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Anna Lang ’19 Competes in Equestrian Nationals

By Ritik Shrestha ’22

Among the many successes of CC athletics this year, the achievements of the equestrian team might fly under the radar. During this season, Anna Lang ’19 qualified for the Intercollegiate Horse Shows Associationnational tournament which took place May 2, at the New York State Fairgrounds.

Starting at the age of seven, Lang’s love for horses (and living in close proximity to a barn) made riding a natural fit. This isn’t to say that the process was easy as Lang juggled classwork and other responsibilities while also practicing at least twice a week. Using what she worked on in her lessons, Lang then had a grueling schedule of seven shows where competed for a spot in the regional tournament. She then needed to place at least first or second in the next two rounds of qualification to earn a spot to compete against the 16 best North American riders in her class.

“I haven’t had to ride as hard as I did in a very long time,” says Lang when asked about the qualification process. During nationals, the participants drew horse names out of a hat, with Lang drawing a grey gelding named Zazu. This was the first time she worked with this particular type of horse, adding to what was an already challenging experience.

While Lang did not finish in the top 10, she says that she was “extremely grateful for the opportunity and happy that she had the opportunity to go (to nationals).” When asked to sum up her season, she says she is grateful to her committed team for giving her “one of the best seasons I’ve had riding here at CC,” and she wants to give “a special thanks to my co-captain and best friend Mac Millard ’19for supporting me over the past four years.” She also thanks her trainer, Tracy Powers “for helping me grow as a rider,” as well as her family and friends.

Professor Amy Kohout Addresses Problematic Nike Ad

By Leah Veldhuisen ’19

When people think of historians, they don’t often think of marketing and advertising. Professor Amy Kohout doesn’t have experience in marketing, but she does think about how historical context is essential for successful advertising. Recently, Kohout saw a Nike trail running ad with a problematic slogan and was able to get it taken down within six hours using her Twitter network and the #twitterstorian community.

The ad, which showed up online in late March, depicted a solo runner on a bluff above the ocean with the slogan “the lost cause.” The final sentence said “Because the lost cause will always be a cause worth supporting.” Kohout explains, “the Lost Cause is a white supremacist narrative constructed by white Southerners that frames slavery and the Old South as benevolent and the war as noble; it was deployed alongside campaigns of violence and racial terror targeting black southerners in the decades following the Civil War.” Kohout then took to Twitter to share the ad and invite other historians to add context to the phrase. “Twitter creates the opportunity to reach a lot of people quickly; when I first tweeted about this, I tagged senior scholars who work on these issues and who have large Twitter followings,” she says.

Within six hours of Kohout’s original tweet, Nike and other trail running shoe retailers had wiped the ad from social media. They still debuted the trail running line without other advertising, and never issued any apology, so the story went largely unnoticed outside of the #twitterstorian community.

The Nike trail running ad is not the only time Nike and other companies have released problematic marketing campaigns, and Kohout says this is an important reason for companies to employ people with interdisciplinary backgrounds. “I think companies can’t claim to care about equity and justice and then spend money creating ads like this one… I do think that historical context is deeply important, and that this ad is an example of what can happen when folks with strong backgrounds in history and the humanities aren’t in the room,” she says.

Additionally, she explains, “I think companies — and institutions, organizations, and individuals — should do the work to understand their histories and how they might relate to our present, and to think about what it might mean to center equity and justice in the work that we do.”

More information about the ad and the response it generated can be found in the Washington Post.

‘Bluegrass Meets Klezmer:’ Ofer Ben-Amots, Keith Reed, and Grace Hale ’20 Join for Musical Collaboration

By Miriam Brown ’21

American Southern bluegrass and Eastern-European Jewish klezmer may seem like an unlikely musical pairing. In fact, when Professor of Music Ofer Ben-Amots first asked Grace Hale ’20to participate in a collaboration combining the musical genres, she wasn’t even sure she heard him correctly.

“He repeated himself jokingly,” Hale says. ‘Yes, Grace. [The theme] is Bluegrass Meets Klezmer. Haven’t you heard of such a thing?’”

