Jamie Gracie is an economics and Spanish double major. Her thesis examines the long-term effects of bilingual elementary programs on students and their achievements. Her thesis advisors are Assistant Professors of Economics Caroline Theoharides and Katharine Sims.

Amherst College professors held a symposium on March 8, International Women’s Day, to discuss global feminist movements. A march through the Amherst town commons followed the panel and discussion session of the symposium, which was titled “Feminist Movements in a Reactionary Era: A Teach-In, Talk-Around and Walk-Out Honoring the International Women’s Strike.”

American culture demands that college students experience immense personal growth during their education. Under such external pressure, how can we make our time and growth at Amherst meaningful? It can feel as if the worth of our education is often framed as dependent on how much we change or how much we learn. While the pursuit of growth is an admirable ambition, we should be cautious of obsessing over volume and should remain critical of what our growth actually looks like. What are the indicators of development? Who chooses those indicators?

Earlier this year, I wrote an article for The Amherst Student titled “Try Tray-less.” In it, I urged those who were against the tray-less movement to simply give it a try and see if it really affected their dining experience in Valentine. I was driven to write this article because I was initially skeptical of going tray-less, but once I stopped using one, I realized that it didn’t greatly affect my Val experience. In fact, since going tray-less, I’ve found that I am far less likely to end up with a significant amount of food waste on my plate.

Conservative political commentator Rich Lowry addressed an audience of students and faculty in a talk about the changing political climate in America on March 8. The event, free and open to the public, was held in Stirn Auditorium and sponsored by the Croxton Lecture Fund.

Lowry is the current editor of the National Review, a leading conservative magazine. He is the author of several books, a contributor to The New York Times and POLITICO and a frequent guest on shows such as “Meet the Press” and “This Week.”

This letter was written by the Department of History in response to an opinion article by students on the college's disability policies published in The Amherst Student on March 8.

To The Roosevelt Institute at Amherst,

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