2 20 32 https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/sjcdigitalarchives/original/8cb39d4520a732fff2ce16bcdd6b5c99.pdf aae20f45b0f652b7ebf7649fb1fc4277 PDF Text Text Thursday September 12, 2024 The St. John’s Collegian A Gadfly Publication From the polity Rendelman Rundown: Intramural Draft Hello, Readers! This year I will be keeping you up to date on all things intramurals. So, with summer over and the season opening, I’m here with a recap of the intramural draft. On Sunday, August 25th, the captains gathered in the conversation room to decide the fate of the current sophomore class. I won’t go into specifics about the order of individual drafts, but I’ll provide my impression of each team’s final draft class. With the first overall pick of each round, last season’s last-place team, the Hustlers, came in with a plan… sort of. The team managed to retain some of their major players with Amha Worku and Auggie Bellanca, and pulled off two incredible picks: 6’7” Reagan Carr, a basketball and Netball legend, and B-team phenom Josh Calonje-Quintero. What the Hustlers truly need is attendance, so only time will tell how their draft truly pans out. If I had to assign a letter grade, I’d give the Hustlers a B+. Next, the Spartans: their four fearless leaders managed to keep their standout Irish soccer star, Charlie Mahon, and filled some graduate-shaped holes in their volleyball team, picking up Hannah Winn, a former Hustler. They also grabbed Ella Jackey, another great soccer player, and had a pair of athletes returning from a year in Fe. All in all, the Spartans did a good job, earning them an A. The Guardians picked next and used their draft to supply a critical need: female athletes. After retaining standout basketball player Henry Strand, the Guardians made some key fixes, drafting Sofia Argones— a speedy B-team beast— and a handful of other stellar female athletes. The team’s two male captains did a great job evaluating and meeting the needs of the team. For self-awareness, they earn an A, but in general I give them a B. The Greenwaves had a strong draft, keeping a lot of their previous freshmen. There were very few notable moves, other than picking up Nate Burke from the Hustlers and Jackson Snyder from the Guardians. The Waves always have incredible energy, and I think that would have remained the case regardless of the draft, but I’d give the draft itself a B-. Continued on page 2 Vol. II Issue I Printed Thursdays in Annapolis LETTER FROM THE (NEW) EDITOR The Collegian Wants You If you read the final article of last year’s Collegian, you may wonder why you’re holding this issue in your hands: our previous editor, the illustrious El’ad Nichols-Kaufman, announced last spring that the Collegian would not continue, since he was taking over editorship of the Gadfly and would not have time for both. Nevertheless, here I am, writing a new front page article, and here you are, reading it. This blessed circumstance is due to the fact that I offered to take over the Collegian instead, alongside my co-editor Jacob Sharpe (‘27). Huzzah! Editing a student publication is a significant time commitment. Why would we volunteer to do this? We each have our reasons. Jacob has written his own letter for you on page 2—go read it. In this article, I’d like to tell you why I want to keep the Collegian alive—and, more importantly, why I need your help. Last year, I didn’t think I’d have time to write for school publications at all. The Gadfly didn’t get a peep from me, and I was a stranger to the Collegian for the whole first semester. I had too many other obligations to focus on extracurricular writing. But then something changed: I started having opinions—opinions on topics concerning the polity. And I wanted to express them. Suddenly, I found myself writing out of necessity. I had things to say, and I wanted them to be heard and considered by my peers. The Collegian provided the perfect platform. I wrote about bike paths, whooping cough, and Kirk Garner. Other students wrote about commencement speakers, Mellon art displays, and how many angels can fit on the head of a pin. I realized that we need the Collegian. We need it not only to keep up with school events, but to keep sane by— to share our weekly thoughts and questions and to hear what our friends are thinking about too. It fills an important niche by being the most up-to-date student publication. More notably, I believe it strengthens our community by providing a structured forum for respectful and well-thought-out discourse. I couldn’t let it slip into journalistic oblivion. But I can’t keep it alive without you. So, why should you write for the Collegian? I’ve got a few good reasons. First, the great thing about it is that it is short and speedy. (Not to be confused with “harsh and hasty.” We still expect high-quality journalism.) This Week in Seminar Freshmen: Thursday, September 12: Homer: Odyssey, XVII–XXIV Monday, September 16: Plato, Meno Sophomores: Thursday, September 12: Bible, Psalms (selections) Monday, September 16: Bible, Amos; Jonah; Isaiah 40-55 Juniors: Thursday, September 12: Milton: Paradise Lost, I–III Monday, September 16: Milton, Paradise Lost, IV; V; VI Argument only; VII Argument, 1–39; VIII Seniors: Thursday, September 12: Hegel: Phenomenology of Spirit, Unhappy Consciousness (207-230); Reason (231-232) Monday, September 16: Hegel, Phenomenology of Spirit, Conscience and The Beautiful Soul (632658) Friday Night Lecture: Professor Graham Harman, “Footnotes to Aristotle” Page 1 You don’t need to spend an afternoon crafting a threepage essay or conducting an in-depth interview— that sort of writing has its place in the Gadfly. The Collegian provides a different outlet: You can take a few short words to speak your mind, report on a recent event, or exhort your classmates to actually read the seminar reading (as Jackson Green did last year). Your thoughts and news will be published the same week that you submit them. The Collegian is yours: not just to read, but to write. Anything you want to say to the polity is publishable in the Collegian (barring slander, gossip, and misinformation, obviously). We will publish opposing opinion pieces in the same issue, if you send them. We will publish your thoughts on college traditions, Friday night lectures, and intramural politics. We will publish anyone from tenured tutors to first-year students to college maintenance staff. We will publish your reports on waltzes, SCI meetings, and reading groups, your complaints about the math manual, your questions about administration, your satire and your social commentaries— if you send them to us. You must send them. I took over the Collegian this year because the polity needs it. At the same time, it needs you to keep it thinking and breathing and holding us together. Will you help us bring it to life this year? Submit your articles to us (sjca.collegian@gmail.com) on Mondays before midnight (see page 2 for details). You’ll be in print by Thursday. We can’t wait to hear what you have to say. Love, Helen Wagner Nichols-Kaufman (left) with Wagner and Sharpe at the college activities fair. Photo on film by Dora Vecoli. Upcoming Events: Saturday, September 14: Art Exhibit Opening: “Theater of Turmoil,” 12:30pm, Mitchell Gallery Folk Life Contra Dance, 7-10pm, Great Hall Sunday, September 15: Pangea’s Chuseok: Korean Thanksgiving, 6pm, Boathouse Monday, September 16: Gadfly and Collegian II submission deadline Tuesday, September 17: Waltz Lessons, 8:30pm, Great Hall (weekly) Wednesday, September 18: Wellness Wednesday, 11am-1pm, Quad Professor Maxwell Stearns: Constitution Day Lecture, 7:30pm, Great Hall �Thursday September 12, 2024 St. John’s Collegian Vol. II. Issue I Letter from the (Other new) Editor Help! Hello, Polity! You are reading this second page of the Collegian, whether by happenstance through it being set down upon its face, through a literary ardor that demands you read this delightfully resurrected publication in its full, or per Helen Wagner’s request that you read my accompanying letter. Whatever your reason, I’m glad you’re here. That we now have a Collegian to read is a fortunate turn of events! Despite other parties’ evil efforts to consolidate the college’s news within the oppressive monthly confines of the Gadfly, Helen and I have wrested the paper from the maw of death and now the Collegian lives to die another day. Huzzah! But why did we choose to save campus journalism? Why did we deem the opinions of Johnnies worth saving? Furthermore, wherever will we find all the time that the press demands of us? Helen has her reasons for her endeavors on the front page (or on the back page, if this issue is face-down). Go read it, if you haven’t already. I, however, have my own little spiel of reasons, which begins with the story of how the Collegian was endeared to me. I spent most of last year’s first semester reading as I’ve never before, and Plato wore heavy on my soul. Seeking the perusal of reading material but fatigued with philosophy, I was led to the readily available and frequently updated Collegian, which always had something entertaining and clever to occupy my mind. However, my relationship with the Collegian remained as a reader, and I was not moved to write for it until I was baited with an absurd attack article that struck at the heart and soul of this campus (cigarette smoking in non-designated areas). Of course, I was forced to take up arms. Writing a creative piece for the first time in who knows how long was refreshing; in the sense that I could spend an hour or two crafting a relatively short article, and that there was a dedicated place for it to go! It made me understand such a place’s necessity. For people who have more extensive, and longerplanned articles, the Gadfly is a wonderful institution. For others with less, but just as valuable content to share, it is still requisite that this campus have a Collegian. To be without one would silence the many Johnnie voices that have a little to say here and there. This paper, as the only weekly one on campus, lends itself particularly well to short snippets of opinion, fact, and whatever lies in between. I’m fond of the bursts of whimsy and wit we get from the polity, as well as the more journalistic pieces that showcase the diverse interests and activities of this campus. That I can read a piece on desire paths on our campus, a Aphorism of the Week “Time is a game played beautifully by children.” -Heraclitus panegyric exulting the virtues of actually reading Huckleberry Finn, or a spirited debate over cycling infrastructure on a given Thursday—all studentcontributed and with unique impassioned voices, is miraculous. The articles I’ve read in the past year have confirmed that the Collegian is the home for anything and everything you, the reader, have to contribute. It builds community, gives a voice to all, and acts as an outlet in the midst of a busy and stressful life. All these joys of published glory are yours, if you choose to share in them. And you should choose to share in them! The only requirement is that you actually contribute it to us. Email works, fax machine, passenger pigeon (save their extinction). So, please, find it within yourself to contribute something unique and yours to our lovely paper. Unless I steal your annual essay out of the Dean’s Office, I won’t otherwise get this opportunity from many of you. In this coming year, I look forward to this Collegian being a blank slate for whatever you have to give us. It can be the means of recording the day-to-day happenings at this campus, a creative outlet for ye who tire of thine manuscripts pertaining only to the great books, et cetera. If you want to write about the Metaphysics, though, that’s okay too. Just make it pretty cool. Submit your articles to sjca.collegian@gmail.com, and you’ll see it in glorious Garamonded print on Thursday. Welcome back! Jacob Sharpe St. John’s on Tv During opening week, a South Korean film crew from EBS (the Korean version of PBS) shot different scenes around campus, including convocation. On Saturday morning, a group of students assembled in the Barr-Buchannan-Center to participate in mock discussions: a seminar on the Meno led by Mr. Haflidson and Ms. Langston and a math tutorial on Galileo’s Two New Sciences. Among the participants were Ms. Lee (’26) and Ms. Kim (’25). Ms. Lee dreams of becoming a documentary director herself, so she helped the crew with interviewing students and faculty. “The concept of reading books and then discussing them is very new to most of Korean education,” she shared. Ms. Kim added: “Ten years ago, there was another kind of documentary [about St. John’s]. But at this time, we are focusing more on how this education happens…: how we read books, how we talk about [them] and why it is important. And I think it is a really great opportunity not only for South Korea but also for whatever country that would watch.” One of the members of the film crew, Mr. Hong, explained: “The Korean government realized that there is a social issue in South Korea, which is people don't read. I think it's kind of a world worldwide problem. People don't read these days... Especially in South Korea, the country of Samsung, LG… So, the Korean Government has decided to make a documentary film to encourage people to read.” There will be five episodes about the benefits of reading, including the relationship between cognitive ability and reading and reading in the AI era. While in the US, they will also travel to New York to interview BVG member and alumna Carla Echevarria (‘96) at Google Gemini. Mr. Hong shared his impression that the program at St. John’s is very “tough,” but is “totally worth it.” Ms. Langston expressed her hope for more collaboration between Korean institutions and St. John’s. Much of this is driven by Dr. Yongwha Lee (AGI01), professor at Incheon National University and founder of the Great Books Center there. Ms. Langston’s hopes for the documentary are not limited to more visibility in Korea but extent to the US as well. A technologically advanced country embracing reading again is “an important story for people here to hear as well,… I'm really hopeful that this is going to be a fantastic way to let more people see who we are and see the value of [this kind of education].” The documentary will air in the fourth quarter of 2024. Helen Felbek Intramural Article, cont’d Finally, the reigning champs with the last pick of each round, the Druids. The Druids did a great job: they kept Ella Hedman, an incredibly talented athlete across the board, and picked up a few B-teamers, nabbing Henry Redfield and Celina Lee who are both key contributors. They had very little to be upset about—a solid draft, another B+. These grades are just based on my own impressions, and soon the season will be in full swing. Only time will tell regarding the impact of the draft. Lainey Rendelman Page 2 About the St. John’s Collegian The St. John’s Collegian is the weekly newspaper of St. John’s College Annapolis. We work to bring quick and timely coverage of important events going on, to help develop a more informed student body. If you’re searching for more in-depth investigations and reporting, as well as essays, art and culture, check out the Gadfly, our affiliated publication, which is published once every three weeks. Want to submit an article? We always need more writers, whether for opinion or reporting! Submissions for news articles should be between 400600 words, while opinion should be kept short at 350 words. Just email sjca.collegian@gmail.com with your article, and we will work to get it in print! Longer form articles and more in-depth exploration of ideas should go to the Gadfly, which accepts submissions at gadfly.office@sjc.edu. Contributors for this issue: Helen Wagner, writer and editor Jacob Sharpe, writer and editor Helen Felbek, writer Lainey Rendelman, writer Liza Love, cartoonist Dora Vecoli, photographer Your new editors, Helen and Jacob. Original cartoon by Liza Love (‘27). � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource <em>The St. John's Collegian</em> Description An account of the resource A student newspaper of St. John's College. <em>The St. John's Collegian</em> began publication in 2023 and is affiliated with <a href="https://digitalarchives.sjc.edu/collections/show/16"><em>The Gadfly</em></a>. <br /><br />Published weekly on Thursday, with the exception of weeks <em>The Gadfly </em>is published. <br /><br />Earlier publications with the title <em>The Collegian </em>and <em>The St. John's Collegian </em>are available in <a href="https://digitalarchives.sjc.edu/collections/show/26"><em>The Collegian Collection</em></a>.<br /><br />Click on Items in <a href="https://digitalarchives.sjc.edu/items/browse?collection=69&amp;sort_field=Dublin+Core%2CDate&amp;sort_dir=d">The St. John's Collegian Collection</a> to view and sort all items in the collection. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource St. John's College Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available St. John's College Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Annapolis, Md. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource St. John's College Greenfield Library Language A language of the resource English Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context SJCCollegian Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data pdf Page numeration Number of pages in the original item. 2 pages Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource St. John's Collegian, September 12, 2024 Description An account of the resource Volume 2, issue 1 of the St. John's Collegian, published September 12, 2024. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource St. John's College (Annapolis, Md.) Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available St. John's College (Annapolis, Md.) Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Annapolis, MD Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2024-09-12 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource St. John's College holds the rights to this publication. Type The nature or genre of the resource text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource pdf Subject The topic of the resource St. John's College (Annapolis, Md.)--Periodicals Language A language of the resource English Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context SJCCollegian_vol2_issue1_2024-09-12 Student publication The Collegian The Gadfly https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/sjcdigitalarchives/original/6341cec057a02d5873485f6a2e130035.pdf 36783473da06d728a019add34eb4ddd1 PDF Text Text Thursday September 19, 2024 The St. John’s Collegian A Gadfly Publication From the polity A Letter to the St. John’s College Administration Concerning the Gravel Parking Lot by the Gym Dear Powers That Be, One of the great treasures of St. John’s College is our back lawn. It is simultaneously one of the most beautiful, and most frequently used parts of our campus. It is where many of us read, play sports, sunbathe, stargaze, watch the sunset, and occasionall y oil wrestle or have snowball fights. Front campus is our presentable, outward-facing, hedge-lined yard. It is there we play croquet, and generally put forward our most dignified visage. The quad is half polis agora, half back deck—the place where on Monday and Thursday night post-seminar conversations continue beyond the stamina of the tutors, and where on Friday and Saturday night quad bools continue beyond the stamina of Public Safety. But it is the back lawn which is really the most precious. It is here in the enclosed privacy of our academic cloister that we are allowed the most important condition for the study of the liberal arts—leisure. Why is this so critical? Without leisure, liberal education is impossible. Because it is not in itself a practice directed to some ulterior end—because it is not inherently ordered to being ‘useful’—the student of liberal education must have time and space which is free from the necessities of life which demand ‘usefulness’. Our lawn is such a space. It is not a place where we do ‘useful’ things—and even when we do, we could do them elsewhere if we pleased, and with fewer distractions. But because it is the chosen destination for ‘useless’ activities, it is one of our most used spaces. For us to continue our devotion to the New Program, the college lawn is indispensable. It is one of a few spaces on campus which—like our education—is primarily delightful, not functional. It is a place of freedom where the liberos made ex liberis libris libraque can come, as the American revolutionaries who gathered under the shade of the Liberty Tree came to our campus, for their own purposes and not those imposed upon them by others. It is an icon of who we are, what we do. To deny our lawn’s central importance is to deny the very essence of St. John’s College. Continued on page 2 Vol. II Issue II Printed Thursdays in Annapolis Creature Feature: Luna Moth Caterpillar Spotted It was a warm sunny day on Friday when this reporter was walking up to McDowell and an abnormally-large, bright green caterpillar crawled across the path. The caterpillar quickly attracted a small crowd of Mr. Duffy (Tutor), Ms. Sprout (A26), and Mx. Bixby (A25) as we all gawked at the hungriest caterpillar we ever did see. After a quick, tentative ID from Insect Farming Club Archon, Louis Rosenberg, it appears that this impressive creature–which continually fell on its side due to its corpulence–was a soon-to-be luna moth in its final days as a caterpillar. The luna moth caterpillar goes through five stages as a caterpillar, called “instars”–periods between molting. Judging by the size and coloring of this caterpillar, it seemed likely at its fifth instar and ready to begin pupating–spinning its cocoon. Each instar of a luna moth caterpillar can last 4-10 days which means a caterpillar can spend up to 50 days eating before spending around two weeks in its cocoon. Only after that two weeks is up, will the moth emerge fully formed. All they need to do is inflate their 3-4 inch wings and dry them out before they can take flight. Luna moths, despite their prehistoric affect and the fact that one feels lucky if they see a moth once a year, are quite common. Their range stretches from Florida to Atlantic Canada and from Louisiana to southeastern Saskatchewan. The reason they may seem rare to us is because they are nocturnal and only live about a week in their moth form. They take a page out of the cicadas’ book and emerge from their cocoons without mouths, their sole purpose to find a mate. Male luna moths have quite wonderful yellowish feathery antennae while females have slightly morespindly green antennae. Both sexes sport impressive twin tails that are a deterrent to their main natural predators: bats. Bats hunt by echolocation and the luna moth whips its tail around to scramble the sound signals they receive. Scientists have found that this tactic works about half the time. We may not see the results of this caterpillar’s pupation this year–if at all. When the temperature is cold enough and the days grow short enough, this caterpillar may enter “diapause”–a nine-month period of dormancy in its cocoon. If it does this, it will hatch This Week in Seminar Freshman: Thursday, September 19: Aeschylus: Agamemnon Monday, September 23: Aeschylus: Libation Bearers, Eumenides Sophomores: Thursday, September 19: Bible: Job Monday, September 23: Lucretius: De Rerum Natura, I–III Juniors: Thursday, September 19: Milton: Paradise Lost. IX-X; XI to 428; XII 446 to end Monday, September 23: Hobbes: Leviathan, Frontispiece; Letter of Dedication; Author's Introduction; Chapters 1–11 Seniors: Thursday, September 19: Hegel: Phenomenology of Spirit, The Beautiful Soul and Forgiveness (659671); Absolute Knowing, sections 806-808) Monday, September 23: Tocqueville: Democracy in America (selections) Friday Night Lecture: Ryan Shea, "Phenomenology of Nature." Page 1 after the seniors have graduated and all of us have gone away for the summer. After 50 days of eating and nine months of transformation, a spectacular moth may emerge and live to haunt our silent campus for seven nights. These moths are commonplace, but not of our realm. To find a moth is to find something special. To find a moth is to perhaps be forced to ask the question “was it all worth it?” To find a moth is to be told by their mouthless faces “yes.” Godspeed, you great, green, and ever-hungry caterpillar. May you soon wheel, in graceful assurance, over the heads of a pupating polity. The Caterpillar in question (quarter for scale). Caleb Briggs BUDGET UPDATE: Club Budgets approved by the DC as of September 17 Meeting Bowling Club- $1158 Catholic Student Fellowship- $900 Folk Life- $387 Insect Farming Club- $325 Jiu Jitsu- $1935 Magic Club - $719 Pangaea - $1765 Reading Women- $730.44 Reality- $3902 SCI- $975 Shammai- $815 Waltz Committee- $4160 Orthodox Christian Fellowship- $ 984.71 Continued on page 2 Upcoming Events: Friday, September 20: "Seeing--Reading--Writing: Practicing a Phenomenology of Nature" Nature Institute Workshop with Ryan Shea, 3:45pm, Mellon 134 Saturday, September 21: Raffle Trip: Maryland Renaissance Festival Sock Hop, 9pm-12am, Great Hall Thursday, September 26: Gadfly II published (no Collegian) �St. John’s Collegian ORGANIC TUTOR INTERVIEWS: Santa Fe Transfer Tutors 1. Can you introduce yourself? Ms. Dougherty: Hello. My name is Janet Dougherty. I’ve been a tutor at this college since 1992. I started at the Annapolis campus and then moved to Santa Fe. Initially, I planned to stay there for only a year, but I ended up staying longer than expected. Eventually, I returned to Annapolis, and I’m happy to be back. It’s one college and one program. Although there’s a geographic difference, the people in the classroom are the same. Mr. Pagano: Hi, my name is Mr. Pagano. I’ve been a tutor at the college, starting in Santa Fe, since 1983. This was the premier year for tutors, with 5 new ones in total. The buildings were built much later here, and so there was no library and no gym. The atmosphere is so different across the campuses as well; you don’t think about humidity until you are drenched in sweat here in Annapolis, and the Santa Fe campus is so much more spread out. But when you are in a class, it feels no different – except for the fact that classes are an extra ten minutes longer in Santa Fe. You can tell a lot of jokes in ten minutes. Nonetheless, I am happy to be back in Annapolis with Ms. Dougherty. 