Volume 152, Issue 19

College Admits 9 Percent of Applicants to Class of 2027

Liam Archacki ’24 Editor-in-Chief

On Friday, March 18, the college admitted students via its regular-decision process, accepting 9 percent of 12,700 applicants to the class of 2027, according to an email statement from Dean of Admission and Financial Aid Matthew McGann. The decisions were released at 6:21 p.m. EDT, an homage to Amherst’s founding in 1821.

New pipes will allow buildings to be heated using low-temperature hot water instead of steam.

Climate Action Plan Construction Begins

Leo Kamin ’25 Managing News Editor

On March 13, construction began on the college’s project to transition all buildings to carbon-free heating and cooling systems. Crews broke ground on the King and Weiland Quad and the area between the Eighmy Powerhouse and the college’s power plant.

The construction represents the next stage of the college’s sweeping Climate Action Plan (CAP), which commits Amherst to full decarbonization by 2030.

The crews will dig trenches and install new underground pipes connecting more than 80 buildings to a new heating and cooling system that distributes heat using low-temperature hot water

FEATURES 4

instead of steam. Because the new system doesn’t bring water to boiling, it will be much more energy-efficient and could be powered by renewable electricity in the future, an option that is unavailable under the current heating system.

“The plan is to tackle 9-10 buildings a year,” Director of Sustainability Wes Dripps wrote in a message to The Student. He expects the project to be completed by 2030, at which point the current fossil-fuel dependent steam heating and cooling system will be permanently turned off.

The decarbonization of the college’s heating system is just one part of the broader CAP, which included the 2021 completion of a shared solar power facility in Maine with four other colleges

Fresh Faculty: Emma Burd ’26 profiles Bilal Muhammad, an evening circulation student supervisor and specialist at Frost Library.

and will require the digging of geothermal wells and installation, beginning in 2025, of electric heat pumps across campus.

Dripps said that the majority of the upcoming construction on the heating and cooling system is planned for the summer months, allowing the ground to thaw and minimizing disruptions to campus life.

This summer’s focus will continue to be on the eastern side of campus, with the goal of connecting King and Wieland, the Greenway Dorms, the Science Center, and James and Stearns to the new system.

Despite the project’s concentration during summer months, “when you undertake a project this big and comprehensive, there

OPINION 6

will be some disruption,” Dripps said.

Students will no doubt notice the large fences erected on the King and Weiland quad, around Merrill Science Center, and between the Powerhouse and power plant. Additionally, East Drive below the Science Center, the portion of Barrett Hill Drive next to the Science Center, and the roads around the power plant will see increased traffic from construction vehicles.

Dripps nevertheless said that he hoped that the high-profile construction would encourage students to “get excited about this project.”

Dripps emphasized the gravity of the college’s green transition.

Continued on page 3

Humanities Haven?: The Editorial Board argues that, amid a national decline, humanities at Amherst face unique challenges.

The number of applications this year is a decline from the past two years’ record highs, a 14.2-percent drop from the 14,800 applicants to the class of 2026. This resulted in a 2 percent increase in acceptance rate.

“Similar to quite a few of our liberal arts college peers, we saw a slight decline in applications from our pandemic-time highs, but remain well above the application totals from pre-pandemic times,” McGann wrote. “For the Class of 2024, for example, we had 10,601 applications, which was then a record high for the College.”

The college’s perennial rival and sister school, Williams, also reported a drop in applications this year, of over a quarter.

This year’s admissions cycle was the first in the college’s history in which legacy applicants — those with a parent who at-

Continued on page 3

ARTS&LIVING 10

Black Art Matters: Tiia McKinney ’25 covers the festival, which featured Black student art ranging from poetry and dance to printmaking and painting.

THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF AMHERST

Photo courtesy of Erin Williams ’26

News POLICE LOG

>>March 8, 2023

12:43 p.m. Seeley-Mudd Parking Lot

ACPD responded to a report of a suspicious male taking photos of a student vehicle. The male was found to be an insurance claim adjuster.

>>March 11, 2023

12:13 p.m. Tyler House

ACPD responded to a prefire alarm that was caused by a hair dryer.

1:44 p.m. Alumni Gym

ACPD took a report of a minor motor vehicle

accident.

>>March 15, 2023

9:38 p.m. Porter House

A student reported a man screaming obscenities and cursing at them. ACPD responded and the individual was gone upon arrival.

>>March 16, 2023

11:30 a.m. Orr Rink

ACPD took a report after snow fell off the roof causing damage to some property.

12:08 a.m. Orr Rink ACPD took a report after snow fell off the roof causing damage to some property.

>>March 18, 2023

9:50 p.m. Lipton House

ACPD took a report of a small fire caused by a candle.

>>March 19, 2023

6:07 a.m. Webster Hall

ACPD and Community Safety responded to a report of a person talking to themselves. A check of the area did not locate anyone.

Hampshire Welcomes Students From Florida College

Ethan Foster ’25 Managing News Editor

The sunshine state may be coming to Amherst. Hampshire College is opening its doors to transfer students from New College of Florida, an institution with a similarly experimental approach to education, after Governor Ron DeSantis upended the school’s leadership, bringing an array of conservative policies and prompting protests from

students and faculty.

Hampshire announced on March 9 a new program guaranteeing admission for transfer students from the New College. The program, which welcomes all current students in good standing, represents an effort by Hampshire to push back on what its President Edward Wingenbach has called an “increasingly aggressive effort to limit free thinking in higher education.”

Because New College is a public institution, the state government is able to effect changes to its leadership. On Jan. 6, DeSantis announced the appointment of six new conservative trustees to the New College’s historically progressive Board of Trustees, a move that the college’s then-president and students alike have referred to as a “hostile takeover” of the institution.

Since the new trustees’

appointments, the board has made significant changes to the college’s policies, including abolishing its Office of Outreach and Inclusive Excellence as part of its efforts to rid the college completely of its current diversity, equity, and inclusion policies. The college’s president was also ousted and replaced by a new interim president.

The move has prompted staunch opposition from New College students and families. Dozens of students have gathered to protest the changes, which many believe will hinder the proper function of the school given its emphasis on student exploration and social justice.

According to Hampshire’s press release announcing its decision, these developments prompted the college to “stand with students who crave a progressive education,” and streamline the transfer process for incoming students from New College. “Increasingly, public institutions are a target for those trying to censor discussions of racism, white supremacy, gender identity, structural barriers to equity, and the reproduction of oppressive hierarchies,” the press release read. “This doesn’t serve the students, it doesn’t serve democracy, and it certainly doesn’t serve the world those students seek to improve.”

Despite their geographical distances both Hampshire and New College have a similarly

experimental approach to higher education in the liberal arts. Both institutions forego traditional grading systems in favor of written narrative evaluations and offer students the opportunity to design a major that is carefully tailored to their individual interests. And, despite their small sizes — both colleges have student populations well under 1000 — the colleges are also known for their progressive and free-spirited student bodies. Yet, while New College is publicly funded, Hampshire is a private institution, giving it the assurance of independence from government influence.

Under the college’s new policy, Hampshire will accept credits taken at or transferred to the New College, though all transfer students must fulfill the college’s Division III requirement — the college’s equivalent of senior year — which focuses on the development and completion of an independent project. Incoming students’ financial aid package at Hampshire will be adjusted to match the cost of attendance at the New College from the following year.

“It’s incredibly important that colleges and universities do something,” Wingenbach said. “We have to do what's within our resources and capacities to push back. One of the things Hampshire can do is offer students at New College a place to go to escape that."

New College of Florida's leadership has been upended by Governor DeSantis.

Photo courtesy of Upstateherd via Wikimedia

College Begins Revamp of Heating and Cooling Infrastructure

Continued from page 1

This winter was the warmest winter on record for the state of Massachusetts,” he wrote, “with the average temperature a staggering [eight] degrees above normal!”

He added that the college “recognizes the significance and importance of addressing climate change, and is taking one of the most proactive and ambitious approaches within higher educa-

tion.”

An important goal of the CAP is to use the college’s fossil-fuel transition to give students a chance to engage in experiential learning in the sustainability field. The heating and cooling system modernization will offer one such opportunity. “We plan to have lots of opportunities for students to interact with the project given its novelty, scale, and scope,” Dripps said.

Total Number of Applicants Drops From Record High

Continued from page 1

tended the college — were not shown a preference in the admissions process. The policy change, which was announced in October 2021, distinguishes the college from virtually all of its peer institutions. The number of legacy admits dropped from 7 percent last year to 4 this year.

“Legacy students were considered in the same manner as all other students, in a holistic admission process,” McGann wrote. “There is no quota, target, or cap for legacy students, just as there is no quota for any other group of students.”

