NEWS
A quiet darkness encroached on campus two days early. With a partial power outage scheduled for Oct. 13, students on the Sarah Lawrence College (SLC) campus were not expecting to lose power the Sunday before. The outage the night of Oct. 11 was not planned and, incidentally, was completely unrelated to the outage scheduled two days later.
On Nov. 3, polls opened promptly at 6 a.m. in New York State to kick off the final day of voting for the 2026 Midterm Elections. The race is closely watched around the country as Democrats fight to take back control of both the House and Senate and potentially curb the Trump Administration amid rising gas prices, a crumbling economy, and a long-running war in Iran. Our reporters went around Sarah Lawrence College and the surrounding area to speak to people about their experiences on Election Day. Polls are open in New York until 9 p.m.
On Sept. 4th, after twelve weeks of construction, the brand-new Experiential Learning Center (XLC) opened its doors to the public. The new building, constructed in a renovated part of the Performing Arts Center (PAC), houses Career Services, Community Partnerships, Global Education and SLCEmbeddEd.
FEATURES
Over the summer of 2026, Doughton found herself among many students who would lose their Don, Elias Rodrigues. While he was not the only faculty member to leave this summer, his departure left many donnees without a Don. Now away from campus, juggling her new Resident Advisor responsibilities and working in marketing over the summer, Doughton faced a different challenge: finding a new Don.
On the night of September 30th, Hill House reminded campus why it holds an infamous reputation among the student body. A series of repeated fire alarms—some of which turned out to be false—ruined everyone’s chance at a good night’s sleep. Now that they have caught up on their beauty rest, however, students are ready to give their thoughts on their home’s unreliable emergency system.
In the bowels of the campus operations office, past the iconic purple door and up two flights of creaky stairs, sits the office of Maureen ‘Mo’ Gallagher, a space packed to the brim with reusable bags, papers, notes, and spreadsheets of all means and uses. Everyone on campus knows her name; for all Sarah Lawrence College (SLC) students, her name pops up in email after email, a kind of disembodied voice that answers all kinds of campus operations questions. On campus, she slips by the student body easily, often in a baseball hat and a taupe bomber jacket; she sees all. She sits on the board of directors as the sustainability chair, oversees all campus clean-up teams, is the head of campus operations, and she does it all efficiently and bluntly, looking earnestly over her large wire-rimmed glasses.
SPORTS
Skyline Conference's “Player of the Week” is an athletic honor given to student-athletes to recognize their outstanding individual performances. Junior Nikolet Vataj has earned herself the honor three times already this season, being recognized the weeks of Sept. 21, Oct. 5, and Oct. 12.
If you’re looking for a new sport to watch that’s different from what Campbell Sports Center usually has to offer, then you’re in luck. The 2026-2027 Equestrian season has begun.
The Captain wore jeans, a bright red lip, and pointed-toe high heels to the 2026 Sarah Lawrence Cheer Squad tryouts. Everyone else wore sneakers. “I feel like I have a lot of power,” Marissa Smith ‘27 whispered as she crouched cross-legged on the uncomfortable wooden floor of Wendy’s Studio. In a room full of squeaky sneakers, Smith most definitely had the upper hand. The fierce click-clack of her heels echoed throughout the dance studio as she observed like a hawk over the twenty individuals going out for the cheer team. Only sixteen will end up on the court this Fall under Smith’s judgment.
ARTS AND CULTURE
Just a week before Sarah Lawrence College’s (SLC) annual Rocky Horror Picture Show was supposed to open, directors Ayla Kocak ‘28 and Frankie “E” Burbank ‘28 were forced to make a nearly impossible decision: pay out of pocket for the movie rights or cancel the show altogether.
This Halloween, Sarah Lawrence College’s theatre program is offering a different type of scare: a scarily fun show. This year, the theatre program sucks attendees into the incredibly wacky world of Anne Washburn’s Mr. Burns, a Post-Electric Play. Featuring three acts and a 13-person cast, Mr. Burns takes the audience on an 82-year journey that turns beloved characters into beings of myth and legend, all while making people laugh on the way there.
Like many Sarah Lawrence College (SLC) students, I can (and will) thunderously proclaim my absolute adoration of Chappell Roan and her artistry. I also love Olivia Rodrigo’s new album You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love, and her pink Taco Bell Baja Blast collab.
OPINIONS
Trigger Warning: This article contains discussions of Sexual Assault
I felt pride in the way women came together to advocate for survivors and anger toward those who attempted to turn this into a left-right political issue. However, there was one thing I was not feeling: surprise. The complicity of Cornell administrators, the lack of consequences for these male students and the university's inaction — none of this was surprising to me. In fact, when it comes to sexual assault cases on college campuses, this narrative has become very familiar.
Unlike his peers, Africa had quite the unconventional welcome to Fizz after he accidentally called the 2030 Instagram group chat, organised for freshmen and was later slandered on Fizz.
It's been put on bags, jackets, hats, t-shirts, and a plethora of items sold at Brandy Melville in the past year: the Union Jack. This semester at Sarah Lawrence College (SLC) has been no different. Walking around campus, I’ve seen it on almost every type of accessory and garment imaginable.
THE ASHTRAY
“He” – Godric the Gryphon – who is so mad that we have forgotten his name, comes up from the Hole at the Bottom of the Kober Lot, and he takes our tuition money. He – bored of the new Sarah Lawrence – claws his way up from the Hole at the Bottom of the Kober Lot, and he watches us for his amusement. We are just his playthings.
Welcome back to Miss Sadie Lou, to all you Gryphons old and new. As Fall has begun to Fall upon our campus, it is time to address the elephant in the room: Halloweekend 2026. *The Ashtray is the Satire column of The Phoenix*
This past weekend, Sept. 25-27, many Sarah Lawrence College (SLC) students experienced their first nor’easter. A nor’easter is a storm that forms over the Atlantic Ocean and spirals onto the Northeast coast of America, differing from both hurricanes and SLC students in that it thrives on cold air. Meteorologists called for flash floods, gallons of rain, and racecar-fast winds throughout all of New York, and they certainly did not exaggerate.