Williams College Timeline of Inclusion, Exclusion, and Restoration

Williams establishes the Center for Development Economics (CDE), offering a master’s degree designed for economists from low and middle-income countries.

President John E. Sawyer suggests that Williams admit 10% of each entering class based on criteria other than the prevailing quantitative standards.

Russian professor Doris de Keyserlingk becomes the first tenured faculty member who identifies as a woman.

Founded in 1967, The Center for Environmental Studies was one of the first environmental studies programs at a liberal arts college.

Raymond Chang is hired in the Chemistry Department, making him the first self-identified Asian male tenure track professor at Williams.

Joseph E. Harris, Professor of History and Chair of the Afro-American Studies Department, hire was effective July 1 1969. Harris was the College's first Black faculty member. He was hired to the History Department with tenure.

Hopkins Hall occupied, doors chained and barricaded. 34 students from Williams’ Afro-American Society sought action from the college on 15 demands, including adding African-American studies to the curriculum, diversifying the faculty and creating a cultural center. Following the occupation, all their demands were met.

The Faculty and the Board of Trustees vote to accept the Coordinate Education Committee’s recommendation to begin admitting women regularly starting with the class of 1971.

Faculty gives unanimous approval to Afro-American Studies program modeled after area studies.

Professor Fred Rudolph teaches “The American Woman,” the first Women’s Studies course at Williams.

An editorial in the Williams Advocate paints the College Administration as having difficulties dealing with the growth and diversification of the campus. It highlights the two most easily distinguishable minority groups on campus, Black students and women, and how they simply don't "jive with the Williams tradition.” As a way to combat students feeling as if their liberties have been violated, the editorial calls for the College Administration to make their decision-making process accessible to students. This was around the beginning of the CC (College Council).

Jada Wattansiritham, a 26 year old research economist from Thailand, becomes the first woman enrolled at the Center for Development Economics.

Gail Walker Haslett, a 29 year old biochemist at the Penrose Research Laboratory of the Zoological Society of Philadelphia, is elected for a three year Term Trustee of the College at the October meeting of the board making her the first woman trustee ever to serve at Williams.

“Gay activists speak in Jesup Hall discussion” appears on the cover of The Williams Record. Cora Perotta and Morty Monford of the Gay Activists' Alliance of New York sit with Daniel R. Pinello '72 in a panel discussion in Jesup Hall where they discussed gay activism and social change. Pinello was in the process of organizing a similar group at Williams.

The Williams Afro-American Society changed its name to the Williams
Black Student Union (WBSU), “which seeks to provide a new orientation for Black conception of its identity and role at Williams.”

Bobette Reed Kahn becomes the first Black woman to graduate from Williams College.

Antonio Gimenez, the earliest male identified Latino American faculty member, is hired for a tenure track position in the Romance Languages Department.

Eileen Julian, as one of the first tenure track Black woman identified faculty, is hired as an assistant dean in 1975, followed by a tenure track faculty position in the French Department. Julian chaired Africana Studies in the 1977 academic year.

Gail Peek is hired in the Political Science Department, making her the first tenure track Black woman faculty. Eileen Julian was hired in 1975 as a dean, but moved into a faculty position by 1977. Peek chaired Africana Studies during the 1979 academic year.

A group of Black students send a memo to the faculty which contains a list of criticisms of white faculty members and their attitudes toward Black students on campus. The memo also offers suggestions for how communication between Black students and white faculty could be improved.

Change occurs in the College's non-discrimination policy.

Williams Women changes its name to Feminist Alliance.

At the April 19 1978 Faculty Meeting, Eileen Julien argued that South Africa is one of the most critical spots in the world today, that we are already involved through stock ownership, and that the College should use the current opportunity to express its support of Blacks and human rights.

Joan Edwards is hired in the Biology Department, making her the first woman who identifies as Asian to be in a tenure track faculty position.

A cross is ignited in front of Perry House late at night coinciding with a Black Student Union (BSU) party in adjacent Weston House. On the Wednesday following the cross burning, the BSU library in Mears House is broken into and ransacked. Tables are overturned and books are strewn across the floor. On Saturday Black students began receiving anonymous phone calls. According to one account a caller said, “I know what you're doing, I don't like it. I know who all the { } leaders are. I know where you live.”