Ben-Amots explained that he, Keith Reed, bluegrass program director,  and mandolin player Sierra Hull were collaborating for two performances: one on March 31, with the Portland Chamber Orchestra, and one on April 9, with the Walla Walla Symphony. Hull needed her song “Sunday” to be arranged for orchestra, and Ben-Amots wanted Hale to do it.

“It was like being thrown off the deep end,” Hale says, “and I was absolutely elated.”

This was the second time that the Walla Walla Symphony played Ben-Amots’ music, but Hull’s first time working with an orchestra and Hale’s first time arranging a song. Neither Hull nor Hale knew quite what to expect or how their final product would be received. They had four weeks to prepare the “Sunday” arrangement — four weeks that Hull was on tour and Hale was in Australia for Ben-Amots’ composition block. Needless to say, communication was slim, but Hale felt a sense of peace in accepting the uncertainty of how the product would be received.

The performances were so successful that they left Hale wanting to know more. Now, she is studying orchestration independently with Ben-Amots.

“It certainly showcased CC and the Music Department in a whole new light,” Ben-Amots said. “Grace Hale’s orchestral arrangement of Sierra Hull’s song ‘Sunday’ has been highly successful and an artistic breakthrough! … It’s also a wonderful message to other students: if you are bold and diligent you can get a head start and make a significant mark in the field, during your college years.”

Susan Grace Releases New Album Ahead of 2019 Summer Music Festival

By Leah Veldhuisen ’19

Professor of Music Susan Grace recently released her new album, “Music by Stefan Wolpe for Two Pianos,” and performed the pieces at Steinway Hall in New York City on April 29. Steven Beck also performed with Grace; the performance was sponsored by Wolpe Society, Bridge Records, and Steinway.

The album received a wonderful review from the London Times, as Paul Driver wrote, “This impressive eighth volume in Bridge’s Wolpe edition brings the premiere recordings of his 1933 March and Variations and 1936 Two Studies on Basic Rows… The style here, as in the first item, is a muscular neoclassicism with agitprop leanings, but the Studies epitomize Wolpe’s wonderful reimagining of Schoenberg’s 12-tone technique: a bracing, masterly diptych.”

Grace says recording the album was grueling, “but being introduced to the music of Stefan Wolpe by our management was a great find. Preparing this music for the recording was the delight.” She adds that she appreciated “the opportunity to play Wolpe’s music for people who understand and promote his music and to celebrate the release of our Wolpe CD.”

In addition to making her music and teaching at CC, Grace is also the director of the CC Summer Music Festival, which is celebrating its 35th anniversary this summer. The music this year spans from “traditional classical to contemporary to an all women composer concert including music from 1800’s to present, a multi-media presentation in Cornerstone main space featuring video, digital sound, movement, and the festival fellows, and a concert featuring dancers from the Carolina Ballet with solo piano music,” Grace explains. Faculty and student performers “provide first-rate performances both in chamber ensembles and orchestra” and “the excitement generated by our musicians provides some of the best music making in the country,” she adds. This year’s festival will take place on CC’s campus from June 2-22.

CC Climbing Team Prepares For Nationals

By Miriam Brown ’21

Apparently, Colorado College’s climbing team has never heard of the “sophomore slump.”

In just their second year of existence, the team finished third at the regional championships in Denver, with only a quarter of the competitors brought by rivals University of Colorado Boulder and Colorado State University. Two of CC’s climbers, Claire Bresnan ’19and Rin Gentry ’19, were named regional champions in their respective categories. Of CC’s 11 competitors, seven will be headed to the National championships in Murfreesboro, Tenn., April 26-27.

Instead of having a hired coach, the team is led by three of their athletes who double as coaches: Katherine Hade ’22, William Abbey ’22, and Emily Barga ’21. Captain Zach Levy ’21credits their leadership as having been crucial to their success thus far.