The admitted class of 2026 is nearly as diverse as last year’s class, with the percentage of domestic students of color dropping from 62 to 60. Twenty-one percent identify as first-generation college students, a 1 percent drop from last year. The number of international students rose from 9 percent to 12, with 54 different countries represented, as well as 49 of the United States; Washington, D.C.; and the Northern Mariana Islands.

“I couldn’t be more excited about this year’s group of admitted students,” McGann wrote.

“From an outstanding group of applicants, the admission com-

mittee spent months painstakingly getting to know each of these students as well as possible in our holistic admission process.”

He added that admitted students are invited to attend the college’s “Be a Mammoth Program” from April 11 to 12 to learn firsthand what attending Amherst is like.

As has been standard in recent years, the college plans to enroll 473 students in the class of 2026. Those admitted will have until Monday, May 1, to accept or decline their offer of admission. Like the past three years, the admissions deposit has been waived for all students.

Mammoth Moments in Miniature: March 8 to March 21

The Editorial Board

Angie Tissi-Gassoway Becomes

New Chief and Dean of Students

In an email to students on Tuesday, March 21, President

Michael Elliott announced that Angie Tissi-Gassoway, who had served as Interim Chief of Students following Liz Agosto’s departure, would be assuming the position permanently. He said she would also become dean of students on a permanent basis.

Tissi-Gassoway began her career at Amherst as an area coordinator in residential life. She has worked at the college for more than 11 years.

College Offers Improved Bike Registration

A new program run by the Amherst College Tread Shed allows students to register and store their bicycles. Students who register will be given a registration sticker for their bike, which will allow lost bikes to be returned to their owners and abandoned bikes to be transferred to new owners. If a lost bike is found, the Tread Shed will attempt to locate its owner for 90 days, after which it may be transferred to a different student. The Tread Shed offers storage of registered bikes for up to a year, including during January and summer breaks. A link to the registration form was inclu -

ded in the March 20 Daily Mammoth.

TYPO Returns

The Take Your Professor Out/ Take Your Staff Member Out (TYPO/TYSO) has been reopened to students, now with additional restaurant options. The program is available to groups of two to six students who are enrolled in a class with the professor they “take out.” The cost of the meals must be kept to below $30 per person. Students must cover any amont they spend over $30 themselves. The participating restaurants for the current semester are 30 Boltwood, Mexcalito, Fresh Side, and Bistro 63.

Angie Tissi-Gassoway will assume her role permanently.

Photo courtesy of Amherst College

The fencing around Merrill Science Center expanded as part of construction efforts.

The acceptance rate increased and the percentage of legacy admits dropped in the first admissions cycle without legacy considerations.

Photo courtesy of Nina Aagard ’26

Photo courtesy of Erin Williams '26

Features Bilal A. Muhammad Staff Spotlight

Bilal A. Muhammad works in Frost Library as the evening circulation student supervisor and specialist. Before that, he was a student at the college, and graduated in 1999. He spoke with The Student about his podcast, attending Amherst, leaving the area, and ultimately returning to the Pioneer Valley.

Emma Burd ’26 Staff Writer

If for you Frost Library is merely a place to catch up on missed assignments, grab a latte, socialize with friends, or pull all-nighters (or until-1-a.m.-nighters), you may not be aware of all the work that student and non-student staff members do behind the scenes in the building. I wasn’t either until just last week, when I had the pleasure of talking to Bilal A. Muhammad, who has been a Frost staff member for nearly 20 years.

Muhammad, who graduated from Amherst in 1999, has served as Frost’s evening circulation student supervisor and specialist since 2004. You can find him in the library from 5 p.m. to 1 a.m. Sundays through Thursdays throughout the semester.

In addition to overseeing maintenance in Frost by checking for water damage after storms and ensuring that items aren’t lost or stolen, Muhammad is in charge of managing student workers in the library as well. Much of his time is spent in the stacks with Frost’s book collection — which has over 1.3 million print copies — making

sure that books are placed correctly and not damaged from natural elements or general wear and tear. And of course, part of his job is ad hoc: “There are always funky things: with someone’s account, someone put a barcode in wrong, some book isn’t properly in the system. I do a lot of that stuff,” Muhammad said.

But if you ever come across Muhammad in Frost during one of your late-night study sessions, know that there is much more to him than meets the eye. In his free time, he hosts a podcast with his brother and a few friends — some of whom are Amherst alumni as well. Every few months, they come together and record the B.E.G.I.N podcast (an acronym for their names: Bilal, Eraun, Garick, Ismail, and Neil). They started recording the podcast in 2018, and it now can be found on Instagram, SoundCloud, and iTunes, where it has a 5-star reviewer rating.

“We get together and talk about nerdy movies from the Black perspective,” Muhammad said. “We mainly talk about nerdy movies, sci-fi, fantasy, comic books. We’re all huge comic book fans.” While he recommended that anyone in-

terested in movies and film give it a listen, he always gives a NSFW warning. “If we don’t like something, we definitely don’t sugarcoat it,” he said.

Muhammad prides himself on the fact that he is a “Blerd” — a Black nerd. Although he credits the classes he took at Amherst for igniting his interest in film, Muhammad also traces his love for movies back to his childhood.

“I come from a movie family,” he explained. He says that he can quote James Cameron’s “Aliens,” his favorite movie of all time, line by line with his brother. “My dad quoted movies all the time when he was alive,” he added. “It’s kind of a shorthand that we have.” Muhammad’s options in terms of film were somewhat limited when he first got to Amherst. “They started doing film video production stuff my junior year at Amherst for the first time,” he said. “Before that, it was more like the poetics of cinema and film. They had their first production class my junior year. That was the first class I got an A in and that I worked really hard in.”

But Muhammad’s time at Amherst wasn’t smooth sailing for all four years. On the contrary, he

struggled quite a bit his freshman year — both academically and with his mental health. “I failed three classes. I was on academic dismissal. I had to leave the school,” he said. Looking back, he realizes that a large part of his struggle derived from the fact that his brother was not admitted into Amherst. “My brother is a year younger than me, and he’s way smarter than me … and Amherst didn’t let him in,” he said. “That sent me into what I now recognize, looking back, was a deep depression. I stopped going to class. I didn’t care about Amherst.” Upon further reflection, Muhammad realized that his depression stemmed from the idea that if his brother wasn’t good enough to be at Amherst, he wasn’t either. “[My brother] ended up going to Wesleyan, which was better for him,” he added, “but I was very disaffected and struggled my second semester at Amherst.”

Because he was on academic dismissal, Muhammad left Massachusetts and headed home to Chicago. His parents made it clear that he had to get a job, so he started working at a local Staples. “I saw people who were around my age who had just graduated from high school and they didn't go to college. And they were supporting like two or three kids on minimum wage,” he said. Seeing that, and amid the urging of his closest friends to return to campus, Muhammad decided to give Amherst another try.

When he got back to school, things began to look up for Muhammad. He met a girl at Smith who he started dating. He began going out to the other colleges in the Five College Consortium much more and making friends

who were African American and American Descendants of Slavery (ADOS). “That made a big difference in my experience, meeting more people of color. Particularly from my background as an ADOS person. That was really, really important,” he said.

Around this time, Muhammad also found his interest and success in film. Despite his official major in law, jurisprudence and social thought, he considers himself a film minor because of the wide breadth of media-related classes he took in college.

After Muhammad graduated in 1999, he lived in Los Angeles for six months and worked on various short films. “I left [the area] because my sister was actually going to Amherst at the same time, and I wanted [her] to develop her own personality and have her own space,” he said. He then lived and worked on and off in New York before returning to his beloved alma mater. “The job at Amherst allowed me to work full time for a decent wage and at the same time pursue outside interests like my podcast,” he said. “Also, this is the safest [area] I have ever lived [in]. Coming from an area in Chicago with violent crime, it has been nice to live somewhere where I don’t have to think too much about locking my doors.”

His biggest piece of advice for current Amherst students is to have fun and try to take some pressure off, if possible. “Enjoy college for college,” he said. “You have 90 percent of the freedom with 10 percent of the responsibility. You get a little bit more freedom when you leave college, but you get a lot more responsibility. You should fully take advantage of it.”

Old News: The Student’s Headlines This Week in 1921

Sonia Chajet Wides ’25

Managing Features Editor

Each week in Old News, I use a random number generator to select a year in the college’s history and take a look at The Stu-

dent’s issue from this week in that year.

This Week’s Year: 1921

The March 21, 1921 edition of The Student painted a picture of Amherst one year into the Roar-

ing ’20s, with a variety of artistic and political activities. The second page informed me that one paper copy cost 5 cents, and a yearly subscription cost 3 dollars — The Student shipped to anywhere in the United States.