In 1982, BSU was relocated from the basement of Mears to Rice House. The Mears basement, including mural painted by artist Jerome Meadows, was scheduled to be painted over without student input. BSU commissioned Meadows to paint this mural around 1973. The BSU was “temporarily homeless” due to office relocation in Mears and before moving into its permanent location: Rice House. (Black Williams: A Written History, 65).

Seeking batter conversations and channels between Black alumni and undergraduates, Williams Black Alumni Network (WBAN) submit a formal proposal for the establishment of the Black Alumni Network to the President, Trustees, and the Executive Committee of the Society of Alumni.

Nancy McIntire begins role of Assistant to the Vice President for Affirmative Action.

Women’s Studies was approved as an interdepartmental program with the full support of the administration and the Committee on Educational Policy.

President Oakley adds sexual orientation to the non-discrimination policy at Williams College.

The Anti-Apartheid Coalition protests Williams’ South Africa investment policy at a rally on the steps of Chapin Hall. In the months following this protest the Anti-Apartheid Coalition, the Black Student Union (BSU), and the Advisory Committee on Shareholder Responsibility would link the college’s South Africa investments to racism at Williams.

The Williams Gay and Lesbian Alumni/ae Association network (now known as Williams LGBTQIA+ Alumni Network (BiGLATA) is organized, to address alumni events’ heteronormative focus on children and spouses. An organizational meeting and dinner is held on campus. The directors are Rosenbaum, Mary Agnes Sheehan ’82, Wright, Zeuner, and Daniel Pinello '72.

A group of students release a 1983 letter from African American faculty to then Dean of Faculty Oakley deploring the college’s dedication to affirmative action. Twenty-four members of the Coalition Against Racist Education met with administrators to present their demands, but the college’s failure to comply prompted several dozen students to occupy the dean’s office on April 21st during Parent’s Weekend.
The students demanded:
-- A mandatory course in minority history or culture
-- A minority special assistant to the president
-- The creation of a non-voting minority chair on the Committee on Appointments and Promotions
-- An increase in recruitment and scholarships for blacks and latinos of low socioeconomic status
-- Maintenance of two minority visiting professorships
-- One Black and one Latino tenure-track professorship
-- Funding for a (BSU) Michael Knight memorial
-- A percentage of Black and Latino faculty reflective of those groups’ numbers among students
The takeover lasts three days, and one of the 15 demands made by the students was for the college to establish a Multicultural Center. The Multicultural Center was established in 1988 in Jenness House, directed by Nura Dualeh, and in October 2012, it was rededicated as The Davis Center, named after W. Allison Davis ‘24 and John Davis ‘33.

Occupation of Dean’s Office by Coalition Against Racist Education (C.A.R.E.) yielded the creation of The Multicultural Center, which opened in the summer of 1988.

First Members form BiGALA (later BiGLATA), Williams Gay and Lesbian Alumni Association. Today, the Williams College Bisexual, Gay, Lesbian, and Transgender Alumni Network (BiGLATA) endeavors to engage, support and celebrate the Williams LGBTQ+ community. BiGLATA strives to cultivate an inclusive Williams (alumni) community where members of the LGBTQ+ community and all others feel welcome and valued.

Jewish Religious Center is dedicated.

Michael Dively ‘61 Lecture Fund for Human Sexuality and Diversity was established; first gala event was a performance by the San Francisco ensemble, the Pomo Afro Homos, “Fierce Love: Stories from Black Gay Life.”

Three VISTA students go on a Hunger Strike that lasted three days. The students went on strike to protest “the bigotry of academia” and their experience with an institution that forces them to deny their culture “by not having adequate curriculum nor role models to follow.”

Carmen Arroyo is hired as a tenure track faculty in the Psychology department, making her the first self identified female Latina tenure track faculty hire.

Task Force on Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Concerns established.

