Photo courtesy of Mount Holyoke Athletics
The Mount Holyoke varsity tennis program was eliminated as part of a major restructuring of the Department of Athletics on Monday, May 13, 2024.
By Emily Tarinelli ’25
Managing Editor of Content
In a major restructuring of the Department of Athletics, President Danielle R. Holley announced in a May 13 email to the Mount Holyoke community that the College would no longer sponsor a tennis program, effective immediately.
The discontinuation of varsity tennis is one of many changes to Mount Holyoke Athletics announced in Holley’s email, titled “Investments and changes to the athletics program.” The email also disclosed the transition of the varsity squash team to a club sport, the establishment of a junior varsity rowing team, a 6 million dollar locker room and gymnasium renovation project and the hiring of full-time assistant coaches for all NCAA varsity teams at the College, among other updates.
Funds from the two former varsity programs, tennis and squash, will be reallocated to support these endeavors, which are meant to increase Mount Holyoke’s overall competitive standings in the New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference — also known as the NEWMAC — the body of Division III institutions in which Mount Holyoke competes.
In the time since the announcement, current members and alums of the tennis team have mobilized to save the program. The team is demanding an extension of the program for at least two more years and, during that time, the ability to search for alternative funding options in order to retain the program in the future.
Nearly a decade of pressure from the NEWMAC to increase Mount Holyoke’s competitiveness comes to fruition
The decision to eliminate the tennis team comes after almost 10 years of scrutiny from the NEWMAC about the competitive ranking of Mount Holyoke Athletics within the conference.
Holley stated in an email to the tennis team that since as early as 2015, the NEWMAC has pressured both the athletics department and the College administration to take tangible action to increase Mount Holyoke’s competitiveness in the conference, which consists of several high-profile athletic institutions such as Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the Coast Guard Academy and Worcester Polytechnic Institute. The pressure continued to mount as Holley received letters from the Conference in both the fall and spring semesters reiterating its concern.
In response, Holley commissioned a study in fall 2023 that assessed options to “increase competitiveness with an appropriately sized varsity sports program that aligns with both the College’s goals and requirements of the [NEWMAC].” After considering several factors, including “longitudinal enrollment data, future demographic trends, capital needs, well-being, safety and accessibility concerns, NEWMAC expectations, cost, roster sizes, student experience [and] win-loss records,” Holley ultimately decided to terminate the tennis program, which has seven team members, to impact as few athletes as possible and reallocate the funds to invest in the nine remaining varsity programs.
This is not the first time Mount Holyoke has eliminated a varsity team after scrutiny from the NEWMAC. In September 2020, Mount Holyoke terminated its varsity golf team with the intention of “reallocat[ing] the resources from the program to support the broader-reaching priorities of the departmental strategic plan, enhancing the overall student-athlete experience at Mount Holyoke,” according to then-Director of Athletics Lori Hendricks ’92 in a Lyons Athletics press release.
Now, members of the tennis team feel that they have received the brunt of the consequences from “past mismanagement” of prior athletic and college administrations, according to a letter they submitted to President Holley, Dean of Students Marcella Runell and Director of Athletics Andrea Ricketts-Preston as part of their efforts to save the program.
Tennis team expresses frustration and meets with administrators on May 13
Riding the high of a 2023-2024 season filled with both athletic and academic accolades, Mount Holyoke Tennis was amped to return to the sport stronger than ever.
This past season, tennis finished fifth in the NEWMAC championship after qualifying for the tournament for the 18th consecutive year. The season was the first time tennis achieved 11 wins in one season since the 2018-2019 season. Individually, Kirat Kaur ’26 was recognized by the NEWMAC with second team all-conference honors, and had a 13-7 record as the No. 2 singles player at Mount Holyoke. Rachel Allen ’27 and co-captain Cal Smith ’26 were recognized by the NEWMAC as the Doubles Team of the Week in March 2024. In addition, Kaur, Smith, co-captain Annika Chai ’25 and Kate Vavra ’26 were named to the 2024 Academic All-District Division III Women's Tennis Team by the College Sports Communicators, the maximum number of players eligible to qualify for the honor.
