to lead us off quick we need professor of chemistry
when I found out I would be giving the convocation address I did what I think
most of you would do I posted this news on Facebook and then very quickly I
found out who my true friends are most Smith faculty simply mocked me so to
them I say this phrase reward will do a great job at this next year from the
Smith's staff however I received an outpouring of support and useful advice
and I want to share one piece of that advice with you from Stacy Hagen ba
director of the Lazarus Center for Career Development she told me to tell
you the following look left look right don't wear that to an interview
and just briefly while we're on the topic of how you're dressed my
colleagues in the chemistry department many of whom are here tonight would like
me to remind you that when you come to chemistry lab you'll need to put on some
clothes toed shoes so back to Facebook the most supportive messages I received
came of course from Smith alums and one alum in particular gave me a list of
instructions for shout outs that if I followed them would keep us here past
the actual start of classes but in honor of Charlie Rose class of 2011 I do want
to start off by welcoming back first of all the ADA Comstock scholar
when I was done feeling sorry for myself on Facebook I asked for some copies of
past speeches and I now will steal shamelessly from one of those to quote
Professor Susan Van Dyne when you're not here
Smith exists as a gorgeous set of buildings outstanding faculty busy with
our research generous alums a noble history but we're a college waiting to
happen until you get here and quo
every year at this time I am struck by how much I've missed you so to all the
new Smithy's in the room transfer students and the class of 2016
I have missed you now since you got into Smith I know you're no fool so some of
you are already thinking how could she miss us she doesn't even know us yet
to you though I quote the great philosopher of our age Carly Rae Jepsen
who says before you came into my life I missed you so bad
to those of you who never actually left this summer 145 surf students
student workers all over campus and especially Kathryn the senior who served me
approximately 18 gallons of go berry this summer in Amherst well I didn't
exactly miss you but welcome back anyway we missed you too
the newly wise class of 2015
and whether you're off exploring the world or simply exploring the world of
opportunities here at Smith welcome back to the class of 2014.
And finally for the last time at a Smith convocation welcome back to the class
that makes 13
all right so in her speech SVD suggested that the faculty spend our summers
working on research and that's largely true so as I bawled this over during the
summer I decided that tonight I would talk about the chemistry of silicon
surfaces just kidding but tonight I do want to talk about something else I
spent a lot of time doing this summer watching the Olympics
this was in many ways of fabulous Olympics to watch every country
participating sent at least one female athlete
Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia sent its first ever female competitor Sarah ATAR
and a double amputee Oscar Pistorius competed in the 400 meters and made it
to the semi Team USA had more female than male
athletes in fact if the US women were a country they'd have the fifth highest
medal count at the game
and the Spice Girls reunited
and yet as I watch these games unfold I found myself asking a number of questions some of those questions seem fairly trivial.
For instance, if a tiny bikini is really the most effective thing to wear for beach volleyball,
then why are the men wearing long baggy shorts.
and some of these questions don't really seem that trivial at all and I'm going
to share three of them with you tonight so first of all 16 year old Chinese
swimmer ye Shiwen won two gold medals and set a new world record in the
400-meter individual medley because because she improved so much so quickly
and because she swam the final 50 metres of her 400 faster than American Ryan
Lochte swam it in winning his 400 I am
because of that speculation began immediately that she was doping
in 19 in 1988 a 16 year old American swimmer named Janet Evans burst onto the
Olympic scene in similar fashion winning three gold medals and distance swimming
and at those Olympics in the 400-meter freestyle Janet Evans set a world record
that lasted for 18 years but no widespread accusations of doping
followed Janet Evans so how much of yay she wins treatment in the US and
European media had to do with her being Chinese and how much and how much had to
do with our collective inability to process the perfectly rational idea that
for one small part of a long race the best woman might swim faster than the
best man
also this isn't in the speech but Yeshe when if you read our interviews in
contrast to Ryan Lochte is actually charming there is also there's also the
question of Lolo Jones Lolo Jones if you don't know is a fantastic American
hurdler who placed fourth in the hundred meter hurdles at the Olympics and
despite the way the media plays fourth place let's all agree that fourth place
at the Olympics means you're pretty awesome but who here can name the two US
women who beat her in that race yes someone can cuz it's myth they are they
are Don Harper who took silver and Kelly Wells who took bronze it's not your
fault if you can't name them because the media pretty much ignored them in the
entire year leading up to the Olympics despite the fact that Don Harper was the
reigning Olympic champion and they both beat Lolo in the Olympic Trials as well
I am hardly the first person to point out that one of the main differences
between these women is the way they look Lolo Jones who identifies as mixed-race
has long straight blondish hair light skin and a slim build Don Harper and
kelly wells are dark-skinned african-american women
with with really muscular builds which by the way it helps them win medals in
the hurdles so I don't fault Lolo Jones for garnering a lot of publicity this is
the only way athletes in a normally marginal sport like track and field can
earn money but why in an arena that's all about speed power and winning are we
apparently more concerned with a particular ideal of beauty than we are
with well speed power and winning
my final question my final questions a really simple one
why in 2012 are women still competing in the heptathlon for those of you who
aren't track junkies the decathlon is a series of 10 track and field events for
men the winner of the Olympic decathlon is sometimes called the greatest athlete
in the world and before he got sucked into the vortex of truly awful reality
television Bruce Jenner aka mr. Kardashian held that title but women
compete instead in the heptathlon which is only seven events it used to seem
obvious why right the decathlon includes pole vault and women can't do pole vault
only actually they can and they do even at the Olympics in fact I know that
women can do pole vault because Edda grover silva smith class of 2010
- So why now to decathalon for women atthe Olympics, honestly I have no idea either.
