Issue 26

VOLUME CLI, ISSUE 26

WEDNESDAY, May 4, 2022

amherststudent.com

THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF AMHERST COLLEGE SINCE 1868

Accessing Amherst: Tracing a History of Admissions Sonia Chajet Wides ’25 and Caelen McQuilkin ’24E Managing News Editors

Photo courtesy of Amherst College

Professors Corañez-Bolton and Odo speak at Asian Alumni Day in 2019. A notable development in the long fight for an A/P/A studies department at Amherst, the CEP has approved a new cluster hire of faculty specializing in A/P/A studies.

College To Hire 3 New A/P/A Studies Professors Mina Enayati-Uzeta ’25 Staff Writer This spring, the Committee on Educational Policy (CEP) approved the hiring of three tenure-track professors with backgrounds and expertise in Asian American studies to the college. The hiring will take place over the next year, with the new faculty expected to arrive for the 2023-2024 academic year. The approval marks a significant step forward in the creation of an Asian American studies major at the college.

Asian American studies has long been called for at Amherst.

Most recently, in August 2021, the Amherst Asian Alumni Network

OPINION

(AAAN) sent a letter to the college’s administration outlining six specific demands toward the eventual establishment of an Asian/Pacific/American (A/P/A) studies major.

One of these demands was to “ensure that there are at least seven tenured or tenure-tracked A/P/A Studies professors teaching courses each semester.” The development of a hiring proposal was intended to address this demand, the administration told the AAAN in an October meeting with them. With the upcoming addition of the three faculty, the college will reach the demanded number.

The new faculty members will be entering the English,

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Standing Against AAPI Erasure: Karen Lee '25 and Eleanor Lee '25 call for recognition of and solidarity with AAPI activism for an A/P/A studies major.

economics, and psychology departments as part of a “cluster hire” — a new college initiative that aims to bring together academics with similar research interests across different disciplines.

The individual departments will be responsible for identifying the new faculty members, who will use their expertise to create courses related to Asian American studies within their respective departments.

Process of Coordinating a Cluster Hire Professor of American Studies and Associate Provost and Associate Dean of the Faculty Pawan Dhingra led the coordination efforts for the

ARTS & LIVING

cluster hire by encouraging individual departments to file full-time-equivalent (FTE) proposals, requests for a tenuretrack hiring “line” within their discipline.

Dhingra collaborated with a faculty working group of fellow Asian American studies professors to support the study of Asian American topics on campus and advocate for the field’s expansion at Amherst.

Other members of the group include John Woodruff Simpson Lecturer Professor of American Studies Franklin Odo, Professor of American Studies Robert Hayashi, Professor of Sexuality,

Continued on page 4

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Moved by a Melody: Alex Brandfonbrener '23 reviews the Choral Society's Spring concert, their first performance since Glee Club's merger with Chorus..

SPORTS

In 1821, Amherst College was founded with the mission to educate “indigent [poor] young men of piety and talents for the Christian ministry.” In the past 200 years, how has this mission been delivered and how has it evolved?

Today, Amherst is the second most diverse liberal arts college in the nation, according to Niche, which bases its rankings on racial, economic, geographical, and gender diversity among students.

At the same time, however, as of 2017, 60 percent of the student body at Amherst came from a family in the nation’s wealthiest 20 percent; 21 percent of the student body came from the top 1 percent, a revealing statistic that The Student covered at the time.

This article is the first installment of a two-part series in which The Student explores the story behind these numbers. Our survey, which includes archival materials, admissions data, student stories, and external studies, is by no means all-encompassing, but we hope to contextualize and illuminate some important questions. What initiative has the college taken to reach more students, communities, and high schools, particularly ones with less historic access to higher education? How do the stories of

Continued on page 8

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Baseball Sweeps Williams: Alex Noga '23 recaps the baseball team's stellar week of play, which won them a bid to the NESCAC playoffs.

News POLICE LOG

Thoughts on Theses Sophie Ewing

April 21, 2022 – April 29, 2022

>>April 21, 2022 1:24 a.m., Boltwood Avenue/ College Street ACPD and Amherst Police Department responded to a report of a suspicious male at the bus stop. After searching the area, the male described by the caller was not found.

10:10 a.m., Mill Lane ACPD responded to Mill Lane, near the Book and Plow fields, for the report of a male dressed in camouflage fatigues, carrying a rifle and hunting. After searching the area, officers learned the individual had left the area before their arrival.

10:04 a.m., King Dormitory An electrician responded to a resident who was stuck in the dorm elevator. Student was able to be released.

2:19 p.m., College Street A Detective followed up on a past larceny case, which resulted in some of the stolen property being recovered.

>>April 23, 2022 1:01 a.m., Book and Plow Farm While on patrol, ACPD investigated a suspicious vehicle and found two people sleeping inside. Officers checked on their well-being and they were sent on their way.

1:13 a.m., Hitchcock Dormitory ACPD responded to take a report of vandalism in a residence hall.

10:49 a.m., Mayo-Smith Dormitory ACPD responded to take a report of vandalism in a residence hall. >>April 24, 2022 4:24 a.m., Mayo-Smith Dormitory ACPD took a report of vandalism in a residence hall. >>April 25, 2022 4:21 p.m., Valentine Quad ACPD took a report of a past larceny. Incident is under investigation. >>April 26, 2022 12:30 a.m., East Drive ACPD took a report of a minor motor vehicle accident.

4:13 p.m., Greenway C ACPD and Community Safety Assistants were requested to respond to a residence hall. A resident was concerned after hearing a female yelling outside of the building. The interior and exterior of the buildings were checked and no one was found to be in need of assistance.

4:47 p.m., Arms Music Building ACPD responded to a report of vandalism, which involved spray paint on the exterior of an academic building. >>April 28, 2022 11:58 a.m., South Amherst College Drive ACPD responded to a minor motor vehicle accident. No injuries. >>April 29, 2022 11:46 p.m., Moore Dormitory ACPD responded to a Valentine Dining storage area after a staff member found it open with broken glass near the entry door.

The area was checked with no other findings. Area was then secured.

Departments of English and Asian Languages and Civilizations

Photo courtesy of Ziji Zhou '25

Q: When did you decide on writing a senior thesis, and what is your thesis about?

A: I think I decided last spring of 2021. I’m an English major and I knew I wanted to do a thesis in the English department. I had to make a thesis proposal, and I really want[ed] to do something that was self-directed, and where I could choose what I would like working on. I originally was doing a thesis on coming-of-age stories, then it changed a bit. I ended up writing a thesis on “The Handmaiden,” which is a Korean movie directed by Park Chan-Wook. It was a bit like a gothic romance and it was set in the 1930s in Korea. [The movie] was adapted from a book called “Fingersmith.” I read the book and I watched the movie. I really liked both so I want[ed] to write about both. I ended up just writing about the movie. What was interesting about the movie is that it comments on a lot of things like the Japanese colonization of Korea, gender relations, and a queer love story.

Q: How did the thesis relate to your major, and how did you get interested in studying film in particular?

A: I am a double major in English and Asian languages and civilizations, so it is related to both majors, in my opinion. In English, I’ve studied English literature in the 19th century and different narrative structures — for example, the marriage plot, which is really important to how stories are constructed. I feel that a lot of things I studied in the English major gave me context for understanding [“The Handmaiden”], which had been adapted from

Sophie Ewing is a double major in English and Asian languages and civilizations. Her thesis is titled “Miniature, Mirror, Octopus: Semiotics, Minor Literature and Counter-discourse in Park Chan-Wook’s The Handmaiden.”

Her thesis advisor is Emily C. Jordan, Folger Professor of Black Studies and English C. Rhonda Cobham-Sander. a novel that lectures on all these different traditions. At the same time, I was studying my second major which is Asian languages and civilizations. I was studying World War II. I specifically took a course called “The History and Memory of the Asia-Pacific War” with Professor [of Asian Languages and Civilizations and History Trent] Maxey, and that was when I studied World War II and East Asia and the different relationships between Japan and China and between Japan and Korea. [I also studied] the way things [that] happened during World War II are remembered today and the way that they show up in contemporary politics, especially around the comfort women issue. I brought a lot of that to my thesis because it’s a film about Japanese colonization. I was thinking about all those issues anyway. Specifically, I chose to do a film project just because I liked the story of the film, initially, but I’ve also been very interested in film as well as literature. Personally, I’m an artist and I enjoy artistic things. I also think visually, as well as linguistically, and I really enjoy doing visual analysis.

Q: Which kinds of audiences might be especially interested in reading your thesis?

A: In this imaginary land of scholars who would like to read, I would say East Asian scholars and Korean scholars, or [scholars] who are interested in talking about cinema. One [reason people may be interested is because of] what this film says about the historical period, and how this period is remembered or thought about in the contemporary moment, and what it says about colonial rela-

tionships. For example, the film features this central queer relationship between a Japanese woman and a Korean woman. [Scholars] talked a lot about “What does this relationship say?” and [that] it’s a very much like a feminist relationship because men in their lives are very abusive, and that it’s about solidarity. So they’re like, “What does this kind of relationship with solidarity mean about post-colonialism?” The colonial relations between Korea and Japan or that kind of thing and maybe more broad and political. They might be interested. I also think that there’s another angle because I really close-read the film and I also used all these other [devices]. I talked about the period using different concepts that come from literary theory and film theory. So there’s a historical perspective. Then there’s the perspective of film theorists who are like, “What does the male gaze look like in this film?”, “How do the images in this film work?”, “What is it?”, and “How is it working to produce a particular response in the audience to these particular scenes?” I think feminist film, like [the film] in this thesis, engages a lot with feminist film criticism and different theorists, so they might be interested in it from that perspective. I also think that I drew a lot on queer theory and, if anyone is interested in queer film, they’ll be really interested in this film and this thesis as well because that is a really big part of the film.

Read the full interview online at www.amherststudent.com —Pho Vu '23

The Amherst Student • May 4, 2022

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College Increases Compensation, Employees Reflect Caelen McQuilkin ’24E and Sofia Tennent ’25 Managing News Editor and Staff Writer On April 1, a compensation increase took effect for all college employees whose annual compensation had been below $85,000.

The compensation changes, which were communicated to all staff and faculty in a March 26 email from President Biddy Martin, are separate from the college’s annual salary pool increase that takes effect on July 1 each year.

The April 1 pay raise consisted of an increase in the wage of hourly, benefits-eligible employees at the minimum end of the A0-1 pay grade from $16.71 to $17.71 per hour. Additionally, employees making under $50,000 annually received a $1.00 per hour increase, employees making between $50,000 and $59,000 re-

ceived an $.80 per hour increase, and employees making between $60,000 and $85,000 received a $.60 per hour increase, with salaried employees receiving the equivalent of the hourly increase based on their weekly schedule.

Casual employees earning minimum wage also went from making $15 per hour to $16 per hour, and the student earning minimum wage increased from $14.25 per hour to $15.25 per hour. “[The compensation changes] reflect a strategic investment that will also assist hiring managers with recruiting and retaining talent at a time of market pressures and labor shortages,” wrote Martin in her March 26 email. She also noted that all employees receiving a wage increase remain eligible for the July 1 salary pool increase.

Wages and labor rights at the college have become a larg-

er conversation in the past academic year. At the start of the fall, employees reported feeling overworked and underpaid, and later, activism on the part of the Amherst Labor Alliance brought heightened attention to deeper issues surrounding employee pay and conditions. Last November, the college converted a number of casual employees to benefited positions, resulting in an expansion of the healthcare and pay offered to employees.

In light of this most recent development, The Student spoke with several college employees, one of whom is quoted anonymously in this article.

Employee A, who works in the dining hall, reflected on the ultimate impact of the shift. “I’d have to say it barely makes an effect,” they said. “In my opinion, the fact it was offered is a clear indication they [management] know

the wages are below standard and did little to adjust pay to current conditions.”

“Current conditions” include the cost of living in the Pioneer Valley, as well as recent price inflation, employees stated. According to costofliving.org, in Amherst, the average rent for a one room apartment is $2,000 per month, the average utility bill is $170 per month, the average monthly food cost is $537, and gas is $4.15 per gallon. This adds up to a monthly cost of living of roughly $2,800 assuming that the person uses 30 gallons of gas per month. As per the new wage increase, an employee of the lowest pay grade working a consistent 40 hours per week at the college will make around $2,560 each month.

The wage raise also prompted some employees to reflect on different types of raises being offered across the nation. Employee

A stated that other corporations, such as Target and Panera, seem to be shifting their view of labor in light of the pandemic and recent global events.

Target has opened its health insurance plans to employees working only 25 hours a week, and has expanded the starting wage range of its employees to between $15 and $24 an hour. In Employee A’s view, Amherst too has the leeway to offer their employees more.

“Unlike a small mom-and-pop restaurant looking to survive the bottom line, Valentine Hall and Amherst have the means and ability to properly care for its workers and actively chooses not to, which is very disheartening.”

With this in mind, Employee A said they predict that Amherst dining will “keep struggling to hire and keep employees until a massive pay and attitude correction occurs.”

College Purchases New House to Serve as President’s House Liam Archacki ’24 Senior Managing Editor The college purchased a new house to serve as the President’s House, announced Provost and Dean of the Faculty Catherine Epstein at a faculty meeting on April 27.

The new house, located at 46 Sunset Avenue, is expected to be ready for the new president by late 2022.

Made by the Board of Trustees, the decision to retire the current President’s House — which has served the dual function of hosting official college functions on its first floor and housing the college’s presidents and their families on its second since its construction in 1834 — was primarily motivated by privacy concerns, said Executive Director of Planning, Construction, and Design Tom Davies in a statement to The Student.

The concerns stem from the fact that the existing President’s House frequently hosts meetings and events and is subject to substantial foot traffic, Davies said. The board had expected these issues to be aggravated by the planned addition

of the Aliki Perroti & Seth Frank Lyceum, a new academic building, just south of the existing President’s House in 2023.

Davies said that President Biddy Martin’s departure at the end of the academic year and the arrival of a new president “offered a logical opportunity” to address these concerns with the purchase of a new house.

While the new use for the existing President’s House is yet to be determined, Martin said at the April 27 faculty meeting that she would recommend to the board that they designate it a new faculty meeting space.

Plans to purchase a new house first began to form during Fall 2021, but the “heated condition” of the real estate market meant that options were limited, Davies said. Of the available options, several houses were considered but ultimately not selected because they would have required extensive renovations or were too far from campus.

“The board considered it important that the house be close to campus and within walking distance for the next president,” Davies stated.

Photo courtesy of Realtor.com

The new president's house is located at 46 Sunset Avenue.

When the college learned that a 3,700-square-foot house had become available at 46 Sunset Avenue — just a half mile northwest of the current President’s House, but in a residential area more removed from the bustle of campus life — lawyers began negotiating the sale, and the

purchase was finalized in December 2021.

According to its Zillow listing, the new President’s House, built in 1912, is three stories, with four bedrooms and 10 bathrooms (five full and five half). It features a built-in pool in its backyard.

However, Davies said that the house, which has not been substantially updated since the 1950s, will require renovations to modernize its mechanical systems and surfaces. Barring any supply-chain issues, renovations are expected to be completed this fall.

The Amherst Student • May 4, 2022

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Students and Professors Reflect on New A/P/A Studies Cluster Hire Continued from page 1 Women’s, and Gender Studies and History Christine Peralta, and Professor of Latinx and Latin American Studies and Spanish Sony Corañez-Bolton.

Before filing for the cluster hire, Dhingra and other involved community members identified departments willing to bring in new faculty with specialties in Asian American studies. Jiajia Zhang ’22, former senior chair of the Asian Pacific American Action Committee (APAAC) who has advocated for the establishment of an Asian American studies major throughout her four years at Amherst, explained that persuading departments is a key aspect of coordinating a cluster hire, as multiple departments must sign on together to go forward with the process.

After noting their interest, the departments began researching and producing their own FTE requests, explaining their interest in adding a faculty member, and outlining what their contribution might look like.

“It’s a lot of work for a department because they have to do so much research. A lot of things have to line up for a cluster hire to happen,” Zhang said.

After submitting their requests, the departments waited for approval from the CEP, a key step in the process. As Zhang recounted, two departments who had expressed interest her freshman year filed FTE requests, but both were rejected through the CEP decision process.

Made up of five faculty members, three students, and Provost and Dean of Faculty Catherine Epstein, the CEP is responsible for reviewing FTE requests and recommending the most compelling to President Martin for final approval.

Cole Graber-Mitchell ’22, who has served on the CEP for three years, describes the annual decision process as competitive and complex. “Each year we only have a handful of lines to give away. A FTE request is specifically

for a tenure-track hiring line; essentially, it is a 30-year commitment to a department,” he said. “I'm really happy that this year, we got a request that we were able to accept.”

At the end of their consideration period, the CEP approved all three of the hiring requests, conveying their recommendations in a letter to Martin. She and Epstein finalized the decision, officially granting FTEs for the entire proposed Asian American studies cluster.

Reactions to the New Cluster Hire Odo suggested that the timing of the cluster hire was related to recent events, rather than an independent recognition of the value of Asian American studies. “Unfortunately, I think it took Covid and the rise in anti-Asian hate to convince the administration and some of my colleagues in the faculty that we really need to move ahead on this,” he said.

Zhang expressed a similar sentiment: “People should not have to die at a 300 percent [higher] rate than they usually do just for Asian Americans to learn about themselves in school,” she said.

Zhang also voiced worries about the cluster hirees’ opportunity to connect with each other. “I think making [Asian American studies] a major is the best way to sustain [community].

Otherwise it’s three hires into three different departments, and it can fall apart,” she said.

Still, Zhang sees the hires as a huge step forward. “When I first came here as a freshman, if you wanted to study South Asian Americans or Southeast Asian Americans, or study it from a psych approach or econ approach or just anything other than history or English, it would’ve been impossible to do. This is a really powerful moment,” she explained.

Others feel hopeful about the potential for community among the cluster hirees. “The whole

Photo courtesy of Amherst College

Audience members listening to a talk at Asian Alumni Day in 2019. The new faculty members will be entering the English, economics, and psychology departments as part of a “cluster hire” — a major step in the establishment of an A/P/A studies major. idea of a cluster hire is for new [faculty] to support one another … a sense of solidarity and support,” said Professor Odo. Peralta, who is the college’s newest faculty member in Asian American studies, is eager for the three faculty members to arrive.

“I’m hoping that they come in and build that community — and I’m very excited to help facilitate that in any way that I can,” she said.

Some faculty members also highlighted the importance of an interdisciplinary approach to Asian American studies.

“Most English departments know that people of Asian heritage have contributed a great deal to the world of writing. This is not so evident in the fields of economics or psychology,” Odo said, praising the decision to expand three departments.

“It’s a central part of the American fabric. Identity is so crucial to what we do — including politics and economics,” he added.

