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

Megan Lin, Managing Editor

Megan Lin ’24 is an art history and history major from Hartland, Wis. She is a managing editor and previously served as the executive editor for opinions, executive editor for investigations, and section editor for news.

Email: [email protected]

All content by Megan Lin
(Photo courtesy of Julia Clark.)

One in Two Thousand: Aidan Slovinski ’26

Megan Lin • April 23, 2024
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, Aidan Slovinski ’26 discussed the contemporary art market in Japan, inflation, “WUF time,” and study spots.
Pallavi Sen, By Night, 2023 (Photo courtesy of North Loop Gallery.)

Reflections on North Loop Gallery’s ‘Pallavi Sen’ and ‘Abby Flanagan & Mariko Makino: Light Trail’ exhibits

Megan Lin • October 24, 2023
Two North Loop Gallery exhibitions explore labor and nature.
Williams College Soccer Club won its first game 2-0 against Amherst, with both goals in the second half. (Photo Courtesy of Jamie Woods.)

Students establish club soccer team for non-cisgender-males, beat Amherst in debut match

Megan Lin • October 17, 2023
Williams College Soccer Club — a club soccer team for female, trans, and non-binary identifying students — now has a place at the College for the first time since the 1970s.
Artist Otherwise Known As: Reed Putnam ’23

Artist Otherwise Known As: Reed Putnam ’23

Kathryn Cloonan and Megan Lin • May 9, 2023
Reed Putnam ’23 is an art history and practice major from Chappaqua, N.Y. He is a member of Treestyle Improv Comedy and the cross country and track and field teams.
Nova and WUFO are set to compete at USA Ultimate’s Div. III Championship in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo courtesy of Noah Sandstrom).

Nova, WUFO head to Nationals together for first time since 1995

Megan Lin • May 9, 2023
For the first time in 28 years, Nova and WUFO — the College’s frisbee teams for trans, nonbinary, and female players and trans, nonbinary, and male players, respectively — will both compete on the national stage at USA Ultimate’s Division III College Championships.
Sheer joy as students flocked to the “Solar Savannah” to see sheep. (Megan Lin/The Williams Record)

Sheep schlep to campus for commemoration of Roman festival

Megan Lin • April 25, 2023
The Classics department brought sheep to campus for Parilia, an ancient Roman festival, in collaboration with the Center for Environmental Studies, Zilkha Center, and Brattle Farm.
PAC hosts monthly stand-up nights in Perry

PAC hosts monthly stand-up nights in Perry

Megan Lin and Haley Zimmerman • March 14, 2023
Two Record editors look into what goes into the monthly PAC shows.
This year, eight Ephs will enter the championship, collectively ranked fifth as a team.

Men’s track shines despite increasingly competitive field, gears up for Nationals

Megan Lin • March 8, 2023
Eight members of the men’s track and field team have qualified for the 2023 NCAA Div. III Men’s Indoor Track and Field Championship, to be held March 10–11 in Birmingham, Ala.
TAPSI Review Committee rearranges 2023-2024 placements

TAPSI Review Committee rearranges 2023-2024 placements

Megan Lin • March 1, 2023
The Theme/Affinity/Program/Special Interest (TAP- SI) Review Committee reviewed its original housing decisions for TAPSI houses and changed the locations of four houses. Though the committee has not yet finalized the placements officially, it has notified the Community Coordinators (CCs) about the rearrangement of the houses.
Wood House, formerly assigned to Eban House, was recently assigned to the Performing Arts House. (Lena Kerest/The Williams Record)

‘We just want to be heard’: TAPSI decisions leave students frustrated, confused

Megan Lin • February 15, 2023
Community coordinators of several TAPSI communities have expressed displeasure with the buildings their communities were assigned.
Farewell to Farwell: Pete Farwell ’73 reflects on 44 years at the College

Farewell to Farwell: Pete Farwell ’73 reflects on 44 years at the College

Megan Lin • February 8, 2023
Set to retire in June 2023, Farwell’s fall 2022 cross country season was his last in an official coaching capacity.
In Other Ivory Towers: Amid controversy, Yale alters leave policies

In Other Ivory Towers: Amid controversy, Yale alters leave policies

Julia Goldberg and Megan Lin • January 25, 2023
On Jan. 18, Yale University revealed updates to its policies regarding leaves of absence and withdrawals, following a year-long review of its mental health policies by the Yale College Dean’s Office.
(Photo courtesy of Olivia Dabinett.)

