“It's important to find a mentor.... Often people want to champion people like themselves. So early on, it was hard to find that person. ... Now I reach out to Asian women all the time; and I say, ‘Please let me help you.’” Janet Lin ’97, screenwriter and showrunner for Bridgerton, Cursed and other TV shows.
Amherst held its first Commencement ceremony in 1822. This Sunday, May 30th, the Bicentennial Class of 2021 will graduate in an in-person ceremony on Pratt Field. Congratulations to all the seniors! Commencement 2021
“I was learning to read and by extension, learning to write with real intention, with a sort of sonic appreciation and attention to the machinery of sentences, the emotional content, the syntax.” Presidential speechwriter Dan Cluchey ’08 on his Amherst experience. Cluchey was the elected class speaker at his Commencement.
“You belong now. You are loved now. You are making your history now. Thank you for letting me sit at your table.” Min Jin Lee, Amherst writer-in-residence, in a 2019 lecture to first-year students. Lee is the author, most recently, of Pachinko.
“For now, fiction has redeemed me.” Makena Onjerika ’10, who won the 2018 Caine Prize for African Writing, launched the Nairobi Fiction Writing Project.
In what field has an Amherst alum not won a Nobel Prize? Test your Amherst College knowledge in our alumni magazine's special Bicentennial contest. One randomly selected winner will receive an official Bicentennial book. Learn more about the Bicentennial and the Bicentennial books.
“From the window she could see / women from every corner of the city / walk into the river, disappear / then rise clean, saris soaking.” Poet Kirun Kipur ’97, writer-in-residence at Amherst, from “Waiting for Sleep, I Imagine Sita in Her Youth,” a poem in Kapur's latest poetry collection Women in the Waiting Room.
“We’re interested in what underlies the genetic variation for the risk of new disease emergence.” Professor of Biology Michael Hood in “Could 10,000 Carnations at the Science Center Save the World?”
“The arrival of Asian immigrants to what would eventually be called America dates back to the 1500s, and the phrase “Asian American,”which was coined in the 1960s, encompasses more than 20 million people with dozens of distinct ethnic identities.” Pawan Dhingra, professor of American studies, president-elect of the Association for Asian American Studies, from his CNN opinion piece, The Most Effective Way To Fight Back Against Anti-Asian Hate.
Visiting in 1823, Ralph Waldo Emerson referred to the College as “an infant Hercules,” whose impressive students “..write and study in a sort of fury which, I think, promises a harvest of attainments.” From “Amherst in the World” by Martha Saxton. Learn more about our Bicentennial books.
“These three studies are a testament to what Amherst has worked so hard to accomplish.” Elizabeth Aries, the Clarence Francis 1910 Professor in Social Sciences, and the author of three studies, done over 15 years, on how race and class attitudes shaped Amherst students.
The American Sycamore trees in front of Seelye House were planted in 1821. This is one of many tidbits of Amherst history that Nancy Pick ’83 unearths in her new book Eye Mind Heart: Amherst College at 200.
NOTES: Check out the: Bicentennial Corner: Amherst College Knowledge for more Bicentennial facts. Eye Mind Heart is one of the official Bicentennial books. Learn all about the Amherst College Bicentennial.
“The poems about AIDS just seemed so much more present to us than they had when I've taught them before.” Amelia Worsley, assistant professor of English, on the remarkable ways the pandemic changed her poetry course.
Footnote: April is National Poetry Month. Learn more about Literary Amherst.
“We are grateful and eager to seize this historic moment in our country to build a future where homelessness is rare and brief.” Rosanne Haggerty ’82, Founder of Community Solutions.
Community Solutions won a $100 million MacArthur foundation grant to end homelessness.
In 1821-22, Amherst offered 37 courses. Today, students can choose among more than 850, with 6,000 total available through the Five College Consortium. Learn more about Amherst College at 200.
NOTE: Read more facts about Amherst today.
“That was my goal in writing the book—to give people an understanding of the psychological factors that lead to inaction, and to give people, therefore, the tools and courage and strategies to speak up in the face of bad behavior.” Psychology Professor Catherine Sanderson in an interview about her book Why We Act: Turning Bystanders into Moral Rebels.
NOTE: Sanderson is teaching two courses this semester, “Close Relationships” and “Sports Psychology.”
“The community I established with the instructors and my peers was unmatched. I had never been in an environment where everyone shared the aspirations I have and my fiery passion for STEM.” Maria Andrade ’23 took part in the Incubator project, a STEM skills-development program.
