Friday, March 24
11 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Registration
Stop by to pick up your name tag and program information. Alumni attendees are invited to come early to attend Open Classes and see the campus. Alumni and Parent Programs staff will be available for questions and information starting at 10 a.m. in the atrium of Keefe Campus Center.
McCaffrey Room, Keefe Campus Center
8 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Open Classes
A list of classes that are open to visitors is available online and will also be provided in your registration packet.
Classes will be located across campus
11 a.m.
Campus Tour for Alumni
Meet in front of the Keefe Campus Center to tour the new dorms and see recent changes to the Amherst campus.
11:30 a.m. - 1 p.m.
Lunch
Tickets for lunch will be available in your registration packet.
Valentine Dining Hall
1 p.m.
Mead Art Museum Tour
Get to know the reimagined Mead Art Museum with a collections tour led by Amherst College student educators, highlighting the inaugural “Hall Walls” mural by Brooklyn-based artist Rico Gatson, acquisitions of modern and contemporary art in Accumulations: 5,000 Years of Objects, Fictions, and Conversations, lightboxes and animation by Kota Ezawa in the spring headliner The Gardner Revisited, and alumni gifts of West and Central African art showcased in the exhibition Art from Africa. This installation presents an array of African art, including many ritual objects used in divination rites in Central and West Africa. The majority of the works on view were gifts of two brothers, both Amherst alumni: Barry Maurer '59 and Evan Maurer '66. Evan Maurer, former Director of the University of Michigan Museum of Art and of the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, is a respected African and Native American scholar. Allen Roberts '67, former Director of the African Studies Center at UCLA, has also contributed works in honor of Evan Maurer.
Mead Art Museum
2:30 p.m.
Faculty-Student Research Spotlight
Presentations will include:
- Allen Hart '82, James E. Ostendarp Professor of Psychology and newly appointed Faculty Diversity and Inclusion Officer, presenting with Brian Royes '17 on Black identity consciousness and its impacts on stereotype threat effects.
- Seanna McCall '17 whose thesis analyzes aural and visual content, critiques, awards and recognition, as well as distribution data of R&B vocalist Jazmine Sullivan's most recent work, Reality Show (2015) in order to understand the way in which her changing embodiment and her identity as a plus-sized black woman in a predominately black space impacts not only her performance, but the ways in which audiences respond to her as an artist.
- JoDeanne Francis '17 whose research examines Feminism and Protestantism, often discussed as irreconcilable polar opposites, and how the beginning framework of feminist theology and its subsequent critique, womanist theology, demonstrate the potential for their reconciliation.
Cole Assembly Room, Converse Hall
4:15 p.m.
Meet the Student and Staff of the Resource Centers
Join students and staff for discussions and snacks in the Multicultural Resource Center, the Queer Resource Center and the Women's and Gender Center.
Keefe Campus Center
5:30 p.m.
Cocktails and Hors d'Oeuvres
Lewis-Sebring Commons, Valentine Dining Hall
6 p.m.
Dinner
Join the leaders of the Black Student Union (BSU) for dinner and informal conversation.
Lewis-Sebring Commons, Valentine Dining Hall
8 p.m.
Keynote Address
Cornell William Brooks P'19 is the President and CEO of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the nation’s oldest, largest, and most widely respected civil rights organization. In 2014, he became the 18th chief executive of the organization. With branches in every state and more than a half-million members and supporters in the US and abroad, NAACP members advocate for civil rights, fight against police brutality, conduct voter mobilization campaigns and advocate for equal opportunity in their communities.
Please note: Preferred seating will be reserved for Black Alumni Weekend attendees until 7:40 p.m. To assure that everyone has access to these seats, we will walk to Johnson Chapel as a group promptly after dinner.
Johnson Chapel
9 p.m.
Dessert Reception
Reflect on Cornell William Brooks’ talk with alumni and students.
Frost Library
Saturday, March 25
7:30 - 8:45 a.m.
Breakfast
Tickets for breakfast will be available in your registration packet.
Valentine Dining Hall
9 - 10 a.m.
Program with Norm Jones, Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer
Pruyne Lecture Hall, Fayerweather Hall
10:30 a.m. - Noon
Alumni-Student Workshops and Discussions
Alumni and students are encouraged to come together for learning and discussion on a variety of themes. The sessions will be in various locations on campus. Light refreshments will be served at each program location.
- Social Media: Join in a workshop on balancing the social and professional when presenting oneself on social media, and a conversation about “Black Twitter” and the role of Black commentary in American society.
Pruyne Lecture Hall, Fayerweather Hall - Black & Back: A Discussion on Black Queer and Trans Identity at Amherst. Join us for a discussion facilitated by Dr. Darien McFadden about the dynamic experiences of black queer and trans people at Amherst over the years. The QRC is honored to celebrate and affirm the lives of our black queer and trans alumni community.
Queer Resource Center - Room 213, Keefe Campus Center - Activism and Self-care: “Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare.” – Audre Lorde. Share in a conversation about balancing justice work and mental and emotional health. Share strategies for continued self-care and self-preservation. Led by Bulaong Ramiz-Hall, Director of the Multicultural Resource Center at Amherst College.
Multicultural Resource Center, Keefe Campus Center
12:30 p.m.
