On Sept. 11, 2001, the Amherst community gathered in the gymnasium to share thoughts and emotions on that morning’s attacks. One student said: “What we need now is community.” Read a dispatch from the Fall 2001 issue of Amherst magazine.
“We tend to think that once you get tenure you know everything, but that’s not true. You’re never a finished product.” From an interview with Pawan Dhingra, associate provost and associate dean, by Carla Diaz ’13 in Amherst magazine.
On Aug. 28, 1828, the Amherst trustees named the new chapel in honor of a local carpenter whose bequest funded its construction. Today, Johnson Chapel is a classroom, office, concert venue, lecture hall and landmark.
Learn more Amherst College history in the Bicentennial Timeline.
This week, Amherst College welcomes the class of 2025! Learn more: Orientation Schedule.
“My interest is not in witnessing how my students accumulate information. What I want for them, what I enjoy seeing, is that they learn how to think, because that they will take with them forever, applying it to life itself.” Professor Ilan Stavans, in an essay for Amherst magazine about his year of pandemic teaching.
Note: Illustration by Giovanni-Alberti
On Aug. 18, 1818, at the annual meeting of a local primary school, Col. Rufus Graves presented a plan for a charitable foundation to give free instruction to “indigent young men of promising talents and hopeful piety” This is the origin of Amherst College.
Note: Learn more about Amherst's history in the Bicentennial Timeline.
“In the scientific world, people are judged by the content of their ideas.” Steven Chu, a Nobel-winning physicist and former U.S. secretary of energy, will speak at Amherst on March 21 in a talk that is free and open to the public.
“Once a president gets to the White House, the only audience that is left that really matters is history.” Historian Doris Kearns Goodwin will speak at Amherst on March 4 at 10 a.m. in Johnson Chapel as part of the College’s annual literary festival.
“Time comes to us softly, slowly. It sits beside us for a while. Then, long before we are ready, it moves on.” Author Jacqueline Woodson in her young adult novel If You Come Softly.
NOTE: As part of Amherst’s annual literary festival, Pamela Paul, editor of the New York Times Book Review will host a conversation with 2016 National Book Award fiction finalists Woodson (Another Brooklyn) and Chris Bachelder The Throwback Special), at 7:30 p.m. on March 2.
“Every moment happens twice: inside and outside, and they are two different histories.” Author Zadie Smith in her novel White Teeth. Smith will headline Amherst’s annual literary festival on March 3 at 7:30 p.m. in Johnson Chapel
“We were trying to address a problem of people who lack political and economic capital.” Thomas Mitchell ’87 was once a student activist at Amherst, now he is a “genius grant” winner for his work to close a loophole that cheats the Black community.”
After the unexpected death of Warren G. Harding on Aug. 2, 1923, Vice President Calvin Coolidge, class of 1895, became the 30th president of the United States. He is the only Amherst graduate (so far) to serve in the role. Learn more about Amherst's history in the Bicentennial Timeline.
“I thought science was about things that were known. Amherst fixed that. It helped me understand that science is actually about how you approach the unknown, how you ask questions and use the answers.” Moderna President Stephen Hoge ’98, in a new interview for Amherst magazine.
On July 12, 1871, Amherst marked the 50th anniversary of its founding with speeches and celebrations attended by nearly 700 alumni. Learn more Amherst history in the Bicentennial Timeline.
“The structural agents that have led to both police violence and the disproportionate rates of COVID-19 deaths in Black American populations have the same roots.” Alexandre White ’10 is a sociologist whose research stands at the intersection of global pandemics and systemic racism, in an award-winning profile for Amherst magazine.
Note: Amherst magazine's profile of White won a silver award from the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education, as did the full issue in which the article appeared.
On July 9, 2007, Amherst announced it would replace loans with scholarship funds for all students who need financial aid, thus allowing students to graduate debt-free. Learn more about Amherst financial aid today.
Note: Learn more Amherst history in the Bicentennial Timeline.
In June 1982 a group of Amherst alumni crossed paths at a New York City Pride parade and decided to form the Amherst Gay and Lesbian Alumni group, known as GALA.
Note: Learn more in the Bicentennial Timeline.