2. Why did you want to become a tutor at St. John's College? Ms. Dougherty: I felt tired reading secondary literature, and I often didn’t feel educated enough. I keep thinking my education is incomplete. The texts we read seem inexhaustible—40 years of reading and I still feel that I am in the process of being educated. What part of the program do you always come back to? Ms. Dougherty: I really enjoy teaching freshman seminars. It's enjoyable to see the freshmen learn. They have their own way of interpreting questions and their own attitude in the seminar. They always have some sense of how a seminar works. It's truly wonderful to observe them and see them get better at working together. Of course, I also love freshman seminar because of my love for freshman seminar books. I especially enjoy Platonic dialogues and Aristotle. I even like advising senior essays on Platonic dialogues, and always enjoy having a study group for close readings of Platonic dialogues. Mr. Pagano: For me, it really depends on how the class goes. Last year’s sophomore seminar was JUST GREAT. It is striking how students are such nice people, and they force you to level up your level of niceness. Theoretically, classes are for the students... but I want to come out having learned myself, and usually I do. Freshman and junior language can be difficult classes, but still fun if the students are engaged. The following acrostic poems were created by Ms. Dougherty and Mr. Pagano, although who created which will remain undisclosed information. Frank N. Pagano = Funny, Not Phony Janet A. Dougherty = Just And Devoted Tamar Pinsky and Seohyun Lee Aphorism of the Week As we know, like all things which are ends in themselves—the very things which make human life delightful—our lawn is the first place which those in need of space are prepared to appropriate for use. Last July, I visited our campus with my good friend, Evan Hamilton. I remember vividly the shock we both experienced upon looking out along the lawn to see it horribly disfigured by a hastily built gravel parking lot. What! When did they…? how could they…? when will it be gone? This last question remains most important to me regarding the scourge of the gravel lot. I recognize that it was a necessary scourge we had to endure while Edensword was under construction last school year. But with the Edensword parking lot now available, I ask again: how long? When will it be gone? Jackson Green Οὐκ ἔστι τῷ ποιητῇ ἑαυτὸν ᾄδειν. Tarik Mahmud Insect Sublates Hegel Seminar One Injured, None Killed ANNAPOLIS, MD. Seniors were in the midst of deep contemplation of Hegel on Monday, September 9th, when one seminar participant completely derailed conversation. No, this participant did not interrupt, nor did he bring his personal convictions on Christology to the table. Instead, his mere presence was enough to negate the focus of all members of the seminar. “After moving, it was a solid 30 to 45 minutes before I could engage in class, because of my guilty conscience,” said Kammeyer. “She looked morose,” concurred Thyer. Still, the class, including the unhappy consciousness of Reeher, admirably continued to soldier onwards, towards the Absolute. Who was this distraction, you may ask? Accounts vary, with some claiming it was a “yellowjacket,” “a paper wasp,” or, according to James Reeher, most likely a “European hornet.” After its presence distracted the progress of the class-spirit for long enough, Jordan Kammeyer decided to take action. Club Budgets, cont’d “It was more of a squish than a scoop,” opined Sarah Thyer, who also was in the seminar. “I was trying to get at it from all sides, but with minimal pressure,” responded Kammeyer. Alas, the minimal pressure was not enough. The insect, feeling it was in a lifeand-death struggle, chose to assert its certainty of being-for-itself and stung the unfortunate Reeher. At this point, the class was entirely negated, and in order to synthesize and move to the next step in the dialectic, the entire class moved rooms. Gravel Parking Lot Letter, cont’d 4. Can you improvise on the acrostic poem of your initials? 3. “I am one for seminar going on as usual despite all distractions,” she explained. “When the hornet finally landed at a prime spot to be finally dealt with, I gently tried to scoop it up with my scarf.” This prime spot, unfortunately, was the back of her classmate, James Reeher. Vol. II Issue II Original cartoon by Polina Vatralskaia (26) Thursday, 19 September, 2024 El’ad Nichols-Kaufman Swim Club- $88.44 Baking Club- $ 448.72 Gadfly/Collegian- $320.00 Coffee Club- $165.00 Rock Climbing- $3,875.00 Collegian Classifieds: CALLING ALL SMOKING (hot) JOHNNIES We Have Rabbits AND Ducks On Campus! And They Find Your Butts A Tasty Treat! (as do we all) HOWEVER They die when they snack on your leftovers, so be cool and throw your butts where they belong. Sincerely, PUFF (the M.D.) Page 2 About the St. John’s Collegian The St. John’s Collegian is the weekly newspaper of St. John’s College Annapolis. We work to bring quick and timely coverage of important events going on, to help develop a more informed student body. If you’re searching for more in-depth investigations and reporting, as well as essays, art and culture, check out the Gadfly, our affiliated publication, which is published once every three weeks. Want to submit an article? We always need more writers, whether for opinion or reporting ! Submissions for news articles should be between 400-600 words, while opinion should be kept short at 350 words. Just email sjca.collegian@gmail.c om with your article, and we will work to get it in print! Longer form articles and more in-depth exploration of ideas should go to the Gadfly, which accepts submissions at gadfly.office@sjc.edu. Contributors for this issue: Helen Wagner, Editor Jacob Sharpe, Editor Caleb Briggs, Writer Jackson Green, Writer El’ad Nichols-Kaufman, Writer Tamar Pinsky and Seohyun Lee, Interviewers Polina Vatralskaia, Cartoonist Tarik Mahmud, Greek Aphorism � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource <em>The St. John's Collegian</em> Description An account of the resource A student newspaper of St. John's College. <em>The St. John's Collegian</em> began publication in 2023 and is affiliated with <a href="https://digitalarchives.sjc.edu/collections/show/16"><em>The Gadfly</em></a>. <br /><br />Published weekly on Thursday, with the exception of weeks <em>The Gadfly </em>is published. <br /><br />Earlier publications with the title <em>The Collegian </em>and <em>The St. John's Collegian </em>are available in <a href="https://digitalarchives.sjc.edu/collections/show/26"><em>The Collegian Collection</em></a>.<br /><br />Click on Items in <a href="https://digitalarchives.sjc.edu/items/browse?collection=69&amp;sort_field=Dublin+Core%2CDate&amp;sort_dir=d">The St. John's Collegian Collection</a> to view and sort all items in the collection. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource St. John's College Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available St. John's College Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Annapolis, Md. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource St. John's College Greenfield Library Language A language of the resource English Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context SJCCollegian Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data pdf Page numeration Number of pages in the original item. 2 pages Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource St. John's Collegian, September 19, 2024 Description An account of the resource Volume 2, issue 2 of the St. John's Collegian, published September 19, 2024. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource St. John's College (Annapolis, Md.) Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available St. John's College (Annapolis, Md.) Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Annapolis, MD Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2024-09-19 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource St. John's College holds the rights to this publication. Type The nature or genre of the resource text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource pdf Subject The topic of the resource St. John's College (Annapolis, Md.)--Periodicals Language A language of the resource English Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context SJCCollegian_vol2_issueII_2024-09-19 Student publication The Collegian The Gadfly https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/sjcdigitalarchives/original/3c09f7617d26e7a3fe9586ddeb4ae765.pdf 67f09bc5d89400d19a7da5368c3eab83 PDF Text Text Thursday, October 3, 2024 The St. John’s Collegian A Gadfly Publication From the polity Robes in Seminar Printed Thursdays in Annapolis Alumni association holds meetings over Homecoming Weekend In conjunction with this year’s homecoming celebrations, the St. John’s College Alumni Association convened for a Board Meeting on Friday, September 27th, and an All-Alumni Meeting on Sunday, September 29th. Both meetings were chaired by Katarina Wong (A’88), President of the Alumni Association Board (AAB), who oversaw updates from working group leaders and officers on the past year’s initiatives. Photo by Evan Hamilton Last week, I wore an academic robe to seminar. Why did I do this? Seminar is the source and summit of our academic life at St. John’s. It is a liturgy (λειτουργία) in the original sense—a work of the people, a ritual, a public ministration. While for all other classes a certain informality is acceptable, at the seminar table it is fitting for a Johnnie to show up at the top of his game not only in his intellectual preparation, but in his raiment. In doing so he shows forth a certain seriousness regarding the task at hand, as well as a pride in himself which augments both the respect he renders and receives. We are not angels, and thus are incapable of pure intellection without the use of bodily mediation. This being the case, we do well to embrace the embodied character of seminar, specifically by dressing up. I have been proud to see the new freshman embrace this. You are a well-dressed bunch! Every blazer and long skirt I see on a Monday and Thursday evening fills me with joy. But why an academic robe? I have three reasons. First, it is traditional. Originating in Medieval Oxford and Cambridge, the academic robe or gown was first worn by scholars to keep them warm while reading during the cold British winters. Today in most places robes are Continued on page 2. Vol. II Issue III A major focus of the meetings was the new strategic plan for 2024-26. This plan seeks to enhance collaboration across the Association’s five key areas: alumni support, student support, community engagement, fundraising, and governance. By improving communication between stakeholders, the AAB aims to increase its overall effectiveness. Wong noted that moving forward, communication with alumni will be sent out tri-annually. The AAB is also encouraging more alumni to become active volunteers, offering their time and expertise to support these efforts. With the college transitioning to a philanthropic funding model, alumni engagement in fundraising has become even more critical. President Demleitner emphasized that tuition alone can no longer sustain the college’s high academic standards. Alumni contributions are essential, and Wong stressed that every donation, regardless of size, makes a difference. Hayden Pendergrass (A’14) reported that 30% (114) of first-time donors in 2024 were reached through Alumni Giving Council events. Fundraising efforts this year included Giving Tuesday, which brought in 489 gifts totaling $121,000, the Day of Giving, which raised $204,738 from 789 gifts, and the Croquet Giving Tent, which generated 175 gifts. As part of the new strategic plan, the AAB is also increasing its focus on supporting international students and introducing a senior writing period support structure. Richa Bhattarai (A’18), from the Career Services Working Group, highlighted the success of the Odyssey Program, which paired 30 alumni volunteers with 39 students for career mentoring. This year it has been expanded to include sophomores and juniors. In light of the creation of a new website called “Careers for Johnnies” the program will adopt a new approach utilizing eight wide career fields to organize resources. Demleitner empathized that this is by no means an attempt at excluding certain This Week in Seminar Freshman: Thursday, October 3: Plutarch: Lives, Lycurgus; Solon Monday, October 7: Herodotus: History, I; II 50–53, 112–120; III 37–38, 66-87 Sophomores: Thursday, October 3: Virgil: Aeneid, V–VIII Monday, October 7: Virgil: Aeneid, IX–XII Juniors: Thursday, October 3: Hobbes: Leviathan (selections) Monday, October 7: Spinoza: Ethics, Book 1 through proposition 29, marginal pages II/45–II/71 Seniors: Thursday, October 3: Marx and Engels: The German Ideology; “Theses on Feuerbach” (selections) Monday, October 7: Marx and Engels: Capital (selections) Page 1 career paths or to pressure students into specific careers. Alumni present at the meeting were particularly keen to point out the importance of structured guidance on careers in STEM and medicine. The Student and Recent Alumni Group (SARA) reported on a new project to provide diploma tubes for the graduation ceremony. SARA aims to improve messaging to avoid past confusion where their presence was misinterpreted as a fundraising solicitation. Looking ahead, the Association is preparing for its bicentennial in 2027. A special committee will be formed to coordinate the celebration. The weekend also saw changes to the AAB. Interim Board member Nani Detti was confirmed, replacing Matt Pryatel, who stepped down due to work commitments. At the end of the All-Alumni Meeting, election results for new officers and at-large directors were announced. Beth Martin (A’94) was elected Secretary, Richa Bhattarai (A’18) Treasurer, and Ginger Kenney (A’67) the BVG-Alumni representative. Newly elected and re-elected directors at-large include Hayden Pendergrass (A’14), Jacob Greenstine (A’10), Aishwarya Scharma (A’20), Charles Bieneman (SF’89), Hannah Stires Ard (A’92), Joseph Larson (A’90), and Shannon Lynch Albitton (SF’20). The Board also announced the recipients of the Award of Merit, which will be presented to Malik Gillani, Rose Carmen Goldberg, Thomas More Donnelly, and Tia Pausic at a ceremony next term in Washington, DC. The Volunteer Service Award was given to Brian Becker, Leslie Kay, and Steve Virgil. Additionally, five individuals were named honorary alumni in recognition of their service to the college: Victoria Campbell, John Cornell, retired tutor Henry Higuera, Julie Romero, and former president Mark Roosevelt. The next board meeting will take place virtually in December. Helen Felbek From The Mitchell Museum: "The biggest hindrance to wanting to understand a work of art is wanting to understand." —Bruno Munari (1907–98), Italian artist, designer, and inventor courtesy of /m Upcoming Events: Friday, October 4 Long Weekend begins Saturday, October 5: Poets in the Conversation Room: Carolyn Forché, 2pm, Mellon Conversation Room Monday, October 7: Long Weekend ends (seminars meet) �Thursday, 3 October, 2024 St. John’s Collegian A WEEKEND WITH THE RUSTY WICKETS: Homecoming’s Alumni Croquet Match Homecoming weekend started off with a bang— some alumni chose to attend the opening of the new bookstore and coffee shop in Edensword. but others ditched the formality and joined the St. John’s croquet team for practice. It was intended to be a tournament of sorts, but that quickly fell apart. Instead, alumni and freshmen were paired up and played against upperclassmen. On courts 1 and 2, current students fared pretty well. Court 3 is referred to as the party court, due to its decline and other frustrating landscaping. Magnus Oberg and Caden Marshall were placed at this court, against Rusty Wicket Sam Collins and yours truly. Collins was a truly remarkable player, getting to the alley (the opposite side of the court) significantly faster than Oberg and Marshall managed to do. This was without the aid of me, his partner, due to my inability to hit the ball. Unfortunately, Collins and the other alums left early for dinner around 6, leaving me to finish the game. While it was filled with good sportsmanship, it was evident that I need to work on my croquet skills. The Rusty wickets appeared to miss croquet in their postcollege lives—a fact made evident when they arrived on the field bright and early Saturday morning. Unlike Friday, it was a much more pleasant day to play croquet. Like Friday, it wasn’t much of a tournament, but good practice for current students and a way of connecting with alums. They seemed to get a great deal of joy out of it, most likely due to the inaccessibility of croquet outside of On Voting: A Letter from Ms. Locke St. John’s. It serves as a good reminder to appreciate the gifts we have at the college while we are still here. I’m looking forward to seeing the Rusty Wickets at the Annapolis Cup in April! Willa Rothenberg Aphorism of the Week Cold water is fleeting. Caleb Briggs Student Committee on Instruction: Wednesday Forums 11:45, Private Dining Hall. All Are Welcome! Wed. Oct. 2nd: Are the essays we write here pointless? Wed. Oct. 9th: Do we need moments of silence in seminar? Wed. Oct. 16th: The Algebra Exam: Does it work? Wed. Oct. 23rd: What are the rules of seminar? Vol. II. Issue III Seminar Robes Article, Cont’d used as sorts of secular vestments for convocation and graduation ceremonies. We at St. John’s are the New Oxford. We have inherited and preserved traditions such as Don Rags which have fallen by the wayside everywhere else, and it is incumbent upon us to not allow the distinctive garment of the learned man go the way of all flesh. Second, it is simple—in fact, simpler than usual formal attire! You can buy an academic robe on Amazon for as little as $14.98. Even if you wear it over a T-shirt and sweatpants, you will look the part of a scholar. Third, it just looks really cool. I am a strong proponent of all garments which are robe-like, traditional, and cool. Cassocks, kimonos, togas, monastic habits, agbadas, thawbs—they all fit the bill. If you find yourself in agreement with the sentiments expressed above, please join me in robing up for seminar Monday of next week (Oct. 7). Jackson Green BOOKSTORE HAIKU Bookstore in Campbell I fear'd a thing and it came No Warrior cats Nate Burke Wed. Oct. 30th: What if my class is DEAD? BUDGET UPDATE: Club Budgets Approved by the DC as of October 1 Meeting Here’s a plain question: Are you registered to vote? As college students living in Maryland, you American citizens are eligible to register here, even if you already registered elsewhere. Or you can register with your permanent address in your home state. It takes 10 minutes, at vote.org. This website links to each and every state, can give you the rundown on what will show up on your ballot, and alert you to deadlines before the November 5 election day. You will need to know your social security number and driver’s license (or state ID), depending on your state. If you think you are registered to vote, please confirm. Have you requested an absentee ballot? Go straight to vote.org. They will easily mail a ballot to you, but on-campus addresses must read: Name 60 College Avenue Annapolis, MD 41401 Please don’t put it off: your vote truly matters. Just as you have taken your education into your own hands in an intentionally (ideally) democratic classroom, exercise your right to vote. Scan the QR code for a brief video overview of the 19th Amendment. If you have questions or would like me to walk you through the process, email me at pmlocke@sjc.edu. Thanks, 3D Printing- $319 Alexander Hamilton Society- $400 Board Games Club- $325 Christian Fellowship- $363.94 Cinema Club- $1,260 Darkroom- $700 Filmmaking Club- $885 Historia- $450 Historical European Martial Arts- $2,030 Johnnies of Color- $1,855 Jiu Jitsu- $1,935 King William Players- $4,150 Law Club- $650 Project Polity- $40.28 Purls of Wisdom- $172.39 Rock Room Club- $446.44 Spanish Speakers- $500 String Ensemble- $300 Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind- $85 Video Game Club- $250 About the St. John’s Collegian The St. John’s Collegian is the weekly newspaper of St. John’s College Annapolis. We work to bring quick and timely coverage of important events going on, to help develop a more informed student body. If you’re searching for more indepth investigations and reporting, as well as essays, art and culture, check out the Gadfly, our affiliated publication, which is published once every three weeks. Want to submit an article? We always need more writers, whether for opinion or reporting ! Submissions for news articles should be between 400-600 words, while opinion should be kept short at 350 words. Just email sjca.collegian@gmail.com with your article, and we will work to get it in print! Longer form articles and more in-depth exploration of ideas should go to the Gadfly, which accepts submissions at eanicholskaufman@sjc.edu. Contributors for this issue: Helen Wagner, Editor Jacob Sharpe, Editor Helen Felbek, Writer Jackson Green, Writer Patricia Locke, Writer Patricia Locke, Tutor Willa Rothenberg, Writer Photo from the SJC archives, submitted by Jackson Green Page 2 Caleb Briggs, Oneiric Aphorism Nate Burke, Poet � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource <em>The St. John's Collegian</em> Description An account of the resource A student newspaper of St. John's College. <em>The St. John's Collegian</em> began publication in 2023 and is affiliated with <a href="https://digitalarchives.sjc.edu/collections/show/16"><em>The Gadfly</em></a>. <br /><br />Published weekly on Thursday, with the exception of weeks <em>The Gadfly </em>is published. <br /><br />Earlier publications with the title <em>The Collegian </em>and <em>The St. John's Collegian </em>are available in <a href="https://digitalarchives.sjc.edu/collections/show/26"><em>The Collegian Collection</em></a>.<br /><br />Click on Items in <a href="https://digitalarchives.sjc.edu/items/browse?collection=69&amp;sort_field=Dublin+Core%2CDate&amp;sort_dir=d">The St. John's Collegian Collection</a> to view and sort all items in the collection. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource St. John's College Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available St. John's College Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Annapolis, Md. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource St. John's College Greenfield Library Language A language of the resource English Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context SJCCollegian Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data pdf Page numeration Number of pages in the original item. 2 pages Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource St. John's Collegian, October 3, 2024 Description An account of the resource Volume 2, issue 3 of the St. John's Collegian, published October 3, 2024. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource St. John's College (Annapolis, Md.) Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available St. John's College (Annapolis, Md.) Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Annapolis, MD Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2024-10-03 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource St. John's College holds the rights to this publication. Type The nature or genre of the resource text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource pdf Subject The topic of the resource St. John's College (Annapolis, Md.)