|
|
![]() |
Dutchess Beat - Featured Arts | 10/16/2008 |
|
| |
Gown comes to town
Vassar students take part in 'Meet Me in Poughkeepsie' day |
|
|
| |
|
 |
|
| | A Vassar student takes part in the "Meet Me in Poughkeepsie" opening night on Oct. 9. | |
|
|
by Vanni Cappelli
Vassar College made a big effort to bridge the traditional town/gown tension on Friday, Oct. 10, as it staged a daylong "Meet Me In Poughkeepsie" event in which hundreds of students hit the town and the surrounding areas in a big way.
The idea was not so much to overcome a relationship characterized by animosity, as in the storied town vs. gown fights that have pit college people against the residents of the places they are situated throughout history. Rather the multi-activity program aimed to expose Vassar students to the benefits of a city they often don't see simply because their college is a self-sufficient unit that they need not venture beyond for necessities.
"It's so easy to stay on a self-contained campus," said Zachary Wasser, a sophomore English and film double major who was leading a contingent of 60 scholars to the Caffe Aurora at 145 Mill St. "Vassar provides you with everything you need, from food to clothes to books. Yet there's a lot of good stuff here in town, and kids don't realize what they're missing."
Hundreds of Vassar students earn what the college terms "field work" credit every year, interning with nonprofit and for-profit organizations, and many more do volunteer work. Yet in organizing the "Meet Me In Poughkeepsie" day, the Vassar Student Association (VSA), the college's student government, had in mind an initiative aimed more at opening up the young people to the healthy pleasures and wonders to be had in Poughkeepsie.
Besides "Pastries at Aurora," a culinary expedition to the first-rate venue run by the Strippoli family since 1941, other events included excursions to the Roosevelt and Vanderbilt estates in Hyde Park and the Mohonk Preserve in Ulster County, a bike ride with the college's cycling team, apple-picking and rock-climbing. Some excursions mixed travel with activism, as in the visits to Planned Parenthood and the Eleanor Roosevelt retreat at Val-Kill which focused on studying her feminist ideas.
"We've tried to have events before, but never with so great a response," said Hannah Erdheim, a junior French and film double major who is the president of Iced Brew, Vassar's synchronized skating team, while overseeing a night of skating to music at the McCann Ice Rink in the Mid-Hudson Civic Center.
"We practice once a week at the rink, so we do get off campus a lot. But many other students don't, for a variety of reasons. Part of it is where the campus is located, all the way on the edge of town. Another is we don't know much about events in Poughkeepsie. And there is a little perception that some areas of town are not safe to venture into. As for today, I think it's great. I've rarely seen such enthusiasm among students, and I like it even better when it's for our sport," she said, gesturing at the dozens of skaters who were not members of her team.
One of them, Chloe Boxer, a freshman, was equally enthusiastic.
"Most people I know signed up for multiple events," she said. "I couldn't, because I had a paper to write. But hopefully that won't be the case next time. This one event was so much fun."
Back at the Caffe Aurora, Joseph Redwood Martinez, a sophomore majoring in contemporary art, seemed absorbed in his sfogliatella (a flaky pastry) and espresso.
"I've never been here before, but I'd definitely like to come again. This idea of Vassar kids getting off campus, getting into the community, and seeing what's available outside the bubble was grand."
Click here to discuss this article in our forum.
|
|
|
|
|
© 2010 Ulster Publishing, Inc.
|
