A Native Tradition

Since Amherst began, the College has developed two traditions — distinct from each other but both integral to the school’s character. One is a tradition of social reform, the other a tradition of cultural exclusion. The first embodies the sort of progressive ideals we try to instill in modern Americans, the other a retrograde carelessness about the sensitivities of people who fall outside narrow, old-school categories. Lately, observers might have thought the progressives were winning Amherst’s

What to Look For in a President

When you step into the online voting booth this week to choose your next AAS president, you should ultimately keep your own counsel and listen to your own advice. You know the candidates better than any alum, even an alum like me who knows the two principal contenders. However, choosing a president for the AAS isn’t something to do own your own. It’s much too important for that. There’s appropriate room for advice from people you trust. Considering the limited space I have to write this piece,

An Imperative For Re-Definition

In his response to President Obama’s State of the Union address, Congressman Paul Ryan of Wisconsin intoned ominously that unless America put its fiscal house in order, we would face the harsh austerity measures currently in vogue in Europe. “You want those austerity measures!” A friend of mine exclaimed. “It’s on your website!” Until recently I thought Ryan’s doubletalk was the fishy part, but since the protest tradition has been reinvented in Madison, Wis., I’ve figured out what was really