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Bathroom Break

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Edition 04

Dorsey Center, Lower Floor: ★★★★1/2 

Dear reader,

It has long since been customary for one to require some sort of reading material to accompany them on particularly long trips to the loo. In decades passed, the frequent choice of entertainment was the daily paper. With the advent of the modern day telephone, that practice has faded into obscurity. However, it has become no less important for one to be educated in the variations of restroom quality, so that one can make the vanguard selection for location to do said business. With that in mind, we have taken it upon ourselves to present to you, dear reader, our rankings of the most proper, and the most horrid, of all the restrooms on this fine establishment’s property, so that you may have the best bathroom experience possible. 

This week, we look at the facilities located on the lower floor of the Dorsey Center. This depot is quite strange in several ways; as pictured above, within the corridor is a bizarre closet of sorts, and a shelving system where various accouterments are provided. The sinks are placed at a uniquely low height, as though they were perhaps intended for small children. However, the facilities are clean and well-stocked, and most important, secluded. Knowledge of these loos are sparse among the general population at Goucher, and this combined with the remote location and seclusion of this hallway provides a sublime feeling of privacy. A handicap bathroom is located a few feet down the hallway. Overall, the experience within these loos, while strange, is top notch – if not for the weirdness, we’d grant these full marks. 

On grounds of size, accessibility, cleanliness, and privacy, we rate the bathrooms in the Dorsey Center four and a half stars. 

By “Little John” Flusher

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Bathroom Break

  Edition 03 The Porta-Potties: ★★★ Dear reader, It has long since been customary for one to require some sort

Bathroom Break

Edition 02 Alcock First Floor: ★★★★ Dear reader, It has long since been customary for one to require some sort

Bathroom Break

Edition 01 Mary Fisher Lower Floor: ★★★1/2  Dear reader, It has long since been customary for one to require some

On Studying Abroad

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How failure to meet expectations and lack of communication can sour a student’s perspective on global education.

As a prospective student, one of the things that drew me in about Goucher was the opportunity to broaden my perspective internationally. However, as an actual student, I found myself met with requirements that overshadowed the importance of a study abroad trip. 

Goucher College is one of three universities in the United States that are 100% study abroad required. One of this institutions’ selling points is the study abroad requirement, with the philosophy that “the global community of the 21st century demands that you have an international perspective.” It’s constantly advertised to prospective students, spoken of on tours, and pushed on the official Goucher website as giving students a special edge with “global experience.”

Despite this constant messaging of advantages and integrated education, many students feel this requirement can be isolating, and puts them at a disadvantage when it comes to graduating. A lot of this isolation stems from the financial barriers that a study abroad trip poses, and the gap in communication between administrative offices and the student body.

The study abroad page of Goucher College’s website claims to have an expert team of staff and faculty dedicated to supporting students in their study abroad planning. Despite these claims, the study abroad office has seen frequent turnovers in staff since 2019, these changes not being effectively related to students in a timely manner.

The person employed in that office during my study abroad quit while I was abroad, leaving me with no line of communication to Goucher during that time. Much of the information and experience within the study abroad office is not passed down among emerging faculty, as people in the past have left the office abruptly.

It can be jarring to start a journey whether it be financial, emotional, educational, etc. and have it go in a completely unanticipated direction. Many students may come to this institution with an understanding that they are required to study abroad, with the expectation of help and clear communication from those facilitating the experience.  

In addition to these emotional and financial barriers, COVID’s impact has harshened the idea of traveling abroad for many students as well. International travel can be a daunting experience, and it can be especially difficult to prioritize your health while navigating highly trafficked areas with people coming and going from different places.

With each Goucher student’s experiences and perspectives being unique, how can just one person be expected to curate the ideal global education for everyone? Since the foundation of this requirement, Goucher has evolved in more ways than one. Could it be time to reassess this requirement and whether the global experience outweighs the burdens students may take on?

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Defying the Tomb: Gaza We Won’t Let You Die

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A written response to an email Statement from CREI on Reaffirming their Commitments to Social Justice

“If the world is upside down the way it is now, wouldn’t we have to turn it over to stand up straight?” – Eduardo Galeano, Patas arriba. La escuela del mundo al revés  

In my home country of Peru, the reactionary forces produced a historically particular set of vocabulary to push the opposition on the defensive. The Peruvian right wing produced a tactic of terruqeo, calling anyone a terrorist for opposing the right wing.

  They called their opponents terrucos, removing the -ista in the Spanish terrorista and adding -uco a common suffix in Quechua to racialize and marginalize their oftentimes Indigenous opponents. 

Goucher, notably CREI in their latest statement, echoes this tactic by presenting the ongoing struggle of the Palestinian resistance as a “conflict between Hamas and Israel” (Hernandez). They claim to “see us” and understand “historical atrocities” but they reduce the events of the Al-Aqsa flood to an isolated conflict rather than placing it within the context of 75 years of colonization (Hernandez).

Goucher has set out from a ridiculous premise “[condemning] acts of terrorism and violence” but refusing to condemn the Zionist entity for keeping hundreds of children hostage in their prisons, refusing to condemn the Zionist entity for cutting off water, electricity, and gas, and refusing to condemn the Zionist entity for targeting bakeries, hospitals, shelters, places of worship, journalists, and children (Hernandez). How can we as workers, students, and people of color “safely talk about these issues” when our college misrepresents the issue of Palestinian liberation (Hernandez). 

