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A Voice for the Students
President Jacobsen Begins Tenure
By Elise Donovan ’22 Herald Staff Within some of her first weeks on campus, President Joyce P. Jacobsen seems as optimistic and pragmatic as she did during her acceptance of the position back in February. In an effort to gauge how her adjustment has been since her arrival, the Herald sat down with the president during her school-wide open office hours. After being announced as the 29th president of Hobart College and 18th president of William Smith and officially stepping into her position on July 1 of this year, Jacobsen has already outlined much of her vision, as well as established her position as an active resident and participant of the Colleges. Before students arrived on campus, she managed to visit and tour every residence and academic facility on campus. Since the arrival of students she has almost completed her goal of visiting every physical space, with only a few left, such as the solar farm, which she will be visiting soon with Professor Thomas Drennen, who orchestrated
the installation of the farm in 2016. More than just being physically active on campus, Jacobsen has also established a strong investment into the goals, ideas, and activities of the student body over which she presides. This can be shown in her attendance records at almost all of the current practicing sports teams, as well as a flexible calendar for invitations to other groups and clubs on campus. A recent example was her attendance at the first William Smith Congress and Hobart Student Government joint meeting of the year, where she made herself available to questioning from student government members. Another one of the primary ways that she intends to continue to cultivate this active presence is through her bi-monthly office hours and open houses. Meant as a time for students to approach the president, whether that is for students who wish to express concerns or those who want to just talk about their day, the open office hours are a sweeping evolution of the president’s role on the HWS campus.
William Smith Students Celebrate with Inductees at NWHF Induction Ceremony By Gabriel Pietrorazio ’20 Herald Staff
William Smith College was wellrepresented with seniors who attended and even coordinated the 27th annual National Women’s Hall of Fame induction celebration that honored 11 exceptional women: Gloria Allred, Angela Davis, Sarah Deer, Jane Fonda, Col. Nicole Malachowski ret., Rose O’Neill, Louise Slaughter, Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, Laurie Spiegel, Diane Von Furstenberg and Dr. Flossie Wong-Staal. Although this feature highlights three seniors and their different experiences at the NWHF ceremony, other students from William Smith College were also in attendance. Liza Kiernan ’20, a Media and Society major and Women’s Studies minor, was an instrumental character in planning and coordinating the induction ever since she started working at the hall in Seneca Falls this past January. Starting out as a volunteer with the organization who gave tours to guests and covered the help desk phone, she eventually succeeded former Social Media Director Cassidy DiPaola ’19 and became a staffer, assuming DiPaola’s former title. In this role, Kiernan assisted in preparing for the ceremony itself by managing the hall’s social media presence, emailing the Board of Directors about the inductees and creating content engagement strategies to promote the event itself. She also had to deal with the swirling controversy after receiving countless forms of mail and calls that complained about the inclusion of Jane Fonda and Angela Davis into this year’s inductee class. Kiernan was busy all day from as early as 8 a.m. and staying until 9 p.m. on that Saturday
helping her fellow staffers host an “extremely smooth” event at the del Lago Casino & Resort venue. As someone who actively works at the National Women’s Hall of Fame, Kiernan calls for her fellow peers to visit the museum, especially due to its close proximity to the Colleges. “I think it is our job to honor [and] appreciate that and honor that as much as we can because it is a great advantage that we live so close to there and we have all of these amazing women passing through every day,” Kiernan said. Gianna Gonzalez ’20, an English and Media and Society double major and minor in Music, was profoundly impacted and inspired by the illustrious class of women inductees after accepting an invitation to attend the ceremony on behalf of Kathy Reagan, the Chief of Staff to the President of the Colleges. “The most memorable aspect of the NWHF Induction continued on page 3
Photo credit: Gabriel Pietrorazio
Photo credit: Gabriel Pietrorazio Later in the semester, as well as throughout the year, Jacobsen will also be hosting class open houses, with each class year being designated a certain date to visit the president, and her famous cat Mr. Butters (@mrbuttershws), at her home on South Main Street. Having hosted a total of two out of seven office hours already this semester, held the first-year class open house, and announced her active and open email address, Jacobsen has made sure to make herself accessible to students. More than just investing in the interests and opinions of the student body, Jacobsen is also investing in the intellectual and social capital of HWS in both the present and future. When asked about her hopes for the future of the Colleges, she reiterated her pragmatic and consistent approach regarding her many goals. These goals, which encompass everything from new science buildings and equipment to writing a William Smith fight song, are all what we call S.M.A.R.T goals (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-based). While many are vast in scope, Jacobsen’s first attempt at attacking certain issues is establishing specific task forces. Some task forces already underway are in place to address the use of Fribolin Farm, the hiring of the Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer, and the search for a new Provost. In the conclusion of our conversation, President Jacobsen discussed with the Herald the history of the carpet that covered the entirety of her office on the second floor of Coxe, as it has been the matting of more than 25 different HWS presidents. The Herald was intrigued by the office space itself, as most students are likely unaware that Coxe has a second floor or houses the president’s quarters. This epiphany establishes perfectly the type of president Jacobsen hopes to be: Present, Attentive, and Revolutionary.
Photo credit: Gabriel Pietrorazio
Above: Gabriel Pietrorazio ‘20 and Liza Kiernan ‘20
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