Pre-game songs and mid-game cheers: Ultimate frisbee and women’s soccer talk team traditions

Megan Lin • November 9, 2022
In the second article of a two-part series, the Record spoke with Williams Ultimate Frisbee Organization (WUFO) and the women’s soccer team about the traditions that foster a sense of camaraderie.
The men's cross country team tosses T-Bear before every race (Photo courtesy of Elias Lindgren)

Tossing teddy bears and collecting betting jerseys: Men’s cross country and rugby talk team traditions

Megan Lin • November 1, 2022
In the first part of a series on team traditions, Executive Editor for Opinions Megan Lin spoke with members of the men’s cross country and rugby teams.
Student marathoners find joy and community in recent runs

Student marathoners find joy and community in recent runs

Megan Lin • October 18, 2022
This year, as the leaves changed and the College began the rapid, increasingly bleak trudge into midterm season, some students found themselves neither relaxing nor studying over their mini-vacations, but instead running marathons and half-marathons.
Nova Co-Captain Lauren Lynch played for the club Hive. (Photo courtesy of Lauren Lynch.)

Ultimate frisbee athletes improve skills, find community while playing for semi-pro club teams over the summer

Megan Lin • September 27, 2022
For most club sport athletes at the College, the end of the academic year also brings the end of their ability to practice and compete with a team. Yet for some students on Nova and the Williams Ultimate Frisbee Organization (WUFO) — the College’s ultimate frisbee teams — this summer gave them the opportunity to play frisbee at an even higher level on club teams not affiliated with the College.
One in Two Thousand: Katharine Cook ’24

One in Two Thousand: Katharine Cook ’24

Megan Lin • September 20, 2022
This week, the computer (using a script in R) chose Katharine Cook ’24, who discussed her love for Christmas carols, biology, and life in New York City.
This year, more than 140 students applied for 33 HC positions. (Photo Courtesy of Annie Gustafson.)

Increased enrollment, delays prompt student concerns over general housing lottery

Megan Lin and David Wignall • May 10, 2022
The general housing lottery has been delayed — first from May 3 to May 5, and now indefinitely.
Jon Meacham will be giving the commencement address at graduation this year. (Photo courtesy of Heidi Ross.)

Jon Meacham to give commencement address

Megan Lin • March 15, 2022
Jon Meacham, a Pulitzer Prize-winning presidential biographer and historian, will deliver the 2022 commencement address, the College announced today. Father Gregory Boyle S.J., the founder and director of Homeboy Industries, the world’s largest program that provides intervention and rehabilitation for former gang members, will serve as the College’s Baccalaureate speaker. Both Meacham and Boyle, as well as actress, choreographer, director, and producer Debbie Allen; Amherst College President Biddy Martin; and National Park Ranger and advocate for women’s and civil rights Betty Reid Soskin; will receive honorary degrees from the College.
Students share mixed feelings on community's use of anonymous apps

Students share mixed feelings on community’s use of anonymous apps

Megan Lin, Lindsay Wang, and Julia Goldberg • March 2, 2022
As anonymous apps like Yik Yak and Unmasked gain traction at the College, students reflect on their complicated relationships with the useful — but often dangerous — platforms.
Professors Long, Siniawer to serve as next Dean, Provost

Professors Long, Siniawer to serve as next Dean, Provost

Megan Lin, Julia Goldberg, and David Wignall • January 26, 2022
Professors of History Gretchen Long and Eiko Maruko Siniawer ’97 will assume the roles of Dean and Provost of the College, respectively, President Maud S. Mandel announced in an all-campus email on Tuesday.
College confirms in-person classes to begin on Jan. 10, extends take-out only service in dining halls

College confirms in-person classes to begin on Jan. 10, extends take-out only service in dining halls

Kent Barbir, Ella Marx, and Megan Lin • January 7, 2022
Winter Study courses will return to in-person instruction on Monday, Jan. 10, Chief Communications Officer Jim Reische announced in an all-campus email this afternoon. Dining halls will be open for take-out only through Jan. 16 — all seating areas inside these areas will be closed, Reische wrote.
Thirty students test positive for COVID, isolation housing policies change amid students’ return to campus

Thirty students test positive for COVID, isolation housing policies change amid students’ return to campus

Megan Lin and Kiara Royer • January 4, 2022

Jan. 3, 2022 | 9:46 p.m.  Thirty students tested positive for COVID-19 yesterday, bringing the College’s total number of positive tests in the past seven days to 40, according to the COVID dashboard....

