In the midst of a major constitutional crisis’: an interview with President Holley

By Liliana Stinson ’27

Staff Writer

Since the start of the second term of President Donald Trump’s administration, the Supreme Court of the United States — commonly abbreviated as SCOTUS — has become increasingly political in its decisions. The current fall term looks to be no exception. The Court will hear cases on LGBTQ+ rights, free speech, racial gerrymandering, campaign finance regulation and presidential power, all of which have the potential to be extremely consequential.

To help students understand this upcoming term, legal scholar and Mount Holyoke College President Danielle Holley offered her analysis to Mount Holyoke News in an interview.

Before surveying the cases ahead, it is crucial to note the Court’s actions this past summer to provide context for the justices' rulings and the role of the Supreme Court amid a so-called constitutional crisis.

While the Court typically goes on break between July and October, the justices have stayed busy this summer, issuing a large number of pro-Trump rulings through the so-called shadow docket, sometimes also called the “emergency docket”. This includes “anything the Supreme Court does that's not in the regular docket [of appellate cases],” Holley explained.

Shadow docket decisions generally lack written opinions or legal explanation and are often unsigned. Most shadow docket cases are primarily procedural, diminishing the need for extensive explanation. However, this summer, the Court used its shadow docket in an unprecedented manner, subverting precedent to rule in favor of the president.

As Holley noted, “The shadow docket has become another way for the 6-3 majority to really empower Trump.”

There is no indication that the Court will change course this fall. On Oct. 7, SCOTUS began its term by hearing oral arguments for the case Chiles v. Salazar, which asks whether conversion therapy bans infringe on the First Amendment rights of therapists; specifically Christian therapists, who seek the ability to interact with their clients how they see fit.

The Colorado law in question already contains exemptions on religious grounds and for non-licensed counselors. Additionally, Colorado has never enforced this law, which, as Associate Justice Sotomayor noted in oral arguments, puts the legal standing — the right to bring a suit in court, which typically requires demonstrated harm or capacity of harm — of the therapist into question.

Yet, the Court seems inclined to rule in favor of the therapist challenging the law. There is precedent for this. “What’s interesting about this case is that it has a real comparison to Masterpiece [Cake]shop and a case called 330 Collective,” Holley pointed out, citing two cases in which Christian plaintiffs argued that being required to serve LGBTQ+ couples would infringe upon their First Amendment rights. In both of these cases, the Supreme Court decided in favor of the Christian plaintiffs.

Through all three cases, “The Supreme Court is establishing a theology of the First Amendment, where the First Amendment acts completely differently for people who are expressing Christian ideology,” Holley argued. “It is really insidious, what they're doing with the First Amendment.”

The Supreme Court is hearing two other cases involving the LGBTQ+ community this term: West Virginia v. B.P.J. and Little v. Hecox. Both of these cases argue that laws banning trans women and girls from playing women's sports violate Title IX and the Equal Protections Clause in the 14th Amendment.

Lindsey Hecox, one plaintiff in Little v. Hecox, has asked the Supreme Court to dismiss her case. Hecox is worried that if the case continues further, she will be subject to harassment that will harm her mental health and ability to graduate college. It is unknown whether the Court will in fact drop Little v. Hecox from their docket, but, regardless, they will hear West Virginia v. B.P.J.

The Court’s decision is predicted to be disastrous. “I think we all know where this is going, based on Skrmetti,” Holley stated, referring to the Court’s previous decision that allowed laws banning gender affirming care for minors to stand across the country.

“Unfortunately, these cases are based in both Title IX and in the 14th Amendment, and so it allows the Supreme Court to make a devastating Plessy v. Ferguson type decision, in which they say that Title IX and the 14th Amendment do not recognize gender identity, they only recognize biological sex.”

“There is nothing outside of bigotry that would allow for this law to stand,” Holley said. “This is about the Supreme Court creating a legal construct that will support the marginalization of communities for another 100 years. They are trying to set back the rights of women, of Black people, of Latine people, of trans people, of the LGBTQ+ community. This is their agenda.”

Indeed, the Court’s anti-rights agenda blazes forward this term with the case Louisiana v. Callais. Callais is first and foremost an attempt to dismantle Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, its only remaining active provision. Section 2 primarily serves to prohibit racial gerrymandering. The litigants — the state of Louisiana and non-Black residents — are arguing that the court-mandated creation of a majority-minority district violates the 14th and 15th Amendments.

There is little doubt that the Court will rule in favor of Louisiana. For over a decade now, the Court — and Chief Justice John Roberts in particular — has worked to strike down the entirety of the Voting Rights Act by invalidating many of its key provisions. This record includes Shelby County v. Holder, which eliminated the VRA’s ability to require states with a history of racial discrimination to pre-clear any changes to voting laws or district maps with the Department of Justice.

Shelby County v. Holder was an extremely consequential case, explained Holley, “that essentially gutted the effectiveness [of the VRA], because people could do things like racially gerrymander and never get it pre-cleared. Now you can only challenge [racial gerrymandering] in the aftermath.”

Holley anticipates Callais will not be an exception to the Court’s anti-VRA quest. “[The Court] will strike the death knell [of the Voting Rights Act] in this case, and find essentially the same thing they found in Shelby. Racism is over, or it never existed, and so therefore there is no continuing justification for the Voting Rights Act.”

If the Court does in fact strike down Section 2, there will be immense consequences. “To have racial gerrymandering approved in our law again is going to take us back to the 19th century, back to Jim Crow,” Holley said.

However, she explained regressive and oppressive decisions are a feature — not a bug — of the United States’ highest judicial body: “Some people would argue [there are] less than 10 major cases in the entire history of the Supreme Court that define them as anything other than an oppressive institution that works to undermine democracy for anyone who does not traditionally have power.”

The Court has yet another opportunity to undermine elections and democracy this term, in National Republican Senatorial Committee v. Federal Election Commission. This case primarily concerns coordinated party expenditure limits, which restrict the amount that political parties can spend on their candidates’ advertisements. The National Republican Senatorial Committee argues that these limits on coordinated spending violate the First Amendment rights of political parties.

Coordinated funds have long been regulated — including by the Supreme Court itself — as they are seen as just as corrupting as cash contributions. As explained by the Campaign Legal Center, large donors can donate over 10 times more to political parties than specific candidates. This means that if parties were allowed to coordinate with their candidates, candidates could effectively circumvent individual contribution limits.

