How to plan an event

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Planning sucks. Events don’t. At Olin, it’s remarkably easy to do things, but also remarkably hard to make them happen. We know this from experience, so we’ve collected an encyclopedia of advice. Now, from the two guys on campus that talk the loudest and think the least, here’s what we’ve learned from our mistakes. And if your attention span is really that cooked, we’ve bolded the best tips.

POINT 1: Plan in advance. Easier said than done, we know, but really, the more time you give yourself, the less stress you’ll have. Unless you procrastinate it all until the last night anyway (not that we’d know anything about that, of course). 

Get the things you need, and plan on having them for the time leading up to your event. If it’s food, figure out what fridge(s) it’s going into. Don’t forget the plates, utensils and napkins. For that matter, any event should have a detailed budget—just make a simple spreadsheet with everything you need to buy, how much it costs, and where you’re getting it. You might be getting your food from Costco , your decorations from Amazon, and your prizes from Lovehoney. You have to keep track of it all, stay within budget, and make sure you don’t forget anything when you go shopping (which is the worst).

But you can’t just have the things. You need the people there to enjoy them. That is why you’re throwing an event, isn’t it? Surely, it’s not to embezzle school funds… Get the event in front of your audience. In multiple forms. Send an email. Attach an iCal (but not like Lindy Hop did…). Make a poster. Make lots of posters. Bump the email. Get word of mouth going. Be annoyingly present. And present yourself early. If it’s a big event, you might want your poster and email out as much as a month before the big day, an RSVP form 2 weeks beforehand, and bumps at one week and the three days before. (Try not to be too annoying… Remember you can always get a friend to bump your email, so you don’t look like the bad guy.) And if you can, don’t plan over the big clubs. Talk to your local Formula, BAJA, FWOP, and other reps. 

And finally, plan, plan, plan. At the end of the day, the average attendee might will not know the difference between a well-planned and poorly-planned event, but the burden on you will be less if it is planned out well. Here’s an attempted summary of tips: Set up always takes longer than you expect. Really. Move your stuff early. Know where it’s going before, during, and after the event. Does your space have enough tables? What are you doing about leftovers? That sort of thing. If you’re working with vendors outside of Olin or catering (which must be done through Rebecca’s), these people are going to need a plan well in advance. Call them (so they can’t ignore you), and do it early. Same as vendors, people on campus will be willing to help, but they need advance. You can’t just ask someone to help with no notice and expect them to be able to.

POINT 2: With that said, you should still ask many of your friends, if not all of them, for help (just with plenty of advance notice). The amount of help you can source from any single person is not the most important factor to consider. Rather, it’s the fact that you should be begging so many people that surely some of them will feel bad enough to help out. So, shower your friends with  event iCals and make your shift spreadsheets, because you are going to need them. Make sure to stress to them the importance of this event to both you and the community, guilt trip, peer pressure, learn the Voice from the Bene Gesserit sisters, and use whatever that’s at your disposal to make sure your friends are as committed to this event as you are, because, again, you are going to need them when time comes. 

Once you’ve secured a good batch of samaritans to perform your deeds, it’s time to put your Project Manager hat on. Unfortunately, planning an event is not unlike managing a complex project. Divide up your tasks, and don’t be afraid to delegate to people—this is presumably what you wore out your knee pads for. And once you have them in your grasp, be sure to check in with them on their progress periodically, and never let an important part of the event hinge on one single person, unless you truly, truly trust them.

Some common themes of help include finding a friend who has a car (book them early), or one who commands the ever elusive, yet highly coveted Costco membership (though the school can now Instacart from Costco—email Nichole). And sometimes, they’re just some plain old muscles that will help you move event supplies, clean up, and be there to support. The cleaning crew is important, because you’re going to be tired from setting up and running the actual thing. You will NOT want to clean up. Make sure you get help with this because no one else is going to want to do the dirty work unless you look them in the eye and ask them as they consider how saying no would make your face contort into a facade of indifference masking your disappointment.

POINT 3: Coming back to the Olin-ness of it all, it is (relatively) easy to do stuff on campus! But, there’s a lot of idiosyncrasies about our campus that are also easy to forget, especially since quite a few things have changed in the last few years. We like to think about it in terms of spaces, bureaucracy, and students.
As for spaces, it is crucial that, for any space you would like to use, you reserve the space and check in with the people that run that space. Sometimes, it’s just inviting the space via iCal, but other times, you should do a little more due diligence. If it’s the library, email the librarians. The dining hall? Talk to the kitchen staff and facilities. Above all, reach out to the people in charge of the spaces so you can stay in good standing with them for your four years here. Some other quick tips: Don’t use the workroom sink for dishes—there’s a nice little kitchenette on the first floor of Milas Hall for you to use! (Or for your cleanup crew, which I’m sure you’ve so diligently assembled after reading the prior tips.) Also, there are unimaginable wonders closeted on this campus. Wait. There are unimaginable wonders in the closets on campus. There’s the SAC closet, the clubs closet, the crafts closet, the closet full of large scale cooking supplies. The list goes on. Like I said, unimaginable wonders await. Ask the SAC representatives if they have speakers, lighting, poker sets, a chocolate fountain, or five unopened clothing irons for you to use. (Hint: they have all of this and more!) Ask around, and you’ll find there is a never ending supply of random crap on this campus. And as for asking, luckily, everyone at this school really is just an email away.