Managing News Editor Leo Kamin ’25 brought up a good point in response to last week’s column: the Amherst Student used to wear more hats than it does now, in the absence of modern resources like emails, web-

sites, social media, and GroupMe. As with 1976’s issue (which I covered last week), this paper served in a variety of additional roles: an announcement board, a calen-

Continued on page 5

Photo courtesy of Claire Beougher ’26

A Look Back at Amherst College in its Centennial Year

Continued from page 4

dar, and an advertising center for members of the college and town community alike. I found some interesting details about the Editorial Board’s operations, a rousing speech about the need for Amherst students to politically participate post-World-War-I, a historical retrospective similar to this one, and a variety of mundane but revealing announcements about lost items, baseball exams, parties, and more.

I’m finding it interesting to catch my own historical culture shock — for example, having to remind myself of Prohibition when alcohol is casually referred to as illegal. These small moments of adjustment remind me of the uniqueness of a newspaper as a historical document, so steeped in the context of its current moment and with the aim to inform its contemporary community. It’s continually interesting to watch historical moments that I’ve learned about in classes come to life through the lens of a place I now live. No matter your relationship to the community, I hope these headlines put you in touch with history, too.

The College Man Post-War: President of Andover Academy

Alfred Stearns, who graduated from Amherst in 1894, spoke at a “C.A. Meeting” (I’m not sure what C.A. means) and “stressed the responsibility which lies on the college man in the present chaos and turmoil of reconstruction.”

Stearns’ speech, much of which was published directly in the paper, was rooted strongly in the post-World-War-I climate — which no one yet knew was actually the interwar period. He said that “following the war has come a general breaking down of all standards,” that “there is everywhere a feeling of unrest and of dissatisfaction with the old ideals,” and that “a contempt for the law has grown.” His evidence for the latter is that at a banquet he attended the week prior, people were freely drinking liquor despite the active national prohibition on alcohol. “It chanced that I was sitting next to General Wood at the time,” he said, “and the flagrant breaking of even constitutional law made him exclaim ‘It is this sort of thing which creates Bolsheviks.’”

In response to this upheaval, Stearns proclaimed that Amherst students had a specific responsibility in reconstruction society, but he worried that they were shirking it. College, he said, “is a poor influence on the man … who has been given entirely over to his self-indulgences. This man comes to school and, with the minimum of work, he spends all of his time on the social, or athletic, or political aspects of college life … the man who has used all of his college years and opportunities merely for cheap political advancement, will go out into the world ready to become a comrade in arms of the ordinary run of professional politicians and tricksters.” He instructed current students to seek a role model in his former schoolmate Calvin Coolidge, class of 1895, who was then newly vice president.

Editorial Board Transitions:

This edition of The Student gives us a peek into the process for becoming a newspaper editor in 1921: some kind of competition, the content of which is unclear. “The first competition among members of the Class of 1924 for places on the Editorial Board of the Amherst Student will begin immediately after the Easter recess,” the front page proclaimed. “Each man will be on duty not more than 18 and not less than 12 issues.”

New editors were preparing to come on board after said Easter recess — a new editor-in-chief, business manager, advertising manager, circulation manager, and other general editors.

An article titled “Curtain,” reminiscent of our contemporary editors’ exit letters, gave senior retiring editors a chance to share their thoughts with the community: “In laying down the reins we have at least one satisfaction, namely, a sense of having done our best ... It has been our intention to interpret Amherst and her problems to the best of our ability, and for that reason we have tried to refrain from destructive criticism of problems

for which we could not offer a definite antidote. It has been the goal of our editorial policy in all possible cases to sever connections with the stereotyped forms and to hold breadth of vision as the most valuable of assets … If we were to be privileged to set up a guiding principle for the new Board it would be simply ‘Serve Amherst.’”

“Baseball Squad Works Out on Pratt Field”: A front-page story revealed the gasp-inducing bombshell that the baseball team had their first workout of the year on Pratt Field that week. On another page, a coach placed an announcement that contained a list of baseball players who had not yet been examined for physical fitness. They were instructed to report to the coach immediately.

Centennial Reflections: As a celebration of the college’s 100-year anniversary, the double of which we celebrated last year, The Student published an article titled “Amherst As It Was One Hundred Years Ago.” Those authors, like me, thought it “suitable to look at what Amherst was like in her earliest days.” The article featured an 1883 correspondence by W.S. Tyler, who was a student in Amherst’s first years.

Before There Was AmherstBussin… There was “FOUND”: “On the golf course an Eversharp pencil. Apply to A.H. Dakin.”

Party News: 1921’s Student reported on the prior weekend’s parties. Apparently, Delta Upsilon hosted a house dance with 30 couples, plus chaperones from town, with catering and live orchestra music. Not to be outdone, Delta Kappa Epsilon hosted a dance with 50 couples, featuring a different orchestra, but the same catering.

Other Events: A Henry Ward Beecher Club meeting at 9:30 p.m. in a professor’s study; The play “The Great Divide” as a joint Smith and Amherst production;

An upcoming tour of Amherst musical groups during Easter Recess through Massachusetts, New York, Ohio, Indiana, and Pennsylvania; The campus’ weekly church service featuring a hymn composed by Harry S. Woodard of Washington, D.C., class of 1922.

Ads: Among those advertising in the student that week was Wrigley’s Gum: “Make the next cigar taste better and after smoking, cleanse your mouth, moisten your throat, sweeten your breath with Wrigley’s (5 cents a pack).”

Joining Wrigley’s was Chesterfield Cigarettes, which took out a half-page ad, The Plaza Hotel and other New York businesses, and Deady’s Lunch Cart (open 7 a.m. - 1 a.m.), whose ad read: “Someone said ‘This lunch makes me wish that I was a camel. Happy animal; it has several stomachs.’ We take great liberties in this quotation, but we feel that it is applicable to the lunches served here.”

What, if anything, did these older articles make you think about? Did they give you any insight about Amherst and the world then? Now? Send your thoughts in at bit.ly/amherstoldnews. I’d love to feature reflections.

In the March 21, 1921, issue of The Student: baseball team exercises, cigarette advertisements, and local lunch fit for a camel.

Graphic courtesy of Nina Aagaard ’26

The Wrigley’s ad that appeared in the March 21, 1921, issue of The Student.

A Humanities Haven?

“The humanities are in crisis.” It’s a popular sentiment in academic circles and for good reason: Nationwide, the number of humanities majors is trending downward and departments are shrinking. In recent issues of The Student, students in the Arts and Humanities in Action (AHA) Program have reflected on the valuable skills one develops with a humanities degree, as a way to push back against this crisis. But as an elite liberal arts institution that prides itself on exploration and interdisciplinary education, where can Amherst sit?

Rising economic uncertainty and unemployment rates have pushed students toward disciplines like STEM and Economics to ensure financial stability. A culture of hyperproductivity, on top of these anxieties, has forced us to instrumentalize college degrees for career preparation rather than education. These all contribute to the contraction of public support for and participation in humanities disciplines: In fiscal year 2022, the National Endowment for the Humanities had a budget of $180 million, 2 percent of the National Science Foundation’s $8.84 billion budget.

Foundational to a liberal arts education is a belief that humanities disciplines are important — that the study of human society and experience has both personal and societal value. Amherst students undeniably recognize this value: even in the midst of this crisis, around 30 percent of the class of 2022 graduated with a humanities degree. Thanks to Amherst’s financial resources, certain institutional supports for the humanities have persisted amid government defunding: Resources like the Center for Humanistic Inquiry, events such as LitFest, and programs like Mellon Mays render Amherst students undeniably privileged in terms of access to the humanities. The crisis of the humanities, at Amherst, is not merely a microcosm of national trends.

Amherst seeks to provide a liberal arts education to a diverse student body, but enrollees are confronted by a landscape that contradicts this mission. The systemic inequality of the U.S. job market makes humanities studies and careers increasingly unobtainable for lowincome, BIPOC, first-generation, and international students, all of whom occupy a relatively precarious position in the market and are incentivized to seek more secure careers.

While humanities professors acknowledge the scarcity of tenure-track positions in academia, there’s lack of support for humanities students seeking nonacademic career paths. There is a much more clear understanding among STEM majors about what careers are available to them and how their skills could be applied in the workplace. Of course, a case can be

Opinion

THE AMHERST STUDENT

made that society at large needs to change: the public must value skills from humanistic disciplines more, and the purpose of college should be reconceptualized. The explorative approach of liberal arts at Amherst can still make certain adaptations to stop declining enrollment in humanities departments. The AHA program is a laudable start, but the crisis of humanities at Amherst is about much more than a gap in understanding.

The availability of funding also limits the support that humanities students are able to receive at Amherst, since student research opportunities depend entirely on donor and department funding. The lack of funding for the humanities can be clearly seen when comparing summer research opportunities in the two disciplines. While STEM fields boast several opportunities with faculty guidance, the only humanities-specific program, the Schupf Fellowship, enrolls 20 students yearly, and receives less faculty support. While some of these aspects are inherent in the differences between the fields — STEM professors can need more research assistance than their humanities counterparts — the funding gap widens the inequity.

