Haley Zimmerman is an English and math major from Seattle, Wash. She is the editor-in-chief. She previously served as executive editor for the news section and as a section editor and staff writer for the features section.
President of the College Maud S. Mandel outlined a set of principles upon which she believes “any compact committed to excellence in higher education should be based” in an all-campus email on Oct. 6. The email follows a memo from the Trump administration to nine schools — not including Williams — which asks the institutions to commit to a set of wide-ranging terms in exchange for favorable access to federal funds.
After several weeks of uncertainty, the Facilitators for Allocating Student Taxes received its annual budget — $310,818.49 — from the College’s Finance Office on Tuesday. The organization will receive another allocation of approximately $100,000 this spring.
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, Emily Singer ’28 discussed her first three years at the College, her love for music, and her advice for first-years.
In a letter from the editor, The Record's Editor in Chief for the spring semester, Haley Zimmerman, reiterates the paper's commitment to serving the college community with integrity and fairness.
The College plans to incur $106 million in debt over the next decade to finance its Energy and Carbon Master Plan, which seeks to reduce campus emissions by 80 percent by 2050.
Multiple buildings on campus were graffitied with phrases including “Free Palestine” and “Long Live Intifada” sometime between Monday night and Tuesday morning. According to Director of Campus...
Seventy-six percent of all letter grades awarded in classes were an A+, A, or A- during the 2023–24 academic year, and 50 percent of grades were an A, according to data from the Office of Institutional Research (OIR). Twenty-five years ago, by contrast, A range grades comprised just 21 percent of grades.
The College’s endowment delivered a return of 10.2 percent for the 2024 fiscal year, bringing its total value to $3.65 billion — the first time the endowment has increased in value since 2021.
The Williamstown Apothecary — the only pharmacy within a mile of campus — will close on Nov. 14 due to major financial challenges. Its closure will pose accessibility challenges for students seeking over-the-counter medications, prescriptions, and toiletries. In response, the College is working to provide new services that will replace gaps created by the Apothecary’s closure.
The College’s Investment Office launched a new website on Oct. 11 that includes details about the College’s investment strategy, asset allocation, and approach to investor responsibility standards. The website is part of the Investment Office’s efforts to make its practices more transparent, a commitment the College announced in the wake of student protests related to the war in Gaza.
The Board of Trustees approved a new set of policies at its Sept. 27 meeting that outline the process through which community members can propose new public art. It also established a Public Art Committee that will provide guidance on the process and review proposals.
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, Annie Morrison ’26 discussed Unitarian Universalism, Kesha, and theatre. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Following the launch of Workday, students have reported delays in the hiring process for their on-campus jobs, and receiving their paychecks. According to College administrators, most issues have now been resolved and the software’s functionality will continue to improve.
The Office of Institutional Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (OIDEI) will assume responsibility of the Office of Sexual Assault Prevention and Response (SAPR).
One recent alum and one student at the College filed complaints to the Department of Education alleging that College administrators violated the Clery Act after the complainants were victims of sexual assault or stalking on campus.
This decision follows an announcement in April that the College was considering closing the program at the end of June 2025 due to decades of low enrollment numbers and high expenses, prompting fervent outcry from the program’s faculty, students, and alums.
The Board of Trustees followed the ACSR’s recommendations against divesting from weapons manufacturers and adopting exclusionary environmental, social, and governance standards for investments.
The ACSR offered responses to requests by J4J and Professor of Philosophy Steven Gerrard and issued a final recommendation to the Investment Committee of the Board of Trustees.
On Monday afternoon, Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and Jews for Justice (J4J) closed their encampment on Sawyer Quad after President of the College Maud S. Mandel and leaders of the Board of Trustees agreed to a meeting between members of SJP and J4J and at least 19 members of the Board of Trustees.
Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and Jews for Justice (J4J) continued their encampment on Sawyer Quad, termed the “Popular University for Gaza,” for a second day. About 100 people were at the encampment at its peak attendance in the afternoon and 39 tents were present at the encampment at 7:19 p.m. on Thursday, according to an SJP spokesperson. On Thursday morning, an unknown student removed posters of Israelis held hostage by Hamas that had been hung up by students the previous evening. The same group of students rehung the posters on Thursday afternoon.
