Mount Holyoke News — May 6, 2021

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College removes faculty status for athletics BY CASEY ROEPKE ’21 NEWS EDITOR

After contract changes that removed faculty status and benefits from senior lecturers and coaches in the Department of Physical Education and Athletics were implemented, Athletics employees are requesting that the College reverse its decision and reinstate their faculty status. In October 2020, members of the athletics department received a memorandum from the College that communicated changes to their faculty status and employment benefits. This followed a July 2020 memorandum of understanding signed by Athletics employees at the College. The MOU changed all senior lecturers’ contracts from five-year contracts to rolling contracts and adjusted several components of the department, including review, evaluation and promotion processes. This change was implemented in January 2021 and communicated in a memo on Jan. 20. Athletics faculty members say that the MOU was not accurate to conversations and negotiations held in July with former Dean of Faculty Jon Western. Following Western’s departure from that role, some Athletics faculty felt that his commitments to them were lost in the transition to his interim successor, Dorothy Mosby. In an initial response sent to Vice President for Student Life and Dean of Students Marcella Runell Hall and Mosby on Oct. 26, the undersigned faculty members of the athletics department said that the Oct. 6 communication redesignated Athletics faculty to staff status, stripping them of benefits and compensation. “This is not what we agreed to during negotiations with Jon Western, nor is it what we voted to approve and sign with the MOU,” they wrote.

Status change was based on out-ofcontext definition of faculty

The change in status came out of a long review and evaluation process that began in 2010, as well as conversations about coaching initiated in 2013

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by former Director of Athletics Lori Hendricks. In various department reviews of Athletics — including the 2010 advisory committee review and a 2018 external review by Spelman Johnson, an executive search firm — decisions were made to conduct reviews of coaches on a departmental level. In these evaluations, coaches reported that the majority of their time was spent in a coaching capacity. These evaluation results were used in faculty legislation that recommended that coaches be reassigned to staff positions instead of faculty, citing a definition of “faculty” from the American Association of University Professors, which required 50 percent of working hours be spent teaching or preparing for class. On Monday, April 26, an AAUP Steering Committee partnered with Mount Holyoke coaches to send a letter to College President Sonya Stephens, Mosby and Hall in opposition to the removal of faculty status from coaches and senior lecturers in the athletics department. In this letter, the signatories wrote that the AAUP definition of faculty was taken out of context by the College. “It was used by AAUP in that survey to screen out employees such as medical faculty and high-profile coaches at major state universities, so as to better compare rank-and-file faculty compensation across institutions,” the letter stated. “It is unethical to lift this narrow definition outside its original context in order to justify the unilateral termination of an entire group of current employees’ status, as faculty. MHC coaches teach P.E. and club sports — both of which are courses offered in our MHC catalog — therefore meeting AAUP’s actual definition of faculty.” The College has since retracted its citation of the AAUP definition from its memo, though it maintains its position that coaches do not meet Mount Holyoke Faculty Legislation requirements. According to the Faculty Legislation, “Lecturers and senior lecturers are CONTINUED ON PAGE 3

8 FEATURES: Elizabeth Smart speaks at MHC

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Photo courtesy of Mount Holyoke College Kendall Sports and Dance Complex, above, is home to the Mount Holyoke College athletics department.

SGA board sends open letter citing shared governance concerns thing else,” Sopory said.

BY KATIE GOSS ’23 STAFF WRITER

The executive board of the Student Government Association sent two open letters to the Mount Holyoke community on April 28. One letter was written on the topic of shared governance at Mount Holyoke as well as to stand in solidarity with those impacted by the initial closure of the Gorse Children’s Center. The other letter was directed toward Student Financial Services and outlined various “discriminatory practices” students have been facing while also requesting an apology to students for past actions and words from the department. Although the letters were sent out by the SGA, they were a collaborative effort between the SGA executive board and the Mount Holyoke community as a whole. Maya Sopory ’22, the president of the SGA, said that although board members put their own input into the letters, they also included the thoughts and opinions of students and faculty. “We try really hard to incorporate what we are hearing from the student body … people email us, people come to my open hours, things like that. It really is a collaborative process more than any-

12 ENVIRONMENTAL: Plant-based dining

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Letter about shared governance

Chair of Senate Jane Kvederas ’22 said that community members affected by the Gorse situation especially influenced that letter. “Once the initial decision to close Gorse was announced, several professors reached out to Maya Sopory … with their concerns and personal responses,” Kvederas said. “In light of what was conveyed in these interactions as well as the executive board’s response to the decision, we decided [to write] an open letter addressing the full weight of Gorse’s clos[ure] to MHC admin.” The letter regarding Gorse and shared governance at Mount Holyoke had been in the works since the original announcement of the closure of Gorse. Once the executive board of the SGA started writing a letter to stand in solidarity with those affected by the decision, it became apparent that the topic of shared governance should also be outlined. “It represented this sentiment that we weren’t asked to help inform this CONTINUED ON PAGE 4

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14 OP-ED: Self-care commercialization

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EVENTS

May 6, 2021

Mount Holyoke News Mount Holyoke News is an independent student newspaper written by and for Mount Holyoke College students since 1917. VISIT US: www.mountholyokenews.com www.facebook.com/themhnews www.twitter.com/mtholyokenews_

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Executive Board Publisher Liz Lewis ’22

Managing Editor of Layout Rose Sheehan ’22

Managing Editor of Web Zoe Farr ’21

Copy Chief Kelsey Thomas ’21

Business Manager Sarah Nam ’23

Opinion/Editorial Nina Larbi ’22 & Tasnia Mowla ’23 Books Sidney Boker ’21 & Cat Babour ’24 Global Sophie Soloway ’23 & Amelia Luo ’23 Health & Science Kessh Bhasiin ’22 & Zoe Greenberg ’23 Features Mimi Huckins ’21 Sports Gigi Picard ’22

Thursday, May 6

Leadership and Services Awards

Join us for a virtual celebration of MHC student’s and student groups’ accomplishments in the 2020-2021 academic year and their time at MHC via social media channels.

Last day of Module 2 and semesterlong courses

Saturday, May 8

Reading day for Module 2 and semesterlong courses

Sunday, May 9

Reading day for Module 2 and semesterlong courses

Editorial Board

Arts & Entertainment Rose Cohen ’23 & Mariam Keita ’24

Event Highlights

Friday, May 7

Editor-in-Chief Lily Reavis ’21 Managing Editor of Content Flannery Langton ’22

News Casey Roepke ’21, Kate Turner ’21 & Liz Lewis ’22

. Mount Holyoke News

Environmental Meryl Phair ’21 Photos Ali Meizels ’23 & Rosemary Geib ’23 Graphics Anjali Rao-Herel ’22 Copy Editors Hunar Anand ’21, Audrey Hogan ’21, Audrey Shannon ’22, Margaret Connor ’23, Lauren Leese ’23, Emma Watkins ’23, Raina Brown ’24 & Ella Jacob ’24 Layout Editors Angie Romero ’24 & Zoe Tang ’24 Web Editors Audrey Hogan ’21, Shloka Gidwani ’22, Georgia Fish ’23 & Aarushi Sharma ’23

Publication Guidelines Mount Holyoke News does not endorse any of the opinions or views expressed within the pages of the paper, excluding staff editorials. All content copyright of Mount Holyoke News. All rights reserved. Mount Holyoke News does not discriminate on the basis of gender, race, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation or age.

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Subscriptions Mount Holyoke News is a weekly publication that will publish online-only throughout the spring semester 2021. To subscribe through email, please visit the following form: https://forms.gle/VPCyskE4kMTDeDan8.

Letters Policy Letters to the Editor appear exactly as they are sent to MHN, except for corrections to spelling, grammar and AP style. Letters cannot exceed 500 words. All letters must include the writer’s name and telephone number for verification purposes. Unsigned letters will not be printed. Names may be held upon request with the approval of the Editor-in-Chief. MHN reserves the right to decide which materials will be printed. Email submissions to mhnews@mtholyoke.edu by Sundays at 5 p.m. for publication the following week.

Monday, May 10

Examination period for Module 2 and semesterlong courses

Tuesday, May 11

Examination period for Module 2 and semesterlong courses

Wednesday, May 12 Last day to move out

Students currently residing on campus must be moved out by 12 p.m. EDT on May 12.

Class of 2021 Final M&Cs and Senior Slideshow

Join the 2021 class for final M&Cs, the senior slideshow and to create an art piece to hang on our class tree! More information to come about how to participate via Embark.

First-Gen and Low-Income Cording Ceremony In-person Event An event is to celebrate graduating FGLI seniors who are residing on campus during Senior Week. Participants will receive their official FGLI cord and take pictures in-front of a special backdrop while being honored by faculty and staff from the First-Gen Network and the peers in FLIP. 2:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. EDT Registration is required via Embark.

In-Person Stoling Ceremony for Graduating Students of Color Sponsored by the SGA Students of Color Committee, the Stoling Ceremony celebrates graduating students of color by offering them the opportunity to be acknowledged while also acknowledging their mentors. 5:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. EDT Registration is required via Embark.

Sunday, May 23

Virtual Commencement Ceremony

A celebration of all of our graduates. The event will be livestreamed on May 23 and viewable online for all graduates and their families. 10:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. EDT

May 6, 2021

NEWS

. Mount Holyoke News

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College plans for in-person fall term remain vague BY CASEY ROEPKE ’21 NEWS EDITOR

The College has announced some plans for the fall 2021 term, including mandatory vaccinations, in-person instruction and a return to the 15-week semester format, but the majority of fall planning remains uncertain. “Everyone on campus is hard at work grappling with the fall, … especially the shifting landscape around international students,” Associate Dean of Students and Director of Residential Life Rachel Alldis said. “That means that there are still many things we are working to determine.” The “Opening the Gates” webpage — which is dedicated to information about the fall 2021 plan — remains available but has not been updated since March 18. Still, the page provides an overview of the plans for the fall 2021 term as they currently stand. It affirms that the College “will return to a full residential experience in fall 2021, with in-person instruction and a 15-week semester format, including se-

mester-long courses.” “Faculty and students will be engaged in our campus learning environment together, and we will make any adjustments needed to continue to protect health and safety,” the website states. “Improved public access to vaccines, declining infection rates in many states and our own success to date in resuming residential operations all give us great confidence in moving forward with these plans.” As previously reported by the Mount Holyoke News, residential students will be required to receive a COVID-19 vaccine before returning to campus in the fall. According to Director of International Student Advising Bri Rhodes, the College is having “ongoing” conversations about the possibility of providing vaccines for international students or other students unable to obtain vaccines before the fall. Rhodes said, “All of those conversations are still ongoing, but I believe [the College is] hoping to get those details finalized and communicated out to students in the next week or two.”

College staff are working to prepare for a return to residential campus life, and the Career Development Center is developing plans to ensure adherence to state laws regarding remote and in-person student jobs. CDC’s Senior Associate Director for Experiential Learning and Exploration Jenny Watermill said that the Student Employment Office will be able to make more accurate estimates around policies for student employment after the 2021-22 budget and student financial aid packages are finalized. “We will be in touch with students as soon as we are able … to share information about how student employment will operate in the upcoming academic year,” Watermill said. “We will definitely take a look at the laws, risks and benefits related to remote student work again over the next few months in preparation for next year.” Watermill said that students should be prepared to find alternatives to remote work in the event that the College is unable to support remote student jobs. “My advice for students would be to avoid planning on being

able to work remotely for MHC next semester in case our policies need to change,” she said. “And I am confident that any decisions made on this topic will, of course, include an alternative plan for any students who are approved to reside off campus and are work-study eligible.” The College will communicate further information as plans are solidified. Information will be published on the “Opening the Gates” webpage. Still, the College is quick to note that any of the published plans are subject to change. “These measures are a work in progress and will continue to be amended and added to over the coming days and weeks as the current situation evolves,” the website reads. “Given the uncertainty created by the COVID-19 virus, information is subject to change, based on public health conditions and other unknown or unforeseen circumstances. For instance, should COVID-19 create a significant health issue on campus, in Massachusetts or in the country, we may have to alter these plans.”

‘A lack of transparency, communication and honesty’: Athletics coaches on the loss of faculty status, cont’d CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

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continuing positions outside the tenure-track that involve at least half-time teaching in an academic department or program.”

Members of Athletics question why coaching is no longer considered teaching

A coach and senior lecturer, who has taught at Mount Holyoke for almost 30 years but requested anonymity, said that he did not understand why coaching, which had been considered teaching by the College for his entire career, is no longer deemed as such. He said that coaching has been put aside “very conveniently” so that coaches no longer constitute faculty. The Athletics faculty wrote that, while they had anticipated changes to their contracts, the MOU they signed in July 2020 was coercive and unethically written. “We understand that discussions between the previous dean of faculty and the faculty coaches of the department have for several years considered changes to the nature of appoint-

ment, reappointment and evaluation, and that these changes were formalized in memoranda of understanding … signed in the summer of 2020,” the letter stated. “Those agreements leveraged the continuity of employment at MHC in exchange for faculty members waiving ‘any and all such rights, privileges, policies, procedures and other provisions in the Faculty Legislation’ that pertained to members of the department. We object to such language in principle as an affront to the protection of faculty rights that Faculty Legislation is meant to provide.” “I feel as though we were coerced into signing the MOU in exchange for continued employment,” a coach and physical education lecturer, who requested anonymity for job security, said. “I interpreted the message from the administration to be that if we did not sign the MOU, we would no longer be employed by Mount Holyoke.” “This whole situation comes down to a lack of transparency, communication and honesty on the part of the administration,” the coach added. The letter stated: “Over the last year and a half, we were told many

times by the dean of faculty and our director of athletics [Hendricks] that our benefits would not change. Our meetings focused on structural changes and rolling contracts, and to be under the Student Life umbrella; we were agreeable to all those aspects. But we never agreed to a change in our benefits or our faculty status.” In the letter, the AAUP and Athletics coaches wrote that the College should follow the precedent set by librarians employed by the College, and current Athletics faculty should be “grandfathered in.” This would mean that athletics department employees who held faculty positions would maintain their status and benefits, while new hires would follow the new guidelines. “This College should respect the decades of service and long-standing recognition of our colleagues as faculty members, and should therefore allow currently contracted faculty to retain their status and benefits should they wish to do so,” the letter stated. “This was exactly what was done in previous cases at this institution, such as with librarians, which the January

memorandum referenced as a precedent.” The issue of Athletics employee faculty status was raised at a faculty Q&A session held on April 14. The Mount Holyoke News obtained a public recording of the session. “If you don’t have a 50 percent faculty appointment, then by AAUP legislation and by our legislation, our Faculty Legislation, you are not considered faculty,” Stephens said in the meeting. “I think the difference of opinion between the coaches of the athletics department and others and us is on … whether Athletics’ coaching duties are separable or whether they’re a teaching assignment.” Athletics has long abided by a teacher-coach model for department members, many of whom teach multiple physical education courses in addition to their coaching duties. Students are required to earn four P.E. credits to graduate, which typically amounts to four P.E. courses, but can also be fulfilled by completing an athletic season on a varsity sport team. CONTINUED ON PAGE 17

