Campus controversies
This page lists titles and brief descriptions of the controversies that have torn this campus. If an event will be discussed in a dedicated page, please make the heading here a link to that page.
Contents
2006
Willipedia Campus Controversies Controversy
After the debut of the Williams Students Online Wiki, 'Willipedia', students and alumni debate the merits of publicly displaying emails and other information relating to past campus controversies.
2005
Anchor Housing
Debate over new system of residential life devised by the CUL reaches a crucial point, and all sectors of Williams from the administration, to the students, to the trustees enter the debate over the future of residential life at Williams. Student opponents of the system organize themselves as Anchors Away. See the History and Student Opinion sections of the main article.
2004
Kechley Krazy Kookout
A flyer for the music department's annual spring cook-out at Professor David Kechley's house used the title "Kechley Krazy Kookout" and highlighted the initials KKK. Many found the initials (identical to those of the Klu Klux Klan) offensive and insensitive.
Art Department Racial Slur Incident
A comment using the term "nigger" made by studio art professor Aida Laleian at a department meeting in Spring 2004 was the spark for a number of events of campus-wide publicity and importance that, together, are probably rightly called a scandal.
2003
Queer Bash Email Incident
An email sent by Nate Winstanley '04 on behalf of the Queer Student Union (QSU) to all-campus to publicize the fall 2003 Queer Bash drew vehemently disapproving emails from two first-year students. When the text became public it was a spark for campus-wide discussions on homophobia and how insensitive speech should be handled at Williams.
1958
Coffin House Shooting
One night in April 1958, a shotgun blast destroyed the window on the family home of William Sloane Coffin, the College Chaplain. Because Coffin was an outspoken opponent of fraternities, the police investigation focused on student members. Eventually, two students in Delta Kappa Epsilon came forward and confessed. They were fined by the town and expelled by the College.