Large bright tent full of alumni seated at round tables

Relive Reunions

Over a glorious weekend in June, we were thrilled to welcome nearly 3000 alumni back to on- campus reunions for the first time in two years. Relive memories or nurse your FOMO with our photo collections.

Show me e verything!
Class of 1972’s 50th Festivities
Class of 1997’s 25th Festivities
Parade and Annual Meeting of the Society of Alumni
Classes of 2015/16/17’s Festivities

two smiling alumni outside Paresky under Welcome to Williams sign on a sunny day

Upcoming highlights

CELEBRATE 40 years of the Williams Black Alumni Network! Are you a WBAN member interested in supporting this milestone with an idea or as a volunteer? Fill out this form.
READ the latest Purple Prose Book Club selection, A Long Petal of the Sea, by Isabel Allende and save the date for a talk with the author on July 19.

BE A PART OF THE CELEBRATION OF 50+ YEARS OF COEDUCATION

SHARE your story in the 50 Words for 50 Years section of the website.
PRESERVE your photos from the first decade of coeducation at the college.
SHAPE the agenda for the upcoming Women of Williams conference.
SAVE the date for the conference, May 19-21, 2023.

There's still time to make a difference

Gifts to the Alumni Fund from alumni like you make transformative initiatives like the move to an all-grant financial aid program possible. You can still be part of this year’s Alumni Fund! Make a gift by June 30 so your gift counts for this year.

Smiling woman with purple flag standing in an open courtyard outside modern building on a sunny day

WE THE PURPLE

In July 2021, intrepid Ephs Juan Baena ’06 and Michael Rodriguez ’17 jumped into an RV plastered with banners celebrating the Society of Alumni’s Bicentennial and crisscrossed the country interviewing alumni in their hometowns. One of their stops was Salt Lake City, Utah, where they talked to Linda Aaron ’85 about connecting youth with the outdoors, facing a breast cancer diagnosis, and meeting a diverse community at Williams.

Alumni in Focus

“What I’ve learned from the science of reading work has been transformational,” says educator Lucy Calkins ’73, whose newest curriculum embraces daily structured phonics lessons for young students after decades of support for balanced literacy—letting children develop as natural readers.
On Late Night with Seth Meyers Allegra Hyde ’10 discusses the research required for her novel Eleutheria that led her to hippie communes in New Zealand and a former cult “rebranded as a health and wellness center,” she explains.
Michelle Rodriguez ’12 borrows from her days as a campus tour guide as she leads groups through an interactive theater experience via a fictional walking tour in downtown NYC .
As part of a New York Times writing team, Eric Schmitt ’82 has won a 2022 Pulitzer Prize in International Reporting for coverage of U.S.-led airstrikes in the Middle East.
Sasha Suda MA ’05 takes over as director of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, aiming to move the museum forward after a period of controversy.
Self-proclaimed “accidental internet scholar” Ethan Zuckerman ’93 wants to build a better internet: “In the future I am trying to build, we would have thousands of different spaces for thousands of different conversations,” he says in The New York Review.

Alumni can catch up with classmates in the May issue of Williams People.

News from the college

Congrats, Class of 2022!

Families and friends gathered on Williams Quad to celebrate Williams’ 233rd commencement on June 5. President Maud S. Mandel conferred 513 bachelor’s degrees on seniors and 37 master’s degrees on graduate students. Find videos, photos and more online.

The Rivalry Continues

President Mandel received a Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa, from Amherst College during its in-person Class of 2020 commencement ceremony, which had been delayed by Covid. The good-natured rivalry between Mandel and outgoing Amherst President Biddy Martin—who received a Doctor of Laws honorary degree during Williams’ commencement—played out in their speeches: “We’ll keep giving you a hard time,” Mandel said.

WCMA Architect Announcement

The college has chosen the architecture firm SO-IL to develop a conceptual design for the new Williams College Museum of Art building, to be located on the former site of the Williams Inn. The space will increase access to the museum’s permanent collection and serve as a facility for teaching, programs and exhibitions. Once the design is complete, and contingent on approval by Williams’ Board of Trustees, the building project is scheduled to proceed in alignment with WCMA’s centennial year of 2026-27. Read President Mandel’s announcement about the architect selection.

Faculty and Staff in the News

Associate Professor of Biology Matt Carter and a team of student contributors published groundbreaking research on the area of animals’ brains that controls appetite.
Edward Brust Professor of Geology and Mineralogy Rónadh Cox was elected into the Royal Irish Academy for her scholarly achievements in the sciences.
Campus Safety Services Officer Alex Daugherty won a Spirit of Caring Award from the Northern Berkshire United Way for his service to the community through volunteerism with numerous youth programs and service organizations.
Laura Martin, assistant professor of environmental studies, writes about the women of the Wild Flower Protection Society of the early 20th century and their efforts to save native plants.
Find this year’s bibliography of faculty publications online and on display in the Sawyer and Schow libraries.

Student Spotlight

Daniela Galvez-Cepeda ’24 received the 2022 Dr. Vicki L. Schechtman Scholarship from the Association for Women in Science to continue her research on the cognitive development of children, with a focus on gender issues.

For more stories and news about the Williams community, visit Williams Today.

Photo by Bradley Wakoff/Berkshirian Images

williams in photos

Smiling Eph in a colorful patterned top on a sunny day.

See more photos from reunion on Ephalum

Smiling student in crowd of students in grad robes on a sunny day.

Celebrating commencement on Instagram

Woman in purple robe behind wooden Amherst podium outside on a sunny day

Facebook tells you why our prez is at Amherst!

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