Potash Hill

Published twice every year, Potash Hill shares highlights of what Marlboro College community members, in both undergraduate and graduate programs, are doing, creating, and thinking. The publication is named after the hill in Marlboro, Vermont, where the college was founded in 1946. “Potash,” or potassium carbonate, was a locally important industry in the 18th and 19th centuries, obtained by leaching wood ash and evaporating the result in large iron pots. Students and faculty at Marlboro no longer make potash, but they are very industrious in their own way, as this publication amply demonstrates.

Alumni Director: Maia Segura ’91
Editor: Philip Johansson
Photo Editor: Richard Smith
Staff Photographers: Clayton Clemetson ’19, David Teter ’20, and Emily Weatherill ’21
Design: Falyn Arakelian

Potash Hill welcomes letters to the editor. Mail them to: Editor, Potash Hill, Marlboro College, P.O. Box A, Marlboro, VT 05344, or send email to pjohansson@marlboro.edu. The editor reserves the right to edit for length letters that appear in Potash Hill.

Front Cover: A basket woven from hand-pounded ash by Judy Dow, a teacher of traditional Abenaki culture and student in Marlboro’s MA in Teaching for Social Justice program, demonstrates traditional “cowass” designs: turns and curls representing birds, snails, and porcupine quills. “Wabanaki people have always made ash baskets,” says Judy. “However, this style is called a fancy basket, and was an adaptation during the late 1800s.” Judy shares lessons for adapting to impending environmental, social, and economic changes in her article, "Going Through the Narrows." 

About Marlboro College
Marlboro College provides independent thinkers with exceptional opportunities to broaden their intellectual horizons, benefit from a small and close-knit learning community, establish a strong foundation for personal and career fulfillment, and make a positive difference in the world. At our campus in the town of Marlboro, Vermont, students engage in deep exploration of their interests— and discover new avenues for using their skills to improve their lives and benefit others—in an atmosphere that emphasizes critical and creative thinking, independence, an egalitarian spirit, and community.  

“Our job is to make sure that every international student at Marlboro has the best possible experience that they can get, and we can’t wait to welcome you here,” say Dora Musini, international services coordinator, and Emma Huse, experiential learning and global engagement coordinator. They were featured in a video produced by students as part of the national #YouAreWelcomeHere campaign, which offers welcoming messages to international students around the world. See the video.

 

 

Merengue in Marlboro

“Why do we social dance, and in what ways does the social dancing space exist and become created? Who/what creates it? Why is social dance important? I am interested in the ways bodies interact on and off the dance floor, and the ways we communicate verbally and with our bodies. I will always seek to understand the sensation of letting go that is created by giving into the music and dance.”
— Karissa Wolivar ’18

Karissa presented an interactive Plan show in November titled “Textura/Texture.” Karissa choreographed performances of five forms of Latin social dance she experienced in her study abroad experience in Costa Rica—merengue, bachata, bolero, salsa, and cumbia—and invited audience members to participate.

Photo by Clayton Clemetson ’19

Dark Dark Trees  

By Sam Amber '18

How will I cope with this grief—leaving these rushing trees, always rushing, turning, flexing in the breeze. Dark Dark trees who know more than—these woods more than—these omissions deadly, an omission in the earth: hole; cellar. Such cold lives striving—against that same wind turned malicious in late January—to keep hearing that rushing wind made sparse, made to be not rushing, but a knuckle-clattering-racket, those bony maples surviving better than you. But before that: rushing with the change-over-wind, and in the dark dark trees that wind rushing’s giants wading, flexing trees before them, like wading in a river and letting the current change around your legs. Giants roaming all the hills you’ll hear in the distance. They do not mind you. They do not mind you, get your over-large head ’round that one. These walls will do nothing for the rushing, dark dark trees falling all about you. This is not your wind, this is wind. Those are trees. They are rushing, and you too stiff to take flight. This wind is turning sour. Those planes flying lower. Their wind turning fire. Fire fire fire fire. And in your haversack-sprint to holes in the ground and nooks and hidden panels and truck beds, laid flat under flour sacks, you will miss the wind rushing, the giants wading, the earth turning, even the knuckle’s pop of deep freeze; no thaw.

Excerpted from Sam’s Plan in literature and writing, in which he states, “My poetry expands on the inescapability of isolation and loss, often utilizing metaphors attached to physical things, but whose physical presence is only a momentary part of their stories and what they hold. The frenetic rhyme and rhythm present in many of my poems exemplifies the ways that I think writing draws this knowledge of absence out of me. It feels like a rhythmic pull that comes in waves, which is how I write, a burst of words and feeling—like a sob—centering around a sound.”  

Photo by Noah Woods ’14

Clear Writing
In “Anti-Essentialism in Black Thought” (Fall 2018), Andrew Smith Domzal ’18 identifies and clearly expresses what he is going to write about. Somewhere (Marlboro?) he has learned to write a good sentence; to write a good sentence is the beginning of thinking clearly. I like the tone and measure of his prose. I look forward to reading his Plan.

I enjoyed my two-day visit to Marlboro in the mid 1980s, when my son Stephen was a prospective student. I attended two classes, wandered the lovely, rustic campus on muddy paths, and spoke to students and staff, occasionally catching sight of Stephen, who stayed clear of me. I stayed on campus in a ramshackle building that also housed a day school for little children. I ate, with everyone, in the former barn that also served as auditorium and theater. It was a wonderful stay.
—Charles Perrone P’89

Book Shelf
Thanks for the coverage of my book All That Once Was You in Potash Hill (Fall 2018). Just got my copy. BTW, it’s really an improvement! Gorgeous magazine.
—Thomas Griffin ’86

Remembering Markus
Markus Brakhan ’86 (pictured left with me), who passed away last summer (Potash Hill, Fall 2018), was a bright and vibrant part of the Marlboro community from 1982 to 1986 and wrote his Plan of Concentration on Kant and the “virtuous man.” He was a true original, whose soul deeply touched and impacted those close to him.
—Kip Morgan ’86

Marlboro Love
I am thankful daily for my time spent at Marlboro. I had the freedom to explore and define questions and commitments that have lasted for decades; I had a community that held me accountable, intellectually and personally. I began to learn what it means to be a thoughtful citizen. Thanks, Marlboro! Onward together.
—Mark Genszler ’95

Marlboro is a magical place. As I experienced it, every individual was honored for being the unique person they are. They were coaxed into doing their best and growing so much, so positively, throughout. This environment creates a community where you can and want to make a difference.
—Christina Crosby ’89

Policy in Action
For a politics student, Marlboro is like an enormous playground, where you can test things out—Meg Mott in particular is a professor who encourages you to take what you’re learning in the classroom and test it out on her colleagues, which is funny. She was really good at encouraging us to take theories and then formulate a policy change, go to the appropriate committee, and persuade those people that it was the right policy.