Under Chief Justice John Roberts, the Supreme Court has greatly limited the ability to regulate campaign contributions, especially from corporations and PACs. The most significant of these rulings is Citizens United v. FEC, in which the Court decided that “Political spending is a form of protected speech under the First Amendment, and the government may not keep corporations or unions from spending money to support or denounce individual candidates in elections,” per SCOTUSblog.

The precedent of Citizens United makes it extremely likely that the Court will rule in favor of the National Republican Senatorial Committee. This could deal a massive blow to our remaining democracy, argues Holley.

“This is essentially Citizens United two. This is another complete degradation of any idea that we, as the public, would have an equal voice in terms of elections. Instead, they have handed over our elections to the corporations and to the billionaires.”

“There's no other way to say it: We're essentially in the midst of a major constitutional crisis,” Holley summed up.

Alayna Khan ’27 contributed fact-checking.

Answering your questions about the College’s budget: Part two

Graphic by Audrey Hanan ’28

By Betty Smart ‘26

Graphics Editor

Over a month ago, Mount Holyoke College’s workers went on strike, and I came to the realization that I had next to no idea how the College’s budget worked, both under normal and abnormal situations. While the College’s annual financial statements are available for public viewing on the MHC website, most students’ only real exposure to the budget comes from experiencing increases in tuition. I sat down with the College’s Vice President for Finance and Administration and Treasurer, Carl Ries, to break down the budget. This is part two of what I learned about the bigger picture of the College’s budget. The first part of this article can be found in Mount Holyoke News’ 9/29 publication and on our website.

How does Mount Holyoke pay for bigger projects?

One big mystery for me surrounding the budget centered on the College’s big building and renovation projects and how they fit into the College’s financing. I learned from Ries that Mount Holyoke actually has two budgets. The first is the operating budget, which was discussed in more detail in the first part of this article, and concerns the everyday costs of the College. The second is the capital budget, which is primarily concerned with the College’s larger projects.

The capital budget is paid for with debt, the occasional grant, and, this year, $5 million out of the entire operating budget. Doing some quick math on this, out of a total budget of around $165.5 million, 5 million would be 3%. Even if this amount were entirely composed of tuition revenue, each student — 2,209 total in 2024 — would have paid approximately $2,263.47.

Putting this number with an average 2024 tuition of $44,448.16 — $98,186,000 from 2,209 undergraduates’ total tuition, housing, and food revenue — each student would have paid at most approximately 5% of their total tuition towards the capital budget.

Ries went into this in more detail, saying the College “[doesn’t] use regular revenue to support [bigger projects.]” Because the funds in the College’s endowment are protected and hence cannot be used, the College can either fundraise, or take out a loan. Previous projects like renovations to the Community Center and construction of “SuperBlanch” were a mixture of both; “a little bit of borrowing, but mostly fundraising,” according to Ries.

Depreciation of buildings in general is another big expense for the operating budget. A hypothetical building that is initially worth $50 million, according to Ries, would go on the College’s balance sheet as an asset. As time goes on, however, its value would fall; going off an estimated useful life of 50 years, that would be an annual loss of $1 million from its original value. This loss is what “hits [the] operating budget as depreciation,” according to Ries; while depreciation isn’t directly spent, like other expenses, the reduced monetary value it represents counts as a loss. Last year, depreciation cost the college $12,280,000, about 7% of its total expenses. Ries went on to say, “This last fiscal year … is probably the first year in which we will have had a deficit from operations. And a large portion of that is because of increased depreciation.”

What happens in the case of budget deficits or surpluses?

According to the College’s annual financial summary, Mount Holyoke ended the 2024 fiscal year with a deficit of $452,000, which was a noticeable change from the previous year’s surpluses. Ries said this was something that hadn’t happened in “several years.”

The College’s 2024 financial summary partly attributes this drop to “reduced vacancies,” particularly following COVID-19. “For years after COVID, when people weren't coming back to work as quickly, or it was harder to find employees to fill those positions, we saved a little bit of money because we weren't spending as much money on personnel,” Ries stated.

Despite the “very small” surpluses, the College had no intention to continue with a smaller staff, as Ries told me, “Being fully staffed is important because if the Dining Commons isn't fully staffed or if Student Life isn't fully staffed, that means that the students are not getting the experience that we want them to have.”

According to the 2024-2025 financial summary, the deficit is the result of increasing wages and benefits, and more work being done on buildings and their subsequent depreciation. In situations like this, deficits are covered with reserves. These reserves are not from the endowment, instead they are made up of surpluses from previous years that earn interest in the operating account funds. “We can cover a few years of operating deficits through the use of reserves, but they’re there [for]support when times get tough,” Ries said.

In what other ways does the College respond to inflation?

Inflation is all around us, and not going away anytime soon. Ries told me that while Mount Holyoke is unfortunately “not large enough” to stock up on heavy equipment like that for the building projects, the rising cost of food is another story. The College does not want to have to stop doing business with local suppliers because of rising prices. “We do a ton of local purchasing, so we try to avoid [choosing different products] as much as possible.”

“One thing that they were talking about doing this year,” he went on, “was ordering a larger quantity of a particular ingredient, prepping it … ahead of time, [and then] freezing or refrigerating it to then be used at specific times in the year.” Ries said the biggest questions the College tries to answer when doing this are, “How much does it cost to buy a certain ingredient? Should we be buying it prepared, or do we do it from scratch the way we do it now?” Ries gave me an example, saying that for the College, “buying pre-chopped onions is very expensive, [but] buying a box of onions and paying somebody to do it has been cheaper for us.”

All in all, Ries said, the College’s efforts around inflation boil down to “choosing products, thinking about preparation … and avoiding all the sort of ancillary costs of buying stuff that comes shipped in from California or from Florida because there’s an environmental impact, there’s a cost to that. So we try to do as much local [purchasing] as we can.”

What would happen with a loss of federal funding?

Although a loss of federal funding is a real possibility, the College is not in over its head yet. Overall, it truly depends on the extent and nature of the losses. Regarding something like a hypothetical ban on international students, Ries said the College would immediately “have to stop everything and figure out how to deal with that … there's no contingency that can really prepare you … you'd have to restructure a lot of the budget.” However, for certain smaller things, the College is more confident. Ries said certain losses could be made up for by fundraising, or outside grants or philanthropy. “It may mean that we'd have to cut expenses in a certain area, but we haven't had to do that yet … Some of it is really thinking about, ‘Do we have to make changes to the operating budget or can we replace that revenue?’”

