Max Billick ’26 is a history and economics major and Jewish studies concentrator from San Francisco, Calif. He is the Executive Editor for Town News and previously served as Town News editor, College News editor, and a staff writer for the news section.
The Honor and Discipline Committee, which hears allegations of academic misconduct at the College, used an incorrect voting procedure in its hearings for more than a year, a Record investigation found. Rather than using a three-quarters majority vote as the threshold to find a student responsible for violating the honor code and recommending a sanction, it used a simple majority — breaking policies outlined in the honor code and the dean of the College’s website.
At tonight’s Town Meeting, to be held at Mount Greylock Regional School at 7 p.m., Williamstown voters will decide on 42 warrant articles, including a provision to allow the construction of cottage court developments that could densify the Town’s housing stock, changes to tax law aimed at lowering the tax burden for low-income residents and seniors, and the first major proposed amendments to the Town Charter since its adoption in 1956.
The College received a $25 million gift to support the construction of the first purpose-built site for the Williams College Museum of Art (WCMA), the renewal of athletics and wellbeing facilities, and the funding of the all-grant financial aid program, it announced in a press release on April 16.
John Hyde ’56, professor of history emeritus, died on March 28 at the age of 93. During his 36 years in the College’s faculty, he served as dean of first-year students from 1963 to 1967 and dean of the college from 1967 to 1970. Family members, colleagues, and former students remember him as an active figure in College life — a rigorous teacher, strong supporter of College athletics, and a caring presence in the lives of those who knew him.
The Williamstown Select Board voted 4-1 against adopting a proposed resolution signed by 421 Town residents that calls for an “immediate and permanent ceasefire in Palestine and Israel” at its meeting on March 25. Members of the Select Board said they voted against the resolution on the grounds that it was not their place to weigh in on political issues outside the Town, while others disagreed with the text of the proposed resolution.
When students enter their professors’ offices, they often encounter a desk, computer, bookshelves, and perhaps the occasional poster. However, some professors have taken the opportunity to turn their offices into shrines to their personal and academic pursuits.
Following the failure of a geothermal test well at the site of the new Williams College Museum of Art (WCMA), the College will continue to explore the use of geothermal energy.
Each week, the Record (using a script in R) randomly selects a student at the College for our One in Two Thousand feature, excluding current Record board members. This week, Berit Olsson ’24 discussed her motivational tactics in both studying astrophysics and completing ultramarathons, as well as her progress on her Williams bucket list.
Members of Berkshires for Collective Liberation, a group made up of Town residents, and students from the College’s chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) spoke in favor of a proposed resolution...
The ’68 Center for Career Exploration will adjust the parameters of the Alumni Sponsored Internship Program (ASIP) for summer 2024, allowing shorter internships to qualify for grants and introducing a new sliding scale for the size of each grant, which will vary according to the length and format of the internship, as well as each student’s financial needs.
Kurt Tauber, Professor of Political Science Emeritus, died on Jan. 25 at the age of 101. He taught at the College from 1960–93 and is fondly remembered by students, family members, and former colleagues.
The first 12-student cohort of Global Scholars, a program established last fall, recently concluded its first year of mentorship, travel, and research symposia. Last week, the students returned from Paris, having formed close bonds within their academic cohort and developed a broader perspective on international relations and interdisciplinary learning.
Meike Kaan, who is currently the College’s associate vice president for communications, will succeed Jim Reische as chief communications officer (CCO) on July 1.
The Charter Review Committee (CRC) presented its proposed amendments to the Town Charter to the Select Board on Jan. 22. The Select Board is now drafting warrant articles based on the proposals, which voters can approve at the Town Meeting on May 21.
Fitch House will be unavailable in the upcoming general housing lottery because it has been set aside for use as overflow first-year housing in the 2024-2025 academic year. Thompson Hall, which was closed for renovations last spring and this fall, and Hubbell House, which is set to close due to structural issues, will return to use as upperclass residence halls.
Ruth Russell began her term as Williamstown health inspector on Nov. 13, succeeding Jeff Kennedy, who retired in August after 23 years in the role. Russell’s appointment marks the end of a months-long vacancy and search process by the Town’s government.
Alice Wanamaker ’25 and Claire McDonald ’26 won the Windy City Regional moot court competition in Chicago, Ill., on Saturday, beating 23 other collegiate teams to win every round. They will advance...
When students arrive at the College, some feel unmoored from the ways in which they practiced their faith at home, including attendance at houses of worship. While on-campus spiritual communities are part of many students’ religious lives at the College, some students seek spiritual community beyond the College’s campus.
The Mount Greylock Regional School Committee voted unanimously on Thursday to accept a $3.5 million bid by construction firm William J. Keller & Sons to build a new track and field facility at Mount Greylock Regional School (MGRS), pending the successful completion of negotiations.
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.