And I think that for me those skills were invaluable: being able to go into a room and speak to whoever was on that committee, and being able to handle that there is a time limit on what you have to say and that you have to consider what everyone thinks. There is someone in the room who vehemently disagrees with you, and you’re going to have to persuade them because you all live on campus together. That’s a really good microcosm of what my day-to-day office life is like.
— Alexia Boggs ’13, aerospace lawyer

Excerpted from the young alumni panel at Home Days 2018. See the whole panel.

Photo of Alexia and Sean Pyles ’13, also part of the alumni panel, by Kelly Fletcher

Reimagining Marlboro
By Kevin F. F. Quigley 

There is a well-known Chinese expression, “may you live in interesting times.” For Marlboro, and many other small colleges, these are indeed interesting times full of challenges. Marlboro, for not the first time in its history, is confronting a set of enrollment and financial challenges. At its May 2018 meeting, the board of trustees agreed to a multipronged “Reimagining Marlboro” project to address these challenges.

In June, a faculty task force was set up to “reimagine the curriculum” (see page 18). A dedicated group of nine faculty members worked assiduously over the summer to meet a September deadline. Working closely with a group of consultants, these faculty members examined marketing and assessment data and considered what was the essence of a Marlboro education and whether we had a distinctive niche that would attract future students. Together, the faculty developed the “Marlboro Promise.” Under this promise, every student at Marlboro, while pursuing their academic passion, will learn three things: (1) write clearly, (2) live in a community, and (3) lead a big idea from conception to execution. These three elements of the promise are reflected in what we already do: writing portfolio, community governance, and Plan.

The promise provides a clearer way to communicate to prospective students and their families what every student learns at Marlboro, as well as offering a “contract” related to that learning. The promise also helps our students clearly describe what it is they learned at Marlboro and how that applies to securing meaningful work. The Marlboro Promise was approved at a special meeting of the board on September 22.

Alongside this faculty work, we also set out to reimagine our admissions work and strengthen support for student success. In August, we welcomed Fumio Sugihara as dean of admissions and financial aid. Previously director of admissions at Bennington, Fumio brings a breadth of experience at liberal arts colleges and a data-driven, innovative approach to the challenging work of admissions. He has already begun to incorporate the Marlboro Promise in communications to prospective students. Working with consultants, Marlboro is also developing a new website built around the promise, due to be launched later this spring.

It has been said that challenges are what makes life interesting; overcoming them is what makes life meaningful. Marlboro is always an interesting place and throughout its history has frequently encountered and overcome challenges. I am confident that working together we will address these challenges in ways that add great meaning to the uniqueness of Marlboro.

Photo by Kelly Fletcher

By William Edelglass

Climate change, environmental degradation, species extinction, human suffering—the uncertain future poses great challenges for those who want to live ethically. In this excerpt from a recent interview, philosophy and environmental studies professor William Edelglass determines that an increasing awareness of our personal responsibility for these crises can only help.

I am concerned about what it means to live in the Anthropocene, the current epoch during which human activity has become a dominant influence on climate and the environment. For me this concern is both existential and theoretical. We—my wife and twin daughters and I—live on an off-the-grid homestead in southern Vermont. We have vegetable gardens, and have planted berries, nuts, and fruit trees. I walk—or in the winter, ski—to school. Our house is heated only with wood from our land, which I cut and split. I realize that if everyone lived like this, there wouldn’t be any open land left, and no habitat for our fellow creatures. And I know that people living in apartment buildings where they share walls (and therefore heat), and take public transportation, may have a smaller carbon footprint. But ours is one of the currently available options for living a less-unsustainable life.

Teaching environmental philosophy also feels like a kind of environmental practice, as a sustained focus on environmental questions can be transformative for many of us, and I do a certain amount of service that is related to the field. But no matter how much I try to be less dependent on fossil fuels, the goods I purchase and consume and that make my life possible contribute to the pain and suffering of many people, now and in the future, as well as to increased levels of species extinction.

This is the nature of life in the Anthropocene. And it is not just thousands who will die in the future; there are studies that suggest that the number of people dying each year as a consequence of climate change is already in the hundreds of thousands. And this does not include the many deaths from conflicts resulting from desertification and the competition for scarce resources. I do feel some responsibility for this pain and suffering, and I think this feeling is reasonable, but not everyone would agree.

Instead of thinking about individual responsibility, one might object, we need to think about climate change as a tragedy of the commons. Instead of holding individuals responsible, then, we should work toward forging agreements that would regulate the commons that is our atmosphere. According to the tragedy of the commons view of climate change, there would be no unilateral obligation to reduce one’s own greenhouse gas emissions. Climate change and other common-pool resource problems, then, would constitute a kind of prisoners’ dilemma, in which individuals acting according to their preferences worsen the situation for everyone. What would be required, then, is an enforceable, collective agreement.

Or, one might object, while it may be the case that cumulatively our actions are catastrophic, no one individual actually causes climate change. This is sometimes called the problem of inconsequentialism: if the consequences of my actions are negligible, and there would be no discernible difference if I drove a low- or high-mileage car, then I am simply not responsible. If my individual choice of a low-mileage car doesn’t really cause climate change, then there is nothing morally wrong with it. According to this view, the only moral obligation we have is to support systemic changes at a policy level by electing and supporting politicians who will implement incentives and regulations that will make a consequential difference.

Clearly, regulation, legislation, and international political agreements are necessary to make significant progress in mitigating and adapting to climate change. Moreover, it can be problematic to hold someone morally responsible for choices that are limited by their economic and social context, in which it may be very hard to make decisions that result in fewer greenhouse gas emissions.

There are also theoretical obstacles to understanding individual moral responsibility in the context of climate change. As Dale Jamieson, a philosopher at NYU, has argued, climate change and other collective-action environmental problems pose a challenge to our traditional conceptions of moral responsibility. Because individually my actions are inconsequential, I intend no harm, and there is no immediate victim, according to the standard account of responsibility I am not responsible for the suffering that results from climate change.

Climate change is thus both a moral challenge and a challenge to moral theory because we find ourselves caught in a situation where together we cause immense suffering and our inherited moral theory has difficulty conceptualizing any moral responsibility. But there are vast numbers of people today who do feel morally responsible. And I think there are ways of conceptualizing moral responsibility that make sense of that feeling. One way is by drawing on the work of Emmanuel Levinas (1906–95), the Lithuanian-French phenomenologist whose account of responsibility turns the standard approach on its head.

In Levinas’s moral phenomenology, responsibility is not grounded in intention and causality. According to most moral philosophies, and our common intuitions, we are responsible for acts that we choose, especially when we understand the consequences of our choices. Likewise, causal responsibility is generally understood to be a necessary, though not sufficient, condition for moral responsibility.

Thus, we generally tend to recognize moral responsibility for acts that are close in space and time, where we see clear connections between perpetrators and victims. In the standard account, because ought implies can, responsibility does not demand more than is reasonably possible for the agent. However, for Levinas, ethical consciousness is precisely the sense of responsibility for the Other, even when I myself have done nothing to harm her. And the more attentive I am the more I recognize my own responsibility.