Those people just an email away? That’s your ticket. They hold the red tape. Get ready to limbo. The tips here don’t have much of a narrative, unfortunately, so this paragraph is a little bit of a word vomit. Getting a p-card should have at least a day in advance, and requested online purchases need two weeks to get bought, not even to mention waiting for shipping. Purchases over 1000 dollars need to be approved by the Dean of Students. (In writing, that is… having a dean of students to approve them is another thing… for now, check in with Ciara.) A single purchase that large may very likely have a contract associated. Contracts need at least two weeks notice to the Dean of Students. Their recommendation on the vendor side is to start getting the contract at least 1, if not 3 months in advance. It all comes back to planning well and planning early. Some other advance you have to give: party forms should be submitted at least a week prior to the event. You can get things from facilities (tables, chairs, desks, moving things, …), but in our experience, you should give them at least two weeks notice, and you should be hyperspecific in your request. Generally, when it comes to vendors, admin, or any other sort of bureaucracy, you should just plan on everything taking longer than you expect. 

That being said, these people support you each and every day in ways you don’t even know. Be kind, respectful, and flexible—facilities is helping you, not the other way around. Say good morning, hold the door for them, and offer them extra food/drink if you have some. It helps to be on good terms with the people doing you a favor. And on the flexibility side, they’ve been doing this longer than you have and might know something you don’t—instead of statements like “I need you to do this very specific thing,” it can be helpful to allow them to do it how they feel is right: “Hey, would it be okay to do this?” or “I just need XYZ to happen, do whatever is the easiest!” Having good email etiquette can go a long way. And speaking of which, emails are your friend!! Get things in writing. Genuinely. If facilities agreed to something, you want a record of it. If admin agreed to something, you want a record of it. If a vendor agreed to something, you want a record of it. Email them early, and keep the receipts. And one last thing on emails: Send summary emails. I know it’s annoying and you could just forward the whole email chain, but think about how lazy you are. That laziness is probably typical of any other person on Olin campus, including the full grown adults that work here. If you figure something out that seems important, it can be helpful to send a summary email to everyone involved that says everything in one place to get everyone on the same page.

We know that’s a lot. Luckily, there are people to help you. If you’re doing this through a club, check in with your club advisor! (The default club advisor is Ciara, but you may have a different one.) If you’re not, check in with Ciara or Nichole (the StAR assistants). We are lucky to have these people that want us to have a good time. And if all else fails, you always have our lovely student body to help you out. 

That same lovely student body is the one you’re planning for, too. So figure them out, and plan around them. Don’t freak out when no one shows up to your event right away. Plan on them being a little bit late. It’s just Olin nature. And if you want people to show up a little quicker, say the words “free food.” Trust me. At Olin, food sells, not sex. Same with music (especially live music).. Make a playlist, get a band, hire a DJ—the world is your oyster. Remember that SAC has speakers. (and remember that you should give them notice if you want them…) If all that fails, DM Roger on Instagram, and you can get Babson’s cutest public safety officers at your event. (No, really. It’s that easy.)

POINT 4: Planning an event is never easy, even less so at a school so damn small. After washing over you with this deluge of information—though hopefully not so much that you’ve decided to be done with this piece once and for all—we want to tell you that it will always be alright. 

Once you’ve advertised a time and a place for your event (we sure hope you remembered to put those on your poster…), you’ve irrevocably set in stone something larger than you. This event is happening no matter what now, so find peace in the finitude. Stop stressing over your event. It won’t be pretty. There will be plenty of times when you stare into either the bottomless void or distant sky and wonder why on God’s green earth you would ever choose to throw yourself into this whirlpool of mess. But the event is happening now. You’ve solicited help. That one friend who said he was busy will somehow find himself by your side. And once everything has left the bounds of your human capabilities, accept the outcome in tranquility, and know that you aren’t alone.

At the end of the day, if you commit to host something, you’ve joined a small cadre of Oliners who have enough drive and care to do anything for the community. Oliners enjoy any and all occasions to hang out with each other, and you help make it happen. The inseverable pact we signed as we became a part of Olin is ultimately what matters. You, as an event host, are providing yarn for Oliners to spin ourselves in a tighter web. Enjoy the ride. 

On Taking the LOA

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Mantas, beach sunsets, and random side-quests are what anyone who opened my insta story would’ve seen last year. Many friends and peers have confused my time away traveling with a study abroad, but alas it was a LOA (Leave of Absence). I’ve been back on campus since last spring, and I am so incredibly happy to be back. Now I want to reflect on my experience and offer pieces of advice from my adventure.

I learned that you’re allowed to step away from Olin for a semester, and what you do doesn’t have to be career or academic focused. Have you ever wanted to try something random? Wanted to spend a few months doing something new? Or just needed to get away from engineering for a little bit? Those are all valid reasons to take an LOA – and the beauty of it is that Olin is still waiting for you when you come back. (Small side-note: if it’s more than a semester it’s considered a withdrawal.)

Why did I do it? Two reasons: 1.) I needed a break from Olin. While I’ve never regretted coming here, I knew that being awaythat being away would allow me to come back a lot happier. 2.) I’ve always wanted to solo travel and dive a lot, and that is exactly what I did. I primarily traveled around Indonesia, Vietnam, and Singapore, but also visited Hong Kong and Malaysia.

