This exam period, for the first time in our collective student memory, students have as much to look forward to going into finals as they already have to not look forward to: first, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis promises to keep spirits up as students get excited about not having any use for their glass coasters and Spring Formal; second, students should also appreciate the generous end-of-year break we received — an extended “reading period."
As high school seniors prepare to send in their college deposits by May 1, they may breathe a sigh of relief that the admissions process is finally over. With the number of college applications proliferating and admissions rates plummeting, the process has never been more competitive and stressful. For those hapless few stuck in the limbo of waitlists, however, the pressure and anticipation continues.
This past year we’ve read the powerful words of rape survivors, as they bravely testified to their experiences of mistreatment at the hands of the Amherst administration.
We’ve seen a fraternity’s sexism and misogyny on full display in a deeply offensive t-shirt.
We’ve read and denounced an Amherst administrator’s shocking reinforcement of rape culture and its corresponding myths right here in The Student.
But it seems we still haven’t learned.
I want to tell you that our racial identity means something even on this liberal arts campus that has tokenized students of color, collapsed multiculturalism into an empty catchphrase and reduced diversity to glossy half-pages in admissions brochures. At this college with no Asian American Studies courses and few Asian American faculty members or staff, our history has been largely obscured. We are taught that assimilation is desirable, upward mobility into corporate America is enviable and success entails leaving our communities behind.
CALLING ALL SENIORS!!! It’s the middle of April and the time for giving has finally arrived.
So what is Senior Gift anyway?
Imagine the following scenario: your country has endured a dictator’s rule for 15 years. The economy has grown, but so has the number of casualties of its political unrest and the government’s stranglehold on freedom. Now your people have the chance to vote him out, but they are too afraid to become the new victims. What do you do?
According to “No,” the answer is: you give them happiness.
Last Friday over 100 students, faculty and administration members gathered together on the First-Year Quad to show solidarity with the city of Boston and the victims of recent tragedies. Students held up signs saying “Stay Strong, Boston!” and a photo of the event was taken and publicized to show support for the city. In addition, donations were collected for One Fund Boston, a charity created by Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick and Boston Mayor Tom Menino to provide help for those who were most affected by the events.