An example Ries gave was Pell Grants, a federal program that pays financial aid for those it describes as “undergraduate students who display exceptional financial need,” and usually does not need to be paid off. If the College were to lose access to them, it would likely turn to privatized student loans, something that it is already doing for international students.

Right now, 70% of all undergraduate students at Mount Holyoke apply for financial aid, and 82% of those applicants receive some aid from grants they don’t have to repay. Ries said that no matter what, the College would always prioritize its students. “We have a commitment that we've made to them, and it would depend on the long-term impact, but the College would find a way to make sure that we didn't lose students because of a loss of federal funding. That's something that we've been saying since the beginning of all of these threats, that we'll find a way to make it work.”

Madeleine Diesl ’28 contributed fact-checking.

Discontent brewing amongst Frances Perk café staff

Photo by Sydney Wiser ’27

The Frances Perk, located inside the Williston Library’s Atrium, is a staple for many students; they serve snacks, coffee, teas, and a few baked goods.

Elizabeth Murray ’26

Features Editor

The Frances Perk café is a popular stop for students in between classes or on a study break. Located in the Williston Memorial Library Atrium, the Perk is managed by Mount Holyoke’s Dining Services and staffed almost entirely by students. The café is open most days of the semester and offers a mix of beverages and pastries.

Recently, baristas have grown more frustrated with their treatment by upper management. “Especially this semester, it kind of feels like we're on our own,” one Perk staff member who asked to remain anonymous said. Another anonymous student echoed this sentiment, stating, “It feels like [the administration] doesn't care about us at all.”

One concern is the onboarding of new baristas. The Perk hires staff once the café is open, which isn’t until students return for a new semester. Hired staff must have experience working as a barista, and they are normally trained in three training sessions before they can work on their own. Recently, new staff have had difficulty being able to schedule training sessions, leaving experienced staff to train during regular shifts, adding to their usual duties. This can be incredibly difficult during particularly busy shifts that overlap with rush times. One of the staff members we spoke to voiced their frustration, saying, “It was solely up to the students and it felt like management knew, but they were like, oh, it's not that big of a deal. You guys should figure it out on your own. That's how it felt.”

During a regular shift, there are ideally two or three baristas present to ensure that things run smoothly, but this hasn’t been standardized across shifts. Lately, there have been scheduling issues caused by an overall staffing shortage, meaning there is no one to fill in if someone calls out sick. This can leave staff members in a tight spot, having to manage the café by themselves. Other times shifts have to be left open because of conflicting class schedules. One of the employees Mount Holyoke News spoke to mentioned that management has scolded employees for not being able to fill empty shifts.

There has also been frustration around how management chooses to enforce certain policies over others. Baristas expressed frustration with management’s enforcement of the dress code policy in particular. “I've heard some people complain about misogynistic dress coding,” one barista said. Another employee said “managers cornering students and commenting on their bodies showing” was an issue. It isn’t clear to either staff member what is considered a dress code violation, and despite having contacted Dining Services they have received no answer.

The students continuously expressed how frustrated they were with upper management and felt that they made work for the employees harder. “They make it harder, not easier to open [and] close and they expect unreasonable hours … there's just a lack of communication.” one staff member said. Employees interviewed by MHN feel that upper management doesn’t understand the struggles students are having managing the Perk, and fail to include them in decision making. “We're the ones actually doing the work and I feel like maybe we have a better insight to how things work.” one staff member said.

“I think management needs to acknowledge that they've never run a coffee shop before. They run dining halls, which are very different things … it's a different beast entirely but the majority of students who work at the Perk… actually have worked at a coffee shop before,” another student said.

The Perk’s staff have reached out to Dining Services to voice their frustrations. “We have contacted management and collectivized. We sent them emails. They have not responded … We've been contacting them … since the beginning of the semester. They know the issues,” one student said.

When baristas were asked about potentially forming a union, one responded, “As far as I know, there won't be any unionizing. Our complaints are just easy, easy fixes, maybe in the future.” Another staff member said they were not comfortable with answering that question themselves.

Mount Holyoke News asked baristas what management can do to improve. One answered, “Management needs to do better with their hiring process and with the training process.” Another responded, “[I] think they need to start listening and engaging with us and acknowledging that we really care about the work we do, as well as … considering what is a priority for rules that need to be enforced and what is not, and also re-examining ways that they can make their staff feel like they’re cared for.”

Madeleine Diesl ’28 contributed fact-checking.

MHC After Dark bingo held

Photo by Jo Elliot ’28

Students congregate in the Great Room to all play bingo during a Mount Holyoke After Dark event.

By Jo Elliott ‘28

Staff Writer

Almost every Friday evening, the Great Room is home to MHC After Dark’s substance-free events. The events rotate in themes and events, Oct. 3’s event being bingo. MHC After Dark’s programming offers students the opportunity to participate in late night events without the use of substances, offering community and fun to those who don’t consume substances.

The series of events runs every Friday and Saturday night from 10 p.m. to 12 a.m. Both the Office of Student Involvement and BeWell host these events. Some of their past nights include Just Dance parties and craft nights. Most MHC After Dark programs are held in the Great Room at Blanchard Hall.

Mia Gonzales Jackson ‘26 attended the bingo night on, and noted that, “I am a big fan of bingo events on campus! The event I attended was hosted by the Division of Student Life and part of the MHC After Dark programming. Personally, I enjoy playing bingo because it is simple and fun.”

Another attendee who spoke highly of the event, Maddie Stith ‘26, said, “I like events like these because I feel like it forces me to not stay in my dorm for the whole day, and it allows me to connect with people that I don't get to see often because it's a mutual enjoyment for such activities and allows me to spend time with groups of people that I know.”

Both attendees highlighted the importance of having these drug-free events on campus with Jackson saying, “I think offering this program supports Mount Holyoke's campus-wide drug-free policy and offers a different position on what an enjoyable college experience contains. For those who do not follow the crowd, it is a reminder that we are not left out or denied opportunities to have fun.”

Similarly, Stith stated, “I feel like it gives time and an open space for people who are not really into [drinking or consuming other substances] or people who literally cannot due to whatever medical reasons because that's also a thing.”

