Aashi Mittal
Alex Choi
Alex Root
Amir Estejab
Ariana Oppenheimer
Arthur Johnson
Atlas Tan
Audrey Riddle
Ben Loudenslager
Catherine Farman-Farmaian
Charlene Peng
Chris Flores
Daria Lukinova
Emily...
Omar Ahmad
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Alex Bernstein
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Lemmy...
On Nov. 12, The Advisory Board for Lobbying and Elections (TABLE) hosted an open virtual forum for each committee, consisting of students and faculty making decisions for their particular area, to update students on their activity this past semester and their plans for next semester. Here is a quick summary of what each committee has done.
“While the disproportionate effects of the climate crisis are starting to receive due media coverage in the current moment of heightened awareness, there’s a century-long relationship between environmental degradation and racial hierarchy that also deserves deeper exploration,” Maxine Burkett ’98 told her Zoom audience on Tuesday, Nov. 17. Burkett presented a lecture sponsored by the Center for Environmental Studies and the Class of 1960 Scholars Program in Environmental Studies, entitled “First Do No Harm: Climate Migration, Reparations, and the Guarantee of Non-Repetition.”
Last fall, the lounge spaces of the Science Center were home to groups of students working together through most hours of the day and night. But this semester, the buildings remain eerily quiet, and study nooks, labeled with maximum occupancy and supplied with hand sanitizer, go unused. Science student groups are having to get creative to find modes of collaboration in the age of COVID.
On Nov. 6, the Honor and Discipline Committee sent an email to the student body to “communicate a piece of information and a few suggestions.” The email, sent by Associate Professor of Economics and Faculty Chair of the Honor and Discipline Committee Sarah Jacobson and student chair of the committee Morgan Noonan ’22, came as the committee considers a potential rise in honor code cases compared to previous semesters.
Monday 11-9-20
8:00 a.m. Gladden House: Campus Safety and Security (CSS) took a statement from a student concerning their room being vandalized and their window being broken over the weekend.
Thursday...
On Nov. 9, the State University of New York at Albany (UAlbany) announced that all academic classes would change to a remote format, cutting the in-person fall semester short by two weeks. This action follows a COVID-19 outbreak within the student body and rising case numbers in the surrounding area.
On Nov. 6, Gov. Charlie Baker implemented new coronavirus guidelines to combat the rising numbers of COVID-19 cases in Massachusetts, reflecting a recent surge in COVID-19 cases across the country.
If you have walked or driven around Williamstown this fall, you have likely spotted lawn signs bearing the names of those who campaigned for last week’s elections for seats on the Mount Greylock School Committee. With campaigns rooted in promises of guidance and support during unusual times, the election results will bring both new and old faces (some of whom are members of the College community) to the regional public school system’s leadership.
Monday 11-2-20
10:36 p.m. Mt. Hope Mansion: An officer responded to an intrusion alarm. The Williamstown Police Department (WPD) was contacted for assistance. The entire building and perimeter were...
On Thursday, Associate Professor of African American Studies at Princeton University Dr. Ruha Benjamin delivered the Davis Center’s annual lecture, which features a scholar whose work explores race, class and education. Named after anthropologist W. Allison Davis ’24 and political scientist John A. Davis ’33, two distinguished Black alums of the College notable for their contributions to the civil rights movement, the lecture offers insight to the College community on important topics pertaining to racial identity, equity and injustice.
In light of recent federal Title IX changes, the College held a Zoom session on Oct. 21, led by Assistant Vice President for Institutional Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and Title IX Coordinator Toya Camacho, to spread information on how these changes might affect those who wish to report sexual assault. The changes were first announced by the U.S. Department of Education on May 6 and took effect on Aug. 14. According to Camacho, it was the first time in 19 years that major revisions had been made to Title IX regulations.
Behind Poker Flats, construction on the College’s first community garden has finally begun. Initially started in 2018, the project was temporarily stalled due to the COVID-19 pandemic this past spring. Now, although the community garden will face limitations on spacing and participation in light of public health guidelines, the garden should be finished by the end of the calendar year, with plots available for planting next spring. Unlike Parsons Garden and the beds on the north side of the Environmental Center — existing student-run gardens on campus — the community garden will be open for Williamstown community members to plant their own plots alongside students, faculty and staff.
