Professor Naomi Darling Awarded for Work on the Takahashi-Harb Loft and Library

By Ansley Keane ’23

Staff Writer

Naomi Darling, a Five College associate professor of sustainable architecture who teaches at Mount Holyoke College and the University of Massachusetts Amherst, recently won the 2020 AIA New England Merit Award for Design Excellence titled “More with Less.” Darling received the “More with Less” Merit Award for her project, the Takahashi-Harb Loft and Library. Darling converted an unfinished walk-out basement into a bright and updated one-bedroom apartment and a two-car garage into a workspace for the Takahashi-Harb couple, complete with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves. 

Darling attended Princeton University for her Bachelor of Science in Engineering in structural engineering and architectural design, Monash University for her Master of Fine Arts in sculpture and the Yale School of Architecture for her Master of Architecture. In addition to teaching, Darling has her own architecture and design practice, Naomi Darling Architecture, LLC.  

Darling became interested in architecture from a young age. “The first time I thought about [architecture] — I think I was seven or eight — I was home from school because I was sick,” she said. “My mom gave me these Victorian houses to cut out and put together, and I really liked the process of making.”

Her first year of college, Darling took an architecture class she “really loved.” In an interview with the online publication Madame Architect, Darling also explained that she “loved how the [architecture] course expanded [her] way of thinking demanding thoughtful reasons for the myriad decisions that go into design.” 

After she graduated from college, Darling didn’t jump right into the world of architecture. Instead, she explored pottery, sculpture and even worked as a scientist for the Sea Education Association before working at an architecture firm in Seattle in 2000. She has taught at Mount Holyoke since 2012. 

“I love interacting with the students,” she said. “The dynamic between students [at Mount Holyoke] is always really positive.” She explained that, in her perspective, “the built environment is one place where we can make a difference.” By showing students the fundamental principles of design, Darling said she “can make a bigger impact teaching.” 

The Takahashi-Harb project itself spanned from 2015 to 2018. One of the challenges Darling faced in completing the project was to make the space “not feel like a basement,” she said. She and her team put two large windows into the loft to take advantage of the property’s beautiful views and to “bring the outside in,” she explained. 

“Any project that you do is very much a collaboration between the architect, the site and the clients,” she noted.  

Another goal of the project tied into the theme of “More with Less.” “We had a pretty tight budget for that project and we were working with just a basement. The goal was to make it into something pretty special with this tight constraint,” Darling said. She noted that it was important to “keep as much as possible, while we were adding.” In order to accomplish that, Darling explained that she and her team kept many of the existing features such as the structural posts in the former basement and garage. 

According to her website, Darling dressed up the existing stairway and used preexisting electrical, mechanical and plumbing systems. By not removing the features already in place, Darling was able to put more money and effort into nice finishes and windows. Additionally, this style of design allowed Darling to maintain her focus on sustainability, and she said, “by keeping what’s there, there wasn’t as much waste.” 

As a professor of sustainable architecture, sustainability is an important aspect of Darling’s designs and projects. However, for Darling, sustainability expands beyond just environmental. “I try to look at sustainability very holistically,” she said. She focuses on social and cultural sustainability as well. 

In a class Darling teaches, she emphasizes working with the natural environment. “Being attuned to where you are [is important], so you don’t need to use a lot of energy,” she explained. Additionally, Darling explained that “for a project to work, it needs to be embraced by the people in that place.”

CAs Continue To Create Community Through Virtual Cohorts

By Rebecca Gagnon ’23

Staff Writer

Throughout the fall semester, Mount Holyoke created an array of virtual events in an effort to bring its community together online. One of the College’s new ways of creating community has been the formation of the Virtual Cohorts. 

“Our Virtual Cohorts were really just intended to bring students together in virtual ways so they still felt that sense of community,” Associate Director of Students and Director of Residential Life Rachel Allidis said. “We do have data that shows students feel a greater sense of community in the Living Learning Communities than when they live in a residence hall.” 

Some of the Virtual Cohorts’ themes are based on past LLCs, like transfer, first-year, art, outdoors and more. These are made to foster a greater sense of community in a time of need. There are also Virtual Cohorts based on students’ current geographical regions. 

Lexy Lee ’23, the Virtual Community Ambassador for the arts cohort, shared the story of “someone who said, ‘What if we had pen pals but with artwork?’” 

“Because there are people who are interested in all different types of artwork,” Lee explained, “we kind of just want to create a place where we can just make … a lot of different types of art and share.” 

