Despite Mixed Val Experiences, Students Express Gratitude for Dining Accommodations During Covid

This story began, as so many things in this pandemic campus do, when a discussion in the on-campus student group chat spiraled into a spirited debate over dining options. Students sent a slew of complaints regarding flavor, lamenting the absence of things like plain pasta or waffle-makers, both of which Valentine Dining Hall (Val) had before its Covid safe take-out model and pointing out the challenges that allergies placed on meeting nutritional needs in the dining hall. “Some days it’s really

Performance Gone Virtual: Dance and Step at Amherst College (DASAC)

For most of the 2019-2020 school year, the members of Dance and Step at Amherst College (DASAC) performed their trademark, well-choreographed mixture of hip-hop, step and street jazz-influenced dances to live audiences. Their fall 2019 showcase, “DASAC: End of a Decade,” moved fluidly between 14 songs, from Beyoncé’s “Best That You Never Had” to Iggy Pop’s “I’m Bored” to Twice’s “Fancy.” Each piece was entirely choreographed and performed by students (and each can still be seen on DASAC’s YouTub

Performance Gone Virtual: Mr. Gad’s House of Improv

During a normal year, the performers of Mr. Gad’s House of Improv, the college’s oldest improv comedy group, sit face-to-face with their audience. Each Monday night, they would take audience suggestions, run into the crowd and play with the intimate dynamics of live improv comedy. But what does that become when the audience is a grid of faces on a screen? Since transitioning to Zoom, Gad’s has worked to maintain its standards and identity while also using the unusual circumstances of a virtual