The Williams Record (https://williamsrecord.com/category/features/)
The Williams Black Lives Matter Project, a collaboration between the newly established Williams Student Union (WSU) and Williams Libraries, is aiming to capture student perspectives on the protests, from any place and in any form. With the project, its founders hope to build accounts of the ongoing movement into the historical and institutional record, even with campus itself nearly deserted.
Given the heartbreak and anger that many in the College community are feeling in light of recent police brutality that is rooted in centuries of anti-Black racism in the U.S., the Record reached out to faculty and staff members for recommended educational resources on racism, inequality and other forms of injustice.
It is again the time of year when seniors are normally preparing to receive their diplomas from the College, with their family and friends crowded on Paresky Lawn to cheer for them. The coronavirus pandemic, however, has forced schools across the country to dramatically alter their graduation ceremonies, drastically altering seniors’ plans.
Giebien Na ’20 did not expect to graduate as the first-ever quadruple major at the College. But he has earned the title after adding a fifth course to his schedule for many consecutive semesters and building passions across the three academic divisions.
A senior thesis represents the culmination of many students’ academic journeys at the College. But this year, like most other aspects of College life, the senior thesis process has been heavily affected by COVID-19.
For Anne-Sophie van Wingerden ’20, whose comparative literature thesis focused on a 19th century book about a Dutch civil servant in Indonesia, the biggest loss was not being able to have the same kind of informal conversation with her thesis advisor online as she could have in-person.
Every week, the Record interviews a student as part of its One in Two Thousand feature. We have compiled excerpts from all the interviews of members of the Class of 2020 from the last four years.
Summiya Najam ’20 will study at Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar for Pakistan. She attended the Williams-Exeter Programme at Oxford during the 2018-19 academic year.
Two weeks ago, Angela Chen ’23 attended a birthday lunch — in person.
Robin Eagleton ’22 is living in the woods. Alone. In a 400 sq. ft. cabin. Without indoor plumbing.
A note from the reporters:
In the weeks after students dispersed across the globe in light of the pandemic, the Record sent out a survey to 500 randomly selected students to get a sense of their living situations. We received hundreds of responses, revealing some of the many ways COVID-19 has affected our lives.
