Bugslam, GDI and Sgraffito Kill ring in inaugural MHCALT show

Bugslam, GDI and Sgraffito Kill ring in inaugural MHCALT show

The rain poured down as Mount Holyoke students and visitors alike congregated in the Chapin Auditorium for the inaugural Mount Holyoke College Students for Alternative Music show. The free event, which featured local bands across the genres of emo, shoegaze and punk, began at 7 p.m. as show-goers entered the sprawling space. 

President Danielle R. Holley’s visit to Starbucks HQ ignites questions about her stance on Israel

President Danielle R. Holley’s visit to Starbucks HQ ignites questions about her stance on Israel

Around 1 p.m. on Feb. 9, President Danielle Holley posted three Instagram stories documenting a visit to the Starbucks Headquarters with Mount Holyoke alumni employed at the corporation.

In light of the ongoing Starbucks boycotts as part of the pro-Palestine movement, Mount Holyoke students took to various social media platforms to criticize President Holley’s posts.

CRPE hosts Medovoi for a lecture on racial capitalism, the role of police and ‘ensoulment’

CRPE hosts Medovoi for a lecture on racial capitalism, the role of police and ‘ensoulment’

Students and faculty listened intently as Lee Medovoi discussed his forthcoming book “The Inner Life of Race: Souls, Bodies, and the History of Racial Power.” Medovoi, professor of English and vice chair of the graduate program in social, cultural and critical theory at the University of Arizona, visited Mount Holyoke College on Wednesday, Feb. 21, to give a lecture titled ‘Racial Capitalism, Civil Society & Police Power.’

Dorm-estic Exploration: the turning point resident halls

Dorm-estic Exploration: the turning point resident halls

How well do we all know the residence halls on campus? There are 18 dorms at Mount Holyoke College. All of them were gradually added to campus following the fire that burned down the College’s original seminary building in 1896. A colorful bunch, the dorms each have distinct quirks and drawbacks. Your personal taste may affect how you see each one, but they all have something to offer that truly makes a resident’s experience unique. This past week, Betty Smart ‘26 visited Torrey Hall, Abbey Hall and Pearsons Annex, three dorms that mark the turning point between Mount Holyoke’s older and newer-styled living spaces.

Dorm-estic Exploration: the halls on the outskirts of campus

Dorm-estic Exploration: the halls on the outskirts of campus

How well do we all know the residence halls on campus? There are 18 dorms at Mount Holyoke College. All of them were gradually added to campus following the fire that burned down the College’s original seminary building in 1896. A colorful bunch, the dorms each have distinct quirks and drawbacks. Your personal taste may affect how you see each one, but they all have something to offer that truly makes a resident’s experience unique. This past week, I visited 1837 Hall, Prospect Hall and Buckland Hall, three dorms that were built roughly halfway through the 20th century.

Trump v. Anderson: the SCOTUS case that will make or break the 2024 presidential election

Trump v. Anderson: the SCOTUS case that will make or break the 2024 presidential election

In a historic case, the United States Supreme Court will decide whether or not presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump is eligible to remain on the 2024 ballot due to having “engaged in insurrection.” 

The implications of this particular case are massive — according to Mount Holyoke College President and noted legal scholar Danielle Holley, “We are facing … probably three major Supreme Court cases all surrounding the 2024 election, and many think that Trump v. Anderson is the most consequential election case since Bush versus Gore in 2000." 

APAU begins Black History Month with celebration of Black excellence and joy

APAU begins Black History Month with celebration of Black excellence and joy

Lively conversations between students, faculty and staff erupted from the Blanchard Hall Great Room while celebrating the commencement of Black History Month. The opening event, “Unity Through History: A Journey of Black Excellence,” was sponsored by Mount Holyoke College's Association of Pan-African Unity and the Office of Community and Belonging.

Emo, punk, hardcore, and post-punk mesh and showgoers mosh at Northampton show

Emo, punk, hardcore, and post-punk mesh and showgoers mosh at Northampton show

Filtering in from the cold, showgoers crammed into a small shop at 90 King Street, Northampton, for a multigenre bill featuring emo, punk, hardcore and post-punk bands. Beginning at 7:30 p.m. on the night of Feb. 2, with an entry fee of $10, the space quickly filled with people. 

Viral TikTok from Black students at Mount Holyoke College sparks conversation about HBCUs and anti-Blackness on college campuses

Following the discovery of an anti-black slur in Pearsons Hall, Black Mount Holyoke College students have continued the conversation about racism on campus. 

Last week, a group of students posted a TikTok video discussing their experiences with racism and anti-Blackness as Black students at the College. The TikTok initiated a broader conversation surrounding anti-Blackness at academic institutions and how administrations and the federal government have lacked the appropriate responses to it.