Looking Forward Thinking of the incoming faculty, Peralta reflected on her own experiences as a new faculty member.. “In terms of departmentlevel, I definitely feel supported. But I think the issue is … not really a person, it’s an infrastructure,” she said.

Structural shortcomings leave Asian American studies faculty to meet overwhelming student interest without the support of an established department, Peralta said.

Peralta hopes that with three new professors, the load will be more evenly distributed. “It will be really amazing to be able to be like, ‘You know what, this isn't my specialty, but I know somebody in psychology or economics or English who would be perfect to talk about this,’” she said.

Odo echoed this excitement.

“Having seven or eight faculty rather than one [will] obviously [result in] a huge increase in the number of people that can choose to develop a senior thesis

or capstone, or take a course,” he said, adding that “this is a really important step forward … we have managed to build a field.”

Professors also discussed their hopes for the future in the wake of the cluster hire.

Some professors highlighted the possibilities for further expansion of Asian American studies within other disciplines. “We could always look for more. Dance is a great topic, film is another,” said Dhingra. Peralta would like to see somebody specifically geared towards Education Studies.

Odo thinks that “a lot of ancillary — maybe unintended — consequences will follow,” explaining that the expansion of Asian American studies could lead to greater “support for … diversity in other areas,” including other ethnic studies disciplines.

“People who have experienced discrimination themselves, not always, but are likely to know what the experience is like and offer ways to fight back and generate support for [one another].”

The Amherst Student • May 4, 2022

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Letter Calls for Transparency in Hiring Practices Pho Vu ’23 and Caelen McQuilkin ’24E Staff Writer and Managing News Editor On April 22, students sent a letter to the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (ODEI) calling on the college to fulfill its promises in centering diversity, equity, and inclusion in academics (DEI) by increasing student involvement and transparency in the hiring process. Authored by several students in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) departments, and addressed to Chief Equity and Inclusion Officer Angie Tissi-Gassoway, the letter garnered 117 signatures from students and alumni.

Reflecting on the promises made in August 2020’s Anti-Racism Plan, writers and signatories of the letter call for hiring processes to take students into more consideration. The letter describes current practices for hiring faculty of color as “per-

formative,” as they believe hiring committees are not up to the task of considering the full scope of DEI. Composed of three central demands, the letter states that the start of this conversation was in part inspired by “the recent lack of transparency around hiring processes within multiple departments.” The first demand calls on the President’s Office to review its past commitments to anti-racism and “critically assess whether corresponding institutional actions comprehensively account for non-tenure-track faculty positions.” The second asks that the college “recognize students’ belief that DEI work is instrumental to effective teaching and mentorship,” which includes establishing DEI as a “new criterion in the hiring process, rather than incorporating it as a mere part of the service pillar.” The third demand calls on the college to “standardize the practice of including students in the hiring and assessment of fac-

ulty across all academic departments.”

While the letter, which has been in the works for almost a month now, started within a group of passionate students in the chemistry department, it has since spread. “The changes we’re asking for are not aimed at the department itself. [They’re] aimed at the institution,” said Ji Chung ’22, an English and chemistry double major and co-writer of the letter.

Frida Hernandez ’24, a chemistry major and co-writer of the letter, emphasized that students should have input in the hiring process. “There are some departments on campus that actually genuinely want the students to like the professors that they’re hiring … but other departments don’t ask for any input,” she said.

“What we were asking in the letter was for [the students’ role] to be more standardized across all of the college.”

Even when students provide input regarding hiring decisions,

the role that it plays in the process remains unclear, Hernandez said. “Whether or not that feedback is taken into consideration when the hiring decision actually happens, we don’t really know.”

Chung described further: “We were starting to look into the [hiring] process to see at what point we can voice our opinions … [and asked,] ‘Is there already a created space for us?’”

The letter also criticizes the lack of transparency around faculty retention, a concern which Hernandez echoed. “Especially in recent years … the school has made some great changes and we have hired some great professors. I think the problem is we also lose so many of those professors when their visiting contract ends, and none of those professors are ever hired back for permanent position[s] … I don’t know why,” she said.

Chemistry, where almost all of the professors are white, the lack of diversity creates a large barrier for students of color.

Chung added that this issue extends to the whole campus.

Looking ahead, Chung said that she hopes to see “a more unified response, a unified effort or way to organize DEI work on campus, because right now it’s a lot of individuals really, really passionately working on stuff.”

Ultimately, Hernandez wants the college to hire more faculty who are people of color, and do a better job of integrating student voices into hiring decisions.

Chung also hopes this letter will help people expand their perspective of the purpose of academics at the college. “If we agree as a chemistry department or as a STEM department or as Amherst College to prioritize support and community building, as opposed to research and publication and shoving knowledge into people’s heads, then I think we would have a much more successful academic community and get rid of a lot of … divides, whether racial or by discipline,” she said.

College Provides Updates on Anti-Racism Action Plan Tana Delalio ’24 Managing News Editor In an email sent to students, faculty, and staff on April 26, President Biddy Martin provided an update on the college’s 2020 Anti-Racism Plan. The email detailed initiatives in a multitude of areas, including research on Amherst’s racial history, admissions, faculty and staff diversity and development, and mental health and well-being.

Released in August 2020, the college’s Anti-Racism Plan was formulated in response to student calls for a more racially equitable campus made in campaigns like Reclaim Amherst and #IntegrateAmherst. The college has provided periodic updates on the plan over the past two years, with the last update being sent this past October. Last Tuesday’s email followed the same form as the previous updates,

outlining progress that has been made in each of the many areas the plan covers.

Starting with the work to address the college’s racial history, the email wrote that the Racial History of Amherst College Steering Committee established The Racial History of Amherst College, an online chronicle of student research into the history of race and racism at Amherst.

Student research will also directly support the work of the Racial History Post-Doctoral Research Fellow, a new hired position designed to investigate the college’s historical relationship to slavery and make that history visible to the public and college community. The search for the fellow commenced in early February, and the college expects to have a candidate by Fall 2022.

Additionally, the college joined the Universities Studying Slavery consortium to benefit from

collaboration with other institutions.

To improve DEI going forward, the Board of Trustees established a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee in May 2021, which continues to meet regularly. Additionally, each senior administrative staff division within the college created its own diversity, equity, and inclusion goals, which are aligned within a new equity framework that articulates the overarching goals guiding the college’s efforts.

The plan also includes updates on admissions. The college announced “significant expansion” to its financial aid in October 2021 by increasing financial support to both low-income and middle-income students, while providing students with the highest levels of need in each class year with an additional $1,000 annual access grant.

In addition to expanding fi-

nancial aid, the college continues aiming for diversity in its admissions. Among the 1,026 admitted students for the Class of 2026, 62 percent are domestic students of color, 22 percent are first-generation college students, and 9 percent are international students.

Martin wrote, “we anticipate that the Class of 2026 will be one of the most racially, ethnically, and socioeconomically diverse in the College's history.”

Following the challenges in the U.S. Supreme Court against Harvard University and the University of North Carolina’s affirmative action programs, the college is organizing an amicus brief in support of the holistic consideration of race in admissions.

In addition to encouraging diversity in admissions, the college continues to aim for diversity in its faculty. This spring, the college hired seven faculty of

color out of nine new tenure-line faculty members. In Fall 2021, 27 percent of faculty were people of color, compared to 16 percent in Fall 2011. Martin wrote that percentage will be higher after this year’s hiring is complete.

The college has also made efforts to improve inclusion and transparency within the faculty development process. The college relaunched “Black at Amherst,” a monthly community-building lunch series for faculty and staff, “In recognition of the isolation that we know Black faculty and staff experience,” according to Martin. This spring, all academic departments completed tenure criteria. The Office of Faculty Equity and Inclusion created additional faculty development programs, and is running the Pathways Program for associate professors, which “in-

Continued on page 12

The Amherst Student • May 4, 2022

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A 50-year Fight for Belonging: A History of A/P/A Studies Karina Maciel ’25 Staff Writer

Photo courtesy of Karina Maciel '25

Original call for Asian American studies in The Amherst Student — May 11, 1972. From Amherst College Archives and Special Collections.

Photo courtesy of Karina Maciel '25

Published letter to the editor calling for Asian American studies, published in The Amherst Student — April 3, 1991.

From Amherst College Archives and Special Collections.

The beginning of May marks the start of Asian American/Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month, a month meant to recognize and honor the contributions of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders to U.S. history. Understanding these histories and cultures is crucial to understanding the larger history of the United States, and one field that helps with this understanding is Asian/ Pacific/American (A/P/A) studies.

Calls to establish an A/P/A Studies program at Amherst stretch back at least 50 years — despite this, no unified A/P/A studies program has been created.

Without a formal A/P/A studies program in place, students of Asian American and Pacific Islander descent lack the framework to learn about their own histories and cultures. But recent gains for the movement, such as the approval of an A/P/A studies cluster hire, have helped strengthen student and faculty calls. The Student investigated this 50-year history of activism, speaking with students, professors, and alumni about its significance, and their hopes for the future of A/P/A studies on the Amherst campus.

The Early History of the Movement The first calls for A/P/A studies at Amherst date back to May 1972, when Asian and Asian American students published a letter in The Student calling on the college to hire faculty in the field of Asian studies and begin “an active recruitment of Asians from disadvantaged backgrounds.”

During the 1980s, Professor of English Barry O’Connell began teaching Amherst’s first Asian American studies classes, focusing on Asian American literature.

Over the next few decades, other student groups led the push for A/P/A representation in the Amherst curriculum. The Asian American Studies Committee, for instance, was established in the early 90s, and made its own call for

A/P/A studies in a letter published in The Student.

Following increased course offerings in A/P/A studies in the 90s, the college hired Professor Jan Lin, an Asian American studies professor, in 1994. However, Lin left the college after three years.

Advocacy from graduate students, staff, visiting professors and tenured faculty members during the 1999-2000 academic year led to the creation of Five College A/P/A Certificate Program. The program was approved by Hampshire, Mount Holyoke, Smith, and UMass in 2001 — Amherst did not join the program until five years later, following a faculty vote.

The Advocacy Continues The Amherst Uprising in 2015 sparked a renewed interest in A/P/A studies. The Uprising was a days-long sit-in in Frost Library, led by students who demanded college-wide change regarding the issue of racism on campus. In the aftermath, the Asian American Studies Working group (now known as the Asian American and Pacific American Action Committee [APAAC]) and the Amherst Asian Alumni Network (AAAN) were born. The AAAN in particular was largely influenced by Amherst Uprising, according to members Kiko Aebi ’16, Jenny Li ’16, and Olivia Zheng ’20.

Both Aebi and Li participated in Amherst Uprising, calling it a “formative experience” in fostering solidarity among Asian American students on campus.

They stated that Amherst Uprising showed them what student activism could accomplish — and once they graduated, they realized the importance of alumni voices as well.

“The formation of the [AAAN] was a response to this sense among many alumni in our year, especially Asian alumni, that there wasn’t a way to build community and stay in touch, and continue conversations that had been so important and formative to us as students,” Aebi said.

She described a recurring problem with student activism at

Amherst, wherein the administration “stonewalls,” waiting for students to graduate instead of hearing out their demands. “[We realized] that as alumni, if we really formed a coalition, and kept the pressure on, the College could no longer play that waiting game.”

Since its creation four years ago, the AAAN has worked alongside APAAC to increase the number of tenure-track A/P/A studies faculty, as well as A/P/A course offerings, at the college. It regularly meets with administration and faculty to promote A/P/A studies, and works to build strong networks of support for Asian American students and alumni. The primary function of the AAAN, according to Aebi and Li, is to “vocally [push] for curricular change.”

The student demands of Amherst Uprising led to the hiring of John Woodruff Simpson Lecturer Franklin Odo, a pioneer in the field of Asian American Studies, as visiting faculty. After his arrival, Odo “instantly doubled” the number of A/P/A studies faculty on campus. “Successive administrations have never seen the necessity of pursuing this in any serious kind of way,” Odo said. “When I arrived in 2015, there was only one person who was doing Asian American studies seriously on the Amherst campus, and that was [Associate] Professor [of American Studies] Robert Hayashi.”

Following the hiring of Professor Odo, extensive student advocacy led to the hiring of other professors specializing in A/P/A studies. Other A/P/A-focused professors on the Amherst campus include Professors Pawan Dhingra and Sony Coráñez-Bolton, who both came to the College in 2018.

Jiajia Zhang ’22, who has been involved with APAAC since her freshman year and served as cochair her sophomore and junior years, described the advocacy for A/P/A studies professors as grueling and even “disheartening” at times.

“It seems like it wasn’t that much work, but it was so much

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Activists Speak on the Importance of A/P/A Studies Continued from page 6 work,” Zhang said. According to Zhang, APAAC played an extensive role in the hiring process, with members going around to different departments and advocating to each why A/P/A studies and A/P/A faculty were needed.

“There was a lot of unpaid labor involved.”

And all this labor sometimes still amounted to nothing. Following the first round of student-led advocacy during Zhang’s freshman year, the hiring request was denied by the Committee for Educational Policy (CEP). “We did an insane amount of work,” Zhang said, “and [the hiring request] didn’t even pass.”

According to Zhang, one of the reasons this request got denied was because people had trouble understanding the importance of A/P/A studies.

“Oftentimes, people of Asian descent are not looked at as minorities in the same way that other people of color are,” added Associate Professor of American Studies Robert Hayashi. “And I think that led to a failure to recognize the necessity for this area of study.”

The belief that A/P/A studies lack value has deep roots in the world of academia, extending back to the origin of the field in the 1960s. According to Odo, early efforts to establish the field emphasized that its concerns were not otherwise addressed within academia. “Our colleagues didn’t always take very kindly to that, because this was a direct criticism of the fact that the university faculty were not addressing issues that were critical,” Odo said.

Odo noted that this perspective persists today. “People haven’t gotten the message yet. Not all of our colleagues are convinced that this is a legitimate field, and is providing both methodologies and content that we need to become fully educated,” he added.

A second hiring request for a professor specializing in A/P/A studies was approved during Zhang’s sophomore year at Amherst, following persistent advoca-

cy from APAAC and the AAAN. This led to the hiring of Assistant Professor of History and Sexuality, Women’s and Gender Studies Christine Peralta, who joined the college this past fall. “[My hiring] came from student interest for sure,” Peralta said.

Peralta stated that she specifically wanted a job where there were students who were interested in A/P/A studies, and that students from APAAC who were “really invested in the hire” helped facilitate her interview process.

Anti-Asian Racism Leads to Increased Awareness The push for an A/P/A program of study has continued to grow in the past few years. Following the Atlanta spa shootings in March of 2021, the APAAC and the ASA held a vigil in honor of the eight victims. This past August, the AAAN wrote an open letter to President Biddy Martin and other members of the administration, calling again for the establishment of an A/P/A studies major amid increasing anti-Asian racism across the US. This increased advocacy led to the recent approval of a cluster hire for three faculty members specializing in A/P/A studies in the departments of economics, psychology, and English.

Both students and faculty believe that the administration was incentivized to pursue the cluster hire by the recent rise in anti-Asian sentiment, partly due to the Covid-19 pandemic. “[Increased anti-Asian racism] has raised a lot of awareness about the necessity of understanding who people of Asian descent are [and] what their role has been in the history of the United States,” stated Hayashi.

Mica Nimkarn ’24, the current junior chair of APAAC, agreed with this connection. “I think that the time that we’re living in and the events [of the past two years] … have helped to expedite the process. There is such a focus on Asian American studies right now, in light of all of the anti-Asian hate that’s been rising.” Nimkarn added that the recent rise in anti-Asian

hate, in particular, is “showing the administration that they should really do something … or else it’s going to reflect badly on them.”

However, the hiring of individual A/P/A studies professors into different departments does not necessarily mean that an A/P/A program of study is guaranteed.

“It’s a paradox,” stated Zhang. “In order to make a major, you have to hire people into other majors.

Then they have to come together to make this new major.” According to Zhang, this can be difficult, especially when faculty have existing departmental obligations to fulfill- which is the case for the three new faculty from the recent cluster hire.

Therein lies the conundrum for A/P/A studies at the college, professors and students say. The current process means that both current and new A/P/A faculty are hired into existing departments; they must consolidate on their own to actually establish an A/P/A studies major. Despite there being enough manpower to make this major, the lack of administrative initiation and a sense of direction continues to be a major roadblock.

“We’ve been able to hire Professor Dhingra, Professor Bolton, Professor Peralta — but what are we headed towards?” asked Hayashi. “What’s the ultimate goal?

Hiring more people, to me, is fantastic, and they will further grow student interest and awareness among colleagues and administrators of the richness and vitality of the field. But I still don’t see a clear plan, and if we are to create something, I would really like to see it as the product of a really inclusive kind of deep, rich conversation with students, alumni, and faculty.”

“I don’t think anyone is necessarily against [establishing an A/P/A studies major] anymore.

Everyone supports the major in principle,” Zhang added. “But without us actively doing advocacy work, the administration needs to actively take steps to have this major be made.”

There is also the issue of timing, as the hiring process for new

faculty is long and extensive, and there are no clear end goals in sight.

“The hiring process [for the cluster hire positions] will begin next fall, with the goal of filling the positions by Fall 2024 … that’s a really key date,” said Aebi. “Because there’s the potential that the process could be drawn out longer than that, and that’s sort of unfair.

Coordination between the three departments so they don’t end up with very similar candidates [is necessary], and also holding them accountable to this timeline is really important.”

A Deep Importance for Students Many students emphasized the idea that A/P/A would benefit the campus at large. Interest in this field has been growing from Asian American and non-Asian American students alike, and many believe that having such a program of study on the Amherst campus would be purely beneficial, particularly when it comes to examining the issues Asian American students face on campus.

This sentiment was echoed by Hibiscus Zhang ’25, who stated that the lack of a “formal” A/P/A department is hindering both his and the larger campus’ understanding of Asian American issues. “I’ve been trying to get exposure to the field through different departments that offer [related] courses [instead],” he said.

“This semester I’m taking a course called Methods in Asian Studies.

Aside from that, my exposure to Asian American studies here and [within] the Five College Consortium in general has been pretty nonexistent.”

Gabby Avena ’25, who took “Asian American History: 1800-Present” with Professor Peralta in the fall, said that the class was very important to her and her classmates. “[What] we learned was a really big reckoning in my self identity,” said Avena. “And beyond that, I think Asian American studies is important for nonAsians to take [as well], and that’s the only way we’re ever going to get an [A/P/A] program.”

“If you’re trying to understand Asian Americans as a monolith … then you are ignoring the divisions that exist and that are shown in the college currently,” Avena added. “Having a broader and deeper understanding of the diversity of Asian America helps you make sense of these different groups and might help them come together more.”

Students have also called for earlier advocates to be credited for their work. “There were so many generations of students that had been fighting [for A/P/A studies], and hearing nothing back, seeing no change, and feeling really discouraged and burnt out,” said Nimkarn. “Things are changing.

