Attorney General Eric Holder lectures at Vassar

Vassar attracts countless big-name speakers. From Hillary Clinton to Salman Rushdie and from Gail Collins to Frank Rich, we've hosted some of the nation's most important politicians, writers, and intellectuals. But for a pre-law student like myself, there is perhaps no speaker more relevant or exciting than the United States Attorney General—the country's single most powerful lawyer.

Eric Holder, an old friend of Judge Richard Roberts (Vassar class of 1974), spent the day at Vassar last Thursday. The day concluded with a community-wide lecture in the sold-out Chapel.

Here is just the introduction to his speech, which described the incredible impact of Vassar graduates in bringing about social and political change. You can read the entire speech on the Department of Justice's Web site:

Good afternoon. It’s a pleasure to be here and a privilege to join so many members and leaders of the Vassar community. I want to thank you all – especially President [Cappy] Hill – for inviting me to participate in this week of reflection and discussion about the power and importance of public service.

Let me also thank my good friend, Judge Richard Roberts, for welcoming me to his alma mater. This campus and this historic chapel are as beautiful as he described. As I look around at the hundreds of very young students gathered here, I realize that Ricky and I have been friends for more years than most of you have been alive. And I’ve always known him to be a proud Vassar alum. From him, I’ve had the chance to learn quite a bit about the traditions, achievements and contributions that are, and always have been, such a vital part of life on this campus.

On Saturday, I understand that many of you will come together to mark one of Vassar’s oldest traditions – Founder’s Day – when you’ll celebrate the extraordinary foresight, generosity and optimism that Matthew Vassar showed in establishing this college. As you all know, this institution welcomed its first class of students in 1861, during a time of unprecedented instability, impending war and deep, national division. Despite the challenges of the day, Matthew Vassar believed he could leverage his great fortune for the common good and the cause of equality. And he saw education as the country’s most powerful tool to ensure peace, prosperity and justice. What was true then remains true today. In creating this place of learning, Matthew Vassar believed that its students would, as he put it, “mold the character of [America’s] citizens, determine its institutions, and shape its destiny.” M any other students and professors who’ve worked to improve life on, and far beyond, this campus have proven that he was right. And the spirit of service he continues to inspire is, indeed, cause for celebration. It is my fervent hope that you will continue this great tradition.

But the truth is that the celebration of your founder’s legacy and vision has already begun. During the events and activities that you’ve participated in throughout this week – and, today, in commemorating Earth Day – all of you have honored and extended the commitment to public service that Matthew Vassar first established on this campus. For many of you, public service is not only a top priority but also a central part of your daily lives. You serve as mentors at nearby high schools; you teach elementary students about the environment at the Vassar Farm; you clean up the Hudson River; and, as part of the Green Haven Program, you tutor inmates at the maximum-security prison in Stormville. Your commitment to public service also goes far beyond this campus and the Poughkeepsie community. In fact, four of you here today were on the ground in Haiti a few months ago when the earthquake struck. In the wake of that disaster, you were among the first responders who worked to save and to protect lives.

In these and many other ways, all of you have strengthened Vassar’s tradition of service – a legacy that is remarkable... [Read more]...

Quite the Weekend

Last weekend was an odd mixture of panic and fun.

My history thesis was due on Monday afternoon. The History Department, like many departments, requires a lengthy senior thesis as the culminating project for majors. My topic is on the arguments against sanitary reform in Victorian London. (The topic is way more interesting than it sounds, I promise!). The thesis is quite the project, involving more than a year of writing and research under the close supervision of a member of the Department. But after much stress, and many rewrites, it's finally complete! Definitely a weight off my shoulders.

Now for the fun part. Vassar hosted The Flaming Lips, the world-renowned band! The place was packed with about 3500 people—students, faculty, administrators, and Poughkeepsie residents. There was even a group of prospective students!

I went to the concert with the VSA Executive Board, stopping first at one of our favorite Chinese places downtown. After spending a year with these five incredible student leaders, I realize how much I'm going to miss them. As we ordered every spicy chicken dish on the menu, we looked around and realized how close graduation really was... More on my nostalgia in future posts!

Anyway, when we got to the concert, we met up with Ruby Cramer, the Editor in Chief of The Miscellany News (Vassar's student newspaper since 1866). Ruby and I have been close friends for nearly two years; she was Features Editor while I was Editor in Chief last year. She's absolutely brilliant—one of the most articulate writers, strategic thinkers, and accomplished people you can imagine. She knows how to get from Point A to Point Z. She's the quintessential New Yorker, and exactly the type of personality Vassar strives to graduate. It's a weird feeling, but I know deep down that the two of us will remain close for the rest of our lives.

