AMHERST, MA. —- Amherst College welcomed Governor Maura Healey to Johnson Chapel to commemorate the 60th anniversary of President John F. Kennedy’s visit in what was one of his final public engagements before his assassination.
Governor Healey began her remarks by detailing her unexpected journey from the Harvard Basketball court to the State House. She asked students to consider a life of public service, saying, “The single best way to make change is to be the change; and to make change you have to be in the room where it happens.”
The governor boasted some of her accomplishments as a public servant including the first successful challenge of the Defense of Marriage Act, a $4.3 billion settlement from Purdue Pharma for its role in the opioid epidemic, securing $375 million for the Massachusetts municipalities to repair roads and public transportation services, expanding college pathways and accessibility as well as expanding the child tax credit.
There is a tradition where each governor of Massachusetts hangs a portrait of a predecessor who inspires them. Instead of following suit, Governor Healey decided to leave the frame empty, opting to look to the future for inspiration, not the past. Today, kids superimpose themselves in the empty frame symbolizing that they are the change-makers of the future and inspiration for those after them.
Reflecting on the governor’s remarks, Smith student Aislinn Lavery ’26 said, “If you go to a school like Amherst or Smith, your privilege brings responsibility. We must push that privilege outward to promote that greater good.”
Prior to Governor Healey’s remarks, Amherst College President Michael Elliott spoke about how American democracy was at a precipice. He spoke of the importance of intellectual freedom, diverse thought and his institution’s role in creating “meaningful participants in an engaged and just community.” Elliot appealed to the audience to partake in respectful discourse during the Q&A segment with the governor and to refrain from interruption.
While introducing the Governor, co-creators of Amherst Students for Democracy Aidan Orr ’24 and Theo Dassin ’24, appealed to their peers and the greater Amherst community to take their pledge to donate their time to pro-democracy organizations before their graduation. They asked students to volunteer for organizations that promote liberal values, rule of law, human rights, civil liberties and social justice.
When asked if Amherst Students for Democracy planned on scaling its efforts to other schools in the Pioneer Valley, like Smith, Orr and Dassin said, “Absolutely.” A similar initiative may be on the horizon for Smith.
The event ended with a declaration from Governor Healey, saying, “the world awaits you but don’t wait for the world.”