This past week, Wesleyan University raised their COVID-19 alert levels to yellow due to changing circumstances regarding the pandemic in Middletown, Conn., where Wesleyan is located. The university was previously at a green level, the lowest, but was raised to yellow, the second level of a three-tiered scale. Additionally this week, Connecticut College faced its largest-ever increase in infections. Both fellow NESCAC schools have implemented similar pandemic restrictions as Williams College, but due to the ever-changing nature of the pandemic, they have been forced to heighten awareness about the potential risk for outbreaks among students, faculty and staff.
Monday 10-26-20
8:19 p.m. Currier Hall: An officer responded to a window alarm in the East Ballroom.
8:25 p.m. The Log: The staff at The Log by Ramunto’s reported that the signs for the...
When the College first transitioned to remote learning last March and Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker ordered state schools to close in response to the pandemic, the Record spoke with a number of professors about how they were caring for their children while juggling remote learning. Now that the College has settled into an unconventional fall semester, we followed up with some faculty and staff about how their routines have evolved.
Updated every morning, the Williams College Coronavirus Dashboard reports the numbers of positive test results within the past day, the past week and since Aug. 17, as well as the number of completed tests. But despite the up-to-date information it provides, the College’s dashboard displays fewer statistics than many peer institutions. The College’s dashboard does not show that five students have been transitioned to remote status since the beginning of the semester and two students have faced a formal disciplinary process due to violations of the College’s COVID guidelines.
COVID-19 testing is now a part of daily life for on-campus students, faculty and staff at the College. Yet there’s so much more operating beneath the surface, from staff coordination to transportation to the testing process itself. The process that takes students under five minutes to complete has been in development since July.
In 2015, the President and Board of Trustees determined the following five goals to reduce the College’s impact on climate change by 2020: Significantly reducing the net greenhouse gas emissions, achieving carbon neutrality, reducing consumption of fossil fuels, investing in projects to benefit the environment and making investments in the College’s educational mission.
The presidents of four institutions of higher education — Maud S. Mandel of Williams College, Wayne A. I. Frederick of Howard University, Ellen Kennedy of Berkshire Community College (BCC) and Jonathan Holloway of Rutgers University — discussed the significance of voting rights and the 2020 election for colleges and universities at a Zoom webinar on Tuesday night.
On sunny days, students can be seen sprawled across Paresky lawn and Currier Quad, sharing socially distanced outdoor meals together. As the temperature begins to drop, however, these spontaneous mealtime gatherings may be harder and harder to find. The College had put up tents for both outdoor dining and the testing center before the start of the fall semester, but in recent weeks it has installed additional walls and heaters to provide comfort during colder weather.
Williams is once again No. 1. For the 18th year in a row, the College has been ranked the top liberal arts college in the nation by the U.S. News & World Report “Best Colleges” ranking list.
The Log murals, controversial for their stereotypical and ahistorical representation of Indigenous people, will be removed from the Log beginning tonight. The decision, which President Maud S. Mandel first announced on Sept. 17 in an all-campus email, follows years of discussion surrounding the murals and various attempts to address and reckon with their presence.
Monday 10-12-20
9:04 a.m. Williams Hall: Officers received a report of multiple alcohol violations. There was a table set up in a common room with several used solo cups on it, and some of the cups...
In light of COVID-related restrictions, Williams Recovery of All Perishable Surplus (WRAPS) has had to make many adjustments to the way they approach their mission of collecting surplus food from dining halls and packaging it into individual meals that are then distributed to their community partners. This year, the group’s model was forced to change, as public health guidelines prevent students from handling food and using most kitchen spaces.
In a meeting today, the faculty voted to adopt the continuous model for the spring academic calendar, one of two proposed models for next semester. The Calendar and Scheduling Committee (CSC) has been developing and revising two models: option A, the “continuous model,” which allows student to remain on campus if the semester is held in-person for the duration of the spring semester but replaces spring break with a series of “health days,” or option B, the “Thanksgiving model,” which has most students vacate campus during spring break and finish the semester remotely.
The faculty will vote in a meeting today to adopt one of two models for the spring 2021 academic calendar, both of which the Calendar and Scheduling Committee (CSC) have been developing over the past month. Described in a CSC memo, Option A, the “continuous model,” allows students to remain on campus for the duration of the spring semester but replaces spring break with a series of “health days,” while option B, the “Thanksgiving model,” has most students vacate campus during spring break and finish the semester remotely.
While much national news has recently focused on the presidential race, Massachusetts voters will have the opportunity this year to implement ranked choice voting (RCV) for future non-presidential elections via Ballot Question 2. Many students at the College have become active in the “Yes on 2” campaign to pass this ballot initiative and change Massachusetts’ voting process.
