From the Red Room: Screw Complacency

I remember my first senate campaign for the Association of Amherst Students (AAS) as if it were yesterday. During speech night, I remember looking across Paino Lecture Hall at the other 15 candidates, all of us vying for one of the eight coveted senate seats and sweating nervously at the thought of begging our peers to graciously give us their vote. I remember printing out campaign posters, hanging them all over the dorms on the first-year quad and strategizing the best locations for my unsuspec

Supporting Patients, Supporting Students

When it comes to defining Robert Whitmore’s ’00 career path, one word comes to mind: exploration. A neurosurgeon and assistant professor at Tufts University who currently works at the Lahey Hospital and Medical Center in Burlington, Massachusetts, Whitmore did his fair share of exploring during his time at Amherst and has continued to do so throughout his career. Finding His Path As a child, Whitmore frequently moved between the cities of Philadelphia and Los Angeles for his father’s job as a

Dismantling Inequity, One Step at a Time

When tasked with the difficult job of describing ShoYoung Shin ’19, one word comes to mind: dedicated. Whether it is through her work with the Center for Diversity and Student Leadership, her roles as president of both the Asian Students Association (ASA) and the Korean Students Association (KSA) or her work with the Asian American Studies Working Group (AASWG). Shin’s dedication to her work stands out to all who know her. “Her commitment to building a strong community at Amherst is so admirabl

For Asian Americans, There is No Winning in the Harvard Lawsuit

Monday, Oct. 15 was the first day of the highly-publicized trial, Students for Fair Admissions Inc. (SFFA) v. President and Fellows of Harvard College. The lawsuit first began when SFFA a conservative non-profit organization, filed a lawsuit against Harvard in 2014, alleging that the school had discriminated against Asian-American applicants in its admissions process. As an Asian American who has gone through the college admissions process, I have very mixed feelings about this case. Despite h

A Call for Individual Accountability in Dorm Damage

It has only been a month since the start of the school year, but dorm damage is already a widespread problem. As a first-floor resident, I have not been immune to the threat of collective punishment. Recently, someone smashed both soap dispensers in our men’s restroom. Yet due to the threat of a floor-wide-fee, I hesitated to notify my Resident Counselor (RC) of the damage. What if I was punished for damage that I did not cause? Would reporting the damage only hurt me financially in the long run

Grappling with Self-Segregation on Campus

After growing up in Hawaii, a state full of racial diversity, I found myself excited at the prospect of joining a campus well-known for its commitment to finding students from across the globe. In its admissions brochures, Amherst touts itself as a champion of inclusion, with 45 percent of its student body identifying as students of color. As a first year, I looked forward to experiencing new cultures, learning about far-away places and even making lifelong connections with people I would never