<\/a>,\u201d Salem Evening News<\/em>, Jan. 19, 2021<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nBill Sweat \u201979<\/h4>\n\n\n\nTo court socially minded millennials, some wineries are investing in more than grapes \u2014 The Washington Post<\/em><\/h5>\n\n\n\nIn 2005, Bill Sweat \u201979 and Donna Morris founded Winderlea Vineyard and Winery in Dundee, Ore., with sustainability and social responsibility in mind, writes Dave McIntyre in The Washington Post.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\nIn 2015, the business joined more than 3,000 companies worldwide \u2014 and\u00a0 just the fourth winery \u2014 to achieve Certified B Corporation status, pledging to meet high standards of social and environmental performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Their business model is well-suited for the future of the wine industry, as the story reports that the emerging millennial cohort of wine drinkers, a group \u201cwhich up to now has been more interested in craft beer, spirits and hard seltzer,\u201d is \u201cbeginning to spend more on wine.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Millennials are less interested in the \u201cgeeky aspects\u201d of wine such as \u201cgrape blends, pH levels or point scores from critics,\u201d but more about a label\u2019s social responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- Read the story: \u201cTo court socially minded millennials, some wineries are investing in more than grape<\/a>,\u201d Name<\/em>, Jan. 22, 2021<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nShayna Waldman \u201908<\/h4>\n\n\n\nInspirational Women: Shayna Waldman \u2014 We Are the City<\/em><\/h5>\n\n\n\nShayna Waldman \u201908 was profiled by We Are the City, a news and networking site for women.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Waldman is a development and production executive with The ATS Team, a production services company for the entertainment industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Asked what piece of advice she\u2019d give to her younger self, Waldman replied:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI experienced a lot of bullying in my earlier career, particularly from a very successful top executive producer in Los Angeles…and I wish I stood up for myself. The entire team knew about their behaviour and allowed it. I was not the only victim; it was the environment he created.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBut I think you learn with age and experience, so I try really hard not to be so hard on myself about it. Maya Angelou had better advice than I can ever give: \u2018Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Moore describes Black Boston 2020 as \u201can organization founded by Black college-aged women last spring [that] hosts programming and develops curricula for people of all ages. The group also advocates for policy changes at the city and state levels and has led <\/strong>protests against police brutality.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Onuoha, who gave the Senior Address<\/a> last May at the Bates Commencement and is now a doctoral student in applied developmental psychology at Suffolk University, said, \u201cIt\u2019s very rewarding to know that you\u2019re part of something bigger and that there are also Black women that share the same values as you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBlack Bostonian women have a history of getting things done,\u201d Moore says, outlining the achievements of Boston activists throughout history. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cContemporary activists say they proudly carry on the legacy of these women and countless others like them who may not be as well known today as they ought to be, <\/strong>but who changed the history of this old, obdurate town.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Associate Professor of Africana Sue E. Houchins was quoted in a Washington Post<\/em> story about the ongoing project to rename the district\u2019s former Woodrow Wilson High School, whose namesake is now recognized as a white supremacist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One name in the running is that of Edna Burke Jackson, the school\u2019s first female Black teacher who taught at the school from 1955 to 1976, enduring all manner of racism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Houchins was a close family friend of Jackson\u2019s. \u201cIt\u2019s not that Edna was first \u2014 that\u2019s important \u2014 it\u2019s that Edna was an instrument of change, both for white students and for the few Black students who had to negotiate their way through that place,\u201d said Houchins. \u201cThat\u2019s reason enough\u201d to name the school in her memory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Since early in the pandemic, a group of Bates alumnae have Zoomed every Thursday night. \u201cWe\u2019ve celebrated accomplishments, cheered each other on, and kept our spirits up during challenging times,\u201d says Jenn Lemkin Bouchard \u201999. <\/p>\n\n\n\n They used their friendship, smarts, and perhaps some experience from WRBC Trivia Night to win a trivia contest to benefit scholarships for graduates of Bedford (Mass.) High School.