Monday 10-5-20
8:51 a.m.: Per a request from the Dean’s Office, a remote student was contacted by Campus Safety and Security (CSS) concerning reports of their presence in a dorm, as remote students...
Middlebury College removed 22 students who had gathered at two separate 15- and 16-person parties last month, suggesting that the students had violated the college’s gathering limits and social distancing protocols. Not everybody present at the parties was removed, as some of the students had left the building before Middlebury’s officers could request identification.
Harvard announced last week that Preceptor David Kane ’88 will continue his teaching duties at the university following allegations by his students that he authored racist posts on the Williams-themed website EphBlog under the pseudonym “David Dudley Field ’25.”
Every fall, the Asian Studies department hosts an in-person celebration of the Mid-Autumn Festival, a cultural activity which involves sharing mooncakes with students. In light of the pandemic, that has now been put on hold. “We can only give them virtual mooncakes,” Chinese Language Fellow Woei Wei Koay said.
Monday 9-28-20
9:59 a.m. Chandler Pool Office: There was a burglary alarm. An officer found the door to the pool was open, but no staff were around. The officer shut that door and rearmed the system....
With the uncertainty surrounding one of the College’s most unconventional semesters in memory, the Three Pillars, the College’s three branches of student government, have not only been adjusting to the confusion of COVID-19 and campus restrictions, but also to their new format. Student government has a tumultuous recent history, including the abolition of the College Council (CC) last spring and the subsequent implementation of the Three Pillars, which includes Facilitators for Allocating Student Taxes (FAST), Williams Student Union (WSU) and The Advisory Board for Lobbying and Elections (TABLE).
“It is deliberate, it is purposeful, and it is targeted,” Professor of African American Studies at Emory University Carol Anderson said of voter suppression, one of the largest issues facing American democracy.
Berkshire County, like many other counties and states around the nation, is expecting a substantially high turnout for this November’s general election. Already, Berkshire County has seen a noticeable increase in voter turnout this year.
Life across campus has shifted radically in order to implement safety measures and ensure socially distanced learning and residential life. These changes have had financial implications for the College,...
Tuesday 9-22-20
12:21 a.m. Prospect House: An officer responded to conduct a welfare check based on the concern of a student who reported their friend may have been in some form of distress. All was...
The Committee on Appointments and Promotions (CAP) has postponed its hiring search for the second of two previously approved tenure-line positions for faculty specializing in Asian American Studies (AAS) until next fall.The religion department was the only department that originally submitted a request for the position, but later rescinded its request due to staffing needs in other areas of the discipline.
Monday 9-14-20
7:02 a.m. Paresky Center: Dining Services staff reported a minor motor vehicle accident at the Paresky loading dock. A driver for Performance Foodservice was backing into the loading...
According to Dean of the College Marlene Sandstrom, the number of students currently residing on campus is approximately 1,455. That number is down from July, when enrollment data from the College administration showed that an estimated 1,645 students would return to campus for the 2020 fall semester. Students were asked to submit an intent-to-enroll form by July 10, which included a section to indicate remote or on-campus enrollment.
Last Saturday, the College inaugurated the 2020-2021 academic year with the annual convocation ceremony, albeit with a twist due to the ongoing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Thursday 8-27-20
5:02 p.m. Mission Park: An officer responded to a complaint called in by phone and a subsequent tip line submission that a student was being assisted by family moving into Mission...
Rep. Richard Neal (D-Springfield) and Mayor of Holyoke Alex Morse are competing in the Democratic primary for Massachusetts' 1st congressional district this Tuesday.
The College announced last week that it will decrease the cost of tuition by 15 percent this coming academic year, waive the work-study contribution and provide a personal allowance to all students on financial aid for the upcoming academic year. The first to do so among peer institutions, the College announced these changes as students and families across the country have questioned and have even brought lawsuits against universities, arguing for decreased tuition for a partially or completely online education amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.
Over the past month, many of the College’s peer institutions have announced their plans on whether or how to return to campus for the fall semester. President Maud S. Mandel committed to making an announcement about the College’s plans by July 1, and as that date draws near, the Chronicle of Higher Education has compiled a list of the plans released by over 1,000 colleges and universities. According to their tracker as of Tuesday night, 64 percent of colleges are planning for an in-person semester, 16 percent are proposing a hybrid model, 7 percent are considering a range of scenarios, 8 percent of are planning for an online semester and 5 percent still waiting to decide.
Faculty members have been asked to inform the College by yesterday, June 20, whether they would teach in person or remotely if the campus were to reopen in the fall. The academic subcommittee of the working group tasked with determining what an on-campus fall would look like sent an all-faculty email on June 10 to address curricular planning in the case that campus reopens in the fall. The College has not yet decided whether or not to open campus in the fall, with the decision deadline still set for July 1.
