By Annette Darpoh '27. Nathania Amadi '26 speaking at senate on March 5.
Correction: Members of the Student Government Association reached out to Mount Holyoke News after publication to clarify that the focus of President Holley’s visit would be to discuss the College’s strategic plan. A previous version of this story indicated that she would be discussing the College’s tuition increase for the upcoming school year.
“I addressed the concerns over the increase in tuition [at the Senate meeting], knowing that the email had recently come out. Immediately after I announced that Prez. Holley would be coming in the next week to share the final draft of the strategic plan. I can see how this information would have been misinterpreted,” Madonick said, in an email to MHN on March 11.
“To clarify: [President] Holley's main point is to talk about the strategic plan,” Madonick added.
By Brie Foster ʼ27
News Staff Writer
Mount Holyoke College’s weekly senate meeting on March 5 began with the Mount Holyoke College Land Acknowledgement and an overview of the meeting’s agenda. The agenda opened with an overview of the Indigenous Nation of the Month, the Coosuk Abenaki Nation.
The senate leaders started their overview of the Nulhegan Band of the Coosuk Abenaki Nation by briefly outlining its history. The senate slideshow explained that the Abenaki had lived in Vermont "as early as the late 1700s, expanding towards Quebec and further south down Vermont.” The slideshow also showed that government reparations began in the 1980s in Vermont, but the nation was not recognized or could buy tribal forestland until 2011.
After reviewing the nation’s history, the senate leaders listed resources for students to begin or improve their allyship with the Coosuk Abenaki Nation. The first of these resources was a PDF listing an array of educational resources for all ages compiled by the Abenaki. This PDF was linked to the senate slideshow alongside the nation’s PayPal account.
As the senate leaders explained, all funds donated to this PayPal will go to food pantries and emergency necessity funds for members of the nation. Senate leaders also encouraged students to use the nation’s resources listed for learning their still prevalent language.
The senate then moved on to the open floor section of their meeting and discussed upcoming events on campus. These events included the upcoming Big/Little Events, weekly Ballet Club meetings on Fridays, the STEMPOC mocktail-making event on March 6, APAU’s Cookies and Conversation buddy meeting on March 8, Student-Athlete Advisory Committee events for D3 week in April, including a Paws meet and greet and the ongoing Flower Show in the Talcott Greenhouse, with a Flower Show photoshoot on March 6.
Following these announcements, the senate moved on to concerns, including the ongoing lack of menstrual product trash cans in the basement of Ham Hall, the MHC live laundry site, known as LaundryConnect, malfunctioning for all residence halls and the issue of food deliveries and boxes blocking accessible entrances, exits and accessibility buttons at residence halls.
Senate Chair Julia Madonick ’24 wrapped up the brief meeting by announcing that President Danielle Holley will be attending the next meeting on March 12 to address the College’s tuition increase. Madonick explained that the focus of the meeting would be long-term strategic planning and asked all who were present to prepare questions regarding this, announcing that a question form would be sent out in advance. Madonick also encouraged the senate to bring friends, intending to have a large number of people present for this conversation.
With a final reminder for hall senators to pick up their monthly Newsflush, a short news publication posted in campus bathrooms, the first senate meeting of March concluded.