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On Feb. 6, the friends defeated 23 other trivia teams while raising money for CSF Dollars for Scholars, a volunteer community organization that provides college scholarships to local high school graduates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On Dec. 26, 2020, in the lobby of Soho\u2019s Arlo Hotel in New York, Miya Ponsetto assaulted Keyon Harrold Jr., a Black teenager she accused of taking her phone, then falsely accused Harrold\u2019s father of assaulting her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In an oped in The Washington Post<\/em>, Professor of English Ther\u00ed Pickens looks at the incident and its aftermath, specifically Ponsetto saying, \u201cI don’t feel like this one mistake…define[s] me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMiya Ponsetto\u2019s story follows a pattern we\u2019ve become familiar with when White women are caught on video engaging in racist behavior,\u201d writes Pickens. \u201cShe denies that she is racist; she apologizes, insisting that this behavior is out of character. Her denial coupled with an apology fuels a narrative of White women\u2019s racial innocence.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ponsetto has tried to capitalize on the one-mistake narrative. Sometimes, invoking that narrative works, giving \u201cpeople who stumble the courage to go out and succeed, conquer their fears.\u201d But beware the person who uses the narrative as a coverup. \u201c\u201cOne mistake can define you \u2014 especially when it appears to be a pattern,\u201d writes Pickens, who quotes Maya Angelou: \u201c\u201cWhen people show you who they are, believe them the first time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Arriving quickly last winter, COVID-19 forced us to quickly get up to speed with the lexicon of a pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dan Sanford, director of Writing at Bates and the college\u2019s Academic Resource Commons, talked to Maine Calling<\/em> about how language responds to the need to communicate something new.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe have three options,\u201d he said. \u201cBorrow a term from another language. Coin a new term. Or repurpose existing language. The pandemic arrived so fast that I think what we\u2019ve seen is a lot of repurposing existing words and existing language in English to describe it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n One example is the term \u201csocial distancing.\u201d Sanford says that he \u201ccan’t think of a better example of a phrase that so quickly became so widespread.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n A second term is \u201cflatten the curve,\u201d which conveys a highly complex idea involving parabolic functions and probability distribution, but nevertheless \u201cgives us a shorthand for understanding something that has a lot of nuance.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Vice President for Equity and Inclusion Noelle Chaddock joined other state leaders on the Maine Public\u2019s radio program Maine Calling<\/em> to talk about various efforts focused on racial justice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At Bates, an emerging institutional goal \u201cis to make sure that our students encounter curricular content that addresses race, racism, power, and privilege\u201d in whatever field of study they choose, Chaddock said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bates is also looking at how it has told its origin story, often highlighting the abolitionist roots of founder Oren Cheney. What\u2019s less talked about is the college\u2019s early funding, from industrialist Benjamin Bates, whose mills used cotton grown by enslaved persons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe have had students on campus work with faculty to go ahead and really antagonize that origin story,\u201d Chaddock said. \u201cYes, it\u2019s aspirational, but I also find a lot of evidence that over the years folks have tried to meet that aspiration. I think it\u2019s really important in the truth, racial healing and transformation work that we\u2019re doing that we grapple with that truth and that we articulate that truth. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAnd I\u2019ve waited a long time to work in an organization where the president comes out and says \u2018We have not hit this mark yet, this is aspirational.\u2019 And President Spencer has invited all of us to come to the table for this heavy lift.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n J.J. Cummings \u201989 has concluded his service as commander of the Navy\u2019s newest aircraft carrier, USS Gerald R. Ford<\/em>, reported television station WTKR and other media outlets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cummings oversaw a \u201cmonumental period for the first-in-class aircraft carrier,\u201d said reporter Todd Corillo, in helping the ship prepare for active duty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With trademark irony, Cummings said that his mission was \u201csimple<\/a>\u201d \u2014 he and his crew just had to \u201ctransition [Ford\u2019s] new technologies into proven, reliable operational capabilities. And with 12 at-sea periods and 200 at-sea days over the last 16 months, we got exactly what we needed.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Rear Admiral John Meier, commander of Naval Air Force Atlantic who served as the first commanding officer of Gerald R. Ford<\/em>, said, \u201cI can\u2019t tell you how impressed I am with what you\u2019ve done with the crew and your ability to value this crew and the quality of their work. If it weren\u2019t for your leadership, your preparation, and qualifying the youth, the future of naval aviation, we wouldn\u2019t be here, where we are today.