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NEWS

May 6, 2021

. Mount Holyoke News

Amherst community to propose alternatives to policing BY LIZ LEWIS ’22 PUBLISHER & NEWS EDITOR

The Community Safety Working Group, a committee created by the Town Council to address the role of policing in racial inequality at a local level, is planning to propose a potential alternative to policing in Amherst within the next two weeks. The proposal will feature the formation of a Community Response for Equity, Safety and Service program, which would create teams of unarmed civilian workers to respond to nonviolent and noncriminal situations that would otherwise go to the town police. The CRESS staff would be trained to handle community calls relating to mental health crises, substance abuse, homelessness and community wellness. The Community Safety Working Group also plans to propose that funding be allocated to support a new Civilian Oversight Board dedicated to monitoring police activity. According to the Daily Hampshire Gazette, the group will further recommend several initiatives to provide the Amherst commu-

nity with resources such as transitional housing; rent assistance; an Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion; and centers for youth empowerment and multicultural heritage. The working group will introduce the CRESS program and these additional initiatives in a report to Town Manager Paul Bockelman no later than May 15. Bockelman is responsible for arranging the municipal budget for the coming fiscal year 2022. The working group consists of nine voting members, at least six of whom must “represent Black, Indigenous, people of color or other historically marginalized communities,” according to the group’s homepage. The group’s purpose includes recommending “alternative ways of providing public safety” and “reforms to the current organizational and oversight structures of the Amherst Police Department.” They have met weekly since early December 2020, and the terms of all voting members will expire this September. The homepage presents the goal of racial equity through changes to lo-

cal law enforcement as central to the working group’s mission and methods. The group aims to pursue this goal by examining the current state of the Amherst Police Department and looking for opportunities for reform while also seeking out general alternatives for policing. The group’s upcoming proposal falls under the latter goal, aligning Amherst with other towns currently rethinking their structural approaches to policing. Northampton’s Policing Review Committee, for example, plans to recommend a similar initiative to Mayor David Narkewicz. The working group held a weekly meeting on Wednesday, April 21, during which they finalized their plans to propose the CRESS program. This is the last meeting recording currently available on YouTube, but a recording of their most recent meeting on May 6 will likely be available soon. As reported by the Daily Hampshire Gazette, the CRESS program would feature 18 members, including “a director, three supervisors, six responders and an administrative assistant, along with three shift supervisor

dispatchers and six dispatchers.” According to the Gazette, these teams of responders would be recruited based on expertise in “clinical mental health, social work and deescalation,” with priority placed on hiring bilingual individuals from a diverse range of racial and ethnic backgrounds. Issues such as these are currently handled by the Crisis Intervention Team of the Amherst Police Department. Police Chief Scott Livingstone, who attended the April 21 meeting alongside several other members of the department, expressed that training officers in crisis intervention can be difficult under the current law enforcement structure. In its current form, the CRESS program would cost $2.2 million. The Amherst Police budget currently sits at $5.15 million. Paul Wiley, chairman of the working group, said that while it remains uncertain whether the police would offer their support, this could be an “opportunity to possibly redirect funding from the police department to alternative models of public safety.”

SGA letter outlines financial ‘discriminatory practices,’ cont’d u

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decision or whether this decision was a good idea. The impacts on the community were not considered widespread,” Sopory said. “Since before I’ve been SGA president, shared governance has always been an issue. … I don’t think Mount Holyoke is a genuine shared governance institution, and so we’ve been having recurring conversations all year about this and when the decision to close the Gorse [Children’s] Center came out, it really highlighted that all facets of Mount Holyoke’s community are feeling that shared governance isn’t a reality.” The letter recognizes that, although Gorse’s contract was extended for one more year, this extension is a “temporary solution.” As conversations start to happen in regard to the official closure of Gorse, the SGA’s open letter lists three recommendations that the College should pursue in order to foster shared governance when making decisions that impact the community. First, data must be provided to show the Mount Holyoke community the financial reasons for closing Gorse in order to stay transparent. Second, when a major decision will be made going forward, the College must work with people from the groups that would be most affected for “consultation and discussion.”

Third, there must be “transparent, fre- port for groups such as first-generation quent and accessible” communication students, low-income students, students between the College and the community. of color and international students. It Sopory acknowledged that there are also asked that financial wellness be different ideas about what “shared gov- incorporated into the Be Well program. ernance” means. This letter outlined the “If you are financially unstable, that afSGA’s perspective fects your mental of what it should well-being, your “When the decision to close the physical well-bebe based on their c o nve r s at i o n s Gorse [Children’s] Center came ing and it affects with the communicommuniout, it really highlighted that all your ty as well as their ty as a whole,” facets of Mount Holyoke’s com- Sopory said. own experiences. Additionally, munity are feeling that shared the letter called Letter to Stugovernance isn’t a reality.” for SFS to “own up dent Financial to past mistakes Services and issue a genu- Maya Sopory ’22 The open letine apology to the ter to SFS was members of our written up officially after the ad hoc senate meeting to dis- community who have been negatively cuss the tuition increase, which was held affected by the department’s words and actions.” on April 15. “For the SFS open letter, many sen“The general sense from this meeting was questions were technically an- ators expressed concerns about SFS’s swered, but not really. I think students response to questions about their past walked away feeling discontent,” Sopory actions and how they plan to address said. “The intent behind the letter was to them at the senate department visit,” highlight the impact that financial deci- Kvederas said. “When asked about this, sions of the College has on students. … the panelists from SFS neither offered This affects our very ability to attend an apology nor expressed their intentions to issue an apology to the entire Mount Holyoke.” Other issues outlined by the letter Mount Holyoke community.” In the letter, the executive board included a request for specialized sup-

also asked for a financial aid counselor position to be created within SFS “in order to foster relationships and lines of communication with the student body.” Sopory said that this position is an important one, as people currently employed with SFS “already have so much on their plate in terms of their job description [and] workload.”

Future of the letters: Fall 2021

Although these letters were sent out at the end of April, Sopory said that the SGA expects conversations surrounding these issues to take place in the upcoming fall semester. “We didn’t want these letters to go out and just get lost in the mix. When the incoming board gets started in the fall, this should be what the conversation starts out as,” Sopory said. With these conversations, Sopory hopes for more community involvement in major decisions going forward. “I would really like to see a committee that is focused on redefining shared governance at Mount Holyoke,” Sopory said. “The committee would be open to all different facets of the community, and the mission of it [would be] creating a shared definition, creating a structure that will be implemented over the course CONTINUED ON PAGE 5

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GLOBAL 5 India faces crisis as new wave of COVID-19 hits

May 6, 2021

. Mount Holyoke News

BY MADHAVI RAO ’24 STAFF WRITER

In the last few weeks of April, India has faced a second, and deadlier, wave of COVID-19. The country became the first to reach 400,000 new infections in a day on April 30, according to the Indian news publication The Hindu. The country has reported more than 20.6 million cases so far, with a death toll of over 200,000 people. However, The New York Times has found that case numbers in over a dozen countries are gross underestimations, with experts suggesting the true death toll is two to five times as high. The new surge in cases is said to be due to a new variant of COVID-19 as well as mismanagement on the government’s part, resulting in the overcrowding of hospitals and cremation grounds. The new surge in cases has been partly attributed to a new double mutation of the virus which, according to National Geographic, shares char-

acteristics with previously discovered strains. Maria Van Kerkhove, the World Health Organization’s technical lead officer on COVID-19, told Al-Jazeera that the double mutation is similar to strains that reduce the effectiveness of vaccines in curbing the virus while also increasing rates of transmission. Despite hospitals in the country being overcrowded and lacking oxygen and other resources, India has declined help from the United Nations, which would send its integrated supply chain of COVID-19-related materials to the country, according to The Hindu. The country’s reasoning for declining U.N. assistance is its “reasonably robust system to deal with this,” reported the publication. Of the 1.4 billion people in India, only about 26 million have been fully vaccinated, with around 124 million having had their first shot, according to BBC News. The country, which was previously a supplier of vaccines to developing nations, has stopped exports.

People above the age of 18, a population of around 600 million people, became eligible for the vaccine on May 1. However, the supply of vaccinations has proved insufficient. BBC News continued that according to experts, people aged above 45 should have been fully vaccinated before the government made a larger demographic eligible. “To this day, the government has not been able to coordinate pricing for Covaxin and Covishield. It has dithered on reducing GST [the Goods and Service Tax] when many experts have been calling for a ‘one nation, one price’ policy,” Assistant Professor of History Abhilash Medhi said. “There is a structural factor as well that is worth considering here: rampant privatization over the last couple of decades and the gradual decay in India’s public health infrastructure. This is a reflection of the government’s diluted public health agenda and has severely curtailed its ability to respond to something of this magnitude. It is striking that at a time when even the U.S. has treated

the vaccine as a socialized commodity, [the Indian] government appears to be unsure about how much to charge for vaccines, let alone administering it for free.” The new variant, coupled with the indifference of some to social distancing and mask-wearing protocols, has led to the drastic escalation of the pandemic. In what is being seen as a superspreader event, more than 650,000 Hindus gathered in Uttarakhand to participate in the Kumbh Mela, a religious festival, reported Reuters. The publication went on to describe the difficulty of testing individuals in the large crowds that had gathered. Isha Ela Chinniah ’24, an Indian student at Mount Holyoke, discussed the differences in reactions toward large gatherings for religious events. “I felt that the response of the government toward Tablighi vs. Kumbh Mela was absolutely outrageous,” Chinniah said. She referenced the TaCONTINUED ON PAGE 6

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Two journalists and one ranger killed in Burkina Faso BY AMELIA LUO ’23 GLOBAL EDITOR & PHOTOGRAPHER

file conflicts such as the war in Syria. The Irish victim, Rory Young, was the co-founder and director of the ChengeContent warning: This article dis- ta Wildlife Foundation, an anti-poachcusses violence and abduction. ing organization. According to Todd Brewster, visTwo Spanish journalists and an iting senior lecturer in English and Irish ranger were abducted and killed career journalist, “Journalists are rouby gunmen in tinely in danger eastern Burkithroughout the na Faso on April world. They are “Journalists are routinely in 26. Their deaths targeted because danger throughout the world. were later conthey are truth tellThey are targeted because they ers and because firmed by government officials there are always are truth tellers and because from Burkina people who don’t there are always people who Faso on April 27. want the truth to don’t want the truth to be told.” be told.” At the time of their abduction, Brewster conthey were traveltinued, “We don’t -Todd Brewster ing with about 40 yet know exactly people filming an what happened anti-poaching patrol documentary. Ac- in Burkina Faso, that is, whether these cording to AP News, the al-Qaida-affili- two journalists were killed because ated group JNIM claimed responsibili- they are journalists or because they ty for the attack via an audio message. were with an anti-poaching group that The journalists were identified was the subject of their documentary. as David Beriáin and Roberto Fraile. But we do know that both Islamic State Beriáin had reported from all around and al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb the world and was working on a re- have been active in the region.” search project focusing on the strategy Brewster also noted that there are that Burkina Faso’s authorities use to ongoing efforts to track targeted athandle poaching. Fraile was a cam- tacks on journalists across the world. eraman who had covered high-pro- “The Committee to Protect Journalists

is a good source of information on journalists under threat the world over. I note that they chart 1,400 journalists who have been killed over the last 20 years or so. Many more have been imprisoned and many have been held hostage,” he said. “The issue at the core of these hostage-takings is whether it is right to negotiate with them or not. The U.S. government position has always been to not negotiate, on the thinking that this will just encourage more hostage-taking. But it is a very tough call.”

Two soldiers traveling with the group are being treated at a military hospital in Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso. They told AP News that “they were attacked by jihadists who outnumbered their patrol.” Both of them are severely wounded: One was shot in the leg and the other in the arm, which had to be amputated. They said that during the time of the attack, they tried to form a shield that would protect the foreigners, but the soldiers CONTINUED ON PAGE 7

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SGA pens open letters, cont’d u

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of however long.” Kvederas also hopes that the letters will allow current administrators to be “directly confronted” with how their past actions and decisions have impacted the Mount Holyoke community as a whole. “I hope that these letters shed light on the full weight of both situations as opposed to the calculated and glossed-over explanations and re-

sponses that the Mount Holyoke community receives when such incidents occur,” Kvederas said. “At the end of the day, it always felt like there was a very clear wall between ‘us’ and ‘them,’ so to speak,” Sopory continued. “There was a clear line in the sand on where students needed to be, and then where decisions were made. I don’t think students are the only ones feeling this way. I know that faculty are feeling the same way, and I suspect that staff feel that way as well,” Sopory said.

