To all minorities and marginalized people: you are not alone in this fight
BY ISOKE SAMUEL '18
For my dear friend Elaine Reed who died on Nov. 9, 2016 at 10:30 a.m. upon hearing the results of the election; thank you for opening our minds and our hearts and reminding us to live.
Last night, over 4,000 miles away from Mount Holyoke College in a small Italian city, I crowded around a tiny computer screen with three Greeks and four Americans to watch CNN report the results of the 45th presidential election. With every state that turned red, the same people who hated the color of my skin since the day that I was born labeled all of the other portions of who I am as invalid and unimportant.
We must progress, we must move forward
Oppressors need to acknowledge the pain they have caused
The election of Donald Trump brings about uncertainty and fear
President-elect Trump has used fear & hate to antagonize minorities
BY JENN GONZALEZ-SANTOS ’17
Fear is all that has come to mind during this election. I fear for myself, I fear for other people of color and I fear for my loved ones. This fear has only gotten worse during the development and progression of Donald Trump’s campaign. The name calling, the accusations, and the stereotyping have impacted people on a global level. Trump is fully aware of the people he has hurt, but he continues to deny his actions and ignores others’ feelings. A president is someone who’s supposed to take care of a country and serve as a role model for its citizens. As many would agree, Donald Trump doesn’t fit these descriptions nor is he qualified. He has negatively targeted every possible community, including Muslims, Latinx people, Blacks, Asians, LGBTQ people, women, the disabled and immigrants.
Antisemitism is alive and well in Trump’s America
BY EMILY GREENBERG '17
Given the kind of vitriol the internet at large is wont to spew, going on Twitter is risky on a good day, but the day after this election, it seemed especially dangerous. Still, I felt I couldn’t sit in a box of artificial silence any longer; I had to see and engage with what other people were saying.
We must come together as Americans and find common ground
BY JAMES HEILMAN
As the election unfolded I felt increasingly uncertain about the future of America’s national politics. All elections come with uncertainty, but this particular feeling was mixed with fear, sadness and a concern for how the uncertainty that follows this election will divide people not only over issues of public policy (as all elections do), but issues that are fundamental to people’s identities and life opportunities. I have not felt this way since Sept. 11, 2001. The events of that day left me with the same mix of emotions. I know this election is important to me because of this feeling.
Editorial
Sharing the video of Professor Rosnick violated the Honor Code — and our community standards
Despite its “anti-establishment” rep, the Rocky Horror Picture Show marginalizes minorities
In response to Wayne Lela’s letter to the editor
BY MARYA JUCEWICZ '17
This week Mount Holyoke News received a letter to the editor from Wayne Lela regarding the presence of “ignorant liberal bigots” who practice “sleazy discrimination” against conservative students and faculty on college campuses. In his letter, Lela urges students to welcome “intellectual diversity” to their campuses and suggests that colleges should institute affirmative action for the purpose of hiring conservative professors.
Letter to the Editor
Freedom of speech is not a partisan issue
BY ARIANE GOTTLIEB '20
By now, everyone in Mount Holyoke has likely heard the story of professor Peter Rosnick. The math professor gave a short speech to his class about the importance of voting, and, though he offered no endorsement, every student understood that he supported Hillary Clinton. Unbeknownst to Rosnick, the speech was filmed and distributed to conservative outlets, causing massive backlash against the school on social media.
Without Deborah Cohen, there is no AccessAbility
BY DANA KURZNER '19
For some, being disabled means having to be at a disadvantage for most of one’s life. Whether it be socially, emotionally or physically, people with disabilities can easily find daily tasks turned into seemingly insurmountable challenges. This is where the law and our school’s AccessAbility department, founded and headed by Deborah Cohen, who is leaving her role as the department’s director Oct. 28, steps in.
Trump’s abortion rhetoric is incorrect and harmful
Discussing gender at a historically women’s college
BY CHLOE JENSEN '20
As a cis woman at Mount Holyoke and throughout the world, my privileges compared to my transgender and non-binary peers are undeniable and obvious: I have never been misgendered, I have never entered a situation where I had ask myself if disclosing my gender was unsafe, I have never experienced dysphoria and despite all the misogyny I may face, I have always known, whether consciously or not, that the world will validate my gender and that I will never have to actively battle to prove otherwise
Hillary Clinton is more than just a lesser of two evils
BY CHLOE JENSEN '20
As an avid Hillary Clinton supporter, watching one of my favorite women and biggest role models accept the Democratic nomination was absolutely inspiring. As happy and proud as I was to see Clinton accept her historic nomination, many of my friends (who are also liberal-minded millennials) did not feel the same way. Instead, they were inspired by Bernie Sanders and felt indifferent or perhaps even angry towards Clinton. Over these past few months, I have watched many of my friends and peers claim that while they are not excited about Clinton, they plan on voting for her, simply because she is ‘the lesser of two evils’ and ‘not as bad as Donald Trump.’
An MHC professor’s memoir as a newspaper editor
BY KATHERINE O’CALLAGHAN
The nailing of a condom machine to the wall of the student union corridor was one of the first controversies I encountered when I was working at a college newspaper in the mid to late 1990s (the ban on contraception in Ireland for anyone not married had only just been overturned).
In ignoring the “basket of deplorables,” the Democratic ticket loses out
BY FRANCIS MCKANE '17
Hillary Clinton is the bitter pill the Republican Party needs. The right lost the culture wars, and while they rail against the liberal media, the rest of the country keeps happily consuming it. Women are an enormous demographic and a winning vote in this country. The white men’s vote used to be enough to win national elections, but it isn’t anymore. Hillary Clinton will win the White House, in part thanks to her 19 point lead among women voters, but also to Donald’s Trump’s xenophobic rhetoric that has alienated many non-white voters.