This or That from the Swarthmore community:
What did you do for Valentine’s Day?
Joshua Ovadia ’25: I competed at a mock trial tournament. As part of this mock trial tournament, I went with a team to American University in Washington, DC. We had an excellent weekend of competition, but it was very tiring. I think that Mock Trial may be one of the things keeping me single, but so it goes.
Star Niu ’26: Took a nap.
Ivy Hoffman ’27: I went to Philly. I had dinner, it was good. It was good except the parade happened, and it was evening. The parade was finished, but there were hordes of drunk Eagles fans wandering Philly. The SEPTA was shut down, so lots of people in green were like “Where are the trains?” It was good.
Jonah Sah ’27: I hung out at the Solidarity at Swat Crumb Cafe collab and then called my girlfriend. I have a girlfriend, I swear. I promise I have a girlfriend. She just goes to another school. She is real but you’ve never met her.
Theodore Yochum ’27: Go Birds! I went to the Eagles parade and then went out with my girlfriend. The parade was fun. Went to the parade with my girlfriend.
Justine Sullivan ’28: Valentine’s Day was my birthday, so me and my friends did a friendly Screw. We matched friends with friends and all showed up to the same table. It was cute but we didn’t really have good costumes which I guess was supposed to be the whole point.
Christian Bignotti ’25: I went to Philly with my girlfriend and it was fun, even though I’m against Valentine’s Day. I just don’t like being forced to buy flowers. I wanna do it on my own time, whenever I want, not when everybody else is doing it.
Did you participate in Screw Your Roommate? If so, how was it?
Star Niu ’26: No, which was good.
Ravi Naidu ’27: I assisted vaguely. I didn’t actually witness it happen, but I was off at a mock trial tournament when it occurred. I assisted in the sense that I said, “I’m going to be away, but I will pass this on to some of my other friends to make sure the coordination happens.”
Ivy Hoffman ’27: I have set people up. It’s been good, my best costume was this past Screw. I set my roommate up with someone; she was Ms. Frizzle and he was the Lizard from the Magic School Bus.
Shana Saint-Phard ’27: I went on a Screw Date for nine hours. *laughs* It was a good nine hours, yeah. I was the hot priest from Fleabag and they were Fleabag.
Charisma Santa ’28: I did not do Screw, just had plans with my boyfriend. Dinner kind of vibe.
Guillaume Robert ’26: I’ve quite proudly avoided doing Screw in my six semesters I’ve been here and I have no intention of going back at all.
Christian Bignotti ’25: I’ve actually never done Screw. I’ve been set up for Screw a couple times and it has always died last minute.
Reactions to Val Smith’s email about how the college will respond to changes in federal policy regarding higher education?
Joshua Ovadia ’25: I think that it is definitely a step in the right direction. Anything we can do to help protect our students who might be here with immigration statuses that may be looked upon less favorably by the federal government. I support not having them deported or arrested, etc.
Star Niu ’26: Which one was that?
Ravi Naidu ’27: I’m gonna be honest, I don’t really read Val Smith’s emails.
Theodore Yochum ’27: I didn’t read it.
Charisma Santa ’28: I hope that [the college] does fight against it because attacks on things like DEI by the federal government will especially affect students with financial aid in general. I hope that they do everything that they can.
Justine Sullivan ’28: I’m FLI, Questbridge, child of immigrants so it’s very important for me specifically and many others that the college pushes back against that and cares for us.
Guillaume Robert ’26: I haven’t looked too much into what the current policies are because this administration is doing its best to roll out dumb thing after dumb thing. I don’t expect the college to completely go along with it as other institutions have been doing, but I also don’t think Swarthmore can fully become some sort of vigilante that does whatever it wants and still has to function within the U.S.
Christian Bignotti ’25: The most immediate effect it has on me is that funding for labs has forced the job market to be pretty tough. I know classmates who’ve had a hard time finding jobs with the NIH [National Institute of Health] laying so many people off.
This past week we’ve seen snow, hail, 50 mile/hour winds, and 60 degree sunshine. How do you feel about the weather we’ve been enjoying this week so far?
Joshua Ovadia ’25: That’s a good question. Growing up in Upstate New York, it’s good to get a reminder of the bitter cold of the frozen north. It’s good to get a reminder that climate change hasn’t done away with that entirely. However, wind temps of five degrees to zero in some cases makes it a little bit tricky to be outside after dark, that’s for sure.
Star Niu ’26: Awful.
Ravi Naidu ’27: It’s really cold, I don’t like it. I hope it gets warm.
Ivy Hoffman ’27: Enjoying this week? The cold, all of the cold. I’m not a cold person. Especially the walk from McCabe to Kohlberg, I arrive at Kohlberg with tears in my eyes because of the wind.
Shana Saint-Phard ’27: You know what, it’s been a little chilly for my taste. I would prefer it to be a little warmer. It got into the 20s, and it was in the 40s last week, and I would prefer it to be in the 40s.
Theodore Yochum ’27: It’s f*cking cold, so cold man.
Charisma Santa ’28 : I’m ready for spring. Very, very ready.
Justine Sullivan ’28: I’m so done with winter. I need it to be over, that groundhog was wrong. I need the warmth and the sun to be back.
Guillaume Robert ’26: I wouldn’t mind the weather if it was consistent but it’s just been all over the place — you have no idea what to do day to day.
Christian Bignotti ’25: Every year, for me personally, the winter is just horrible — whenever I go outside it sucks. So I’m looking forward to whenever the spring gets here and you can start wearing shorts, and all the flowers are blooming, and the campus is beautiful, and people are out on Parrish Beach. So I’m very excited for the spring and I don’t think I’d enjoy it as much if it weren’t for such a horrible winter.
Jonah Sah ’27: I like the snow because I can sled on it.
