Photo by Althea Shaw '27.
BY RIVER DALLEY ‘27
NEWS EDITOR
Mount Holyoke College’s Student Government Association opened its senate meeting on Feb. 13 with the Mount Holyoke College Land Acknowledgement, emphasizing the importance of learning about local Indigenous nations.
Afterwards, Vice President for College Relations Kassandra Jolley and Vice President for Finance and Administration and Treasurer Carl Ries were welcomed on stage to present information about financial aid and the College’s budget. Jolley and Ries began their presentation by covering Mount Holyoke’s financial aid budget, then discussed the College’s main sources of revenue — those being endowment support, tuition and fees and annual fundraising — and general college expenses. The presentation discussed more specific financial topics, such as alum donations, the percentage of the general student body that requests and receives financial aid, tuition increase and endowments.
This financial discussion sparked confusion, anger and questions from club senators. These questions covered a variety of topics relating to how Mount Holyoke spends its budget and how much of the College’s income is dedicated to each specific need that Mount Holyoke needs to fulfill.
Senator Stevie Wilensky ’27 of the Jewish Student Union expressed frustration with the lack of accessibility concerns on campus being resolved financially. These frustrations included the accessibility of the Access Ride Card van, a vehicle that is on call to transport students with mobility limitations to various parts of campus, and the frequent malfunctioning of campus elevators. Their comments were met with nods of agreement from fellow senate attendees. Wilensky, among other attendees, questioned why the College does not use more of the $163 million annual budget to address these prominent issues, to which Jolley and Ries responded that there are plans to increase ARC van accessibility. They also disclosed that some accessibility issues may be ineligible to receive grant funds for their improvement.
Another student questioned what the increased tuition income was being used for, as many aspects of campus are seemingly not financially prioritized. Ries explained that the tuition-spending decisions were not focused on “cutting the budget” — rather, they were focusing on prioritizing in-demand programs and activities by rearranging resources accordingly. Ries clarified that no funding is lost in decisions such as merging programs, a concern raised during the questioning.
Dining hall wages were also introduced during the questioning. Students expressed concern about certain dining hall stations not being open frequently, as well as staffing shortages and the lack of food for student-athletes after practices. Ries explained that dining hall staff members are unionized and negotiate proper wages with Mount Holyoke every three years. On top of that, Jolley and Ries cited a lower number of students on campus in the spring as a possible reason for changes in dining hall operations.
The struggling languages departments were the final concern addressed during the financial aid presentation. One student, a prospective Arabic minor, expressed frustration with the inaccessibility of the Arabic program at Mount Holyoke. They explained that their only option for learning the language was attending an 8 a.m. class at Smith College, an unfeasible option for them. Jolley claimed this was not an administrative decision and that faculty and other facilities allocate lines for curriculums. Jolley and Ries also noted that professor retirement and decreasing student interest were contributing factors to the language department’s struggles.
The financial presentation then ended. Jolley and Ries received applause, and the floor opened for any other general concerns from senate attendees.
A primary concern brought up by attendees was summer storage. Many students, especially first-generation and low-income students, expressed a need for summer storage and concerns about expenses. However, these concerns were met with yet more concerns about practicality. A student representative on the faculty committee explained that lack of space, usage of storage for other purposes and potential for property damages all make the possibility of universal summer storage more difficult. However, negotiations by the faculty committee with storage company Boomerang Storage were mentioned as a possible solution.
Concerns about the construction taking place in North and South Rockefeller Halls were raised, stating that housing might be negatively affected. The Residential Fellow of Rockefeller Hall Maahi Jaiswal ’24 noted that the construction was not affecting rooms commonly prioritized for living, so lack of housing wouldn’t be a prominent issue.
Housing accessibility was brought up as the final point. One student explained that subjecting students with accommodations to the housing lottery negatively affects their chances of their accommodations being met. The process for negotiating with Disability Services about these accessibility concerns was also negatively reviewed by attendees, with one student calling their attitude “absurd.”
After the general concerns portion was finished, the meeting adjourned, and attendees were dismissed.