![Lourdes Torres](/system/files/styles/square_thumbnail/private/media/01_2017_1010_Lourdes-Torres_061_820x547_0.jpg?h=b69f83ed&itok=lLsOT3E9&__=1512355503)
Espero que Esten Bien
by Katharine Whittemore
“I hope they are well,” the College’s Puerto Rican staff, faculty and students told each other, as they sought to reach loved ones and found ways to aid their stricken island.
![Student holding a sign from Orientation](/system/files/styles/square_thumbnail/private/media/WhyClassmatesMatter_By-Skylhur-Tranqile-%2718_820x547.jpg?h=b69f83ed&itok=QF0bnYTr&__=1512356956)
Why Classmates Matter
by Caroline Hanna
The people around you “will be instrumental in how you decide to live your life and contribute to the world,” the dean of admission—who’s been in their shoes—told first-year and transfer students.
![Assistant Professor of Biology Alexandra Purdy](/system/files/styles/square_thumbnail/private/media/AlexandraPurdy_820x547.jpg?h=b69f83ed&itok=41gAa4Lm&__=1512357441)
It’s the Little Things
by Mary Elizabeth Strunk
What’s the connection between gut bacteria and good health? There’s a saying that goes, “Pay attention to the little things, because one day you may realize they were the big things.”
![Ray Suarez, PBS broadcaster, McCloy Visiting Professor of American Studies](/system/files/styles/square_thumbnail/private/media/2017_1019_Ray-Suarez_MS_205_820x547.jpg?h=b69f83ed&itok=Flnitp8P&__=1512357792)
The Reporter-Teacher: Q&A with Ray Suarez
by Katharine Whittemore
Suarez has been a correspondent for PBS NewsHour and host of Inside Story for Al Jazeera America. Now he teaches courses that play off his reporting on faith and politics. One such course, “From the Moral Majority to the Rise of the ‘Nones,’” explores the growing influence of Americans with no religious affiliation.
![Rev. Phillip A. Jackson ’85 delivering the 2017 Demott lecture to the class of 2021](/system/files/styles/square_thumbnail/private/media/2017_0903_Orientation_Demott-Lecture_TT_099_820x547.jpg?h=b69f83ed&itok=6vdeqpPM&__=1512358594)
The Single Finest Graduate
by Katharine Whittemore
The Rev. Phillip A. Jackson ’85 inspired the class of 2021 through the story of Charles Hamilton Houston ’15, mentor to Thurgood Marshall.
![2017_1020_Bonfire_TT_110_820x547.jpg New Mascot reveal at the Homecoming bonfire.](/system/files/styles/square_thumbnail/private/media/2017_1020_Bonfire_TT_110_820x547.jpg?h=b69f83ed&itok=wQVsHBpR&__=1512359114)
The Big Reveal
by Katharine Whittemore
The unveiling of the mammoth logo was one highlight of a successful homecoming weekend.
![Thomas Laueur at Amherst College](/system/files/styles/square_thumbnail/private/media/2017_1003_Thomas-Laqueur_044_820x547.jpg?h=b69f83ed&itok=I2v2iLzF&__=1512359444)
Of Monsters and Memorials
by Rachel Rogol
A visiting expert spoke to students in an art history course, “Witches, Vampires and Other Monsters,” about how and why the living remember the dead.
![Graphic of a map of Africa on a cell phone](/system/files/styles/square_thumbnail/private/media/DIGITAL-AFRICA-FINISH_350x438.png?h=6adc02a8&itok=MfOW3rhi&__=1512359695)
Expert Advice: Digital Africas
by Rhonda Cobham-Sander
Rhonda Cobham-Sander is the Emily C. Jordan Folger Professor of Black Studies and English.