Mount Holyoke evacuates campus due to COVID-19 pandemic
“All students must move out of their on-campus housing beginning on Saturday, March 14, and must be moved out by Friday, March 20, at the latest,” read a campus-wide email sent from College President Sonya Stephens on Tuesday, March 10. “Students should not expect to live on campus for the remainder of this semester.”
Smith College implements community-focused policing reforms
In July of 2018, a call was placed to Smith College campus police regarding the presence of a black student on campus who “seemed out of place.” The student in question was a Smith sophomore working in a summer program designed to encourage high school girls to study and pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and math. The incident made national news and sparked intense debate regarding Smith Campus Police practices and racial profiling.
Coronavirus concerns force students home from abroad
“Coronavirus did not feel like a serious issue at all,” Isabelle Muller ’21 said. “Until it did.” Muller is an art history major particularly interested in the Renaissance. Florence, Italy, the birthplace of this intellectual and artistic movement, seemed like the perfect study abroad location. But just over a month into her program, she had to pack up and leave the northern Italian city amidst sudden and growing reports of COVID-19.
Board of Trustees meet after student protests
From Feb. 27 to Feb. 29, the Mount Holyoke College Board of Trustees met in New York City for their annual spring Board meeting. Following this meeting, the Trustees scheduled a phone call for March 2 between the Mount Holyoke Climate Justice Coalition (CJC) and the majority of the Board’s Investment Committee (IC) to discuss Mount Holyoke’s current investments in the fossil fuel industry.
MHC professors discuss Latin American current events during on-campus panel
The Spanish, Latina/o and Latin American studies department hosted an interdepartmental panel titled, “What’s Happening in Latin America” on Thursday, Feb. 20. The panel aimed to address the events that have taken place in the region over the past few months. Professor Justin Crumbaugh moderated as Professors Adrianna Pitetta, Dorothy Mosby, Lowell Gudmunson, Stephanie Huezo and William Girard spoke on their individual areas of study in relation to the ongoing protests, governmental transitions and U.S. immigration policies that have shaped current events in Latin America.
Nonconsensual pelvic exams exposed as common medical practice
On Feb. 17, The New York Times published an exposé on the practice of performing pelvic examinations on non-consenting, anesthetized patients. The article, titled “She Didn’t Want a Pelvic Exam. She Received One Anyway,” details the story of both Weitz and nurse Janine, who also received a pelvic exam despite explicitly telling her doctor she preferred that medical students were not present, and never consented to the examination. Janine did not provide her last name.
