On Nov. 16 at noon, hundreds of students walked out of class to the steps of Converse Hall in a demonstration against President-elect Donald Trump’s promise to “deport all criminal aliens.” Intending to declare the college a sanctuary campus — where students “commit to putting our bodies between Trump and undocumented students” — students raised signs with words such as “No human being is illegal” and chanted, “No borders, no nations, stop deportation.”
President Biddy Martin sent an email to the college community on Wednesday, Nov. 16 condemning two unauthorized posters discovered in McGuire Life Sciences Building on the preceding Tuesday. The posters depicted ideas related to phrenology, a study that uses differences in skull shapes and sizes to justify racial disparities. Phrenology has been widely discredited as an obsolete and unscientific defense of racism.
“I condemn the racism and cynical mean-spiritedness of those who hung the posters in the strongest possible terms,” Martin wrote in her statement.
The college welcomed conservative author, blogger and op-ed columnist Ross Douthat on Nov. 16 to give a talk titled “American Conservatism and Donald Trump.” The talk, which was open to the public and livestreamed, was held in Stirn Auditorium, where Douthat spoke for 45 minutes about the history and ideology of modern conservatism and how it relates to President-elect Trump’s success. After the talk, Douthat answered questions from the audience and signed copies of his book, “Bad Religion: How America Became a Nation of Heretics.”
Grant Geddie is an architecture and environmental studies major. His thesis analyzes the urban planning and development of Indian cities in comparison with London in the 19th century, looking specifically at how water infrastructure and water resource planning have evolved.
Melissa Sheth ’17 majors in anthropology and biology. Her thesis discusses human-animal interactions that have led new pathogens (disease-causing microorganisms) to emerge in the last few decades. Her advisor is Professor Deborah Gewertz in the anthropology department.
Renowned physician and award-winning poet Rafael Campo ’87 gave a talk titled “Medicine and the Humanities: Healing with Poetry” in the Cole Assembly Room on Friday, Nov. 11. He spoke about poetry as a crucial way of empathizing with people across differences and diverse experiences.
President Martin addressed the Amherst community in the aftermath of the presidential election on Wednesday, Nov. 9 in Johnson Chapel, less than a day after Republican Party candidate Donald Trump won the election. After her speech, group discussions were held in the Powerhouse and Keefe Campus Center.
Her speech followed an email sent to all college students, staff and faculty earlier in the day, in which she asked members of the Amherst community to join her in processing the results of the election.
