Faculty, Students, Staff and Alumni in the News - June & July 2026

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June

• “How to tell a comet from an asteroid and a meteor from a meteorite” – Scientific American, June 8
  Director of the Observatory Adam Lark explained.
• “What the 2024 DNC Autopsy Got Wrong” – “Future View,” Wall Street Journal, June 9
  Evan Fernando ’29 wrote this letter to the editor.
• “The US cannot successfully invade Iran” – Azerbaijan News, June 9
  Professor of Government Alan Cafruny addressed this topic.
• “Ex-Federal Workers Mount Congress Bids in Rebuke to Trump Agenda” – Bloomberg Law, June 15
  Associate Professor of Sociology Jaime Kucinskas offered comments.
• “Asteroid or comet? Meteor or meteorite? How to identify and classify the rocks you see streaking through the sky” – The Conversation and outlets across the country and the world, June 16
  Director of the Observatory Adam Lark wrote this essay.
• “Sports Betting Ensnares Young Men with ADHD” – The Street and Yahoo, June 24
  Professor of Economics Stephen Wu was interviewed about his research on the topic.
• “Hamilton College entrepreneurs change the nitrogen pollution world” – Rome Daily Sentinel, June 26
  Elle Sangree ’25 and Jesse Wexler ’25 sold their company that they founded at Hamilton.
• “Serena Williams broke barriers for Black girls in tennis. Her return could do the same for mothers.” – The 19th and Yahoo, June 29
  Chief of Staff Miriam Merrill addressed this issue.
• “Stepping into the Syllabus” – Alpinist Magazine, Summer issue (no link available at this time)
  This article featured the 2025 Hamilton “History of Himalayan Mountaineering” course’s two-week trek in the Himalaya mountains. The course is directed by Professor of History Maurice Isserman and the trek was led by Director of Outdoor Leadership Andrew Jillings.

July

• “Democratic socialists ride wave of momentum in primaries from New York to Colorado” – The Guardian, July 1
  Professor of History Maurice Isserman was quoted extensively.
• “What is the most American animal?” – CNN, July 1
  Associate Professor of History Mackenzie Cooley focused on the moose. “The moose is the most American animal because we once deployed one as a diplomatic argument about national worth.”
• “Experts Say Trump's Claims Linking Democrats to Communism Are Inaccurate” – Associated Press, July 2
  Professor of History Maurice Isserman commented on the Republican Party’s false accusations of godless communism when referring to Democrats. This article appeared in numerous outlets across the country.
• “The role of ag in the U.S. becoming a global superpower” – Iowa Public Radio, July 3
  New York Six Consortium Manager Peter Simons discussed this issue.
• “J. Leo Rayhill, 98, hosted a Syracuse jazz show for over 60 years” – Post-Standard (Syracuse), July 6
  Leo Rayhill ’49 was celebrated in this article.
• “Women in Comics, the Book” – ComicsBeat, July 8
  This article provided an overview of Director of Academic Technology, Teaching, and Research Services Nhora Serrano’s forthcoming, co-authored book.
• “On the Missouri – Echoes of Lewis and Clark – and what came after” – USA Today, July 12
  Professor of History Maurice Isserman discussed his class that had followed part of Lewis and Clark’s journey and explained the explorers’ purpose.  “Their mission was not conquest. Their mission was trade and diplomacy.”
• “Utica, region can benefit from new federal housing legislation” – Rome Daily Sentinel, July 15
  Nicolas Wyndham ’28, Ton Somnug ’27, Elizabeth Jordan ’27, and Ash Srinivas ’28 co-wrote this essay based on their research with the Levitt Center.
• “A Practical, Scalable Template for Oral Exams” – Inside Higher Ed, July 16
  Professor of Sociology Emeritus Daniel Chambliss wrote this essay.
• “Socialism and the Young” – “Future View,” Wall Street Journal, July 21
  Evan Fernando ’29 wrote this letter to the editor. It was his fifth published this year.
• “Plas Johnson, the saxophone behind 'The Pink Panther,' dies at 94” – “All Things Considered,” NPR, July 22
  A portion of a Fillius Jazz Archive interview was played on air.
• “Multi-Agency Mock Drill Held at Hamilton College” – WKTV (NBC- Utica), July 23
  Many local outlets including WUTR (ABC-Utica), WSYR (ABC - Syracuse), Rome Daily Sentinel, and the Observer-Dispatch (Utica) covered this event.
• “Artist Transforms Everyday Scraps, Inspired by Emily Dickinson’s Habit of Writing Poems on Envelopes” – My Modern Met, July 23
  A recent exhibition of work by Spencer Finch ’85 was featured and included mention of his Hamilton education.
• “After October 7, Many Wrote Off the DSA. Then It Started Winning” – Haaretz (US News edition) July 24
  Professor of History Maurice Isserman was quoted throughout this article.

• “The biggest threat to higher education isn’t making headlines” – The Hill, June 7
  President Emeritus David Wippman co-authored this essay.
• “Trump’s appointments are worse than you think” – The Hill, June 14
• “Raising taxes on the superrich is popular with voters.  So why is it so hard to get done?” – The Hill, June 21
• “Trump is making a killing as president — ethical norms are among the dead” – The Hill June 28
• "Watergate led to new ethical guardrails. Trump is tearing them down." – The Hill, July 5
• “Trump’s Board of Peace is all hat, no cattle, to no one’s surprise” – The Hill, July 12
• “Tying laws to specific cases can do more harm than good” – The Hill, July 19
• “Trump’s threats to bomb Iran ‘back to the Stone Ages’ will backfire” – The Hill, July 26