Every Friday, Martin Wilson makes the hours-long commute from his home in New York City to the gates of Mount Holyoke College, where he teaches a class called Young Adult Fiction Writing. Wilson, a visiting lecturer in his first semester at Mount Holyoke, is aiming to cultivate an environment in which all stories can be told. Come rain or shine, Shattuck Hall is constantly buzzing with the clamor of creative minds at work.
Raindrops trickling from clouds topped with rainbows, chains of yellow flowers and dazzling little planets are just a few of the earrings Tasha Elizarde ’22 has made and brought to the Mount Holyoke campus since she founded her small business, “Just Claying Jewelry.” Elizarde began making jewelry during the pandemic. “I started making jewelry during quarantine as a fun side gig,” she said. “I was kind of just interested in jewelry and wanting to pick up a new hobby.”
Like many colleges and universities around the United States, Mount Holyoke offered almost exclusively remote courses during the 2020-2021 academic year as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. This turn of events prompted some students to choose to take a gap year or semester instead of attending online classes. Mount Holyoke students who took one semester off were able to remain a part of the class year they entered college with. However, some who took a full year off are adjusting to a social life in flux and sometimes to a new class color and mascot, which has complicated the return to the College.
During the later months of the fall 2021 semester, the Mount Holyoke Dining Commons will begin implementing a solution to the challenge of maintaining the flexibility of takeout options without creating excessive waste. Starting soon, students will be able to take their meals to-go using returnable, reusable takeout containers. This program will allow students to keep the takeout option while also reducing waste. Currently, the Dining Commons is providing single-use compostable containers for students to use, both for eating in and takeout.
Ajay Sinha, a professor in the art history and architectural studies departments, is using the summer to continue one of his research projects, a book, with the help of architecture major Sarannya Sharrma ’23. Sinha previously taught Sharrma in one of his classes and offered her an opportunity to help him with the manuscript of his book over the summer.
On April 23, the Mount Holyoke Review, a literary magazine out of Mount Holyoke College, held a virtual publishing party for their second completed publication. With 51 attendees, the Zoom session featured nine of its published writers who read their work aloud. While the readers performed, the Zoom chat function was used by some to encourage and praise each other.
As the struggle to diversify beauty standards continues, a new focus on body image has developed, drawing public attention to the societal struggles of plus-sized individuals.
Movements devoted to the acceptance of different body types have reached points of contention as their messages diverged, creating two entirely separate campaigns with different goals. According to Very Well Mind, the mainstream body image movement, known as “body positivity,” was meant to emphasize the self-acceptance of your body regardless of external influences like the media and public opinion. However, many, including Phoenix Georgiades ’22, feel that body positivity does not go far enough in advocating for plus-sized people and has veered away from helping individuals with diverse body types.
“The Big Broadcast!,” an annual variety show based on commercials, radio stories and music from the 1940s, has been bringing Mount Holyoke back to the age of swing for over a decade. Mark Gionfriddo, director and founder of the Mount Holyoke Jazz Ensemble and creator of “The Big Broadcast!,” worked with his student production team (Chris Cassidy ’20, Megan Ferrara ’20, Mara Kleinberg ’22, Anna Morris ’20 and Julia Sienkiewicz ’20) to bring this year’s show to life.
