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Safiyah Anwar-Chuku, Executive Editor of Investigations

Safiyah Anwar-Chuku ’25 is an American studies and English major from New York, NY. She is the executive editor of investigations, and she has previously served as a section editor for arts and a staff writer for the features section.

Email: [email protected]

 

All content by Safiyah Anwar-Chuku
Francis Huang/The Williams Record.

Administration remains confident despite small incoming JA cohort

Luke Chinman and Safiyah Anwar-Chuku • April 10, 2024
The Junior Advisor (JA) cohort to the Class of 2028 will comprise 35 students — the smallest cohort of JAs in recent years. Despite the small cohort and uncertainty surrounding the program in recent weeks following mass resignations from the Junior Advisor Advisory Board (JAAB) — a group of former and current JAs elected to train and support JAs — College administrators said they remain confident that they will be able to provide a full experience for first-years and JAs next year. 
Theo Duarte-Baird/The Williams Record.

Majority of JAAB resigns as JAs call for increased support from administration

Luke Chinman and Safiyah Anwar-Chuku • March 13, 2024
Seven of eight student members of the Junior Advisor Advisory Board — a group of former and current Junior Advisors elected to train and support JAs — have resigned, following fallout from the College’s response to the passing of a student on Feb. 21, as well as years of declining interest in and criticism of the role.
The Record Horoscope: March 13, 2024

The Record Horoscope: March 13, 2024

Quinn Casey and Safiyah Anwar-Chuku • March 13, 2024
This week's Spring Break edition of the horoscope is here to remind you that no one cares about your Instagram photo dump and advises against arguing politics with your grandparents.
The Record Horoscope: Feb. 21, 2024

The Record Horoscope: Feb. 21, 2024

Quinn Casey and Safiyah Anwar-Chuku • February 21, 2024
The Record provides an astrological guide to the start of the semester.
Polanco, Chinman, and Khan will lead the Record during spring 2024. Goldberg, Chinman, and Polanco will then lead the Record in the subsequent fall. (Josh Kirschner and Palvasha Khan/The Williams Record)

Polanco, Goldberg, Chinman, Khan to lead The Williams Record in 2024

Safiyah Anwar-Chuku and Noor Naseer • December 6, 2023
The Record editorial board has elected Izzy Polanco ’25, Julia Goldberg ’25, Luke Chinman ’25, and Palvasha Khan ’25 to lead the newspaper in 2024.
The 29-foot shelves in the LSF hold items that are organized by size. (Safiyah Anwar-Chuku/The Williams Record)

Onsite at the College’s offsite facility for library storage

Luke Chinman and Safiyah Anwar-Chuku • November 29, 2023
Off of Route 7, tucked between the Williamstown Police Station and a field of solar panels, a boxy concrete building sits on an unassuming side road. The LSF looks like a warehouse, and, in many ways, it is. Inside, stuffed on shelves that measure nearly 40 feet high, the College stores everything from back runs of academic journals to archival letters — essentially, everything in the College’s multimedia archives that does not fit inside the limited library storage on the College’s campus.
The Record Horoscope: Pre-registration edition

The Record Horoscope: Pre-registration edition

Safiyah Anwar-Chuku and Quinn Casey • November 8, 2023
The Record provides astrological guidance for navigating pre-registration.
Review: Looks that did the most this Halloween

Review: Looks that did the most this Halloween

Shane Stackpole and Safiyah Anwar-Chuku • November 1, 2023
Though we may not have a Met gala, we do have Halloweekend to push the boundaries of fashion and set new trends for the upcoming season. Take a look at some of this year’s most innovative, fashion-forward, and thought-provoking costumes.
Students can hold the College’s copy of Shakespeare’s First Folio, which is housed in Special Collections (Edan Zinn/The Williams Record).

