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Editorial: The College — not just its students — must be more proactive in upholding commitments to anti-racism

Editorial: The College — not just its students — must be more proactive in upholding commitments to anti-racism

Editorial Board February 7, 2024
In an editorial, the Record editorial board calls on the the College's administration to be more proactive in their commitment to anti-racism.
Editorial: At Town Meeting, residents can vote for a more affordable, inclusive Williamstown

Editorial: At Town Meeting, residents can vote for a more affordable, inclusive Williamstown

Editorial Board May 10, 2023
The Record editorial board calls for democratic action to create a more affordable and inclusive Williamstown.
Cut less, consult more: The College should rethink student employment cuts

Cut less, consult more: The College should rethink student employment cuts

Editorial Board December 7, 2022
The Record Editorial Board argues that the College should reconsider student employment cuts.
Editorial: The College and community must go beyond reacting to bias incidents

Editorial: The College and community must go beyond reacting to bias incidents

Editorial Board November 16, 2022
The Record Editorial Board argues that the College and the campus community must be proactive in preventing racist incidents and addressing racism in our community.
Editorial: The College should provide more testing options, require updated booster shot

Editorial: The College should provide more testing options, require updated booster shot

Editorial Board September 21, 2022
The Record editorial board argues for expanded COVID policies at the College.
Editorial: A call for transparency and planning in the housing process

Editorial: A call for transparency and planning in the housing process

Editorial Board May 11, 2022
The Record editorial board argues for more transparency in housing decisions and the campus planning project.
Editorial: Expanding Dining Services next year will benefit students and Dining staff

Editorial: Expanding Dining Services next year will benefit students and Dining staff

Editorial Board May 4, 2022
The Record editorial board argues for reforms to dining at the College for fall 2022.
Editorial: The College must provide more support for students in wake of three bias incidents

Editorial: The College must provide more support for students in wake of three bias incidents

Editorial Board February 23, 2022
The College promises to support students who have felt targeted in any way. However, it must first focus on building transparency and accessibility into the reporting process.
Editorial: College should publicly commit to divestment

Editorial: College should publicly commit to divestment

Editorial Board December 8, 2021
Divestment is not just about pulling money out of fossil fuel companies; it is also about sending a message that monetary gain acquired through fossil fuel extraction is unethical, the editorial board writes. Until the College signals this to the broader public, it will not have truly divested.
Editorial: How professors can help support student mental health

Editorial: How professors can help support student mental health

Editorial Board November 10, 2021
The College prides itself on providing students a rigorous and exemplary liberal arts education. That is part of why all of us — students and faculty alike — choose to come here. But a narrow emphasis on so-called rigor often has adverse effects on students’ mental health and, subsequently, academic experience.
Editorial: College guidelines on parties, and CSS enforcement of them, imply control, not safety

Editorial: College guidelines on parties, and CSS enforcement of them, imply control, not safety

Editorial Board October 20, 2021
CSS officers should not be in student dorms unprompted, the Record board writes. Monitoring students in their living spaces violates the only real sphere of privacy they have on a small, residential campus.
Editorial: Let’s relax the limit on outdoor gatherings

Editorial: Let’s relax the limit on outdoor gatherings

Editorial Board May 19, 2021
Pointing to the low risk of outdoor COVID transmission and the increasing safety of campus, the editorial board calls on the College to let students gather outdoors in groups of up to 25 for the remainder of the semester.
Editorial: The Select Board election is a referendum on racial justice. Treat it as such.

Editorial: The Select Board election is a referendum on racial justice. Treat it as such.