Goucher claims to “[call] for proportionate and responsible responses” but only groups one side as terrorists, reducing the conflict into terrorists versus Israel, and refuses to condemn the state terrorism of Israel (Hernandez). 

Goucher calls for “social justice… for an end to violence” but fails to contextualize what it means for Indigenous people across our America and across the world to resist colonization (Hernandez). Álvaro Garcia Linera, former Vice President of Bolivia and Indigenist scholar, guides us arguing that “everything sprouts from and inevitably returns to the Indian: wealth, power, colonialism and the republic are different names given to the confiscation of the creative powers that emanate from Indian muscles and minds (2014 [1998]: 145). We people of color won’t let the Palestinian people suffer, we will not let them die; we stand committed to their liberation and through historical memory understand the context in which they find themselves. 

We agree with Goucher in that “ultimately, social justice requires us to call out power and oppression in all of the ways it exists” (Hernandez). We look to dissolve the colonial narrative and revindicate the Indigenous narrative. 

We: Postulate the community and its rebellion as a basis for illuminating that which is called indigenous… with communal rebellion, the entire past becomes actively concentrated in the present but unlike in times of quiet, when the subaltern past is projected as the subalternized present, now it is the accumulation of the rebellious past that is concentrated in the present in order to overcome past docility… the future is seen, at last, as the extraordinary invention of a common will that flees without shame from all prescribed routes, recognizing itself in this audacity as its own sovereign maker (Linera 2014 [1998]: 156). 

For social justice to be properly engaged with the fragmentation that is ordered on the life of Palestinian people must be negated. Social justice is, for the Indigenous people of the world, the ability to reinstate communal patterns of quotidian life, i.e., social reproduction or national-Indigenous self-determination). 

Goucher continues to skirt historical narratives arguing that we must pursue a fictional land in which “injustices are met head on with action and difficult dialogues” (Hernandez). Have we ever seen a dialogue between a national liberation movement and the colonial power? Or as Engels famously put, “have these gentlemen ever seen a revolution” (1978 [1872]: 733). We reject completely this “conversations between the sword and the neck” (Kanafani 2016 [1970]). A dialogue can only be carried out when both sides have met each other in a neutral position or when one side is ready for capitulation. National liberation movements do not exist in the realm of wanton violence, they aim to carry out a concrete political goal and their means cannot be “considered in isolation from their purpose” (von Clausewitz 1976: 87). 

CREI hilariously inserts itself within the struggles of Baltimore claiming that they “have a role to play [in] setting the tone for our community” (Hernandez). Despite this they refuse to condemn the genocidal narrative coming out of the Zionist entity. The Misgav Institute for National Security and Zionist Strategy, headed by Meir Ben Shabbat former National Security Advisor to Netanyahu, published a paper arguing that the current crisis presents “a unique and rare opportunity” for the “relocation and final settlement of the entire Gaza population” (Ofir 2023). The movements such as the Baltimore Bloc, not bourgeoisie institutions, that arose out of the 2015 uprising in Baltimore have supported the Palestinian resistance to the hilt. The people’s movements in Baltimore and beyond are setting the tone for us, not the fraudulent institutions of the masters. The people present real guidance for us as student and labor organizers. 

We recognize the continuous demonization of national liberation struggles across the globe by institutions within the strategic territory of white Euro-America, CREI finds itself firmly located in this camp. We won’t forget what the Euro-American world said about the FLN in Algeria, the NLF in Vietnam, Tupac Amaru in Peru, and the Armée Indigène in Haiti. In Peru, the production of revolutionary art by Quechua people reminds us of the position in which we find ourselves now, “manañan muspaykuchu ni puñuykuchu kunanqa allintam rikchariyku” which means “we are no longer delirious or asleep. Now we begin to fully awaken” (Valencia N.d.: 114). 

By Sebastian Mendoza ‘24

REFERENCES

Engels, Fredrick. 1978 [1872]. “On Authority.” Pp. 730-33 in Marx-Engels Reader, New York: W.W. Norton and Co. 

Hernandez, Juan M. E-mail message to student body, Oct 24 2023. 

Kanafani, Ghassan. 2016 [1970]. “A conversation between the sword and the neck- Ghassan Kanafani.” Oct 23. Video, 1:50. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHgZdCJOUAk.

Linera, Álvaro Garcia. 2014 [1998]. “The Colonial Narrative and the Communal Narrative.” Pp. 145-58 in Plebian Power, Chicago: Haymarket Books. 

Ofir, Johnathan. 2023. “Israel think tank lays out a blueprint for the complete ethnic cleansing of Gaza.” Mondoweiss, Oct 23. Retrieved Oct 24, 2023 (https://mondoweiss.net/2023/10/israeli-think-tank-lays-out-a-blueprint-for-the-complete-ethnic-cleansing-of-gaza/).

Valencia Espinosa, Abraham. N.d. “Las batallas de Rumitaqe” Pp. 112-14 in Rebeliones indígenas quechuas y aymaras, Cusco: Centro de Estudios Andinos. 

von Clausewitz, Carl. 1976 [1832]. On War. Princeton: Princeton University Press. 

Disclaimer: This piece was published as a student’s op-ed submission. The Quindecim is a space for all students within the Goucher community to express their views and beliefs. These pieces are released in the name of journalistic integrity and not in an attempt to antagonize or reflect the institution of Goucher as a whole.

