Irene Loewenson

Faculty votes to scrap swim requirement

Irene Loewenson • May 11, 2022

The faculty voted at the May 11 faculty meeting to eliminate the swim requirement, which the Committee on Educational Affairs has criticized for having a disparate impact on students from underrepresented minority backgrounds.

As faculty prepares to vote on eliminating College swim test, opinions are mixed

Irene Loewenson • April 20, 2022

The faculty will vote at the May 11 faculty meeting on whether to eliminate the College’s swim test — a graduation requirement that the Committee on Educational Affairs (CEA) has criticized for having a disparate impact on students from underrepresented minority backgrounds.

College tentatively plans to make classes mask-optional by the week of April 11

Irene Loewenson • March 18, 2022

The administration hopes to lift the mask mandate for students in class the week after spring break, which ends on April 4, if the number of COVID-19 cases remains low as students return to campus.

Faculty votes to extend Pass/Fail deadline for future years

Irene Loewenson • February 23, 2022

The faculty voted at its Feb. 16 meeting to make permanent this year’s more permissive Pass/Fail policy, which allows students to designate courses Pass/Fail after seeing their final grades in their courses.

Yik Yak can be cruel. Let’s change that.

Irene Loewenson • February 9, 2022

In an op-ed, Irene Loewenson ’22 calls on students to stop attacking and objectifying each other on Yik Yak, an anonymous social media platform.

College requires students, faculty, staff to get booster by Feb. 1

Irene Loewenson • December 20, 2021

Eligible students, faculty, and staff must receive a booster dose of a COVID-19 vaccine by Feb. 1, President Mandel announced this afternoon. Those who are not eligible by Feb. 1 must receive their booster within 30 days of becoming eligible.

One in Two Thousand: Sam Schraver ’22

Irene Loewenson • December 8, 2021

This week, the computer (using a script in R) chose Sam Schraver ’22, who discussed his reign as the cross country team’s “King Slow Boy,” Puritan word-making, and books shaped like cubes.

What to know about two lawsuits alleging unfairness, gender bias in College sexual misconduct cases

Irene Loewenson • December 1, 2021

In the last five years, two male students who had been found responsible of sexual misconduct have sued the College for alleged unfairness in its disciplinary process. The two students — each anonymized in court as “John Doe” — said the College treated them unfairly because they were men, in violation of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972.

Students split over College’s COVID rules, Record survey finds

Irene Loewenson and Beatrice Moyers • October 20, 2021

Student opinion on the College’s COVID-19 policies is divided, a Record survey found, with a slim majority of students in support of the College’s overall approach and a plurality disapproving of aspects of the masking and visitor policies.

One in Two Thousand: Hal Olson ’22

Irene Loewenson • October 6, 2021

This week, the computer (using a script in R) chose Hal Olson ’22, who talked about playing Björk on the bells, chatting with professional puppeteers, and naming his mean cat.

Letter from the editor: A return to print, 18 months later

Irene Loewenson • September 22, 2021

As the Record returns to print publication, it remains committed to fair, accurate reporting that will push Williams to be a better community, Editor-in-Chief Irene Loewenson writes.

20 years after 9/11, commemoration on campus is solemn but muted

Irene Loewenson • September 15, 2021

The 9/11 attacks left the Williams campus, as it did much of the world, in shock. Among the nearly 3,000 people who died that day were three Williams alums: Howard Kestenbaum ’67, Lindsay Morehouse ’00, and Brian Murphy ’80.

College reinstates mask mandate in public indoor spaces

Sofie Jones and Irene Loewenson • August 10, 2021

Masks will be required in all academic and administrative buildings as of tomorrow, regardless of vaccination status, President Maud S. Mandel announced on Tuesday, Aug. 10. There is still no mask requirement outdoors, in private offices, or in residence halls.

Current WPD officer admitted in 2011 to misconduct and lying to investigators

Irene Loewenson • July 31, 2021

WPD Officer Craig Eichhammer admitted in 2011 to misconduct involving a civilian and to lying about it during an investigation, and he remained on the force with apparently minimal punishment, according to a document obtained by the Record this week through a public records request.

