On Feb. 13, Karla Youngblood, associate vice president for Facilities Management, and Carl Ries, treasurer and vice president for finance and administration, announced an update on the ongoing geothermal energy initiative here at Mount Holyoke College. This update provides some key information surrounding upcoming construction, which may impact students.
When students returned to campus on the weekend of Jan. 21, they were greeted by large piles of dirt and a wire fence with signs warning of danger surrounding a pit in the ground at the center of Skinner Green. Facilities Management began this excavation process due to a leak in the steam line that runs beneath the green. Throughout the day, workers were seen driving a van back and forth with supplies over pads placed on top of the Green’s muddy surface. At the end of January, the center of the excavation site contains two thin pipes, one green and one gray, overlapping a much thicker pipe and a blue rod sticking into one of the tubes.
On Thursday, Sept. 17, the College provided an update on the financial situation and announced permanent structural changes. In a statement by College President Sonya Stephens and Vice President for Finance and Administration and Treasurer Shannon Gurek, it was announced that “the pandemic has created both short-term and longer-term challenges to our operations, negatively impacting the College’s financial outlook.” This letter was a follow-up response to an Aug. 19 statement in which Stephens and Gurek announced furloughs and budget reductions.
BY ALLYSON HUNTOON '19
On the evening of Tuesday, Feb 28, MHC Senators could be found sitting in four separate working groups. Each of these groups aims to address specific topics of student interest: AccessAbility Services, first generation and low income students, Facilities Management and the Career Development Center. The goal of these groups is to connect students with the respective offices regarding their specific concerns in order to generate positive change. Tuesday’s meeting updated attendees on the progress and concerns of each working group and introduced the directors and officers from each of the college departments addressed.
