Photo by Kristina Link ‘27. Senate members contribute to the Town Hall Debrief and discuss the special guests of the last two weeks.
By Brie Foster ʼ27
Staff Writer
Mount Holyoke College’s weekly senate meeting began on Feb. 27 with the Mount Holyoke College Land Acknowledgement as well as an overview of the meeting’s agenda. The agenda began with a check-in and debrief and ended with an open floor. The check-in began with the senate discussing their “roses, buds, and thorns” regarding the current Mount Holyoke community. After discussing for a few minutes, students shared their answers.
The senate leaders then moved into a town hall debrief, in which students discussed comments, concerns and questions regarding meetings in the prior two weeks. The senate leaders reminded students that the past two meetings had guest speakers, including Residential Life and Disability Services, as well as Vice President for College Relations Kassandra Jolley and Vice President for Finance and Administration and Treasurer Carl Ries.
The feedback shared regarding these talks was mixed with appreciation as well as criticism. Class of 2027 Senator Kit Moore ʼ27 explained that senate leaders handled students’ questions well and that she appreciated that senate leaders made sure students’ questions were answered. Other students supported this sentiment, adding that guest speakers did not answer questions to their full extent, which sparked frustration amongst the students, but that senate leaders advocated for answers.
One student expressed frustration specifically toward the financial strategy presentation, which took place on Feb. 13. They explained that answers from speakers felt “condescending” and “patronizing.” The student elaborated further, saying, “I think I was asking a fair question, and I wasn’t getting the answer I deserved.” When asked how this could be improved in the future, the student explained that validating questions and directly addressing them, even with the admission that the answer is unknown, is important.
Continuing the discussion on the financial strategy talk, one of the hall senators shared that they wish speakers could share breakdowns of how much money each department receives. They explained that certain numbers and percentages are easy to hide and also expressed their disappointment in how information regarding Mount Holyoke’s finances was shared in part rather than in full.
The debrief ended with concerns regarding recent posts and comments on the student social media platform Fizz about summer housing. One of the senators asked the senate leaders why summer housing would be in 1837 Hall and not Creighton Hall, despite accessibility issues. The senate leaders concluded that they would reach out to Residential Life about the inquiry.
The senate wrapped up its final meeting of the month with an open floor for announcements about campus events and final concerns. With no concerns to share, the open floor consisted of sharing events for students to look forward to.
Several students and senators shared upcoming events for their respective organizations and the details for them. A representative for WMHC also shared that there is a PSA link in the senate minutes and on their website where student organizations can promote their upcoming events on WMHC radio shows.
These events include an upcoming STEMPOC vision board-making event and a STEM-themed mocktail-making event; a Write Here, Write Now anti-racist writing workshop; Students for Health Humanities’ Brushes and Perspectives event; AWAZ’s Disco Deewane; Mixed Identity Student Collective’s 10th-anniversary Trailblazers of Color Leadership Conference; the College Democrats’ Super Tuesday watch party at the Weissman Center for Leadership; the Association of Pan-African Unity’s final Black History Month events for 2024; several athletic events, such as a Paws Meet and Greet; a workshop with the College’s American Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Student Chapter; and the upcoming Glee Club concert.
More information on these events can be found on Mount Holyoke’s Embark page. After reminding hall senators to pick up copies of the MHC Newsflush, which is spring-inspired, for their resident hall, the final February 2024 senate meeting concluded.