How well was this planned? Well, I decided on my LOA in the middle of sophomore fall, which was early, but the plans themselves were very loose. I locked in my divemaster (professional scuba certification that allows you to lead certified divers and work in the industry) for a specific timeframe, but everything afterwards was up to the wind. This truthfully was a little scary, however that flexibility is how I spent two weeks at a resort for free, hitched a ride on a liveaboard boat, met fellow Germans that I stuck with for a few days, and many other little adventures. My only real anchor was my flight home on December 24th and that flexibility was incredibly freeing.

We are all chasing insane timelines and employability – I am guilty of it too – and yet, taking a break may actually be helpful. I spent two months in Indonesia completing my divemaster, falling asleep to the sound of the ocean, learning to drive a moped on the wrong side of the road, sharing meals with strangers, getting small second degree burns (yes, really and yes, it was a stupid reason), and tearing up when Country Roads played. Stepping back didn’t set me behind; it reconnected me with my curiosity.

We all chose Olin – a nontraditional school where we chart our own paths. Once here, you don’t have to stop choosing that nontraditional path. We are all well-rounded people with interests beyond engineering, and I encourage you to keep exploring them.

An LOA is not an exit; it is a temporary pause. This article is not to encourage you to take one, but to remind you of a non-traditional path.of a non-traditional path. You can learn to farm, or hike the PCT, or travel, or pursue some other side-quest or or or or… the options are endless. There are financial and logistical hurdles of taking an LOA – it is not a path everyone can take without careful planning. But if it’s something you yearn for, check in with campus resources early to see what’s possible for you and your situation. I’m also always happy to talk about my experience :)

Make the Project Worth the Portfolio

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As part of a class on portfolios and learning, I looked into Hampshire College, which, before its recent closure, built its educational model around student-directed learning, reflection, and portfolios. While not perfect, they’re a great lesson on alternative assessment methods.

If Olin were to take inspiration from Hampshire, I would use their learning model as a set of learnings about how portfolios can support student ownership, reflection, and demonstration of learning, while still building something uniquely Olin.

Our project-based curriculum creates a strong foundation for portfolios. Projects give students a meaningful problem to encourage learning, while the portfolio demonstrates their competency.

We already use portfolios to showcase our work for applications, but class projects often don’t make the cut. Many students instead favor large-scale personal work and project teams, which seem to provide more opportunity for deep learning, integrating disciplines, and developing an engineering mindset. 

Bearing this in mind, I think we should use a small number of large, intentional projects for learning, assessment, and portfolios. We then use small projects as opportunities to practice and validate critical skills.

I would follow this path to design a successful education using portfolios:

1. Define competency. Decide what skills students need to earn their degree. Ensure this meets ABET requirements and Olin’s educational philosophy.

2. Define evidence. Decide what portfolios must demonstrate to prove successful learning and competency to internal and external audiences.

3. Design the projects. Identify project-portfolio pairings for each degree that require students to learn and demonstrate the desired competencies. Size projects to give students enough time to deeply engage with the problem, bridge disciplines, iterate, and produce something substantial.

4a. Provide direction. Give students a project goal, constraints, recommended resources, and a mix of group and individual support, while leaving freedom in how they approach the problem.

4b. Use just-in-time instruction. As students encounter a technical problem, provide the necessary mini-lecture, example, or resource and then have them apply it. 

4c. Allow ownership. Encourage self-directed pacing and learning, with guardrails to ensure necessary technical competencies are still developed.

4d. Track individual learning. For group projects, require students to document their own design decisions, analysis, implementation, testing, failures, and contributions. Pairing students with different majors could also encourage interdisciplinary work and natural delegation.

5a. Assess competence. A portfolio entry should demonstrate skills through clear design choices, research, and (maybe) calculations. A clean final product isn’t enough to demonstrate learning.

5b. Preserve external legibility. Use the portfolio assessments to create subject-specific grades (Linear Algebra, Statics, Design Thinking, etc). This would make easy to understand transcripts for applications.

6. Iterate projects and requirements. Ask whether students developed the intended competencies, whether their portfolios provide convincing evidence of those competencies, and whether employers or graduate schools can understand and use that evidence. Update the projects as needed.

Instead of just another assignment, portfolio entries can be a tool we use to demonstrate the depth of our skills and the extent of our capabilities.

The opportunity isn’t to make portfolios work. It’s to make the work worth a portfolio.

A PSA On Laser Safety

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You may know me as the person who likes lasers a little bit! Given my reputation, it may come as a shock to many of you that I don’t own any high powered laser pointers! Yes, I own high powered laser diodes, but turning those on requires reconstructing the power supply from scratch every time. None of the lasers I own that can be turned on at the drop of a hat are particularly eye-unsafe. The main reason for this is because I’m not STUPID.

If you are lucky and introduced to hobbyist lasers through proper channels, the first thing you will learn is how easily lasers will cause you permanent and irrecoverable eye damage. Human eyes are amazing and intricate machines, but they too have their limits. They are meant for things like daylight and the occasional glance at the sun, not beams of light that are focused down into spots far more intense than direct sunlight.

Sunlight has an intensity of roughly 1,000W/m2. Staring into the sun directly is dangerous, and can cause all manner of eye conditions, including burns if you keep looking too long. As a point of comparison, I was working with a 20mW fiber laser over the summer. One day I got curious and pulled out a calculator to do some back of the napkin math. At the beam focus point, the intensity of the laser pointer was roughly 77,000,000W/m2. Seventy. Seven. Million. Watts. To be fair, this was a fairly high-quality laser that had a small focal point, but your eyes do their best to focus down any laser that enters them. 

