By Declan Langton ’22
Editor-in-Chief
Emergency vehicles responded to the fire at Mead Hall on Mount Holyoke College’s campus after the building was struck by lighting on July 17.
In a letter addressed to the Mount Holyoke College community on July 29, Vice President for Student Life and Dean of Students Marcella Runell Hall announced that Mount Holyoke has partnered with Hampshire College to provide housing for those displaced by the Mead fire on July 17. According to Hall, Merrill House A & C on Hampshire’s campus “can accommodate all of the 144 students that would normally live in Mead Hall and will provide students with comparable accommodations.”
Additionally, Hall confirmed that the Mary Woolley and Mosaic Living-Learning Communities usually based in Mead Hall “will be moved to Hampshire this coming semester.” She added, “They will have their own floors and lounges for students to gather.” According to the Mount Holyoke website, the Mary Woolley LLC is for LGBTQ+ students and the Mosaic LLC is “designed to support students who self-identify as people of color.”
Hall’s communication to the community offered what she called “highlights” about living in Merrill House A & C, including guaranteed single rooms, free laundry and parking, air conditioning and the option to eat meals on either campus. Additionally, Hall wrote that “Mount Holyoke College Resident Advisors and a Residential Fellow will be living in the buildings at Hampshire to serve as a resource, provide programs and help create a sense of community in this unique situation.”
The opportunity to live in Merrill House A & C will be open to all Mount Holyoke residential students, according to Hall. “Students have already been contacted by Residential Life about how to apply,” she added.
Transportation between the two campuses will be provided through both the PVTA and supplemental shuttles, according to Hall.
At the end of her letter, Hall thanked Hampshire College for working quickly with the Mount Holyoke staff to create a solution to the housing problem.
She added, “While we all certainly wish that lightning hadn’t struck Mead Hall, we will do all we can to make students’ time at Hampshire College a positive and engaging living experience.”
Mount Holyoke News will continue to follow this developing story.