President Holley continues the College’s Yom Kippur tradition

President Holley continues the College’s Yom Kippur tradition

Guests were treated to a catered dinner featuring fresh rolls, melon, berries and bagels with lox after receiving an invitation from President Danielle R. Holley to break the Yom Kippur fast together. 

Students and staff entered the Willits-Hallowell Conference Center on Monday, Sept. 25, with Jewish Student Union co-chairs Nina Baran ’25 and Jennifer Garcia-Isabel ’24 leading the “brakhot” — blessings to acknowledge being in community and gratitude for the food about to be eaten. As dinner began, Holley gave a short speech, introduced herself and spoke with each table of guests as they ate. 

Ongoing poor condition of Faculty Lane brings safety concerns

Ongoing poor condition of Faculty Lane brings safety concerns

Walking along Faculty Lane, it is hard not to notice the extremely bumpy and pothole-ridden pavement, making the road dangerous and unsafe for the community. These conditions make traversing the road dangerous from an accessibility standpoint. 

‘Collectivity, Community, Change,’ a new Archives exhibit highlights Black History at Mount Holyoke

‘Collectivity, Community, Change,’ a new Archives exhibit highlights Black History at Mount Holyoke

“Collectivity, Community, Change: Black History at Mount Holyoke” is a new exhibit that opened to the public at the beginning of September. Curated by Sarah Lancaster ’22, the former post-baccalaureate archives assistant, the exhibit emphasizes how the “history and legacy of the Black community at Mount Holyoke is rich and multifaceted” and full of “leadership, community, activism and achievement.” 

The College's Common Read “Disability Visibility” explores disability justice, visibility, and inclusion

The College's Common Read “Disability Visibility” explores disability justice, visibility, and inclusion

Mount Holyoke College’s 2023 Common Read is “Disability Visibility: First-Person Stories from the Twenty-First Century,” edited by Alice Wong. The anthology, originally published in 2020, includes poems, essays, blog posts and stories that center on disability experience and justice written by disabled people. 

Mount Holyoke alum overturns Tennessee drag ban, holds systems accountable “one person, one case at a time”

Mount Holyoke alum overturns Tennessee drag ban, holds systems accountable “one person, one case at a time”

When the state of Tennessee introduced legislation to ban drag and “adult cabaret performances” last March, Mount Holyoke College alumna Melissa Stewart FP ’19 knew she needed to stop the ban. Stewart and her co-counsel at Donati Law filed a temporary restraining order against the state of Tennessee, preventing the law from taking effect until midnight of June 2, 2023. 

Reflecting on the 2023 Truth, Racial Healing and Transformation Institute

Several Mount Holyoke College staff members and one student (me) were invited to attend the virtual Institute on Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation Campus Centers: “Expanding TRHT Campus Centers to Dismantle Hierarchies of Human Value and Build Equitable Communities” during the week of June 27. 

Dr. Beverly Daniel Tatum reflects on year as president, Unity Center in her name

Dr. Beverly Daniel Tatum reflects on year as president, Unity Center in her name

Now that the 2023 school year has ended, Dr. Beverly Daniel Tatum’s year as Interim President is complete. After a long career at Mount Holyoke College, she will assist president-elect Danielle R. Holley’s transition this July before returning to Atlanta “to retire again.” 

In honor of Dr. Tatum’s service to Mount Holyoke, the Board of Trustees dedicated the Blanchard Hall Unity Center to her during a ceremony on May 5. She recalls it being “a delightful surprise!”

Mount Holyoke joins Zinn Education Project to ‘Teach Truth’ , fight against book bans

Mount Holyoke joins Zinn Education Project to ‘Teach Truth’ , fight against book bans

On June 10, the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, and Library Information and Technology Services joined The David Ruggles Center and Odyssey Bookshop at the Sojourner Truth Memorial in Florence, MA to take part in a nationwide demonstration against book bans and to support LGBTQ+ rights. 

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Explaining the water shortage in Kyrgyzstan’s capital, my experiences

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I am currently living in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, where taps in some parts of the city have been inconsistently shut on and off by the city government for over two weeks. Throughout my time here I have become well aware of the water crisis in Central Asia, especially in Western Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, where the infamous Aral Sea is a mere puddle of what it used to be.

However, I was not expecting a water shortage to hit the capital for quite some time, and certainly not this summer.

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From seeds of knowledge to community action: how Growing Vines is making an impact on environmental justice

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From seeds of knowledge to community action: how Growing Vines is making an impact on environmental justice

Growing Vines, a student-led collective at Mount Holyoke College, has been gaining traction since its formation in 2020. The group was founded by students driven by a shared passion for environmental justice and food sovereignty. Initially, the group focused on creating a collective, but as the pandemic began, they took a pause to revitalize and strategize.

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Odyssey Bookshop hosts Pulitzer Prize-winning author Tracy Kidder

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Odyssey Bookshop hosts Pulitzer Prize-winning author Tracy Kidder

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Tracy Kidder visited the Odyssey Bookshop on April 18 to speak on his newest book “Rough Sleepers: Dr. Jim O’Connell’s Urgent Mission to Bring Healing to Homeless People,” published in Jan. 2023 by Random House. The novel details Dr. O’Connell’s life’s work: creating a healthcare program for the homeless community in Boston, Massachusetts.

