Photo by Ella Shelton '26. Senior leadership answers questions regarding COVID-19 safety and policy during Nov. 8 senate.
By Paige Comeau ’26
Staff Writer
During the Nov. 8 senate meeting, the Student Government Association conducted a conversation with Interim President Beverly Daniel Tatum, Provost and Dean of Faculty Lisa Sullivan and Dean of the College Amber Douglas about COVID-19 and the College’s policy surrounding it. The senior College administration leaders presented a timeline of the COVID-19 policy, discussed the reasoning behind the decisions and explained the current policy that they’re working on before taking questions and comments.
Before beginning, SGA President Maille Romulus ’24 laid out a few rules for the dialogue, including using “I” statements unless representing a group of people, practicing “calling in” vs. “calling out” and challenging one’s current assumptions. They also clarified that the definition of dialogue within the context of the senate meeting is a conversation where everyone listens to each other with the intent of trying to understand. They underscored that this was a discussion, not a debate.
After these rules were announced, the speakers were introduced. Tatum began the conversation with a detailed overview of the timeline in which decisions were made regarding COVID-19 and the reasoning behind them. Starting with her arrival at Mount Holyoke in early July, Tatum described the COVID-19 protocols in place during early summer: Indoor masking was an option, no surveillance PCR testing was required, local area transmission rates were low and the Health and Safety Committee had begun making recommendations for policy upon the opening of the College.
On July 28, it was announced in an updates letter from the president that with the start of the new semester three-layer masks would be required indoors until Sept. 16, except when in a private space, and that the College would return to a mask-optional policy for indoor spaces as of Sept. 17 as long as community cases were low. On Sept. 14, the mask mandate was extended by the Health and Safety Committee to Sept. 30, due to high cases of COVID-19 across the community. Tatum noted, as the letter sent by the Committee does, that this mandate did exempt lecturers or presenters, so long as they remained six feet away from others and agreed to test diligently. Again, on Sept. 28, the mandate was extended due to a high amount of transmission and a steadily high case count. At this point, Tatum stated, there were about 50 cases per week since the start of the semester. Ultimately, on Oct. 5, it was decided that the mask mandate would be lifted beginning Friday, Oct. 14. Since that date, Mount Holyoke College has not required masks indoors, although they are still welcome.
Each of these choices, Tatum emphasized, was made with the approval of experts and with the intention of safety. The College’s main resource was the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which, she stated, may be contested by some, but is “still the national public health agency.” At each stage of the decision-making process, CDC guidelines were consulted. Currently, as stated by the CDC, masks are only explicitly recommended for communities with high COVID-19 numbers and consistent PCR testing while asymptomatic without exposure to COVID-19 is not recommended. Tatum and the Health and Safety Committee both reference the CDC in their many updates and letters considering COVID-19 policy. Other resources that have been consulted include the American College Health Association and the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities in Massachusetts, Tatum noted.
Additionally, Tatum stressed that at every stage in the decision-making process there have been diverging viewpoints. After explaining each new policy development, Tatum read an excerpt from an email or two, sent by the staff, students, parents and other members of the community who didn’t agree with the current policy being set forth. Of course, Tatum conceded, the most prominent example of this is the MHC COVID Safety Now sit-in, which began on Oct. 19 and is ongoing. When asked another question about how one should deal with conflict arising due to diverging opinions surrounding COVID-19, Tatum responded by citing the honor code. Everyone, she said, signs an honor code when they come which mandates mutual respect. As such, everyone has a responsibility to respect the needs and opinions of others.
As for future policy, the Health and Safety Committee and other high-ranking leadership members are currently preparing for two students to join the Health and Safety Committee as representatives. The student representatives will be involved in finalizing plans for isolation housing as well as work to reduce the barriers of asymptomatic testing for students. Tatum explained that the Committee had identified a site for isolation housing, but needed to set it up for student use. Douglas mentioned that they were working on improving the meal situation for students in quarantine.
One senator asked if the College’s COVID-19 numbers were based solely on self-reported tests or if they used another system, like UMass Amherst’s wastewater surveillance system. It was answered that as it relates to the number of cases, monitoring wastewater is not a direct measurement, nor would it be useful to Mount Holyoke at this stage in the pandemic. Further, it is unknown whether South Hadley would have the capacity to undertake such a task. Additionally, it was also noted that Smith College recently dropped its mask mandate and asymptomatic testing program.
Another attendee inquired about COVID-19-related absences, of which it was stated that the College had absence policies dating back to pre-pandemic times which are still currently being relied on. It was also suggested that students refer to their class deans when dealing with absence-related issues, as they are very well-versed in the area and equipped to help. They later underscored that there was no expectation for hybridity in all classes.
Two students representing different groups expressed concern about the language used in emails and letters sent out by the president. One student, the representative for the Neurodiverse Students Association, recalled that the phrase “special health concerns” was used in an Oct. 5 letter, similar to the label “special needs” which many found to be offensive. The president responded by thanking the student for bringing this to her attention, and that she will do her best to rephrase from then on. Another student, a representative from MHC COVID Safety Now, commented on the letter that was sent announcing the end of the mask mandate. The use of phrases like “pleased to announce” made it seem, according to the representative, as if Tatum felt a specific way about the announcement. Tatum explained that, yes, she did wish that things could go back to the way they were pre-pandemic, but she hopes that whatever she might personally desire will never override whatever is fundamentally best for the College.
The senate meeting concluded with Romulus thanking the guests for joining the session and reminding students of the upcoming COVID-19 Booster Vaccine Clinic, which is running on Saturday, Nov. 17, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Community Center Great Room.