So, for all of you reading this article, please stick to the low powered lasers. Your eyes, and the eyes of everyone around you, will thank you. 

P.S. Especially avoid cheap green laser pointers. They sometimes use IR diodes upconverted into green light, but cheap ones often don’t have IR filters and leak many times more (invisible!) IR light than the green output you can see.

Who Are The PAs Fall 2026

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The PAs, or the Peer Advocates for Sexual Respect, aim to have a diverse set of student volunteers who are committed to being a support network for other students struggling with sexual misconduct, having a healthy relationship, or for students who are concerned for others. 

For some brief history, the PAs began as an AHS Capstone in 2014. Motivation to start the PAs stemmed the campus climate survey and a Frankly Speaking article from 2013 that confirmed that sexual assault does happen at Olin and affects the same percentage of students as other colleges around the country.

The PA program is here to advocate for and work towards making Olin a place where people feel safe and respected. As a completely independent, student-led group, we aim to be a resource and response to the evolving situation of sexual respect at Olin.

We also recognize that it can be very tough to approach anyone with personal and sensitive issues so we hope to connect with the community and break the social barriers when it comes to topics like consent, sexual health, and relationships as a whole. Be on the lookout for PA Jeopardy, “It Happens Here”, PA Wellness events, and community wide trainings!

An event run this past month was our relationship panel where we invite non first-years onto a panel to discuss their advice with first years. This spans not just romantic relationships on- and off-campus, but also those with our friends and families.

So to finally answer the burning question, here are the PAs. Please come talk to us!

  • Anika Kale
  • Brandon Spiller
  • Wynona Brinkmann
  • Lex Gerlack
  • Rami Burdette

Greg

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Every Saturday, I work 7AM to 7PM as an EMT doing inter-facility transports. These Saturdays have taught me something: the moment people stop walking, they start dying.

Because once most people stop walking, they give up taking care of themselves. And in modern American society, once someone who doesn’t have money stops taking care of themselves, they get sent somewhere like “Garden Grove Skilled Nursing” where they are kept alive, but just barely, by techs making ten cents above minimum wage and nurses assigned three times the legally mandated maximum number of patients. 

And living at Garden Grove* is a life worse than death. You lie in your bed and watch your TV and eat your gruel and digest it and then soil yourself and lie in your filth and call out for help but none comes until two hours later when a manager yells to “fix that smell” and they find you and clean you up. And you watch your mind unravel and degenerate and slowly come apart because nobody with a normal, functioning brain could ever last at Garden Grove. And then, after a few weeks or months or years or decades of life without living, you eventually die. 

Unless you’re Greg*. Greg is a white man in his early 40s with tattoos on both shoulder caps wearing a sleeveless tee and lying on a gurney in the emergency room hallway near the corner they usually put the drunks. He’s got a barrel chest, thick arms, and skinny, atrophied legs—he was paralyzed from the waist down in an accident that broke his neck about five years ago. That was the second time he’s broken his neck, and this time, the doctors and physical therapists couldn’t fix it. Greg’s about 250 pounds and was probably a little under six feet tall when he could still stand. In other words: he’s built like a tank. 

Greg came to the hospital because he was moving himself to his manual wheelchair since his powered one was broken and felt a sudden recoil and a sharp pain in his shoulder. He tried to push through the pain for a few days, and then went to physical therapy and got told that they would not do any normal PT because he obviously needed to go to the damn hospital. And so now here he is, and they scanned his shoulder and told him that he did indeed injure it, and now he’s going to need to make an appointment with orthopedics so that they can get him started on getting all fixed up. He’s pissed off about it—now his shoulder is fucked and he’s going to have to go through months of rehab before he gets it back to full function, and he needs his shoulders working so that he can be properly independent because Greg doesn’t live at a place like Garden Grove—Greg lives at home. 

Actually, that statement is far too passive. Greg fights to live at home. Aggressively. Voraciously. Constantly. He keeps up the strength to move his 250 pounds of bulk from the wheelchair to the commode and back. He refuses to allow anyone else to clean him. He showers himself and cooks for himself and feeds himself and goes to the bathroom without assistance. He asserts his own dignity and independence in a situation where such an assertion is a radical act. 

The system is not built to support someone like Greg; it is built to funnel people into Garden Grove because Garden Grove is a much simpler, neater way of “handling” the Gregs of the world. But Greg has pushed back against the pressures of this system. He’s pushed for referrals, resources, tools, and people who can help him to live his life with dignity. He has to fight tooth and nail for these things! People don’t want to help him do this because figuring out how to help this man maintain his dignity and independence while still living in his own home is a lot harder and more legally risky than just shipping him off to Garden Grove like they do with all the others. Because as Greg told me, if you’re paralyzed “they treat you like you’re intellectually disabled”—like you are someone who is not capable of adding a relevant, meaningful voice to the conversation. 

But Greg keeps fighting. He demands to be taught how to give himself the enema he needs to have a bowel movement. He wears down his insurance until they give him the powered wheelchair which enables him to reach high shelves. He goes to physical therapy most days of the week and keeps up his strength because he will be independent and he will maintain his dignity and nobody is going to make that happen but him. 

