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Volume 165 | Issue 3 | February 12, 2026 | miscellanynews.org | | The Miscellany News is back with another newsletter! Each week's articles will be delivered right to your inbox. If you know of anyone who would be interested in receiving this service, please share it with them at this link. | | ALLISON LOWE | On Thursday, Feb. 5, an event hosted by the Engaged Pluralism (EP) program featuring Steven Cash ’84 was disrupted by a group of students and community members. Cash’s lecture, entitled “The State of Democracy and its Uneasiness with Race, Disability, and Non-normative Subjectivity,” was originally scheduled to take place from 5:30 to 7 p.m. in Rockefeller Hall 300. A large portion of the event’s audience protested in a variety of ways, including yelling over Cash, chanting, clapping and holding signs. As a result, the event was canceled 40 minutes after it began. Protestors cited Cash’s involvement in creating the USA PATRIOT Act and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), as well as his work in the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). | | JACKSON HREBIN | In January 2026, the 24-hour section of the Frederick Ferris Thompson Memorial Library reopened to the public after undergoing extensive renovations. Construction began on May 21, 2025, and the space remained closed throughout the summer and the fall semester. The renovations include a new entrance, several new windows, new conference rooms, six new group study rooms and significantly more seating. | | Amritha Dewan/The Miscellany News. | | JULIAN BALSLEY | At 2:01 a.m. on Jan. 3, 2026, over 150 U.S. military planes flew over Venezuela, bombing multiple locations to disable the country’s air defenses. U.S. forces entered the presidential compound in Caracas, dragged Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and First Lady Cilia Flores from their beds and ferried them to New York. The United States killed at least 83 people: 47 Venezuelan troops, 32 Cuban soldiers and at least four civilians. More than 112 were injured. Some international law experts have called the seizure illegal. | Image courtesy of Aria Kuklinski ’28. | | LUKE JENKINS | On Feb. 9, 2026, Vassar College announced that filmmaker and screenwriter Noah Baumbach ’91 will deliver a speech at the 162nd Commencement to the Class of 2026. The graduation ceremony will occur on Sunday, May 24, 2026. | | Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. | | BRENDAN KENNEDY | Every award season claims to be historic, but this year’s Grammys might actually deserve the designation. | | Annie McShane/The Miscellany News. | | GUNEET HANJRA | As the words “Olivia Dean” left Chappell Roan’s mouth, Punxsutawney Phil practically slammed his tiny rodent fist on the ground and vowed to curse us all with six more weeks of winter. Somewhere between the snub and the shadow, Addison Rae’s “Addison”—arguably one of the most important “pop bibles” of the past year—was left out in the cold. With tracks like “Fame as a Gun,” “Headphones On” and “Diet Pepsi” going viral, and a tour that left many audience members feeling as though they were witnessing “In the Zone”-era Britney Spears, one question lingered at the Grammys: What went wrong? In a year where pop desperately clung to nostalgia, was Addison not the rare artist who understood it without being consumed? And if Addison did not win Best New Artist, maybe it was proof that the industry is always six weeks behind the weather. | | VERA GIRAUDO | With five Latin Grammys and, as of last Saturday, one Grammy under their belts, the Argentinian music duo Ca7riel & Paco Amoroso came out of their first awards season victorious. The Argentine pop-rock-jazz-funk-trap duo have taken to the international music scene, and now that they are in the spotlight, they have done nothing but mock their own fame. | | JAY FU | Beginning in January 2025, Annie McShane ’28 [Disclaimer: McShane is Graphics Editor for The Miscellany News] gave up spoons. Around February of last year, when most New Year’s resolutions began to wane, she held strong. Months later, she endured the long, hot days of ice cream season with only cones and forks at her disposal. Dinners at the Gordon Commons, commonly known as the Deece, bracketing summer break failed to end her streak. Finally, this past January, McShane returned to her regular rotation of utensils. | Image courtesy of Noa DeRosa-Anderson ’28. | CATHERINE PHILLIPS | One fateful evening, I climbed the stairs of my Terrace Apartment into the kitchen to get some water, and I ended up staying for 45 minutes. I posted up like a dad in front of the TV as the voice of Taylor Frankie Paul of “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” lured me deeper and deeper into a trance. This was my introduction to the show, and I have now seen all 29 released episodes. | | Annie McShane/The