Graphic by Anjali Rao-Herel ‘22
by Rebecca Gagnon ’23
Staff Writer
An essential part of the Mount Holyoke experience is the traditions, from Milk and Cookies in residence halls to Convocation and “Dirty Dancing.” It may be harder to create a sense of community through the pandemic; however, Mount Holyoke College is attempting to keep the connection intact by continuing some beloved traditions online.
The Office of Student Involvement and the Student Experience Emergency Response Team has organized one favorite tradition, M&Cs, so that it is now online and available to all students. This event takes place every Thursday at 7 a.m. EDT and 10 p.m. EDT in an effort to connect community members across multiple time zones.
“We have a Student ERT [Emergency Response Team] that has been meeting since mid-June, both made up of faculty, staff and students, and we have used data and feedback from students in particular from the Student Voices Survey,” Alicia Erwin, associate dean of students and director of student involvement, said. “Big themes from that [survey] revolved around student traditions being such an important part and how we could reimagine these online.”
The apparent goal of virtual M&Cs is to get to know each other and to create a connection that would have normally been established in person. At the first event, everyone brought their favorite types of cookies and their preferred beverage, many in casual wear. The co-hosts of the event, Erwin and Lasya Priya Rao ’23, came up with a series of questions to foster a bond between the people there.
“I think it is fun to ask questions that connect to our community and you get to know someone on that deeper level,” Erwin said. “That is what I found to be really wonderful about this space.”
Every Thursday, a new discussion topic or guest speak will be introduced. In the upcoming M&Cs, students from the MHC Votes! coalition will be taking the stage. The following weekly sessions will be open to student groups to talk about their activities and will include Be Well sessions.
“It has been for fun events, but also it allows students to positively meet with and almost network with people across the College and alums and other things like that,” Rao said. “We gain a sense of community, but also students can build networks with people when they are at home.”
Erwin mentioned that feedback from students showed how hectic the 2020 spring semester felt, and because of that, the College wanted to create a stable time and plan for M&Cs.
“We looked at the time blocks either before or between class schedules and designated those as community hours. We have been encouraging that people … use those times to hold things,” Erwin said.
Along with M&Cs, there are events related to the College-wide Common Read that started at the kick-off event with celebrated journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones on Monday. There have also been discussions of doing a voting event and 8-10 other events connected to that. As well as numerous events for cultural center hours, Intergroup Dialogues and Interfaith Lunches will continue on Wednesdays.
“The other thing that has come up, and [Rao] says this a lot, is the big traditions as touchpoints,” Erwin said. “So we are reimagining Mountain Day and the core of the tradition, knowing that we need to do it in an online environment.”
To get involved in other community hour activities, Rao suggests checking out Embark to find many of the College’s student-run groups and sending messages instead of using email — another way the College is digitizing to build a community at a distance.
Chef Jeff Chocolate Chip Cookies
(Recipe courtesy of Yankee Kitchen Ninja and Jeff Sadowski via the Recipes Beyond the Gates student cookbook project.)
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 ounces (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1/8 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Directions:
Heat oven to 350 F.
In a bowl, whisk together the first four ingredients (flour through salt) and set aside. Cream together the sugars and the butter using a mixer until very light and fluffy (optimally, this should take between 5-10 minutes!). Add the egg and vanilla and mix until well blended. Gradually add the flour to the butter mixture, followed by the chocolate chips, and mix until blended (do NOT overmix).
Spoon the dough onto a prepared baking sheet, spacing the cookies several inches apart, as they will spread. Bake for about 10-11 minutes, or until the edges just begin to brown but the centers are not completely cooked. Cool for a minute on the pan, then place cookies on a wire rack to cool completely. Makes 12 large cookies.