But it feels like the work hasn’t been acknowledged … and it’s also like, why does it take Asian Americans dying to finally see any change? If the coronavirus didn’t happen, would things have been different?”

As advocacy for the establishment of an A/P/A studies program continues, students, professors, and alumni alike hope that the administration will take greater initiative in the creation of a major, and that the advocacy from all parties will continue. “[Students and alumni] have so much more power than you realize, when you speak collectively and forcefully about your [future] desires for Amherst,” said Hayashi.

“The conversation and the pressure from students and alumni has to be constantly maintained. There has to be pushing for real commitments from the college, not just words … and [then] holding them to that.”

“The building blocks are in place,” added Odo. “I think this current administration has come a long way in the six years that I’ve been here, but we have a ways to go. And I think what I’d like to see is Amherst become a leading light among liberal arts colleges, in terms of promoting and illustrating the ways in which Asian American studies and ethnic studies can help illuminate the path forward for bright undergraduates.”

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Student Demands for Institutional Shifts Over Time Continued from page 1 individual students help highlight the way that these initiatives succeed, and where they fall short?

What are the ways in which these changes to admissions policies do and/or do not signify fundamental changes to Amherst’s elitism?

In this week’s installment of the series, we examine the historic buildup of Amherst’s efforts to diversify — particularly in the late 1960s.

A Changing Landscape In the mid-1960s, the landscape of higher education — which had almost exclusively prioritized alumni-nominated applicants and prep school graduates — appeared to be changing its historic ways.

The G.I. Bill and its successors, laws that provided educational financial aid to veterans of war, had already begun to shift the class demographics of higher education toward being more diverse, allowing certain (mostly white) lower-income people a guaranteed college education.

The 1965 Higher Education Act was a similar game-changer — packaged as part of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s “Great Society” policies, the act created federal grant and loan programs.

Notably, it also created programs that were meant to recruit “promising” low-income students and encourage them to apply to these elite institutions.

All of this, however, was not enough to significantly economically nor racially diversify institutions — according to Professor of Black Studies and History Stefan Bradley, bigger shifts “took intentionality” from individual colleges and universities.

By the late 1960s, schools around the country were beginning to make more specific efforts to diversify their student bodies, Amherst among them.

Much of this was due to student activism, which increasingly called upon administrations to make diversification efforts.

Advocacy around admissions

was part of the broader environment of students calling for change in the late 1960s. In an interview with The Student, Dennis Aftergut ’69, who was involved in student activism on a variety of causes at the time, described a national context of “the Vietnam war, the draft, the disproportionate numbers of Blacks conscripted, [and] the slow pace of change for Black Americans,” all of which fueled “the immense disruption of American life, reflected on campuses.” At colleges nationwide, growing critical masses of Black students led to the formations of the first Black Student Unions — Amherst’s BSU, then called the Afro-American Society, was founded in 1968.

Widespread student activism motivated colleges to start taking issues of race and class in higher education more seriously. For one thing, administrations were aware of more intense uprisings occurring nationwide. Aftergut believes that “watching the events, Amherst leadership felt it needed to do something.” The activist climate both encouraged the administration to “address the boiling issues” at hand, as well as act to “preempt occupations and violence,” in Aftergut’s words.

As Bradley put it, “Students are the conscience of colleges and universities.”

In a report on admissions in 1966, then-Dean of Admissions Eugene Wilson wrote about the cultural shifts that he was witnessing in admissions offices.

“It is interesting to note the change in status symbols over the years in the fraternity of admission officers,” he began. “Twenty years ago ‘status’ depended on the average CEEB Aptitude scores of an entering class; ten years ago the key was the number of National Merit winners in an entering class; today it is the number of Negroes in a freshman class!” By the numbers, Amherst’s Class of 1968 was 2% Black.

Student activists saw the issue not as a reflection of status, but as a moral imperative for racial equality. As is documented in

a 1967 article in The Student, Amherst students had begun to increasingly push for the college to take action in regards to diversity, or, as they called it at the time, “chances for teaching disadvantaged.” Students proposed that the college work with other Pioneer Valley institutions to begin an initiative similar to the A Better Chance (ABC) model, which offered a summer program that prepared economically disadvantaged students for a transition to private boarding schools, or in this case, colleges.

At the time, Wilson, was “pessimistic” about the idea, according to the article, and he wrote in a memo that he instead favored training college students from the Northeast to spend their summers teaching in Southern schools because it would “send the college students back to their privileged environments with a new appreciation of the opportunities they have.”

But Wilson did take note of the community’s passion for the subject. In one 1967 letter to NAACP Legal Defense Fund Director John W. Davis, Wilson discussed the history of the college’s Black student body, including the fact that in 1826, Edward Jones graduated from Amherst and became the second African American to receive a college degree. However, he said, “I shall not give you a full account of what we have done in the recent past to support the education of Negro students … Our faculty feels, and our students do, too, that we aren’t doing enough.”

Wilson’s papers from the era, which are now kept in the college’s archives, show a serious interest in developing strategies to provide more opportunities for marginalized students, particularly Black students, to study at Amherst. He kept hefty stacks of articles and reports from other institutions detailing their initiatives, primarily increased recruitment and summer programming like ABCs; he also reached out to a variety of people for advice about diversifying,

Photo courtesy of Amherst College

Students in 1991 voice their support for the expansion of financial aid. Their banner reads “How homogeneous can we get?” including Davis.

The problem remained, though, that Amherst had very few actual initiatives. The college was “working from an attitude and not a program,” wrote Frank Greve ’67 in a report titled “Admission and the Minority Student.” Greve visited 15-20 high schools to try and recruit Black students, and documented his experiences: “We say only (and simply) ‘We have the money and the desire.’ Counselors expect more and … [ask] ‘Do you have a summer program? How long is your orientation period for disadvantaged students? What concessions do you make when you place them against competition from the best public and private schools in the country?’”

During this time period, deeper questions also arose about the philosophy of who “deserved” higher education. In February 1967, eight Amherst professors delivered a letter to the rest of the faculty that interrogated the college’s standards of admissions, and asked whether they may be limiting to the college’s goal of broadening its range of students, due to educational inequities that took root before students even applied to college.

“We are asking ourselves whether our own commitment to narrowly defined conceptions of discipline and excellence

hasn’t come to stand as a barrier between … [the college] and [disadvantaged students],” the faculty wrote. They highlighted the SAT metric as an example of one of these potentially limiting “conceptions of excellence”; standardized testing is a factor in admissions that Amherst made optional 53 years later after the start of the Covid pandemic.

Bradley noted this sentiment as an undercurrent of many conversations about diversity in higher education at the time — many institutions had a tendency to recruit historically underrepresented students who were already attending private schools and “leap over” those nearby and/ or attending public schools. Even programs such as ABC allowed colleges to avoid changing their admissions criteria by bringing students from under-resourced communities into elite “feeder schools” such as the Northfield Mount Hermon School and Phillips Academy. As extensively researched and documented by Tony Jack ’07, colleges were able to get the “status” that Wilson referred to by admitting these students, without having to fundamentally change their admissions priorities.

This tendency was considered by those advising admissions in the

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Who Has Amherst Served? Examining Admissions Changes Continued from page 8 1960s, and has continued to be an aspect of the conversation now, as we will expound upon in next week’s installment.

In response to the clear student and faculty demand for concerted diversification efforts, the administration sought more formal recommendations by the late 1960s. In 1968, Amherst’s then-President Calvin Plimpton formed the Black and White Action Committee (BWAC), which Head of Archives & Special Collections Mike Kelly describes as “one of the first formal efforts to address the lack of racial diversity at Amherst.” The committee was made up of a group of 12 faculty, students, and alumni — only one student, the late Harold Wade ’68, and one faculty member, the late James Q. Denton, were Black.

Aftergut, a student member of the committee, referenced “the faculty membership of the committee” as reflecting “a commitment to actually DO something,” but also emphasized that “it took student leadership” to implement any sort of change.

In the BWAC report, the committee cited Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s recent assassination as a wake-up call for colleges and universities to respond to “the nation’s grave racial crisis.”

“What is needed at once is more and better education for black Americans,” the committee wrote.

BWAC’s task was to receive proposals of various committees, individuals, and groups and develop a plan “that can be acted on immediately” and could begin to root out the white supremacy entrenched in Amherst’s foundations, including in admissions practices, educational standards, and more.

BWAC published its first report in May 1968. The first of their proposals was to develop a Black Culture Center in the Octagon; this was adopted quickly. The second was a call for the admissions office to “continue and extend its commitment to increasing the number of Black students

Photo courtesy of Amherst College

Students in the Black Cultural Center in 1972. The formation of the Center was one of the Black and White Action Committee’s initial recommendations. at Amherst College” by hiring a Black dean and encouraging alumni to participate in recruiting Black students.

The committee also called for the development of a “summer enrichment program for underprivileged high school juniors and seniors,” which would provide pre-applicants with information about Amherst, and the admissions office with more ways to connect with students historically underrepresented at Amherst.

In another demand in the report, the committee asked professors and administrators to interrogate “whether [their] teaching assumes an identity between the relatively narrow cultural assumptions typifying white middle class Americans and universally applicable scholarly standards.”

BWAC’s proposals were widely supported by students even amidst apparent rejection from higher-ups: an article in The Student at the time quoted Student

Councilmember Fred Hoxie ’69 as saying “in light of the Trustee’s refusal to vote the financial support BWAC needs, the Student Council should contribute what it can.”

The record shows that the Student Council was persistent in its support for BWAC. Their passion can be seen on Frost Library’s A Level, where a note on the first page of the class of 1969’s Olio yearbook reveals that the book was compiled in 1984, fifteen years after the class’ graduation.

The delay is because, during their actual senior year, the class of 1969 voted via four students on Council who coined themselves “The Ticket” (Hoxie among them) to reallocate the $7,000 for the yearbook to help fund BWAC programs. In particular, according to the 1984 note, they pledged the money to support the Smith Amherst Tutorial Project, an iteration of the ABC program that still exists today.

Around the same time as BWAC’s formation, Wilson and

Plimpton also commissioned and funded a report from Samuel G. Jackson Jr. ’66, a Black alum.

Jackson’s report was returned in 1967 with a list of recommendations based on the idea that “Amherst can play a role in redressing the vicious consequences of poverty, discrimination, and separation.”

His recommendations were somewhat similar to BWAC’s — they included hiring a person in the admissions office dedicated to “increasing the college’s role in educating minority youth,” holding conferences and exchange programs, and distributing detailed material to high school students from under-resourced areas. Another recommendation stated that the college should pay members of the Afro-American Society to visit predominantly Black high schools and talk with students about Amherst.

The report interrogated whether Amherst could ever become “relevant” to low-income youth not already planning to attend some type of college. It

posed the questions: “Is Amherst willing to permit entry to students who are radically different from its usual academically-oriented middle-class variety? Will Amherst accept the value and validity of the divergent points of view and experiences these students will undoubtedly bring into the college community? Will Amherst initiate a program that will lead to a truly interracial student body? How far will Amherst go to meet and assist these young people?”

In response to these questions, one of the larger arguments the report made is that Amherst must begin exercising its resources and wealth to aid students well before they apply to Amherst by establishing a summer program for high school students, and establishing centers in underresourced neighborhoods where Amherst students could help tutor high schoolers. Jackson finished his paper with an all-caps declaration: “TERRAS IRRADIENT,” the

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Into the Admissions Archives: Diversifying Amherst Continued from page 9 college’s motto, “Let them give light to the world.”

Parts of the report also reframed the idea that diversification efforts solely served the students being recruited. Jackson quotes another report from around the same time as saying, “the case has got to be made clear to white colleges that if they do the job right [of diversifying their institution], they are the principal gainers from it.”

Along those lines, Aftergut mentioned being proud of a particular line in the BWAC report: “Improved education for blacks is improved education for all.” He reflected to The Student: “It was OUR education that was disadvantaged by the shamefully low Black presence on campus and the failure to represent Black Culture that is so central to America.”

The administration’s approach also relied on the work of Black students and alumni. In an April 1968 meeting, the Board of Trustees “appropriated funds” to specifically finance “student recruitment activities by members of the Amherst Afro-American society, acting under the general direction of the Dean of Admission.”

In a similar vein, Wilson reached out to several Black alumni to solicit their help in deciding how Amherst might improve its efforts to reach more Black students. One such alum, Leon B. Gibbs ’63, wrote about his experience that “although raised in Middletown, Connecticut, a college town, I had never heard of Amherst until the name was brought to my attention during the fall of my senior year.”

He asked, “If this was the precollege experience and outlook of a Black student who was ‘culturally advantaged’ in attending a predominantly white, Northern, middle-class secondary school, what would (or is) the case of those ‘disadvantaged students’ who were (or are) not quite as lucky?”

One of Gibbs’ many recommendations for improving Amherst’s outreach was to

connect with community based organizations preparing students for college, such as “local Urban League and NAACP branch offices … Most of these committees are in dire need of closer contact … with colleges and universities for … weekend trips to campuses, audio visual aids, descriptive booklets and literature, and maybe a guest student speaker.”

Raymond J. Davis ’65, another alum whom Wilson corresponded with, recommended more internal changes to the college’s structure, such as hiring more Black professors, as an impactful means of bringing different students to Amherst.

Initiatives and Impact Student activism and administrative efforts, some of which are outside the scope of this article, resulted in a swath of new initiatives and programs on the college’s part. One of the most major policies related to inclusion was, of course, the college’s decision to go coed in 1974.

In 1975, Amherst became one of the first schools to pilot the Common Application. In 1987, the college started its first summer program designed for first generation, low-income students (now known as Summer Bridge), which was at the time a threeweek summer science program for a small group of incoming students.

According to the admissions office, the college began its first fly-in programs for low-income students and students of color as early as 1994. This program is currently known as Access to Amherst (A2A), and was formerly called the Diversity Open House (DIVOH). In 2014, Amherst made the program Early Opportunity for Native Students (EONS) part of A2A. These programs will be a partial focus of next week’s article, which will look at the effectiveness and reach of current Amherst diversity initiatives.

In 1999, the college introduced a no-loan financial aid policy for students with the highest need, and in 2007, the college became

“no-loan” for all students. Earlier, in 2003, the school had become one of the first four schools to partner with QuestBridge, a program that matches highachieving low-income students with elite colleges; these colleges commit to paying Questbridge scholars’ full tuition.

Sparked by the Covid pandemic and in further pursuit of a more equitable admissions process, as previously noted, the college became test optional for applicants in 2020 and has continued this policy.

Very notably, in 2021, the school ended its longstanding practice of legacy admissions that favor the children of alumni.

Alongside this decision came enhancements to the financial aid program that “provide support for 60 percent of students, among the highest proportion of any needblind liberal arts college,” as per a press release at the time.

These initiatives have resulted in tangible change to the demographics of the student body at Amherst. These changes can best be seen through looking closely at reports of admissions statistics to secondary schools, which Dean Wilson began sending out in 1947 and are still produced today. In 1956, these reports began disclosing the percentage of the incoming freshman class that would receive financial aid; in the mid-1970s, they began also disclosing the racial demographics of incoming freshman classes.

The Student traced the numbers reported every five years in these documents and found consistent increases in the percentages of students of color and students on financial aid over time. However, one number that decreased was the percentage of incoming freshmen that attended public high school, which peaked at 72 percent in 1961, and landed in the class of 2019 at 55 percent.

These changes are representative of not only the college’s successful efforts to diversify, but also broader national trends relating to educational equity, including the expansion of financial aid

Note: In addition to the general statistics of students of color, we show the progression of Black enrollment because that outreach is what much of the early diversification efforts were focused on. All data sourced from the Amherst College archives. to include more students. The numbers, however, do not tell the full story. The questions that were on the minds of community members in the 1960s remain today: How can Amherst reach not only those historically underrepresented and under-resourced students who have already gained access to resources like private high schools, but also include students who might not have had that opportunity? Does doing so require a shift in the way the college thinks about its “ideal candidate”?

In next week’s installment of this series, as The Student investigates modern day changes and student stories, we will build on these questions, asking: How far has Amherst come in reaching the full breadth of students and experiences across America (and the world)? How big of a role does Amherst itself play in helping students outside of the world of elite education find it? What do students believe about the relationship between the college and historically underrepresented students?

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Community “Rewilds” Merrill Green With Native Plants Sylvie Wolff ’25 Staff Writer On April 29, a group of student and faculty volunteers gathered to plant native Western Massachusetts trees, shrubs, and flowers on the green between the Merrill Apartments and the tennis courts. Led by Talia Ward ’23, this native pollinator garden project is a hopeful first step toward bringing native species back to campus and building community between students and the campus’s natural environment.

The seed for the project was first planted in Ward’s mind during her freshman year by a single patch of grass between Williston Hall and Frost Library.

“Every week it would get mowed.

And I was like, it’s this tiny-ass little thing. Why is it grass?”

Ward initially considered guerilla gardening — gardening in an area without a legal right to plant and grow plant species, often used as a form of protest — during the fall of 2021, but Professor of English and American Studies Lisa Brooks encouraged her to seek funding for a native pollinator garden instead.

After visiting President Biddy Martin’s office hours, Ward was connected with Jim Brassord, then chief of campus operations, and Kenny Lauzier, landscape and grounds supervisor. Martin, Brassord, and Lauzier showed enthusiasm for the project, reported Ward. “The grounds department really wants more native plants on campus,” she said.

The brainstorming and planning process that followed involved many meetings with Brooks and Artist in Residence Elizabeth James Perry and talking about the project with friends, said Ward. After hearing about the project through word of mouth, Association of Amherst Students (AAS) Senator Sophie Sweeney ’23 took on the garden as her Senate project, securing funding for it through the AAS. Restoring native plants to an

Photo courtesy of @amherstplants on Instagram

Talia Ward '23 said that unlike grassy areas on campus, the garden won’t require much human maintenance. “The hope is that once we have returned these plant beings to this space that they will take over.” area is vital to preserving biodiversity and supporting the health of the entire ecosystem. Brooks and Perry contributed their traditional ecological knowledge about the area to determine what species to plant — eight in total. Together, they mapped the location of the various species of plants in the garden based on shading and the soil’s wetness.

Ward used the term “rewilding,” inspired by Perry, to describe the effort. “So much of our landscape on college campuses and in our lives is intentionally maintained to look a certain way,” she said. “What does it mean to, like, be in a space that is not intentionally maintained, that is really left to be ‘wild’?”

Ward said that unlike grassy areas on campus, the garden won’t require much human maintenance. “The hope is that once we have returned these plant beings to this space that

they will take over. We’re just here to help them establish their community.”

Prior to 2015, the site was populated by red pines, which are not native to the area but were planted in the late 1930s.

