"The disciplinary committee decided the vandalism case against the two students. They were dismissed from the College for one year as of this past Sunday," said Gerety. "They can petition to return starting next September." Contact between the students and the College will occur only if the students decide to appeal the committee's decision, according to Gerety.
The Faculty next heard reports from the Special Committee on the Amherst Education and the Committee on Admission and Financial Aid.
Committee co-chair and Professor of English and Black Studies Rhonda Cobham-Sander opened the report from the Special Committee of the Amherst Education with an overview of the committee's charge and their progress to present. The Committee began working over the summer to "examine the current state of education at the College and to assess the challenges in the coming decades," she said.
To date, the committee has traveled to various colleges and universities around the country, including Brown University and Pomona and Williams Colleges, and spoken to faculty, administrators and students at each institution. It has also compiled academic data on the Class of 2002 and alumni data on the "academic experience" at the College.
"We have spoken to offices and individuals on this campus to see how other schools fit in with Amherst," said Cobham-Sander.
The committee intends to hold small group sessions with faculty members to discuss the research findings. "We will distribute comparative materials and student figures at the meetings," said Cobham-Sander. "The set of issues we expect to report on include the structure and cohesion of the curriculum, the specific skills we expect students to have mastered by the time they have graduated, and the allocation of [full-time equivalent faculty slots] to a diverse and competitive group of individuals."