Editorial Board May 9, 2021
On Tuesday, May 11, Williamstown voters will determine the Town's approach to racial justice for years to come, the Record board writes. With two Select Board seats being contested, the Town election offers an opportunity to make the Select Board more progressive.
Editorial: To ‘return in earnest,’ students should be required to get vaccinated

Editorial: To ‘return in earnest,’ students should be required to get vaccinated

Editorial Board April 21, 2021
By requiring students to get vaccinated, the College would send a clear message: We care about the health of our community. We care about the pursuit of knowledge. And we care about acting on that knowledge to do what is right.
Editorial: Amid COVID cases and CSS patrols, College’s communication is lacking

Editorial: Amid COVID cases and CSS patrols, College’s communication is lacking

Editorial Board April 7, 2021
In the days and weeks following the gatherings at Wood and Gladden Houses, students have too often been left scrambling to understand the current public health situation on campus. Students are not being given the transparency we need to feel comfortable in the environment in which we live and work. The administration’s lack of clear communication has forced students to hunt for information needed to make appropriate decisions for our health, to understand how the College conducts investigations into public health guideline violations, and to navigate the increased presence of Campus Safety and Security (CSS) in our living spaces.
Editorial: The College needs to support Asian Americans — and commit to Asian American studies

Editorial: The College needs to support Asian Americans — and commit to Asian American studies

Editorial Board March 31, 2021
We need action now. While hiring two professors is a commendable start, the editorial board calls on the College to commit to establishing a concentration in Asian American studies.
Editorial: Accountability, enforcement, and transparency after Wood

Editorial: Accountability, enforcement, and transparency after Wood

Where the community can go from here
Editorial Board March 3, 2021
The party at Wood House was a grave and potentially harmful mistake that has had massive implications for student life and College policy. For the sake of the College community, the Record asks students to hold both themselves and each other accountable; the administration to send a strong, consistent message about the consequences of COVID-19 guideline infractions; and CSS and the deans to provide greater transparency in their investigations and disciplinary actions.
Editorial: After the Wood party, the next few days are critical

Editorial: After the Wood party, the next few days are critical

Editorial Board February 28, 2021
Somewhere between 80 and 100 students demonstrated their disregard for the health of our community on Friday night. As President Maud S. Mandel noted in an email to students the following day, these students converged on Wood House for a party with little masking and less distancing. “This report is deeply disappointing to me,” Mandel wrote. To us too. We can’t change the past, but we as a College community must work over the next few days to make sure this event does not become a catastrophe.
As a difficult semester winds down, advice for the College on student mental health

As a difficult semester winds down, advice for the College on student mental health

Editorial Board December 9, 2020
As we reflect on all of the ways that the semester was successful and express gratitude to those who made it so, we also want to point to one area in which the College can do better.
It’s time to remove the WPD chief and hold the town government accountable

It’s time to remove the WPD chief and hold the town government accountable

Editorial Board November 18, 2020
WPD Chief Kyle Johnson and officers under his command face allegations of racial harassment, anti-Semitism and sexual assault in a federal lawsuit against the department.
Make Election Day a College holiday

Make Election Day a College holiday

Editorial Board October 28, 2020

As the 2020 presidential election approaches, many College students, faculty and staff who are eligible to vote are preparing to cast their ballots in person. In future years, the College should make...

The continuous model can work – if the faculty respects health days

The continuous model can work – if the faculty respects health days

Editorial Board October 21, 2020
We applaud the decision that was ultimately made, and we appreciate that student preferences — which were strongly in favor of the continuous model — were in the end taken into account. But the adoption of the continuous model also presents new challenges which we hope faculty and administration will consider as they look toward the spring.
A call to students and the administration on social distancing

A call to students and the administration on social distancing

Editorial Board October 7, 2020

120 unmasked students gathered near Poker Flats on Sept. 8.  No distancing. No masks. While community-spreading within our campus has not yet happened, our networks of friends, families...

Holding the Record accountable: reckoning with race and its intersections with journalism

Holding the Record accountable: reckoning with race and its intersections with journalism

Editorial Board August 25, 2020

In our June 6 statement “In solidarity with Black Lives Matter,” our editorial board expressed support for the Black Lives Matter movement and called on the College, its students and its alumni to...

