[Trigger warning: sexual assault and misogyny]
President
Chris Friend ’14:
On April 2, the faculty met to approve new courses, discuss a report from the Faculty Massive Open Online Course (MOOC)/edX Committee and question Johannes Heinlein, Head of Strategic Partnerships and Collaborations at edX, and to view and discuss a presentation by the Committee on Educational Policy (CEP) regarding class capping at the College and its effect on students’ access to the open curriculum.
On Monday night, students, faculty, staff and administrators met in the Red Room to discuss the possibility of changing the College’s mascot, Lord Jeff, in order to distance the College from Lord Jeffery Amherst’s genocidal legacy. The meeting — which was organized by Risalat Khan ’13, a Senator in the Association of Amherst Students (AAS), included a historical presentation by Michael Kelly, Head of Archives and Special Collections and a town hall–discussion between attendees.
If you’re wondering who to vote for in the upcoming AAS Presidential race, the choice should be simple: go with the person who came to you.
This Thursday, I will cast my ballot for Amherst’s next student body President, and I recognize that I am making a choice that will have an impact far beyond the next year.
I will vote for the candidate that I feel has fought for changes large and small and has a proven record of making Amherst College a better college.
In short, I’ll be voting for George Tepe.
As far as I can tell, here’s the most important thing about AAS politics: No one really cares about AAS politics. Most of us are vaguely aware that a group of people sometimes gets together in a room of questionable color scheme and talks about campus issues, but that’s about as far as it goes. In particular, you can add another to the list of Amherst social divisions: Those who can navigate (read: exploit) AAS funding procedures, and mere mortals.