After 80 years, their growth stagnated and they began to die in large numbers. The college cleared the site as part of a several-year project to remove and replace about 35 acres of red pines on and around campus.

“This area has been barren for too long,” Professor of Biology and Environmental Studies Jill Miller said. “So it’s really nice to see it be reclaimed.”

The planting was open to everyone who expressed interest — with students, faculty, and staff participating — and took less than the anticipated four hours to complete. “I think most of the people here don’t really have a gardening background,” Tessa

Levenstein ’23 said. “And look at what we’re able to do even without that training.”

Levenstein is a student in Brooks’ “Reading Land, Writing Waters” course, in which students study relationships between humans, culture, colonialism, and the environment through substantial class time spent outdoors. The class spent this past Friday’s class time at the planting. Levenstein cited the influence of taking the course on her planting experience. “Ultimately, I think land rehabilitation is best put in the hands of those who do it best. And those who do it best are often not humans.”

Miller has been hoping for more pollinator gardens on campus for years. “In [Biology-]181, we go outside maybe for about half the labs. I really wanted [the school] to plant fall flowering native plants so that students

in that course could go out and study them.” Miller looks forward to bringing future students to the garden, as many of the plants are “pollinator magnets.”

Looking to the future, Ward intends for the garden to be a gathering space for everyone.

“The hope is that it benefits not only the human members of our community, but also the other than human members,” she said. “And that people can find time to be here … to think about themselves not as adversaries of nature, but as being in community with nature.” Ward hopes for picnic tables and benches to be placed in the garden in years to come.

“I just really appreciate that [Ward] had these ideas and that she did it, you know, and she didn’t wait for someone else to do it,” Levenstein said. “She rolled up her sleeves and made it happen.”

The Amherst Student • May 4, 2022

News

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Anti-racism Plan Targets Curriculum, Faculty Diversity Continued from page 8 tends to help associate professors clarify their goals for the next period of their careers.”

The email also detailed how the college aims to focus its curriculum more heavily on anti-racism, with “most academic departments” preparing a report on their anti-racism initiatives, and providing faculty members from various disciplines with stipends to integrate anti-racist content and pedagogy into existing or new courses. Fifteen faculty members will be offering sophomore seminars broadly focused on issues of race next academic year.

To foster greater diversity and

inclusion among faculty, the remote work pilot for 2021-22 is nearing completion, which, “will help attract a more diverse set of candidates for a range of positions at the College,” according to Martin.

The college also recently hired an Assistant Director of Workforce Equity and Inclusive Leadership to “support new workshops and learning opportunities for staff and faculty on race, racism and anti-racism, allyship, and communication across differences.” A total of 464 staff and faculty members participated in workshops on anti-racism and inclusive practices this past year.

Additionally, the Office of

Diversity Equity and Inclusion is piloting the Faculty and Staff of Color Partnership Program to “support professional and personal development of faculty and staff of color,” and a parallel program will be instituted for white staff and faculty “to engage in anti-racism education and community-building”.

The email also described the completion of the Campus Safety Advisory Committee’s report in April 2022, which resulted from student activism in support of changes in the role of ACPD. Following the report, the Board of Trustees decided not to disarm and abolish ACPD. Martin’s email also detailed diversity efforts within the

Counseling Center. This semester, Dr. Darien McFadden, the new director of the Counseling Center, has recruited and hired for open positions with, “a goal of continuing to increase the diversity of the Counseling Center staff.”

The email also reiterated Martin’s April 18 statement that the college is bringing in a group of outside experts to, “help us develop alternatives to having ACPD as the go-to response to such crises.” The Riseling Group's team will include a former police officer, a college president who spent her career in Student Affairs leadership, and a physician, among others. The group will meet with “a range of

campus constituencies, including the Campus Safety Advisory Committee, before making recommendations on mental health initiatives and responses to mental health crises.”

In response to the college’s history, Martin wrote that, “having received a summary from the initial working group, our next step will be to charge a committee to determine principles for naming and renaming spaces at Amherst College.” This group will continue the signage project

by Sarah Montoya ’21 and the Native and Indigenous Students Association which recognizes the Indigenous communities on whose ancestral land our campus stands.

From the Red Room: May 2 AAS Meeting Updates Liam Archacki ’24 Senior Managing Editor On Monday, May 2, the Association of Amherst Students (AAS) met for the 12th time this semester. The meeting was held in the Red Room, and its agenda included the induction of new AAS officials, committee elections, a potential senator attendance bylaw, and a discussion of reparations.

After attendance was taken, the newly elected senators and Judiciary Council (JC) at-large members were inducted into the AAS. The senators first recited the Senate oath in unison and officially assumed their positions. Then, the JC at-large members followed suit, instead reciting the judiciary branch oath.

Following the approval of the previous week’s minutes, Treasurer Dania Hallak ’24 presented the Budgetary Committee (BC) discretionary funding recommendations to the Senate. The largest requests came from the Middle Eastern North African Association, Green Room, and the Black Students Union. The Senate unanimously approved the BC-recommended total of $17,753.80.

The AAS then held a number

of committee elections.

The BC, which reviews budget requests and recommends funding allocations to the Senate, had six open spots. They were won by Lily Popoli ’24E, Alana Bailey ’23, Chris Tun ’25, Sophie Laurence ’24, Hannah Kim ’25, and Isaiah Doble ’25.

The College Council, which is primarily responsible for reviewing changes to the honor code, had one spot available for a rising sophomore and one for a rising junior. The positions were won by Isabella Malmqvist ’25 and Lucas Romualdo ’24, respectively.

The Community Standards Review Board, which adjudicates allegations of intellectual responsibility violations, had four open spots. They were won by Taha Ahmad ’24, Ankit Sayed ’24, Isabella Malmqvist ’25, and Popoli.

The Committee on Educational Policy, which reviews and reports on the college’s educational policy, had three open spots. They were won by Mia Griffin ’24, Gent Malushaga ’25, and Doble.

The Committee on Priorities and Resources, which examines both the short- and long-term allocation of resources at the college, had one open spot. It was won by Mollie Hartenstein ’23.

Lastly, the Committee on Sustainability and Climate Change, which evaluates and promotes sustainability on campus, had three open spots. They were won

by Henry Pallesen ’25, Tun, and Clara Hoey ’24.

Officers then provided their weekly reports. Vice-President Jaden Richards ’25 said that the Multicultural Students Union had asked the AAS to send out an email in support of its upcoming event, during which musician and writer Michelle Zauner will deliver a talk about her book, her music, and her identity. The Senate voted in favor of supporting the event, and the email was sent to students on May 3.

President Sirus Wheaton ’23 then asked the Senate for input on the possibility of a bylaw to mandate senator attendance outside of just official AAS meetings. He suggested that weekly Senate office hours and events organized as part of Senate projects, like the recent prom, could become mandatory.

Griffin expressed support for the potential bylaw, noting a previous lack of widespread participation among senators. Laurence agreed, and suggested that it would not be difficult to implement.

Kim asked whether mandato-

Photo courtesy of Amherst College

Newly elected senators and Judiciary Council at-large members were inducted into the AAS on Monday. ry attendance would apply to all Senate events. Griffin responded that it should only apply to Senate office hours and other key events.

Wheaton then brought up the possibility of using AAS funds to pay reparations to Black Amherst community members. He expressed the importance of doing research on the topic and speaking to community members.

Griffin suggested that the Senate could host fundraising events or other events to boost community engagement.

Wheaton also offered an update on potential changes to the Dining Services Committee, which cur-

rently includes three senators and two at-large members. He said that Director of Dining Services Joe Flueckiger wants to change the committee to have two senators, two at-large members, and a number of faculty members.

Hartenstein asked if there was any dining staff involvement in the committee. Richards responded that there was not. Hartenstein argued that they should have a presence in the meetings, given that they are responsible for serving the food.

The next AAS meeting, the final of the academic year, will be held on Monday, May 9.

Op pinion

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Title IX Isn’t Enough Jared Kim ’23 Contributing Writer Content warning: This article contains mentions of rape and sexual assault.

I’m a survivor of sexual assault on this campus and Amherst College has failed me. It will continue to fail others if it does not change.

In 2012, Amherst underwent a self-review of sexual misconduct on campus. In the wake of a former student’s terrifying testimony of her experience of being raped on campus, alongside many similar stories, Amherst was forced to reckon with the reality that their bright and shining institution was infected with rape culture, in both its administration and community. Amherst hired a full time Title IX coordinator, brought on a full time head of sexual respect education, and expanded student resources like the Women’s and Gender Center in a bid to end sexual misconduct on campus and win back the trust of the student body.

The accounts of on-campus sexual violence relayed on @amherstshareyourstory stand as proof that Amherst has not done enough.

In 2022, Amherst is again under review for widespread sexual misconduct. The college has brought in outside investigators to examine why survivors in the Amherst community hesitate to report their experiences. The administration seems to view the Title IX office as the ultimate fix to a campus-wide, systemic issue.

But this focus is precisely why, a decade after the initial review, we still find ourselves on a deeply unsafe campus. Amherst’s overreliance on the Title IX process ignores the nuanced needs of survivors and perpetuates the rape culture ever-present in the day-to-day life of every student.

In my first year at Amherst, I was assaulted by someone whom I considered a friend. Amid the trauma of the incident and the uncertainty of being sent home due to the rise of Covid-19, I did not report it. When I revealed to other friends what had happened, the judgemental reaction

from people that I trusted caused self-doubt to creep in. After all, who was I to cause drama in the friend group and tarnish my assaulter’s reputation over something that I was being told wasn’t a big deal? I had to cope not only with the physical violence of the incident, but also the following emotional violence of being treated like my experience was worthless. Undergoing months of investigation and hearings with the Title IX office while having to see my assaulter was an impossibility for me.

No amount of help from the Title IX office could have helped anyway because it would have been powerless to fix my torn friendships or make me feel safe in Val. Title IX cannot address the real issue survivors face: the school-wide culture that allowed the assault and the victim-blaming that followed to occur.

Unfortunately, my experiences are not unique. The college's administration must do a better job to support the majority of student survivors for whom the Title IX office is not the answer. While Amherst may claim to offer plentiful resources outside of Title IX, there are currently only three on campus resources recommended to survivors: the Health Center, the Counseling Center, and the Center for Religious and Spiritual Life. The most important of these for survivors is the Counseling Center; however, due to understaffing, it can take upwards of two weeks to get an appointment. There are emergency appointments available, but the stated criteria of fear of imminent suicide or harm by others as a requisite is highly intimidating.

On campus right now, there are known perpetrators of sexual misconduct in leadership positions, playing on sports teams, and on track to graduate with a spotless record.

Meanwhile, survivors are forced to deal with the real social consequences of coming forward with allegations. At Amherst, an institution that has deep cultural divides between legacy and FLI students, between athletes and non-athletes, and across gendered and racial boundaries, per-

petrators' sense of superiority and entitlement to the bodies of others in our community is affirmed and perpetuated. This issue could be alleviated with formal sexual respect education, but despite the hard work of our SHEs and PAs, the voluntary nature of workshops almost always means they end up preaching to the choir. Because of this, most students' only time receiving such instruction is during orientation, an event often skipped by first years and long-forgotten by upperclassmen. This is not enough. As a male survivor, it became very apparent to me that many of my peers' limited education focused only on cases with a male perpetrator and female victim. I now realize that the victim blaming I received came not from a place of malice, but from ignorance and a college that does not push students to understand the complexities of sexual violence.

So what can we do to start a cultural change and shape this campus into a place where people feel safe?

First of all, the college needs to shift iaway from an exclusive focus on Title IX, which does not represent the needs of many students, and improve the other resources available to survivors, including the Counseling Center. A lack of support fosters a community where survivors are silent and violence continues to reign. Additionally, the college needs to make sexual respect education a core part of its curriculum. However, it would be disingenuous to say that the administration holds all the blame for the current state of affairs.

We as a campus community also need to do a better job of supporting survivors and holding perpetrators accountable. A dramatic shift away from a culture that permits sexual violence, engages in victim-blaming, and welcomes assaulters with open arms requires an active effort from all students, not just those who have been involved with such behavior.

A decade of inaction has caused irreversible harm to a countless number of members of our community. We need to do better.

THE AMHERST

STUDENT E X E C U T I V E B OA R D Editor-in-Chief Assistant Opinion Yee-Lynn Lee Tara Alahakoon Senior Managing Managing Arts & Living Theo Hamilton Brooke Hoffman Liam Archacki Alexander Brandfonbrener Editors-at-Large Aniah Washington Scott Brasesco Yasmin Hamilton Sophie Wolmer Brianne LaBare Managing News Madeline Lawson Caelen McQuilkin Managing Sports Tana DeLalio Liza Katz Eleanor Walsh Alex Noga Sonia Chajet Wides Leo Kamin Assistant News Nick Edwards-Levin Ethan Foster Managing Podcast Managing Opinion Sam Spratford Kei Lim Maggie McNamara Dustin Copeland Managing Photo Tapti Sen Emma Spencer Managing Design Brianne LaBare S TA F F Publishers Robert Bischof Ethan Samuels Digital Director Sawyer Pollard Social Media Manager Emi Eliason

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The Amherst Student • May 4, 2022

Opinion

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Standing Against AAPI Erasure Karen Lee ’25 and Eleanor Lee ’25 Contributing Writers “Christina Yuna Lee. Michelle Alyssa Go. Si-Hui Fang. Mary Ye. Need I go on? … It shouldn’t have to take these Asian women being killed for us to learn that we are real, that we are intrinsically deserving to learn about our histories and our cultures.

Why do we still not have an Asian Pacific American Studies major here?” – Karen Lee ’25 In February 2022, I stood in front of President Biddy Martin and demanded the establishment of an Asian/Pacific/American studies (A/P/A) major and department in my speech at the annual persuasive speaking competition.

This is not the first time that a student has advocated for the A/P/A studies major. What if we told you that our advocacy has lasted for longer than the college has been coed? Since 1972, Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) students at Amherst have championed the necessity to incorporate Asian American studies in their collegiate education — that makes 50 years and generations of students who have called for an A/P/A studies major.

Yet we still see relatively little change on campus. This doesn’t only apply to our demand for the establishment of an A/P/A studies major; our calls for action are often left on the backburner or erased entirely.

The Asian and Pacific American Action Committee (APAAC) and the Amherst Asian Alumni Network (AAAN) are the main organizations that lead AAPI activism at Amherst; however, not many know about the magnitude of their efforts.

We want recognition and solidarity; we are asking you to stand with us in our fight for A/P/A studies.

The truth is, not many people care enough about the work of AAPI activists on campus, and the effects of that ignorance are violent. Recently, the Wall Street Journal published an article quoting a current Amherst student about the discrimination against Asian American students in the college application process. The student, a

Photos courtesy of Haoran Tong '23

Two students during the Stop Asian Hate Rally in March 2021. Pictured left, Tim Song '22 holding a protest sign. Pictured right, Ainsley MacKenzie '22 walking toward the town common. history major, claimed that the difficulties faced by Asian applicants to elite colleges would be solved if they instead chose professions such as “trade and vocational schools … as well as the U.S. military.” Many students expressed their anger at this student’s argument. The article demonstrates that even history majors at this college are unaware of the implications of such a statement; it is as though we are predisposed to giving up on a college degree or even joining the military, without regard for our cultural values and the colonial trauma that the U.S. military has inflicted on our motherlands.

This is not the first time we have been disappointed in our peers.

In the Spring 2022 Association of Amherst Students (AAS) Senate elections, we noticed that two candidates running for reelection claimed they would “work towards establishing an AAPI major.” When these two running senators were asked about how they planned to implement the major, they talked about “working with administration” and collaborating with the

Committee on Educational Policy (CEP). Neither of these students mentioned APAAC, AAAN, or the Asian Students Association (ASA) in their answers.

We can also see the effects of AAPI erasure reproduced by the President’s Office and the administration. Following the Atlanta spa shooting in March 2021, President Biddy Martin sent an email addressing the rise in anti-Asian hate crimes across the nation. Although President Martin highlighted the college’s stance against racism and white supremacy in this message, she used the hiring of new Asian American studies professor, Christine Noelle Peralta, as an example of how the college can work toward enhancing “curricular offerings and community-wide intellectual strengths.” For the students who had worked hard to ensure Professor Peralta’s place at the college as Amherst’s first professor specializing in A/P/A studies, it was as though Professor Peralta’s hiring served as an ornament to a tragedy rather than a celebration of our progress. Additionally, President

Martin did not include the recent cluster hire approval in her recent “Anti-Racism Plan Update” email, dismissing an incredible milestone that many students, alumni, and faculty have been working toward.

When ASA and APAAC organized the Stop Asian Hate rally last April, the Amherst College Instagram only credited the Association of Amherst Students (AAS) and ASA for the success of the rally in their original caption. It was only after APAAC members Tim Song ’22 and Mica Nimkarn ’24 commented that it was “primarily the effort” of APAAC that “allowed for students to take part in the rally,” that Amherst College edited and included APAAC in their caption.

We take issue with the lack of care for APAAC and AAS’ compliance in being credited as one of the organizers for the protest while students of APAAC had to fight for visibility.

Our labor is not something to be taken for granted or used to fuel performative activism. We are not an afterthought. Our hard work and dedication should be named at

the very least. Recognize APAAC, AAAN, ASA, and the students that actively help our cause and stand in solidarity with our demands. We deserve to be seen and heard — give credit where it is due.

You can help us. For one, you can read and sign the letter written by the AAAN demanding the establishment of an A/P/A studies major at Amherst College. This can be your first step in demonstrating your support for us; at the very least, read the five demands that are listed.

Here are some other steps that we suggest you take: participate in APAAC-run events, take A/P/A studies-related courses to educate yourself about the history of Asians and Asian Americans, and make space for your Asian peers to speak about their experiences.

Once we secure your support, we can ensure that our activism continues to thrive on and off campus, that our students, alumni, and faculty don’t get burned out for their labor, and that we can finally work together toward instituting an A/P/A studies major here.

The Amherst Student • May 4, 2022

Opinion

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Seeing Double: Tradition, Tradition!

Cole Graber-Mitchell ’22 Columnist This, I’m sad to say, is the last solo Seeing Double that I will write.

It’s the nature of college that everything here comes to an end eventually. Saying goodbye to college and everything associated with it — my friends, my classes, my column, never needing to cook — is already painful (though reading my co-columnist’s final solo column last week was freeing). It also provides some perspective on my time here at Amherst. While it’s a little premature to do much reflection, I have been able to identify one thing that I feel is lacking here: strong student traditions.

I’m sure that smaller groups have particular secret traditions, like the Green Room’s … well, I shouldn’t say that. And there are certainly some salient traditions among broader segments of the student body. Bar Night is one example for seniors. Another is the traditional superstition against walking on the war memorial, which I’ve heard has negative implications for one’s ability to graduate.

