c/o Phoebe Landsman
Phoebe Landsman ’21 is a leader on campus. From being the Vice President of the University’s only sorority, Rho Epsilon Pi (Rho Ep), to a Green Fund Co-Facilitator to a member of TerpCore, Landsman radiates positivity and enthusiasm. The Argus was thrilled to get a closer glimpse into Landsman’s college experience, especially when she noted that she has dreamed of being a WesCeleb since her first year.
The Argus: How has your semester been so far? Has COVID drastically changed it and set it apart from your other experiences on campus in previous years?
Phoebe Landsman: My semester has been okay. Coming back was definitely more of an adjustment than I expected. I feel like in other years, I’ve been like “Yes! I’m so excited to leave home.” But I had gotten used to living with my parents again, so coming back was readjusting to living with friends and being on a campus. It definitely took me a minute to check back in, but now that I have, I feel really happy to be here. Also, being a senior is weird, too. I’m so used to having my older friends to go to for mentorship, and now I’m that older person. It’s strange because I still kind of feel like I just got here.
Something I’d really looked forward to is being able to have the space to have people at my house, because my senior friends have always been the ones inviting me over. Having that connection with seniors has always been a fun thing, and I feel like I’m not able to offer that in the same way. But I’m still trying to connect with my younger friends and be there in that way, because I remember I was going through a tough time in sophomore year, and my senior friend cooked me a homemade meal. I sat on her couch and just to be in her house was such a nice thing. I also used to spend so much time in Sci Li—I like to be around other people when I’m doing my work—and I’m not 100% comfortable being in the libraries yet, so I’m not doing that. My interactions with my friends are like, getting meals and then we go back to our houses. It used to be like, let’s get a meal and then spend the entire day together in SciLi, half working and half socializing.
A: Wesleyan is known for having a very small Greek life culture. What inspired you to get involved with Rho Ep and take a leadership role as Vice President?
PL: When I came to Wesleyan, I didn’t know Rho Ep existed. Greek life was not something I cared about that much. I didn’t really want it; I didn’t have a strong opinion, though. I found them at the club fair, and they were these older girls who seemed really nice, so I was like, this is something I’ll keep on my radar. I went to an all-girls school from kindergarten to twelfth grade, so by the time it was spring and the rush process was about to start, I knew it was something I wanted to do because I missed that all-women community. Rho Ep has just been incredible. It’s been great because not all of my friends are in Rho Ep at all, but it’s also allowed me to meet people I never would have met otherwise. So much of college is proximity; you meet people you live near, people in your classes, people by chance. But then there are thousands of other people that you don’t meet, even at a small school like Wesleyan. Rho Ep has been just another way to meet people, especially older and younger students. I feel like having that connection to older students as a freshman and a sophomore through Rho Ep was so incredible for me, and now to be able to be that older student for someone else feels really nice. So after a year and a half in Rho Ep, I was like, I love this organization, I want to give as much as I can, so I ran for Vice President and got it. It’s been a wonderful experience, definitely different than I expected because our executive board started second semester of last year, so we had a month of normalcy and then whipped into the pandemic. It was a lot of figuring out what we were going to be. We have our COVID pledge, and we’ve been able to have some in-person events that are distanced, under 25 people, and masked, and we’ve been able to have a great time. That’s been a way to socialize with people I trust in this crazy time.
A: You’re a Co-Facilitator of the Green Fund. What does the Green Fund do and how did you get involved?
PL: I love the Green Fund. When you pay your tuition to Wesleyan, you can opt-out, but you’re automatically paying fifteen dollars to go towards the Green Fund. We end up having a lot of money each year that we manage, and people can apply to us for funding for any kind of environmental project around campus. In my freshman year I applied to a lot of things, because my mindset was that I’d rather have tried for everything than missed an opportunity. I applied for the Green Fund, immediately vibed with the people in my interview, and I got on [the board]. It’s been one of those things, like Rho Ep, that I’ve been involved in for all of my time at Wesleyan. I’ve seen such a shift towards environmental justice and intersectionality. We really look for proposals that aren’t necessarily just like putting a compost bin in, but events, speakers, anything with an intersectional approach, and not just an insulated sustainability approach. It’s great to learn about funding processes as well, and how to handle a huge sum of money.
A: Is the fund entirely in the hands of the students on the board?
PL: Mostly. We have Jen Kleindienst as our faculty advisor, so if we want to fund anything that is over $750 we run it by her and we work collaboratively with her. We’re responsible to the student body—it is their money—so we shy away from spending it on a proposal that will benefit just singular students. We’d rather have a broader impact. We’re going to try to have an open meeting soon, because we want people to see how the process works.
A: What is TerpCore and why is it important to you?
PL: It’s not happening this semester, but TerpCore is this dance show that happens every semester. I think it’s the biggest student activity on campus. I don’t dance; I emphasize that very strongly. I don’t have flexibility or skill. But when I went my freshman year, I saw all these people having so much fun on stage. I did a lot of theater in high school and I sort of stepped away from that here, but I did miss being on stage and having that performance aspect in my life. I joined a dance in my freshman spring, and I’ve done it every semester since then. I think it really focuses on body positivity and confidence. Entering Wesleyan I was not the most confident person, and going on a stage and dancing would not have been my top thing to do. But now I’m very confident and I’ll do anything. I’ve found a really inclusive atmosphere through Terp and just a super fun time. This semester, unfortunately, we can’t do anything, but next semester we’ll try to adapt a bit more.
A: What inspired you to perform at “We Speak We Stand” at this year’s orientation? What were your hopes of what would resonate with audience members?
PL: It’s really crucial to remember that issues with alcohol and the pressures that may come with college and all these uncomfortable situations that do arise, “We Speak We Stand” is an important way to right off the bat just say that this stuff is important to talk about. Something with alcohol that this campus doesn’t talk about a lot is that people can see their friends maybe drinking too much and want to confront them about it, and it’s important to know that all these things are normal, especially if you’re experimenting with alcohol for the first time. I wanted to be an older student who is a resource, who has gone through college, had a lot of experiences and can say, whatever you’re experiencing, it’s ok to talk about it. I am someone who can be a resource and I hope you know that older students are there for you. This semester is going to look so different, and potentially be more isolating. Even though we aren’t going to parties, situations can still arise. I wanted to show that the older students are there for younger students in that way. A lot of my senior year has been wanting to be what I had as a younger student.
Isabel Hoffman can be reached at ihoffman@wesleyan