This week, Christina Walsh began their new role as dean of first-year students at the College after the departure of Christopher Sewell.

Gov. Charlie Baker on April 27 announced an order, effective April 30, to lift the state’s mandate requiring masks outdoors at all times. The College, however, will likely continue to require outdoor masking for the remainder of the semester.

At least a dozen colleges and universities across the U.S. have said they will require students planning to enroll in the fall to be vaccinated against COVID-19.

At the Williamstown Select Board meeting on March 22, Acting WPD Chief Ziemba said that the officers who illegally searched the records of WPD critics' have been suspended without pay. Also at the meeting, the board discussed the selection processes for the interim WPD chief and town manager and broadened the scope of Levenson’s investigation.

The Class of 2021 will celebrate commencement with an in-person ceremony on May 31, according to the College’s commencement web page, and Senior Week will be shortened to a day and a half right after exams. Senior class officers, however, are pushing the administration for a full-length Senior Week and to allow limited guests.

The Town Planning Board unanimously passed a bylaw at March 9 monthly meeting that would allow residents of Williamstown to cultivate cannabis. The motion has been passed on to the Town Select Board, which will review the motion at its March 22 meeting.

Members of The Williams Record, Williamstown Racial Justice and Police Reform (RJPR), and the Williamstown Diversity, Inclusion and Racial Equity Committee (DIRE) spoke about civic engagement, racial justice, and police accountability in Williamstown at a Zoom webinar on Thursday.