News & Events Amherst Voices Archive

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Amherst College Names Sheree M. Ohen New Chief Equity and Inclusion Officer. Read the Press release.

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The number of continents represented in this year's graduating class: Six. (Maybe next year, Antarctica?). More facts about the Class of 2023.

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Ukrainian human rights lawyer Oleksandra Matviichuk will be honored along with six other influential leaders during Amherst College’s Commencement on May 28. Read the Press release.

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“It can start with a simple text: ‘I am thinking about you.’” Marc Schulz ‘84, on lessons about human happiness, in an interview in the new issue of Amherst magazine.

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“The meaningful part of education is about the transformation of you and your capabilities.” Lee Spector, the Class of 1993 Professor of Computer Science, speaking at a panel on ChatGPT.

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“It is not a time to be shy about values.” Dean of Admission and Financial Aid Matthew McGann, in an interview about race-conscious admissions in higher education

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“I capitalized on a market that had zero history of finding success.” Jack Betts ’24E, on marketing his name, image and likeness as a Division III athlete.

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“There are not many live-music venues like this anywhere.” Darryl Harper ’90, professor and jazz clarinetist, on a new addition to the Town of Amherst.

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“It is the life transformation from being dependent on your family to becoming independent. It’s about coming to discover much more about who you really are.” Colin Diver ’65, on the purpose of college, from an interview about his new book on college rankings.

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Moderna President, Pulitzer Prize-winning Poet Among Six To Be Honored at Commencement. Learn more.

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Congratulations to David Hixon ’75, longtime men’s basketball coach with 800+ wins, the first Division III coach to be inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame! Read the story.

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“Social media does a good job of bringing us together, and an amazing job of pulling us apart.” Rebecca Marshall ’26, from an article in Amherst magazine about taking a year-long break from social media. (Illustration by Marc Rosenthal)

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In its new survey of leading liberal arts colleges, The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education names Amherst as the only school in the 30-year history of its survey to enroll a first-year class that is more than one-fifth Black.  Read about this groundbreaking accomplishment.

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Congratulations to the hard-playing, history-making Mammoths for their triple-OT runner-up result in the National Championship game. A truly well-played season! Game Recap.

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The Mammoths are headed to the Women’s Ice Hockey National Championship on Sunday, March 19th at 3 PM—GO MAMMOTHS!! Game details.

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“How can we have a process that allows students to bring their whole selves to Amherst except for [their race and ethnic] identity?” Matt McGann, dean of admission and financial aid, at a recent campus event that centered on the future of race-conscious admissions and the Supreme Court.

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“The American firmament was shifting in ways I needed to understand, and these empty, forgotten places seemed an important part of that.” Ted Conover ’80, in his new book, Cheap Land Colorado: Off-Gridders at America’s Edge.

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“This book left me feeling breathless and small and mortal but also part of a universe that will not ever let me go, not really.” Makena Onjerika ’10, reviewing the novel We All Want Impossible Things, by Catherine Newman. ’90.

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“Stories are a way of subtracting the future from the past, the only way of finding clarity in hindsight.” Valeria Luiselli in her novel Lost Children Archive. Luiselli is a featured speaker at Amherst’s upcoming LitFest, an annual celebration of writers and writing. See the LitFest schedule.

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“The people we most love do become a physical part of us, ingrained in our synapses, in the pathways where memories are created.” Meghan O’Rourke, in her book The Long Goodbye: A Memoir. O’Rourke is a featured speaker at Amherst’s upcoming LitFest, an annual celebration of writers and writing. See the LitFest schedule.

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“Blame has no face. I have walked on its staircase, around and around, trying to slap its face but only hitting my own cheeks.” Poet Victoria Chang in her book Obit. Chang is a featured speaker at Amherst’s upcoming LitFest, an annual celebration of writers and writing. See the LitFest schedule.

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“If you have a word of encouragement, you can do anything.” Writer, theater critic, and Presidential Scholar Hilton Als, in a 2018 interview in The Guardian. Als is a featured speaker at Amherst’s upcoming LitFest.

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“Multiply me when necessary... Transform me into light when there is shadow, into a star when in the desert.” Ingrid Rojas Contreras, in her novel  Fruit of the Drunken Tree. Rojas Contreras is a featured speaker at Amherst’s upcoming LitFest, an annual celebration of writers and writing. See the LitFest schedule.

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“It’s unlikely that Braun anticipated the upheaval he would be chronicling when he set out to profile Gustavo Dudamel.” Josh Bell ’02, writing about documentary filmmaker Theodore Braun ’82.

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“If we treat learning (not distinction) as the goal of education, then generative AI looks more like an opportunity than a threat.” Associate Professor of English Christopher Grobe on why he’s not scared of ChatGPT.

Note: Image from Wikimedia Commons: Image of Kempelen's "The Turk"

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“Comics set firmly in the heroic mainstream can still lead us into danger.” Doctor Strange writer David Quinn ’82, from “Reinventing Doctor Strange,” in Amherst magazine.

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“Volatility will always annoy our surprise-minimizing brains. But it can also titillate our innate curiosity and strengthen our compassion for one another.” Eleonora Mattiacci, assistant professor of political science, from her essay in Amherst magazine about writing a book on volatility in international politics during one of the most volatile periods on record.