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Fiber arts project ‘Devotion’ reflects community and connection

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Fiber arts project ‘Devotion’ reflects community and connection

Karla Biery ’23, a critical social thought major and Spanish minor, is always thinking about “how our communities are built … and the ways that they’re split up.” Throughout her three years at Mount Holyoke, Biery has taken a combination of dance, art, religion and Spanish courses, eventually deciding to major in CST with a focus on how people connect with one another, as well as what divides them.

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Ayu Suryawan '23 and Olive Rowell '24 awarded prizes at the annual Five College Film Festival

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Ayu Suryawan '23 and Olive Rowell '24 awarded prizes at the annual Five College Film Festival

The Five College Film Festival returned for the first time in person since 2019, featuring screenings of films made by students and recent graduates of the Five Colleges on April 1, 2023, at Amherst College. An awards ceremony was subsequently held, in which two Mount Holyoke students were awarded prizes. Ayu Suryawan ’23 won Best Documentary Prize for their film “Loving, Moving Boy” and Olive Rowell ’24 won Best in College for Mount Holyoke with their film “Photo Album.”

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Mei Lum ’12 discusses gentrification in New York City’s Chinatown

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Mei Lum ’12 discusses gentrification in New York City’s Chinatown

On Friday, April 7, students, faculty and staff gathered in Hooker Auditorium to listen to Mei Lum ’12, the keynote speaker for Asian American Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander Heritage Month. While AANHPI Heritage Month is usually celebrated in May, Mount Holyoke celebrates it in April while students are still on campus. This year’s theme is “Rewriting the Narrative.” The goal is to fight against Asian hate and emphasize the achievements, resilience and joy of the AANHPI community.

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Pratt senior Portlyn Houghton-Harjo and Dartmouth senior Tom Bosworth win the 100th annual Glascock poetry contest

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Pratt senior Portlyn Houghton-Harjo and Dartmouth senior Tom Bosworth win the 100th annual Glascock poetry contest

Over the last 100 years, the Mount Holyoke College English department has invited college-aged poets and professional poet judges to the College to participate in the Glascock poetry contest. This year the judges — poets Hoa Ngyuen, Eileen Myles and Evie Shockley — split the prize and awarded it to Dartmouth College senior Tom Bosworth and Pratt Institute senior Portlyn Houghton-Harjo.

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FMT hosts a screening of ‘Where the Pavement Ends’

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On March 29, the department of film, media and theater hosted a screening of the film “Where the Pavement Ends,” followed by a student-moderated discussion with filmmakers Jane Gillooly and Khary Saeed Jones. “Beginning with a 1960s roadblock that divided then-white Ferguson from black Kinloch, the film depicts a micro-history of race relations in America.”

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Gaye Theresa Johnson gives inaugural lecture for the new CRPE department

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Gaye Theresa Johnson gives inaugural lecture for the new CRPE department

As a part of Building On Our Momentum Community Day, on March 28, 2023, Gaye Theresa Johnson gave the inaugural lecture for the critical race and political economy department. Johnson is the author of multiple books and an associate professor at UCLA, teaching courses in the departments of African American studies and Chicana/o studies. She specializes in topics of cultural history, spatial politics, race, racism and political economy. 

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University of Massachusetts Boston to be represented by Elizabeth Roa Martinez ’24 at Glascock Poetry Contest

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University of Massachusetts Boston to be represented by Elizabeth Roa Martinez ’24 at Glascock Poetry Contest

Elizabeth Roa Martinez, a senior at the University of Massachusetts Boston, has not always loved poetry. However, in high school, it became “an outlet for [her] mental health struggles and a form of art [she] fell in love with.” 

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Mason Ryan Newbury to represent Suffolk University in Glascock Poetry Contest

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Mason Ryan Newbury to represent Suffolk University in Glascock Poetry Contest

Newbury, a senior at Suffolk who is majoring in English with a creative writing concentration and a minor in philosophy, says that he has been interested in poetry since the age of thirteen thanks to Savannah Brown, who posted her poetry on Youtube when Newbury came across it. Poetry with a “tragic element” also inspires Newbury, who cites Plath and Keats as other inspirations for the way he writes his poetry. 

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Ace Chandler FP ’26 looks ahead to the Glascock Poetry Contest

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Ace Chandler FP ’26 looks ahead to the Glascock Poetry Contest

Chandler wasn’t aware of the contest before coming to the College and learned about it in one of their classes. “One of my professors brought it up and [it was] one of those moments where something just clicked, it was like, ‘Oh shit, I have this work and I think it’s ready, I’ve been working on it [and] putting it together and let’s just see,” Chandler said. “That’s kind of what guided me to submit and I feel really, for lack of a better word, blessed and excited that I was picked as the contestant and [am] super excited to be performing.”

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