Amherst College - Olio Yearbook (Amherst, MA)

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Stor In response to the demands placed on the small col- lege by the increasing number of American youth desiring higher education, Amherst took a step into the future by playing a central role in the formulation of the New College plan. The New College committee, consisting of one faculty member from each of the schools in the four-college area, presented a pro- vocative educational experiment in its first formal announcement. New College, a small liberal arts in- stitution characterized by an emphasis on individual research, provides increased opportunity for intellec- tual mobility by steering away from academic strati- fication. Further study of its potentialities has been aided by a grant from the Fund for the Advancement of Education. The academic year was not left unmarked by ad- ministrative changes, and the problems posed by the uundeskingn of the fraternities and the ennui of the uunderachieveri' evoked official wrath. The intra- college strife of those subjects soon subsided, how- ever, and with the appointments of Rhodes Scholars, Dodyk and Morgan, Amherst again asserted its posi- tion in the academic world. 1958-59 saw Amherst College produce another of its perennial coherent paradoxes, staunchly preserv- ing its academic tradition while submitting to the dictates of a changing American society. RHODES SCHOLARS Paul M. Dodyk and Gerald D. Morgan, Jr. The two seniors were selected to do graduate study in England. CHURCHILL HOUSE was acquired by the College in 1958. It was converted into study space for seniors despite under- graduate desire for its use as a social dormitory for unaf- filiated upper classmen.

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r Mr: M' HONORS STUDENT HIROMITSU KA- NEDA-hard at work in the new study space provided to seniors this year. 1: i.-- I- ' -, N, in . ' l' MNH rr cademic An observer once noted that a distinguishing char- acteristic of Amherst is its ability to view objectively its academic position, and a brief sketch of the more serious side of Amherst 1958-59 could well be writ- ten in terms of Amherst's responses to the criticism which it so conscientiously directs towards its own educational policy. The Honor System, proposed last spring and adopt- ed for the freshman class, was extended to the rest of the student body by a faculty vote early in the fall, but the Word system is deceptive, for the unique quality of Amherst's project is its lack of rigid delin- ition. However, the general phrasing of the Honor Code has produced some desirable practical changes, as well as formally announcing the college's increased emphasis on the integrity of the individual. Most notable among the former were the well-received take- home and unproctored exams, and the policy of hold- ing finals in classrooms instead of in the gym. Two imposing ediiices were added to the college plant, each designed to provide the Amherst student with more space in which to pursue intellectual amel- ioration. The added classroom and oflice space pro- vided by Chapin was a boon to both teacher and pupil, and the serenity of Churchill House created a pleasant atmosphere for those select Honors students in the Humanities and Social Sciences. PROFESSOR NEILSON LEADS a seminar in Chapin. The new religion building provided much needed classroom and seminar space. FRESHMEN PONDER A FINAL EXAM. One of the 4 innovations of the new honor system was unproctored, and in some cases, take-home examinations.

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American Studies s., Halsey, Marx, Taylor, Williamson, Davison. ..,,,-N -A 'ss we T, ..-.-A.. . - ti x , ., A . U N U ugly-Y 1 ,5 S-- - ,,.-, - v w fl 35. Ratiocination? ? ? ALBERT PAUL LINNELL, Associate Professor of Astronomy. B.A., Wooster 19435 Ph.D., Har- vard 1950g Phi Beta Kappag Sigma Xig Kappa Mu Epsilong Sigma Pi Sigmag Atomic Energy Commission Predoctoral Fellowg Ten Years at Amherst. EDWIN BENJAMIN WESTON, Instructor in Astronomyg B.A., Pomona College 194-'Ig M.A., University of Michigan 194-85 Phi Beta Kappa? Sigma Xi. Two years at Amherst. Facult ROBERT ALLEN DAVISON, Visiting Assistant Professor of American Studiesg B.A., Ohio Wes- leyan 19395 M.A., Columbia 19405 Ph.D., New York Universityg Delta Tau Deltag Phi Alpha Thetag One year at Amherst. CORTLAND VAN RENSSELAER HALSEY, see Deans' Page. HUGH DODGE HAWKINS, Instructor in Amer- ican Studiesg A.B., DePauw 19505 Ph.D., Johns Hopkins 1954g Delta Tau Deltag Phi Beta Kappag Delta Sigma Rhog Two years at Amherst. LEO MARX, Professor of English and American Studiesg S.B., Harvard 194-lg Ph.D., Harvard 19493 Phi Beta Kappag Two years at Amherst. GEORGE ROGERS TAYLOR, see Economics Department. ' GUSTAVUS GALLOWAY WILLIAMSON, JR., Visiting Assistant Professor of American Studiesg A.B., University of South Carolina 194-2g Ph.D., Johns Hopkins 19543 Sigma Nug Alpha Phi Omegag Phi Beta Kappag One year at Amherst. Astronom l-..l.i.....J ,V f ' A Linnell, Weston.