“This year our team has a group of students who are extremely devoted to bettering their climbing and training to prepare themselves the best they can for this climbing season,” Levy said. “A lot of our success can be attributed to the student coaches who have stepped up this year to lead the team and guide our athletes down a successful path.”

The team holds simultaneous practices three days a week at three different climbing gyms, using workout regimens designed by Hade, Abbey, and Barga to test their strength and conditioning. They try difficult boulders and timed workouts to simulate a competition environment and to prepare themselves for anything they might face at nationals. The competition at nationals will be steep, but Levy thinks they’re prepared.

“We are very excited to be heading to Tennessee over the first weekend of Block 8 and can’t wait to see what nationals has in store for us,” he says.

It’s a Home Run: Faculty and Staff Build Connections on the Field

By Leah Veldhuisen ’19

Professor Emeritus of History Bill Hochman’s legacy continues not only in the classroom, but also on the softball field. Hochman started and coached the faculty and staff intramural softball team in 1955 and they continue to play every spring.

Heather Stapish, payroll manager, has been on the team since 1999 and is also the current captain. She was appointed by Hochman two years ago when it became more difficult for him to make it to the games. Stapish enjoys carrying on Hochman’s legacy of the team, and says “He loved this sport and he LOVED this team.”

Associate Professor of English Steven Hayward has been on the team for the entire 10 years he has worked at CC, and says “I joined on the advice of Susan Ashley, who was then dean of the college. She said I’d love it and she was right.” The team plays against student intramural teams, allowing for more connections between students, staff, and faculty outside of the classroom. “It’s great to meet your students outside of the classroom and compete; it’s a wonderful, sort of secret, campus community,” Hayward says.

Stapish adds that she enjoys being around the students, which is also what led Hochman to start the team originally. Additionally, many of the staff and faculty have been on the team for years, and Hayward explains that these friendships are the best part of being on the team. Relationships built on the faculty and staff team continue off the field, as Hayward reminisces:

“My nickname on the team is Hammer, given to me initially by Professor (Peter) Wright in the Religion Department and then adopted by Bill Hochman. One time there was a faculty meeting at which I made a particularly contentious point that Hochman agreed with. He stood up to say so. ‘Hammer’s right,’ he said. No one knew who he was talking about, but it’s in the minutes of the meeting.”

Games are played on Armstrong West Quad, Tava Quad, and Tutt Science Quad. View the schedule and find out how you can get in on the action.

Tutt Library Wins AIA/ALA Library Building Award

By: Miriam Brown ’21

After its reopening in 2017, Tutt Library became a symbol of Colorado College’s core values: intellectual curiosity, environmental sustainability, innovation, and collaboration. The library’s renovations were so transformational to its relationship with the campus that it is receiving national recognition, as one of six libraries awarded with this year’s American Institute of Architects/American Library Association Library Building Award for the best library architecture and design.

According to Library Director JoAnn Jacoby, Tutt Library was such a competitive candidate in part because it was “built for the block,” designed to maximize flexibility for students. The renovation more than doubled its seating capacity, and rooms throughout the building can transform from a classroom to a conference room to a study room to match the community’s needs. Additionally, technologically rich spaces such as the GIS Lab, DataViz Wall, and Tech Sandbox make it a hot spot for cross-disciplinary collaboration. Today, the library averages around 1,800 visits each day, and 43 percent of faculty report that they visit the library more than before the renovation because of the “open and inviting spaces.”

Tutt Library is also uniquely representative of CC’s sense of place. It reflects the college’s commitment to environmental sustainability, as the largest academic library to be a carbon-neutral, net-zero energy facility. Throughout the building, there are windows and terraces to give visitors a view of Pikes Peak, and the outside of the building is decorated to reference locally mined red sandstone.

“We now have a reimagined library that is as adaptable, nimble, and innovative as our students and that was built to sustain the academic rigor and intensity of CC’s pioneering Block Plan,” says Jacoby. “We got the award, I think, in part because of how well the transformation aligns with our mission and unique identity, so in that sense, the award calls attention not just to this particular building, but what it represents about our community.”