Despite Mixed Val Experiences, Students Express Gratitude for Dining Accommodations During Covid

This story began, as so many things in this pandemic campus do, when a discussion in the on-campus student group chat spiraled into a spirited debate over dining options. Students sent a slew of complaints regarding flavor, lamenting the absence of things like plain pasta or waffle-makers, both of which Valentine Dining Hall (Val) had before its Covid safe take-out model and pointing out the challenges that allergies placed on meeting nutritional needs in the dining hall. “Some days it’s really

Notes From Frost: Amherst Uprising, Five Years On

This past November marked the fifth anniversary of Amherst Uprising, a multi-day sit-in of Frost Library led by students who demanded attention and change surrounding racism on campus. Yet, for many, the Uprising didn’t begin — or end — in the confines of the library foyer five years ago. Rather, it marked just a moment in a centuries-long struggle for racial justice and Black equality within the institution. The activism bred by Amherst Uprising was not new or unprecedented but embodied tradit

A Farewell to the Worst/Best Year of an Unexpected Editorship

I accepted this job during a sweaty summer in 2019 when I was interning for a magazine in New York. Something about this incessant, unresolved question of whether to take the offer or not clicked into place one day, and I carefully typed out sentences into the text bubble on my phone: “I’m in,” essentially. I remember when former Editors-in-Chief Shawna Chen ’20 and Emma Swislow ’20 sat me down outside The Student’s basement office, next to a vending machine with a constant low hum. “The job is

Thoughts on Theses: Vivian Cordon

Vivian Cordon ’21 is a double major in economics and law, jurisprudence and social thought (LJST), for which she is writing a thesis with Senior Lecturer in LJST David Delaney. Her thesis is about sanctuary cities and how Americans find identity within their cities and nation. Q: Can you describe your thesis? A: I’m writing a [Law, Jurisprudence and Social Thought] LJST thesis. It’s on sanctuary cities and legal imaginaries, which essentially means ‘how do people imagine law.’ [It’s about] h

“What Happened” Event Panelists Unpacks What to Expect in the Next Four Years of Policy and Partisanship

Panelists discuss what happened in the 2020 election. Photo courtesy of Olivia Gieger ’21.On Nov. 8, the college hosted the third of its series of panels scheduled to follow Tuesday’s presidential election. The event, “What’s Happening/What Happened?: Reflections on the Election and Its Aftermath,” was the first of the panels held after President-Elect Joe Biden officially declared victory on Saturday. Moderator Austin Sarat, the William Nelson Cromwell professor of jurisprudence and political

In 2020, What is the Point of SNL?

All summer, I could not wait for “Saturday Night Live” (SNL) to return. With each absurd news alert and headline that graced our screens this summer, I caught myself wondering how “SNL” would address it if the show were in season. Then “SNL” returned for the premier of its 46th season on Oct. 3, and they totally blew it. Since then, I’ve been left wondering what place the seemingly timeless sketch comedy show has in our current moment of memes and seven-second video clips. The Saturday of the s

College and Local Landowners Partners with Kestrel Trust to Conserve a Total 583 Acres of Mount Holyoke Range Forests

An autumnal view of Mt. Norwottuck in the Holyoke range. Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.On Tuesday, Sept. 29, the college announced a partnership with Kestrel Trust and a number of local landowners to conserve a total of 583 acres across the Mount Holyoke Range. Kestrel Trust is a local conservation group that aims to conserve land and waterways in the Pioneer Valley. The group works with landowners to keep land undeveloped infinitely. The college has contributed 96 acres on Tinker Hill i

Behind the Board: Athletic Recruitment Has Got to Go

It’s time to ditch athletic recruiting as we know it. I’m not writing to encourage the end of Amherst College sports or varsity athletics but rather to advocate for a reform of the way that teams are built. Two weeks ago, The Student’s Editorial Board resurfaced a similar call to end athletic recruiting that ran as an op-ed in The Williams Record in November 2019 [https://williamsrecord.com/2019/11/lets-lose-the-directors-cup-a-call-to-end-athletic-recruitment/] , provoking a discussion on the

UMass Confirms 18 Positive Covid Cases Linked to Off-Campus Party

On Sept. 25, the University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass) announced [https://dailycollegian.com/2020/09/13-umass-students-test-positive-for-covid-19-after-several-attended-same-party/] that 13 students living off-campus in the Amherst area tested positive for Covid-19. By Monday, the university confirmed [https://www.gazettenet.com/UMassUpdate-hg-092920-36494205] that five more students who had been in contact with this group produced positive test results. All students are currently in isol

“Trying to Fly an Airplane Sideways While It’s Already in Flight”: Planning for Carbon Neutrality Amidst a Pandemic

As the attention of the college has shifted towards ensuring a safe, healthy Covid plan and perfecting remote learning, the approach to the other daunting crisis on our doorstep has taken the backburner. When it comes to climate change, just last year the college passed one of the most comprehensive plans for carbon neutrality to date. And yet, the departure of former director of sustainability Laura Draucker in May — as well as the position’s continued vacancy —  and the upheaval brought by Cov

Taking One Day at a Time: Over 900 Students Adjust to Life on a Covid-Cautious Campus

For the past three months, the college has set forth careful, calculated planning for the precarious experiment that began last week: bringing the 937 students from across the pandemic-stricken country to live and learn on campus. It did not go off without a hitch; students tested the waters and saw how firm the campus living guidelines held; out-of-state tests did not return in time; and Zoom crashed on the first morning of classes. However, all in all, the precarious mobilization seemed a succ