And so, a typical Vassar weekend. A mix of hardcore academics, Library emersion, famous performers, and lifelong friends. For seniors, all of those events are mixed with a twist of nostalgia, a hint of loss, and a healthy dose of excitement for what's to come.

Healthy in Mind and Body... Apparently

I promised my friend Caitlin Ly that I would craft a post around this hastily-taken iPhone picture of me. Ugh! The two of us went to the Fitness Center for a fun afternoon of ellipticals and bikes and stretches. As a varsity athlete three times over (volleyball, rowing, and squash), Caitlin adapts more easily to the gym than I do. Not exactly my home away from home. But many students do take daily walks up to the Fitness Center, which is located right next to the Terrace Apartments (one of the largest dorm areas for seniors). Caitlin promised to drag me there more often in the coming weeks, so perhaps I should just bring my iPod and get used to it...

Vassar goes to Washington

As a graduating senior, looking at Vassar's long list of distinguished alumni can be intimidating. This morning, it became even more intimidating. President Barack Obama appointed Jeffrey Goldstein '77 as Under Secretary of Treasury Department. (This is the most recent of several Vassar graduates serving in the Obama administration). Goldstein will lead the domestic finance division, which is charged with "developing policies and guidance for the Treasury Department activities in the areas of financial institutions, federal debt finance, finance regulation, and capital markets."

These tasks sound demanding, if not Herculean, during the worst economic crisis since the great depression. But the Brewer in me has faith. And not just because of his stellar graduate degrees. (After Vassar, Goldstein earned his Ph.D, M.Phil, and M.A. in economics from Yale University).

I have faith because he began his intellectual life in the liberal arts. Now more than ever, we need public servants with a broad background in the liberal arts. Albert Einstein once said that "It is not so important for a person to learn facts; he can learn those from books." A liberal arts education, Einstein argued, "should train the mind to think outside of textbooks." Vassar gives its students a moral and historical compass. As the past 16 months have shown the American people, questions of finance cannot be so easily separated from questions of education, conceptions of justice, and notions of equal citizenship. They cannot be so easily separated from the intellectual queries posed by philosophy, history, and political science.

If Vassar does its job (which it does), its students will leave Poughkeepsie with more questions than answers, more paths than we can follow, more ladders than we can climb. We leave without physical or intellectual or disciplinary boundaries. We'll be able to apply those broad philosophical questions of justice and equality and democracy to the most difficult problems in American society.

In other words, Vassar grads think outside the box. They do it well, and we do it quickly. And that gives me faith. If any area of American society surely needs some innovative, thoughtful, out-of-the-box thinking, it's the financial sector.

I wish Mr. Goldstein the best of luck in the months and years ahead. He has his work cut out for him, to be sure. But Brewers play to win.

Senior Theses at Vassar

"Sometimes a scream is better than a thesis."

— Raplh Waldo Emerson

It is Spring Break at Vassar, and the campus has fallen into a peaceful quiet. The only noises come in the form of gentle (if frantic) typing in the Library, as seniors busily put the finishing touches on their senior theses. For better or worse, I am one of the dozens of seniors scurrying around the Library's archives, digging for primary source material, and adjusting (and readjusting) my footnotes.

From the outset of our time at Vassar, students are encouraged and challenged to develop their scholarly interests and research skills. The culmination of this process is the senior thesis, an incredibly challenging capstone experience that gives each student the chance to create original scholarship in a field of their choosing, working very closely with a member of the faculty (usually of your choosing). At Vassar, most seniors write either a thesis or, in the case of some departments (like the Chemistry or Neuroscience), undertake another a substantial independent research project.

Faculty members are highly engaged in the theses of their students, usually advising on topics close to their own professional research interests. Many students develop their projects from ideas sparked in the classes they’ve taken, or simply on the basis of longstanding personal passions. Many ideas will begin junior year during study abroad experiences, or through Vassar's generous summer research grants. Other students use internships as a launching pad for their thesis. For some science projects, students stay on campus the summer before their senior year to get a head start on laboratory work, or peak their interests during URSI (the Undergraduate Research Summer Institute at Vassar). But what all thesis writers share is the intellectual twists and turns of any good research project, where the questions emerge as they proceed, often taking unexpected directions. "Research takes you down the rabbit hole of unending streams of human knowledge," as one of my advisers says.

