SGA Introduces District Senators To Represent Off-Campus Students

Poster by Phoebe Murtagh ‘21

By Ansley Keane ’23

Staff Writer

On Sept. 21, a senate update was emailed to students that gave new information surrounding the structure of the Student Government Association and announcing the creation of District Senators. Typically, there is a Hall Senator to represent the residents of each residence hall in the SGA senate, but with many students living off campus this academic year, the SGA Executive Board established this new position. District Senators were created so off-campus students will continue to have representation in the SGA senate that relates directly to any concerns they have about their living arrangements. However, District Senators have not entirely replaced Hall Senators; students living on campus will still be represented by Hall Senators in addition to District Senators. 

Phoebe Murtagh ’21 is the chair of halls on the senate team, which is part of the SGA Executive Board. As chair of halls, Murtagh oversees Hall Senators and District Senators in addition to communicating with the Office of Residential Life, organizing Hall and District Senator elections and a number of other duties. In her senate update to the Mount Holyoke student community, Murtagh wrote that “each District Senator will function as a Hall Senator would, representing their constituents’ concerns relating to their living spaces (wherever that may be).” 

“We need at least a representative for off-campus students,” Murtagh explained. “That’s way too much work for one student.” 

According to Chair of Senate Jane Kvederas ’22, the SGA Executive Board decided to create the District Senator role over the summer. “We were trying to figure out what Hall Senators would look like ... given [at least] half the population would be off campus,” Kvederas said. 

The SGA Executive Board chose to create districts based on students’ last names rather than their geographic locations because, according to Murtagh, it was a clear and streamlined way to accomplish the task. Students’ last names are only one piece of data that the SGA Executive Board needed from the College. Using last names also allowed the creation of districts and allocation of District Senators to be as random as possible. Kvederas noted that ideas such as major and class year were considered as well, but the last names idea still had the least logistical issues. 

Additionally, Murtagh made it clear that if the SGA had created districts based on students’ geographic locations, it was possible that certain districts could have more issues that needed attention than other districts. Murtagh gave the example that students living in cities might have fewer problems accessing the internet than students living in rural areas and, therefore, determining districts by last name was “a better way to make a fairly even distribution for the sake of the [District] Senators if we chose something that didn’t have that connection effect.” The SGA elected 12 District Senators and, according to Murtagh, there are around 200 people in each district.

While the District Senator position is a new role, it is similar to the roles of Hall, Organization and Class Board senators. “As with any Senator, the main responsibility is availability,” Murtagh said. Kvederas added, “We want our Senators to participate in senate meetings as much as possible” and that “we expect them to pretty much do as much as possible without stressing them out.” 

The similarities between District Senators and Hall Senators appear to be by design. Murtagh shared that “it was important to me that students living off campus still have living-experience representation. … There have been a lot of issues that the administration hasn’t been able to predict ... because life is complicated.” 

Murtagh also stressed that some Mount Holyoke students have faced challenges that might not be represented by the kinds of data that schools would normally consider. Therefore, it is even more important for Mount Holyoke students to have someone who can call attention to their living space concerns. On-campus students had the opportunity to vote for a Hall Senator for their residence hall and a District Senator for their district. Murtagh explained that “it was still really important that on a hall-to-hall level there was someone to contact,” and that on-campus students need Hall Senators in addition to District Senators because they have specific needs as students living in residence halls. 

The establishment of District Senators in place of Hall Senators for off-campus students is another way Mount Holyoke has adapted to the challenges of the pandemic and a fully remote model. Kvedaras summarized the SGA’s goal for the District Senator role by noting, “We’re hoping that as many students as possible have the necessary support and coverage in terms of having their needs met and their concerns addressed in senate.”

Students Living on Campus This Fall Share Experiences

Graphic by Trinity Kendrick ‘22

By Rebecca Gagnon ’23

Staff Writer

On Aug. 7, Mount Holyoke announced that it would not be allowing the vast majority of students to live on campus during the pandemic. The only students who were permitted to remain were those who had applied to live on campus under circumstances that could not be resolved. According to Vice President for Student Life and Dean of Students Marcella Runell Hall, as of Aug. 13, there were about 180 students on campus. 

“It’s really sad around here,” Samira Khan ’22, who currently lives on campus, said. “It just feels like you are living in a zombie land.” 

Khan, who is from Bangladesh, describes herself as a semi-domestic and international student. She spent part of the summer in Bangladesh and then applied to stay on campus for the school year. When she was approved, she went to spend a week with family near Mount Holyoke. “I was already in this county and I was staying with my relatives [on] just a temporary basis and then, just a week later, [Mount Holyoke administration] said we [were] going online,” Khan said. “I didn’t have a place because it was just a one-week [plan] and this was my only option.” 

This story resonated with others who are staying on campus. Parikshita Gya ’22 is another international student living on campus who was afraid to go home. Gya described not living in good studying conditions back home, a large reason for staying on campus. Additionally, Gya mentioned being “very afraid of [President Donald] Trump pulling one of his cards again and barring us entry.”

Although there are some people who are still on campus on a regular basis, both faculty and students feel that there has been an unwelcome change this semester. 

