As College Pushes Remote Learning, the World Becomes a Classroom

For the first time ever, students will engage in the Amherst experience from all across the globe. The 825 students studying remotely this fall had  secured their own living accommodations all while navigating fear of the virus, financial restraints, the threat of loneliness and the logistical challenges of creating an environment conducive to learning. They are facing decisions they have never before fallen on a normal back-to-school checklist. As fall begins, large swaths of Amherst students a

Walk for Mental Health Funds Made Available for Student Projects

Students, faculty and staff can now request funding from the newly-established Community Mental Health Fund for projects intending to promote positive mental health on campus. The fund, announced more than a year after the first fundraising effort in May 2018, contains half of the money raised from the last two springs’ Walks for Mental Health. The portion of the money raised by the annual walk that will not go into the Community Mental Health Fund will support Mental Health Awareness Week, h

Dean of Students Strives for Inclusivity in First Year

The college welcomed new Dean of Students Elizabeth Agosto to campus in mid-June to begin work in the 2019-2020 academic year. As dean of students, Agosto will be responsible for overseeing several areas of Student Affairs, including Residential Life, Student Activities and the resource centers, among others. Chief Student Affairs Officer Karu Kozuma announced Agosto’s hiring in an email to the community in March, writing that “Liz’s approach to her work aligned perfectly with Amherst’s mission:

Student Focus Groups Aim to Improve Course Evaluation Feedback

The Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) hired five students in early October to facilitate student focus groups to study teaching and learning environments at the college. The research is focused in two areas: student voice in course feedback and inclusive pedagogies in STEM. Having worked directly with faculty to design and proctor course evaluations for the past two years, Riley Caldwell-O’Keefe, director of the CTL, began to gather different data about the college’s learning environment t

Symposium Highlights Link Between Hate and Democracy

Three guest speakers visited campus for the “Hatred in Democracy” symposium on Oct. 19, an event sponsored by the Colloquium on Practicing Democracy. Manar Waheed, legislative and advocacy counsel at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), and Nadia Aziz, program manager of the Stop Hate Project, addressed attendees in the Center for Humanistic Inquiry, while Joseph J. Levin Jr., co-founder of the Southern Poverty Law Center, delivered the keynote address over dinner later in the evening. M

Zumbyes Accepts First Female Member in 68-Year History

After 68 years as an all-male a capella group, the Zumbyes admitted its first female member, Emma Ratshin ’21, during the fall audition round that took place between Sept. 9 and Sept. 14. Ratshin was one of two women who auditioned for the Zumbyes this fall. The group began in 1950 when eight first years with an interest in jazz formed the Zumbyes, a student organization that would operate independently from the music department. Almost 70 years later, the Zumbyes is one of the college’s longe