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Opinion

Non-Commitment: Or, Why the Board of Trustees Is Like a Bad Boyfriend

In March, members of the Green Amherst Project met with members of the investment committee on the board of trustees to discuss their recent statement on sustainability. In their statement, the board articulated lofty goals that included plans to push Amherst towards “carbon neutrality,” the proposal of a green “revolving

Hot Takes on Biddy’s Reply-All

Few phenomena of modern life are more inane than an accidental inter-office reply-all. And yet, the Amherst campus reacted passionately to Biddy’s school-wide email: “This is the wrong version. What happened, Pete?” On Facebook and via text message, to neighbors in class and among chatting friends

Why Voting Matters

There’s an old saying in politics: Laws are like sausages — no one wants to see how they’re made. Most American citizens want their roads plowed, mail delivered and bridges kept structurally sound. Yet, less than half actually show up to vote during the presidential elections every four years.

Amherst College's Culture of Busyness

The recently published draft of the college’s strategic plan addresses, among many other issues, the culture of busyness and high achievement that leaves students, staff and faculty short of the time and energy necessary to build the strong community Amherst could and should foster. Yet despite taking perfect aim

Understand the Past, Empower the Future

Ashley McCall ’12 teaches third grade at LEARN South Chicago. This past February, my scholars joined their peers across the country to celebrate Black History Month. Some content was new, some was review, but all of it was acknowledged as a representation of American history as whole. Black history is,

On Suffering Silently

Inspired by Nora Gayer’s excellent piece. We are all daily liars. Well, most of us are anyway, and some rather worse than others. It’s not quite our fault. At some point, we agreed (in that pesky social contract no one really remembers signing) that pain is personal. It’

We Can End the Banandonment: Why Reducing Food Waste Matters

In Valentine, I often see plates piled full of lasagna, General Tso’s chicken, macaroni and cheese or salad cycle through the dishwashing conveyor belt. Throughout campus, sandwiches perch helplessly on top of traffic posts. Defeated black bananas litter the snow, abandoned by students as if they are a joke.