On Tuesday, Nov. 30, senate convened in the Great Room to discuss the 2021 Student Conference Committee survey results. The meeting opened with a land acknowledgment read by Viveca Holman ’22, the PR Officer of the SGA Executive Board. The E-Board then updated senate on “Spirit Week” events, namely Small Business Saturday, where students can gather in the Great Room to sell products from their small businesses or their own clothes. This event still has sign-up slots left.
Content warning: this article discusses anti-Indigenous violence.
Beginning this semester, a land acknowledgment recognizing the Indigenous nations which once occupied the land currently owned by Mount Holyoke College must be given before every public event at Mount Holyoke. As the College takes steps to repair its relationship to Indigenous communities both on and off campus, the institution’s history of anti-Indigenous acts has resurfaced. Earlier this month, the College repatriated Indigenous remains that had previously been in their possession. As the College reckons with this and other past violences this National Indigenous Heritage Month, some members of the Mount Holyoke community are calling for further action and accountability.
Oct. 23 started as a regular day for Tate Durand ’23. They woke up, attended a friend’s birthday breakfast, then returned to their on-campus residence for a nap. However, when they rose to several missed calls from the health services center, they immediately had a strong suspicion that they had tested positive for COVID-19.
Big changes are coming to the Tranquility Room following Tuesday’s senate meeting. On Friday Oct. 29, the E-Board’s Diversity Equity and Inclusion Officer, Maille Romulus ’23 and Earl Wren ’24 met with Richard Perna, executive director of Auxiliary Services and Aaron Ferguson, senior accessibility coordinator. The Tranquility Room will now be a no-talking zone and students will no longer be allowed to use it as a cut-through anymore.
At Mount Holyoke College, students have returned to a full residential experience this semester. While many students have eagerly returned to in-person classes and exchanging stories over late-night, others are unhappy with the College’s decision to extend its no-guest policy through the end of the semester. Mount Holyoke’s policies surrounding off-campus travel and on-campus guests have changed several times since the start of the pandemic in the spring of 2020. The College defines a guest as any person who is not enrolled in a Mount Holyoke course and does not participate in the College-sponsored asymptomatic testing program. This most recent update was sent to the community via email on Oct. 6. Following the announcement, the College sent out a survey on “students’ interest and comfort with having guests in the residence halls” on Oct. 19.
SGA senate convened this week with an announcement: from now on, students will be able to use safety net funds to cover outside medical related expenses, such as transportation and urgent care costs.
In further health-related news, the senate’s COVID-19 & Content Commission group is planning to petition the administration to relax the guest policy. Their proposed plan would involve guests filling out a Google form where they would have to provide proof of vaccination, agree to be masked indoors and in other designated spaces and commit to adhere to all other aspects of the community compact. Commission members suggested that Mount Holyoke students who break this policy should then be required to meet with the Honor Code Council.
The College sent out an update on Oct. 20 about new COVID-19 policies. Effective on Oct. 25, Emeriti faculty and other retired staff members are allowed to enter and use the Williston Memorial Library and Kendall Sports and Dance Complex as long as they show proof of vaccination and get tested by the College regularly.
