Photo courtesy of the Mount Holyoke College of Office of Communications and Marketing
After nine years at Mount Holyoke, Sonya Stephens is leaving to pursue a new college presidency.
By Declan Langton ’22 & Sophie Soloway ’23
Editor-in-Chief | Global Editor
Content warning: This article discusses antisemitism, racism and racial slurs.
“I wake up in the morning … I see the sun rising behind the buildings and the outline of the College, and I think, ‘What will I do today to advance Mount Holyoke,’” College President Sonya Stephens said.
Stephens arrived at Mount Holyoke in 2013 as the vice president for academic affairs and the dean of faculty, according to her profile on the College website. In 2016, she became acting president after being appointed by the Board of Trustees. After two years in the role, Stephens was elected president of the College. In March, Stephens announced she was leaving Mount Holyoke after nine years to take a position as president of the American University of Paris.
On March 24, 2022, Stephens met with Mount Holyoke News for a Zoom interview, during which she reflected on her career and what comes next as she prepares to lead the American University of Paris.
Stephens appointed acting president
During her interim presidency, Stephens had two central initiatives: sustainability and diversity, equity and inclusion.
In 2017, Stephens assembled the Sustainability Task Force to discuss sustainability on campus. From that group’s discussions, “came the commitment to carbon neutrality, a more comprehensive commitment to environmentalism on campus, including the move toward divestment,” Stephens explained. In 2018, this plan was endorsed by the Board of Trustees.
According to the Sustainability Task Force Summary of 2017 Report, “Mount Holyoke College is pursuing the goal of reaching carbon neutrality by its bicentennial through a strategy of investing in energy efficiency and conservation, retrofitting historic buildings and transitioning to carbon-neutral heating and electricity sources.” Work in conjunction with the Sustainability Task Force continued through Stephens’ presidency.
In 2017, Stephens began building on the College’s pre-existing efforts toward diversity, equity and inclusion.
“The people who were doing it — that meant students, staff, faculty — were all exhausted. They’re all exhausted from doing this work over and over and over again, at the grassroots level, without real resources and without real institutional support,” Stephens explained. “The idea was not to take over this work, but to say, ‘How do we put some resources and some institutional commitment behind it so that those doing the work see the benefits of that work?’” In line with this effort, Stephens helped establish the first Building On Our Momentum Conference in 2017 in support of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Steering Committee.
College constructs ‘SuperBlanch’
When Stephens was appointed interim president, the College was in pursuit of its 2023 strategic plan. A large portion of the plan revolved around the construction of “SuperBlanch,” the current Dining Commons and Community Center combination housed in Blanchard Hall. This became her main focus in 2016 and 2017.
“A big part of what we were thinking about in the plan [was] how … the building [would] be more than place. … How it would be about people and programming and building community,” Stephens said.
In 2018, Blanchard Hall, in the form we see today, opened. The new construction featured the Dining Commons in its “country house” style, as described by Stephens.
The Dining Commons was designed with the intention of open floors, lots of visibility and multiple seating options. Stephens described wanting multiple opportunities to encourage conversation between students, including “closed booths … but open seating, where you could sit in different ways and sit in different places and engage with one another.” She also described the addition of what she called “food choices that were more inclusive,” referring to the multiple dining stations open at the time of the Dining Commons’ initial opening.
In Spring 2022, staffing in the Dining Commons has been limited. Stations such as the Made to Order Deli, Sushi and Breakfast All Day, have had limited hours, if any.
In addition, the Dining Commons has dealt with overcrowding this semester. “We’re still struggling with the lines and with overcrowding,” Stephens said. “I think there’s this combination of circumstances right now, which are making it feel a lot worse than it should be,” Stephens explained. According to Stephens, there are fewer staff members working in the dining hall, and fewer students studying abroad and taking Five College classes.
As previously reported by Mount Holyoke News, there have been recent concerns from some students about the long lines and crowds in the dining hall, particularly during the lunch rush. In an article published Feb. 20, an anonymous senior explained to Mount Holyoke News that they, along with many peers, avoid the Dining Commons during the rush “purely because it is very crowded.”
“I have also talked to a lot of students who are neurodivergent, and they try to avoid the dining hall because it can be overstimulating during the rush,” the anonymous senior said.