--Periodicals Language A language of the resource English Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context SJCCollegian_vol2_issueIII_2024-10-03 Student publication The Collegian The Gadfly https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/sjcdigitalarchives/original/08c854df34b8834a1143fb6799c36e26.pdf cbeca516505fdd9b5067a22efd1ba305 PDF Text Text Thursday October 10, 2024 The St. John’s Collegian A Gadfly Publication From the polity Are You Registered to Vote? On Friday, September 20th, one eighth of the polity registered to vote and requested their absentee ballots for the November 5th election. On that day, Reading Women ran a simple voter registration drive, made up of three sophomores with laptops, a pile of stamps and envelopes, and a homemade document of all the links to register to vote or apply for an absentee ballot from any of the 50 states. Sitting at a commandeered table in the FSK Lobby in the after-class rush, striving to outcompete the Friday Fare, I was thrilled to find that in just two hours, we helped almost 50 students make a plan to vote. In part, I was surprised, having always thought of our campus culture as aloof from the rest of the world. Kept busy with demands like seminar readings and papers, it can be easy for us to forget the obligations we have to our greater community. But when those responsibilities look you in the eye with a handwritten “voter registration drive” sign and a smiling face, it’s incredible how eager Johnnies are to make a difference in this election. After helping students from New Jersey to Georgia to California, I was reminded that, of course, our polity cares about our community; they just needed a little nudge. So, if you didn’t see our humble voter registration drive, here is your nudge. Presidential, congressional, and local elections are all happening on Tuesday, November 5th. But voter registration deadlines are coming much sooner. If you have never voted before, you must do this either through your home state or in Maryland, with those applications being due as early as the first week of October. Depending on your state, you may be able to do this online, or you may have to mail in an application. To ensure your right to exercise your voice in this election, take care of this as soon as possible. If you don’t plan on traveling home on a Tuesday to vote, you also need to apply for a mail-in ballot, which most states will happily send you, given enough notice. Because you will be dependent on the efficiency of the USPS, I highly encourage you to apply for these even sooner. I’ve attached a QR code (page 2) for the document linking the applications for voter registration and absentee ballots for every state. For those from Maryland, the state requires that you vote in your district, so if you can’t make it home, you too should apply for an absentee ballot. If you aren’t from Maryland but would like to vote here, the state allows you to use your dorm address as a residence. (continued on page 2) Vol. II Issue IV Printed Thursdays in Annapolis MOVE Over, PALESTRINA Shape Note Singing Brings New Tunes to Pendulum Pit Last Saturday afternoon, harmonious music filled the pendulum pit and drifted down the empty Mellon corridors. This time, though, it was not Sicut Cervus. In fact, it was not polyphony at all. It was more raucous than Ave Verum, rawer than Beatus Vir, and louder than any Sicut sing Mellon has ever heard. The voices sang not in Latin but in English, in four-part harmony: When Gabriel’s awful trump shall sound, And rend the rocks, convulse the ground, And give to time her utmost bound, Ye dead, arise to judgement. The song seemed to echo like the mountain hollows of Appalachia. Who was singing it? What could it be? This style of music is called shape note singing, a centuries-old tradition that Mr. Stoltzfus has recently helped introduce to St. John’s. He hosted the first sing on campus last month, and another last Saturday (Oct. 5). The singers were a mix of johnnies and nonjohnnies, old and young, from experienced singers to total newbies. I (a newbie) showed up to sing, then hosted an impromptu interview with several of the singers afterwards, including a St. John’s alum. Now, I’m here to share the music with you. Shape note singing has a unique notation style. The notes of the scale are represented by four different shapes which correspond to different musical syllables: rectangles (la), triangles (fa), diamonds (mi), and circles (sol). Each shape denotes two different intervals on the scale, except for mi, which is always the seventh. The singings are arranged similarly to our Wednesday Sicuts: the four voice parts face each other sitting in a square formation, with the leader in the middle. Leadership rotates around the room, with everyone getting the chance to choose and lead a song. When I first sat down in the alto section, I had no idea what I was doing. Someone handed me a Shenandoah Harmony songbook, someone else gave a pitch, and everyone began to sing. At first, they sang the syllables: fa la sol mi. They went through the song once this way, sightreading the note shapes, then sang it again with words. “This is a method of singing to teach basic music theory principles and get everyone up to speed as fast as possible,” RB Bartgis (A09) told me later. “So, you can sing a piece in four-part harmony with basically no rehearsal.” Collegium in 2005. “The first time that you sit in the square and have the music hit you is really amazing,” they told me. This year, they and Mr. Stoltzfus decided to bring that feeling back to St. John’s. RB loves the contrast of shape note singing with the music we study here: “This is not something you’re gonna find in the St. Matthew Passion,” they joked. Not only are the harmonies based around different intervals from baroque and classical music, but shape note singing is also never a performance. “We’re singing for ourselves and each other and it’s really in the moment,” said Susan Green, who’s been singing since the 70s. She met her husband Richard at a shape note group in grad school. “I sing in choirs,” Richard said, “and other groups where there is more musicology applied, and more performance. But I love this, because it’s different. You sing full-throated. The harmonies are beautiful. It supplements everything else I do.” Despite the musical differences, shape note singing reminds me of our Sicut sings: we sing for each other, facing inwards, enjoying the music for its own sake without the thought of an audience. And it brings us together. One word came up again and again during my interview: community. “Singing is really as much about that community as it is about the music,” said Thomas Ward, a DC-based singer. Susan agreed: “the community is bound together by these songs.” There is something about group singing traditions—whether shape-note or polyphony—that connects people in a uniquely beautiful way. The harmony of our voices becomes an expression of our fellowship. Our closing song on Saturday was called Overton. We all stood up to sing it, and I looked around at the people who I’d spent the last two hours making music with. Most of them were ostensibly strangers. Nevertheless, after our time together, the words of the song felt right: Brethren, with pleasure let us part, since we are of one mind and heart; No length of days, nor distant place, Can ever break these bands of grace. The full interview will be published in Gadfly issue IV. Helen Wagner Mr. Stoltzfus hopes to continue shape note singing at St. John’s, and the next session in the pendulum pit is currently scheduled for the first Sunday in November. Show up and give it a try! RB got involved in shape note singing after hearing Mr. Stoltzfus’ madrigal choir sing a piece at winter This Week in Seminar Freshman: Thursday, October 10: Herodotus: History, V, 105; VI, 48–120; VII (entire) Monday, October 14: Herodotus: History, VIII; IX Sophomores: Thursday, October 10: Plutarch: Lives, Caesar; Cato the Younger Monday, October 14: Tacitus: Annals, I-II Juniors: Thursday, October 10: Spinoza: Ethics, Book 1 (selections), Book 2 (selections) Monday, October 14: Leibniz: Discourse on Metaphysics Seniors: Thursday, October 10: Marx: Capital (selections), The Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844 (selections) Monday, October 14: Kierkegaard: Fear and Trembling, Through Problema I Friday Night Lecture: "The Ethics and Aesthetics of Sympathy in Sophocles' Philoctetes" - Professor Ellwood Wiggins Page 1 Upcoming Events: Day of the Week, Date: Saturday, October 12: Greenfield Library Annual Book Sale, 12pm to 3pm, Library patio Monday, October 14: Monthly Music Mondays - "Sicut Cervus", 9:30 pm, McDowell Great Hall �St. John’s Collegian Thursday, October 10, 2024 Seniors Save Mellon! (Almost) Exiting seminar before a long weekend is a strange experience, with a strange combination of the intellectual buzz that always accompanies the end of a good discussion and the elation of being free from classes for the next few days. Your faithful reporter was very much feeling this strange beginning of long weekend energy as he exited class on Thursday, but was quickly knocked out of it by an even stranger sight: a large pool of water on the floor of Mellon, dripping down from the ceiling. This reporter looked over at Helen Felbek, who was accompanying him at that moment, and who immediately figured out what was going on. “It’s coming from the tank room!” The two rushed up together, and after struggling for a moment to find the light switch, discovered water all over the floor, and a leaky fish tank. They set to work draining it, and were shortly joined by a pair of tutors. Your ingenious correspondent was convinced a siphon was the best way to solve the problem, and spent a good deal of time trying to get one set up, while more practically minded people present began draining it with a pitcher. Fortunately for all, tank room assistant Louis Rosenberg shortly arrived, and took charge of the situation, and the tank was safely drained. However, a small lake still remained on the floor of the tank room, and presumably therefore in the ceiling of Mellon’s first floor. The tutors quickly disappeared, and no other responsible staff member was present, leaving students with a conundrum. Indeed, dear reader, your writer himself considered abandoning the place, leaving someone else to deal with it, but the rest of the students in the room immediately set to work, taking responsibility in their own hands, and thus your correspondent had no choice but to join in. This noble band of seniors was soon expanded with the additions of Reggie Yang, Luke Widenhouse and Whitney Bixby, who assisted in scrounging around for mops, and then mopping away the flood, first in the tank room, and then on the first floor. Thanks to their efforts, mopping late into the night (10:30 pm, long past this writer’s bedtime), Mellon’s water damage was minimized, although not prevented. From this very humble writer’s point of view, there was something fulfilling about being able to get to action and actually take up a very concrete problem facing the polity in his own hands. Perhaps he, and the rest of the College, should do so more often. The sad condition of the polity continued in long music, where, once more, I was the only attendee. The tutors and (it goes without saying) the other students eschewed the musical perfection of their souls for, presumably, some baser, animalistic form of merriment, like billiards. I carried the class, having learned all four parts of Ave Verum Corpus. Do it early for peace of mind. Maryland early voting will begin Thursday, October 24th and be open for a full week. New voters can even register to vote during early voting or on November 5th, at the nearest polling location, just a short walk down West Street at 119 S Villa Ave. Reading Women will host a walk-to-the-polls event closer to election day to make it even easier. I know you have opinions about this country. I know you want to share them. This is your sign to jump through the hoops to make your community listen to what you have to say. Take this opportunity and see the good that comes of it. Delaney Costello Scan the QR code for registration applications and absentee ballots! As of October 10 DC meeting Aphorism of the Week Ὅσον γ’ ἡμεῖς οἱ ἄνθρωποι ἀπὸ τῶν θηρῶν οἰόμεθα, τόσον θὴρ ὁ ἕκαστος ἀφ’ ἡμῶν τε καὶ πάντων ἄλλων θηρῶν. St. John’s Chorus: $37.89 Delegate Council: $67.51 Energeia: $2750.99 Jazz Coalition: $250 COME TO CSL FORUMS! Courtesy of the Committee on Student Life Lunchtime discussions about non-academic student life issues. Tarik Mahmud THURSDAYS. 11:45. PRIVATE DINING ROOM. (Found on an Unspecified Seminar Room Table Monday Evening After Long Weekend) It was 9:03 AM on Friday that I knew something was wrong. No one had shown up to math, not even our tutor. Fortunately, I had prepared to demonstrate the remainder of book XII, and did so, vainly hoping that at least one of you would remember the unbreakable covenant to academics you made at convocation one short year ago. It was a productive class for me, no one was present to challenge my immaculate command of geocentrism, but I grew despondent when nobody was even there to lazily nod along as I demonstrated. Voting article, cont’d Club budget update El’ad Nichols-Kaufman A Letter of Farewell I suspected something was afoot after seminar Thursday when the comment, “See you at math tomorrow” was the cause of amusement among you people. Failing to observe the humor in a fruitful discussion of the Ptolemaic system, I did not regard it. Little did I know that such a comment would be the harbinger of a pestilence of academic truancy making landfall on this sacred campus. Vol. II. Issue IV It wasn’t easy going— my voice doesn’t go high enough for the soprano part— but persistence is the fount whence springs success. Today, I held out hopes for a renaissance of academic motivation, but to no avail. I was greatly disturbed by this sudden change in the student (and tutor) body’s newfound lack of integrity, and so had neglected my translation duties. I regret to say this, but my misstep faced no consequences, for no one showed up to language tutorial either. I see how it is now, St. John’s Polity. You carry on with your bonfires and see where it gets you. It appears absenteeism is what we’re doing now, but at least I have the common decency to let you know about it. I won’t be seeing you at seminar tonight, but something in me suspects you have no intention of going anyhow. Your Disconsolate (Former) Academic Comrade-in-Arms UPCOMING SCI FORUMS Courtesy of the Student Committee on Instruction Oct. 16th: The Algebra Exam: Does it work? Oct. 23rd: What are the rules of seminar? WEDNESDAYS. 11:45. PRIVATE DINING ROOM. Free lunch for off-campus students! Page 2 About the St. John’s Collegian The St. John’s Collegian is the weekly newspaper of St. John’s College Annapolis. We work to bring quick and timely coverage of important events going on, to help develop a more informed student body. If you’re searching for more in-depth investigations and reporting, as well as essays, art and culture, check out the Gadfly, our affiliated publication, which is published once every three weeks. Want to submit an article? We always need more writers, whether for opinion or reporting! Submissions for news articles should be between 400-600 words, while opinion should be kept short at 350 words. Just email sjcacollegian@gmail.com with your article, and we will work to get it in print! Longer form articles and more in-depth exploration of ideas should go to the Gadfly, which accepts submissions at eanicholskaufman@sjc.edu. Contributors for this issue: Helen Wagner, Editor Jacob Sharpe, Editor Delaney Costello, Writer El’ad Nichols-Kaufman, Writer Tarik Mahmud, Greek Aphorism � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource <em>The St. John's Collegian</em> Description An account of the resource A student newspaper of St. John's College. <em>The St. John's Collegian</em> began publication in 2023 and is affiliated with <a href="https://digitalarchives.sjc.edu/collections/show/16"><em>The Gadfly</em></a>. <br /><br />Published weekly on Thursday, with the exception of weeks <em>The Gadfly </em>is published. <br /><br />Earlier publications with the title <em>The Collegian </em>and <em>The St. John's Collegian </em>are available in <a href="https://digitalarchives.sjc.edu/collections/show/26"><em>The Collegian Collection</em></a>.<br /><br />Click on Items in <a href="https://digitalarchives.sjc.edu/items/browse?collection=69&amp;sort_field=Dublin+Core%2CDate&amp;sort_dir=d">The St. John's Collegian Collection</a> to view and sort all items in the collection. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource St. John's College Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available St. John's College Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Annapolis, Md. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource St. John's College Greenfield Library Language A language of the resource English Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context SJCCollegian Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data pdf Page numeration Number of pages in the original item. 2 pages Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource St. John's Collegian, October 10, 2024 Description An account of the resource Volume 2, issue 4 of the St. John's Collegian, published October 10, 2024. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource St. John's College (Annapolis, Md.) Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available St. John's College (Annapolis, Md.) Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Annapolis, MD Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2024-10-10 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource St. John's College holds the rights to this publication. Type The nature or genre of the resource text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource pdf Subject The topic of the resource St. John's College (Annapolis, Md.)--Periodicals Language A language of the resource English Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context SJCCollegian_vol2_issueIV_2024-10-10 Student publication The Collegian The Gadfly https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/sjcdigitalarchives/original/e7caf51156c7581613b15b3232f4f524.pdf 823c4c03044e9fba18bcf9136f34a88e PDF Text Text Thursday October 24 2024 The St. John’s Collegian A Gadfly Publication From the polity: Echoing Whispers of a Succession Crisis? Nestled behind Humphreys Hall and beside the Greenfield Library stands a building shrouded in mystery and myth. This labyrinth of passageways and hidden chambers guards secrets untold, yet some echoing whispers threaten to break free from their brick-walled confines. The gnomes of Paca are growing restless. Venerable guardians of the underquad, they have long concealed its second entrance under the floorboards of this maze-like palace. The gnomes are a quiet people. They wish for nothing more than to aid the Lady of the Underquad, the peaceful mediator between the overquad Johnnies and the mystical underquad realm below. Yet the Lady of the Underquad has not yet chosen a successor, and the gnomes fear the day when the throne sits vacant and silence hangs over the kingdom. If she were to leave the Underquad without a ruler, the very quad may well crumble into the oblivion below. Still, there is hope! The Lady of the Underquad has met with the gnomes and promised to crown an heir well before the final Sicut is sung. Yet selecting a successor is no easy task, and the future of the Underquad must be secured. Having calmed the fears of the gnomes, the Lady of the Underquad has turned to me, Herschel P. Reuben. I am not and shall never be her heir, but I will gladly serve as a reporter to the polity. My duty is to make known the presence of the Lady of the Underquad to the Polity at large, and urge them to keep alive these true stories of St. John’s. For stories are indeed the fragile heart of a community, the flickering candle of life and love. Herschel Reuben UPCOMING SCI FORUM Courtesy of the Student Committee on Instruction Oct. 30th: What if my class is DEAD? WEDNESDAY. 11:45. PRIVATE DINING ROOM. Free lunch for off-campus students! Vol. II Issue V Printed Thursdays in Annapolis Paper Or Plastic? Or: How I Fixed Seminar The college is terminally ill with a disease with no name. While its symptoms are observed by many, no solid diagnosis has yet been identified, nor any course of treatment devised. I thought myself safe, until the Psalms seminar revealed unmistakable signs of that illness in me. Others commented after the fact how intolerable I was: hardly ever shutting my mouth, talking over others, putting down their ideas, and refusing to entertain any but my own; the evil Johnnie incarnate. That behavior is antithetical to who I am, so whatever could be the cause? After much contemplation, I happily discovered that I was not the problem. There’s no doubt that sharing one’s thoughts in seminar can be a traumatic and high-stakes environment. The room goes silent and stares at you while you monologue into your book, or swivel your head around, scanning the room for sympathetic eyes. There are none. They all hate you and think you’re stupid. People cope with this differently. Some don’t risk the pressure and never speak. Others feel obliged to defend themselves at all costs, and do so, terrified that if they don’t self-advocate, they and their ideas will be thrown overboard and sink to the bottom of the discourse. The ship of seminar has a helm carved for many hands, and even so, there are people trying to seize it for themselves. Dear reader, the cause of this is not simple verbosity in the culprit, or their lack of social awareness, or even their boorishness. This behavior bears the mark of that very terrible illness, what I call Affinity for the Self. With many faces around the seminar table, all speaking and trying to get their ideas across, it is easy to associate one person’s face with their idea. Think of how fond we all are of what proceeds from ourselves, as a parent is for their child. It’s only natural for us to be defensive of our ideas—so long as we know they’re ours. If you follow the logic, the cure is anonymity. Through a well-placed bag over the head, the speaker is disguised from others, and from themselves. The ideas permeating the natural fiber- or petroleum-derived membrane, like souls through the Lethe, are deprived of an explicit connection to their speaker and thereby freed. My theory had to be tested, regardless, and I found the second Tacitus seminar to be the perfect laboratory. As we discussed Rome’s readiness to willingly submit to tyrannical proceedings, I despondently noticed an This Week in Seminar immediate relevance to my seminar’s situation. My peers were the senate, squabbling under the Caesar of the self. I, crowned with a Whole Foods grocery bag, was Cremutius Cordus, ostensibly persecuted but truly free of soul. Without a face to associate my speculations with, my peers had no choice but to name them the product of their collective thought. The kraft paper, filtering my words, even seemed to alter me. I was completely unaware of the things I was saying, and therefore unable to develop that pernicious, arrogant attachment to them. Seminar was liberated for the small price of ten cents. Following this small victory, I naturally want to apply myself to the study of the other utilities of bag-wearing. I am presently writing under the hood of a plastic freezer bag, which, despite its proclivity for fogging up, protects my fragile brain from pesky Lucretian semblances threatening to interrupt my concentration. The sparing supply of oxygen leaves something to be desired, but I am finding myself increasingly capable of impressive quantities of work before I start hearing colors. Could such blessed garments find utility in other places, perchance intramurals? I hazard a yes. An influx of sports-related injuries may soon find their relief in the humble insulated grocery tote. Outside of cushioning cranial impacts, they would prevent the players from seeing where they’re going, likely preventing them from undergoing injurious behavior in the first place. Goodwill would return, which was often lacking in these games, by making it near impossible for any team to win. The sooner these teams stop trying to prevail over one another, the better for the college and its purported egalitarian mission. I leave you, dearest polity, with the exhortation to see this invaluable garment universalized. If not advocating it to college leadership, you would do well beginning the change in yourselves. Johnnies would be philosophers in the truest meaning of the word, once more pursuing truth together in a spirit of collective insight, abolishing the holding of some that seminar is an event to be won, where one camp of ideology must prevail over the others. Farewell! Jacob Sharpe Upcoming Events: Freshman: Thursday, October 24: Plato: Republic, IV 427D–VI 502C Monday, October 28: Plato: Republic, VI 502D–VII Sophomores: Thursday, October 24: Bible, Matthew Monday, October 28: Bible, Luke Juniors: Thursday, October 24: Preceptorial Monday, October 28: Preceptorial Seniors: Thursday, October 24: Preceptorial Monday, October 28: Preceptorial Saturday, October 26th: Guest Lecture: Goya’s Theatre of Cruelty Conversation Room, 6pm to 7:30pm - Reality’s Halloween Great Hall, 9pm Wednesday, October 30th Resume Writing Workshop Studio Theater, 5pm Friday Night Lecture: Gregorian Choir of Paris Page 1 �Thursday, October 24, 2024 St. John’s Collegian CLUB SPOTLIGHT: PROJECT POLITY Vol. II. Issue V Squirrel :) An Interview with Kurtis Bleakley, Archon What’s your history with Project Polity? I started coming during my freshman year. At the time, Luke Briner was the archon. It means something to me that there’s a service community here — a volunteering group that takes what we learn about virtue here and acts upon it in the world. Why is service important to you? I did a lot of volunteering in the past–I taught ESL for a while and gave food to the homeless— and it always struck me in a very moving way how kind people are to you when you help them. There’s this intense connection. In some ways it’s ineffable What’s your relationship to service as a Johnnie? I think of the Greek arete—virtue and character— and how Aristotle puts it in the Ethics. Virtue is practice. It is involved with continuing and furthering yourself. Leibniz even speaks of this too— perfect things becoming more perfect. So, there’s this overarching motif, I guess, between certain texts, of how we can become better human beings. How has your involvement with Project Polity affected your academic experience? When I read, I find myself more attuned to how philosophies can help the world. Certain texts are very abstruse, very metaphysical, but the question that always percolates in my mind is: how can we use this to help others, or how can this affect the quoteunquote “real world” as opposed to the life of the mind? I think that’s a common refrain here, but for me it’s more epitomized when we do stuff like tutoring, cleaning up trash, and so forth. What have you read recently that you liked? This is off-program, but this summer I read a book by David Brooks called How to Know A Person, where he talks about the art of conversation and listening, which