From the Record office: Urdang, Lu, Richardson, Natter, and Pugh to lead the Record in 2022

From the Record office: Urdang, Lu, Richardson, Natter, and Pugh to lead the Record in 2022

Megan Lin • December 8, 2021
Record editors Kitt Urdang ’23.5, Annie Lu ’23, Bellamy Richardson ’23, Tali Natter ’23, and Cameron Pugh ’23 have been elected by the Record’s 2021 editorial board to lead the newspaper in 2022.
JAs to receive stipend for providing input to deans

JAs to receive stipend for providing input to deans

Megan Lin • October 5, 2021
The Junior Advisors (JAs) to the Class of 2025 will now receive compensation in exchange for working with administrators to improve the residential life system. Each JA will receive a $1,600 stipend from the College: $600 for the fall semester and $1,000 for the spring semester.
Dean of the College Marlene Sandstrom (left) and Provost Dukes Love (right) will return to their teaching roles in the departments of psychology and economics, respectively. (Photos courtesy of Marlene Sandstrom and Dukes Love.)

Dean Sandstrom, Provost Love to leave administration and rejoin faculty

Megan Lin • September 28, 2021
Dean of the College Marlene Sandstrom and Provost Dukes Love will step down from their roles in administration and rejoin the faculty in June 2022, President Maud S. Mandel announced in an all-campus email on Sept. 22.
Though the Class of 2020 still has not had an official in-person commencement, the Class of 2021 had its commencement — technically a “senior celebration” — on May 31 of this year. (Photo courtesy of Allison Downing.)

Class of 2020 will finally get its commencement — in 2022

Megan Lin • July 23, 2021
The Class of 2020 is set to have an in-person commencement in July 2022, with families and guests invited to attend.
Students will no longer be required to wear masks while outdoors, whether vaccinated or unvaccinated. (Annie Lu/The Williams Record)

College to loosen COVID restrictions, graduation ceremony guest limits

Annie Lu, Megan Lin, and Ella Marx • May 19, 2021
The College will loosen its COVID-19 restrictions in accordance with state rules, as well as broaden participation in the Class of 2021’s graduation ceremony, President Maud S. Mandel announced in an email to the College community on Tuesday. 
Record survey reveals decreased approval of College policies, institutions

Record survey reveals decreased approval of College policies, institutions

Megan Lin and Kiara Royer • May 19, 2021
The Record sent out its biannual approval ratings survey this past week to 500 randomly selected students, who were given the option to indicate whether they approve of, disapprove of, or feel neutral about various campus figures, institutions, and policies.
The increase in the 2021-22 school year cost of attendance reflects a fully in-person fall next year. (Devika Goel/The Williams Record)

College raises price of attendance to pre-COVID cost in preparation for in-person fall

Megan Lin • April 21, 2021
On April 14, President Maud S. Mandel announced in an email that the College’s comprehensive fee for the 2021-22 academic year would be $74,660.
Bates' lockdown follows several other colleges' rise in cases and subsequent increased restrictions. (Photo Courtesy of Wentworth Washington/Wikipedia Commons.)

In Other Ivory Towers: Colleges implement lockdowns after spikes in cases

Kellen Bryant and Megan Lin • April 14, 2021
In recent months, several colleges and universities — including Bates, Dartmouth, and Duke — have been placed on lockdown in response to rising cases on campus. In all three of these cases, administrators cited illicit gatherings as a main source of infections.
MCLA sent all students home on April 11 following an outbreak of 28 cases on campus. (Photo Courtesy of Magic Piano/Wikimedia Commons.)

MCLA transitions to remote learning after 28 on-campus cases

Kellen Bryant and Megan Lin • April 14, 2021
All classes at the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA) have transitioned to remote format as of April 5 and residence halls closed on April 11. President James Birge announced the move to remote learning in an email to the MCLA community on April 1, after 28 on-campus students at MCLA tested positive for COVID-19.
This year's Commencement will take place in-person, with each senior allowed two guests. Photo Courtesy of Williams College.

College to allow limited commencement guests, faces criticism from senior class officers

Megan Lin • March 31, 2021
President Mandel announced in a March 22 email that the College will now allow two in-person guests per graduating senior at the 2021 commencement ceremony. This year, “Senior Days” will take place over only a day and a half immediately following final exams — a decision by the administration that prompted push back from many seniors.
The College has loosened some COVID restrictions and brought back outdoor dining tents (Megan Lin/The Williams Record)

College loosens some COVID-19 restrictions, reinstates outdoor dining tents

Megan Lin • March 17, 2021
The College shifted to Phase 2 of campus reopening on Monday, March 15. The lifting of restrictions comes two weeks later than anticipated, after President Maud S. Mandel announced that, in response to the Wood House party, Phase 2 would begin on March 15 rather than the initially expected March 1.
College removes 127 students from campus in response to party

