Welcome to the Fall 2021 semester

September 13, 2021

Dear members of the Mount Holyoke community,

It is with great pleasure and excitement that we begin a new academic year. This is always a special time, and especially so when we are privileged to welcome new faculty, staff and students to our community. After 18 months of remote support and engagement, or of working on campus with many fewer students present, most faculty and staff are now fully on campus or participating in a flexible and adaptive work pilot; some members of our staff are only now returning from furlough, while others are new to the community and just beginning their work with us. I acknowledge that this return to Mount Holyoke’s in-person mission is complex and challenging, and made more so by the ongoing pandemic and its consequences. However you are supporting the work of the College and that of our students, please know that I am deeply grateful for all that you bring to that work. I extend my heartfelt thanks to our exceptional faculty for all the preparation that has gone into your teaching throughout the pandemic, and in advance of this return to in-person classroom engagement; as well as to our extraordinary staff, who have never faltered in their commitment to providing the best experience possible for our students, both here and worldwide. It is such a pleasure to have the opportunity to be together again, in community, and with all the interactions that are now, once again, possible. The campus is buzzing with activity and there is renewed energy as once again we are crossing paths, exchanging greetings and updates and seeing groups in animated conversation. 

Last week we welcomed to campus the class of 2025 (611 remarkable students!), 37 new transfer students and 19 Frances Perkins scholars. Of the first-time first year students, who come from 41 states in the U.S. and 42 nations from around the world, 19% of the Class of 2025 are international citizens and 30% identify themselves as African American, Asian American, Latina/x, Hawaiian, Native American or multiracial. 123 first-year students are first-generation students.

This year also represents a special “double” welcome — not only to our new first-year students, transfers, Frances Perkins scholars, international exchange students from our partner institutions abroad and new graduate students — but also to the sophomore class, the vast majority of whom have not been on campus before now. 

I extend my deep gratitude to the Student Life and Orientation teams for supporting a double orientation, in addition to piloting a Fearless First Academy for first-generation students. And I want to thank all faculty and staff for the many ways in which they supported the start of semester and assisted during the opening days after such a long separation. Every student I spoke to during move-in and orientation was excited about their classes, ready to be back in community and deeply respectful of the health and safety protocols we have put in place.  

Health and Safety

Planning in pandemic times is an additional layer of responsibility for many across our community, and the extensive efforts that have gone into a safer return to campus have enabled us to make a good start, even as the coronavirus, and its delta variant, continue their course.  It seems likely that COVID-19 will become endemic, and that we will be living with variants of it for the long term. We are, therefore, moving forward with great care and concern for all members of our community. The strongest protections come from vaccination and mask wearing, with early detection and response through frequent testing and contact tracing. We committed early to achieving as close to universal vaccination as possible. And, as of September 7, I am pleased to report that:

• 97.6% of employees are fully vaccinated, 1.5% have an approved exemption and .9% are in process (new hires, for example).
• Among students living and/or attending classes on campus, 95% are fully vaccinated, 4% (86) are partially vaccinated and 1% (17) have received an approved exemption. 

We will share an update the week of October 8, once we have completed the on-campus vaccination clinics, and by which time the partially-vaccinated individuals in our community will have reached full vaccination status.

Since the beginning of August, we have had 11 positive tests across our community, which includes South Hadley first responders as well as the staff at Gorse Child Care Center. As always, the most up-to-date health and safety information is on the Opening the Gates pages on our website. The site is updated regularly with new information. The community can also go there to review the College’s COVID-19 dashboard, which is updated weekly. The combination of rapid tests, frequent PCR testing, our high vaccination rates and masking, as well as efficient contact tracing, make the campus as safe an environment as we can create in the continuing pandemic. Last week, the overall positivity rate was 0.075%, and, over the last few weeks, we have welcomed over 2250 students to campus from all over the country and around the world. The cumulative positivity rate since August 12 last year is 0.086% as we close in on 70,000 tests conducted on our campus.

I want to thank all those responsible for the Health and Safety recommendations and actions; for verifying vaccination information and cross-checking so many lists; for the establishment, staffing, move and effectiveness of our Testing Center and program; for the vaccination clinics; and for our testing and tracing operations. It is this work and this comprehensive approach, the continued vigilance of the Covid Health and Safety Committee and your own continued vigilance and compliance with the health and safety protocols that are enabling us to remain together on campus and in person.

Mead Hall Fire

As many of you know, we suffered a fire in Mead Hall on July 17. Led by South Hadley Fire District 2, first responders from throughout the area fought the fire caused by a lightning strike. We remain deeply grateful for the South Hadley Fire Districts, local first responders and members of the on-campus community who responded to the incident, which caused extensive damage to the cherished residence hall built in 1901. There is no question that strong local partnerships, the expertise on hand and the established trust between these groups and individuals contributed to actions that saved Mead.  

