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The Sophian

Have You Met Webster?

Over the last few years, Webster, an eight-year-old English lab, has been coined as the “unofficial mascot” of Smith College. Sporting a variety of colorful bandanas during the day and an LED light-up harness at night, Webster walks around campus with his owner, Robert Abuza. 

These Don’t Have to Be the ‘Best Years of Your Life’

Before going to college, I was told by many I knew who had already been to college that these years would be the best of my life. Going in, I knew this was not guaranteed, but after COVID-19 canceled my senior year of high school, I was ready to embark on the next leg of my journey and finally experience this pivotal part of  young adulthoodI had heard so much about. 

Northampton Municipal Elections 2023 Bring New Representatives to Local Government

Northampton residents cast their ballots for the municipal election on Nov. 7, 2023. At-large and ward City Council seats and positions for the Northampton School Committee were on the ballot, as well as positions on the Community Preservation Committee, Trustees of the Forbes Library, an Elector under the Oliver Smith Will, and Trustees of Smith Vocational and Agricultural High School. 

Reframing Success: Advocating for the Inclusion of Piper Kerman ’92 in Smith College’s Notable Alum List

Smith has a long and robust list of notable alums, a list about which the College frequently boasts. The Campus Center was recently named after Julia Child ’34. Just last year, Gloria Steinem ’56 visited John M. Greene Hall and spoke to students. The list includes CEOs, political figures, advocates, artists, actors and authors. One missing from this list is Piper Kerman ’92, author of the New York Times bestseller Orange is the New Black: My Year In A Women’s Prison

Responding to Silence

On Feb. 28, 2022, the Smith College Provost Office released a statement titled “Responding to the Invasion of Ukraine.” The letter unequivocally labeled the events of Feb. 24, 2022 an invasion, which was urgently condemned and its “humanitarian consequences” recognized. The statement was clear; there was no potential ambiguity, no room for doubt or misinterpretation. In this case, history didn’t seem complicated and the conversations weren’t difficult. The discourse was not a mere clash or the latest episode in the convoluted conflict between Russia and Ukraine; it was unmistakably an invasion.

The Autumnal Lovers’ Lament

It’s cuffing season and, at long last, I am cuffed. After struggling through a summer filled with pangs of yearning and many long-distance FaceTime calls, I feel so lucky to be on the same campus as my partner once again. But, as the leaves begin to turn and Smithies start to bring their coziest grandpa sweaters out of hibernation, I am once again reminded that it is, in fact, cuffing season, and I want to be cuffed in the cutest, most domestic, most gay-girl-autumn way possible. 

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