The five-year College Campaign concludes with $69 million more than the $200 million goal. When the project was launched in November of 1996, it was the largest ever undertaken by a liberal arts college.
Dining Services expands the meal plan by adding a 14-meal option and $100 of "bonus bucks." The new option was selected by 228 students for the fall semester.
September
The College is shocked following the terrorist attacks in Washington and New York. President Tom Gerety calls an all-school meeting to take place at 4 p.m. on Sept. 11, students organize a candlelight vigil on the freshman quad, and several administrators and staff hold discussion forums. The College loses three alumni in the attacks: Maurita Tam '01, Brock Safronoff '97 and Frederick Rimmele '90. The New York offices of Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, a banking and financial services firm founded by Trustee Harry Keefe, Jr. '43, were located in the destroyed World Trade Center. Students for a Peaceful Response and other members of the College community join a nationwide peace rally held simultaneously on over 100 college campuses.
Amherst shares the first-place rank in U.S. News and World Report with Swarthmore College. Williams followed in third place among liberal arts colleges.
October
Carleton College President Stephen Lewis proposes looking into the creation of a new athletic division, Division III-A, in a letter he sent to the presidents of liberal arts colleges. The Little III schools establish a committee to discuss the role of athletics on New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) campuses.
Following criticism of its previous policy by member institutions, the presidents of NESCAC colleges decide to make changes to the conference's postseason policy. Member colleges are allowed to accept at-large berths in NCAA tournaments.
Joseph Stiglitz '64 is one of three recipients of the Nobel Prize in economics. Three alumni of the College have received Nobel Prizes.
While cases of anthrax are being identified across the country, Professor of Biology Richard Goldsby turns over an envelope that he said "didn't look right" to Campus Police. The FBI finds nothing suspicious about the letter.
The faculty begins discussion on amending the honors system. The Committee on Educational Policy (CEP) developed several potential models of honors for vote by the faculty.
Counter-protesters at a rally organized by the Amherst Assembly for Patriotism burn American flags in front of the Campus Center. The College received national media coverage of the rally and the burning which followed. The protesters who burned flags were not associated with the College.
In response to complaints of impropriety alleged by the crew team, the Student Government Organization (SGO) sets in motion a constitutional review process that calls for an investigation of the Student Finance Committee's (SFC) operations. The team complained that the money allocated by the SFC was insufficient to allow the team to operate.
Superintendent of Schools Gus Sayer closes Amherst Regional High School (ARHS) due to an anthrax scare. An envelope containing white powder is discovered in a boys' bathroom. The school reopens a few days later after the powder is determined to be pancake batter.
A report commissioned by NESCAC presidents finds that recruited conference athletes are twice as likely to gain admission as their peers and that, once admitted, athletes performed substantially worse than their peers at academics, while "walk-ons" performed as well as the general population. Administrators at the College say that they believe that the report does not accurately describe the College's current recruitment practices.
November
There are four confirmed cases of pertussis (whooping cough) at the College. Tests are pending for others.
It is announced that in order to prepare for the implementation of the new freshman housing plan, the Freshman Quad will be partially torn up over the summer to renovate basic utility systems such as electricity, water and gas. The comprehensive residential plan will include the replacement of James and Stearns Halls with new dorms, the renovation of the Pratt Geology building and a new dorm on the site of what is currently Milliken Dormitory.
Allegations of ineffectiveness and irresponsibility made by several student senators against SGO President Michelle Oliveros-Larsen '02 prompt her to recognize the need for the entire organization to take a more proactive approach to its agenda. Use of discretionary funds by Oliveros-Larsen is also questioned in reference to money that was given to the crew team following under-funding by the SFC.
The SGO e-board report on its investigation of the operations of the SFC concluded that in the situation with the crew team both sides did not act professionally, which exacerbated the issue. The e-board also concluded that the SFC is not acting as their constitution dictates and suggests that efforts be made to remedy this.
The treasurer's search committee begins reviewing applications for the position of treasurer of the College. The position opened in the spring of 2001 when former Treasurer Sharon Siegel left to pursue other opportunities.
Journalist and social critic Barbara Ehrenreich gives a speech on "The College-Educated Elite and the Working Class Majority" in Johnson Chapel. The speech marked her first return to Amherst since her controversial comments on Sept. 11 at the all-school meeting, which warned against an inappropriate military response at a time many thought too soon after the attacks.
Paul Hackett, Jr., a sub-foreman for the M.J. Moran Mechanical subcontractor working on the Fayerweather Hall construction project, suffers what observers believe to have been a fatal heart attack. He was working in the building at the time of the attack.
Four representatives from Shepley Bulfinch Richardson and Abbott, the architectural firm responsible for the upcoming freshmen quad construction, conduct a meeting to gather student input on the project. Sandy Howe '70 led the discussion.
December
The faculty vote in favor of adopting a new system of honors. Under the new system, all Latin Honors will be based on a minimum grade point average (GPA) and a departmental recommendation based on independent work done in a student's major. English honors will be contingent upon a minimum GPA.
Will Johnson '03 announces his resignation as SFC chair and SGO treasurer, citing personal reasons. SFC Subcommittee Chair for Films and Lectures Blake Sparrow '04 is appointed interim SFC chair.
Over the fall semester, there have been eight confirmed cases of pertussis (whooping cough) at the College. The Massachusetts Department of Public Health qualifies more than four cases as an outbreak of the disease. Director of Health Services Dr. Daniel Clapp says that the campus should be free of infection by the end of the winter break.