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Gophers on the Campaign Trail: A Profile of the Upcoming Presidential Candidates

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Within just a couple of weeks, Goucher will be electing a new president for the Student Government Association (SGA). The SGA, which essentially functions as a middleman between administration and the student population, has seen a great amount of turnover in recent months. At the beginning of the semester, Jeff Castro ‘24, who was elected in Fall 2022, stepped down due to personal reasons. His successor and former running mate, Olivia Reichardt ‘25, will be fulfilling her study abroad requirement next semester and will be unable to continue as president while overseas. 

Since Reichardt’s vice president, Emma Kistner ‘25, was not formally elected by the student body, an informal election is being held to facilitate the transfer of power. Kistner, who is running alongside Christian Houck ‘26, has been in SGA for a year and a half, notes that the organization has seen a lot of changes in the past year, and wants to ensure that there is more stability under her tenure. “I’ve always wanted to be involved in the school”, says Kistner, “making things better, and being in the leadership to do that.”

Some of the major issues that Kistner has noticed include low retention rates and a lack of student initiatives. She notes that SGA has been working to pass legislation to address what students want through their Constituent Outreach Program, in which all senators have office hours where students address their concerns to senators,  as well as expanding conversations between administrators and students. Kistner wants students to feel like their voices are being heard, and feels that SGA would be a good conduit for that.

Kistner’s other policies include making sure that the textbook assistance program runs smoother, as well as improving the affinity groups, which she feels that not enough students have heard about. She also notes that SGA has been in close talks with the health center to set up a vending machine to provide students with needed resources. Ultimately, her main goal is to put her campaign out there to try and create a relationship with the student body.

Challenging Kistner is Kerim Ouedraogo ‘26, running alongside Kendra Medlin ‘26. Ouedraogo has served in the SGA previously, and has helped organize the Arctaria Middle Ground event for the past two semesters. Ouedraogo’s main focus is on improving student engagement, with a focus on existing initiatives over creating new ones. Although he thinks that events like GIG are working pretty well, he feels like they have been declining in recent years, and wants big events like that to happen more often throughout the semester.

From the student engagement side of things, Ouedraogo wants to create more interactive things for students to use on campus, citing the ping pong table in Heubeck and the pool table in Trustees. As an RA, Ouedraogo also feels as though RA programming is in need of reform. He notes that RAs are supposed to host four programs a semester, but that these events are often sparsely attended due to poor communication. Ouedraogo believes RAs should collaborate on activities with both each other and their residents, as well as open the events to the entire building rather than just their specific floor. 

Like Kistner, Ouedraogo wants to make sure there’s more transparency in communication between administration and the student body. The founder of the aforementioned Constituent Outreach Program, he wants there to be more “sit and speak” events for the students to directly address their concerns to administration. However, the most important issue to Ouedraogo is dissatisfaction about the state of the campus. Feeling as though the students are the thing that makes Goucher “Goucher”, Ouedraogo says that, “When students aren’t happy, it doesn’t bode well for the school itself.”

The election will be held on Thursday, November 16, through a voting link that will be open until midnight, with the results to be announced the following day. Because of the impromptu and informal nature of this election, no debates will be held, although both Kistner and Ouedraogo have announced their intention to hold small tabling events in the lead up to Election Day.

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What if…?

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By Rabbi Josh Snyder, Goucher College Hillel Director

Goucher, I love you guys – all of you.  There are so many times when my heart wells up with gratitude for being able to work and serve in such a thoughtful, eclectic, open community that I cherish. A defining characteristic of Goucher that I value is the transformation that happens here.  I decided to write this Op/Ed now – the first in my tenure as Hillel Director – because I think the way we engage with the topics of Israel and Palestine, and how that impacts our sense of safety and community at Goucher, requires transformation.

There is a repetitive pattern that occurs – a statement is made; polarizing posters and social media posts pop up; there is a reaction from a different viewpoint; the tension comes to a head at an event; the issue either returns to a simmer or boils over in an explosive way.   Looking around the country and the world I see where that leads with regards to antisemitism, Islamophobia, and anti-Arab sentiment.  It leads to explicit hateful comments like “F– the Jews/Arabs”, harassment and belittling of students, threats of violence and actual physical violence.   It all must stop – no one should be living in fear because of who they are.

What if we found a way as a community to change the pattern? Can we talk together about this conflict without copying and pasting the conflict itself onto our campus? We might start by asking some of the following questions of ourselves and one another:

  1. What if we found a way to listen?

What would it look like if we assumed that each of us had good intentions? If we brought curiosity to the table instead of judgment?  If we asked more open-ended questions, and made less definitive statements? If we understood that there are more than two sides? That someone could be pro-Palestine and pro-Israel? Pro-Palestinian and/or pro-Israeli (i.e. pro people and not necessarily their governments?) Simply pro-human?

  1. What if we each took time to read different views than our own?

 There is a lot of disinformation – including overstatements, omissions, context switches and outright lies from all sides – when it comes to reporting on Israel-Palestine in general, and this war in particular. We also tend to find sources that bolster confirmation bias rather than giving different perspectives.  Analyze what you are reading and check sources, especially when a claim seems shocking and damning. Read news from multiple sources to get a fuller picture. 

  1. What if we all learned about potential biases that can arise, e.g. antisemitism?

Antisemitism shares much in common with other biases like racism, but some unique characteristics as well.  Among the hallmarks of antisemitism is a tendency to accuse Jews of having too much power – often through association with money or alleging a secret conspiracy for domination. In this way, antisemitism acts to arouse suspicion whenever Jews gather, build community or advocate, in ways that would not be applied to other identity groups.  There are also abiding myths, or tropes, about Jewish bloodthirstiness, greed, and disloyalty, along with denial or minimizing of Jewish suffering (e.g. Holocaust denial).  Like other biases, antisemitic ideas are often acquired subconsciously, and therefore are unacknowledged as being present. However, they are widely held and continually find new avenues of expression. 