Funding new professorships and staff creates more student research opportunities, allows for more community-building within departments, and attracts higher class enrollment. Funding infrastructure can move humanities departments out of sparse locations on campus and provide them with more public space. Additionally, humanities departments across academia, including Amherst’s, can be very insular and disconnected from everyday realities. Departments can emerge from this cave by shifting their hiring practices. An emphasis on public scholarship and outreach will increase public engagement while allowing humanities students to see their study as a enrichment of how they live their lives, rather than an alienating pursuit. Amherst has the unique platform as an elite liberal arts institution to promote this shift.

As the crisis becomes more visible, it’s time to ask ourselves: how do we protect the value of humanities at Amherst? As a well-endowed haven for the liberal arts, Amherst is perhaps among the last institutions that prioritizes the humanities in a shifting landscape of higher education. Even so, Amherst’s uniquely diverse student body and funding inequities mean that, apart from a privileged few, humanities students are being abandoned on a campus filled with glittering reminders of the humanities’ value — a value that is frustratingly out of reach.

Unsigned editorials represent the views of the majority of the Editorial Board — (assenting: 8; dissenting: 3; abstaining: 4).

EXECUTIVE BOARD

Editors-in-Chief

Liam Archacki

Sam Spratford

Senior Managing

Dustin Copeland

Kei Lim

Managing News

Ethan Foster

Leo Kamin

Michael Mason

Managing Features

Sonia Chajet Wides

Caelen McQuilkin

Eleanor Walsh

Managing Opinion

Tara Alahakoon

Yasmin Hamilton

Tapti Sen

Assistant Opinion

Stacey Zhang

Managing Arts & Living

Alexander Brandfonbrener

Cassidy Duncan

Brianne LaBare

Madeline Lawson

Noor Rahman

Managing Sports

Hedi Skali

Slate Taylor

Managing Puzzles

John Joire

Managing Podcast

Andrew Rosin

Assistant Podcast

Karina Maciel

Managing Design

Andrew Kim

Brianne LaBare

Managing Photo

Claire Beougher

Slate Taylor

Managing Graphics

Nina Aagaard

DEI Editor

Erin Williams

STAFF

Publisher

Robert Bischof

Digital Director

Sawyer Pollard

Social Media Manager

Emi Eliason

Letters Policy

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Tapti Talks: Name Pronunciation Matters

Tapti Sen ’25 Managing Opinion Editor

If I had a dollar for every time someone mispronounced my name, I’d be able to pay Amherst’s tuition 10 times over. The image above showcases just one of my many ways people at Amherst have misspelled my name, in emails where my name is clearly visible. And honestly, I’ve grown tired of it.

My name is Tapti. T-a-p-t-i, pronounced “T-ah-p-tee.” It feels, to me at least, like a relatively easy “foreign” name to pronounce: It’s short, it relates relatively well phonetically to English, and in terms of pronunciation, what you see is pretty much what you get.

Yet somehow, pronouncing my name correctly seems to be an insurmountable obstacle to so many people. I’ve been in classes where the professor has continually forgotten my name until almost two months into the semester. Other times, I’ve had to spell out my name three, four, five times until my conversation partner gets it right. And all too many times, I’ve told someone my name, and they confidently pronounce it completely differently.

This is especially exasperating because, quite frankly, it feels as though I’ve already sacrificed a part of my name to assimilate into white culture. Bangla has four “T” sounds, none of which are the same as the English “T,” and my name, written as তাপ্তী in Bangla, uses a soft “T” sound — I would describe it somewhere between the “D” sound and “T” sound in English. According to the IPA, it can be approximated by pronouncing the word “get” with your tongue on your front two teeth.

When I first came to the U.S., I was determined to pronounce my name the Bengali way, to not sacrifice my cultural identity in this foreign land. That dream died the first day I told someone my name at a coffee store and watched them write down “Dab -

ti” on my cup. I realized that I had to pronounce my name “the American way” in order for people to even get close to a resemblance of the actual word, and resigned myself to that fact. I accepted the pronunciation variations that came with it: people saying “Tapti” as in in the phrase “tap water” or “Topti” or even “Tap-tie” (the last one was a bit too egregious, even for me).

All of this is just to say, it feels like I have already sacrificed so much of myself in the Americanized way I’ve learned to pronounce my name for English speakers. Your name is an undeniably major facet of your cultural identity, and my name, in particular, means a lot to me:

I was named for my deceased aunt, whose name, Tapati meant “daughter of the sun” in Bangla. In the Indian subcontinent, names can allow you to pinpoint exactly where a person’s from — my name, for instance, is spe -

cifically a Bengali Hindu name, because my parents prioritized giving me a Bengali name rather than some “generally South Asian” one.

To have people mispell and mispronounce my name even after assimilating is a slap in the face: It feels deeply dehumanizing. Keep in mind, this is coming from someone who has an East Coast American accent — I can’t even imagine how much more intense the struggle must be for my fellow international students who don’t.

Why is it that white people can say names like Dostoyevsky and Tchaikovsky, but Tapti trips them up? Put simply, it’s racism. And I’m not saying that the mistake itself is racist — obviously, until you hear me pronounce my name, you won’t know how to pronounce it. But if I’ve told you my name, pronounced, “T-ahp-tee” (“a” pronounced as in father) and you repeat back to me,

“T- æ-p-tee” (“æ” like the “a” in “cat”), it shows me that you don’t care about how I pronounce my name. Same goes for misspellings in emails, which feel particularly egregious considering that my name is right there at the top of the screen in my email address.

Many POC and immigrants can understand the struggle of feeling disempowered to speak up and correct people. This is especially true when it comes to professors, even knowing that you wouldn’t actually face academic consequences. As a result, your very name becomes a concession to whiteness.

I have been lucky enough to be surrounded by friends and mentors who have encouraged my urge to correct people when they mispronounced my name — to ignore the burning internal embarrassment I felt when my teacher apologized for pronouncing my name, as if it were

my fault for making a mountain out of a molehill. Before coming to Amherst, I convinced myself that I would maintain this habit of firmly correcting people when they mispronounced my name.

To tell you the truth, I haven’t. I still laugh off mispronunciations, brush off people’s apologies — at every moment, it just feels easier than making a scene. I’m trying to work on it though — because how will people actually learn to be better, unless you hold them accountable? One way I try to justify it to myself is to remember that every time I correct someone, it encourages them to think twice and ask before pronouncing a future name.

In a sense, I’m writing this article as a promise to myself — to stop brushing off these microaggressions and advocate for myself. And to my fellow students with foreign, unpronounceable, difficult names — I encourage you to do the same.

The simple effort to spell and pronounce a person’s name correctly is an affirmation of their cultural identity.

Photo courtesy of Nina Aagaard ’26

Chromatic Chaos: Noises Can Be Colorful

Pho Vu ’23 Staff Writer

Ask a random group of people how they handle procrastination. Everyone will have a different answer for dealing with distractions, but many have likely turned to the powerful help of background sounds at least once — and white noise is one of the most popular options. YouTube videos (especially those with glowing brain-related thumbnails) featuring white noise have garnered millions of views from those looking to improve their concentration while studying.

But have you ever felt that, despite working its magic on everyone else’s focusing abilities, white noise is just not meant for you? Well, the good news is that you are not the only one. In 2022, by setting two different conditions of white noise in a study involving 39 participants, University of Southern California researchers found that while white noise improved some portions — sustained attention and creativity — of cognitive performance, it failed to show any great changes in selective attention, inhibition, and working memory. The results speak to the fact that, because each and every brain has different needs, not everyone will benefit from white noise.

Yet, there’s still room for optimism. Contrary to popular belief, white noise isn’t the only kind of brain-optimizing noise. Categorized by colors, these under-the-radar noises offer many advantages.

White Noise

For starters, white noise is perhaps the most well-known “color” of noise. White noise is the sound of static you hear on a radio or TV when there’s no signal, or the humming of the AC the moment you activate it.

Similar to the color white, an amalgam of pigments of all visible lights, white noise contains equal amounts of all frequencies in the audible range. This makes it a useful tool for masking other

sounds, such as tinnitus or outside noise that might be keeping you awake at night.

In the study mentioned above, however, a heightened level of white noise can actually do more harm than good. For example, 65 decibels of white noise was reported to solely improve working memory and raise stress.

Pink Noise

Pink noise is similar to white noise but has a different flat spectral density: Instead of having equal energy across all frequencies, pink noise has more energy in the lower frequencies and less in the higher frequencies. This gives it a more natural, soothing sound often compared to falling rain or ocean waves. Pink noise is widely implemented in relaxation and meditation apps (one of them is Calm), as well as in sound systems for music and film. The sounds of rustling leaves or howling winds can give you an approximation. In case you need more, your heartbeat’s rhythm is actually one of the strong pink noise-producing sources. Proven to reduce brain waves and improve memory in older adults in a 2017 study, pink noise is a strong aid for sleep stability.