Acting on the advice of Assistant Dean of Students Samuel Haynes and an ad hoc committee that reviewed the executive board's report on the SFC, the Student Senate comes to a consensus that a permanent committee is needed to review the SGO constitution and suggest changes.
January
As part of efforts to reduce a $15 million budget deficit for the current fiscal year, UMass Chancellor Marcellette Williams announces the layoff of 95 employees, including the elimination of its child care, security and regional development programs, as well as the foreign language resource center.
Following allegations that he asked a male student to show him his nipple and then invited the boy to his home, ARHS Principal Stephen Myers resigns from his position.
After a long restoration process, Fayerweather Hall, which houses the fine arts department, reopens on schedule. The fine arts faculty is pleased with the results. Reconstruction shifts to Cooper House, which will house the black studies and philosophy departments, which are currently located in Williston Hall.
February
The faculty continues to outline a new honors system. They vote to allow students to graduate with both English and Latin honors. They make class rank the determinant of English honors.
After several allegations of unconstitutional acts made against it, the SGO approves the formation of an ad hoc committee for constitution review.
Colin Diver '65, a member of the Amherst College Board of Trustees since 1998, is elected the 14th president of Reed College by a unanimous vote of its Board of Trustees. Diver will assume his responsibilities on July 1.
Candidate for SFC chair/SGO treasurer Mike Flood '03, concerned that actions taken in support of Blake Sparrow '04 "violated the spirit and letter of the Code of Elections," contests the election. Flood cites two separate emails written by two different students as the reason for the contest. A committee reviewing the contestation overrides it and releases the election results, indicating Sparrow's victory.
An accidental fire in the dorm room of a College student gave the residents of Chapman House an unexpected wake-up call during early morning hours. Flames and smoke, started by a halogen lamp, caused over $9,000 of damage to room 202 of Chapman House and the corridor outside the second-story room.
Students from cultural groups successfully sway the opinion of the SGO constitution committee regarding diversity seats. As a result, the committee suggests that diversity seats maintain their current full voting power in the altered constitution. Prior to the discussion, the committee intended to allow the five diversity seats speaking rights, but not voting rights, and had considered eliminating the seats entirely.
Since the start of the semester, the SFC has distributed $46,213.40 in discretionary funds and has $8,414.20 to give out for the remainder of the semester. Some students raise concerns about why so much money has been given away so quickly and wonder if other activities will be denied funding later in the future. Other students said that they believe some organizations which have already received funding do not deserve the amount they have been allocated.
March
SGO Vice President Amy Summerville '02 offers a letter of resignation from her position in an email sent to the other members of the SGO. She cites "hostile and degrading treatment by other members of the SGO" as a reason for her resignation.
Members of the Black Men's Group (BMG), which is a subset of the Black Student Union (BSU), voice concerns that the College is unwelcoming and suspicious of black male students. The College responds by instituting a universal ID checking policy at the gym and bringing in experts to train Campus Police to handle sensitive issues.
Resident assistants (RAs) at the University of Massachusetts vote to join the Local 2322 of the United Auto Workers union, becoming the first entirely undergraduate group in the nation to unionize. The University seeks legal venues to challenge the unionization.
After discussing the last sections of the proposed constitution, the SGO votes to approve it and to send it to a school-wide referendum. The constitution outlines a new student organization called the Assembly of Amherst Students (AAS).
College graduate and financial supporter Harry Keefe, Jr. '43 dies of accidental injuries at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. According to Keefe's wife, Anita, the cause of death was a head injury sustained after a fall in Florida. He was 79 years old.
April
The SGO election committee rules in favor of a contestation written by Jake Kaufman '02 of the school-wide referendum on the new SGO constitution. The election committee's decision effectively throws out the election results. The constitution committee rewords the adoption language of the document and sends it to a second referendum, in which the document passes.
UMass President William Bulger announces the appointment of Dr. John Lombardi to the chancellorship of the Amherst campus. Lombardi is the former president of the University of Florida.
After a review by the fine arts department, Committee of Six and President Tom Gerety, Assistant Professor of Fine Arts DeWitt Godfrey is denied reappointment to his position as the only tenure-track studio art professor. A divided vote in the fine arts department reflects a division in the department that has upset Godfrey and people familiar with the situation. Godfrey's students express some concern about the imbalance between studio art professors and art history professors in the department.
May
Students from the five-college area join protesters nationwide as they rally at the Holyoke Mall against Abercrombie and Fitch's line of allegedly racist, anti-Asian graphic tee shirts. The shirts incite anger from Asian-American student groups all over the country. Rallies are held simultaneously in New York, San Francisco, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.
The editors of a new campus-wide satire publication-The Amherst Hamster-claim responsibility for posters pasted around campus warning of a carnivorous hamster infestation on campus, and for an email response to the posters sent to all students under the pseudonym "Dean Linda B. Shartem." The email, titled "Letter from the Dean" originated from the account of Andrew Kerns '04, one of 12 staff members on the new paper, and was intended to draw attention to the release of its first issue.
Thirty-five protesters are arrested after occupying the office of UMass Vice Chancellor Javier Cevallos for one day. They were protesting UMass' continued refusal to bargain with the RAs, who formed the country's first undergraduate union.
President Tom Gerety announces to the faculty and staff of the College that he will be stepping down from his post, effective June of 2003. Gerety will then take a one year sabbatical before full resignation from the College.