BY MELISSA JOHNSON ’20
At last Tuesday’s weekly Senate meeting, SGA senators voted in favor of the student-led initiative to make Mount Holyoke College a water bottle-free campus. This is the first of many steps that the student organization Think Outside the Bottle is taking in order to accomplish their goal of making the College a water bottle-free institution.
BY ANNA KANE ’20
On April 6, U.S. District Judge William Young rejected a gun lobby challenge to the Massachusetts Assault Weapons Ban. The lawsuit was dismissed due to Young’s ruling that assault weapons and large-capacity magazines are not protected by the Second Amendment and go beyond citizens’ right to bear arms, according to WBUR, Boston’s NPR News Station.
BY AVA BLUM-CARR ’21
Students and community members gathered in Gamble Auditorium last Wednesday for the Conservative Women’s Summit, an event hosted by the Mount Holyoke College Republicans and sponsored by the Young America’s Foundation, the Zionist Organization of America, the Israel on Campus Coalition, the Clare Boothe Luce Policy Institute and the Weissman Center for Leadership.
BY EMMA RUBIN ’20
Mount Holyoke’s senate meeting on Tuesday, April 10 included several elections and referendums for its senators. As usual, the meeting began with ideas and feedback during which students expressed discomfort at being accosted by other students tabling in Blanchard, confusion about campus pathways and concern about an “Islamophobic” speaker coming to campus for an event.
BY AVA BLUM-CARR ’21
South Hadley residents voted on Tuesday to ban the sale of recreational marijuana within the town, putting to rest the highly debated issue within the community. However, the controversial ballot question failed to increase voter turnout, which remained well under 20 percent, in keeping with the local elections of previous years.
BY MELISSA JOHNSON ’20
Mount Holyoke College’s Frances Perkins scholars (FPs) presented passionate monologues to students, faculty and administrators on Wednesday, April 4. Guests filled Gamble Auditorium to hear the unique stories from a handful of FPs, who described their personal journeys to the gates of Mount Holyoke College. This year’s monologues were a part of the second annual Building On Our Momentum (BOOM!) conference, which took place last week.
BY ANNA KANE ’20
Linda Sarsour, Tamika Mallory and Carmen Perez, the founders and organizers of the 2017 Women’s March in Washington, D.C., delivered the keynote address for the 2018 Women of Color Trailblazer Leadership Conference (WOCTLC) on Sunday, April 8. The activists discussed their involvement in social justice and civil rights movements, in keeping with the conference theme of empowerment through engagement and celebrating the accomplishments of women of color.
BY ALLYSON HUNTOON ’19
“To the students across Massachusetts whom the system has failed, we stand with you, not just in solidarity, but in action,” said Liz Brown ’20. Megaphone in hand, she addressed a crowd of students, legislators and activists who gathered on the steps of the Massachusetts State House in Boston.