“It’s just really isolating,” Emily Jones ’23, another student living on campus, stated. “I don’t know, I just think that everyone is trying to get through it.”

“My impression from my horror movie background,” Professor of Biological Sciences Gary Gillis said, “is it just feels like a zombie apocalypse about to start and I am sad that so many people are missing out on this amazing opportunity in this cool space.” Gillis is an associate dean of faculty, the director of the Science Center and a professor in the biological sciences department who is currently working from home.

As a member of the College’s administration, Gillis said, “It was kind of my job to convey to the faculty that this last spring and summer we were really trying to de-densify the campus. … The easiest thing for me in deciding to work from home was kind of just abiding by the philosophy I was telling everyone else.”  

Other professors decided to work from home as well, for the safety of co-workers and students. “The best part [of working from home],” Morena Svaldi, lecturer in Italian and the faculty director of the Language Assistant program, said, “is that I can switch my roles very quickly. The difficult part, I think, is that there is no separation between your personal life, personal space and professional space.”

This is a difficulty faced by students who are still living on campus as well. “Normally I would go to classes,” Khan said. “But now it’s just like, wake up, go to your desk, study and then whenever your lunch or dinner time is, you go out for just that. It’s sad.”  

The rules that are being enforced now are the same rules that all students who were previously planning to live on campus would have to abide by. The only difference is that it is now embedded in the community compact for Mount Holyoke to maintain safety on campus. 

“There are several restrictions and the community compact was [originally] so vague that you didn’t even know when you might breach it,” Gya recalled. 

At the beginning of the new year, there was a miscommunication between Dining Services and Residential Life that resulted in some students unintentionally breaking the community compact by sitting and eating in the Dining Commons. There had previously been no signs or notices about whether that was allowed or not. 

“Trying to have a good day and just having food and then out of the blue someone comes up to you and tells you, ‘Oh, you breached the law on campus, we need to take your name and report you,’ is, in itself, very scary,” Gya said. “Especially for us international students; we have nowhere else to go.” 

After this incident, the students did not get penalized for eating in the Dining Commons, since there was a miscommunication. Signs were put up soon after around the Dining Commons so students would know that they are not allowed to eat there. Students are only allowed to eat outside or in their rooms.

Some dorm kitchenettes are open for students to cook their own food if they want to, which helps offset Dining Services’ limited hours. “Their lunch and breakfast times clash with most class times,” Bineeta Debnath ’23 said.

“As the weather is on our side right now, it is better that we get to go outside and have dinner with our friends who are living in other dorms, but I don’t know what is going to happen during wintertime,” Khan said. “We will be staying in our rooms the whole time; even if we are getting our food, we are coming back to our rooms and we are eating in the same space, so it is going to get toxic.”

Other students such as Jones, Debnath and Gya shared this concern for the mental and physical health of the students living on campus. Students can currently spend time with friends from other dorms by going outside because they are not allowed to enter any dorm that is not their own. They may spend time together in Blanchard Hall, but it has to be socially distanced with masks on.

“We don’t really have a social life,” Gya said. “It is just us in one room and I think [for] people struggling with mental illness, this is going to be really harsh on them.”

According to students living on campus, Residential Life is holding some online events and putting on small get-togethers in dorms to help them feel less isolated. Along with this, according to the students interviewed, those permanently residing on campus are allowed to spend time with people who are in their dorm as well. 

Professors also shared this concern for students’ mental and physical health and are continuing to check in with their students. 

“I really care a lot about how my students are processing this because I know that some students have different situations,” Svaldi said. “This has impacted the way that we learn and recharge ourselves, so my message is to be nice to ourselves and be supportive to those around us.”

Although there are a lot of negative feelings, some students have been able to find the silver linings.

“It’s hard,” Khan said. “Especially the two [COVID-19] tests per week, but it is helping to keep us on track, like ‘Okay I’m safe, my friends are safe, the people I’m sharing the bathroom with are safe.’ … [COVID-19]-wise, the campus is safe and they are taking good care of us in that way.”  

“I am really grateful for the people around me,” Gya said. “As in ResLife people, the professors, people in the Dining Services — I feel like they worked really, really hard. … They are amazing. They are doing so much for us, they don’t even know us and they are so nice. Although they are struggling, they are trying to make your day better. … I think we should all feel really special that they care about us that much.”

MoHome Sickness: A Walk Through the Community Center

Photo by Ali Meizels ‘23

By Tishya Khanna ’23

Features Editor

It’s a fall afternoon. You’re wearing a light sweater, cool breeze blowing through your hair. Your classes have ended and now you have a day to yourself. You’re tired but you have time on your hands, so you lie on the Skinner Green for a while and read your favorite book. But it’s fall, and now it starts to get dark at 4:30 p.m., so you relish the short hour you had outside on the grass and decide to go to the Community Center. Let’s take a walk through Blanch together.

You climb the brick stairs and enter the building from the main entrance — suddenly the cool breeze has disappeared and you’re engulfed with warmth and chatter of a Great Room event.  You peek in from the second floor and head right back on your way. There’s a new exhibition at the Art Gallery — new students showcasing their wonderful art. You recognize the names of the artists mentioned from classes you’ve taken and the meetings you’ve attended and savor the sweet surprise of finding out their talents. 