Substance-free events on college campuses can help ensure students who don’t use drugs or alcohol feel isolated from other students. Especially when it comes to the pressure of being in close proximity to substances, which often feature prominently at student-hosted parties.

“The college experience provides a context where experimentation with alcohol and other substances is facilitated by new freedoms, ample free time, reduced supervision, transitions to new social contexts, and a culture of partying,” Pennsylvania State University researchers state. “Studies suggest that students who spend more time in naturally-occurring alcohol-free activities including academics, volunteering, and campus activities (excluding fraternity and sorority activities) report less alcohol use.”

Stith touted the social benefits of going to events like these for herself: “It's also a really nice thing to be able to do so you don't have to worry about feeling excluded or left out or like you're not fitting in with the environment.”

Madeleine Diesl ’28 contributed fact-checking.

The Great Goose Chase: Where is our beloved Jorge?

Graphic by Audrey Hanan ’28

By Quill Nishi-Leonard ’27

Editor-in-Chief

For many years, Unofficial LITS Mascot Jorge starred in new students’ introduction to LITS: The Great Goose Chase Scavenger Hunt. During the game — which took place during both fall and spring Orientation — students were encouraged to “solve puzzles and find clues” to locate Jorge “before he gets into TOO much trouble,” according to the event listing on Embark.

Following the real goose’s death in December 2024, Jorge continued to appear in spirit on LITS’ website, Instagram, and the spring 2025 scavenger hunt. However, in the days leading up to this semester’s Orientation, posts featuring squirrels began appearing on LITS’ Instagram. Then, on Aug. 29, LITS hosted the Mean Squirrels Scavenger Hunt. The new game was functionally similar to the Great Goose Chase, but saw Jorge replaced with a squirrel some have dubbed "Regina Forage,” according to LITS.

Mount Holyoke News interviewed some students about their thoughts on Jorge, Regina Forage and the title of LITS’ unofficial mascot.

“Now that Jorge is gone, campus does feel different,” Sophia Virgadamo ’27 said in a text interview with Mount Holyoke News. “A little bit of that mystical whimsy is gone which I will miss but never forget … Jorge was a beautiful icon and should remain the mascot as to honor his memory.”

Saturn Barnes ’27 has also been impacted by Jorge’s death. “[Jorge] was such a core part of my memories on this campus … I still get sad when I see the Canada geese without him,” Barnes said. “I totally get why they had to replace Jorge, and the squirrels are cute, but it doesn’t really feel unique to us.”

In an email to Mount Holyoke News, LITS wrote, “The squirrel … is, for now, only a character in our new student orientation Mean Squirrels scavenger hunt.” While Regina Forage has featured prominently in LITS’ branding this year, Jorge remains LITS’ unofficial mascot. 

“If there was ever to be a new unofficial mascot, we think it should grow organically out of the love of the MHC community like Jorge did,” LITS further clarified.

“I definitely miss his presence,” Barnes spoke about Jorge’s lasting influence on the College. “I feel like he could be a new campus myth or legend.”

For some students, Jorge has already ascended to the status of campus legend. Virgadamo and their friends decided to research Jorge’s history after his death: “After his passing my friends and [I] became even more dedicated to uncovering the truth to Jorge's lore, this culminated in a … visit to the archives where we discovered that according to school records Jorge has been the same goose for the past … 30 years.”

“In his death he may live on, every time we need help with the two factor authentication or some phishing scam gets into our emails,” Virgadamo concluded.

Madeleine Diesl ’28 contributed fact checking. 

MHC Board of Trustees to vote on retirement of PaGE

Graphic by Brianna Stockwell ’28

By Sydney Wiser ʼ27

Features Section Editor

Mount Holyoke’s Professional and Graduate Education — also known as PaGE — program has offered students in the education sector opportunities for higher education for 13 years, graduating 545 masters students as of May 2025 and serving 330 non-degree students in the past 5 years. The Board of Trustees will hold a vote to potentially retire the program in its entirety in October.

On Sept. 3, 2025, in an email from President Danielle Holley, reports from the College’s various 2024-25 working groups were shared with the Mount Holyoke community.

These working groups, composed of Mount Holyoke faculty members, were created as a part of President Holley’s MHC Forward Strategic Plan, and covered a range of topics from Career Readiness and Exploration to Supporting the Trans and Gender Nonconforming Community.

The Graduate and Professional Programs Working Group — abbreviated as GPPWG — began its first phase in between October and December 2024, and was part of the “Resource Stewardship” pillar of the MHC Forward Strategic Plan, according to the College. GPPWG, along with a consulting group, Hanover Research, was tasked with assessing “both current and potential future Mount Holyoke College programs against the dual benchmarks of reputational enhancement and revenue generation.”

In their May 2025 report, GPPWG found that the PaGE programs “represent an annual drain on College resources,” and that there were few reputational benefits to keeping them operating in their current capacity.

When looking at the net income of the PaGE program over the last four years, GPPWG projected a loss of $157,000 for the 2025 fiscal year. GPPWG also projected flat to declining numbers of enrollees for the 2025 fiscal year, following the trend of the last four years.

GPPWG also noted that while PaGE programs have seen a recent uptick of professional development contracts, which is in part how PaGE programs bring in revenue, “the current federal funding and regulation landscape makes the future of such programs (and revenue from them) uncertain at best.”

Based on their findings, GPPWG recommended the retirement of the program, with an emphasis on supporting PaGE staff, and further investigation into whether the College could adopt other academic programs in place of PaGE that would more effectively bolster the reputation and revenue of Mount Holyoke.

“This recommendation would allow the College to further focus on and support our undergraduate program, including our undergraduate teacher licensure program,” the College said in a statement to the Mount Holyoke News.

The College added that in anticipation of the Board’s decision, Mount Holyoke had paused applications for Spring 2026 enrollment and ensured current enrollees in the PaGE program would be able to finish by summer 2027 at the latest.

For current and former PaGE program students, the news came as a shock.

Alison Beattie, a 2017 alum of the graduate program, described the decision to close the program as “gut-wrenching.”

“To cancel a program where you help garner a workforce that is so deeply important I will never understand. It seems that MHC doesn’t care about investing in young learners in MA unless they are prepared to pay undergraduate tuition,” Beattie said.

Beattie also served on the alum panel when the program was set to be reviewed by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and noted that the program had received accolades like the department’s “Approval with Distinction.”