I learned all of this about Greg in the back of the ambulance, taking him home from the hospital. As we worked our way back to his apartment, he was brainstorming how he’d handle the new challenge of only having one usable shoulder—he was pretty pissed about it all, but he was thinking out how it could work. He talked through how physical therapy would be different now with one working arm, and complained that it would probably take him weeks to find an opening for an appointment about his shoulder. He also mentioned his job search—he’s trying to find a 9-to-5 where he can work remotely, and he was recently talking with one of his doctors about becoming a patient advocate; the work appealed to him. 

Maybe if Greg’s powered wheelchair wasn’t broken, or if it had gotten fixed faster, he wouldn’t have overtired his shoulders and gotten injured. Maybe if the healthcare system was designed to support people in living independently instead of consigning them to a life of dependence, he wouldn’t have to fight as much as he does for every inch. Lots of maybes, but Greg doesn’t seem to dwell in them—he just does whatever needs to be done. 

On my Saturday night drives home from my EMT job, I typically call my mom; that night, I told her about Greg. She was as impressed as I was—the sentiment was colored by the fact that my younger sister has Down Syndrome, and so my parents have been fighting for the last eighteen years so that my sister can have that same self-determination that Greg is striving for. 

After hearing about Greg and his battles, my mom asked me something which stuck with me. She asked me if I’d asked Greg what tools he was missing—tools he thought could be useful for him in the future to continue maintaining his independence. And I realized that I never did. 

I am twenty-one years old, and I don’t know what my career will look like in the future. All I know is that I want to give people the tools to help themselves—to give themselves agency, dignity, and independence. I don’t want to “fix” them—people are not problems to be solved. I want to work with the people who will never be all-the-way “normal,” and I want to help them take and keep control of their lives. 

I want to design for Greg. 

*pseudonyms

Olin and Violence

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A few weeks ago, the defense company Skydio was featured in PGP news. Skydio makes drones used for surveillance and policing, and was founded by Olin alumni. Many of you may remember that in 2024, Oliners for Palestine called for Olin to break ties with Skydio because of their support of the U.S. and Israel’s genocide of Gaza. In recent weeks, PGP’s job boards have also included Palantir, a defense company that has similarly supported Israel’s actions in Gaza and the West Bank. Their technology is used in the U.S. to surveil and target people for deportation. 

Palantir and Skydio are not the only companies involved in this kind of work. Other companies like Caterpillar, Mathworks, Microsoft, Google and more have all contributed technology to assist Israel’s occupation.2 I point out these two specifically because Skydio was founded by Olin alums and because of the publicity of Palantir’s discriminatory actions. 

These jobs being promoted by PGP News is not reflective of Olin’s stated values. Olin’s mission states, “Olin College prepares students to become exemplary engineering innovators who recognize needs, design solutions, and engage in creative enterprises for the good of the world.” Do Skydio and Palantir’s surveillance technology engage in efforts for the good of the world? Do these companies value the diversity of the Olin student body, or does their work help uphold systems of hatred and bigotry? 

These jobs are showing up at the same time as Olin admin has promised to help all seniors secure jobs by graduation. I sympathize with students struggling to find jobs and internships, but I wonder if this expectation pushes students towards defense jobs when they wouldn’t otherwise consider them. I know many alumni who did not get their first job until after graduation. Why are we rushing this important decision?

Other systemic factors at Olin also push us towards violent and extractive industries. One of the first statistics you’ll see on our website is Olin’s high return on investment and starting salary. This teaches us, even before enrolling, that salary after graduation is one of the most important metrics of success. Olin does not, however, advertise how many graduates become teachers, work for nonprofits, or in their local governments. Nor do these mission-driven, lower paying jobs frequent PGP’s job boards and newsletter. What message does that send to us students about what work is valuable and worth considering? 

The problem of what is considered “good engineering” is endemic to Olin’s broader culture. The narrative that valuable engineering work is purely technical and therefore apolitical, and that innovation is inherently good is widespread on our campus. We make distinctions between “technical” and “non-technical” classes frequently, placing value primarily on the former, and placing the latter as separate from engineering. Courses like Collaborative Design challenge this narrative, but many “technical” classes still lack ethical framing. The result is that we see “good” engineering jobs as those with the most innovative technical work regardless of associated ethical implications. 

Financial needs and incentives inform the job search for many of us. Current social dynamics cast job choice as an individual moral decision; it is up to us to decide if we are willing to work at a defense company because they pay more, and the moral responsibility of where we work reflects back on us socially. This paradigm neglects how class differences inform our financial needs. It also doesn’t acknowledge the ways it is possible to challenge and reduce the harmful work these companies are doing while being employed by them. At the same time, working for these companies undeniably causes others harm, and responsibility for that harm lies somewhere. Olin has a large impact both on our financial needs (via tuition cost) and the type of work we are prepared for (innovative and technical). Therefore Olin is partially responsible for the harm caused by student and alumni work.

I want to recognize that PGP posts Palantir and Skydio jobs in the name of equity. They want to ensure everyone has support in applying to the jobs that they want. However, the claim of equity assumes Olin to be an apolitical institution, ignoring the ways that its policies, curriculum, and other material, including PGP News, constantly shape our political values and beliefs. Think about how your political beliefs have changed since coming to Olin. How do the jobs you see on PGP shift influence where you might want to work? Olin is constantly shaping us politically, but also doesn’t acknowledge institutional political alignment.