In a brief autobiographical sketch titled “Signature,” Levinas writes that his life and work were “dominated by the presentiment and the memory of the Nazi horror.” Levinas himself entered the French military and was captured shortly after the start of the Second World War. He spent the next four years in a labor camp in Germany, hearing rumors of the murder of European Jews. His parents, grandparents, both his brothers, and many others close to him were killed by the Nazis; Levinas’s wife and daughter spent the war years hiding in France. For Levinas, the Nazi horror and the goodness of some when confronted by overwhelming force, demanded a radical rethinking of ethics, which became the central philosophical project of his life. It is primarily a project of rethinking our relationship to the other person, which, as he notes, also demands a rethinking of subjectivity.

In contrast to most Western moral philosophies, Levinas’s ethics offers no universal moral principles or prescriptions. He does not seek to answer the questions that animate these traditions, such as: “what is the best human life?”; “how should I live?”; “how ought one to act?”; or “what principles of moral reason can determine what one ought to do?” Instead, Levinas describes the very moral consciousness that precedes and motivates all moral thinking and action. In part due to this approach, then, Levinas’s thought is not in tension with virtue ethics, deontology, consequentialism, or other moral theories; it is operating at a prior level.

Levinas’s phenomenology describes a normative force to respond to the Other, to engage in the world, but there is no particular rule to follow or virtue to cultivate that would be universally applicable. For Levinas, then, there is no escape from the moral dilemmas of social life, for we are incessantly called by a responsibility to address needs that always demand more than the capacities and resources we possess. This will sound familiar to anyone who considers the global crisis of climate change their moral responsibility.

Levinas’s ethics of difference and singularity has been quite influential, provoking increased attention to ethical aspects of social life in a variety of fields in the humanities and social sciences. His work is not, however, generally regarded as an intellectual resource for thinking about environmental issues. But I believe Levinas does have something to offer us in this new era of global crises.

A generation ago, many environmental philosophers and activists tended to ground their work in one form or another of non-anthropocentrism. These views recognized an intrinsic value in nature that made it important to consider nature as a subject of our ethics. The idea that “nature,” as some abstract, ahistorical other to humans and human culture, could be a source of moral obligation is alien to Levinas’s thought. For Levinas, “nature” is precisely that realm which is outside the purview of ethics; it is distinguished instead by its drive to persist and its inability to put the Other before the self as humans are able.

Today, though, many environmental thinkers and activists articulate their concerns using conceptual frameworks that are less reliant on non-anthropocentric metaphysical and ethical views. Indeed, the climate movement, including the intellectual work that motivates it, is now very much a climate justice movement. Levinas’s recurrent concern with “the precariousness of the Other” resonates with this contemporary emphasis on climate justice, with a concern for the ways in which resource depletion and pollution overload harm humans as well as other animals.

The ethical challenges of the Anthropocene call for new approaches and fresh looks at old ones. Levinas’s account of responsibility works well for understanding our moral situation in collective-action environmental challenges such as climate change. More generally, I find Levinas’s phenomenology provides an apt description of ethical life in the Anthropocene: I have inescapable responsibilities that increase with my awareness and are always beyond my capacities to meet. That will not keep me from trying, and learning, and teaching my way into this new epoch.

William Edelglass is professor of philosophy and environmental studies, and co-editor of Facing Nature: Levinas and Environmental Thought (Duquesne University Press, 2012). He co-edits the journal Environmental Philosophy and has served as co-director of the International Association of Environmental Philosophy (IAEP), where he is currently chair of the board of directors. This article is excerpted and adapted from an interview William did on 3:AM. 

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Unintended Consequences of Growth
“I found it unbelievable that we rely so heavily on a number presumed to be infinite, Gross Domestic Product (GDP), while we count the extraction of finite resources in its measurement of growth,” says Spencer Knickerbocker ’19, who is completing his Plan in economics. “I also struggled with the fact that the number in no way captures the cost of environmental degradation.” Spencer’s Plan explores the history of GDP, with an emphasis on how using this instrument pushes policy with unintended consequences. He also investigates two alternative instruments to measure societal well-being, and creates his own index that measures elements of economic performance, environmental degradation, and inequality. “I have a growing interest in, and concern for, our future with regards to climate change and resource extraction. It is time for new standards.”

By Judy Dow

A student in the MA in Teaching for Social Justice program, Judy Dow has years of experience teaching about traditional Abenaki culture and practices. When it comes to climate change, the lessons of her ancestors call for adapting.

Growing up, I heard many stories from elders of the “hard winters” they’d seen. Even as a child, they would say that the dog days of summer were getting much longer, or “a killing frost came late this year,” or “the lake didn’t freeze across again this year.” I never once believed it was a pattern or a sign of things to come in the future. I just remember thinking that on the years the lake didn’t freeze across we couldn’t skate from Burlington to South Hero, where our camp was, and ice fishing was more difficult.

Now I see that my grandchildren and children will not continue to live in the world I once knew, but rather will travel “through the narrows,” into a world that will be totally foreign to them, a world where all systems they currently use and understand will be broken. It’s essential that they be reminded of the old stories of survival, hear the old songs of prayer, learn to read the land, and understand the difference between a want and a need. This is the way to adapt and survive in changing times.

The land management practices of the past have been all but forgotten, and often in their place stand greed, profit, and power. In many places our ancient traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) is thought of as just a quaint practice from long ago. This TEK was passed down from generation to generation from the beginning of time—this knowledge is tried and true. I don’t mean to be the voice of doom, I simply want people to wake up. The narrows are here, and we need to teach our children how to cross them if they are to survive.

I’ve been working with children for years now, to help them understand what sustainability really means. I help them to look differently at the environment— to look at water and air as living entities, and to understand that there needs to be a fairness to all living things. I eventually ask them the question: what would you bring through the narrows?

A huge component to these discussions is always around understanding what is a “want” and what is a “need.” Children will justify, until the cows come home, that candy and computers are needs and clean water and air is a “want”—something they wouldn’t bring through the narrows along with the candy and computer. They assume clean water and air will just be there waiting for them. We need to help these children discriminate between wants and needs if they are to survive the trip through the narrows.

My ancestors learned that it was traditional to adapt to changing times—they showed this in their actions and their very survival. The old stories, songs, pictographs, and prayers are the maps for us to follow. Adapting to changes that were political, environmental, economic, and social in nature was the key. Our grandchildren don’t understand that if they do not adapt to changes, change will pass them by.

For their journey through the narrows, our children need to learn, remember, and embrace the “five Rs”: Respect, Responsibility, Reverence, Relationship, and Reciprocity. These are the tools they will need. To ensure survival, our children should seek to develop a relationship with the plants and animals on the land and in the water.