“When we built the Dining Commons, the discussion was, ‘Let’s not build something that isn’t gonna be big enough for our student population,’” Stephens explained. Emphasizing the physical layout of the current Dining Commons, she added, “I think it’s important to [note] that there was concern about it being like a sea of chairs [and] not wanting it to be a wide-open, mall-type space, but to have that intimacy of the residence halls’ dining spaces.”
The reconstruction of Blanchard Hall went beyond the creation of centralized dining. The original Blanchard Hall was renovated during Stephens’ interim presidency, moving Student Life staff to the central floor of the building and student involvement, including student org offices, to the Weissman Center for Leadership on the third floor.
Stephens was also involved in creating the Unity Center on the central floor. The Center, according to Stephens, was built for “those who didn’t have the benefit of a cultural house.”
Stephens uses racial slur
In 2017 at a Posse Plus retreat, an annual conference for Mount Holyoke Posse Scholars, Stephens used a racial slur. In October 2018, following Stephens’ inauguration as College president, an article from Mount Holyoke News described the event. “While at the retreat, Stephens was part of a small group discussion regarding the difference between race and ethnicity, and in doing so she invoked the title of a book. The book title used the n-word, which Stephens said out loud,” the article described.
In her recent interview with Mount Holyoke News, Stephens re-addressed this event. “I own what happened. I’m really sorry for what happened. I think I’ll continue to live with what happened,” Stephens said. “The intention was not to harm … and it doesn’t matter. The fact that I did harm is the cause of my pain and my apology.”
Despite this event taking place multiple years before many current students arrived at Mount Holyoke, it has had an impact on Stephens’ legacy.
Myrha-Lissa Chery ’23, a current Posse scholar, shared that though she had not yet been on campus at the time, Stephens’ action still impacted her reputation. “This event definitely affected the way I viewed Stephens because right after she supposedly spoke about how inexcusable it is to use the word in any context, even in academic readings, she said it at a Posse retreat full of people who would either be directly hurt by the use of the slur, or knew people who would be affected [by] it,” Chery said. “Her behavior and her actions were hypocritical and careless. When I heard that she said it, my opinion of her definitely soured and never really recovered, because to me there is no excusable instance where a non-Black person uses the slur.”
When considering her own impacts on her legacy, Stephens said that she hopes her other commitments to diversity, equity and inclusion “will speak for themselves.”
Presidency & setting new goals
With her official inauguration as president, Stephens was able to focus on more projects, including the construction of the Fimbel Maker and Innovation Lab and the creation of the Chen Studio in the Art building. These two projects were undertaken to build spaces where more interdisciplinary, hands-on work is possible. “All of these new facilities … enable us to do innovative things in classes,” Stephens said.
This investment in creativity, however, has not recently been reflected in the College’s academic direction.
Zoe Fieldman ’22 is a Theatre Arts major — a major that no longer exists for new students.
When the College announced the merger between Theatre Arts and Film to create the current Film Media Theater major, Fieldman was confused. “One of the reasons [the College] gave [for the merge] was that our department at the time was too similar to a conservatory model which went against the school’s commitment to the liberal arts. At the time, that reason made very little sense to myself and my peers as our department was nowhere close to mimicking a conservatory model — in fact, many of us wished the caliber of courses offered would be more similar to that of a conservatory,” Fieldman explained.
In addition to this merger, other proposals have been put forward in the same vein. These have included a proposal to fuse Mount Holyoke’s language departments, as well as bringing together distant fields such as the Gender Studies, Africana Studies and Critical Social Thought departments.
While Stephens is not in control of the academic direction of the College, she still claims to champion the liberal arts, especially humanities and languages. “I’m a humanist at heart. I care deeply about the humanities. All the work I do is in the humanities,” she said. “The faculty own the curriculum, and the faculty are those who are best positioned to think about what the curriculum needs to be for the future,” Stephens added. “It needs to be sustainable and affordable, and meet the needs of the students, because there’s no point in offering a curriculum if nobody wants to take it. That will be the end of the institution.”
Mountain Day scheduled on Jewish High Holiday
Other incidents during Stephens’ presidency have challenged her continued commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion.
On Oct. 1, 2019, Mountain Day was scheduled on the second day of the Jewish High Holiday Rosh Hashanah.