The day before the GPPWG’s report went public, current graduate student Evelyn Bushway ’24 received an email from Provost and Dean of Faculty Lisa Sullivan and Interim Executive Director of Professional and Graduate Education Programs Corinne Miller. “I just remember reading and being super confused and having a hard time understanding it,” Bushway said.

In the email, Bushway was informed of GPPWG’s recommendation to end the PaGE programs. Sullivan and Miller explained that the recommendation was supposed to “allow MHC to focus institutional resources on its mission and strengths as the leading gender-diverse women’s college for undergraduate education.” Sullivan and Miller also stressed that currently enrolled students who did not deviate from their plan of study would be able to complete their degree and encouraged Bushway to fill out a feedback form about the recommendation.

According to Bushway, she has not received any other information from the College’s senior leadership team.

PaGE alum Jazebel Bermudez, who received a master of arts in teaching in English as a Second Language from Mount Holyoke, heard about GPPWG’s report when she was considering returning to the College. Bermudez wants to become the director of a language program and was looking forward to using PaGE’s Teacher Leadership program to help her reach that next step. When she discovered the program might be shut down, Bermudez was shaken.

“My support system that I depended on is gone,” Bermudez said.

Bermudez began studying at Mount Holyoke in 2018 through a program called Urban Teacher Pathways, which helped Holyoke public school educators earn a master of arts in teaching, an initial general education license and at least one other license, including English-language learners.

As a first generation graduate of high school, college and graduate school, Mount Holyoke College gave Bermudez opportunities she did not think were possible. “If it wasn't for Mount Holyoke, I don't think I would be in the position I am today,” Bermudez said.

Bermudez emphasized how the diversity in her classes and her close relationships with professors supported her as she tackled being an educator, new mother and graduate student.

Having studied at the College for her undergraduate degree, Bushway knew the aspects of the College she would appreciate for graduate school. She emphasized the academic rigor she had grown familiar with at the undergraduate level, the support system Mount Holyoke provided through resources like the SAW center, and the opportunity to connect with groups of students with teaching experiences both domestic and international.

The College also had something that few other institutions Bushway knew of, had — a master of arts of teaching in mathematics. This program allows students to concentrate their teaching studies in mathematics while also studying for their masters in education. As someone who had always enjoyed middle school math, Bushway knew that this was the program for her.

“Having a master's that helped me dive deeper into mathematics and [see] how we can facilitate student discussions of math and help [students] have a deeper understanding of math was super important to me,” Bushway explained.

Before graduating from Mount Holyoke in 2024, Bushway already had a teaching job and a commitment to Mount Holyoke’s graduate school lined up.

After the recommendation to terminate the PaGE program was made public, alums and current students rallied together in protest. Across all 11 graduate classes of the master of arts in mathematics program, 46 alums sent a letter attached with written testimonies about the impact of the program to the College’s senior officials.

“Because of the nature of our work as educators, the work of every graduate multiplies exponentially through every student we teach, teacher we develop, and organization we lead. It is not an exaggeration to claim millions of students and educators have been positively impacted by this group of co-signers and the scores of other alumni of the program,” part of the letter reads. 40 alums of the program also replied to the email thread signaling their support.

Bushway put together a similar email for her graduating class cohort.

A decision will be made in October when the Board of Trustees votes on the recommendation from GPPWG. Regardless of the outcome, the College said, “Mount Holyoke emphasizes that PaGE graduates will continue to be a valued part of the MHC alum community. Their contributions to education and public service reflect the College’s enduring mission of lives of purposeful leadership, and the College will always be incredibly proud of their accomplishments and academic journeys.”

Karishma Ramkarran ’27 contributed fact checking.

Answering your questions about the College’s budget: Part one

Graphic by Betty Smart ’26

By Betty Smart ’26

Graphics Editor

The recent strike of Mount Holyoke College’s workers made me very curious about exactly how the College’s budget works. While the College’s annual financial statements are available for public viewing on the MHC website, for most students their only real exposure to the budget comes from experiencing increases in tuition. I sat down with the College’s Vice President for Finance and Administration and Treasurer, Carl Ries, to break down the budget.

Something important to know off the bat is that there are actually two budgets. One is the operating budget that directly deals with the ins and outs of the college, including but not limited to wages, benefits, supplies, and maintenance. The other is the capital budget, which is used for bigger infrastructure projects.

Where does the college get its money?

Ries explained to me that the College’s operating budget encapsulates “everything… from food to utilities to paying our employees … Our annual budget is … somewhere in the $165 to $180 million range, depending on how you interpret it. That is what it takes every year to run the college. We don't borrow money to run the college, we have to balance the budget.”

“Tuition, housing, and food is the majority of our revenue; so, let's just call it $100 million out of $165 or $170 million. The other $65 million, we have to find sources for that every year. The next biggest support is our endowment,” Ries said.

Mount Holyoke College’s endowment is a collection of individual funds that regularly invest in the markets, with each fund having their own restrictions on what they can be spent on.

“The endowment is basically protected forever … we really can’t touch that money because it’s permanently restricted, the majority of it. There’s some unrestricted, but this is how endowments work. The vast majority are protected … in perpetuity. So you can only take the earnings every year,” Ries continued. “Every year, the endowment does well in the markets… They'll spin off a little bit of money every year. And that money… we're allowed to spend. So we call it basically 5%... of the endowment value we can use every year to support the college… it’s about $50 million a year.”

“So you have 100 million in tuition, housing and food. You've got $50 million in endowment support, leaving [you] somewhere between another $15 and $20 million that we've got to find every year. So fundraising is about $10 million for what we call the annual fund. And again, this is money that just gets used to support the operating budget,” he explained.

“So that leaves like another … five to 10 [million] left.” Ries went on to describe other forms of revenue that make up this last amount, which included people paying to eat in the dining commons, the hotel, and summer conferences. All of these are categorized as auxiliary income, Ries finished.

What does the college spend its money on?

According to Ries, “Personnel, staffing, faculty, wages and benefits. So everything for … faculty, student labor, workers in the dining commons, facilities and maintenance.”

“Next… when we think about categories of expenses, you can start to think about things like utilities … gas, electricity, water, those kinds of things tend to be pretty pricey when it comes to the budget,” Ries said. “And then the other big piece is really the cost of all of our systems. So Workday, Colleague, all of the IT support and function services, that's a huge and increasing amount of our budget annually.”

