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Williams' Softball Coach Earns 700th Career Win

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CLERMONT, Fla. — Williams College head softball coach Kris Herman reached the 700-win milestone recently as her 2018 Eph squad finished a  their spring trip with a 13-3 record
 
The fourth-ranked Ephs Tuesday defeated Wisconsin-Whitewater, 5-3, before edging Buffalo State, 4-3, in their final games of the trip.
 
Herman's career mark stands at 702-375-5, a .651 winning percentage. She becomes the 17th coach at the Div. III level to surpass 700 wins in a career and is 13th on the active list. 
 
"I share all of those wins with players and assistant coaches at both Tufts and Williams, and am thankful for the many mentors and colleagues who have had more of a part in program wins than they know," she said. "Of course, there are a lot of losses out there as well. I'm so fortunate to get to work each day for so many years, with a great crowd of people who also care about our program and the process as well as the Ws."
 
Over the past four seasons, Herman has guided her Ephs to four consecutive NESCAC West Division titles, back-to-back NESCAC championships and four straight trips into the NCAA Div. III Tournament. The Ephs hosted an NCAA Regional for the first time in program history in 2014 and repeated the feat in 2015, 2016 and 2017. In 2017, Williams hosted a NCAA Super Regional for the first time. 
 
The 2017 team was Herman's third at Williams to advance to the NCAA Div. III national championships, joining the 2005 and 2006 squads. It also set a single-season record for victories with 38. 
 
Herman began her coaching career at her alma mater, Tufts, in 1988. She coached the Jumbos for 16 seasons and compiled a record of 339-164-3 (.679), winning five NESCAC titles and guiding her team to an NCAA Tournament appearance in her last seven seasons at the school. Tufts also made its first NCAA World Series appearance under Herman.
 
In 2004, Herman shifted to Williams, where she promptly led the Ephs to three straight NESCAC Championships (2004, 2005, 2006). In total, Herman's team's have won 10 NESCAC titles and advanced to the NCAA Div. III Tournament 14 times. Her teams have also won 10 Little 3 titles while at Williams. 
 
Herman was named NESCAC Coach of the Year four times and earned New England COTY honors in 2001, 2005 and 2006.
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WCMA: 'Cracking the Code on Numerology'

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Williams College Museum of Art (WCMA) opens a new exhibition, "Cracking the Cosmic Code: Numerology in Medieval Art."
 
The exhibit opened on March 22.
 
According to a press release: 
 
The idea that numbers emanate sacred significance, and connect the past with the future, is prehistoric and global. Rooted in the Babylonian science of astrology, medieval Christian numerology taught that God created a well-ordered universe. Deciphering the universe's numerical patterns would reveal the Creator's grand plan for humanity, including individual fates. 
 
This unquestioned concept deeply pervaded European cultures through centuries. Theologians and lay people alike fervently interpreted the Bible literally and figuratively via number theory, because as King Solomon told God, "Thou hast ordered all things in measure, and number, and weight" (Wisdom 11:22). 
 
"Cracking the Cosmic Code" explores medieval relationships among numbers, events, and works of art. The medieval and Renaissance art on display in this exhibition from the 5th to 17th centuries—including a 15th-century birth platter by Lippo d'Andrea from Florence; a 14th-century panel fragment with courtly scenes from Palace Curiel de los Ajos, Valladolid, Spain; and a 12th-century wall capital from the Monastery at Moutiers-Saint-Jean—reveal numerical patterns as they relate to architecture, literature, gender, and timekeeping. 
 
"There was no realm of thought that was not influenced by the all-consuming belief that all things were celestially ordered, from human life to stones, herbs, and metals," said WCMA Assistant Curator Elizabeth Sandoval, who curated the exhibition. "As Vincent Foster Hopper expounds, numbers were 'fundamental realities, alive with memories and eloquent with meaning.' These artworks tease out numerical patterns and their multiple possible meanings, in relation to gender, literature, and the celestial sphere. 
 
"The exhibition looks back while moving forward: It relies on the collection's strengths in Western medieval Christianity, but points to the future with goals of acquiring works from the global Middle Ages. It also nods to the history of the gallery as a medieval period room at this pivotal time in WCMA's history before the momentous move to a new building," Sandoval said.
 
Cracking the Cosmic Code runs through Dec. 22.
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