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Home away from home: The difficulty of belonging at a predominantly white institution

Home away from home: The difficulty of belonging at a predominantly white institution

Locating and attempting to recreate a “home away from home” is not a small feat for a person of color at a predominantly white institution such as Mount Holyoke College. This reality is one that many students of color must learn to overcome day by day, as the effort of bringing little pieces of home on their transcontinental and cross-country journeys to Mount Holyoke is essential to one’s identity and sense of belonging. Despite Mount Holyoke’s pride in its diverse campus, a majority of inclusion and community fostering efforts are student-led. This allows the College to effortlessly benefit off of the hard work and determination of students’ ongoing fight for inclusivity instead of reallocating funds and resources to create safe places on campus that are rich with culture and familiarity.