In 1969, the pathbreaking feminist and author Tillie Olsen became the first woman to hold the position of visiting writer at Amherst. The Tillie Olsen Project.
Note: This year, Amherst’s visiting writers are Kirun Kapur ’97 and Thirii Myo Kyaw Myint.
In 2020, a field of sunflowers bloomed for the first time near the Arms Music Building on campus in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the passage of the 19th amendment. This planting is one of the College’s Bicentennial projects.
Note: Press Release: Amherst College Launches its Bicentennial.
In 2011, Biddy Martin was elected the 19th president of Amherst College. She is the first woman to serve in the position. Learn more about President Biddy Martin.
In 1980, anthropologist Mary Catherine Bateson became the first woman to serve as Amherst’s dean of the faculty. In Memorium
Note: Today, history professor Catherine Epstein is the College’s provost and dean of the faculty.
In 1972, the poet Sonia Sanchez became the first African American woman to join the Amherst faculty. She was also the second person to chair Black Studies. She returned as a keynote speaker in 2018. Read: “We’re Here Because Sonia Sanchez Wants to Reactivate Activism,”
In 1986, prominent feminist scholars founded what is now the Department of Sexuality, Women’s and Gender Studies at Amherst. Sexuality, Women's & Gender Studies (SWAGS) at Amherst.
Note: The African American Intellectual History Society chose a book by one current SWAGS professor, Aneeka Henderson, for its list of Best Black History Books of 2020.
In 1999, women's tennis won Amherst's first NCAA team championship in any sport. Read “The Unleashed the Magic” from Amherst Magazine 2019.
Note: Amherst has taken home a total of 13 NCAA Division III team championships, most recently for women’s basketball in 2018.
In 1962, Rose Olver became the first woman to hold a tenure-track position on the Amherst faculty. In 2013, she became the first woman to have her portrait hang in Johnson Chapel. Learn more: “At Last, a Rose,” from Amherst magazine, 2013.
“A people without a thorough knowledge of roots and history cannot move into the future, cannot rest in the proper chair of life.” Poet and activist Sonia Sanchez in 1974, in a memo inaugurating Amherst’s Black Studies department, which turns 50 this year.
Note: Learn about Sanchez’s most recent visit to Amherst.
Black students make up 18.7 percent of our first-year class, setting a “new standard” for “high-ranking liberal arts colleges and the nation's leading research universities,” says The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education.
NOTE: We celebrate this historic percentage knowing that much work remains. We are committed to doing that work.
“Sometimes excess is necessary to counteract the sin of omission.” The late Harold Wade ‘68 in the introduction to his 1976 history Black Men of Amherst. A second edition of the book is in the works.
“In every way, my dance is Black, my dance is woman, my dance is me.” Abadai Zoboi ’24 is participating in the Black Art Matters Festival, an affirmation and celebration of art by Black student artists and creators.
Note: Register for the virtual Black Art Matters Festival scheduled for Thursday, March 4, 7-9 p.m.
“When I came to Amherst, rigid racial segregation was the mostly unchallenged norm.” The late Ulric Haynes Jr. ’52, former U.S. ambassador to Algeria, reflecting on his Amherst years.
“We should remind ourselves constantly that we have a history behind us, that we have a character to sustain.” William H. Lewis, 1892 Amherst graduate and the first Black U.S. assistant attorney general, addressing the Massachusetts House of Representatives on Feb. 12, 1913, to mark the 50th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation.
Kevin Soltau ’01 started this mural of inspirational Black Alumni in 2000 in the Octagon; 16 years later he returned to add three more portraits. Learn more about Kevin Soltau and the “History on the Wall.”
“My vision for Amherst is that love becomes the center of what the Amherst experience is.” David Rosa ’21, discussing with the Center for Restorative Practices, his hope and vision for Amherst College in regard to racial justice
“My work is entirely based on my identity. I am heavily invested in Black culture and it shows through my artwork.” Lauren Bell ’22 reflecting on her artwork in the Black Art Matters Festival, an affirmation and celebration of art by Black student artists and creators.
NOTE: Register for the virtual Black Art Matters Festival scheduled for Thursday, March 4, 7-9 p.m.
“Amherst is a place where an English major can write a play about gay rights in Buenos Aires, and a world-famous playwright and a Latin American politics expert will help you do it. I can’t imagine any place setting me up for success more than Amherst did.” Kate Stayman-London discussing her novel, One to Watch, in the cover story of the new Amherst magazine.