He continued, “There are other things…just to shed light on sort of why we raise tuition. Utilities is part of it, but in the dining hall, those ingredients… are increasing exponentially right now. We saw a 20% increase recently in getting local meat, which [when] you think about like how much meat we actually use, can be significant… If an orange goes up 20%, [it’s] maybe not a big deal. But if all my groceries go up 20%, that makes a big difference. So, we do have to kind of constantly be aware of how that impacts our food and housing costs.”

Another operating expense is depreciation of the various buildings and projects on campus that are paid off a little at a time.

Does the end of the strike mean any big changes are coming?

Ries explained, “We generally expect expenses to go up between, you know, 2% and 4% a year based on inflation and increased wages. That's going to be the case even with the union deal… I think it's a great outcome for our employees. They're seeing significant wage increases in the first year, and then those wage increases slow in the second and third years of the contract. But I'd say that the outcome of the union deal is very much in line with what we expected from a budget impact, so there's not a huge impact.”

How will the college keep giving financial aid if tuition goes up again?

“First of all, Mount Holyoke is committed to making sure that we meet a student's financial need. So Student Financial Services works with every student based on their expected family contribution within the parameters of what they can afford and offers a package … Even when tuition increases happen, the amount that the student pays might increase, but it won't increase 100% of what tuition goes up because some portion of their whole education, if they have financial aid, is being covered by the college,” Ries said.

He gave an example: “Tuition went up 10% three years ago … And students who were basically getting a full ride, they didn't see any change … because they had 100% need. Students who had like a 50% need, they might have seen a small increase because part of their tuition was already being paid for by the College and part was being paid for by the family. So they didn't see an entire increase of 10%. They maybe saw 5% for some of those students. We try not to raise tuition as much as is possible, but we do need to raise for inflation.”

“...Over time, the College has offered significant financial aid to the point where a majority of our students are getting some financial aid… So part of what we have to do is…balance as much as we can trying to get a slightly higher average tuition per student because we have students that have more ability to pay full tuition on average. And so we try to balance the financial aid to provide as much access as possible, but knowing that we still rely on some full and fuller pay students,” he concluded.

Karishma Ramkarran ’27 contributed fact checking.

Mount Holyoke rings in another academic school year

Photo by Elizabeth Murray ’26
Students decked out in their class colors gathered in the Gettell Amphitheater to watch as this year’s Convocation began on a bright Tuesday morning.

Elizabeth Murray ‘26

Features Editor

It was a sunny day, and students enthusiastically filled the Gettell Amphitheater as the Five College West African Music Ensemble played. On Sept. 2, Mount Holyoke College held its annual Convocation to mark the beginning of a new academic year.

Convocation is a time-honored Mount Holyoke tradition, welcoming new and returning students. For first years, it's the wrap-up to orientation and their first campus-wide tradition. For seniors, it’s a great way to start their last year. “Everyone was cheering for all classes and faculty with catchy chants that made it hard not [to] join in! Not to mention some of the insanely creative outfits of some students that were a sight to see! I had such a great time and can’t wait for next year’s convocation!” Adrian Moncrief ’29 said in an email interview with Mount Holyoke News.

Although the Amphitheater’s ramp was blocked by construction, an accessible viewing was organized in the Gamble Auditorium. When asked about experiencing convocation indoors, Mia Gonzales Jackson ’26 said, “Folks in charge made sure we got water and beads, so we were well taken care of; [they] even made sure I made it back outside for the senior photo.”

Yet, despite many positive experiences, this year's Convocation was mired in controversy. Mount Holyoke College facilities workers, dining employees and housekeepers, who are members of the Service Employees International Union and the United Auto Workers Union, had gone six months without coming to an agreement on a contract. On Convocation, the workers protested the lengthy negotiations with a strike, during which the college hired outside staff for the post-Convocation barbecue. This was criticized as strike-breaking and prompted calls for a boycott in the days leading up to the ceremony. Many students chose to wear union pins and hold up signs expressing their support for the strike during the ceremony.

As the senior students and faculty came down the stairs, the usual convocation energy was high, and everyone took their seats. However, when Sally Durdan ’81, chair of the Board of Trustees, began her speech thanking the College’s staff for their hard work, the crowd immediately broke out into chants of “pay your workers” and “no Convocation,” interrupting the ceremony for several minutes.

Vic Klapa ’26, who had brought their own megaphone, led the chant and read a speech criticizing the college’s treatment of its staff. Eventually, President Holley came to the podium, at which point the Mount Holyoke Convocation Choir turned their chairs away from her. She stated her support for the College’s workers and her commitment to finding a solution. “We will never stay as a college that does not fairly engage with its workers. I promise,” she assured. President Holley also said that if the students did not wish to proceed with Convocation, she would respect that decision.

The crowd settled, and Convocation proceeded as normal. Durdan finished her speech and then ceded the podium to President Holley. In her speech, Holley announced that the theme for this year's Convocation was sustainability, “in every sense of the word.” Holley’s speech highlighted the College’s efforts to become environmentally sustainable through its geothermal project, as well as ensuring the Mount Holyoke community is sustainable through all the upheavals the world may throw at it. In her speech President Holley noted how in its 188-year history Mount Holyoke’s community has withstood natural disasters, wars, and pandemics, to name a few, and that it will continue on.

Next was a speech by Student Government Association (SGA) President Nathania Amadi ’26. Amadi spoke about making the Mount Holyoke College community stronger by continuously working to be inclusive and rejecting all forms of hate, prejudice, and bullying. She also highlighted SGA’s successes, such as providing free laundry in the dorms and free sanitary products in the bathrooms in Blanchard Hall. In a touching moment, Amadi called on all current and past members of the SGA to stand up and thanked them for their hard work and effort, highlighting that these wins were not a one-person job. She ended her speech by noting that growth is a continuous process, and encouraging our community to strive for it.

When asked about her feelings post-Convocation, Amadi said, “After the ceremony, I felt exhilarated, empowered, and excited to start the new year! Hearing the cheers from everyone whilst talking about change during my speech was reassuring that our great community will embrace and implement said change.”

After Amadi, Angelica Patterson, Curator of Education and Outreach for the Miller Worley Center for the Environment, spoke on the theme of sustainability and how it expands beyond environmental causes, encouraging personal growth and challenge. This was followed by the choir led by Colin Britt, lecturer in music and director of choral activities, singing “I. we have come,” a Persian song arranged by Abbie Betinis, based on the poems of Hâfez.

