Week Two of the College’s Week of Racial Justice and Reconciliation Week Features More Virtual Events
Mount Holyoke continued its second annual Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King Week of Racial Justice and Reconciliation with a series of events and virtual talks.
On Jan. 24, Mount Holyoke alumna Quanita Haley ’12 gave a sermon entitled “Let Justice Roll Down: A Christian Service in Honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.”
Carmen Yulín Cruz Named College’s Distinguished Fellow in Leadership
After serving as a member of the House of Representatives and mayor of San Juan, Puerto Rico for a combined 12 years, Carmen Yulín Cruz was recently appointed the Harriet L. Weissman and Paul M. Weissman distinguished fellow in leadership at the Weissman Center for Leadership. She will hold the position in the Weissman Center through December 2021, though her contract could extend another year.
College COVID-19 Restrictions Enter Phase 2 as Cases Continue To Rise
After an initial two-week quarantine period, Mount Holyoke College has officially marked a shift into Operating Level 2: Modified Normal COVID-19 Operations with Heightened Awareness. Residential students received a series of communications from the Office of Residential Life alerting them of the new restrictions and guidelines beginning on Feb. 1.
Mount Holyoke Celebrates MLK and Coretta Scott King With a Week of Events Devoted To Racial Justice
Mount Holyoke began its first week of the spring term with the second annual Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King Week of Racial Justice and Reconciliation. The Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion partnered with the Division of Student Life to create a program of events “in recognition of the ongoing challenges with race relations in the United States.” According to the Mount Holyoke events calendar, the week’s theme was “Our Interconnectedness Binds Us Together.”
College To Hold Reunion 2021 Virtually; Decisions on Commencement To Be Announced This February
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.
Mount Holyoke Puts on Radio Play ‘Much Ado About Nothing’
This semester, the film media theater department adapted to current limitations set by the COVID-19 pandemic and produced “Much Ado About Nothing.” Because the play could not be performed in person or in front of an audience, its director, Noah Tuleja, decided to produce the comedy in the style of a radio play.
Tuleja, director of Rooke Theatre and assistant professor of film media theater, said that as early as May, he knew that the theater would not be able to host 100 to 150 to watch the show even if students came back to campus. With that in mind, he began to reimagine and adapt the season to avoid cancellation.
Attorneys Present New Arguments in Hachiyanagi Case
In a hearing on Tuesday, Dec. 8, Assistant District Attorney Matthew Thomas filed a motion to obtain the employment records of former Mount Holyoke Professor of Art and Studio Art Chair Rie Hachiyanagi based on the advice of an unidentified third party. According to Hachiyanagi’s defense attorney, Thomas Kokonowski, the anonymous third party is also employed by Mount Holyoke College.
As previously reported by the Mount Holyoke News, Hachiyanagi was charged with multiple counts, including attempted murder, following her alleged assault on a fellow Mount Holyoke faculty member sometime between Dec. 23 and Dec. 24, 2019, to which she has pled not guilty. She has been in custody since December 2019.
Two Students Mistakenly Given Positive COVID-19 Test Results
On Oct. 20, Karen Engell, director of Health Services, and Paul S. Kandel, Strategic IT Project Management Lead and COVID-19 Testing and Tracing Project Manager, sent a message to the Mount Holyoke community about two falsely reported COVID-19 tests. Both students involved were told they had tested positive, but had in actuality tested negative for COVID-19. The mistake was made between Oct. 16 and Oct. 17, and the corrected reports of these two tests were issued within 12 hours of the false reports being sent out.
Mount Holyoke Tentatively Prepares to Bring 60 Percent Student Capacity to Campus in the Spring
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.