Brown(ian) and Red Noise

For a moment, disregard what you learn about colors: Within this auditory subject, brown and red noise are the same thing. The “brown” in brown noises does not derive from a color name but from scientist Robert Brown who created “Brownian motion” from erratic sounds. Sometimes referred to as 1/f noise, this noise is a deeper, more rumbling sound than white or pink noise. The noise has even more energy in the lower frequencies than pink noise, which gives it a bass-heavy quality. Bearing high resemblance to the mind’s resting state, listening to brown noise easily allows people to enter their relaxation zone. Brown noise is extremely helpful for your sleep and focus, and it is sometimes

used in music production to create a sense of depth and warmth. Make sure not to confuse this brown noise with another mythical brown noise (or brown note) that is believed to make listeners defecate uncontrollably.

Blue and Purple Noise

Brown and red noise may have a twin with perfectly contrasting personalities, and that is blue and purple noise. Unlike brown and red noise, blue and purple noises are two distinct noises. Their abilities to treat tinnitus and mask sounds unite them. Another thing that separates them from 1/f noise (with indirect proportional relationship to frequencies) is their direct proportional relationship to the changing frequencies. Additionally, blue noise is the sound of a hair spray and actively contributes to the computer graphics field with its production of good-quality visu-

al resolution.

Gray Noise

Gray noise does not exist in nature. Programmed specifically to help tinnitus sufferers sleep better during noise therapy, gray noise contains the same amount of loudness throughout and is audible to humans’ ears.

Orange Noise

If orange noise were a vocalist, it would be the kind that sings everything out of tune. It is stripped of several bands, and the noise possessing many “sour” notes is the result that follows.

Green Noise

If you often find yourself productive through reconnecting with nature, there is a high chance you will click with this nature-based noise at first listen. Beach waves and waterfalls are two emerging examples of this

environmental sound. If all you desire is a peaceful sleep in the forest, definitely go give this one a try.

Black Noise

Paul Simon wrote “The Sound of Silence” in 1964, and the title of this legendary song is perfect to describe this type of noise. Unlike other listed noises, black noise consists of absolute silence or near silence with just a bit of random noise or sounds beyond the limit of human hearing. With zero frequencies, black noise may be preferred by people who want little to no noise at bedtime.

In daily life, noise is usually perceived as distracting. However, like most things that have two sides, noises can be “noice.” It’s time you hop on this noise exploration journey and find out the ultimate one for your next study or sleep sesh!

Pho Vu ’23 discusses the multifaceted benefits of the different “colors” of noise for helping with procrastination, insomnia, and more.

Photo courtesy of Nina Aagaard ’26

Amusements

Prehistoric Puzzle |

1 Home to the world's oldest civilization

5 Relatives, slangily

8 Home to the Bruins

12 Name of the first orca ever captured

13 The first Mrs. Trump 16 Czech or Pole

17 Sail-backed creature often mistaken for a dinosaur 19 "___ fan tutte" (Mozart opera)

Wednesday, March 22, 2023

DOWN

1 ___-European languages

2 Attack, in "Clash of Clans"

3 Magazine contents?

4 Line

5 Christmas purchase

6 Declare

7 Palindromic title

8 Rival of 8-Across

9 Heavy precipitation

10 Cowboy's tool

11 Like many who tweet?

14 The "N" of N.B. used to mark importance

15 Queen's subjects?

18 Nickname of a "King of the Tyrant Lizards"

22 Leaf pore

25 Boo's nickname for Sully, in "Monsters Inc."

27 "Are you in ___?"

28 Word of woe

29 Father

30 Chicken-like bird of western North America

Solutions: Mar. 7

Alexandra Olson ’25 Contributing

Arts&Living Black Art Matters Festival Showcases Black Creativity

Tiia McKinney ’25 Staff Writer

The Sixth Annual Black Art Matters (BAM) Festival ran from March 5, starting with live performances, until March 7, when the visual art gallery opened. BAM showcased many student talents this year, from painting and drawing to singing and poetry. Like the years before it, this year’s BAM Festival is a reminder of the wide ranging experiences of Black students on campus: it showcases our pain and our beauty as it centers us.

On March 5, the Eighmy Powerhouse was filled with faculty and students alike, eager to watch and celebrate Black student art. Energetic moderators Grace Nyanchoka ’24 and Abadai Zoboi ’24 kept the showcase flowing with their wit and humor.

DASAC (Dance and Step at Amherst College) kicked off the performances with a sensual rendition of Aaliyah’s “Rock the Boat.” The individual showcases followed, starting with Kiiren Aamer ’24, who smoothly rapped an original piece, “Poetry,” over a J. Cole-esque beat. Aamer noted that the song is one of his favorites from his catalog. Next was Gregory Smith ’24, who skillfully performed his own song, “Rude Boy Ting.” His performance was reminiscent of Billie Holiday’s voice and musical cadence, with strong, grim vocals in contrast to the melodic guitar. Smith’s electric guitar was accompanied by Kenny Hilario’s ’24 acoustic guitar, whose strumming resonated in my heart.. Throughout the night, I was in awe seeing so many Black creatives on stage. This had been the first time since last year’s BAM that I was able to see Black artists come together, on such a major platform, to share their powerful beats, melodies, and freestyles. Aside from solely racial struggles, I loved being able to see Black people share their individual emotions and souls.

Next up was Ernest Collins ’23, who read two poems about rebirth.

Collins shared that just like how winter turns to spring, “every living thing has a purpose,” and even in our worst seasons, we can all find ourselves. Mel Arthur ’25, one of the coordinators for the festival, followed by reading their poem titled “Lady in Blue.” The piece took inspiration from Ntozake Shange’s “choreopoems,” which center women of color’s frustrations about not being cared for sufficiently. “Lady in Blue” was accompanied by a dim, blue light in the Powerhouse to set the ambience for the piece. The evening continued with poems from Victoria Thomas ’25, who explored what it’s like to be a Black lesbian woman in a reinvention of Nancy Holt’s television broadcast “Boomerang.” Through echoes and the weaving together of poems by both Thomas and other poets, Thomas powerfully stated, “The only time I feel inside is when I’m in a community of outsiders.”

The night continued with melodic songs from Maya Roberts ’23 and Gabriella Moore ’23, who provided background acoustic sounds to Patrick Smith ’23, and more performances from Aamar, Smith and Hilario. The night was filled with emotion, heart, and soul from all performers. Last year, visual artists and performers both compiled multiple clips of their pieces into one video that was presented to the audience. This year’s festival separated the BAM live performances and visual arts showcase, which allowed artists more time to express themselves and for audience members to more fully appreciate each performance.

This next stage of the festival began on March 7, as the Mead welcomed artists, students and faculty to its BAM gallery. I spoke with Arthur and they explained that they were the one who proposed the idea to lengthen the festival to two days, noting that “usually festivals are multiple days.” Arthur wanted everyone to have a chance to share and experience Black art.

At the Mead, there was a mix of photography, drawing, painting,

printmaking, and other mediums on display. All artists had the chance to share their inspiration at the opening reception, with many artists mentioning that they were inspired by family and culture. Naila Thevenot ’23, for example, showcased her Haitian heritage with a collection of colorful, intricate beading.

Another dominant theme was hair. Angie Camarena ’25 reminisced on mornings in the Dominican Republic when her mother combed her and her siblings’ hair via expressive drawing. Makayla Boxley ’24 and Beluolisah (Bo) Oranye ’23 presented Bips by Bo, a barbershop service in partnership with Assistant Professor of English Dr. Frank Leon Roberts. Oranye explained that he sees haircuts as a form of art, while Boxley was invested in showing the care that goes into a haircut and the connection of hair and culture for the Black community.

Last year, I created a piece titled “Roots” that emphasized this same significance of our hair in the Black community. After so many years of struggling to accept my Blackness and all of my features that come with

it, being able to fix my hair and make art about it helps me feel beautiful. My piece this year continued with the themes of roots: I incorporated my twin sister holding my twin nephews in an expressive charcoal piece. This is what Black art is about, to me: beauty and appreciation.

There were more art pieces presented throughout the night by Alana Bailey ’23, Zora Duncan ’23, Ayo Eniola ’24, Maya Foster ’23, Kendall Greene ’24, Tiia McKinney ’25 (myself), Osasikemwen (Sike) Ogieva ’25, Zachary Rivers ’24, Maëlle Sannon ’24, Jacinta Smith ’25 Neviah Waldron ’24, and Abadai Zoboi ’25. All of these pieces explored how Black artists see the world and the emotions that motivated their artwork. Some of the artists submitted pieces last year, and some artists were new to the gallery, but they all explained the soul behind their art pieces and their inspiration for submitting to BAM.

Arthur emphasized that BAM provides a space for Black creators to express themselves. For Arthur, “[they] came to Amherst seeking a community of artists, specifically

Black artists, who all come together to create and share work together.” Black Art Matters is one way to actualize these hopes, creating a community on a campus where many Black artists can often feel “scattered.”

