Faculty voted to move the start of spring semester classes from Feb. 3 to Feb. 15 during a meeting held on Dec. 15. Eighty-seven percent of the faculty, or 161 members, voted in favor of the motion, while 24 members voted against.

Amherst College prides itself on offering some of the most generous financial aid packages in the country, matriculating a socioeconomically diverse student body and offering programs, offices and spaces to support and foster community among low-income students. Leveling the socioeconomic playing field, however, has become a far more arduous task in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, which has completely upended the traditional residential college experience.

Vivian Cordon ’21 is a double major in economics and law, jurisprudence and social thought (LJST), for which she is writing a thesis with Senior Lecturer in LJST David Delaney. Her thesis is about sanctuary cities and how Americans find identity within their cities and nation.

The Amherst Political Union (APU) hosted a virtual conversation with 2020 presidential candidate Andrew Yang, moderated by APU co-presidents Witter Swanson ’21 and Rebecca Wistreich ’21, on Nov. 13. The livestream was attended by over 200 students, alumni and other members of the college community. Responding to questions posed by Swanson and Wistreich, as well as other students and audience members, Yang spoke about topics including his bid for presidency, policy views and goals moving forward.

As classes for the fall semester draw to an end this week, the college has seen a last-minute spike in positive tests for Covid-19, with six active cases as of Nov. 18, spanning three students, two staff members and one faculty member. In response, the college has reinstated strict health and safety guidelines that it had previously eased along with instituting new ones, including the cancellation of in-person events, restricted access to buildings outside of one’s residence hall and limiting gatherings to a maximum of three people.

The latest installment from the campus police reports.

President Martin hosted a virtual panel as part of a series commemorating the fifth anniversary of the Amherst Uprising on Nov. 12. The dialogue was moderated by Lola Fadulu ’17 and featured Martin, Katyana Dandridge ‘18, Christine Croasdaile ’17, Amir Hall ’17, Andrew Smith ’18 and Bella Edo ’21.

The Association of Amherst Students (AAS) senate voted to change the current voting system to ranked choice voting (RCV) for all elections on Nov. 17.

On Nov. 8, President-elect Joe Biden announced the appointment of Doctors David Kessler ’73, Marcella Nunez-Smith and Vivek Murthy as co-chairs of his new coronavirus task force.

On Nov. 2 and Nov. 6, Governor Charlie Baker rolled out two sets of restrictions in an effort to slow the rise of Covid-19 cases in Massachusetts. The orders took effect on Friday, Nov. 2 and include a stay-at-home advisory, an order for restaurants and other businesses to stop their services at 9:30 p.m. and a curfew from 10 p.m to 5 a.m., among others.