A Virtual Community Ambassador is similar to a Community Advisor in residential halls, in that they are the leaders of the different Virtual Cohorts. The VCAs were chosen out of the students who were already hired in the spring of 2020 to work for ResLife as CAs in the fall.

“They are able to do a lot of things your CA would do,” Alldis said. “They are having one-on-one conversations with the students, they are trying to bring together these smaller groups that are based on either what our LLCs are based on or regional ones. … I think it is off to a good start.”

Helen Roane ’23, the VCA of the Transfer Cohort, said, “I really wanted to be a part of trying to make the [Mount Holyoke] community still exist in the virtual setting, because it is a lot harder.” 

“I know that it is really, really hard for people to find a community right now, especially for the people who are living at home,” Delaney Fowler ’21, the VCA of the Outdoor Adventure Cohort, said. “I know a lot of people are living either with friends in an apartment or some people on campus … and there is a community in both of those things in a way that there really isn’t when you are at home, so I really wanted to reach out to those people and try to help them feel some sense of community because it is such a big part of Mount Holyoke.”

Because of the transition to remote learning during the CA hiring process, there were a lot of uncertainties about the outcome of the application timeline. In the process of becoming a CA, one has to submit an application and complete both a group and individual interview. Normally, results would appear around February or March, but with the pandemic, the results took longer.

“We [went] through [the CA hiring process] and then the pandemic happened,” Alldis stated. “Then everyone left campus and we were a little delayed on letting people know who we wanted to hire and who we didn’t, but we sat down and we figured it out. We were then ready to make offers to people and then we were like, ‘Well, we want to offer you this position but we don’t know really what is going to happen.’”

“It was kind of stressful not knowing what was going on,” Lee said. “There was a period of time when I wasn’t really sure if I had the job anymore and it was a little hard. I understand that the people who were working in the offices, of course, had a lot of stress they were dealing with trying to figure out probably as well if we all had jobs still,” Lee added. 

Even with all of the struggles, jobs were given and received and there is now a new community available to students if they so choose. 

“I feel like the virtual community is really fun anyways but they will be more fun as more people want to join,” Roane said. 

“I think that if people are interested in joining a cohort they absolutely should,” Fowler said. “None of it is mandatory — it is all sort of like you opted in. Even if you join it and you choose not to come that is fine, but I think that people shouldn’t be afraid to join just because they think they don’t have time because when you do have time, you can join. I think it might feel a little less isolating.”

The deadline for joining the Virtual Cohorts was Friday, Nov. 6, but there are other ways to stay involved in the campus community. 

“We want the students to stay as connected as they want to stay,” Allidis said. “I really hope that they realize that Mount Holyoke is in their corner all the time. I know it doesn’t always feel that way but I wish that some people could sit in on some meetings that we have been to so they would know how much we talk about how this would impact the students and how hard it is to give them this positive experience. I just want them to know that we really are trying to do everything we can to make their lives easier and to provide the support [and the] resources that they need, and we miss them —  so much.” 

Mount Holyoke Introduces New Office of Community and Belonging

Photo by Ali Meizels ‘23

By Ansley Keane ’23

Staff Writer

At Mount Holyoke College, there is a particular emphasis on the idea of community. The College has a Community Center rather than a student center and Community Advisors rather than residential advisors. These sentiments are in line with the introduction of the new Office of Community and Belonging. 

In the Oct. 16 edition of “The Dean’s Corner,” Vice President of Student Life and Dean of Students Marcella Runell Hall’s weekly newsletter, Hall announced the construction of a new Office of Community and Belonging within the Division of Student Life. In her email, Hall noted that the Office of Community and Belonging was created “in [an] effort to further Mount Holyoke’s commitment to building a greater sense of community and belonging for students.” 

Associate Dean of Students for Community and Inclusion Latrina Denson and Dean of Religious and Spiritual Life Annette McDermott serve as co-directors of the Office of Community and Belonging. In a joint statement, Denson and McDermott explained that the Division of Student Life decided to create the Office of Community and Belonging during the summer of 2019. “During this time, we [began] working with an outside consultant to reimagine our work and conceptualize an integrated model for the Mount Holyoke College students,” the statement read.

The Office of Community and Belonging webpage states that “you can find your place at Mount Holyoke” and that creating a “beloved community” is a central goal of the office. Hall’s email and the office’s webpage both emphasize the importance of inclusivity and social justice on campus. 

