The Williams Record

Gabe Miller, Executive Editor for Investigations

Gabe Miller ’25 is an economics and math major from Mamaroneck, N.Y. He is executive editor for investigations.  He previously served as a college news editor and a staff writer for the news section.

Email: [email protected]

All content by Gabe Miller
WSU sees increased voter turnout, all elections contested for first time

WSU sees increased voter turnout, all elections contested for first time

Gabe Miller February 22, 2023
The Williams Student Union (WSU) announced its spring semester representatives on Feb. 16 — the results of the first completely competitive election in its seven-semester-long history. “We’re gratified that students in all class years are passionate about stepping up to advocate for Williams students,” members of WSU wrote in an email to the Record.
The restaurant’s pistachio danish was satisfying and delicious. (Gabe Miller/The Williams Record)

Review: Breakfast at The Break Room

Palvasha Khan and Gabe Miller February 15, 2023
Two executive editors revive the Record's food reviews starting off with a taste of The Break Room's breakfast menu.
MassDOT studies possible passenger train service from Boston to North Adams

MassDOT studies possible passenger train service from Boston to North Adams

Inés Garcia and Gabe Miller January 25, 2023
The Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) is conducting the Northern Tier Passenger Rail Study to explore the feasibility of passenger train service between North Adams and Boston, as called for by the commonwealth’s 2020 budget.
Record approval ratings survey shows increased approval of IWS, COVID policies

Record approval ratings survey shows increased approval of IWS, COVID policies

Gabe Miller and Julia Goldberg December 7, 2022
The Record sent its biannual survey to 500 randomly selected unixes last week to gauge students’ approval of College policies and institutions.
Jay Pasachoff saw more eclipses than anyone else. (Photo courtesy of Williams College.)

Famed astronomer and eclipse-chaser Professor Jay Pasachoff dies at 79

Gabe Miller and David Wignall December 7, 2022
Professor of Astronomy Jay Pasachoff died of complications from lung cancer in his Williamstown home on Nov. 20. He was 79. At the time of his death, Pasachoff was the longest-serving faculty member at the College, the chair of the astronomy department, and the director of the Hopkins Observatory. He had also witnessed 74 solar eclipses — more than any human in history. He is fondly remembered by faculty and students alike.
Marx, Barbir, and Lin will lead The Williams Record during spring 2023. Wang, Marx, and Royer will then lead the Record the subsequent fall.

From the newsroom: Marx, Wang, Barbir, Lin, and Royer to lead the Record in 2023

Gabe Miller December 7, 2022
The Record editorial board has elected Ella Marx ’24, Lindsay Wang ’24, Kent Barbir ’24, Megan Lin ’24, and Kiara Royer ’24 to lead the newspaper in 2023. They will succeed current Editor-in-Chief Annie Lu ’23, and Managing Editors Cameron Pugh ’23 and Bellamy Richardson ’23.
Projessor Bakija competed at a tournament in Sarasota, Fla., earlier this month. (Photo courtesy of Katie Cooper/UltiPhotos.)

Jon Bakija recounts storied ultimate frisbee career

Gabe Miller November 30, 2022
Over the years, Professor and Chair of Economics Jon Bakija has played a lot of ultimate frisbee. Through the sport, he met his wife, fostered a love for athletics, and competed in world championships. This is his ultimate frisbee story.
The office of the president is located on the second floor of Hopkins Hall.

College to create anti-racist task force

Gabe Miller and Julia Goldberg November 16, 2022
President Maud S. Mandel and Vice President for Institutional Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Leticia S.E. Haynes ’99 will form an anti-racist task force to address race-based bias at the College.
Goff posted a notice offering a $250 reward for information about the damage. (Gabe Miller/The Williams Record)

Williams Shop damaged over Homecoming

Gabe Miller November 16, 2022
A window of the Williams Shop storefront was broken shortly after 11 p.m. on Nov. 12. Located at 15 Spring St., the Williams Shop — commonly known as “Goff’s” among students — opened as normal on Sunday, and owner Bruce Goff ’83 boarded up the damaged window with removable shed doors.
Approximately 2,130 students are enrolled this semester, a figure 115 students higher than the average fall enrollment between 2016 and 2019. (Sam Riley/The Williams Record)