I remember growing up fishing nearly every day for our food. Catching the fish we ate, placing their remains in the garden to help complete the life cycle, returning the worms we didn’t use back to the land, and sharing the fish with the elders that lived down the road were all part of life. Our practices were the same for the berrying we did, collecting butternuts, hunting, and anything else we harvested. Teaching about finding a balance in life, and embracing the five Rs, will lighten the load for our children on their journey.

My grandfather could read the land like he was reading a road map. He knew just the right place to fish and when; he knew when the fish were spawning and where; he watched the currents, waves, and gulls that flew over the water. He knew that the night crawlers we collected for bait were not indigenous to this land but that both the fish and he had adapted to using them for food. He knew that returning the remains to the land was the right thing to do. He just knew.

How many kids do you know who live that way today? Our youth have been caught in the middle of so much historical trauma, in recent years, they may not be sure how to survive this changing world. The climate is drastically changing and will continue to have huge impacts on their lives, and in many cases they don’t even know it. Pollution and economic greed have altered the ecosystems that their ancestors once knew intimately. Youth have become very streetwise, and yet they don’t recognize that the old teachings are what will help them to survive.

We live in a world where sustainability is supported only if someone makes money at it. Money is going to make a difference only for the wealthy when we travel through the narrows, for they will be able to buy what they need and rebuild what has been destroyed. The poor will not have this same resource.

Catastrophic storms are beating our shores, washing away the world we know. Towns are being deemed unlivable, sometimes for months and years, and some are being lost forever. Sustainability is understanding that we are responsible for our actions and then doing something about it; all the money in the world won’t fix the environmental problems we have today. It’s time to wake up for our children—allowing them to grow up is our responsibility and the right thing to do.

Loss of life and property is only half the story. We are looking at a rate of evolution in our natural world that we’ve not seen in our lifetimes. Polar bears and grizzly bears are mating; so are different species of everything from butterflies to sharks. The scientific community has recognized this genetic mixing in owls, squirrels, big cats, and wild canines. Is this hybridization natural? Some species-extinction experts say that wiping out hybrids is the best way to protect a threatened species. The lawmakers and wildlife managers will decide what will happen to these hybrid beings, while the people that depend on the land for survival will be dismissed as quaint Indian people who can’t keep up with the times.

The Abenaki have no word for time: when everyone is together and everything is ready, and only then, is it “time.” We understand that we live in a world with limited amounts of birds, fish, animals, and plants, and we’ve grown up understanding the sun rises every morning and sets every night at a predicted time. We’ve learned to read the seasons and the land, and to live with these and the many other predictable natural events we experience day to day.

Many of us have become at peace with the world we live in, assuming this is the way it will always be. Many of us have grown up never getting intimately involved in the world around us unless we are directly affected. While we’ve ignored the bigger picture, our world has changed; we are beginning the passage from the world we now know, through the narrows and into a new world. A different world than we could ever imagine. Life will be difficult, at best, for some, and unbearable for others— and costly in many ways for everyone. The “time” is right to embrace the five Rs and accept adaptation before it is too late.

Judy is a nationally known activist, basket maker, and teacher of traditional Abenaki culture and practices. She is the author of “Understanding the Vermont Eugenics Survey and Its Impacts Today,” in Global Indigenous Health, edited by Robert Henry et al., University of Arizona Press (2018), as well as many other essays. The MA in Teaching for Social Justice program is a collaboration between Marlboro College and Spark Teacher Education Institute: marlboro.edu/spark.

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Finding Cultural Connection to the Land
“The struggle to protect landscapes from exploitation is simultaneously an effort to preserve the cultures whose understanding of the world is deeply imbedded within those landscapes,” says Chris Lamb ’18. As part of his Plan in philosophy, environmental studies, and literature, Chris had a life-changing internship experience with the Black Mesa Water Coalition, a Diné environmental justice group based in Flagstaff, Arizona. He drew upon this experience to demonstrate the ceremonial and spiritual implications of food sovereignty—and by extension Indigenous activism— as demonstrated by the restoration of traditional corn fields. “Though places and landscapes play a fundamental role in the fabric of all cultures, Diné people have chosen to actively participate in the interplay between human and nonhuman forces in a way that illuminates the power of place and gives agency to the more-than-human world.”

By Don Dennis '82

I’m pretty sure I am the only American milkman in Scotland, the result of my having married a dairy farmer over here on one of the smaller islands. Due to the collapse of the bulk milk price, we began pasteurising and bottling Emma’s milk in returnable glass bottles two years ago, selling it through small village shops in this sparsely populated county. Along the way, we discovered that good-tasting milk has been almost entirely removed from the marketplace in most developed countries.

It was the arrival of the supermarkets, and the accompanying decline in home deliveries of milk, that brought this about. Fifty years ago, milk tasted better because it was pasteurized at a low temperature (63˚C) and held there for 30 minutes. The supermarkets came along and wanted cheaper milk to lure in the customers. And so the dairy processing companies introduced pasteurizing at 73˚C for 15 seconds, which is at least 120 times faster as a process, hence far cheaper. The fact that it drastically harms the taste was not the supermarkets’ concern. They got the cheap milk they wanted.

Something akin to that has happened with organic milk in the US: 80 percent of it is Ultra-High Temperature (UHT) treated (heated to more than 135˚C), so as to give it a six-month shelf life. The supermarkets wouldn’t carry it unless it had that sort of shelf life, as it is too much of a niche item.

In Australia, most milk is pasteurised at 81.6˚C for only two seconds! You can see the trend. Milk is supposed to be as cheap as possible, and so you reduce the costs of farming by having mega-herds of cows that stay indoors 365 days a year and never see grass; and you speed up the pasteurizing process, no matter what the cost is in terms of taste.

Ours is the only commercial dairy in Scotland that pasteurizes milk the old-fashioned way, with the low-temperature protocol. Hence it costs considerably more than supermarket white stuff. And yet we have found that it sells well anywhere we can reach with our distribution. People are continually amazed, and grateful, to find milk that tastes like the milk they had when they were children 50 or more years ago. And the glass bottle is a bonus.

Don Dennis delivers his Wee Isle Dairy whole milk from the isle of Gigha to points in Scotland as far away as Edinburgh, Penicuik, and Peebles. As if that’s not enough, he is also director of the Flower Essence Repertoire Ltd, producing a unique range of flower essences with tropical orchids. Learn more at healingorchids.com. Photos by Don Dennis 

New focus on curriculum, new faculty, new library grants, and new connections between old friends at Home Days 2018. It all happens right here at Marlboro and you can read about it in On and Off the Hill.

The Unexpected Nomad
By Laura Frank ’92

In September, Laura Frank left her blooming career as a live event technical producer to travel the world with her husband, Dan. With no final destination in sight they are discovering that, for arts entrepreneurs, occupation is where you find yourself.

In 1990, Kristin Anderson (’95) and I flew to Aruba for spring break to go camping. Kristin made it all sound so easy that I figured she must have a plan. It wasn’t until we could see the island from the plane window that I asked, “So, where are we staying tonight?” I’m not sure how loudly I shouted, “What do you mean you don’t know?” but I could tell by Kristin’s face it was quite embarrassing. Thus began my initiation into travel by wandering. I was a very slow learner.

