Subject: 205 things I love about Wells
>===== Original Message From William Liberi
Dear President Ryerson,
At the student meeting tonight, we were encouraged to write to you about why
we love Wells, the way it is, why it doesn't need to add biomales ("real"
men).
So, one odd-liner to another, I thought it would be important to write about
loving Wells and preserving tradition. As resident Bear said, this is a
"single sex, many-gender" school. As a member of the class of 2005, I offer
you 2'05 reasons I love Wells.... in no particular order. I can't speak for
others. goodness knows, most actually complain about the geese, etc. but
these are just 205 things I, myself love about Wells (if you all think of
better ones, write them!) and I could come up with another 1800 to make it
2005, but neither you nor I probably have time for that.
1. The look and Feel of Faculty Parlors
2. Safe Space
3. The Big Dyke Party
4. Openness around trans* issues, in class, the WRC and life
5. Getting the door for 400 talented, smart, independant ladies who don't need me or anyone else to get the door for them
6. Because we steal dryer sheets, but we report stolen money
7. Because it was Henry's conservative school to pen up "ladies" for the Cornell Boys to marry, but it is now one of the safest places for liberal thinking, freedom of religion and lesbian, bisexual, transgendered, queer, questioning, heteroflexible and allied students.
8. The lake
9. Being a bellringer
10. Odd/even songs
11. Asking boys, "who owns you?"
12. Being able to write about sexuality in my short story writing class
13. The sunsets
14. The ghost stories
15. That oddline won the first odd/even game
16. The social life crystallized on desk graffiti
17. The view from the top of GP
18. The hayride
19. The Gigs & 8's
20. That protests actually *work* here
21. Intense political dialog
22. The tree by Weld where I met my partner
23. ...that I can say "my partner"
24. Seeing red vans when I'm away, and expecting to find the Wells logo on the side
25. Watching seniors act silly at champagne breakfasts
26. Sex Collective
27. Chatting with my professors
28. Having been a freshman elf
29. Being able to wander into Dean Morales' office
30. Trans* friendly speakers
31. Getting tapped for "boy parts" (singing, and on stage)
32. Joking about changing the meaning of the freezing lake
33. Being a bellringer
34. Being up to my ears in club responsiblities
35. School acknowledgement of Transgender Day or Remembrance
36. Sitting in the dining hall, and chatting about so-and-so's boyfriend, and the other girl's girlfriend
37. Greens
38. Vagina Monologues on Valentines
39. Chatting with staff
40. Maypole dancing
41. Dean VanVechten asking, earnestly and without consequence, which bathroom I use.
42. "Singles Awareness Day" --Feb. 14
43. Knocking on the computer-lab window in Weld to get let in
44. Knowing security by name
45. Being able to chat with anyone in the dining hall
46. Talking to parents while their kid tours
47. Selling Vagina Mirrors at spring weekend
48. Watching 30+ girls get really, really drunk at Junior blast without them ever having to worry at all about rape.
49. ...bribing my freshmen
50. Going to conferences, and knowing everyone before we even leave.
51. Jokes about B.U.G.s and L.U.G.s (bi until graduation and lesbian until graduation respectively)
52. Japanese Club
53. Being devoted enough to sit through hours and hours with the very talented members of the Student Diversity Committee as we figure out how we work.
54. Sundae nite... every sunday night.
55. the courtyard
56. Having a religion major here officiate my commitment ceremony
57. Reading ANYTHING that is purple/yellow as oddline... even when I'm off campus
58. Knowing the dining hall staff by name
59. legends of recent alums
60. wandering around my dorm in an A-shirt and boxers... without worrying about males trying to prove who the "real man" is.
61. Singing oddline lyrics to the radio when nobody is around
62. wandering the forest behind Macmillian
63. Babysitting for WILL students
64. Being able to ask a ride from anyone
65. the Ithaca area in general
66. the spirits in GP
67. Walking into every dorm and feeling completely at home
68. giving roses to seniors
69. Ongoing sarcasm rivalries with the tech guys
70. Using the gym without funny looks
71. Having pagan ceremonies in the lakehouse
72. Consoling Dean Green
73. Being able to talk to the Med Center doctors about hormones
74. Being able to ask really sensative questions
75. Being asked really sensative questions and being able to respond without fear.
76. The real sense of attachment we have to our professors (most evident when one leaves)
77. The light-hearted jokes and rumors
78. Freedom of thought, and sometimes even speech.
79. The marks in the sidewalk to Dodge: "It's a baby"
80. Chatting casually about charting menstruation at the senior table.
81. arming people with knowledge
82. Internships based on what really interests us
83. Advisers who actually advise
84. ...and professors who actually teach (I'm a TA, and I'm really grateful that I'm not teaching the classes or grading the papers)
85. The sor of trust we had when the printers were in the computer labs
86. The trust we have in a library that has so many exits... we still check books out.
87. Chalking the campus for Nat'l Coming Out Day
88. Ooh.. and the turnout for Day of Silence
89. Tea Time
90. Speaking up in class
91. having good feminist lunches... entirely by accident, at a random table in the dining hall
92. Having an alum president who actually reads e-mails
93. ...ok, and that Dean Green cooks us Soul Food
94. feeling really supported in all my hair-brained ideas
95. Finding friends at the ever-repainted grill
96. Hearing stories about expeditions to the fargo
97. That my fellow students can be themselves, in a way they cannot around bio-men
98. Being asked why I'd choose Wells
99. Really having to have struggled to think of "12 things at Wells that really get to me" during freshman year
100. Knowing that Pleasant is a name and not an adjective ::Shudder::
101. Hating everything the republican club stands for, but being friends with the chair and other members
102. Having people tell me, after the "go co-ed?" student meeting that they value my opinion and wish I had spoken up
103. Getting to challenge male stereotypes and essentialist thought about what a "woman" is... and what a women's college is
104. Forming "families" that go beyond Wells sisters: I was Papa Will
105. ...my partner was Mama Kim (Hannan)
106. ...our friend was Grandma Hillary (Green)
107. ...our freshman sisters were Aunt Dominique (?) and Aunt Bobby-Jo (Bly-Owens)
108. ...and the kids were Baby Tina (Morse-Fish) Kim (Juul) and Kirsten ?