I thought was very moving. On-program, I really do love the Ethics. I really like Leibniz and Spinoza and their sense of one-ness. The Irish poet David Whyte has this quote about the conversational nature of reality and I wonder if, the more we read here, the more we see that all things are interacting With each other. How do you think St. John’s does in engaging with the greater Annapolis community? I think we really could expand ourselves. I’ve had many beautiful intellectual conversations with people outside of St. John’s—I talked to a waitress the other day and she had a doctorate. I think there are more opportunities to bring St. John’s students out into Annapolis, and Project Polity is one of them. What would you say to people who haven’t come out to a service project yet? I hope this doesn’t come off as selfish, but I really do think that volunteering is good for you as an individual, and for your mental health. Having positive thoughts about your day and seeing your ability to help someone is very good for you. When we go out tutoring, you can see the effect we have on these children. It’s very moving to see how you can help them become better readers and mathematicians. In Meno, the slave boy didn’t do the mathematical work by himself: Socrates engaged him in conversation. We’re taking things like that and bringing them out into the real world. What projects are coming up? We have a semester food drive on November 2. If you want to help with that, please email me or accost me in the hallway. Later, we’ll also be making trash cans for dog poop by the creek. We might also organize a 5k in the spring. And we do weekly tutoring with the Stanton Center’s after school program. Interview by Helen Wagner Email Kurtis at kmbleakley@sjc.edu. Aphorism of the Week i take 1 taste i must make haste der may be dangers i haf to face mouf full of food mus not be rude ders not a seed i havent chewed da seeson change da weather strange so preperations i must arrange i look around survey da ground for spot to hide dis meal i found still on alert i dig da dirt a littol deeper it cannot hurt i stand up high pawz to da sky i thank saint john for pumkin pie Vivian Miyakawa PLEASE MAKE SUBMISSIONS TO Ἄνθρωπος ὁ ἄρχων ἄρχοντος ἄρχει τοῦ ἀρχομένου. SJCA.COLLEGIAN@GMAIL.COM Tarik Mahmud Annual Security & Fire Safety Report Every year, the College is required by federal law to release a security and fire safety report covering the previous year. These reports include, aside from a detailed record of safety procedures on campus, a record of all the crimes reported on campus, and all alcohol and drug related violations dealt with as campus disciplinary referrals. This year’s report, issued September 30th, covers incidents in the 2023 school year. About the St. John’s Collegian The St. John’s Collegian is the weekly newspaper of St. John’s College Annapolis. We work to bring quick and timely coverage of important events going on, to help develop a more informed student body. If you’re searching for more in-depth investigations and reporting, as well as essays, art and culture, check out the Gadfly, our affiliated publication, which is published once every three weeks. In general, the report shows similar numbers to last year, with a reduced number of almost all crimes and violations relative to high peaks in 2021. No particular incidents requiring clarification occurred in 2023. The report, which was emailed to the entire Polity and can be found in a physical format in the Public Safety office, features more in-depth data, but you will find here collected tables of the most frequent categories of crimes and violations across the past ten years, collected from several previous reports. The report notes that the high spike in 2021 comes from officers being “more diligent in documenting violations of college policies,” than in previous years, as well as residual effects from the pandemic. oh golly gee pumpkin 4 mee outside on steps is lovely treet Want to submit an article? We always need more writers, whether for opinion or reporting! Submissions for news articles should be between 400600 words, while opinion should be kept short at 350 words. Just email sjca.collegian@gmail.com with your article, and we will work to get it in print! Longer form articles and more in-depth exploration of ideas should go to the Gadfly, which accepts submissions at eanicholskaufman@sjc.edu. El’ad Nichols-Kaufman Page 2 Contributors for this issue: Helen Wagner, Editor Jacob Sharpe, Editor Tarik Mahmud, Greek Aphorism Vivian Miyakawa, Poet El’ad Nichols-Kaufman, Writer Herschel Reuben, Writer � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource <em>The St. John's Collegian</em> Description An account of the resource A student newspaper of St. John's College. <em>The St. John's Collegian</em> began publication in 2023 and is affiliated with <a href="https://digitalarchives.sjc.edu/collections/show/16"><em>The Gadfly</em></a>. <br /><br />Published weekly on Thursday, with the exception of weeks <em>The Gadfly </em>is published. <br /><br />Earlier publications with the title <em>The Collegian </em>and <em>The St. John's Collegian </em>are available in <a href="https://digitalarchives.sjc.edu/collections/show/26"><em>The Collegian Collection</em></a>.<br /><br />Click on Items in <a href="https://digitalarchives.sjc.edu/items/browse?collection=69&amp;sort_field=Dublin+Core%2CDate&amp;sort_dir=d">The St. John's Collegian Collection</a> to view and sort all items in the collection. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource St. John's College Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available St. John's College Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Annapolis, Md. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource St. John's College Greenfield Library Language A language of the resource English Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context SJCCollegian Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data pdf Page numeration Number of pages in the original item. 2 pages Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource St. John's Collegian, October 24, 2024 Description An account of the resource Volume 2, issue 5 of the St. John's Collegian, published October 24, 2024. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource St. John's College (Annapolis, Md.) Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available St. John's College (Annapolis, Md.) Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Annapolis, MD Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2024-10-24 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource St. John's College holds the rights to this publication. Type The nature or genre of the resource text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource pdf Subject The topic of the resource St. John's College (Annapolis, Md.)--Periodicals Language A language of the resource English Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context SJCCollegian_vol2_issueV_2024-10-24 Student publication The Collegian The Gadfly https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/sjcdigitalarchives/original/570cfc731adb730e7e664c3d219943f3.pdf 5736f8fc6dc29dc7fbb76dd99ce8ea59 PDF Text Text Thursday, October 31, 2024 The St. John’s Collegian A Gadfly Publication From the polity Attention: Mathematical Discovery Dear Math Community, Ms. Benson’s senior math tutorial (MCD 34, T,R,F 910:20 a.m.) has discovered a new mathematical point! On our quest to construct a pair of Lobachevskian parallel lines, we found ourselves spending some time in Appendix II (manual pg. 86). Well on our way to complete this construction, we stumbled upon an ultra-parallel line springing forth from our illustrious point Q, perpendicular to our representative line VW, the patriarch of our family of ultra-parallels. We were astonished to find that such a foundational line concluded in an unnamed, and presumably unnoticed, point. We realized in this moment that our discovery came with a responsibility: we had to name this point. Here’s how it happened: one of your very own peers, Ms. Gennadiou, braved the board. All watching with amazement, she boldly declared, “I will name this point S”. To which, Ms. Benson suggested that we use a Greek letter. Everyone agreed, it was a fantastic idea, the Greek-ness of our point would surely make it stand out from the rest. Ms. Gennadiou quickly adjusted: “I will name this point δ because it kind of looks like an s.” There were no objections. Our class is like a math machine. I am sharing this news with a dual purpose. Firstly, if somebody could alert whoever is in currently in charge of math in this country, we could coordinate a time to receive our award. Secondly, we have reason to believe that there may be another unnamed point lurking somewhere in this diagram. Fear not— we are working diligently to find it— but if your class happens to beat us to it, please, again, alert whoever is in charge of math in this country. Really, it’s your civic duty. Adieu, M(athematician). Chloe Niedzielski Vol. II Issue VI Printed Thursdays in Annapolis Curating the SJC image Enrollment Committee Strategizes Against Dropping Application Rates Institutes of higher education throughout America are being challenged to prove their value to upcoming generations, and St. John’s is no different. Over the next few years, the country is facing a demographic cliff; the number of students graduating high school who are applying to college is significantly lower than in the past. More critically, the attitude of American young adults towards higher education is undergoing a distinctly negative shift. Students no longer recognize the cost and commitment of a college degree as worthwhile for their career and development, and those who do see value in a college degree gravitate towards large state schools and STEM programs. As a result of this, small liberal arts colleges, and humanities programs in general, are struggling. And for a school as uniquely dedicated to the liberal arts as St. John’s this issue is becoming ever more pertinent. As one of two undergraduate representatives to the Board of Visitors and Governors, I had the opportunity to sit in on the Enrollment Committee report during the board meeting this past weekend. The Enrollment Committee has recently been reconfigured, subsuming the Retention Subcommittee that formerly reported to the Visiting Committee. The board remains committed to increasing the college’s retention rate, but the focus of the Enrollment Committee will prioritize more rigorous strategies for marketing and admissions to address the decline in applicants which is predicted over the next few years. Already, this past year has seen a smaller freshman class than is desired, and the school is faced with the question of how to find new and creative ways to market St. John’s to prospective applicants who already express an affinity for the program and its values. Part of the marketing strategy involves a general push to spread awareness both locally and nationally about St. John’s and the Great Books Program through appearances in the news, podcasts, and publications. It also involves more modern approaches to marketing through social media platforms like Instagram and TikTok. The admissions team is seeking ways to draw in students with affinities for certain aspects of the program. This Week in Seminar This includes targeting sources related to our studies at St. John’s, such as advertising on subreddits for topics including Greek and Roman Mythology, Literature, History, and Philosophy. There are also efforts to market to students through pop culture references, such as Percy Jackson or Harry Potter. These marketing efforts pose an important question about what kind of public image will best communicate the spirit of St. John’s to a generation of students increasingly unfamiliar with our model of education and increasingly more involved in popular culture and social media. These efforts to reach a widening audience necessitate making important choices about who we are and how we can best express ourselves to the outside world. The marketing strategies that target students with particular interests must also make assumptions about what kind of students will enrich our communities and classrooms. The content we put out on social media, the messages we spread through our advertisements and programming, and the platforms that we choose as media for spreading awareness of our institution all impact how we are seen by the world and who we draw to St. John’s—and it seems to me that these choices will have a significant impact on who we are as a college in the coming years. Though the job of crafting our public image lies with the BVG and the professionals responsible for marketing and admissions, the necessity of increasing the visibility of St. John’s provides an important opportunity for us as students to reflect upon the image that we hope to share about our beloved college and the community of which we are a part. How do we capture the complexity of our community and program in a way that draws people in who will enrich our school and inspires upcoming generations to recognize value in the education that we provide? What might our responsibility be, as students and future alumni, to advocate for the continued growth and prosperity of our college and community, and spread an inspiring image of ourselves in the country and the world? If you have any further questions about this issue or the recent meeting of the Board of Visitors and Governors, please reach out to me (Catherine Greer) or Millie Ransohoff! Catherine Greer Upcoming Events: Freshman: Thursday, October 31: Plato: Republic, VIII–IX Monday, November 4: Plato: Republic, X Sophomores: Thursday, October 31: Bible, Acts of the Apostles Monday, November 4: Bible, Gospel of John; First Letter of John Juniors: Thursday, October 31: Preceptorial Monday, November 4: Preceptorial Seniors: Thursday, October 31: Preceptorial Monday, November 4: Preceptorial Friday Night Lecture: "Know Thyself in Dialogue with Others: A Case for Cross-Cultural Philosophy" - Bret Davis Page 1 Friday, November 1: JOC’s 90’s Kick Back, Boathouse, 9pm—12am Saturday, November 2: Masquerade Waltz, Dining Hall, 9pm Poets in the Conversation Room - Remica Bingham-Risher, Conversation Room, 2pm Monday, November 4: Monthly Music Mondays - "Sicut Cervus", Great Hall, 9:30pm—10:30pm Wednesday, November 6: Life Skills 101: Creating a Routine for Success, Student Health and Wellness Center, 12pm �Thursday, October 31, 2024 St. John’s Collegian NOTES FROM THE BVG MEETING Proposed Amendments to the “Polity” Document In the Board of Visitors and Governors meeting this past weekend, discussion was held over amendments to a document called the Polity. This Polity, not to be confused with our term for the polis of our campus, functions as the principal governing document for the College and is reviewed every five years by the Board in consultation with our tutors. It was instituted during the change to the New Program in 1945 and is intended to represent the core values and aims of the College. As such, any amendments or changes to this document are incredibly relevant to our life on campus. Why do we do what we do here at St. John’s, and how should that be codified into a constitution-style document for Board members and the campus at large to follow? The preamble to this 35-page document reads in part that “St. John's College strives to illuminate the common heritage of humanity in a persisting study of the great documents in which that heritage can be found. It is concerned with the unity of knowledge, an understanding of the great issues, and the moral foundations on which men and women may conduct their lives.” With these goals in mind, the Board’s Polity Review Committee has proposed various amendments and a general restructuring of the entire document. If passed, this will be the most significant change to the Polity since its adoption in 1945. Originally the Board intended to vote on these amendments at this past weekend’s meeting, but this has been delayed until their February session. Until February, then, we as a Polity have time to consider what the Polity is and ought to be, in both senses of the term. While the proposed amendments are not yet publicly available, the current iteration of the Polity document is freely accessible on the College website and quietly serves an essential role on how our campus is structured. It is important to note that we as students do not make this decision. We do not have a vote in the amending process, and as four-year Polity members who are not directly responsible for the fiscal and general upkeep of the College there is an argument to be made for this arrangement. Yet, these decisions do impact our beloved campus and our education, and with that in mind I ask my beloved Polity to keep itself familiar with the amendment process as it happens and stay in touch with this Johnnie constitution. Reagan Bottomley Aphorism of the Week Τῷ ναύτῃ κυμαίνει ἡ ξηρά. Tarik Mahmud In Memory of Eva Brann 1929-2024 Eva Brann, beloved SJC alumna, dean, and tutor emerita, passed away on Monday, October 28 at the age of 95, after more than 60 years of serving this college. The following is an excerpt from a lecture she gave in 1967 called “The Student’s Problem.” (The problem in question is “melancholy.”) “I cannot resolve this, the problem of my lecture and the question in my mind. I herewith hand it over to you, without, of course, myself relinquishing it. The study of the liberal arts, which are public and adequate learning procedures, and of their fruits, which are the various bodies of knowledge, as well as the absorption of the reflective tradition which is based on them, can only provide materials, tools and a language for questioning; the love of wisdom itself cannot be gained by study; and for that portion of our life of learning in which our unknown source fails us— for it is more arduous to maintain the condition of openness than a state of levitation— we must expect to be sometimes prey to the mortal’s malady, the confusion of the soul induced by the futile passing of precious time. But in this understanding of that sickness there is implicit the suggestion of a cure: to fix stubbornly and determinedly on that present preparation, that acquisition of the problem-solving arts and the problem-posing tradition, which is certainly at least a pre-condition of a questioning life, a life worth living.” The full lecture transcript is in the library. Rendelman Rundown A New Intramural Sport: Goaltimate Frisbee Three weeks ago, we saw a change to our intramural sport line-up. Now that every team has completed round robins in all three sports, Ultimate, Outdoor handball and Soccer, there has been one major change and two minor. Beginning with the minor changes, Soccer is being played primarily on the lower field and handball has moved indoors. The lower field is slightly larger than the upper field, which does not have a huge impact on the games, but is a factor to consider. Handball moving indoors makes the court smaller and dribbling a more consistent part of the strategy. Now onto the major change: Ultimate Frisbee has been replaced by a new frisbee game—Goaltimate Frisbee. In short, Goaltimate is like the half-court basketball of Frisbee. There are four players on the field from each team (two A-team and two B-team), subbing is continuous, and the game is divided into forty-minute halves. There are a few things that I believe to be crucial to a successful Goaltimate game: well-executed subbing and accurately placed players. Goaltimate is a fast-paced game that ultimately involves less running and is more accessible than Ultimate frisbee. With the A-team and B-team aspect of our program it is important that the captains place players accurately. When done right, it creates an even matchup and more fun play. However, with fewer on the field at a time there are less play opportunities than with Ultimate and thus there is a lot of down time. But despite the subbing struggles, increased down time, and A and B team discrepancy, the overwhelming polity opinion tends positive towards Goaltimate. Perhaps a suggestion, next year let’s start with Goaltimate and work our way towards the more difficult Ultimate Frisbee. Goaltimately it was a successful Goaltimate experiment. Vol. II Issue VI About the St. John’s Collegian The St. John’s Collegian is the weekly newspaper of St. John’s College Annapolis. We work to bring quick and timely coverage of important events going on, to help develop a more informed student body. If you’re searching for more in-depth investigations and reporting, as well as essays, art and culture, check out the Gadfly, our affiliated publication, which is published once every three weeks. Want to submit an article? We always need more writers, whether for opinion or reporting! Submissions for news articles should be between 400600 words, while opinion should be kept short at 350 words. Just email sjca.collegian@gmail.com with your article, and we will work to get it in print! Longer form articles and more in-depth exploration of ideas should go to the Gadfly, which accepts submissions at eanicholskaufman@sjc.edu. Contributors for this issue: Above: Danny Ma (Greenwave, ’26) makes a throw. Below: Elena Molinar (Guardian, ’27) celebrates a goaltimate score. Photos by Lainey Rendelman. Helen Wagner, Editor Jacob Sharpe, Editor Reagan Bottomley, Writer Catherine Greer, Writer Tarik Mahmud, Greek Aphorism Lainey Rendelman, Writer Chloe Niedzielski, Writer Lainey Rendelman Page 2 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource <em>The St. John's Collegian</em> Description An account of the resource A student newspaper of St. John's College. <em>The St. John's Collegian</em> began publication in 2023 and is affiliated with <a href="https://digitalarchives.sjc.edu/collections/show/16"><em>The Gadfly</em></a>. <br /><br />Published weekly on Thursday, with the exception of weeks <em>The Gadfly </em>is published. <br /><br />Earlier publications with the title <em>The Collegian </em>and <em>The St. John's Collegian </em>are available in <a href="https://digitalarchives.sjc.edu/collections/show/26"><em>The Collegian Collection</em></a>.<br /><br />Click on Items in <a href="https://digitalarchives.sjc.edu/items/browse?collection=69&amp;sort_field=Dublin+Core%2CDate&amp;sort_dir=d">The St. John's Collegian Collection</a> to view and sort all items in the collection. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource St. John's College Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available St. John's College Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Annapolis, Md. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource St. John's College Greenfield Library Language A language of the resource English Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context SJCCollegian Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data pdf Page numeration Number of pages in the original item. 2 pages Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource St. John's Collegian, October 31, 2024 Description An account of the resource Volume 2, issue 6 of the St. John's Collegian, published October 31, 2024. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource St. John's College (Annapolis, Md.) Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available St. John's College (Annapolis, Md.) Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Annapolis, MD Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2024-10-31 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource St. John's College holds the rights to this publication. Type The nature or genre of the resource text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource pdf Subject The topic of the resource St. John's College (Annapolis, Md.)