Mountain Day is Mount Holyoke’s oldest tradition, during which, on a unscheduled day in the fall, the College cancels all classes and invites students to hike to the Summit House of Mt. Holyoke, according to the College’s website. As the one who announces Mountain Day, the College president is the face of this decision.
“[Stephens]’ decision to hold Mountain Day 2019 on the second day of Rosh Hashanah set the tone for the rest of her interactions with the Jewish community on campus,” Giovanna Wiseman ’22, co-chair of the Jewish Student Union, said.
In an Oct. 2, 2019 letter, she apologized to the community. “I deeply regret that some members of our community had to make choices yesterday between Rosh Hashanah and participating in Mountain Day events,” Stephens wrote. “I acknowledge your deep and righteous disappointment, hurt and frustration, and I am truly sorry. We must uphold the values and practice of being the truly inclusive College that we strive to be.”
Elaborating on this apology, she said to Mount Holyoke News, “I’m deeply sorry … I apologize, really, on behalf of the College and for myself, and for anybody else involved in it. And it was a very difficult moment for us all.” Stephens acknowledged that incidents such as this one may “embed the notion that the Jewish holidays didn’t matter” in the Mount Holyoke academic calendar.
“Her apology failed to repair the harm done by her choice. It made the Jewish community feel as though we were not important in the eyes of the College, and amplified already existing fears about our traditions and faith not being respected on campus,” Wiseman said.
Following this incident, Stephens said she worked to prevent it from happening again. “We met with students, we met with the Jewish Student [Union],” Stephens said. “We really had very thoughtful exchanges and conversations.”
During Stephens’ presidency, further acts of antisemitism have taken place on campus, notably the repeated, targeted antisemitic graffiti drawn in the third floor of 1837 Hall.
“I do consider Nazi swastika as a hate crime,” Stephens told Mount Holyoke News.
Stephens also discussed the common perception that the College’s response to these incidents had been “uncoordinated,” saying, “From my perspective, it’s been highly coordinated.” Stephens added, “There have been a number of administrators — including myself — involved in talking with student groups, faculty, parents, the Anti-Defamation League, and really thinking about what work can be done on campus.”
As of April 15, 2022, there are still no results from the investigation of these hate crimes. However, Stephens said, when there are results, the College “will act upon it.”
“I want to give [Stephens] credit for releasing statements of support quickly following the first two incidents of antisemitism in the fall and attending several Zoom calls in the aftermath of the events. However, for the most part, we work with other members of the administration, as [Stephens] has never really been the catalyst for positive change on campus as it pertains to Jewish students,” Wiseman said.
“I think the College has an antisemitism problem and [Stephens] doesn’t want to admit it, for fear of bad publicity,” Wiseman said. “Besides her initial involvement, she hasn’t reached out to us or offered additional support. I was talking to the board last week, and we were all reflecting about how tired we are. Along with our amazing Chaplain Amelia Ender, we have been singlehandedly emotionally supporting Jewish students on campus through these events. I feel that the College should take some responsibility for that.”
Stephens refocuses on sustainability
Another primary goal reportedly prioritized throughout Stephens’ presidency was that of increased environmental sustainability on the part of Mount Holyoke. At the start of her official presidency, she shared a letter outlining her goals. Looking back, Stephens shared, “One was to say, we’re going to start work on thinking about sustainability. And we’re going to have a campuswide project on sustainability. And I’m going to name a group who will work on this and bring forward recommendations.”
Indeed, these conversations surrounding the College’s removal of investments from fossil fuels have pervaded much of Stephens’ term. In February of 2020, for example, Mount Holyoke student activists from the Climate Justice Coalition staged a walkout to demand divestment from fossil fuels on the College’s behalf.
Though the College’s investments in the fossil fuel industry “have declined in both dollars and as a share of the endowment,” since 2016, Mount Holyoke has not publicly stated that it is completely divested from fossil fuels. According to Stephens, this has been intentional. “I think where Mount Holyoke is being completely honest and transparent is we’re saying, ‘Until we don’t have $1 in fossil fuels, we’re not going to talk about divestment.’ But most people would see us as having divested,” Stephens explained.
Calls for divestment on campus, though, have not stopped, specifically from the CJC. In a recent statement to Mount Holyoke News, the organization wrote, “The CJC is grateful that Mount Holyoke has taken strides toward divestment from fossil fuels. However, we are eager for our school to reduce the timeframe of divestment to five years given the urgency of the climate crisis.”
