Amherst College e-News May 24, 2017
Congrats to the Class of 2017 — Some 5,000 people gathered on the Main Quad for Sunday's Commencement ceremony. "Practice forms of friendship that match the complexity of the world and can address its complex problems," President Biddy Martin urged the 478 graduating seniors.
Wise Words from Honored Guests — Listen to audio recordings of Commencement weekend talks by honorary degree recipients Yanira Castro Negroni '93, Peter J. Rubinstein '64, Esther Duflo and Barrett J. Rollins '74.
Reunion Is Here — The annual celebration began today and runs through Sunday. The schedule is packed with more than 130 activities, lectures, concerts, tours and receptions.
Of Theses We Sing — It's hard to spend a year perfecting a thesis. Here are eight seniors who beautifully pulled it off, and kept their sense of humor in the bargain.
What Does Memory Look Like? — Is it a giant cloud, a reel of images or a family living room? Taylor Thomas '17 used sculpture and video to explore the nature of "memoryscapes."
Marvelous, Picturesque Pieces of Diversity — At Amherst's fifth annual Lavender Graduation, hosted by the Queer Resource Center, Darien McFadden of the Counseling Center urged seniors to be their "marvelous, unique selves" and not to fear failure: "If you lean into those difficult moments, and steady yourselves through them, you'll find that you won't break."
Watch the Science Center Construction — Crews celebrated the "topping off" of the new Science Center--the placement of the last large steel roof beam atop the structure. Want to see how the rest of the building is progressing? Check out the live construction camera. The building will open in summer 2018.
Fork in the River — Gus Greenstein '14 and Austin Meyer wrote a multimedia feature on how ambitious dam projects in the Mekong River basin in Southeast Asia will transform the lives of tens of millions of people. The project builds on Greenstein's work as a 2014-15 Watson Fellow.