The Student-Run Newspaper of Williams College Since 1887

The Williams Record
The Student-Run Newspaper of Williams College Since 1887

The Williams Record
The Student-Run Newspaper of Williams College Since 1887

The Williams Record

Kiara Royer, Managing Editor

Kiara Royer ’24 is a history and political science major, and Asian studies concentrator, from New York, N.Y. She is a managing editor and previously served as executive editor for arts, section editor for news, and staff writer for the features section.

Email: [email protected]

All content by Kiara Royer
Students, faculty, staff, and alumni celebrate the Chapin Library’s centennial anniversary. (Kiara Royer/The Williams Record)

Students, faculty celebrate Chapin Library’s centennial anniversary

Kiara Royer • November 8, 2023
Community members gathered on Nov. 3 in the Chapin Library’s gallery at a reception to celebrate its centennial anniversary and to view 100 Years, 100 Voices, an exhibition curated by Chapin Librarian Anne Peale. 100 Years, 100 Voices features approximately 100 objects from Chapin collections with descriptions — provided by students, alums, faculty, researchers, and community members — intending to bring the objects to life. The exhibit opened in September and will close in mid-January.
Co-founders of the Bowerbird Collective Anthony Albrecht (left) and Simone Slattery (right) perform under a highway. Photo courtesy of Mara Bun.

Environment, art, and birds: Mara Bun ’84 discusses performance works

Kiara Royer • October 5, 2022
hen Mara Bun ’84 arrived at the College as a first-year, she had little idea of the collaborative possibilities her degree would allow. She has worked with former leader of the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev on environmental activism, acted as the attaché to the Brazilian women's soccer team for the Sydney Olympics in 2000, and chaired the board of the Bowerbird Collective, helping produce soundscape performances that connect audiences to the natural world.
Although he has always been musically inclined, Miles first learned opera his freshman year at the College and has since performed in numerous shows. (Photo courtesy of Peter Miles.)

The Artist Otherwise Known As: Peter Miles ’24

Kiara Royer • September 21, 2022
Peter Miles ’24 has always been passionate about music. Miles, however, had little idea that his interest in music would lead him to study at the Mediterranean Opera Studio and Festival in Caltagirone, Italy, this past summer.
The 1977 women’s basketball team poses for a yearbook photo. (Photo courtesy of Special Collections.)

‘Freed by Title IX’: Looking into the creation of the first women’s athletic teams at the College

Kiara Royer • March 9, 2022
Coinciding with the College’s move towards coeduaction, Title IX, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in educational programs including athletics, was passed in June 1972. The first official female varsity sports teams at the College were established in the fall of 1972 — and in some cases, student athletes initiated the creation of teams themselves. 
Athletics facilities usage to remain closed to most students, varsity sport spectators restricted until Jan. 10

Athletics facilities usage to remain closed to most students, varsity sport spectators restricted until Jan. 10

Ella Marx and Kiara Royer • January 7, 2022
Jan. 7 | 3:20 p.m. The College will allow student spectators to attend several of this weekend’s varsity athletic competitions and will allow faculty and staff spectators starting Monday, Jan. 10, Chief Communications Officer Jim Reische wrote in a Jan. 6 email. Student spectators who meet certain COVID-19 criteria will be allowed as spectators starting this weekend. 
(Kiara Royer/The Williams Record)

One in Two Thousand: Alex Rouyer ’24

Kiara Royer • September 29, 2021
This week, the computer (using a script in R) chose Alex Rouyer ’24, who talked about hiking Pine Cobble once a week, getting pranked with Jell-O, and becoming (sort of) internet-famous because of quarantine milk.
Students gather in front of Paresky with a little more than a week to go before the start of classes. (Cameron Pugh/The Williams Record.)

College prepares for in-person semester amid Delta variant concerns

As students begin to return, College reintroduces weekly testing; four students test positive
Sofie Jones, Katie Jung, and Kiara Royer • September 3, 2021
Many students had hoped that this fall, with the campus largely vaccinated, would finally be free from COVID restrictions. But the prevalence of the Delta variant has led the College to reimplement an indoor mask mandate and a weekly testing requirement. And if the campus sees an outbreak, the College could implement more stringent restrictions, according to administrators.
Governor Baker announces the vaccination timeline for Massachusetts residents. Photo courtesy of Joshua Qualls at the Governor’s Press Office.

All Massachusetts adults to be eligible for vaccine April 19

College works to become a vaccination site
Kiara Royer and Fiona Seibert • March 31, 2021
On March 17, Gov. Baker announced that all Massachusetts residents over the age of 16 will be eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine beginning on April 19. The College has not yet determined whether it will be able to serve as a vaccination site, but it is in discussion with local health services providers, President Mandel told the Record.
Two students who tested positive for COVID-19 were isolated for 10 days in McGinnis House, which was previously occupied by graduate art students. (Ella Marx/The Williams Record)

2 weeks, 11 cases: COVID cases rise among students

College sees first evidence of community transmission
Annie Lu and Kiara Royer • February 24, 2021
Eleven on-campus students have tested positive for COVID-19 since arriving for the spring semester, a significant increase relative to the number of COVID cases reported at a comparable time in the fall.  Seven of this semester’s cases were reported upon arrival, with the remaining four positives occurring after the student had initially tested negative. Three of those students, who at first moved to quarantine in Dodd House after coming into close contact with COVID-positive students, have since tested positive themselves and moved to isolation. One staff or faculty member tested positive on Feb. 15.
Tenure for eight faculty members will go into effect this July. (Rachel Buccalo/The Williams Record)

College awards tenure to eight faculty members

Kiara Royer • February 10, 2021
During its winter 2021 meeting on Jan. 22, the Board of Trustees approved the promotion of eight faculty members to the position of associate professor with tenure: Jeremy Cone, psychology; Christine DeLucia, history; Matthew Gibson, economics; Lama Nassif, Arabic studies; Christina Simko, sociology; Owen Thompson, economics; Emily Vasiliauskas, English; and Zachary Wadsworth, music. Tenure will go into effect on July 1.
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