Jason Rivera will be taking over as the new director of institutional research, Provost Dukes Love announced in an all-campus email on May 22. Rivera comes from the University of Bridgeport, where he is currently vice president for university systems, effectiveness and planning.
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.
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.
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.
Last Sunday, the Task Force on Student Governance announced the results of the most recent elections for The Advisory Board for Lobbying and Elections (TABLE) and the Honor and Discipline Committee, which occurred on the same ballot.
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...
While faculty and staff deliberate on various contingency plans for the upcoming semester, many students are also waiting on word from their study abroad programs. Rising juniors who planned to study away are uncertain whether fall semester and year-long programs will commence in person, proceed with an alternative learning environment or be cancelled outright.
Last week, the Record sent out an anonymous survey to gauge student views on various possibilities the College is considering for the fall 2020 semester. The survey found broad dissatisfaction with online learning and a willingness to withdraw for the fall semester either if campus were not opened or if it were opened under flawed circumstances.
For Julie Fairchild, communications supervisor for Campus Safety and Security (CSS), these past few months have been the quietest she has seen in a while. “It used to be [that] the phone was ringing all the time or there’d be something going on, someone walking in or whatever,” she said. But ever since campus closure, Fairchild hasn’t seen much action.
Monday 4-20-20
4:41 p.m. Cole Field: An officer responded to a report that there were several groups on the athletic fields playing soccer. The officer advised two groups that group sports are currently...
As the spring semester nears its end, the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on the coming academic year remains unclear, making plans for first-year orientation programs uncertain. Ephventures organizers...
Last week, the Record sent its biannual approval ratings survey to 1000 randomly selected students, in which students were able to select “approve,” “disapprove” or “neutral” in response to a number of campus institutions and policies.
Collecting specimens from local frog ponds in the Berkshires, manipulating glassware and working with hazardous chemicals are just some of the activities originally designed for Division III lab courses that faculty have had to alter drastically or remove entirely since the College switched to remote learning.
As institutions of higher education across the world are grappling with the question of reopening in the fall, the College has developed a plan to work toward a decision.
In Other Ivory Towers is the Record’s look at colleges and universities outside the Purple Bubble. In recent weeks, schools nationwide have been considering the question of whether classes can be held on campus in the fall.
Sunday 4-19-20
1:30 p.m. Sawyer Library: Officers responded to an intrusion alarm. They found a staff member from the Office for Information Technology (OIT) working who did not realize the building...
In the wake of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the College has been forced to make large-scale changes to both spring and summer scheduling. An all-campus email sent by Dean of the College Marlene Sandstrom...
In a faculty meeting conducted over Zoom last Wednesday, President of the College Maud S. Mandel announced the creation of an ad hoc committee tasked with planning alternative options if in-person classes...
While many students spent their spring break adjusting to life during the COVID-19 pandemic and preparing for the transition to remote learning, Eliza Bower ’20 was also thinking of a way to help the local Williamstown community. About three weeks ago, Bower reached out to medical centers and restaurants in Berkshire County and began organizing a campaign that would connect the two, providing medical workers with free meals and giving restaurants much-needed business.
Following Gov. Charlie Baker’s March 15 order for schools across Massachusetts to close in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, some faculty at the College have had to contend with caring for their children in addition to restructuring curricula for remote learning. School closures were initially set to expire on April 6, but an extension ordered by Baker will keep public and private schools and non-emergency daycare programs closed until at least May 4.
Hospitals across the United States, overwhelmed by COVID-19, are facing critical shortages of personal protective equipment. After hearing about this shortage, Associate Professor of Geosciences Phoebe Cohen contacted staff at Southern Vermont Medical Center (SVMC) and Berkshire Medical Center (BMC), two of the closest hospitals to the College, to ask if they were in need of supplies.
In the wake of the College’s shift to remote learning, many aspects of academic life remain in question, including the fate of the colloquium requirement the computer science and mathematics and statistics departments.
As students studying abroad in Europe have faced course cancellations and advisories to return home by both their programs and the College, students studying outside of Europe are also grappling...
In the days following the College’s announcement that it will move to remote learning, students receiving financial aid faced uncertainty as they prepared to return home without the resources available...
Soraya Membreno ’12 gave a talk last Thursday on her experience as a first-generation immigrant of color at the College titled “These are the things that no one tells you: On navigating primarily...
