When Kijua Sanders-Murtry, Mount Holyoke College’s Vice President for Equity and Inclusion and Chief Diversity Officer, was first invited to join the board of directors for The Joseph & Evelyn Lowery Institute for Justice & Human Rights in Atlanta, GA, their first instinct was to decline the opportunity. They were afraid that this new position would interfere with their ability to connect students with opportunities at the Institute.
Amber Douglas named dean of the College
COVID-19 sends 7 students into isolation
When Mount Holyoke College announced its return to the first in-person semester since March 2020, they did so with substantial expansions to the Community Compact. Among other requirements, the College mandated that all students, staff and faculty receive a COVID-19 vaccination either on or before move-in day.
Indoor mask mandate will return on August 15
In the most recent MHC This Week newsletter email, sent out to students on July 22, the College announced once again that it is preparing to welcome students back to campus for a full residential experience this fall.
Plans include a reversion to the 15-week semester system and in-person instruction. This is a departure from the 7-week module system enrolled students participated in during the 2020-21 academic year.
BREAKING News: Mount Holyoke changes fall 2021 meal plan
Mount Holyoke changed its school-wide meal plan for the 2021-22 academic year. Starting August 26, the Dining Commons will be open from 7:15 a.m. until 10 p.m. on weekdays and until midnight on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights. Late night will now begin at 8 p.m. The dining hall will no longer be closed from 4-5 p.m. In previous, pre-COVID-19 years, the dining hall was open until midnight each night.
College partners with Hampshire to provide housing for those displaced by Mead fire
College enacts vaccination mandate for community members
South Hadley Town Meeting Members vote down proposal to reduce police funding by $90k
“The Movement for Black Lives calls for us to … actively invest in systems that promote the wellbeing rather than the harm of Black people,” Adam Reid said at South Hadley’s annual Town Meeting on June 9, as he proposed a police budget decrease. The proposal, which would reallocate some money from the police budget to public schools, was shot down by voting members during the meeting.
Mead Hall struck by lightning; Will likely be closed fall 2021
Mead Hall was struck by lightning on Saturday, July 17. According to an email sent to the Mount Holyoke community by the Office of Communications, Mount Holyoke Public Safety and the South Hadley fire department were on the scene at just after the event, around 6 p.m. EDT. The building was unoccupied at the time of the lightning strike and the College reported no injuries. Reportedly, there was a fire on the top floor of the building.