Fast forward to 2005. My boyfriend Dan suggested we go on vacation together to Oaxaca. He had traveled through Mexico before, solo and without an itinerary, so we had to make a deal to travel in a way that suited us both. I wanted to know where I was sleeping the night we arrived and the night before we flew home, and he could leave everything in between unplanned. Baby steps, people.

Marlboro College is perfect for wanderers: an academic environment with no plan until you make one. You can carve your own path. Things may change along the way. There will be unexpected challenges. Yet at the core it’s your education by your design. It’s entrepreneurial in nature. At Marlboro I had a support system that would let me explore academically, take risks, and find my way, and through it all I always knew I had a home.

I took that entrepreneurial spirit with me in my career. Based on my Plan in theater and physics, I became a technical producer in the live event industry and worked in concerts, television, and theater. I built my career by following my interests and seeing where my skills fit and where they needed to grow. The confidence I gained from my experience at Marlboro allowed me to continue to explore and take risks in my work, eventually establishing a new discipline in technical theater.

I also found that I was traveling about half the year and getting quite good at some structured wandering. On the wrong side of immigration in Hong Kong? No problem. Looking for a ferry in Rio de Janeiro? I’m your girl. In time, planning for a full year of wandering became a goal for me and Dan, now my husband.

We thought we would fly to Alaska, buy a truck, and drive to Tierra del Fuego. Or maybe we’d pick 12 cities and live in each one for a month. It wasn’t long before we were talking about giving up our apartment, selling the car, and taking a break from our current jobs to become digital nomads long term. Wandering wouldn’t just be a goal with a time limit, it could be home if we figured out how to sustain it.

By now we are somewhere in Kenya or Tanzania and six months into this experiment. We’re not exactly sure how we will generate our future income, but we’re looking at various possibilities and hope that by mid-2020 we’ll have some new enterprise in place. I know from past experience there is always a way to land on your feet, even with no clear plan in place. In the meantime, we’re enjoying the happy accidents of wandering that come our way. Watch it unfold at instagram.com/love__and__wander/.

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Class Notes

Class notes are listed by year and include both graduates and nongraduates; the latter are listed under the class with which they are associated.

’63
“I recently published a book of poetry titled Inside Outside, available on Amazon,” says JONATHAN POTTER. “I’m close to completing my class in history of the theater at UMA-Rockland. There are a good number of students this year, and the director has asked that the course be taught again in the fall.”

’68
“People always talk about how horrible old age is, but I couldn’t disagree more,” says writer DEBORAH EISENBERG in a feature profile in the New York Times Magazine subtitled “Chronicle of American Insanity.” “I find age is as intense as adolescence. You know you could hurtle off a cliff at any second. And because of that there’s a sense of destiny, of apprehending things, of love that isn’t available—or wasn’t available to me—earlier. You feel: I’ve survived this ordeal, and now I don’t have to worry. I know how my life has worked out. All the anxiety that I put into the hard questions has fallen away. I can take my satisfactions where they are.” Learn more.

’70
BILL BARKENTIN shares that several pieces of antique furniture collected by him and PETER DEVEIKIS ’71 over more than three decades were part of an exhibition at the Massachusetts Historical Society titled “Entrepreneurship and Classical Design in Boston’s South End: The Furniture of Isaac Vose & Thomas Seymour, 1815 to 1825.” In a cover story about the exhibition in Antiques and the Arts Weekly, the “vast private collection” referred to is Bill and Peter’s. “I find it gratifying that Peter’s great scholarship, pioneering interest in classical furniture, and wonderful collector’s eye are receiving this recognition. I think he would be pleased,” writes Bill.

’82
ABBY JACOBSON says, “For the past two and a half years, I’ve been working as a program coordinator at a small nonprofit called Putney Community Cares. We recently merged with Putney Family Services, which allows us to work with Putney residents of all ages, so I look forward to collaborating with our local schools, residents, and families, to name but a few.”

“My work is all about a reinterpretation of nature,” says DAVID LITTLE, in an August article in the New Hampshire Union Leader titled “Man of Steel: Meredith Blacksmith Forges Ahead.” Learn more.

’86
“Greetings all from San Francisco,” writes BRIAN RICHARD. “Wow, 23 years? And back in Haight Ashbury, where I started from. I moved here from Miami Beach, Florida, in 1995, so I guess I like the oceans. Someday will learn to surf, soon I hope...I did graduate with an RHIT (Registered Health Information Technology) from AHIMA and obtained certifications in ICD-9-CM and CPT-4 codings, so time shall tell. Hope Vermont winter is tolerable, and the snow flows well with the maple syrup.”

“From climate change to species extinction, humanity is confronted with an increasing array of societal and environmental challenges that defy simple quantifiable solutions,” says the description of CHARLES CURTIN’s new book, Complex Ecology (Cambridge University Press, 2018, co-edited by T. H. F. Allen). “Complexity-based ecology provides a new paradigm for ecologists and conservationists keen to embrace the uncertainty that is pressed upon us.”

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Samuel Dowe-Sandes ’96: Making Tiles in Marrakech 
“I grew up in a house surrounded by beauty, which certainly helped lead me to where I am, despite not having any formal design training,” says Samuel Dowe-Sandes, son of local artists Roger Sandes and Mary Welsh. Together with his wife, Caitlin, in 2007 Samuel founded Popham Design, a design studio and tile workshop based in Marrakech, Morocco, following a yearlong sabbatical there.

“We bought and renovated a small house and discovered a wide variety of Moroccan artisanal crafts, including handmade concrete tiles,” says Samuel. “We loved the product, but decided it would be fun to add our own contemporary designs to a traditional manufacturing process. By the end of our sabbatical we had already finished a business plan and were approaching investors and distributors.”

Now Popham’s tiles are exported throughout the world, adorning hotels, restaurants, and residences from San Francisco to Sydney, and have received international coverage from high-profile design and fashion magazines like Architectural Digest and Elle. Samuel loves a lot of things about being an entrepreneur, but especially enjoys bridging a traditional Moroccan craft with a contemporary design sense. He and Caitlin have learned a lot more about Morocco by having a business there.

“We’ve met a lot of interesting people along the way, and have tried to learn from all of them,” says Samuel, who also credits his Marlboro experience with preparing him for the entrepreneurial life. “Marlboro helped me hone the ability to look at a problem from many points of view. Running a business means dealing with a lot of questions, and being a critical thinker is key to that.”

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’90
MARK ROESSLER’s new book, A Panoramic Tour of the Northampton State Hospital, came out in November from Levellers Press. This is a unique document of the historic building that was demolished in 2006. The book includes over 50 panoramas circumnavigating the original structure and looking inside. Learn more.

