BY ANNA KANE ’20
On April 18, President-elect Sonya Stephens announced the appointment of Shannon Da Silva as Mount Holyoke’s new Title IX and Section 504 coordinator. After a national search headed by Vice President for Student Life and Dean of Students Marcella Runell Hall and Five College Director of Compliance and Risk Management Stacie Kroll, Da Silva began her term at Mount Holyoke on April 19.
BY AVA BLUM-CARR ’21
Students and community members gathered in Gamble Auditorium last Wednesday for the Conservative Women’s Summit, an event hosted by the Mount Holyoke College Republicans and sponsored by the Young America’s Foundation, the Zionist Organization of America, the Israel on Campus Coalition, the Clare Boothe Luce Policy Institute and the Weissman Center for Leadership.
BY EMMA RUBIN ’20
Mount Holyoke’s senate meeting on Tuesday, April 10 included several elections and referendums for its senators. As usual, the meeting began with ideas and feedback during which students expressed discomfort at being accosted by other students tabling in Blanchard, confusion about campus pathways and concern about an “Islamophobic” speaker coming to campus for an event.
BY MELISSA JOHNSON ’20
Mount Holyoke College’s Frances Perkins scholars (FPs) presented passionate monologues to students, faculty and administrators on Wednesday, April 4. Guests filled Gamble Auditorium to hear the unique stories from a handful of FPs, who described their personal journeys to the gates of Mount Holyoke College. This year’s monologues were a part of the second annual Building On Our Momentum (BOOM!) conference, which took place last week.
BY ANNA KANE ’20
Linda Sarsour, Tamika Mallory and Carmen Perez, the founders and organizers of the 2017 Women’s March in Washington, D.C., delivered the keynote address for the 2018 Women of Color Trailblazer Leadership Conference (WOCTLC) on Sunday, April 8. The activists discussed their involvement in social justice and civil rights movements, in keeping with the conference theme of empowerment through engagement and celebrating the accomplishments of women of color.
BY MERYL PHAIR ’21
The Student Government Association held a “Meet the Candidates Night” this Tuesday in preparation for upcoming SGA executive board and class office elections. The candidates’ presentations were preceded by an announcement of the results of the Student Conference Committee’s (SCC) annual survey, released during the 2017 fall semester.
BY EMMA RUBIN ’20
Mo’Coffee, a student-run cooperative that plans to sell coffee on campus, has been a growing presence within the Mount Holyoke community since spring 2016. Originally operating out of the All Saints Episcopal Church and occasional pop-ups across campus, Mo’Coffee announced its new base in Blanchard 227 earlier this semester. However, “coordination issues” have caused delays in the cooperative’s opening.
BY ANNA KANE ’20
Mount Holyoke’s annual Building On Our Momentum Learning Conference (BOOM!) is moving into its second year, with plenty of planned changes from last year’s event. Branded as a conference built “by members of the community for members of the community” by administrators, BOOM! will feature events for faculty, students and staff to attend in an effort to further the College’s mission of diversity, equity and inclusion.
BY AVA BLUM-CARR ’21
Students gathered in Gamble Auditorium last Thursday to hear from a five-person panel of environmental activists at one of their stops on a nationwide tour of college campuses. The tour is sponsored by the Post-Landfill Action Network (PLAN), a national organization that equips students with the necessary resources to cultivate zero waste and sustainability movements on campus.
BY KATE TURNER ’21
When Mount Holyoke’s new dining commons first opened at the beginning of 2018, the dish room was generally rumored to be chaotic, with an overflow of dirty dishes and food waste during peak hours. Alleged issues included a non-stop stream of dishes during rush hour and few opportunities for workers to take breaks, as well as a general lack of training.
