Senior Week 2020

“It doesn’t feel like as much of a triumph”: Seniors reflect on graduating without commencement

Since the College announced its decision to postpone commencement until summer 2021, seniors and their families have had time to reflect on what the lack of commencement this year means to them. In response to an anonymous survey by the Record, several students expressed indifference to the cancellation of commencement, citing the loss of other events such as sports seasons and senior week as more significant. Still, a majority of responses lamented the loss of a meaningful experience that symbolizes the culmination of years of hard work and includes celebration with family and community members.

Featured in Category

Four Years through the Headlines: Capturing the Class of 2020’s experience

Members of the Class of 2020 have seen two United States presidents, three College presidents and two different forms of student government during their four years at the College. They’ve celebrated two homecoming wins, danced to Shaggy live at Spring Fling and witnessed Papa Smurf win a write-in nomination for College Council (CC) –– which later got abolished. They’ve seen the fall of Vine and the rise of TikTok. And most recently, they’ve become the first class to complete their Williams education remotely amidst a pandemic.

In our senior issue celebrating the members of the Class of 2020, we went through the Record archives from the past four years to capture their time at the College through the headlines.

In Other Ivory Towers

In Other Ivory Towers: Fall announcements

In Other Ivory Towers is the Record’s look at colleges and universities outside the Purple Bubble. In recent weeks, many schools, including New York University, Boston University, Boston College, Notre Dame, Cambridge and Harvard Medical School, have announced guidelines for the fall 2020 semester.

News

A closer look into the reasoning and reactions to the recently-announced 2020-2021 academic calendar changes

In an all-community email sent yesterday, President Maud S. Mandel announced that the College would maintain a two-semester model for the upcoming academic year while lowering the minimum required number of courses per semester from four to three and eliminating Winter Study. These changes will take effect whether or not the College resumes in-person classes in the fall; Mandel has set a deadline of July 1 to determine whether or not classes will be held on campus.

News

Eric Soskin ’99 nominated by Trump as Department of Transportation inspector general following president’s series of firings

In a press release issued by the Trump administration last Friday, President Donald J. Trump announced Eric Soskin ’99 as his nominee for inspector general of the United States Department of Transportation (DOT). The White House also made public that Howard Elliot would take over as the DOT’s acting inspector general until Soskin takes office, although the details of when this will be have not been released.

Spring Street Blues

Spring Street Blues

Wednesday 5-13-20          

11:00 a.m. Campus Safety and Security (CSS) Office: An officer was called into Hopkins Hall to take a statement and start an investigation into a possible stolen painting. The call was from a professor regarding a painting that was missing from a faculty art studio.