I don’t intend this article to be an attack on PGP staff or anyone who chooses to make a living in the defense industry. I do want to highlight the division in our community over what engineering work is valuable and recognize the ways Olin’s systems push us towards violent work. Once we recognize the ways Olin is politically shaping us, it opens our imaginations to alternative politics that recognize diversity of thought and needs on campus without being complicit in systems of violence. 

Please check out the attached sources by scanning the QR code for more information about Skydio and Palantir, including Frankly Speaking articles written by Oliners past. I am also planning to host a discussion about this topic at Expo on May 8th, so I invite anyone to come and participate!

  1. Wellesley’s article about Olin’s response to We See You Skydio posters, https://thewellesleynews.com/18244/news-investigation/olin-administration-removes-posters-on-skydios-ties-to-israel/ 
  2. UN list of companies supplying technology to support Israel’s genocide, https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/7/1/un-report-lists-companies-complicit-in-israels-genocide-who-are-they 
  3. Palantir AI used for ICE abductions 
    https://www.aclu.org/news/privacy-technology/palantir-deportation-roundup 
  4. Olin’s “We See You Skydio” campaign https://mronline.org/2025/05/01/tough-on-institutions-not-individuals-resisting-militarism-in-engineering-schools/ 
  5. Past Frankly Speaking article on Skydio https://franklyspeakingnews.com/2024/02/theyre-just-cameras-policing-the-domestic-and-abroad/ 

A Frankly Articulated Argument

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“I should write an article for Frankly Speaking!” This is what crosses my mind every time I see the newest edition populating the tables in the dining hall, and yet it’s somehow taken me a few months to get this article from concept to reality. Allow me to show you how to overcome the very same barriers I faced so you can have your very own article published right away in the September issue (my timing is rather poor, isn’t it?).

Now, don’t sit there with this paper in your hands and think to yourself that you have nothing to write about. Local newspapers are meant to build community by testing ideas, promoting healthy discourse, and ultimately helping us learn more about each other. It’s the perfect venue to respectfully share that passionate opinion of yours and engage the bright minds of your peers!

Ideating is as simple as picking out a particularly captivating hot take of yours (shout-out to Sammy and his thoughts on cheese), dropping your thoughts on the latest piece of media you spent some time with (shout-out to Ivy’s book reviews), or even sharing some of your personal experience in that class, project team, club, or off-campus activity you took a chance on.

We all have a lot to learn from each other, and a few more articles per Frankly Speaking issue might help drive student engagement. CORe elections might be more contested, there might be more 30-second videos, and maybe our hearts will even have room for a few more P&M surveys. Where does this engagement piece come from? Well, we noted in Local Democracy (a wonderful class!) that if a town has lively local journalism, it increases voter turnout in elections, reduces candidate bias, prevents polarization, and most certainly keeps people informed. These principles likely don’t fully translate to our cutesy little college, hence my ‘might’s and ‘maybe’s earlier, but the worst that could happen from an uptick in thoughtful Frankly Speaking articles is getting a few more ideas brewing in the mind of the dear reader.

What does this mean for ideating? Well, I’m not suggesting you pump out an article to support your campaign for CORe president, but if you recognize your influence and skip your monthly album review to advocate for having a formal at Olin every semester, it would not go amiss! Hopefully, I’ve convinced you that you should do some ideating for your next Frankly Speaking article. Stay with me now.

You may ask me how you might bring your idea to life in writing if it’s been a year or two since your last English class. After doing some research and analyzing some Frankly Speaking articles with a small set of Olin and Babson students (feel free to ask me for my process if you’re curious), I have five main recommendations for you:

  • Do your research
  • Write from personal experience
  • Understand your audience and adjust accordingly
  • Drop hook after hook until you’re certain your reader is fully committed
  • Use persuasive frameworks such as ethos/pathos/logos or problem/solution/benefit to organize your thinking as needed

If you want to communicate an opinion or write something persuasive, you have to understand what you’re talking about. Usually, this means doing your research. Effective opinion or persuasive pieces often use a constructivist approach that builds on a set of facts or shared understanding to get to an argument and research helps make this possible. As a side effect, showing how your argument is connected to existing sources helps establish its credibility. Addressing any counterarguments that you found while researching is also important, as it gives the reader more control on what they can take away from your writing and allows for good faith interaction between an author and the reader. This is critical for any piece of local news that is meant to enrich a community.

However, sometimes even well-researched pieces with well-executed and logically sound claims fail to connect, potentially due to a lack of personal touch. This is where your lived experience becomes critical, as putting your voice into your writing helps meet your reader halfway and ensure they can relate to what you’re talking about. They are reading because they are interested in what you have to say, and you have to repay that interest ahead of time with personal stories, a strong sense of self, or anything else that affirms the humanity of everyone involved (I’m most certainly knocking AI here).

Integrating your research with your voice will only get you so far without considering your audience. Your credibility and relatability will falter if you don’t recognize that you are bound to your target audience in some capacity. For example, there’s plenty of Olin-specific language or culture such as acronyms, classes, or traditions to address or use as context in your writing so your argument can hit closer to home. Our shared understanding of our values, tensions, and lived experiences as Olin students is an additional basis from which to construct or support arguments designed to be read by each other.

Make sure to start off your writing strong! Even though I believe we should all be reading every article in Frankly Speaking, I also believe you should be ruthless and not give your reader a chance to look away from the page. Use engaging writing and a strong introduction to compel your reader to read the entire piece.