While the idea of a “beloved community” may seem relatively abstract at first, Denson and McDermott shared what it means to them. In a statement written by both deans, they explained that American author “bell hooks writes that a ‘beloved community is formed not by the eradication of difference but by its affirmation, by each of us claiming the identities and cultural legacies that shape who we are and how we live in the world.’”

They continued, “hooks’ understanding is one lens that gives us both inspiration and helps us pay attention to our campus engagement and student experience and see how we can encourage all of who you are to be — we want to celebrate and make space for the whole person who chooses Mount Holyoke College.” 

The Office of Community and Belonging is acting on the idea of a “beloved community” by “provid[ing] programs that support social justice education, dialogue, celebration and identity development including intersectionality, as well as increasing understanding of the role that liberatory consciousness, religion, ethics and spirituality play when working toward reconciliation, racial healing and transformative justice,” according to the webpage. As co-directors, Denson and McDermott shared that they hope this office will mark Mount Holyoke as a place where “every student who enters the gates of MHC will see themselves as part of the community and over time [feel] a deep sense of belonging,” in a joint statement. 

Denson shared that she is especially excited “about engaging more students of color affiliated with the cultural centers in spiritual identity development and the intersections of their cultural and spiritual identities.” She is also looking forward to “the opportunities to continue expanding the Intergroup Dialogue Program here at MHC in collaboration with not only our integrated areas, but Academic Affairs and our visiting lecturer, Molly Keehn.” Denson noted that her “role has been and will continue to be focused on social justice education and training, identity development, and the facilitation of dialogues across different experiences, beliefs, values, and identities. This role, as we reflect on the state of our global community and its impact on our diverse community, is more important than ever before.” 

The Office of Community and Belonging is a collaboration between the Office of Community and Inclusion and the Office of Religious and Spiritual Life. Denson explained that “Community and Inclusion provide opportunities for identity exploration, education, and celebration.” Meanwhile, the Office of Community and Belonging will “[integrate] the model with Religious and Spiritual Life to place intentionality on an intersectional framework. It’s a frame that connects the curricular and co-curricular,” according to both deans. The Office of Community and Belonging will include “a frame where students will learn, grow, and feel like they matter,” Denson said. “We are not only creating an inclusive student community, but a community in which every single person can learn from each other, grow, and develop while feeling that they belong and matter,” she added. 

Cultivating a lasting sense of inclusion and acceptance is not without its challenges, and students are a part of this work. The cultural centers, which are designed to serve as sanctuaries for and support students, the MoZone Peer Education Program, a student-led social justice education program and Intergroup Dialogue, a program that teaches students how to bridge cultural differences, are all part of the Office of Community and Belonging programming. While it is a very new office, it is already attempting to ensure that all students feel welcome at Mount Holyoke by providing a secure space for education and growth. 

“The Office of Community and Belonging seeks to create a student culture of belonging throughout the campus that embraces inclusivity, diversity, and equity and celebrates all of who we are,” Denson and McDermott said in their shared statement. “Our programs and services are oriented toward meeting this goal of building a socially just community.”

“We want the students to know that Community and Belonging is a place where we not only encourage students to ask questions but to embrace their authentic self,” they continued. “A place where they do not have to leave one of their identities at the door, but bring their whole self, to practice, engage with [them] across differences to learn and grow.”

MoHome Sickness: Shared Spaces

Graphic by Trinity Kendrick ‘21

By Tishya Khanna ’23

Staff Writer

Some of us keep our rooms messy, some tidy and some a mix of the two. Nostalgia creeps in as I recollect wanting to make space in my friend’s messy res hall room to listen to music, study or even just sit and chat. Usually we ended up sitting on the floor. When I didn’t feel like walking back to my room on busy days, a friend’s space was a haven I went to for my habitual afternoon naps. 

I’ve never had a meticulously tidy or an entirely messy room. Well, it could be horribly disheveled at times, but it’s usually a combination of orderly and cluttered. I also barely live in my room. I like to think of the campus as an extended, lavish home — the Dining Commons is the kitchen, the library is the study, the Makerspace is the art room, the rooms in Blanchard Hall are offices and the dorms are living areas and rooms to sleep in. It’s a shared living space. There, your friends are your family — your community is your family. 