Amherst has no shortage of peculiarities, the little idiosyncrasies that make this place Amherst and not (I shudder to imagine) Williams or some other lowly hilltown middle-of-nowhere backwater run-down pit. But curiously, very few of those peculiarities are true student traditions.

Other colleges often have strong traditions that help bring the student body together, especially when taking part in them requires no special aptitude or interest. For example, many campuses have “scream nights.” At Michigan State University, where a friend of mine recently graduated, everyone screams out their stress on the midnight before finals.

That same university also has other, more particular traditions.

MSU has a fight song that every student knows, and a particular way of singing it when football games are going a particular way.

And I’ve been told that if you see someone wearing MSU swag anywhere in the world, the traditional

Photo courtesy of Amherst College

The moose, resplendent in its corner of Frost Library. Offerings welcome. greeting is “Go Green!” to which they’ll respond: “Go White!”

Why don’t we have traditions like this? Some Amherst traditions faded during the pandemic, like ResLife’s annual lip-sync competition. Winners would get first pick in the room draw, which was a pretty big deal. Others were billed as traditions but didn’t seem to happen again, like Mammoth Day. These are institutional traditions, supported by college policy, and even they couldn’t persist through the pandemic. Student traditions, which depend on transmission through osmosis between students living in close quarters and doing activities together, didn’t stand a chance. As younger students spent more time on campus without the influence of higher years, traditions weakened.

Other traditions ended even before the pandemic, like the old tradition of stealing the Sabrina statue. I’m sure other traditions

died out even earlier, but I can’t provide many more examples, since it’s the nature of old, lapsed traditions to be unknown by those who don’t practice them. I’m sure alums know of some traditions from their days, though, that no student currently on campus has heard of.

The lack of traditions at Amherst might be a side-effect of a small campus community. It’s possible that, at big schools, traditions are more needed to feel connected to other students. At Amherst, we already see everyone all the time.

Our daily lives tend to be focused on avoiding people in Val rather than coming together as a community.

Yet I think that some traditions to bring our community together would be good for us. Amherst has a relatively fractured student community. It can be clique-y here, and there’s a reason people always make jokes that the skill

best honed at Amherst is how to walk past a three-year acquaintance without acknowledging them.

For years, I’ve been dreaming of somehow teaching all students one of our easier and more fun college songs. Then, anyone could start singing that song at big gatherings and everyone else could join in.

And the traditions I’ve missed at Amherst need not be as formal as everyone learning a song. In fact, inane, weird, superstitious traditions are probably even better.

Imagine if we all left a small offering for the moose in Frost each finals season! How fun would it be to make a little pilgrimage to the moose, leave your offering, and see all the trinkets that everyone else left. What a strong proof that you aren’t alone — that everyone else is stressed too, and that we can get through finals together.

It’s a little silly to call for forming organic student traditions in a col-

umn, since that isn’t really how any of this works. In fact, I have very little idea how traditions get started.

But I do know at least one way they disappear: when they’re forgotten. And so I make a plea to the graduating senior class. On the night of the last day of spring classes in our first year here, all of the then-seniors returned to the first year quad to seek out their old rooms (that is, our rooms at the time) and spend a few last moments in those memory-soaked halls. We must do the same. If not for the sake of nostalgia, do it for the tradition.

As we graduate, the last class to remember a full academic year before the pandemic also leaves.

Nobody else knows about this tradition. It is up to us to maintain it.

Let this be our legacy: restarting the endless loop linking first to last through the small tradition of haunting our first-year dorms one final time.

The Amherst Student • May 4, 2022

Opinion

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Why You Should Go Plant-based Tim Carroll ’25 Contributing Writer Content warning: This article contains descriptions of violence.

There’s a contradiction stewing within much of Amherst’s population. During Wellness Wednesdays, when the college brings out the animals, people gather to pet the goats, pick up the bunnies and piglets (although the pigs really do not like being picked up) and feel some of their stress fade away.

Then, without skipping a beat, they go to Val and ask, “can I get the pork?” You’d be ostracized if you picked up the little piglet, slit its throat, and started eating it at the wellness event, but the reality is that you’re engaging in the same kind of behavior (in fact, much worse) at dinner.

Why are people so endeared by certain animals — such as dogs, cats, or rabbits — but still willing to eat animals of equal or greater intelligence — like cows, pigs, or chickens? How are these views compatible? I’m going to make the argument for why we should all consider going vegetarian (abstaining from eating meat) or vegan (abstaining from all animal products), though I want to preface the rest of this article by saying that I do not think less of anyone who eats meat or animal products (my reasoning for this position will become clearer later in the article). Considering the meteoric rise of veganism and vegetarianism right now (in 2022, 500 percent more people are vegan now than in 2014) there is clearly something significant to consider.

I used to think I could never stop eating meat, or that I wasn’t the type of person to go vegan, but you don’t have to be a certain type of person to go plant-based.

You might hold stereotypes about who is vegetarian or vegan, but you don’t need birkenstocks, tie-dyed socks, and a spot on the Outing Club mailing list to make a choice to stop eating meat. People are often surprised when they meet me as a gym-bro first and a vegan later.

All it takes is a pretty simple decision to alter your dietary habits for

the sake of yourself, the planet, and the animals. I hope you’ll approach this article with an open mind and a willingness to examine our often unquestioned behaviors.

The first reason to go plantbased is personal health, as it will likely reduce your chances of various health complications. Cardiovascular disease is one of the biggest health problems facing the U.S., accounting for a daily death toll of 2,300 a day. Meat, dairy, and eggs “contain large amounts of cholesterol and saturated fat,” and higher levels of cholesterol are linked to heart attacks. The high levels of fiber in a plant-based diet can help “wash away” excess cholesterol. Research has shown that vegans have a significantly lower risk of dying from heart attack (and a lower risk of dying in general).

Other people who have gone plant-based like to emphasize weight loss, lower blood pressure, general feelings of increased well being, higher energy levels, and improved athletic performance.

According to one Business Insider article, many “top athletes — including world champions ... don't seem even slightly worried about getting enough protein from their vegan diets.” Just a handful of these athletes are tennis star Venus Williams, former quarterback Colin Kaepernick, basketball player Kyrie Irving, and professional bodybuilder and Mr. Universe in 2014, Barny du Plessis, who is definitely more jacked than all of us.

Some worry about nutritional deficiencies when switching off meat. But going vegan or vegetarian mostly just makes us more mindful of what we’re putting into our bodies — certainly not a bad thing. It’s not a bad idea to include some supplements if you go plantbased — especially if you go completely vegan — in order to make sure you get enough of certain vitamins or minerals such as Vitamin B12 (which, interestingly enough, modern factory farmed animals don’t “naturally” have due to their unnatural diet; instead, they are fed cobalt in order to synthesize it. So, taking a vitamin B12 supplement is

Photo courtesy of Tim Carroll '25

The small animals in their pen on Wellness Wednesday: a veritable buffet! more like cutting out the middleman). So contrary to popular belief, you probably make nutritional gains by going plant-based.

The second reason to go plantbased is for the environment. Climate change is a devastating force that is currently displacing countless people and upending many lives. It’s easy to be discouraged dwelling upon how futile our day to day actions can be — what can one person recycling or using a reusable bag do for the planet? But we shouldn’t feel hopeless, and thankfully, saying no to meat can add to the list of things you can do on a daily basis to curb climate change.

Raising animals to kill them for their meat is incredibly resource-intensive. Forests have to be bulldozed in order to make more farmland for animals as the world’s craving for meat climbs ever higher. Of all agricultural land in the U.S., “80 percent is used to raise animals for food and grow grain to feed them.” Imagine how much food we could have if we instead used that land to grow crops

to feed humans. To get a pig to gain 140 pounds in the final stages before its slaughter, it is forced to consume “more than 500 pounds of grain, corn, and soybeans.” Considering that people don’t even eat all 140 pounds of the pig (ie., the hooves, intestines, bones, eyes, intestines, etc.), this is just an inefficient way to create food. Just by virtue of that, more resources have to be dedicated to meat production — more trucks to drive grain to feed animals, more packaging and processing (killing animals, draining their blood, chopping up their bodies and packaging them), and more trucks to drive the dead animals to stores in refrigerated cars. To drive home the inefficiency, meat and dairy provide 18 percent of calories and 37 percent of protein, but use 83 percent of farmland and make up 60 percent of agricultural greenhouse gas emissions.

Factory farms, beyond directly shrinking our forests by clearing land for raising animals, are also among the most significant industrial polluters. Managing animal

waste gets messy, and it ends up polluting the water and air. When manure runs off into rivers, it can boost algae populations to levels so dangerous that other life forms are killed off.

The take-home message is this: if you’re worried about climate change, reduce the amount of meat you eat. Ideally, eat none at all. Authors of a study analyzing more than 40,000 farms across the world concluded that going vegan is “probably the single biggest way to reduce your impact on planet Earth, not just greenhouse gases, but global acidification, eutrophication, land use and water use.”

Finally, I’d like to turn to the ethical side of eating meat. Simply put, slaughterhouses are hell on earth; every year, billions of animals are killed for the U.S. food supply alone and are largely kept in horrific conditions because of the profit-seeking motivations of companies. How many animals? In the U.S., 55.4 billion animals are killed every year, including both land

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Reasons To Abstain From Eating Meat Continued from page 16 and aquatic animals. Experts estimate that around 117 billion people have ever lived on Earth, so in two years we kill almost as many animals as there are people who have ever lived, just in the U.S. alone!

Animals are torn from their families, crammed into overcrowded and filthy cages with wire floors, where they often don’t have space to even turn around. They’re deprived of sunlight, overstuffed with corn feed, and killed at a ridiculously young age, all in order to maximize the output of animal flesh and minimize the cost of production. Pigs can have their tails cut off and chickens can have their beaks clipped, both as cruel band-aid fixes to structurally horrific factory farming conditions. (Having a beak clipped involves a searing hot iron blade slicing the tip of it off. This is analogous to slicing off our fingers right in the middle of our nail beds, but more painful.) In a capitalist system where companies’ profits are their bottom line, most neglect any concern for animal welfare — they only care about how

much flesh they can churn out at the cheapest cost.

But how bad are factory farms, really? Below are some quotes from a video interview of a chicken farmer to illustrate: “​This isn't farming, this is mass production like an assembly line in a factory.”

“When they grow from a chick and in seven weeks you have a five -nd-a-half pound chicken, their bones and their internal organs can't keep up with the rapid growth. A lot of these chickens here, they can take a few steps and they plop down since they can't keep up with all the weight they're carrying.”

What is this “rapid growth?” A normal chicken’s average lifespan is seven years, while a conservative estimate of a broiler chicken’s lifespan is seven weeks. In these seven weeks, chickens are fed nonstop to fatten them up as much as possible before they’re killed. Taking the average human lifespan to be 72.6 years, if we factory-farmed people like we do chickens, we would be killing people at 1.4 years old.

Why and how do we let this practice happen on a daily basis? Most people discount the suffering of animals, consciously or not, just because they are from a different species, which some philosophers have

described as the prejudice of speciesism. Humans are animals too, and there is no reason to privilege our fellow species members over those from another species, just because they look different than us; they can still feel pain and suffer.

Many factory-farmed animals are probably smarter than your dog or cat. Pigs play games in exchange for treats, get bored if they don’t get enough stimulation, and can recognize and understand themselves in mirrors — something human children can’t even do until about two years old. Cows recognize and remember faces, form friendships, and create social hierarchies. Chicken mothers love their chicks, who have shown object permanence (again, something human children don’t have until around six months).

Beyond all of that, every single one of these animals can feel pain, and that is undeniable. They suffer when they are kept in a dark room, filled with their own excrement, unable to stretch their limbs and play, socialize, and form connections. Is it really worth it to condone this daily, ongoing atrocity, just to satisfy our palette? People often justify their beliefs by saying that animals are just less intelligent than humans, but this line of thought is morally bankrupt.

A thought experiment: imagine

Photos courtesy of Nathaniel Ashley '22

An adorable little baby goat, known to the unenlightened as "lunch."

there is a person born with some severe complications, and they will never cognitively develop past the intellectual ability of something even less than a pig. Let’s say they would be able to feel pain (they would grimace or scream when hurt), want to be in comfortable conditions (they would dislike being out in the cold without a jacket), but they wouldn’t be able to communicate using language — just to give a broad sketch.

Would you be fine killing them to eat their flesh? Probably not, as you should be. So why do we feel fine killing and eating even more intelligent beings from different species?

It’s unjustified.

Beyond suffering, other philosophers have reasoned that if an animal has the capabilities to grow familial bonds, explore, and lead a “good life,” it should be able to do so, and should not be relegated to a short, miserable existence where it is slaughtered for its own flesh. This seems to align with certain moral intuitions we hold, in that we generally approve of people self-actualizing. If someone wants to be a brain surgeon and master the art of a delicate medicinal practice, or if another wants to master the piano, we’re inclined to encourage them to do so. Why can’t we afford the same consideration to other beings with thoughts and feelings?

I’m not saying we need to give cows piano lessons, but there is something obviously wrong about separating mother from calf at a brutally young age in the name of meat-producing efficiency.

Even beyond that, if you imagine a world in which factory farming was not so grossly cruel (which it is), I’d argue there is still something wrong with killing for no reason other than for our taste. For example, imagine if an alien species that is vastly more intelligent than we are comes to Earth. They then start picking us out and killing us, just because they think we are tasty. They could go on without having to eat us — and in fact, it would be much more efficient and better for the environment if they did so — but they choose to end our lives, thinking, “these humans aren’t as smart as us. Who cares? I like eating humans!” That would be outrageous.

Why are we all eating meat in the first place? The simple answer is tradition. Since we were hunter-gatherers, eating some forms of meat has been a distinct part of most cultures. At first, you could argue that hunter-gatherers were in a position where they had to eat meat to survive, to get proper nutrition, etc. That is not the case anymore for most of us in these privileged positions; we have overwhelming access to plentiful food and no need to eat meat. What has remained for us, though, is the tradition of eating animal flesh for its own sake.

For one, we are socialized from a young age to see eating animal flesh as normal and animal farming as fun. We internalize children’s stories of farm animals living happily on vast, green acres with a red barn in the background. That’s not what modern factory farming is like. Traditions usually involve eating animals, like turkey on Thanksgiving. In this sense, we’re indoctrinated into thinking eating dead animals is normal, and it takes a large reckoning many years later to switch off.

Secondly, the process of meat-production and slaughter is far removed from us and sanitized as much as possible.

Consider what we call various kinds of meat: “bacon” instead of “pig,” “tenders” or “nuggets” instead of chicken, or “beef ” and “sirloin” instead of “cow.”

We’ve come up with euphemisms to distance ourselves from the reality of our actions: eating animal flesh. I’ve used terms like “animal flesh” intermittently instead of just “meat” throughout this article to more accurately represent what’s actually happening. If that makes you uncomfortable, maybe it’s time to reexamine your beliefs.

Besides language, factory farms are usually located far away from where we would

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The Benefits of a Plant-based Diet Continued from page 17 see them, and the operations are often very secretive. We’re kept from seeing the horrors inside because we know we wouldn’t like it.

Paul McCartney, former member of the Beatles, famously said, "if slaughterhouses had glass walls, everyone would be vegetarian."

But slaughterhouses don’t have glass walls. Hence, I can’t really blame most people for continuing to eat meat when we’ve been basically indoctrinated into doing so our whole lives. But after being exposed to something like this article, you have less of an excuse to continue eating meat.

Third, “big meat” companies have a grip on congressional lobbying because of their immense wealth. In fact, meat and dairy companies seemingly “act collectively in ways similar to the fossil -fuel industry.” Almost none of them commit to net zero emissions, and they spend millions lobbying against climate change legislation that would require limits on the amount of meat they can produce. And meat-based interests

are actively trying to deceive people about all sorts of facts about eating meat and going vegan. A lot of money from people up top is being spent on trying to get you to buy and eat animal flesh.

So by now I hope the argument for going vegan or vegetarian is pretty clear. It may feel daunting to immediately cut out a lot of your diet, but there are some great practical guides for going plant-based (Sentient Media, WorldOfVegan), which are filled with on-theground eating and nutrition tips, food groups to be mindful of, and other great support.

On the other hand, you do not have to go vegan right now (although that would be awesome!)

Instead, you can start small. You can try the Beyond Burgers at Val (which are often served on Thursdays at lunch), the pakora wraps, an eggplant parm, or the sesame nuggets. You can try to eat one meal a day without meat.

You can try going vegetarian, vegan, or pescetarian for a week, or a month, which really helps because you find out how easy it is. You can make it a “big event” mark-

ing some date/time: Personally, I went vegetarian as a sophomore in high school as a New Years Resolution, and it stuck. I recently went vegan this March. The catalyst for my switch to vegetarianism was reading “Animal Liberation” by the philosopher Peter Singer in my ethics class. Many vegans or vegetarians describe having some “catalyst” moments in their lives.

If this article is the catalyst for you, then great! If it is your first, second, or third exposure to these ideas, that’s also great!

Probably the most common response to going vegan or vegetarian is that “meat is tasty.” First, I’d say you should see the ethical arguments I already mentioned. If you engage in some sort of behavior that is primitively gratifying but ethically unsound, you should just stop. Second, you just get used to not eating meat, especially once you accept the ethical arguments and realize how morbid it is to eat dead animals. If you ask most vegans or vegetarians what they feel about eating meat, they’d probably say it sounds repulsive. They’re not some otherworldly beings

Photo courtesy of Kenny Kim '25

Would you eat this bunny? Snuff out its tiny life and feast on its miniature entrails? that somehow have the discipline to give up something so tasty, and whose lives are permanently less fulfilling because of that.

Obviously, I can’t cover every aspect of vegetarianism or veganism in one article for The Amherst

Student. So, if you have any other questions, feel free to reach out to me, and I’ll be happy to talk to you about any aspect of the process.

Or, if you’re vegan or vegetarian and you want to just chat with me about that, I’d be happy to talk.

Rants and Raves: Stop Whining About Amherst Dining Thomas Brodey ’22 Columnist In an era of war, plague, and political crisis, only one topic is guaranteed to raise the ire of an Amherst student — the food at Valentine Dining Hall. It’s the single most important cultural touchstone of the Amherst experience. People complain about the food at every meal, sometimes in front of the people who make it. When I attended the senior speak-off several weeks ago, the dining hall was roasted more heavily than the average Val brussel sprout.

I admit that I’ve often participated in the mockery on days when my green beans were particularly rubbery or my conversational ability especially stale.

Yet constantly complaining about Val food, as therapeutic as

it may be, is simply unfair. While our dining hall may not compete with the legendary delicacies of UMass, we aren’t at the back of the pack either. I’ve eaten in dining halls at Yale, Smith, and Williams, and they were all more or less the same as Valentine. In fact, when the time comes for Yale students to put away their dirty dishes, they must resort to untidy and unstable stacks of plates and cups, in embarrassing contrast to our glorious, efficient, and hygienic conveyor belt.