Lastly, there’s plenty of frameworks and tips out there to help with executing an argument. Notice how I didn’t say “create”. I scoured the internet for argument structures, and none of my peers thought them particularly necessary for delivering a strong opinion or persuasive piece. I agree with them that ethos, pathos, and logos, for example, is one version of a checkbox to use to see if your writing is organized and clear. So if you find yourself looking for a metric or two that can tell you how your writing is, I’d recommend you to print out your writing and close your computer. Go find a friend or peer and ask them to check up on your credibility and relatability, along with leaving you any other feedback they deem relevant. Hopefully they don’t leak your insightful argument to Carpe before your article is published. 

Okay, that’s all from me! Knowing that you’ve read all the way through, I’m filled with determination and I hope you are as well. I look forward to seeing your articles next semester :)

Cheers,

ELDN

  1. https://democracyfund.org/idea/how-we-know-journalism-is-good-for-democracy/

Campus Climate Survey Analysis: We NEED Continued Support

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TW: sexual assault and sexual misconduct

The Peer Advocates for Sexual Respect (PAs) recently sent out a survey for sexual assault (SA) awareness, similar to the one first sent by the founder of the PAs in 2014. In this frankly speaking article, we aim to publish similar aggregate findings on the perceptions of SA and sexual misconduct from the Olin community.

We sent the survey through an All Students, All Staff, and All Faculty email three times, to reach as wide an audience as possible. Out of 85 total respondents, 81 identified as ‘Current Olin Students’ and 4 identified as ‘Current Staff/Faculty’.

One of our findings was that 12% respondents identified being assaulted by someone who was an Olin student at the time of their assault. Despite the bias from individuals who have experienced sexual assault being more likely to respond, in a school as small as Olin, this suggests SA impacts a non-trivial number of community members.

Another important finding is that many responders have reported that rapid role changes have caused cases to fall through and made navigating support harder, as they had to restart requests for support which was emotionally draining.

Question: How problematic is SA or sexual misconduct at Olin?

Based on this distribution, we find that a total of 95.3% of responders believe that SA is problematic on campus at some level.

The following table shows the percentage by gender category. This is modeled after the PA founder’s original data collection.

Question: How likely do you think it is that you will experience SA or sexual misconduct on campus?

Based on this distribution, we find that a total of 55% of responders believe SA to be likely to happen to them on campus at some level. 

The table below shows the percentage by gender category for the previous distribution:

Question: Do you feel that you have ever been SA’ed?

The table below shows the percentage by gender category for the previous distribution: 

This shows that 30% (24/80) responded ‘Yes’ to having experienced SA either during or before coming to Olin campus. As with all collection of data, there are some factors that are potentially skewing these survey results, namely sampling bias. 

However, it is relevant to acknowledge the fact that SA occurs on Olin’s campus and equally important to acknowledge that members of our community enter Olin’s campus with negative experiences from various backgrounds. Recognising this means being aware that we never know what someone else is dealing with and what comments may cause distress. If you have experienced anything off campus, no matter how long ago, the same resources are still available to you and if you need any support please reach out to one of the listed resources at the end.

Question: Do you feel that you have been/were SA’ed during your time at Olin?

This shows that 16.25% (13/80) responded ‘Yes’ to having experienced SA during their time at Olin.

Question: If you feel that you have been/were SA’ed during your time at Olin, how would you identify the perpetrator(s)?

The main themes we noticed among responses was that the perpetrator identified was often a friend or someone the responder knew well and trusted. Unfortunately this is the most common form of SA. According to RAINN, the nation’s largest anti-sexual violence organization, 60% of SA’s are committed by someone known to the victim. SA committed by known acquaintances, friends, or even partners makes defining SA more confusing and difficult. This often means individuals do not name their experience as SA until much later and these experiences also go under reported as we noticed from responses in the survey.

Question: Is there anything else that you would like to share about your assault(s) that may be shared with the community? 

Olin is known for being a community that watches out for one another. However, themes among responders point to the use of drugs and alcohol making consent unclear. In addition, the culture of amnesty at this institution feels at risk, which could “lead to more underground and unsafe parties” according to one responder.

Another responder notes:

“I still don’t really know if it counts as assault because I didn’t really care at the time [and I had a lot of alcohol]. I really didn’t want this person to kiss me and they knew that, they just waited until they had the opportunity.” 

Consent is an ongoing conversation. It must be asked for continually even if it has been given before and it may be withdrawn at any time, even in the middle of an activity. It must be given enthusiastically and without coercion or under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

A theme identified from respondents to this question is that the small nature of Olin’s community causes frustration when people continue to hang out with those that make them uncomfortable and that there is a continued sense of pressure to do so. Another identified concern is that Title IX cases have been dismissed quickly and that there is a feeling of the perpetrator being believed over the victim.

Question: Did you ever feel there were logistical barriers that made getting support difficult?

This question brought in responses about the transfer of leadership in StAR and how difficult that has made it to know who to reach out  to. Responders have reported that cases have fallen through, requiring them to restart the taxing and emotional process.

“I did the report but it fell through and I don’t have the courage to make another since it took so much out of me.”

A part of the issue is that the main Title IX coordinator is currently both interim and part-time. Because of this, students have not had reliable continued support as the resource may go away at any point and the process restarted.