“With Juneteenth, we’re celebrating the progress America has made away from legal slavery, and we’re thinking about the changes that still need to be made to allow Black people true equality.” Elizabeth Herbin-Triant, associate professor of Black studies and history, on the significance of the U.S. federal government making June 19 an official national holiday—and why such recognition is “an important first step.”
Ten years ago, on June 14, 2011, Biddy Martin was named the 19th president of Amherst College. Learn more in the Bicentennial Timeline.
“It’s been such a personal case for me, but the most important thing in this type of work is to not be the cis-person who’s telling the narrative.” Lawyer Josh Block ‘01 on representing the trans icon Gavin Grimm, who sued his town’s school board for barring him from the boys’ bathroom.
“When she told me about citizen science, I was really surprised.” Nawoo Kim ’22 was one of the students who help collect, share and analyze data for the Pioneer Valley Mammal Citizen Science project, which tracks area bears, bobcats and more.
Photo credit: Henry Godek
“When I was 18 years old, I found out that both my grandparents were gay on the same night that I came out to my mother.” Isabel Meyers ’20, in her thesis “Something Else You Should Know.” She and Theo Peierls ’20E were the winners of the 2020 David Kirp ’65 Stonewall Prize.
Learn more about the prize and its namesake. (Background flag image credit: Chickenonline from Pixabay.)
In June of 1915, Charles Hamilton Houston ’15 graduated with majors in English, music and French. He went on to develop the strategy that culminated in the Brown v. Board of Education decision. Learn more in the Bicentennial Timeline.
NOTE: Charles Hamilton Houston is in the back row, fifth from the right. (Photo credit: Courtesy of the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice.)
“Becoming who we are is no small task.” Stephen Cope ’71, a former anthropology major at Amherst, is a psychotherapist, Yoga teacher, and author of several books on yoga and meditation. He is the founder of the Kripalu Institute for Extraordinary Living.
“Lawrence v. Texas is almost certainly the very first thing that is going to get mentioned in the newspaper when I leave this world. And it is a pretty good story, as well.” Paul Smith ’76, Amherst trustee Paul Smith ’76, who argued the landmark 2003 gay rights case in the U.S. Supreme Court, speaking in 2015, when he received an Amherst honorary degree.
NOTE: Photo by Ted Eytan. This photo appears in it's original form on the homepage; here a cropped version is displaying. Creative Commons licence.
“It's important to find a mentor.... Often people want to champion people like themselves. So early on, it was hard to find that person. ... Now I reach out to Asian women all the time; and I say, ‘Please let me help you.’” Janet Lin ’97, screenwriter and showrunner for Bridgerton, Cursed and other TV shows.
Amherst held its first Commencement ceremony in 1822. This Sunday, May 30th, the Bicentennial Class of 2021 will graduate in an in-person ceremony on Pratt Field. Congratulations to all the seniors! Commencement 2021
“I was learning to read and by extension, learning to write with real intention, with a sort of sonic appreciation and attention to the machinery of sentences, the emotional content, the syntax.” Presidential speechwriter Dan Cluchey ’08 on his Amherst experience. Cluchey was the elected class speaker at his Commencement.
“You belong now. You are loved now. You are making your history now. Thank you for letting me sit at your table.” Min Jin Lee, Amherst writer-in-residence, in a 2019 lecture to first-year students. Lee is the author, most recently, of Pachinko.
“For now, fiction has redeemed me.” Makena Onjerika ’10, who won the 2018 Caine Prize for African Writing, launched the Nairobi Fiction Writing Project.
In what field has an Amherst alum not won a Nobel Prize? Test your Amherst College knowledge in our alumni magazine's special Bicentennial contest. One randomly selected winner will receive an official Bicentennial book. Learn more about the Bicentennial and the Bicentennial books.
“From the window she could see / women from every corner of the city / walk into the river, disappear / then rise clean, saris soaking.” Poet Kirun Kipur ’97, writer-in-residence at Amherst, from “Waiting for Sleep, I Imagine Sita in Her Youth,” a poem in Kapur's latest poetry collection Women in the Waiting Room.
“We’re interested in what underlies the genetic variation for the risk of new disease emergence.” Professor of Biology Michael Hood in “Could 10,000 Carnations at the Science Center Save the World?”
