James and Stearns Halls continue their legacy with the class of 2009. The newly built dorms reopen in the fall, featuring spacious lounges and two room doubles.

As part of President Anthony Marx's and the College's commitment to education, the College donates $70,000 to local public schools. The donation allows the schools to improve their computer equipment.

College officials announce that the Annual Fund raised a record-setting $7.9 million during the fiscal year 2004-05. The amount surpassed both the record $7.3 million raised in fiscal year 2003-04 and this year's goal of $7.5 million.

U.S. News & World Report ranks the College behind Williams. The College was ranked second for the third year in a row.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) awards grants to seven professors. NSF is an independent government agency that promotes science and engineering by funding academic research.

Amherst welcomes displaced students from Hurricane Katrina. Eleven students from Xavier University and four from Tulane University join the College community.

A record seven percent of the class of 2009 are non-U.S. citizens. The international students come from 20 different countries.

A group of 15 Doshisha University students trek 130 kilometers in order to commemorate Doshisha's 130th anniversary.

October

Four students report cases of staph infections despite the College's warnings to the College community.

The College donates three acres of land to Habitat for Humanity. The College also agrees to provide volunteer labor for the construction of four new affordable housing units located off South East Street.

Sprinklers in Tyler House and Newport House cause flooding. Water damage calls for an evacuation and the College agrees to replace the carpet floors with linoleum.

An unidentified man robs a student near Plimpton House. The Campus Police sends a campus-wide e-mail in response to the event.

A room on the fourth floor of North Dormitory sustains water damage, requiring the room's residents to evacuate. Rain water encouraged the growth of mold, leading to inhabitable conditions.

November

A student loses struggle with bipolar disorder. Terence "Terry" Klugman, formerly of the class of 2008, succumbed to a battle with Bipolar I. Klugman was taking the semester off to receive treatment near his Denver, Colo. home when he overdosed on over-the-counter medication.

Taharqa "T" Patterson '05 pleads not guilty to a rape charge. Many students admit that they were unaware of the rape until a group of students submitted an opinion piece to The Amherst Student.

Thirty-three seniors receive research grants. The Alpha Delta Phi and David P. Patchel Memorial Fund committees announce the endowment of grants to Amherst seniors. The awards are offered by the College via the Dean of Faculty's Office, with the specific goal of assisting senior theses.

Students unite with the local community to oppose Wal-Mart. Students from the College take part in the Wal-Mart Awareness Campaign to raise awareness concerning Wal-Mart's corporate practices. The campaign was part of an effort to oppose the proposed Hadley Wal-Mart Supercenter.

Amherst alumnus Daniel Altschuler '04 is awarded a Rhodes Scholarship, a prestigious honor presented to only 32 American students. The award grants Altschuler at least two years of study at England's Oxford University.

Marx invites students to discuss the College's future as part of a conversation entitled "What Should Amherst Be in five to 10 Years?" Marx addressed the issues of facilities, access to the College and curricular matters. The event asked students to express their opinions and ideas before the Committee on Academic Priorities (CAP) completed its deliberations.

The College's new Earth Sciences and Museum of Natural History building receives a $200,000 grant. The Arthur Wining Davis Foundations provided the grant in order to support the College's facilitation of students in the humanities, sciences and math.

December

The Kresge Foundation awards $500,000 to the College. The grant is part of the Foundation's challenge grant program, aimed to upgrade and endow scientific equipment at institutions operating in the areas of higher education, health and long-term care, human services and public affairs. The grant also provides students with more research opportunities.

The faculty discusses quantitative courses for first-years. As part of the discussion, faculty members address the effectiveness of "intense sections" which involve students who may benefit from additional help in quantitative courses.

An opinion piece submitted by a student raises questions of Honor Code violation. The Student receives an anonymous e-mail that suggests that not everything written by a student's op-ed piece is original work.

February

Students learn that employers use Facebook to screen applicants. The New York Times also informs students that the police use the popular Web site to identify illegal activity.

The College opens the new Earth Sciences and Museum of Natural History building after 16 months of construction. The building displays the College's vast natural history collection.

The College's former Sports Information Director (SID) and current Director of Alumni and Parent Programs Kevin Graber wins the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Fred S. Stabley Sr. Writing Contest National Story of the Year for his piece entitled "Tragedy to Triumph: The Story of Raul Altreche '06."

The American Academy of Political and Social Science (AAPSS) names Nick Soltman '06 a 2006 Junior Fellow. Soltman was one of 130 undergraduates across the country recognized by the Academy.

The Amherst Board of Trustees divest holdings in the Sudan after a long debate among community members. The Board condemned the genocide as "human atrocities that are wholly inconsistent with the moral and ethical values of Amherst College."

The Committee on Educational Priorities (CEP) accepted an APA certificate proposal submitted by Five College Visiting Assistant Professor of American Studies Nitasha Sharma. Accepting the certificate would be the first step to opening the way for more APA course offering at the College, a goal that has been unrealized since the 1970s.

The College announces that it will close Hamilton and Porter Houses during the 2006-07 school year for renovation and construction. As a result of the closings, the German and Russian theme houses will be temporarily relocated.

College's endowment surpasses $1 billion, making the College one of 56 institutions nationally with an endowment of more than $1 billion. According to Treasurer Peter Shea, the increase in endowment reflects a combination of factors including a return on investment, additional gifts, as well as the spending out of the endowment.

Second semester registration issues draw criticism from students and professors as students scramble to add last-minute classes to their schedule. Students and professors contribute some of the problems to the large number of classes that meet at the same time. Other students worry that classes are becoming too large.

Robert Frost Library dispels rumors that it is running low on space to store books. To counter the rumors, the library announces that it will add $2.3 million in new materials.