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GLOBAL

May 6, 2021

. Mount Holyoke News

India faces crisis amid second wave of COVID-19, cont’d u

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blighi Jamaat, a transnational Muslim event that received rampant criticism for not following safety protocols at the beginning of the pandemic. “It was a reflection of the deep-rooted religious biases within our government.” Al-Jazeera reported that scientific advisers predicted the new coronavirus variant, but the Indian government ignored their warnings and chose not to impose strict restrictions on the country. In a televised speech to the country, Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged state governments to view lockdowns as an “absolute last resort” and to instead focus on managing “micro-containment zones,” according to The Hindu. Rather than curbing public gatherings during the pandemic, the government has held election rallies in various states across the nation. In Uttar Pradesh, an Indian state, more than 700 government-employed teachers have died from COVID-19 while doing poll duty, according to The Times of India. The publication went on to state that teachers who skipped this duty were threatened with First Information Reports, which detail criminal offenses that are then submitted to the police. Chinniah expressed her frustration toward the government, saying, “Whether or not COVID cases were reducing in our country, it was extremely inappropriate for the government to hold political rallies at such a time. It was under the leadership of our government that the people of India began to believe that the situation was no longer serious.” When faced with criticism, government leaders failed to take accountability for their mismanagement

of the pandemic. Yogi Adityanath, the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh and a prominent figure of the rightwing Bharatiya Janata Party, took flak when he denied the oxygen supply shortage in hospitals in his state. Adityanath went as far as to order officials to “seize the property of individuals who spread ‘rumors’ and propaganda on social media” under the National Security Act, according to The Hindu. The Indian government has also appealed to Twitter to remove tweets that condemn the government’s inaction during this time. “The fact that Modi is trying harder to stop the spread of news than he is the virus is absolutely ridiculous. It clearly illustrates how our political leaders are more concerned about their image being tainted than they are about their citizens dying,” Chinniah explained. “The current BJP government takes image management more seriously than any other government in the country’s history,” Medhi echoed. “Over the last few years, the party also appears to have succeeded in compartmentalizing elections from all other spheres of political life. A combination of these two dynamics have so far insulated governments such as Yogi Adityanath’s from public criticism.” Medhi continued, “There is one important difference this time around: The sheer number of hospitalizations and deaths all around mean that this is already a personal, more proximate tragedy for many people. The backlash, understandably, has been stronger and found traction in several places.” In response to the severe mismanagement of the pandemic, the ruling BJP is losing popularity in the eye of the public. In state elections held in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and West Bengal, BJP is trailing behind local

Photo courtesy of WikiMedia Commons India is currently facing a new wave of adapted COVID-19 infections.

parties, securing much fewer seats than before the pandemic. The New York Times stated that despite this dip, “Modi’s party is by far the dominant political outfit in India, and there is no other political figure who comes close to his popularity.” “Public memory in India can be short,” Medhi said. “While the popularity of many BJP governments seems to be on the wane right now, who is to say that most people will not turn their attention to some other issue, or nonissue for that matter, and find new justifications for staying loyal to the BJP the next time an election comes around?”

Brazil’s Indigenous people protest commercial mining bill BY AMELIA LUO ’23 & JOCELYN ZHOU ’22 GLOBAL EDITOR & PHOTOGRAPHER, CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Content warning: This article discusses anti-Indigenous racism. On April 19, 2021, members of Brazil’s Indigenous population gathered to protest a bill that would allow commercial mining on their lands. This protest included approximately 100 Indigenous people who gathered in Brasilia, the capital of Brazil, from six states across the nation. According to CNN, the protesters were carrying banners that read, “Invaders get out! Miners [get] out, agrobusiness get out! Bolsonaro get out!” The protesters demanded that the federal government give the power to demarcate Indigenous land to the FUNAI, the country’s Indigenous affairs agency, instead of Congress. They also cited an August 2020 Supreme Court decision mandating the removal of miners from Indigenous lands. The bill, known as Bill 191, was backed by mining lobby groups and President of Brazil Jair Bolsonaro. Bolsonaro signed Bill 191 into law in February 2020, saying it was always his “dream” to allow mining in Indigenous-reserved land. Bolsonaro, who described the Indigenous lands as having “trillions of reais underground,” said that “the Indigenous are human beings just like us” and argued that the natural resources of

the Indigenous lands must be used to benefit Brazil as a whole as well as the Indigenous population. “The Indigenous cannot continue to be poor over a rich land,” Bolsonaro said. However, this sentiment was rejected by the Indigenous protesters, who argued Bill 191 would not benefit them. Instead, they considered it an act of disrespect from a federal government that wants to “annihilate [their] rights and territories,” Eliseu Kaiowa, an activist of the Guarani-Kaiowá people, said in a video shared on the Facebook page of the Articulation of Indigenous Peoples in the Southern Region. The bill was later dismissed by Brazilian Congress in June 2020. According to CNN, non-Indigenous farmers and miners have organized and campaigned to revive the bill. If passed, Bill 191 would regulate mining on Indigenous territories for the first time, including oil and gas and the building of hydroelectric dams. It would also allow for commercial mining on Indigenous land, leaving Indigenous people concerned about the environmental impact of the deforestation the bill would exacerbate. While Bolsonaro made a commitment to eliminate illegal deforestation in the Amazon by 2030, the general process of deforestation has skyrocketed during his presidency. Berry Zhang ’23, a psychology major with an interest in politics, stated her disbelief toward the pres-

ident’s wording. “I feel the president is hypocritical,” Zhang said. “He slashed funding of environmental protection programs but simultaneously claimed to reduce deforestation.” Georgiana Xu ’22, an anthropology and geography double major, said, “People who connect more to the land are the groups of people who are greatly affected by environmental degradation.” Xu believes Indigenous people have the right to feel concerned about the bill, which would further devastate their land rather than protect it. “They are the groups of people who know … how to protect the environment [better] than us,” Xu said. Xu does not believe the regulations included in the bill would benefit Indigenous groups. “The bill only benefits the locals or middle-upper class who have [the] money to engage in mining. Oil and gas projects can benefit infrastructure while [they] negatively [impact] the lives of Indigenous people. Lands matter to their identity a lot,” Xu said. Xu supports the Indigenous people who protested the bill. “I think we should think about which group can benefit from the bill,” Xu said. “Many of us think commercial mining and regulating oil can be good, but we ignore the voices of the Indigenous people. The mining is not benefiting them. Actually, mining is more likely to undermine the lands of Indigenous people instead of [benefiting] them.”

May 6 2021

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. Mount Holyoke News

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Human Rights Watch names Israel an apartheid state, Mount Holyoke Palestine Solidarity Group members react BY SOPHIE SOLOWAY ’23 GLOBAL EDITOR

Human Rights Watch, an international human rights watchdog organization, published a report on April 27, 2021, detailing the conditions for those living amid Israel’s settlement expansion in Palestine. The report concluded that Israel’s treatment of Palestinians both in and outside Israeli borders meets the definition of both apartheid and persecution. The Apartheid Convention defines the term “apartheid” as representing “inhuman acts committed for the purpose of establishing and maintaining domination by one racial group of persons over any other racial group of persons and systematically oppressing them.” Based on South Africa’s history, the term has long been used to denote this form of segregation, which dictates who — generally, racialized groups — can participate in a country’s political, economic and social spheres. Under this convention, the HRW report emphasizes, apartheid is identified as a crime against humanity. Members from Palestine Solidarity Group, a Mount Holyoke student organization, told the Mount Holyoke News that “recognition of Israel’s illegitimacy by organizations like HRW is important, though it’s difficult to say how much influence this report will have in the current international climate, where political and fiscal support for Israel grows every year.” HRW’s report cited various humanitarian concerns, highlighting the restrictions imposed on the

mobility of Palestinians, extreme land expansion and discriminatory practices targeting Palestinian citizens of Israel. The report stated that Israeli “authorities have dispossessed, confined, forcibly separated and subjugated Palestinians by virtue of their identity to varying degrees of intensity. In certain areas, … these deprivations are so severe that they amount to the crimes against humanity of apartheid and persecution.” As PSGMHC members commented in their statement, “The question that emerges from the report is not whether the term ‘apartheid’ applies to Israel, but what can feasibly be done about the settler-colonial state’s long-standing abuses against Palestinians. We caution an overemphasis on correct language in relation to Israel-Palestine.” Palestinian rights activists have long used the term “apartheid” to describe the actions of Israel that have resulted in the displacement of Palestinian communities. Carrie Lewis ’23, a Jewish student at Mount Holyoke, echoed that this comparison is not new, stating, “All of the events and meetings I’ve attended regarding Palestinian solidarity have aligned the tension in Israel with the apartheid in South Africa.” Employing the term “apartheid” provides frameworks for resistance movements in Palestine and internationally. Namely, according to PSGMHC members, anti-Zionist activists have long employed the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions resistance model, which originated from anti-apartheid support for South Africa. This activism has been interrupted by

U.S. governmental bodies through several points of legislation. “The U.S. Department of State has already rejected the claims of the report and made clear that there will be no meaningful pressure placed on Israel under the Biden administration,” members of PSGMHC commented. “Despite this, we are hopeful that the HRW report will strengthen international support of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement.” However, as HRW’s report notes, this usage is “usually in a descriptive or comparative, non-legal sense, and often to warn that the situation is heading in the wrong direction.” Given its declaration that Israel has committed crimes against humanity, the report recommended that the global community — and specifically the United States, given its historical and current financial and political support for Israel — take steps against the state’s actions. “If all of our conversations are about what to call the occupation, we lose energy that can be dedicated to planning and action,” PSGMHC members stated. Moving forward, they added that, “If readers wish to learn about the current acts of violence being undertaken by Israel, we encourage them to direct their attention to the illegal dispossession of centuries-old Palestinian homes in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of East Jerusalem, as well as Israel’s refusal to vaccinate the 5 million Palestinians living in the occupied territories despite boasting its high vaccination rates of Israeli-Jews.”

Two journalists and one ranger recently killed in Burkina Faso, al-Qaida-affiliated group JNIM claims responsibility, cont’d u

of foreign hostages has become a reliable way for militant groups to finance themselves by collecting ransoms. Girma Kebbede, professor of geography and expert on African politics, shared that the “Islamic State and al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb and their local affiliates — for example, Boko Haram — have been wreaking havoc in the Sahel regions of North and West Africa for quite some time.” The insurrection of the region has displaced nearly 3 million people. France and the United Nations have provided foreign aid and deployed forces that have suffered from several casualties. Nevertheless, due to budget cuts, little progress has been made. Kebbede said, “The U.S. and French armies are currently involved in helping and arming states in the region fighting against Islamic extremists of all colors. It is not the first time foreigners working or visiting the region have been killed. I wish the deceased conservationist and filmmakers had not taken such a fateful venture. It is so sad.”

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discovered that the victims were missing when the shooting was over. According to BBC News, Burkina Faso is among many West African countries that face an increasing security crisis. Islamist armed militias “carry out raids and kidnappings across much of the region.” Burkina Faso is among the G5 Sahel countries, an alliance aimed at regional economic development and security, which includes Mauritania, Niger, Chad and Mali. Due to the desolate and uninhabited nature of the Sahara Desert and the G5 Sahel countries’ territories, it is difficult to police militant groups, drug traffickers and human smugglers within the region. According to BBC News, the G5 countries, with the exception of Mauritania, are suffering from violence by armed jihadi groups such as Boko Haram, Ansar al-Islam, and JNIM. According to AP News, “Since the early 2000s militant groups have developed a kidnapping industry in the Sahel, five foreign hostages are still missing, including two taken from Burkina Faso.” The exchange

Photo courtesy of WikiMedia Commons David Beriáin, above, was one of the journalists recently murdered.

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Elizabeth Smart discusses activism, survival and life after trauma BY MIMI HUCKINS ’21 FEATURES EDITOR

Content warning: This article discusses rape, sexual assault and kidnapping. 33-year-old New York Times bestselling author and activist Elizabeth Smart visited the Mount Holyoke community on April 29 as part of the College’s Sexual Assault Awareness Month programming. Smart is known for her role in establishing safety legislation to prevent abductions, such as the national Amber Alert system. Smart promotes the possibility of “life after tragedy.” College President Sonya Stephens spoke before Smart, emphasizing the importance her work has had for survivors. “The movement to end sexual violence in the United States and around the world relies on people who have made a choice to expose harmful behaviors, to do something, to advocate for survivors,” Stephens told the Mount Holyoke community. “[Smart] exemplifies the advocacy work that is so necessary in the fight to end sexual and gender-based violence.” Associate Director of Equity and Compliance and Title IX and 504 Coordinator Shannon Da Silva introduced Smart’s story of abduction, survival and success. On June 5, 2002, Smart was taken from her bed. At 14 years old, she underwent mental manipulation and sexual abuse at the hands of a man who claimed he was a prophet of God. Those nine months in captivity changed her perspective on life. “I would like to think that I would have cared about these issues had I not been kidnapped,” Smart said, “but the truth is, … I don’t know if I would have.” Smart complied with her abuser’s orders to protect her family. When she was awoken in her bed that summer night, her 9-year-old sister lay next to her as her abductor held a knife against Smart’s throat. Frozen with fear, Smart thought of her family. “I didn’t know if he had been through my home beforehand,” she said. “I didn’t know if he had killed my parents or my brothers. The one thing I did know was that my younger sister, who was still in bed asleep next to me

… was breathing.” In this moment, Smart’s top priority was protecting her sister, which meant complying with the orders she was given. “I didn’t know if I screamed or if I tried to fight him off — would he try to take her? Would he take her instead? And I felt like I couldn’t risk it. I had to protect her,” Smart said. Smart’s family was her driving force for survival throughout the traumatic experience. Whenever she thought death would be a better alternative to her confinement, she remembered the unconditional love she had always received from her family. “[The abductors] could take away my life if they chose to, but the one thing that they couldn’t take away was the fact that my parents would always love me. They had unconditional love for me,” Smart recalled. “And when I realized that, I realized I had something worth surviving for. So I was able to make the most important decision I could have during my entire captivity: I decided to do whatever it took to survive.” But surviving wasn’t merely physical; it was also mental. Smart was raised Mormon and came from a family of strong faith. She recalled being taught that having premarital sex was like being a chewed-up piece of gum: No one would want the chewed-up piece. To 14-year-old Smart, celibacy meant retaining your worth. “I had been taught that people only want to marry you if you’re a virgin. And I had just been raped. So I wasn’t a virgin anymore,” Smart said. “I no longer had any worth spiritually either.” After her rescue, Smart said she felt like she was alone in her experience of sexual assault. “I was embarrassed,” she explained. “I was ashamed of what had happened.” But as Smart started learning about the experiences of others and discovering how similar they were to her own, she realized she could help others by sharing her story. “There is such a lack of feeling safe to come forward, of speaking out, of seeing other survivors speak out,” Smart said. Vice President for Equity and Inclusion and Chief Diversity Officer Kijua Sanders-McMurtry led the re-

Photo courtesy of Flickr Smart shared her story for TEDx at the University of Nevada in 2017.

mainder of the discussion, detailing Smart’s journey to speak publicly about her experience and asking Smart how to be an ally to sexual assault victims. Smart’s advice was to treat anyone the way you would want to be treated if you were to share your “deepest, darkest, most painful secret.” She said that it is important to avoid asking questions starting with “Why didn’t you…” and to always believe the victim. “The amount of false reports of sexual violence and rape are minuscule,” Smart said. “You will always be safer defaulting to believing and compassion and kindness than anything else.” After Smart’s kidnapping, her case gained national attention. For Black History Month, Smart posted on social media advocating for coverage of missing Black women and girls. Smart wrote on Instagram, “For years after my abduction and rescue, I didn’t realize how little most abductions were reported compared to mine, and even less so Black women and girls.” A study from the Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology shows that missing Black children are significantly underrepresented in the media compared to missing white children. “To this day, I’ve never seen another person’s story of any color of skin or race or religion … come even remotely close to the amount of attention that my story has,” Smart told the Mount Holyoke community. “I feel personally that I need to help because they’re every bit as deserving as I [am].”

