Secretary Lhamon Discusses Enforcement, Future of Civil Rights in Education

Students and faculty gathered for an event on the future of civil rights in education with Catherine Lhamon ’93, the assistant secretary for civil rights at the United States Department of Education, on Thursday, March 23.

AAS E-Board Winners Shed Light on Campaigns and Plans for Office

The Association of Amherst Students (AAS) announced the results of the 2021-2022 AAS Executive Board (E-Board) election [https://www.amherst.edu/campuslife/aas/elections-2021-22] on April 18 at 12 a.m. EST. Presidential candidate Angelina Han ’22 came out on top with 64 percent of the vote. Basma Azzamok ’22, the Vice President elect and Jae Yun Ham ’22, the Treasurer elect, took 58 percent and 52 percent of the vote, respectively. Secretary candidate Lucas Romualdo ’24 and Judiciary Council Cha

We Need More Than Just Diversity Training

Several weeks ago, I wrote an article [https://www.amherststudent.com/article/smith-college-free-speech-and-the-modern-left] in response to New York Times coverage [https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/24/us/smith-college-race.html] of race relations at Smith College, which argued for a more methodical and nuanced approach to accountability and investigation of identity-based prejudice and harm. While researching the article, I came across a surprising scholarly consensus — apparently, anti-bias tra

“Before We Are Scientists, We Are Humans”: Students, Faculty Learn to Navigate Identity in STEM Classrooms

When not teaching introductory chemistry and biochemistry, solving the puzzles of protein folding or checking in with students, Professor of Chemistry Sheila Jaswal, affectionately referred to as Dr. J by her students, strives to become a better human in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). Her efforts coincide with those of the STEM departments at Amherst to diversify majors and faculty hires, where Black and Latinx students, first-generation and/or low-income students and women ar