While you may think you know everyone in your classes, every once in a while, you might be stumped by an unfamiliar face in your seminar. So you naturally turn to a split screen of GLOW, WSO, and Instagram, trying to pin down the classmate you don’t recognize. Perhaps they’re a particularly elusive member of the Phantom 500, but if your efforts on WSO bear no fruit, the person you’re trying to track down could be a student from Bennington College or the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA).
Each semester, a handful of students from Bennington make the 30-minute trip to Williams to take classes as part of the Bennington’s “Williams College Cross-Enrollment Procedure.” Williams offers a similar program, allowing students to cross-enroll in courses at Bennington and MCLA.
The Record sat down with four students at Bennington, currently taking classes at the College, who shared stories and reflected on their experiences.
Abigail Singh, a sophomore at Bennington studying political science, media studies, public action, and literature, is currently enrolled in “The Impact of Black Panther Party Intellectuals on Political Theory,” a tutorial taught by Professor of Humanities Joy James.
“The way our college works is that, if there isn’t something that is touched on that I really want to pursue, I will find other places to do that,” Singh told the Record. “I’m glad we have that outlet, so it’s not like you’re in this bubble and you have to stay here.”
Umang Malik — a senior at Bennington studying politics, philosophy, and economics who is taking “American Constitutionalism” at Williams this semester — was drawn by the College’s wide array of course offerings. “Williams offers a much broader range of classes and different topics than Bennington does by being a bigger college and having more professors, especially in my field,” he said.
“Bennington doesn’t have a lot of professors in general, so by this time, I’ve taken a class already with every single professor here in my field,” he added. “Williams is cool because every professor has a different teaching style, so there’s the opportunity to go through the process of discovering what every professor likes again.”
Even though the program is advertised on the Registrars’ websites at both Williams and Bennington, many participants recall only hearing about it anecdotally. “It’s not super advertised,” said Dallas Fangmann, a junior at Bennington studying mathematics and painting and taking “Introduction to Number Theory” at Williams. “My math professor referred me to it because he was going on sabbatical this term, but prior to that, I didn’t really know it’s a thing.”
Faith Handwerger, a junior at Bennington studying English, history, and photography, said many students hear about the program through word of mouth. Handwerger tried to propose a Latin tutorial at Bennington — where students may propose their own tutorials — and was told that the easiest option was to take it at Williams.
The shutdown of the Bennington-operated shuttle to Williams last winter came after students had already registered for classes. On Dec. 9th, they alerted students to the change, which has made it difficult for students to continue taking cross-enrollment classes, according to Handwerger.
Students are unsure of the reason for the bus cancellation, but some think that it is the result of a labor shortage, according to Malik. “It’s not very walkable off of campus so they run local shuttles to the local grocery store and downtown shops etc, and they didn’t have enough drivers to run those as well as the shuttle to Williams,” he wrote in an email to the Record.
Handwerger also said that it may have to do with a fairly low number of cross-enrolled spring term students combined with understaffing for the buses.
After the shuttle closed, Handwerger created a carpool spreadsheet for Bennington students taking classes at Williams, helping to coordinate class schedules, especially for students without cars.
Because of the transportation changes, Singh now attends her class virtually instead of in person, after asking the professor for permission, she told the Record.
The cancellation of the shuttle has not only made it difficult for Bennington students to reach campus, but also to access Williams resources and connect with their classmates. “Because it’s a 30-minute drive, it makes it kind of hard to do things like go to office hours or visit the [Teaching Assistants] (TAs),” Handwerger said. “I’m kind of in and out when I’m there, so I don’t really talk to a lot of Williams students either.”
Fangmann agreed. “I can’t really go at all,” he said. “I feel like if there was a shuttle, it definitely would be easier to make it down there to work with other students or visit TAs or go to office hours.”
Malik added that his busy schedule, along with Bennington students’ inability to access non-academic campus buildings like the dining halls, limit his interaction with students at Williams. “It’s mostly just going to class, and then I go back. The most I’ll do is stay in the library a bit to do readings,” he said.
Despite these hurdles, some cross-college friendships have bloomed. Singh became friends with her tutorial partner, Francesca Castellanos ’26. “The tutorial introduced me to [Castellanos] and I’m glad it did, because we have a relationship outside of the class,” she said. “I’ve met with her at Williams before, and she’s driven to my campus. It’s really cool because now I have a Williams friend,” Singh said.
In an email to the Record, Castellanos recalled how their friendship began. “Abigail and I exchanged numbers at the beginning of the tutorial and thought it would be fun to meet up at some point during the semester,” she wrote. “She came to the Clark with some Bennington friends, and I met her there to have a conversation about the material for the week and to get to know each other a bit better.”
This friendship even extended beyond the College’s campus. “It was super fun to exchange stories from our respective campuses and compare the differences and similarities between the cultures of the two schools,” she added. “I would also drive up to her campus to exchange books for the week (depending on who wrote the lead paper), and we would chat and catch up about our weeks.”
While friendships have blossomed, Singh noted that communication from Williams about its academic calendar and expectations for students could be improved. “I think my understanding [about how Williams operates] was not as clear as it should have been,” she said. “I really wanted to understand what the strict circumstances were of Williams classes versus Bennington classes. I didn’t even know you had spring break for two weeks.”
Singh added that, although the lack of transportation makes it more difficult to take classes at the College, awareness of the program is expanding. “Friends of mine are also looking into doing Williams courses next term,” she said. “The word has spread.”
“Yes, Williams offers so much that Bennington can’t, [but] maybe we offer something that Williams can’t as well,” Handwerger said.
