With the academic year put to bed, we can now take a look back at some of the most clicked, tweeted, liked and shared bits of Amherst-related news. Here are the highlights of 2015–16, in chronological order.
Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor Visit:
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor spoke to students of her path to becoming the first Hispanic and the third woman to serve on the nation’s highest judicial body.
Alumnus Returns for Powerful Performance:
“The Lower Frequencies,” an original play written and performed by Amherst graduate Bryce Monroe '15, riveted students with its powerful and timely commentary on what it means to be a black man in America.
WAMH Goes 24/7 With NEPR Partnership:
Amherst College’s radio station added New England Public Radio's NEPR News Network to its broadcast schedule.
Student-Created Course Culminates in UN Summit Visit:
The special topics course “COP21 and Climate Politics” resulted in extensive research on climate policy and a trip to Paris for the biggest UN climate summit in the last 20 years.
Not Your Typical College Orchestra:
The Amherst Symphony Orchestra (ASO) is one of the largest all-student orchestras among liberal arts colleges in the nation.
Amherst Alums in Inaugural Class for Elite Fellowship in China:
Richard Altieri ’15, Servet Bayimli ’16 and Carlos Gonzalez Sierra ’14 were among 111 Schwarzman Scholars selected as students for the new Stephen A. Schwarzman College, a Rhodes-style program designed to build links between future leaders of China and the rest of the world.
Tying Knots in Quantum Matter:
In a breakthrough discovery explored published in the prestigious journal Nature Physics, a scientific team led by Amherst Physics Professor David S. Hall ’91 and Aalto University (Finland) Professor Mikko Möttönen found a way to create knotted solitary waves in a quantum-mechanical field.
Inaugural LitFest 2016:
The College hosted its premiere literary festival, celebrating the College’s extraordinary literary life. Distinguished authors and editors shared the pleasures and challenges of verbal expression, from fiction and nonfiction, to poetry and spoken-word performance.
Amherst Recognized as a Top Producer of Fulbrights:
Remarking on a trend that has lasted over a decade, The Chronicle of Higher Education deems Amherst to be among the “top producers” of Fulbright scholars.
Amherst Launches New Website:
The Offices of Communications and Web Services collaborated on a global revamp of the College’s website, ultimately presenting a site with a look and function in keeping with the needs of our increasingly mobile, plugged-in audience.
Krauthammer Speaks at Campus Event:
Conservative political pundit Charles Krauthammer’s lecture, titled “Conservatism in the United States Today,” drew nearly 250 listeners.
First Folio:
To commemorate the 400th anniversary of the death of poet and playwright William Shakespeare, several of the Bard’s original 1623 First Folios embarked on a cross-country tour, an initiative made possible by the Folger Shakespeare Library. Amherst College was the Massachusetts stop along the tour.
Kim Phuc Phan Thi Visits Campus:
War crimes victims’ advocate Kim Phuc Phan Thi, the now grown-up “napalm girl” from an iconic photo from the Vietnam War, spoke about her life.
Education is a Human Right, Says EU's Stavros Lambrinidis ’84:
The European Union (EU) Special Representative for Human Rights presented a keynote address, “Rights without Borders? Foreign Policy and Human Rights in Today’s European Union.”
Amherst College Awarded $1 Million Cooke Prize:
Hailing Amherst College as “a national leader in expanding access to college for low-income students,” the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation awarded Amherst College $1 million to close what President Biddy Martin has called "invisible opportunity gaps."