WHO DECIDES? This Bulletin issue pulls the question to the front row. In communities of all shapes and sizes, rules define parameters and illuminate, too, the things we think should change. For Anna Shechtman ’13, questions about rules came in the form of crossword crafting. Roy Greim ’14 explains how Shechtman’s journey through the world of constructing puzzles led to writing her new book, The Riddles of the Sphinx: Inheriting the Feminist History of the Crossword Puzzle. In it, Shechtman asks who holds the power to decide which words matter and why.
And what about gorillas and rules? Try figuring that out in real time with a 500-pound animal. When researching them, Amy Vedder ’73, H’23 and Bill Weber ’72, H’23 quickly established the importance of setting boundaries between their own desires to learn as much as they could about the endangered apes and the needs (and rights) of the gorillas to live unperturbed.
The couple’s work over decades has resulted in a masterpiece of conservation that continues to evolve, changing rules along the way about the understanding of interdependence between wildlife and the people surrounding wild places. Endangered species need advocates in the humans who share space and resources with the animals. Deciding to look at communities holistically changed the way Vedder and Weber practiced conservation — and now — how they teach it.
G. Raymond Rettew, Class of 1926, loved the rules of chemistry. But German proved too much for the humble chemist from West Chester, Pa. Though he failed his German courses twice, he was committed to aiding his national community in the war effort. The leading practical expert on mushroom spawn, Rettew helped to develop a rapid process for mass production of penicillin during World War II.
For Mary Rowe ’57, change making meant deciding to jump into the complexities of workplace rights. As an organizational ombuds, Rowe has written a set of guiding principles that continue to elevate fairness across higher education.
A decision to sail across the world after graduation led Janice Robb Anderson ’42 to a lifelong love of language and learning. The 103-year-old still volunteers, deciding that being a part of a community has enriched her perspective. So has eating her vegetables, by the way.
Music is definitively built on rules. But Stephanie Hsu ’08 decided it’s OK to break them and hasn’t looked back. As founding executive director of Yakima Music en Acción, Hsu says mistakes are proof her students are engaged in the process of learning.
For Swarthmoreans, experiences shape decisions about what is important. That often changes in the midst of learning. Asking the questions they did in their lives and careers helped these alumni forge paths unforeseen. Now others follow, and more than likely, will ask a new set of questions about ‘who decides’ and why.
Kate Campbell
Editor
