The Academy

by Elin Hilderbrand

It was a textbook example of a woman agreeing to something that made her uncomfortable simply so she didn’t hurt a man’s feelings, ruffle feathers, or seem like a bitch. Simone would have counseled any of her students to say, “Thanks for the offer, but I’m not feeling it right now.” What, then, is wrong with her?

PULVERIZE THE POETS! (Old Bennington is where Robert Frost is buried. Their mascot is, yes, a white-haired dude in a suit.)

newest and youngest Head in ISNEC—like Audre, she took over from a long line of staunchly conservative white men.

turns up in the 8th arrondissement at the Plaza Athénée.

while the JBL speaker blares “I Can Do It with a Broken Heart”

he’s lying in the near-dark playing “exile” by Taylor Swift and Bon Iver.