Black Art Matters helps Black student artists feel more seen, comfortable and connected in a space that honors our uniqueness.

While this is the sixth year of the Black Art Matters Festival, it will certainly continue to grow. Arthur imagines future iterations of the festival inviting Black creatives to campus to host workshops and share their art, such as poets like Danez Smith and Ross Gay, who are some of Arthur’s inspirations.

More than a show and tell, BAM is a collective; it is a community. For me, BAM is an appreciation of many different styles of art forms. It means being able to express myself as an artist with other people who can, in some capacity, relate to my experiences. At the end of the festival, when I was embraced by my art teacher and other Black artists, I was reminded of the heart and soul of BAM.

The Black Art Matters Festival spotlighted original visual art from Black students, such as “That From Which We All Emerge” by Ayo Eniola ’24.

Original art by Ayo Eniola ’24

The Indicator ×

THE STUDENT

These pieces were initally published in The Indicator’s 2022 Fall issue “Bridges” and are presented here in collaboration with The Indicator.

“Skies Beyond Skies”

Pauline Bissell ’25

The Indicator Staff Writer

1.

That was the week the grapes were swelling and bruising Purple, dust-seasoned. Again We filled our pockets until the fruit, sun-burnt And sun-ripened, burst Like blood vessels and left wine-dark Stains running down to our ankles. Looking down, you said we should pretend That we were cracked open too, Like so many barrel-chested Oaks, hollowed out clean from Summer lightning storms and I Said nothing, Just picked another handful of Tender-skinned grapes and let them Dissolve red against my puffed-out cheeks, Dissolve into a heap of seeds.

2. Then it was when you traced The plane tails cutting slash marks Through the pale morning sky, and imagined Aloud that those long, feathered lines They leave behind are fraying seams For some colossal fingers to grip The edges of, Tear open and reveal, Behind this one, Another distant sky.

No, you were sure, Beyond this world, this sky, The only thing waiting for us Was a duplicate.

3. Then you began To see only

on arrival”

There was a sale at Ace Hardware today: 40 percent off washers, so Ophelia walked home with tiny metal discs pinging around in his coat pocket. He didn’t have any particular use for them right now, but soon enough, he’d be stumped and a washer would sew it all together. How horrible it would be to be so close in the middle of the night and have to quit right before success, just because he’d passed up a sale.

When Ophelia got home he stuffed the bag of washers in one of his dresser drawers beside a good chunk of his savings, transformed into hardware and other essentials. He heated up a frozen lasagna. There was no dinner table, so he sat on his floor watching a show on his phone and glanced over at the machine in his bedroom corner. He thought: Tonight it will work. He had thought this every night for the last decade. He kept eating.

Old SNL clips weren’t distracting enough; Dana Carvey sketches held his attention for less than a minute. The other day he’d read an article about how people his age were so used to instant gratification that they couldn’t focus on anything. Of course he could focus. What was the portal, the pride of his life, if not driven by focus? But — maybe he really wasn’t all that focused.

Maybe if he’d spent more time watching over the portal, instead of working and reading and texting friends, it would work. He abandoned his lasagna and leaned over to fiddle with it, though the sun was still watching.

During the day Ophelia admonished himself for drawing circuit diagrams in the margins of meeting notes, and by night he kneeled before the metal shrine he’d been dragging around since high school. He hated it. It drove away the few visitors he had, too obviously ugly to be

The bulbous veins

In the ivy leaves, the Straw-colored, straw-boned Kicked-in sunflower Heads littering the sidewalks

In an explosion of brown and white Striped seeds and shriveled petals. There was nothing Left on the vine, nothing left To invent, nothing

To make peace with Anymore.

There were clouds that Crumpled and folded over each other and sagged

Across the sun, there were Clouds that hung soft and alone, And, with you, there were skies beyond skies And nothing beyond that

cited as an art project. If he got it right, though, its appearance wouldn’t matter. He wouldn’t cry about a dent in the frame, nor about a 10-year-old frayed wire. He would never think about it again.

He wrapped a copper wire around the base of the portal. His grandfather had been an electrician; Ophelia hadn’t ever even taken a trade class. He had done this for so long, though, that he figured he had to get it right one day. It was a fire hazard, one that would surely get him evicted if his landlord ever came in and saw it. The exposed wires were thrown over the metal base, barely hanging on. It wouldn’t catch fire. Would it be stupid enough to kill its creator? Or —

maybe the fire was the key. Maybe it would scrape the years off his bones, return his few gray hairs to the universe. It would clean him, absolve him, and turn him back, so this time, he could get everything right.

He would open a portal to another world, one where he didn’t have to cycle through roommates because they all kept getting married, where he didn’t carry around a name that made him sound less like a Shakespearean tragedy and more like a man who was couldn’t come up with something different when he transitioned. His creation was the only route to fixing his life.

He nourished it in hopes of it growing strong and making him proud. He was a horrible father. He stroked its metal casing and adjusted a wire, like tucking the hair behind a child’s ear. He was a fantastic father. What life would it have without him?

You can read the rest of this story on our website, amherststudent.com.

“dead

Madeline Lawson ’25 Managing Arts & Living Editor

Art courtesy of Isabella Fuster-Crichfield ’26

“Envisioning Lebanon”: Politics and Photography

Noor Rahman ’25 Managing Arts & Living Editor

On March 21, a photography exhibition titled “Envisioning Lebanon: a country between collapse and revolution” opened in Frost Library. A collaboration between Hantong Wu ’23 and photojournalists Nabeel Yakzan and Hunter Williamson, the collection depicts the impacts of economic catastrophe and political uprising in the streets of Beirut.

Wu, an Asian languages and civilizations major, organized the exhibition as his senior thesis. His interest in the project began during an Arabic language program at the American University of Beirut. Having grown up listening to news reports about violence and war in the Middle East, Wu decided to learn more about the region in college.

“When I got [to Amherst], I decided I would learn Arabic and get to know this region that has fascinated me for a long time,” he said in an interview with The Student.

Yakzan, a Lebanese expatriate who grew up in the United Arab Emirates, returned to the country in 2017 to study engineering at the American University of Beirut. He started out as a street photographer, but was quickly propelled into the world of photojournalism, partly through the political and economic unrest he witnessed in Beirut.

“I photograph a lot of things related to the passing of time [and] how wars affect people in their everyday lives. Through street photography, you’re able to capture the everyday lives of people, but at the same time capture how the politics around them affects them,” explained Yakzan.

Williamson, who was unable to attend the opening reception on Tuesday, is a journalist and a student at the American University of Beirut.

The photographs on display, taken between 2019 and 2022,

track the aftermath of a series of disasters following the country’s financial collapse in 2019. According to the exhibit’s curatorial statement, the collapse came after “decades of intentional mismanagement by the elites” leading to protests throughout the city and calling for the removal of the elite-ruled government.

In 2020, improperly stored ammonium-nitrate exploded at the Port of Beirut. It took hundreds of lives and caused billions of dollars worth of damage, exacerbating the nation’s financial stress. These moments of calamity compounded decades-long tensions among the country’s three main religious groups — Maronite Christians, Shiite Muslims, and Sunni Muslims. International tensions with Iran and Israel, as well as the struggle to house millions of Syrian and Palestinian refugees, also reached a boiling point in the

past years.

“Tracing these catastrophes and movements, these photographs sketch the multifaceted reality and allow the ordinary people on the streets to tell their visions of Lebanon, a country suspended between collapse and revolution,” reads the curatorial statement.

Both Wu and Yakzan emphasized their desire not only to document the political and economic crises, but to depict images of how ordinary citizens are impacted by the crises daily. “Normalcy is humanizing,” Wu said during his opening remarks. “Normalcy is important because a collapse is a lived experience, and we need to know how people interact with and respond to the collapse.”

“Statistics have real-world repercussions,” said Yakzan in his remarks, echoing Wu’s sentiments. Yakzan believes that these consequences are best

captured “through the lens of a camera.”

The exhibition’s photographs accomplish these goals both as part of a collective and as individual standalone pieces — they range from depictions of families playing at the beach to protesters filling the streets.

One image shows a group of men playing a card game lit by flashlight during a blackout. Another shows a physical altercation between members of the Lebanese Internal Security Forces and a protester. This contrast between the depictions of the political unrest itself and the consequences felt in the lives of Lebanese citizens provides a balance of education about the past few years, but still creates a sense of empathy for viewers of the exhibition.

One photograph’s caption which depicts a man wearing a mask walking past a vandalized ATM, reads, “Unlike other forms

of violence, financial violence eludes justice as the Lebanese state continues to grant impunity to the failed Lebanese banking sector.”

For Yakzan, the collection poses important questions to an American audience about our own political status quo. “Why doesn’t the American public look into more direct action and revolution themselves?” he asked. “I think what I want from the exhibition is a sort of warning message as well.”