You want to get some work done, so you decide to go upstairs to the third floor, home to the rooms of various student organizations and departments. There are people all over — some intently working on their assignments, some lying with their heads down on the table, some goofing off in the study rooms, some drawing and writing all kinds of things on the whiteboards.

You bump into familiar faces and sit down for a light chat until everyone has to tend to their million deadlines. You find a comfortable spot and get to work. There’s a certain quietude around — the particular taste of the 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. hour at Blanch when the Dining Commons is closed. At 4:50 p.m., there’s inevitably a long line to get dinner tables. Friends are gathering around, calling each other to come over, saving spots for one another. All the while, you’re on the third floor, immersed in an assignment that just won’t end. 

After a while, you decide to go downstairs to eat and call your friends to ask if they want to have dinner together. You go to the first floor, which is glimmering with lively chatter. There are people sitting around the Scrabble boards. One group is actually playing it! The other board has the tiles arranged in curse words — you can hear the giggles, see the mischievous smiles of the people passing by. The event in the Great Room has ended and a new one is being set up. You notice that the Cochary Pub & Kitchen is playing some good music and your friend is sitting in one of the booths, equally frustrated with assignments. The familiarity dissolves the tension into easy smiles and warm, tight hugs. You spend some time in the cuddle puddle and both decide to finally grab some food together. You gather your things and walk into the Dining Commons. You grab a booth, browse through the hundreds of rotating menu options and then sit for a good meal to end the day over the usual banter. 

Arriving at Mount Holyoke is incomplete without visiting the beloved Community Center. The three floors hold the essence of the community — all kinds of people coming together to do all kinds of things. From random whiteboards where people leave lists of their favorite LGBTQ+ movies to the colorful couches that are good for naps no matter how loud it gets, Blanch is often what keeps all of us together — holding us on tired days, offering junk food and giving us a space to show all our wild colors.

Artist Bisa Butler discusses recent Mount Holyoke Art Museum acquisition “Broom Jumpers”

Image courtesy of Laura Shea and Mount Holyoke College Art Museum

By Rebecca Gangon ’23

American artist Bisa Butlers’ 2019 quilt ‘Broom Jumpers’ was displayed in Mount Holyoke’s art museum in March, drawing substantial interest from the College community. Butler gave a talk at Mount Holyoke on March 5, during which she talked about her past and what inspired her to be an artist.

Butler graduated from Howard University with her bachelor’s degree in fine art before pursuing a master’s degree. While in college, she took a fiber art class and fell in love with the medium. She taught art at her old high school and, while doing so, continued creating her own pieces. In 2018, Butler became a full-time artist and has been creating pieces ever since. Since 2003, her artwork has been in group and solo presentations.

“As an artist or people who love art, you don’t have a set path,” Butler said. “A career in the arts is very passionate. If you have the stamina that supports you to have a career in the arts, it is not something that you are going to regret later. It might take you longer to get there but it is worthwhile..” 

Butler continued about how she chose what kind of quilts to make and fabrics to use. “I was starting to think of my identity as a black woman,” Butler said. “My father was from Ghana, West Africa, so that is one half of my background. My mother grew up in Morocco but now lives in New Orleans, Louisiana, so I have an interesting cultural mix between the African side of my father’s family and my mother’s family.”

“My father’s father died of appendicitis. They lived in the country and they didn’t have money, so if you had appendicitis you were going to die,” Butler revealed. “That death had catastrophic effects on my father’s life.”  

Butler’s father grew up without his father. Due to this loss, his family had to split up and grew apart from each other. Butler reveals that there is only one picture of her father’s side of the family, taken before they split up. Her father, by an anonymous donation from someone in his village who thought he was bright, was able to go to Catholic school. Butlers’ father eventually became a college president and continued to tell her that, if she worked hard, she could do anything. 

“I made a portrait for my father when he retired and I used fabric from everyone in the family. I tried to get a little bit of everyone in that portrait,” Butler said. “He was so happy because that was the only picture he had of his family.”  When observing the reference photo, Butler discovered that her grandmother had scarification on her skin. “Those were thought of as marks of beauty … where she is from,” Butler said. “That became an exploration of who this woman was that I never got to meet. I liked to look back to the past.”

Butler tries not to make quilts of well-known figures in Black History. “I feel like we need to recognize the regular folks,” she said. “I really pay attention to their face, their expression, their eyes, so that I can capture what they really look like.”

The name of the piece is an allusion to the practice of jumping the broom, a type of unofficial wedding ceremony done by slaves who were not legally allowed to be married. During these weddings, couples would jump together over a broom. Though it began as a forced practice, jumping the broom continues as a part of weddings in some African American communities. 

Butler finished the talk by discussing the symbolism of the hat worn by the woman in the quilt. “They are a couple so she has the lovebirds on her hat,” Butler explained. “It is not just that though, it's the caged bird in ‘I know why the caged bird sings.’ It’s not just a title but what that means as caged bird syndrome in African people or anybody who has been oppressed.”