Record editors Kitt Urdang ’23.5, Annie Lu ’23, Bellamy Richardson ’23, Tali Natter ’23, and Cameron Pugh ’23 have been elected by the Record’s 2021 editorial board to lead the newspaper in 2022. In the spring, Urdang will serve as editor-in-chief, with Richardson and Natter as managing editors. In the fall, Lu will take the position of editor-in-chief, and Richardson and Pugh will serve as managing editors. They will replace current Editor-in-Chief Irene Loewenson ’22, Managing Editor Kevin Yang ’22, and Managing Editor Sofie Jones ’22.

“I think the Record is in a really strong place and has built a lot of trust with the community over the past few years, especially with COVID reporting when there wasn’t a lot of transparency with the administration,” Urdang said. “And we definitely want to keep that train going and continue to provide everyone with information that isn’t necessarily coming from the institution.”

The members of the incoming management teams said they plan to expand on several of the previous management team’s initiatives, including Race, Privilege, and Identity (RPI) reporting, Town news reporting, and the staff writer program. The incoming management teams also said they will work to hold the administration accountable and expand the Record’s reporting to include more voices from members of the College community who belong to marginalized groups. “Before the past few years, the Record hadn’t necessarily been the most trusted source for a lot of marginalized students,” Pugh said. 

He and the other editors said they hope to tell diverse stories and involve new perspectives. “A goal of our team is to ask questions that aren’t being answered elsewhere, hold the administration accountable, and press them instead of just reporting on announcements they make,” Natter said. “We’re trying to figure out what holes are left in their communications and what still needs to be answered, and trying to ask questions that we feel students are wondering about.”

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Meet the staff

Kitt Urdang ’23.5

Urdang hails from Stamford, Conn., and is majoring in history and political science. In spring 2022, she will serve as editor-in-chief.

Urdang previously served as a section editor for the Opinions section and then executive editor for editorials and director of the staff program. In addition, she has reported on prominent alums in public service and on reproductive health access at the College. The work that Urdang said she is most proud of includes the pieces she co-wrote about the working conditions for Dining staff at the College and the effect of the Jan. 6 insurrection on alums in Congress.

“Our goal is twofold,” Urdang said. “One part is, when the administration does communicate with students, to hold them accountable for what they say and report on what it means for the student body. [The second is] to dig below the surface and tell stories that the administration may have never brought our attention to.”

Outside of the Record, Urdang is involved with Ephvotes and Williams Outdoor Orientation for Living as First-years (WOOLF).

Annie Lu ’23

Lu is a mathematics and political science major from San Diego, Calif. She will be editor-in-chief in fall 2022.

Lu previously served as a news section editor and then executive editor of the News section. She has reported on the College’s initial response to COVID-19 and interviewed alums like U.S. Reps. Andy Levin ’83, Don Beyer ’72, and Secretary of the Army Christine Wormuth ’91. 

She said that she is most proud of her reporting on the College’s investigation of a large party at Wood House in spring 2021, the childcare issues that faculty and staff faced amid the pandemic, and the results of a College survey gauging the prevalence of and attitudes on sexual violence on campus.

“Being able to have a bird’s-eye view of the entire paper feels incredibly exciting,” Lu said. “It’s a lot of responsibility, and I feel a great sense of ownership of the work that we put out — in the people that we’re hopefully able to affect in positive ways and be able to reveal important things about the community.” Outside of the Record, Lu is a member of the Zambezi Marimba Band, the Alhambra Consulting Group, and the Guild of Bellringers. She is studying abroad at the Williams-Exeter Programme at Oxford during the 2021-22 academic year.

Bellamy Richardson ’23

Richardson hails from New York, N.Y., and is majoring in English and concentrating in Jewish studies. She will serve as managing editor in the spring and fall semesters of 2022. 

Richardson previously served as a Features section editor and then executive editor for the Features section. She has reported on changes to the first-year entry system and Junior Advisor (JA) role and has interviewed notable alums including Kristen Anderson-Lopez ’94, who co-wrote songs for Frozen and Frozen II, and Peter Elbow ’57, who pioneered freewriting. Articles that Richardson said she is most proud of include her piece on the student-led push for and subsequent implementation of affinity housing on campus, as well as her reporting on the administration’s decision to close campus in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on the College’s staff.

“As a Features editor, I think a really important part of the Record is sharing the special things in this community, what it has to offer, highlighting places in the community that people might not know about, and just fun, entertaining articles as well as hard-hitting news,” Richardson said.

Outside of the Record, Richardson is a Junior Advisor (JA) to the Class of

2025 and is involved in Jewish life on campus.

Tali Natter ’23

Natter hails from New York, N.Y., and is majoring in American studies with a concentration in environmental studies. She will serve as managing editor in spring 2022. 

Natter was a section editor for Podcast and Arts before she served as executive editor for Arts. Among many other topics, she has reported on reproductive healthcare at the College, the Democratic primary for Massachusetts’ 1st congressional district, and how student artists, arts classes, and arts groups adapted to the pandemic. Articles that Natter said she is most proud of include investigations into the working conditions at the Williamstown Theatre Festival and diversity at the Grammys.

“With our new staff writer program, the Record is a community of hundreds of students,” Natter said. “Anyone who wants to write and who has things to say can be part of the Record community.”

Outside of the Record, Natter is a Junior Advisor to the Class of 2025 and is involved in Cap & Bells, Young Democratic Socialists of America, Williams Divest, and Matriculate, and she works at the Hopkins Memorial Forest.

Cameron Pugh ’23

Pugh hails from Port Saint Lucie, Fla., and is majoring in English and American studies with a concentration in Africana studies. He will serve as managing editor in fall 2022. 

Pugh previously served as a section editor for the Arts section. He has reported on student artists and arts groups adapting to the pandemic, plans for the construction of a new building for WCMA at the old Williams Inn, and the submission of a prospectus to establish an Asian American studies program at the College. Articles that Pugh said he is most proud of include his reporting on the lack of financial support for summer students’ meal plans and diversity in the Grammys.

“The Record’s COVID reporting is why I joined the Record,” Pugh said. “Being at home, completely cut off from Williams, and reading the Record … and hearing what other students were doing when I wasn’t as connected to the community was really important to me. I think that’s something I really want to emphasize — the Record’s role in keeping the community connected.”

Outside of the Record, Pugh is a tutor at the College’s Writing Workshop and a Mellon Mays Undergraduate Research Fellow. He will spend the spring 2022 semester studying abroad at the University of Amsterdam.