Watch Vassar's Men's Tennis team discuss recent success

Men's tennis nets victory against Coast Guard from The Miscellany News.

"Vassar and Progressive Politics"

Tonight I attended a really amazing lecture by Robyn Muncy, a historian at the University of Maryland. The talk centered on Josephine Roche, Vassar Class of 1908, and the liberal politics and strong background in the social sciences that she acquired at Vassar. A tireless activist for rights of workers, Roche dedicated her life to proving that better living conditions were good business and that there were practical, effective ways to help people. According to the Vassar Encyclopedia:

Plunging into Vassar life, Roche debated with Qui Vive, visited slum settlements in Poughkeepsie, joined the basketball and track clubs and was a double major in Economics and Classics. Abigail Leach (Greek) and Herbert Mills (Economics) were among her teachers, and her yearbook quotation sums up her time at Vassar: she was “cheerful and happy in the prospect of having almost more to do that day than she could possibly accomplish.”

Despite a conservative, violently anti-union father, she embraced the liberal social and economic thought of the day – learning at Vassar about the benefits of trade unionism, minimum working and living standards and active involvement in the political process. Following commencement, Roche moved to New York City and entered Columbia University to pursue a Masters in Social Work (received in 1910). Between 1910-12, Roche investigated the conditions of working children and immigrants for the Russell Sage Foundation and Columbia and directed evening classes at the pioneering social service agency, Greenwich House.

Roche’s family moved to Denver in 1908, and in October 1912 Roche left New York to become Denver’s first policewoman. As Inspector of Amusements, she supervised public dance halls and cafes and cleaned up the Red Light district – taking girls home to their families. In a battle with entrenched business interests, Roche and her boss, Commissioner Creel, were fired in early 1913. Community pressure obtained her reinstatement but official non-cooperation led to her resignation in August 1913.

In 1915, President Hoover appointed Roche Special Agent of England and the United States for the Commission for Relief in Belgium. It was the first of many governmental appointments... On the death of her father, in January 1927, Roche inherited his 40% interest in the Rocky Mountain Fuel Company. At the time, the company and the United Mine Workers were engaged in a bitter strike over higher pay and better working conditions. By November, 90% of the mines in Colorado were on strike and 6 miners had died in the Columbine Massacre at a Rocky Mountain Fuel Company mine.

In 1934 Roche ran for governor of Colorado on the motto: “Roosevelt + Roche = Recovery.” She lost the Democratic primary to the incumbent governor by 10,000 votes. In Nov. 1934, she joined FDR in Washington as Assistant Secretary of the Treasury. “The baby member of the Brain Trust," Roche was in charge of the Public Health Service, Chair of the advisory board of the National Youth Administration and a participant in the committees formulating Social Security.

In 1937, Roche returned to the Rocky Mountain Fuel Company, commuting regularly, however, to Washington to chair the National Health Conference and the Interdepartmental Committee to Coordinate Health and Welfare Activities, groups that worked tirelessly for federal health subsidies and a broad government health plan for all US citizens.

The RMFC closed in 1944 and Roche, who had become President of the National Consumers League in 1940, joined John L. Lewis and the United Mine Workers in 1948 as Executive Director and neutral trustee of the United Mine Workers’ Welfare and Retirement Fund. Funded by the mining companies, the fund provided health care, disability pensions and pensions to miners’ widows. During the 24 years of her administration, the Fund collected $2.5 billion and paid out $1.2 billion in pensions and $900 million in medical care for miners and their families, via an extensive network of hospitals and clinics.

Muncy is one of those historians who can just command an audience, more of a storyteller than a stodgy academic. She came to my American Century class today, so we had the chance to meet her before the evening's lecture. Miriam Cohen, our professor, has been taking us through the politics of the Progressive Party, which was formed by Teddy Roosevelt in 1912. Muncy talked about her research on the Progressive Era, and the unique role that Vassar College played in producing social reformers in the late-19th and early 20th centuries.

Cambridge!

I just found out that I was accepted to a wonderful summer program at Cambridge University! I'm really excited. The program allows me to study British legal history, along with other British history and political science courses. I'll work closely with a handful of professors (and British students!) and be able to do lots of independent research.

Research in the Cambridge library? A dream come true...

I'm still figuring out my thesis topic for next year. All history majors produce a lengthy senior thesis—a sort of capstone to each student's research experience at Vassar. Perhaps I'll find a topic this summer, buried in some ancient British library. Nothing like digging through ancient archives to put a smile on a history major's face!

Augusten Burroughs is coming to lecture tonight! He's the author of the New York Times bestseller Running with Scissors. All the English majors—and many others—are abuzz, waiting for him to arrive. He has a strong following among college-aged readers.

Hopefully, I'll be able to sneak out of production night for the Miscellany News long enough to catch a glimpse of his speech. I've heard that he's even funnier in person.

This event is part of one of the best Vassar lecture series—the Alex Krieger ‘95 Memorial Lecture, which has previously featured humorists like John Irving, Tom Wolfe, Sarah Vowell, and David Sedaris. I saw David Sedaris when I was visiting Vassar as a high school senior. Last year, Gail Collins (former Editorial Page editor and current columnist for the New York Times) was the speaker. She was incredibly witty, and I got to meet her afterwards in person!

