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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

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

In Other Ivory Towers: Student activist detainment, funding cuts, antisemitism investigation at Columbia

Lena Kerest and Ellie Davis March 19, 2025
In recent weeks, the federal government has canceled $400 million in federal funding to Columbia University because of what it describes as the school’s failure to limit antisemitic harassment. The government recently broadened its investigation into cases of antisemitism to 60 colleges and universities. Separate to the ongoing investigations, federal agents detained a recent graduate student at Columbia who had been a vocal participant in recent campus protests against Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.
Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

In Other Ivory Towers: Bowdoin students face disciplinary action following encampment in support of Palestine

Sonia Zinkin-Meyers February 26, 2025
Over 50 students at Bowdoin face disciplinary action for their involvement in an encampment that lasted from Feb. 6 to Feb. 10, according to the Bowdoin Orient. Eight of those students were suspended — their suspensions were lifted on Monday and they were allowed to return to campus.
Photo courtesy of Alexandra Hayes.

In Other Ivory Towers: Middlebury to assign study away semesters to address enrollment imbalance

Aiden Clarke January 29, 2025
Middlebury has adopted a new policy in which students planning to study away for a single semester are assigned a term by the Office of International Programs, according to the Middlebury Campus. Students will be able to express a preference of whether to study away in the spring or fall semester but will ultimately be assigned. 

In Other Ivory Towers: FBI investigates racist text messages targeting Black students nationwide

Lena Kerest November 13, 2024

Black people in at least 30 states and the District of Columbia — including on multiple college campuses — received a slew of racist text messages last week, many of which addressed the recipients...

In Other Ivory Towers: First-year enrollment declines nationwide for first time since 2020

In Other Ivory Towers: First-year enrollment declines nationwide for first time since 2020

Hannah Marx October 30, 2024
First-year enrollment dropped by over 5 percent across American colleges and universities this academic year, according to data released by the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center (NSCRC) on Oct. 23.
In Other Ivory Towers: California to ban legacy, donor admissions

In Other Ivory Towers: California to ban legacy, donor admissions

Aliya Huprikar October 2, 2024
California will ban private universities and colleges from considering the legacy and donor status of applicants during the admissions process starting Sept. 1, 2025. Governor Gavin Newsom, who signed the bill into law on Monday, said the ban is intended to promote equal educational opportunity in California.
Photo courtesy of Maddie Feldman.

In Other Ivory Towers: Princeton to set financial aid, Pell Grant targets for undergraduate admissions following affirmative action ruling

Maya Prakash April 24, 2024
Beginning with the next admissions cycle, Princeton will target a student body in which 70 percent of students are eligible for financial aid and at least 22 percent are Pell Grant-eligible, the university announced on March 26. Princeton’s board of trustees set the new enrollment goals for low- and middle-income students following a review by The Ad Hoc Committee on Undergraduate Admission Policy, which the board of trustees established to examine undergraduate admissions in July 2023.
After a mass shooting in Lewiston, Maine, Bates College locked down its campus. (Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.)

In Other Ivory Towers: Bates locks down campus after mass shooting

Max Billick November 1, 2023
In the deadliest mass shooting in the U.S. since January, a gunman killed 18 people and injured 13 more at a bar and a bowling alley in Lewiston, Maine, on Oct. 25. Bates College, which is located in Lewiston, canceled its classes and ordered students to shelter in place from the night of Oct. 25 through Oct. 27. 
President Maud S. Mandel and Dean of the College Gretchen Long attended Zaki's inauguration this weekend. (Photo courtesy of Bowdoin College. Copyright Michele Stapleton, michelestapleton.com)

Former Dean of the Faculty Safa Zaki inaugurated as Bowdoin’s first female president

Nathaniel Flores October 18, 2023
Former Dean of the Faculty Safa Zaki — whose term as president of Bowdoin began on July 1 — was officially inaugurated on Oct. 14. Bowdoin’s presidential search committee unanimously selected Zaki in March to become the sixteenth president of Bowdoin and the first woman to hold the position. 
In Other Ivory Towers: Mt. Holyoke moves to phase out German, Russian

In Other Ivory Towers: Mt. Holyoke moves to phase out German, Russian

David Wignall May 3, 2023
On May 9, faculty at Mount Holyoke College will vote on a motion to discontinue all programs of study in German and Russian, according to the Mount Holyoke News.
(Daderot/Wikimedia Commons)

In Other Ivory Towers: Amherst changes Latin honors system

David Wignall March 8, 2023
Students graduating magna cum laude or summa cum laude from Amherst must now satisfy a median grade threshold and a course breadth requirement, following a Feb. 7 faculty vote to amend Amherst’s Latin honors criteria. The decision has been met with both praise and controversy.
In Other Ivory Towers: Stanford newspaper alleges president committed scientific misconduct

In Other Ivory Towers: Stanford newspaper alleges president committed scientific misconduct

Luke Chinman February 22, 2023
Marc Tessier-Lavigne, the president of Stanford University, is facing intense scrutiny following allegations of scientific misconduct. According to a series of reports by The Stanford Daily, the university’s student newspaper, multiple scientific journals are investigating Tessier-Lavigne for altering images in his research and members of a biotechnology company have accused him of covering up previous allegations of fraud.
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