With spring on the horizon, the International Theatre Program at the University of Rochester presents Jen Silverman’s That Poor Girl and How He Killed Her—a dark comedy on the social lives of millennials.

New York City-based guest director Knud Adams says the play “has a wealth of credible, sympathetic characters,” even as it’s “send-up of the most vain, self-indulgent, social-anxious aspects of youth culture today.”

But what do the cast members—who are the same age as the characters in the play—think? They reflect on the performance with the eyes of actors, but also as millennials.

Tori Powers ’18, who plays the character Alyssa, says there’s more to the characters’ lives than meets the eye. “All the characters in the play have their own story that is more than what is being shown on stage,” she says.

Powers identified with some aspects of her character, but found others presented more of a challenge. “I think being close in age to the character, and having the play set in the same time, helped me connect with Alyssa,” she says. “Yet, at the same time, I had to grow a backbone to play Alyssa. She is this pretty, rich girl who’s friends with the ‘popular’ people, and also the not-so-‘popular’ people.” Powers notes that Alyssa attends an Ivy League college—something that makes Alyssa “this character with confidence.”

Yumeng Liu ’18, who plays Bianca, feels the same kind of dichotomy. “Bianca is a person who really wants to be popular and cool. And in her opinion, joining this group led by Mackenzie is the key,” says Liu. “Being [a] different [person] can make me judge my character sometimes, but I tried to love her and understand Bianca, which can help a lot.”

Edward Sambrano ’17, who plays Connor, sees the play in a very similar light as the playwright, who is a millennial herself. “That Poor Girl is the story of a dangerously superficial and sensationalist culture—a reflection on the modern attitudes affecting groups of people our age,” he says. “Jen Silverman really makes you reflect, especially as a young adult, on these attitudes.”

Sambrano ’17 credits guest director Knud Adams for helping him improve his acting.

“As a first-time actor, I found it especially difficult to adopt the perspective of my character,” he says. “Knud Adams has made the process much easier by always pushing us to discover and explore the intentions of our characters’ actions.”

Nearly everyone commented on the challenge of performing on a raked stage—a design from early modern English theater in which the stage slopes upward, away from the audience.

“The stage took some getting used to, and it definitely took some practice to perfect some of the more physical scenes on this stage” says Tomas Waz ’20, who plays Jordan.

“It was scary at first,” says Liu. “I reached the upper half of the stage and realized I was crawling on all fours because I was scared to stand up.”

The fear didn’t last, however. “After a while, it’s really fun being up there,” she says.

With more than 1,400 trees of 116 different species, the University’s arboretum and grounds include the trees and shrubbery on the River Campus, Eastman School of Music campus, the Memorial Art Gallery, Medical Center campus, and Mt. Hope campus.  The University’s Horticulture and Grounds Department—part of University Facilities and Services—oversees and cares for the collection of trees year round.

The University surpassed the Tree Campus USA program’s five standards, which include maintaining a tree advisory committee, a campus tree-care plan, dedicated annual expenditures toward trees, an Arbor Day observance and student service-learning projects.

As only the sixth university in New York State to be a Tree Campus USA, it has been rewarding for the institution to win this award.

“It is a great honor to be once again recognized as a Tree Campus USA,” said David Nelson, Manager of Horticulture & Grounds. Despite the award, it’s less about the recognition and more about the environment. “We have an impressive, diverse collection of tree species within our campuses and we take great pride in educating our community and guests about our arboretum.  Our skilled staff does an incredible job in caring for our trees and the University’s commitment in protecting them is commendable.”

To view a River Campus Tree Tour video, as well as additional resources on the University’s arboretum, visit:

The Arbor Day Foundation has helped campuses throughout the country plant thousands of trees. Participating colleges and universities invested more than $26 million in campus forest management last year. The Arbor Day Foundation is a million member nonprofit conservation and education organization with the mission to inspire people to plant, nurture and celebrate trees. For more information, visit: .

With Black History Month upon us, we reflect on the African-American men and women who have helped make this country what it is today—from Barack Obama, to Rosa Parks, W.E.B Dubois, Fredrick Douglass, and many others.