The work on restoring the residence hall is going well — it has been cleaned and is now dry, and the most significant task of redoing all of the electrical work in the building is well underway. We fully expect Mead to be available for students in the spring semester of 2022.

The damage to and intensive repair and restoration work in Mead this semester means that we are housing more than 150 students at Hampshire College. In recent weeks, Mount Holyoke administrators have been hard at work with our partners at Hampshire, the Five College Consortium and the Pioneer Valley Transit Authority (PVTA) to ensure that the accommodations, the bus service between the two campuses, the meal plans and other details are all worked out in ways that support our student community resident on the Hampshire campus. I am very grateful once again for the collaborative relationships that made this possible, and would like formally to record our thanks to President Ed Wingenbach and his team for extending this opportunity and a warm welcome to Mount Holyoke students and our colleagues.

Other Campus Upgrades

Since the summer of 2020, the College has been hard at work on making improvements to other areas of campus. Many of the projects will directly impact students, faculty and staff. Overseen by Facilities Management, much of the ongoing and recently completed work is part of a five-year plan to make repairs as well as safety and sustainability upgrades to the campus. For example, Ham and McGregor Halls, on the northwest corner of campus, are just two of the many buildings that have received new sprinkler systems — an upgrade that took place this summer. All of the windows were replaced in these residence halls, too. 

Two other spaces to receive significant updates over the last year are Chapin and Gamble Auditoriums. We added a sprinkler system and an accessibility lift to provide stage access to Chapin, and Gamble was also renovated, including accessibility upgrades which will assist speakers in reaching the stage. Several other locations on campus were also upgraded, including the rebuilding of the steps to Mary E. Wooley and Rockefeller Halls; a complete interior renovation of the Cleveland lecture halls; new artificial turf on the athletic fields; major repairs to the tennis courts; and renovation of the two pools in the Kendall Sports & Dance Complex, which were emptied and regrouted for the first time in two decades. We were also able to complete a renovation of all of the bathrooms in 1837 and Torrey Halls.

Paul Breen, our longtime Director of Facilities Management and Planning, recently retired, and I take this opportunity to thank him for his many years of service to the College, as well as wishing him a long, enjoyable and healthy retirement. We welcome Rick Bigelow to this role in the interim while we conduct a search, and I extend my thanks to him, too,  for his willingness to take the lead in this moment.

Amber Douglas named Dean of the College 

Throughout the summer, I have been working with Dorothy Mosby, interim dean of faculty, and Amber Douglas, professor of psychology and education and dean of studies, to reimagine the Office of Student Success and Advising (OSSA) as a new division of the College, the Division of Student Success, led by a dean of the college who reports directly to the president. The goal of this new division is to further enhance the structures that support student academic success, to make more visible the many resources that are in the service of that goal, as well as to support effective collaboration among College divisions. This integration and centering of the student academic experience will be especially important as we develop strategic priorities over the coming year. Amber Douglas, who has served as dean of studies since 2017, has agreed to lead this division as our new dean of the college and will be a member of the Cabinet. Amber brings five years of trusted leadership in OSSA to this role, and is well equipped to lead new and collaborative efforts in support of our students, especially given our focus on future enrollment patterns, changing demographics, financial aid, integrated advising and a student experience that foregrounds academic excellence and resilience.

Dean of Faculty Search Committee

After consulting with the faculty and staff in Academic Affairs through surveys, a nomination process and some faculty forums and with the close collaboration of the Faculty Conference Committee (FCC), I am pleased to announce the Search Committee charged with identifying our next dean of faculty. I express my gratitude to all those who have agreed to serve, as well as to the FCC for all of the work they have done, independently and in partnership, to move this process forward.

Amber Douglas, dean of the college, will co-chair the search committee with another faculty member selected from those serving on the Committee. Kijua Sanders McMurtry, vice president for equity and inclusion and chief diversity officer, will be the other Cabinet member on the search committee.

The faculty members appointed to the Search Committee will be joined by two staff from the division of  Academic Affairs. The full list of those who have agreed to serve is below:

• Katherine Aidala, Physics
• James Harold, Philosophy
• KC Haydon, Psychology and Education
• Cara Lapenas, Spanish, Latina/o and Latin American Studies and Staff Council
• Chrissa Lindahl, LITS/RIS
• Jacquelyne Luce, Gender Studies
• Vanessa Rosa, Spanish, Latina/o and Latin American Studies
• Dylan Shepardson, Mathematics and Statistics
• Lucas Wilson, Economics and Africana Studies

This committee secures representation across the divisions and across ranks, and includes a range of experiences and voices, bringing together those with significant experience of the College (including experience of search, faculty governance and staff representation) with those newer to our community or to this work. We will be reviewing proposals for search firms shortly and will begin the search as soon as we have appointed a search partner.

There will be opportunities for students to participate in the search by meeting with candidates when they come to campus and providing feedback to the search committee. 

