President Biddy Martin Announces She Will Conclude Her Presidency Next Summer

“The end of this academic year will be the right time for me to begin my next chapter,” said Martin in a message to the Amherst community on Sept. 13. Andrew J. Nussbaum ’85, chair of the College’s Board of Trustees, noted that, since Martin arrived as president in 2011, “Amherst has prospered in astonishing ways—simply not possible without Biddy’s gifted leadership, compassionate vision and unflagging commitment to Amherst’s mission and values.”

Welcome, Class of 2025!

What was it like for Amherst’s newest students to arrive on campus? See for yourself in a video of highlights, including moments from move-in day, the DeMott Lecture and Convocation.

Presidential Scholar Harriet A. Washington Speaks on Sept. 30

The inaugural Presidential Scholar will be on campus from Sept. 27 to Oct. 1. A celebrated science writer and medical ethicist, Washington deconstructs the politics around medical issues and paints a powerful and disturbing portrait of medicine, race, sex and the abuse of power by telling individual human stories. While at Amherst, Washington will visit classes, meet with students and present a keynote address on Thursday, Sept. 30, at 6 p.m. EDT. Alumni, families and friends can register to watch a livestream of the lecture.

Lauren Groff ’01 on Her New Novel, Matrix

Articles in The Atlantic, The Guardian and Minnesota’s Star Tribune—among other outlets—focus on the prolific author and her latest book, which explores the lives of nuns in a medieval English convent. Groff is a two-time National Book Award finalist whose previous works include the bestselling Fates and Furies and The Monsters of Templeton.

“The Wild Party,” by Joseph Moncure March, Class of 1920: A Cautionary Tale for the New Roaring ’20s

“What does ‘The Wild Party,’ an obscure but chillingly prescient book-length poem from the twilight of the Jazz Age, tell us about our own era?” asks an extensive feature in The New York Times Style Magazine. March published the poem in 1928, after studying under Robert Frost at Amherst.