From screening films to hosting Indigenous speakers from local tribes, the Zowie Banteah Cultural Center is prepared to celebrate Indigenous Peoples Month this November. Mount Holyoke College, which is located on the ancestral land of the Nonotuck people, is working to promote and honor these events. The Zowie Banteah Cultural Center supports Native and Indigenous students on campus throughout the year.
From different food to new cultural experiences to meeting new people, there are multiple aspects of adjusting to college life that can be difficult for first-year students. A new physical location, combined with an increase in social activity since the COVID-19 outbreak, has left some students feeling overwhelmed.
Whether you’re a first year stepping onto campus for the first time or a senior experiencing waves of nostalgia while walking around the Mount Holyoke campus, there are new experiences to discover as the College welcomes back the full capacity of students for the new academic year. Although a majority of students seem glad to be back, some feel anxious about returning. Opinions vary widely on how the school is handling the COVID-19 pandemic and the protocols that should keep our community safe.
Ajay Sinha, a professor in the art history and architectural studies departments, is using the summer to continue one of his research projects, a book, with the help of architecture major Sarannya Sharrma ’23. Sinha previously taught Sharrma in one of his classes and offered her an opportunity to help him with the manuscript of his book over the summer.
33-year-old New York Times bestselling author and activist Elizabeth Smart visited the Mount Holyoke community on April 29 as part of the College’s Sexual Assault Awareness Month programming. Smart is known for her role in establishing safety legislation to prevent abductions, such as the national Amber Alert system. Smart promotes the possibility of “life after tragedy.”
At Mount Holyoke, the student body includes hundreds of international students from over 70 countries, representing cultures from across the globe. The International Student Organizing Committee sought to celebrate the diversity of all the cultures and backgrounds of Mount Holyoke students through their annual Global Fest, hosted on Saturday, April 24, both on-campus and online.
On April 23, the Mount Holyoke Review, a literary magazine out of Mount Holyoke College, held a virtual publishing party for their second completed publication. With 51 attendees, the Zoom session featured nine of its published writers who read their work aloud. While the readers performed, the Zoom chat function was used by some to encourage and praise each other.
On May 22, 2020, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Phexxi, making it the first non-hormonal, on-demand contraceptive that regulates vaginal pH levels. Phexxi is manufactured by Evofem Biosciences, located in San Diego. According to Phexxi’s official website, Evofem Biosciences is devoted to developing innovative healthcare solutions that put women “in control of [their] sexual and reproductive health."
“What does it mean to be whole,” Q. Hailey ’12 asked herself. “How do we find wholeness in this period?”
These are some of the questions Hailey contemplated when deciding what topics to discuss in her series, Womanist Worship Sunday Exploring Wholeness. Each month has a separate topic revolving around self-care. In March, Hailey will focus on wellness dealing with personal, financial, family and other struggles.
In the fall of 2020, fully remote learning and the new module system meant professors were uncertain about what challenges the semester would bring. Remote learning continued through the winter into the spring semester as we witnessed rising COVID-19 cases in the U.S. Mount Holyoke is now in its final fully remote module, and the College community is able to reflect on the remote year: the difficulties, successes and new practices that we will implement moving forward.
On Friday, Feb. 26, the Mount Holyoke College Art Museum invited residential students back into the space — the space’s first in-person visitors since March 2020. The MHCAM will continue to offer virtual programming, but residential students are now able to make reservations online to visit the museum between 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. on Fridays and 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Sundays. “I’m so thrilled to have you all back,” Director of the MHCAM Tricia Y. Paik said.
For college students, discovering how to navigate library resources effectively and efficiently is a crucial skill. Mount Holyoke College’s Library, Information and Technology Services has an abundance of research databases to utilize, but it can be difficult to know where to begin. LITS has an important resource available to any confused and overwhelmed Mount Holyoke student designed to make writing essays, working on a thesis or collecting data for research papers a little easier.
On Friday, Feb. 12, Five College Dance and Mount Holyoke College’s Division of Student Life hosted the final session of RACE AND...Dance, a six-session series that began in October 2020 and was designed to teach Five College students about a variety of forms of African diasporic dance and culture. RACE AND...Dance was curated by Five College Joint Lecturer of African Diasporic Dance Shakia Barron.
On Feb. 9, 2021, Professor Emeritus of Politics and Women Studies Thelma “Jean” Grossholtz died at the age of 91. But the impact her life had on Mount Holyoke and its community continues on. To commemorate Grossholtz, we at Mount Holyoke News have collected the stories of her life from Mount Holyoke community members.
Inspired by a viewing of James Vanderbilt’s 2015 film “Truth,” Visiting Senior Lecturer in English Todd Brewster’s Introduction to Journalism class welcomed a surprise guest: American journalist and producer Mary Mapes. The film, set in 2004, follows Mapes, producer of CBS News program “60 minutes,” and its anchor, Dan Rather, as they cover one of their biggest stories: an investigation of then-President George W. Bush’s history of military service and how he avoided being drafted into Vietnam using his father’s connections.
As the struggle to diversify beauty standards continues, a new focus on body image has developed, drawing public attention to the societal struggles of plus-sized individuals.
Movements devoted to the acceptance of different body types have reached points of contention as their messages diverged, creating two entirely separate campaigns with different goals. According to Very Well Mind, the mainstream body image movement, known as “body positivity,” was meant to emphasize the self-acceptance of your body regardless of external influences like the media and public opinion. However, many, including Phoenix Georgiades ’22, feel that body positivity does not go far enough in advocating for plus-sized people and has veered away from helping individuals with diverse body types.
Ten months after Mount Holyoke’s campus was forced closed due to COVID-19, many students have been able to return to the College.
Though a small number of students lived on campus during the fall of 2020, nearly 800 students are now physically at Mount Holyoke. For some new students, this is the first time they have ever seen the campus in person. For others, it is their final semester.
