Warm sunlight flows into the large glass windows at the new Zowie Banteah Cultural Center, which looks out on the Upper Lake. Colloquially known as the Zowie, the center’s new space is located between Ham and MacGregor Halls. The Zowie is a space that “promotes visibility and empowerment for Native American[s] and communities of Indigenous people” on campus, as stated on the Mount Holyoke website.
Last Tuesday evening, Gamble Auditorium held laughter, tears, acrobatics and resounding cheers. The space hosted the annual Frances Perkins Monologues, the penultimate event in the College’s annual Building On Our Momentum conference. The event gives nontraditional aged Frances Perkins scholars the opportunity to share about their lives and journeys to Mount Holyoke. This year, seven students shared stories at the monologues, and themes ranged from raising children to starting a business to grappling with loss.
From the first note to the last, the music that floats through the air during a concert has the ability to transform an audience of individual people into a collective group. This transformation occurred on Friday, March 4, 2022, in Abbey Chapel, during the Mount Holyoke Symphony Orchestra’s annual Mary Lyon Concert, which was reconstructed this year into a fundraiser for Ukraine.
Jon Western, former vice president of academic affairs, dean of faculty and Carol Hoffmann Collins ’63 Professor of International Relations, died on Jan. 29, 2022. His memory lives on through his wife, sons, students and colleagues.
After receiving his Bachelor of Arts from Macalester College, Western went on to earn his Master in Public Policy at the University of Michigan and his doctoral degree from Columbia University. Before arriving at Mount Holyoke College, he taught at Columbia University and George Washington University. Western also served at the United States Institute of Peace as a Peace Scholar-in-residence and the coordinator of the Dayton Upgrade Project. In these two positions, he directed and developed a peace-building organization in Bosnia. In 1992, he worked as an analyst in the U.S. State Department's Bureau of Intelligence and Research during the Bosnian War.
And one-two-three, and one-two-three and one. Dancing to the rhythm of the beat isn’t only something that people pick up for fun — it’s also a way to stay active. These two things — dance and fitness — inspired Aimee Salmon FP ’23 to build her own business helping people improve their health by letting their hair down and moving to music.
Whether for a quiet slumber, an intense writing session or hours of studying, many students have favorite spots around campus to visit when they need to prepare for finals. Mount Holyoke News asked students via Instagram stories to share their ideal location for a study session — check out these spaces next time you need to knock out some homework.
From screening films to hosting Indigenous speakers from local tribes, the Zowie Banteah Cultural Center is prepared to celebrate Indigenous Peoples Month this November. Mount Holyoke College, which is located on the ancestral land of the Nonotuck people, is working to promote and honor these events. The Zowie Banteah Cultural Center supports Native and Indigenous students on campus throughout the year.
Dinosaurs, periodic tables, Blanchard bees, treble clefs and more have all begun to grace the faces of Mount Holyoke students this semester. This semester, Aaron Wilson ’24 and Camden Breckenridge ’24 have been making and selling masks with a myriad of different patterns at a table outside of the Community Center.
Klara Grygo ’23, a politics major in her penultimate year at Mount Holyoke, has refounded the Mount Holyoke College Mock Trial Team for the 2021 season. The initial dissolution of the organization has led students like Grygo to take initiative in creating academic spaces on campus beyond the classroom. Grygo, president of the new MHC Mock Trial Team, has taken it upon herself to give the group a second life, essentially from scratch.
From different food to new cultural experiences to meeting new people, there are multiple aspects of adjusting to college life that can be difficult for first-year students. A new physical location, combined with an increase in social activity since the COVID-19 outbreak, has left some students feeling overwhelmed.
Though writing a paper or preparing a presentation can seem overwhelming, the Speaking, Arguing and Writing (SAW) center is available to help students in need, now featuring newly appointed faculty director of the center, Mark Shea.
Shea, who is also a senior lecturer in the English department and the coordinator of the English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) Program, became the faculty director of SAW at the beginning of the fall 2021 semester. Shea is also. The SAW program is a peer mentoring program that pairs trained student mentors with students looking for help with writing or speaking assignments.
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.”
