In 2020, Smith College President Kathleen McCartney had “extraordinary news” to share with the Smith College community — the institution had received a $50 million gift from an anonymous alumna, with $40 million designated for student financial aid and $10 million for “re-envision[ing] [Smith’s] career development programs.”
Posts tagged as “Karen Colmán Martínez”
Not I, nor anyone else, would dare to call Smith College a party school. It is not an overstatement or bad faith criticism to say weekends on campus are sometimes, perhaps often, dire. The underwhelming party scene is widely recognized and, for this very reason, also not particularly compelling to analyze.
On Dec. 7, 2023, Smith College’s chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) formally requested that the College divest from seven prominent global weapons manufacturers.
A couple of years ago, media outlets including The Nation and The Washington Post were referring to the latest wisecrack (a clever or sarcastic remark) about Harvard University: the ivy-league institution had turned into a hedge fund with a university attached to it. Students called upon Harvard to ‘unhedge’ its endowment while others praised its financial planning strategies. An open letter in The Atlantic called it a ‘brand problem’ yet also a ‘literal truth.’ This characterization underscores a broader trend among universities and colleges, the apparent intent to accumulate the largest endowment ever seen. Maybe we should start thinking about how, and what we are getting this money for.
I have probably read over 200 Buzzfeed articles throughout my life. Back when it was still culturally relevant, much of its content focused on American college life and the culture that emerged from within it. From 23 things that perfectly define “college culture” and 21 things that are so college, it hurts. The 2010s were the years of America’s cultural hegemony; American cultural products (books, movies, music, art, etc.) were consumed all around the world.
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.
Evolution is a fact of life and 99% of our DNA sequence is shared with chimpanzees. The earth is round, and the ostensibly called celestial body we inhabit is not at the center of the universe, and neither is the galaxy, nor the minuscule cluster of planets that is the solar system...
Discussing the commodification of pride is not a novelty at Smith. As students, we are all well acquainted with the story...