This is a slightly modified version of a speech given at the senior-speak off and intended to be a shortened version of a graduation speech.
A character in some obscure British film I watched once said something that really stuck with me: the best way to forget something, he said, is to commemorate it.
The U.S. Supreme Court last week issued a 6-2 ruling, upholding a Michigan constitutional amendment that prohibits state universities from considering race as part of their admissions process. The ruling in the case, Schuette v. Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action, represents the second time that the Court has ruled on affirmative action in college admissions in the past year, the prior being its ruling in Fisher v. University of Texas last June.
Last Monday, the AAS voted on a motion to overturn the April 15 JC ruling regarding campaign expenditures. The motion failed to pass; twenty senators voted yes in favor of the motion, eight senators voted no and three senators abstained, meaning the motion fell just short of the three-fourths majority necessary to overturn a JC ruling.
I think that the most formative experience I’ve had so far as an international student was my time on AAS senate. In Cairo, there’s barely any form of student government present in school systems. For most schools in my hometown there’s none at all. There’s no form of student representation to the administration. However, at Amherst College, it’s different. Our student government is reflective of our diverse student body. Most senators push forward with their senate projects that aim to enhance student life at Amherst. Yet we tend to forget that.
The current buzz on campus is predominantly regarding the controversial Judiciary Council ruling that was made after an election complaint that was filed on Thursday, April 10.
Defining Amherst is an initiative about exploring the purpose of an Amherst education. For more information, visit www.definingamherst.wordpress.com.
Inspired by a design-thinking workshop held at the Ashoka U Exchange*, SILT decided to host a similar workshop series here on our campus. The initial motivation was to create a space where students would be challenged to come up with creative solutions to a wide range of problems, ranging from “how might we get students excited about recycling on campus?” to “how might we empower women in Nigeria?” However, we realized that merely posing problems and asking students to debate would not be enough — there had to be a more methodological, efficient way of approaching the problem.