Community members come together for annual Vespers celebration

Community members come together for annual Vespers celebration

Many students, staff and alumni joined in the fun brought by the warm and inclusive 2023 Vespers Concert. This year, Vespers had its debut on the night of Dec. 1 in Boston’s Old South Church and was hosted again on Dec. 3 at Mount Holyoke College’s very own Abbey Memorial Chapel.  

Vespers has been a long-standing tradition at Mount Holyoke, with over 120 years of history. According to Mount Holyoke’s official website, the event is a space where “the community comes together to celebrate light and togetherness on a dark and cold December night.” 

Newly founded Queer Action Collective advocates for queer liberation

Newly founded Queer Action Collective advocates for queer liberation

Mount Holyoke College’s newly formed Queer Action Collective is a student group “advocating for queer [and trans] liberation on campus, statewide and nationally,” as stated in the @queeractioncollective Instagram bio. The organization aims to create a space on campus “where students could turn to if they felt like there was a queer and trans issue that needed attention from a collective that wasn’t MHC’s administration,” Vice Chair Aoife Paul Healy ’26 emphasized in an email to Mount Holyoke News. “The extension of ‘on campus, statewide and nationally’ lets us approach any issue brought to us, no matter how big or small.”

Emo and hardcore genres mix at Sour City Tapes Fest

Emo and hardcore genres mix at Sour City Tapes Fest

Amid a damp and cold winter evening, show-goers clustered inside Amherst College’s Marsh Arts House for the “Sour City Tapes Fest.” The show, which opened its doors on Dec. 1 at 6 p.m., featured a mixed-genre bill that spanned emo, hardcore punk and beatdown.

Dorm-estic Exploration: Visiting the three youngest halls

Dorm-estic Exploration: Visiting the three youngest halls

How well do we all know the residence halls on campus? There are 18 dorms at Mount Holyoke College at the time of this article’s publication, gradually built following the fire that burned down the College’s original Seminary building in 1896. A colorful bunch, each has their own distinct quirks and drawbacks. Your personal taste may affect how you see each one, but they all have something to offer that truly makes their residents’ experience unique. This past week, I visited three dorms that stand out in their modernity.

Rachel Maddow discusses Prequel: An American Fight Against Fascism

Rachel Maddow discusses Prequel: An American Fight Against Fascism

American television program host and political commentator Rachel Maddow opened the Nov. 15 discussion of her #1 New York Times Bestseller “Prequel: An American Fight Against Fascism” by reading a section of her book to the audience gathered at the Academy of Music in Northampton.

Adrienne Keene examines Native and Indigenous representation, land acknowledgments and ‘Land Back’ in hosted keynote lecture

Adrienne Keene examines Native and Indigenous representation, land acknowledgments and ‘Land Back’ in hosted keynote lecture

Mount Holyoke College’s theme for this year’s Native and Indigenous Heritage Month is “Grounded” — “an affirmation of the deep connections between people, with land and with history that Indigenous cultures are based on. It is an affirmation that these things not only exist here, but that they can continue to be built,” according to the Dean’s Corner from Nov. 11.

Gracious Dinner shows off the culinary skills of Dining Services staff

Gracious Dinner shows off the culinary skills of Dining Services staff

Although Gracious Dinner was not set to begin until 5 p.m., by 4:30 p.m., there was already a long line of students weaving through the first floor of Blanchard Hall. The students closest to the Dining Commons entrance — the ones who got there to camp out first — sat cross-legged on the floor and chatted as they counted down the remaining half hour until the doors opened.

Director Kristen Lovell discusses her new documentary ‘The Stroll’

Director Kristen Lovell discusses her new documentary ‘The Stroll’

During the late 20th century, a district in New York City known as The Stroll became known for providing sex club entertainment and housing the drug dealing and sex work trades. It was during this time that Kristen Lovell — a transgender woman of color — and her fellow trans sisters began building a concealed empire of their own.

What is Ace Week, and why don’t more people know about it?

What is Ace Week, and why don’t more people know about it?

Previously Asexual Awareness Week, Ace Week, celebrated in the last full week of October, ran from Oct. 22-28 this year. Ace Week was instituted by activist and organizer Sara Beth Brooks and the founder of the Asexual Visibility and Educational Network, David Jay, in 2010. Despite these efforts, asexuality is still a misunderstood and underrepresented identity, even within the queer community.

Weissman Center trip coincides with the U.N. Vote for a ceasefire

Weissman Center trip coincides with the U.N. Vote for a ceasefire

For those who, like myself, are interested in geopolitics, an opportunity to walk through the Headquarters of the United Nations is remarkable in and of itself. Therefore, as someone who has researched the legacy of colonialism and imperialism, witnessing the U.N. General Assembly debate a call for a ceasefire in Gaza, even for just a few seconds, is a moment I’ll never forget.