Although the thesis process can be very, very challenging, I actually prefer these independent projects to standard classes. As a perpetual night-owl (it's currently 5:30 a.m.), I love being able to schedule my work entirely on my own time. I can then devote my weekday afternoons to my work on the Vassar Student Association (Vassar's student government), which often feels like a full-time job in and of itself. I know other students with heavy extracurricular demands feel the same way.

As a double major in History and Political Science, I'm writing two senior theses this year (one for each department). For my History thesis, I'm working with Rebecca Edwards and writing about the arguments for and against massive sewage reform in London in the 1850s. I spent my summer studying British history at Cambridge University, and came across some really interesting controversies on Victorian sanitary reform while poking around the British Library. For my Political Science thesis, I'm working with Richard Born and writing about the management of the press and public opinion during Franklin Roosevelt's 1937 Court-Packing Plan. As a former Miscellany News editor, I was really interested in shaping public opinion, and Roosevelt's press secretary Stephen Early was an early master at the science of public relations.

To the untrained eye, thesis topics like mine can seem arcane at best, and boring at worst. But I promise, they're not! Because each student is allowed to choose subjects of personal interest, you're almost guaranteed to be writing about something you find juicy, salacious or intriguing.

I encourage prospective students to poke around department and program Web sites in academic areas of interest. Often, these sites will describe the senior thesis process within their major, and even list some sample topics from recent years. (No problem if you're still not sure what your major will be; you can still check out some of the amazing research being done by students in all departments).

Vassar is known for producing some of the world's finest writers, researchers and academic pioneers, and is a national leader in producing doctoral candidates. I have no doubt that our incredibly strong senior thesis program contributes to the analytical and creative abilities of graduates -- even if, for now, it means spending some of my Spring Break locked away in the Library!

Faculty-Student Basketball Game!

Check out these highlights from the Faculty-Student Basketball Game! The Vassar Student Association (Vassar's student government) organized the game in conjunction with Chris Roellke, Dean of the College. It was an amazing night that brought more than 1,200 students, faculty, alumni, trustees, and staff to the Athletics and Fitness Center. This event served as a fundraiser for the Senior Class Gift, of which I'm Co-Chair. (Our Gift is the 2010 Endowed Scholarship Fund -- the first student-generated endowment in Vassar's history!).

Read more about this incredible event in the Miscellany News, Vassar's student newspaper.

2010 Endowed Scholarship Fund

Why We Gave: The 2010 Endowed Scholarship Fund from Vassar Student Association on Vimeo.

Chinese food, friends, and Golden Globes

Last night, a small group of friends and I got some Chinese food from Chan's Peking (a Vassar favorite) and gathered in our living room to watch the Golden Globes. A dorky night, admittedly, but it gave us a chance to catch up after a long Winter Break before the beginning of second semester classes on Wednesday.

As seniors, most Vassar students no longer live in the standard Vassar dormitories. Instead, they move into Senior Housing. Senior Housing is still on Vassar's campus, and only a short 5-minute walk from Main Building, the College Center, and the academic buildings. But located toward the peripheries of the campus, these housing areas allow students to feel more independence in their living situations. Students can choose three or four of their closest friends to live with, and then choose from one of three residential areas -- the Terrace Apartments (where I live), the Town Houses, or the South Commons. Each house has its own kitchen, bathroom, and common areas, and students have their own private, fully furnished room. During senior year, many students leave the traditional meal plan, which they enjoyed for their first three Vassar years, and do their own cooking in their houses. Of course you can always add money to your VCASH account on your VCARD and eat in the Retreat or ACDC if you don't have time to cook.

Senior Housing is an interesting shift from more traditional dormitory life -- a nice step between living in the 'real world' and living in a college dorm. One of the great things about it is the informality of getting together with friends. In dorms, you sometimes have to make a strong effort to see people out of their rooms. But in apartment-style housing, you're virtually guaranteed to run into friends at some point during the day, break into a conversation, and have an impromptu Chinese food and Golden Globes party. (Naturally I spent the entire Golden Globes cheering for the Vassar alumni celebrities in the audience, such as renowned director Noah Baumbach '91 and unbelievable actress Meryl Streep '71).

Anyway, at the very least, Senior Housing gives you a mini support group of close friends who are also going through the trials and tribulations of writing senior theses...