I also miss the movement itself. Tired of studying? Walk to the Dining Commons, Grab ’n Go or the Cochary Pub & Kitchen to get a coffee or snack. Nice day out? Walk across the lakes. Can’t understand a concept from class? Take a walk to your professor’s building for office hours. Only five minutes left for class? Grab your bag and sprint. 

Now, in quarantine, I appreciate having that space to move freely between places on our small map even more. I liked the freedom to allocate different spots for different purposes, unlike in quarantine, where space is confined. For many of us, our bedrooms are now for studying, sleeping, working, making art, living and everything in between. 

I liked bumping into friends now and then — the casual domesticity of it, the dailyness, the mundanity. A benefit of shared spaces is that your daily frustrations dissolve more easily when others surround you than when you’re by yourself. We’re all struggling to keep pace with our hectic personal worlds: the module system, a pandemic that seems to have no end in sight, the never-ending work. Our common frustrations are now divided into individual ones. When trying to converse with a friend, we struggle to decide upon a time to meet. We have to make more effort than before the pandemic, when we could just walk up to their room or meet them somewhere on campus.

For some of us, the struggle extends further, to a difficult home life, the death of a loved one, declining mental health and more. College is a safe space that, for some, is more of a home than their own. The lack of a physical support system around manifests in wild, unpleasant ways. It’s easier to be kind to yourself when the people around you are kind to you too. An extended hand, a simple knock on the door or a genuine inquiry make an essential difference.

Our shared spaces offer shared emotions and shared tenderness. Sometimes shared misery is laughter. I’d rather be crying about the ever-growing list of things wrong with the world with a friend who’s just as miserable and willing to ease the pain through humor. Then we’d go to the Dining Commons and have ice cream with hot fudge. 

Now our relationships translate to long phone calls and Zoom study sessions. If anything, it brings to light one of the hallmarks of being a Mount Holyoke student: our community. Even when we are miles apart from each other, the faculty and students alike come together with a diligent, ceaseless effort to preserve some virtual version of the shared space so many of us call home.

Mount Holyoke Outing Club Hosts Virtual Screening of the No Man’s Land Film Festival

Pictured above: the No Man’s Land Film Festival Flyer

By Ansley Keane ’23

Staff Writer 

On Saturday, Oct. 24, the Mount Holyoke Outing Club hosted an asynchronous virtual screening of the No Man’s Land Film Festival. The event was free and open to the public. It was also a fundraiser for GirlTrek, an organization whose mission is to use walking and leadership to empower African American women. 

The No Man’s Land Film Festival is a Colorado-based festival that highlights women in adventure sports. According to their website, No Man’s Land “aim[s] to un-define feminine” and “connect like-minded individuals who are action-oriented, wish to support a shared vision of gender equality, have a desire to experience their passions and environments through a uniquely feminine lens, and above all, love adventure.” 

MHOC’s screening of the No Man’s Land Film Festival included a variety of short films about female athletes. The screening opened with “Footsteps,” a short film about a young female boxer and her female coach. The two boxers discussed how they got their start in such a male-dominated sport and how boxing has had an impact on both of their lives. 

The next film, “Refuge,” centered around a rock climber, Piseth Sam, who was born in a refugee camp in Southeast Asia but immigrated to the U.S. as a child. “Refuge” explored how Sam used climbing and nature to understand her identity. Sam described herself in the film as a “queer, woman of color, immigrant, American.” 

Another film featured was “Frosty,” a short documentary about Anna Frost, a top female ultra runner. “Frosty” covered Frost’s experience racing in the Hardrock Endurance Run, a 100-mile ultramarathon that is known as one of the most difficult ultra marathons in the United States, as well as her experience with pregnancy and hopes for motherhood. The No Man’s Land Film Festival included a diverse program of stories. Overall, there was an emphasis on inspiring and empowering stories of driven women athletes. 

MHOC, like all clubs and organizations, is looking for new ways of engaging remotely with their members and the Mount Holyoke community. However, according to MHOC Committee Chair Jess Moskowitz ’22, a film festival or film-related event was something the club had been thinking about doing for a while. 

“We have been trying to come up with ideas of ways that people can be connected to a greater outdoor community,” Moskowitz explained. A central goal MHOC had for screening No Man’s Land was to “give the Mount Holyoke community and the public the opportunity to see some inspiring and interesting stories and narratives about women and people from gender minorities in the outdoors,” Moskowitz said. 

