Photo by Kate Turner ‘21
By Soleil Doering ’24 & Liz Lewis ’22
Staff Writer & Publisher, News Editor
“Every student waits for this moment,” Clarissa Soma Goncalves Cordeiro FP ’21 said. “It’s not just a simple graduation. It’s a rite of passage.”
On March 22, graduating students and their families received an email informing them that the College would be holding a virtual Commencement ceremony for the class of 2021 on May 23 at 10:30 a.m. EDT. The email explained that while some celebrations and traditions would occur between May 12 and May 15 and would be open to students living on and off campus, no graduating students would be permitted to be on campus during the May 23 Commencement ceremony.
Following the College’s announcement, many students expressed their frustration with the Commencement plans, specifically regarding how the College is treating the class of 2021 compared to the class of 2020. When the pandemic forced students off campus in March 2020, the graduating class was left to cobble together makeshift versions of traditions such as Commencement and the Laurel Parade. They did, however, receive assurance that there would be in-person versions of these events at their two-year reunion. The College did not indicate plans to do the same for the class of 2021.
Anna Braman ’21 noticed this discrepancy. “Last year, the class of 2020 was promised a redo of graduation during their reunion in person, so it’s weird to me that they’re not doing the same thing for [the class of] 2021,” Braman said.
“I was heartbroken,” Soma said. “I thought that some way for the class of 2021 to have an in-person graduation would be arranged. Maybe not in this moment but in the future.” As Soma expressed, being a member of the class of 2021 has been disappointing in more ways than one. “It’s not just Commencement,” Soma said. “We missed every event. We missed our entire senior year.”
On March 23, Massachusetts announced that in-person graduations would be permitted, and set specific guidelines for those events. Three other colleges within the Five College Consortium announced that they would be holding in-person commencement ceremonies.
“Smith is doing it in person, [the University of Massachusetts Amherst] is doing it in person, Amherst College is doing it in person. … Why isn’t it possible for Mount Holyoke?” Soma asked. “I can understand if it’s not possible, but I need to know, and I believe I have the right to know: Why not?”
On Wednesday, March 31, students mobilized by taking part in an email campaign and signing a petition organized by an anonymous group of students. Seniors advocated for a future in-person graduation ceremony at their two-year reunion in 2023. The letter, which was sent to the College’s administration, detailed how this segment of the graduating class felt the administration had mishandled Commencement and what they believe would be a good solution for a graduation ceremony.
The letter states that the students behind it are not asking for an in-person graduation. Instead, they are only requesting a “commitment to the class of 2021 that was made to the class of 2020: a graduation ceremony, and senior traditions, at our two-year reunion.”
Braman participated in the larger email campaign and wrote her own separate email to the administration. In this email, she stated, “Our class is prepared to promise to not contribute financially whatsoever (to the College as alumnae) if we are not recognized.”
According to the Mount Holyoke website, the College received $28.1 million from alumnae donations in 2019, making up over 80 percent of their total fiscal year 2020 donations. “They said a lot depends on financial support from alums and generous gifts, … so risking an entire group of people’s support will have an impact.”
For many students, including Braman, this all comes back to Mount Holyoke’s commitment to community. “Mount Holyoke talks about being a community-driven place, and we have all these traditions that are so important to us, so it was surprising to me that they’re getting rid of those things,” Braman said. “Bigger universities that aren’t as community-oriented as Mount Holyoke are doing things for their seniors, so the fact that Mount Holyoke isn’t is making me question the integrity of [the administration’s] values and things that they use as selling points for the school.”
“Mount Holyoke is powerful and important,” Soma said. “It’s not just our college, it’s our community, we become family here. I’m not angry with Mount Holyoke. I am disappointed. Because I love Mount Holyoke, I’ve loved my experience and I wanted to be beside my friends for this moment.”