Last weekend, we celebrated the success of the Lives of Consequence campaign, a campaign driven by this mission statement: Amherst College educates men and women of exceptional potential from all backgrounds so that they may seek, value and advance knowledge, engage the world around them and lead principled lives of consequence.
The Firedogs entered the weekend with energy and enthusiasm that carried over to their play in a slate of home matches, including their home opener against NESCAC rival Bowdoin.
“Bowdoin is a big rival for us and we were all really fired up to compete against them,” Nicole Carter ’16 said of the match.
Amherst got off to a fast start against the Polar Bears and held the lead during much of the first set, but they couldn’t hold on to get the win in what turned out to be a pivotal set, losing 28-26.
On Saturday, the normally empty Johnson Chapel was abuzz. Older generations of alumni enthusiastically mingled about in the main congregation area of the building, while current students mixed with the alumni or kept to themselves. While younger students comfortably dressed in jeans or shorts with short-sleeved tee shirts, the alumni stuck to a less casual appearance of pressed khakis and a mixture of polos or light blouses with light cardigans on top.
The College hardly exudes school spirit. While a student at Williams can innocuously strut around campus dressed in a purple cow costume, most students at Amherst would rather don that same outfit than dress up as the mascot Lord Jeffrey Amherst (because honestly, despite its absurdity, a purple cow is by the far the more huggable of the two). The turnout at most athletic and extracurricular competitions rarely far exceeds the players or members themselves. And no, the first word of “A Hymn to Amherst” is not “what.”
The Jeffs travelled to Williamstown on Saturday, Sept. 21 to take on the Ephs in an important NESCAC West battle.
Amherst controlled play throughout much of the game, keeping the ball in Williams’ end.
“We came out really strong right after the whistle blew,” said Catie Downey ’16.
The Jeffs wanted to put pressure on the Williams defense and were able to take 11 shots on goal.
“We were never satisfied with the lead and never let up on the Williams’ goalie,” added Katie Paolano ’16.
Coming off a successful campaign last season, the men’s rugby team looked to set the tone for the 2013 season Sunday against Salem State. The Jeffs came out with a lot of energy and dominated the Vikings 36-12 behind a talented returning group of players and rookies that proved that they were ready to step into spotlight.
Micah Rotich ’14 scored the first try of the game for Amherst on an up and over kick to himself, and the Jeffs didn’t look back. Amherst was able to dominate in time of possession and eventually wore Salem State down.
Men
This past weekend the men’s golf team traveled through the Berkshires to play in the Williams Invitational. Competing on a tough course, the Jeffs managed to finish in sixth place out of a 24 team field. Junior Jarvis Sill ’15, who finished in a tie for seventh, led the team with a strong individual performance.