Williams Asian & Asian American Alumni Network (WAAAAN) leadership founded. Its mission is to forge lifelong relationships among Asian and Asian American alumni; to preserve and enrich the bond between Asian and Asian American alumni and the College; to encourage discussion and awareness of issues and concerns facing the Asian and Asian American community within and outside of the College; to promote social justice alongside other Williams College alumni networks.

Established by 1995, the Williams Latino/a Alumni Network (WLAN), along with VISTA leadership, sends letter in support of Windows on Williams (WoW) to President and Senior Staff.

The Latino/a Studies program proposal was presented at the May 12th 2004 faculty meeting.

Mike Reed ’75, appointed as the first vice president for strategic planning and institutional diversity. The creation of his position in 2006 was part of an evolution in the college’s structures for supporting diversity work and the role that it played in broader college planning.

Racist Incidents during Homecoming becomes the catalyst for Claiming Williams. In 2008 a series of incidents in an entry sparked a grassroots student movement that was joined by staff and faculty, and became known as Stand with Us. In a first year entry, a racial slur was scrawled on several doors along with pictures of male genitals. From the incidents of 2008, Stand With Us emerged as a response. In addition to a letter to the community from College President Morty Shapiro, College Council Co-Presidents Kim Dacres ’08 and Morgan Goodwin ’08 called for open discussions. On two consecutive nights, over a hundred students shared their own experiences and planned communal responses. An “awareness rally” drew an estimated 600 students, staff and faculty. This was followed by a march through campus that at one moment stretched from Schow Auditorium to the steps of Paresky. (claiming.williams.edu)

Claiming Williams Day arose from Stand with Us—from their priorities and the hard work of a sub-committee. Organizers hoped that the community would work pro-actively to prevent hurtful, hateful incidents, rather than just responding afterwards. The second Claiming Williams Day was held on February 4, 2010, and in May of 2010, the faculty voted to add Claiming Williams Day to the regular academic calendar. (claiming.williams.edu)

The Multicultural Center renamed for Allison Davis '24 and John A. Davis '33 Center.

The Proposal for Divestment was presented to the Board of Trustees in December of 2014 and was signed by more than 500 members of the community.

Doug Kiel, a citizen of the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin, is hired as the first tenure track faculty in the program in American Studies. Doug shared the following: "The Oneida Nation has very close ties to the Mohican people whose homelands Williams College occupies. The Oneida Nation welcomed the Stockbridge-Mohican community into our homelands as refugees after their expulsion. Together the Oneidas and Stockbridge Mohicans (along with another community, Brothertown) all relocated to Wisconsin together. In 19th century Wisconsin, our three communities were referred to as 'the New York Indians,' and our historical bond endures, with many families overlapping both communities. For instance, my Oneida family’s name is Metoxen, the same as Stockbridge chief John Metoxin."

The President and the Board of Trustees established sustainability goals for 2020. They included: renewable energy, high-performance buildings, carbon neutrality, impact investing, and academic programming.

Integrative Wellbeing services established.

CareNow formed (named after a previous student activist group called CARE) to combat institutional racism.

College Council announces initiative to support Asian American Student in Action (AASiA) demands.

Maud S. Mandel was named 18th President of Williams College, the first woman president.

Founded in 1969 as Afro-American studies in the aftermath of student action and protest, the Department of Africana Studies at Williams College celebrates the institutionalization of Black studies on campus, recognizing that, even in the rural hills of Berkshire County, Mass., Black lives have always and continue to matter. The Williams community spent the month of April 2019 commemorating the 50-year presence of Africana Studies. Highlights included an exhibit in Special Collections, oral history recordings, drumming circle, campus walking tour, museum talk, musical performance by the Kusika and Zambezi Marimba Band, and a symposium featuring panel discussions with former and current Williams students, faculty, and community members.

