Students struggle with post-election talk at Thanksgiving with their families

BY SHILOH FREDERICK '17

Liz Post ’19 may sit out Thanksgiving dinner with her mother’s family this year. As a liberal-leaning independent, Post voted for Hillary Clinton in the general election, but members of her mother’s side of the family supported president-elect Donald Trump. Although Post and her family try to avoid discussing politics whenever they get together, she fears that after such a divisive election, any mention of politics might turn the dinner table into a battleground. “I feel like it’s too soon for me and I feel like it’s too soon for them to come to terms with [the election],” said Post. “I don’t think that politics have ever been more personal than in our lifetime.”

Past presidential election hype at Mount Holyoke College

BY MICHALA SAWYER '17

On Oct. 7, 1960, Mount Holyoke News published the results for the campus mock election. Nixon won by a two-to-one margin over Kennedy and reflected the actual voting results later published in November of that year. The students overwhelmingly favored Nixon over Kennedy, with 92 percent of the student body participating in the vote. The faculty “were the only group voting … [that gave] a majority of the votes to Kennedy."

Scenes from election night across Mount Holyoke’s campus

Scenes from election night across Mount Holyoke’s campus

BY SHILOH FREDERICK '17

Packed with students on both the balcony and ground floors, the Great Room of Blanchard Campus Center seemed to be the most popular choice for viewing Tuesday night’s election results. Several students, however, opted to spend the night away from the big screen in Blanchard. They chose to watch the results in dorm common rooms, in academic buildings or they abstained from watching altogether. The following gives a glimpse into how election night was spent around the campus.

Six ways for college students to help battle homesickness

BY MICHALA SAWYER '17

It’s natural to feel homesick when you’re away from the place and the people who have always made you feel safe. Making and adjusting to a new routine, struggling to find time to relax and de-stress, having to always make the effort to seem on top of your workload while feeling like you’re drowning in midterm papers, class readings and lab reports — all of this can contribute to a deep yearning to go back home.

Family & Friends weekend: history at a glance

Family & Friends weekend: history at a glance

BY MICHALA SAWYER ’17

Inviting families into the Mount Holyoke bubble has only been a relatively recent tradition in the history of the College. The first Parents’ Day was in 1951. However, from 1958-1973, only students’ fathers were invited to visit their children and take part in an annual Father-Daughter dance. The weekend became open to all parents in 1974.

Advocate Hakeem Rahim promotes mental health discussion at MHC

BY SHILOH FREDERICK '17

Hakeem Rahim had one goal for the intimate crowd of students and counselors who gathered for his mental health and wellness talk in Gamble Auditorium last Friday afternoon: “We’re going to leave here knowing it’s okay to talk about what you’re going through,” he said. As a mental health awareness advocate, Rahim has been visiting schools all over the country trying to initiate conversations about mental illness. Mount Holyoke College was the most recent stop on his I Am Acceptance College Tour.

Students give their take on stress at MHC

Students give their take on stress at MHC

BY MIRIAM LEVY '17

Imagine sitting down to eat lunch with friends and instead of focusing on the conversation, you spend the entire meal fretting about a more productive way to spend your time. Or feeling confident before a test, only to find out someone else pulled an all-nighter to study and immediately feeling like you are completely unprepared. These are examples of what it’s like to be on a college campus that has a rampant stress culture. While defined differently by everyone, in its simplest form, stress culture is the perpetuating idea that if you aren’t stressed, you are doing something wrong and that being the most stressed person around is some sort of noteworthy achievement.

Mountain Day goes from controlled to carefree

Mountain Day goes from controlled to carefree

BY SHILOH FREDERICK '17

For many work-weary Mount Holyoke students, faculty and staff, Mountain Day is seen as a day of freedom, a break from the daily schedule of classes and obligations. However, the carefree Mountain Day we know and pine for wasn’t always that way. The College’s day off has a history of structure and regulations behind it.

Blanchard dirt pile becomes source of humor and contempt

Blanchard dirt pile becomes source of humor and contempt

BY MICHALA SAWYER '17 

Towering over the construction site behind Blanchard Campus Center is the infamous dirt pile. When it still stood,  the bright green 2017 flag at the peak had given the student body fodder for jokes and had been featured on multiple social media accounts, including the Mount Holyoke Instagram. 

Mount Holyoke Senior Symposium 2016

Mount Holyoke Senior Symposium 2016

BY MADDY SKRAK '18

Some equate writing a senior thesis to raising a child. This year-long commitment is challenging, makes you feel like you’re losing your mind at times and often consumes your life, but is one of the most high-impact and rewarding projects that one can undertake in their college experience. On April 8, more than 150 seniors presented their theses at the 2016 Senior Symposium. Scattered across different academic spaces around campus, these seniors shared their intellectual curiosity and subject passions with their peers all day.

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