I am writing in response to the Oct. 25 article, “Sexual Respect on Campus Five Years After Angie Epifano’s Testimony.”
Warning: This article contains references to racial and sexual violence that some readers may find upsetting.
“I will not be quiet.”
- Angie Epifano, “An Account of Rape at Amherst College,” The Amherst Student (2012)
From the time I arrived at Amherst two years ago until now, I have changed a great deal as a person. Many of these changes, I perceive to be positive. I feel that I’ve become more independent and more mature and that I have connected further with my passions by pursuing music, writing and other activities on campus. I have made many great friends, people that I expect to stay close with long after graduation. Finally, I’ve had the opportunity to engage with an incredible academic community.
After two-plus years in the newspaper office and 20 issues in charge of The Student alongside my partner and co-editor in chief, Jingwen Zhang, I have overseen my last issue with the newspaper. Over the last nine months, we have reported on the college’s selection of its new mascot, the Mammoth, covered campus responses to a divisive U.S. President and continued communicating the most pressing needs of the college community to its constituents.
Amherst College is the type of campus that President Biddy Martin has described as having a “yeasty” culture, which she defined in her 2016 convocation speech as “characterized by unrest or agitation, in a state of turbulence, typically a creative or productive one.” The sight of open laptops during breakfast at Val is a testament to the ostensibly high-voltage energy of its students, who are constantly working on problem sets, readings, essays or extracurricular activities.
I discuss late-night television in this column often, and each time, I think to myself: “Is this really worth writing?” When I first became aware of late-night TV, it seemed as if the medium as a whole was on the decline. The titans of the late-night timeslots were starting to retire: first Leno, then Letterman. The man once tapped as the future of late-night, Conan O’Brien, was on a lesser network (TBS), and hosts like Jimmy Fallon and Jimmy Kimmel were getting notoriety for their gimmicky bits that made for eye-catching YouTube content.
These are times when political views have become identities. When someone mentions their ideology, we assume we know all about them. They must fit a certain mold, live a certain lifestyle and be a certain type of person. If they believe in the same things that we do, perfect. This must mean they are good, kind and educated. But if they don’t — then, they must be ignorant, bad or even stupid.
