Special events and BOOM! 2024
President Holley writes with several updates regarding upcoming presidential special events, including important conversations with Freddy Mutanguha, Barbara Smith ’69 and Alafair Burke, as well as some key information regarding this year’s BOOM! Community Day.
Dear members of the Mount Holyoke community,
I hope everyone’s semester is going very well. I write today to update you on several upcoming presidential special events, including our BOOM Community Day.
- On Tuesday, March 5, we will welcome Freddy Mutanguha, CEO of the Aegis Trust and director of the Kigali Genocide Memorial, to campus. In conversation with Professor Kavita Khory ’84, he will share his story of surviving the Rwandan genocide and subsequently dedicating his life to protecting human rights.
- On Wednesday, March 13, we will hold the inaugural Critical Race and Political Economy Barbara Smith Presidential lecture. Renowned Black feminist author and activist Barbara Smith ’69 is the keynote speaker for the lecture series that bears her name.
- Novelist and legal scholar Alafair Burke will be my guest on Wednesday, April 3. Details on this event will be announced soon.
Our eighth annual Building on Our Momentum (BOOM!) Community Day is scheduled for April 9. Recognizing this date precedes the Eid holiday, we will give time and space to those observing the holiday by suspending formal BOOM! programming on April 9. Classes will remain canceled, however, and we will offer optional self-reflection activities and opportunities for healing and community. I invite your feedback; please send your thoughts to diversity@mtholyoke.edu.
BOOM! programming will be rescheduled to take place between April 4-8 and after April 10. This will include a special lecture by David Karp, professor of leadership and director of the Center for Restorative Justice at the University of San Diego, and an intergroup dialogue event hosted by Professor Kristie Ford and Vice President and Dean of Students Marcella Runell. More information will soon be available on the events calendar. I am thankful to these esteemed scholars for lending their wisdom and expertise to BOOM! 2024 and I look forward to enjoying these events with all of you.
With gratitude for your continued engagement,
Danielle R. Holley
President