I still remember the first time I stepped foot into Brayton Elementary School in North Adams. After weeks of searching for the perfect job with the Center for Learning in Action (CLiA), I was given the...
This is the semester where no one knew what to expect. No one knew what was going to happen. All we had were numerous scenarios. Our planning started with the worst-case — a massive outbreak of COVID-19...
Travis Roy died two weeks ago at the age of only 45. Made quadriplegic as the result of a catastrophic injury in his first on ice moments for Boston University hockey in 1995, Roy continued as a celebrated...
As schools began to shut down in March in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, many anxious parents scrambled and searched for ways to maintain and support their children's education. This was a time unlike...
My relationship with the U.S. is complicated, to say the least. I am a U.S. citizen, but as a resident of Puerto Rico, I am ineligible to vote in the general presidential elections. I carry a U.S. passport,...
This is a thank you note to Maud and all of the people at Williams who worked so hard to bring students back to campus. The faculty and staff who deserve credit won’t brag about it, so we will.
If...
Photo courtesy of Max Odell.
Each week, we randomly select a unix from a list of all current students at the College for our One in Two Thousand feature. As long as the owner of a selected unix is...
Several weeks ago, I played the song, “The Kingdom of God is Justice and Peace” to a photo montage of the news of the week during a virtual Night Prayer service attended by an assortment of people,...
I haven’t been in a classroom since January.
When my new classmates hear this, most of them offer their sympathies. “That must suck.” “It must be so difficult.”
Of course,...
I spent all summer dreading the fall. There were nights when I would lay in my bed restlessly as the question mark of what the future held chipped away at me. A part of me missed school and opening my...
(Photo courtesy of Paula Consolini.)
Even in the best of circumstances, it would be hard to keep up with all the community work and engaged learning Williams students do. In these times of small face-to-face...
Berkshire County District Attorney Andrea Harrington’s office put Williamstown Police Department (WPD) officer Craig Eichhammer on a list of police officers flagged by the office for having engaged...
As the United States enters its ninth month of the COVID-19 pandemic, 43 million Americans are facing eviction, 13.6 million are unemployed and over 200,000 have died. Meanwhile, the U.S. government has...
As the food sustainability intern for the Zilkha Center this summer, my work has involved researching the College’s current commitments to food sustainability and potential future ones in this time...
This essay is adapted from Rabbi Seth’s remarks at the start of Rosh Hashanah services on Friday, September 18, 2020, which marked the beginning of the Jewish new year.
A story is told of a king...
Dear Sawyer Library,
Please consider making all the public restrooms in Sawyer gender-neutral since they are single occupancy. This would be more inclusive and more efficient.
Best,
Katrina...
Here are three surprising facts. The first: Nuclear power is the largest source of carbon-free energy in the US right now, supplying 20 percent of US electricity. The second: The Intergovernmental Panel...
As individuals who live and work in Williamstown, and especially as students and teachers of faith traditions that uphold the dignity of each person, we are appalled by the recent allegations of racial...
Renewed criticism of College’s 2018 funding of new police station, concerns over WPD presence on campus
President of the College Maud S. Mandel sent a letter to the Williamstown Select Board on Aug....
As a 29 year-old, ice-cream-truck-driving, U.S. Army Reservesman fresh out of Boston College Law School, Edward J. Markey first made a name for himself in the Massachusetts State House of Representatives...
In an email sent out to the College community on July 8, President of the College Maud S. Mandel condemned the federal guidance issued by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) which, among other...
While researching skin-lightening creams, I started to wonder if fair as in “just,” fair as in “beautiful,” and fair as in “light-complexioned” were etymologically linked. According to the...
The Williamstown Police Department’s (WPD) use of force policy does not require the use of de-escalation tactics before force is used.
It does not establish a duty to intervene when officers...
Dear Classes of 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024,
Today, when many of us are spending more time than ever in front of the computer, I would like to take a moment to talk to you about where we are and where...