A search for the soul of Spikeball: Why the game is such a hit on campus

Irene Loewenson • May 19, 2021

It seems like every time the sun rears its head, students are out on the quads in groups of four, leaping and diving around yellow and black trampoline-esque nets.

Three in Two Thousand: Jeongyoon Han ’21, Rebecca Tauber ’21, and Samuel Wolf ’21

Irene Loewenson and Kevin Yang • May 19, 2021

For our last regular issue of the spring semester, current Editor-in-Chief Kevin Yang ’22 and current Managing Editor Irene Loewenson ’22 sat down with them to discuss the experience of leading the Record through a most unconventional year.

College to require students to get vaccinated before fall semester

Irene Loewenson • April 23, 2021

The College will mandate that students get vaccinated for COVID-19 by Aug. 1 unless they receive a medical or religious exemption.

Campus will not be vaccination site; College to provide shuttles instead

Irene Loewenson • April 9, 2021

The College will not become a COVID-19 vaccination site. Instead, the College will provide shuttles to vaccination sites in North Adams and Pittsfield for all students, as well as for any faculty or staff without personal transportation.

How frats persisted for decades after they were banned

Irene Loewenson • April 7, 2021

The Record has traced several threads of post-1970 fraternity activity, from the relocation of fraternities to Vermont, to the emergence of a fraternity-like club in the 1980s, to the existence of a secret fraternity through perhaps the present day.

Three more students test positive; at least two were at Gladden gathering

Kevin Yang, Irene Loewenson, and Annie Lu • March 25, 2021

Two additional students who attended the Gladden gathering on Saturday have tested positive for COVID-19, the College confirmed to the Record today. A third student has also tested positive, but it is unknown whether they were at the Gladden gathering.

One in Two Thousand: Grace Goodall ’22

Irene Loewenson • March 17, 2021

This week, the computer (using a script in R) chose Grace Goodall ’22, who talked about late-night broken windows, large-scale baking, and analyzing the psychology of fictional characters.

March 8 Select Board meeting: Patton announces second recent WPD complaint; board hires search firm for town manager

Also: Thomas suggests Select Board stipend, gets tepid response

Irene Loewenson and Ella Marx • March 14, 2021

At the March 8 meeting, Patton announced that two recent employee complaints have been “brought up” in the WPD. Also, the board chose a firm to conduct the town manager search and discussed compensating future board members.

Students hold massive indoor party; College to delay planned loosening of restrictions

Students found to have been involved will be told to leave campus

Kevin Yang and Irene Loewenson • February 27, 2021

An indoor party was held on Friday night at Wood House with between 80 and 100 attendees, President Mandel announced in an email on Saturday. As a result, students will not be allowed to socialize indoors with non-podmates until March 15 at the earliest, two weeks later than planned.

Ephraim Williams was an enslaver. What will the College do about it?

Irene Loewenson and Sofie Jones • February 10, 2021

Ephraim Williams Jr., the original benefactor and namesake of the College, was an enslaver. This is a clear-cut matter of historical fact. Documents from his life demonstrate that he enslaved at least five Black people, named Prince, J. Romanoo, Moni, London, and Cloe. What is less clear-cut is what the College will do to address this fact.

NESCAC says COVID conditions must ‘improve significantly’ before spring sports can compete

Irene Loewenson • January 28, 2021

The 11 presidents of NESCAC colleges and universities said in a joint statement yesterday that spring sports conference competitions will not take place unless the national and regional COVID-19 situations greatly improve.

Spring semester to start as scheduled; College plans to hold in-person commencement

Joey Fox, Megan Lin, Irene Loewenson, Annie Lu, Lucy Walker, and Kevin Yang • January 28, 2021

The spring semester will start as previously scheduled, with students returning to campus beginning Feb. 10, President of the College Maud S. Mandel and Dean of the College Marlene Sandstrom announced today in an email to students, staff, and faculty. Additionally, the College plans to hold an in-person commencement for seniors, albeit with no off-campus guests.

