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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

Aluna Brogdon, Features Section Editor

Aluna Brogdon is a prospective history and religion major, and a French concentrator, from New York City. She is a features section editor.

She can be reached at [email protected].

All content by Aluna Brogdon
Black students at the College find community through hair braiding. (Julia Karp/The Williams Record)

Hair braiding provides source of identity, community for Black students at the College

Aluna Brogdon and Rehema Mwamburi April 30, 2024
Limited access to goods and services determines many students’ experience of Williamstown. For Black students, the College’s geography is not only a peripheral inconvenience: It’s directly related to intimate parts of daily life, including the care and preservation of hair. The Record interviewed students at the College about the networks of hair styling at the College, the politics of hair and respectability, and the position of hair as a locus of community and empowerment. 
College celebrates opening of Davis Center complex with festivities after two-year renovation

College celebrates opening of Davis Center complex with festivities after two-year renovation

Aluna Brogdon April 17, 2024
Last weekend, the Office of Institutional Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (OIDEI), the ’68 Center for Career Exploration, the Office of Alumni Engagement, and the Davis Center held a series of events in conjunction with Bolin Legacy Mentorship Weekend — an alum engagement weekend that honors the legacy of Gaius Charles Bolin Sr., Class of 1889, the first Black graduate of the College — to celebrate the reopening of the DC’s new building complex.
‘Emancipation: The Unfinished Project of Liberation’ opens at WCMA

‘Emancipation: The Unfinished Project of Liberation’ opens at WCMA

Aluna Brogdon February 28, 2024
The exhibition, which features works from seven artists, marks the 160th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation.
Photo courtesy of Sasha Tucker.

WCFM to rejoice over Joyce at all-day read-a-thon

Aluna Brogdon, Features Editor December 6, 2023
This Friday, on the off-chance that one is driving through Williamstown at around 2 a.m. with the radio on, they’ll stumble across a happy surprise: the middle of a 24-hour read-aloud of James Joyce’s Ulysses organized by WCFM.
Special Collections, housed on the fourth floor of Sawyer Library, holds archival pieces, rare books, and other research materials. (Luke Chinman/The Williams Record)

Early morning auction bids and family donations: How Special Collections fills its archival shelves

Aluna Brogdon November 15, 2023
Over 300 visitors came to the Weber Special Collections Reading Room in the past semester to view Special Collections materials — those viewers may not be aware, however, of the intricate process behind acquiring those manuscripts.
Photo Courtesy of Allison Geis.

Captains’ Corner: Allison Geis ’24

Aluna Brogdon November 8, 2023
The Record sat down with Allison Geis ’24, co-captain of club volleyball.
A capella groups performed at Haley Farm Meadow. (Edan Zinn/The Williams Record)

‘A very unserious kind of stress’: Inside preparations for Mountain Day performances

Luke Chinman and Aluna Brogdon October 17, 2023
Like fall foliage and the morning bells, student dance and musical performances are a hallmark of Mountain Day. But, given the uncertainty of its exact date and a quick turnaround for preparations, performance groups are under a time crunch to prepare for their showcases at the beloved College holiday. 
Klugman, Singh, and Farris Farouki ’27 sold baked goods in order to raise money and supplement AP1’s budget (Aluna Brogdon/The Williams Record).

JAs, first-years contend with constrained entry budgets

Aluna Brogdon October 3, 2023
Students near Paresky Center on Oct. 2 might have noticed an unusual sight: a bake sale run by Junior Advisors (JAs) and first-years from the Mission Park entry AP1. The bake sale is one of many tactics the JAs are using to maximize funds, including keeping budget spreadsheets and, to them, making trade-offs.
Students filled their dinner plates with udon noodles, vegetable stir-fry, and orange tempeh at Whitmans’ Asian heritage night on Sept. 27. (Luke Chinman/The Williams Record.)

Students discuss complicated relationship with College’s heritage cuisine nights

Aluna Brogdon and Kedar Veeraswamy September 26, 2023
Themed nights by Dining Services such as “Cuisines of Africa” and “Congee Night” have polarized the student body — some applaud these efforts to represent their home cuisines, while others decry what they see as half-hearted attempts that fall short of satisfying their cravings.
Students in “B25: Will We Survive?!” hike during their backpacking trip. (Photo courtesy of Claire McDonald.)

Leaders, first-years, feel effects of shortened WOOLF trips

Luke Chinman and Aluna Brogdon September 19, 2023

When the directors and leaders of Williams Outdoor Orientation for Living as First-Years (WOOLF) learned that this year’s program would be shortened from four days to three, many felt frustrated. “I...

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