Poet Matthew Zapruder '89 considers time well spent

Zapruder did not always know he wanted to be a poet. “Because of who I was and how I was brought up, I came to think that certain things like politics, economics and law were more valuable than literature,” he said. Before long, however, he “gradually sort of realized how much I loved literature, especially poetry.” This recognition required time and thought. “it never really occurred to me, until I was somewhere in my twenties, that I didn’t want to just study poetry, or write about it critica

This Week in Amherst History: October 26, 2002

These concerns, while seemingly contemporary, were the topic of much discussion on campus 32 years ago this week. Assistant Attorney General William Ruckelshaus visited Mount Holyoke College to address Operation Dialogue, a policy implemented by President Richard Nixon to spark communication between colleges and the U.S. government, The Student reported. Ruckelshaus focused in particular on those who disagreed with some of the recent policies of the government, as he informed reporters at a new

Secret Agent Manager

Webster had a strong sense of what he wanted his career to be from a very young age. “I had intended to be a lawyer from the time I was old enough to say the word,” he said. His years at the College reinforced his determination and provided “a wonderful opportunity to study history, political science and English. I had great professors who had a firm idea of what would be best for me to go into my line of work.” After leaving the College, Webster attended Washington University at St. Louis and

This Week in Amherst History

As tensions mount around the world and in the aftermath of recent terrorist attacks, the issue of civilian safety becomes more and more prevalent. Interestingly, and ironically, the Amherst community was facing these same issues 41 years ago this week, although the circumstances were precipitated by different events. “While Massachusetts tested its sirens in the state-wide civil defense alert today, two Amherst students led a protest against reliance upon bomb shelters as protection against the

Acts of a Congressman

Ballenger attributed his career in politics to his education at Amherst. “My education pretty well got me interested in politics,” he said. According to Ballenger, he felt he was afforded many opportunities because of Amherst; among them was the opportunity to start his own manufacturing company and then change careers to politics. “If you get an Amherst education, it opens doors everywhere,” he said. In general, Ballenger spoke affectionately of his years at the College and is especially appre

This Week in Amherst History

It was a sensitive time, 31 years ago this week, when Dolf Droge, a member of Henry Kissinger’s Vietnam unit and a staff member of the National Security Council, came to Amherst College to discuss the situation in Vietnam. The chaos and unrest of this era was evident in the student body’s response to the Droge talk. “Droge spoke with persistence through comments and questions shouted at him, repeating the beginnings of sentences until the voices were silenced,” reported The Student. Throughout

This Week in Amherst History

Twenty five years ago this week, 41 Amherst women broke the fraternity barrier during rush week, determined to stand as equals with the males on campus. In the second year women were even admitted to the College, they proved their audacity and courage and pledged to become part of the male-dominated fraternity scene. Before fraternities were banned, they played a key role in the social scene. Rush week, marked by rowdy and fun-filled events, was always eagerly anticipated. But the pledging expe

daisy mayhem comes up roses

Arbo heads the group with her famous fiddling and strong vocals. She describes the group’s performing and producing as “genre bending string acoustic music.” Many groups like Rani Arbo & daisy mayhem have struggled to perform and to do something they love and their hard work and dedication to producing new, fascinating music in spite of these obstacles is quite admirable. Arbo was exposed to music at a very early age, when she began singing in a church choir in New York City. “I’ve been doing m

Building of a bridge over troubled waters

Kennon’s involvement in the project stemmed from his hope to contribute to the relief efforts at Ground Zero. “We all sort of shared this desire of wanting to do something and we saw this as an area to which no one was paying a lot of attention,” said Kennon. Shortly after the attacks, the city of New York constructed a small platform, which Kennon described as a “very simple construction reserved primarily for VIPs.” The city soon asked Kennon to help establish something that could tolerate a