MAGAZINE FALL 2018 MATERIAL HISTORIES Following the threads that have connected Williams and Hawai‘i for 200 years p.10 CELEBRATION A street-fair themed picnic was one highlight of the induction of Maud S. Mandel as Williams’ 18th president on Sept. 8. The full day of programs and festivities explored the theme “Inside/Outside.” See more coverage at president.williams.edu/induction. PHOTOGRAPH: SHANNON O’BRIEN CONTENTS 2 Report President Maud S. Mandel on Williams’ past, present and future. 3 Comment Readers respond to our coverage of free speech, normalization, Williams rumors and more… 4 Notice Career exploration, convocation, modern science, public art and more… 10 Histories in the Making Untangling the threads of Williams’ long and complex relationship with Hawai‘i. 16 WE ARE: America Large-scale portraits of immigrants and refugees by Joe Standart ’73 explore the fabric of America. 22 Giving It Forward Initiatives to boost alumni engagement are paying off as Williams enters the last year of its comprehensive campaign. 24 North on the Wing Bruce M. Beehler ’74 followed songbirds’ spring migration 13,000 miles across the U.S. 30 Study On hands-on learning in Hopkins Forest, Williams’ WWI connections, Americans abroad and social construction. 36 Muse Suzanne Case ’78 on the new shape of Hawai‘i. facebook.com/williamscollege @williamscollege youtube.com/williamscollege @williamscollege Front cover illustration: Anna Godeassi Back cover photo: Joe Standart ’73 FALL 2018 WILLIAMS MAGAZINE 1 REPORT Our Past, Present and Future Williams FALL 2018 | VOL. 113 NO. 1 this fall has been a season of williams firsts for me as president: my fi rst classroom visit, my rstfi Convocation and Bicentennial Medals ceremony, EDITOR Amy T. Lovett my fi rst Mountain Day. Many of these fi rsts connect me to important Williams ASSISTANT EDITOR Shannon O’Brien traditions—new to me but not to Williams. CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Julia Munemo, My introduction to those traditions has prompted thoughts about Williams’ Greg Shook STUDENT ASSISTANTS Cameron Brown ’20, connections to our past, present and future. Such questions were at the heart Elizabeth Poulos ’19 of my fi rst Convocation speech in the fall and are infused into this issue of the CREATIVE DIRECTION 2COMMUNIQUÉ magazine, too. EDITORIAL OFFICES At Convocation in Chapin Hall I asked the seniors, many of whom attend in P.O. Box 676, Williamstown, MA 01267-0676 their caps and gowns, to consider that, just as we judge the actions of our prede- TEL: 413.597.4278 FAX: 413.597.4158 cessors, the people of the future will one day hold us to EMAIL: [email protected] WEB: magazine.williams.edu account. By what standards, we can only guess. I fi nd this a humbling reminder to resist easy moralization. ADDRESS CHANGES/UPDATES You’ll fi nd similar themes in our feature story Bio Records, 75 Park St., Williamstown, MA 01267-2114 “Histories in the Making,” a discussion among museum TEL: 413.597.4399 FAX: 413.597.4178 curators, faculty and a student about the long history EMAIL: alumni.offi [email protected] of connections between Williams and Hawai‘i. Th e WEB: alumni.williams.edu/updatemyprofi le participants’ varied perspectives nudge us toward what’s Williams Magazine (USPS No. 684-580) is sometimes called a “usefully complex” understanding published in November, January, March, May, of Williams’ role in that history—one already sparking July and September and distributed free of charge by Williams College. Opinions expressed in this fascinating community discussions. publication may not necessarily refl ect those of If the Hawai‘i exhibit raises questions about our Williams College or of the Society of Alumni. responsibility for our past, the photography of Joe Many of these All photography copyright © Williams College, Standart ’73, also featured in this issue, asks us to con- unless noted. fi rsts connect me to sider our obligations to the too-often unnoticed people around us in the present. Joe’s WE ARE: A Nation of Periodical postage paid at Williamstown, MA 01267 important Williams and additional mailing offi ces. Immigrants public art installation, part of his ongoing traditions—new to me Portrait of America project, features vivid, building- POSTMASTER: scale portraits of immigrants and refugees to suggest the Send address changes to Williams Magazine, but not to Williams. 