On Feb. 21, the College released the drafts of 12 strategic planning reports, including a report on international initiatives, which had the goal of creating a “fuller integration of global learning...
Monday 3-2-20
8:45 p.m. Southworth St.: A staff member in College housing on Southworth St. reported an odd odor outside their residence. The resident and officers checked the perimeter of the house...
Theodore Anderson
Lili Au
Oliver Behrens
Andrew Bigelow
Becca Brody
Caroline Case
Galen Cassidy
Max Chayet
William Chen
Justin Connell
Jadon Cooper
Grace Dailey
Hazel...
This past week, Williamstown community members and students alike crowded in the lecture halls beneath the Williams College Museum of Art (WCMA) to hear Iraqi food writer Nawal Nasrallah discuss the culture of food in the Middle East. Nasrallah’s lecture was presented in accordance with the ongoing exhibition in WCMA’s 1935 Gallery, The invisible enemy should not exist. The piece, by artist Michael Rakowitz, is an expansive reconstruction of seven limestone reliefs that once lined palace walls, using contemporary Middle Eastern food packaging from northern Iraqi brands.
Last Wednesday, Visiting Professor in Democratic Studies Rowan Ricardo Phillips hosted an event entitled “Silent Poems, Talking Pictures, and the Infinite Playlist.” Also speaking were fellow award-winning artists Teju Cole — novelist, photographer, critic, curator, and author of five books — and Ishion Hutchinson — Cornell professor, journal editor, and author of two poetry collections. The three read their pieces and discussed poetry as a tool for better understanding race and democracy.
The Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA) Berkshire Cultural Resource Center’s decision to offer a free shuttle bus dubbed the ‘art shuttle’ has the potential to serve all College students.
On Sunday, March 1, the Three Pillars Task Force released the results of its most recent election, which determined the members of the Williams Student Union and the Facilitators for Allocating Student Taxes (FAST).
As the coronavirus epidemic continues to spread, international students at the College are experiencing the consequences of increasing travel restrictions. As of Tuesday, The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued a level three travel health notice for China, Iran, Italy and South Korea, cautioning that all travelers avoid nonessential travel to those countries.
On Feb. 18, an anonymous plaintiff under the pseudonym John Doe filed a lawsuit against the College. The lawsuit alleges that the College violated Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972 by suspending the plaintiff after finding him responsible for sexual misconduct.
Tuesday 2-25-20
12:08 a.m. Sawyer Library: Officers responded to the circulation desk for a panic alarm, but found no emergency. The alarm was most likely hit by accident by a person sitting...
Mass. prohibits use of handheld devices for all drivers
On Feb. 23, new “hands-free” driving legislation took effect in Massachusetts that prohibit all use of handheld devices behind the wheel....
During the 2017-2018 academic year, 52,600 students from U.S. colleges studied in China, Italy and South Korea, according to the International Institute of Education, and numbers in more recent years...
Nikole Hannah-Jones, a staff writer at The New York Times Magazine and the curator of its 1619 Project, which puts slavery’s continuing legacy at the center of American history, began her talk to a sold-out audience at the ’62 Center for Theatre and Dance last Wednesday with a disclaimer.
The Office of Student Life (OSL) has announced a plan that would enable the College to house more students than usual next year in the case of an “unforeseeable situation,” such as the cancellation of study away programs due to the recent coronavirus outbreak.
Jan Padios, a professor of American studies at the University of Maryland, officially accepted a position at the College as a tenured associate professor of Asian American studies (AAS) in the American studies department on Feb. 17.
Professor of Leadership Studies Chris Gibson will become the 12th president of Siena College in Loudonville, N.Y., beginning his five-year term on July 1, 2020. Gibson, a veteran and former congressman, was appointed unanimously by the Siena board of trustees, Siena College announced on Feb. 14.
Earlier this month, the College released the draft report of the Learning Beyond the Classroom working group, alongside 11 other draft reports from its strategic planning groups. The release of these working group draft reports represents the latest development in a process that began in September 2018 and is expected to have wide ranging effects on many facets of the College’s operations.
A recent Handshake job posting by U.S. Customs and Border Protection raised several questions regarding the level of control that individual schools have over the database’s algorithm for recommendations.
On Monday, Feb. 24, self-nominations for positions within the Facilitators for Allocating Student Taxes (FAST) and the Williams Student Union, two bodies of the newly structured student government, were released.
On Feb. 12, the Sustainability Working Group — a team composed of four faculty and staff members and one student representative — released a draft of the College’s sustainability strategic plan, which will be open to public review until this Friday.