Outside of the team’s athletic achievements, Head Coach Aldo Santiago was voted Mount Holyoke Coach of the Year by the staff of the athletics department, and the team had the highest collective GPA out of all of Mount Holyoke’s varsity programs at 3.88.
“At the end of this year, we had a team dinner to say goodbye to each other. With the coaches, we had a talk after,” Chai told Mount Holyoke News. “[Head Coach Aldo Santiago said], ‘We’ll be ready. Everyone go home, work hard. We’re going to be ready for next season. We’re going to come back stronger.’”
It was just days after they headed home for the summer that they received the email notifying them of their dismissal from the athletics program on May 13. This email, which was sent by Ricketts-Preston at 10:33 a.m., informed them of the decision 12 minutes before Holley’s email to the wider community was sent at 10:45 a.m.
“Below, you will find an email from President Holley that will be shared with the wider community later this morning. I wanted to share this with you in advance because the College has made the necessary decision to restructure its athletic offerings and, beginning with the 2024-2025 academic year, will no longer host a tennis program,” Ricketts-Preston wrote. “I want to assure you that President Holley did not make this decision lightly, and I know that this change is unexpected and surprising. We are here to support our student-athletes during this transition.”
The team was provided with a link to the Division of Student Life’s Care and Support web page for mental health resources, and invited to a 30-minute Zoom meeting later that afternoon to answer questions. However, according to Chai, the link to Counseling Services’ online scheduling portal — listed on the Care and Support web page — is “dead,” given that online scheduling does not operate during the summer.
Chai stated that at this 30-minute Zoom meeting, members of the team expressed bewilderment at the decision to cut the team, given their success as a program.
“We brought up tennis’ record. We brought up how well we’ve done this season. We brought up the fact that we made it to the conference finals for the last 18 years,” Chai said. “We were just trying to bring up everything to say, why would you cut an arguably competitive team within Mount Holyoke?”
According to Chai, the reason provided to the tennis team was that the College’s goal to introduce full-time assistant coaches to each varsity program required $400,000, which was the same amount as the tennis team’s budget. Chai stated that the team inquired about the opportunity of raising these funds on their own, and that administrators would look into the possibility. Chai said that the meeting ended with a promise to keep in touch about supporting the players further.
Tennis team mobilizes to save the program and meets with administrators again on May 21
Within a day of the announcement, team members mobilized to save the program. They founded @protectmhctennis on Instagram to spread the word, reached out to alumni for support and established a petition on change.org.
The petition requests two more years of the program and, during that time, options to search for alternative routes for funding to sustain the program in the future. This extension would allow every current player, who is either a rising junior or rising senior, to finish their collegiate tennis careers without cutting them short. As of August, the petition had garnered over 3,300 signatures.
The team met with Holley, Runell and Ricketts-Preston in a second Zoom meeting on May 21 to follow up on their concerns. According to Chai, in this meeting, it was stated that the alleged cost for maintaining the tennis program for an additional season had been upped to “[$]400,000 plus three million for our courts, which need to be refurbished.” Chai stated that this problem was not new, as throughout the past season the team had had to compete at other venues, like Smith College and Amherst College, after officials from the NEWMAC deemed their courts unplayable due to several cracks in the pavement.
Former tennis player Natalie Hsiang ’11 expressed disappointment in the level of transparency about these issues, especially for alums like herself.
“For my part, I think the craziest thing for the alums in all this is just how surprised we were with all the problems. For all of us, we were thinking, why didn’t we know sooner? We could have banded together years ago to try and address the issues, to try and get the courts addressed. We could have cared sooner,” Hsiang said in an interview with Mount Holyoke News.
“The lack of transparency was very, very tough on the alums, because we’re all people where if something’s awry or there’s a need [for support], we’re obviously going to mobilize. How are we supposed to do that when we don’t know?” Hsiang continued. “And now we’re here.”