Perhaps the most deeply held and harmful antisemitic belief is that antisemitism is Jews’ own fault. In other situations, we would call this victim blaming or gaslighting.  This belief is used to justify persistent antisemitic speech, and continually forces Jews to change who they are to be accepted. 

The 75 years since the Holocaust and the founding of the state of Israel have been an unprecedented period of relative peace for Jews – and it took an unprecedented genocide of ⅔ of European Jewry – 6 million Jews – for it to happen.  The Holocaust was the culmination of thousands of years of persecution, expulsion, forced conversion, and mass murder of the Jewish people.  Antisemitic incidents have surged worldwide since 2016 and have risen by at least 400% in the last month.

 Defeating antisemitism requires allyship from folks outside of the Jewish community.  Committing to fighting against antisemitism needs not and does not take away from the fight against other forms of bias.  It’s part and parcel of a commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.

  1. What if we understood where Zionism came from?

Zionism, as defined by its originators, is the political movement to establish a home for the Jewish people in our ancestral homeland, known variously over time as Zion, Canaan, Judea, Israel, and Palestine. Zionism as a political movement began in the late 1800s in response to rising antisemitism, with the goal of providing both a refuge and a creative center for the Jewish world.  However, the political movement built upon a consistent Jewish longing for return to the homeland where Jews once held sovereignty for more than a millennium prior to the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem by the Romans in the year 70 CE, and where Jews have lived continuously since the time of the kings of Israel and Judah – at least 3000 years.  This longing has been expressed in daily prayer (e.g. “gather us from the four corners of the earth to our land”) and ritual (e.g. the Passover Seder’s ending refrain “next year in Jerusalem”) for 2000 years.  Love of Zion and connection to the land are inextricable from Judaism itself. Judaism is not just a faith – it is a culture refracted and diversified through the intersectional experiences of a multi-ethnic people.  The Jewish people is made up of Jews of all races and from many nations.  

Just as there are many kinds of Jews, there are many approaches to Zionism.  Zionism itself is not mutually exclusive with Palestinian national self-determination.  If someone is a Zionist, and/or an Israeli, it does not mean they unconditionally support the actions of the Israeli government.  Criticism of Israel’s government is legitimate, and it happens all the time within Israel itself and Jewish communities worldwide, including our own on campus.  

Sometimes the terms ‘Zionists’ and ‘Zionism’ are used in a pejorative way.  This verbal usage can be loaded with antisemitic tropes regarding money, control, greed, and power, and can be accompanied by imagery that echoes these tropes.  Thus ‘Zionist’ can be a socially acceptable stand-in for the word ‘Jew’, transferring the impact of antisemitism to Israel and its supporters.  Since this rhetoric perpetuates antisemitic ideas, it impacts all Jews, regardless of their stances towards Israel.

  1. What if … um, ok … what is Hillel?

Goucher Hillel is affiliated with Hillel International and is an agency of the Associated: Jewish Federation of Baltimore.  We have been on campus for 25 years, though our roots go back to Jewish Student Associations and other campus-community partnerships that began in the 1920s.  Hillel programming is funded by voluntary donations from alums, parents, and community members, and is open to the entire Goucher community.  Hillel continually works to create collaborative programming with other identity and affinity groups on campus.  

Hillel International is the Foundation for Jewish Campus Life, and the largest Jewish campus organization in the world.  Hillels serve students on 850 campuses all over the globe.  Hillel was, is, and will always be a space for all kinds of Jewish students — a place where they feel welcomed and included. Regarding Israel, Hillel as an organization supports the existence of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state.  However, every community member is welcome in Hillel regardless of their views on Israel and is welcome to express those views.  Our student leaders and staff have a wide variety of views on Israel, and we celebrate that.  

Our programming relating to Israel is multifaceted and pluralistic.  We seek to create a   nuanced understanding of Israel – including politics, culture, religion, and language –  via different voices and experiences.  We do not shy away from challenging conversations and critique of Israel’s policies.  Engaging with Israel is a central piece of who we are, but it’s not all that we are.   We focus on learning, Shabbat and holidays, service, wellness, and social events.  If you haven’t come to a Hillel program in the past, please know that you’re welcome, regardless of whether you’re Jewish or you’re not Jewish.  We’d love the chance to get to know you and for you to get to know us.

  1. What if…?

The current war raging between Israel and Hamas has already had an incalculable cost in lives lost among Palestinians and Israelis; Jews, Muslims, Christians, Druze and others; young and old; civilian and military – each life a unique world lost and a tragedy all of its own.  In the coming weeks, there are likely to be more, and that feels gut-wrenching to anticipate.  Some of us have family members and friends we have lost, who are missing, or who are in harm’s way. It feels like we barely have time to acknowledge a loss before bracing for the next wave.  

There are other losses too – a sense of safety and normalcy; prolonged stress that affects health; isolation and depression.  This is hard to hold as we try to go about our everyday lives as students, faculty, and staff.   We want to bring justice, peace, freedom, and understanding to all involved.  On a day-to-day basis, one good thing we can do for ourselves and for each other is to express compassion – for ourselves, for one another, and for everyone affected by this war.  Uprooting bias and hatred of all forms is integral to living that compassion in action.

