The conversation allowed students to express their opinions and concerns about the College's future before the CAP completes its deliberations in January. "The Committee on Academic Priorities is about three-quarters through its deliberations," said Marx. "That means [CAP has] now thought enough about what it needs to think about to be ready to hear what you think." Marx added that the important question that members of the College community have to ask is "So Amherst is great, but could we be better?"
Marx began the discussion by highlighting issues and thoughts that could be addressed in further depth. The first area addressed by Marx was the issue of facilities. Of the many facilities, social dorms were of concern. "Social dorms are going to need some serious help ... if not more than serious help, five to 10 years from now," he said.
Marx stated that the Robert Frost Library also needs improvement, in addition to the Merrill Science Center and language facilities. He noted that although the library is at an ideal location, it is not as accommodating to students as it could be. "Frost Library is not an architectural masterpiece," said Marx.
"It is also not the intellectual and social center of the campus it should be."
Among the many questions Marx raised regarding Frost was how the library could better attract students of the College. "I believe that if we had a beautiful and vibrant library, you and your successors would be less likely to sit in your room doing your work and more likely to be in this beautiful collective space working together," he said. "I think that's a better idea." However, despite his beliefs, Marx emphasized the fact that he and CAP welcome students' thoughts on the issue.
The second area covered by Marx was the question of access to the College. Marx first posed the question, "How can the College do a better job of helping you think about the moral issues that you are going to face in your lifetime?" He then tied the question to the issue of access, stating that the College's ability to teach students about moral integrity was related to the College's actions. "We want to inspire you to be the leaders of moral integrity that this society and the world is going to need even more of," said Marx. "One of the ways we do is to not be hypocritical about access."
Questions of access deal with how the College can reach out to students who think Amherst is outside their reach financially; and once these students apply, how the College gives the best students a chance to attend regardless of their ability to pay. Marx added that tuition is another area of concern regarding access for students.
Marx also addressed curricular issues. "The College is not in the business of spending a quarter of a million dollars on each student simply to put an Amherst name on your forehead and have no other effect," he said. "That would be a rather silly way to spend a quarter of a million dollars in any social sense of investment." Marx emphasized the importance of adding value upon the students' ability to think, write and reason. Marx said that questions of how to provide more international studies had to be considered. Other areas of study that Marx believes are underrepresented at the College were environmental studies and arts.
For Marx, another area of concern is experiential learning along with questions of whether more internship opportunities should be provided and if the College should be tying real-world experiences with courses. "Should we be organizing those possible experiences around a set of themes that many if not all us share an interest in so that we can also then develop in the curriculum courses on the same subjects?" he asked.
Marx added that doing so would provide students with a better understanding of how a liberal arts education can be better used by students and provide opportunities across disciplines. The last issue raised by Marx concerned students' writing and quantitative skills, which has already raised debate within the College community.
After Marx highlighted areas that are being considered by the administration and CAP, students were given the opportunity to ask questions and express their views. Olivia D'Ambrosio '06E raised the question of whether the aesthetics of buildings should even matter, considering that the increasing eliteness of the College would make it so no one could afford the tuition.
Ron Espiritu '06 expressed his wish to see more Latino professors and eventually a Latino studies department on campus. In response, Marx stated that the diversity of the faculty was already under discussion and that the College has been paying more attention to that issue now than ever. However, he added that increasing the faculty's diversity was complicated, explaining that methods such as affirmative action involve legal issues.
Zulal Neyzi '07 addressed the issue of raising awareness about Amherst among international students. "I think it's very important for an institution to have international students ... in Turkey nobody knows Amherst," she said.
Marx agreed with Neyzi and added that the admissions process should become need-blind for international students. However, Marx also stated that if the College were to go need-blind, it would have to make that message clear to prospective international students.
Another student raised the question of what was done to replace fraternities. She argued that students want to belong to smaller communities, citing underground fraternities as examples. Though Marx stated that it was difficult for him to address the issue of underground fraternities since he has not been exposed to them, he shared that he prefers students to become close to one another through the larger community.
Marx elaborated, stating that there have been efforts to address the issue of fostering a sense of community. He used the completion of the Freshman Quad as an example. However, he added that such projects were not enough and that more discussion has to take place.
Overall, the event received good reviews from students who were in attendance. Students were pleased by the CAP's willingness to discuss the College's future with students. "I thought that the CAP meeting was pretty good," said Ashley Finigan '08. "I really appreciated that President Marx seems to place a high value on student opinion, and that he wants to include us in the formulation of College policy and plans."
President of the Amherst Association of Students (AAS) and member of the CAP Mark Simmons '06 echoed Finigan's sentiment. "Many students expressed a common thread of concern that CAP should look into long range programs to augment social interaction among students," he said. "President Marx warmly welcomed those views and heartily invited students to send him an e-mail and even meet with him to offer ways to improve on this angle of college life."
However, there was the belief that not enough people were given an opportunity to voice their opinions. "I felt that the meeting was handled well, it was casual and interactive," said Finigan. "However, I wish that the President would have placed a time limit on people's questions because many more people wanted to input but were not able to." Others at the meeting felt that certain issues were not addressed as much as they could have been, while others felt that the student turnout was a bit disappointing.
Yet, many students said they left the event feeling they learned more about how College decisions are made and that they had taken part in a unique event that invited students to play a role in the College's future. Marx shared that the time the College plans for the future is "a rare moment in the College's history so that the students who are here now have an unusual opportunity to help to shape the future of the College which not all students have," said Marx.