When comedian Ashely Gavin announced a Northampton stop on her tour on Oct. 1, I knew I had to go. I first saw Gavin scrolling on my TikTok “For You” page a few months ago. In this first short clip, Gavin describes a conversation with a contestant on The Bachelor who slid into her Instagram DMs (Direct Messages). It led me on a deep dive into her TikTok page, building my excitement for her stop at the Academy of Music. Her performance offered not only two hours of laughs but also unique insights on recently having a changed reputation in the world of social media cancel culture.
The Sophian
Seniors line up along Paradise Road for the Ivy Day parade. Alumnae from the class of 1963 and 1998 hold signs during the Ivy Day…
When it was first announced that I was going to be the eleventh president, I was invited to campus while Carol Christ was president. There was an event in John M. Green, just like there was for Sarah, and I talked about college access and affordability. I think you might know (because I talk about it frequently) that I’m the first person in my family to go to college. My dad didn’t finish high school — he worked in a factory — and I’m just passionate about this. In order to have people like me on campus, it requires generous financial aid, so that was the one goal I came in knowing that I had.
For the Class of 2027, Smith College received applicants from all 50 states and DC, 4 U.S. territories, and 140 different countries. Out of 9,968 applicants, 19% were admitted. On May 1, National Decision Day, admitted students made their final college decisions, and Smith’s class of 2027 is on their way to Northampton.
In her debut album, Why Does the Earth Give Us People to Love? 23-year-old Smith alum Kara Jackson grapples with colossal concepts of love, death, and self-worth, delivered with delicate hands and an eternally powerful voice. The prior Youth Poet Laureate has incorporated her skillful penmanship into a new medium, her hard-hitting lyrics underscored by smooth acoustics and flourishing arrangements of guitar, piano, and banjo. Pitchfork awarded her “Best New Album” with a whopping overall score of 8.2, a testament to her impressive musical abilities.
On April 22, a rainy Saturday evening, the concert of a lifetime was about to take place. Three
different groups were expected to perform that night: Siggy and the Futz, Father Koi, and Kilo
Kish. I truly had no idea what I was in for.
“Emulate,” Smith’s latest literary magazine, has undergone a series of instrumental changes over the past few years to become a prominent fixture of the school’s arts scene. Its evolution, and the grounds upon which it was necessitated, have brought into question both the role of literary magazines at Smith and where “Emulate”’s future lies.
Attending a two-hour concert for a band when you only know one of their songs could be a letdown. However, if that band is Houndmouth, you won't be disappointed. The American alternative rock band played a nineteen-song set at Northampton’s own Academy of Music on April 27, 2023. Though the theater only holds 800 concertgoers, Houndmouth brought the audience to their feet, and me to their Spotify “This Is Houndmouth” page.
On March 30, Helen Frank, MHC ’25, attended an annual department tea for the German Studies and Russian and Eurasian Studies departments at Mount Holyoke. Frank was looking forward to seeing classmates within her major that she had not seen that semester.
I was terrified for my first college debate tournament...