If you're on campus tonight, Burroughs will be in UpCDC at 8:00 pm. Check it out!

A visit to Vassar's Art Center

Last Thursday, I stopped by one of Vassar's greatest resources: the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center. Founded in 1864, the museum includes more than 17,000 works of art—enormous compared to many other colleges' museums. The endless collection includes countless treasures: ancient Chinese manuscripts, an Egyptian sarcophagus, and the paintings of notables like Pablo Picasso, Edvard Munch and Jackson Pollack, to name just a few recognizable names. 

Last March, 80 of our paintings traveled for 10-months to Japan. The works were exhibited in five major Japanese museums in an acclaimed exhibition entitled Paris–New York: Modernist Painting in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries: Masterworks from the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center, Vassar College. James Mundy, director of Vassar's museum, helped to organize the exhibition, and felt that it represented the increasing importance of globalization in Vassar's curriculum and in the art world. "A buzzword for the new millennium has been ‘globalization’ and among America’s most important exports is higher education,” said Mundy in an interview with On Campus. The Japanese exhibit coincides with the rapid growth of the Asian Studies program at the College, as well as a new exchange program with the Ochanomizu University in Toyko.

But last week, the 80-plus works happily returned to Poughkeepsie. After my afternoon classes were over, I ducked into the museum to see the returned art first-hand (we had already written about it in The Miscellany News). Just as I remembered them! I don't think I had seen them in person since the first week of my freshmen year, when I wandered over to the museum on a campus exploration. It reminded me that the Art Center is such a unique resource—not ever small liberal arts college also hosts a world-class museum.

Spring 2009 Schedule... At Long Last

As I mentioned two posts ago, I absolutely love shopping period. Students add and drop classes like mad, finding their absolute favorite teachers and subjects to fit into their schedules. I think I probably take longer than most to determine my roster of courses; I've been at it for about two weeks. But finally, after much switching, I've settled on a really engaging set of classes:

(Art History) Architecture After Modernism: This course focuses on urban architecture in the period after 1920. I took AP Art History in high school, which covered some architecture, but it looked mostly at the history of painting and sculpture. I've always wanted to go back and spend some more time learning about the development of modern cities—especially since I'm from Manhattan. The professor is a professional architect from New York, which adds a level of practicality to the lectures and discussions.

(History/Urban Studies) The American Century, 1890-1945: Speaking of cities, this History course is cross-listed with Urban Studies, a multidisciplinary program at Vassar that looks at the rise and design of cities. In the first few weeks of classes, we've been looking at immigration patterns into New York and Chicago at the turn of the century. Professor Miriam Cohen teaches this class; she seems amazing at guiding discussions and balancing students' different points of view.

(History) Cold War America: Professor Bob Brigham is something of a legend in the History Department. He's one of those teachers everyone talks about and wants to take a course with. He specializes in post-WWII America, and is an expert on Vietnam. His recent book Is Iraq another Vietnam? was acclaimed by the media. And he's frequently on TV and radio, talking about the similarities between the conflict of the 1950s and current American presence in the Middle East. So far, this class is wonderful. High school curricula pretty much ignore events after 1945. All three of my AP history courses (American, World, and European) barely mentioned the Cold War except in passing during a single week in June. Whenever I leave this course at Vassar, I feel like I've learned so much that I really should have known before.

(Political Science) Democratic Theory: Looking at political theory from the 'margins' of modern political thought, this class introduces some interesting authors and follows their views of democracy. This week, we're reading the poet Walt Whitman. We will also look at authors like James Baldwin, who tried to balance democracy with racial injustice. So far, the class looks really interesting.

(Political Science/Science, Technology and Society) Intellectual Property Law: For those bound for law school, Vassar offers a number of excellent preparatory courses. Constitutional Law (Political Science), Law and Economics (Economics), Environmental Law (Environmental Studies), and Sociology and Law in Society (Sociology), to name a few, all introduce students to the basic ideas and debates that will follow them throughout their legal education. Intellectual Property Law (Political Science) is another such example. The class covers the law of patents, copyrights and trademarks. Our professor, Michael Bennett, is incredible -- he has experience in physics, biotechnology, and science, technology and society. He even has a law degree from Harvard. On top of his teaching, he consults on issues of intellectual property law, which means that he is fully aware of the ongoing debates and issues in the field.

Our first Podcast!

The Miscellany News has been trying its best to enter the world of multimedia. In the fall, we launched a new Web site and began doing slide shows, high-resolution weekly photos of the community, and investigative videos.

Just yesterday, we launched our first Podcast, available here. This series, entitled Behind the Story, will feature interviews with our reporters about the stories that they have been covering. It will take readers into the lives of our journalists and make our newsroom more transparent.

We're one of only a handful of small liberal arts colleges using Podcasts. I'm so proud that our Miscellany editors have been so willing and anxious to jump into the world of multimedia.

YouTube Winner!

Check out the winning video in the Vassar YouTube Contest: