Since its founding in 1821, Amherst College has prided itself on preparing its graduates to make a difference in the world. We are an institution who values a liberal arts education, critical thinking, and an open curriculum. Our $3.3 billion endowment enables us to provide students with a substantial financial aid program and resources to thrive during their time with us. Our student body is among the most diverse in the nation, and we are lucky enough to boast 23,000 living alumni of all walks of life. As a fixture in the town that is our namesake, we continually strive to be good neighbors to those around us and responsible stewards of the spaces we inhabit.
Like many colleges and universities, our awareness of the need to better understand our institution’s history grew in the summer of 2020. While our archivists and our community of scholars had for years been researching the College’s relationship with Indigenous dispossession, slavery, and scientific racism, we embarked upon a more formalized effort to do so in August 2020. Biddy Martin, then president of the College, launched an Anti-Racism plan that put the wheels of today’s reckoning project in motion, laying the groundwork for more in-depth inquiry and deep research to take place. In September 2023, Michael Elliott (the College’s current president) reaffirmed his commitment to this project, and over the course of that academic year multiple researchers joined the team.
This website is the digital home for our yearslong effort to recover and relay narratives pertaining to the history of Amherst College and its role as a contributor to systemic racism. The information available here is by no means exhaustive of the research, dialogue, and community engagement necessary to address our institution’s history as it intersects with race and racism. Since 2020, much has been learned about this element of our past, but our effort to reckon with our findings is only just beginning.
Interested in learning more about our project? We invite you to read our Vision & Values statement.