Administration should stop holding Mountain Day on Friday

Graphic by Hale Whitney ’26

Abby Paull ’28

Staff Writer

“I hope the rapture doesn’t happen so we can still have a Mountain Day!” was the internal monologue of many Mount Holyoke students during the week of Sept. 21. Fortunately, the rapture did not happen that week, but Mountain Day did, on Friday, Sept. 26. The reception for this was overall poor. Some rejoiced that it had finally happened, while others were left confused.

Many students do not have class on Fridays, so many spend this day off campus or sleeping in and resting. Over the course of my day I heard many disappointed conversations. President Holley’s choice of holding Mountain Day on a Friday leaves out students who typically use Friday as a day off.

Mountain Day is a well-loved college tradition where every year, the president of the College cancels morning and early afternoon classes. On the day of, the clock tower’s bells ring a hundred times at 7 a.m., commencing Mountain Day. Students and faculty alike hike to the summit of Mount Holyoke, Joseph Allen Skinner State Park. Historically, Mountain Day has been held on a weekday, giving students a break from their classes.

However, by holding Mountain Day on a Friday, the majority of students who have few, if any classes that day, and who may have already had plans are left neglected.

The various issues associated with this year’s Mountain Day likely come from poor planning on the administration’s end. For example, the week of this year’s Mountain Day was also the week of ​​Rosh Hashanah, a Jewish holiday in celebration of the Jewish new year. The administration would have known about this prior to booking Skinner State Park for the week: Calendars exist for this reason.

There was also a torrential downpour the night before Mountain Day, Sept. 25. Despite this, administration still chose to hike the mountain. The planners of Mountain Day should have taken proper precaution after the rainfall. Rainfalls like this in Western Massachusetts are pretty awful mud-wise, which could have endangered students.

To plan Mountain Day better, College administration should have booked the mountain for a week where there are no major religious holidays or significant rain showers, both of which present limits and challenges to student participation.

The College puts an emphasis on community on Mountain Day. But how are we to have true community when most of the student body is off campus, attending to other matters? You are not giving students a break by putting Mountain Day on a Friday, because most students have already finished their academic week. Mountain Day should be held on a weekday — not a Friday — to give students a true break.

Mountain Day’s true purpose is meant to bring students out of their stress and remind them of their community. Mountain day can’t be perfect every year, but instead of holding it on the Friday after a major rain storm and religious holiday, the College should have eaten the cost and rebooked it for the next week. Friday is not a major academic day, so most people already have a break and use this time to go home or catch up on well-needed rest.

Either way, Mountain Day should not be on Friday.

Karishma Ramkarran ’27 contributed fact-checking.

Fizz goes against the Mount Holyoke Honor Code

Graphic by Brianna Stockwell ’28

By Abby Paull ’28

Staff Writer

“I will honor myself, my fellow students and Mount Holyoke College by acting responsibly, honestly and respectfully in both my words and deeds.” For those who are not aware, this is the Mount Holyoke College Honor Code pledge. Students during their first year are expected to sign the honor code in order to show their commitment to the school’s ideals. It was put in place to hold the students of Mount Holyoke to a certain standard that reflects the College. But due to the rise of anonymous social media apps, students are no longer able to be held accountable for breaking certain aspects of the code. The only way we can prevent this in the future is to get rid of this pathetic anonymity. 

Fizz is an app that allows Mount Holyoke students to sign up through their school email and post their thoughts anonymously, similar to apps such as the University of Massachusetts’ Yikyak or Smith College’s Confesh. The problem with Fizz is its anonymity; allowing students to engage with each other namelessly gives them the opportunity to cyberbully each other without consequence. 

Over my first year, I saw Fizz users express Islamophobic, antisemitic, homophobic and transphobic sentiments. And, Fizz doesn’t have a limit on how much you can post, making it possible for these controversial comments to be created by one student or a collective of like-minded students. The effect of this is that it floods the app with these comments, setting a standard for the conversations the students are having, and distorting the overall image people have of the campus community 

One may argue that the app’s anonymity is actually helpful because it allows students to share resources and ask questions about campus they might’ve not been able to or comfortable doing before. One student can ask another the easiest way to get back to Mount Holyoke from Smith on a weekend. Though this is helpful, it is few and far between. More often, Fizz being anonymous allows students to ragebait each other and target individual students without consequence from the school. 

The Honor Code  tells us that: “A Mount Holyoke student demonstrates their respect for individual freedom by conducting themselves with maturity and honor, and by showing due concern for the welfare of other members of the community.” I ask this question: How are Fizz and other anonymous apps helping the welfare of the community? To help the welfare of the community, we should work on students being able to respectfully confront people and communicate instead of brewing hatred and letting it explode online.

It is urgent that we hold students at Mount Holyoke up to the standard of The Honor Code. Hiding behind anonymity creates the opportunity for ragebaiting, discrimination and bullying to come into the community. There is enough discourse outside our college. If you as a student are going to use your Mount Holyoke College email to spew hatred about your community that you CHOSE to be a part of, you owe it to your fellow students to reveal who is spewing that nonsense.

The College’s community fears confrontation, and some believe that anonymous platforms such as Fizz will heal our ailments. But what good will getting into an argument with your classmate online do for your mental health? I urge the Mount Holyoke community to address this and find different ways to express their emotions.

Quill Nishi-Leonard ’27 contributed fact checking.