I believe that the only way to truly counter biases like racism, homophobia, Islamophobia, and antisemitism is through awareness and education.  Two years ago, our Hillel staff and lay leaders took part in a yearlong training for Jewish communal leaders on fighting racism.  Our teacher, Yavilah McCoy, taught us about “oops”, “ouch” and the teachable moment.  Oops is recognizing our own blind spots, and that our words and actions may have hurt someone, even if we didn’t intend to.  It’s having the humility to admit that without defensiveness.  Ouch is calling out bias when it happens to us, and finding a way of letting that person know we have been hurt – this could be an interpersonal conversation, or it could be through a bias report to the Campus Climate Education Team.  Either way, it’s naming the act of bias, not condemning the person as irredeemable.  The teachable moment is understanding that education and interchange is the way that we can unlearn these learned biases.  

Having the humility to ask, listen, and learn is how we access the power to transform ourselves and our community.  What if we all used that power to make this campus a place where we all feel at home, every day?

 1 See Sources like The Anti-Defamation League (ADL)’s Brief History of Antisemitism, as well as Anti Semitism Uncovered: A Guide to Old Myths in a New Era; USHMM’s Christian Persecution of Jews over the Centuries; Berkeley’s Center for Jewish Studies Antisemitism Education Resources; and many more online and in print.* 

https://www.adl.org/resources/press-release/adl-records-dramatic-increase-us-antisemitic-incidents-following-oct-7

*Disclaimer: The source cited above has a distinctly pro-Israeli stance, and in that does not represent an unbiased definition or history of anti Semitism and Zionism. https://www.adl.org/about/adl-israel 

A direct definition of anti Semitism and Zionism can be found in Merriam-Webster Dictionaries official website “Anti-Semitism.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/anti-Semitism . Accessed 5 Nov. 2023.
“Zionism.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Zionism.  Accessed 5 Nov. 2023.

Disclaimer: This piece was published as an op-ed submission from a Goucher community member. The Quindecim is a space for all within the Goucher community to express their views and beliefs. These pieces are released in the name of journalistic integrity and not in an attempt to antagonize or reflect the institution of Goucher as a whole.

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On Options and Variety in the Dining Hall

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Just yesterday, I walked into the Mary Fisher dining hall and found myself pleasantly surprised by the options on display. I thought, Oh, wow. I can finally have a balanced meal today. So onto my plate I heaped some tasty looking fried rice, pork butt, and green beans and went to take my seat in the fishbowl. I eagerly dug in, and everything was fine for a little while. The pork butt was maybe a bit too salty for my taste but the rice was decent and I was having a good time.

Until I got to the green beans.

The second I bit down on the first one, alarm bells rang in my head. Specifically, in my mouth, where I had the unpleasant sensation of hearing squeaking as I chewed. Now, I don’t know about you, but this is the first time I’ve ever eaten green beans that squeaked as I ate them. The incredibly discomforting rubbery texture of the vegetables put me off of them, and I avoided touching them for the rest of the meal. To my dismay, my dreams of having a well-balanced meal for dinner were dashed before they even began.

The fact of the matter is, the dining hall has some pretty shoddy options when it comes to vegetables. Sometimes, there’s an odd wax texture on them, which I suspect must have been the reason for my rubbery green beans. There was a case of rotting lettuce in the salad station even!

However, the case of bad vegetables only nominally affects me, when I don’t have any dietary restrictions due to food allergies, personal beliefs, or religious reasons. For some of my friends, this is not the case. In fact, I was inspired to write this because of a vegetarian friend of mine. I would often see that the only thing she ate was a bowl of cottage cheese. While she was quick to assure me that that wasn’t the only thing she eats, she had her reasons for why she had it so often.

“It’s…one of the only protein sources available other than tofu, and I can’t eat tofu every day,” she told me. “They could just have more variety. [There’s] so many things that you can make…that aren’t just blocks of tofu.”

Another friend of mine is a Jewish girl who, along with keeping kosher, has a plethora of food allergies that limit what she can eat, such as certain fruits and seasonings, along with generally not consuming animal products as a vegan. While the kosher station can often meet her needs as they generally make allergy-free vegan options, she sometimes feels like the rest of the dining hall is less accessible.

“Sometimes there are [not any] options that I can actually eat, so I end up having a salad or just plain bread,” she said. “I would appreciate it if there was…[a consistent] vegan pasta dish…[and] made sure their [all of] vegan dishes were allergen-free.”

She is also tired of the lack of variety, claiming that the vegan beef and vegan chicken are “not really always the best depending on the dish.”

But, according to one junior I interviewed, Goucher can make good vegan meat. Gabie has been a vegetarian her entire life, and has noted that a lot of their meat substitution options often fall by the wayside, especially the notoriously terrible black bean burgers.

“Sometimes they have…quality meat substitutes like…the fake meatloaf and things that are genuinely good but…[they’re] a once or twice a semester thing,” Gabie stated. “They have proven that they can give us actual good meat substitutes and they don’t and it’s very frustrating.”

So the issue here is not a lack of capability. Clearly, there are the occasional good meals that our fellow non-meat eating students can have. But the lack of effort on Goucher’s part to consistently provide all of their students that have dietary restrictions with good, nutritious food is a travesty. It honestly shouldn’t even happen, considering every student who lives on campus is required to have a meal plan. This problem isn’t limited to the dining hall, but also the student market.

A common complaint I’ve heard is that there are very limited vegetarian options to get. Besides the salads and vegetable sushi, there’s not much non-meat eating students can get. Meanwhile, even if you get a salad, you can choose between a ceasar salad (the meatless option still contains cheese) or a plain garden salad consisting of only lettuce. The portion sizes of the rare vegan options are also notably getting smaller, leading to unsatisfying, unfulfilling meals for anyone who chooses to forego the dining hall.