Reflections on 400 years of Shakespeare’s First Folio, held in Special Collections

Safiyah Anwar-Chuku • October 25, 2023
Shakespeare-related trauma from high school is very real. However, 2023 is the time to unabashedly let our Shakespearean freak flags fly: This year marks the 400th anniversary of the publication of the playwright’s First Folio. 
Campus art pieces offer opportunities to reflect

Campus art pieces offer opportunities to reflect

Safiyah Anwar-Chuku and Kedar Veeraswamy • October 18, 2023
Two Record Editors spent a brisk autumn afternoon gallivanting around campus appreciating the diverse public art pieces the College has to offer. They have collected the highlights and have been kind enough to educate the rest us on what they have found.
Kruger gets ready for her role of Bertha in Cap and Bells’ Pippin. (Photo courtesy of Yona Kruger.)

The Artist Otherwise Known As: Yona Kruger ’25

Safiyah Anwar-Chuku and Shane Stackpole • October 4, 2023

Yona Kruger ’25 is a music major and hair clip enthusiast from New York, N.Y. In addition to being a champion equestrian, she is the co-music director of a cappella group the Ephlats and, most recently,...

Beatriz Cortez tackles the College’s colonial past in WCMA exhibit

Beatriz Cortez tackles the College’s colonial past in WCMA exhibit

Safiyah Anwar-Chuku • September 27, 2023
Beatriz Cortez hosts a walking tour of her exhibit at WCMA, along with curator Lisa Dorin.
Making the Williams image: The man behind the College’s famed Instagram reels

Making the Williams image: The man behind the College’s famed Instagram reels

Safiyah Anwar-Chuku • May 10, 2023
Whether it’s a classic seasonal post of a blooming tree outside of West College or photos of unsuspecting students eating their Fresh ‘n Go orders on marble blocks, Jay Corey, the College’s in-house videographer, captures it all. 
DJ Booth: DJ CJ brings house, hip hop, R&B to campus party scene

DJ Booth: DJ CJ brings house, hip hop, R&B to campus party scene

Safiyah Anwar-Chuku • May 10, 2023
C.J. Vilfort DJs on campus under the name DJ CJ — where he highlights house, hip-hop, and R&B.
‘Don’t let us become art in a museum’: WCMA celebrates Tibetan, Indigenous cultures through tattoo performance art

‘Don’t let us become art in a museum’: WCMA celebrates Tibetan, Indigenous cultures through tattoo performance art

Safiyah Anwar-Chuku • May 3, 2023
WCMA hosts a performance piece dedicated to highlight Tibetan traditions while incorporating multiculturalism. Buddhist monk and artist Lama Tashi Norbu gives Isaac Rivera '26 a personalized tattoo.

DJ Booth: James Johnson-Brown ’25

Kathryn Cloonan and Safiyah Anwar-Chuku • April 26, 2023
James Johnson-Brown ’25 discusses his passion for DJing at the College.
Putting thought into every decision: Williams Audio Production hosts inclusive, themed parties on campus

Putting thought into every decision: Williams Audio Production hosts inclusive, themed parties on campus

Safiyah Anwar-Chuku • April 26, 2023
Wood House hosted Williams Audio Production (WAP) House, an extravaganza with a black-light, neon theme on Saturday night.
Midnight Productions produces its first play: 12 Angry Men

Midnight Productions produces its first play: 12 Angry Men

Safiyah Anwar-Chuku • April 19, 2023
Midnight Productions' 12 Angry Men, directed by co-founder Craig Martien ’23, will hit the stage this week.
College increases comprehensive fee to $81,160 for 2023-2024 school year

College increases comprehensive fee to $81,160 for 2023-2024 school year

Safiyah Anwar-Chuku and Julia Goldberg • March 15, 2023
The comprehensive fee for the 2023-2024 academic year will be $81,160, a five-percent increase from this year’s fee of $77,300.
Firas Shennib ’15 joins Davis Center as assistant director

Firas Shennib ’15 joins Davis Center as assistant director

Safiyah Anwar-Chuku • March 15, 2023
The Davis Center has appointed Firas A. Shennib ’15 as the assistant director for intergroup relations and inclusive programming. Shennib has replaced Aseel Abulhab ’15, who left the College last year to complete her Ph.D. in linguistic anthropology at Northwestern University.
The Record Horoscope: March 15, 2023

