The Miscellany News

Raging bushfires in Australia. The acquittal of a president who abused the highest office in the land. Tensions heightened to a near breaking point between the United States and Iran after Trump’s targeted kill of their most powerful general. This year has been more dystopian than it has been hopeful. And with a pandemic that’s infected over 180,000 globally, many are wondering where we went wrong with 2020. But through it all, memes have provided a source of humor and a means of working through the doom and gloom of this moment.

The admin of the historicallywomens.c0m Instagram page didn’t set out to quell the anxieties of uncertain times when she created the account. Since 2017, she’s posted memes submitted from the community that poke fun at, critically examine and celebrate the experiences of historically women’s college (HWC) students. That vision hasn’t changed. But now, she’s also found herself coordinating a support network for HWC students whose schools have closed due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

Over 100 public and private colleges and universities have announced precautionary measures, such as weeks-long suspensions, transitions to online learning and, in some cases, closures for the remainder of the spring semester. Millions of vulnerable students have been left scrambling to find housing, rides to airports, affordable storage units and emergency funds. For the page’s admin—who has chosen not to reveal her identity—memes weren’t enough. “Once I started receiving meme submissions surrounding responses to COVID-19, I knew I needed to do something besides post ‘funny content,’” she shared.

Since the day news broke of Smith College’s closure, she has used the Instagram story feature to post requests from students for aid and from others offering their resources. “The actual support and aid were swiftly and generously provided by alumni, current students, and even members of the class of 2024 who couldn’t idly sit back and watch members of their community fail to stay afloat,” she elaborated. But this isn’t the first time she’s used her platform for public good.

A student sent her screenshots of an email from Barnard Deputy Dean of the College Natalie Friedman, who threatened disciplinary action against Barnard student Zhifan Yang ’20 for potentially breaking self-quarantine. Barnard administrators enforced mandatory self-quarantine for students who had returned from mainland China after Jan. 19. When Yang left her room briefly to use the restroom, she missed one of two daily food deliveries allowed to students in quarantine. This was reported to Friedman.

The page admin posted the email screenshots in February. In the post, she implores students to press Barnard administrators to rethink their decision. “I certainly do not consider my page a news source, and I would be horrified if anyone regarded it as such, but there are some issues that need to be talked about and put out in the open,” she shared.

View this post on Instagram

hi all this is a little out of the ordinary but i was made aware of the self isolation of Chinese students on barnard’s campus and asked to use my platform to make more people aware of the situation at hand. while i am not an expert on the situation, i think Barnard students should press their administration to reevaluate their self isolation process – it seems like any student who was recently in China (several international students) has been told to self isolate and then treated poorly and distrusted by Barnard admin. Even students who were thousands of miles away from Wuhan, but still in mainland China, are being targeted. Barnard students please let us know how we can help. I also encourage other campus to critically examine how they are navigating the coronavirus outbreak and how it conveniently feeds anti-Chinese rhetoric.

A post shared by 7 sisters + (@historicallywomens.c0m) on Feb 7, 2020 at 11:29am PST

A week later, she posted screenshots of an email from Vassar College President Elizabeth Bradley’s email detailing the discovery of Native American human remains on campus. Professor Emerita of Anthropology Lucille Lewis had gathered the remains in Alaska as research materials, before the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) was passed. “During this time LISTEN to Indigenous demands and needs. Be there for the people who are deeply and horrifically impacted by this cover up,” she urges in the post.

View this post on Instagram

okay what the HELL I’ve received some word from current Vassar students that an anthro (?) professor named LUCY JOHNSON been collecting and hiding Indigenous human remains for DECADES at the college. “Professor Emerita of Anthropology Lucille Lewis Johnson had used the remains, gathered during excavations in Alaska, as research materials. Johnson came to Vassar in 1973 and published a paper titled “An Archaeological Survey of the Outer Shumagin Islands, Alaska” through Vassar in 1984.”(Miscellany News) “the professor responsible is LUCY JOHNSON in anthropology (her name should be plastered everywhere, even though the school is trying to hide her name) and there’s serious, grounded speculation that there are more native remains on campus, not just in anthropology… apparently people in the anthro department KNEW she was extremely unethical and in a meeting this weekend out president confirmed it”!!! this discovery was made in fall 2019 by vassar administration but students are only now finding out, and alum, donors, and parents have not been notified as the school doesn’t want this info to leak. From an anonymous source: “they sent the email to students but they aren’t preventing us technically but in talking to other stuents we’re all worried about facing disciplinary charges, especially now that NAGPRA is involved, they keep throwing around that it’s a “federal investigation” During this time LISTEN to Indigenous demands and needs. Be there for the people who are deeply and horrifically impacted by this cover up. Vassar is keeping a lot of information quiet but it has a responsibility to its Indigenous community first to be fully and completely transparent about this recent discovery. Read the only article I’ve found on the topic here: https://miscellanynews.org/2020/02/16/news/vassar-stores-native-american-human-remains-violates-nagpra/

A post shared by 7 sisters + (@historicallywomens.c0m) on Feb 17, 2020 at 7:18am PST

Through global pandemics, playful infighting between schools and school administrations’ insensitive actions, she hopes most of all to stoke discourse among the historically women’s college community. As disturbing, comical, frightening or outrageous phenomena pop up on these campuses, memes are one of these students’ media of choice to make jokes and express their frustrations. The admin said, “While these can be funny and further highlight the absurdity of a situation, it does prompt [me] to then say, ‘Okay, comedy aside, let’s talk about this.’” She also asks herself if online hypervisibility can be used to enact change. “When the answer to the last question is yes, this is where I tend to step in,” she said.