Archives and Special Collections seeks to document the pandemic BY ANSLEY KEANE ’23 STAFF WRITER

After the closure of Mount Holyoke’s campus last March due to the coronavirus pandemic, Mount Holyoke College Archives and Special Collections began collecting community members’ stories and documentation of their experiences throughout the pandemic. The College’s Archives and Special Collections department preserves the history of Mount Holyoke, but it also plays a role in sharing that history with others. “Our role at the College is to collect and preserve and share, or provide access to, the historic collections of the College and the unique materials of the College,” Leslie Fields, head of Archives and Special Collections, said. “The part I would say I am especially excited by … is the sharing out, … the outreach piece we do,” Fields added. Fields explained that through preserving and sharing Mount Holyoke’s historic collections, the Archives are able to give the community

a sense of the history of the College. Part of this history the Archives are seeking to document is that of the pandemic. Recently, the department has encouraged student organizations to donate their materials to become part of the Archives. Using documentation from individuals and student organizations, future generations can gain a more complete perspective of Mount Holyoke’s history. The decision to encourage students and other community members to share their experiences of the pandemic with the Archives was motivated in part by the desire to capture the perspectives that would likely not have been included in official college records. “Our thought was that this was not something that had happened before. … We knew that we would be working with campus administrative offices and be responsible for the official records of the College,” Fields said. She explained that, in addition to the official records, Archives is also seeking to collect information on a personal level, particularly the perspectives of

students. Since first calling for individuals to share their stories in spring 2020, some Mount Holyoke classes have become involved in documenting students’ experiences of the pandemic. “Something that’s happily happened is that there have been a lot of classes that reflect on this time,” Fields said. She shared that a studio art class made zines that described how people were living during the pandemic, and the zines were shared with Archives. Fields also explained that community members are still able to contribute their stories through a Google Form and that reflections on the experience of living during the pandemic are also welcome, as documenting an experience in the middle of it can be difficult. “I imagine it as an ongoing process,” Fields said, describing the department’s collection of materials documenting the pandemic.

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MHC students and professors share their favorite pandemic reads BY ELLA JACOB ’24 STAFF WRITER & COPY EDITOR

the thoughts going through each character’s head and learns about them on a personal level. “I love character sketches, and the book has a lot of really poignant and amazing moments,” Pasciuto concluded.

As vaccinations increase and we return to a state of modified normalcy, students and professors alike “The Housekeeper and the Professor” by Yōko have found time for leisure reading over the past Ogawa, recommended by Anno Kostava ’24 year. Whether it was a Shakespeare play or a dive Kostava loved “The Housekeeper and the Proback into the “Percy Jackson” series to escape into fessor.” Set in modern-day Japan, the novel follows a world that seems safer than a mathematician, referred to our own, there is no doubt that only as “the Professor,” and a books have provided stabili“I picked this book up because I housekeeper, who narrates the ty to many during this time. often think about how we, when we story. The Professor suffers We talked to members of the from brain damage, and as a look at art, navigate our way through result, can only remember new Mount Holyoke community to see what particular books things that are hard to look at.” memories for 80 minutes at a stuck with them this year. time. Upon learning that the housekeeper has a 10-year-old - Wesley Yu “253” by Geoff Ryman, son who waits for his mother recommended by Gina Pasat home while she works, the Professor tells her to have her ciuto ’23 “253” was Pasciuto’s standout read this year. The son come directly to his house after school. From this story originally began on author Geoff Ryman’s per- point on, a heartwarming connection builds among sonal interactive website and was later turned into the three of them. Originally written in Japanese, the a book. “253” is a fictional novel that centers around direct translation of the title is “The Professor’s Bethe 253 people traveling from Embankment station to loved Equation.” “It was very sweet,” Kostava said. “I don’t know Elephant and Castle on Jan. 11, 1995, via the London how to explain it, but if Hufflepuff House was a book, Underground. A hypertext novel, “253” uses a nonlinear narra- I think it would be [this book]. It was not plot-driven tive style to give the reader a more active role in un- but felt very atmospheric and calm. Perfect for a quick covering the plot. This is part of why Pasciuto enjoyed train read, a bit melancholic but [with a] great balance the book: “[It] is really cool because it’s a hypertext of sweet and sad.” novel made up of interconnected vignettes, so you can choose how to make your way through the story by go“Abstraction and Empathy” by Wilhelm ing linearly or following links or whatever [other way] Worringer, recommended by Associate you want,” Pasciuto said. Professor of English Wesley Yu Each of the characters is introduced in “253 viYu’s favorite pandemic read was “Abstraction and gnettes of 253 words each, one for each of the pas- Empathy.” sengers on a London Underground train in the seven “I picked this book up because I often think about minutes before it crashes, killing many of [them],” how we, when we look at art, navigate our way through Pasciuto said. During these scenes, the reader sees

Photo courtesy of Flickr Historical fiction writer Hilary Mantel wrote politics professor Adam Hilton’s favorite book of the pandemic, “A Place of Greater Safety.”

things that are hard to look at,” Yu began. “Not in the sense, necessarily, that the image is violent or forbidden, … but rather, when the image doesn’t mirror back to us the kind of information we think we need in order to feel, enjoy or value something.” Written in 1908 by acclaimed German art historian Wilhelm Worringer, “Abstraction and Empathy” divides art into two categories: the abstract and the empathetic. Regarding empathy, “Worringer talks about the taste for realistic representation in art and sculpture as something that evolves over time and argues that this taste for mirror-real representation has depended on how secure people feel in the world they inhabit,” according to Yu. He continued, “The less fear of the world they feel — usually through conquest and science — the more they want to see in their art a mimetic reflection of the CONTINUED ON PAGE 20

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Although the Archives are tasked with preserving the official records of Mount Holyoke, the department also looks to collect the “unofficial,” or nonadministrative, history of the College. Fields explained that while the administrative records are important, “they don’t give you the complete picture of the Mount Holyoke experience.” Fields said, “We are responsible for the administrative records of the College, and if that was all we had … that would give you a perspective on the College, but a very narrow one.” She explained that, when researching and looking to understand the past, the documents that remain can shape the perspectives and narratives that are told. Fields explained that Mount Holyoke’s original charter does not have Mary Lyon’s name on it, just the names of trustees at the time, who were two men. Without all of the other materials, we might have thought that those two men founded Mount Holyoke.

Photo by Ali Meizels ’23 The Mount Holyoke Archives and Special Collections are located in Dwight Hall, connected to Williston Memorial Library, pictured above.

In addition to providing a larger and more detailed perspective on the Mount Holyoke experience, materials from student organizations also tell the story of how Mount Holyoke has changed over the years. “I would say one reason that student organizational materials … are so important is because so much of

the change that has happened at Mount Holyoke over time is because of the students,” Fields said. By preserving materials that document changes at Mount Holyoke, the Archives are a resource for students, and they have relevance beyond simply sharing Mount Holyoke history. “The Archives can be a place to learn how students have made change in the past, whether that was successful or not successful, and how that will impact how you will go forward with change now,” Fields noted. Through collecting community members’ stories of the pandemic and student organizations’ documentation of their experiences at Mount Holyoke, the Archives are not only preserving a more detailed record of the past, but helping give students insight into how they create change in the future. Students, faculty and staff, and other community members are able to submit materials documenting their experience of the pandemic through a Google Form available on the Archives and Special Collections research webpage.

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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

May 6, 2021

. Mount Holyoke News

‘Songbird’ review: Exploitative filmmaking at its dullest

BY LUCY OSTER ’23 STAFF WRITER

commentary. It accurately mimics the influx of news we receive on the internet and through television with quick cuts and graphics. The characters, like you and I, are always video chatting or watching YouTube videos on their phones. A side character, who moved to Los Angeles to try to be a musician, livestreams music for her fans, something that many artists turned to this year as a replacement for live performances. The main storyline also includes Nico trying to escape to a more rural landscape with his girlfriend. We saw this in the past year from well-off city dwellers who moved to the less densely populated suburbs. Every other aspect of the film is ridiculously corny and dull. The end of “Songbird” reminded me of the cringey commercials that popped up during the pandemic, ensuring us that we’d get through it. Alternatively, the film made me think of a video g a m e w i t h i t s use o f

Adam Mason’s “Songbird,” the first movie to go into production following the initial COVID-19 shutdown in March 2020, began streaming on Hulu on April 16. It seems like the filmmakers needed to make “Songbird” quickly so that they could exploit the tragedy of the pandemic; however, that rapidity ultimately reveals the film as both an attempt at fear-mongering — and a bore. “Songbird” is set in 2024 and imagines a Los Angeles in which COVID-19 has mutated into COVID-23. People are in a never-ending lockdown and must take daily temperature checks on their smartphones. If they have a fever, they’re taken to ominous “Q-Zones,” where the conditions are reportedly barbaric. In this hypothetical near-future, people wear bracelets to signify their immunity and must obey martial law. If citizens are not wearing their yellow immunity bracelets, armed guards dressed in camouflage hazmat suits aggressively stop them on the street. “Whoa, whoa! I’m immune!” the main character yells during one scene in which the guards threaten him in public. The film follows Nico (“Riverdale” star K.J. Apa) and his girlfriend Sara (Sofia Carson). Nico is a “munie,” meaning that he is immune to the virus, so he is able to work as a courier. Nico’s job is essentially that of a glorified Amazon worker. He also delivers black market immunity bracelets to the wealthy citizens of Los Angeles. For someone living in a world of constant death and destruction — every shot of Los Angeles includes at least two technology, such as huge clouds of smoke tracking maps and — Nico appears reladrones. There’s a scene tively lighthearted. In toward the end where one scene, he puts off Nico is looking for his job to shoot some Sara, and his boss helps hoops. In another scene, him by flying a drone he mocks the armed through the city and guards about their lack sending him updates. of “people skills” and While these aspects are the fact that they have to great for commercials and wear masks. video games, movies are His character, a supabout emotion, and the film posed adult, seems very teennever incited any genuine aged. For the first half of the emotional reaction in me past film, he exclusively rides a bicyirritation. cle, reminding me of the children When the pandemic first startlead characters in the popular Netflix ed, some people turned to Steven show “Stranger Things.” Soderbergh’s 2011 thriller film “ConGraphic by Trinity Kendrick ’21 “Songbird” seems to have an inhertagion” for comfort. Imagining a worstently politically conservative premise. case scenario helped assuage viewers’ The film validates the criticisms of government over- fears. However, unlike “Contagion,” which was created reach as a pandemic response. “Songbird” implies that several years ago and did not mimic a real-life event, the government attempting to track its sick citizens “Songbird” was hastily made for the sole purpose of through mandatory temperature checks is an invasion utilizing the pandemic’s tragedies — and it shows. of privacy. I see this reflected today in people who have the same beliefs about vaccine cards. The film, however, does offer some valid cultural

Introducing Pigeon Dreams, new journal BY FLANNERY LANGTON ’22 MANAGING EDITOR OF CONTENT

“Imagine a world worth living in, a world worth fighting for,” reads the Instagram bio of Pigeon Dreams, a new trans and gender-nonconforming literary arts journal based out of the Five Colleges. The quote comes from Leslie Feinberg’s 1993 novel “Stone Butch Blues,” a story about navigating class barriers, sexuality and gender partially based on Feinberg’s life. In the same passage, Feinberg continues, “I closed my eyes and allowed my hopes to soar. I heard the beatings of wings nearby. I opened my eyes. A young man on a nearby rooftop released his pigeons, like dreams, into the dawn.” This excerpt gave the new publication its name and mission: providing a platform for trans art by trans artists from the Five College area. Founded at Smith College by members of the CONTINUED ON PAGE 11

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Literary arts journal Pigeon Dreams takes flight, cont’d u