JA applications drop slightly from last year

Irene Loewenson and Joey Fox • January 22, 2021

Applications from current sophomores to be Junior Advisors (JAs) for the Class of 2025 dropped slightly this year to 95, down from 109 applications last year and 118 applications the year before. Still, the total number of applications remains much higher than the number received three years ago from the Class of 2020, when a record-low 70 applications forced the Junior Advisor Advisory Board (JAAB) to reconfigure the entry system.

Sandstrom announces potentially delayed arrival, greater restrictions on socializing, other changes to spring semester

Irene Loewenson and Annie Lu • January 15, 2021

If COVID-19 cases in Massachusetts and across the country continue to rise, the College may consider delaying students’ arrival to campus, Dean of the College Marlene Sandstrom announced in an email to students, staff, faculty, and families.

Digging into the data from the 2019–2020 Honor Committee report

Irene Loewenson • December 9, 2020

The Honor and Discipline Committee, which adjudicates suspected violations of the College’s academic honor code, has released its report for the 2019–20 academic year. The report — and interviews with members of the committee who compiled it — provides insights into what kinds of cases the committee heard last year and how the cancellation of in-person classes this spring affected honor-code violations.

Packing up and saying goodbye: A dorm-room photo series

Irene Loewenson • November 25, 2020

To capture a strange farewell to campus, the Record asked students to submit photos of their rooms before and after boxing up their things and to share short reflections on packing up.

One in Two Thousand: Raquel ‘Rocky’ Livingston ’21

Irene Loewenson • November 25, 2020

Raquel “Rocky” Livingston ’21 talked about her many nicknames, her love for Sankofa and her adventures in Kyoto, Japan.

Dining Services conducts customer satisfaction survey, replete with pies

Irene Loewenson • November 18, 2020

The dessert sections of Whitmans’ and Driscoll were full of boxed pies last Thursday. And Friday. And Saturday.

Two students at WEPO test positive for COVID-19

Irene Loewenson and Erin Courville • November 11, 2020

Two students at the Williams-Exeter Programme at Oxford (WEPO) have tested positive for COVID-19, the first on Oct. 31 and the second on Nov. 3.

‘Like an adventure’: The beginnings of coeducation, 50 years ago

Irene Loewenson and Kiara Royer • October 28, 2020

It has been 50 years since the first 40 women students transferred to the College, along with 50 women exchange students, blazing the trail as a group of 95 women in a school with about 1,250 men.

BREAKING: Staff member receives hateful letter at their home

Irene Loewenson • October 23, 2020

A staff member has been sent a hateful letter at their home targeting them based on their race and sexual orientation, President Maud S. Mandel announced tonight in an all-campus email. The email...

NESCAC cancels competitions for winter sports

Irene Loewenson • October 8, 2020

Varsity teams will not compete this winter, President Maud S. Mandel and Athletic Director Lisa Melendy announced in an all-campus email this afternoon, half an hour after the presidents of the 11 NESCAC institutions released a unanimous decision to cancel competitions within the conference.

College slightly loosens travel restrictions, increases testing to twice weekly

Irene Loewenson and Annie Lu • October 1, 2020

Students will be able to leave campus for limited reasons beginning next Monday, Oct. 5, Dean of the College Marlene Sandstrom announced in an all-campus email yesterday.

Record investigation points to recent existence of underground frat

Irene Loewenson • September 30, 2020

Tax records point to the recent and perhaps continuing existence of the Williams chapter of St. Anthony Hall, a national fraternity and literary society that had an official chapter at the College before the abolition of fraternities in the late 1960s.

Nonner tests P.E. department’s quarantine fitness videos; videos test her back

Irene Loewenson • September 16, 2020

Having seen references to these fitness videos everywhere I looked, and with little else to do in quarantine, I could not help but be intrigued.

One in Two Thousand: Jakin Miller ’24

Irene Loewenson • September 16, 2020

Jakin Miller ’24 discusses seeing a cow on Rte. 7, speaking English with Aristotle and speaking Norwegian with Norwegians.

What the fall semester’s health guidelines will look like — and how the College will maintain them

Irene Loewenson and Annie Lu • July 7, 2020

Though students have been invited back to Williamstown for the fall semester, the campus that awaits them will be dramatically different from the one they have known. Whether students will actually abide by the College’s guidelines for campus life is another matter.