I don’t think it’s asking for much for Goucher to do better. Providing students with accessible, actually good food should be a non-issue. It wouldn’t take much for them to add more non-meat protein options—such as beans—and provide more vegetarian/vegan foods to the student market, like bringing back the black bean burgers that many students actually liked. As many students don’t consume dairy for a variety of reasons, dairy-free desserts such as sorbet should also be common in the dessert station.

But until Goucher gets better, it is up to students to keep reminding them that not everything is up to far. Until that happens, here’s some advice for future vegan/vegetarian Goucher students given from Gabie: “…When there’s good things, get them, because you don’t know when they’ll be back.”

By Jaiden Johnson ‘27

Disclaimer: This piece was published as a student’s op-ed submission. The Quindecim is a space for all students within the Goucher community to express their views and beliefs. These pieces are released in the name of journalistic integrity and not in an attempt to antagonize or reflect the institution of Goucher as a whole.

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Photo Gallery: 11.09.2023 – ‘Walk Out for Palestine’ Event

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On November 9, 2023, “In a display of unity and activism, a large number of Goucher College students and some faculty gathered outside of Mary Fisher Dining Hall to protest the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Palestine.” (From Goucher’s student body has spoken; they say Free Palestine by Theo Efron.) To read the rest of Efron’s article, click here. The following photos are from that event.

Photos taken with Sony A7iii with 20-70mm F4 lens. Photos by Mich Rouse ’24.

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Opinion: Ancient Wisdom for Peacemaking on Campus

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Growing up as a secular American Jew, the number one principle impressed upon me by my mother and grandmother was the commitment to caring for others. This is how I choose to actualize the traditional Jewish identity as the “chosen people” – a people chosen by a greater power, or just self-volunteered, to put the wellbeing of the world first.

To be human is to feel for one another. Not just to sympathize, but to empathize – we read reports of war and we see ourselves or our loved ones there, lacking food and clean water and being bombarded with rockets with no way to flee. We feel alongside them. At its most barebones, this is what it means, to me, to be a Jew. We hold not just our own pain, but the pain of the world.

As the first century sage, Hillel famously put it: “If I am not for me, who will be for me?  And when I am for myself alone, what am I? And if not now, then when?” (Pirkey Avot 1:14)

This teaching is more relevant now than ever – here’s how I’ve been understanding it.

“If I am not for me, who will be for me?”

It has been almost a month since the worst massacre of Jews since the Shoah (Holocaust), enacted by the terrorist group Hamas against Israeli Jews, Arabs, and almost 200 foreign nationals visiting or living in Israel. I use this comparison because for me, and for millions of other Jews, the fear and fury wrought by this disaster is familiar to us. It’s engrained within our bodies, passed down from ancestors who survived pogroms and displacement and a genocide from which our tribe still hasn’t recovered. In response to these collective traumas, people tend to retreat and lash out in different ways to ensure their survival.

In the past, I have placed Jews intentionally behind other marginalized groups seeking equality – believing that self-sacrificing activism would spare me from antisemitism. I can no longer allow the safety of my upbringing, as an assimilated American Jew, to blind myself to the reality of Jews across the world who do not have such a privilege. No one else will advocate for me, or for the Jewish people, if we do not first champion our own needs. I am proudly Jewish, and proudly a Zionist – I believe wholeheartedly in the right of the Jewish tribe to self-determination and safety in our homeland. Alongside preserving my people’s safety, I wholeheartedly believe in the right of the Palestinian people to the same.

“And when I am for myself alone, what am I?”

I commit to holding space for myself and my people to mourn, first and foremost, and I refuse to let the awful pain and trauma prevent me from holding space for Palestinian pain, too. I have enough compassion inside me, still, to do both. For some days after the massacre, I thought my well of empathy had been scraped dry. I saw the tragic numbers of civilian death being reported from Gaza, and all I saw on the back of my eyelids were the Jewish lives brutally cut short by Hamas’ attack.

Connecting with other Jews was what allowed me to realize that I was still capable of holding love and compassion for people outside my tribe. Being able to mourn publicly and share the fear that was governing every facet of my existence was enough to be able to understand again that Palestinians were feeling the same way. We are both people of the Levant, and more importantly, we are both human. Outside of the vocal minorities on both sides, seeking continual war, death, and destruction, there are two peoples who simply demand safety, access to basic needs, and sovereignty.

“And if not now, when?”

The unspeakable horrors inflicted on Israel by Hamas, and the humanitarian crisis unfolding in the besieged Gaza City, represent a cyclical pattern of violence that has been developing for centuries. It also represents a chance to do better – to reaffirm our commitment, as Jews and citizens of the world, to holding humanity sacred. As the news cycle changes over and the attention of the West wanes, I pledge to stay present.

Ultimately, although my soul is in Eretz Yisrael (The Land of Israel), my body is 5,800 miles away on Goucher’s campus. As tensions on campus grow, as a microcosm of the conflict in the Levant, the same fear-based reactions I see in the global Jewry – retreating or lashing out – I see in my peers, and in myself.

The belief in the sanctity of human life is not a uniquely Jewish one. I believe, truly, that the vast majority of Goucher’s community ultimately have the same hope: peace, safety, and self-determination for all inhabitants of the Levant. In the frenzy of an active war, there is little we can do from campus. What we can do – what I commit to doing – is listening, even when someone’s opinions contradict my own. Learning from all sides, recognizing propaganda for what it is and never presuming my own expertise. To love and mourn and fight for the safety of Palestinians as I do my own tribe. Most importantly, to always hold their humanity alongside my own.