“It gives us the space to accept a lot more things,” they said. organization Transcending Gender, Pigeon Dreams is As of right now, the majority of works submitted about to emerge with their first publication after post- were sent in by Five College students. In the future, ing an initial call for submissions in December. James-Olson hopes this will change. “It’s just fun to Ollie Donald, a junior at Smith College, is one of get to know people who don’t go to Mount Holyoke the founding members of the journal. They explained and, like, hopefully, in the future be able to … organize that the seeds for the idea of Pigeon Dreams began events like parties and readings that will kind of be for last fall. everyone in the area,” they explained. After the first pandemic school year began, “We For the first call for submissions, Pigeon Dreams were thinking about ways to connect virtually, and left the guidelines deliberately open, ending the list of one of our members had the idea to start a newsletter possible creative forms with “and more.” for sharing resources, art, writing [and more], and the “We’re pretty much looking for anything and evidea kind of evolved from there into the arts magazine erything that is by trans artists,” James-Olson said. we’re creating,” Donald said. Listing off some forms included in this batch of subIn December 2020, Donald shared the idea for a missions, they named poetry, short stories, photograpublication on the Transcending Gender Instagram phy, illustrations, playlists and even “a long-form repage. Along with responses to the call for submissions, source piece about accessing medical care as a trans the group heard from fellow Five College students in- person.” terested in editing for the journal. As the group grew, By the original deadline for submissions, Pigeon they began having Zoom meetings organized by Don- Dreams hadn’t received as much content as the team ald, who then created the email account and Instagram would have liked. “A few things trickled in,” James-Olpage, @pigeondreamsjournal, to begin publicizing Pi- son said. “A few editors submitted, I submitted a cougeon Dreams. Benny Kleinman-Eddy, a sophomore at ple poems,” they explained. The editing team then Smith College, created the art decided to expand their publicaand graphics used on the page. tion deadline and start bringing Lucy James-Olson ’22 was “I hope cis people are confused by their call for submissions into one of the students who remore places and communities. it, I hope it makes them question sponded to the Pigeon Dreams’ “We started pushing out to what they think they know about call with an interest in editorsimilar orgs, to the trans affinship. They reached out and gender. I hope it makes everyone ity groups and queer affinity were welcomed onto the editing groups on all the campuses and realize that being cis is not real. ” also to creative writing and Enboard. “From there,” they said, “it ballooned into a Five College glish departments,” James-Oleffort.” son explained. The group also - Ollie Donald This is the first literary posted the call on the Queer magazine that James-Olson has Exchange Facebook page for worked on as a staff member. They are a past con- Western Massachusetts to reach nonstudents in the tributor of Open Call Magazine, a publication based Pioneer Valley. “[We were] just kind of trying to get it out of Mount Holyoke. Though they had an interest in as many places [as] we thought trans people would in literary organizations and even helped organize see it and be able to submit,” they added. the fifth annual Queer and Trans Writing Marathon The editing team decided they wanted as many Reading and Open Mic on Friday, April 30, they hadn’t voices in the publication as possible. Because of this, yet found a place they felt called to work for. Pigeon only a few pieces were accepted from each contribuDreams changed that. tor. The submissions Pigeon Dreams did not accept “I was really interested because almost all of the during this publication cycle will be reevaluated and art I like is by trans people and I consistently found considered for the next one. myself really drawn to trans poets and writers and Going through these submissions has been a joy trends like visual arts,” James-Olson said. “I think it’s for Donald. “I’m really excited to share art and writing a way of creating art that’s responding to really specif- from and with our communities,” they said. ic life experiences that I also share. They continued, While a publication date hasn’t been set, Pigeon “It’s work that I’m able to see myself in, in ways that Dreams is aiming to have their first collection out by I’m not able to … in work by cis artists.” the end of Smith’s spring semester. James-Olson is currently the only Mount Holyoke Recently, the editors have begun work on the crestudent involved with Pigeon Dreams. The majority of ation of an online book. They are also hoping to print the editors are Smith students, besides a few Hamp- out a few physical copies for those who have specifishire College students. cally requested them. One will be distributed to a local Though Pigeon Dreams originates from the Five high school Gay-Straight Alliance club that requested Colleges, it accepts submissions from anyone who a copy, and another will be distributed to the Mount identifies as trans, nonbinary, genderqueer or gen- Holyoke College Archives and Special Collections. der-nonconforming. The inspiration behind that deciThis first issue won’t be the only publication from sion comes from the competitiveness of other trans- Pigeon Dreams — James-Olson said that the editors based literary publications. Because of the online hope this is only the beginning. format of the publication, James-Olson explained that “One of our big goals is to be able to build a comPigeon Dreams had the room to publish as many piec- munity of trans people in Western Mass at the Five es as the team would like. Colleges and to be able to host events where people CONTINUED FROM PAGE 10

Graphic courtesy of Benny Kleinman-Eddy, sophomore at Smith College.

can kind of come together and mingle and talk about art and, like, share their work,” James-Olson said. “I think that is a really big ideal for next year.” A majority of the submissions for this first publication are from Mount Holyoke and Smith students. “It feels important to me that as students at ‘historically women’s colleges,’ we are claiming this space as trans, nonbinary and gender-nonconforming artists who exist and belong and have strong, beautiful networks of community here,” Donald said. Pigeon Dreams is also hoping to expand the diversity of their submissions. “We are aware that the trans community at the Five College campuses is not representative of the trans community more broadly,” James-Olson said. Donald also weighed in on the dominating demographic, saying, “I do hope that in the future we can receive a broader range of submissions that includes more work from transfemme and BIPOC folks. As it stands, the submissions skewed more toward white transmasc college students, which is just a — privileged — subset of trans experiences,” they said. “I also hope that in the future we can pay artists. That would be great and would help make it more accessible to the groups whose voices we want to amplify.” To expand the diversity of their publication, Pigeon Dreams is hoping to increase the number of submissions from nonstudents. To do so, they will be working to create connections with off-campus groups, starting with graduating students who will be matriculating into the larger Pioneer Valley population. James-Olson also hopes that physical advertising will help to spread the word about the publication more broadly. “I’m really excited to share art and writing from and with our communities,” Donald said. “I think the target audience of Pigeon Dreams is us! Trans people! For and by us! I hope it makes trans and [gender-nonconforming]+ folks feel held and supported and celebrated,” they said. “I hope cis people are confused by it, I hope it makes them question what they think they know about gender. I hope it makes everyone realize that being cis is not real.” For more information on Pigeon Dreams, check out their Instagram page @ pigeondreamsjournal. All inquiries and submissions can be sent to pigeondreamsjournal@gmail.com.

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ENVIRONMENTAL

May 6, 2021

. Mount Holyoke News

Climate change impacts seasons in the Northern Hemisphere BY ABBY WESTER ’22 STAFF WRITER

Mount Holyoke College is located in the Northern Hemisphere midlatitudes, where there are typically four seasons: spring, summer, fall and winter. According to National Geographic, “a season is a period of the year that is distinguished by special climate conditions.” These seasons are the foundation of human schedules, crop-growing, animal activity and much more. A recent study shows that without mitigation of human-caused climate change, current seasons could drastically change. The study “Changing Lengths of the Four Seasons by Global Warming” was published in February 2021 in the American Geophysical Union’s journal, Geophysical Research Letters. The researchers looked at historical data to examine how seasons have changed in length and severity from 1952-2011 in the Northern Hemisphere midlatitudes. This data helped predict

Photo courtesy of WikiMedia Commons Summers are projected to lengthen as a result of climate change.

seasonal changes by the end of the century. According to their research, “Summer is projected to last nearly

half a year, but winter less than two months by 2100.” These changes are projected to occur if no action is taken to alleviate climate change. These shifts would threaten traditional agriculture practices because seasons greatly inform planting and harvesting schedules. Wildlife would also be affected, with birds changing migratory patterns and plants flowering earlier. Changes in wildlife activity are dangerous because they cause mistiming of plant pollination and impact animals’ food sources. Longer summers could increase the regularity and severity of heat waves and wildfires. Shorter winters may lead to weather instability, resulting in cold surges and snowstorms, like the storm that hit Texas this past winter. If substantial steps are not taken to mitigate the effects of climate change, the traditional lengths of the four seasons will be completely altered, changing perceptions of time, lifestyles and annual schedules. The projected seasonal changes are also deeply threatening to biodiversity and human health.

MHN survey analyzes plant-based eating at Mount Holyoke College BY CATELYN FITZGERALD ’23 STAFF WRITER

The Mount Holyoke News recently conducted a survey to determine Mount Holyoke students’ meat and dairy consumption habits. The survey received 75 responses out of the student population of approximately 2,000. It asked students about their personal dietary choices, the reasons behind them and perceptions of animal product consumption within the student body and in the Dining Commons. The survey found approximately 60 percent of respondents follow a plant-based diet. While “plantbased” lacks a clear-cut definition, the term generally refers to a diet consisting of foods originating from plants, with minimal consumption of meat, seafood and dairy. In this article, the term is specifically taken to refer to vegetarian, vegan or mostly vegetarian (vegetarian at least four days per week) diets. Of the various plant-based diets, vegetarian was by far the most common, with more than twice as many respondents identifying as vegetarian than vegan or mostly vegetarian. The proportion of respondents who identified themselves as vegetarian in the survey greatly exceeds national averages. According to a 2018 Gallup poll, 8 percent of Americans age 18-34 identify as vegetarian, compared to 32 percent of respondents to the student survey. The reasons why respondents choose to follow a plantbased diet also varies from national statistics, with the Mount Holyoke survey respondents primarily citing ethical reasons and environmental sustainability. A 2019 Gallup poll asked participants who either chose to decrease their meat consumption or avoid eating meat entirely to identify the motives behind that choice; health concerns were the most commonly given reason, with environmental concerns a distant second. Cultural and religious practices play a role in many people’s diets, such as restricting meat con-

sumption during certain holidays or limiting what types of meats are consumed. Meat can also be an important source of protein during holidays that involve fasting. It is important to recognize entirely plant-based diets may not be compatible with certain cultures and religions, and many of the negative ethical and environmental impacts associated with meat and dairy production are the result of Western industrial farming practices rather than the production of meat for religious traditions and ceremonies. Reducing meat and dairy consumption is often promoted as an effective way to decrease one’s Photo courtesy of Google Forms impact on the environment and There are many ways to evaluate the sustainabilreduce individual contributions to climate change. Of the Mount Holyoke respondents who choose to eat ity of livestock production, such as how a farm feeds plant-based diets, 41 percent listed sustainability as its animals or mitigates its greenhouse gas emissions. It can be difficult to determine what sustainable meat the main reason. While avoiding meat and dairy products can be and dairy sourcing looks like, but at Mount Holyoke, a way to avoid potential methane emissions and re- Dining Services has shown its support for local liveduce strain on natural resources, the environmental stock producers and processors. One of these producers is The Country Hen in impact of the industry varies from farm to farm. On one hand, intensive, industrialized livestock farming Hubbardston, Massachusetts, from which the Dining relies on excessive resource inputs, including water Hall aims to source all of its eggs by the end of 2021. and fertilizer, and produces greenhouse gas emissions Eggs from The Country Hen are certified organic, and and waste streams that potentially pollute waterways. their chickens are given non-GMO organic feed. DinCombined livestock and crop production, on the other ing Services also participates in a whole-animal purhand, creates a circular flow of resources and is more chasing program, partnering with local farmers and butchers to purchase whole animals rather than cuts self-sustaining. Livestock waste can be used instead of chemical of meat, reducing food waste and making it easier for fertilizers for growing crops, and excess crops can be local producers to supply the College. Mount Holyoke Dining Services’ local and sustainfed to livestock rather than using large amounts of water and fertilizer to grow additional feed. Eating meat able sourcing allows students to eat with the environdoes not correlate as directly with climate change as ment in mind while including meat and dairy products burning fossil fuels does, and it can be done in an envi- in their diet. The College also offers a variety of meat substitutes and meatless options at every meal. ronmentally neutral way through smart sourcing.

May 6, 2021

. Mount Holyoke News

ENVIRONMENTAL

13

Environmental documentaries: Accessible climate education BY SIONA AHUJA ’24 STAFF WRITER

Although news about climate change can become overwhelming and grim, these documentaries provide accessible education on the current crisis. Listed below are four documentaries — available to stream on all major platforms — that delve into the causes, effects and solutions of global warming and climate change. “Seaspiracy” Directed and narrated by British filmmaker Ali Tabrizi, “Seaspiracy” is a 90-minute documentary that offers a dark glimpse into the world of commercial fishing. Tabrizi provides his viewers with facts and interviews that expose the international fishing industry, especially related to the slaughter of whales, dolphins and sharks. The documentary begins with the prevailing challenges facing marine animals, most significantly pollution. Oceans are described as “toxic plastic soup[s]” with the amount of microplastics in them outnumbering the stars in the Milky Way by 500 times. The film follows Tabrizi to a cove in Taiji, Japan, where he says more than 700 dolphins and whales are killed illegally each year, painting a bone-chilling picture of the largest illicit fish market in the world. Although initially focused on just dolphins and whales, the makers of “Seaspiracy” expand to the mafia-esque industries of sharks and other rare fish. “Seaspiracy” also documents the steep human toll of commercial fishing. Tabrizi says that “an estimated 24,000 [fishery] workers die every year” on the job, according to a 1999 report from the International Labour Organization. One of the most shocking revelations in the documentary is the use of forced labor on fishing boats. Tabrizi’s interviews show that many workers receive death threats if they refuse to work or attempt to leave. Tabrizi goes on to dedicate a significant portion of the documentary to talk about “sustainable” forms of fishing, asking the viewers to look beyond the labels. He exposes Earth Island Institute’s “dolphin-safe” label, which claims that no dolphins were harmed in the catching of tuna fish, to be unreliable. An Earth Island Institute interviewee later claimed that there was no guarantee that no dolphins are harmed in this process. David Phillips, director of the International Marine Mammal Project, said the film chose to “grossly distort and mischaracterize” the “dolphin-safe” label. Although “Seaspiracy” has faced criticism as a vegan propaganda film that places much of the onus on viewers’ consumption choices, the central message of the documentary is that commercial fishing is largely abusing marine life and the environment. “I Am Greta” “I Am Greta” highlights the personal and public life of Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, whose school strikes and “Fridays for Future” movement, starting in 2018, took the world by storm. Directed and filmed by Nathan Grossman, “I Am Greta” shows how Thunberg changed her own family’s lifestyle choices and inspired scores of others to

Photo courtesy of WikiMedia Commons Swedish activist Greta Thunberg discussing EU plans regarding the climate crisis. Her story is discussed in the new documentary “I Am Greta.”

do the same. Her speeches have mobilized hundreds of politicians and climate organizations, leading to student climate justice protests on all continents except Antarctica. Grossman tailed Thunberg’s meteoric rise to fame for almost two years, documenting her life beyond her public persona. What makes the documentary vulnerable and intimate is the interwoven theme of Thunberg’s experience with Asperger’s syndrome, a neurodevelopmental disorder that she credits for her laser focus and passion about the climate. She is described as having an almost “photographic memory” for topics she cares about, which is a cause and advantage for her dedication toward the environment. Despite her central role in the resurgence of climate activism, Thunberg discusses how she feels she is being used by democratically elected politicians all over the world to improve their images. “It feels like everyone is in this role-playing game and just pretending. It feels kind of fake,” she says in the documentary. “I Am Greta” remains tinged with hope, as it shows Thunberg continuing to fight for the climate and hold an increasing number of people accountable for their commitments to climate action. “Kiss the Ground” Directed by Joshua Tickell and Rebecca Harrell Tickell and narrated by actor Woody Harrelson, “Kiss the Ground” offers a persuasive and optimistic approach to solving the climate crisis. The fact-filled documentary talks about the regenerative ability of soil to sequester carbon dioxide from the environment in order to combat climate change. It brings together a coalition of farmers, scientists and activists to address the benefits of regenerative agriculture. Spraying chemicals on soil depletes its ability to generate microbes that leech carbon from the atmosphere, creating a vicious cycle of depleting soil health in industrial agriculture. Harrelson narrates the consequences pesticides and chemical fertilizers have on the environment, many of which are rooted in sustainability. The solution that experts provide in this documentary is regenerative farming, a process that creates a

virtuous cycle of replenishing soil, which reverses the effects of climate change. According to experts in “Kiss the Ground,” this can be done through responsible land management through decreasing tilling, lessening the use of chemicals and making agriculture carbon neutral. Regenerative farming not only benefits the climate, but also results in healthier crops that, in turn, feed more people. Celebrities including Gisele Bundchen, Tom Brady and Ian Somerhalder also add their passionate commentary behind the claims made by farmers and scientists in the documentary. “Ice on Fire” More than a decade after their docu-film “The 11th Hour,” director-actor duo Leila Conners and Leonardo DiCaprio returned in 2019 with a new documentary called “Ice on Fire.” The film has the same central message: The Earth is under immense pressure due to climate change. The call-to-action documentary demonstrates several ways for viewers to sequester carbon emissions,paving the way for lower global emissions. The documentary features a mosaic of cutting-edge methods that can reverse the effects of climate change and help us live more sustainably. In “Ice on Fire,” DiCaprio travels the world to meet progressive scientists, celebrities and political figures to discuss possible solutions to the impending crisis. The documentary examines how scientists’ predictions about the climate are coming true prematurely and how cataclysmic this could be for future generations. Some of the viable solutions to this problem are already at our disposal, DiCaprio narrates. For example, a Croatian scientist developed “marine snow,” which can absorb up to 20 percent of global annual carbon emissions and permanently deposit it on deep ocean floors. Switzerland has developed technology to absorb atmospheric carbon and use it to power greenhouses and, in turn, create renewable energy. The underlying point of the film is to show that humans already have the ability to regenerate the Earth — we only lack the infrastructure to broadly implement these technologies.

