MoHos abroad: Language learning in the Italian capital
Dorm-mestic exploration: the ‘party dorms’ and the black sheep
How well do we all know the residence halls on campus? There are 18 dorms at Mount Holyoke College. All of them were gradually added to campus following the fire that burned down the original Mount Holyoke seminary building in 1896. A colorful bunch, the dorms each have distinct quirks and drawbacks. Your personal taste may affect how you see each one, but they all have something to offer that truly makes a resident’s experience unique. This past week, I visited Rockefeller Hall, Mandelle Hall and Dickinson Hall, respectively two party dorms and the black sheep of Mount Holyoke’s student residences.
Pansey: Haus of the Legendary Children, a 2024 Drag Ball lookbook
This first edition of Pansy spotlights Drag Ball 2024, FAMILIA’s annual event meant to uplift the Queer, Trans, Black, Indigenous, People of Color community. It is important to note that this event was created to serve the QTBIPOC community, and how one navigates its categories and space should be done with care, especially if one does not identify as QTBIPOC. This year's theme pays homage to the ballroom dance scene, a staple of queer culture that originated in Harlem. Three “Houses” will compete against one another to achieve a ‘clean sweep,’ or try to get ‘10s across the board.’
MHCALT brings local bands to Blanchard Hall
Photo courtesy of Pach Pacheco ’25.
By Caroline Huber ’26
Staff Writer
In the early evening of March 30, Mount Holyoke students, local music fans and band members all gathered in the Blanchard Hall Great Room for the second Mount Holyoke College Students for Alternative Music show. The show, which sold tickets for $5-15 upon entry, featured a lineup of three local bands, who together pulled in a sizable audience.
Starting the show, Bassal, a four-piece Wilbraham-based alternative rock band, performed a vocal-led set that featured both originals and covers, including songs by bands Remo Drive, T. Rex and Surf Curse. During their performance, more showgoers trickled in, with the crowd becoming progressively more lively, producing light two-stepping and one moshing altercation that was quickly broken up by a security guard.
Vocalist and guitarist Jake Balbino’s husky and wide-ranging voice effectively narrates the band’s story-driven songs, accompanied by the bouncy bass of Simon Serra, the confident drumming of Andrew Esteves and Devin Loubier’s guitar riffs. The band’s sound spans the gamut of rock and emo, while also incorporating some folky elements, with Balbino citing Dinosaur Jr., The Pillows, Joyce Manor, Modern Baseball and David Bowie as musical influences.
The band concluded the set with their original song, “Fever Dreams,” during which Balbino jumped into the fray. “[F]avorite part for me was Devin pulling out Stairway to Heaven as a transition between songs, that shit was hilarious. That and just moshing with the crowd on the last song,” Balbino wrote in a statement to Mount Holyoke News, adding that there was a “good crowd, [and] good vibes.”
Following this set and the intervention of the security guard, MHCALT President and founding member Nyx Cieprisz ’26 discouraged the audience from crowd killing or surfing, eliciting groans. Fire safety information was played over the speakers, to the confusion of some showgoers.
Next, three-piece Western Massachusetts doom-punk screamo band Wax Input played a passionate set. The band, who cited early Nirvana, Catalyst and Limp Bizkit as being among their influences, provoked the crowd to two-step and mosh eagerly through their combination of original music and covers. The band's rhythmic songs feature the controlled drumming of Sean Kennedy alongside Brandon Authier’s bass and guitarist and singer Colin DiSanti’s screaming and aggressive vocals.
The intense yet repetitive nature of the band’s music is augmented by the agonized frontman-ship of DiSanti, whose emotive scream-chants mesh with the band’s noise. The energy of the performance transferred into the crowd, where windmilling abounded alongside sporadic crowd killing.
Finally, four-piece death metal hardcore band Dishpit played a mixture of their new and old original music, including songs from their upcoming EP. The band’s aggression and impassioned tone, alongside encouragement from vocalist Cole D’Onofrio, provoked the crowd, who responded with copious windmilling, pushing and a circle pit. D’Onofrio’s guttural and low-pitched screams meshed with the intensity of Owen Driscoll’s drumming, Jeremy Devany’s guitar and Nicholas Hart’s bass to create an aggressive and high-energy sound. The band, who previously cited Killswitch Engage, Suicide Silence and Lamb of God, incorporated the energy and crowdwork of hardcore with the harshness and musical intensity of death metal.
D’Onofrio noted that he “thought the girls’ mosh pit [that the band prompted at one point in their set] was really fun,” while Devany noted that he specifically appreciated playing Blanchard Hall. “I would say we haven't gotten to play like a big stage [like in the Great Room] before. That was fun … it was nice to play … [and have it be] not super cramped. Sometimes we [have to] play elbow to elbow.”
Devany noted that the show drew in a combination of new and old faces, saying, “It’s always cool to see when people have shirts on … I was curious to see if it's an audience … [that we’d] never played to before or if it's people we recognize, and it was definitely like a good split.” Driscoll said he appreciated people who had traveled to come see the band. “That means the most to us. [It] shows that they really liked the music and they care, and have fun.”
Editor’s Note: Nyx Cieprisz ’26 is an Arts & Entertainment Editor for Mount Holyoke News.