By Em Klein-Luce

* Disclaimer: This piece was published as a student’s op-ed submission. The Quindecim is a space for all students within the Goucher community to express their views and beliefs. These pieces are released in the name of journalistic integrity and not in an attempt to antagonize or reflect the institution of Goucher as a whole.

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Goucher’s student body has spoken; they say Free Palestine.

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 In a display of unity and activism, a large number of Goucher College students and some faculty gathered outside of Mary Fisher Dining Hall to protest the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Palestine. The demonstration not only voiced concerns about the devastating genocide against the Palestinian people but also served as a platform for students to criticize the administration’s pro-Israel stance. 

Student holds a sign reading “Jews against genocide, peace for Palestine” | Photo Credit: Mich Rouse ’24
Students gather on Van Meter Highway. | Photo Credit: Mich Rouse ’24

The protest saw students coming together to raise their voices against the atrocities in Palestine. The demonstration was characterized by a shared commitment to social justice and a call for a more empathetic campus community.  

Against the backdrop of Mary Fisher Dining Hall, students took turns addressing the crowd through a megaphone, passionately articulating their perspectives on the issue, and cries of “free Palestine” could be heard after almost every speaker. Each speaker brought a unique view to the conversation, emphasizing the importance of creating understanding and empathy on campus.  

Crowd of students gather outside Mary Fisher Dining Hall. | Photo Credit: Mich Rouse ’24

The theme of unity emerged in the shared cause and the diversity of voices present. Students from various communities and academic disciplines came together to express their solidarity with the Palestinian people. This demonstration illustrated the capacity of our community to engage in open dialogue and activism, putting aside individual differences for a common cause. 

There was no greater example of this than when Judaic Studies assistant professor, Maxwell Greenberg, got on the megaphone to sympathize with the Palestinian cause. Greenberg, being Jewish himself, vowed to teach from an unbiased perspective within his department.  

The protest also highlighted the student body’s dissatisfaction with the administration’s pro-Israel stance. Criticisms were voiced regarding what many in the community viewed as radio silence on addressing the genocide being committed against the Palestinian people, especially when Goucher’s administration was quick to release a statement of solidarity with Israel after the Hamas attack.  

Goucher College students aimed to create a space for dialogue and education through their speeches and chants. The demonstration called for increased awareness about the historical and political context of the conflict. As well as being conscious of mainstream media narratives and propaganda.

As students passionately expressed their concerns, the protest exemplified the impact of peaceful protest and collective action. The diverse range of perspectives showcased the strength that comes from understanding and the willingness to engage in open dialogue and how people can be brought together when fighting for a common cause. 

 The event concluded with a candlelit vigil where participants laid candles and artwork in respect of the Palestinian lives lost, as the names of martyred children were read aloud. 

Students hold candles in remembrance of those martyred. | Photo Credit: Mich Rouse ’24
Candles surround three signs reading “Queers for a free Palestine,” “do not Ignore Genocide,” and “Don’t Normalize Genocide” | Photo Credit: Mich Rouse ’24

The coming together was an inspiring example of the community Goucher has the potential to be and should be used as a platform for more significant student input in how our college is represented. Every student has a voice, so why not use it for the better? 

Analysis by Theo Efron ’26

Disclaimer: This piece was published as a student’s analysis of the events reported. The Quindecim is a space for all students within the Goucher community to express their views and beliefs. These pieces are released in the name of journalistic integrity and not in an attempt to antagonize or reflect the institution of Goucher as a whole.

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What We Know: How Different Groups Are Responding to Escalations in the Israel-Palestine Conflict

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Since war broke out between Israel and Hamas last month, college campuses across the nation are experiencing tension as groups from opposing sides clash and communities grieve casualties on both sides.

Here’s a run-down of responses from the Goucher community.

On October 7th, the day of the initial Hamas attack, Goucher Hillel released a statement on their instagram account, voicing support for all Israelis, students, and professionals at Hillel Israel. Read the full statement here.

Three days later on October 10th, Goucher College President Kent Devereux sent an email to all official students, faculty and staff, titled “Statement Regarding Hamas Attack on Israel, and Resulting War.”

In this email Devereux writes “First, I want to say that we at Goucher strongly condemn the unprecedented, deadly attack by Hamas terrorists upon Israel, and that we stand in firm and caring support of members of our community who have friends and family who may be in harm’s way. The violence and harm are utterly heartbreaking and have traumatized our Jewish, Israeli and Middle Eastern community members who have family, friends, or colleagues in, or direct ties to, the region.”

This email cites Goucher Hillel staff as a support system for affected students, as well as the Student Counseling Center, and WellTrack Connect.  

Goucher Hillel has held a number of information and listening sessions on campus since releasing the previous statement, all advertised on their instagram page. The most recent of these sessions is an Israel-Hamas War Briefing on Zoom, taking place remotely on Thursday, November 2. Those wishing to participate have been prompted to email Assistant Director Beth Vander Stoep at beth.vanderstoep@goucher.edu for a link to this session.

In addition to the named support systems, President Devereux wrote in support of those speaking on the conflict to do so with a “focus on our shared humanity.”