College removes 127 students from campus in response to party

Administration defines involvement as any unauthorized presence at Wood that night; some Wood attendees say large parties were common in fall
Kevin Yang, Annie Lu, and Megan Lin • March 10, 2021
One hundred twenty-seven students have been removed from campus as part of the College’s response to the Feb. 26 party at Wood. For the purposes of deciding whom to remove from campus, the College has defined involvement in the Wood party as any unauthorized presence in the building during the night of the party. The Record interviewed four students who were at Wood that night. They said that large indoor parties were common throughout the fall.
Friday’s party was the latest in what Wood House residents described as a pattern of illicit gatherings that violated the College’s public health guidelines. (Megan Lin/The Williams Record)

Students come forward as College continues investigation of Wood House party

Kevin Yang, Annie Lu, and Megan Lin • March 3, 2021
Following the illicit gathering of an estimated 80 to 100 students at Wood House on Friday, Campus Safety and Security has begun to identify students who were involved. A number of students have come forward to the administration to admit that they attended the party, according to Dean of the College Marlene Sandstrom. Some Wood residents said that Friday’s party was one instance in an ongoing pattern of illicit gatherings at Wood House, to which they believed the College’s response has been inadequate.
Four Area Coordinators will be hired to live in student dorms, with two in freshman housing and two in upperclassmen housing

College to hire live-in residential staff, implement affinity and special-interest housing

WSU, HCs criticize components of plan
Megan Lin • March 3, 2021
The College will put in place two major initiatives for residential life starting fall 2021: hiring live-in residential staff and providing affinity and special-interest housing.
Civil rights lawyer and author Michelle Alexander delivered the evening keynote for Claiming Williams Day. Photo courtesy of Michelle Alexander.

Michelle Alexander delivers Claiming Williams evening keynote on restorative justice

Declan Houlihan, Rachel Jiang, and Megan Lin • February 24, 2021
Michelle Alexander, civil rights lawyer and author of the New York Times bestseller The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, presented the evening keynote address for Claiming Williams Day on Thursday to an audience of 605 viewers.
Grade inflation continues rise through fall semester, some professors say

Grade inflation continues rise through fall semester, some professors say

Megan Lin • February 17, 2021
Though hybrid learning in the fall brought along academic challenges like no other semester, it was also accompanied by students at the College seemingly earning higher grades on average, some professors say. 
Spring semester to start as scheduled; College plans to hold in-person commencement

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.
Rhiana Gunn-Wright, a climate activist, holds a lecture on the Green New Deal.

The College just formed a Residential Life working group. Here’s what they’re working on.

Megan Lin • December 9, 2020
In response to the Learning Beyond the Classroom strategic planning working group’s recommendations for improving student life on campus, the College recently formed a Residential Life Working Group. The group is deliberating solutions for problems related to housing and student life, including plans for live-in staff, affinity housing, senior housing and housing for non-traditional students.
TABLE hosts virtual Baxter Forum with updates from each student-faculty committee

TABLE hosts virtual Baxter Forum with updates from each student-faculty committee

Megan Lin • November 25, 2020
On Nov. 12, The Advisory Board for Lobbying and Elections (TABLE) hosted an open virtual forum for each committee, consisting of students and faculty making decisions for their particular area, to update students on their activity this past semester and their plans for next semester. Here is a quick summary of what each committee has done.
(Taryn McLaughlin/The Williams Record.)

College says it is making strides towards sustainability goals, despite pandemic’s impact

Jackson Hartigan and Megan Lin • October 28, 2020
In 2015, the President and Board of Trustees determined the following five goals to reduce the College’s impact on climate change by 2020: Significantly reducing the net greenhouse gas emissions, achieving carbon neutrality, reducing consumption of fossil fuels, investing in projects to benefit the environment and making investments in the College’s educational mission.
(Graphic by Lucera Whitmore.)

Three Pillars acclimate to new form of student government, respond to impacts of pandemic

Megan Lin • October 7, 2020
With the uncertainty surrounding one of the College’s most unconventional semesters in memory, the Three Pillars, the College’s three branches of student government, have not only been adjusting to the confusion of COVID-19 and campus restrictions, but also to their new format. Student government has a tumultuous recent history, including the abolition of the College Council (CC) last spring and the subsequent implementation of the Three Pillars, which includes Facilitators for Allocating Student Taxes (FAST), Williams Student Union (WSU) and The Advisory Board for Lobbying and Elections (TABLE).
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