Photo by Ali Meizels ’23
Mount Holyoke will not allow students to return to on-campus housing this year, President Stephens announced on Aug, 7. This is a reversal from the previous plan, which allowed for a “de-densified campus” of roughly 1,000 students.
By Lily Reavis ‘21, Kate Turner ‘21, Casey Roepke ‘21, & Declan Langton ‘22
Editor in Chief, News Editors, & Managing Editor of Content.
On Friday, Aug. 7, College President Sonya Stephens announced the reversal of Mount Holyoke’s original residential reopening plan. Following similar announcements by Smith College and the University of Massachusetts Amherst earlier in the week, Mount Holyoke became the third of the Five Colleges to disinvite students from living on campus for the upcoming semester.
Previously, on July 17, Mount Holyoke announced that it would be following the reopening model set forth by Wellesley College. First-years and sophomores would return to residential campus for the fall semester, while juniors and seniors would return in the spring.
Now, the only students permitted to return to campus are those whose permanent residence is the College, those who cannot travel home and those “unable to meet academic outcomes in their home environment,” according to Stephens’ letter. According to an Aug. 7 email from Nashalie Vasquez, associate director of Residential Life, the College will “support those students whose individual situations require campus-based solutions.” Students who meet these requirements will have an opportunity to apply for housing by Aug. 9, and will be notified of the College’s decision by Tuesday, Aug. 11.
Smith College’s announcement went out to students on Wednesday, Aug. 5. In a letter to the community, Smith President Kathleen McCartney wrote, “As critical as higher education may be, none of us wants it to be the driver of a second wave of virus transmission in our host communities.”
At Smith, all permissions for students who were previously approved for campus housing in the fall are rescinded, with an option for an “extraordinarily small number of students — those who demonstrate a complete inability to meet academic and learning outcomes in their home environments” — able to apply to live on campus.
On Aug. 6, UMass Amherst reversed their fall plan in a letter from Chancellor Kumble R. Subbaswamy. The letter states that “only students who are enrolled in essential face-to-face classes, including laboratory, studio and capstone courses, which have been designated in SPIRE, will be accommodated in campus residence halls and be granted access to campus facilities and dining this fall.” This is a shift from their original plan to welcome back all students, even those whose coursework was entirely remote.
Following those two announcements, Mount Holyoke’s decision was made late on the night of Thursday, Aug. 6, with the support of the Board of Trustees and announced on Friday morning. “Conscious that many students and families are already making plans for travel to campus, we wanted to ensure that you were alerted to this change in direction immediately,” the letter said, “to allow for as much notice as possible for those making plans to travel to campus.”
Following the College’s previous reopening plan, students employed by the Office of Residential Life were expected to begin moving onto campus on Aug. 14, just one week after Friday’s announcement. Other students who were expected to live on campus for the fall semester were scheduled to arrive from Aug. 18 to Aug. 22.
The letter expresses “disappointment” felt across the College community, but no concrete plan has been released regarding how Mount Holyoke will operate now fully remotely. Further information will not be shared over the weekend; Stephens promised to send a message with further details on Monday, Aug. 10. “In the meantime, please know that we remain committed to you, and to engaging with you safely, often and in the many ways that make the Mount Holyoke community so strong and so special,” Stephens wrote.
“Our every effort has been devoted to delivering an outstanding academic experience and to protecting the health and safety of everyone on campus and in the surrounding communities,” Stephens wrote. The letter reiterates experiences that will still be offered to everyone, including remote classes on the Flexible Immersive Teaching model.
As of Aug. 7, Hampshire and Amherst Colleges have not changed their reopening plans.
More information regarding Mount Holyoke’s new fall plan will be released by the College on Monday. Mount Holyoke News will continue to follow this story as it develops.