Good morning. I’m honored and moved by the greetings, by your presence, the presence of our trustees, faculty, staff, students. And by the way, students, after the dancing last night, it’s good that I received a cane.
I’m delighted to have my nephew, my closest friends, my colleagues from all over the country with me on this occasion.
I want also to acknowledge the three former chairs of the board of Amherst’s trustees — Amos Hostetter ’58, Spike Beitzel ’50 and Chuck Longsworth ’51. Thank you for honoring me with your presence.
Rant:
Rose Lenehan ’11 and Michael Muller ’12 wrote a Letter to the Editor to address the lack of females in the alumni profiles in the Friday, Oct. 21 issue of The Student.
Around this time of the year, the admissions office is busy rifling through applications from all corners of the world. The process is carefully constructed and refined to choose students with the intention of creating the best possible environment at Amherst. Undoubtedly, diversity thus factors into the admissions process, but only in the context of the skills and achievements already presented by each applicant.
On Oct. 5, students, professors and other members of the local community took part in the “Occupy Amherst” march. Chanting slogans such as “We are the 99 percent” and “Down with Wall Street,” demonstrators protested against what they saw as unfair political and economic inequality. The demonstration was inspired by the Occupy Wall Street (OWS) protests in New York City, and came as part of thousands of other such “occupations” around the world.
After a festive inauguration weekend, President Biddy Martin enjoyed a productive second faculty meeting as the official College president last Tuesday, Oct. 18, in Converse Hall. The faculty approved 15 new courses for the spring semester, discussed the continuation of the capital campaign and the creation of a new fundraising program. Most importantly, they began the debate about the future diversification of the faculty.
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.