BREAKING: Williams announces plan to reconvene on campus for fall semester, with reduced tuition

Irene Loewenson, Joey Fox, and Annie Lu • June 29, 2020

The College has announced that it will reopen the campus to students for the fall semester, though with stringent measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and with a 15 percent lower cost of attendance.

Four takeaways from Friday’s email to faculty on appointments and promotions

Irene Loewenson • May 22, 2020

The College is "essentially in a hiring freeze," and other key points from Dean of the Faculty Denise Buell's email on Friday.

Many students are considering taking semesters off or gap years. The College will let them.

Irene Loewenson • May 13, 2020

Forty-three percent of rising first-years surveyed by the Record said they would likely take a gap year if classes remained online in the fall, and 68 percent of surveyed current non-senior students would “seriously consider” taking the fall semester off if it were held remotely. Despite the challenges that a greatly decreased enrollment would pose, administrators said the College will not prevent students from taking gap years or leaves of absence.

Hundreds support Williamstown through remote fun run

Irene Loewenson • May 9, 2020

Professor of Economics Sara LaLumia has a tradition of traveling to races with her mother: The professor usually runs a half-marathon, while her mother, who lives in Pennsylvania, runs a 5K. The pair continued that tradition recently — though this time with no travel involved — through a virtual fun run and day of physical fitness organized by Williams for Williamstown, a student-led initiative to buy food and other supplies from Berkshire businesses for medical workers in the area, and Williams Student Athlete Advisory Committee.

Five takeaways from senior staff’s call with families

Irene Loewenson • April 30, 2020

President Maud S. Mandel and several of her senior staff held an open phone call for Williams families on Monday to provide information about the College’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Here are five main takeaways from the call.

Kirstin Mapes ’21 withdraws from spring classes, eyeing final softball season

Jack McGovern and Irene Loewenson • April 29, 2020

Mapes has decided to withdraw from the remainder of her classes and re-enroll next spring, allowing her to play a full senior season in the Purple Valley.

Storytime persists. (The cookies are D.I.Y.)

Irene Loewenson • April 25, 2020

Storytime has continued to offer ways for community members to share stories, including through a weekly virtual event held on Zoom.

‘We’re places where people gather’: Clark, MASS MoCA adapt to COVID-19 closures

Irene Loewenson • April 22, 2020

The Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MASS MoCA) and the Clark Art Institute have not been spared the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, with both museums announcing temporary closures last month. MASS MoCA has laid off 120 of its 165 employees, but there have been no layoffs at the Clark.

Record Recs: (Free) sci-fi flicks, ’90s rom-coms

Irene Loewenson and Joey Fox • April 22, 2020

The Record offers 10 movie recommendations from Williams' free-to-access movie archive.

In Other Ivory Towers: Racist incident at Amherst College sparks #IntegrateAmherst movement

Irene Loewenson • April 8, 2020

Students and alumni of Amherst have demanded that the college take action to address racism on campus in the weeks after members of the men’s lacrosse team chanted the N-word outside their black teammate’s suite. In response to the incident, Amherst President Biddy Martin announced sanctions for the team, including placing it on probation for over a year and firing the head coach.

Adam Schlesinger ’89, co-founder of Fountains of Wayne and acclaimed songwriter, dies at 52

Nigel Jaffe and Irene Loewenson • April 2, 2020

Adam Schlesinger ’89, an award-winning songwriter who co-founded the power pop band Fountains of Wayne with Williams classmate Chris Collingwood ’89, died on Wednesday in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. He was 52. The cause of death was complications from COVID-19, according to The New York Times.

College halts construction projects as worker raises safety concerns

Irene Loewenson • April 1, 2020

The College paused construction on the North Science Building and Fort Bradshaw projects on Friday, at the same time that iBerkshires.com was writing a story in which an anonymous worker voiced concerns about the projects’ potential for the spread of COVID-19. Representatives for the College said that the decision was made to protect the safety of workers and to comply with directives from the government.