#ReclaimAmherst and the Promise for Change

“Black people are the condition of possibility for the existence of Amherst College.” From its opening lines, the campaign to #ReclaimAmherst [https://form.jotform.com/202006898941056] makes clear the legitimacy of Black people’s claim to the institution. From the college’s founding years to Amherst’s current status as a leader in diversity, Black people have always propped up Amherst College, the document argues. On the heels of #IntegrateAmherst [https://amherststudent.com/article/integrateam

Everything that #Reclaim Amherst Outlines to Change

Here’s a distilled guide to the changes explained in the #ReclaimAmherst Campaign. Read the full story here [https://admin.amherststudent.com/2020/07/30/reclaimamherst-and-the-promise-for-change/] . The college needs an institutional value statement that condemns racism and discrimination. The Board of Trustees needs two Black student trustees on the board. A Black professor will take over as Dean of Faculty, while the current Dean of Faculty and Provost, Winkley Professor of History Catherine

Student Frustration at College's Lack of Communication Regarding Fall Plans and Leaked Announcements

For many Amherst students scattered across the globe in their remote learning locales, Wednesday, July 1 was spent pacing their rooms and refreshing their emails on the hour, every hour. It was not until a few minutes past 5:30 p.m. that day that the college shared its official plans for some students’ return to campus in the fall. Before that, the college had shared with students that on July 1 it intended to make public a detailed outline of what the fall semester would look like, but offered

First-years and Sophomores Set to Live On-Campus in College Re-Opening Plan

Between 1,200 and 1,500 students, mostly first years and sophomores, are invited to return to campus in the fall as a part of the college’s reopening plan. Photo courtesy of Matai Curzon ’22.Here’s what you need to know: * The college will bring back between 1,200 and 1,250 students this fall, approximately 60 percent of the total enrollment of approximately 1,800. Priority will be given to all first- and second-year students, as well as all transfer students, second-semester seniors

What You Need to Know Before You Take Time Off

It’s hard to have any idea what a fall semester on campus will look like right now. Even with a few more concrete outlines from the college, there is still much uncertainty: What will campus life look like beyond the classroom? What if there is a worse second spike of the coronavirus as the nation begins to ease restrictions? Is it safe to travel back to campus? What if my family can’t afford another semester of school right now? Do my future plans make it so I can’t afford not to? With all the

Emma Swislow: Taking on All The World’s Weird and Wonderful

Swislow approaches all she does with a quiet appreciation to absorb all that she can about the topic at hand. Photo Courtesy of Emma Swislow ’20. My earliest memory of Emma Swislow ’20 comes from before I even knew who she was. Early in my first year at Amherst — her sophomore year — we both frequented the first floor of the library, where we’d sit at the wheeled tables near the periodicals. Emma would sit behind her brightly stickered laptop, laughingly commanding a table full of 19-year-old co

Mrs. America Asks Us to Dwell on 2020 by Looking Back to 1972

The series, produced by FX and Hulu, follows the fictionalized fights of the feminists behind the ERA (Left to right: Gloria Steinem, Shirley Chisholm, Betty Freida. Behind: Bella Abzug) and offers insight into the humanity behind their opposition, headed up by Stop-Era’s powerhouse Phyllis Schlafly. Photo courtesy of Weebly. In FX’s newest series “Mrs. America,” produced and shared in partnership with Hulu, the world of its characters who wait for a call on a rotary phone and type out newslette

#IntegrateAmherst: Why We Need to #DialogueAmherst, Too

The past few weeks, I have felt at odds, not just because my life, cherished routines and personal connections have all been up-ended, but because my job as editor-in-chief has placed me in the middle of the vibrant, ever-churning series we’ve launched, #IntegrateAmherst. The series is unusual and uncharted for a catalogue of reasons. Among them is that it has become the grounds for a heated and impassioned debate just when the world swept our campus out from underneath us. It’s been inspiring

Coronavirus Expenses Cost College $10 Million as Market Turmoil Further Tightens Campus Finances

As the coronavirus places an unprecedented stress on health systems and endangers the lives of thousands across the world, it also spurs another cause for panic — a financial one — that comes as the U.S. faces its biggest economic downturn since the 2008 recession. The college, with its $2.378 billion [https://www.amherst.edu/offices/office_of_the_chief_financial_officer/investments/annual-endowment-review] endowment, as of June 30, 2018, is not immune to this ill, regardless of how strict its

Racist Incident Prompts Men’s Lacrosse Probation, Coach Termination and BSU Activism for Greater Accountability

In the two weeks since The Student first reported that three members of the men’s lacrosse team chanted the n-word outside of their Black teammate’s suite, the college announced the probation of the team until June 2021 among additional disciplinary measures, while outrage from students, alumni and others from across the nation intensified as captured in letters of demands to the college for increased accountability that the Black Student Union (BSU) wrote and began circulating. In an email to

Students and Faculty Set Out to Make Sense of Recent COVID-19 Changes

In the wake of the college’s announcement of a shift to remote learning, community members from across the board struggle to find their footing amid a seemingly surreal announcement and mandate for departure. Exceedingly high flight costs, the prospect of returning to unstable home situations and uncertainties around visas have all created cause for concern among students, while faculty face challenges in adapting their courses for remote learning. Low-income students particularly face much of