The Williamstown Planning Board is continuing to draft a warrant article for Town Meeting this spring that would allow for the construction of denser and more affordable housing as part of “cottage court” developments, which would consist of four to 12 buildings, the majority of which would be single-family homes, built around one common area. Under the bylaw, developers would be able to build “cottage court” developments in the Town’s general residence district “by right,” without any special approval from the Zoning Board of Appeals. Residents will have the chance to vote on the bylaw’s adoption at Town Meeting.
Louise Glück, an American poet noted for her raw portrayals of the human experience and a senior lecturer in the College’s English department from 1984 to 2004, died of cancer at her home in Cambridge, Mass., on Friday. She was 80.
Goodrich Coffee Bar now receives $6 in revenue from the College for each meal swipe used there — an increase from the $5 it had collected per swipe since 2012. The increase in the value of each meal swipe will boost Goodrich’s total revenue by around 15 percent. Students will also enjoy greater purchasing power when using a swipe, with the ability to buy up to $6 worth of menu items.
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.
At its annual tax classification hearing on Sept. 11, the Williamstown Select Board voted unanimously not to adopt the residential tax exemption (RTE) proposed by recently elected Select Board member Stephanie Boyd. Select Board members left open the possibility of adopting the RTE at next year’s tax classification hearing.
The Supreme Court declared race-conscious admissions practices at Harvard University and the University of North Carolina unconstitutional last Thursday. The long-anticipated decision will significantly alter admissions processes at schools nationwide, including those at Williams.
The Upper Lasell Fitness Center will be renovated over the summer, the College announced on May 1. The renovations will begin June 5 and are anticipated to last until the beginning of the fall 2023 semester.
Incumbent Andy Hogeland ’76 will seek reelection for his seat, while Stephanie Boyd, a current member of the Town’s Planning Board, and Paul Harsch ’69, a real estate agent, are running to serve on the Board for the first time.
This weekend, Cap & Bells will present its seventh and final production of the year, an adaptation of Agatha Christie’s classic And Then There Were None.
At this year’s Town Meeting, voters will trial the use of electronic clickers to vote on warrant articles. They will also decide on an article that would allow the Town to use $27,000 to purchase clickers for use at future meetings.
The Towne Field House has been closed indefinitely for maintenance. A student first reported that a portion of the climbing wall in the Field House — a multi-purpose, indoor athletic facility that includes the College’s indoor track — had detached from the wall on March 16.
Two of the 2023-2024 TAPSI communities approved by the Office of Campus Life (OCL) have failed to recruit enough students to retain their assigned locations.
The faculty voted 41-1 on Feb. 15 to permanently allow students to resolve a course deficiency using a fifth course taken before the deficiency was incurred.
The Office of Campus Life (OCL) will award additional housing points to first-year students living with roommates in especially small doubles, which it will designate as flex rooms — rooms that can be used as either singles or doubles — for the next academic year. OCL will not proactively notify the newly-eligible first-year students that they are recipients of additional housing points until March 18, after the housing application is due on March 10.
The Williamstown Planning Board finalized four proposals for changes to the Town’s zoning bylaw at its Feb. 14 meeting, all of which aim to increase housing affordability. These changes are intended to increase housing supply by making it easier to subdivide lots, allowing more units to be built on each lot, and permitting cheaper kinds of structures.
Imani Perry, an author and professor of African American studies at Princeton University, presented the evening keynote address for Claiming Williams day on Feb. 2. In her talk, Perry discussed the role of the South in American history, arguing that it remains a vibrant and complex focal point of American culture.
Special Collections holds hundreds of thousands of items. It is composed of two main components: the College Archives, which contain materials pertaining to the College’s history, and Chapin Library, which holds rare books and other special materials outside the scope of the Sawyer and Schow library collections.
The Office of Accessible Education (OAE) will adopt a new software program in the fall of 2023 to streamline its workload amid a staff shortage. The program, which is called Accommodate, aims to simplify the process of renewing academic accommodations — the most common kind of disability accommodation handled by OAE.
Integrative Wellbeing Services (IWS) has experienced record demand for mental health services this semester. Amid this uptick in demand, IWS is working to ensure that no student who requests help from IWS will be denied mental health services.
The College will cut managers’ budgets by approximately 15 percent and the student employment budget by 33 percent for the 2024 fiscal year, following last year’s 15 percent increase in managers’ budgets. These cuts, representing approximately $8 million and $1 million, respectively, constitute less than 3 percent of the College’s 2022 fiscal year $252 million budget.
The College will upgrade crosswalk infrastructure on Park Street near Tyler House and Tyler Annex and has set the speed limit to 7 miles per hour on the driveway leading to Tyler in response to student concerns about speeding cars and poor visibility on Park Street and the driveway.
The College launched a pilot program aimed at first-years this year to provide students with free eco-friendly laundry detergent sheets. The sheets are available at a dispenser in the lobby of Mission Park, but many first-years said they are not using them because of their distance from other first-year dorms, widespread shortages, and confusion about the need to create an account in order to use the machine.
