Julia Goldberg ’25 is an English major from New York, N.Y. She is a senior writer. She served as the editor-in-chief in fall 2024, and before that, as an executive editor, section editor, and staff writer for the news section. She can be reached at [email protected].
Students reported to Campus Safety Services on Sunday that a table in Frosh Quad painted with American and Israeli flags was damaged and vandalized with graffiti that included antisemitic and anti-Israel sentiments.
The Aso O. Tavitian Foundation donated 331 works of art — which date from the 15th through 19th centuries — to the Clark Art Institute, the museum announced in a press release on Monday. The foundation also gifted $45 million to support a dedicated curator position at the museum and the construction of a new Aso O. Tavitian Wing, which will host the donated collection.
The share of Black students increased from 6.8 percent to 7.3 percent, while that of Hispanic students rose from 14.8 percent to 15.5 percent. The proportion of white students decreased from 45.3 percent to 42.7 percent, and the proportion of Asian students fell from 12.6 percent to 11.5 percent.
In a letter from the editor, The Record's Editor in Chief for the fall semester, Julia Goldberg, introduces some changes editorial policy and the board's commitments for the semester.
The Davis Center (DC) and Special Collections hosted the second session of Archives for Liberation, a year-long series of student-driven workshops highlighting the history of student activism at the College, on Nov. 1 in the Special Collections instruction room.
The Williamstown Community Assessment Research (CARES) team published a qualitative report on Oct. 16 exploring Williamstown residents’ perceptions of their wellbeing and safety. The report sets forth concrete recommendations for the Town — though lead researchers expressed uncertainty that their initiatives would actually be implemented.
Copies of the Oct. 18 issue of the Record, covered in dark red painted handprints, and signs with statements about the war in Israel and Palestine were hung throughout all three floors of Paresky Center and outside its lawn on the night of Oct. 18. The handprints specifically covered the page that included Jonah Garnick’s ’23 op-ed, “What the ‘Free Palestine’ movement gets wrong.”
The College has eliminated the supplemental essay from its application and formed the Working Group on Admissions Policies and Practices. These changes come in response to the Supreme Court’s decision...
The College will not require this year’s affinity communities — Eban House, La Casa, International House, and Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) Space — to reapply for housing for the 2024–25 academic year.
The College raised salaries for incoming Dining Services employees this summer, filling almost all of the department’s vacancies and reaching the highest staffing levels since 2019. Nevertheless, longtime employees of Dining Services reported dissatisfaction in a Record survey, voicing frustration about overwhelming workloads and a lack of pay significantly higher than that of newer coworkers.
Former Visiting Professor in Economics Don Carlson ’83 dropped out of the Democratic primary race for Rhode Island’s 1st Congressional District on Aug. 27 after a local news station reported that he made an advance toward a student while working at the College in 2019.
Dean of the College Gretchen Long has established a committee that will consider academic integrity at the College. The Ad Hoc Committee on Academic Integrity, which Long will chair, will comprise faculty members from every division. It will convene for the first time in the coming weeks and meet regularly for roughly a year, after which Long expects to share the committee’s findings with the community.
More students than ever are enrolling in STEM and economics courses. Though growing popularity in these departments has delighted professors, it has posed its own challenges. Now, departments must balance surging demand for their classes with limited resources and a desire to preserve the small, intimate atmosphere that defines a liberal arts education.
Across the country, institutions of higher education have struggled to adjust to sky-high demand for STEM courses and weakening interest in the humanities. Williams — with its $3.5 billion endowment and traditional focus on the liberal arts — has been relatively insulated. But the College is not immune, prompting academic departments on both sides of Route 2 to consider their circumstances and what the future might hold.
The Junior Advisor (JA) Selection Committee (SelCom) released a list of 43 JAs to the Class of 2027, marking an ongoing decrease in participation in the program.
Williamstown residents passed a proposal to build a new fire station at 562-580 Main Street in a 509-32 vote during yesterday’s special Town Meeting at the Williamstown Elementary School. The building will replace the Town’s 73-year-old station, which falls short of numerous Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and National Fire Protection Association standards.
The International Students Organization (ISA), Muslim Student Union (MSU), International Student Services (ISS), and the chaplain’s office have raised over $5,000 for Turkey-Syria earthquake relief through tabling that began on Feb. 8 and will end tomorrow, Feb. 16. The organizations are also collecting winter clothes, blankets, and supplies such as women’s hygiene products that Associate Dean of Students and Director of ISS Ninah Pretto will deliver to a Turkish cultural center in Albany.
The College’s Board of Trustees voted on Jan. 20 to contribute $5 million, at a rate of $1 million per year for the next five years, to the construction of Williamstown’s new fire station — if Town voters approve the proposal to build the station.
On Jan. 18, Yale University revealed updates to its policies regarding leaves of absence and withdrawals, following a year-long review of its mental health policies by the Yale College Dean’s Office.