The idea that Amherst, a college that spends over $100,000 per student per semester, is somehow forgetting to devote adequate resources to dining is patently absurd. While I can’t prove it, I’m pretty confident that Amherst’s dining food is as good or better than most other

college cuisines across the country. And not to play the guilt card, but about 36 percent of college students in the U.S. are classified as food insecure, meaning that their meal plans are either too unaffordable or too limited to permit a balanced diet. Even the most die-hard Val critic must admit that if there’s one thing Val has, it’s quantity.

Amherst College dining, on the other hand, is reasonably priced. After financial aid, the average student pays about $1,800 per semester for 120 days of food (more if you stay on campus during breaks). That comes to about $15 per day, not particularly expensive compared to other colleges. For that price, we get unlimited food that is far more nutritious and sustainable than average. There is plenty of room to question whether the

entire college package is worth the exorbitant price, but on the whole, dining is one of Amherst’s better deals. If only we had eaten Grammy Award-winning artist Common instead of hiring him.

I understand that some good-natured griping is a fun and therapeutic activity. I myself spend much (perhaps too much) of my time criticizing Amherst.

But let’s set our sights farther than just our feeding troughs.

There are so many important issues on campus that we can and should talk about instead of overcooked summer squash.

Let’s talk about the unfair treatment that Val workers face, or the school’s ludicrously fast endowment growth, or even about the AAS corruption scandal last semester.

Not all criticism of the Val food is unjustified. If you have

particularly severe dietary restrictions, you have good reason to be upset at Val’s limited options. But most complaints about Val aren’t good-faith constructive criticism. They’re reflexive, a kind of shibboleth to prove that you are a real Amherst student, not a Williams student who got lost on the way to a football game.

If we measured priorities by volume of discussion, we Amherst students would seem like one of the most short-sighted and entitled groups in the world.

But we’re better than that. It’s time to prove that we can have our cake and fête it too, that we can scarf down salty asparagus with a smile, and that we can put aside our mindless material concerns in exchange for joyful mastication during our matriculation.

Amusements

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The Amherst Student Crossword | May 4, 2022 ACROSS 1 Geometry calculation 5 And so forth: Abbr.

8 Some kissing sounds 13 Many a frequenter of 19-Across, according to some 14 Open a tad 15 Unite, in Ulm 16 Tel ___ 17 Infamous Roman fiddler, purportedly 18 Historical record 19 Campus building that curves spacetime the most?, or where to 27A or find 36A, 48A, 9D with 44A, and 44D with 63A 22 Kilt wearer 23 SSW opposite 24 Passing remarks?

27 Watch, as in stars 31 Type of ski lift 32 Nick name?

33 Williams, per U.S. News & World Report 35 Cry convulsively 36 Computer science, physics, and biology spaces, in 19-Across 38 Egyptian boy king 39 Ming of the NBA 40 __-ski 41 Prefix with dynamic 42 Unoriginally 44 Vegetable plot 46 Title for McCartney 47 Tennis redo 48 Play before the play, or the light-regulating mechanism of 19-Across 54 Pacific island nation 55 Small batteries 56 Tinted 58 Prepared for a hand 59 Yaks away 60 Cheers in Chihuahua 61 Bobby of the Black Panthers 62 Carry-___ luggage) 63 "___-E"

DOWN 1 Actress De Armas 2 Guns, as an engine 3 Leif 's father 4 Registration gatekeeper 5 Be a bouncer 6 Scale button 7 Shoe that may be put in adventure mode 8 Grinch trait 9 "___ is coming" 10 Green Gables girl 11 "___ ye, ___ ye!"

12 NBC show since 1975 14 Drive bananas 20 Heart test, briefly 21 Follow 24 Online craft store 25 WWII sub 26 Toil 27 ESPN baseball analyst Buster 28 End-of-semester eye features 29 Upheld your civic duty 30 Accustom 32 Bicep builder 34 Oxbridge feeder 36 Longitude pal 37 Professor Schneider’s seminar topic, along with musical theatre 41 Exhibitionist's hangout?

43 UN member since 1949 44 Houses around which you shouldn't throw stones 45 ___O-U-and-sometimes-Y 47 Many Middle Easterners 48 Amherst graduation gift 49 Sephora competitor 50 "Othello" villain 51 Indian flatbread 52 Faulkner femme fatale Varner 53 Film unit 54 Faux ___ 57 Internet access option

Liam Archacki ’24 Senior Managing Editor

Solutions: April 27

g Arts&Living

“Step Into...The Movies”: Doing Dance a Disservice Eren Levine ’24 Staff Writer On March 20, a TV special titled “Step Into…The Movies” premiered on ABC, before being released on Hulu. The iconic sibling duo Derek and Julianne Hough, alongside many other well-known dancers such as John Stamos and Jenna Dewan, recreated famous movie dance sequences from films like “La La Land,” “Singin’ in the Rain,” and “Dirty Dancing.” Dance is often regarded as a less important aspect of movies, so as someone who has danced for years, I was excited to see these moments being celebrated for how outstanding they truly are. However, what could’ve been a touching and beautiful homage to iconic dances from films of all decades

instead turned out to be a cheesy program with much less dancing than expected.

I was expecting to watch multiple acclaimed dances with beautiful sets, costumes, and superb dancing, perhaps featuring some scenes showing the rehearsal process. Instead, much of the special focused on Derek and Julianne Hough trying to put together the show with very little time. This was clearly just acting — and not very good acting at that — which made the whole production feel fake and generally unimpressive. I found myself skipping through the scenes of the Houghs’ “planning” because I was mostly interested in the rehearsals and dances. It seemed as though the directors wanted to add some sort of a plot to make the show more interesting. But

it came across as forced and unnecessary. The appeal of the special was watching iconic dances, which is how it was advertised, so anyone who was enticed to tune in would have been interested in the dances; there was no need for the added aspect of a faux storyline.

Despite the forced plot line's major shortcomings, the rehearsals and dances were still very enjoyable to watch. Just like how many episodes of “Dancing with the Stars” feature the practices leading up to the performance, “Step Into…The Movies” brought the viewer into the rehearsals. In the special, though, the rehearsals were treated as a side aspect and were not shown nearly as much as I would have liked. I was eager to see more of the training process because watching the final prod-

uct is even more enjoyable when you know how much work has gone into making it happen. It is also nice to get to know the dancers a bit better, through scenes of them practicing, messing up, and interacting off-stage.

Another positive aspect of the special was having those involved in the original dances featured in some way. For example, Kenny Ortega, who choreographed the film “Dirty Dancing,” was involved in “Step Into…The Movies,” providing feedback for the dancers during a rehearsal for the performance. I would have loved to see more people who were crucial to the original movies featured in equally crucial roles constructing the new pieces of the TV special.

While I was pleased to see so many dancers I recognized, I believe the special could have done a better job of featuring less well-known dancers or dancers

who aren’t primarily known for their acting. Having A-list celebrities probably appealed to viewers who don’t know as much about the dance industry, but those dancers didn’t have to be the only people featured. When dance is the center of the show, I think it is more respectful and representative of the industry to include people for whom dance is the main aspect of their career.

Lesser-known dancers are often overlooked, so a big production such as this one could have been a great way to support the careers of such dancers.

Ultimately, “Step Into…The Movies” was a letdown, and I would hesitate to recommend it to others. If you are interested in enjoying the well-executed dance pieces, I suggest doing what I did and skipping through the forced acting to find the impressive dancing and more authentic rehearsal scenes.

Photo courtesy of bandassonorasdecine.com Photo courtesy of Blogspot

“Step Into…The Movies” resurrects famous Hollywood dance scenes, bringing stars like John Stamos and Jenna Dewan back to the screen.

While Eren Levine ‘24 was impressed with the polished dance numbers, she notes that the TV special lacks the charm, intrigue, and focus on dancing that she expected it to have.

The Amherst Student • May 4, 2022

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Moved by a Melody : Choral Society’s Concert

Photo courtesy of Ryan Kyle‘23

Last Friday, The Amherst Choral Society performed their Spring concert, “Everlasting Voices.” Managing Arts and Living Editor Alex Brandfonbrener ‘23 recaps their first performance since the Glee Club’s merger with Chorus.

Alex Brandfonbrener ’23 Managing Arts and Living Editor On Friday, April 29, the Amherst College Choral Society performed their Spring concert in Buckley Recital Hall, titled “Everlasting Voices.”

The performance featured a wide range of student voices, unified by a desire to find community through singing. It was the Choral Society’s first concert since Glee Club merged with Chorus to form a new, all-inclusive Glee Club earlier this semester.

The concert managed to maintain the unique identities of the subgroups that form the Choral Society — Glee Club (the largest group), Concert Choir, and the Madrigal Singers — while also featuring an internationally diverse range of musical traditions.

The show opened with “Wangol,” a Haitian folk tune sung by the ensemble of the Glee Club. The song reflects on pre-Columbian Haitian history, lamenting the loss of King Wangol, who was beloved by his people: “Wangol, you are leaving. / When will I see you again? / The Country is changing …” The song was uplifting and pulsing with energy. The singers carefully navigated complicated rhythms, all while swaying in unison and projecting their voices through KN95 masks.

It was a strong opening that demonstrated what the Glee Club has to offer, a stylistic overture for the rest of the concert.

Glee Club continued with “The Everlasting Voices,” an original arrangement by Sam Wright ’23. The

piece combined lyrics from two culturally distinct sources: first, a Latin requiem, followed by a poem by William Butler Yeats. The style of the music built on the Celtic tradition of Yeats; it was careful and delicate, yet confident, too. The singers managed to balance somber and hopeful moments, drawing a sharp contrast from the first piece.

Next was “Migate Goran Yoru no Noshi o” (“Look Up at the Stars at Night”), sung by the Glee Club’s tenors and basses. The piece gained recognition after frequently being performed in Japan after the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami in 2011; it is a song about hope for better times.

The performance used the low tones of the tenors and basses to deliver a flowing, patient elegy that was not afraid to take its time. It was heartening to see the unique sound of Amherst’s historic Glee Club featured, even after merging with Chorus.

The Glee Club’s altos and sopranos followed with the Wailin’ Jennys’ arrangement of “The Parting Glass.”

The song had a light, unresolved quality, punctuated by silent moments. It was as if they were calling out to the audience, relaying lyrics about nostalgia: “And all I’ve done / for want of wit / to mem’ry now I can’t recall / So fill to me the parting glass / Goodnight and joy be with you all ...”

Taking the stage next were the Madrigal Singers, a group of only five singers: Alexandra Conklin ’25, Cameron Mueller-Harder ’22, Patrick Spoor ’22, Kameron Melvin ’22 and Choral Society Assistant Direc-

tor Gilbert Wemeling ’19. They sang three short pieces, each featuring a distinct style of acapella voice. “Since Robin Hood” was playful, jesting and joking, a complicated interplay of arpeggios between the five. Featuring lyrics from an Emily Dickinson poem, “Dawn” was longing, a swirl of fleeting emotions that left as soon as they came. The Madrigal Singers closed with “My heart doth beg you’ll not forget,” a hymn with a sincere and gracious sentiment. I was impressed that these five singers could hold the stage so completely, even while the rest of the concert featured many more voices.

The performance continued with the Concert Choir, a more selective subgroup of Choral Society. They began with “Tchaka,” to prepare for which the singers had met with the song's composer, Sydney Guillaume, on Zoom. Tchaka is a Haitian stew eaten during festive times; in musical form, percussive folklore rhythms were the spices of the piece. It was upbeat, dynamic, celebratory and a little bit dramatic, and the singers brought out unusual flavors in the composition.

“Water Night,” a lonely but strong-willed melody followed, evoking the feelings of looking at a body of water: “And if you close your eyes, / a river, a silent and beautiful current, / fills you from within, / flows forward, darkens you …” It was introspective yet impassioned, using a fluidly dynamic range, switching from loud to quiet very quickly.

The Concert Choir finished with “Alleluia,” another piece for which

the group worked with the composer, Jake Runestad. The song consisted of a single lyric, repeated again and again. It did not feel repetitive, however, and the singers found clarity in the opaque tones and shapes in the piece’s mystifying melody.

To wrap up the night, the Glee Club filled the stage again At this point in the concert, I began to look for themes connecting the pieces.

Indeed, I found a concise moral about resilience in the face of insurmountable difficulty. First was “Lao Rahal Soti” (“If My Voice is Gone”), a protest song about continuing to fight for a cause, even after being silenced. Julissa Tello ’23 began the piece alone, singing in Arabic, genuinely and simply. The rest of the ensemble soon joined her, voicing a fragile and joyful tune. Their next piece, “Because You Sang,” featured Shuyao Charlotte Wang ’24 as conductor. Taking stylistic influence from the American “Sacred Harp” musical tradition, the piece evoked feelings of empowerment and told a story of overcoming adversity. It was fitting that after the concert, the Choral Society collected donations to aid Ukraine, as a nod to the greater impetus behind their artistry.

My favorite piece was “John the Revelator,” a blues bop with an inquisitive and demanding presence that seemed to say, “Listen to me …” The performers looked like they were having lots of fun, bouncing along to the music and clapping, a vibe accentuated by the creative improvisations of pianist Maura Glennon.

The concert closed with two songs that brought the spirit of Amherst College to the music. First was “Three Gifts,” a commemorative piece written by Lisa Smith Van der Linden ’89. I had heard the Choral Society perform this song before at events like Convocation and Commencement. But for the first time, I listened to the haunting word in the wind — “Amherst, Amherst, Amherst …” — with a feeling of nostalgia. The singers voiced the lyrics of the piece with unwavering appreciation: “Thank you Amherst for three places you’ve given me: A place right here, a place for roots. / A growing place, a greening place …”

“Senior Song” was last, which the Choral Society has traditionally sung as a stoic farewell to the group’s seniors. Each singer from the Class of 2022 stood out front, sporting purple sashes and holding a cup for toasting. In the past, the seniors drank from a 150-year-old chalice, but they could not this year because of Covid concerns. It was still a celebratory moment, though, as each senior singer punctuated the song by taking a big sip of their cup, to the audience’s giggles.

The show closed with the lights in Buckley dimming to darkness.

As someone who had never been to a Choral Society concert before “Everlasting Voices,” I was struck by the light-hearted yet resilient nature of the singers and music. These students took time to sing to their friends and family, even during the busiest time of the semester. I am glad to have watched and listened.

The Amherst Student • May 4, 2022

Arts & Living

22

“Sur vivor” Season 42: Episode 8, Reviewed

Photo courtesy of besttvshow.mirahaze.org

The eighth episode of this season of “Survivor” revealed more strained relationships among the eight remaining castaways. Vaughn Armour ‘25 reflects on the history of racial biases in the show and explains how the current cast is flipping the script.

Vaughn Armour ’25 Staff Writer On Wednesday, April 27, Survivor released another solid episode with interesting social commentary and two eliminations. Only eight castaways remain after the twist of double elimination. There are only a couple more episodes left before the finale, so the endgame is drawing near.

The episode began with an angry Hai. Romeo threw an anonymous vote at him at the previous tribal, and Hai knew that he did it. I thought Hai was a little too abrasive since the vote went his way. After all, it didn’t end up affecting anything, and he was still in a power position.

However, this vaulted Romeo to the top of Hai’s hit list.

Hai went to the large alliance and pitched Romeo as the next boot, but Rocksroy countered with the idea that the guys should stick together.

Larger guys tend to be targeted in the post-merge for being immunity threats, so this plan made sense for Rocksroy. It also made sense for Jonathan and Mike, who were in support of the idea. However, Omar was not on board with the rest of the guys. Later in the game, the Survivor challenges get very physical.

Omar’s chances of winning those challenges are much greater if he’s

going against the women than if he’s competing with guys, who all seem to be more athletic than him. He recognized this immediately, and disliked Rocksroy’s plan. However, he followed the number one rule of Survivor perfectly: never say no to an alliance. Hai also didn’t love this idea, but primarily because of the way Rocksory pitched it. He didn’t ask how Hai felt about a guys’ alliance — he informed him that it existed.

At the immunity challenge, the 10 Survivors were split into two equal groups, with two individual immunity necklaces up for grabs.

Both groups would go to separate Tribal Councils, with two people being eliminated: devastating news for the contestants. It was a classic Survivor challenge: they had to stand on a thin perch jostling above the ocean until they couldn’t anymore.

Because of violent winds, it went faster than normal. Hai and Jonathan won in their respective halves of the group.

The rest of Hai’s group comprised Romeo, Rocksroy, Omar, and Mike. The Survivor gods had given Rocksroy the all-male group he so desperately craved. He frolicked through the day without a care in the world, even telling Jeff at Tribal that he thought there wasn’t much strategy going on that night. I have no clue

how that didn’t alert him that something was wrong, but Rocksroy was blindsided: taken out by the all-male group he so wanted to form. Both Omar and Hai thought Rocksroy was too rigid and unwilling to listen to other people’s ideas. It was tough to get Mike on board, but they eventually did. Nine remained.

When the other group (Jonathan, Drea, Maryanne, Tori, and Lindsay) walked into Tribal, they were stunned. None of them had expected Rocksroy to go, for differing reasons. Jonathan thought the allmale alliance was running things, and was shook to see an ally depart so soon. Drea took it a different way.

Throughout “Survivor’s” history, there have been issues with minority contestants doing worse than white contestants. Specifically, many seasons have had runs of minority contestants all going out in a row. This is always a bad look for the show, and speaks to the impact of subconscious bias on decision making. In stressful situations, we tend to favor our own in-group, as people who look like us can make us more comfortable, even if it isn’t a conscious choice. All of this is why “Survivor” launched a diversity campaign led

by Island of the Idols contestant (and one of my all-time favorites) Jamal Shipman. They wanted the casts to be more diverse, so that in-groups

are harder to determine by race, and large white alliances don’t dominate the game as they have in the past.

As a fan of the game, Drea saw a pattern she was all too familiar with: back to back Black vote-outs. This cast is very diverse, and there were valid reasons why it was smart to take out both of these players. However, Drea didn’t want to risk that trend continuing, and told everyone that she was playing her idol that night. Jonathan, Lindsay, and Maryanne’s plan was actually to blindside Drea that night, so she would’ve gone home.

Jonathan did not exactly understand Drea’s feelings, saying that her claim of subconscious biases meant she was calling the white players subconsciously racist. It wasn’t a great day for Jonathan overall. He tried to make Maryanne the decoy vote instead of Tori, because he thought Tori and Drea were close.

This was a blatant misread, and Lindsay told him that. However, he still wouldn’t listen to her: bad gameplay.

