Looking Back at 2024: Highlights of The Student’s Journalism

2024 has been filled with ups and downs for all of us — and it’s been no different for us editors at The Student. As we get closer and closer to (liberation from a hellish finals season) 2025, we wanted to reflect upon some of our greatest hits of 2024.

In February, The Student focused on community: We began with a deep-dive into the Town of Amherst’s CRESS alternative safety program, articulating the town’s need to ensure our community’s safety by ensuring the future of the program. On the Office Hours podcast, dedicated to exploring professor research, Professor of Black Studies Carol Bailey explored the shared experience of Blackness across Amherst, the Caribbean, and the Black diaspora. Managing Features Editor Emma Burd ’26 brought Valentine’s Day joy by interviewing her alumni parents on their Amherst love story.

In March, Editor-in-Chief Kei Lim ’25 and then-Senior Managing Editor Noor Rahman ’25 scrutinized the newly implemented AAPI major for its failures to be truly pan-Asian. Later, we sat down with actor Jeffrey Wright ’87 to discuss his newest film, “American Fiction,” and Black representation in film.

In April, we documented how the campus gathered on the First Year Quad to watch the first total solar eclipse since 2017, which will not occur again until 2044. We also exposed Val’s history of cross-contamination and mislabelling, which made it unsafe for those with dietary restrictions.

May was a mix of politics and play alike — the Editorial Board published a call to divest from companies that supply military equipment to the Israeli government, echoing our reporting on the faculty and the AAS’ own divestment resolutions. Also in May, with our mouths “wide open,” we praised CupcaKKe’s performance at the Spring Concert. Later, we wrote about the twists and turns of Amherst’s home-grown version of Survivor, which recalls our own long-standing A&L series that reviews the TV show.

In June, ever-loyal to the journalistic process even outside of the academic year, we reported on the unanimous decision of the Board of Trustees to not divest from the companies that supply military equipment to the Israeli government.

September brought some of the year’s most popular articles. The class of 2028 First-Year Survey stood out as the article that was read for the longest amount of time by our online readers. The first installment of the “A Republican’s Perspective” column, detailing Jeb Allen’s ’27 decision to vote for Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election, became the most clicked-on article of 2024. September also brought a number of changes on campus and new administrative policies: The Editorial Board reflected upon the changed demographics on campus after the repeal of affirmative action. Another editorial considered the successes and failures of the newly-rolled out Amherst College Textbook Program. President Michael Elliot, meanwhile, published an opinion piece detailing his decision to only release presidential statements directly impacting the educational mission of the college.

In November, in the lead-up to the 2024 presidential election, Old News explored The Student’s reporting on past election nights. In the aftermath of the results, the Editorial Board argued the necessity of forging a path forward in the wake of community hopes, fears, and anxieties.

This month, we interviewed President Elliott and Dean of Students Angie Tissi-Gassoway on potential policies to be enacted under the incoming Trump administration, as well as how the college would work to protect students. And this issue, Sports celebrated the Amherst men’s soccer team’s hard-fought victory in the NCAA Div III Tournament, cementing their status as national champions.

This year, we’ve also lost cherished members of our community, mourning the unimaginable loss of Spencer Williams ’24, as well as Henry Steele Commager Professor of Russian, Emeritus Stanley Rabinowitz; Associate Professor of Russian Boris Wolfson; and Associate Professor of Biology Jeeyon Jeong. We sincerely hope that our reporting on these members will help us remember their contributions to our campus and honor their legacies.

As we look towards 2025, we strive to continue capturing the college’s spirit.  In our current cultural zeitgeist, our task as editors is more important than ever before, perhaps, but The Amherst Student editorial board is ready to take on the task.