By Casey Roepke ’21
News Editor
Vice President for Student Life and Dean of Students Marcella Runell Hall and other members of the Mount Holyoke Cabinet held a town hall meeting open to students on Monday, April 26. In notifying students of the event, Hall wrote that the town hall would be “an opportunity for [students] to learn and ask questions about how the college works and about the present and future of Mount Holyoke.”
Along with Hall, the other administrators present at the event were President of the College Sonya Stephens, Vice President of Equity and Inclusion and Chief Diversity Officer Kijua Sanders-McMurtry, Vice President for Enrollment Robin Randall, interim Dean of Faculty and Vice President for Academic Affairs Dorothy Mosby and Vice President for Finance and Administration and Treasurer Shannon Gurek. The event was facilitated and moderated by the College Ombudsperson Vivian Hsu.
The town hall meeting was divided into two parts: First, the College Cabinet members fielded questions from students and grouped relevant topics into categories. The second part focused on answering questions about 2021 Commencement specifically.
The first category of student-submitted questions was for the Division of Student Life. In response to a question about whether Mount Holyoke will defund the campus police force, Hall said, “This question about defunding police has certainly come up in a lot of different places.”
The Public Safety and Service department was formerly known as the Campus Police department, and Hall stressed the importance of changing policies in addition to changing the name. “It goes deeper than changing just the name,” Hall said. “It’s been learning about restorative practices, it’s been engaging in terms of community guidelines related to positive confrontation, how and when … we want to interact with public safety.”
“I want to just answer the question straightforwardly,” she continued. “No, we’re not defunding Public Safety. And the name change does mean more than just changing the name and having the practices, the policies and procedures be the same. We’re actually looking to transform the way that the office and the people who work in that office are engaging across all of the constituencies on campus, and we’re at the beginning of that process.”
During the town hall, Hall also reiterated previously released plans for the fall term. “We are expecting to welcome back residential students, we are expecting there to be singles and doubles [and] we are expecting for students to be able to register for classes … back on the semester system.”
Hsu read a question submitted by a student about communication regarding COVID-19. “I’m concerned about the way information about MHC plans, particularly around COVID, are communicated to students,” Hsu said on behalf of the student. “Why don’t you communicate more regular updates to students? Can you begin sharing COVID planning updates more frequently such as a weekly update?”
Hall explained that there are a number of methods for communication from the College, including emails, the school calendar and Embark, and as COVID-19 safety protocols on campus grew less restrictive, the College moved away from frequent COVID-19 updates in favor of other information.
Hsu also read a question from a student about Mountain Day 2020, which was held during the fall Module 1 finals period. “What happened with Mountain Day is that, really, we didn’t feel we could take another day out of the schedule because the learning was so intensive, and so we used the break between the mods as the space to do this,” Stephens said. “I know the question is really about why … it happen[ed] during finals, but actually it happened sort of just before finals began and through the night and into the following day, because students were all over the world, and so we had hoped you would all finish your finals by midnight and then you could join in the Mountain Day celebrations the next day. … While we focused on the campus experience, we’re very conscious that the alums who are in the United States and worldwide also want to join you in that celebration, and so they are also watching to see when Mountain Day is announced.”
Midway through the town hall meeting, Hsu shifted focus to a series of questions about 2021 Commencement. In response to a question posed by a student at the event about why there has not been commitment from the administration to have the College provide a ceremony at the class of 2021’s two-year reunion like the one that will be held for the class of 2020, Stephens said that there will be a celebration at the two-year reunion, but it will not include a graduation ceremony. Instead, the College is working with the Alumnae Association to coordinate reunion traditions like the Laurel Parade.
“Our expectation is that we will be able to make those pieces happen,” Stephens said. “Given that we will have a more extensive Commencement this year … and again in 2023, many students will not come back for that Commencement moment with a two-year delay, [so] we are trying to do the very best we can this year, and we will give you additional celebrations and moments to mark your graduation in 2023.”
It should be noted that the Laurel Parade always happens at reunion, and Stephens’ answer did not indicate additional commitment from the College to specifically celebrate the class of 2021.
Maggie Murphy ’21 addressed the lack of communication from the College about Commencement, especially in the context of the numerous feedback surveys the College sends about the module system.
“The surveys seem to be designed for us to scapegoat our professors,” Murphy said. “I felt like I had to answer dishonestly … so that I knew my professors were going to be protected.”
“It’s harder for us to take seriously what we’re hearing now [in the town hall meeting] because it feels like covering up an ‘Oh, crap’ moment,” Murphy continued.
“I hear you,” Stephens said. “Hearing from you helps us understand better. … We are listening, we do care, we’re not oblivious.”
Murphy thought that the town hall format was helpful for allowing students to hear the administration speak on Commencement and other issues but wished there had been more communication before this point.
“I think the panel answered questions well, and it was reassuring to hear … Stephens’ introduction to the Commencent portion explaining that the admin team is fully aware of the hurt felt by a lot of the senior class,” Murphy said. “I am still not sure why going to a one-time panel with a limited audience is the first time we were able to hear that perspective and acknowledgment that our senior class has lost out on basically the entirety of our senior year.”
“The panel felt like an open and honest conversation, but almost none of the emails or other communications coming from the College leadership team have had that sentiment,” Murphy continued. “Maybe that is showing too much candidness or weakness to be sent out in a bureaucratic manner, but I think there is a lot of hurt circling around, and I believe the administration showing some vulnerability will help mend the relationship of our class with Mount Holyoke as an institution. I have no doubt that I will be a proud [alum] of this college soon and would recommend the College to anyone, but I think for a lot of us, there’s going to be a sour taste in our mouths when we think about our Commencement and our experience as students.”