Occupy Wall Street, which has governed much national attention over the past two months, has spawned hundreds of smaller solidarity movements in colleges and universities nationwide. One such solidarity movement — fittingly called “Occupy Amherst College” — has emerged here.
The Campus Challenge Committee held its kickoff meetings on Monday and Tuesday to mark the official beginning of the College’s participation in the 2011-2012 Interfaith and Community Service Campus Challenge. In May 2011, the White House Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships (FSNP) invited college campuses to take up this challenge, designed to increase social cohesion by having groups and individuals work across their differences, while maximizine social capital by having networks of people and groups working together on a common project.
Starting this Interterm, Amherst College Emergency Medical Service (ACEMS) will begin giving up-front tuition assistance to students who cannot afford the costs of the Interterm EMT course. ACEMS is a student-staffed and student-administered organization that provides emergency medical response, at no cost, to any member of the campus community at any hour, any day.
On Tuesday, Sept. 27, the College community gathered at 18 Stanley Street to celebrate the completion of the fourth and final Habitat for Humanity home on the three acres of land donated to Habitat for Humanity by the College in 2005. '
Last Thursday, the College’s newest student group, the EDU, held its inaugural event. Aspiring teachers and those interested in education and education reform gathered in the Morris Pratt ballroom to hear a spoken word performance by poet Carlos Andrès Gòmez and to take part in a discussion about education facilitated by Professor Hilary Moss.
