THE AMHERST STUDENT

to. With the policy in place, courses will become increasingly filled with students enrolled for the wrong reasons — box-checkers obligated rather than moved to explore. It stands to reason that such a shift in composition will alter the classroom dynamic, reducing the depth of learning due to a shallow motive for inquiry.

Moreover, the grade change would likely help students explore the open curriculum anyway without the college’s top-down breadth requirements. By reducing the pressure of class rank, students are encouraged to dabble outside of familiar terrain. This was the line of thinking responsible for the implementation of the Pass/ Fail policy in 2021. Another alternative to administrative prescriptions for breadth may be to increase the number of interdisciplinary courses within departments. Regardless, a natural change to the college’s academic culture rather than top-down prescriptions, no matter how wellintentioned, must be put into effect.

But beyond how the changes will impact, on a tangible level, the academic Amherst experience, what’s just as important is what they mean for Amherst’s institutional identity. With the open curriculum, design-your-own-majors, and limited major requirements, Amherst has always been, in the eyes of the Editorial Board, defined by academic freedom and student-directed exploration. A decision made by the faculty — not the students themselves — to institute a breadth requirement, even if it won’t immediately drastically alter our experience, signals that the college is one degree less committed to the ideals with which it has become synonymous.

The Editorial Board appreciates the administration’s new emphasis on exploration and transparency in its consideration of a broader academic portfolio. However, education through administrative policy is counterproductive to the college’s vision for its curiosity-driven culture and learning environment. A policy-enforced education soon becomes a chore rather than a pursuit; it is precarious territory for the college to claim that it knows what is best for students without allowing them the room to come to such a conclusion themselves.

Unsigned editorials represent the views of the majority of the Editorial Board — (assenting: 11; dissenting: 9; abstaining: 2).

Executive Board

Editors-in-Chief

Liam Archacki

Sam Spratford

Senior Managing

Dustin Copeland

Kei Lim

Managing News

Ethan Foster

Leo Kamin

Michael Mason

Managing Features

Sonia Chajet Wides

Caelen McQuilkin

Eleanor Walsh

Managing Opinion

Tara Alahakoon

Yasmin Hamilton

Tapti Sen

Assistant Opinion

Stacey Zhang

Managing Arts & Living

Alexander Brandfonbrener

Cassidy Duncan

Brianne LaBare

Madeline Lawson

Noor Rahman

Managing Sports

Hedi Skali

Slate Taylor

Managing Puzzles

John Joire

Managing Podcast

Andrew Rosin

Assistant Podcast

Karina Maciel

Managing Design

Andrew Kim

Brianne LaBare

Managing Photo

Claire Beougher

Slate Taylor

Managing Graphics

Nina Aagaard

DEI Editor

Erin Williams

STAFF

Publisher Robert Bischof Digital Director Sawyer Pollard Social Media Manager

Emi Eliason

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The opinion pages of The Student are intended as an open forum for the Amherst community. We welcome responses 50-800 words in length to any of our recent articles and aim to publish a diversity of views and voices. If you would like to submit a response for consideration, it must be exclusive to The Student and cannot have been published elsewhere. The Student will print letters if they are submitted to the paper’s email account (astudent@ amherst.edu) or the article response form that can be found on The Student’s website, by 8 p.m. on Saturday, after which they will not be accepted for the week’s issue. Letters must bear the names of all contributors and an email address where the author or authors may be reached. Letters may be edited for clarity and Student style. The editors reserve the right to withhold any letter because of considerations of space or content.

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