At the Dec. 7 faculty meeting, faculty voted to approve the creation of an Asian American studies (AAS) program that establishes a concentration beginning fall 2023, with 81 voting in favor, five voting against, and three abstaining.
The Williamstown Police Department (WPD) will equip all of its officers with body-worn cameras after the Massachusetts Executive Office of Public Safety and Security awarded it an $18,941 grant.
President Maud S. Mandel and Vice President for Institutional Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Leticia S.E. Haynes ’99 will form an anti-racist task force to address race-based bias at the College.
The global studies program will kickstart the Global Scholars Initiative this spring, encouraging a small cohort of students to develop greater international awareness by studying global issues and traveling together.
The College hosted open houses for students and faculty to review and share their feedback on its long-term campus plan, a set of projects that would reimagine the College’s physical space.
Williamstown residents gathered at an interactive open house on Thursday to share thoughts and concerns that will inform Envisioning Williamstown 2035, a long-term comprehensive plan for the Town. The plan, to be released by May 2023, will serve as the Town’s “official blueprint” for action “related to land use, infrastructure, and community development” over the next 10 years, according to its website.
The Williamstown Comprehensive Plan Steering Committee has released its Existing Conditions Analysis, a report that will aid the committee’s development of Envisioning Williamstown 2035, a comprehensive plan set to outline a community-driven vision of the Town’s physical development.
On Saturday mornings from May through October, the Spring Street parking lot bustles with chatter and music. The sweet smells of flowers, fresh vegetables, and baked goods surround attendees at the Williamstown Farmers Market.
For the first time in the College’s history, all four academic members of the senior staff — the president, provost, and deans of the faculty and the college — are women.
The College held its annual convocation for the Classes of 2023, 2022.5, and graduate students in the final year of their programs on Sept. 10 in Chapin Hall, marking the official start to the 2022-23 school year.
When the Supreme Court hears concurrent cases Students for Fair Admissions v. President and Fellows of Harvard College and Students for Fair Admissions v. University of North Carolina this fall, the respondents will count the College among their supporters.
On June 24, the Supreme Court overturned the precedent it set in Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, the 1973 and 1992 cases that guaranteed the constitutional right to abortion. Student and local organizers, alums who work in abortion access, and College administrators must now reckon with a new political reality.
On Friday afternoon, a group of around 50 students and Town residents gathered on the steps of Paresky Center to demonstrate support for abortion rights and take action to protect reproductive freedoms.
The Alumni Relations and Alumni Fund offices merged into one Office of Alumni Engagement, Vice President of the Office of College Relations (OCR) Megan Morey announced in an email to the OCR on April 6, stating that the change would be effective immediately.
Former President of the College Morton “Morty” Schapiro delivered a guest lecture to the College community about the economics of higher education on April 12.
The College plans to end all indirect investments tied to the fossil fuel industry by 2033, President Maud S. Mandel announced in an all-campus email on Friday, prompting celebration from divestment organizers and confusion from some other students.
The Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Community Relations Service and the Williamstown Police Department (WPD) implemented the DOJ’s Strengthening Police and Community Partnerships (SPCP) program for the Town this Saturday.
As anonymous apps like Yik Yak and Unmasked gain traction at the College, students reflect on their complicated relationships with the useful — but often dangerous — platforms.
Copies of an antisemitic and racist flyer were found in history books in Sawyer Library on Feb. 15. After consulting the Libraries leadership team as well as Campus Safety Services (CSS) and the Office of Institutional Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (OIDEI), Director of Libraries Jonathan Miller posted a sign in the Sawyer Library entrance condemning the flyers, which were made to look like Confederate States of America currency, and asking members of the College community to bring them to the library’s Access Services Desk if found.
Three students — Cooper Desmond ’24, Andrew Williams ’24, and Sam Riley ’23 — founded the Mental Wellness Advocacy Group this semester to communicate the state of student mental health to the College’s administration.
The College received 25 reports of misconduct committed against members of the College community — 13 of sexual misconduct, four of relationship abuse, five of stalking, and three of verbal sexual harassment — over the past two academic years.
Professors of History Gretchen Long and Eiko Maruko Siniawer ’97 will assume the roles of Dean and Provost of the College, respectively, President Maud S. Mandel announced in an all-campus email on Tuesday.
Students are struggling to access consistent and reliable psychiatric resources at the College, according to several student interviews with the Record. An increase in demand for mental health services this fall has contributed to a months-long waitlist to see the only psychiatrist currently at the College, Dr. Susan Mahler.
Masks are no longer universally required for athletes and performers in certain venues. While some students welcomed the change, others have questioned perceived inconsistencies in the policy.
Four terms into the creation of the Williams Student Union, lingering distrust of student government and general confusion over the three-pillars model have left many upperclassmen hesitant to run for office or even to vote.
Democrat Jennifer Macksey will become the first female mayor of North Adams in January after defeating opponent Lynette Bond by 200 votes in the Nov. 2 election.
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