By Paige Comeau ’26
Staff Writer
Content warning: This article discusses transphobia.
“This business is proud to say we don’t care about women,” declared a sticker bearing the colors of the transgender flag. This sticker, along with several transgender flags placed into toilets, was found in one of the bathrooms inside Blanchard Hall on March 31, International Transgender Day of Visibility.
Chalking outside of Blanchard Community Center. Photo by Paige Comeau ’26.
This is one of many transphobic actions that have occurred on campus this past academic year. According to Mount Holyoke College’s Queer Action Collective, there have been similar anti-trans incidents in bathrooms across Blanchard Community Center, including the placement of stickers on walls and trash cans that state “Trans women are men.”
Moreover, there have been varying reports of slurs written and distributed throughout campus, expressing various anti-Black, antisemitic, or anti-queer sentiments, according to emails from the Division of Student Life and President Danielle Holley.
In her most recent email, President Holley reminded students that Mount Holyoke College does not tolerate discrimination or harassment of any kind and that if those responsible for the stickers are found, they will be held accountable to the fullest extent of the College’s policies and the law.
Nevertheless, the incidents continue to occur.
In a written statement to Mount Holyoke News through the College’s Director of Public Affairs and Media Relations, Christian Feuerstein, the College described the steps taken following reports of discriminatory behavior.
When an incident is reported, it is taken into investigation by Public Safety and Service, as well as the College’s Bias Education and Support Team, known as BEST, which directly works with the college community to handle the situation. According to Feuerstein, BEST is “the coordinated system for addressing the impacts of bias and insensitivity by tracking and communicating to the College community, as appropriate, and by creating moments for community accountability and learning.”
In the statement, the College notes that “the work of BEST does not replace or supersede any process required by campus policy or criminal law.”
On Monday, April 1, QAC held a community meeting to discuss the next steps. “You have to be able to acknowledge that people on this campus can be really shitty. And that’s really awful, even if it’s really important to do because we’re such a small, tight-knit school,” one student said.
For the most part, students at this meeting spent their time discussing and adding to their list of proposed actions that the College could take as steps towards making transgender and gender nonconforming students feel more comfortable and supported on campus. This list includes ideas like extra counseling and support during difficult times such as these; more transgender staff on campus; sharing official, college-endorsed, pro-trans messages; and investment in updated resources for the LGBTQ+ community.
During this meeting, students also voiced concerns about communication among students and staff during challenging times. Participants noted that they desired “regular updates throughout a [hate] crime investigation, even if there’s no new information to share.”
In the College’s statement to Mount Holyoke News, Feuerstein divulged a few details on how the school decided when and what to share with the students. “Communication to the community as a whole is decided on a case-by-case basis. If there is an imminent threat to the campus, the College’s emergency response team communicates as immediately as possible. In all other instances, the College balances transparency with privacy and respect for reporting parties as well as the unique needs of each investigation.”
Improved communication also made it onto the list of demands that QAC wrote.
To take more immediate action regarding these recent incidents, the QAC planned a rally in support of trans students, which took place on Tuesday, April 2.