The College announced Monday that it will hold a virtual commencement ceremony for graduates of the class of 2021 on May 23 at 10:30 a.m. EST. In an email sent to graduating students and their families, Vice President for Student Life and Dean of Students Marcella Runell Hall wrote, “It is with great regret that we announce that no family, friends or other guests will be able to participate in any campus celebrations in advance of the virtual ceremony.”
In an effort to continue cultivating community within its remote student body, Mount Holyoke recently introduced Virtual Cohorts into the Residential Life virtual programming. Student participants applied to join one of the cohorts supervised by a virtual community ambassador. According to the job description, a VCA “is an essential member of the administrative staff of Residential Life and plays a critical role following the College’s shift to remote learning.”
On the evening of Wednesday, Dec. 9, the College sent out an email containing updates on the plans for Commencement and reunion 2021. With a vaccine seemingly on the way, plans may change depending on how the COVID-19 pandemic develops over the coming months. However, as COVID-19 restrictions on outdoor gatherings continue to tighten in the state of Massachusetts, an official decision on the class of 2021’s commencement ceremony has yet to be made. Over the following months, the College will continue to monitor the state of the pandemic and inform decisions based on the safety guidelines regarding in-person gatherings and travel. An official decision about Commencement 2021 will be announced by the end of this February.
On the final afternoon of Module 1, the student body received an email announcing the immediate beginning of a “24-Hour 2020 Mountain Day Experience.”
“It’s noon in South Hadley, 4 p.m. in Accra, 5 p.m. in London, 10 p.m. in New Delhi and midnight in Beijing,” read the email from College President Sonya Stephens. “This year’s Mountain Day is a 24 hour, self-directed and physically distanced adventure that begins for students once you’ve finished your Module 1 assignments and exams today, and goes from 4 till 4 EST.”
President of the College Sonya Stephens wrote a letter to the Mount Holyoke community regarding the College’s preliminary plan for the spring 2021 term on Wednesday, Oct. 28. Stephens wrote that the College is preparing to welcome up to 60 percent of the student population to campus in the spring.
“Our goal is to safely accommodate as many students wishing to return as we possibly can, and to continue to ensure that those for whom Mount Holyoke is their permanent address or who need to be on campus can remain in residence,” Stephens said in the letter.
On Sept. 30, Mount Holyoke announced that Mountain Day, a tradition nearly as old as the College itself, would be held during the fall break between Module 1 and Module 2. This decision was taken by the administration to “best maximize the academic schedule for curricular content and the break for time to rest and rejuvenate,” according to the College webpage. This year, like with all of the challenges of remote school, the much-awaited tradition will look different.
Guneet Moihdeen ’21 expressed sadness about how her last Mountain Day is happening during the module break. “I’m kinda sad. The whole point [of Mountain Day] for me is dropping everything and having fun or self-care,” Moihdeen said.
Mount Holyoke’s 183rd Convocation took place, as much of the semester has so far, over Zoom. As students virtually filtered in, photos of past Convocations and calls to “Make some noise for the class of 2021!” flashed across the screen. A short montage of photos submitted by students and other community members followed.
The group of student residential staff living on the College’s campus this fall is drastically smaller than previous years and they are working in unprecedented circumstances. Abiding by the social compact, and in some cases enforcing it, the responsibilities of Community Assistants (formerly known as Community Advisors) and Residential Fellows (formerly Senior Community Advisors) have shifted in response to COVID-19’s interruption to campus life.
With COVID-19 affecting schools across the country, Mount Holyoke reversed their plan to bring students back to campus this fall. Instead, the fall semester is being conducted entirely online. This semester, the College is only allowing students to stay on campus if their travel home is restricted, if they cannot effectively work in their home environment or if campus is their legal permanent residence. These students are experiencing a different kind of college life on campus, as they now have specific guidelines to follow in regard to curbing the spread of COVID-19.