Chai said that the team turned in their petition, and that the administrators informed them they would be in touch again in about a week, once Reunion II at Mount Holyoke finished.
On May 28, the team received Holley’s response to the petition via email, which rejected the request for a two-year extension on the grounds that “the NEWMAC exceptions for outdoor play required to extend play in the manner requested by the team are not universally supported by our conference partners,” that the small roster size “does not guarantee that we will meet obligations to [the] NEWMAC” should athletes get injured and that the tennis budget is no longer available now that it has been disbursed throughout the athletic department.
Holley also shared that the cost for retaining “a full roster tennis program (inclusive of facilities) at Mount Holyoke requires more than $15 million in endowed, permanent funding.” According to Chai, it was not immediately clear where this number came from, since the team was previously informed that the cost would be “[$]400,000 plus three million.” In addition, the email stated, “the College cannot accept new philanthropic gifts designated to a discontinued program,” meaning that the team cannot fundraise or accept donations to revive the tennis program.
The email stated that opportunities for transferring tennis to a club sport were “fully investigated” but appeared to be infeasible due to a lack of club tennis teams in the area that they would be able to compete against. However, the tennis facilities will remain open for recreational use. In addition, tennis players will be allowed to continue serving on the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.
“I am inspired by the way you support one another, as well as your deep commitment to your sport and all the ways in which you have expressed your love and respect for Mount Holyoke throughout our interactions,” Holley wrote in the email. “I commend the team for its success this year and fervently reiterate that this decision was not a response to your efforts and accomplishments, which are nothing short of exemplary and should be celebrated.”
In an email statement to Mount Holyoke News, the College said, “Mount Holyoke College’s decision to end the tennis program was made after five years of internal and external evaluations. The College is moving forward with its investments and changes to the athletics program.”
“Mount Holyoke College acknowledges the many students, alums, families and coaches who have been involved with tennis at the College over the years; we celebrate the positive impact and contributions they have made to our community and to our scholar-athletes at Mount Holyoke,” the statement continued. “We are engaged in conversation with individual players and team representatives about how to honor their accomplishments, the team’s history at the College and for community members’ love for the game.”
The aftermath
Chai said that because the decision was made after everyone had left campus, they were never given the opportunity to say goodbye to their coaches. Head Coach Santiago, who just completed his 31st season at Mount Holyoke, and Assistant Coach Eric Cestero, who completed his 27th, have now lost their positions at the College.
When asked if Chai would have attended Mount Holyoke if there was not a tennis team, Chai’s answer was definitive.
“For sure no. I would have gone somewhere else,” she said.
As an international student from the United Kingdom, she said that having a tennis program was a “big reason” in her decision not only to come to Mount Holyoke, but to come to the United States for her undergraduate degree.
“We don’t have that in the U.K. It’s not a big thing having collegiate sports, let alone that being a factor that helps you in admissions,” she said.
Chai emphasized the importance of her experience on the tennis team to her time at Mount Holyoke.
“Being a student-athlete impacts your experience so much. The coaches are always there to support you, you get so close to everyone because you’re together every day. It’s going to be really upsetting if nothing comes from this,” Chai said, referring to the efforts to save the program.
Hsiang echoed this sentiment.
“I mentioned how important athletics can be to the academic experience, and it’s part of being a student, whether you use it or not. For student-athletes, athletics and academics are not disparate things. They’re a part of your life, they’re a part of your day and how you organize your life,” Hsiang said. “I would have been a worse student if I could not play tennis. My grades would have been objectively worse if I didn’t have tennis in my life.”
“Now I get the impression that it’s been years of these voices [of] people who are anti-sports, who do not understand the value of athletics at a college, who want to just tear it down as much as they can. Those voices are winning,” she continued. “That’s very concerning leadership.”
Editor’s Note: Cal Smith ’26, Kirat Kaur ’26 and Kate Vavra ’26 are members of Mount Holyoke News.
Gabby Tonn ’27 contributed fact-checking.