The following is an excerpt pulled from his October 10 email, under the subtitle: Speaking to One Another Across Different Viewpoints

 “We understand that each individual will view the events differently. There should be one thing that unites us all, which is that the murder of civilians can never be justified. The indiscriminate murder that we have seen on the news reports has made a number of our students feel unsafe.

Beyond that, there may be several viewpoints about this conflict that can often be at odds with one another, and our students need to feel safe in their identities and share their beliefs. It is up to all of us to ensure a safe environment at Goucher and welcome a wide range of perspectives and beliefs on our campus.”

On October 24, an email statement from Goucher’s Center for Race, Equity, and Identity (CREI) was sent to all official students, faculty and staff. This statement affirmed CREI’s commitment to social justice, with words from Juan M. Hernandez, Ed.D Assistant Vice President for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Title IX.

Hernandez stated, “Ultimately, social justice requires us to call out power and oppression in all of the ways it exists; but asks us to do that work in a manner that allows us to grow as a community where we acknowledge that we are imperfect human beings who are committed to centering human dignity, the pursuit of knowledge, and the fair and equitable treatment of all.”


On the same day, October 24, a space was held to uplift and voice support for Palestinian lives, with a presentation on recent events in Palestine and their historical context, followed by a Q&A discussion. According to fliers posted on campus advertising the event, the presentation was given by a Speak Out Now Socialists activist, but the event organizers are unknown. 

October 31st, a group of unknown individuals put up a poster display of artwork in support of Palestinian liberation on Mary Fisher. Attached to this display was an artist’s statement urging the college to leave it up at least one week after the initial posting. The display was removed from Mary Fisher approximately two hours later. 

The artist’s statement was left untouched on the window of Mary Fisher, now with a printout citing Goucher College’s commitments to respect, inclusion, communication, service and social justice, and responsibility. 

The reason cited by administration for the removal of this display was a violation of the college’s recently adopted demonstration policy, a policy made known to students exactly one day prior via a policy update email sent to all official students, faculty and staff on Monday, October 30th. 

On November 6, an instagram post from the official Goucher CREI account advertised a healing space to take place on November 7 in the Sanford J. Ungar Athenaeum.

The original message stated: “We will be holding a space Tuesday night for anyone that hasn’t felt like they have had a space to process Hamas’ terrorist attack on Israel and the genocide perpetrated by Israel as a result.”

Just a few hours later, this statement was removed from the account, and edited for re-upload with a new statement:

“We will be holding a space Tuesday night for anyone that hasn’t felt like they have had a space to process Hamas’ terrorist attack on Israel and the counterattacks by Israel as a result.”

On November 7, a second project by the group now known as @decadesandoceans on Instagram took place on a picnic table outside the academic quad. This project, cited by the organizer as a class project, was meant to be a space held for grieving the martyrs and lives lost in Palestine.

A list of names, victims of the Israeli siege on the Gaza Strip released by Palestine’s Ministry of Health, was placed on the table, along with markers and strips of cloth for participants to write names on in remembrance and hang from the branches of the tree overlooking this table.

Just a few hours after the project’s initial set up, the project was defaced, with the words “Stop killing Jews” written at the top of this list.

@decadesandoceans released a statement of their account regarding this defacement.

“Dear individual(s) who felt called to do this: To vandalize a space that is held for grieving the loss of innocent life, that is in no one’s way and causes no one harm, to allow all lines to be crossed, surrender one’s humanity and let apathy triumph- how reminiscent of the behavior of those who have fallen victim to zionist propaganda!”

Read the full statement of their account, linked above.

November 8, President Kent Devereux sent an email to all official students, faculty and staff, titled “National Day of Protest Tomorrow, November 9”

This email stated:

“I understand that tomorrow (Thurs., Nov. 9, 2023) is a national day of protest in response to the current events unfolding in Israel and Palestine. We are aware that in solidarity with this protest some of our students are planning a class walkout at 11:00 a.m. tomorrow.  

As students exercise their right to free speech during the school day tomorrow, Goucher staff will be prepared to ensure that this walkout is conducted safely and respectfully, with as little disruption to normal operations as possible.”

Additionally, President Devereux sent reminder reference links to the college’s Student Code of Conduct, as well as the Campus Demonstration Policy, a newer policy made known to students via a policy update email sent to all official students, faculty and staff on Monday, October 30th.

President Devereux concluded his email with the news that Campus Safety security officers would be present for this walk out, as a means to ensure student safety.

“Finally, please note that we have coordinated with Campus Safety to ensure that we have additional security in place this week, because more than anything else, the safety and security of our students and staff are of utmost priority. If you need to reach Campus Security for any reason, please call them any time at 410-337-6111. 

Thank you for ensuring that our community remains committed to and grounded in these principles of free expression and mutual respect.”

On November 9, a student organized walk out took place at 11am in support of Palestinian liberation. An estimated 60+ students and a few faculty members left classrooms at 11 to convene in front of Haebler Memorial Chapel, then walking down Van Meter highway. The group then gathered in from of Mary Fisher dining hall and speakers took turns voicing calls for action, boycotts, and concerns about the devastating genocide against the Palestinian people.

Students also took to criticizing the administration’s response, or lack thereof, to this crisis as well as their blatant pro-Israel stance.

Following this gathering, the group returned to the front of Haebler Memorial Chapel for a candlelit vigil where participants laid candles and artwork in respect of the Palestinian lives lost, as the names of martyred children were read aloud from the list of victims released by Palestine’s Ministry of Health.

Update: This is a developing story. The Quindecim is also investigating longer-term projects regarding this subject matter, and will give updates as they arise.

This story was last updated November 13, 2023

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