MHOC chose to screen this particular program from the No Man’s Land Film Festival for a number of reasons, namely the ability to collaborate with new organizations and the access to “a broad range of films,” Moskowitz said. Additionally, according to Moskowitz, the program from No Man’s Land was the only closed-captioned program currently offered, and accessibility is a goal for MHOC. 

Instead of simply hosting a film screening, MHOC also chose to fundraise for GirlTrek as part of the event. Moskowitz noted that “GirlTrek is an organization that is really in line with some of our goals as an outing club.” Unfortunately, Moskowitz mentioned that the fundraising aspect had not caught on as much as she hoped it would. “Trying to figure out how to fundraise prior to being remote was an issue, but now even more so, this is something we’ll have to figure out,” Moskowitz said.  

MHOC’s No Man’s Land Virtual Film Festival screening aimed for students and members of the wider Mount Holyoke community to de-stress and learn about a diverse range of women who are pursuing their passions for sport and the outdoors. Moskowitz summarized her hopes for the film festival screening by sharing that, “overall, our goal is hopefully to give people a chance to see a broader swath of the outdoor community and think about their role.”

SGA Introduces District Senators To Represent Off-Campus Students

Poster by Phoebe Murtagh ‘21

By Ansley Keane ’23

Staff Writer

On Sept. 21, a senate update was emailed to students that gave new information surrounding the structure of the Student Government Association and announcing the creation of District Senators. Typically, there is a Hall Senator to represent the residents of each residence hall in the SGA senate, but with many students living off campus this academic year, the SGA Executive Board established this new position. District Senators were created so off-campus students will continue to have representation in the SGA senate that relates directly to any concerns they have about their living arrangements. However, District Senators have not entirely replaced Hall Senators; students living on campus will still be represented by Hall Senators in addition to District Senators. 

Phoebe Murtagh ’21 is the chair of halls on the senate team, which is part of the SGA Executive Board. As chair of halls, Murtagh oversees Hall Senators and District Senators in addition to communicating with the Office of Residential Life, organizing Hall and District Senator elections and a number of other duties. In her senate update to the Mount Holyoke student community, Murtagh wrote that “each District Senator will function as a Hall Senator would, representing their constituents’ concerns relating to their living spaces (wherever that may be).” 

“We need at least a representative for off-campus students,” Murtagh explained. “That’s way too much work for one student.” 

According to Chair of Senate Jane Kvederas ’22, the SGA Executive Board decided to create the District Senator role over the summer. “We were trying to figure out what Hall Senators would look like ... given [at least] half the population would be off campus,” Kvederas said. 

The SGA Executive Board chose to create districts based on students’ last names rather than their geographic locations because, according to Murtagh, it was a clear and streamlined way to accomplish the task. Students’ last names are only one piece of data that the SGA Executive Board needed from the College. Using last names also allowed the creation of districts and allocation of District Senators to be as random as possible. Kvederas noted that ideas such as major and class year were considered as well, but the last names idea still had the least logistical issues. 

Additionally, Murtagh made it clear that if the SGA had created districts based on students’ geographic locations, it was possible that certain districts could have more issues that needed attention than other districts. Murtagh gave the example that students living in cities might have fewer problems accessing the internet than students living in rural areas and, therefore, determining districts by last name was “a better way to make a fairly even distribution for the sake of the [District] Senators if we chose something that didn’t have that connection effect.” The SGA elected 12 District Senators and, according to Murtagh, there are around 200 people in each district.

While the District Senator position is a new role, it is similar to the roles of Hall, Organization and Class Board senators. “As with any Senator, the main responsibility is availability,” Murtagh said. Kvederas added, “We want our Senators to participate in senate meetings as much as possible” and that “we expect them to pretty much do as much as possible without stressing them out.” 

The similarities between District Senators and Hall Senators appear to be by design. Murtagh shared that “it was important to me that students living off campus still have living-experience representation. … There have been a lot of issues that the administration hasn’t been able to predict ... because life is complicated.” 

Murtagh also stressed that some Mount Holyoke students have faced challenges that might not be represented by the kinds of data that schools would normally consider. Therefore, it is even more important for Mount Holyoke students to have someone who can call attention to their living space concerns. On-campus students had the opportunity to vote for a Hall Senator for their residence hall and a District Senator for their district. Murtagh explained that “it was still really important that on a hall-to-hall level there was someone to contact,” and that on-campus students need Hall Senators in addition to District Senators because they have specific needs as students living in residence halls. 

