The Key to a Constructive Contra

Editor-at-Large Scott Brasesco ’22 critiques certain aspects of Amherst’s newest opinion publication, The Contra.

Exit Letter: Scott's Exitorial

As he phases out of his current role on The Student, Managing Opinion Editor Scott Brasesco '22 takes stock of where the Opinion section has been over the past year and a half, along with where it's going. He remarks on the grueling but fulfilling experience that is The Amherst Student.

"Living His Truth": Fighting for FLI Students — Alumni Profile, Tony Jack ’07

A scholar and an advocate, Tony Jack ’07 has defined the conversation when it comes to college equity.

Why Is It So Hard to Get Mental Health Help?

Managing Opinion Editor Scott Brasesco ’22 shares his personal frustration of seeking help from our understaffed counseling center, shedding light on the severity of the college’s mental health resource inadequacy.

Amherst Staff Deserve a Union

Managing Opinion Editor Scott Brasesco ’22 argues that wage increases alone are not enough, calling for staff unionization at the college. He looks to other pandemic college unionization efforts for inspiration and asks students and faculty to get involved in supporting Amherst’s staff.

Jea Adams: An Astrophysicist Finds Her Space

Adams is the first Black woman to graduate as an Amherst College physics major since 1982. Photo courtesy of Jea Adams ’21.When I first met Jea Adams ’21, I was unsure what to expect. From the research I had done before our interview, I knew she was extremely accomplished like many other Amherst students, but from the moment she started talking, I learned that there was more to her than accomplishments. Behind her accolades is a profound curiosity about the workings of the universe and a determi

We Need More Than Just Diversity Training

Several weeks ago, I wrote an article [https://www.amherststudent.com/article/smith-college-free-speech-and-the-modern-left] in response to New York Times coverage [https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/24/us/smith-college-race.html] of race relations at Smith College, which argued for a more methodical and nuanced approach to accountability and investigation of identity-based prejudice and harm. While researching the article, I came across a surprising scholarly consensus — apparently, anti-bias tra

Smith College, Free Speech and the Modern Left

In 2018, Oumou Kanoute, a Black student at Smith College reported an incident of racial profiling on campus via a Facebook post that immediately sparked student outrage and an apology from the Smith administration. The ACLU picked up the case [https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=560747387688597], and several Smith employees, both involved and uninvolved in the incident, were cast out as “racist” and therefore unwelcome. Ultimately, however, an independent investigation found no evidence of bias —

Don't Pack the Courts, Improve Them

In early March, when it appeared that Senator Bernie Sanders had clinched the nomination in the Democratic primary, I wrote that Democrats should come together to support his candidacy but also push back against his more radical and less democratic impulses while he was in office. I was later surprised and impressed by the unity of the moderate wing of the Democratic Party in pushing back against the party’s less democratic impulses, something that is rarely seen in opposition parties facing a p

Charlotte Blackman: The Pragmatic Idealist

Blackman has used her drive and idealism to improve Amherst for survivors of sexual violence and other oppressed groups, and she hopes to do the same for the world at large. Photo Courtesy of Charlotte Blackman ’20. When talking with Charlotte Blackman ’20, one thing that becomes immediately clear is her drive to improve the lives of those around her and leave the world a better place than she found it. This is something she has demonstrated countless times at Amherst through her work with the

Push Back our Classes

Fewer than half of Amherst students come from places in the Eastern Time Zone. In any other semester on any other year, this fact would not affect students’ academic experience at Amherst. But this is not any other semester. The transition to remote learning across time zones throughout the country and the world necessitates major accommodations within the online classroom — accommodations that the college hasn’t yet made. While East Coast students’ schedules are mostly unaffected by the move t