Each of these individuals is peerless when it comes to their accomplishments; however, they would be remiss if they were to say they could have accomplished what they did without the great black men and women who came before them. The adage “we stand on the shoulders of giants” is true for every member of the black community.

That’s especially true here on the University of Rochester campus, where Douglass’s legacy is a living presence.

The University is home to the —a 30-plus-year-old intellectual hub for teaching, research, and public events. The Frederick Douglass Commons, named in 1967 and renovated in 2016, is home to a dining center as well as multiple University organizations promoting intercultural knowledge and diversity. And the University’s Rare Books and Special Collections is home to the and online and physical collection of his writings from his time in Rochester.

Douglass spent 25 years in Rochester. Over his lifetime, he was an abolitionist leader, pastor, writer, bank president, vice presidential nominee, and a United States Marshal for the District of Columbia. But before he played any of those prominent roles, he was nothing more than the property of Thomas Auld. He was a slave.

Nothing epitomizes Douglass more than hard work, determination, and innovation. As a slave, he started learning how to read and write by giving bread to poor white boys in exchange for reading lessons. It was common knowledge among slave owners that education and slavery were incompatible, because education would allow slaves to not only dream about freedom, but to seek it.

Among the students who draw inspiration from Douglass are the residents of the Douglass Leadership House (DLH). DLH was founded in 2012 by a group of students “to create an engaged intellectual community where students of diverse backgrounds can come together in a supportive environment to nurture their leadership skills.”

DLH vice president Aleem Griffiths ’18, a digital studies major from Bronx, New York, says, “Two of Fredrick Douglass’s virtues that inspire me as a student are his hard work and determination. When I think of Douglass and my ancestors, I think about how they fought harder battles than I have, which pushes me to work harder. These people fought and died so I can be here.”

Other students say Douglass inspires them to serve their communities. DLH resident Edwin Aguila ’17, who designed his own major—advocacy through art forms in America—is an example. “Last year we went to the Boys and Girls Club [of Rochester] and put on a program we created on the theme, what is my identity and where do I come from,” says the senior from Brooklyn, New York.

Amber Hudson ’18, and English major from Washington, D.C., cites as inspiration Douglass’s courage, resilience, and strength—qualities that she feels were necessary not only to Douglass’s success, but to the success of all African Americans, herself included. She’s focused on “giving back to the community in a way that betters the community” through her leadership roles in multiple organizations. She’s vice president of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority’s Omicron Beta chapter, and educational and political chair of the Black Students’ Union.

Stephaun Ward ’18, a mechanical engineering major from Brooklyn and a member of the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity, uses his platform there to help underprivileged students, regardless of race. Ward assists local youths as part of the fraternity’s “Go-to-High-School, Go-to-College” program.

Today, Douglass is not a monument, but a mind-set. Says Hudson, “By teaching about his legacy, by connecting it to everything we do today, and by continuing to fight for what he fought so hard for—that is how we honor our ancestors. We move forward, we get better, we accomplish all of things they wanted us to accomplish.”

Moore is an English major from Brooklyn, New York.

Events celebrating Black History Month

W. Kamau Bell, sociopolitical comedian and host of the Emmy-nominated CNN show United Shades of America, highlights a month of lectures, films, performances, and exhibits.

Doors open at 8:30 p.m., and the performance begins at 9 p.m.

Notaro is a stand-up comedian, storyteller, and writer from Mississippi. She was nominated for a Grammy for her stand-up release LIVE, which sold more than 100,000 units in just over a month.

Notaro is more than just a comedian. She is a breast cancer survivor and television star featured in HBO’s Tig Notaro: Boyish Girl Interrupted, the Netflix documentary Tig, and Showtime’s documentary Knock Knock: It’s Tig Notaro.

Tickets are available at the Common Market in Wilson Commons on the River Campus or . Tickets are $10 for University students, $15 for graduates/faculty/staff and $20 for the general public.

Saturday’s event is sponsored by the University’s Student Programming Board.