On February 5, 2008 Williams hosted its first “Focus the Nation” day, highlighting sustainability on campus and around the world. The day included several speakers and panels, as well as a Town Hall Forum, where community members were able to ask sustainability questions of the senior administration. Over 200 questions were raised and while many were answered, a great deal were not. Below is the answer to one of these originally unanswered questions.

Q: Will Williams make an effort to admit students who have demonstrated awareness of sustainability concerns in their applications? 

Like those of many other colleges, the Williams admission process is extremely complex. The admissions office evaluates grades, SAT scores, extracurriculars, and a whole range of other factors when looking at who should be admitted. Because of these broad categories, students who have committed time to community and political action are able to stand out in the process, regardless of their inclination and issue of choice. According to Nate Budington, Assistant Director of Admissions, “If we judge an applicant’s work to be long term and substantial, and have confidence that it might lead to similar activism while at Williams, that can increase their chances for admission.”, however, “At this point we are not targeting sustainability as a singular area of interest to admissions.” So, while an interest in sustainability will show that a student is passionate and committed to something, it will not have much more of an impact than an interest in Ralph Nader. The college is looking for students who have something to offer Williams, regardless of whether be academic, athletic, political, or sustainable.

I will continue to answer these questions until all subject areas have been covered. If you think of any additional issues that are not raised in this blog, please email them to zilkhacenter@williams.edu. I hope this is informative!

Thoughts? Go to the Sustainability Blog or send an email to Stephanie Boyd (sboyd@williams.edu) to comment.