14

ENVIRONMENTAL

World leaders meet in virtual climate summit

May 6, 2021

. Mount Holyoke News

OPINION/ EDITORIAL

Self-care has been co-opted Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons Biden speaks to an international summit on climate issues. In the past, the U.S. has had an inconsistent relationship with climate change efforts.

During the summit, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson reported that the U.K. is “halfway to net zero.” Europe is aiming to be “the first carbon-neutral Most climate-related summits have been canceled continent in the world,” European Commission Presias a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, as many lead- dent Ursula von der Leyen said. The U.S. has historically had an on-again-off-again ers have been prevented from traveling or hosting in-person meetings and have been preoccupied man- relationship with climate change efforts, as presidenaging COVID-19 within their own countries. On Earth tial administrations change more frequently comDay, April 22, 40 world leaders convened for a two-day pared to other countries. The U.S. played a key role in virtual summit called the Leaders Summit on Climate the Kyoto Protocol in 1995 during Bill Clinton’s administration, but left the protocol to address the global climate in 2001 under George W. Bush. crisis. As the summit was en“Some Republican lawmakers called More recently, the U.S. headed tirely virtual, world leaders joined at all hours based on the focus on reducing U.S. emissions talks on the Paris Agreement during the Obama administratheir locations. This summit counterproductive, while some lefttion, left the agreement under was the first in a series of virwing politicians don’t believe Biden the Trump administration and tual meetings with world leadlater rejoined during Biden’s ers, including the G-7 and G-20 has gone far enough.” first day in office. These shiftsummits later this year and ing policies have left other the U.N. climate conference countries questioning U.S. commitment to cutting naCOP26 scheduled for November 2021. Before the talks, scientists, environmental groups tional and global greenhouse gas emissions. The U.S. is currently attempting to build back and some business leaders urged U.S. President Joe Biden to aim to reduce U.S. greenhouse gas emissions trust with other nations. John Kerry, the U.S. special to at least 50 percent below levels recorded in 2005 by presidential envoy for climate, spent time before the 2030. This target would almost double the nation’s 2015 summit traveling to other countries, including China commitment from the Obama administration and its and India, to build international support and arrange adoption would warrant dramatic changes. Experts talks. Biden hopes the U.S. will reassert its leadership say that anything below that goal could undermine the at the helm of the international fight against climate Biden administration’s promise to stop temperatures change. It is often harder to create measurable policies to from rising more than 1.5 C. During the virtual climate summit, politicians mitigate climate change than those created for other voiced conflicting opinions on what Biden should do. national crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic relief Some Republican lawmakers called the focus on re- package or Biden’s current infrastructure bills. Yet ducing U.S. emissions counterproductive while some without this action, climate change could cut global left-wing politicians don’t believe Biden has gone far economic output by 10 percent — or $23 trillion — annually by 2050, according to new research from Swiss enough. Brazil was another key player at the summit. Bra- Re Institute. The U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen also aczilian President Jair Bolsonaro moved the country’s goal for carbon neutrality to 2050, a decade sooner knowledged the cost of transitioning away from fossil than his last goal, despite recently removing envi- fuels. Little was mentioned in the summit about how ronmental protections. Bolsonaro also promised that various nations plan to meet their goals. Alok Sharma, Brazil would eliminate illegal deforestation in the Am- the president of the upcoming U.N. COP26 summit, azon by 2030. Brazil’s Minister of the Environment Ri- urged nations to explain how they will achieve these cardo Salles said that in order for Brazil to implement targets. this plan, it would need more funds. BY HELEN GLOEGE ’23 STAFF WRITER

Graphic by Jieru Ye ’23

BY ANNABELLE MACKSON ’23 STAFF WRITER

With finals fast approaching, advertisements peddling some form of “self-care” seem to be everywhere. The concept of self-care was really coined by French philosopher Michel Foucault in the early 1980s. He based his idea of self-care around “active leisure,” arguing that by taking time for oneself away from the hustle and bustle of the world, one can be introspective and find out what they really need, in addition to having a chance to relax. Over the past 40-plus years, selfcare has become — like so many things absorbed into American culture — commercialized and exploited. Instead of slowing down and actually taking the time Foucault recommended to get to know ourselves, we are encouraged to do more, plan more and buy more. Self-care is no longer reading a book for an hour or trying to get to bed before midnight during the week. It has been twisted into another form of the rat race, where the only finish line is the amount of “wellness” products you can accumulate before you run out of money or what little energy you have. CONTINUED ON PAGE 15

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May 6, 2021

. Mount Holyoke News

OPINION/EDITORIAL

15

Attention white allies: Step up and show up in your activism BY KATE MURRAY ’22 STAFF WRITER

Content warning: This article discusses racially motivated violence and hate crimes. This past year, racial justice issues have been front and center in the minds of Mount Holyoke students. From the continued instances of Black deaths at the hands of police officers — 381 since 2015 — to Asian American hate crimes, the need for solidarity on our campus has arguably never been stronger. While it was tough to practice allyship in a pre-COVID-19 world, the fact that our community is so geographically scattered makes it all the more difficult to show up for our marginalized friends, professors, administrators and staff members. But here’s the thing: People of color cannot afford for white folks to remain idle. While most of us are not staying completely silent (I see your Instagram posts), the internet cannot be where our activism stays. We must put our anti-racist values into action and show up for the marginalized members of our community in a meaningful way. As the school year draws to a close, we will no longer have “Word Out!” columns encouraging us to attend anti-racist programming or “The Dean’s Corner” emails notifying us of the latest tragedy. White students like me have the privilege to disconnect from these messages if we’re feeling emotionally drained or if we simply don’t feel like engaging. Believe me, I understand this impulse. It’s frustrating to figure out how to do the right thing and navigate spaces where these tragedies personally affect members of our community. It’s painful to confront the fact that most racially motivated hate crimes are perpetrated by people who share our skin color. It’s uncomfortable to struggle with feelings of guilt and try to suppress the thought, “I’m one of the good ones, I promise!” These feelings experienced by white students are valid and understandably tough, but they must be overcome to practice the effective allyship that is so desperately needed. As the student fellow for the MoZone Peer Education program, I engage in conversations about allyship

a lot, both with student groups and the MoZone team. on my Instagram feed symbolized student support for I recently spoke with fellow MoZone member Grace the Black Lives Matter movement. Since then, I have Wason ’23 to get her thoughts on what is lacking in seen white allies in the community share educational terms of white allyship on Mount Holyoke’s campus. content regarding anti-racism, plugging information “I see a lot of friend groups for mutual aid funds and rebuilt that are very homogenous posting news stories about as far as race goes,” she told “We are not asking you to do some- the latest race-related trageme. The fact that many students dy. While I think that social thing that other people are not algravitate toward people of their media is a wonderful tool for ready doing, so welcome to the club. spreading awareness about own racial identities can be helpful for empathizing over shared important issues and publicWelcome to being uncomfortable.” lived experiences. This can also ly signifying where you stand insulate white people from maon those issues, it is too easy - Latrina Denson jor issues that affect their peers for that to be where white alof color, like the police presence lyship stops. on campus. “It’s really easy someBased on feedback she’s heard from first-year times to post a few things … and pat yourself on the students, Wason says that white folks could do more back,” Wason said. “I think social media is adding to to actively engage with these topics and promote pro- this narrative that there is a starting point and ending gramming like BIPOC affinity spaces. Even if those point to social justice and allyship.” spaces are not cultivated for the purpose of supportThere is also an absence of accountability when it ing white students, it’s an important act of allyship to comes to an individual posting online. When one enactively promote this type of programming. gages in allyship outside of a community, that individAnother common feeling among white students ual has no way of knowing whether their actions are questioning how to be good allies is the fear of taking effective or supported by marginalized folks. up too much space. There is uncertainty about how “There’s this assumption that we know what peoto navigate events that center the experiences of stu- ple are doing based on what they post online, and dents of color, even if they are explicitly welcome to that’s not necessarily true,” Denson said. “You need attend. Latrina Denson, associate dean of students for to have accountability partners to hold and challenge community and inclusion and supervisor for MoZone, you. … Who else knows that you’re doing [the work]?” encourages white students to show up to these events I am certainly not the epitome of what a white ally willing to listen and learn. should look like. I make mistakes, disengage from im“There are people of color who do the same thing portant conversations and fall short of my anti-racist every day, particularly in their classrooms,” she told values sometimes. But this summer, I am making it my me. “We are not asking you to do something that other priority to listen to folks of color and step up where people are not already doing, so welcome to the club. I am needed and communicate that with my white Welcome to being uncomfortable.” peers. I will be mindful of my online presence to make Wason agrees with this sentiment. “You have to sure that I am practicing what I preach. navigate around the nervous energy with curiosity As a member of an institution that has been preand communication,” they said. “Stick to curiosity … dominantly white for almost two centuries, I am comand question yourself.” mitted to using my spheres of influence to ensure that I have seen the most engagement around anti-rac- our campus lives up to its values of anti-racism as well ism from white students online. as diversity, equity and inclusion. Over the summer of 2020, a wave of black squares White allies, are you in?

The commericialization of self-care hurts mental health advocacy u

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 14

Platforms like Buzzfeed, HuffPost and Refinery29 promote these, frankly, toxic views of self-care. Either their listicles are so basic and meaningless they could be summed up in a tweet, or they’re overly gratuitous and opulent, trying to get you to buy a $60 face mask and a $90 robe because “you’ve earned it.” During stressful times like these, I don’t need to be condescended to by a website saying my anxiety would be cured if only I tried their one-of-a-kind pillow mist (pillow mists can create a nice ambiance, but they are definitely not curing anything). I want to know that it’s OK if I need to ignore my assignments for one night so I can get to bed before two a.m., or that setting reminders to eat is a good and normal thing if stress makes you forget about your hunger.

What frustrates me the most about these brands, however, is how contradictory they are. In the case of Refinery29, an article from 2018 acknowledged that “self-care has become almost synonymous with bath bombs, retail therapy and colouring books,” but that the most important thing was to “take time to focus on your mental and emotional health.” This lovely statement is absolutely dashed to pieces by this article from April 26, 2021, titled “These Self-Care Gifts Are Exactly What You Need Right Now.” Not only was this article infuriating to read — one of their genuine recommendations for self-care was buying an art print — but it further cemented in my head that promoting “self-care” and mental “wellness” is nothing but a cash grab for Refinery29 or any of these other sites. Mental health is not something that has a monetary value, and with more people than ever being honest about their mental health struggles and needs, it is sur-

prising to me that so many companies still primarily function this way. Furthermore, the majority of people who have anxiety or depression (and would presumably glean the most benefits from actual self-care) are within Refinery29’s target demographic — millennial and older Gen Z women — so their active promotion of emotional snake oil is more than a little sickening. These systems of commercialization and capitalism are so deeply rooted in American culture that it will take a lot more than ignoring glorified ads masquerading as journalism to change the way we think about self-care and wellness. My only piece of advice is to stop, even for five minutes, to take stock of what you need at this moment. It could be as small as a sip of water, but as long as you are taking a minute — it could be a literal minute — to pause and acknowledge your body’s needs, you’re doing more for yourself than any art print or face mask could.

16

SPORTS

May 6, 2021

. Mount Holyoke News

Eight Mount Holyoke teams end spring season on May 1 BY GIGI PICARD ’22 SPORTS EDITOR

On May 1, seven Mount Holyoke teams faced off against Smith College in both at-home and away competitions, and one team held a joint practice with Smith. This closed the 2020-2021 spring sports season for both colleges and served as the final opportunity to celebrate each teams’ spring graduates. The teams that participated in these competitions were Field Hockey, Lacrosse, Rowing, Soccer, Swimming and Diving, Tennis, Track and Field and Volleyball.

Swimming and Diving and Tennis take on Smith at home

There were two teams that competed at home: Tennis and Swimming and Diving. Head Tennis Coach Aldo Santiago felt the athletes competed well and said it was “great to see our student-players in action.” It was Tennis’ second competition of the season. They last played Connecticut College on April 10, 2021. The team also honored Anya Gerasimova ’21 and Charlotte Wang ’21. “One negative about this match is that Hannah Middleton ’22, wh[o] I consider to be the ‘glue’ for this year’s tennis team, was not able to participate this past Saturday,” Santiago said. Santiago extended thanks to the Mount Holyoke Athletics administration staff, who reportedly “worked very hard to make this past Saturday competitive opportunity available for us … and for all the other teams.” Tennis plans to play a normal season starting in fall 2021 and finishing next spring. For Swimming and Diving, the competition against Smith was “typical,” according to Head Coach Dave Allen. There were, however, “numerous times during the day when the significance of the meet sunk in,” Allen added. “The meet felt like a major victory to me,” Allen continued. “We overcame a lot of adversity and faced some significant challenges, all of which the team met and worked through to make the meet happen. Hopefully the team can take away some important lessons about overcoming adversity from this past year.” The team celebrated on-campus student-athletes Ashton Bliss ’21, Naomi Brown ’21, Riley Hicks ’21, Katie Kolozsvari ’21 and Laraiba Seibou ’21. They also honored those off campus, including Courtney Dunham ’21, Ashley Jimenez ’21, Tamara Mukulu ’21 and a few Smith seniors with a senior celebration on Zoom prior to the meet. Allen believes there will be a normal season beginning in the fall, but with some limits. “We are planning for a return to our usual schedule and will take it one day at a time,” Allen said. Allen also extended thanks to the athletics staff, mentioning by name Erica Lemm, Jon Santer, Bardee Sadlier, Ellen Perella and Catie LeBlanc. To make the competition possible, “there was a huge amount of work to meet all of the COVID guidelines, and it would not have happened without their hard work and dedication,” Allen said.

