Students, campus groups utilize October break

Alexandra Matthews Staff Writer

The promise of sleep and old friends keeps students sane when midterm week has them up to their eyeballs in papers and coffee from Matthew’s Bean. But many students this year chose to spend October Break not on the couch, but pursuing their regular commitments even more intensely with on-campus training, research or networking with students from other colleges.

The Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance (FMLA) sent seven of its students to the Global Leadership Summit at Brown University with funding from the Vassar Student Association. During the weekend of Oct. 19, FMLA members joined both students and leaders from Feminist Alliances around the world in discussions and screenings dealing with global women’s rights issues.

“Global activism is something FMLA has neglected,” said Vassar FMLA Co-President Abra Sussman ’09. The conference “is a good opportunity to meet other activists, collaborate and mobilize students for global campaigning of women’s issues.”

That same weekend, Catalyst, along with Student Activist Union took a shuttle to a protest against the International Monetary Fund/World Bank in Washington, D.C. The protest consisted of acts of civil disobedience at Georgetown University as well as student activist training in an effort to promote social reform and speak out against institutions that extort small businesses and developing nations for profit.

“I want to network with like-minded students and activists [to help] jumpstart the presence of radical organizations at Vassar. Radical students [should] come out to develop networks with other students on a national and global scale,” said Catalyst treasurer and writer for The Root, Chris Beach ’09.

SAU Treasurer Maggie Negrete ’10 said, “SAU’s goal is to expose people to activism, especially [those] who haven’t gotten the chance to go to protests.” Because of intense student activism training at the conference, students are given the chance to become more effective activists and citizens.

“Sometimes you need to get out in the street and make your opinions known,” said Negrete.

A number of athletes stayed at Vassar for practices. Coaches utilized the students’ free time and scheduled practices twice a day, six days a week, preventing players from going home for a long period of time, if at all.

“It’s different when your friends are home relaxing and you’re going through these really intense practice,” said basketball player Chelsea Katzenberg ’08. Now in her fourth basketball season, Katzenberg is accustomed to the routine. But she explained that “as a freshman, it’s a little bit harder because this is the longest they’ve been away from their families.”

Despite this, the week serves as a way to bring the athletes together. “It’s cliché, but it really is team bonding being here, especially for the younger players.”

Others spent a more studious break. Alison Lotto ’08 spent her vacation doing research for her senior thesis in history. “I sat in the microfilm by myself for six hours one day and went a little crazy,” said Lotto. “I started getting strange looks from the librarians for being there so much.”
Whether meeting with other activists, building team spirit and skill, or ruining their eyes in the microfilm room, many students could agree on one thing about break: It wasn’t long enough.