College to implement stricter COVID-19 policies after Thanksgiving

Gabe Miller November 16, 2022
The College will require masking almost everywhere on campus from Nov. 27 to Dec. 6 and require students to test for COVID-19 once before they return to campus after Thanksgiving Break and twice after they arrive, according to an all-campus email sent on Nov. 14 by Chief Communications Officer Jim Reische.
(Angela Gui/The Williams Record)

Inflation spurs College to cut managers’ budgets by 15 percent and student employment spending by 33 percent

Max Billick and Gabe Miller November 9, 2022
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 anti-Black slur was found on a now-removed chalkboard in Sawyer 429. (Julia Goldberg/The Williams Record)

Anti-Black slur found on chalkboard in Sawyer library

Annie Lu, Gabe Miller, and Iman Shumburo November 2, 2022
On Oct. 24, Director of the Writing Center Julia Munemo found an anti-Black racial slur scrawled in black marker on a chalkboard in Sawyer 429, the Writing Center’s meeting room. “The slur appeared below some writing in chalk — notes from a group study session — and seemed unrelated and in different handwriting,” Munemo wrote in an email to the Record.
PeopleSoft is currently hosted in Jesup Hall. (Gabe Miller/The Williams Record)

College to replace PeopleSoft by 2026

Sam Coyle and Gabe Miller November 2, 2022
By 2026, the College will no longer use PeopleSoft — the more-than-two-decades-old software underpinning its student records (Sarah), human resources (Ephr), and finance systems — though a replacement has not yet been determined. The replacement project is called Collaboratively Optimizing Williams.
Members of the men’s track team and Cecchi-Rivas sold pastries on Saturday. (Gabe Miller/The Williams Record)

Puerto Rican students, men’s track and field host Hurricane Fiona fundraiser

Gabe Miller November 2, 2022
Fior Cecchi-Rivas ’25, Clara Ramirez Trelles ’24, and members of the men’s track and field team held a field day fundraiser on Saturday to support charities that will help rebuild homes in Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic after Hurricane Fiona struck in September.
Local residents to put up signs in Town for Indigenous Peoples’ Day

Local residents to put up signs in Town for Indigenous Peoples’ Day

Gabe Miller October 5, 2022
Williamstown residents justin adkins, Drew Art, Christine DeLucia, Randal Fippinger, and Jim Reische, will be putting up 50 signs in Town commemorating Indigenous Peoples’ Day on Oct. 10.
NESCAC coalition launches petition against crisis pregnancy centers

NESCAC coalition launches petition against crisis pregnancy centers

Gabe Miller and David Wignall October 5, 2022
More than 700 community members across all 11 NESCAC schools have signed a petition that calls for the schools to ban crisis pregnancy centers (CPCs) from advertising — and otherwise operating — on their campuses. The NESCAC Coalition to Ban CPCs, an organization that Middlebury students started this past summer, wrote the petition and began distributing it on June 29.
Approximately 2,130 students are enrolled this semester, a figure 115 students higher than the average fall enrollment between 2016 and 2019. (Sam Riley/The Williams Record)

College replaces paid student note-taker program with volunteer-only positions

Gabe Miller October 5, 2022
Effective this semester, the Office of Accessible Education (OAE) has stopped paying student note-takers. The change, according to Assistant to the Director of Accessible Education Jean Grant, is the result of the department’s budgetary pressure and increased student demand for note-taking services.
(Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.)

