Hikaru “Karu” Kozuma will join the college as the new Chief Student Affairs Officer (CSAO) starting July 1, according to an email announcement sent out on Monday, April 9 by President Biddy Martin.
Kozuma, who previously worked at the University of Pennsylvania as associate vice provost, will replace current CSAO Suzanne Coffey, who announced her retirement on Oct. 17, 2017.
The college launched “Promise: The Campaign for Amherst’s Third Century” on Friday, April 6 with a weekend of events, including the dedication of Ford Hall. The campaign aims to secure Amherst’s future as it moves into its third century starting in 2021.
The campaign plans to raise $625 million over the next five years, according to Suzanne Newby-Estes, the executive director of advancement and campaign operations. The college has already raised around half of the money through “quiet” fundraising leading up to the campaign launch.
Michael Kunichika is an associate professor of Russian. He completed his undergraduate study at Reed College, where he majored in Russian. He went on to get his doctorate in Slavic languages and literatures with a designated emphasis on film studies from the University of California, Berkeley.
After poring over a record-breaking 9,722 applications, the Office of Admissions admitted 1,244 applicants to the class of 2022, bringing the acceptance rate down to 12.8 percent, according to the Office of Admissions. Around 37 percent of the total number of accepted students were admitted through early decision.
Dean of Admissions Katie Fretwell expects a yield rate of 37 to 39 percent, which would make a class of 460 to 485 students. Admissions hopes to admit additional students off of the waitlist in late April and May in order to meet this target class size.
The Association of Amherst Students will have elections on April 6 for next year’s Executive Board. Amherst students will receive an email on April 6 with the link to cast votes. The following candidates will be on the ballot for the positions of president, vice president, treasurer, secretary and judiciary council chair, as will other candidates who did not submit statements but attended Speech Night on April 2.
President
Helen Zia, an award-winning activist, journalist and scholar, gave a talk about activism in the Asian-American community and the importance of “breaking the binary” in Stirn Auditorium on March 21. The event was sponsored by the Office of Student Activities, the Center for Diversity and Student Leadership, the American Studies Department and the Asian Students Association.
Forty Amherst students travelled to Washington D.C. to participate in the national March For Our Lives on March 24. The trip, which was sponsored by the Amherst College Democrats, called on policymakers to enact stronger gun control legislation.
The Washington D.C. march was organized by victims of the Feb. 14 school shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. The massacre, one of the deadliest school shootings in the nation’s history, killed 17 people and injured 14 others.