--Periodicals Language A language of the resource English Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context SJCCollegian_vol2_issueVI_2024-10-31 Student publication The Collegian The Gadfly https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/sjcdigitalarchives/original/43fb1f1e509c5887b31f7ab68dfb7b57.pdf 8e6ec5a5509c7b159f2535e9a04cd5da PDF Text Text Thursday, February 20, 2025 The St. John’s Collegian A Gadfly Publication From the polity A Blooming Garden of Johnnie-Flowers Ah yes, mid-February. That liminal state between Valentine’s Day and spring break, where red heart stickers decorating shirts and hats alike are blown away by ferocious winds sweeping in from College Creek. Boreas, who spread a crisp white blanket of snow one last time over red bricks and faded green fields, now reluctantly makes way for tender Zephyrus. With keen eyes, you may spot his first darling snowdrops lifting their delicate petals above ground. Birdsong, too, will soon return along with warm spring sunbeams breaking triumphantly through the clouds above. Spring whispers the promise of rebirth, rejuvenation, and new possibilities formerly hidden under cover of frost. So, too, do the seniors look toward the promise of the future as they one by one, eyes sparkling with excitement and trepidation, enter the King William Room for their oral examinations. After four short years and an hour-long conversation, they each emerge from the cave into the light of new understanding. Each Johnnie contains great potential within them, their own unique flower seed to be nurtured while both on and off campus. Just like the snowdrops blooming in the harshest snows, the difficulty of the Program makes the beautiful bloom of the Johnnieflower that much more splendid. Underclassmen, heed my words. Do allow yourself to be-at-work-staying-yourself through your wonderful potential for being. You have inquisitive minds aplenty; wonder, explore, laugh, cry, read, sing, love, live! To my beloved seniors: Let us guide the underclassmen with open arms and wisdom as we approach our final few months in this remarkable place. Let us instill curiosity about the magic and mystery of SJC in the years below us. They are our legacy, the ones gracefully stepping into the leadership roles we now hold, the ones to whom we can pass down our secrets. The Underquad, the burnt popcorn of Humphreys, the Paca tub room – these are our true legends to be kept alive by the next generation. Let us spring forward into this new season together, seniors and underclassmen alike, and cultivate even more beautifully unique Johnnie-flowers as we all bask in the glorious sunshine of knowledge. Herschel Reuben Vol. II Issue XIII Printed Thursdays in Annapolis Federal, State Policy Threatens College Affordability & Financial Stability The College often sees itself as insulated from national political circumstances. A more thoughtful tone of political discourse and an absence of student protest culture can lead to a sense that political conversation at the college remains within a sort of bubble, detached from any obligation towards action in local or national politics. However, with the current dismantling of many key federal services and the state budgetary crisis, this much wider political world may very soon have dramatic effects on our College, and the lives of all students who attend it. This article will feature information about federal policy impacts for the College, while next week an article will examine the impacts of state legislation. On a federal level, the Annapolis campus does not directly receive grants from the federal government for programming, and thus has not been affected by the Trump administration’s attempts to freeze federal grants. However, students are direct beneficiaries of numerous federal programs, and the upcoming congressional budget may dramatically increase the cost of attendance at the College, and bar communities who currently form important parts of the College from attending. “When I think of federal money, I actually think first of federal money that supports students directly,” explained Nora Demleitner, Annapolis president. “Loan programs, work studies, the supplemental opportunity fund, that we’re getting from the Department of Education.” As of the 2021-22 academic year, the most recent year that statistics were available from, this federal department, which Donald Trump has proposed to eliminate, provided loans to 46% percent of Johnnies, as well as Pell Grants for 19% of the student body. While the recent, now rescinded, grant freezes were eventually clarified to not include work-study and Pell Grants, and the current nominee for Secretary of Education, WWE executive and failed political candidate Linda McMahon, has clarified Pell Grants are not at risk, the futures of loans and loan forgiveness programs are much less clear. Additionally, the federal government has direct power over immigration, meaning that it may become much harder for students to get visas to study at St. John’s. Our college, which derives great benefit from a wide variety of international experiences, and receives a good deal of funding from Davis Scholars, as well as other international students, stands to lose both a part of its vibrant intellectual community and financial security if the number of international students is severely curtailed. Demleitner said that there are already reports “of more rejections for people from certain countries,” indicating that future classes may be more restricted in countries of origin. Most challenges to these programs come not from the executive branch, from which most changes to spending would be unconstitutional, and thus challenged in the courts, but instead from Congress. The Budget Reconciliation process has just begun, and a wide variety of proposals are currently on the table to be included. In the FY2025 House Budget Resolution submitted by House Republicans, $880 billion are to be cut from areas under the responsibility of the House Committee on Education and Workforce, some of which will likely impact higher education. “There’s a whole host of proposals,” explained Demleitner, “and they range from cutting Pell Grants to expanding programs, not in terms of the dollar amount going up per student, but in the types of programs that could benefit… more workforce programs, short term certificate-type programs that are not currently funded by Pell Grants.” Further injury to students may come from proposals to tax all scholarships, ending public loan forgiveness, which many Johnnies pursuing careers in education or public service benefit from, and, critically for a college with such a large international population, an end to F1 visas for non-STEM majors. Demleitner said that these changes may have long term impacts on college attendance in general, driving people away from liberal arts programs such as St. John’s, where cost is high relative to salary after College, and for the future careers, discouraging necessary professions like teaching or the job of public defenders, which have a high cost of education for low pay. “If any of these proposals were to be implemented, then obviously, there will be long term ramifications about who even wants to go to college, and what type of college.” So called “culture war” issues may have little direct impact on the College, but increased scrutiny from the federal government against any program that they label “DEI” may nationally dampen dialogue, and bring a culture of government repression of academic speech which may, through the students who come to the College, affect the tenor of conversation on campus. In general, the chaos created by the federal government in dismantling many of the systems that support higher Continued on page 2. This Week in Seminar Upcoming Events: Freshman: Thursday, February 20th: Aristotle: Nicomachean Ethics; Books VI, VII Monday, February 24th: Aristotle: Nicomachean Ethics; Books VIII, IX Sophomores: Thursday, February 20th: Shakespeare: As You Like It Monday, February 24th: Montaigne: Essays (selections) Juniors: Thursday, February 20th: Kant: Critique of Pure Reason; (selections) Monday, February 24th: Locke: Second Treatise of Government; Chapters I–IX Seniors: Thursday, February 20th: Conrad: Heart of Darkness Monday, February 24th: Freud: “Remembering, Repeating, and Working-Through”, “Mourning and Melancholia” Friday, February 21 Book signing: Joshua Rogers reads from Psychedelic Psalms, Edensword Bookstore, 5pm Wednesday, February 26 Seminar Discussion on Smithson Essay, "Sedimentation of the Mind", Conversation Room, 5:30pm Friday Night Lecture: Cancelled :( Page 1 �St. John’s Collegian Thursday, February 20, 2025 Federal, State Policy... (continued) Open Letter to the Board Dear Ladies and Gentlemen of the Board, This weekend, you will vote on a proposed revision of the Polity. Such an integral document, instituted by our founders Stringfellow Barr and Scott Buchanan, bears much consideration. I write this letter to make one single request: please, allow students to see these amendments. I have been told that my College is amending its Constitution, and St. John’s has taught me that good citizens inform themselves on public matters such as this. I have dutifully attempted to see these changes; but to my surprise, we students have been forbidden to see what is happening. I hope the Board will understand that this blindness, and on such an important subject, has left me both concerned and confused. How are we to be good citizens of our Johnnie “polity” if we are blinded to such an important facet of its governance? I make this request not for my own personal access, but so that the broader student polity may see these amendments in full. The most likely reason that I can think of to not release these amendments to the student body may be quoted directly from Aristotle. His Nicomachean Ethics tells us that “of the political art, a young person is not an appropriate student, for he is inexperienced in the actions pertaining to life, and the arguments are based on these actions and concern them.” However, this is also a college that immediately follows Aristotle’s Ethics on the freshman reading list with his Politics. St John’s faith in the young political student is implicit in our very list of readings. If the student body cannot think critically and rationally, if we are not capable of approaching a text with intelligence if my mind is not free - then I do not know what we do here. St. John's, above all other institutions, believes in intelligent and rational discourse among its students. Such has been repeatedly emphasized by official speeches and letters to the student body, which have praised students’ dedication to this value. I added my name to the College register at Convocation because I believe that it has found success in that endeavor, and I know that you have joined the Board because you wish to uphold that success. Yet despite being praised as students who engage in intelligent discourse, we have been barred from it regarding this vote. If we share this value between us, I humbly ask that we share in our efforts to uphold it. My thoughts on this are also strongly informed by my own work. Next semester the student Delegate Council will hold its regular constitutional review, in which our own Review Committee will write and propose amendments to the entire polity for a vote. The student body has designed a constitution that not only allows but requires those under it to see what is happening, because the Program has taught us that we must become good citizens of our polity. I do not advocate for students to have a significant vote in your review process, for reasons amply provided by Aristotle. I believe at least one correspondent of mine has thought that I am demanding a formal student committee to provide feedback to the Board, like the Faculty has. In reality, my request is far more simple. If our College’s motto is true - if these books and this balance are engaged in making me a free adult - then I wish the Board to trust the freedom they wish me to learn and allow me to see that which is set to govern my education. All I ask is to not be blind. I hope this letter is received well. I truly mean it with the utmost respect; I value what you do, and it is your efforts that make it possible for my College to exist. I confess that it frightens me when we are forbidden to see these changes. It is too late now to have any effect on the current process, but I request that for future Polity reviews the details may be publicized before the vote is held. If our College is to produce free minds, it must set them free in practice as well as in principle. Trust the education that you impart to me, and I promise that you will find it to be a valuable education indeed. Reagan Bottomley Aphorism of the Week ὅ τι βούλομαι ἐνθάδε ἂν γάφοιμι, τῶν δὲ πολλῶν ἂν λάθοι, καὶ ἁμαρτήματά περ εἰ ποιοῖμι. Tarik Mahmud A Plea And the Lord God shall be to thee as thou art to thy janitors. (One of the gospels, probably) With that verse in mind, here are some virtues that I'd like to add to the whole faith, hope, and love business: 1. If your paper towel misses the trash can, pick it up and try again. Take as much time as you need. A poem 2. Clean up your table and put your chairs back once you're done eating at the dining hall. Sometimes 3. Bus your dishes like you're the one who's going to have to wash them. Think Tetris. A little bag of oranges A little plate of limes A little conversation A little wasted time Salad with tomatoes Vinegar and salt Sometimes things are lonely Sometimes not at all. Vol. II. Issue xiii If you aren't a direct cause of any of these problems, congrats! But don't celebrate for too long--maybe it's time to step up your game and clean up for others. education leads to fears that the greatest damage to the College may come in a still unexpected way. Demleitner recounted a meeting with Maryland’s Congressional delegation’s staff, in which a Republican’s staffer, “literally said to us… if you hear something [about action against colleges and universities], call me.” Demleitner said that this, “was, to me, the single scariest comment… You’re in the building; why would I hear about this long before you?” St. John’s receives far more funding from the State of Maryland, which is also at risk due to a state budgetary crisis. In the next issue, I will provide coverage of the impact state legislation will have on the College. El’ad Nichols Kaufman Liza love’s Beat of the Week: Sandy Toes - Linda Perhacs If the weather be a sign, Ms. Nature is feeling those February blues. It’s a time for introspection and creature comforts, but we won’t let that get us down. Linda Perhacs’ “Sandy Toes” from her 1970 album Parallelograms is a warm beam of sunshine through stratus and pine. A sweet psychedelic-folk track to carry you to the weekend’s approaching shoreline. Ride the wave, dear friends. LL About the St. John’s Collegian The St. John’s Collegian is the weekly newspaper of St. John’s College Annapolis. We work to bring quick and timely coverage of important events going on, to help develop a more informed student body. If you’re searching for more in-depth investigations and reporting, as well as essays, art and culture, check out the Gadfly, our affiliated publication, which is published once every three weeks. Want to submit an article? We always need more writers, whether for opinion or reporting! Submissions for news articles should be between 400600 words, while opinion should be kept short at 350 words. Just email sjca.collegian@gmail.com with your article, and we will work to get it in print! Longer form articles and more in-depth exploration of ideas should go to the Gadfly, which accepts submissions at eanicholskaufman@sjc.edu. Contributors for this issue: Helen Wagner, Editor and Writer Jacob Sharpe, Editor These things matter. How you do anything is how you do everything. Reagan Bottomley, Writer El’ad Nichols Kaufman, Writer Anonymous Liza Love, Writer Helen Wagner Rumor has it that Mr. Freeman will be personally renovating the BBC this summer. Further details are unknown. – A different Anonymous Page 2 Herschel Reuben, Writer Reagan Bottomley, Writer Tarik Mahmud, Greek Aphorism � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource <em>The St. John's Collegian</em> Description An account of the resource A student newspaper of St. John's College. <em>The St. John's Collegian</em> began publication in 2023 and is affiliated with <a href="https://digitalarchives.sjc.edu/collections/show/16"><em>The Gadfly</em></a>. <br /><br />Published weekly on Thursday, with the exception of weeks <em>The Gadfly </em>is published. <br /><br />Earlier publications with the title <em>The Collegian </em>and <em>The St. John's Collegian </em>are available in <a href="https://digitalarchives.sjc.edu/collections/show/26"><em>The Collegian Collection</em></a>.<br /><br />Click on Items in <a href="https://digitalarchives.sjc.edu/items/browse?collection=69&amp;sort_field=Dublin+Core%2CDate&amp;sort_dir=d">The St. John's Collegian Collection</a> to view and sort all items in the collection. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource St. John's College Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available St. John's College Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Annapolis, Md. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource St. John's College Greenfield Library Language A language of the resource English Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context SJCCollegian Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data pdf Page numeration Number of pages in the original item. 2 pages Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource St. John's Collegian, February 20, 2025 Description An account of the resource Volume 2, issue 13 of the St. John's Collegian, published February 20, 2025. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource St. John's College (Annapolis, Md.) Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available St. John's College (Annapolis, Md.) Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Annapolis, MD Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2025-02-20 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource St. John's College holds the rights to this publication. Type The nature or genre of the resource text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource pdf Subject The topic of the resource St. John's College (Annapolis, Md.)--Periodicals Language A language of the resource English Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context SJCCollegian_vol_II_issueXIII_2025-02-20 Student publication The Collegian The Gadfly https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/sjcdigitalarchives/original/45e17019a3bd11b5effedb37ab6a438d.pdf f295e7af057e8ff28720e5f517fd298a PDF Text Text Thursday February 6 2025 The St. John’s Collegian A Gadfly Publication From the polity “Seniors Manic in Mellon” With winter’s chill lingering across campus, the ghosts of Humphreys drift soundlessly across the remnants of snow. So too do the living wraiths, seniors haunting the halls late into the night. The witching hour lulls almost everyone into silence. Underclassmen dream fitfully of Kant and Aquinas, or sigh themselves to sleep in the flattering belief that they would never fall prey to the Sophist’s argument. All is quiet. That is, except for the frantic scratching of pen on paper and the furious click-clack of keyboards under shaking hands. In the words of graduated senior Chloe Steer, who endured the whirlwind of last year’s writing period, “Your RA is but a shell of a woman. If you see her, give her a hug.” Hope for a normal sleep schedule having vanished from view, the seniors subsist on 3am ramen, tea, coffee, and manna—I mean, Oreos and surprise pizza deliveries. The writing lounge is a sacred place, a sanctuary for those losing their minds in pursuit of essay satisfaction. Without the structure of classes, a variety of readings, and ordinary social activities, the seniors enter into a state of writing intoxication. They gorge themselves on their chosen text, linking their souls to the generations of former Johnnies who have taken up this quest for knowledge. Poring over Plato, obsessing over Ovid, agonizing over Austen, and haggling with Hegel, the seniors reminisce and ruminate on their years exercising intelligence. Just a few more days remain for their time in limbo, caught between the land of the living and the world of their writing. They will not join the Humphreys ghosts, but will rather rise above the whirlwind of writing period through obtaining a better sense of their own selves. Read your books, tell your stories, and find reassurance in your contribution to the tomes of human memory through your very existence. Let yourself live on in legend. Herschel Reuben Vol. II Issue XII Printed Thursdays in Annapolis Cathlodoxy and SJC student government How does one communicate an experience to someone who wasn’t there? How can you defend a memory, when your hearer has only the faintest image of what you are recounting? I attended Divine Liturgy at Holy Archangels’ Orthodox Church for the first time in November to celebrate the feast of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary. I piled in the school van along with the usual crowd of Orthodox Johnnies, and we drove out across the Bay Bridge to Fr. Robert Miclean’s farm on the eastern shore. Since losing a rental property in downtown Annapolis, the parish has been relocated to a corrugated steel barn on Fr. Robert’s property, a stone’s throw from his family’s house. Altar, iconostasis, and dozens of icons have transformed the inside of this large garage into a place of beauty—a sanctuary, a holy place. As I entered (genuflecting from Catholic habit), the rich, deep base of Eastern psalmchanting wafted to my ears like incense. At the front of the nave, kneeling before the icon of Christ on the iconostasis to the right of the holy doors, a friend was confessing his sins to Fr. Robert, and receiving absolution. Reader, if you have never attended the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, you will not understand the solemnity and beauty and fierce vitality which animates Eastern Christianity. You have not heard the singing—ah, the singing! Don’t say that you have listened to recordings of Orthodox chant—that is not what I am talking about. You have not been taken up into the music, been almost possessed by it, found yourself singing it, wanting nearly to shout it. One almost wishes one could sing ‘Lord have mercy!’ again and again until the very return of Christ. The beauty of Holy Archangels’ is not limited to its liturgy. The parish really is a family business. At the altar, Fr. Robert led worship, while Matushka (his wife) directed the choir. The priest’s children were everywhere—two boys wearing vestments assisting their father, a little girl sleeping in the arms of my friend, Adora, and a handful of others, all finding different ways—reverent or rambunctious—of being adorable. After the final blessing, we all crossed the gravel driveway to Fr. Robert’s house, where Matushka This Week in Seminar Freshman: Thursday, February 6 : Plato: Timaeus; Beginning-57 Monday, February 10: Aristotle: Nicomachean Ethics, Book I Sophomores: Thursday, February 6: Chaucer: Canterbury Tales; General Prologue, Knight’s Tale Monday, February 10: Chaucer: Canterbury Tales; Miller’s Prologue and Tale, Reeve’s Prologue and Tale Juniors: Thursday, February 6: Kant: Critique of Pure Reason (selections) Monday, February 10: Kant: Critique of Pure Reason (selections) Seniors: Thursday, February 6: Nietzsche: Use and Disadvantage of History for Life Monday, February 10: Nietzsche: Beyond Good and Evil; Preface, Books 1, 2, 3 Friday Night Lecture: "On Written Speech" - Mary Elizabeth Halper Page 1 had prepared a feast. We ate and drank and laughed together—simple, hearty pleasures. I found the family piano, and the children and I took turns playing pieces we knew. When the festivities were come to an end, we piled back in the school van, and drove home to St. John’s. My poor powers of expression prevent me from doing justice to what I experienced. That beautiful, holy evening lives in my memory; but I cannot give you my memory, only a crude sketch in words. Why do I write this? Recently there was a kerfuffle in the Delegate Council regarding the OCF budget. Two freshman delegates, especially, objected to OCF’s request for gas-money to drive to Holy Archangels’. As I sat in the second budget hearing, last week, I felt as if I was about to burst. It made me so angry listening to Theodora and Lukas being grilled on why they had to attend a church so far away. If you had only been there… Afterwards, I reflected: what made me so angry? Of course, someone who’s never been there can’t possibly understand what this parish means to so many Johnnies—it’s unfair to expect them to. Even so, I hope that moving forward, the DC will give more deference to its constituents’ lived experience. As I said in the meeting last week, some things are not just about dollars and cents, but are about human beings and community. Fortunately, the St. John’s polity is small enough that prioritizing human relationships over cold, rigid legalism is actually possible. I write this with a selfish motive: as the archon of the Catholic Student Fellowship, I have requested $825 from the DC for four Sunday feasts this semester, including our biggest of the year, Easter. If you have ever enjoyed good food or drink, joyful friendship and rich community at a Catholic Student Fellowship brunch, I encourage you to come to our budget hearing to show your support (the date for the hearing is still TBD). Thank you all, and may God bless you. Benedictum Nomen Jesu. Jackson Green Upcoming Events: Tuesday, February 11 SJC Supplemental Coursework Funding Program Information Session, Hodson Conference Room, 4:30 PM �St. John’s Collegian Thursday, February 6, 2025 Vol. II. Issue XII Reflections On Delegate Council Here is a theoretical scenario to consider. Imagine you are the captain of a small ship, placed in the middle of the ocean. You had two air-inflated supports along the side of your vessel, but they both popped, and now the ship is beginning to sink. You have in your company, among others, an Orthodox Christian, a gamer, and a play director. The weight must be reduced, somehow, or people will die. If you cannot decide on what to do in order to stave off the impending disaster, the people will become restless and decide to throw others overboard in order to save themselves at the last minute. As the captain, you are the only person who knows how to control the boat. You must calm these pressures, and make the hard decisions in order to get everyone safely home. You have in your ear an intercom system. People from the mainland are invested in the crisis, and some of their friends are on the boat. “Save the Orthodox Christian!” one of them pleads through the speaker. “She is a good, spiritual person!” It’s true. She is a good and spiritual person. But is the gamer thereby bad and unspiritual? Should you kill the gamer? Should you throw him overboard? There is one option to save everyone, but it isn’t easy. It is to reduce the possessions of the people onboard. The Orthodox Christian must give up one of her shoes. It will be harder to walk, but she will at least live to walk. The gamer must give up his new video games. He will miss them, but there are video games he can play back home. The play director must toss out another actor’s wig from her knapsack, even though she’s already sacrificed far more than that. There are so many people on the boat, and they should each be given a chance to live. If the captain is weak, people will die, but he may avoid the resentment associated with