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“So there are places, I think, that I could choose to go to as soon as I grow up; there are cities where speech and life will be effortless.” Author and 747 pilot Mark Vanhoenacker ’96, in his new memoir, Imagine a City.

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“I won’t forget what we saw here. It gives you perspective on the kinds of problems we have in our own life. Honestly, they’re nothing.” Magician Bill Herz ’79, in an Amherst magazine story about his tour to entertain Ukrainian children. 

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Today, Amherst remembers those lost on 9/11, including the three alumni victims: Frederick C. Rimmele III ’90, Brock Safronoff ’97 and Maurita Tam ’01. [Learn more]

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“An educational system isn’t worth a great deal if it teaches young people how to make a living but doesn’t teach them how to make a life.” David Suzuki, ’58: science educator, environmental activist, and host of The Nature of Things with David Suzuki. This is one of the most well-known quotes by Suzuki, who has hosted Canada’s most popular nature program for many decades. For more about Suzuki, see this Amherst magazine profile.

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“Everything will remind me of something now.” James Merrill ’47: Pulitzer prize-winning American poet. He became one of the greatest poets of his generation, but first, Merrill was an Amherst student, where he developed an obsession with memory and a transformative interest in Proust. 

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“I want students to reach for the stuff that they're scared to write, the stuff that has really shaped their lives—and that’s harder than you would think.” Judith Frank: fiction writer; Eliza J. Clark Folger Professor of English. Frank, a two-time novelist, is professor of English, director of studies in the English department and Elizabeth W. Bruss Reader. She has taught the College’s Fiction Writing I course for many semesters.

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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.

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“What a truly great country this could be if the privileges enjoyed by those who happen to be white were instead opportunities available to everyone.” From President Martin's May 31 letter to campus about Racism, Truth, and Responsibility.

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“Because of where Amherst sits in the landscape of higher education, it doesn’t have to worry about following every trend—and, in fact, it can define the trends.”  Amherst College President Michael Elliott ’92, in an interview in the most recent issue of Amherst magazine. (Photo by Xiaofeng Wan, Associate Dean of Admission & Coordinator of International Recruitment)

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“I had just met Biddy. I got her attention and said, ‘You know, I’d really like to take your photograph.’ And I never do that!” Photographer Annie Leibovitz, speaking at the unveiling of her new portrait of President Emerita Biddy Martin.

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“Together with our democratic protections of personal liberty, our schools draw extraordinary people to our shores.” President Carolyn A. "Biddy" Martin. From a letter by President Martin to John F. Kelly, Secretary of Homeland Security.

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“Native art is not taught, centralized or prioritized in mainstream academia in the way that I feel it should be. So, a lot of the works that I create, I create them large.” Artist Dyani White Hawk, from “Seeing Native Art” in the most recent issue of Amherst magazine.

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“You are plenty smart. That is not the key to success here. It’s not how smart you are. At Amherst, effort is going to matter.” Catherine A. Sanderson, Poler Family Professor of Psychology, delivered five pieces of researched-based wisdom about how to succeed at Amherst at the DeMott lecture.

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“My parents were disconnected from their identity and their culture growing up because they were trying to survive. And we cannot forget about those stories.” DezBaa’ ’10E. Dark Winds actor DezBaa’ in the new Amherst magazine.

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“He discussed how, in the book The Known World, by Edward P. Jones, there exists so much suffering. Yet the characters survive by investing in each other through mutual care, listening to one another and making meaning in community.” Mikayla Gordon Wexler ’19, writing about an Amherst professor whose small gesture changed her life.

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“He inspired me to look at my biethnic identity from a place of abundance rather than scarcity, to see that I am made up of two wholes instead of two halves, to see that I am a bridge not just between my two ethnicities, but also between myself. ” Sade Green ’20, writing about an Amherst professor whose small gesture changed her life.

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Highlights from Family Weekend, November 4-6, 2022.

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“There are many women who have preceded you, and they did great things, and you should know that, because you are going to be one of those women one day.” Rhonda Cobham-Sander, the Emily C. Jordan Folger Professor of Black Studies and English. From the Black Women of Amherst Podcast, Episode 6: The Next 200 Years of Amherst College.

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“His confidence in me as a student fundamentally changed my work ethic. Four years later, that initial bond of trust and respect has developed into one of the most cherished gifts of friendship Amherst gave me.” Rachel Chaffin ’20, writing about an Amherst professor whose small gesture changed her life.

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“I want to give these veterans time and space to share what happened to them.” Emma Spencer ’23E on her project Vietnam Veterans: Then and Now.

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“This was our time. This was our opportunity. What was it? Good trouble.” Denise Francois ’80, describing 1979’s three-day student takeover of Converse Hall to advance racial justice at Amherst. From the Black Women of Amherst Podcast, Episode 5: Activism @ Amherst. 

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“We come to love this place when we discover that Amherst can make the world almost infinitely larger for all of those who walk its halls and its hills. And our love endures because we know that the future can be greater than the past.” President Michael A. Elliott ’92 from his inaugural address delivered on October 28, 2022.

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Candied apples + horse-drawn wagon rides + lobster rolls + live bluegrass music =  Fall Festival 2022, now in its 9th year!