109. Watching Madonna in a Women's Studies class
110. Having a professor chat openly about identity politics in relation to her own sex life
111. Professors having time to chat at all.
112. Having the houses of professors so close I can walk there if I missed office hours. ;)
113. Being on good enough terms with the president and my professors to include smilie-faces in an e-mail
114. Being delegated to set up a round-table discussion for the Women's Studnies Department
115. meaning something by "when the lake freezes over"
116. joking about braiding leg hair
117. Going to class in PJ's...
118. ...worried that one is late, only to find the professor strolling in right behind
119. old pictures of the Belltower, an evenline team, and maypole dancing
120. That students are backing an initiative to include gender neutral language in the constitution
121. Being able to brag about how many days we've gone without showering
122. Being able to have sex-toy "tupperware parties"
123. re-empowering "dirty" words for female-genitalia
124. Minerva. Athena is my patron diety, so it was really exciting that we have a statue of Minerva.
125. Having face-time to plan independant projects. With a dean, even.
126. Having the dirt on which staff and faculty are going out on maternity leave...
127. Going for evenline flag-hunts in the middle of the night.
128. Confusing parents as I help them move their daughters in on the first day.
129. Knowing looks when I wear a yellow tie and purple shirt...
130. ...or paint a purple goatee on my face for the sing-off
131. Being able to sprint across campus if I need to
132. Chatting with freshmen about where the pipes run behind the walls, and how not to put their beds against that wall...
133. Romantic dinners on the balcony of Weld
134. Getting haircuts from students
135. sitting in the shade of the sycamore
136. The Peachtown Native American Festival
137. Silly costumes for Mainly 80's
138. Hanging out in Dean Dan's office
139. Chatting about near-careers and distant babies
140. Having political or religious debates without fear
141. not having to lock my door
142. The look of the buildings... some of them, anyway
143. Trying to get lost in the library
144. Playing hide-and-seek in the library
145. handing down stories about our professors
146. Working out Saturday mornings with some guy from Aurora who is in the Mr. Universe Sr. category?
147. laughing as some girls insist there are too many butches, and others swear there really aren't enough
148. The defensive look of the boyfriends as the crowd together outside for a smoke
149. Knowing that some parts of the honor code just AREN'T broken.
150. Recognizing new students, perspectives, parents on sight... because we know everyone else.
151. That each of us can just be ourselves.
152. That we're almost ready to talk about class issues.
153. Funny hats at convocation
154. Getting assigned to take pictures of seniors jumping into the lake
155. The Peachtown children yelling as they play outside my window
156. Reading old books that time has forgotten.
157. taking the elevator to the healthy living floor out of laziness
158. napping in the AER
159. Opportunities to teach, grow and reach beyond Wells
160. The feeling like I want to buy a house in Aurora and live here forever
161. Bonfires by the lake
162. Harvest dinners by Foundations, Interfaith forum
163. The Onyx on a lazy afternoon
164. The comfy chairs in Barler and the library
165. Tears in my eyes when I get back from long breaks... I end up feeling like Wells is... the Promised Land
166. the former fountain-mound hill just west of GP.
167. Watching freshmen in love
168. The strong participation for everything... even giving blood
169. A gym I can use without being accused of going to look at te boys
170. students, faculty and staff that areally trying to understand how to deal with me, especially Professor Penniman who once said, "So, Will... when I'm talking about you (you know, behind your back) should that be 'he' or 'she'?"
171. Falling asleep in my friends' room by accident... in perfect safety
172. Security being able to recognize my coat and remind me that I left it in the oter wing of Macmillian
173. Doing homework on the treestand on a clear autumn day
174. Watching people from other regions complain about out "horrible" winters
175. Watching people become true leaders in a few short years
176. Being the Collegiate Representative for the Women's Resource Center (oh, the irony)
177. Having a dining hall staffperson give me legal advice toward my name change.
178. Recognizing most of the "I love ..." scribbles on the desks
179. And that most of them are other Wells folks!
180. And the number of woman+woman signs in general
181. That a Dean would stop me and say, "You look tired; let's schedule an appointment and chat"
182. That I can always check on my professors by going to the library and asking their wives!
183. ZAP! panels
184. dressing any way I want
185. professors who care enough to chide me when I skip class
186. Having buildings that are 4 stories or less.
187. Scenery
188. A chance to be on teams, etc.
189. Symposium
190. Awareness in general
191. Being small enough to really know everyone's face, if not name, and probably some snippet of gossip about each name, even if you can't connect it to a face.
192. "The Wells Web"
193. Being able to poll the computer lab about anything
194. Running sophomore smash in flip-flops
195. Crawling back into bed after 3 consecutive firedrills
196. Being able to chat with the president of collegiate
197. Stepping up to the bat to help with May-Day traditions and helping to gender-neutralize the constitution
198. The geese (I live across from a pond so they're very comforting to me)
199. The kindness of Aurora folks
200. Being able to borrow a CD from anyone
201. Leaving my coat, my bag or my homework anywhere
202. Keeping guests overnight
203. Looking out for each other
204. The squirrels!
205. Being able to call each other out on stereotypes embedded in our speech.
Thanks for your time. Keep Wells the way it is.
Sincerely,
Will
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