Libraries suspend most in-person operations

Irene Loewenson • April 1, 2020

Sawyer and Schow Libraries have greatly reduced on-site activity in the days after Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker ordered nonessential businesses and operations to cease in-person work by noon on Tuesday, March 24.

Admissions office adjusts to pandemic as it admits Class of 2024

Irene Loewenson • March 25, 2020

The Office of Admission sent letters of admission through regular decision to the Class of 2024 yesterday, bringing the total number of acceptances to roughly 1,250 — slightly more than usual. The small increase in acceptances is one of several adjustments the Office has made as it confronts the disruption and uncertainty of the COVID-19 outbreak.

Fifty years ago, a very different mid-semester disruption

Sofie Jones and Irene Loewenson • March 25, 2020

In early May, students at Williams and other colleges across the country went on strike in protest of the U.S. invasion of Cambodia during the Vietnam War. Fifty years later, at a virtual faculty meeting on March 11 after in-person classes were canceled in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, President of the College Maud S. Mandel referred obliquely to the strike.

Coronavirus pandemic causes mass cancellations of abroad programs

Jeongyoon Han and Irene Loewenson • March 15, 2020

A day after announcing the end of in-person classes in light of the coronavirus pandemic, the College cancelled the Williams-Exeter Programme in Oxford (WEPO) for the spring on Thursday and urged students studying in Europe to return home. Most programs in Europe have told students to head home, and the College’s senior staff is assessing courses of action regarding programs outside of Europe.

WEPO tells its 26 students to leave Oxford

Irene Loewenson and Rebecca Tauber • March 12, 2020

The Williams-Exeter Programme at Oxford (WEPO) announced to its 26 students today that they should return home by Wednesday, March 18, after the completion of the current term this Saturday. Students will complete their final term, which is scheduled to begin on April 26, online.

One in Two Thousand: Scott Fineberg

Irene Loewenson • March 11, 2020

We randomly select unixes from a list of all current students at the College for our weekly One in Two Thousand. So long as the owner of a selected unix is on campus, willing to be interviewed and not a member of the Record board, that person becomes the subject of our weekly interview. For this week, the computer (using a very simple script in R) chose Scott Fineberg ’22.

Beyond the Bubble: news across Berkshire County

Sofie Jones and Irene Loewenson • March 4, 2020

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....

College announces potential housing changes for next year

Irene Loewenson • March 4, 2020

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.

In Other Ivory Towers

Irene Loewenson • February 26, 2020

In Other Ivory Towers is the Record’s look at colleges and universities outside the Purple Bubble.

In Other Ivory Towers

Irene Loewenson • February 19, 2020

In Other Ivory Towers is the Record’s look at colleges and universities outside the Purple Bubble. Colorado State University-Pueblo offers cannabis major Colorado State University-Pueblo...

Task Force recommends scrapping CC, creating three new bodies

Sofie Jones and Irene Loewenson • February 12, 2020

In an email sent to students on Feb. 5, the Student Government Task Force, which was elected last December and was tasked with restructuring the College’s student government over Winter Study, recommended that College Council (CC) be abolished and replaced with three independent governing organizations.

Insights from a decade of honor committee reports

Irene Loewenson • February 12, 2020

Every year, the honor and discipline committee — the 17-person group that adjudicates suspected violations of the College’s academic Honor Code — releases a report with short, nameless summaries of the cases it has heard.

College advises students studying in China to leave, citing coronavirus concerns

Irene Loewenson • January 29, 2020

In light of the China-based outbreak of coronavirus, a flu-like illness that has sickened thousands and killed over 100, the College has advised the two students already studying in China to return to...

Profiles of Presidents Past: Morty Schapiro

Nigel Jaffe and Irene Loewenson • November 20, 2019

For Morty Schapiro, the best part of being president of the College was entry Snacks. “I did Snacks every Sunday night for nine years,” he said. “My favorite part of being president at Williams was Sunday nights, doing Snacks, sitting there for two hours and chatting with everybody, hanging out afterward, listening to what’s going on in their lives.”

Irene Loewenson, Senior Writer

The Williams Record