The establishment of District Senators in place of Hall Senators for off-campus students is another way Mount Holyoke has adapted to the challenges of the pandemic and a fully remote model. Kvedaras summarized the SGA’s goal for the District Senator role by noting, “We’re hoping that as many students as possible have the necessary support and coverage in terms of having their needs met and their concerns addressed in senate.”

Students Living on Campus This Fall Share Experiences

Graphic by Trinity Kendrick ‘22

By Rebecca Gagnon ’23

Staff Writer

On Aug. 7, Mount Holyoke announced that it would not be allowing the vast majority of students to live on campus during the pandemic. The only students who were permitted to remain were those who had applied to live on campus under circumstances that could not be resolved. According to Vice President for Student Life and Dean of Students Marcella Runell Hall, as of Aug. 13, there were about 180 students on campus. 

“It’s really sad around here,” Samira Khan ’22, who currently lives on campus, said. “It just feels like you are living in a zombie land.” 

Khan, who is from Bangladesh, describes herself as a semi-domestic and international student. She spent part of the summer in Bangladesh and then applied to stay on campus for the school year. When she was approved, she went to spend a week with family near Mount Holyoke. “I was already in this county and I was staying with my relatives [on] just a temporary basis and then, just a week later, [Mount Holyoke administration] said we [were] going online,” Khan said. “I didn’t have a place because it was just a one-week [plan] and this was my only option.” 

This story resonated with others who are staying on campus. Parikshita Gya ’22 is another international student living on campus who was afraid to go home. Gya described not living in good studying conditions back home, a large reason for staying on campus. Additionally, Gya mentioned being “very afraid of [President Donald] Trump pulling one of his cards again and barring us entry.”

Although there are some people who are still on campus on a regular basis, both faculty and students feel that there has been an unwelcome change this semester. 

“It’s just really isolating,” Emily Jones ’23, another student living on campus, stated. “I don’t know, I just think that everyone is trying to get through it.”

“My impression from my horror movie background,” Professor of Biological Sciences Gary Gillis said, “is it just feels like a zombie apocalypse about to start and I am sad that so many people are missing out on this amazing opportunity in this cool space.” Gillis is an associate dean of faculty, the director of the Science Center and a professor in the biological sciences department who is currently working from home.

As a member of the College’s administration, Gillis said, “It was kind of my job to convey to the faculty that this last spring and summer we were really trying to de-densify the campus. … The easiest thing for me in deciding to work from home was kind of just abiding by the philosophy I was telling everyone else.”  

Other professors decided to work from home as well, for the safety of co-workers and students. “The best part [of working from home],” Morena Svaldi, lecturer in Italian and the faculty director of the Language Assistant program, said, “is that I can switch my roles very quickly. The difficult part, I think, is that there is no separation between your personal life, personal space and professional space.”

This is a difficulty faced by students who are still living on campus as well. “Normally I would go to classes,” Khan said. “But now it’s just like, wake up, go to your desk, study and then whenever your lunch or dinner time is, you go out for just that. It’s sad.”  

The rules that are being enforced now are the same rules that all students who were previously planning to live on campus would have to abide by. The only difference is that it is now embedded in the community compact for Mount Holyoke to maintain safety on campus. 

“There are several restrictions and the community compact was [originally] so vague that you didn’t even know when you might breach it,” Gya recalled. 

At the beginning of the new year, there was a miscommunication between Dining Services and Residential Life that resulted in some students unintentionally breaking the community compact by sitting and eating in the Dining Commons. There had previously been no signs or notices about whether that was allowed or not. 

“Trying to have a good day and just having food and then out of the blue someone comes up to you and tells you, ‘Oh, you breached the law on campus, we need to take your name and report you,’ is, in itself, very scary,” Gya said. “Especially for us international students; we have nowhere else to go.” 

After this incident, the students did not get penalized for eating in the Dining Commons, since there was a miscommunication. Signs were put up soon after around the Dining Commons so students would know that they are not allowed to eat there. Students are only allowed to eat outside or in their rooms.

Some dorm kitchenettes are open for students to cook their own food if they want to, which helps offset Dining Services’ limited hours. “Their lunch and breakfast times clash with most class times,” Bineeta Debnath ’23 said.

“As the weather is on our side right now, it is better that we get to go outside and have dinner with our friends who are living in other dorms, but I don’t know what is going to happen during wintertime,” Khan said. “We will be staying in our rooms the whole time; even if we are getting our food, we are coming back to our rooms and we are eating in the same space, so it is going to get toxic.”

