Mount Holyoke Marks Beginning of Academic Year With First Virtual Convocation Held Over Zoom
Mount Holyoke’s 183rd Convocation took place, as much of the semester has so far, over Zoom. As students virtually filtered in, photos of past Convocations and calls to “Make some noise for the class of 2021!” flashed across the screen. A short montage of photos submitted by students and other community members followed.
Residential student staff living on campus have new responsibilities: Zoom events, enforcing social compact
The group of student residential staff living on the College’s campus this fall is drastically smaller than previous years and they are working in unprecedented circumstances. Abiding by the social compact, and in some cases enforcing it, the responsibilities of Community Assistants (formerly known as Community Advisors) and Residential Fellows (formerly Senior Community Advisors) have shifted in response to COVID-19’s interruption to campus life.
“Back the Blue” Rally on Village Commons Met With Counter-Protests
On Monday, Sept. 7, a group of Trump supporters participated in a “Back the Blue” pro-police demonstration in front of the South Hadley Village Commons. The event, advertised on Facebook and hosted by Dianna Ploss, whose Facebook profile indicates she is a former Massachusetts deputy state campaign director for Donald J. Trump for President, garnered pushback from Mount Holyoke College students.
Brief: Quarantine policies on Mount Holyoke’s Campus
With COVID-19 affecting schools across the country, Mount Holyoke reversed their plan to bring students back to campus this fall. Instead, the fall semester is being conducted entirely online. This semester, the College is only allowing students to stay on campus if their travel home is restricted, if they cannot effectively work in their home environment or if campus is their legal permanent residence. These students are experiencing a different kind of college life on campus, as they now have specific guidelines to follow in regard to curbing the spread of COVID-19.
College Issues New Anti-Racism Plan
“Mount Holyoke must be persistent and uncompromising in addressing the challenges that members of our community who identify as BIPOC — Black, Indigenous and people of color — have brought to our attention. We must identify and address all forms of implicit and explicit racism, bias and discrimination on our campus,” wrote President of the College Sonya Stephens in an Aug. 27 letter to Mount Holyoke community members.
Residential Life Student Employees Share Their Experiences With Fall Planning: Inequitable Pay, Room and Board Fees, Increased Labor
Students were asked to decide by July 8 whether they wanted to take up Residential Life positions for which they had been previously hired. These positions, previously titled Senior Community Advisor and Community Advisor have been renamed based on modifications to responsibilities under the new social compact and campus reopening plan: Residential Fellow and Community Assistant, respectively.
Mount Holyoke Releases Official Fall Plan, Including Information on Housing and Student Life
Mount Holyoke Announces Juneteenth Donation Matching Initiative
On Juneteenth, the Mount Holyoke administration announced a Community Match program for financial gifts made by students, staff, faculty and alumni in recognition of Juneteenth and Pride month. The initiative, led by the Office of the President and the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, will strive to match community members’ donations to three charitable organizations: The Loveland Foundation, the Marsha P. Johnson Institute and the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund.
