An important message from President Sonya Stephens about fall 2020

Dear members of the Mount Holyoke community,

Late last night, with the support of the Mount Holyoke College Board of Trustees, we made the very difficult decision to not bring students back to campus this fall.

We know this news will bring deep disappointment to the many who are making their plans to travel to campus, and we share that disappointment. Since March, the Mount Holyoke community has met the challenges forced upon us by the coronavirus, and, with dedication and focus, we have planned for the much desired and long awaited reopening of our campus, and for the arrival of some of our students. Our every effort has been devoted to delivering an outstanding academic experience and to protecting the health and safety of everyone on campus and in the surrounding communities. It was with great sadness, then, that we concluded that the current path of COVID-19 in the United States, and its devastating consequences, present too great a risk to our reopening plan.

There will be many questions about what this means, and we are working hard to share further details as soon as we possibly can. Conscious that many students and families are already making plans for travel to campus, we wanted to ensure that you were alerted to this change in direction immediately. Our fundamental commitments to you are unchanged:

• We will continue to provide an exceptional Mount Holyoke experience remotely. The curriculum this semester, and our Flexible Immersive Teaching model, were designed to provide an immersive and rigorous academic experience regardless of a student’s location. All students can participate in classes remotely.
• Students currently living on campus will have the option to remain if Mount Holyoke is their permanent residence and/or if traveling home is impossible.
• Students who are unable to meet academic outcomes in their home environments will have an opportunity to apply for fall housing.

More information will be provided on Monday. In the meantime, please know that we remain committed to you, and to engaging with you safely, often and in the many ways that make the Mount Holyoke community so strong and so special.

Sincerely,

Sonya

Please note, this information is the most up-to-date as of August 7, 2020. Updates to the mtholyoke.edu, Campus Updates, and Opening the Gates sections are in process.