Title IX-related case alleging College wrongly decided allegation dismissed

Gabe Miller September 28, 2022
On Sept. 7, a magistrate judge for the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts granted the College’s motion for summary judgment in a Title IX-related lawsuit originally filed on Feb. 18, 2020. The decision dismissed the claims of a former student who brought the lawsuit under the pseudonym John Doe, whom the College previously found responsible for sexual misconduct.
WSU hosts its meetings in the People’s Office in the second floor of Paresky. (Sam Riley/The Williams Record)

Elections prompt WSU constitutional change, no juniors run for Honor and Discipline

Gabe Miller September 28, 2022
Last week, the student body elected 12 members to the Williams Student Union (WSU) for the fall semester and six members to the Honor and Discipline Committee for the academic year. Two seats on the Honor and Discipline Committee remain unfilled.
Heating and powering the campus: Its a steam effort

Heating and powering the campus: It’s a steam effort

Gabe Miller September 21, 2022
The steam tunnels of the College have been the subject of lore for generations of students. Beyond the campus myths about a secret network of passages under the campus, these tunnels have a much more practical function: heating the water to our showers, warming the radiators in our dorms, and even charging our devices.
Students will now be allowed to work at the College for a maximum of 20 hours per week instead of 10. (Tali Natter/The Williams Record)

College raises student weekly work limit to 20 hours, TA positions to become hourly

Gabe Miller and Rachel Schmidt May 7, 2022
Effective for the next academic year, the College will raise the limit on the number of hours students can work on campus to 20 hours per week from the previous 10 hour limit, convert teaching assistant (TA) jobs to hourly positions, and allow paid residential leadership position holders, including Junior Advisors (JAs), House Coordinators (HCs), and Residential Directors (RDs) to hold other paid on-campus positions.
Staff at the testing center in Greylock Hall. (Sam Riley/The Williams Record)

College reports 26 new cases on Wednesday

Gabe Miller April 27, 2022
On Wednesday, the College reported 20 new student cases and six new faculty and staff positive cases. 1140 new tests were added to the COVID dashboard on Wednesday, bringing the number of positive tests in the past seven days to 56. These cases bring the College’s weekly positivity rate to 1.91%.
Staff at the testing center in Greylock Hall. (Sam Riley/The Williams Record)

College reports 26 new COVID-19 cases

Gabe Miller April 20, 2022
On Wednesday, the College reported 21 new student cases and five new faculty and staff positive cases.  1104 new tests were added to the COVID dashboard on Wednesday, bringing the number of positive tests since the start of last week to 92.  Today’s cases bring the College’s weekly positivity rate to 2.7%.
Students permitted to unmask in class — at the discretion of their professors

Students permitted to unmask in class — at the discretion of their professors

Gabe Miller April 13, 2022
For the first time in more than two years, students will be able to unmask during class.
The College admitted 858 students through the regular decision process.(Ella Marx/Williams Record)

College admits 8.5 percent of applicants to Class of 2026

Gabe Miller April 13, 2022
The College admitted 1048 prospective students to the Class of 2026 through the regular decision process on March 18, according to Dean of Admission and Student Financial Services Liz Creighton ’01.
One in Two Thousand: Henry Wieman ’25

One in Two Thousand: Henry Wieman ’25

Gabe Miller March 16, 2022
This week, the computer (using a script in R) chose Henry Wieman ’25, who discussed their nicknames, Newark, Del., and their involvement in campus groups.
In-person Williams Previews returns after three years

In-person Williams Previews returns after three years

Gabe Miller and David Wignall March 16, 2022
For the first time since 2019, students admitted to the College will be invited to campus for Williams Previews programming. The College will host in-person programming on April 11 and virtual programming on April 14 and 15 for admitted students who are not able to visit campus, Dean of Admission and Student Financial Services Liz Creighton ’01 wrote in an email to the Record.
The College admitted 858 students through the regular decision process.(Ella Marx/Williams Record)

College raises comprehensive fee for the 2022-23 school year

Gabe Miller March 9, 2022
The 2022-2023 comprehensive fee will be $77,300, a three-and-a-half percent increase from 2021-2022. This figure includes tuition, housing, meals, and mandatory student fees.
(Samuel Riley/The Williams Record)

WSU spring semester election fills all 12 seats for first time

Gabe Miller March 2, 2022
For the first time in its five-semester-long history, the Williams Student Union (WSU) has filled all 12 — three of each class year — of its seats following the elections for the Spring 2022 term. The elected representatives for the upcoming term are Argenis Herrera ’22, Aidan Lloyd-Tucker ’22, Kevin Yang ’22, Manny Copeland ’23, Caitlin Han ’23, Yunjin Park ’23, Samir Ahmed ’24, Gwyn Chilcoat ’24, Jay Kim ’24, Quinn Casey ’25, Shoshie Hemley ’25, and Bobby Verhey ’25.
Rhiana Gunn-Wright, a climate activist, holds a lecture on the Green New Deal.

