Hybrid First Year Studies Brings Fresh Look to SLC Tradition
THE TRADITIONAL SARAH LAWRENCE SEMINAR. FROM THE 1965 COURSE, “AMERICAN LIFE AND THOUGHT”. PHOTO COURTESY OF SARAH LAWRENCE COLLEGE ARCHIVES
The beginning of the 2019-2020 school created a different sight for some Sarah Lawrence students: the Hybrid First Year Studies class. These unique course blocks, referred to as “Hybrid FYS”, are your dime-a-dozen open courses for upperclassmen, but also serve as FYS classes for first-year students, with the teaching faculty member acting as the don for first-year students.
The COVID-19 pandemic hit the world hard and classrooms even harder. In the height of panic, teachers and school administration worked with what they had for the students' best interest. Proms were canceled and elementary schoolers learned multiplication on Zoom. Pivots were made to try and compensate for the shocks and concerns people were riddled with. Coming up on five years since the pandemic, we are starting to see the lasting effects in the classroom.
On Saturday, October 4, the Sarah Lawrence Activities Council (SLAC) hosted their annual Fall Festival, a charming celebration of the approaching season. In addition to pumpkin painting and lawn games, the club organized a caramel-apple making station, an array of seasonal refreshments including apple cider and hot chocolate and an ambient setting complete with music and decorations. The festival was held on Westlands’ North Lawn and was well attended by the student body.
Studying at Sarah Lawrence can feel like a daunting task– with conference papers piling up, the 100-page readings and presentations you haven’t started. That some students voluntarily chose to take on a part-time job both on and off campus in addition to all that work may sound almost psychotic. The Phoenix spoke to some of the students who hold jobs on campus. What we found is many students who said their jobs actually enhanced their academic experience.
As history starts to repeat itself, looking to the past – especially its political activists – becomes increasingly important. I was lucky enough to interview Jennifer Camper, a self-described, “ average half-Arab smart-ass dyke cartoonist”. Camper has been creating comics since the early 1980s about her experiences as a half-Lebanese American Lesbian, as well as the ever-changing political climate. Her most popular works include Camper for Rude Girls and Dangerous Women, subGURLZ, or her contributions to numerous anthologies. Her cartoons are witty, candid, and utterly relevant, from the first release to the current day.
At the beginning of the whirlwind of days leading up to the 2024-25 school year at Sarah Lawrence College, first-year students crowded into a newly-familiar Barbara Walters Campus Center for their first foray into orientation week: Title IX training. Via a dense Powerpoint presentation given by Kristin Collado, Sarah Lawrence’s Title IX coordinator, freshmen were inundated with everything they need to know about Title IX—including the role of mandated reporters, definitions of sexual harassment, misconduct and discrimination, and student’s rights under Title IX. Similar presentations are administered to mandated reporters—which include faculty and staff, as well as student leaders like Residential Advisors (RAs) and Gryphon Guides.
The Instagram account @slcanonymous has evolved over nearly a decade into a platform for everything from lost items to political debates, while raising questions about accountability and power dynamics of anonymous posting. This article reveals how the account impacts campus life both positively and negatively, from sparking friendships to potentially damaging reputations and escalating conflicts when online disputes spill into real life.
If you’re an international student, you probably know Sifiso Mabena for sending out emails checking on our mental health, and letting us know about upcoming events her office organizes. If you see her on campus, she will never ‘Sarah Lawrence’ you. She will always say "Hello", check up on you, and—at least in my case—attempt to speak a few French sentences to greet you.
I met with two young women, Charlotte Johl and Ellie Woollerson, leading members of The Leeds University Union Conservation Volunteers (LUUCV), a campus society devoted to lending numbers of students to local conservation projects at the University of Leeds.
“Sarah Lawrencing”. It’s a verb unintelligible to those not in the know, but it has been coined to give a name to a quintessential social experience for any Gryphon: being ignored by someone you know as you pass them traversing campus.
The privatization of print media is a limiting yet somewhat necessary paradox. Newspapers and research publications need to make money somehow, but how can we, the American people, engage with the freedom of the press if we almost always have to pay for it?
In our post-COVID-19 haze, there is a resurrected longing for being crammed and sweaty and glittery. Indie Sleaze is that beautiful grimy space that occupies the gaps between ‘clubbing,’ ‘hipster,’ ‘grunge,’ ‘twee,’ and sometimes even ‘business casual.’ Alexa Chung in tights, Chelsea boots, a military jacket and statement necklace while her bangs stuck to her forehead due to sweat and spilled alcohol. The goal was always, always, Effy Stonem from “Skins.” The look of Indie Sleaze represents an out-of-body experience, one where you enter the night looking disheveled and leave disheveled. It cannot be curated; it must be earned.
The Manic Pixie Dream Girl archetype presents a one-sided view of a woman who only exists for the men of her story. She is around solely to provide character development for a male character. The worst part is that the expectation of this archetype doesn’t exist solely on the page: she bleeds out into the real world.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art is a place I went to a million times as a kid but had not visited recently until this winter break on a first date with Finch. At the time, I thought the Met was the perfect spot to meet someone because there were endless conversation starters. However, as we went through the exhibits, I struggled to keep a conversation because I found the various art pieces triggering memories of the different exes throughout the year.