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n The change of command ceremony was held aboard the ship at Naval Station Norfolk, Va., on Feb. 12. Cummings is slated to begin his next assignment as Chief of Staff at U.S. Second Fleet in Norfolk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Newspaper columnist Don Keelan writes about the achievement of Nathaniel Boone \u201952, who endured Marine training in 1946 at Montford Point at Camp Lejeune, where thousands of Black Marines broke the Corps\u2019 color barrier in a time and place where desegregation was anything but welcome.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMontford Point…was to the Marine Corps what Devil\u2019s Island must have been to its French inhabitants \u2014 made only worse for the trainees by having only white officers, many of whom would have preferred that the Corps stay all white,\u201d writes Keelan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Boone once told Bates Magazine<\/em><\/a> that nothing would deter him from becoming a Marine, \u201cbecause the only way I could go to college was the GI Bill.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n In 2017, Vermont Gov. Governor Phil Scott proclaimed Feb. 17 of that year as Nathaniel Boone Day. \u201cAs we celebrate Black History Month,\u201d wrote Keelan, \u201cone can only be disappointed that despite the tearing down of segregation and discrimination barriers since Montford Point, we are still dealing with racism and other biases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Whitney Soule \u201990 becomes vice provost and dean of admissions at the University of Pennsylvania<\/a> effective July 1, according to Penn Today<\/em>. Soule is currently senior vice president and dean of admissions and student aid at Bowdoin College. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIn our numerous discussions with Whitney, it became very clear that her vision and philosophy for admissions \u2014 along with her proven track record as a leader \u2014 will perfectly position Penn to carry forward our Penn Compact vision of ever-increasing inclusion, innovation and impact,\u201d said Penn President Amy Gutmann and Provost Wendell Pritchett.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Soule began her career at Bates, becoming associate dean and director of transfer admissions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cTwenty-four-year-old Seker Anderson cuts an unassuming figure,\u201d writes Madeline Taub in DCist<\/em>. \u201cIn person, the D.C. native, who grew up in Brookland, appears quiet behind the yellow-tinted round sunglasses that are a staple in his wardrobe. But on stage, where he performs alternative hip-hop under the name Sec., Anderson is electric.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Asked about what he often writes about, Anderson said, \u201cThe daily struggle, just trying to get through the day. I touch on politics, relationships, community problems, police violence, I like it to kind of all be one.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe seek it in nature, art and philosophy but also in our phones and furniture,\u201d writes Associate Professor of Neuroscience Jason Castro in Scientific American<\/em>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n He\u2019s writing about beauty, and the various theories that have tried to explain what makes an object aesthetically pleasing. Some scientists have suggested there\u2019s a \u201cbeauty center\u201d in the brain that\u2019s activated when we see something. But recent research suggests no such single region exists, writes Castro.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIf we take this at face value, then the beauty of a face is not the same as the beauty of a painting. Beauty is plural, diverse, embedded in the particulars of its medium.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n A story in SWE Magazine<\/em>, a publication of the Society of Women Engineers, about the challenges and importance of creating a sense of belonging among employees extensively quotes Hoi Ning Ngai, associate director for employer engagement and business advising at the Bates College Center for Purposeful Work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The story cites a study that says \u201chigh belonging was linked to a whopping 56 percent increase in job performance, a 50 percent drop in turnover risk, and a 75 percent reduction in sick days.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Belonging means that \u201cpeople can bring their full selves to work and not feel they need to act differently between their workplaces and at home.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n A workplace that fosters belonging \u201cdoesn\u2019t mean we have to wholeheartedly accept things we don\u2019t agree with,\u201d Ngai said. \u201cWe should be able to push back and challenge each other\u2019s thoughts and ideas.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Indeed, organizational cultures that \u201copenly and consistently recognize individuals and what they have to bring to the table \u2014 and support productive discourse and debate among those individuals \u2014 are ones that will more likely retain them over time. Ultimately, it\u2019s in those environments that we simultaneously feel heard and experience growth.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Robert Broudo \u201971 is retiring after three decades as head of Landmark School.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of Landmark\u2019s first faculty members, Broudo joined the school shortly after his graduation from Bates as a psychology major. At Landmark, Broudo has served as teacher, supervisor, department head, houseparent, residential coordinator, founding director of the Outreach and Prep Programs, and head of the high school. He was elected president and headmaster in 1990.