College relaxes masking requirements

Gabe Miller February 28, 2022
Effective immediately, fully vaccinated and boosted students, faculty, and staff are allowed to unmask in indoor athletics facilities, academic and administrative buildings, and at events that are open only to members of the campus community, Chief Communications Director Jim Reische announced in an all-campus email today.
Both Long and Siniawer are currently professors of history at the College (Photos courtesy of Williams College).

Incoming Dean Long and Provost Siniawer consider priorities, expectations

Gabe Miller February 23, 2022
Professors of History Gretchen Long and Eiko Maruko Siniawer ’97 spoke with the Record about their eagerness to serve as the next Dean of the College and Provost, respectively, the selection process, and their priorities.
College awards tenure to eight faculty members

College awards tenure to eight faculty members

Gabe Miller and Benjamin Alexander February 9, 2022
The Board of Trustees approved the promotion of eight assistant professors to associate professorships with tenure at its Jan. 21 meeting: Matthew Chao, economics; José Constantine, geosciences; Christophe Koné, German; Joel Lee, anthropology; Ralph Morrison ’10, mathematics; Justin Shaddock, philosophy; Daniel Turek, statistics; and Aaron Williams, computer science. These appointments will take effect on July 1.
Faculty, staff base pay increases by 3 percent

Faculty, staff base pay increases by 3 percent

Gabe Miller January 26, 2022
Inflation has made its way to Williamstown. Faculty and staff salaries raised 3 percent to combat rising prices, Provost Love announced on Dec. 14.
College admits 255 students to Class of 2026 through early decision

College admits 255 students to Class of 2026 through early decision

Gabe Miller December 20, 2021
The College accepted 255 students — 31.3 percent of applicants — to the Class of 2026 through this year’s early decision admissions process on Dec. 10. This year’s acceptance rate is down from the 33 percent acceptance rate for last year’s early decision and 37 percent the year before.
Leaky truck causes chemical spill on Routes 2, 7, 8

Leaky truck causes chemical spill on Routes 2, 7, 8

Gabe Miller December 8, 2021
A spill of aluminum sulfate — a water treatment chemical that can be toxic when ingested by humans or animals — along Routes 2, 7, and 8 closed Route 7 from Sand Springs Road in Williamstown to Pownal, Vt., on Saturday morning. The closure lasted from 6:29 a.m. to 11 a.m.
(Sabrine Brismeur/The Williams Record)

’68 Center resumes allocating Career Access Fund

Gabe Miller December 8, 2021
The ’68 Center for Career Exploration on Dec. 6 ended a months-long pause on the Career Access Fund (CAF), which provides financial support for expenses arising from career preparation, internship and job interviews, and graduate studies preparation. 
College eliminates summer earnings requirement from financial aid

College eliminates summer earnings requirement from financial aid

Gabe Miller November 10, 2021
Beginning this summer, the College will eliminate the summer earnings requirement from financial aid calculations. This policy change will lower the average family contribution by $6,000 over a student’s four years on campus and will apply to all financial aid recipients.
Amherst announced that they would end legacy admissions and expand their financial aid program. (Photo courtesy of WikiCommons.)

End to legacy admissions preference at Amherst raises question: Should Williams follow suit?

Gabe Miller October 27, 2021
Amherst announced on Oct. 20 that it will end legacy preference in admissions and expand its financial aid programs. As Williams' fiercest rival makes moves that it says will increase institutional equity, eyes turn to whether Williams should follow in its peer’s footsteps.
Load More Stories

Comments (0)

All The Williams Record Picks Reader Picks Sort: Newest