Yakzan also wants the exhibit to provide “a look into the Orient.” He explained that “all of the problems in the Middle East are an imperialist issue.”

For Wu’s part, he wants the exhibit to convey “the complexity of the events under the news headlines.” He also wants viewers of the collection to reflect on the “human connections and emotions” wrapped up in the images.

The photography exhibition “Envisioning Lebanon: a country between collapse and revolution” was a result of Hantong Wu ’23’s senior thesis, a collaboration with him and photojournalists Nabeel Yakzan and Hunter Williamson.

Photo courtesy of Noor Rahman ’25

“Survivor”: Recapping Season 44, Episodes 2 and 3

Vaughn Armour ’25 Staff Writer

On March 22 and 29, “Survivor” released episodes two and three of season 44. A whole lot happened, and it was scintillating to watch these quirky characters dive into the game. At the beginning of episode two, we learned that Matthew played his “shot in the dark” so that he wouldn’t have to vote for anyone — keeping his hands clean. This was his only “shot in the dark” all season, but the move seemed to work. Kane was the only one who voted for Brandon, which landed Kane on the bottom.

At Soka Beach, Frannie and Matt further developed their

showmance. They seem to act similarly: making nerdy jokes and laughing together constantly. They also trust each other. Matt told Frannie about his risk in the previous episode, and how he lost two votes. However, Frannie has realized that their extensive time together makes them look like a pair. It’s a tough situation — there’s so much time spent filming “Survivor,” and the competitors want to spend it with the people they like. However, their flirtation makes them significantly more threatening in the game, and they are targets because of it.

When an idol is played on “Survivor” (as it was at the end of last episode), it is re-hidden

at that tribe’s beach. Kane knew this and went searching. Unfortunately, he wasn’t sly about it, and everyone noticed.

Back at Soka, Danny was more successful. He found the key with no one noticing. As established in the previous episode, the cage contained a bag with an idol, an idol note, and a fake idol. Danny put the fake idol in the bag, and locked it back where he found it — no one noticed a difference.

Tika did a group hunt for the idol key. They searched everywhere, and Carolyn found a snake in a tree. It wasn’t what she was looking for, leaving her (understandably) frightened. However, her luck paid off, and she

found the key soon after. Unlike Danny, Carolyn did not immediately think to put the bag back in the cage. It wasn’t until she lay down at camp that she realized an open, empty cage might be suspicious. To make matters worse, the whole tribe was together at the time. She sprinted back while they returned from the water, and re-locked the cage just in time. Unfortunately, she didn’t put the fake idol in the bag — it looked suspicious. Tika now knows someone has the advantage, and Carolyn is the obvious culprit.

The end of the immunity challenge was a balancing maze that has appeared countless times in the show’s history. Josh narrowly edged out Sarah, sending Tika to Tribal Council already down a member. The initial plan was to vote off Carolyn, but Yam Yam was not on board. He likes Carolyn, and ran to tell her that she was in trouble. He didn’t trust Helen, thinking she was cunning and constantly scheming, and he pitched that idea to Carson, who became the swing vote. In the end, Yam Yam successfully switched the vote to Helen. Sarah didn’t have her vote from the previous episode, so Helen went home three-to-one. In the next episode, we found out that Carson didn’t tell Sarah about the vote. She is on the bottom now and has lost trust in Carson.

At Soka, Frannie and Matt continued to grow closer together. As they planned future road trips, the rest of the tribe planned to vote them out.

After laughing about how poorly that duo was playing, Danny concocted a genius scheme. He ate the note that said the fake idol had no power, and then put his immunity idol note in the bag inside the cage. Next, he re-hid the key in an obvious spot for someone to find. Matthew ended up finding it, unaware that Danny could see him. Danny later confronted Matt about the idol in front of Josh, framing Matt as the larger target. With this maneuver, Danny

threw all suspicion off of himself and onto Matt. It was incredibly savvy. Interestingly, it also incentivizes Danny to keep Matt around: as soon as Matt leaves, Danny loses his cover.

At Ratu, we learned that Matthew did a similar thing to Jamie. He had found the key after Kane searched for it and made a fake idol out of beads. He hid the idol with his note for someone to find it, and Jamie was that someone. Now she trusts him, and he has information that he can use to undermine her.

In “Survivor,” when one tribe has more contestants than another, players sit out to balance the numbers. This gives an advantage to the leading tribes — they can choose who to sit out. So far, Claire has sat out of every challenge she could. This is odd because she’s smart and seems fairly athletic. Heidi, on her own tribe, is much older than her as well and has been playing in the challenges. So she sat out of the immunity challenge again, and Soka lost.

This caught up to Claire in the end. The tribe told her that they were voting for Matt, and took her out unanimously. Danny, Josh, and Heidi still maintain a three-to-two advantage over Frannie and Matt, so this made a ton of sense. Frannie pitched Josh because of her lack of a strategic relationship with him, but it didn’t matter in the end.

Although this vote made sense, it continued a troubling trend. Since “Survivor 40,” most of the first eliminations from each tribe have been women. Only two men have been voted out first, compared to ten women. While the new era of “Survivor” has yielded two female winners, ending the six season drought, this trend is still troubling. A large reason for this is how physical the early challenges have become. I have faith that “Survivor” will make changes, but this has to be addressed going forward.

Tune in next week for the next episode of Survivor!

What happened in the last two weeks of Survivor? Vaughn Armour ’25 recaps episodes two and three, which featured stealthy shenanigans surrounding the hidden idols.

Graphic courtesy of Nina Aagaard ’26

Around the Herd: March 15 to

Hena Ershadi ’25 Staff Writer

Swim and Dive

The Amherst swim and dive team had a stellar showing in the NCAA Division III Championships. On the first day of the event, sophomore Gabriele Lunardi ’25 on the men’s team finished 19th in the 500-yard freestyle, swimming a personal-best time of 4:30.71. He then went on to place 28th in the nation for the 200yard freestyle and concluded his championship debut by getting 21st in the 1650-yard freestyle.

On the women’s team, the mammoths earned two All-American honors with Sydney Bluestein ’25 finishing 4th in the three-meter dive and Jess Gordon ’23 finishing 6th in the 500-yard freestyle. Additionally, Megan Lee ’25 finished 10th in the 500-yard free, earning Second Team All-America, and the Amherst women’s swim and dive concluded the first day of events by placing 11th with 35 points.

Later in the competition, Bluestein won the national championship in the one-meter dive with a score of 431.40. Bluestein wraps up a phenomenal sophomore season, adding to her title as the NESCAC Diver of the Year with a national title at the NCAA Division III Championships.

Amherst College wrapped up the final day of the championships finishing 12th with 101 points, and 10 All-America honors.

Women’s Lacrosse

The women’s lacrosse team pressed on to improve their record this season with their games against Ithaca and Bates College. In their match against Ithaca, the freshman class of 2026 powered the offense as they collectively scored 17 of the 21 goals scored by the Mammoths in the game. Though the Mammoths gained an early lead in the game with goals scored by Bridget Finley ’26, the two teams engaged in a fairly tight game for the first half of the game. However, the Mammoths

completely took over the match with a slew of goals scored in the second half, culminating in a 21-13 in favor of the Mammoths.

The team later extended their winning streak in their game against conference rival, Bates college. Another tight match during the first half had the Mammoths leading with a tentative 5-4. Ultimately, the fate of the game was decided with the string of goals scored by Sofia Guttmann ’26 and Finley in the third quarter as the Mammoths improved to a comfortable lead of 9-4 and managed to hold off Bates for the remainder of the game.

Their win against Bates College betters the team's season record to a 4-1 overall and 2-1 in the NESCAC play.

Men’s Lacrosse

The Amherst College Men’s lacrosse team also took on Bates College in a conference game at the Mustang Classic hosted by Stevenson University. The Mammoths took the early lead in the first quarter and maintained it for the remainder of the game, never giving the Bobcats a chance to turn the tide of the game. With Jake Bennett ’23 leading the Amherst offense in terms of goals, the Mammoths won 15-8 over Bates College and improved their overall season record to 2-1.

The next day of the Mustang Classic, the men’s lacrosse team took on York College in a neck-and-neck game. Though the team fought for a 5-1 lead in the first minutes of the game, York refused to yield ground and managed to score 4 unanswered goals. The rest of the game unfolded in a similar manner as the Mammoths struggled to secure a comfortable lead. Going into the fourth quarter with a tied score of 14-14, a goal from Nicholas Kopp ’25 began Amherst’s offensive attack in the final minutes of the game. The game ended in 18-15 in favor of the Mammoths.

Baseball

On their spring break trip to

March

21 in Athletics

Florida, the baseball team earned a 13-1 win over Beloit College and improved to a 3-1-1 record in the season so far.