Track and Field opens the day at Smith

Mount Holyoke Track and Field was the first to

Photos courtesy of Mount Holyoke Athletics Athletics teams celebrated their seniors at their final competitions and practices of the 2020-21 season, each competing against Smith College.

face Smith on their turf. Ireland Clare Kennedy ’21, the only senior competing for the Lyons, described it as a meet “unlike any other.” Clare Kennedy said the team had a “mighty squad” of nine team members. “We’d all been waiting on this promise of a meet in person, and we finally had it, which was exciting in itself — but now that it was here, it was a surreal feeling,” Clare Kennedy said. “On the way to the meet, I was taking everything in — the feelings I had on the bus, the letter and bracelet I had received from my secret psych[-up] and the music I was hyping myself up to. The pre-meet jitters were almost nonexistent because I was just so happy, ready to go after the goals I had set for myself and incredibly excited,” Clare Kennedy continued. Some of the athletes weren’t able to compete as planned due to injuries, but teammates who had to sit out still seemed enthusiastic, according to Clare Kennedy. “Competition was something we needed a taste of, and to be able to jump, throw, vault and run next to another team was a big driver to cap off this season,” she said. “It’s not easy to be on the sides, but our teammates who couldn’t compete couldn’t have been more supportive … making sure we’re hydrated and fueled was essential to the success of the meet.” At the meet, each team had members who competed uncontested against the other team. Additionally, good sportsmanship seemed to be running high. According to Clare Kennedy, the Smith athletes cheered on the Mount Holyoke athletes who were throwing javelin. “Did we push one another any less though? No, certainly not — we were there to beat Smith, but I think that there’s a much larger appreciation for what it means to be a student-athlete right now, especially when we’ve all been training without a guarantee of a season,” Clare Kennedy said. “Love for your team and the sport becomes much more real when you really need to appreciate it in its purest form.” Field Hockey finds camaraderie in Smith competition.

Field Hockey was the next away game to take place. “It was an excellent experience,” Head Coach Andy Whitcomb said. There was camaraderie not only within our own team, but with the Smith College players as well.” The teams combined to make sure each school had an equal amount of players. Mount Holyoke honored student-athletes Christina Lively ’21 and Gianna Molinari ’21. “I felt it was a very positive experience, and I appreciate all the hard work that the staff at Mount Holyoke put forth, as well as the staff at Smith College,” Whitcomb said. “The athletes felt blessed that the weather was beautiful, and they were able to go out and compete and have a great distraction and not only accentuate the positive but have … good takeaways of what they need to work on during the summer months.” About next year, Whitcomb said, “I am absolutely looking forward to next season and have very high hopes that it will be a ‘normal’ season.”

Lacrosse scrimmages Smith in final competition

One of the last teams to close the day was Lacrosse with a scrimmage against Smith. The team honored Matt Wysocki ’21 and Meryl Phair ’21. Dual-sport student-athlete Julia Klein ’21 will be graduating this December. Head Coach Miriam Esber felt like the scrimmage was a real game. “Playing Smith is always competitive and brings about lots of nerves and emotion,” Esber said. “We needed that game-like experience to work through some challenges in the first half and then settled into the game for the second half. It was a good learning experience [and] team-building day — and a lot of fun, too,” Esber added. Recounting the day, the coach said, “I think they struggled through the first half and realized we needed to work on some communication and mental parts of the game. Once we had a chance to talk at halftime CONTINUED ON PAGE 17

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Faculty express growing lack of trust with administrators, cont’d u

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“As all physical educators can attest to, coaching is teaching,” a senior member of the athletics department, who requested anonymity for fear of retribution, said. “The many hours we spend planning, preparing and coaching our teams is very much part of our teaching responsibilities, and has always, and should continue to be, considered so by the College.”

Lack of trust from Athletics faculty grows after change in status was enacted

During the faculty Q&A, Andy Whitcomb, head field hockey coach and senior lecturer in the athletics department, shared her frustration. “The coaches had no issue being moved to Student Life,” she said, referencing a shift for the athletics department to the Division of Student Life. “The coaches had no issue with a rolling contract changing us from our five-year contract. What the coaches had issue with is that Faculty Legislation was not followed. “We have over 125 collective years between the senior faculty members, the five of us,” Whitcomb continued. “And we feel the way we have been treated by this College, with this move, at this point in our careers, … to not have the option of being ‘grandparented in’ was wholly unfair and imminently unfair.” Stephens, Mosby and Hall responded to the faculty letter on Wednesday, May 5. In the response, they reiterated Stephens’ earlier statement that coaches did know of the changes to their contract. “We refute that there was no discussion with the coaches of a change in status from faculty to predominantly staff, and that benefits have been withdrawn from them,” they wrote. “We also assert that, to the best of our knowledge and from a careful review of materials, there is no evidence that former Dean Western’s engagement with coaches, which included a small working group, constituted coercion.” After reading the email, one coach, who requested anonymity for fear of retribution, said, “I just keep comparing President Stephens to former President [Donald] Trump. The words ‘alternative facts’ come to mind.” One coach said that the College’s claim that Athletics faculty knew their benefits and status would change is false, and that both Western and Hendricks provided a verbal commitment that these components would not change. “We were in discussion with the dean of … faculty about a change in contract structure and reappointment procedures, and were in agreement about that,” the coach said. “The status and benefits change was not part of the discussion.” The College disputed this, stating that while there was a miscommunication with the transition between the previous dean of faculty and Mosby, the athletics department knew about the changes before signing the MOU. In the April 14 faculty Q&A, Mosby said that there was no difference between the MOU and Faculty Legislation, which had previously been discussed. “I think there are multiple misunderstandings [or] miscommunications,” Mosby said. “Change is very difficult, … so I asked Jon [Western] for a copy of the Fac-

ulty Legislation that he had planned to put forward, and it’s really no different than … the MOUs that the coaches signed. It’s really to put everything into alignment.” “I’m sorry that there w[ere] misunderstandings where the faculty benefits were concerned,” she continued. “We’ve made attempts to keep you whole to the best of our abilities, but also understanding that there is a change to staff status that needed to happen because we just were not marking, as [Stephens] mentioned, what type of work constitutes faculty work.” In the Q&A meeting, Whitcomb cited conversations with Western that occurred before he stepped down, in which he promised coaches that their faculty status would not be changed. Whitcomb said that after Mosby entered her role as interim dean of faculty, Western’s commitments were not honored. Mosby began to explain the transition into her interim position before she lost her cell phone signal. Several Athletics lecturers said that the faculty status for coaches was an incentive for junior lecturers to join the department, as it provided benefits on par with those offered by peer institutions like Bryn Mawr and Wellesley colleges. “This change is a massive hit to our department,” one Athletics employee said. “As a young coach in the beginning of my coaching career, I accepted this job in large part because of the allure of the faculty status and benefits associated with it. If this change in status persists, I fear that Mount Holyoke will become a stepping stone job for new, young coaches who are just getting into their careers.” On Wednesday, May 5, Craig Woodard, co-chair of the Faculty Conference Committee, read a statement on behalf of the FCC in support of the athletic coaches at the weekly faculty meeting. Faculty members asked follow-up questions of the administration and participated in discussion around the topic, concerned that an MOU could supersede faculty legislation. A coach who was present at the faculty meeting but wished to remain anonymous said that he felt that the faculty were concerned by the administration’s procedure in this situation. “I was encouraged by the support of the faculty,” he said. “The one thing that I felt from this faculty meeting was that the FCC and many of the faculty were very, very worried about what [this situation] will do for our faculty legislation.” Another coach and senior lecturer, who wished to remain anonymous, agreed that the faculty meeting was supportive of the concerns from the Athletics faculty both on maintaining faculty status and surrounding the administration’s disregard for faculty legislation and process. “I think overall … the faculty were supportive from a number of different angles,” he said. When contacted for comment, College Spokesperson Christian Feuerstein wrote, “The College is deeply committed to continued investment in an excellent intercollegiate athletics program and in the recruitment, retention and support of successful coaches and varsity athletes. We reaffirm our respect for the work and service of our colleagues in Athletics.” She continued, “The careful deliberation that led to the decision to transition team coaching positions from faculty to predominantly staff status has now concluded and that change was fully implemented in January 2021.”

Still, some members of the athletics department are hopeful that the College may reverse this decision and restore faculty status and benefits to senior lecturers and coaches, as the change has reportedly been detrimental to the department’s spirit. “The morale of our department is very low right now,” a coach said. “It’s incredible that we have stayed so close and supportive of one another through this adversity, but as a unit, we are really struggling emotionally and mentally. It’s a shame that the administration can make a decision in such a cavalier manner, and I think there is a growing lack of trust among faculty due to this decision.”

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and work through some things, I think they really enjoyed themselves.” Overall, Esber was happy Lacrosse had the opportunity to play Smith. “They are such great competitors, and the rivalry there is always so strong. While we had two other scrimmages earlier in April against another team, this scrimmage gave us a taste of NEWMAC [New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference] competition.” Like Field Hockey, Esber is hoping for a more normal season next year. “We definitely cannot wait,” Esber finished.

Soccer celebrates their graduating athlete

At their match against Smith, Mount Holyoke Soccer celebrated Emma Robson ’21. Robson is also a squash athlete who received a shoutout from Mount Holyoke Squash on the team’s Instagram story.

Rowing enjoys a morning workout with the Pioneers

Unlike the other teams, Rowing held a joint practice with Smith on the Connecticut River. Assistant Rowing Coach Cara Murphy ’14 gave more insight into the practice. “It was nice for us to see another team out on the water,” Murphy said. “The athletes enjoyed the opportunity for a little friendly competition against another team, and it was a good way to wrap up a long training season. It was especially helpful for our novices, who had never seen another rowing team before.” When asked about the future of next season, Murphy said that Rowing is expecting normal fall and spring seasons. The team is “look[ing] forward to seeing the folks who were remote this year again, as well as meeting a large group of incoming first-years,” Murphy explained. Editor’s note: Gigi Picard ’22 and Meryl Phair ’21 are both current members of the Mount Holyoke News.

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SENIOR REFLECTIONS

Dear reader, I cannot believe that it’s already come time for me to write my last letter to you. Over the past four years, the Mount Holyoke News and its readership have been the most stable force in my life, and I cannot thank you enough for truly making my college experience what I will surely remember as “The Good Old Days.” As I look back on my time at MHN, I am reminded of late nights and early mornings panic-emailing our publisher to make sure our margins are the correct size. I remember sitting in the Blanchard Great Room — far right table, back row — furiously scribbling notes about every motion discussed at Senate. I remember side-splitting laughter and horrible jokes not fit for publication and fighting with our very-old, not-quite-functional printer to create our own staff archives to tape onto the newsroom “Wall of Inspiration.” I remember the rush of filing before the Thursday morning deadline: sending the email from the old Macs in the newsroom and running home to my Delles dorm room at 4 a.m. I remember looking back, teary-eyed with sleep and happiness, over our finished project; our last 10 finished editions; the last four years of reporting. More than anything, I remember the pride that the Mount Holyoke News has given me throughout college. Without this community, I would have never enrolled at Mount Holyoke. I wouldn’t have fought for journalism education and I wouldn’t have the immense support and love behind my voice that I have found on staff. I owe my first thanks to Emily Blomquist ’18, my first managing editor of content who originally hired me onto the Mount Holyoke News staff. Thank you, Emily, for trusting me with the OpEd section and the spell-check function and your car over the 2017 Thanksgiving break. Thank you for creating a space for the dorky, over-enthusiastic 17-year-old in the newsroom. And thank you for continuing to be a constant resource and warm shoulder for me to turn to. Hand in hand, I owe a million-anda-half thanks to Lindsey McGinnis ’18, the editor-in-chief who first showed me the importance of college journalism. Lindsey, your voice has been a constant source of inspiration to me over the past four years, and I am so lucky to have you to look up to. Thank you for teaching me how and why to never give up the News. After I was hired onto the Mount Holyoke News staff, I quickly learned

LILY REAVIS EDITORIN-CHIEF how important the newsroom community is to the quality of the newspaper. The newsroom has always felt more like home to me than any campus dorm, and I am so grateful to have had that space until my junior year. Many thanks are due to Alison Huntoon ’19 and Anna Shortridge ’19, both of whom I was lucky to serve as co-News editors with during my sophomore year. Anna and Ally, you opened up the MHN space to me in more ways than you know, and I am so honored to have followed in your footsteps during college. Another driving force of good who I would be remiss not to thank is Caitlin Lynch ’20. From the moment I met Caitlin as a prospective student, I knew she would push and encourage me in ways I never could have imagined. A few years later, I found myself running for the position of editor-in-chief, at her suggestion, from over 2,000 miles away. Caitlin, thank you for showing me what is possible and for encouraging me every step of the way. Over the past four years, I have covered countless gut-wrenching stories and events, which would have been absolutely impossible without my loving community. To Sommer Byers ’21, thank you for letting me sob into your lap every time the news became too much, especially as I tried to find my voice early on in college. To Gretchen Ela ’22, thank you for the constant love and support, for reading the MHN even when it doesn’t matter to you specifically and for listening to my hours and hours of press-related rants. I wouldn’t be half the person I am today without you two. To Mimi Huckins ’21, I have always been in awe of you. Thank you for letting me pull you head-first into the MHN, and for never looking back. You are such an incredible storyteller with

the most empathetic and talented voice — I cannot wait to see what you do next, and I am the luckiest human in the world for being your friend/roommate/ coworker these past years. To Zoë Farr ’21, what would MHN be without your humor and attempted coups? I will never forget our finals study periods spent cramming in the newsroom or our unhinged attempts to get breaking news out. I’m so glad we never have to “boost socials” again, my dear friend. I would also like to thank Kendall Morales ’21, Katie Corasanti ’21 and Sophie Maxfield ’21 for listening to my constant journalism blabber and loving me nonetheless — it means more to me than ever that you still read my writing after all these years, dear friends. An integral part of my college experience was found in my aunt and uncle’s house, just outside of Northampton and a perfect retreat 30 minutes off campus. I was so lucky to spend countless weekends and evenings around their dinner table, discussing the events of the week and reading that edition of the Mount Holyoke News. To Donna and Bruce, thank you for the support, the dinners, the company and the wine — my work always felt so much more important when I knew you were reading it as well. Along the family lines, I want to take a second to thank my siblings and parents for their constant support and encouragement during my journalistic career, whether or not they really understood it. Thanks to Tory and Sam for always reading the links I sent them, trying their best to relate and always being proud of me. Thank you to my dad for caring about “the scoop” and laughing with me at each ridiculous spot I was put in. Thank you to my mom for making me craft a Mount Holyoke News-themed Christmas ornament in