75 Park St., Williamstown, MA 01267-2114 power of a more inclusive society. At Williams we also own our responsibility for the future, and increasingly we WILLIAMS COLLEGE Board of Trustees think of that work in terms of sustainability and our environment. In these pages Maud S. Mandel, President Michael R. Eisenson ’77, Chairman of the Board you’ll fi nd a Muse essay by Suzanne Case ’78 on how volcanic eruptions, including Keli Gail, Secretary to the Board that of Kīlauea Volcano over the summer, are reshaping Hawai‘i’s coastline. (Th e Case family is a prominent link between Williams and Hawai‘i.) You’ll also read Elizabeth A. Andersen ’87 | Timothy A. Barrows ’79 Thomas M. Belk ’77 | Jillian Charles ’91 about Weir Day and enjoy an excerpt from ornithologist and conservationist Bruce Noriko Honda Chen ’89 | Valerie A. DiFebo ’84 M. Beehler’s ’74 new memoir North on the Wing, about his experiences following the William C. Foote ’73 | O. Andreas Halvorsen ’86 spring songbird migration. Jeff rey S. Harleston ’82 | Gretchen E. Howard ’95 Cooper Campbell Jackson ’89 | Leila Jere ’91 Th ere’s so much more here, from a story about the new campus public art Mariam B. Nafi cy ’91 | Clarence Otis Jr. ’77 installation by renowned artist Diana Al-Hadid to a commemoration of the faculty Kate Queeney ’92 | Liz Robinson ’90 and students who left the Purple Valley a century ago to fi ght in World War I to Jonathan D. Sokoloff ’79 | Mark R. Tercek ’79 Sarah Mollman Underhill ’80 faculty-student research collaborations yielding insights in the fi elds of neurosci- Martha Williamson ’77 | Gregory H. Woods ’91 ence, computer science and mathematics. Tom Gardner ’79, President, Society of Alumni, As you can see, Williams is a remarkable place. It always has been, and with our attends meetings by invitation of the Trustees help it always will be. I hope you’ll be inspired by what you read to make your own contributions to that eff ort. 2 WILLIAMS MAGAZINE FALL 2018 COMMENT QUOTED Join the social media “Black Lives Matter … captures the spirit or the “ conversation about the ideas ‘afterlife’ of Frederick Douglass because it’s in the fall issue, or start a discussion a movement that is profoundly concerned with of your own, using #williamsmag. identifying anti-black acts and developing processes of rehumanization as well. Instead of silence. Instead of denigrating others. Instead Mr. Derbyshire misdefi ne all Joy,” summer 2018), proves to of not taking action. … I’m speech to be honest debate be more than empty opening iams hoping that the volume and in so doing compro- remarks, perhaps my support MAGAZINE SUMMERS 2018 can not only contribute mise virtues far more vital to is restorable. I would strongly to Douglass’ legacy but ethical society than the rules suggest that the course Free actually capture the spirit of how we discuss them. We Speech and Its Enemies be of movements that have don’t debate the benefi ts made mandatory. As Professor “I exxperipeerieenncncence emerged recently and will of Auschwitz or the killing Steve Gerrard states in the tremrememmendoennd usus joyy lilivlivingng andnd likely emerge in the future.” of escaped slaves, because article about that class, “The workw kiningng inn a learniarnr ngg —NEIL ROBERTS, ASSOCIATE there aren’t any. Let’s do as purpose of a Williams educa- cocommcomommmunituniunnitty.”y — MAUD S.. MAMANDEL,L, WILLIAMS’ 18TH8TH PRESESIDENTENT PROFESSOR OF AFRICANA STUDIES my professors did. A student’s tion is to help students acquire AND FACULTY AFFILIATE IN duty was simple: Be thoughtful. skills to be thriving citizens in a POLITICAL SCIENCE, If someone in your class got an pluralistic society. That involves in an interview with WXIR Radio and “A,” whereas you got a “D,” it learning how to confront views organizations. Even better: the Rochester Community Media Center was not because Bob Gaudino they fi nd abhorrent and how to Williams itself should no longer about the book he recently edited, A or Kurt Tauber violated your deal with that in rational ways.” hire Republican/conservative/ Political Companion to Frederick Douglass. free speech rights. Does Whether one is a budding libertarian faculty, nor should Derbyshire’s proselytizing physicist or a dance major, that we admit high school seniors further the virtues of thought- statement of purpose needs to like Needham, who show signs LETTERS fulness, truth or good faith? be a guiding light for the four of opinions inconsistent with Then give him his “D” and be years in Williamstown—and for our “stated values.” MORE ON FREE SPEECH done with him. A community one’s life thereafter. —DAVID KANE ’88, Free Speech and Its Enemies is of learning must decide what —TED BAUMGARDNER ’57, NEWTON, MASS. a peculiar title to a philosophy consequences it chooses to be WINTER PARK, FLA. course purported to foster party to. Philosophy 101. MORE RUMORS open discussion (“Free Speech —CHRIS CURTIS ’73, MORE ON NORMALIZATION I loved the article “Rumor and Its Enemies,” summer ACCOKEEK, MD. A letter to the editor high- Has It” (summer 2018). I have 2018). By implication those lighting the dangers of “normal- one addition to make. You supporting the cancellation Until a few years ago, I was a izing” the Heritage Foundation describe two Williams-Williams of the Derbyshire visit are loyal supporter of my under- specifi cally—and the views of marriages before 1972.