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The Student-Run Newspaper of Williams College Since 1887

The Williams Record

The Student-Run Newspaper of Williams College Since 1887

The Williams Record

The Student-Run Newspaper of Williams College Since 1887

The Williams Record

Iris Li/TheWilliams Record

Mandel reflects on ‘destabilizing’ start to Trump administration

Sonia Zinkin-Meyers May 7, 2025
President Maud S. Mandel discussed the College’s ongoing response to President Donald Trump’s second administration, which has increased attacks on higher education, including funding cuts and immigration crackdowns,
Iris Li/The Williams Record

CSS to discontinue unannounced room checks during fire drills

Rebecca Bao May 7, 2025
Room inspections will no longer occur during fire drills, according to Director of Campus Safety Services Jeff Palmer. The College’s Environmental Health and Safety division, which operates under CSS, will conduct future inspections only during winter and spring breaks and will no longer check student’s dorms for room condition and prohibited items during fire drills, Palmer wrote in an email to the Record.
Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

In Other Ivory Towers: Protesters arrested at Swarthmore following four-day encampment

Maya Inaltong May 7, 2025
A pro-Palestine encampment at Swarthmore ended after nine protesters — including one student and one former student of the college — were arrested on Saturday morning.
Photos courtesy  of Shana Dixon, Jane Patton, Peter Beck, and Matt Neely.

Patton opposed by Dixon in race for open Select Board seat as Beck, Neely run uncontested

Aiden Clarke May 7, 2025
Shana Dixon and Jane Patton will vie for a spot on the Williamstown Select Board in the annual Town election on May 13. Either Dixon, who chairs the Town’s Diversity, Inclusion, and Racial Equity Committee (DIRE), or Patton, who has served on the Board for the last 12 years, will serve one year of a three-year term, filling the seat that was vacated by Andy Hogeland ’76 after his resignation last year. 
Hugh Kane/The Williams Record

Student charged with secretly recording people in Upper Lasell bathroom

Ellie Davis April 30, 2025
Maxwell Hall ’26 has been charged with 18 counts of photographing an unsuspecting nude person, according to court documents obtained by the Record. The Record acquired court documents at the Northern Berkshire District Court on Thursday that named Hall and matched the description of the incident mentioned in a campus-wide email Director of CSS Jeff Palmer sent on April 14 informing the community that a hidden camera had been placed in a single-stall bathroom in the Upper Lasell Fitness Center on January 16.
Akkshansh Bagga/The Williams Record.

Reports show substantial growth in College administrative staff

Ellie Davis and Hannah Marx April 30, 2025
The number of full-time equivalent (FTE) exempt staff positions had increased from 290 to 443 since 2009, outpacing growth in faculty positions by 40 percentage points. A Record investigation found student support, increased resources for faculty, and government requirements as primary drivers of the trend.
Theo Duarte-Baird/The Williams Record

JA Working Group releases final report

Aiden Clarke April 30, 2025
The Junior Advisor (JA) Program Working Group publicly released its final report last Friday, outlining a series of recommendations for the JA program, including a target JA to first-year ratio, expanding eligibility for the JA position, and creating opportunities for former and current JAs to give recommendations that will inform future changes to the JA program.
Iris Li/The Williams Record

WSU announces planned new initiatives

Rebecca Bao and Matthew Chin April 30, 2025
The Williams Student Union (WSU) announced a slate of new initiatives and proposals, including student life improvements and internal reforms, in an April 22 spring newsletter.
Francis Huang/The Williams Record

Mandel signs statement opposing government interference in higher education

Phoebe Pallesen and Sonia Zinkin-Meyers April 30, 2025
President Maud S. Mandel signed onto an open letter condemning “the unprecedented government overreach and political interference now endangering American higher education.” The letter was issued by the American Association of Colleges and Universities and had over 500 signatories as of publication, including the leaders of colleges, universities, and scholarly societies.
Iris Li/The Williams Record

Students’ career, summer plans uncertain amid federal funding cuts

Sonia Zinkin-Meyers and Christopher Hughes April 23, 2025
Students at the College have faced disruptions to their summer plans, including the cancellation of summer research programs and federal internships, amid a federal hiring freeze and significant cuts to federal funding for research.

Dorm room door defaced with ‘derogatory and hateful’ slurs

Phoebe Pallesen and Sonia Zinkin-Meyers April 23, 2025
A student’s dorm room door was defaced with “derogatory and hateful” slurs targeting their racial and gender identities on Thursday night, according to an all-campus email sent by President Maud S. Mandel on Monday.
Christopher Hughes/The Williams Record

Select Board signals objection to sewage sludge compost plan

Lily Fox and Sonia Zinkin-Meyers April 23, 2025
The Williamstown Select Board voted to recommend against Town voters approving the Hoosac Water Quality District’s proposed sewer rate at Town Meeting next month, in protest of a potential deal that would compost sewage sludge from outside the district in the Town.
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