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Landmark, which specializes in evidence- and research-based teaching for students with dyslexia and other language-based learning disabilities, celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHelping to build this school into the respected institution that it is today has been the greatest honor of my life,\u201d Broudo said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In 2005, Bill Sweat \u201979 and Donna Morris founded Winderlea Vineyard and Winery in Dundee, Ore., with sustainability and social responsibility in mind, writes Dave McIntyre in The Washington Post.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n In 2015, the business joined more than 3,000 companies worldwide \u2014 and\u00a0 just the fourth winery \u2014 to achieve Certified B Corporation status, pledging to meet high standards of social and environmental performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Their business model is well-suited for the future of the wine industry, as the story reports that the emerging millennial cohort of wine drinkers, a group \u201cwhich up to now has been more interested in craft beer, spirits and hard seltzer,\u201d is \u201cbeginning to spend more on wine.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Millennials are less interested in the \u201cgeeky aspects\u201d of wine such as \u201cgrape blends, pH levels or point scores from critics,\u201d but more about a label\u2019s social responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Shayna Waldman \u201908 was profiled by We Are the City, a news and networking site for women.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Waldman is a development and production executive with The ATS Team, a production services company for the entertainment industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Asked what piece of advice she\u2019d give to her younger self, Waldman replied:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI experienced a lot of bullying in my earlier career, particularly from a very successful top executive producer in Los Angeles…and I wish I stood up for myself. The entire team knew about their behaviour and allowed it. I was not the only victim; it was the environment he created.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBut I think you learn with age and experience, so I try really hard not to be so hard on myself about it. Maya Angelou had better advice than I can ever give: \u2018Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/a>
\n\n\n\nSue E. Houchins<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
The complicated racial history of the high school D.C. is renaming \u2014 The Washington Post<\/em><\/h5>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nSix Alumnae Friends<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Trivia Night garners big bucks for scholars \u2014 The Bedford Citizen<\/em><\/h5>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nTher\u00ed Pickens<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Miya Ponsetto\u2019s apology interview for attacking teen over a lost phone reveals a pattern of behavior \u2014 The Washington Post<\/em><\/h5>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nDan Sanford<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
The words, terms, and phrases that reflect the events of our times \u2014 Maine Calling<\/em><\/h5>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nNoelle Chaddock<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Work happening across Maine to forward greater racial justice \u2014<\/em> Maine Calling<\/em><\/h5>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nJ.J. Cummings \u201989<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
USS Gerald R. Ford<\/em> holds change of command ceremony \u2014 WTKR <\/em><\/h5>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nNathaniel Boone \u201952<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Vermont celebrates Nathaniel Boone Day on Feb. 17 \u2014 Brattleboro Reformer<\/em><\/h5>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nWhitney Soule \u201990<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Whitney Soule named vice provost and dean of admissions at Penn \u2014 Penn Today<\/em><\/h5>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nSekerkhi Anderson \u201918<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Local Hip-Hop artist Sec. wants more musicians to make it in D.C. \u2014 DCist<\/em><\/h5>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nJason Castro<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
How the brain responds to beauty \u2014 Scientific American<\/em><\/h5>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nHoi Ning Ngai<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Building belonging across (virtual) borders \u2014 SWE Magazine<\/em><\/h5>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nRobert Broudo \u201971<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Longtime Landmark School leader to retire \u2014 Salem Evening News<\/em><\/h5>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nBill Sweat \u201979<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
To court socially minded millennials, some wineries are investing in more than grapes \u2014 The Washington Post<\/em><\/h5>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nShayna Waldman \u201908<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Inspirational Women: Shayna Waldman \u2014 We Are the City<\/em><\/h5>\n\n\n\n