Bugslam, GDI and Sgraffito Kill ring in inaugural MHCALT show
The rain poured down as Mount Holyoke students and visitors alike congregated in the Chapin Auditorium for the inaugural Mount Holyoke College Students for Alternative Music show. The free event, which featured local bands across the genres of emo, shoegaze and punk, began at 7 p.m. as show-goers entered the sprawling space.
President Danielle R. Holley’s visit to Starbucks HQ ignites questions about her stance on Israel
Around 1 p.m. on Feb. 9, President Danielle Holley posted three Instagram stories documenting a visit to the Starbucks Headquarters with Mount Holyoke alumni employed at the corporation.
In light of the ongoing Starbucks boycotts as part of the pro-Palestine movement, Mount Holyoke students took to various social media platforms to criticize President Holley’s posts.
CRPE hosts Medovoi for a lecture on racial capitalism, the role of police and ‘ensoulment’
Students and faculty listened intently as Lee Medovoi discussed his forthcoming book “The Inner Life of Race: Souls, Bodies, and the History of Racial Power.” Medovoi, professor of English and vice chair of the graduate program in social, cultural and critical theory at the University of Arizona, visited Mount Holyoke College on Wednesday, Feb. 21, to give a lecture titled ‘Racial Capitalism, Civil Society & Police Power.’
Northampton Airport elevates women in aviation
Dorm-estic Exploration: the turning point resident halls
How well do we all know the residence halls on campus? There are 18 dorms at Mount Holyoke College. All of them were gradually added to campus following the fire that burned down the College’s original seminary building in 1896. A colorful bunch, the dorms each have distinct quirks and drawbacks. Your personal taste may affect how you see each one, but they all have something to offer that truly makes a resident’s experience unique. This past week, Betty Smart ‘26 visited Torrey Hall, Abbey Hall and Pearsons Annex, three dorms that mark the turning point between Mount Holyoke’s older and newer-styled living spaces.
Dorm-estic Exploration: the halls on the outskirts of campus
How well do we all know the residence halls on campus? There are 18 dorms at Mount Holyoke College. All of them were gradually added to campus following the fire that burned down the College’s original seminary building in 1896. A colorful bunch, the dorms each have distinct quirks and drawbacks. Your personal taste may affect how you see each one, but they all have something to offer that truly makes a resident’s experience unique. This past week, I visited 1837 Hall, Prospect Hall and Buckland Hall, three dorms that were built roughly halfway through the 20th century.
Trump v. Anderson: the SCOTUS case that will make or break the 2024 presidential election
In a historic case, the United States Supreme Court will decide whether or not presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump is eligible to remain on the 2024 ballot due to having “engaged in insurrection.”
The implications of this particular case are massive — according to Mount Holyoke College President and noted legal scholar Danielle Holley, “We are facing … probably three major Supreme Court cases all surrounding the 2024 election, and many think that Trump v. Anderson is the most consequential election case since Bush versus Gore in 2000."
APAU begins Black History Month with celebration of Black excellence and joy
Lively conversations between students, faculty and staff erupted from the Blanchard Hall Great Room while celebrating the commencement of Black History Month. The opening event, “Unity Through History: A Journey of Black Excellence,” was sponsored by Mount Holyoke College's Association of Pan-African Unity and the Office of Community and Belonging.
Emo, punk, hardcore, and post-punk mesh and showgoers mosh at Northampton show
Viral TikTok from Black students at Mount Holyoke College sparks conversation about HBCUs and anti-Blackness on college campuses
Following the discovery of an anti-black slur in Pearsons Hall, Black Mount Holyoke College students have continued the conversation about racism on campus.
Last week, a group of students posted a TikTok video discussing their experiences with racism and anti-Blackness as Black students at the College. The TikTok initiated a broader conversation surrounding anti-Blackness at academic institutions and how administrations and the federal government have lacked the appropriate responses to it.
Community members come together for annual Vespers celebration
Many students, staff and alumni joined in the fun brought by the warm and inclusive 2023 Vespers Concert. This year, Vespers had its debut on the night of Dec. 1 in Boston’s Old South Church and was hosted again on Dec. 3 at Mount Holyoke College’s very own Abbey Memorial Chapel.
Vespers has been a long-standing tradition at Mount Holyoke, with over 120 years of history. According to Mount Holyoke’s official website, the event is a space where “the community comes together to celebrate light and togetherness on a dark and cold December night.”
Newly founded Queer Action Collective advocates for queer liberation
Mount Holyoke College’s newly formed Queer Action Collective is a student group “advocating for queer [and trans] liberation on campus, statewide and nationally,” as stated in the @queeractioncollective Instagram bio. The organization aims to create a space on campus “where students could turn to if they felt like there was a queer and trans issue that needed attention from a collective that wasn’t MHC’s administration,” Vice Chair Aoife Paul Healy ’26 emphasized in an email to Mount Holyoke News. “The extension of ‘on campus, statewide and nationally’ lets us approach any issue brought to us, no matter how big or small.”
Emo and hardcore genres mix at Sour City Tapes Fest
Dorm-estic Exploration: Visiting the three youngest halls
How well do we all know the residence halls on campus? There are 18 dorms at Mount Holyoke College at the time of this article’s publication, gradually built following the fire that burned down the College’s original Seminary building in 1896. A colorful bunch, each has their own distinct quirks and drawbacks. Your personal taste may affect how you see each one, but they all have something to offer that truly makes their residents’ experience unique. This past week, I visited three dorms that stand out in their modernity.
