Photo courtesy of Mount Holyoke College News and Events via Flickr
According to Mount Holyoke College President Danielle Holley, executive orders from the Trump administration have not yet resulted in any immediate changes on campus.
By Tara Monastesse ’25
Editor-in-Chief
Content Warning: This article discusses transphobia, xenophobia and racism.
Editor’s note: The information contained in this article is accurate at the time of publication, but could rapidly change. Mount Holyoke College community members should rely on official communications from the College for the most up-to-date information regarding federal executive orders and their potential impact on students.
On the evening of Tuesday, Jan. 28, Mount Holyoke College administrators held a closed forum for members of the College community to discuss recent executive orders from the Trump administration and their potential impact on the College.
The number one takeaway: For now, nothing has changed.
“Executive orders don't have any force of law,” Mount Holyoke College President Danielle Holley explained in an interview with Mount Holyoke News immediately following the event. “An executive order requires that other people in the government — other people in the executive branch — actually execute what the president is asking for. And so that means we probably have a little bit of time before anything that would directly impact the College happens.”
In an introduction at the forum, Holley stated that the College’s administration has been working since President Donald Trump’s inauguration to keep track of executive orders the moment they take effect. Despite multiple executive orders from Trump aiming to dismantle diversity, equity and inclusion programs within higher education, Holley said that the College plans to remain “stalwart” in its mission as a gender-diverse women’s college.
Dean of Students Marcella Runell, Vice President for Equity and Inclusion Kijua Sanders-McMurtry and Provost Lisa Sullivan also attended the forum to answer questions regarding the College’s programming and administrative approach to executive orders.
In the case that an executive order will have a direct and immediate impact upon Mount Holyoke students, Holley said that the College’s administration “will absolutely let students know right away.”
“Please be assured that the College will update you. There will not be anything that slips through the cracks,” Holley said. “We are completely being vigilant.”
Federal financial aid for Mount Holyoke students remains intact for Spring 2025
Many higher education officials across the country were alarmed Tuesday morning when the Office of Management and Budget, which works to implement the president’s vision across the executive branch, released a memorandum seeking to pause all federal financial assistance until Feb. 10. A federal judge blocked the order late on Tuesday, delaying the pause until Monday, Feb. 3. Earlier today, the White House rescinded the order entirely.
The memo stated that the pause was intended to give the Trump administration time to review whether programs receiving the funding align with the administration’s ideological goals. It claimed that “the use of Federal resources to advance Marxist equity, transgenderism, and green new deal social engineering policies is a waste of taxpayer dollars that does not improve the day-to-day lives of those we serve.”
Prior to the order being rescinded, it was initially unclear whether it would apply to federal financial aid for college students, including individual loans and grants. According to the Chronicle of Higher Education, the Education Department clarified that Title IV student financial aid would not be included in the pause stipulated by the now-inactive memo.
Holley stated that some of the College’s federal aid for the Spring 2025 semester had not been drawn down yet as of Tuesday night, including part of its Federal Work-Study allotment. However, most federal financial aid for the spring semester has already been disbursed to students, including Pell Grants and Federal Direct Plus Loans.
“Nothing has changed for any student as of [Tuesday] about their financial aid,” Holley said. “If for some reason Mount Holyoke was not going to be able to receive federal funds for financial aid, we would obviously know that, and we're already planning for that if it happens. Right now, my guess is that it won't happen for quite a long time, simply because there will be likely lawsuits and temporary blocks.”
While this specific memo is no longer applicable, the future is murkier. The New York Times reported on Wednesday that “the underlying presidential intention remains, and the administration is expected to find other ways to put Mr. Trump’s wishes into practice.”
While the federal government cannot directly force the College to alter its curriculum or programming, as it is a private institution, it could still seek to remove federal funding as a result of the College embracing ideas that the Trump administration finds disagreeable. Holley described it as a “purse strings” relationship.
Because Mount Holyoke is a private college, it relies much less on federal funding than public institutions. Holley said that if federal funds intended for a faculty research project are taken away, for example, the College may be able to cover the loss through its own budget. However, funding in the long term could be difficult if the College were deemed ineligible for federal assistance.
“I don't want to speculate on that because I think it causes panic within students. We are talking about a long time, if that comes.” Holley said. “It will probably be quite a while before we know which way the winds are blowing.” She mentioned that many steps would have to be taken to get to the point where the College’s federal funding is revoked.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids on campus unlikely
On day one of his presidency, Trump signed an executive order titled “Protecting The American People Against Invasion.” The order directs federal agencies, including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Customs and Border Protection, to prioritize the removal of people residing in the United States without legal status. NBC News reported on Tuesday that since Trump took office on Jan. 20, ICE has made at least 4,829 arrests, mostly in major cities like New York and Chicago.
Holley said that the chances of an ICE raid occurring on Mount Holyoke’s campus are “tremendously low,” as the College would be a low priority for the agency compared to other locations in the country.
“ICE is like every other law enforcement agency,” Holley said. “In order to enter a private space … They need a warrant that is signed by a judge.” To receive such a warrant, “they would need to have probable cause related to a student, staff or faculty member.”
Holley said that ICE raids are concerning regardless of whether those targeted are actually undocumented, because ICE agents may make assumptions about a person’s citizenship status based on their race or ethnicity. During the forum, she instructed students to report the presence of ICE on campus to the Public Safety and Service department.
“We plan to try to fully protect our students,” she said. “Again, once someone is swept up by federal detention, it becomes very hard. But our plan for the college is to work to protect our students, faculty and staff, even if they are in federal detention for immigration.”
Diversity, equity and inclusion programming to continue
Since Trump was elected, Holley has been vocal about the College’s plan to continue affirming its commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion even in the face of a presidential administration “hostile” to them. Currently, there are no plans to pause or discontinue programming related to diversity, equity and inclusion at the College. This includes spaces such as the cultural houses and Living-Learning Communities dedicated to specific identities, as well as affinity and healing spaces.
However, the College could face a federal investigation in the future as the Trump administration aims to examine DEI initiatives in higher education. In a Jan. 21 executive order titled “Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity,” Trump directed each federal agency to “identify up to nine potential civil compliance investigations” into a variety of institutions to deter “illegal discrimination or preferences.” The order specifies that these include any institution of higher education with an endowment of over $1 billion.
The Chronicle of Higher Education identified 131 of these undergraduate campuses who could potentially be targeted for a federal investigation under the order. Mount Holyoke College — whose endowment was roughly $1 billion as of 2023 — made the list, albeit towards the bottom.
“I think partly we're already impacted because I think part of the use of executive orders is to really make people feel afraid and uncertain and to raise tension and anxiety,” Holley said. “But right now we don't have any indication that they're going to take any action beyond the issuing of that executive order.”
She did point out that the College could stand out to the government because of its unique status as a gender-diverse women’s college. It is impossible to predict, however, if such an investigation would occur and when.
Holley encouraged students to trust the College’s administration to communicate the direct impact of executive orders on the community when they occur.
“If it's possible for [community members], trust us and let us take on these big challenges. There's nothing that individual students, faculty and staff can do at this point to help,” she said. “We will do that. And we hope that the great work that we're doing here at Mount Holyoke won't be slowed down, and that our sense of community won't be destroyed by people who don't really have any right to even attempt to destroy it.”
Melanie Duronio ’26 contributed additional reporting and fact checking.
Leah Dutcher ’28 contributed fact checking.