Orientation Issue

Page 1

Fri day, Se p t e m b e r ď™… , ď™… ď™ƒ  

Volume CXLI No. 

5

The Student feeds your Freshman 15 OPINION

7

Field hockey looks to claim first NESCAC title SPORTS

Amherst, Massachusetts

10-11

The Student provides a guide to the town

ARTS & LIVING

Web: amherststudent.amherst.edu

Twitter: @AmherstStudent

Martin Brings New Dimensions to Presidency Amro El-Adle ’13 Editor-in-Chief

The Board of Trustees elected Carolyn “Biddyâ€? Martin the 19th President of the College on June 14th, ending the Presidential Search Committee’s yearlong VHDUFK WR Ă€QG 7RQ\ Marx’s successor. Martin, a distinguished German studies scholar with numerous articles and two books to her 3KRWR FRXUWHV\ RI 2IĂ€FH RI 3XEOLF $IIDLUV name, was initially reluctant to leave the chancellery at the Univ. of WisconsinMadison (UW), where she had earned her Ph.D. in German Literature in 1985. John Isaacson, of Isaacson, Miller (the H[HFXWLYH VHDUFK Ă€UP WKH &ROOHJH KDG UHWDLQHG KRZHYHU managed to coax her into an information session with Jide Zeitlin ’85, Chairman of the Board, and another with a few members of the Committee. “It was the combination of what [she] learned about Amherst [on her own]‌and meeting ZLWK WKH &RPPLWWHH DQG -LGH Âľ 0DUWLQ H[SODLQHG WKDW Ă€QDOO\ swayed her. Hers was added to a list of more than 300 names that the Committee subjected to multitudinous vetting for the post. The Committee — composed of students, alumni and faculty — further narrowed the list using the criteria outlined in a document made available to the College community at the start of the search. That 18-page document provided an overview of the College’s expectations of the candidate whose attributes, experiences and energy would best resonate with those of the institution; “Terras Irradient,â€? the AmKHUVW PRWWR WRSSHG WKH GRFXPHQW DQG LWV Ă€QDO FULWHULRQ ZDV the need to search for a President with the “love‌for this small place and its large ambitions.â€? After her two informational meetings in March, Martin met with the entire Committee in April for a panel interview. “Amherst has made itself an exemplar of the educational value of diversity, and Biddy’s background speaks to a steadfast commitment to diversity in all its dimensions,â€? Prof. John Servos, a member of the Committee, explained. “More than this, Biddy can draw on personal experience in explaining the importance of openness and diversity. She was once poor. She is an openly gay woman. She does not make too much of these facts, but they surely give her understanding and compassion — an instinctive sense of what young people must feel who are neither privileged nor in the mainstream.â€? The College’s Trustees formally voted to approve Martin’s selection during last year’s Commencement ceremonies, DIWHU PHHWLQJ ZLWK KHU WKDW GD\ 6KH ZDV VHFUHWO\ Ă RZQ LQWR Amherst for the meeting, but almost ran into trouble when a chemistry professor from the Univ. of Wisconsin-Madison greeted her while awaiting his daughter’s graduation. “I told him ‘I’m here visiting Tony, who’s a friend,’â€? she explained with a smile. 6KH ODWHU Ă HZ EDFN WR 0DGLVRQ WR LQIRUP WKH %RDUG RI

See Diversity, page 2

Orientation ď™…ď™ƒď™„ď™„

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College Welcomes Hurricane Class of 2015 Brianda Reyes ’14 & June Pan ’13 Managing News Editors

No two freshman classes are ever quite the same as each year brings a crop of students with their own range and depth of multifarious talents. The class of 2015, admitted through a record-setting selection process, came in with a fresh set of eclectic accomplishments and peerless personalities — and, in their very ÀUVW GD\V KHUH WKH\ ZRXOG H[SHULHQFH a singular event the likes of which College had not seen for 73 years: Hurricane Irene. With the class of 2015 set to arrive on the very crest of the storm, the administration and staff were set not only to orient but also to protect the incomLQJ IUHVKPHQ IURP WKH VWRUP RI WKHLU ÀUVW College days. Incoming: Irene Discussion of the impending hurricane began on Wednesday, Aug. 24, and began with only the Dean of Students 2IÀFH %\ )ULGD\ D FRPPLWWHH KDG EHHQ HVWDEOLVKHG HQFRPSDVVLQJ PRVW RIÀFHV of the College, including Buildings and Grounds, Human Resources and Public Affairs. The committee joined forces with the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) to focus on ways in which to ensure everyone’s safety. According to Dean of Students Allen Hart, when the preparations began, they were aimed at accommodating the ori-

entation programming should disruptive weather occur. ´7KH Ă€UVW FRQYHUVDWLRQV ZHUH DERXW KRZ WR DOWHU DQG UHFRQĂ€JXUH RULHQWDWLRQ in light of the bad weather,â€? Dean Hart said. “Then the EOC kept meeting as the forecast kept getting more and more severe, and we started preparing more for a hurricane. It was a gradual preparation from bad weather to hurricane.â€? 2ULJLQDOO\ LQFRPLQJ Ă€UVW \HDUV ZHUH to register in Converse Hall, but the comPLWWHH GHFLGHG WKDW /H)UDN *\PQDVLXP was a better choice because the building could house everyone without having people wait outdoors. The College continued to monitor the weather changes and meet every day as storm updates came in. “As it became clearer that there was serious threat of a hurricane, our conversations shifted to the College and safety and shifted away from just orientation,â€? Hart explained. Early Premonitions With the storm gathering force and the number of calls from concerned parents growing in intensity, the College began to consider allowing students to arrive on campus before their scheduled move-in date. When the committee met again on Saturday evening, however, the hurricane was in live to envelop Amherst at around 2 p.m. on Sunday, with sustained winds of 60 miles per hour. At that point, the College decided to advise students to arrive before the storm hit. “We tried to reword the message

The independent newspaper of Amherst College since 

such that it said that people not only could move in early but we were encouraging them to move in early,â€? said Patricia O’Hara, Dean of New Students. The committee was also forced to make a decision regarding orientation, which had been set to begin on Sunday, right in the midst of Hurricane Irene. “As much as we hated to do it‌we decided to cancel orientation programming for Sunday and to close the College,â€? said Peter Rooney, Director of Public Affairs. The committed relayed their messages to the College community via e-mails and the school website. However, many students travelling to Massachusetts from across the country were already en route when the decisions were sent out. “We realized as well that there were going to be people who didn’t have connection to the e-mail or connection to the web that wouldn’t have the information,â€? Dean O’Hara said. “So we wanted to stand ready should these people show up on Sunday, which in fact, many of them did.â€? “We did accommodate anybody that moved in on Sunday, even though we strongly discouraged them from trying to do that,â€? said Rooney. “We weren’t going to turn anybody away.â€? A Welcome Reprieve On Sunday morning, however, Hur-

See Freshmen, page 2


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