DACA

Mount Holyoke continues, along with colleges and universities throughout the United States, to advocate for immigration reform and creating a path to citizenship for DACA recipients. In July, I signed on to a letter from educational, business, civic and faith leaders to Senate leaders urging passage of the Dream Act of 2021, legislation that would enable citizenship for the 427,000 undocumented students enrolled in higher education and others who have faced deep uncertainties for years about their ability to remain in a country to which they contribute so much. We will continue our efforts with the Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration, including support of efforts to create pathways to citizenship for undocumented immigrants through the current Congressional budget reconciliation process.

Common Read

Mount Holyoke College’s Common Read for 2021 is “The Fire This Time: A New Generation Speaks about Race,” a collection of essays and poems about race edited by National Book Award-winner Jesmyn Ward. These essays and other writings on race and racism are described by USA Today as “thoughtful, searing, and at times, hopeful,” hearkening back to James Baldwin’s groundbreaking 1963 examination of race in the United States, “The Fire Next Time.” Baldwin, who taught at Hampshire in the early 1980s, was a strong influence on the leading playwright and author Suzan-Lori Parks ’85, and this extraordinary, thoughtful and thought-provoking collection engages his voice in new ways. Last week, we were delighted to welcome Jesmyn Ward, Kiese Laymon and Mitchell S. Jackson, each of them highly accomplished authors and speakers, and contributors to “The Fire This Time,” and to witness  them in conversation with one another, and with Micha Broadnax, Digital Projects Archivist at Mount Holyoke, in ways that amplified the collection’s engagement with race and racism in contemporary America.  That conversation was recorded and will be available for viewing shortly. 

Rankings

It is with great pleasure that I let you know that Mount Holyoke rose four places to be ranked 30th, alongside Seven Sister Bryn Mawr College, in the 2022 U.S. News & World Report rankingsof national liberal arts colleges. 

We are confident that Mount Holyoke continues to compete with the very best schools in the nation and the world. The Princeton Review recently released its “Best 387 Colleges.” Due to the pandemic, the publication did not this year rank colleges within its lists. Mount Holyoke was nevertheless named for these important attributes and commitments:

• “Best Value Colleges”
• “Great Classroom Experience” 
• “Great College Dorms”
• “Great College Library”
• “Great Professors”
• “Green Colleges”
• “LGBTQ-Friendly” and
• “Most Beautiful Campus.” 

Students responding to the survey shared their experience of the College, saying, for example: “There’s ‘a lot of flexibility’ and the academic rigor is ‘challenging but encourages learning.’ One student reported ‘I feel like I’m pushed to be a smarter person here.’ With resources such as ‘a Makerspace lab, archives, and an art museum, [students] are always using campus resources to enhance…learning beyond the classroom.’ Professors at Mount Holyoke are ‘wonderful scholars and wonderful people’ who are ‘caring and receptive to concerns’ and ‘incredibly accessible and helpful in and out of office hours.’ Courses offer ‘hands-on lab experience, real-world scenarios outside of the classroom, and creative teaching exercises,’ and when not on field visits, students take part in ‘a vibrant, excited classroom experience that inspires students to go above and beyond.’ Mount Holyoke ‘is the true definition of a liberal arts experience,’ and many professors ‘are careful to set up the room so that the seating lends itself to open discussion and thought.’ This makes for classes that are ‘intimate and intersectional with professors who prioritize their students above all else.’” This student feedback is a terrific reflection of all that makes Mount Holyoke special.

Strategic Planning

As we conclude our work on the Plan for 2023, we begin the process for our next strategic plan. This is an important moment of reflection for our community — a moment for us to engage in honest self-examination, to address challenges and purposefully to advance the College’s mission with a shared understanding of our institutional values, a bold vision for the future and a commitment to meaningful change. 

More information will be shared very shortly about the Strategic Planning Committee, the process, timeline for the work and opportunities for engagement.  

• We will be working on a fifteen-year framework (to Mount Holyoke’s bicentennial in 2037) and a four-year plan (to 2026), for which we will seek approval from the Board of Trustees in fall 2022.
• The strategic planning work is intentionally aligned with the Alumnae Association’s planning process, which will be happening concurrently, led by the Association’s president. Ellen Hyde Pace ’81, and its Board of Directors. The Association’s last Strategic Directions: Connect, Lead and Advocate were published in September 2015.
• The Strategic Planning Committee expands and replaces the College Planning Committee when we are actively engaged in planning. In other years, the College Planning Committee fulfils a monitoring role. 
• The Strategic Planning Committee is the steering committee for this work, but there will be opportunities for many others to share ideas and reflections on the challenges and opportunities before us, either as a part of working groups or through interviews, focus groups, standing meetings and other forums. 

It is with great anticipation that I look forward to this work with you — to build upon the many accomplishments of our current plan and the last five years and to chart a course toward an even stronger future for Mount Holyoke College.

Welcome back!

Sonya