“I am currently in Kazakhstan, serving at the US Embassy,” says JOHN SURFACE. “I’ve been with the State Department for 13 years, cutting a swath through the belt of transition states in Eastern Europe, the Balkans, the former Soviet Union, and Central Asia. As with all roads we find ourselves wandering down, I can recall how I got here but never can pinpoint a conscious decision that forged the route. I stare at the regional map on occasion, wondering if the path is more Silk Road or Trans-Siberian Railway. There’s a smattering of old world Islamic architecture, kebab huts, and post-Soviet apartment blocks on the older streets here in Astana surrounded by the Dubai-meets-Vegas triumphalism and ornamental promenades of Nazarbayev’s new science-fiction capital. Utterly weird, thoroughly unique. This journey all began with seven years teaching in Poland, starting in 1995, first at the University of Gdansk, then as director of the American School of Gdynia. It’s now 23 years later into this life on the road, and I don’t feel a day over 25. In my head. The kids are 16 and 10, and our daughter will finish high school here. I know I have been busy. There have been years of toil and travel and wonder. I have no idea where all the years went. But I do know that my years at Marlboro set me down this path, and that Robert Frost described this sensation best. As did the Talking Heads.”

“I’m excited to be a part of innovation around the rural economy, in the usual areas of forestry and agriculture of course but also in the digital and creative economies,” said SARA COFFEY, who was elected to serve in the Vermont House of Representatives in November. “I’m looking forward to learning how to get things done, how to pull the levers, figuring out the systems, build collaboration.” Learn more.

’92
ALEX GARDNER reports, “I have a book coming out in May, The Life of Jamgon Kongtrul the Great, from Shambhala Publications. He was a highly influential Tibetan religious leader of the nineteenth century. It’s a full-length biography that gets into the weeds of how he trained, achieved renown, and interacted with the people and historical events of his era.” Learn more at shambhala.com/life-of-jamgon-kongtrulthe- great.html. “In the meantime I’m still running the Treasury of Lives, an online biographical encyclopedia of Tibet and the surrounding regions (treasuryoflives.org).”

’93
ALICIA BRELSFORD DANA was once again chosen for the 2019 US Paralympics Cycling National Team. She made her first US Paralympics Cycling National Team in 2001 and competed at the 2002 world championships, but then stepped away from the sport for several years to raise her daughter, Willa. She returned to handcycling in 2011, has been on Team USA since 2012, and won the overall world cup titles in 2015 and 2017 and silver medal in the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games for road time trial.

’95
In January, “JAC” JODI CLARK MSM’14 offered an experiential learning session on peer-to-peer mentoring at the monthly chapter meeting of the Greater Monadnock Society for Human Resource Management. The session, titled “Dynamic Duos,” provided a framework for peer-to-peer mentoring and supervision, with a focus on building skills in emotional intelligence, active listening, giving and receiving productive feedback, and integrating continuing learning.

’00
“I ran for office because I wanted government to truly be a representation of our community’s needs,” says EMILIE KORNHEISER, who was elected to the Vermont House of Representatives in November. “In committee and on the floor, I will help my colleagues to understand how each piece of our system works together, and how it affects our communities on the ground.” Learn more.

’01
“Gather round, folks. Pull up a chair. Grab a drink. Make yourself comfortable... while you still can. There’s a maniac loose in society, and he’s here to tell you some stories,” so promises the back cover of MATT SPENCER’s new book, Story Time with Crazy Uncle Matt (Back Roads Carnival Books, 2018). According to his bio, Matt has been a “journalist, New Orleans restaurant cook, factory worker, radio DJ, and a no-good ramblin’ bum. He’s also a song lyricist, playwright, actor, and martial artist. As of this writing, he lives in Brattleboro, Vermont.”

’07
In November, WILLOW O’FERAL presented a screening and discussion of Break the Silence, her important documentary on women’s sexual and reproductive health in Vermont, in Ragle Hall. The film was followed by a panel discussion by women from the film. “New Day Films has just accepted Break the Silence for educational distribution, which means I will now be able to get the film out to a much wider audience, and the film will soon be available for use by colleges, universities, libraries, nonprofits and high schools all across the country,” says Willow. Learn more at breakthesilencedoc.com.

’09
“I still work for a community mental health agency,” says TALIA JACKSON. “In the last year I started using EMDR to treat trauma, and I’m in a slow crawl to become a licensed clinical social worker. I am still in touch with classmates from Marlboro and consider them my best friends.”

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Evan Lorenzen ’13: Creation Continued… 
When Evan Lorenzen graduated from Marlboro with a Plan in visual arts, the sky seemed to be the limit for his creative endeavors. Appropriately, he is now living in the “mile-high city” of Denver, pursuing many forms of art—from large paintings to graphic design, animation to wine labels— and making a living at it.

“I would not be in my current circumstances without the skill sets that I acquired at Marlboro,” says Evan, who created the animated videos for Marlboro’s Beautiful Minds Challenge for the last five years. “Marlboro and its ingenious professors, staff, and students provided me with not only innumerable techniques but also the critical-thinking and problem-solving skills required to push myself and my work to further and further levels.”

Soon after moving to Denver, Evan began working in miniature, making “tiny books” and other miniature paintings and illustrations without the use of magnifying instruments, such as a recent detail of Edward Hopper’s Nighthawks painted on a spoon. His unique skills are well adapted to tattoo art, which he provides at All Sacred Tattoo Studio, a group enterprise with a strong community-engagement focus.

“Besides being in an environment that promotes creativity and altruism, I really love tattooing because I interact with a wide range of fascinating individuals while practicing a craft that I am passionate about. I really enjoy being, in a way, a visual translator for my clients by helping them modify their bodies with imagery that is very personal and significant to them.”

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’10
“These images interrogate how surveillance technology has changed our relationship to—and understanding of—landscape and place in the current geopolitical climate,” says MARCUS DESIENO in his artist’s statement for the Review Santa Fe Photo Festival, where he presented his show No Man’s Land: Views from a Surveillance State. “The resulting visual product becomes located from its automated origins and leads to an investigation of land, of borders, and power.” Marcus’s work earned him CENTER director’s choice second place award, but more importantly the admiration of VAUNE TRACHTMAN ’89 and BRIAN MOONEY ’90, who attended the festival and were thrilled to meet him.

Congratulations to GENAM YESHI, who published a Tibetan translation of Plato’s Phaedo. Philosophy professor William Edelglass visited Genam while at a conference in Dharamsala, India, last year.

’14
DAVID AMATO published a spy novel under the pseudonym Donatella Amarna, called Le Tigre Russe. Learn more.

MICHAEL SCHNEEWEIS, of Michael Jordan Touchdown Pass, was one of five Marlboro alumni and students featured in an indie music playlist of Brattleboro musicians past and present on BTRtoday's Spotlight on the City. Also included were ASA SHADIS ’19 and ALEX LAWSURE ’19 of A Million Yellow Flowers, AMBER SCHAEFER ’10 of Starfawn, and BELLA ORTIZ-WREN ’18, rounding out Marlboro’s solid representation on this playlist. Hear them.