compelling people to give up their possessions (including their food). If the captain is strong, everyone will live, and hopefully - despite the passions of the moment - at the end of the day, the passengers must agree that it was better to live in a reduced state than to perish under the waves. The requested club funding amount currently exceeds the available finances by $17k+. The Delegate Council is not nearly on track to get that excess under control, and people are already feeling pressed. To that end: Every single club that has had their budget approved this semester received more money than is sustainable. The pain of this is not felt yet, but if we do not gather our commitment to avoiding the worst fate possible, some people will have to drown. Unless someone has started a “Murder Club,” a “Fentanyl Club,” or a “Tax-Evasion Club,” I do not think we will find an easy way out of this. Will Pickering Really, we are not even close. This is a matter of economy, just as the analogy of the boat is a matter of physics. We cannot pull money out of thin air, just as the captain cannot generate a floatation device from behind his ear. No matter how people feel, it does not change the reality, and I want to communicate that this is a challenge that the entire community is facing. It is not in any sense personal. It is a matter of inevitability. Aphorism of the Week Οὔτοι ἀληθῶς οἴει ὅτι, ἐάν πως τοῦ φωτὸς ἡ στιγμὴ ἔν τινι ἢ τοῦ κάλλους ἢ τοῦ βάθους εὑρετέα, σφόδρα χρή σε τοῦτο λαβεῖν ὁλώτατον καὶ μεγίστῳ ζήλῳ οὔτε λῦσαι; Tarik Mahmud ”Burning Notes for Senior Papers in Common Room Fireplace” From SJC Digital Archives SCI Updates Questions after Successful Death Forum Last week’s lunchtime forum drew an unusually large crowd when the Student Committee on Instruction posed the question, “how does the program prepare us for death?” Senior Representative Mr Domanski, asking the question, was his usual smiley and chatty self, while the conversation as a whole was unusually somber. The St. John’s Collegian is the weekly newspaper of St. John’s College Annapolis. We work to bring quick and timely coverage of important events going on, to help develop a more informed student body. If you’re searching for more in-depth investigations and reporting, as well as essays, art and culture, check out the Gadfly, our affiliated publication, which is published once every three weeks. Many students were eager to get their voices heard: Mr Green, a senior, opened up the conversation, saying, “All I see is death. I walk into the fishbowl and I see death. The dining hall is a mausoleum and Humphreys is a morgue.” Mr Zitler, a junior, got right to the heart of the matter, asking questions like, “Where did Grandpa go? They said he was sleeping, but it’s been years. Where is he now? Can I see him?” About the St. John’s Collegian “Tutor and Students Seated at Seminar Table” From St. John’s College Archives Pleased with the attendance and engagement, the SCI has decided to update some of their questions to maintain high engagement. The polity can look forward to upcoming forums addressing pressing program matters like, “Why are mom and dad fighting?” and, “Does the program inspire us to wait for Chuckie’s pasta bar even when the line is long?” Want to submit an article? We always need more writers, whether for opinion or reporting! Submissions for news articles should be between 400-600 words, while opinion should be kept short at 350 words. Just email sjca.collegian@gmail.com with your article, and we will work to get it in print! Longer form articles and more in-depth exploration of ideas should go to the Gadfly, which accepts submissions at eanicholskaufman@sjc.edu. Contributors for this issue: Helen Wagner, Editor Jacob Sharpe, Editor Nate Burke, Writer Jackson Green, Writer Will Pickering, Writer Herschel Reuben, Writer Tarik Mahmud, Greek Aphorism We hope to see you all there! Nate Burke Page 2 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource <em>The St. John's Collegian</em> Description An account of the resource A student newspaper of St. John's College. <em>The St. John's Collegian</em> began publication in 2023 and is affiliated with <a href="https://digitalarchives.sjc.edu/collections/show/16"><em>The Gadfly</em></a>. <br /><br />Published weekly on Thursday, with the exception of weeks <em>The Gadfly </em>is published. <br /><br />Earlier publications with the title <em>The Collegian </em>and <em>The St. John's Collegian </em>are available in <a href="https://digitalarchives.sjc.edu/collections/show/26"><em>The Collegian Collection</em></a>.<br /><br />Click on Items in <a href="https://digitalarchives.sjc.edu/items/browse?collection=69&amp;sort_field=Dublin+Core%2CDate&amp;sort_dir=d">The St. John's Collegian Collection</a> to view and sort all items in the collection. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource St. John's College Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available St. John's College Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Annapolis, Md. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource St. John's College Greenfield Library Language A language of the resource English Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context SJCCollegian Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data pdf Page numeration Number of pages in the original item. 2 pages Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource St. John's Collegian, February 6, 2025 Description An account of the resource Volume 2, issue 12 of the St. John's Collegian, published February 6, 2025. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource St. John's College (Annapolis, Md.) Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available St. John's College (Annapolis, Md.) Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Annapolis, MD Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2025-02-06 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource St. John's College holds the rights to this publication. Type The nature or genre of the resource text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource pdf Subject The topic of the resource St. John's College (Annapolis, Md.)--Periodicals Language A language of the resource English Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context SJCCollegian_vol_II_issueXII_2025-02-06 Student publication The Collegian The Gadfly https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/sjcdigitalarchives/original/aa7cfd25056d2953ffe0628a0d1361a2.pdf b5b67df2c1798dc5fdc9431d7598865f PDF Text Text Thursday January 30 2025 The St. John’s Collegian A Gadfly Publication From the polity Reflections on Huron Forum A few weeks ago, I attended a student forum with two representatives from Huron Consulting. The purpose of the forum was, primarily, to provide Huron with an opportunity to learn directly what we believe the spirit of St. John’s to be, and what is most necessary to preserve to keep that spirit alive. It was also an important opportunity for students to put names and faces to the suspicious Huron Consulting and their Strategic Visioning Plan that has been spoken of with unease and mistrust for so many months. The consultants asked us a series of basic yet important questions about St. John’s, hoping to hear personal and honest accounts of what we love most about our college, what drew us here in the first place, and what changes would improve our experience. Though many students initially seemed wary, it was not long before we were all giving earnest accounts of our own experiences. The consultants seemed genuinely interested in our stories and were constantly asking us to elaborate further so that they might better understand each of our unique St. John’s experiences. Though the idea of an outside consulting firm becoming involved in our small, intimate college is uncomfortable to us all, the people running this project seem to be intent upon preserving what we love about St. John’s and ensuring that we have a long, bright future ahead of us. I spoke personally with one of the consultants, and when I asked him what the goals of their project were and how the forum would prove useful, he said that their goal was to help the school attain financial stability for the sake of ensuring the long-term survival and success of our Program. It is impossible that one short forum can fully calm our worries about what kinds of changes Huron will suggest, or what the future might bring for St. John’s as we struggle to maintain an unconventional program and survive in the modern world. But I can say that, on first impressions alone, the Huron consultants displayed real curiosity and interest in getting to know students and becoming familiar with everything that makes our life and education here so important to us. It is up to us students to build strong relationships with the people that will decide our future, and to remember to use our voices in times of change, in order to ensure that our future properly reflects who we are. Vol. II Issue XI Printed Thursdays in Annapolis A Well-Examined life: Memorial Service Honors the Legacy of the Late Ms. Brann Saturday, January 18, 2025, was a day marked by somber skies and slippery roads. Temperatures in the thirties did little to deter the steady stream of attendees arriving to honor Ms. Eva Brann, who passed away on October 28, 2024. By 2 p.m., the Great Hall was alight with warmth and conversation. Among those present were Grace Cavalieri, Maryland’s 10th poet laureate, and former Santa Fe president Mike Peters. At the right side of the podium stood a portrait of Ms. Brann, in front of an impressive bookshelf, holding her book Feeling Our Feelings: What Philosophers Think and People Know. Her wise, warm smile seemed to embrace all who had come to celebrate her extraordinary life. Ms. Brann always maintained that she was not a refugee. In the US, she had not found refuge, she had found paradise. Where else would a college like St. John’s be possible? President Demleitner opened the program with a heartfelt welcome. She spoke of Ms. Brann’s immense contributions to the college, emphasizing that her legacy would endure not just in the institution’s history but in the lives she had touched. The formal tributes began with Tutor Joan Silver, who had assembled the program. Other tutors delivered tributes, including former president Christopher Nelson, Eric Salem, David Carl (Santa Fe, in absentia), Steven Crockett (in absentia), and Janet Dougherty. Former students, alumni, and friends Robin Tzannes, Paul Dry, Sharon Bishop, Barry and Gretchen Mazur, and Kimo Mackey delivered the remaining remarks, painting a colorful picture of Ms. Brann as an educator and friend. Tributes from friends and colleagues revealed her singular impact as a teacher and mentor. When Ms. Brann began her tenure at St. John’s, there were only four women on campus. She became the college’s first female dean in the 1990s. She had to keep her address a secret because otherwise students would just show up to discuss the books. Born into a Jewish family in Berlin, her father, a doctor, introduced her to Kant on their walks in the park when she was five. Her early years were marked by a duality: though she grew up in Nazi Germany, her childhood was remarkably protected. In 1939, Ms. Brann’s father was attending a conference in the US when the pogroms of the Reichskristallnacht took place. The family told him not to return to Germany. In 1941, at 12 years old, she left Germany for Portugal alongside her mother and 9-year-old brother Wolfgang. Their destination was the United States, where they would finally be reunited with Ms. Brann’s father. Despite traumatizing experiences—including the suicide of her younger brother, a veteran of the Korea War, who she viewed as “the gifted one”— people described her as a woman without grief. In fact, some even called her the least angst-ridden person, i.e. the complete opposite of Achilles. She returned to Germany once. This one trip revealed to her that she was in fact an American. She recognized that if the Nazis had not come to power, she would been doomed to become a professor which would have forced her to specialize and would have brought about her tyrannical side. Ms. Brann loved her new country— especially the Southwest—and described the United States as a “country growing upwards.” She did not aim to be an expert at the seminar table, but rather an expert in conversation. This approach resonated deeply with students and colleagues alike. Tutor Janet Dougherty recalled Ms. Brann’s practice of “governing through conversation.” Musical interludes during the service provided pauses for reflection. Tutor Chester Burke (flute) and alumnus James Siranovich (piano) performed the first movement of Bach’s Flute Sonata in B minor. Later, a group of students, staff, and tutors, conducted by Ms. Paalman, delivered a rendition of Dona Nobis Pacem from Bach’s B Minor Mass. Especially to current students, Ms. Brann can appear a larger-than-life figure, but tributaries were able to develop a three-dimensional vision of the person that Ms. Brann had been. Surprising facts about her were part of this. Here is a selection that elicited chuckles from the audience: she had fondness for McDonald’s, cowboy novels, sailing trips, and children— which explains her desire to open a day care on campus. There were also allusions to Ms. Brann’s unique sense of humor. Apparently, when she said after lunch that she was going to “go and read the Bible,” this was a code word for her taking a nap. Ms. Brann received the National Medal of Humanities twice. Thus, she met Continued on Page 2 Catherine Greer This Week in Seminar Freshman: Thursday, January 30: Plato, Sophist, beginning – 242B Monday, February 3: Plato, Sophist, 242C – end Sophomores: Thursday, January 30: Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae, selections Monday, February 3: Christian Creeds and Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae, selections Juniors: Thursday, January 30: Kant, Critique of Pure Reason, selections Monday, February 3: Kant, Critique of Pure Reason, selections Seniors: Thursday, January 30: Writing Period! Monday, February 3: Melville, Benito Cereno Friday Night Lecture: No Lecture (Long Weekend) Page 1 Upcoming Events: Friday, January 31: Long Weekend begins Saturday, February 1: Senior Essays Due at Midnight (Bell Ringing at McDowell Hall)! Sunday, February 2: Groundhog Day Monday, February 3: Long Weekend ends with seminars at 7:30pm �St. John’s Collegian Thursday, January 30, 2025 Vol. X. Issue XI Annapolis Receives Solar Energy Grant For anyone attending the Board of Visitors and Governors meeting in October, a certain measure of jealousy was undoubtedly directed towards Santa Fe. Not only did attendees have to hear about how the energy costs for our campus are a whopping $700,000 per year compared to their paltry $140,000, but it was revealed that much of their energy is now supplied by a shiny new solar panel installation on their campus. Their access to green energy has been enough to turn the rest of us green with envy! Fortunately, news has reached your humble journalist that our dear Annapolis is not far away from solar energy itself. St. John’s has recently been approved for a Maryland grant to advance green energy on our campus. The Higher Education Clean Energy Pilot Program has granted us $1.03 million, and finally we shall have solar panels! The plan is to install these on the roof of Mellon and the nearby heating plant. Also included in the grant are funds to create a new master plan for our campus that focuses on promoting green energy, as well as the framework for multiple student internships on campus. Over the next few months the Career Development Office will be working to finalize these internships, which will be offered to the Polity as soon as they are available. The process will begin fully in February, when members of the administration will meet with structural architects from the Kezlo group and solar contractors from Solar Energy Services, including Johnnie alumn Ethan Goddard who is the latter’s VP of Energy Technology. Before solar panels can be directly installed, we must carry out desperately needed repairs on the Mellon roof. The College also has to apply for permission from the Annapolis Historical Society along with the State of Maryland. According to our CFO Ally Gontang-Highfield, “They are primarily trying to ensure that we are taking care to preserve our historic buildings and that the design is acceptable under historic standards for the city of Annapolis.” Once all permits have been secured and the plans have been approved, installation can begin for these solar panels. The administration hopes that work can begin this semester and that we will have a fully functional solar array as soon as this fall, but ultimately the timeline is up to how quickly the city and state will approve the details for the project. The solar installation size is still not firmly planned, but current estimates sit at a 346.9 kW/h (kilo-watts per hour) array on the Mellon roof, and a smaller 64.9 kW/h array on the roof of the heating plant for a total size of 411.8 kW/h. This is smaller than our sister’s newly installed array, but it must be remembered that the Santa Fe campus has much more open space and Southwestern sunshine than we do in our crowded downtown Northeastern campus. Again, estimates are not yet firm, but the expectation is to cut about 5% off our annual utility bill and avoid sourcing a comparable amount of energy from the main power grid. Aphorism of the Week Reagan Bottomley About the St. John’s Collegian The St. John’s Collegian is the weekly newspaper of St. John’s College Annapolis. We work to bring quick and timely coverage of important events going on, to help develop a more informed student body. If you’re searching for more in-depth investigations and reporting, as well as essays, art and culture, check out the Gadfly, our affiliated publication, which is published once every three weeks. Ms. Brann was well traveled and had friends around the world. She would visit her former student and friend Robin Tzannes on the Greek island of Kythnos. There, she liked to “cook up a storm.” Barry Mazur shared that she was so curious about the world that she asked him to “spy” for her on Mount Athos, where women were prohibited. Helen Felbek Special thanks to CFO Ally Gontang-Highfield, who was instrumental in providing the information for this article. Tarik Mahmoud President George W. Bush and President Barack Obama. When asked to describe these men, she called Bush “very fit,” and Obama “interminably charming.” After the memorial, attendees were invited to the FSK Lobby for light refreshments and conversation. Though the skies remained gray, those who departed did so with a renewed sense of purpose, honoring Ms. Brann’s demand: “we must continue the conversation.” While Santa Fe may still have a leg up in terms of green energy, Annapolitans can be glad to know that we too can soon harness our own piece of sunshine. As the administration works to implement large-scale changes, don’t forget that the student body can have a huge impact on energy consumption! I urge you, student or faculty, to be on the lookout for ways you can cut down on energy uses around campus. As always, don’t forget to turn out the lights! Ἐκτὸς τῆς πόλεως οὐκ εἴσι θύραι. Eva Brann Memorial, cont’d As the program drew to a close, Sharon Bishop’s words lingered in the minds of all present: “We are her legacy.” Ms. Brann’s life was a well-examined one, full of conversations with texts, with students, with the world. Her ability to live without regret, to govern through dialogue, and to inspire others to think deeply and broadly will be remembered. Even those who did not know her personally felt the weight of her absence. In addition, depending on the decision of our current Federal administration, we may be able to apply for annual renewable energy credits to further decrease our energy costs. This will likely be the largest solar installation anywhere in downtown Annapolis, including recent installations by the city. These solar panels are only a piece of our new energy grant. Along with internships that we students can apply for, the College will also be implementing a new master strategy that focuses on green energy. This is not connected to the plans being laid out in conjunction with Huron Consulting, which are primarily focused on fundraising and student enrollment. This master strategy will be a plan for the physical layout of the College, and will replace a severely outdated strategy from several years ago. Tailored to our more modern needs, this plan will ensure that as the College renovates and constructs buildings around campus, it will follow a guide to grow as green as possible. “At the retirement party for Eva Brann, the dean reads with surprise at a galley copy of her newest book, The Past-Present, delivered by tutor Pamela Kraus and designer Adrienne Rogers, 1997,” St. John's College Digital Archives. Editor’s Note: While scouring the college’s digital archives for a photo of Ms. Brann, I discovered scans of the autobiography she wrote when she was 14, titled I Came Across the Ocean. Pieces of it were quoted during her memorial. You can read it if you search the archives! Go to https://digitalarchives.sjc.edu. Want to submit an article? We always need more writers, whether for opinion or reporting! Submissions for news articles should be between 400-600 words, while opinion should be kept short at 350 words. Just email sjca.collegian@gmail.com with your article, and we will work to get it in print! Longer form articles and more in-depth exploration of ideas should go to the Gadfly, which accepts submissions at eanicholskaufman@sjc.edu. Contributors for this issue: Helen Wagner, Editor “We save up the events of our days to tell our friends, feeling that until our affairs have been told they haven’t quite happened: Thus do our friends confirm our lives.” - Eva Brann, Open Secrets / Inward Prospects: Reflections on World and Soul Page 2 Jacob Sharpe, Editor Reagan Bottomley, Writer Helen Felbek, Writer Catherine Greer, Writer Tarik Mahmoud, Aphorism � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource <em>The St. John's Collegian</em> Description An account of the resource A student newspaper of St. John's College. <em>The St. John's Collegian</em> began publication in 2023 and is affiliated with <a href="https://digitalarchives.sjc.edu/collections/show/16"><em>The Gadfly</em></a>. <br /><br />Published weekly on Thursday, with the exception of weeks <em>The Gadfly </em>is published. <br /><br />Earlier publications with the title <em>The Collegian </em>and <em>The St. John's Collegian </em>are available in <a href="https://digitalarchives.sjc.edu/collections/show/26"><em>The Collegian Collection</em></a>.<br /><br />Click on Items in <a href="https://digitalarchives.sjc.edu/items/browse?collection=69&amp;sort_field=Dublin+Core%2CDate&amp;sort_dir=d">The St. John's Collegian Collection</a> to view and sort all items in the collection. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource St. John's College Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available St. John's College Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Annapolis, Md. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource St. John's College Greenfield Library Language A language of the resource English Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context SJCCollegian Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data pdf Page numeration Number of pages in the original item. 2 pages Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource St. John's Collegian, January 30, 2025 Description An account of the resource Volume 2, issue 11 of the St. John's Collegian, published January 30, 2025. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource St. John's College (Annapolis, Md.) Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available St. John's College (Annapolis, Md.) Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Annapolis, MD Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2025-01-30 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource St. John's College holds the rights to this publication. Type The nature or genre of the resource text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource pdf Subject The topic of the resource St. John's College (Annapolis, Md.)