On the College’s plan for the fall: A note of thanks and a call for answers

On the College’s plan for the fall: A note of thanks and a call for answers

Editorial Board August 19, 2020
During the hardest of times and facing insurmountable challenges, those who keep Williams running have risen to the occasion. That having been said, no plan is perfect.
In solidarity with Black Lives Matter: Where the Record, and the College, have faltered, and necessary next steps

In solidarity with Black Lives Matter: Where the Record, and the College, have faltered, and necessary next steps

Editorial Board June 6, 2020
Breonna Taylor. George Floyd. Tony McDade. Ahmaud Arbery. Tamir Rice. Oscar Grant. These are the names of only a few of the Black people who have become victims of state-sanctioned police brutality. The deaths of these people are directly tied to the anti-Black violence that first brought enslaved people to Jamestown in 1619, and that has permeated this country ever since. This violence — a system directly enabled by white supremacy — is embedded in our nation’s institutional structures through mass incarceration, hyper-surveillance of Black bodies, economic inequities and inequitable distribution of wealth.
The College’s plan leaves student voices unheard and questions unanswered

The College’s plan leaves student voices unheard and questions unanswered

Editorial Board May 21, 2020
In our editorial last week, we urged the College to reach out purposefully to students before making decisions about next year. We affirmed that safety concerns and directives from the government come before all else, but we asked that the administration systematically collect our opinions as well. Based on the all-campus email that President Maud S. Mandel sent on Tuesday regarding her plan for next year’s academic model, it is clear that the College made no such concerted effort.
Before deciding on fall plans, ask the students

Before deciding on fall plans, ask the students

Editorial Board May 13, 2020
As a tumultuous spring semester concludes, our scattered community has started shifting its attention to the fall. Will students be able to return to campus in September? If so, under what conditions? If not, what alternative learning environment will be provided?
Universal pass/fail is the best grading option for the spring semester

Universal pass/fail is the best grading option for the spring semester

Editorial Board March 25, 2020
We commend the College’s decision to move to a universal pass/fail system, which we believe is the best way to account for the unevenly distributed challenges to students’ lives posed by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Why Strategic Planning matters: On taking charge of the College’s future

Why Strategic Planning matters: On taking charge of the College’s future

Editorial Board February 26, 2020

In what direction is our community headed over the next 10 and 15 years? How will the College improve to become more equitable, inclusive, sustainable and transparent? On Feb. 12, President of the...

Three Pillars: Imperfect but improved; The Record endorses Task Force proposal, despite shortcomings

Three Pillars: Imperfect but improved; The Record endorses Task Force proposal, despite shortcomings

Editorial Board February 12, 2020

Voting on a referendum that offers the choice between two distinct paths forward for student governance at the College opened last Sunday and will close on Friday night. A Yes vote would abolish College...

Toward a better English department

Toward a better English department

Editorial Board November 6, 2019

Last week, students circulated a petition calling for a boycott of classes taught by the English department that do not “engage critically with minority issues.” The petition came directly following...

Town, gown and trash: Improving composting at the  College and in Williamstown

Town, gown and trash: Improving composting at the College and in Williamstown

Editorial Board October 30, 2019

Given the substantive lack of composting options in and around the College and Williamstown as a whole, we at the Record believe that the College and town should develop a more holistic solution to managing...

Called to action by the climate strike: The College must divest

Called to action by the climate strike: The College must divest

Editorial Board September 25, 2019

Friday’s climate strike at the College and the broader Global Climate Strike movement call attention to the necessity for leaders to take meaningful action on the climate crisis. We thank the organizers...

Editorial: Calling for more transparency, accountability in discipline for sexual assault

Editorial: Calling for more transparency, accountability in discipline for sexual assault

Editorial Board September 18, 2019

In 2014, Yoonsang Bae ’17 sexually assaulted another student while on campus. After lengthy legal proceedings, the Berkshire Superior Court found him guilty of rape on Sept. 6, and has since sentenced...

Restoring campus trust: Working toward a better student-CSS relationship

Restoring campus trust: Working toward a better student-CSS relationship

Editorial Board May 8, 2019

Recent campus events and activism have highlighted a history of fraught relations between Campus Safety and Security (CSS) and minoritized students, particularly Black and Brown students, at the College....

Toward fairness and accountability

Toward fairness and accountability

Editorial Board May 1, 2019

Last Tuesday, College Council (CC) denied Williams Initiative for Israel’s (WIFI) request to become a registered student organization. CC members voted anonymously, and only three council members participated...