I care. Didn’t you see my repost? The message being sent by most non-Black people attempting to act as allies during the wake of George Floyd’s death, as the international campaign for the Black...
“In the wake, the river, the weather, and the drowning are death, disaster, and possibility.”
Christina Sharpe, In the Wake: On Blackness and Being, pg. 105
As a community of scholars who labor...
Juneteenth celebrates the abolition of chattel slavery in the United States of America in 1865. As we commemorate the anniversary of this glorious event on the precipice of Independence Day, we implore...
As chants of “no justice, no peace” and “No Trump, no KKK, no fascist USA” erupted in Field Park, drivers passing by the roundabout honked their horns in support, many stopping to pump their fists...
Following the anger and sadness that many in the Williams community are experiencing after recent acts of police brutality against Black people and ensuing protests against systemic racism, many student...
Increased numbers of state police troopers have been stationed in Berkshire County in the past few days as part of a statewide plan responding to what state law enforcement officials say are reports of...
On May 19, when President Maud S. Mandel sent out a campus-wide email announcing that Winter Study will be canceled and that students will only be required to take three courses per semester, the Williams...
Oullette at the Tanglewood Music Center. (Photo courtesy of Leticia Guzman.)
Perhaps one of the most devastating impacts of the global pandemic is how challenging it has become to collectively...
The class of 2020 is graduating into a job market that has “literally imploded,” according to Director of the Career Center Don Kjelleren. “We have never seen the labor market unravel that fast...
To the Williams College Class of 2020:
You are graduating into a world facing challenges unlike any we have seen in our lifetimes. A global pandemic is sweeping the globe, millions of Americans are...
Nohely Peraza poses next at the Hopkins Memorial Gate in her cap and gown.
It is again the time of year when seniors are normally preparing to receive their diplomas from the College, with their family...
2020 — the perfect vision class! 2000 got the millennium, 2017 had their prime, but vision… there’s a game-changer, and have we ever needed it more? In the past few months it’s been...
Friday was the last day of class, the last day of college. I finished off with “PSCI 215: Race and Inequality in the American City” with Assistant Professor of Leadership Studies and Political...
When you tell the story of your life and experience at Williams College, of what you did and how you grew during your time here, what will you include and what will you leave out?
Do you talk about...
A senior thesis represents the culmination of many students’ academic journeys at the College. But this year, like most other aspects of College life, the senior thesis process has been heavily affected...
Dear Williams Class of 2020:
Congratulations! Neuroscientists say struggle is crucial to learning, so there’s no doubt you will learn a lot over the next few years. America has dug itself in a Mariana...
I was the first in my family to receive a high school diploma. Shortly, I will also be the first to earn a bachelor’s degree. I can’t explain what it means to graduate from college without explaining...
In my experience so far, online learning has kind of sucked. But given that we’re stuck with some form of it next year, it’s useful to consider exactly why I feel this way. For me, it’s not really...
We have experienced a great deal of change in the last two months. The word “unprecedented” has become a part of our everyday vocabulary, and things that were big parts of our lives at the beginning...
At 3:29 p.m. on May 19, I was sitting at my kitchen table writing my REL 200 final paper. I then received a text message from my friend saying, “it’s out,” at which point I scrambled over to my...
As a result of College social distancing policy, the Paresky Center is only open between 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on weekdays for mail retrieval. (Kevin Yang/The Williams Record)
On May 6, the College began...
Dear friends, community members and loved ones,
We are writing to you from various parts of the country, together while apart. We are writing as peers, your fellow students and classmates, but as we...
Content Warning: Sexual Assault
What do you call a 2,000-page overhaul of legislation that strips power from one of the most vulnerable populations in the sphere of higher education? If you are...
I was asked to write a brief reflection piece as I head into retirement at the end of June after a 32-year career in higher education that culminated in my current role as VP for Campus Life here at Williams....
It has been more than a month and a half since most students left campus and returned home to finish the semester remotely. If you are anything like us and have found yourself in a bit of an entertainment...
