From Other Sources: News for and About Amherst. This Week, Catching Up

Here are a few stories that we were unable to cover ourselves in the Indy while we’ve been on the road. We have not done a “From Other Sources” in awhile and there is a lot to catch up on.  I have assembled some articles, mostly local,  from the last two weeks that I think are worth reading.

Featured Stories
There were two tectonic wins for pro-democracy forces in the last two weeks. Yes trump is still with us, but these events are rich with possibility and should create hope and inspiration even among hardened pessimists. Democratic Socialist Zoran Mamdami’s improbable and for most, unexpected win in the Democratic mayoral primary in New York City against big money, entrenched establishment power and virulent racism offers all kinds of hope for resisting the ongoing assault on democracy.  Read those stories, here and here.

And the anti-Trump No Kings protests of June 14 were likely the largest single day political protests in American history.  The widely accepted turnout figures are between 3 and 6 million people participating across nearly 2000 events. Read those stories here and here.

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Local News Roundup

Conservative Group Targets Smith College in Federal Complaint Alleging Title IX Violations for Admitting Transgender Women by Brooke Hauser (6/27/25). A conservative watchdog group has filed a civil rights complaint with the US Department of Education against Smith College, taking aim at the school’s decade-old policy of admitting self-identified transgender women. The filing, announced this month by the group Defending Education, highlights the vulnerabilities for Smith and other women’s colleges that for years have been grappling with a shifting culture around gender identity. While the complaint on its own doesn’t require the college to change its policies, its language echoes arguments made by the Trump administration in similar cases — including a finding this week against California’s state education department. (Boston Globe)

Easthampton Declares Sanctuary for Trans Community by Emilee Klein (6/24/25). It’s not often that a City Council decision draws a standing ovation, but that’s exactly what happened last week when Easthampton’s legislative body approved a resolution to protect the transgender, nonbinary, gender-diverse and intersex community from any attempts to remove their access to health care or community services. Following the unanimous vote on June 18 to declare itself a “sanctuary city” for transgender and gender-diverse individuals, the 50 people attending the meeting stood in unison and applauded the declaration.“We need to protect the most vulnerable and most marginalized members of the community,” Councilor Tamara Smith said. “Easthampton is a big city with a big heart, but without people, this is not a city. Without supporting all our community members, what are we?” The vote on the sanctuary resolution occurred the same day that the U.S. Supreme Court upheld Tennessee’s ban on gender-affirming care for minors. (Daily Hampshire Gazette)

Rainbow Flags, Big Smiles. Amherst’s Inaugural Pride Parade Draws Hundreds by Grace Chai (6/24/25). Rainbow flags flew in the air, music by queer pop artists played in the background and children giggled as they popped bubbles streaming from a bubble machine on a hot Sunday afternoon. Pride had come to Amherst for the first time. The town celebrated its inaugural Pride event with a parade, a fair with vendors, live music and several speakers. According to Philip Avila, Amherst’s assistant director of diversity, equity and inclusion, Jan Eidelson, Amherst Pride volunteer and organizer, proposed the idea of a pride celebration two months ago.The event, which saw about 300 people stop by for the parade and fair set up on the Amherst Common, came together with the support of Amherst Pride volunteers, the town of Amherst Department of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and the Downtown Amherst Business Improvement District (BID). (Daily Hampshire Gazette)

Belt Tightening Continues at UMass Amid Federal Funding Cuts by Scott Merzbach (6/23/25). Concerns over possible cuts in federal financial support to the University of Massachusetts, and tax legislation being considered by Congress, is leading campus officials to call for various belt-tightening measures, including spending reductions of 3% and 5% in all academic and administrative departments.Stating that UMass is already receiving $29 million less in federal research awards so far in 2025 compared to the same time in 2024, Chancellor Javier Reyes and Fouad Abd-El-Khalick, provost and senior vice chancellor for Academic Affairs, in a letter sent Wednesday to faculty and staff, advise them to continue to follow the recommended reductions to spending first discussed publicly at a Faculty Senate meeting on May 8.“Given the rapidly evolving federal landscape and recent plans and actions by the president and Congress, the university’s need for agile and proactive financial planning has become increasingly urgent,” Reyes and Abd-El-Khalick wrote. “Cuts of the magnitude outlined in the president’s budget proposal and the federal tax legislation advancing through Congress will impact every academic and administrative department, including those not directly supported by federal grants.” (Amherst Bulletin)

Amherst Track Closes Out Historic Performance with Five School Records at Nike Nationals by Ryan Ames (6/23/25). On the biggest stage in high school outdoor track and field, athletes from Amherst Regional solidified their spot among the best in the country at this past weekend’s Nike Nationals meet at Hayward Field at the University of Oregon. A dozen Hurricanes athletes participated in events from Thursday through Sunday and totaled eight top-10 finishes, including two event wins and one runner-up finish. The Amherst girls also set four school records in separate relays throughout the four-day competition, with another record in a mixed relay. “I had high hopes, but I was surprised that pretty much every single time we raced, they ran better than the time before,” Hurricanes girls head coach Chris Gould said. (Daily Hampshire Gazette)