Stephens stated that much of the College’s investments have already changed. With some investments aging out over the next years, “there’s very little remaining in fossil fuels. … So we’ve gone further than we thought we were going to be able to do quicker. … We’re even further ahead than we said in my last letter,” Stephens said.
According to the CJC, however, this aging out does not entirely meet the demands put forward by their organization.
“We also call for our endowment to be reinvested in communities hurt by the fossil fuel industry. Finally, we ask that the College make their investments more transparent so that we can track fossil fuel divestment and find out what other harmful industries our community may be funding,” the CJC stated.
Leading through COVID-19
Stephens has been in office throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, and has overseen the College’s decision-making process. According to Stephens, this global crisis deeply increased the responsibilities associated with her position, sharing that much of the College’s action planning relied upon her own decision-making. “My role was really to be sure that I was comfortable with every decision because ultimately, the responsibility rose up to me,” she said.
The first signs of it were when we were saying, ‘Should we bring [study-abroad] students back from Europe? … Do we ask them whether they want to stay?’” Stephens shared. “Of course, this was an emerging situation. None of us knew what was going to happen.”
This proved to be the first of many decisions resting on Mount Holyoke’s administration, as shortly after this initial choice was made, all Mount Holyoke students were asked to leave campus and end the Spring semester remotely.
“Really, the universities were leading the way in the early stages of the pandemic, because other governmental organizations hadn’t worked out what the guidance was going to be,” Stephens said. “I’m sure it was frustrating for members of our community, to have us change our mind and change direction. But, we were literally getting information as it came out and trying to make decisions as the situation was evolving.”
In the time since, Mount Holyoke has operated at varying levels, ranging from a completely remote, module-based Fall 2020 semester to optional on-campus housing in the following Spring semester. Currently, the College hosts on-campus housing and learning with accompanying mandated testing and vaccination.
Georgia Colson ’22, an immunocompromised student, reflected on this path throughout the pandemic.
“Overall, I was pretty happy with how President Stephens and the College handled the pandemic. … I did appreciate that she prioritized the health and well-being of students in terms of vaccination, mask-wearing and testing guidelines,” Colson said. “It was because of these strict rules that [immunocompromised] students such as myself felt that it was safe to return to in-person classes. I was particularly relieved when I found out the school would require twice-weekly testing.”
Stephens stated, “Every decision leads to another question, so it was a huge amount of work. I think now as I think about it, I feel as if Mount Holyoke managed the situation to keep everybody safe.”
What’s next
Though Stephens reflected that she “never thought that [she] would want to do a presidency anywhere else,” she plans to join the American University of Paris as its 13th president in the Fall of 2022.
“I literally felt I’ve been torn in two between this passion for France and French and the opportunity I would have to make a difference there, and the love I have for Mount Holyoke,” Stephens said.
According to Stephens, her new presidency will draw upon her background in French studies, as well as her experiences on Mount Holyoke’s campus.
“It will call upon all of the intercultural skills that we emphasize in language learning, all of my language skills, all of my administrative skills, as well as all of my commitments to France and to French culture. And that includes similar work that we’ve been doing here around DEI and student success and community building — all of those things will be important.”
As for Mount Holyoke, the Stephens will remember it as “a super-engaged community that is highly intellectual, that believes in advocacy and delivers upon that advocacy so often.” She added, “I’ve always felt that, from the moment I arrived here, what I appreciated was the power and the intellect of the conversations. I haven’t changed my mind.”
Though Stephens feels that “history is always a judge of legacies, not individuals,” she shared some of her hopes for what she will have left behind at Mount Holyoke before her departure this summer. “It’s always about advancing and improvement, and the humility of doing it not for yourself, not for a legacy, but about doing it for the people in it now, and for the institution that you want Mount Holyoke to be,” Stephens said. “It’s a collective endeavor.”
Thinking back to the time she has spent in the President’s House, Stephens reflected on the end of her day. “When I go up the stairs at night and I turn, I see the sun setting … and it’s like, first of all, did I do no harm?” she said. “For me, it’s always about advancing and improvement, and the humility of doing it not for yourself, not for a legacy, but about doing it for the people in it now, and for the institution that you want Mount Holyoke to be, that we all want Mount Holyoke to be.”