The final speaker was Olivia Aguilar, associate professor of environmental studies. Her speech tied back to this year’s common read, “Parable of the Sower” by Octavia Butler, comparing the novel’s plot to the issues facing our world today. In particular, she highlighted how the novel discusses climate change and how Mount Holyoke community members can learn to fight for a better future through our community.

The choir closed the ceremony with a rendition of the alma mater, and the seniors posed for their class photograph. In the end, a long-held school tradition marked by students making their voices heard probably made this year's Convocation the most Mount Holyoke of them all.

Leah Dutcher ’28 contributed fact-checking.

Mount Holyoke students reflect on housing lottery challenges

Photo by Sydney Wiser ’27

Creighton Hall, one of 18 residential halls on Mount Holyoke College’s campus, is home to several Living-Learning Communities and includes many amenities such as air conditioning and a full kitchen.

By Jo Elliott ’28

Staff Writer

Mount Holyoke has a diverse range of housing options, with 18 residential halls and ten non-residence hall apartments for students to be housed in. While each dorm has its own pros and cons, it’s the housing selection lottery that most students have recently had difficulty adjusting to. This year’s housing lottery took place from late March into mid-April.

Kairi Harness ’28, who participated in the housing lottery for the first time this year, described confusion and frustration when it came to the process. “With the whole lottery system, I didn't understand the rules, I didn't know what was happening,” Harness said.

Others, it seems, feel the same way. Another first year, Fajar Amjad ’28, said, “I had very, very limited options that did restrict my choices … I didn't feel like I had a choice at the end of the day.” By the time they could select a room, Amjad noted, they were left with only two dorm options: 1837 Hall and Prospect Hall.

According to Harness, housing selection makes much more sense for incoming students.“The housing process when applying to a new college is easy, so easy. It was so simple, you just filled out the form, you were done,” Harness said.

Rosemary Osafo-Kwaako ’26, a resident advisor for the first-year exclusive MacGregor Hall, added to the discussion about first-year housing, stating that the promotional videos the College posts to YouTube and TikTok about the residence halls are helpful for incoming students. “I do think they're trying well with the YouTube videos and the TikToks,” Osafo-Kwaako said. The purpose of these videos is to prepare the incoming first years for what’s in store, as many of them do not have the opportunity to interact with the dorms before arriving on campus.

Nevertheless, current Mount Holyoke students have experienced issues with finding on-campus housing. “There is a general shortage of rooms that we feel like exists,” Amjad said.

Although most students interviewed did not claim their issues were part of a housing shortage, Amjad noted that, “I do think there are more people present than there are rooms, and I also think that people who require or need more options aren't getting enough, especially people who need accommodations.”

Harness tended to agree with the assessment that student housing issues may be caused by a shortage, stating that, “It feels like you're fitting three people into a space. It feels like the …. newer triple rooms are just what used to be double rooms. They're just shoving a new bed in there to make room.”

Other students agree that there is a housing problem, but do not believe it is due to a shortage. Anha Chaudhry ’28, for instance, said in an email to Mount Holyoke News, “I don't think there is a housing crisis in the sense that there's not enough housing for all of us, but I do feel like there's a bit of an issue with accommodations and students needing singles … I get that there needs to be some sort of strict policy to ensure that not every student is getting their way to a single when others may need it more, but it's really exhausting when I have several evident disabilities and concerns and am still sent into a loop of doubt.”

Moreover, Chaundhry noted, “I think there needs to be a more straightforward method to attain accommodations instead of both facilities not taking responsibility for the first step. There should be a streamline[d] pattern for a student to fill out a form, meet one office, get confirmation from the other, come to a conclusion and get the accommodations they need, be it a single, central campus housing, lower floor rooms, or having ACs and larger appliances.”

Adeyla Hoenck ’28 contributed fact-checking.

SCOTUS amidst the Trump administration: An interview with Danielle Holley

Graphic by Brianna Stockwell ’28

By Liliana Stinson ’27

Contributing Writer

Even before Donald Trump's inauguration as president on Jan. 20, 2025, the Supreme Court of the United States has functioned as a significant political actor. With a few notable exceptions, the nine justices have decided most cases along liberal and conservative ideological lines, and the conservative majority has not shied away from dismantling decades-long precedents in order to pursue a partisan agenda. 

How might the political role of the Supreme Court change in the context of Trump’s second term? To answer this question, Mount Holyoke News sat down with Mount Holyoke College President and legal scholar Danielle Holley, who offered insight into the current landscape of the Supreme Court. 

The first case the Supreme Court has ruled on relating to Trump’s second term executive orders is Department of State v. AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition. This case occurred in response to Executive Order 14169, “REEVALUATING AND REALIGNING UNITED STATES FOREIGN AID,” which ordered a 90-day pause on all foreign aid programs. On Feb. 10 and 11, recipients of foreign aid and non-profit organizations issued two lawsuits challenging this order, one of which resulted in this case. 

On March 5, the Supreme Court issued a 5-4 decision empowering a district judge to move forward with his order that the State Department and U.S. Agency for International Development must issue payments for work already performed by the AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition and other organizations and corporations. The payments would total nearly $2 billion. Since these organizations and corporations historically receive federal foreign-assistance funding and had completed work before Trump released the executive order, they required these earnings by law.

This decision is notable: By making the executive branch follow the contracts and federal appropriations guidelines set out by Congress, the Supreme Court is upholding a fundamental separation of powers outlined by the Constitution. However, the majority is extremely slim and has only issued an unsigned, one-paragraph opinion, as opposed to the eight-page slashing dissent authored by Justice Samuel Alito and joined by justices Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh. 

Additionally, in this dissent, Alito indicates that the dissenting justices would have preferred for the Court to officially review the case on its merits, rather than just deciding to approve or deny the government’s request to vacate the judge’s order. 

This is significant, Holley said, as a further review of this case could have implications on the powers of federal judges. “Every district court judge, like we saw with the district court judge in this opinion, has the ability to issue what's called a nationwide injunction,” Holley explained. A nationwide injunction allows judges to block federal policy or orders nationwide. This power has recently become controversial because judges have used it against the Trump administration. “In the previous administration, it was operating in benefit of conservatives. In this administration, it's operating in benefit of liberals,” Holley said. 

