Life in the South
"To a large extent, my Amherst identity is predicated on [being from Tennessee]," said Osborne. "First of all, it's very weird socially. … I think one of the reasons I got so involved with social life on campus was that I was so unhappy here socially. That's not to say I didn't have friends … but the way people interact down South is just flat out different from how they interact up here."
The primary difference, according to Osborne, is the dating culture which is cultivated by Southern relationships. "It wasn't a big deal to take a date to something because it was the social norm … it just promoted a dating culture, not that people were always coupling up, but it meant that you were always with people and always getting to know people," he said. "I remember my freshman year, the London City Opera came through and I really wanted to go. I looked for a date, because you would never go to the opera without a date [in the South] but it was so strange because that wasn't the norm here at Amherst. My friends didn't understand why it was such a big deal to me."
According to Osborne, the dating culture he experienced at home also encouraged men to act like true Southern gentlemen. "I held the door for a girl coming out of Valentine once, and she turned to me and said 'You must be from the South.' When I didn't answer, she replied 'You are from the South!'" said Osborne. "I had this certain behavior instilled into me. I went through five manners courses in high school."
Osborne also remarked that in addition to the cold weather of western Massachusetts, students at the College are socially cold and generally unfriendly, particularly to strangers.
For Osborne, the political climate on campus was also very unusual for him. "At Amherst I am tagged as a right wing nut. In comparison to Tennessee, it is just so far to the left. … I don't like the fact that I sometimes feel really categorized," he said. "For people to tell me that, and I know what true right-wing people are, is just unbelievable to me. … They just have no conception what the rest of America is like. I come from an environment that was conservative both socially and politically."
The social and political differences impacted Osborne immensely during his first year at the College. He was so unhappy that he considered transferring. However, Osborne credits the hardships for helping him grow as a person. His values were reinforced, his religion was reaffirmed and he became increasingly articulate as a result of having to constantly defend his social and political views.
Social adaptation to the North
During his sophomore year, Osborne lived in Charles Drew House. "The joke was, 'you're the whitest white guy on campus. What are you doing living there?' But it was a great experience. … I really liked it. I have only positive things to say about that experience," he said. "There is no way if I had gone to a Southern school I would have lived in the African-American culture house. It was a very appealing option and one that I am so glad I took."
Because of his discomfort on campus, Osborne tried to get involved in as many activities as possible. "I was so challenged because of my Southern nature that I had to stay busy," said Osborne. "I think if something bothers you, you should try to change it. My sophomore year, because the social life on campus bothered me, because the outreach office bothered me, I was determined to do what I could to change them," he said.
As an Association of Amherst Students (AAS) senator and a member of the Outreach Council, Osborne first worked to reform the Outreach Council. "Sophomore year I was one of the founders of the Outreach Council. It was a group that came together to promote community service and activism ideals on campus," he explained. "There were a lot of events that came from the Council, mainly the Day of Service which has now happened for two years." Osborne also worked to hire an assistant director and get the outreach program an additional van and a number of extra student staff members.
Osborne also serviced as co-president of Students Engaged in Active Service. "We really took a somewhat defunct organization and kept it going really well," he said. Osborne helped organize trick-or-treating for local children in first-year dorms.
Osborne's friends agree that he is extremely devoted and hard-working. "Working through student government, Social Council and other organizations, he has developed new programs and events such as the spring formal that are now a part of Amherst tradition," said Lincoln Mayer '04. "Eric cares a great deal about tradition, and he's also revived old ones like the handing out of canes to graduating seniors, something people may not appreciate now but will be grateful for in a few decades."
Perhaps most notable is Osborne's involvement in bringing back the spring formal. In the spring of 2002, Osborne planned the first school-wide spring formal since 1968, despite a substantial amount of doubt on the part of College administrators. "That first year we got funding from nine different sources. We spent about six months raising money … and it was the most money a student had ever raised for an event at Amherst," he said.
Osborne was not yet a member of the Social Council (SoCo) when he planned the formal. "I became involved in SoCo after that. … Junior year I started the Themes of Amherst event at homecoming. … It got the theme houses working together in a way that they never had," he said. "It's the only event on campus that integrates residential life, Social Council and the dean of students office."
This year, Osborne served as the SoCo co-chair with Karen Jennings '05. "From this initial relationship, we have become friends. … He is friendly, a great listener, has a great sense of humor and is full of great ideas," said Jennings. "He is also full of information, in that he knows something about almost everything, and if he doesn't, he always makes an effort to find out."
During his junior year, Osborne almost suffered from hypothermia during a hiking trip with Mark Sayson '04 on Mount Washington. "We got caught in a major blizzard on top of the mountain. It was freezing rain with wind. …I had hiked the mountain in shorts and Mark, who was an eagle scout, told me I was showing the beginning signs of hypothermia," Osborne explained. "That for me was an extremely transformative moment in my Amherst career because … I spent my first two years at Amherst extremely involved, doing lots of things, always on the go. … I think it really made me appreciate the little things like being able to sit in Valentine or sit with friends. It really changed my mindset for these last two years."
Classroom strengths
In addition to such a variety of extracurricular involvement, Osborne spent the spring of his junior year in France. "I've been taking French since coming to Amherst, and it's been very difficult for me," he said. "I learned to sit still there and to just appreciate hanging out with friends and relaxing. I learned a great deal because everywhere I went I was speaking French. I mean, even when you go to the bar, you're still learning. It was so different from what my life is here at Amherst."
According to Professor of French Leah Hewitt, Osborne brought back a number of amusing stories from his semester abroad. "He always has an interesting, sometimes novel, opinion on just about every topic, whether inside or outside the class," she said. "His personal stories about mistaking French slugs for snails or about how the French really open a bottle of champagne will, no doubt, go down in the annals of French department lore at Amherst College."
Osborne wrote a history thesis about radical political activism at the College as opposed to other institutions during the Vietnam War. He focused particularly on the paradigmatic shift in radicalism between 1964 and 1972. "I've never met a student more interested in the history of Amherst College," said Dean of Students Ben Lieber. "Eric is incredible at digging up obscure pieces of history and relating it to the present."
Next year, Osborne will study at the Princeton Theological Seminary to pursue a Masters of Divinity. "It's an incredibly intellectual and hands-on degree that really is just all about human beings and how they think about the world and how you interact with them," he said. "It's great training to do really anything."
Despite the challenges he has faced at the College, Osborne is appreciative of his four years here. "If I had gone to Washington & Lee University I would have emerged as this preppy southern conservative. … I think Amherst has really solidified key values to me and led me to change other values that weren't so key," he said. "I've been exposed to so many things that I never would have been exposed to in the South. That I never was exposed to at home."
Such exposure truly allowed Osborne to develop. "Even as I was finding Amherst difficult, I was constantly amazed by it. It seemed like there was always a new lecture, or a new study abroad program, or a new internship," he said. "In fact, as I learned about the history of the College, I became proud to be a part of it. In the same way it was difficult, it allowed me to grow."