Outgoing Williams Outing Club Director Scott Lewis welcomes all to Mountain Day. Photo by Bradley Wakoff
| |
UPCOMING Events
- Saturday, Nov. 4, 9:00 a.m. at the Williams Inn, Michael Sardo ’81 discusses his path from Williams student to successful showrunner and executive producer and back to Williams, teaching screenwriting.
- Saturday, Nov. 4, at 10:15 a.m. at the Williams Inn, President Mandel offers campus updates and a Q&A.
- Sunday, Nov. 5, 11:00 a.m. at the Clark, author Christine Coulson MA ’93 is in conversation with Elizabeth McGowan, the Robert Sterling Clark Professor of Art, discussing Christine's new novel, One Woman Show.
VETERANS: CONNECT WITH OTHER ALUMNI AND STUDENT VETERANS, those currently serving and military spouse/partners, at a special online meetup on Tuesday Nov. 14 at 4:00 p.m ET for Ephs with military experience in honor of Veteran’s Day.
READ the next Purple Prose Book Club selection, This Tender Land, an enthralling, bighearted epic that tells the story of four orphan vagabonds who journey into the unknown, crossing paths with others who are adrift, from struggling farmers and traveling faith healers to displaced families and lost souls of all kinds. Mark your calendar for the talk with author William Kent Kreuger on Dec. 5 at 2:00 p.m. ET.
| |
Submission Deadline October 31!
It's not too late to showcase your wares in our second annual Alumni Holiday Gift Guide. Register by Oct. 31 to tap into a powerful market: last year’s inaugural edition welcomed nearly 5,000 unique visitors.
| |
2024 Winter Study Alumni Mentorship projects
| |
ARE YOU A COW? COWS demonstrate their support for the college through monthly recurring gifts. Your total gift is divided into manageable monthly installments, which allows you to maximize the impact of your giving to Williams while being more environmentally friendly (no more solicitations in the mail.) As part of the herd, you’ll feel great knowing that you’re making a difference for Williams students all year long.
| |
Students gather with President Mandel before a hike during this year's Mountain Day. Photo by Bradley Wakoff
| |
News from the college Message from President Mandel
A Glorious Mountain DayAnother Mountain Day is in the books! In President Maud S. Mandel’s message declaring a day off from classes, she invited everyone to “have fun in the outdoors whatever your interests, abilities and circumstances” and appreciate “the glories of fall!” See a recap of the festivities in video and photos. Update on Environmental InitiativesEiko Maruko Siniawer ’97, provost and Class of 1955 Memorial Professor of History, shares highlights of the many kinds of environmental work the college has pursued over the past year, including plans to transition its heating and cooling systems to greener sources of energy and several campus buildings that have received green certification.
Highlights from the Trustees MeetingAt its fall meeting, the Board of Trustees—featuring new members Danielle Deane-Ryan ’97, Jan F. van Eck ’85 and Jeffrey K. Rhodes ’97—voted to approve the concept and move into the design development phase of the new museum. Discussions also focused on the college’s athletics and wellness program, current admission practices and policies, and the impact of the All-Grant Financial Aid Program. See the summary online. Faculty in Focus - Geosciences professor Phoebe Cohen is featured on NOVA’s Ancient Earth series, noting that “the evolution of complex life occurred at a rate never seen before” following Earth’s global deep freeze 700 million years ago.
- “Although learning to identify sounds, letters and words is necessary for reading comprehension, it is not enough,” writes Susan Engel, senior lecturer of developmental psychology and Williams’ Class of 1959 director of the Program in Teaching, in The Washington Post, arguing that U.S. schools emphasize decoding words over helping children acquire knowledge.
- Katie Keith, assistant professor of computer science, speaks with E-International Relations about the need to audit large-scale algorithms in research and everyday online activity, and the possible uses of AI tools in international relations.
- Artist and art professor Pallavi Sen’s “Experimental Greens: Trellis Composition”—part garden and part art installation—is on view at the Clark Art Institute as part of the exhibition “Humane Ecology: Eight Positions.” Rosemary Kehoe ’24, Riku Nakano ’25 and Benet Ge ’25 spent this past summer caring for the garden and documented their observations through photos and writings.
- “Privilege,” an essay by Jim Shepard, Williams’ J. Leland Miller Professor of American History, Literature, and Eloquence, is featured in the new issue of Ploughshares, a journal of contemporary American literature.
Student HighlightsIn Memoriam
| |
|  See alumni Mountain Day gatherings on Ephalum | |  |  See Williams' Indigenous People's Day events on FB | |
| | |
|