BusinessWeek's article on Marx sparks a campus debate. According to the article, Marx has taken on a mission to fight the socioeconomic imbalance at the College and in the American educational system. The article sparked a flurry of comments on online forums regarding racial and socioeconomic issues.

The black studies department announces its plans to improve the department. The department looks forward to new courses, new professors and a continued growth in the major. Black studies at the College is already a unique department due to its interdisciplinary nature.

Whitney Wade '09 trains to run a marathon with the intent of raising nearly $3,000 to fund stroke research. Wade's father, Henry Wade, suffered two strokes within three days, making Wade's decision to come to the College difficult.

March

According to a New York Times article, e-mail has increased professor accessibility at universities nationwide. However, some professors are complaining that technology has made them far too accessible. Amherst students and professors respond to the debate of disappearing boundaries. Most professors at the College feel that e-mails, though with its downsides, can foster student-faculty relationships.

The Committee on Academic Priorities (CAP) holds an open meeting for students with Marx in response to the BusinessWeek article. Marx denied the statistics stated in the article, arguing that he had no idea such rumors existed. Marx added, "Journalism does sensationalize."

Director of Information Technology (IT) Peter Schillng addresses "saturation of the College Internet connection" in a campus-wide e-mail. An increase in peer-to-peer (P2P) file-sharing programs resulted in slow Internet connections. As a result of the saturation, the IT department decides to place restrictions and revamp the Scratch drive.

The College faces record-high number of campus visitors. During the week of President's Day, 1,673 tourists visited the campus, the highest number on record for any one week. This number represents a 672 increase from the number of people who visited during the same week last year.

At the meeting of the faculty, professors discuss the Committee on Academic Priorities (CAP) report and lament departmental disharmony. Faculty members also discuss curricular priorities and the hiring of additional faculty.

The Amherst Association of Students (AAS) discretionary fund documents an unprecedented carryover of nearly $50,000. According to former AAS Treasurer Ian Shin '06, cultural affinity groups tend to accrue the greatest amount of unspent funds.

The College receives a grant of $585,142 from the Jack Kent Cook Foundation, which will aid the College's efforts to recruit bright students from low- and middle-income families. Amherst was one of eight highly selective colleges to receive grants from the Foundation, which totaled $6.78 million.

The Rural Community Assistance Corporation (RCAC) reappoints Amherst alumna Ann Harrington '80 to the board of directors. RCAC is dedicated to assisting rural communities in achieving their goals and visions by providing technical assistance, training, affordable housing and access to valuable resources.

Students plan two alternative Spring Break trips, one to the Dominican Republic and the other to New Orleans. The trips have the goal of allowing students "an immersion experience that can't be duplicated on campus," and expose them to social issues and problems they haven't previously encountered.

April

Former Congressmen Bill Goodling (R-PA) and Matt McHugh (D-NY) spend their busy days on campus. The former congressmen volunteered their time to encourage students to be more politically active. The visit was organized by Association of Amherst Students (AAS) President Mike Simmons '06 with Senators Julie Kim '08 and Rohit Raj '08.

Elections Committee Chair Emily Silberstein '06 deems the AAS election invalid and deactivates the electronic polling. Concerns arose over a technical glitch that let unauthorized students access administrative privileges to online ballots.

The Association for the Study of Law, Culture, and the Humanities (ASLCH) awards William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Jurisprudence and Political Science Austin Sarat with the James Boyd White Prize. The prize is an annual award that recognizes distinguished scholarly achievement, in response to "outstanding and innovative" contributions to the "humanistic" study of law.

The Office of Academic Support at the College announces the launching of a pilot program next fall. The program, called the Academic Peer Mentors Program, seeks to bolster the study skills of first-years. Juniors and seniors will work with first-year students in their dormitories to also help them utilize the academic advising system effectively and encourage them to take advantage of available support services such as the Writing and Quantitative Centers and the College library.

As part of the National Day of Action for Immigrant Justice, La Causa and the Chicano Caucus organizes a demonstration in front of Valentine Hall. The event was meant to show solidarity with the millions of undocumented immigrants in the United States and protest the HR 4437 bill. The bill would authorize the construction of a 700-mile fence along the U.S.-Mexico border, raise the crime of illegal immigration to a felony and criminalize those who provide assistance to illegal immigrants.

Valentine Hall hosts a press conference to announce the receipt of a $50,000 Federal grant by Communities Engaged in Sustaining Agriculture (CISA). The grant will help fund CISA's "Farm-to-Cafeteria" Initiative, which was created to help facilitate relationships between local farmers and local institutions.

College participates in faux emergency drill. The College joined the UMass University Health Services, the Amherst Medical Reserve Corps, Cooley-Dickinson Hospital and Hampshire College in a community-wide emergency preparedness drill. Through the event, the College hoped to prepare the community and health officials for possible health and safety emergencies.

La Causa hosts the College's first-ever Latino Alumni Weekend, attracting over 20 alumni from across the country. Alumni and students attended panels and discussions on issues affecting Latinos in the College community. The highlight of the event includes a discussion of the CAP report regarding efforts to start a Latino Studies program at the College and hire more Latino faculty. The event was met with overall success.

Students from Educate!, the Option and the Amherst College Entrepreneur's Club initiate Books for Iraq. According to Ashish Bhatt '08E, co-coordinator of the program with David Jou '08E, the program seeks to send used textbooks from the Option to Baghdad University and to raise money for Educate!. Educate! creates scholarships for refugees and underprivileged students in Rwanda and Uganda.

After years of discussion, the Committee on Priorities and Resources (CPR) considers a proposal to extend dinnertime in the dining hall for an extra half hour every night. Other options under review include the possible offer of Bonus Bucks on all student ID cards and a meal equivalency program after hours at Schwemm's Coffee House.