“The arrival of Asian immigrants to what would eventually be called America dates back to the 1500s, and the phrase “Asian American,”which was coined in the 1960s, encompasses more than 20 million people with dozens of distinct ethnic identities.” Pawan Dhingra, professor of American studies, president-elect of the Association for Asian American Studies, from his CNN opinion piece, The Most Effective Way To Fight Back Against Anti-Asian Hate.
Visiting in 1823, Ralph Waldo Emerson referred to the College as “an infant Hercules,” whose impressive students “..write and study in a sort of fury which, I think, promises a harvest of attainments.” From “Amherst in the World” by Martha Saxton. Learn more about our Bicentennial books.
“These three studies are a testament to what Amherst has worked so hard to accomplish.” Elizabeth Aries, the Clarence Francis 1910 Professor in Social Sciences, and the author of three studies, done over 15 years, on how race and class attitudes shaped Amherst students.
“The poems about AIDS just seemed so much more present to us than they had when I've taught them before.” Amelia Worsley, assistant professor of English, on the remarkable ways the pandemic changed her poetry course.
Footnote: April is National Poetry Month. Learn more about Literary Amherst.
“We are grateful and eager to seize this historic moment in our country to build a future where homelessness is rare and brief.” Rosanne Haggerty ’82, Founder of Community Solutions.
Community Solutions won a $100 million MacArthur foundation grant to end homelessness.
In 1821-22, Amherst offered 37 courses. Today, students can choose among more than 850, with 6,000 total available through the Five College Consortium. Learn more about Amherst College at 200.
NOTE: Read more facts about Amherst today.
“That was my goal in writing the book—to give people an understanding of the psychological factors that lead to inaction, and to give people, therefore, the tools and courage and strategies to speak up in the face of bad behavior.” Psychology Professor Catherine Sanderson in an interview about her book Why We Act: Turning Bystanders into Moral Rebels.
NOTE: Sanderson is teaching two courses this semester, “Close Relationships” and “Sports Psychology.”
“The community I established with the instructors and my peers was unmatched. I had never been in an environment where everyone shared the aspirations I have and my fiery passion for STEM.” Maria Andrade ’23 took part in the Incubator project, a STEM skills-development program.
In 1969, the pathbreaking feminist and author Tillie Olsen became the first woman to hold the position of visiting writer at Amherst. The Tillie Olsen Project.
Note: This year, Amherst’s visiting writers are Kirun Kapur ’97 and Thirii Myo Kyaw Myint.
In 2020, a field of sunflowers bloomed for the first time near the Arms Music Building on campus in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the passage of the 19th amendment. This planting is one of the College’s Bicentennial projects.
Note: Press Release: Amherst College Launches its Bicentennial.
In 2011, Biddy Martin was elected the 19th president of Amherst College. She is the first woman to serve in the position. Learn more about President Biddy Martin.
In 1980, anthropologist Mary Catherine Bateson became the first woman to serve as Amherst’s dean of the faculty. In Memorium
Note: Today, history professor Catherine Epstein is the College’s provost and dean of the faculty.
In 1972, the poet Sonia Sanchez became the first African American woman to join the Amherst faculty. She was also the second person to chair Black Studies. She returned as a keynote speaker in 2018. Read: “We’re Here Because Sonia Sanchez Wants to Reactivate Activism,”
In 1986, prominent feminist scholars founded what is now the Department of Sexuality, Women’s and Gender Studies at Amherst. Sexuality, Women's & Gender Studies (SWAGS) at Amherst.
Note: The African American Intellectual History Society chose a book by one current SWAGS professor, Aneeka Henderson, for its list of Best Black History Books of 2020.
In 1999, women's tennis won Amherst's first NCAA team championship in any sport. Read “The Unleashed the Magic” from Amherst Magazine 2019.
Note: Amherst has taken home a total of 13 NCAA Division III team championships, most recently for women’s basketball in 2018.
In 1962, Rose Olver became the first woman to hold a tenure-track position on the Amherst faculty. In 2013, she became the first woman to have her portrait hang in Johnson Chapel. Learn more: “At Last, a Rose,” from Amherst magazine, 2013.
“A people without a thorough knowledge of roots and history cannot move into the future, cannot rest in the proper chair of life.” Poet and activist Sonia Sanchez in 1974, in a memo inaugurating Amherst’s Black Studies department, which turns 50 this year.
Note: Learn about Sanchez’s most recent visit to Amherst.