Photo by Jahnavi Pradeep '23. Rhoads calls for Mount Holyoke's administration and student body to do more for students of color and to create a welcoming campus environment.
By Max Rhoads ’25
Staff Writer
Earlier this April, residents of the Gloria Anzaldúa Living Learning Community, a community for queer and trans students of color at Mount Holyoke, took to social media to speak up about their living conditions in the North Rockefeller Hall basement. Students shared pictures of rats and other pests in their rooms and an asbestos tent in the basement. As per social media posts by members of the LLC, when they brought their concerns to Facilities Management, they were given mouse traps and told to get rid of the pests themselves. The residents of the Gloria Anzaldúa LLC have been living in unsanitary conditions for the majority of the academic year, but much of the rest of the student population was not aware until the social media posts. According to a statement issued by the LLC via Instagram, three students prior to this incident left the dorm and the College itself because of the living conditions.
Generally, the administration is socially liberal — there are several statements on the College website detailing their commitment to diversity and inclusion and acknowledging that we are located on stolen Indigenous land. However, if the College is structured in such a way that people of color do not feel welcome or safe, then that is not a reflection of the values they claim to uphold. In addition, while most students seem to hold left-leaning beliefs, white students need to do better in speaking up for students of color. They are the majority on campus and tend to have more privilege.
It is no coincidence that the residents of the Gloria LLC, who are all students of color, were treated this way by both other students and the College administration. The LLC is located in North Rockefeller Hall, and both the South and North Rockies are popular party locations for Mount Holyoke students. Because of this, partygoers, mostly non-residents, leave their garbage in these dorms and generally show little regard for those who live there. Furthermore, because of the parties, Public Safety gets called to the North Rockies more often than any other dorm. One could argue that it is because of the noise complaints; however, I have noticed that other popular party locations, such as Mandelle Hall, rarely receive this same treatment in response to noise complaints. Communities of color are often over-policed. With the history of policing in the United States, these encounters with law enforcement can be dangerous for these communities. It is important to make sure there is a legitimate reason for such involvement before repeatedly calling Public Safety into the spaces occupied by students of color.
The Gloria Anzaldúa LLC is located in the basement of the building. In the LLC’s collective statement on Instagram, they pointed out that being placed in the basement “no matter the original intention, communicates we are something to be hidden, buried and forgotten.” Unfortunately, Mount Holyoke frequently expresses, whether intentionally or unintentionally, to students of color that we are an afterthought. All of the cultural centers are located on the outskirts of campus, out of view from the rest of the student population, forcing those who need these spaces to go out of their way to seek them out.
It appears that the unsanitary conditions came to light during peak college tour season, so students began putting up posters around campus detailing the situation to make prospective students and their families aware. It was only when there was the possibility of losing prospective students that the administration decided to act on the situation in the Gloria LLC and approve a move to a different, cleaner space in Abbey Hall. What that communicates to students of color is that the school only cares about them when their own image is at stake. This is known as performative support, and it does nothing but improve the privileged entity’s social standing.
Mount Holyoke is a predominantly white institution, and it is undeniable that white people make up a majority of the student population, as well as the administration. While one could argue that none of this treatment was intentional or race-related, intention does not matter as much as the impact on students of color. Treatment like this will actively drive people of color away from the school, making the student population even more overwhelmingly white and worsening the problem. Actions speak louder than words.
What we can do as a community is speak up when we see this type of treatment occurring. In addition, the administration can listen to people of color when they raise concerns about how they are being treated and actively work towards fixing the problems. If the school is so committed to diversity and inclusion, then its actions need to reflect it.