--Periodicals Language A language of the resource English Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context SJCCollegian_vol_II_issueXI_2025-01-30 Student publication The Collegian The Gadfly https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/sjcdigitalarchives/original/a354c3d7bf3483a226d67cc5ae30f08b.pdf f4467a7e98811ea599a16a05045fdb51 PDF Text Text Thursday January 16, 2025 The St. John’s Collegian A Gadfly Publication FROM the polity Keep Our Fishbowl Clean An exhortation to all returning seniors: I entreat you all, as we enter this season of essay writing, to not make the mistake and fall into the errors of our forebears and turn our beloved Fishbowl into a den of iniquity. We ought to treat our public spaces like public spaces and refrain from using them as personal repositories for books, papers, half-drunk and now-cold coffee cups, plant life, gnawn muffins, and shrines to the Blessed Virgin. If these things help you to write, then by all means, bring them; but also remember to take them. The writing period is a wonderful time for us Seniors to take our time with a text we truly love and create our Johnnie magnum opus. This activity can and should be, in the words of our dean, “exhilarating and satisfying” but it needn’t be a selfish one. In fact, I would argue that the writing of a senior essay, while a seemingly-solitary one, is intensely collaborative. The Johnnie essay has been described to me as “a continuation of the conversation.” In any Johnnie essay and especially in the senior essay, we get to collaborate and learn from our peers, our essay advisor, and the authors themselves–from the reading of the text to the drafting, to the editing, and finally, to the public oral. Every step along the way, we are reminded of the thoughts and words of others and the fact that we are not alone in this journey. So, let us put pen to paper and enjoy this month as a privileged and extended conversation. And, as we think of others’ thoughts, let us also think of the other people, and keep our Fishbowl clean. Happy writing. Caleb Briggs A dirty fishbowl. [Credit: r/shittyaquariums] Vol. II Issue X Printed Thursdays in Annapolis At AnnEbeth’s, with AnnEbeth A Casual Interview On a given Tuesday afternoon, around 3:35 pm, you might find me trudging hungrily down Prince George Street in search of an after-school snack. My walk home takes me along Maryland Avenue—an agreeable necessity— and I often can’t resist stopping into Annebeth’s for a sandwich or some focaccia bread. I know I’m not the only one: Annebeth’s is an Annapolis staple—and so is its eponymous owner, Annebeth herself. I recently stopped in for a conversation with her, hoping to get to know the woman behind it all. She’s a familiar face to many, with her dark hair, youthful smile, and friendly disposition. But she manages nevertheless to be somewhat enigmatic. Her shop, in varied forms, has existed for 26 years, longer than most of us can remember (and longer than some of us have been alive). Its steady presence on the corner lends it a mythic aspect, like that of a timeless monument. Whether you’re a frequent customer or a passerby, this feature of the modern Johnnie landscape is as familiar to us as the quad and College Creek. But how did it get here? On Friday, I stood across the counter from Annebeth, eating steak bites and asking her questions between customers. “I moved to Annapolis in the mid 80’s,” she said. “I was a teenager and went to high school around here… my parents lived a couple blocks away. Going to my bus stop for school, I would walk Maryland Avenue in my teens. I just loved that street. My bus stop was right off of Duke of Gloucester.” Her first job was at Dimitri’s, a Greek restaurant on Main Street where Preserve is now. Her coworkers downtown were often Johnnies. “I went abroad to Europe for a while, after college, and when I came back, I wanted to start my own thing,” she continued. So, on Black Friday of 1998, the first Annebeth’s opened— right up the street from its current location. “My background was in hospitality, but I knew I didn’t want to open a restaurant. But I did want to be around food and drink.” Along with food and drink, the first iteration of Annebeth’s was also a movie rental store. “It was kind of a date-night theme,” she recalls, “You could go in and get your movies, snacks, wine, beer. Now everything’s just streamed, so that’s changed.” Here, our conversation diverged to movies: Annebeth’s favorites are classic romances, like My Fair Lady and Roman Holiday. She also mentioned that Patriot Games has scenes filmed in Annapolis. But I digress. 15 years after opening the video store, Annebeth moved down the street to her current location at the This Week in Seminar Freshman: Thursday, January 16th: Thucydides: Peloponnesian War, VII; VIII, 1-6, 45-end Monday, January 20th: Plato: Parmenides, beginning–148D, 166C Sophomores: Thursday, January 16th: Dante: Divine Comedy, Purgatorio, XIX–XXXIII Monday, January 20th: Dante: Divine Comedy, Paradiso, I–XVII Juniors: Thursday, January 16th: Hume: Treatise of Human Nature (selections) Monday, January 20th: Hume: Treatise of Human Nature (selections) Seniors: Thursday, January 16th: Writing Period! Monday, January 20th: Writing Period! Friday All-College Seminar: On Frederick Douglass’ “The Mission of the War.” Page 1 corner of Prince George and Maryland Avenue. She’s been there for the past 11 years. Annebeth’s is integral to the St. John’s community: she has furnished the wine for many a Johnnie soirée, the bread and cheese for springtime picnics, and the kombucha to accompany us in our late summer sunbathing. She also has family connections to the college. Her dad, Gerald Bunker, was a tutor in the ‘60s. Her stepsister’s dad, John Sarkissian, taught here in the 80s. She loves having the college nearby. “I’ve always had at least one Johnnie on staff,” she said. “I only have three employees, so it’s pretty small, but there’s always a Johnnie.” She feels more of a connection to Johnnies than to Middies, but she’s happy to do business with both. “I always get a giggle when I see a mid and a Johnnie dating,” she added. I asked her if she has any advice for future small business owners. “Consistency,” she said. “Make sure you’re open when you say you’re open and closed when you say you’re closed. Follow through.” She certainly exemplifies this herself: it’s her reliability, among other things, which makes her a Maryland Avenue staple. “I love being my own boss,” she said. “Making the decisions. I can’t imagine going back to work for somebody else. And I like the social part of it. If I’m at home too long, I need the outlet. I get energy from seeing people.” People seem to enjoy seeing her, too: at one point we were interrupted by a customer looking for a vegetarian sandwich. Unfortunately, his herbivorous intentions were thwarted by the chicken fajita. As Annebeth closed the transaction, she handed me a caramel candy. “For later,” she said. I put it in my pocket. Helen Wagner Left: “Portrait of Gerald E. Bunker.” SJC Digital Archives Right: Annebeth, photo by Helen Wagner Upcoming Events: Friday, January 17 All-College Seminar, Great Hall, 7:20pm Saturday, January 18 Eva Brann Memorial, Great Hall, 2pm Pajama Waltz, Boathouse, 9pm �Thursday, January 16, 2025 St. John’s Collegian Vol. II. Issue X Next, Winter Comes Softly Reforming Deicing Practices on Campus The return from winter break is an interesting one, where the sudden need to face the bracing cold is met by all, some of whom are not adequately prepared, seniors fight a losing battle writing their essays in the fishbowl, and everyone is sick. Over the past few days, I’ve returned inside from a delightful wintry walk or an adventure sledding down the lower field hill to hear a booming cough reverberate down the hallway. snow day is a thing of joy and wonder that propels even room Johnnies outside to enjoy the outdoors. Salt ruins snow’s texture, stains its pristine color blue, destroys footwear, and makes spaces indoor and outdoor feel chalky and weird. The intentions in which salt is used are certainly noble, but I would argue its use creates other issues that are perhaps even more dangerous. Winter at St. John’s is a time when everything is shared, from barbeque lids used as improvised sleds to chronic pulmonary illnesses. The ingenuity of Johnnies when they see snow never fails to impress. From the aforementioned barbeque lid, which performed surprisingly well and resulted in few injuries, I also witnessed students using undersized cookie sheets stolen from Spector and Gilliam kitchens, garbage bags, and sleds hijacked from townspeople in their efforts to speedily descend the slope. New sledding techniques were developed, one of which involved sitting backwards and was aptly named “gruesome style”. One recent morning, I was going to breakfast, exited Paca, and almost died. Several days prior, salt had been laid on the steps to melt the accumulation of snow, but this watery slush became diluted and refroze in the night. I confidently placed my foot on a smooth glassy round of ice, and, if I had fallen, there would’ve been no snow to cushion my fall. The railings saved me, not the salt. The sledding fun waned, the hill compacted to thinning ice with grass visible in patches. The ice receded from the dock and is merely a distant temptation. Another dusting of snow came again to refresh the landscape. But its boon was limited, and the eternal enemy of salt was to blame. Salt is worthless, good for nothing but to be thrown onto paths and trampled underfoot. It reduces the charming crunch of snow and ice underfoot into a wet slush that fills the shoes and leaves white trails in the hallways. Most of all, it makes me really sad. A This is not a criticism of the school’s actions when it snows, certainly it is a great and meet thing to keep paths clear and accessible, but the issue with salt is that on days below 20° F, any benefit it is able to grant is turned into another obstacle. This is why I propose the school move to other means of deicing the walks and heed my chemical knowledge. Aphorism of the Week ὁ τροφός ἐστί ἀνὴρ σὺν ἀγκιςτρῷ. Jacob Sharpe Walking in a Winter Under Land Breaking news! The Lady of the Underquad was recently spotted frolicking about our winter-kissed campus in the wee hours of the night. Witnesses say frosty fairies danced about as snow surrounded her in its pure white glory, though these visions may very well have simply been clusters of snowflakes falling from the heavens. torch of its knowledge is passed along. The Lady of the Underquad especially implores the newest members of SJC to open their minds to whimsy, mirth, and wonder just as she and many other Johnnies have done before. Therefore, let us join her frolicking and journey through the world of wonder together! Either way, this snowy jubilation indicates the promise of wondrous new beginnings. Far below the frosty blanket wrapping SJC in its glittering splendor lies a realm where fires never deprive the people of comforting warmth, long-forgotten tomes whisper wisdom to those frantically typing up senior essays above ground, and gossip runs rampant about the unknown new successor to the Underquad’s throne. Assured by their Lady that a new heir shall indeed be selected well before the last Ab Major chord has resounded through the halls of Mellon, the Paca gnomes have turned their attention and energy towards preparing for the new ruler’s advent. Goldsmiths are hard at work sketching designs for a new crown, while politicians debate relentlessly over the proper proceedings of the coronation. Herschel Reuben Yet the Underquad’s new ruler must be aware of the lore they will one day pass along to the Polity’s next generation of eager young minds. Therefore I, Herschel Reuben, shall do my best to faithfully convey tales of the lore and life of the Underquad from this day forth until that fateful time when the The humble element of hydrogen is cheap, abundant, and, most importantly, freezes at the nippy low of -434.5°F. Were hydrogen scattered on the paths instead of salt, and were it also soluble in water, our problems would be solved and paths on campus would remain clear and safe. This latter problem, on making hydrogen an amenable solute for water, as well as lowering its vapor pressure so that it might hold a scatterable form in standard atmospheric pressure, is a project I assign to worthier minds than I. Until then, I recommend everyone watch their steps. Godspeed. Jacob Sharpe UPCOMING SCI FORUMS Courtesy of the Student Committee on Instruction Jan 22nd: What do we gain from studying and participating in music? Jan 29th: Does the program prepare us for death, as Socrates suggests in the Phaedo? Feb 5th: Is it wrong to maintain preferences for certain kinds of texts on the program? Feb 12th: How do we cultivate good relationships between students and tutors? Feb 19th: How do we approach the process of planning for and writing our annual essays? Feb 26th: How can we best use our breaks? WEDNESDAYS. 11:45. PRIVATE DINING ROOM. Free lunch for off-campus students! Page 2 A student enjoys the sledding medium of ice-grass amalgam. About the St. John’s Collegian The St. John’s Collegian is the weekly newspaper of St. John’s College Annapolis. We work to bring quick and timely coverage of important events going on, to help develop a more informed student body. If you’re searching for more in-depth investigations and reporting, as well as essays, art and culture, check out the Gadfly, our affiliated publication, which is published once every three weeks. Want to submit an article? We always need more writers, whether for opinion or reporting! Submissions for news articles should be between 400600 words, while opinion should be kept short at 350 words. Just email sjca.collegian@gmail.com with your article, and we will work to get it in print! Longer form articles and more in-depth exploration of ideas should go to the Gadfly, which accepts submissions at eanicholskaufman@sjc.edu. Contributors for this issue: Helen Wagner, Editor and Writer Jacob Sharpe, Editor and Writer Caleb Briggs, Author Herschel Reuben, Author � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource <em>The St. John's Collegian</em> Description An account of the resource A student newspaper of St. John's College. <em>The St. John's Collegian</em> began publication in 2023 and is affiliated with <a href="https://digitalarchives.sjc.edu/collections/show/16"><em>The Gadfly</em></a>. <br /><br />Published weekly on Thursday, with the exception of weeks <em>The Gadfly </em>is published. <br /><br />Earlier publications with the title <em>The Collegian </em>and <em>The St. John's Collegian </em>are available in <a href="https://digitalarchives.sjc.edu/collections/show/26"><em>The Collegian Collection</em></a>.<br /><br />Click on Items in <a href="https://digitalarchives.sjc.edu/items/browse?collection=69&amp;sort_field=Dublin+Core%2CDate&amp;sort_dir=d">The St. John's Collegian Collection</a> to view and sort all items in the collection. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource St. John's College Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available St. John's College Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Annapolis, Md. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource St. John's College Greenfield Library Language A language of the resource English Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context SJCCollegian Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data pdf Page numeration Number of pages in the original item. 2 pages Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource St. John's Collegian, January 16, 2025 Description An account of the resource Volume 2, issue 10 of the St. John's Collegian, published January 16, 2025. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource St. John's College (Annapolis, Md.) Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available St. John's College (Annapolis, Md.) Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Annapolis, MD Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2025-01-16 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource St. John's College holds the rights to this publication. Type The nature or genre of the resource text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource pdf Subject The topic of the resource St. John's College (Annapolis, Md.)--Periodicals Language A language of the resource English Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context SJCCollegian_vol_II_issueX_2025-01-16 Student publication The Collegian The Gadfly https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/sjcdigitalarchives/original/1d40afdcc2cc287f4b06438beacbfe69.pdf e61c640bacf55de6f084625fc6571d0d PDF Text Text Thursday February 27 2025 The St. John’s Collegian A Gadfly Publication Darkness One thing which has disturbed me since the renovation of Mellon is that the lights in the southern part of the building are automatic—if they’re off, they’ll turn back on if someone is in their range. Aside from this fact that this, like much of the renovation, is slightly out-of-place with the rest of the building, I find such a phenomenon rather disturbing. I understand that automatic lights may be a great convenience, but as someone who is averse to convenience when it strays from beauty, I must say that I don’t appreciate the rudeness of these lights. If any of my readers have been in the rest of Mellon when its lights are out, I hope you have noticed the subdued and quiet nighttime atmosphere that the darkness generates—but in the lobby and fishbowl, this atmosphere is entirely missing at night, since the lights so impolitely assume that you want them turned on. Think further how much better it is to work by lamplight than under overweening ceiling lights. I’m not writing just to complain about a minor situation in Mellon. I am reminded by this of humanity’s improper and grotesque obsession with light. Have you ever seen one of those satellite images of the earth at night? They are very upsetting; our hubristic and decadent insistence* that we have glaring lights wherever we go is an offense to nature. The nighttime is supposed to be dark, and I think we ought to respect that. Even right now, as I write this at midnight with my lights turned out, if I exit my room, my dorm’s hall light will be on: I can even see it under the door (and believe me I have looked all over for a light switch to turn it off)! The impairment of vision at night is, I believe, a very important thing. Don’t even get me started on the Naval Academy’s obscene alumni building, which flies in the face of God, who made the night dark. *This is a necessary rhetorical ellipsis. In truth, it is not only hubristic and decadent, but pleonexic, hedonistic, tasteless, insomniac, selfish, cowardly, brutish, troglodytic, vociferous (don’t even get me started), hypertensive, capitalistic, prideful, pitiful, impatient, democratic to the point of tyranny, oppressive, insolent, bad, etc. Most of these adjectives apply to motorcycles, too, those impudent and phallically compensatory vehicles. Some also apply to airplanes, but at least those are fun to ride in, and when I do feel annoyed, I can just point a laser at them. Tarik Mahmud Vol. II Issue XIV Printed Thursdays in Annapolis Bird Poop and the Joy of the Unplannable Last weekend after Saturday brunch, I sat down in the library to read the Wall Street Journal—one of my many small indulgences. I happened across an article in the travel section which caught my eye: a spotlight piece for the Parador Hotel in Cuenca, Spain. A large, color photograph of the hotel covered nearly half the page. It showed the former convent, old and tileroofed and imposing, crowning a sheer hill-top. One sees such pictures frequently in travel journalism; but this one grabbed my attention because I had been there. When I was thirteen, my family traveled to Spain. We rented a car in Madrid, and over the course of a month, drove south through Toledo, Córdoba, Seville, and Granada, then north-east to Valencia and Barcelona. Near the end of the trip, on our way back to Madrid from Barcelona, we stopped in Cuenca, and stayed at the Parador. The town of Cuenca is small. A deep gorge divides it from the hill the hotel is built on—its old houses built flush to the cliff-face on one side, the repurposed abbey standing isolated on the opposite edge. One can imagine the monks in older times looking out from their cloister windows across this geological divide which separated them from the townsfolk, and pondering its apt, spiritual symbolism. Today there are no monks in the abbey, only tourists; and tourists want to go into town. Thus, a narrow, iron bridge was built some time in the last century, which spans the gorge from one cliffside to the other. I remember walking across this bridge. My father is afraid of heights, and fear is contagious; so each time our family crossed it to or from town was an ordeal. Besides the landscape, I only remember a few things from our days there—an old church, meeting a local American expat. Really, we did not do much. In Granada, my sisters and I had got very sick, and though we had mostly recovered, by this point in our Spanish traipsing we were travel-weary; all of us were happy to take things at a more leisurely pace. One episode which remains distinctly in my memory concerns a visit our family made to an art museum in Cuenca. The collection was small, consisting mostly of modern paintings. For me and my sisters—children of nine, eleven, and thirteen, not yet introduced to the pleasures of ostentatiously touting one’s welldeveloped taste for humbug—some creativity was required to enjoy our time at the gallery. We decided to give a humorous name to each painting based on what we thought it resembled (for most of the pieces, the actual subject was entirely inscrutable). Both of my sisters have a great talent for absurdist humor, so it was tremendous fun. The greatest success regarded a large canvas painted with amorphous blotches of white and grey paint. Previously in Granada, at the Alhambra, a bird had pooped on my shoulder. Upon seeing the white-grey canvas, my sister Blythe cried out, “Look, its Jackson’s shirt with bird poop on it!” We were in stitches. Indeed, we found the joke so uproariously funny that we had to leave the museum—my parents embarrassed at the scene we were making. Why do I recount this? Seeing the picture of the Parador in the Wall Street Journal, and finding my memory flooded with my own personal experiences in Cuenca, I found it curious that my happiest memory there had nothing to do with the striking landscape or the medieval architecture or the food—it was a silly joke about bird poop which I shared with my family. Spontaneous moments of human connection— moments of life—can’t be planned. Everyone has memories like this. I hope, reader, you remember your own such moments, and treasure them. Nearly half a dozen and more come to my mind—singing Disney songs in the car with a friend-of-a-friend I carpooled with once; weeping uncontrollably with my sisters after hearing news of a family tragedy; playing Uno with two pretty Belgian girls in an Oxford hostel; lying, sick as a dog, quarantined in an empty squad bay at Marine officer training, and discovering that the cadet in the rack next to me was a philosophy major; restraining a psychotic Ukrainian man at 3 AM with a prominent Presbyterian theologian; swimming in College Creek on a moonlit summer night with a friend—I savor the recollection of these moments, and so many more. They are the grass which grows up through the cracks in the pavement of life. As I make plans for the future, after I graduate from St. John’s, I wonder what unplanned moments will define the next few years. No matter how well I plan, the best things and the worst things will likely be unexpected. Friendship, love, enmity, loss—such is the stuff of real life which does not acquiesce to our attempts to rigidly plan it out in advance. Sometimes your family spends a great deal of money to stay in a beautiful, historic European town, and the best thing you find there is an opportunity to laugh at a poop joke with people you love. Perhaps in such instances, one misses out on more refined pleasures; but in life, it is better to accept the good moments one is given and enjoy them. What a curse it would be to cultivate such good taste that one forgot how to love simple things! Jackson Green This Week in Seminar Upcoming Events: Freshman: Thursday, February 27th: Aristotle: Nicomachean Ethics; Book X Monday, March 17th: Aristotle: Politics (selections) Sophomores: Thursday, February 27th: Montaigne: Essays; “Of Experience” Monday, March 17th: Machiavelli: The Prince Juniors: Thursday, February 27th: Locke: Second Treatise of Government; Chapters X–XIX Monday, March 17th: Jane Austen: Pride and Prejudice Seniors: Thursday, February 27th: Freud: Beyond the Pleasure Principle Monday, March 17th: Dostoevski: The Brothers Karamazov Friday, February 28th Enjoy your Spring Break! Friday Night Lecture: None Page 1 �Thursday, February 27, 2025 St. John’s Collegian The Other Board Meeting On Saturday, February 22, 2025, the Board of Visitors and Governors (BVG) held its plenary session. Among other things, the much-discussed polity review was passed with one opposing vote. But there was another board meeting taking place the same day. After the BVG and all the spectators had left the Conversation Room, another, much smaller group entered: the Alumni Association Board (AAB). The BVG and AAB have some common concerns, including enrollment numbers, state and federal funding and the future of international students. During the four-and-a-half-hour meeting, Dean Paalman was invited to speak to the board. In addition to discussing recent changes on campus, such as the discovery of a military uniform from the War of 1812 and the Greenfield Library’s partnership with BetterWorldBooks, she also covered academic updates, including the college’s new ability to award degrees in December and changes to the reading list (switching the Protestant Reformers). Alumni were eager to learn how they could better support the college and its students. Ms. Paalman emphasized that alumni already provide invaluable support by mentoring students, particularly in career guidance, serving as positive examples, providing hope and increasing students’ self-confidence. Alumni suggested resurrecting an old tradition of senior dinners and proposed new ones such as an Alumni Association-sponsored enablement event. AAB President Katharina Wong shared that the new initiative to combat food insecurity on the Santa Fe campus during winter break was, thanks to local volunteers, a great success. She expressed the board’s intent to expand the program to spring break and potentially to the Annapolis campus, pending campus leadership approval and the availability of local volunteers. The AAB’s career development group provided insights on the restructured Odyssey program, which shifted from a one-on-one mentoring model to a group format based on the eight career pathways developed by Career Development Services (CDS). This year, 88 students and 35 alumni are participating, with the program set to conclude by the end of March. The