On September 17th, 2020 President Mandel wrote in an email to the campus community: "A complementary topic of concern is the need to accept our responsibility to the Native American tribes of our region, many of whom were displaced by settler colonists. I’m pleased to announce that we’ve reached an agreement to provide office space on Spring Street to the Stockbridge-Munsee Mohican Tribal Historic Preservation Extension Office. Colonists pushed the Stockbridge-Munsee people westward out of this area into Indiana and then Wisconsin during the late 17th and early 18th century. I’m happy we can offer the Stockbridge-Munsee Community a space in the region from which they can do important preservation work for their people. I’m also excited about the potential for collaboration with them on programs that will complement our growing investment in Native American and Indigenous studies."

In the spring of 1971, seven women walked across the Williams commencement stage to receive diplomas for the first time in the institution’s history. In the fall of 1971, the first four-year class of women and men arrived on campus. Williams commemorates these events with a Women of Williams Conference in May 2023.

Davis Center Building Project includes redesigns for Jenness House, Hardy House, and Rice House. The three-building complex currently houses and supports the Davis Center (formerly the Multicultural Center), Pathways for Inclusive Excellence, and several affinity groups. The Davis Center Initiative broadens Williams' goal of deeper inclusion by seeking to support and sustain both a physical space as well as expanded programming that meets the needs of current and future students.

Housing based on theme, affinity, program, special interest (TAPSI) housing was introduced as a living option by the Office of Campus Life. Their website records: "It’s critical at this point in the college’s history, as well as this point in our national dialogue around inequity, to ensure we are doing everything we can to support all students through our residential life program. We have heard loudly and clearly that providing TAPSI housing as an option is an important step forward in doing so. Nobody has to opt into this program, but it is important for it to be available for those who could benefit from it. We believe that the benefits of a program to support students in this way significantly outweigh the costs and challenges. That said, we must be cognizant of those costs and challenges and stay mindful of them, not the least of which is to ensure that these spaces do not devolve into de facto fraternity/sorority spaces, which the college made clear over 50 years ago is no longer and will no longer be part of our culture. Additionally, TAPSI housing has the potential to connect academically and co-curricularly in ways Williams has not done before, which while it is still at a very high level of conceptualizing, is very exciting to think about for the future."

In an email to the Williams community, President Mandel wrote: "The Board voted to endorse an institutional land acknowledgement for Williams. You can find the text of the acknowledgement on diversity.williams.edu and the Stockbridge-Munsee Community’s page of the Diversity site. This effort emerged out of extensive work by the Committee on Diversity and Community in consultation with the Stockbridge-Munsee Historic Preservation Office. The acknowledgement is one step in our ongoing effort to deepen our relationship with the Stockbridge-Munsee Community and more fully consider Williams’ history. I am grateful to all who participated."

Brent E. Shay ’78 and Funmi Olosunde ’06 began their terms as President and Vice President of the Society of Alumni of July 1, 2022, and will serve until June 2024. The Williams Alumni website documents: "Brent and Funmi have worked tirelessly on behalf of Williams throughout their time as alumni. Brent has served Williams in a wide range of roles including on the Board of Trustees from 2000-2005. His work for his class includes as class President, Reunion Chair, Class Secretary and Associate Class Agent. Brent has also been Co-Chair of the Bolin Reunion and President of the Boston Regional Association. Funmi has been an Admission Volunteer and his currently serving on the Ephs on the Vineyard Committee. Both Brent and Funmi have served on the Executive Committee of the Society of Alumni and will now lead the group in their work on behalf of the Society."

The Williams Record wrote: "At the November 16th faculty meeting, faculty approved the creation of an Africana studies major that will go into effect in fall 2023, with 70 voting in favor, zero not in favor, and three abstaining. The nine-course major will consist of three required courses and six electives, building upon the current five-course concentration that consists of two required courses and three electives. The implementation of the major will eliminate the concentration in 2026."

The Williams Record reported: "At the December 7th faculty meeting, faculty voted to approve the creation of an Asian American studies (AAS) program that establishes a concentration beginning fall 2023, with 81 voting in favor, five voting against, and three abstaining. The vote marks the culmination of 34 years of activism by faculty members, alums, and students. Since the 1980s, the Asian American Studies in Action (AASiA) advocacy group has hosted teach-ins, celebrations, protests, demonstrations, and forums to encourage instituting AAS at the College."