To be an Amherst College student without a group is to walk around with no skin. It is to feel continuously vulnerable and overexposed to the elements. This overexposure is all consuming and exhausting. Participating in class, hellos to acquaintances — the most mundane tasks can seem daunting here. The stakes of being, the continuous scrutiny of our teachers and peers, can sometimes feel so incredibly high. “Did I say this thing right in class," “I feel so awkward here,” “I just want a safe space" — very little anonymity or security exists for some on this campus.
Amherst, who are we? That’s the crucial question facing our school today. Let me explain.
I’m a first-year. I’m new to this school and new to this whole college thing. I’d like to think I came to Amherst with a fresh perspective, unbiased by the twists and turns of college life. So with that in mind, when my friends back in Florida call and ask, “So what is Amherst like?” I find it surprisingly difficult to answer that question. Normally, college students can easily point to a prevalent campus culture. But here at Amherst, that isn’t the case.
Democracy is alive at Amherst College, but barely.
Many students on campus have been following the presidential primary race religiously. But few students have any idea what is going on with Amherst’s own student government.
There is no point to having a democratic system if the people it aims to serve do not actively involve themselves in carrying out its functions. AAS meetings are open to the public — yet it’s rare to see non-senators at a meeting. Any student can run for senate — yet each year many senate races are uncontested.
We at Amherst speak of organizing social life on the model of the team. We have athletic, Title IX and case management teams. Deans throw around the phrase “teams of students.” The 2015 strategic plan recommends “creating teams of first-year students and staff” to cure cultures of busyness and loneliness, cultures which preclude “social interaction and community.” Of course, never are we asked exactly how teams will resolve the lack of “social interaction and community.”
It takes a sense of humor to reflect on the plight of poor Lord Jeff, especially for a member of the college’s older generation who nonetheless has concluded, sadly, that it is time for him to go. Even though as a child I stood on chairs to study maps of his campaigns which adorned the walls of the Inn named for him. But first, we need some perspective.
This week President Obama announced new actions to alleviate burdens on the formerly incarcerated in their efforts to find jobs. As quoted in the New York Times on Nov. 2, the president aptly frames the issues as stepping “efforts to help Americans who’ve paid their debt to society reintegrate back into their communities.” The president underscores that this effort requires an expansive sense of responsibility: “Everyone has a role to play, from businesses that are hiring ex-offenders to philanthropies that are supporting education and training programs.”
It’s too bad Bernie Sanders isn’t related to Colonel Sanders, because he’d probably be better off selling chicken. I just can’t buy everything Mr. Sanders says and claims to stand for.
I understand that politics is rife with contradiction and paradox.
