Williams College Senior Named a Rhodes Scholar

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WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — Williams College senior Summiya Najam has been named a Rhodes Scholar for Pakistan for 2020.

Najam has been selected to join a class of approximately 100 students from more than 60 countries worldwide to receive this distinguished scholarship to study at Oxford University next year. She is Williams' 40th Rhodes Scholar.

Since the establishment of the scholarship in 1902, nearly 8,000 Rhodes Scholars have gone on to serve at the forefront of government, the professions, commerce, the arts, education, research, and other domains. The Rhodes Scholarships for Pakistan are a partnership between the Rhodes Trust and the Second Century Founder John McCall-MacBain.

An economics major from Islamabad, Pakistan, Najam is an applied microeconomist who is committed to bridging the gap between policy and minority experiences.

"After coming across the economic and institutional marginalization of Muslim women in [Pakistan and the United States], I recognized the centrality of effective policymaking in giving voice and agency to the marginalized," said Najam, who has previously worked on projects related to transgender health, disability benefits, and fertility decisions. "In the future, I aspire to better understand how specific marginalized populations react to economic policies using the lens of econometric identification and behavioral economics."


"This is a well-deserved honor for Summiya, who is one of the brightest, hard-working, energetic, and justice-oriented students I have known," said Dean of the College Marlene Sandstrom. "In addition to her stellar academic accomplishments, she has committed herself to student mentorship and leadership since the moment she arrived on our campus."

At Williams, Najam has served as served as the co-chair of the Muslim Students Union, co-chair of the South Asian Students Association, and co-director of International Orientation for the class of 2022. In this role she sought to create spaces for mental, spiritual and communal support for minority students. She also worked closely with the college's office of sexual assault prevention to personalize institutional support for sexual assault survivors from minority backgrounds. Similarly, she was elected president of the Phi Beta Kappa Williams Chapter for the 2019-20 academic year. As president she hopes to improve access to academic resources for those historically underrepresented in academic honor societies. In addition, she was recently awarded the Carl Van Duyne Prize in Economics for her work in analyzing the impact of child labor legislation on child wages, participation rates and welfare in Pakistan.

At Oxford, Najam hopes to continue her studies in economics while continuing her role as a community builder.

"As a Rhodes Scholar, I wish to pursue an M.Phil. in economics that will equip me with the necessary knowledge and understanding of theory, techniques, and tools to study the effect of policies on the marginalized communities," she said. "In addition, I am excited about the opportunity to learn and grow alongside like-minded scholars who want to give back to their communities."

Najam is the 40th Williams student to be named a Rhodes Scholar since the program began in 1902.

 


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Mount Greylock School Committee Votes Slight Increase to Proposed Assessments

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Mount Greylock Regional School Committee on Thursday voted unanimously to slightly increase the assessment to the district's member towns from the figures in the draft budget presented by the administration.
 
The School Committee opted to lower the use of Mount Greylock's reserve account by $70,000 and, instead, increase by that amount the share of the fiscal year 2025 operating budget shared proportionally by Lanesborough and Williamstown taxpayers.
 
The budget prepared by the administration and presented to the School Committee at its annual public hearing on Thursday included $665,000 from the district's Excess and Deficiency account, the equivalent of a municipal free cash balance, an accrual of lower-than-anticipated expenses and higher-than-anticipated revenue in any given year.
 
That represented a 90 percent jump from the $350,000 allocated from E&D for fiscal year 2024, which ends on June 30. And, coupled with more robust use of the district's tuition revenue account (7 percent more in FY25) and School Choice revenue (3 percent more), the draw down on E&D is seen as a stopgap measure to mitigate a spike in FY25 expenses and an unsustainable budgeting strategy long term, administrators say.
 
The budget passed by the School Committee on Thursday continues to rely more heavily on reserves than in years past, but to a lesser extent than originally proposed.
 
Specifically, the budget the panel approved includes a total assessment to Williamstown of $13,775,336 (including capital and operating costs) and a total assessment to Lanesborough of $6,425,373.
 
As a percentage increase from the FY24 assessments, that translates to a 3.90 percent increase to Williamstown and a 3.38 percent increase to Lanesborough.
 
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