Questions: 

How knowledgeable are you about where to get help at Olin if you or a friend experienced sexual assault or sexual misconduct?   

and

How knowledgeable are you about where to make a report of sexual assault or sexual misconduct at Olin

The normal distribution indicates that the general community at Olin is somewhat familiar on how to report sexual assault and misconduct at Olin. The relative scale of what someone may conceive as knowing a little versus a lot causes a lot of ambiguity in this data. To support those who wish to submit a report, and those hoping to support others, here is more information of resources on campus:

From Erin and Guilene:

“Olin’s Title IX resources are Erin Clark (she/her), Interim Title IX Coordinator and Guilene Prepetit (she/her), Deputy Title IX Coordinator. We respond to concerns of sexual harassment and other sexual misconduct by working with impacted parties to navigate resources and learn about their options, including how to file a formal complaint for investigation. Erin is available to set up a time to meet virtually during business hours, or in person as needed, and Guilene available Monday through Friday 9 to 5 and is typically on campus Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday in MH320. Someone may reach out to us to ask questions about Olin’s policies and resources, learn about how to file a formal complaint, coordinate with law enforcement, bring to our attention a concern of sexual harassment or misconduct, or seek supportive measures, such as academic flexibility, no contact orders, or educational conversations.”

From Jeanne:

“Jeanne Haley is the Director of Counseling on campus.  She is here Monday through Friday from 8:30 to 5 in Room CC 332.  I can be reached by email.”

Additionally, there is a new page on My.Olin being created under Student Life → Student Resources which lists out members of student facing staff and their roles on campus, which will hopefully continue to be updated as our college evolves.

If you are not wanting to reach out to someone on campus for any reason, please know that there are resources off campus:

  • BARCC: The Boston Area Rape Crisis center offers free, confidential services to empower and heal all survivors of sexual violence ages 12 and older, and their loved ones, regardless of when the violence occurred. 800-841-8371
  • REACH: Provides support, shelter, and education for individuals, families, and communities to overcome domestic violence. 800-899-4000

Final Thoughts

The need for this article was born out of It Happens Here, which is a community event to talk about sexual assault and misconduct at Olin. While these topics are not easy to discuss, ignoring this part of our community is not an acceptable way to treat survivors at Olin. We have tried community sit down conversations and that is frankly not enough.

Instead, there has to be a path forward and it starts with some concrete steps for Title IX and the role of the PAs by:

  • Hosting more community wide trainings
  • Holding community discussions about Title IX issues like the kind in It Happens Here
  • Hiring a full-time Title IX coordinator, potentially with overlap at Babson or Wellesley as this survey has indicated an overlap in cases

We, the PAs, are here to try and create a safer place for students on campus. However, a part of creating a safe space is speaking up about issues and supporting those whose voices are currently not being heard.

Call For An Open Discussion Space At Olin

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All of us, from students to faculty, are highly opinionated at Olin. We have sets of beliefs we hold onto dearly, and as we like to claim, we are open to changing our opinions as long as we are presented with facts. I say “claim” because I’ve never seen a public discussion in Olin about any political issue. I know all of us are having these conversations in our friend groups, but why not in public? Because we are afraid to offend people.

Just this Sunday, I hosted a deliberative discussion on immigration for my Local Democracy class, and surprisingly, the most common reason people gave for not attending was not “I have finals,” but “I don’t want to get canceled.” During the discussion, I also realized that people I knew who had different opinions didn’t take the chance to share their viewpoints. It was the same reason: they didn’t want to offend anyone. 

How did we end up in this situation?

I truly believe that the blame is on all of us. Including me! We are all so politicized that whenever someone presents an opinion that conflicts with our belief system, we give a slight disgusted look to that person. I don’t mean this metaphorically. We are literally making a disgusted face, and I mean nearly all of us. And then comes the slow ritual of not talking to them, and not even saying hello when you pass by them. I saw this happen to myself, other people, and I’m 100% sure I gave this face to other people. We are acting like the idea they presented makes them, as a whole, rotten. Well, how do we stop this?

First of all, we’ve got to change our approach. We should stop respecting ideas and start respecting people. If we give this respect to ideas, then a “wrong” idea can lower the respect you give to the person. However, if everyone accepts that even the smartest or the most informed person can have stupid ideas (and we all have stupid ideas that don’t represent us as a person), then we can listen to that person with respect, regardless of the idea. The idea might not be “right,” but the respect we have for the person gives us the ability to discuss it. Otherwise, we will just ignore this person until the rest of our Olin lives, as we currently do.

Secondly, we need a structured environment where everyone can present ideas and represent them without the fear of “offending” or getting “canceled”. This transformation can’t happen in a single night, but this environment can help us train our acceptance muscle. Hopefully, one day, leading to an Olin where everyone can present their ideas without fear in a normal day-to-day discussion. 

There are definitely more ways we can improve the current environment, and I definitely believe the issue is much more complicated than I explained above. Maybe some of you think my rambling about this issue is offensive, or you might say that public discussions actually happen, but I don’t just see them. Regardless, please do not get offended by my ideas and reach out so we can discuss more. Until someone offers a better approach, I want to drop a survey link where you can show your interest in a possible club where we discuss political issues in regular intervals. I don’t know if  I can make this happen, as I’m planning to take 24 credits next semester, but I definitely can’t do this alone, and I’d appreciate it if people who are as passionate as I am would reach out: https://tinyurl.com/OlinDeserveBetter