If you’ve reached my column, I’m sure that you’ve already read the news regarding the former Chief of Staff and Associate Vice President of Policy and Planning Laban Coblentz. Coblentz had the reputation as an advocate for students, faculty, staff, and the university on the highest level. I think that his departure is important for us as students to think about not only because of his status as an advocate, but also for what it represents in the context of the University. If you want to read more about this subject, I recommend that you read the relevant pieces in today’s Poly, the articles published by the Times Union and Chronicle of Higher Education in the past few days, and the ongoing conversation about this on Reddit. I’m not going to dwell right now on the situations surrounding Laban’s departure or how it ties into everything else happening at Rensselaer, as I’m sure there are at least two articles in The Poly today that cover those very topics. However, I think that now is a good time to reflect on the different ways that students, staff, and faculty can communicate to the administration and make change happen on campus. Read more...

Following a devastating 34-31 loss last week in the annual Transit Trophy game, the football team rallied to a 28-24 victory over the University of Rochester on Saturday afternoon. The Engineers are now an even 2-2 on the season, including a Liberty League record of 1-1. The Rochester Yellowjackets drop to 1-3 overall, with a 0-2 conference mark. Read more...

I hope everyone is having a fantastic week so far. The Executive Board had the opportunity to tour the East Campus Athletics Village and then attend the men’s hockey game this past Saturday evening. It was a great opportunity for the Board to get to know each other better and for the Executive Board members to gain an understanding of the importance of athletics here at Rensselaer. Read more...

If there was one thing that puzzled me while I was growing up in those heady and innocent years of the 70s and 80s, listening as I did to a mixture of home-grown pop and mostly American imports, it was all the references to summer nights. Sometimes winsome, occasionally suggestive, always evocative of young love and new discoveries, there always seemed to be something being referred to that I couldn’t get a handle on. Weren’t summer nights in America like summer nights back in England, long and slow with a sleepy, effulgent sun sinking indolently towards the horizon dusty with haze and warmth, the sky behind it deepening from mid-day azure to cornflower blue as the stars began to peep out one by one? Wasn’t it still light at ten o’clock, never really getting full dark, and the next day dawning, it seemed, almost before the last one had quite faded away? Read more...