Correction: The original version of this article contained several inaccuracies. Amherst is not directly invested in private prisons, though it does invest in companies with holdings in private prisons. Additionally, the original article stated that 14% of the College's endowment is invested in fossil fuels. This was based on a misreading of the 2016 Sustainability Report. Amherst invests about 7% of its endowment in natural resources, which includes significant investments besides nonrenewable energy. Both these mistakes have been corrected. The author regrets these inaccuracies.
Lately, toilet plungers have been on my mind. I’ve been thinking a lot about how infrequently I see toilet plungers on campus and about what that dearth of plungers says about our community. Before coming to Amherst, I lived in a fairly ordinary lower-middle class suburban house. Each of our bathrooms were equipped with one plunger, typically placed to the left of the toilet. In our family, whoever plugged a toilet was responsible for unclogging it, which seemed reasonably fair to everyone.
