For those who, like myself, are interested in geopolitics, an opportunity to walk through the Headquarters of the United Nations is remarkable in and of itself. Therefore, as someone who has researched the legacy of colonialism and imperialism, witnessing the U.N. General Assembly debate a call for a ceasefire in Gaza, even for just a few seconds, is a moment I’ll never forget.
Content warning: This article discusses state-sanctioned violence, colonial violence and mass death.
As attendees entered Gamble Auditorium for the “Teach-In: Palestine in a Global Context” event on Monday, Oct. 30, they were greeted by a warm and lively atmosphere with students and professors chatting amiably with one another.
The event lasted for two hours, ending with a Q&A session where written comments collected from the crowd were read aloud to panelists. Like the “Middle East Crisis” panel hosted in Hooker Auditorium on Oct. 24, signs were posted stating that no recording of any kind was allowed.
With confidence and vivid imagery, author Mona Awad read a passage from her latest book, “Rouge,” to an audience of enthralled listeners.
The Odyssey Bookshop hosted her in conversation with Mount Holyoke College English Professor T Kira Madden on Oct. 24. Students and community members sat in the audience, many having just purchased copies of the book.
To celebrate Latinx Heritage Month and Indigenous Peoples’ Day, the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion sponsored multiple events including, “Honoring the Ancestor, Gloria Anzaldúa: Joy, Love, And Liberation featuring Latinx Writers” and a field trip to the third annual Indigenous Peoples’ Day Ceremonial Celebration in Newton, Massachusetts.
Hardcore punk enthusiasts and musicians alike crammed into the Marsh Arts House, a dorm at Amherst College, for a free “Western Mass Attack” show at roughly 6:30 p.m. on Oct. 12.
Western Massachusetts has a lively community of hardcore genre enthusiasts, with venues including the Marsh House, the Jones Library, the Unitarian Universalist Society of Amherst, the Rat Trap and the Hoff in Holyoke. The frequent shows held there draw a returning, dedicated and violent audience.
As it rained outside, students made their way to the Cassani Room in Shattuck Hall for a conversation with Naomi Goldberg ’04 about LGBTQ+ equity. Hosted by the Weismann Center for Leadership on Sept. 30, attendees sat in a circle snacking on muffins, fruit and yogurt as Goldberg discussed her educational and career journey.
Guests were treated to a catered dinner featuring fresh rolls, melon, berries and bagels with lox after receiving an invitation from President Danielle R. Holley to break the Yom Kippur fast together.
Students and staff entered the Willits-Hallowell Conference Center on Monday, Sept. 25, with Jewish Student Union co-chairs Nina Baran ’25 and Jennifer Garcia-Isabel ’24 leading the “brakhot” — blessings to acknowledge being in community and gratitude for the food about to be eaten. As dinner began, Holley gave a short speech, introduced herself and spoke with each table of guests as they ate.
“Collectivity, Community, Change: Black History at Mount Holyoke” is a new exhibit that opened to the public at the beginning of September. Curated by Sarah Lancaster ’22, the former post-baccalaureate archives assistant, the exhibit emphasizes how the “history and legacy of the Black community at Mount Holyoke is rich and multifaceted” and full of “leadership, community, activism and achievement.”
Mount Holyoke College’s 2023 Common Read is “Disability Visibility: First-Person Stories from the Twenty-First Century,” edited by Alice Wong. The anthology, originally published in 2020, includes poems, essays, blog posts and stories that center on disability experience and justice written by disabled people.
When the state of Tennessee introduced legislation to ban drag and “adult cabaret performances” last March, Mount Holyoke College alumna Melissa Stewart FP ’19 knew she needed to stop the ban. Stewart and her co-counsel at Donati Law filed a temporary restraining order against the state of Tennessee, preventing the law from taking effect until midnight of June 2, 2023.
Now that the 2023 school year has ended, Dr. Beverly Daniel Tatum’s year as Interim President is complete. After a long career at Mount Holyoke College, she will assist president-elect Danielle R. Holley’s transition this July before returning to Atlanta “to retire again.”
In honor of Dr. Tatum’s service to Mount Holyoke, the Board of Trustees dedicated the Blanchard Hall Unity Center to her during a ceremony on May 5. She recalls it being “a delightful surprise!”
I am currently living in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, where taps in some parts of the city have been inconsistently shut on and off by the city government for over two weeks. Throughout my time here I have become well aware of the water crisis in Central Asia, especially in Western Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, where the infamous Aral Sea is a mere puddle of what it used to be.
However, I was not expecting a water shortage to hit the capital for quite some time, and certainly not this summer.
Growing Vines, a student-led collective at Mount Holyoke College, has been gaining traction since its formation in 2020. The group was founded by students driven by a shared passion for environmental justice and food sovereignty. Initially, the group focused on creating a collective, but as the pandemic began, they took a pause to revitalize and strategize.
Pulitzer Prize-winning author Tracy Kidder visited the Odyssey Bookshop on April 18 to speak on his newest book “Rough Sleepers: Dr. Jim O’Connell’s Urgent Mission to Bring Healing to Homeless People,” published in Jan. 2023 by Random House. The novel details Dr. O’Connell’s life’s work: creating a healthcare program for the homeless community in Boston, Massachusetts.
Karla Biery ’23, a critical social thought major and Spanish minor, is always thinking about “how our communities are built … and the ways that they’re split up.” Throughout her three years at Mount Holyoke, Biery has taken a combination of dance, art, religion and Spanish courses, eventually deciding to major in CST with a focus on how people connect with one another, as well as what divides them.
The Five College Film Festival returned for the first time in person since 2019, featuring screenings of films made by students and recent graduates of the Five Colleges on April 1, 2023, at Amherst College. An awards ceremony was subsequently held, in which two Mount Holyoke students were awarded prizes. Ayu Suryawan ’23 won Best Documentary Prize for their film “Loving, Moving Boy” and Olive Rowell ’24 won Best in College for Mount Holyoke with their film “Photo Album.”