Miscellany News. | | JARED PALUMBO | Picture a woman living in a new city when the pandemic hits, waking up every day wondering if she will find a person before they die. The woman: Tracy O’Neill. The person: Cho Kyu Yeon, her Korean mother whom she only met once before being sent away for adoption. | Image courtesy of Jared Palumbo ’29. | | ISABEL HOLMES | After only half a week of classes at Vassar College, it felt as though the campus was launched back into the quiet of winter break when it received nearly 18 inches of snow. There had only been three short days of class, and students were just settling back in after a month-long winter recess. There was a lethargic energy to the slow revival of the academic schedule. Then, overnight, Vassar woke up to a campus painted white. | | WREN BUEHLER | Heracles has long been considered the greatest hero of Greek legend, renowned for his 12 labors, his singular rage and for dressing like an animal several thousand years before furries were invented. Despite his extraordinary feats, however, paparazzi photos prove recent rumors that the mighty hero has come up on hard times. With his retirement fund dwindling, Heracles has been forced to perform additional labor to make ends meet. | | | ELI LERDAU | As I enter the second half of my freshman year here, I am beginning to think about my future as a Vassar student, namely in terms of studying abroad. Nearly half of all Vassar students study abroad. Not surprisingly, we have sponsored programs across Europe—in Bologna, Paris, Berlin—along with approved programs all over the world. Much to my surprise, Vassar offers two approved programs in Israel, one on a Kibbutz (a small village in rural Israel with roots in political Zionism) and one with the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. We offer these programs despite the ongoing genocide in Gaza. We ignore that Palestinian students cannot travel freely, and college students in Gaza cannot study as the universities have been decimated by Israeli bombs and 20,000 children in Palestine will never grow old. Studying abroad normalizes the policies of the nation, and they allow for a regime of terror to continue. To operate or approve of a study abroad program is to recognize the policies of the nation it is in as acceptable enough to justify study, even when said policies are horrific. Vassar, by approving these programs, tacitly endorses the genocidal policies of the state of Israel. | | ZOE ANAYA | Being perceived as an uncaring person is scary. I am hesitant to do things that come off as performative, such as reading a paperback in public or going to the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center to draw pictures. The idea of passersby categorizing me among people who performatively do things for attention discourages me from bringing my hobbies out of my dorm room and into public spaces. Although I do wish to enjoy my magazines, books and all the other ways I engage with media outside of a screen, it scares me that some people might think I do these things not because I care but because I am seeking attention. The root of this issue is the fact that making connections with the physical world requires a sense of discomfort that comes along with being awkward yet genuine. | | JARED PALUMBO| I grew up in Connecticut. It is a small footnote on the map, about which the most common thing said is “it’s close to New York,” and the second is “it’s close to Boston”—the third is a half-baked take on New Haven “apizza”; Sally’s is the best. I have known for a long time that the rest of the country rarely gives Connecticut a second thought. Yet, I will often find myself defending the Nutmeg State and claiming its greatness, particularly now that I am living out-of-state and making friends from across the country. | | ALEX GOUGH SCHNAPP | For this year’s Super Bowl, meant to be the best two teams in the league clashing for 60 minutes, the matchup felt more like one team struggling to keep up with a juggernaut. Many who tuned in were able to watch an electric performance by Kenneth Walker III, who won the Super Bowl MVP award with a staggering 135 yards on 27 carries, which helped propel the Seattle Seahawks to a 29-13 victory over the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LX. | | CASEY MCMENAMIN & HENRY FRANCE | On Friday, Feb. 6, Italian President Sergio Mattarella declared the 2026 Winter Olympic Games open, and with that, for the first time in Olympic Winter Games’ history, two cauldrons were lit. For 16 days, the cauldrons, one in Milan and another in Cortina, will stay ablaze, marking the celebration of sport and excellence. Over 2,900 athletes from 92 different countries will compete in this year’s Games, each with the hopes to stand on one of the 116 medal event podiums. | | Image courtesy of Sacha Greenberg ’26. | | | | |
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