Lunch and Alumni Talk with Kimberlyn Leary '82
Kimberlyn Leary '82 is an associate professor of psychology at the Harvard Medical School and an associate professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, where she directs the Enabling Change program. She is also the Executive Director of Policy Outreach at McLean Hospital-Partners Healthcare and a faculty affiliate at the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School. As a Robert Wood Johnson Health Policy Fellow, she served as an adviser to the White House Council on Women and Girls, developing the Advancing Equity initiative focused on improving life outcomes for women and girls of color. She completed an extension of her fellowship at the White House Office of Management and Budget in the Health Division’s public health branch, where she served as the division lead on the Flint water crisis. Kim is a trustee of Amherst College. This event is also part of the AmHERst Alumnae Series. To commemorate the 40th anniversary of the first Amherst College class to include women, the WGC is hosting several speakers during the 2016-2017 year to showcase the women of Amherst College.
The Powerhouse
2:30 - 3:45 p.m.
Alumni Career Panel and Small Group Discussions
Moderated by Victoria Wilson, Assistant Director of Internship Programs, Loeb Center for Career Exploration and Planning
- Ongel Duncan '80
Key Account Manager, Theratechnologies and Virology Clinical Consultant, Monogram BioSciences - Joy Green-McGann '86, P'19, P'17
Undergraduate Affairs Associate, Prep for Prep - Patrice Peck '09
Co-Founder and Technical Lead of CREMÉ, an on-demand beauty startup that caters to women of color - Mark Robinson '78
Senior Vice President, Carol H. Williams Advertising
Alumni House
4 - 5:15 p.m.
Meet and Greet
Opportunity for casual conversation with alumni and students. Celebration of the impact Dean Onawumi Jean Moss has had on generations of alumni and students, and her milestone birthday this fall. Learn more about how to share a remembrance. Refreshments will be served.
Drew House
5:30 p.m.
Cocktails and Hors d'Oeuvres
Lewis-Sebring Commons, Valentine Dining Hall
6 p.m.
Dinner and Alumni Conversation
Reflect on the weekend, share memories and personal experiences amongst fellow alumni.
Lewis-Sebring Commons, Valentine Dining Hall
7:45 p.m.
Additional Program Offering: Tamika Mallory at the Octagon
The Black Student Union (BSU) is offering a dinner for students (at 7 p.m.), followed by a talk by Tamika Mallory. Alumni are encouraged to attend the talk following our dinner in Lewis-Sebring.
Tamika D. Mallory, age 36 and the mother of a teenage son, is a nationally recognized leader, currently being heralded as a champion of the civil rights movement. A fiery and outspoken advocate for social justice, Tamika was publicly applauded as a leader by President Obama's White House administration. President of Mallory Consulting, a strategic planning and event management firm based in New York City, Tamika has led flagship projects for Fortune 500 corporations and organizations. These include her work with Amnesty International on human rights causes, mass incarceration, gun violence and police brutality. Tamika was one of four national co-chairs of the Women's March on Washington, organizing over 1 million people at the nation's capital, and a total of 5 million people worldwide. A well-known organizer in New York City, Tamika is the former Executive Director of the National Action Network. Selected to serve on the transition committee of New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, Tamika was instrumental in helping to create the NYC Crisis Management System, an official gun violence prevention program that awards nearly $20 million annually to innovative violence intervention organizations. A board member of The Gathering for Justice, Ms. Mallory has been supporting the efforts of Justice League NYC, leading marchers over 250 miles from Staten Island, NY to Washington, DC to reduce racial disparities in policing on a national level. She is featured in the media on the intersection of civil rights, social justice and the new wave of feminism.
This event is cosponsored by the Multicultural Resource Center and Student Activities. For accessibility/accommodations, contact mrc@amherst.edu or 413-542-5372.
Gerald Penny Center, Octagon
10 p.m. - 1:00 a.m.
Party
Alumni are invited to join current students for music and dancing.
The Powerhouse
Sunday, March 26
7:30 - 9:30 a.m.
Breakfast
Tickets for breakfast will be available in your registration packet.
Valentine Dining Hall
10 a.m.
Gerald Penny '77 Memorial Service
Remember and honor our brothers and sisters who have passed away since the last Black Alumni Weekend in 2015 and all Amherst College Black alumni, faculty and staff who have passed through and passed away since the beginning of the College. Facilitated by Everett "Skip" Jenkins '75.
Gerald Penny Center, Octagon
1 p.m.
Hermenia T. Gardner Bi-Semester African American Worship Series
Senior Sunday with Mrs. Hermenia T. Gardner preaching.
Chapin Chapel
2:30 p.m.
Bi-Semester Lunch
Join us after the service for a catered Soul Food meal.
Chapin Lounge
Monday, March 27
If you are able to stay in the area for an additional day, all are welcome to the following talk:
8 p.m.
Melissa Harris-Perry
Melissa Harris-Perry is a writer, professor, and political commentator with expertise in race, gender, and American politics. She hosted the MSNBC television show “Melissa Harris-Perry” from 2012–16. She is the Maya Angelou Presidential Chair, Executive Director of the Pro Humanitate Institute, and founding Director of the Anna Julia Cooper Center at Wake Forest University. This talk is free and open to the public.
Johnson Chapel