Understandably, Maryanne felt alienated. If Drea decided to play her idol, and if they followed Jonathan’s plan, Maryanne would have gone home. She’s expendable to him, and now she knows it. The pattern of jurors also affected Maryanne. She spoke powerfully about the strug-

gles Black players have in “Survivor,” and how the weight of representing one’s own race with each decision in the game is an added burden that people like Jonathan don’t have to worry about. She played her idol along with Drea, a symbolic move to show that her words weren’t just a plea to stay safe.

This left Tori and Lindsay as the only two players eligible to go. Tori unsuccessfully played her shot in the dark (giving up your vote for a one in six chance of staying), and she was sent home.

With eight players remaining, the story of the season is becoming clear. Maryanne is the underdog, continually being underestimated by more powerful players like Jonathan. Despite being likable up to this point, Jonathan may be a complex villain, the Goliath that David has to slay to win the game.

Omar is the most adept strategist, balancing the social and strategic games better than anyone. Hai is the frontrunner, who has played a great game, but may be peaking too early. Drea is the X factor, loaded up with advantages that make her insanely dangerous in the game. At its core, “Survivor” is a story built off of “Lord of the Flies,” full of triumphs and downfalls. We’re just entering the third act of that story now: here’s where it gets awesome.

Sp ports

Baseball Sweeps Williams to Secure NESCAC Playoff Bid Alex Noga ’23 Managing Sports Editor In what was easily their biggest series of the year, the baseball team showed they were more than up to the challenge, sweeping archrival Williams in a three-game series with a trip to the NESCAC playoffs on the line. With the No. 4 seed in the NESCAC West Division now secured, the Mammoths will travel to play Bowdoin, the No. 1 seed in the East Division, in a three-game series next weekend in the opening round of playoff action.

The Mammoths set the tone for the series in the opening game, which was played in Williamstown on Friday, April 29. They produced perhaps their best all-around offensive performance all season in clutch time. Every single player in the starting lineup recorded at least one hit and scored at least one run en route to a 16-7 victory over the Ephs — the 16 runs were the most the Mammoths have scored in a single game all year.

It was a back-and-forth affair for the first five innings, with the score tied 5-5 heading into the sixth. The Mammoths then seized control of the game, exploding for seven unanswered runs over the course of the sixth and seventh innings to take a 12-5 lead they would not relinquish.

Williams managed to add one run in the bottom of the seventh, but the Mammoths added four more in the eighth and ninth. The Ephs scored one run in their final trip to the plate, ending the game with a whimper, and the Mammoths headed home with a convincing 16-7 victory.

Ryan McIntyre ’25, Jack McDermott ’25, and Jackson Reydel ’23, the first three batters in the Mammoths’ lineup, each went three for six on the day. Reydel finished with one RBI, while his first-year teammates had three RBIs apiece. McDermott also slugged a double and a triple as a part of his three-hit outing, and scored two runs as well. Chris Murphy ’22 also went three for six with

two doubles, two runs, and an RBI. Pitcher Nick Giattino ’24 earned his fourth win of the year from the mound — he pitched six innings, allowing nine hits and five earned runs and tallying two strikeouts in the contest.

The Mammoths returned to Memorial Field on Saturday, April 30, for games two and three, needing just one win to clinch a playoff berth. Saturday was also the team’s Senior Day, and the Mammoths recognized and celebrated their four seniors — Charlie Estes ’22, Murphy, Sachin Nambiar ’22, and Daniel Qin ’22 — prior to first pitch.

Game two was similarly close in the opening frames of the contest.

The Ephs got on the board in the first, but the Mammoths responded to take the lead in the second. A big fourth inning for the Ephs saw the lead change hands once again, but the Mammoths responded immediately in the following half-inning, scoring five runs in the fourth inning to take a commanding 8-4 lead. They added yet another run in the fifth off a Christian Fagnant ’24 RBI double to stretch the lead to 9-4.

Williams could only counter with a single run in the final inning of the seven-inning game, and the Mammoths earned both the series win and a spot in the NESCAC playoffs with a 9-5 victory.

McIntyre led the way from the leadoff spot once again, going three for four with two runs, an RBI, and a stolen base. Qin also had a big day at the plate, finishing two for four with a double, a run, and an RBI. Jacob Ribitzki ’24 started the critical game and was just as impressive as in his complete game victory from last weekend against Middlebury — he went the full seven innings, allowing five runs (four earned) on nine hits and tallied a strikeout. His second complete-game victory of the year, occurring in back-to-back weeks, brings his record to 4-2 on the year.

He leads the Mammoths with a team-best 4.47 ERA and 1.25 WHIP this season.

Though the final game of the

Photo courtesy of Clarus Studios

The team storms the field to celebrate the final win of their 3-0 sweep of archrival Williams. The series win clinched the No. 4 seed in this weekend's NESCAC playoffs. series did not have any playoff implications, no Amherst team would pass up the opportunity to sweep the Ephs. This was evident in the Mammoths’ resilience in game three, which was an absolute marathon of a game that took over three and a half hours and 402 total pitches to finally complete. The two teams combined for 29 runs on 36 hits, 18 walks, and five hit batters, and both teams committed six errors apiece.

Riding high from their crucial win in the previous game, the Mammoths jumped out to a 6-1 lead after the first two innings. Both teams traded runs over the next few frames: Williams got three runs back in the third, but a solo home run from Christian Limon ’25 in the bottom half of the frame pushed the Mammoths’ lead to three. The Ephs scored again in the fourth, but the Mammoths again responded immediately with another run of their own. However, the Ephs then embarked on a scoring run to match the Mammoths’ early outburst — they scored seven runs over the final five innings to take a 12-8 lead heading into the bottom of the ninth.

The Mammoths are no strangers to comebacks, and the excitement from the crowd as they stepped to the plate in the bottom of the ninth was palpable. After the leadoff hit-

ter grounded out, Limon was hit by a pitch and Jack Dove ’23 doubled down the right field line. Then, McIntyre launched a three-run homer to right field, his second home run of the year, to cut the deficit to just one. The next two batters also reached base, and Luke Padian ’24 ripped a line drive to the outfield that bounced off the tip of the center fielder’s glove, allowing the tying run to cross the plate. Qin was then intentionally walked to load the bases with one out, but the next two Mammoths went down on strikes to send the game into extra innings.

In the top of the 10th, the Ephs strung together a two-out rally to take a 14-12 lead. With their backs against the wall once again, the Mammoths stepped up to the plate looking to walk it off against their rivals. The Ephs retired the first Mammoth batter on strikes, but the following three Mammoths reached safely to load the bases. A sharply hit ground ball to first base from Reydel allowed one run to score and put runners on second and third with two outs. Up stepped Padian in another massive spot, and he delivered once again, lacing a ground ball into center field, scoring both the tying and winning runs and sending the Mammoths into a frenzy. They had done it, recording a ridiculous 15-14

walk-off win for the sweep.

Qin showed out in a massive way, going four for five with a walk and three RBIs. McDermott, Reydel, Dove, and Limon all scored three runs each. Trevor Gasgarth ’24 earned his first win of the season in relief.

The Mammoths are 14-16-1 overall with a 5-7 record in conference play, though they have won their last five games. With the fourth seed in the NESCAC West Division secured, the Mammoths will now play the No. 1 seed in the East Division, the Bowdoin Polar Bears, in a three-game playoff series. The two teams met for a doubleheader during their spring training trips in Florida, splitting the two games — the Mammoths won the first contest 10-1 but fell in the second 10-5.

Bowdoin is 8-4 in conference play but are 15-17 overall. The winner of the series will advance to the NESCAC semifinals.

Before their games against Bowdoin, the Mammoths will conclude their regular season against out-of-conference opponent UMass Boston on Wednesday, May 4. They will then travel to New Brunswick, Maine, for a doubleheader on Saturday, May 7. If necessary, the decisive third game will be played the following day, Sunday, May 8.

The Amherst Student • May 4, 2022

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Men’s Lacrosse Stifles Williams, Advances to NESCAC Semis

Photo courtesy of Clarus Studios

Senior Captain PJ Clementi '22 celebrates one of his goals against Hamilton College in the team's 2022 home opener. After opening the season strong, the Mammoths recovered from a losing streak to take the No. 3 seed in the NESCAC tournament, and beat Williams in the Quarterfinals.

Mike Schretter ’23 Staff Writer The men’s lacrosse team continued their great play as they headed into the NESCAC playoffs with a win in their regular-season finale against Trinity in resounding fashion, 16-10. With the victory over the Bantams, the Mammoths headed into their quarterfinal matchup versus Williams with their win streak at five games.

The last time these teams met was on April 16, when a 6-1 second quarter allowed Amherst to take command of the momentum and win the game by a score of 1410. On Saturday, Amherst was able to repeat this dominating performance and keep their NCAA tournament hopes alive as they bested the Ephs 11-7.

Williams started off strong, opening the game with a quick goal, which gave them a 1-0 advantage.

However, Amherst responded right away behind a right-handed goal from Carter Tate ’22 to even the score at

one apiece. Williams responded, though, with a goal to retake the lead 2-1. But again, Amherst was up to the task, as Brock Gonzalez ’23 scored an unassisted goal to even the score at 2-2. After a beautiful save from goalie Mitch Likins ’25, Nicholas Kopp ’25 fed PJ Clementi ’22, who converted to make it a 3-2 game. Williams did not quit, though, as they would score the next two goals to give the Ephs a 4-3 advantage at the beginning of the second quarter.

From then on, it was all Amherst, as they scored four straight goals going into halftime. The offensive push started with another great save from Likins, who cleared it ahead to Ben Bruno ’25.

He dished it up the field to longstick midfielder Robinson Armour ’22, who scored his second goal of the season to tie up the score at 4-4. That goal would prove to be the momentum-swinging tally, as Amherst would continue to pour it on through the end of the half.

Gonzalez scored two straight goals to give himself a first-half hat trick,

widening the margin to 6-4 Amherst. Then, with 1.5 seconds left in the half, a beautiful pass from Tanyr Krummenacher ’23 to John Fitzhenry ’24 ended in a highlight-worthy buzzer-beating goal that gave Amherst a three-goal lead going into the locker room.

After the half, Amherst continued their dominance, holding Williams to only three goals in the second half, including just one in the third quarter. The Mammoths started off the third with a goal from Connor Guest ’24 to make it 8-4 Amherst. Williams responded with their only goal of the quarter, a man-up goal making it 8-5.

However, Amherst stifled the Ephs from then on, and got two goals from Krummenacher to extend their lead to five heading into the fourth quarter. In the fourth, Clementi tacked on a goal while Williams scored two late goals to bring the score to 11-7, where it remained until the final whistle.

Amherst had impressive offensive production in the contest; they benefited from three goals

from Gonzalez and two goals each from Krummenacher and Clementi to pace the team on that end of the field. On the other end, Likins’ stalwart goalkeeping, paired with the team’s defensive play overall, was responsible for holding Williams to only seven goals, five below their season average.

Likins, who made 19 saves and was named NESCAC Player of the Week for his performance, exalted this stellar play, emphasizing: “We have been working all season to become more and more consistent [on defense,] and that work seems to finally be paying off.” Defensive midfielder Brodie Rayment ’23 expanded on his goalkeeper’s sentiments, acknowledging the role of coaching their resolute defense in the win. “I have to credit [Assistant] Coach [Richard] Carrington for his relentless game planning and preparation. The close defense won their matchups all day, and Mitch [Likins] was a brick wall in net,” he said.

The players realize the importance of playing well on both sides

of the ball and the role it will play in extending their season. But they aren’t downplaying the impact of the win either. Defensemen Ryan Rahbany ’24 articulated this point, saying: “To beat Williams twice in one season is awesome. We’re playing our best at the right time of year, and we’ll need another strong performance to beat a tough Bowdoin team on Saturday.

This will be a big week of preparation for us.”

With the win, the Mammoths advance to the NESCAC semifinals this weekend at Tufts University. Amherst will play No. 2 seed Bowdoin in Medford, Massachusetts, at 3 p.m. on Saturday, May 7.

The last meeting between the two teams, which took place on April 2, ended in a 15-12 victory for the Polar Bears. The Mammoths started the game slow but ended on a high note despite the loss, winning the second half by three goals. The loss came just before the Mammoths began to turn their season around; they have won five of six games since.

The Amherst Student • May 4, 2022

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Men 1-1, Women 2-1 in Last Week of Regular Season Leo Kamin ’25 Managing Sports Editor Both the men’s and women’s tennis teams closed their regular seasons with extensive road trips this past weekend. The women headed to Cambridge, Massachusetts, to play MIT on Friday, April 29, before, traveling the next day to Lewiston, Maine, where both squads swept Bates on the road. The teams then traveled back to the Boston area for matchups with scalding-hot Tufts squads on Sunday, May 1, where both teams closed their regular seasons with defeats at the hands of the Jumbos.

Men The No. 18 men’s team began their week at Bates. Despite eventually sweeping the Bobcats, the biggest scare came during the doubles matches. The top pairing, Sujit Chepuri ’25 and Damien Ruparel ’22, were down 7-4 at one point in the eight-game match. They fought off some match points, though, to bring the match to 7-7 and force a tiebreaker, which the Mammoths won. The second and third pairings, Kobe Ellenbogen ’25/Micah Elias ’24 and Shaw Rhinelander ’23/Zach Ostrow ’23, sailed through their matches with 8-2 and 8-1 wins, respectively.

The Mammoths then rolled through the singles portion, winning all 12 sets across six matches.

Ruparel kicked things off with a comprehensive 6-2, 6-1 win at the top spot before Harris Foulkes ’22 and Edred Opie ’25 turned in a pair of 6-4, 6-2 wins at the two and three spots, respectively. Chepuri took care of business at the fourth position, and Ellenbogen and Willie Turchetta ’22 were near perfect at the five and six spots, losing just two combined games in 6-1, 6-0 victories. The 9-0 victory was the team’s fourth sweep of the season.

The next day, the squad turned to what was set up to be one of their toughest challenges of the season, against a No. 3-ranked Tufts team that had won 14 straight matches.

Things went as the rankings would suggest in the first two doubles matches. Chepuri and Ruparel

lost 8-4 at the top spot before the Foulkes and Opie pairing followed them with a quick 8-2 defeat. Elias and Ellenbogen, playing one spot down from the day before, gave Tufts a tough match, forcing a tiebreaker but eventually losing it 8-6.

The Mammoths entered the singles matches down 3-0, seeking five wins out of six to rescue the win.

The hope for a win was shattered quickly, though, as the Jumbos closed the door at the top of the singles ladder. Ruparel, the No. 7 player in the region, lost 6-3, 6-2 to Isaac Gorelik, the No. 4 player in the region, at the top spot. Foulkes was off the court quickly at the second spot, losing 6-0, 6-0. Opie, playing in the third position, put up a fight.

He lost the first set 6-1 but battled back to claim a 6-2 victory in the second and force a tiebreaker. The tides changed again during the tiebreaker, though, and Opie lost 10-3.

Chepuri was the second Mammoth of the day to go without claiming a single game, losing 6-0, 6-0 at number four. Ellenbogen was a bright spot for the Mammoths on the day, coming through with a decisive 6-2, 6-2 victory at the fifth position. Turchetta rounded out singles play with a 6-2, 6-3 loss.

With the 8-1 overall win, Tufts improved to 15-1 on the season, good for second in the NESCAC. The Mammoths snapped a fourgame winning streak and dropped to 10-7 but still sit in fifth place in the conference. The team will host the quarterfinal round of the NESCAC Championship next weekend for a single-elimination tournament. The Mammoths will face Bowdoin in the first round on Friday, May 6. The Mammoths lost to the Polar Bears earlier in the season by the narrowest of margins — a 5-4 match decided by a tiebreaker in doubles play.

Women The women began a set of three matches in three days with a trip to Cambridge for a meeting with No. 6 MIT. On the Engineers’ duPont tennis courts, play began, with three doubles matches. Two first-years — Deliala Friedman ’25 and Mia Kintiroglou ’25 — led the ladder

Photo courtesy of Clarus Studios

Micah Elias '24 and Kobe Ellenbogen '25 celebrate winning a match earlier this season. for the Mammoths. Their match proved close: the two sides battled to a 7-7 split, forcing a tiebreaker.

The pair went to work in the clutch, winning the tiebreaker 7-3 to claim the Mammoths’ first win. However, things proved tougher for the next two pairings. Julia Lendel ’24 and Calista Sha ’23 were off the court first, losing 8-4. In the third spot, Katelyn Hart ’25 and Amy Cui ’25 put up a solid fight but ultimately dropped their match by a score of 8-6. The Mammoths entered singles play down 2-1.

Six mammoths took the court for singles play. Sha was off the court first at the number-four spot, winning just two games across two sets. Hart followed her with a 6-0, 6-4 loss at the sixth position. Friedman then turned in the Mammoths’ first singles win — her second win on the day — with a comprehensive 6-4, 6-1 victory at the third position to narrow the team score to 4-2. The Mammoths needed to take all three remaining matches to win. That started to look possible after No. 5 Kintiroglou picked up a win in a roller coaster of a match, winning 3-6, 6-3, 7-6. With Mammoths’ No. 1 Cui and No. 2 Lendel still on the court, the Mammoths had a chance.

Ultimately, though, the pair couldn’t get it done. Cui lost 6-4, 6-3. Lendel

won the first set, but her opponent came back to force and, after 22 points, win a tiebreaker. The 6-3 win was the Engineers’ 15th in a row, and dropped the Mammoths to 9-6 on the season but did not affect their all-important conference record. All three wins came from the one doubles duo of Kintiroglou and Friedman.

Conference standing was at stake, however, on the following day, as the Mammoths faced the Bates Bobcats, though Amherst made quick work of their opponents. None of the doubles matches were particularly close. Friedman and Kintiroglou won 8-5, Lendel and Sha 8-3, and Hart and Cui a breezy 8-1. The dominance continued through the singles matches: the Mammoths denied the Bobcats a single set. The drubbing was highlighted by dominant performances from Sha at number three and Anya Ramras ’22 at number six. They won 6-0, 6-1 and 6-0, 6-2, respectively.

The win brought the Mammoths’ NESCAC record to 7-2 ahead of the final match of the season the following day.

After yet another bus ride the following day, No. 10 Tufts proved a much tougher test. The Jumbos ultimately claimed an overall victory 8-1, but that score does not ful-

ly reflect what was actually a tight contest. The Jumbos claimed fairly comprehensive victories at one and two doubles, but Ramras and Cui, playing together at three — came within inches of a win. They played to a tiebreaker but ultimately lost 7-4.

Though Amherst won just one singles match — Sha won 6-0, 2-6, 6-4 at the fourth position — the Mammoths made things anything but easy on their opponents. At the top of the ladder, Cui lost in two sets, but both were decided by the narrowest of margins; she lost the first 7-5 before forcing a tiebreaker in the second, which she ultimately lost. Lendel, playing at number two, took the first set off her opponent but lost the next two. Kintiroglou, at number five, nearly won the first set. Ramras lost her first set but also forced a tiebreaker in the second, which she barely lost 8-6.