Other students such as Jones, Debnath and Gya shared this concern for the mental and physical health of the students living on campus. Students can currently spend time with friends from other dorms by going outside because they are not allowed to enter any dorm that is not their own. They may spend time together in Blanchard Hall, but it has to be socially distanced with masks on.

“We don’t really have a social life,” Gya said. “It is just us in one room and I think [for] people struggling with mental illness, this is going to be really harsh on them.”

According to students living on campus, Residential Life is holding some online events and putting on small get-togethers in dorms to help them feel less isolated. Along with this, according to the students interviewed, those permanently residing on campus are allowed to spend time with people who are in their dorm as well. 

Professors also shared this concern for students’ mental and physical health and are continuing to check in with their students. 

“I really care a lot about how my students are processing this because I know that some students have different situations,” Svaldi said. “This has impacted the way that we learn and recharge ourselves, so my message is to be nice to ourselves and be supportive to those around us.”

Although there are a lot of negative feelings, some students have been able to find the silver linings.

“It’s hard,” Khan said. “Especially the two [COVID-19] tests per week, but it is helping to keep us on track, like ‘Okay I’m safe, my friends are safe, the people I’m sharing the bathroom with are safe.’ … [COVID-19]-wise, the campus is safe and they are taking good care of us in that way.”  

“I am really grateful for the people around me,” Gya said. “As in ResLife people, the professors, people in the Dining Services — I feel like they worked really, really hard. … They are amazing. They are doing so much for us, they don’t even know us and they are so nice. Although they are struggling, they are trying to make your day better. … I think we should all feel really special that they care about us that much.”

MoHome Sickness: A Walk Through the Community Center

Photo by Ali Meizels ‘23

By Tishya Khanna ’23

Features Editor

It’s a fall afternoon. You’re wearing a light sweater, cool breeze blowing through your hair. Your classes have ended and now you have a day to yourself. You’re tired but you have time on your hands, so you lie on the Skinner Green for a while and read your favorite book. But it’s fall, and now it starts to get dark at 4:30 p.m., so you relish the short hour you had outside on the grass and decide to go to the Community Center. Let’s take a walk through Blanch together.

You climb the brick stairs and enter the building from the main entrance — suddenly the cool breeze has disappeared and you’re engulfed with warmth and chatter of a Great Room event.  You peek in from the second floor and head right back on your way. There’s a new exhibition at the Art Gallery — new students showcasing their wonderful art. You recognize the names of the artists mentioned from classes you’ve taken and the meetings you’ve attended and savor the sweet surprise of finding out their talents. 

You want to get some work done, so you decide to go upstairs to the third floor, home to the rooms of various student organizations and departments. There are people all over — some intently working on their assignments, some lying with their heads down on the table, some goofing off in the study rooms, some drawing and writing all kinds of things on the whiteboards.

You bump into familiar faces and sit down for a light chat until everyone has to tend to their million deadlines. You find a comfortable spot and get to work. There’s a certain quietude around — the particular taste of the 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. hour at Blanch when the Dining Commons is closed. At 4:50 p.m., there’s inevitably a long line to get dinner tables. Friends are gathering around, calling each other to come over, saving spots for one another. All the while, you’re on the third floor, immersed in an assignment that just won’t end. 

After a while, you decide to go downstairs to eat and call your friends to ask if they want to have dinner together. You go to the first floor, which is glimmering with lively chatter. There are people sitting around the Scrabble boards. One group is actually playing it! The other board has the tiles arranged in curse words — you can hear the giggles, see the mischievous smiles of the people passing by. The event in the Great Room has ended and a new one is being set up. You notice that the Cochary Pub & Kitchen is playing some good music and your friend is sitting in one of the booths, equally frustrated with assignments. The familiarity dissolves the tension into easy smiles and warm, tight hugs. You spend some time in the cuddle puddle and both decide to finally grab some food together. You gather your things and walk into the Dining Commons. You grab a booth, browse through the hundreds of rotating menu options and then sit for a good meal to end the day over the usual banter. 

Arriving at Mount Holyoke is incomplete without visiting the beloved Community Center. The three floors hold the essence of the community — all kinds of people coming together to do all kinds of things. From random whiteboards where people leave lists of their favorite LGBTQ+ movies to the colorful couches that are good for naps no matter how loud it gets, Blanch is often what keeps all of us together — holding us on tired days, offering junk food and giving us a space to show all our wild colors.