’17
JOHN MCGILL and math professor Matt Ollis have co-authored a paper titled “On the asymptotic growth of bipartite graceful permutations,” in the research journal Discrete Mathematics. “The purpose of this paper was to explore the number of ways one can make graceful permutations as the size of the list increases,” said John. The paper grew out of research John had done with Matt while a Marlboro student, and was the basis of one of his Plan papers. Learn more.

’18
CHRIS LAMB gave a paper based on his Plan at the annual meeting of the International Association of Environmental Philosophy, and came home with the prize for best graduate student essay. “It was a validation of the work I have put in at Marlboro, the guidance I received there, and the overall preparation for continued work in academia. It was encouraging, considering my desire to continue on to graduate school.” Learn more.

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Alex Fischer MBA ’14: Dismantling Capitalism 
“Most of us don’t want to think about our relationship to money, because we are taught and raised to believe that capitalism is the air we breathe,” says Alex Fischer, founder of Open Bookkeeping and co-founder of The Root Social Justice Center, both in Brattleboro, Vermont. “I got into bookkeeping because I wanted to help support economies that are alternatives to capitalism.”

When Alex moved to Vermont from California and started Open Bookkeeping, they quickly realized that they wanted to use finance to work with businesses and alternative economies based on justice-oriented values and principles. For Alex, getting their MBA was about helping justice-based businesses, co-ops, nonprofits, and individuals thrive.

“My Marlboro MBA really gave me time to figure out this bizarre place I live and work in: the intersection of finance and social justice,” says Alex. “Spending two and a half years learning about and challenging notions of success and traditional business metrics allowed me to better understand my foundational values and perspectives.”

Alex helped co-found The Root in 2013, with the goal to create a co-working space for justice-based businesses and community organizing. As of 2017 The Root focuses on racial justice organizing in Vermont and the region led by people of color, and Alex has continued to fundraise and maintain finances for the organization as a way to support people-of-color leadership.

“Justice-based economies are made up of an ecosystem of organizations, businesses, co-ops, individuals—we need them to be resilient, successful and values-based, but we also need them to keep their doors open and pay their employees, worker-owners, contractors, and other parties.”

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Management
In November, SUZANNE BANSLEY MBA’11 facilitated a workshop on “Listening Effectively” at the former Marlboro College Graduate Center. Suzanne covered nine listening pitfalls and nine listening techniques in this interactive workshop, part of a Toastmasters International series.

“A lot of what we talk about is what AmeriCorps members do for the community, and one of the things we don’t talk about as much is what AmeriCorps does for the person who is serving,” says PHILIP KOLLING MSM’14, executive director of SerVermont. He was quoted in a Bernie Sanders video announcing the allocation of $3 million in federal funds for AmeriCorps. Learn more. 

“The working landscape and small farms in Vermont are still the best incubator for having people live in Vermont and be in Vermont and make business in Vermont,” said EMMET DUNBAR MSM’14 in the Fall 2018 issue of SoVermont Arts and Living. In an article titled “Farming Couples, Doing Less…Achieving More,” Emmett and his wife, Lini, describe how they transformed their South Londonderry farm into a more streamlined and profitable enterprise. “Lini and I have not just worked to develop our farm’s products for ourselves, we have been instrumental in creating the alternative food and local agricultural economy in Vermont,” he added. Learn more.

“I have been impressed for many years by the Amherst Survival Center’s commitment to leverage volunteers, donations, and advocacy to create inclusive community, starting by meeting people’s most basic needs,” said K. LEV BEN-EZRA MSM’17. In December, Lev was appointed as the new executive director of the center, which provides support for low-income residents throughout the Amherst, Massachusetts, region. Learn more.

AMANDA MEHEGAN MBA’18 has been selected to participate in the 2018-2019 Vermont Changemakers Table organized by Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility and the High Meadows Fund. Part of a cohort of 25 young Vermonters committed to positive change, Amanda will meet with her group quarterly for dinner, conversation, and inspiration from Vermont thought leaders. A second Marlboro MBA alum, ALEX FISCHER MBA’14, was also selected for this honor.

Teaching
JASMIN BEY COWIN MAT’17 writes, “I am now a full-time assistant professor responsible for course migration from Blackboard to Canvas in the TESOL department at Touro College. In October, I will start my fellowship at Columbia University in Educational Leadership and Policy with an eye on moving out of Westchester in 2021. I am hoping to find something in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, or Vermont, however, everything and anything is possible, including international. Marlboro was a great experience.”

Former Faculty
Responding to the Tree of Life synagogue shooting in October, former president TOM RAGLE said in a letter to the editor of the Brattleboro Reformer, “This was more than an act of anti-Semitism. It was a crime against humanity. I am human. It was a crime against my brothers and sisters, against me. Only when we are able to see a crime such as this not as a crime against Jews or Muslims or Blacks or Native Americans but a crime against humanity, against us, against me, will we realize the peace we so desperately and unsuccessfully seek.”

Faculty Emerita LAURA STEVENSON’s latest project is reviewing all new fiction and nonfiction written by Vermont authors, starting with 2018. “The reviews appear in the Deerfield Valley News, but they also appear on the opening page of my website: lauracstevenson.org,” she says. “The idea, besides giving Vermont authors credit that many of them don’t get because they publish with small presses, is to give readers a bibliography of what local writers are writing.”

In September, retiring visual arts faculty members Cathy Osman and Tim Segar presented three concurrent exhibits, two at the college—in the Snyder and Drury Galleries—and one in downtown Brattleboro at the Catherine Dianich Gallery. The shows included painting, prints, and sculpture taken from several parts of their career, including new work.

“Greetings from Guatemala,” writes CAROL HENDRICKSON, anthropology faculty emerita. She was there as a volunteer with the Maya Educational Foundation English language program, working with Maya university students who want to improve their English language proficiency. “I did the TESOL certificate program with Bev Burkett . . . thank you, Marlboro College, for that opportunity.” Then Carol went to Tecpán Guatemala, where she has research for many years. “I’m here visiting friends and also preparing to write about my experiences over the past (nearly) 40 years (Yipes!). The plan is that I and another anthropologist who has worked in Tecpán will have this book manuscript translated and published in Spanish.” 

Tom Sisson, former trustee
A resident of Concord, Massachusetts, former trustee Tom Sisson died in October at the age of 95. He served in the US Naval Air Corps and US Coast Guard during World War II, flying patrols for German submarines and sailors in distress. He attended Harvard University, Oxford University, and Boston University where he received his Master’s of Education degree. He worked in television, starting in commercial television then pioneering in public service programs at the Lowell Institute Cooperative and Broadcasting Council (now known as WGBH-TV) where he was the producer-director. He continued his career as a teacher and dean at both Boston and Harvard Universities, ending as associate dean for the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at Harvard University. He thrived on being both an intellectual and an outdoorsman, always reading, beekeeping, gardening, collecting and selling eggs, hiking, sailing, and cross-country and alpine skiing. Tom (pictured above with longtime trustee Paul Olson), was a trustee of Marlboro College during the 1970s, owing to his longstanding friendship with then-president Tom Ragle, with whom he had grown up. During that time he went on several mountain hikes with students. He also established the Warren R. Sisson Scholarship, in his father’s memory, to which contributions may be made.