The game ended after 7 innings and 12 hits for the Mammoths. Jack Boyle ’25 spearheaded the offense, going 3 for 3, while Tristin Kim ’26 performed beautifully on the mound, only allowing two hits over six frames.

Softball

The Amherst College softball team concluded their spring break trip in Florida with back-to-back wins in their games on Saturday. Their first game against Union College commenced with the Mammoths trailing by 3. However, over the course of the game, they were able to build to a 6-4 lead and win with Abby Moravek ’26 leading the

charge. Their second game against Carleton College ended in a 12-1 mercy rule win for Amherst with the Mammoths having had 12 hits over the course of the game. Megan Taketa ’23 established the team’s unceasing lead, going 3 for 3 over the course of the game and scoring two runs. The Mammoths ended their six-day journey with an impressive 10-2 overall record.

Sydney Bluestein ’25 placed first nationally in the one-meter dive.

Photo courtesy of Old Dominion Athletic Conference

Women's lacrosse beat Ithaca College and Bates College this week.

Photo courtesy of Slate Taylor ’25

Women’s Hockey Season Ends in Heartbreak

Mike Schretter ’23 Contributing Writer

After a 2-0 victory over Hamilton in the NCAA Semifinals on Friday, the Mammoths had a date with Gustavus Adolphus, who was competing for their first ever National Championship. In a game that spanned over three hours and ended in triple overtime, the Mammoths resiliency, magic, and talent came up short in a 2-1 loss to the Gusties in

the longest game in NCAA Division III Ice Hockey Tournament history. The physical first period kept both teams scoreless and went into the second period tied at zero. However, things changed in the second period as Lily Mortenson from the Gusties scored a big goal in the middle of the period to give the Gusties a 1-0 edge going into the final 20 minutes of regulation. For the Mammoths, resilience would prevail as Carley Daly ’23 scored the tying goal

to force the game into overtime.

Overtime brought a flurry of excitement as both teams had incredible shots and impeccable saves, leaving the crowd in pure suspense and anticipation for the next play. The game remained tied after the first 15 minutes of overtime and marched into the second overtime period. Similarly, the overtime was mixed with incredible suspense as goalie Natalie Stott ’26 continued her season’s dominance, saving shot

after shot the Gusties sent her way. The Mammoths also made amazing plays, but the Gusties were able to withstand the pressure from the Mammoths, ending second overtime in a 1-1 draw.

The game moved the third and final overtime where the Gusties prevailed with a goal by Katelyn Holland a minute and a half in, giving the Gusties their first National Championship and avenging last year’s runner up position. In their

post game interview, the Mammoths highlighted the importance of their team. Daly explained how she cherished close moments with this team, saying this group was “special.”

Stott, who broke the NCAA Championship record for saves with 59, emphasized the importance of wanting to win for the group around her. The Mammoths had a special year with a lot to be proud of and ended with a 26-4-4 record.

Despite an remarkably successful season, the women's hockey team fell to Gustavus Adolphus College last Sunday.

Red Bull Soars but Ferrari Flails at Jeddah GP

James Minor ’23

Staff Writer

After 50 laps around the Jeddah Corniche Circuit on the coast of the Red Sea, The Saudi Arabian Grand Prix was won by Red Bull driver Sergio Perez from his teammate Max Verstappen (+5.355 seconds behind). This start to the season marks only the second time Red

Bull have achieved two consecutive 1-2 finishes — the other coming in 2009. Fernando Alonso (+20.728) rounded out the podium, continuing to show the impressive pace of Aston Martin. Unfortunately for the Silverstone, UK based team, their other driver — Lance Stroll (20th, DNF) — suffered an engine issue that prevented him from contributing to a strong points day

for the team. Mercedes seemed to stabilize their concerning position with a solid P4 and P5 for George Russell (+25.866) and Sir Lewis Hamilton (+31.065) respectively.

Qualifying proved to be quite eventful as it began with American Logan Sargent (P16, +86.293) was unable to set a representative lap time and even damaged his car after running over a curb too ag-

gressively (curbs in F1 are not like those out on the street — they are not as steep and drivers will often ride them to help maintain speed through the corner). Q2 saw favorite for pole Max Verstappen retire from the session as he suffered a driveshaft issue that prevented him from advancing to the top 10 shootout in Q3. Verstappen’s exclusion cleared the way for team-

mate Sergio Perez to take pole by just 0.465 seconds over Fernando Alonso. Charles Leclerc (P7, +43.162) qualified with a lap just 0.155 seconds slower than Perez, but started 12th after taking an engine penalty in just the second race of the season.

At the start of the race, Alonso

Continued on page 16

Photo courtesy of Clarus Studios

Sergio Perez Triumphs 5 Seconds Ahead of Teammate

Continued from page 15

raced past Perez into the lead at the first turn, before being passed a couple laps later and not seeing the lead again. The two McLarens of Oscar Piastri (P15, +85.021) and Lando Norris (P17, +86.445) both suffered damage in the opening laps as they were forced to pit for repairs on laps one and two respectively, effectively ruining their races at the time. While Verstappen was forced to start from P15 because of his engine issue, he still raced in the most dominant car and was able to work his way up the field relatively easily. On lap 17, Stroll had his engine issue and stopped his car off track. Because the stewards (referees) could not tell how close the car was to the track with their GPS data, they sent out the safety car to bunch up and slow down the field and give the marshalls time to clear the car. Turns out the car was far enough off track to not necessitate

a safety car, but by the time they realized this it was too late.

In addition to making the track safe for the marshalls, safety cars also trigger strategy options for the teams before the cars bunch up, they all must slow down to 40 percent of racing speed. Usually when a car pits under racing conditions in Jeddah, they end up around 21 seconds behind relative to where they were prior to their stop. However, under safety car conditions, that number drops to around 12 seconds, creating an opportunity for drivers to keep positions they otherwise would have lost. This occurred for two drivers as the safety car came out around the time that many other drivers took their pit stops. As a result, Yuki Tsunoda (P11, +67.494) was able to jump into the points for the restart and Sir Lewis Hamilton was able to keep ahead of one Ferrari instead of losing out to both. Unfortunately for the Japanese driver, he

lost the last points-paying position in the last couple of laps to Kevin Magnussen (P10, +64.826).

Speaking of Ferrari, they again suffered a disappointing weekend with Charles Leclerc’s penalty causing him to be hindered by traffic and Carlos Sainz (P6, +35.876) simply lacking the pace to compete with the Mercedes and Aston Martins. Post-race comments from team principal Frédéric Vasseur amounted to the team needing to stop talking and actually work to get faster, both with their car and organization.

Two bits of controversy came up post race. First, Fernando Alonso incurred the same penalty as Esteban Ocon last week — improper placement on the starting grid. He then also served his penalty incorrectly after the rear jack used to lift touched the car prior to the five second penalty being served, causing a further 10 second penalty to be applied. However, the penalty

was assessed too late after the incident so it was overturned. Had the penalty stood, the Spaniard would have dropped behind George Russell. Secondly, Max Verstappen’s father, Jos, was seen blatantly not enjoying celebrations for the 1-2 just because his son finished second — despite the fact his son maintains the championship lead due to achieving the fastest lap for the race. This drew comparisons to Perez’s father's celebrating joyously after the younger Dutchman’s win in Mexico last year. This behavior drew special attention because of the elder Verstappen’s questionable parenting style (google “Jos Verstappen gas station”).

Now that round two of the 2023 Formula 1 Championship is now complete, here are the standings:

Drivers Championship Standings

1. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) - 44

2. Sergio Perez (Red Bull) - 43

3. Fernando Alonso (Aston

GAME SCHEDULE

MEN'S TENNIS

March

WOMEN'S TENNIS

Martin) - 30

4. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) - 20

5. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) - 20

6. George Russell (Mercedes) - 18

7. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) - 8

8. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) - 6

9. Valterri Bottas (Alfa Romeo) - 4

10. Esteban Ocon (Alpine) - 4

Constructors Championship

Standings

1. Red Bull - 87

2. Aston Martin - 38

3. Mercedes - 38

4. Ferrari - 26

5. Alpine - 8

6. Alfa Romeo - 4

7. Haas - 1

8. Williams - 1

9. Alpha Tauri - 0

10. McLaren - 0

The next round will be in Melbourne, Australia on March 31stApril 2nd, with qualifying and the race at 1:00am EST on that Saturday and Sunday, respectively.

MEN'S LACROSSE

March 22nd: vs. Springfield College 6 p.m.

March 25th: vs. St. John Fisher University 12 p.m.

WOMEN'S LACROSSE

March 24th: @ Westfield State University 6 p.m.

March 28th: vs. Kenne State 6 p.m.

SOFTBALL

March 25: @ Wesleyan University 12 p.m.

March 25: @ Wesleyan University 2 p.m.

March 26: @ Bowdoin College 12 pm.

March 26: @ Bowdoin College 2 p.m.