AAB hopes to survey participants to improve the program and to host additional alumni career panels, offering opportunities for alumni who could not commit to the program but still wish to contribute. Vol. II. Issue xiv Liza love’s Beat of the Week: Eye Know – De La Soul, Otis Redding Spring break is here at long last! Prepare for quad lunch, four square, barefoot frisbee and contracting a bacterial infection from College Creek with hip-hop love song “Eye Know” from De La Soul’s 1989 album 3 Feet High and Rising. It’s an upbeat dance track that samples Otis Redding’s whistles from his 1968 classic, “(Sittin’ On) the Dock of the Bay.” Mentally, I’m kicking my feet on the field in 70-degree weather, with this in my ears and Shakespeare under my thumbs. L.L. The AAB meeting highlighted that alumni do not only show up once a year for the Annapolis Cup, but that they care deeply about the college and its current students. Alumni are eager to be more involved, but it might not always be clear how this involvement should look like. Helen Felbek Aphorism of the Week Ἕκαστον διᾷδον συνᾴδοντος ἕνι βάσει διαφέρει “Jacob Klein Snowman”, from SJC Digital Archives Tarik Mahmud Threats to Sellinger fund Maryland is one of the few states in the nation that provides substantial funding for private institutions of higher education. St. John’s, along with twelve other private colleges and universities, receives state funding primarily through two programs: capital grants, such as the one that enabled the recent renovations of Mellon, and the Sellinger Program, which provides Colleges with money primarily to give financial aid to students, making private higher education more accessible in the state. In the 2023 fiscal year, the most recent year I was able to procure information from, the College received $1.6 million in Sellinger funding, about $1.4 million of which went to financial aid, with the remainder going to career development and support for a graduate institute program for teachers. This legislative session, this funding is in jeopardy. The state is facing a $300 million deficit this year, as well as a nearly $3 billion deficit in the fiscal year 2026 budget, with billions more projected in the following years, leading legislative leaders to look to make deep cuts in the upcoming budget. Funding for the Sellinger program was already cut in half last session, and a further cut in half is proposed this session. “The governor’s original budget looked like it was keeping us at last year’s funding level, explained Nora Demleitner, Annapolis President, “but a new proposal by the legislative division looks like it would we would look like substantial, and uncertain cuts.” State budget negotiations are shifting rapidly, as this article is being written, with the Senate’s Budget and Taxation Chair Guy Guzzone announcing on Friday, February 21st the potential for up to $500 million more in potential cuts, on top of what would otherwise be necessary to address the deficit. This is because Maryland faces a disproportionately large impact from federal level policy changes, with much state funding depending on pass-through federal funds. State officials fear substantial cuts, or, worse, a federal shutdown later in the spring, leaving a moving budgetary target and uncertainty about the wide variety of cuts to programs and tax proposals currently on the table. As Maryland has a large number of federal workers, large-scale firings of civil servants may also put a permanent dent in Maryland’s revenue, leading to further budget crunches, and thus to the state’s funding for the College. To deal with this uncertainty, the state has pushed back its budgeting deadlines, and proposals have been raised to meet for a special October session. Dangers to the Sellinger fund could be dangerous to scholarship opportunities that enable students to attend the College, as well as funding for the internship and supplemental coursework funding programs (formerly Hodson and Pathways) and other Career Services activities. Additionally, mental health supports and student activities funding might be lost in order to cover cuts on the College’s end. Legislators are still discussing the budget, with various proposals for the Sellinger funding on the table leaving time for Polity members to advocate for the College by contacting their delegates and senators. El’ad Nichols-Kaufman About the St. John’s Collegian The St. John’s Collegian is the weekly newspaper of St. John’s College Annapolis. We work to bring quick and timely coverage of important events going on, to help develop a more informed student body. If you’re searching for more in-depth investigations and reporting, as well as essays, art and culture, check out the Gadfly, our affiliated publication, which is published once every three weeks. Want to submit an article? We always need more writers, whether for opinion or reporting! Submissions for news articles should be between 400600 words, while opinion should be kept short at 350 words. Just email sjca.collegian@gmail.com with your article, and we will work to get it in print! Longer form articles and more in-depth exploration of ideas should go to the Gadfly, which accepts submissions at eanicholskaufman@sjc.edu. Contributors for this issue: Helen Wagner, Editor Jacob Sharpe, Editor Helen Felbek, Writer Jackson Green, Writer Liza Love, Writer Tarik Mahmud, Writer, Aphorism El’ad Nichols-Kaufman, Writer Page 2 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource <em>The St. John's Collegian</em> Description An account of the resource A student newspaper of St. John's College. <em>The St. John's Collegian</em> began publication in 2023 and is affiliated with <a href="https://digitalarchives.sjc.edu/collections/show/16"><em>The Gadfly</em></a>. <br /><br />Published weekly on Thursday, with the exception of weeks <em>The Gadfly </em>is published. <br /><br />Earlier publications with the title <em>The Collegian </em>and <em>The St. John's Collegian </em>are available in <a href="https://digitalarchives.sjc.edu/collections/show/26"><em>The Collegian Collection</em></a>.<br /><br />Click on Items in <a href="https://digitalarchives.sjc.edu/items/browse?collection=69&amp;sort_field=Dublin+Core%2CDate&amp;sort_dir=d">The St. John's Collegian Collection</a> to view and sort all items in the collection. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource St. John's College Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available St. John's College Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Annapolis, Md. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource St. John's College Greenfield Library Language A language of the resource English Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context SJCCollegian Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data pdf Page numeration Number of pages in the original item. 2 pages Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource St. John's Collegian, February 27, 2025 Description An account of the resource Volume 2, issue 14 of the St. John's Collegian, published February 27, 2025. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource St. John's College (Annapolis, Md.) Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available St. John's College (Annapolis, Md.) Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Annapolis, MD Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2025-02-27 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource St. John's College holds the rights to this publication. Type The nature or genre of the resource text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource pdf Subject The topic of the resource St. John's College (Annapolis, Md.)--Periodicals Language A language of the resource English Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context SJCCollegian_vol_II_issueXIV_2025-02-27 Student publication The Collegian The Gadfly https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/sjcdigitalarchives/original/93d7a32f9ef643413482ff195f24c92a.pdf 84300c9d102bb0657a9758e6cfff8f91 PDF Text Text Thursday, November 14, 2024 The St. John’s Collegian A Gadfly Publication What’s So funny about a dead seagull? Musings on The Seagull’s Opening Night TREPLEV: Today, I have done something despicable— I have killed this seagull. I lay it at your feet. NINA: What’s the matter with you? (Picks up the seagull and looks at it). TREPLEV: (After a pause) Soon, in the same way, I shall kill myself. When Jack Huntley delivered this line as Treplev in The Seagull last Saturday night, he had the audience in hysterics. In fact, the whole play was like this— actors often had to wait 2 or 3 seconds for laughter to die down before continuing their lines. How could this be? It’s a story full of unrequited love, unfulfilled dreams, narcissism, regret, and depression— it even ends with a suicide. Yet Chekhov called it “A Comedy in Four Acts”— and it was received on opening night with genuine laughter. Why? Chekhov’s play, directed by Margaret McConnell (’25), centers around the variously depressing lives of four characters: the embittered older writer Trigorin (Arel Foster, ’25), the tortured younger writer Treplev (Jack Huntley, ’25), the self-absorbed retired actress Irina (Jordan Kammeyer, ’25), and the young and ambitious actress Nina (Sadie Lewin, 27). Each of them deals with their own personal tragedies throughout the play, alongside several equally troubled secondary characters. When I emerged into the FSK lobby after the play, I was tickled to discover that much of the post-show discussion was not about the performance itself—it was about the audience. Why did we laugh? people asked. Was it right to laugh at such depressing scenes? Was it supposed to be funny? Was it a tragedy? Was it a comedy? What’s going on?! “I think the audience was wrong,” Avery Bravo (’26) told me. “There were moments when people definitely shouldn’t have been laughing.” For her, one such moment was the scene with the dead seagull. I, on the other hand, did laugh at that scene— but I didn’t really know why. Was I wrong? Is the audience ever wrong? I’m not sure. If people laugh at something, surely it Continued on page 2 Vol. II Issue VII Printed Thursdays in Annapolis College History Task FOrce Report: An Overview, Part One The history and legacy of the College exist for most members of the St. John’s community in a mist of halfremembered facts, lies told on admissions tours, and the odd plaque commemorating soldiers or Francis Scott Key hanging around campus. Because of this, it is understandable that for some, it feels like the College exists, or at least should exist, in an ahistorical void, where inquiry can be pursued without the burden of time and space. However, the longer I spend at the College, and the more I read about the College’s history, the more I recognize the vital importance of understanding our place in history to any intellectual pursuit, and that pretending to not think about the College’s past is, in effect, choosing one interpretation of it and its significance to tacitly support. In particular, legacies of slavery and discrimination leave a stamp on communities to this day, and the College’s impact on the communities around it has been too long ignored. For this very reason, the Board of Visitors and Governors, sparked on by Adrian Trevisan, put together a task force four years ago to examine the history of the College. Its work has finally come to fruition in the form of a report recently distributed to the College community, which features a general history of the College, biographies of all the men after whom buildings on campus are named, and an architectural survey. By examining these histories together as a community, we will be able to avoid stumbling unthinkingly into a certain interpretation of the legacy of the College, and instead be able to make an active choice, with proper thought and discussion, about what our responsibility is in commemorating the history of our institution. The taskforce is calling for comments on the report in order to encourage this kind of conversation, and to make recommendations to the Board of Visitors and Governors about steps the College can officially take to remember its history. The full report, which everyone should read, a discussion guide, and a form in which to submit comments may be found online at sjc.edu/chtf. However, recognizing that some people may not have the leisure to read the entirety of the report, I will provide here some extracts from the section on the individual men, which is the focus of the task force. This Week in Seminar However, these lack some important context present in the original report and are not a replacement for it. Rather, I hope to make the report as accessible to the largest number of members of the community as possible, to ensure that the conversation about our historical legacy is well informed and includes the whole Polity. Hector Humphreys (1798-1857) Hector Humphreys was born in Canton, Connecticut in 1797, near his cousin John Brown, the abolitionist who led a raid on Harper’s Ferry in 1859. Humphreys attended Yale College, after which he moved to New York City to pursue theological studies. He was admitted to the order of the Deacon in Trinity Church, New Haven on March 21, 1824. Humphreys was appointed Professor of Ancient Languages at the newly established Washington (present day Trinity) College at Hartford, and his success at that institution made him a promising candidate for president of St. John’s College. Hector Humphreys served as the principal of St. John’s College from 1831-1857, and he is credited with recovering the college from the financial struggles it faced in the early nineteenth century. Many of the organizational changes that Humphreys made had a lasting impact on the curriculum and campus at St. John’s. During his time as principal, Humphrey placed a greater emphasis on science and established a laboratory for research purposes. He made military training voluntary and split the preparatory school into two sections, the Grammar School and the English School. The Grammar School served those who aimed to attend college, and the English School was for those who did not. Humphreys also led the department of “Moral Science” and covered the Greek and Latin departments due to limited faculty. In addition to his adjustments to the curriculum of St. John’s College, he also raised funds for the construction of a Boarding House which was completed in 1837. This building, now known as Humphreys Hall, was intended to relieve crowding in the College Building, present-day McDowell Hall. In 1855, Humphreys encouraged the Board to expand the campus again with the addition of faculty housing and Continued on Page 2 Upcoming Events: Freshman: Thursday, November 14th: Plato: Phaedo, 57A–84B Monday, November 18th: Plato: Phaedo, 84B–118B Sophomores: Thursday, November 14th: Plotinus: (selections) Monday, November 18th: Augustine: Confessions, I-V Juniors: Thursday, November 14th: Preceptorial Monday, November 18th: Preceptorial Seniors: Thursday, November 14th: Preceptorial Monday, November 18th: Preceptorial Friday, November 15th Friday Fare: Cannoli and Berries, FSK Lobby, 4pm-5pm Saturday, November 16th Listening Session of Original "Theatre of Turmoil" Soundtrack, with Composer Zachary Konick, Conversation Room, 2pm4pm Energeia’s Open Mic Night, Boathouse, 9pm- 12am Friday Night Lecture: "Aristophanes' Clouds and the Power of Logos" - Stephanie Nelson Page 1 �Thursday, November 14, 2024 St. John’s Collegian Should Society Be Harmonious? Socrates says that the ideal republic is harmonious, and this has become a common image in political thought. People form a city like notes form a chord. But Zuckerkandl taught me a new word, an alternative to harmony: polyphony. So, extending the metaphor, could a polyphonic society be better than a harmonious one? Harmony and polyphony are two forms of multitoned music. Harmony is “melody plus accompaniment.” The melody is in charge, and the alto, tenor, and bass lines are for the sake of it. Sure, the harmony has some power to change the ‘vibe’ of the melody, but for the most part it is subservient to the laws the melody sets down. The biggest of these laws is rhythm—every part in a harmonic piece will sing the same words at the same time. If this were a city, it would be hard to see the backup parts’ individuality, and even harder to imagine them free. Polyphony is the opposite. The parts sing different melodies at different times, and there is no one leader that dominates the piece. Each part gets its time in the sun, and once that time is done, the part steps aside to make room for another. With no eternal ruler, polyphony is more democratic than harmony. Moreover, each part in polyphony is unique and whole. In Sicut Cervus, the sopranos give us one musical idea, the altos another, and so on. Unlike in harmony, in polyphony every part can rightly be called individual. This makes polyphony truer to human nature. I am not my neighbor transposed a fifth up—I am someone else entirely. When I join a society, I want this fact to be recognized, my me-ness to be affirmed. It would be easy to take this line of thought too far, though. ‘Let me do and say whatever I want!’ But a society built on this idea would be like a song made of a dozen different chants all playing at once. No matter how good each may be on its own, when they all come together they create “nonsense [and] disorder.” Absolute freedom is unmusical. This is why, in polyphony, each part’s “right of selfassertion” is constrained by duty to the song. Every part shares the same key, time signature, and lyrics. They strive for the same end, coming together in one chord on the final syllable. These constraints elevate the piece to something beautiful. They also create the circumstances that allow glimpses of harmony to appear. But these glimpses come about naturally, like a murmuration of sparrows, rather than by the melody’s strict command. Vol. II. Issue VII Hector Humphreys Profile (continued) a new dormitory. Humphreys argued that fair compensation included staff housing and adequate dormitory space, believing such benefits would attract a higher standard of teachers to join the faculty, leading to an increase in enrollment. According to the 1840 census, Humphreys housed one free African American man and woman while living in Annapolis. Historic records do not indicate that Humphreys enslaved any individuals. El’ad Nichols-Kaufman Aphorism of the Week Οὐδένες ὁμοιότεροι τῶν ἀλλήλοις μαχομένων. Tarik Mahmud So which city is better, the harmonious or the polyphonic? I know I would choose the latter. I think the former image, much like cell-state theory, is a friend of tyrants (but if you want to hear more about that, let’s talk face to face). But regardless of which city you would choose, I hope this encourages you to be intentional with the images you use. Because if we understand these metaphors and use them with care, we will know what kind of community—what kind of world—we want to live in. Cast and Crew of Anton Chekhov’s The Seagull Henry Haggard What’s So Funny About a Dead Seagull? (cont’d) must be funny—especially in a theater. Who is a better judge of comedy than the audience itself? But, of course, it’s not all up to the audience. Director Margaret McConnell was expecting some laughs. She reminded me that Chekhov himself considered the play a comedy, albeit with some very tragic themes. It’s certainly not a comedy in the Shakespearean sense. “I guess you would call it dark humor,” said McConnell. “I think part of what can make something funny is the tragedy that goes along with it.” She ultimately wanted to preserve this balance of comedy and tragedy, keeping a bit of both. Until opening night, McConnell didn’t know what would get laughs: “As often happens in comedies, when you’ve been practicing a show for weeks and weeks, you forget that things are funny,” she said. “[The actors] found the audience laughing at things we’d never laughed at in rehearsals, and they would change the way they delivered certain lines, because they knew it would get a laugh.” In this way, the audience does influence the show environment— for better or worse. There were some truly poignant moments during the second half of the play which felt lost on an audience primed for comedy— for instance, Nina’s reunion with Treplev, or old Sorin’s lament of his unfulfilled dreams. “I wanted to get married—” he said, “and I never got married. I always wanted to live in town— and here I am ending my life in the country, that’s all.” Quiet little tragedies such as these fell through the floorboards on opening night: the audience just wasn’t prepared to take them seriously. They are sad things for me to write. Yet when I saw them, I laughed. How strange. “It is not a complete farce at all,” says McConnell. “We are laughing at Treplev, but at the same time we can understand his pain. We can relate to him.” In her opinion, to present the show only as a comedy would miss its depth. Some of it is meant to touch us in a different way. And then, of course, there is the final scene: Treplev’s suicide. After four acts of laughter, the play ends on a decidedly tragic note. Irina presides over a card game, laughing and talking loudly about herself. The other characters, worn out by life’s disappointments, distract themselves with cards and music. When Treplev shoots himself offstage, they even laugh, thinking that the gunshot was a bottle of ether exploding in the doctor’s bag. This final moment encapsulates much of the play’s mystery for me: is it a tragedy or a comedy? Is it a suicide or a bottle of ether? Chekhov answers the second question in the last line of the play: Treplev really does kill himself. What are we to make, then, of his subtitle, “A Comedy in Four Acts”? After the final scene, the audience walked into the lobby unsure of whether to laugh or cry. Aristotle writes in the Poetics that “comedy aims at representing men as worse, tragedy as better than in actual life.” (1448a) So, which is the Seagull? Insofar as its characters are ridiculous, melodramatic, narcissistic, and absurd, it is a comedy. We laugh because they are worse than us. But perhaps the tragedy appears in those few moments when we see them as something more— something better than us— or maybe, even, when we see in them something of ourselves. Helen Wagner Page 2 About the St. John’s Collegian The St. John’s Collegian is the weekly newspaper of St. John’s College Annapolis. We work to bring quick and timely coverage of important events going on, to help develop a more informed student body. If you’re searching for more in-depth investigations and reporting, as well as essays, art and culture, check out the Gadfly, our affiliated publication, which is published once every three weeks. Want to submit an article? We always need more writers, whether for opinion or reporting! Submissions for news articles should be between 400600 words, while opinion should be kept short at 350 words. Just email sjca.collegian@gmail.com with your article, and we will work to get it in print! Longer form articles and more in-depth exploration of ideas should go to the Gadfly, which accepts submissions at eanicholskaufman@sjc.edu. Contributors for this issue: Helen Wagner, Writer and Editor Jacob Sharpe, Editor Henry Haggard, Writer El’ad Nichols-Kaufman, Writer Tarik Mahmud, Greek Aphorism � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource <em>The St. John's Collegian</em> Description An account of the resource A student newspaper of St. John's College. <em>The St. John's Collegian</em> began publication in 2023 and is affiliated with <a href="https://digitalarchives.sjc.edu/collections/show/16"><em>The Gadfly</em></a>. <br /><br />Published weekly on Thursday, with the exception of weeks <em>The Gadfly </em>is published. <br /><br />Earlier publications with the title <em>The Collegian </em>and <em>The St. John's Collegian </em>are available in <a href="https://digitalarchives.sjc.edu/collections/show/26"><em>The Collegian Collection</em></a>.<br /><br />Click on Items in <a href="https://digitalarchives.sjc.edu/items/browse?collection=69&amp;sort_field=Dublin+Core%2CDate&amp;sort_dir=d">The St. John's Collegian Collection</a> to view and sort all items in the collection. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource St. John's College Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available St. John's College Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Annapolis, Md. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource St. John's College Greenfield Library Language A language of the resource English Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context SJCCollegian Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data pdf Page numeration Number of pages in the original item. 2 pages Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource St. John's Collegian, November 17, 2024 Description An account of the resource Volume 2, issue 7 of the St. John's Collegian, published November 17, 2024. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource St. John's College (Annapolis, Md.) Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available St. John's College (Annapolis, Md.) Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Annapolis, MD Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2024-11-17 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource St. John's College holds the rights to this publication. Type The nature or genre of the resource text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource pdf Subject The topic of the resource St. John's College (Annapolis, Md.)--Periodicals Language A language of the resource English Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context SJCCollegian_vol2_issueVII_2024-11-17 Student publication The Collegian The Gadfly