Michael Stafford ’72
A resident of Hinsdale, New Hampshire, Michael Stafford died in December at the age of 76, due to injuries suffered in a motor vehicle accident. Michael was born in Queens, New York, and grew up in Westchester County. Soon after starting college at Westchester Community College, he began part-time work at Barlow Chemical Company, rising quickly into management and to the position of plant manager. He returned to college at Marlboro, taking classes in art and design and math, then completed his bachelor’s degree in biology from Keene State College. Michael loved the outdoors, including walking, skiing, and mountain climbing, and is remembered by friends and family for his kindness. He is survived by his five siblings and their families.

Barbara Jennings ’79
Barbara Jennings died in July, in Atlanta, Georgia, at the age of 70. She was born in Galveston, Texas, and grew up moving from Texas to Georgia, New Jersey, and Michigan. She moved to Brattleboro, Vermont, with her first husband, then returned to Conyers, Georgia. Barbara became known for her artistic talents, including handcrafted necklaces and decorated folk-art eggs, one of which was chosen to represent Georgia for Easter 1998 at the White House. Later in life she took up painting, a favorite subject being birds. A high point in her life was her marriage to Shirl Jennings, who had been blind from childhood and whom Barb encouraged to have an operation that partially restored his vision. Their story became the subject of an essay by Oliver Sacks and then the movie At First Sight. Barbara is survived by three brothers and two nephews, and her first husband, Wayne Randall of Brattleboro, Vermont.

Margaret Barletta ’94
A resident of Brattleboro, Vermont, Margaret Barletta died in September at the age of 53, after living with cancer for 13 years. Margaret grew up in South Orange, New Jersey. She attended Kean College in New Jersey before moving to Keene, New Hampshire, in 1987. Shortly thereafter she moved to Brattleboro where she has resided ever since. Margaret studied at Marlboro College and later at Vermont Technical College. She earned a degree in nursing, a profession that suited her caring and empathetic nature, and worked as a medical-surgical nurse at Brattleboro Memorial Hospital. Margaret’s greatest thrill in life was being a loving mother to her son, Curtis. She enjoyed music and going to concerts—she sang with the Brattleboro Women’s Chorus—and she loved nature. She is survived by her son, Curtis; her siblings, Tony, Gina, and Robert Barletta; her partner, Margaret Holtje; and many other dear family members.

Lisa Charkey ’97
Lisa Charkey died peacefully at home in October after bravely cheating death numerous times in her five-year-long battle with cancer. The daughter of Stan Charkey, music professor emeritus, and sister of current adjunct music professor Jacob Charkey, Lisa grew up in Brattleboro and graduated from Brattleboro Union High School. She attended Hampshire College, and received her bachelor’s from Marlboro College, where she did a Plan in visual arts and anthropology, specifically a visual exploration of the theme “invisible family” and a study of art and tourism. She did graduate work in art and education at Parsons School of Design and Bank Street College of Education in New York City. Lisa returned to Brattleboro with her daughter, Lily, in 2007 after living and working in Jamaica, St. John, Miami, New York City, and Paris, France. Those who knew and loved her will remember her as a talented artist, extraordinary educator, and devoted parent. She is survived by her parents, Stan and Barbara Charkey; her daughter, Lily Charkey Buren; her brother, Jacob Charkey; her sister-in-law, Veronica Simas de Souza Rosas; and her favorite aunt, Betty Smith of Portland, Oregon.

Jane Nesbit MSM’14
In August, Jane Nesbitt died at the University of Vermont Medical Center, with her family by her side. Jane was born in Trenton, New Jersey, and graduated from Goddard College. She earned a master’s in nonprofit management from Marlboro College, where she was a bright light for the graduate school community, and also a beloved member of a Women’s Leadership Circle in Chittenden County. She was also committed to helping her community, both through her choice of working for local nonprofits and through volunteering. Her brave heart and sense of adventure were most evident on her many travels across the United States, Canada, Ireland, France, and most recently England. At the age of 56, Jane spent several months living in Rwanda. She enjoyed gardening, playing the fiddle in the Vermont Fiddle Orchestra, and being with friends. She is survived by her long-time partner, John Fleischer; daughter Dreolin Fleischer, son-in-law Travis Coan, and her two granddaughters, Riley Olivia and Gwendolyn Jane of Exeter, England; and other beloved family.

Full Circle from Pine Ridge

When Arthur Running Horse came to Marlboro College as a participant in the Exposures cross-cultural youth arts program four years ago, he was convinced he would return one day as a college student. Now a first-year student at Marlboro, he is co-leading a class trip this spring to his Lakota community at Pine Ridge to help other students learn about community engagement and life on the reservation.

“When I visited Marlboro with Exposures I was in awe at how beautiful the campus was,” says Arthur. “The most memorable thing about visiting Marlboro was working in the library late at night and finding the little nooks to hide away in. I thought to myself, ‘I want to be in this exact same spot in four years.’”

“Arthur likes to have different experiences and is self-motivated to make a difference for himself, his people, and the world around him,” says John Willis, photography professor and founder of In-Sight Photography Project, a youth arts program in Brattleboro. Exposures, an offshoot of In-Sight, was founded 16 years ago by six Plan students working with John, and has built a growing relationship between youth from Brattleboro and the Pine Ridge community.

“Exposures helped me grow personally by ‘exposing’ me to different cultures and ways of life, importantly life outside of the reservation,” says Arthur, who participated in two other Exposures programs at Pine Ridge in subsequent years. He recently started an internship at In-Sight.

“Arthur is inspired to help teach others,” says John, who is co-teaching the course on experiential learning and collaboration with Arthur, including the trip to Pine Ridge. “The approach we are taking is to consider how we all can learn about Lakota culture and history while considering how to be good guests in their community, and engage each other so we can collaborate toward the goal of betterment for all of us.”

Although he has not settled on a focus at Marlboro, Arthur says he wants to create art and learn more about the world and different ways of life as well as what it means to be indigenous in today’s society.

“More than anything I want to focus on making my people proud and being an example to the younger generation that you can overcome the circumstances on the reservation and thrive. I want to show the younger generation that you can be proud to be Lakota.”

Photo by David Teter ’20; Inset by Emily Weatherill ’21

Every Drop Counts  

Did you know it takes 40 gallons of sap to transform into one gallon of maple syrup? Marlboro College is all about transformation, and you can help students tap their potential by participating in our Sugar Rush challenge on April 3.

Our generous challenge donors are ready to sweeten your gift when we reach our participation goals. Give today and be counted toward Sugar Rush 2019!

Learn more about Sugar Rush at marlboro.edu/sugarrush.