Photo by Tara Monastesse ’25.
The Gloria Anzaldúa LLC is housed within the North and South Rockefeller halls’ basement areas.
By Naomy Poot Ibarra ’25 and Tara Monastesse ’25
Staff Writer | News Editor
In response to sustained pest activity within their residence spaces, members of the Gloria Anzaldúa Living-Learning Community organized and released a statement on April 1 titled “Gloria’s Community Response to ‘Recent’ Events.” It outlines the living conditions they have faced, including having their LLC community placed on the same floor as the laundry, trash, trunk and boiler rooms. It also describes the continued inaction from administration towards removing the gnats, cockroaches and ants found on the residence floor.
Throughout the past two weeks, members of the Gloria LLC have met directly with Mount Holyoke administrators, posted through the LLC’s social media channels and distributed posters across campus depicting the living conditions they have endured.
“There are a total of eighteen available spots in Gloria. The living conditions on this floor caused three people to not only leave our community but the entire institution halfway through the year,” the Gloria LLC’s statement read.
Mount Holyoke College describes the Gloria Anzaldúa LLC as “a community that is designed to support students as they explore and express their whole selves, including their gender identities and sexualities, in a safer and affirming environment, with particular regard to centering and exalting the needs and experiences of queer and transgender people of color at a predominantly white institution.” The LLC is currently housed in the basement of North and South Rockefeller halls and is one of four current LLCs at Mount Holyoke dedicated to students of color as well as one of three LLCs dedicated to students who hold LGBTQ+ identities.
On March 29, Executive Director of Residential Life Rachel Alldis and Associate Vice President for Facilities Management Karla Youngblood FP ’99 co-authored an email to the entire residential campus community providing updates on the College’s current pest management efforts.
“In recent weeks, despite continued pest management efforts taken throughout campus, students in the basements of North and South Rockefeller Hall have reported rodent and ant activity,” the email read. “Unfortunately, the issue has persisted and today we escalated our approach. We acknowledge that this is an unacceptable living situation for these students and we apologize.”
The email went on to detail how the College’s pest management vendor had planned to address the situation, including rodent traps being placed in the Rockies basement area and the sealing of access points throughout the buildings. Within the following two weeks, Alldis and Youngblood stated, all residence halls on campus would have their common areas treated with a natural rodent deterrent spray.
The public statement released on April 1 via the official Instagram account for the Gloria Anzaldúa LLC detailed the community’s previous advocacy for a liveable space as well as the damage the inhospitable conditions have inflicted on them.
“Earlier in the semester, we were told that it was not possible to move Gloria for the 2023-2024 academic year,” the statement read. “Less than 48 hours after an incident that inspired the messages and images circulated around campus regarding our living conditions, and the discussions and campus-wide outrage that ensued, Residential Life was able to provide three spaces our community could be moved to in this upcoming year. Of those three spaces, two would dramatically decrease our already small LLC after we specifically advocated for a larger, private space.”
“That voices outside of our community were necessary for action to occur is unacceptable,” the statement continued. “Do not discount the advocacy this community has done for itself before the wider campus became aware of our situation.” This statement was followed by the question: “What does this say to QTPOC students when we are in a space described to us as unlivable, unacceptable, a reflection of the struggles already faced by this marginalized community?”
As a result of the organizing efforts of the members of the Gloria Anzaldua LLC, they will be relocated to a new space for the academic year of 2023-2024. A Google form was created for students to express their interest in participating in the LLC next year as these plans are finalized. This Google form was distributed to the campus community via the March 31 edition of the Dean’s Corner email newsletter, as well as by SGA President Maille Romulus ’24 in an email.
In an April 3 email titled “A Public Apology to the Residents of the Gloria Anzaldua LLC,” Interim President Beverly Daniel Tatum described the initial response by administrators to find alternative housing for the affected students and how they set an extermination plan in place.
“However, as I learned from the LLC residents who came to my office hours on Friday, what has been most upsetting is not Tuesday’s incident alone, but the cumulative concerns that have gone unresolved throughout the school year despite the persistent efforts of the residents of the Gloria LLC to advocate on their own behalf,” Tatum wrote.
“A failure of communication and follow-up between those who made efforts to respond and the residents who could see that the problems persisted exacerbated the situation. The result has been months of frustration. On behalf of the College, I want to publicly apologize to all of the residents who have been dealing with this situation for so long.”
On April 5, Director of Community Standards and Housing Operations Nashalie Vazquez notified residential students via email that the College’s pest management vendor would be treating the outside of all residence halls with an all-natural rodent deterrent spray, as well as the areas surrounding each halls’ trash room. Vazquez stated that this process would begin at 9 a.m. and likely conclude by 5 p.m. on April 8.