Move-In Day 2018 was a hot one, with temperatures ascending into the 90s while new students ferried their college-bound possessions into residence halls. With all the heat and noise, though, there was still order, as each hour brought a new floor full of students, with most of the move-in work done by lunchtime, thanks to teams of volunteers navigating carts and bags. Cars entering the campus were greeted by this cheer squad and the Mammoth mascot.
“This is a little bit more than I bargained for,” joked Matthew Clinton ’80, unloading a wall hanging emblazoned with the word LOVE. He was chiding his daughter Madeline, the family’s newest Amherst student, for filling the car with more belongings than her older brother Caelen ’20 had two years earlier. Madeline brought more mirrors, but no TVs or video games, said the dad as he helped Madeline move into James. He recalled his own move-in as a more relaxed affair.
Matthew Clinton ’80, whose brother, two brothers-in-law, four nephews and one niece all attended Amherst, said he was proud to send yet another family member to the College. He never pressured her, he said: “That tends not to work.” Madeline Clinton ’22, shown here with her mother, Tracy, was at first apprehensive about picking the school that so many of her cousins had attended. “But Amherst has so many things to offer,” she said. “I can still make it my own experience.”
Kathleen Krieg ’20 and Kaitlyn Haase ’19, captains of women’s lacrosse, were working with the squad of volunteers helping first-years move into James—and had the good fortune of lugging bags and toting appliances for one of their newest teammates, Ashly Tucker ’22 of Wenham, Mass. Recruited last year, Tucker said she picked Amherst because of the healthy variety of academics and sports.
First built in 1885 as a gymnasium and later home to the College’s mammoth skeleton (which has since moved around the corner), Charles Pratt is now home to Mammoths in the metaphorical sense, namely 120 first-year students.
Students coming from outside of New England were already reassessing their preconceptions of the region. “I thought it was going to be a lot cooler,” said Abdullah Brownel ’22, from St. Louis, Mo., as he put up a poster of musician Travis Scott. Brownel and his roommate, Pittsburgh resident Max Kurke ’22, were talking about their taste in music (Brownel: rap; Kurke: standard rock and obscure electronic music) as they settled into their room in Charles Pratt. They were looking forward to registering for their first classes, Brownel setting his sights on history, political science and economics, while Kurke was eying calculus, psychology and chemistry.
“I’m excited about the new science center,” said Ruby Hastie ’22 of New Rochelle, N.Y., about getting to know her new home for the next four years. But first she got to meet Julia Zabinska ’22 of Glastonbury, Conn., though they’ve known each other virtually for several weeks. Soon after finding out they’d be roommates, they followed each other on Instagram. “We’ve been texting each other,” Zabinska said, to figure out who was bringing what, so they didn’t end up having two coffeemakers, for instance.
Tammey Brice of Towsend, Md., walked with her mother, Mary Hardy, while Tammey’s daughter Jordan Brice ’22 moved in.
Jonathan Brice navigated the room with his daughter Jordan ’22 and her new roommate, Carly Mallory ’22 of Thetford, Vt. Here we see Mallory’s mother helping out. This was Jonathan Brice’s first time at Amherst. His assessment: “It’s a lovely campus.”
New students gathered in squads on Memorial Field. These small communities of first-years, each led by a returning student, will meet five times during Orientation and also in seminars throughout the fall semester.