The energy was thrilling, everyone was hot, and the music was electrifying. As I stepped into Henrietta Hudson with Sara, my best friend and a newly single lesbian, we were ready to meet our future wives.
I hung out with my friends. We found ourselves surrounded by fluorescent lights, mildewed carpets, and chipped wallpaper. You guessed it: a Chuck E. Cheese—the place with a million opportunities to have fun. As we played the games, trying not to trip over running kids and hearing tickets coming out of games, the smell of cardboard pizza encircled us. We received a few stares from the adults, but it did not stop us from acting like whoever we wanted to be for the day: a basketball player, a dancer, or a motorcycle rider.
It is not just a building. It is not a house for books. It is not just a place where some people have class sometimes. It is a sacred space, dedicated to knowledge and the pursuit of it, a space where many of us create our best work, our best selves. The Library, with all its nooks and crannies, all secluded spaces, and undiscovered potential, may be the only place on campus where we can go to find out, through uninterrupted work, who it is we want to be once we leave it.
I was sitting in a circle with 11 other student volunteers in the walk-in closet of an Airbnb somewhere in South Philly. We had just listened to the Sunrise Movement staff discuss strategies for post-election action. After hearing the anticipated risks of every outcome, a lengthy pause seemed to reverberate around the room, someone’s shallow breaths echoing in the small space. The discussion leader led a grounding exercise.
Former President Donald Trump, clad with a kitchen apron, served french fries out of the McDonald’s drive-thru window in Philadelphia on Oct. 20. A hilarious portrayal of the billionaire-businessman, taking this new ‘job’ signifies more than an edifying campaign photo op.
Combating the central campaign focus of Vice President Kamala Harris and simultaneously digging at Kamala Harris’s past employment, the Trump campaign is working to broaden their horizons and make his exorbitantly wealthy background far more palatable to the American middle class.
The women’s tennis team had their first Skyline match last Thursday, Sept. 18, against Yeshiva University. The match was held at United States Tennis Association (USTA) Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing, NY, also home to the U.S. Open. It was an extremely close match, with the Gryphons losing 3-4. Regardless, the team agrees that it was a great way to start off the conference.
Despite the uncertainty of the girls incoming season, things took a turn for the better at the beginning of the semester. Martin Rather, a 2024 Harvard Law alum, has dreamed of coaching basketball in a high academic environment since his own days on the court. Upon hearing the news of a position opening at Sarah Lawrence, Rather got the chance to make his dreams come true.
Winning a volleyball match requires a precise blend of key elements: disciplined teamwork, consistent communication, and strategic execution. The success of the Sarah Lawrence Women’s Volleyball team also runs on the mental toughness and adaptability of its players. These ingredients are important, along with maintaining strong defensive positioning, delivering accurate serves, and executing coordinated offensive plays.
Athena Kazos (#10), outside hitter and senior, rightfully earned the title of Skyline Conference’s Player of the Week announced on Sept. 15, 2025. Kazos aided her team in a tri-match against both Curry College and Saint Joseph’s, which earned her “Player of the Week”, awarded by Skyline Conference.
Luca also commented that Pete is leaving the team much better than he found it. In our interview, Pete described that there is an intangible element that every team needs to succeed: the men’s basketball team has it. Pete, in many ways, embodies that element. The type of energy, sportsmanship, and competitiveness he has are essential components to a winning team. For example, he eats a snickers bar before every game to remind himself of how much fun the hustle of college basketball is.
Ribbion-making and carrying giant pumpkins across campus are some of Maddie Thompson’s core memories from this year’s cross-country season. Thompson is the first Great Big Pumpkin winner for the women’s cross-country team. Following the Skyline Conference Championship 6k Race, Head Coach Tom Dilberto bequeathed an organic big orange pumpkin to Thompson for her drastic improvements throughout the season, staying determined and committed until the very end. Her personal best 5k performance was 31:31 minutes.
Finishing up the last race in the cross country season this year will be followed by another soon-to-be-completed race for Nat Skoczenski. College is often a slow and steady race, and Skoczenski’s is finally at the finish line. Their plans after graduating include “—pursuing a PhD in clinical psychology, but before then… who knows. Looking for jobs in research and patient care but maybe I’ll become a cheesemonger or kayaking instructor in the meantime.”
Fifth year Women’s volleyball libero, Kaille Ferguson, continuously grabs crowds’ attention on the court. After a unique first year of playing on a coed team due to COVID, this setback proved to have minimal impact on Ferguson’s drive to continue playing.
Campbell Sports Center is home of the Gryphons, our NCAA Division III athletes but, there is so much the building has to offer to the rest of the students as well. If you are an athlete or simply enjoy working out, the gym has you covered.
Captain Lucas Murray, nicknamed Chack by his passionate teammates, celebrated this and other accomplishments on his Senior Day, Feb. 17.