The Mammoths’ loss solidified their third-seed position in next weekend’s NESCAC tournament, and set up a first-round matchup with Williams — who they have already beaten twice this season. The match will be played on the Mammoths’ home courts on Friday, May 6. If the Mammoths advance, subsequent matches will be played in Middletown, Connecticut.

The Amherst Student • May 4, 2022

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Women’s Golf Wins NESCAC Championship, Men Fifth Leo Kamin ’25 Managing Sports Editor Playing on their home course in Amherst and led by first-year Jessica Huang ’25 — who turned in a pair of one-over-par rounds to claim NESCAC individual champion honors — the Amherst women’s golf team captured their first-ever NESCAC title this past weekend. The men’s team, playing in New Hartford, New York, finished fifth of the 10 teams competing. Both two-day tournaments took place across Saturday, April 30, and Sunday, May 1.

Women The women began their title challenge with dominant first-day performances from Huang and Priya Bakshi ’24. Huang carved up the familiar course, shooting a 73, just one over par; she finished the first day as the individual leader. Bakshi was right behind her in second place with a 74. The team score, which combines the team’s four best performances, was rounded out by a fiveover 77 from Gihoe Seo ’25, who sat in fifth place, and a 79 from Janelle Jin ’23, who ended the day in eighth.

The Mammoths slept on a comfortable, but still slim, five-shot lead over defending champion Williams.

Things seemed to be slipping at first on the second day of play.

The Ephs erased the Mammoths’ five-shot lead early, but a young Amherst team continued its steady play and ultimately saw out the victory. The star underclassman pairing of Huang and Bakshi kept firing.

Huang turned in another 73 to wrap up the individual competition, pouring in 12 pars, one birdie, and an eagle on the par-five 16th hole. Bakshi shot a 75 and secured second place in individual play; Seo turned in a 78 and found herself tied for third place overall. Jenny Hua ’24 made an important contribution on the final day, shooting a nine-over 81 to round out the Mammoths’ scorecard.

As the day went on, the lead ballooned to 11 shots, which proved the final margin. In an interview posted to the Amherst Athletic Department’s YouTube channel, Huang said that she didn’t feel much pressure entering the second day with the overall and team lead. “I played pretty well the first day,” she said, so “I just wanted to relax as much as possible, and have fun.” With a nearly flawless round — including a rare eagle — she did just that.

The Mammoths credited the familiar conditions and close team bonds with the weekend’s success.

“Just being able to come out to our home course, where we all practice every single day, know the course so well, and play as if there’s no stakes

Photo courtesy of Clarus Studios

The women's golf team won their first NESCAC Championship on their home course. and just trust ourselves — I think that was really beneficial,” said Bakshi. She also said that support from Amherst fans helped propel the squad forward.

With the win, the Mammoths received an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III National Championship, held at Bay Oaks Country Club in Houston, Texas, from Tuesday, May 10, to Friday, May 13. It will be Amherst’s sixth championship appearance.

Men In contrast to the women’s team’s familiar surroundings, the men faced a large 10-team field at Yahnundasis Golf Club in New Hartford, New York, a course the

squad had not seen all season.

The team found themselves in a strong position after the first day of play. First-year Steven Chen ’25, who has led the team all season, continued his strong play when it mattered most. He shot a 75 and found himself in fourth place overall. Anthony Zhang ’25 and Brian Aslanian ’22 were just behind him with a pair of six-over 77s. Erik Zetterstrom ’22 rounded out the Mammoths’ scorecard with an 80. The combined score of 309 put the Mammoths in a tie for third place with Middlebury and Trinity, one shot behind Tufts and nine shots behind Hamilton, who ended the day in first place overall.

Things unraveled a bit for the Mammoths the second day, but

Chen continued his superb play.

He lit up the course, pouring in five birdies and nine pars to score a round of 70, one under par. He led the tournament in birdies, with nine, and led the field in par-three scoring, going a jaw-dropping three under on the course’s four shortest (and typically hardest) holes over two days.

Behind him, Aslanian turned in another 77 to claim 12th place.

Zhang shot an 83 and finished tied for 23rd. Zetterstrom went around in 84 to claim the final spot on the Mammoths’ card. Amherst’s final scorecard of the season, a two-day total of 623, was good for fifth place overall, 26 shots behind Hamilton in first place.

Women’s Lacrosse Ends Season With Middlebury Loss Carter Hollingsworth ’25 Staff Writer Women’s lacrosse traveled to Hartford, Connecticut, on Wednesday, April 27, to meet Trinity in their last regular season game of 2022.

The game was effectively a tune-up before the NESCAC tournament began later that week, as both teams had already clinched a playoff spot.

Amherst started the game strong, with defense being the name of the game in the first period. They were scored on only twice in the quarter, and matched those goals with two of their own from Fiona Jones ’23 and senior captain Becky Kendall ’22.

Amherst entered the second quarter tied at two with the Ban-

tams, looking for a win to improve their tournament seeding. However, Trinity needed the win just as badly and showed it early in the frame: the team scored three straight goals in the first three minutes of the quarter.

The Mammoths fought back with two of their own, but going into the half, the score favored Trinity, 7-4.

Heading into the second half, Amherst’s eyes were set on a comeback. They started the rally with an unassisted goal from Sydney Larsen ’23 with 5:50 left to go, and followed with a tally from Katie Hadro ’23 with 3:29 remaining in the third.

In the fourth quarter, neither team scored for nearly 11 minutes until Eliza Marcus ’25E scored with 7:50 left to put the Mammoths be-

hind by only one. Two minutes later, Lauren Friedman ’25 scored her second of the game to tie the game at nine. But Trinity scored twice in the final four minutes to put the game away and ultimately prevailed 11-9.

After a tough Wednesday loss, the Mammoths traveled to Vermont to face No. 1 seed Middlebury for the second time this season, with a NESCAC semifinal berth on the line. The Panthers got off to a quick start, netting four consecutive goals to start the game. Larsen’s unassisted tally put Amherst on the board with five minutes left in the first quarter and narrowed the lead to 4-1.

But that was the closest the Mammoths would come to taking the lead. Middlebury domi-

nated the rest of the game, netting 13 consecutive goals to take a 17-1 lead. Breaking the Panther run was senior Marina Bevacqua ’22, who recorded Amherst’s second of the game via an unassisted goal with 10:44 left in the final quarter. Despite the Mammoths’ best efforts, Middlebury finished the game with another win by a 20-2 margin. However, goalies Caroline Stole ’24 and Caroline Fischer ’22 combined to make an impressive 20 total saves in the game.

Though disappointed, the Mammoths are keeping their heads held high. Larsen said, “we recognized that having a postseason was a privilege and it was a manifestation of all of the hard work that we had put

into our regular season. Although we had hoped it would not be our last bus ride, we played for each other and for our seniors, and it left us with a lot of motivation for next season.”

The loss marked the end of the Mammoths' season, finishing 2022 with a 9-7 overall record. It was also the last game for retiring head coach Chris Paradis, who concluded her remarkable career on Saturday. Paradis guided the Mammoths to 14 NCAA tournament berths, including a 2003 National Championship win. She finished her tenure with 321 wins, the 10th most by any women’s lacrosse coach across all NCAA divisions and the fourth highest total of any coach at the Division III level.

The Amherst Student • May 4, 2022

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Mammoths Find NESCAC Title Success on the Track Liza Katz ’24 Managing Sports Editor The Mammoths took the long bus ride to Clinton, New York, this past weekend for the 2022 NESCAC Championship Meet.

On Saturday, April 30, the Mammoths took to the track, with six runners bringing home wins in seven individual events to go with a bevy of top 10 finishes across both the track and field events.

Women Two members of the women’s team put in NESCAC title-winning performances on the way to a fifth-place team finish. Junior Sophie Wolmer ’23 crossed the line first in the meet’s longest event, the 10,000 meters, with a blazing-fast time of 34:59.86.

Wolmer finished 90 seconds faster than the second-place runner, broke the meet and facility records, and earned all-NESCAC honors in the event.

The other Mammoth winner was Eliza Cardwell ’25, who took home not one, but two NESCAC titles in her first championship appearance. Cardwell won the 100-meter hurdles in 14.30, a meet record, and the 400-meter hurdles in 1:02.66, netting her all-NESCAC honors in both events. She also set a school record in the 100-meter hurdles preliminaries with a time of 14.23. For her dominant season (and performances this past weekend), Cardwell was awarded the title of NESCAC Women's Most Outstanding Rookie for the 2022 outdoor season.

She said of her title-winning weekend, “I had a lot of events back to back, so I just had to focus on one thing at a time, which definitely helped mentally with the different races. One thing that our [head] coach [Steve Rubin] emphasizes is just to trust the work we’ve put in outside of the meet.”

But titles weren’t the only successes that the Mammoths had, as they earned all-NESCAC honors, given to the top three finishers in

each event, in three other races.

Anna Madden ’22 matched her school-record time of 57.36 to take third in the 400 meters, and the team’s school-record-holding 4x400 relay team of Madden, Juanita Jaramillo ’22, Sam Tichelaar ’22, and Casie Eifrig ’25 placed second with a time of 3:54.56, less than a second behind the first-place team from Wesleyan. Julia Schor ’25 finished third in the 1,500 meters to round out the Mammoths’ podium finishes. She crossed the finish line in 4:30.09.

Mary Kate McGranahan ’23 placed fourth in the 3,000 meter steeplechase in 11:12.5. Julia Zacher ’25 took fourth in the high jump with a best height of 1.62 meters. Bethany Martin ’24 came in fourth in the hammer throw, launching it just under 40 meters. Sidnie Kulik ’25 crossed the line fourth in the 5000 meters, posting a 17:42.59, and Jaramillo notched a fifth-place finish in the 400 meters with a time of 58.51.

Carolina Andrade ’24 and Annelise Romero ’22 took spots four and five in the javelin with best throws of 32.24 and 30.84 meters, respectively. Cardwell and Muffie Mazambani ’24 took fourth and fifth in the long jump, respectively, to round out the Mammoths’ top-five finishes. Cardwell leaped 5.56 meters, while Mazambani was just behind her, clearing 5.55 meters.

Amherst also got top-10 placements from Eifrig (eighth in the 400 meters) and Ally Deegan ’24 (ninth place/season best in the 1,500 meters); Ava Tillman ’23 and Trintje Nydam ’24 ran personal bests in the 400 meter hurdles to finish seventh and eighth, respectively, in the event.

The team also got a sixth-place finish and school-record-tying performance (3.40 meters) from pole vaulter Mia Bawendi ’24.

Nydam had quite the memorable race. As she made her way around the track, she noticed that three of her hurdles were higher than normal; they were set to the men’s height, a full six inches higher — a good deal of height

Photo courtesy of Clarus Studios

Max Spelke '23, Alton Machen '24, and Ellis Phillips-Gallucci '23 round the final turn of the 400-meter hurdles at the Collier Invitational earlier this season. Phillps-Gallucci won the conference title in that event this past weekend at the 2022 NESCAC Championships. in a event that relies on the finest of margins. Nevertheless, she still managed to finish with the ninth-best time, one place out of scoring position. Due to the oversight, the meet organizers allowed her to run the race again, this time by herself. Her re-run was affixed to the end of the day's schedule, becoming the final event of the day. As she took the starting line all by herself, her teammates cheered her on. Running alone, at the end of a long day, she was able to improve her time and claim the eighth spot with a personal-best time, adding points to the team’s overall score.

Men The men’s team took NESCAC titles in three events and all-NESCAC honors in six en route to a fourth-place finish as a team.

Henry Buren ’22 is officially the fastest man in the NESCAC, winning the 100 meters in 10.79 seconds and setting a program record in the process. The men’s 4x800 meter relay team of Nick Edwards-Levin ’25, Braedon Fiume ’24, Kolya Markov Riss ’24, and Jack O’Hara ’25 took the

conference crown in 7:47.89. Ellis Phillips-Gallucci ’23 won the 400-meter hurdles in 54.42 in only his third race of 2022.

Through everything, Phillips-Gallucci credited his support systems as what really contributed to his season-defining win.

“My teammates’ encouragement and support is huge … [and] on a personal level, in a unique race like the 400[-meter] hurdles, I think staying relaxed and patient was most important,” he said. “I’d say [I was] just grateful just to be out there. It was my first NESCAC championship meet, and my third race of the season — between Covid and my injury, I missed out on a lot — so I felt like I needed to leave it all out there and just have fun.”

Rounding out the all-NESCAC placements for the Mammoths: Buren took second in the 200 meters with a season-best 21.85, Troy Colleran ’22 placed second in the javelin with a throw of 47.75 meters, and Kelechi Eziri ’23 did the same in the triple jump with a leap of 14.28 meters.

Eziri also finished eighth in the long jump.

Other top-five conference finishers abounded for the Mammoths. David Brown ’25 took fifth in the discus, Chris Gong ’23 finished fourth in the long jump, and Camden Heafitz ’25 finished fifth in the high jump. The 4x100 meter relay team also ran well, taking fourth in a season best 42.67.

Mammoth scorers also included top-eight finishers Alton Machen ’24 and Jack Trent ’23 in the 110 meter hurdles, Gabriel dos Santos ’24 in the high jump, Wilson Spurrell ’24 in the 800 meters, and Brown in the shot put. Machen qualified for the NEICAAA Championship with his personal-best time of 15.25 in the preliminaries; Spurrell also ran a personal best in his race (1:54.07).

The Mammoths are back in action this weekend, competing for more titles at the regional level at the New England Division III Championships. The meet, held at Williams, will run for three days, with the decathlon beginning at 1 p.m. on Thursday, May 5, and events continuing through Friday and Saturday.

The Amherst Student • May 4, 2022

Sports

28

Softball Captures Little Three Title With Sweep of Cardinals Liza Katz ’24 Managing Sports Editor The Mammoths continued their dominance this weekend, bringing out the brooms to clinch both the Little Three title and the top seed in the NESCAC West Division for next weekend’s conference tournament.

They did so in style — they won the series’ first game on a walkoff on Friday, April 29, and convincingly took the next two games with relatively little drama the following day.

After their double-header against Keene State College that was originally scheduled for Wednesday, April 27, was canceled, the team returned to the diamond against Wesleyan on Friday with the No. 1 seed in the West Division for the NESCAC playoffs on the line. But despite the high stakes, the Mammoths’ bats went cold — they recorded no hits through the first five innings of the contest. However, stellar pitching from Dani Torres Werra ’25, who recorded eight strikeouts in a complete-game effort, and great team defense prevented the Cardinals from getting on the board until the fifth inning, when they plated two runs to take a 2-0 lead into clutch time.

With the way that both team’s

pitchers were dealing, that lead looked insurmountable. But the Mammoths persevered. Staring down defeat in the bottom of the seventh with Wesleyan’s two-run lead still intact, Amherst’s bats finally came alive. Jess Butler ’23 reached base on a fielding error by the Cardinals’ second baseman and then advanced to second on a single from Werra. After Sadie Pool ’24 hit into a fielder’s choice, Butler was put out at third. With runners on first and second, up stepped sophomore slugger Randi Finklestein ’24. Undaunted by the moment, she launched the second pitch she saw over the fence for a walk-off three-run homer, sending the Mammoths home with a crucial 3-2 comeback victory in game one.

The victory was their fifth walk-off win of the year.

But the Mammoths didn’t stop there — even though it took a while for their bats to heat up on Friday, they kept them warm for Saturday’s first contest. Finklestein picked up right where she left off, giving the Mammoths a 1-0 lead in the top of the first with a two-out RBI single that scored Werra from second.

They then added two more runs in the second inning on just a single hit — from Audrey Orlowski ’23, who

started game two in the circle for the Mammoths — and two Cardinals errors.

It was here when the Mammoths began to pile on. Finklestein scored on a Virginia Ryan ’22 grounder to widen the margin to 4-0 in the third before a RBI double from Werra plated both Butler and America Rangel ’25 to stretch the lead even further. Wesleyan got one back before Pool made it 6-1 with an RBI of her own. The Cardinals plated three more runs shortly after, but the Mammoths sealed the game in the last two frames, plating four more to run the score up to the 10-4 final.

Orlwoski earned the win in the circle, moving to 5-2 on the season, and Werra earned her second save of the year.

With the series, the Little Three title, and the West’s top seed now clinched, the Mammoths added insult to injury in game three. With the flair of the other two games behind them, this game was relatively uneventful by comparison. The Mammoths completed the sweep with a 2-0 win. Werra put together another A-plus pitching performance, tossing seven shutout innings with a strikeout and no walks to earn the win. She was backed by a stout

Photo courtesy of Clarus Studios

The team celebrates their walk-off win on Friday, April 29.

Mammoth defense that recorded no errors in the contest, and runs off an Orlowski single in the second and a Wesleyan error that Finkelstein scored on following a triple in the final frame sealed the victory.

Finklestein had the hot hand all weekend, going five for eight from the plate with six RBIs and four extra base hits; she ended game two just a home run away from the cycle. On Monday, Finklestein was named NESCAC Player of the Week for her performance.

The Mammoths, now 21-7 overall and 9-3 in-conference, will be-

GAME SCHEDULE MEN'S LACROSSE May 7: NESCAC Semifinal vs. Bowdoin @ Tufts, 3 p.m.

May 8: NESCAC Final vs. TBD @ Tufts, 12 p.m. (if applicable)

MEN'S TENNIS May 6: NESCAC Quarterfinal vs. Bowdoin, 9 a.m.

May 7-8: NESCAC Semifinal/Final (if applicable)

SOFTBALL

BASEBALL

May 6: NESCAC Quarterfinal vs. Bowdoin @ Tufts, 5 p.m.

May 7-8: NESCAC Semifinal/Final (if applicable)

May 4: @ UMass Boston, 7 p.m.

May 7: NESCAC Quarterfinal @ Bowdoin, 12 p.m. (DH) May 8: NESCAC Quarterfinal @ Bowdoin (if necessary)

gin NESCAC tournament play this weekend. The single-elimination tournament will be held over three days, from Friday, May 6, to Sunday, May 8, at Tufts, the East Division’s top seed. As the top seed in the West, the Mammoths first will face the East’s No. 4 seed, Bowdoin, in a single-elimination game on Friday, May 6. If they down the Polar Bears, they will move on to face the winner of the game between Williams and Trinity on Saturday to compete for a spot in Sunday’s NESCAC Championship. Friday’s quarterfinal matchup will begin at 5 p.m.

WOMEN'S TENNIS May 6: NESCAC Quarterfinal vs. Williams, 1 p.m.

May 7-8: NESCAC Semifinal/Final (if applicable)

TRACK & FIELD May 5-7: New England Division III Outdoor Championships @ Williams, 1 p.m.

WOMEN'S GOLF May 10-13: NCAA National Championship @ Bay Oaks Country Club (Houston, T.X.)