“I think what the Supreme Court is struggling with is, if you do not like nationwide injunctions, that can't be a partisan view … If you don't like it for USAID, you [can’t] like it for mifepristone,” Holley continued, noting the injunction District Judge Kacsmaryk issued in 2023 suspending FDA approval of mifepristone, a drug crucial to medical abortion. 

Indeed, this case touches on the increasing politicization of the judiciary, not only because of conservative outrage against the power of liberal judges to issue nationwide injunctions, but also because of the tendency of those on the far-right to punish any judge — or justice — who rules against Trump. 

For example, Justice Amy Coney Barrett joined the majority decision and allowed the injunction against Trump to go through. After the decision was released, Barrett faced an online barrage from far-right personalities. These attacks included accusing her of being a “DEI hire,” which Holley said indicates the prejudice behind the movement against diversity, equity and inclusion. As Holley described, “When you hear someone say someone is a DEI hire, they're attempting to attack that person on the basis of their race or gender … Amy Coney Barrett is the subject of sexist attacks because she failed to adhere to the party line.” 

The attacks on the judiciary have threatened other justices as well.  In a March 18 post on Truth Social — the far-right social media platform modeled after the website formerly known as Twitter — Trump called for the impeachment of U.S. District Judge James Boasberg, who ordered the Trump administration to cease deportation flights under the Alien Enemies Act. This is a largely unprecedented attack on the judiciary, which is intended to operate entirely independently from political influences in order to protect the rule of law. 

Indeed, only 15 federal judges have ever been impeached, all related to high crimes and misdemeanors in which the judges broke the law or abused their position. The fact that the president has called for judicial impeachment due to a political disagreement is a shocking breach of civil norms, and even evoked a rare rebuke from Chief Justice John Roberts. 

“For more than two centuries, it has been established that impeachment is not an appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial decision,” Roberts said in a statement issued mere hours after Trump’s social media post. “The normal appellate review process exists for that purpose.”

Though it is extremely unlikely that Congress would actually remove federal judges from office, a representative has introduced articles of impeachment against Judge Boasberg in the House. 

In response to the growing politicization of the judiciary, Holley said, “We have to fight on every front. So number one, I would encourage people to raise their voices at every opportunity, right, [when] they feel that their First Amendment free speech is being shut down, to petition their government, write to their Congressperson, write to their senator, write to the White House.” 

“The second thing is,” Holley continued, “we have to fight in the courts … because, honestly, much of what the current administration is doing is extralegal, is outside of the rule of law … Everyone in our society must be responsible for following the rule of law. And if they aren't, then we aren’t in a democracy.”

Lastly, Holley advocated for the College’s community to gain a thorough understanding of the norms and limits of government power. “We have to gain more knowledge about what our government [is] authorized to do, because this is a time where we have to push back against government authority. Most of the time we think of the government as our protector. In this case, the government is our oppressor,” Holley said. “One of the features of living in what is supposed to be a democratic institution, is to have no fear in saying our government is wrong, our government is not following the rule of law, our government should be challenged and sanctioned based on what they do, and that's one of the most critical things we can do as people who support democracy at this time.” 

Madeleine Diesl ’28 contributed fact-checking.

Loksi’ Shaali’ opera premieres on the East Coast at MHC

By Jo Elliot ’28

By Jo Elliott ’28

“Loksi’ Shaali’,” the first-ever opera to be sung entirely in a Native American language, premiered on the East Coast in Mount Holyoke’s own Abbey Memorial Chapel on Friday, Feb. 28. The two-act opera is performed in Chickasaw and was created by Chickasaw composer Jerod Impichchaachaaha’ Tate, a revolutionary figure for bringing Native American voices to opera. 

The performance featured Mount Holyoke’s Symphony Orchestra, Glee Club and Chamber Singers and was conducted by Director of Orchestral Studies Tianhui Ng. The opera featured several distinguished singers, including Cristina Maria Castro, Charles Calotta, Kirsten C. Kunkle, Nicole Van Every, Mark Billy and Grant Youngblood. 

The opera takes place approximately a thousand years ago on the ancestral land of the Chickasaw tribe. It opens with a young Chickasaw girl, Loksi' — meaning “Turtle” — who regains confidence in herself after gaining wisdom from her grandmother and Old Turtle. According to a press release on the Mount Holyoke College website, “the young girl learns she must leave home to find her purpose. She sets out on a long woodland journey, returning a cultural hero, enriched by the divine gift of the turtle shell shakers and knowledge of the Chickasaw people’s new homelands.”

The production of the opera started in 2021. Tianhui Ng and the Mount Holyoke Symphony Orchestra received a Mellon Foundation Five College Native American Indigenous Studies Grant, in order to develop the world’s first opera sung entirely in a Native American language. The grant allowed for libretto, piano-vocal and orchestra workshops to occur. In addition, Tate had a semester-long residency with the students to allow for “critical conversations surrounding the performance practice of Native American work.” 

Zoya Agboatwalla ’28 stated, “We have been preparing for the opera almost all semester, even having extra classes to make sure that it was sung in the way that the director and the composer intended. Our preparation extended beyond just learning the music. We studied the story and meaning behind the opera, which deepened our understanding and made the performance more powerful.”

Agboatwalla also mentioned that the main challenge they faced around producing the opera “stemmed from the length of the opera itself. Throughout rehearsals, sections were frequently cut or reintroduced, meaning no two performers had identical scores. This required us to rely heavily on our ears and one another rather than just reading and following a fixed score.”

According to Ainsley Morrison ’25, President of the Mount Holyoke Symphony Orchestra and co-principal violist, “This was not our first time working directly with a composer. The music department and the orchestra frequently commission pieces from composers. However, this was the first time we have had an in-person interface with a composer since the pandemic.” 

“The Mount Holyoke Symphony Orchestra works with the choral forces at least once a year at the Family and Friends performance, and working together is not unusual,” Morrison said. “The scale of this particular performance was unusual, as we were working not only with our fellow student ensembles, but with renowned Native American opera singers from all over the country, and with many local professional singers and instrumentalists.”

The Mount Holyoke Symphony Orchestra has plans to continue collaborating with the Chamber Singers and Glee Club. “The Mount Holyoke Symphony will be performing on April 18 with Han Chen, a professional pianist,” Morrison said. “The orchestra will have our usual collaboration with Glee Club, Chorale, and Chamber Singers at the Family and Friends Concert in the fall.”

Madeline Diesl ’28 contributed fact-checking.