The Record Horoscope: March 15, 2023

Safiyah Anwar-Chuku and Quinn Casey • March 15, 2023
The Record provides astrological guidance for this week.
Luke Chinman/The Williams Record

Professor Julie Cassiday lectures on Russian masculinities, connection to war in Ukraine

Safiyah Anwar-Chuku and Luke Chinman • March 8, 2023
Professor of Russian Julie Cassiday delivered a lecture last Thursday that connected shifting cultural trends of Russian gender and sexuality to the country’s invasion of Ukraine. Cassiday presented research from her book Russian Style: Performing Gender in Putin’s Russia, which is slated to come out this November.
Meet Paul Oleskiewicz: Full-time CSS Officer, part-time ghost hunter

Meet Paul Oleskiewicz: Full-time CSS Officer, part-time ghost hunter

Safiyah Anwar-Chuku • March 1, 2023
Like most Campus Safety Services (CSS) officers, Paul Oleskiewicz deals with locked dorm doors and stolen bicycles. But when he isn’t locking doors at the dining hall, Oleskiewicz hunts ghosts professionally. 
The DJ Booth: Dasha Belobokova ’23 brings hyperpop to campus

The DJ Booth: Dasha Belobokova ’23 brings hyperpop to campus

Safiyah Anwar-Chuku • March 1, 2023
Introducing "The DJ Booth," a new series profiling students DJs on campus. This week's DJ is Dasha Belobokova ’23.
Photo courtesy of Joshua Kombet. Kombet, known now as dobetterjosh, writes and produces his songs.

“Do Better” campaign promotes original song by Joshua Kombet ’25

Safiyah Anwar-Chuku and Shane Stackpole • February 22, 2023
Signs with the words “Do Better” mysteriously began appearing, the meaning behind the campaign was revealed: Musician Joshua Kombet ’25 released his debut song.
George Chadwell is the earliest documented Black varsity athlete. (Photo courtesy of Special Collections).

An incomplete history of the first Black athletes at the College

Safiyah Anwar-Chuku • February 15, 2023
Archival evidence shows that Black students participated in varsity sports at the College as early as 1897. However, little is known about these athletes’s contributions to the athletic community at the College, which is predominantly white.
Town residents find inclusive gaming community at Purple Dragon Games

Town residents find inclusive gaming community at Purple Dragon Games

Safiyah Anwar-Chuku • January 25, 2023
Spring Street’s Purple Dragon Games prides itself on its inclusivity, which keeps store-goers loyal. Some patrons commute for up to an hour to participate in the various events hosted by the store.
A 1978 map from Wayne Eckerson’s thesis shows the location of White Oaks. Photo courtesy of the Williams College Archives.

The White Oaks neighborhood has a hidden racist history connected to the College

Safiyah Anwar-Chuku • November 30, 2022
Bilal Ansari reflects on the construction of the White Oaks Congregational Church, which was built in 1866 to “civilize” the Black residents of White Oaks.
At the start of the gala, Jeffrey Zigbuo ’26 sung the Black National Anthem.

BSU celebrates 50th anniversary with gala

Safiyah Anwar Chuku • November 16, 2022
To commemorate its 50th anniversary, the Black Student Union (BSU) hosted a gala on Friday, which around 180 students, alums, faculty, and staff attended. 
Windows On Williams: Prospective students engage with College community through fly-in program

Windows On Williams: Prospective students engage with College community through fly-in program

Luke Chinman and Safiyah Anwar-Chuku • November 2, 2022
Windows on Williams is a three-day fly-in program for low-income students to shadow current students by sleeping in their dorms, attending classes, and engaging with the College community. The Record spoke with WOW students, hosts, and administration about their experiences.
Staff Spotlight: Rami El-Aasser, internationally touring musician

Staff Spotlight: Rami El-Aasser, internationally touring musician

Safiyah Anwar-Chuku • October 19, 2022
Rami El-Aasser, a familiar and friendly face behind the Driscoll buffet, might be best known by students for his culinary talent, but his skill set stretches far beyond the kitchen. He is an internationally touring percussionist, with an impressive musical resume that includes a stint on Broadway, performing at the Glastonbury Festival, and even an NPR Tiny Desk concert.
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