“I never intend to adjust myself to segregation and discrimination. I never intend to become adjusted to religious bigotry. I never intend to adjust myself to the madness of militarism and the self-defeating effects of physical violence.” Martin Luther King, Jr. speaking at The New School on February 6, 1964; re-broadcasted on Amherst's student-run radio station on December 8, 1964.
“Computer science is a young discipline, but it is now mature enough that it can be helpful to other sciences.” Assistant Professor Matteo Riondato works at the intersection of computer science and statistics.
“Hope” is the thing with feathers –
That perches in the soul –
And sings the tune without the words –
And never stops – at all –
And sweetest – in the Gale – is heard –
And sore must be the storm –
That could abash the little Bird
That kept so many warm –
I’ve heard it in the chillest land –
And on the strangest Sea –
Yet – never – in Extremity,
It asked a crumb – of me.
“I could hear my dad shout from downstairs. My mom laughed, my brother was a bit overwhelmed too, and my sister asked, ‘Didn’t you win that already?’ ” Jeremy Thomas ’21, who is studying remotely from his home in Texas, on his family's reaction to the news that he'd won a Rhodes Scholarship.
“This toxic value system unsurprisingly originated during slavery. It affects us all. It affects Black women the most.” Chloe McKenzie ’14 McKenzie, an expert on financial trauma, abuse and shame, from “The Real Power of Money.”
Note: Photo of Chloe McKenzie by Justin Wu
“I have a long history of thinking about both the power and problem of fake media.” Alexandra Juhasz ’86, creator of the podcast We Need Gentle Truths for Now, and Distinguished Professor of Film at Brooklyn College.
Note: Photo of Alexandra Juhasz by David Rozeblyum, Brooklyn College
“The essential quality of leadership, I believe, is integrity.” Trustee emeritus George R. Johnson Jr. ’73, P’03, speaking in June after being named a 2020 Legal Legend of Color. Amherst mourns his Nov. 15 passing.
NOTE: George R. Johnson Jr. was one of two students to speak during Commencement in 1973. Read his Commencement address, “The Prize of the High Calling.”
A Tribute to George R. Johnson Jr. by Richard A. Ammons ’74 and Cullen Murphy ’74
“I thought that it would make sense to teach a class where Native people themselves not only are part of the past and the present, but they're going to be part of the future.” Kiara Vigil, associate professor of American studies, from an NPR interview: A Professor On Why It Is Important To Highlight Roles of Native Americans in History.
“I felt like that was the only place in the world I was meant to be at that time, like I could not have pulled myself away from what was going on even if I had wanted to. A floodgate had been opened and it could not be plugged back up.” Amber Boykins ’18 recalling the student occupation of Frost Library that took place five years ago this month.
Note: Andrew Smith '18 created a website about the Amherst Uprising, a protest in which students of color, among others, gave testimony about their struggles and marginalization at Amherst.
Amherst College seeks to enroll qualified students who are actively serving or have previously served in the U.S. Armed Forces. Read about how to apply as a U.S. veteran, and read interviews with some recent alumni veterans.
“Going to a school like Amherst College and being trained in the liberal arts is the academic equivalent of being a tight end in football. Your education trains you to be adaptable and able to fit multiple roles quickly and effectively.” U.S. Air Force Veteran Nathan Needham ’18E. Needham was featured on the Service To School website: From the Air Force to Amherst College to University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business.
Note: Read more about Needham and others who served in the U.S. military before coming to Amherst.
“As the self-governing community seeks, by the method of voting, to gain wisdom in action, it
can find it only in the minds of its individual citizens. If they fail, it fails.” Alexander Meiklejohn, president of Amherst College from 1912 to 1924, in his book Free Speech and Its Relation to Self-Government.
Note: Learn about the Meiklejohn Fellowship named in his honor. It supports low-income and/or first-generation Amherst students today.
“I believe the most important part of the Incubator program was how it helped me build my confidence in how I can become successful in whatever path I choose in the STEM fields.” Maria Andrade ’23, reflecting on her experience in the summer Incubator pilot program. It aimed to provide students from underrepresented backgrounds with the tools to succeed in STEM fields.
“They are an incredibly caring group of individuals. Their willingness to help others may be difficult to quantify, but it is so palpable.” Cate Zolkos, dean of admission, on this year’s batch of new students, the class of 2024.
Happy Mammoth Day! Classes are cancelled today, Oct. 14, to give students a much-needed break before the weather turns cold. Organized activities include hikes on the sanctuary trails, music and games on the Quad, and games and entertainment for those studying remotely—all produced within the College's health and safety protocols.
Note: Learn about the history of Mountain Day, the predecessor of Mammoth Day