Letter to the Editor: Keeping Amherst Accessible

Editors,

I've been reading your coverage of the recently announced layoffs among the administrative staff, and related comments from President Elliott. I’m an alum from the Class of 1994, now the older but not oldest generation. Many of the issues that clearly animate current students, animate me and my cohort, President Elliott, the trustees, and the alumni. I assure you. What is less clear from the OpEds is whether students are spending time with the administration to understand what prompted the strategic plan. Perhaps students think President Elliott (and the trustees) disingenuous, but I think that would be far too cynical. They aren’t. Chantal Kordula, the current Chair of the Board of Trustees, is a dear friend and classmate; I assure you that her commitment to the college is without limit.

Is the administration callous? I can’t speak to the example of the rabbi losing her job, but as the CEO of a much smaller organization, reducing people for whatever the reason, is a difficult process. Whoever gets laid off was serving a visible function, none more so than a community leader like the rabbi. When I was a student, I had zero insight into how the college afforded anything beyond what was on offer at Valentine Dining Hall. Amherst along with most every private, non-profit institution of higher learning reports its financial statements. You can find them, and the related Form 990, online. The genius of large language models is that you can ask them to analyze and suss out any insights from numbers you may not understand.

I believe the comments about the belt-tightening and resources quietly disappearing miss the broader context. Amherst prioritizes teaching and access. So, the snowboard club may not be receiving the same level of financial support as in years past, but Amherst continues to offer among the most generous financial aid packages around while also providing among the most comprehensive (and expensive) education of any institution of higher learning. The choice is either fewer students with need or more funding for Winterfest. Fifty seven percent of Amherst students receive aid and the average award is $71,000 annually. That’s a lot of money being invested in your classmates so that Amherst isn’t simply educating the affluent and privileged.

Your passion for the college and its mission is evident and highly commended.

I wish the current generation of Amherst graduates nothing but great success.

Leo Bernstein ’94