but there is a rather long and shockingly modern history of protecting women
from grueling events at the Olympics 1984 was the first time that
the Olympics held running events for women longer than 1500 meters in 1992
four years after the 10,000 was finally introduced for women Gwyn Hardesty
Coogan's Smith class of 1987 represented the u.s. in that race in Barcelona.
it wasn't until 1996 that they made the women's running events fully match the
men's I know maybe the 1980s seem like a long time ago to you but it's hardly
ancient history all those years I just cited are in the PM era post Madonna
this is all of course just sports sports are not life and death and for most of
us they're a pleasant distraction a hobby or something for some of us we
frankly don't care much about at all there are people who study the
importance of athletics in various cultures as well as its relationship to
gender race and race and class in those cultures and some of those people teach
at Smith I'm not one of those people so bear in mind that I'm not necessarily
qualified to make the observation I'm about to make it is not a very big leap
to say that the limits we place on women's physicality in sports are
related to the limits we place on women more broadly it's easy to say women
can't compete and this or that physical activity because on average they are
smaller weaker and slower than men and also some of them choose choose to bear
children
it's easy to celebrate powerful women as long as they fit some non-threatening
mold of femininity it's also it's also easy to apply different standards of
trust to people from cultures we don't think we understand as well as our own
but this is Smith and we don't really do easy
because this is a joyous event the kickoff to the last academic year for
the class of 2013
I want to leave you with some hope I shared my observations with a friend of
mine who coaches both men and women expressing my disbelief that change
could be so slow and he said you should oppress upon them that they need to be
the catalysts for change so here here finally is the chemistry as many of you
already know a catalyst speeds up a reaction i asked professor betsy jamison
smith class of 1994 for her best example of the power of catalysts and she asked
me to tell you about carbonic anhydrase cart bomb yeah carbonic anhydrase is the
catalyst and a pathway that allows us to get rid of the carbon dioxide we produce
during respiration we need to get that co2 out of our bodies or we die without
carbonic anhydrase our body can do this on its own but way too slowly the
catalyst here speeds up this process by a factor of about 10 million also
professor Jamison would like me to tell you that it uses a zinc changed for
women happens but in many cases it happens way too slowly you and the
smithee's before and after you are the catalysts that will make these changes
happen on a timescale that is compatible with human life
so how do you go about preparing to be that catalyst well you know here's where
I tell you how improving your writing skills will make you a better social
activist how better quantitative skills will allow you to shoot down arguments
about alleged difference in ability and how the other 16 capacities in the Smith
Design for Learning are all essential tools for this work and they are but
that's not what I'm going to do that's what your advisor does instead I would
suggest that when you are preparing for a massive challenge like this for
overturning the dominant paradigm ask yourself this what would Katniss do
those of you who haven't read The Hunger Games yet my apologies but the point I
will make is still relevant and here it is
Katniss succeeded not only because she is utterly kick-ass
but because she chose her allies wisely
Katniss did not really go about picking the most skillful allies she didn't join
the careers and you shouldn't either but they're sort of easy to avoid because
they all go to Amherst
instead Katniss Katniss pick true and
she also she also picked Peeta but that was more about the books need to have a
heteronormative love story
rune was no slouch herself but mostly what she did for Katniss was to sustain
her she sustained Katniss emotionally when she was alive and after Roo died
her memory drove Katniss to choose the more difficult path and to risk everything.
Here at Smith you have already chosen wisely you are surrounded
by allies they've
they will sustain you while you're here fighting with papers and problem sets
and they will sustain you when you leave here and go out to change the world
sure you should develop your skills and your capacities and you will but being a
catalyst is hard work so spend some time building your friendships seeking out
people both like and unlike yourself choosing your allies well if you do that
I have no doubt that the odds will be ever in your favor