After months of uncertainty due to unforeseen construction difficulties, the College is finally moving forward with an updated plan to build a new science center on the east campus. On Oct. 11, the Board of Trustees approved a plan to raze the social dorms in order to make way for the new science center, which will be completed by the fall of 2018. The plan also provides for the construction of new permanent student housing south of Merrill, where the temporary dorms Plaza and Waldorf are currently located.
Asked to reflect on her most memorable moments at Amherst, writer Lauren Groff ’01 immediately recalled one cold spring morning at crew practice when coach Bill Stekl gave her the motivation she needed to start rowing for the day.
Department: Religion
Thesis Advisor: David Wills
Q: What is your thesis about?
Students clamoring to have their voices heard by the administration now have a new channel to express their concerns. Starting this month, President Carolyn “Biddy” Martin is holding regular office hours, available to all interested students.
Dean of Students Jim Larimore comes to Amherst from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in Seattle, where he was deputy director for student success. Dean Larimore attended college at Texas A&M Univ.-Commerce, then went on to do his graduate work in higher education at Stanford. His experience in higher education includes dean of students positions and work in student affairs at Dartmouth, Swarthmore, New York Univ. Abu Dhabi, and Stanford.
This past weekend, speakers filled lecture halls and festive tents adorned the first-year quad as Amherst College celebrated the completion of its $502 million fundraising campaign.
The campaign, entitled “Lives of Consequence,” engaged 86 percent of Amherst alumni and 54 percent of parents through 1,463 events as well as opportunities to mentor and network with students. Ultimately, the College surpassed its $425 million fundraising goal. However, initial expectations for donations were more modest.
Political Science Professor Kerry Ratigan grew up in Natick, Massachusetts. She received her B.A. from Haverford College, where she majored in Political Science and Spanish. She completed a Master’s in Comparative Politics at the London School of Economics, then went on to receive another Master’s and a Ph.D. at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