We must do better

We must do better

Editorial Board April 17, 2019

When students from the Afro-American Society occupied Hopkins Hall on April 4, 1969, the Record published an editorial that day responding to the students’ demands for, among other things, the formation...

On the need for affinity housing

On the need for affinity housing

Editorial Board April 17, 2019

Creating space for minoritized students On Friday, the Coalition Against Racist Education (CARE) Now released an open letter to the Board of Trustees with a list of 12 demands calling upon the College’s...

Building an equitable  community: Making change to ensure staff can thrive

Building an equitable community: Making change to ensure staff can thrive

Editorial Board April 3, 2019

Williams College claims as its mission, “to provide the finest possible liberal arts education.”  Achieving this lofty goal depends not just upon the students and faculty, but – crucially –...

The time is now: Calling for the College to act upon recommendations and make Asian American studies a reality

The time is now: Calling for the College to act upon recommendations and make Asian American studies a reality

Editorial Board February 27, 2019

In its recent report on the status of Asian American studies (AAS) at the College, a Curricular Planning Committee (CPC) working group recommended that the College make two tenure-track appointments for...

Centering inclusiveness in the  College’s educational mission: A call for renewed attention to issues of  minority faculty and staff well-being

Centering inclusiveness in the College’s educational mission: A call for renewed attention to issues of minority faculty and staff well-being

Editorial Board February 13, 2019

With the recent leaves of Assistant Professor of Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies Kai Green ’07 and Assistant Professor of English Kimberly Love, the College’s need to foster an inclusive environment...

Addressing Title IX changes: Why we must oppose the weakening of crucial protections

Addressing Title IX changes: Why we must oppose the weakening of crucial protections

Editorial Board January 23, 2019

In addition to our main editorial this week, the Record’s editorial board wishes to recognize the College’s Board of Trustees for allowing students to replace any one summer earnings contribution...

On the Chicago Statement: Recognizing nuance and encouraging collaborative conversations around expression

On the Chicago Statement: Recognizing nuance and encouraging collaborative conversations around expression

Editorial Board December 5, 2018

In recent weeks, a faculty petition has circulated, recommending that the College adopt the Chicago Statement, a series of policies regarding disinvitation of speakers penned by the University of Chicago....

On the cancellation of Beast Thing: Considering representation and affirming our commitment to uplifting student voices

On the cancellation of ‘Beast Thing’: Considering representation and affirming our commitment to uplifting student voices

Editorial Board November 14, 2018

Last week, the College’s theatre department cancelled its fall show, Beast Thing, in response to students’ concerns about the play’s potentially traumatizing content and their experiences in the...

Upholding trans rights: Why we must vote ‘yes’ on Question 3 and stand in solidarity with trans individuals

Upholding trans rights: Why we must vote ‘yes’ on Question 3 and stand in solidarity with trans individuals

Editorial Board October 31, 2018

On Nov. 6, Massachusetts voters will decide on three ballot initiatives, the third of which aims to repeal anti-discrimination protections under the Commonwealth’s law for transgender and gender non-conforming...

Making summer accessible: Evaluating the burden caused by the College’s summer earnings requirement

Making summer accessible: Evaluating the burden caused by the College’s summer earnings requirement

Editorial Board October 17, 2018

Recently, students have brought up concerns over the College’s summer earnings requirement – the part of a student’s expected family contribution each year to be paid from money earned over the summer....

Reframing the story: On the chance for Storyboard to self-reflect and the dangers of tokenization

Reframing the story: On the chance for Storyboard to self-reflect and the dangers of tokenization

Editorial Board October 3, 2018

Last week, Storyboard, the student-run group that puts on Storytime, announced that it will be suspending Storytime in order to consider the purpose it serves in the College community and how Storytime...

Rethinking academic dishonor: Considering new policies on reporting Honor Code infractions

Rethinking academic dishonor: Considering new policies on reporting Honor Code infractions

Editorial Board September 19, 2018

As part of a wider restructuring of the College’s disciplinary policies, Dean of the College Marlene Sandstrom recently announced updated guidelines on infractions considered to be “reportable,”...

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