It Didn’t Have To Be Like This: The Skidmore Administration’s Role in the COVID-19 Outbreak

When the Fall 2021 semester began, we all had high hopes for being able to put the pandemic behind us and have a relatively normal college year. Understandably so: after the heartbreak, loss, and frustration of a year and a half of the COVID-19 pandemic, we finally had 98 percent of students and staff vaccinated, and the end seemed in sight.

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Updates on the Saratoga Police Reform Task Force Dialogue Ahead of City Council Vote

Earlier this month, the city council published its first resolution to adopt Saratoga Springs Police Reform Task Force’s recommendations for police reform into city policy. Shortly after, they published another. Residents and activists were dissatisfied with the language used in the resolution, which prompted the council to reissue their response last week.

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Creating Our Future Campaign: Thoughts From the Skidmore Community

With such a successful campaign, Skidmore students should understand how the funding will be used to advance college programs and improve campus facilities. In this article, I will detail each of the six Creating Our Future campaign priorities: building the Center for Integrated Science, scholarships and financial aid, the Tang, the Career Development Center, athletics, and the Skidmore Fund. I also reached out to students, faculty, and staff to gather their thoughts and opinions on the college’s funding distribution.

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Climate Change, Fire, and Skidmore: An Account from the North Woods Steward

On the afternoon of Wednesday, September 23rd, a fire broke out in the Skidmore North Woods. Fall had just begun, and it was a dry, hot day. Just off the orange trail, a visitor of the woods noticed the distinct smell of smoke and called campus safety. Other visitors smelled it while they were trail running, hiking, and walking their dogs. The fire department was called, and they promptly arrived, found the small fire, and put it out.

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Vote on Retaining Student Evaluations Divides Faculty at Oct. 2 Faculty Meeting

Over 200 faculty members voted on whether to retain or remove student evaluations for the Fall 2020 semester, during the college’s monthly faculty meeting held on October 2nd. This meeting, and particularly, the results from this vote sought to put to rest circling unease surrounding the administering of Student Ratings and Feedback surveys and their inclusion in hiring decisions.

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(OPINION) The Petersons & 'Blue Lives Matter': Students Reveal A Pattern of Racism among Skidmore Faculty and Staff

Recently, a ‘‘Back the Blue'‘ counter protest occurred in Saratoga Springs, and live footage from the action showed two Skidmore professors, David Peterson and Andrea Peterson--who work in the Art Department--standing with the Blue Lives protesters. I reached out to David Peterson in the hopes of receiving clarity from him on this decision.

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Reparations, Redistribution & Justice: Pass The Mic’s Black Mutual Aid Fund

Pass The Mic functions as a space on campus that aims to amplify the unfiltered experiences of Skidmore students whose voices are underrepresented in other spaces. To Black community members: Pass the Mic is currently accepting fund requests! Please visit the “BLACK MUTUAL AID FUND” link within https://linktr.ee/passthemicskid

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401 Years and Counting: The Story of Modern Slavery in America

The thirteenth amendment to the US constitution states that slavery and involuntary servitude be abolished, “except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted.” This one phrase is what allows for slavery to legally continue in United States prisons, and is what makes it possible for people to continue to profit off of slavery today.

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Skidmore Reviews Latest Reforms to National Title IX Regulations

On May 6th, 2020, the Department of Education led by Betsy DeVos, sent out their long awaited proposal for new changes to the Title IX regulations in schools. This marked the first time the policy has been changed since 1975, creating a historic shift for the set of regulations originally implemented to protect students’ wellbeing.  While some notice that the changes are less broad than they have been, others are citing that they are less comprehensive and could bring more lee-way to sexual assault cases. Assistant Dean of Student Affairs, Lorri Riggs, and Title IX Deputy Coordinator in Student Affairs, Gabriella Melillo, held virtual information sessions detailing the new policy changes and how Skidmore will act on them.

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Skidmore's Complicity: "A Call For Change"?

Currently, as America fights against the COVID-19 pandemic that has taken the lives of many in our nation and across the world, another great fight is occurring: the demand for justice against several broken systems. The death of George Floyd has catalyzed a massive movement and as many communities join the fight for Black lives, students across the country continue to advocate for changes to our educational institutions in order to establish equity in our communities. 

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C.R.E.A.T.E. on Beekman: A Community Space for Creation, Expression, and Art

In the past few years, Saratoga Springs has seen its fair share of paint-it-yourself locales. There’s Saratoga Paint and Sip Studio on Henry St., Creative Sparks on Phila St., and The Palette Cafe on Broadway. C.R.E.A.T.E. Community Studios, which lives on Beekman St., stands out as doing something different.

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