May 6, 2021

. Mount Holyoke News

2017, for saving every article I have ever written and for always being my first reader. As always, I owe a massive thank you to my partner Maggie Micklo ’21. Although she is a separate (and truly incredible) campus force who has shifted several pieces of coverage over the years, she is also my most trusted confidant and my closest companion. Nothing means more than coming home to you after a long publishing night, and I am so lucky to have had that comfort for these past years. Thank god you have a thing for journalists! After my sophomore year of college, I was graciously elected editor-in-chief of the Mount Holyoke News, a position that I have held with the highest pride and honor since. Perhaps the largest thanks I have ever owed is to the MHN staff members who have trusted me with their words and voices the past two years — without the team’s constant dedication and diligence, the MHN would truly be nothing. I am the luckiest human in the universe to have read and overseen the writing of this team in my time on staff, and I will miss the group’s brilliant energetic buzz more than anything. My first year as editor-in-chief was more difficult and unprecedented than anyone could have imagined, given the global coronavirus pandemic and international protests for human rights. It was so terrifying to be at the helm of such important reporting, and I owe so much of the MHN’s success and my own sanity to my junior-year publication team. To Maddy Ritter ’20, thank you for the reminders to treat myself with compassion and for teaching me that every hard moment passes. To Yasmin Andrews, I have never met a more restless worker than you — thank you for the productivity, for the chaos, for the laughter and for the finished project. And to Sabrina Edwards’20, as my heart beats, you truly mean the universe to me. The newsroom and I miss you every day (not that I can access it, I just imagine). Here’s to our 2019-20 coverage, from Rachel Maddow to new printers to staff pages. May all the MHN’s overenthusiastic goals be met with rampant success moving forward. I also owe thanks to a number of professional journalists and editors who graciously trusted myself and the MHN with important stories and beats over the years. To Larry Mondi and Regan Foster, two supervisors who helped me grow in tremendous ways during college: I am so grateful for your expertise, CONTINUED ON PAGE 19

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SENIOR REFLECTIONS

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As our reporting begins to come to a close for this academic year, the Mount Holyoke News is preparing to say goodbye to several senior staff members. We’ve reserved space in each of our final editions for these graduating seniors to bid farewell to our readers and other staff members. Please enjoy our final senior reflection here:

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and I can’t thank you enough for your trust and support. To Elizabeth Taylor ’79, you truly never gave up the News. For that, I cannot thank you enough. You continue to make the Mount Holyoke News staff feel welcomed, listened to and important, even in a time so marked by journalistic mistrust. Thank you for your readership, your mentorship, your advice and your stories; we are so lucky to have you. Finally, there are a number of current student journalists on MHN’s staff who have shaped my college experience in inconceivable and absolutely touching ways. Every single staff member over the past four years has taught me some sort of invaluable lesson, and I could not thank the community enough for always making me strive to be a better person and journalist. To Kate Turner ’21, my first 2021 news friend and my academic soulmate: You have amazed me every single day since we first met. Your brilliance, dedication and momentous insight are forces to be reckoned with, and they absolutely shine through in every piece of work you create. I am so lucky to have learned from and with you during college, and I am constantly grateful to read any words you have written. You are an inspiration, dear friend. Thank

you for the memories. To Casey Roepke ’21: Do you remember that one breakfast in Wilder Hall during our first semester, October 2017? You told me that you wanted to take Latin and physics and I, a terrified and small humanities-major-in-the-making, thought, “Wow, this is the most intelligent person I have ever met.” Three years later, that remains true. Thank you so much for letting me witness your work ethic and perseverance and dedication over the past years. You are a force to be reckoned with and I am so grateful to have been reckoned with. To Ali Meizels ’23, I have an immense amount of pride that you were my first adopted first-year. Your confidence and drive are inspiring, and I hope you never doubt your skills as a leader. You are such an asset to the MHN, and I couldn’t imagine the past two years without you. I can’t wait to see all you accomplish! To Rose Sheehan ’22, you are so incredibly strong, and it has been such an honor to be on E-Board with you this year. Thank you for not being scared away when I asked you to become MEL, thank you for your late nights, thank you for always knowing the answer to my InDesign questions. You have made my senior year infinitely better, and I am so grateful for you. To Kelsey Thomas ’21, *insert mustache man emoji*. You are the most hilarious person I have ever met. I cannot believe it took until senior year

to really get to know you, but I will always be grateful to you for running for copy chief last year. You are, without a doubt, one of the most trustworthy and brilliant people I have ever met. Thank you for sharing your wisdom and your laughs and your screenshots. The MHN would be so, so horrible without you. (I mean that literally — why do none of us know grammar?) To Liz Lewis ’22, it has been an honor to see you grow in confidence and voice over the years. I have always seen a lot of myself in you, for better or for worse, in things like very detailed sentences and an over-active interest in artistic studies. You are capable of so much, Liz — more than you know. I cannot wait to see what new spaces you grow into, and please know you always have a couch to crash on wherever I am. And, finally, to my dear soon-to-besuccessor Flannery Langton ’22: What is there to say? You are one of the very most incredible, empathetic, open-minded, fair, diligent individuals I have had the pleasure to meet in my life. I knew from the moment you walked onto staff and began producing the most incredible photography I’d ever seen out of Mount Holyoke that you would refuse to give up the News. I try to live by very few and vague rules, but one of them is this: When the time for someone with renewed diligence, patience and determination to take over comes, let them. Leaving the Mount Holyoke News staff

after four years hurts so, so incredibly much, but it is softened a million times knowing that you will be there to take over. I cannot wait to see what coverage you are capable of directing, and I will always be here if you need a listening ear or a couch to crash on. My time at MHN has been absolutely otherworldly, and I feel strongly that I will never again have an experience as meaningful or impactful as this one. I have been blown away at every turn by the love sent our way by our community and readership. Thank you, dear reader, for your dedication and subscription over the years. I am so grateful for the trust you placed in me to have overseen the Mount Holyoke News’ 102nd and 103rd years of publication. I will never forget the late nights in the newsroom or the community letters that shaped my college experience. With this, I officially retire from my very treasured term as editor-in-chief of the Mount Holyoke News. I am sad to go, but I could not be more grateful for the experience or more confident in the incoming executive board. Thank you for the memories, the stories and the readership. With all my love and GO NEWS, Lily Reavis Editor-in-Chief, Mount Holyoke News, 2019-2021

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BOOKS

May 6, 2021

. Mount Holyoke News

Angie Thomas revisits Garden Heights in new book ‘Concrete Rose’ BY CAT BARBOUR ’24 BOOKS EDITOR

“When it comes to the streets, there’s rules. They ain’t written down, and you won’t find them in a book. It’s natural stuff you know the moment your momma let you out the house. Kinda like how you know how to breathe without somebody telling you.” So begins Angie Thomas’ mesmerizing novel “Concrete Rose.” I was ecstatic when I heard this book was coming out, and when it hit the shelves of my local library, I knew I had to check it out. The prequel to the New York Times bestselling book “The Hate U Give” finds Maverick Carter in his senior year of high school. Loyal to his family, and the son of an infamous King Lord gang leader, he has everything mostly under control. He’s doing fine in school, has a good group of friends and is helping his mom pay bills by selling drugs. All of this is thrown out of balance when he discovers he has a 3-month-old son, Seven, who is now left in Maverick’s care. Maverick has to figure out how to physically, emotionally and financially provide for his son while trying to maintain his precarious existence from before. The author of “Concrete Rose” lives in Mississippi and has a Bachelor of Fine Arts in creative writing from Belhaven University. Passionate about hip-hop, Thomas was a teen rapper and will still rap if asked. Regarding her views on literature, Thomas said she “look[s] at books as being a form of activism. Sometimes they’ll show us a side of the world we might not have known about.” In this novel in particular, Thomas infuses the story with commentary on the unrealistic expectations and pressures placed upon Black men and the difficulty of teenage parenthood. In Mississippi, almost 28 in 1,000 girls aged 15-19 gave birth in 2020. The vast majority of them were people of color. Thomas also includes Easter eggs to her previ-

ous work “On the Come Up” as well as Nic Stone’s “Dear Martin” and its sequel “Dear Justyce.” Lawless from “On the Come Up” is mentioned when Maverick’s cousin Dre comes over to give Maverick a break while Seven is asleep, and they listen to his new CD in Dre’s car. Later on, Maverick and his girlfriend Lisa meet Deja McAllister, a college senior and the mother of Martin McAllister, the titular Martin from Stone’s book. I really appreciated the worldbuilding and tieins to other popular books by Black authors. It felt like a celebration, and being able to put the pieces together made reading the book feel special. “Concrete Rose” also provides backstory to “The Hate U Give,” including the meaning behind Maverick, Seven and Starr’s names and an introduction to the influential Mr. Wyatt, the owner of the local grocery store in Garden Heights known for his no-nonsense attitude and sparkly clean aisles. I adored the rose motif, which Thomas uses as a metaphor for children growing up in difficult situations: “Roses, they’re fascinating li’l things. Can handle more than folks think,” Mr. Wyatt says. “They could easily survive without any help. We want them to thrive.” From “The Hate U Give,” the reader first learns how important Mr. Wyatt is to Maverick’s character growth. The first lesson is learning what aids growth, for both people and plants, when Mr. Wyatt supervises Maverick in planting rose bushes. The motif appears in other details as well. Each section of the novel is named after a stage in the life of a flower that coincides with the plot: “Part 1: Germination,” “Part 2: Growth,” “Part 3: Dormancy” and “Epilogue: Bud.” Since the meaning behind names is so significant for Maverick, I was a little disappointed Starr’s name is not “Rose” instead. The plant has proven to be too crucial to Maverick’s personal growth not to honor it in some way. Understandably, “Concrete Rose” was written after “The Hate U Give,” making a name change difficult, but for a novel that weaves

Graphic by Gabby Gagnon ’24 Angie Thomas is the bestselling author of the novel “Concrete Rose.”

in previous works so effortlessly, this is a thread left untucked. What I love about Thomas’ writing is the raw emotion present in every word. It’s impossible not to be immediately sucked into the brilliance of the worldbuilding and the way the characters feed off of each other, whether they are in the same novel or not. I’m throwing chef’s kisses all around. If you get a chance, you should read this book — and all the other books referenced in this article. They are compelling, thought-provoking and emotional stories you will not regret stepping into.

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world staring back at them, and this brings pleasure.” In contrast, Worringer “says that ancient art tends toward abstraction — with its badly painted stick figures, planar hieroglyphs and geometric and vegetal patterns — not because ancient artists were bad and boring, but because the height of artistic happiness … la[id] in geometric simplicity,” Yu said. “In the confines of [the] home, one is forced to take a plainer view of delight or happiness. And in weird moments, if you’re not overreacting to the thought of ghosts in your house, you start to see the world’s components morph into lovely geometrical hallucinations, like the triangles that Plato saw in flames or the ubiquitous circles that formed a medieval view of the universe,” Yu elaborated. “I’d say this is what makes Worringer’s book my favorite reading of this pandemic year.”

“A Place of Greater Safety” by Hilary Mantel,

recommended by Assistant Professor of Politics Adam Hilton

“Station Eleven” by Emily St. John Mandel, recommended by Professor and Chair of English Elizabeth Young

Hilton read “A Place of Greater Safety,” a historical fiction novel about the French Revolution, “for a bit “A novel about the aftermath of a devastating of relief from the pandemic.” The book centers around global pandemic,” “Station Eleven” revolves around the lives of Georges Danton, Camille Desmoulins and the fictional “Georgia Flu,” Young said. The novel folMaximilien Robespierre, all influential figures from lows a group of nomadic actors and musicians known the revolution. as the “Traveling Symphony” “The book … balances the 20 years after the pandemic hopes and optimism of dramat“Even the scariest works are, to me, began as they navigate variic social and political transforterritories and perform for helpful for naming, illuminating and ous mation with the micro-dramas those who have settled there. reorganizing aspects of this strange With some disturbing twists of individuals’ lives, their flaws and limitations, as well as and a complex plotline, Young pandemic year.” the brutality that can be un“found it oddly comforting, as leashed by those who pursue it has a lot of optimism about - Elizabeth Young their goals at all costs,” Hilton post-apocalyptic survival posexplained. sibilities.” “I’d recommend it to any “Even the scariest one with an interest in political change. It’s a heavy works are, to me, helpful for naming, illuminating and read, but then again, it’s a heavy subject,” Hilton not- reorganizing aspects of this strange pandemic year,” ed, though he also considers it “a lively read.” Young said.

COMMUNITY PHOTOS OF THE WEEK

May 6, 2021

. Mount Holyoke News

21

THIS WEEK’S PHOTOS BY OLIVIA BRANDWEIN ’22

Send submissions for Photo of the Week to mhnews@mtholyoke.edu by 4 P.M. EDT on Wednesdays for a chance to be included in that week’s edition.

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Campus COVID-19 Cases Tracker

DEPARTMENT OF CHILDREN AND FAMILIES SEEKS VOLUNTEERS

Volunteers are needed from Western Massachusetts to help review cases involving children who are placed in the custody of the state.

Updated May. 6, 2021

New Positive Cases

Total Tests Conducted

Past 7 Days

0

1,390

April 26-May 2

0

1,945

April 19-25

0

1,958

April 12-18

2

1,938

April 5-11

0

1,922

46

42,334

Previous (since Aug. 12, 2020)

The FOSTER CARE REVIEW UNIT makes decisions regarding children who are placed in foster care for six months or longer, assessing how well their needs are being met and what progress has been made toward establishing them in a permanent living situation. A Volunteer from the Community is one member of the 3-person panels that make these decisions. Foster Care Reviews typically last 30 to 90 minutes and are being conducted remotely during the pandemic. Volunteers need to be 18 years or older and must participate in pre-service training that is currently being conducted remotely. For an application and further information, please contact Lashanda Stone at Lashanda.Stone@ Mass.Gov.