If you’re a student, it’s likely you heard about the Phantom 500 early in your time at the College. This week, the Record surveyed the entire student body to test the theory.
The Town will permanently close and ban parking in the empty lot off Water Street, colloquially known as the “dirt lot,” on March 1, the Williamstown Police Department (WPD) announced in a Facebook post on Feb. 22.
Faculty voted to amend the course catalog to allow students to undo Pass/Fail designations for previous courses until their penultimate semester at the College.
Approximately 40 students participated in a “die-in” protest at Paresky Center organized by Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) on Feb. 16. In the middle of Baxter Hall, protestors laid on their backs under white sheets, simulating the posture of a corpse, while supporters and onlookers watched from the sides.
Ruth Simmons, the first Black president of an Ivy League university, delivered the evening keynote address at Claiming Williams Day on Feb. 1. Earlier that day, Aaliyah Bilal, the author of Temple Folk presented the morning keynote address.
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.
Some professors at the College live a stone’s throw away from campus and can be spotted walking their dogs across Paresky lawn in the afternoon — but some professors commute many hours every week to teach at the College.
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, Alisha Naidu ’24 discussed...
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, Alisha Naidu ’24 discussed early mornings, the harp, and her love of feminist philosophy.
The Handbell Choir’s six members practice once a week for two hours and perform twice a year: once in December after the annual Lessons and Carols Christmas Service at Thompson Memorial Chapel, and again at a solo concert in the spring. The Record explored what goes into their performances.
On Oct. 18, author Hernan Diaz read from his Pulitzer Prize-winning novel Trust and discussed his background, work, and writing process to an audience of about 75 students, faculty, and Town residents....
This week, after the last Mountain Day before his retirement at the end of the 2023-24 academic year, Scott Lewis shared memories from Mountain Days over the years with the Record.
If you’re a Williams College student reading this article, Lucy Calkins ’73 and her ubiquitous — and recently controversial curriculum — probably taught you how to do so. The truth about the “reading wars,” she told the Record, is so much more complicated than her critics believe.
The College will relax its policies aimed at curbing the spread of COVID-19 on campus, Chief Communications Officer Jim Reische announced in an all-campus email on Jun. 22. While some COVID policies — such as required isolation after a positive test result — will remain in place, the College will no longer require its students or employees to be vaccinated against COVID.
By the end of this school year, Swanson and Behr will have traveled to a school in all 50 states. At each stop, they will give out free books through a partnership with the nonprofit First Book and document it on their Instagram, YouTube channel, and website.
On Feb. 24, students gathered at Agard House for live jazz, a silent auction, and dancing. The fundraising gala hosted by Williams Mutual Aid received over 150 donations and auction bids, raising over $1,500 to be redistributed to members of the College community.
The Record surveyed the on-campus water bottle fillers that display the number of bottles filled and ranked the most and least used by their counts as of Feb. 21.
In honor of Valentine’s Day, the Record brings you its annual profile of a campus couple. This year, Salvador Robayo ’23 and Lucia Sher ’23 recalled the first time they met, discussed how they got together, and gave advice to fellow Ephs looking for love.
At its winter meeting, the
Board of Trustees approved
the promotion of 11 assistant
professors to associate
professorships with tenure:
Alexander Bevilacqua, history;
Nicole Brown, classics; PeiWen Chen, biology; Brahim
El Guabli, Arabic studies;
Man He, Asian languages,
literatures, and cultures; Bill
Jannen ’09, computer science;
Laura Martin, environmental
studies; Sarah Olsen, classics;
Ben Snyder, sociology; Mason
Williams, leadership studies;
and Ricardo Wilson, English.
The promotions will go into
effect on July 1.
The Record spoke to three students entering the world of IB to answer some key questions: Why do so many kids go into IB? What’s the process like? What is IB, anyway?
The Record spoke to three students who have had off-campus jobs at Spring Street businesses as they discussed their observations on Town-Gown relations.