“Generational Damage:: The Fallout of Cutting Climate Science Research by Emilee Klein (6/23/25).  Local scientists warn that the proposed federal cuts to the United States Geological Survey’s Ecosystem Mission Area — a federal research program that studies the country’s natural resources — outlined in the White House’s fiscal year 2026 budget could not only degrade national ecosystems, but the industries and people that rely on them.“What science does is reduce uncertainty,” said John Organ, former director of the Fish and Wildlife Cooperative Units funded by EMA. “A management action is a product of a decision. If there’s greater uncertainty in the decision-making process, then the less durable and less effective those decisions may be, and the consequences could be greater.”The Ecosystem Missions Area, formerly the Biological Resources Division, was created in 2010 by combining several other research programs within the U.S. Department of the Interior. It includes seven different scientific research initiatives, including the Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Units and the Climate Adaption Science Center system among others. The conservation needs that arose in the early 20th century spurred the formation of these programs, which were reorganized under United States Geological Survey in the 21st century. (Amherst Bulletin)

UMass Climate Scientists Reeling as Trump Administration Slashes Funding for Research by Emilee Klein (6/23/25). “They fired a lot of competent scientists,” said James Garner, a recent PhD graduate from UMass who lost a post-doctorate position in the Conte Lab after the Trump administration canceled his funding. “Then they cut off our heads by dismantling these funding structures, effectively cutting off future career prospects, both in the federal workforce and in academia because these federal funding structures are what funds science at all levels within our country” More recently, the Trump administration has set its sights on the Ecosystems Mission Area — the $293 million research arm of the USGS that studies nearly every biological and ecological resource in the county. Policymakers, resource managers and other scientists draw on the data and information generated from the sector’s research to make educated decisions on the United States’ natural assets. (Amherst Bulletin)

Why a Weaker Harvard Would Mean a Weaker Massachusetts by Diti Kohli (6/10/25). Harvard employs 18,000 people and staffs 14 hospitals with medical students. It is among the largest landowners on both sides of the Charles River and a major community partner who donates countless meals to Food for Free and hosts 650,000 visitors annually at its museums. In just one year, Harvard — whose endowment exceeds the economy of Iceland — enables hundreds of patents and technology licenses and spends nearly $1.5 billion in Massachusetts to cover its day-to-day needs….Nearly all agree Harvard is a boon for Massachusetts. Its influence flows from the school‘s red brick buildings to almost every industry in the state and anchors a higher education sector that accounts for $70 billion in economic output.All considered, a weaker Harvard would mean a weaker Massachusetts with less cutting-edge research, fewer tourists, and consequences for the street-level businesses that rely on the bustle of a college town. Kneecapping the “eds and meds” sector broadly could fuel an exodus of smart people and well-paying jobs, as well as a decline in the region’s high quality of life, said Suzanne Blier, a Harvard professor and president of the Cambridge Citizens Coalition. (Boston Globe)

Opinion: A Year After UMass’ Mass Arrests, the Damage Lingers by Nancy E. Grossman (6/3/25). In the end, the dispute came down to about 15 tents and a fence loosely constructed of wooden pallets that had collectively been up for less than a day. But this small encampment was enough to trigger an ill-considered decision by first-year UMass Amherst Chancellor Javier Reyes that cost taxpayers more than half a million dollars and drove a likely permanent wedge between the administration and some of the UMass community.It was a year ago May that, as “the absolute last resort” before even beginning a mere 90 minutes of negotiations, Chancellor Reyes summoned riot police to remove protesters deeply concerned about Israel’s relentless bombardment of Gaza, a humanitarian catastrophe the International Court of Justice has deemed a “ plausible genocide.” His rationale: the unauthorized “structures” violated the university’s land-use policy and constituted a safety hazard. The ensuing night of chaos included 134 arrests, numerous injuries among protesters, including a broken leg, and its share of police violence and threats of violence. In other words, an actual safety hazard.Note to Dr. Reyes: Kindly look up the common meaning of “last resort.”I am a member of the UMass community, and, a year later, the memory still burns on many, many levels. (Amherst Bulletin)

News from Further Afield
Zoran Mamdami’s Win Could Change Everything by Waleed Shaheed (6/26/25). Mamdani won by uplifting and uniting some of New York City’s most forgotten voters. His coalition now has a chance to transform what’s possible for people everywhere. (The Nation)

Zoran Mamdami’s Historic Win: 16 Takeaways by Eric Blanc (June 2025).
After decades of defeats for working people and the Left, it almost felt like a dream to witness Zohran Mamdani make history last night. Sometimes the good guys win. As David Hogg wrote last night, “BREAKING: Not everything has to suck.”Absorbing the key lessons of this campaign is essential for the fights ahead, not just in New York City but across the United States. (Jacobin)

Were the No Kings Protests the Largest Single Day Demonstration in American History? by Alaina Demopolous (6/19/25). Depending on who you ask, between 4 and 6 million people showed up – and according to one theory, this could be a turning point. The scale of last weekend’s “No Kings” protests is now becoming clearer, with one estimate suggesting that Saturday was among the biggest ever single-day protests in US history.Working out exactly where the protest ranks compared with similar recent events has been a project of G Elliott Morris, a data journalist who runs the Substack Strength in Numbers, calculated turnout between 4 million and 6 million, which would be 1.2-1.8% of the US population. This could exceed the previous record in recent history, when between 3.3 million and 5.6 million people showed up at the 2017 Women’s March to rally against Trump’s misogynistic rhetoric. (The Guardian)

No Kings, Anti-Trump Protests Attract Millions by April Rubin and Rebecca Falconer (6/15/25). Millions of protesters across the U.S. took to the streets in demonstrations against the Trump administration on Saturday, in stark counter-programming to the president’s Washington, D.C., military parade that evening.

Why it matters: “No Kings” protest organizers said the widespread movement marked the biggest single-day anti-President Trump protest during his second administration. (Axios)