Mount Holyoke News AN INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER SINCE 1917 MOUNTHOLYOKENEWS.COM
FRIDAY, APRIL 8, 2022
Dr. Beverly Tatum named interim president of Mount Holyoke BY TARA MONASTESSE ’25 NEWS EDITOR
Dr. Beverly Daniel Tatum, president emerita of Spelman College, has been appointed by the Board of Trustees as Mount Holyoke College’s interim president following the departure of current president Sonya Stephens. Beginning her term in July, Tatum will lead the College for the 2022-2023 academic year until the search for the College’s 20th president is complete and the new candidate assumes office. Tatum will replace Stephens, whose departure from the College was announced by the Board of Trustees on March 2. Stephens has stepped down to assume the position of president at The American University of Paris. Tatum’s appointment was announced in a letter to the community on March 30, written by Board of Trustees Chair Karena V. Strella ’90. “During her term, Beverly will be an active presence on campus and in the wider community to advance Mount Holyoke’s mission and core values,” Strella wrote. “In partnership with the Board, faculty, students, staff and alums, she will work to sustain our current momentum
Photo courtesy of David Tatum On March 30, the Board of Trustees named Dr. Beverly Tatum the new acting president of MHC.
and move key strategic projects and vital operational activities forward.” This will not be Tatum’s first time serving as acting president of the College. In 2002, she served in the
role for the spring semester while 17th president Joanne V. Creighton took a six-month sabbatical. She ascended to this role after working with the College for 13 years, initial-
ly as a faculty member of psychology and education from 1989-2002 as well as dean of the College from 19982002. In her work as an experienced psychologist and educator, Tatum focused her academic research specifically on race relations. In a 1992 edition of the Harvard Educational Review, Tatum contributed a piece on her research entitled “Talking about Race, Learning about Racism: The Application of Racial Identity Development Theory in the Classroom.” In the article, Dr. Tatum described her observations while teaching a class entitled “The Psychology of Racism” at three collegiate institutions — one of which was Mount Holyoke. “It has become painfully clear on many college campuses across the United States that we cannot have successfully multiracial campuses without talking about race and learning about racism,” Tatum’s article concludes. “Providing a forum where this discussion can take place safely over a semester … may be among the most proactive learning opportunities an institution can provide.” Tatum is also widely known as the author of the 1997 book “Why
Are All The Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? And Other Conversations About Race.” According to The New York Times, the book, which was updated for its 20th anniversary in 2017, once again climbed to the bestseller list in June 2020. Tatum also published the book “Can We Talk About Race?: And Other Conversations in an Era of School Resegregation” in 2007. In more recent years, Tatum was named the 2013 recipient of the Carnegie Academic Leadership Award and the 2014 recipient of the American Psychological Association Award for Outstanding Lifetime Contributions to Psychology, according to her personal website. Starting in 2002, Tatum served as the ninth president of Spelman College. She stepped down in July 2015 to “focus on her work as an author, speaker and expert on issues related to racial identity,” according to the Spelman College website. “We are grateful to Tatum for lending her extraordinary skills and expertise at this time to help position the 20th president for success and the College for continued excellence,” the Board of Trustees announcement concluded.
Weissman Center for Leadership hosts BOOM! features department Senator Bernie Sanders for Town Hall proposals and keynote poets
Graphic by Anjali Rao-Herel ’22
BY GILLIAN PETRARCA ’23 STAFF WRITER
Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders visited Mount Holyoke College on April 4 as the final guest of the Weissman Center for Leadership’s Town Hall Series. The “Our Voices, Our Platforms” series aimed to explore how people can use their voices to create meaningful change. Director of the Weissman Center for Leadership Amy E. Martin opened the webinar by expressing her thanks to the Weissman student fellows, Mount Holyoke President Sonya Stephens and Carmen Yulín Cruz, Harriet L. Weissman and Paul M. Weissman Distinguished Fellow in Leadership and former mayor of San Juan, Puerto Rico, for helping plan and support the town hall series over the past month. Stephens introduced Sanders to the webinar. While beginning, town hall moderator Cruz acknowledged some feelings of anxiety. “I am a little nervous. I worked with Bernie on his campaign,” she said. “I call him a ‘wizy-wak’ person. [With him], you will always see the truth. I am looking forward to this conversation tonight.” Cruz first asked Sanders if he could share his thoughts about the recent Supreme Court nomination of Ketanji Brown Jackson and what he thinks it reflects about the state of the U.S. Sanders responded that in some ways, the nomination signifies progress. Jackson’s April 7, 2022 confirmation will make her the first Black woman sworn into the Supreme Court. “We have made progress on many things such as gay and civil rights. However, we are falling further behind into an oligarchic society,” Sanders said. Cruz then asked Sanders when
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he realized he wanted to go into politics and structurally change it. Sanders said that when he was younger, it never occurred to him that he would run for office. However, he saw a lot of inequality growing up. “I and other families struggled. I saw families living paycheck to paycheck,” he said. Cruz then brought up Sanders’ recent tweet in which he said, “It should not be a luxury to keep teeth in your mouth.” Sanders said that the tweet was inspired by one of his staffers who told him that her friend’s father recently went into thousands of dollars in medical debt due to a tooth infection. “Healthcare is a human right,” said Sanders. “This is not a radical idea.” Sanders noted that the narrative surrounding withholding and granting people rights is often controlled by larger powers such as corporations. He said, “You can’t talk about the climate crisis or how people are struggling to put food on the table because big corporations will try to silence you. If I can’t talk about that, then what can I talk about?” Cruz’s final question for Sanders was how he, as a Jew, felt about the Israel vs. Palestine conflict. Sanders said he was disturbed by how our government has ignored Palestine and should help create peace between the two nations. Audience members were then given the opportunity to ask Sanders questions. Conference and Events Services Manager Karen Franz asked if Sanders could offer his thoughts on energy independence from Ukraine and Russia and if he had any potential solutions for other energy sources. Sanders responded that he believes the United States should break its dependence on oil more
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broadly and that it would be a good idea to move to more sustainable energy. “This would create millions of good-paying jobs,” Sanders said. The next question came from Professor of Politics Preston H. Smith II, who asked if Sanders could recommend any political strategies that would speak to the needs of working class people. “We need a political revolution that promotes a progressive agenda,” Sanders stated. “We need class consciousness in order to bring people together around a progressive agenda.” Roxy Blocksdorf ’22 then asked what kind of political coalition is necessary to make housing affordable, and why the American government doesn’t seem to care about this issue. “The people who need affordable housing have no political power, while the billionaires with mansions have all of the power,” said Sanders. “We need a strong group of working-class people to advocate for housing, which will create good union jobs.” Aditi Parashar ’22 then asked Sanders if he had read any books in college that shaped his political policy. Sanders said that he read a lot of socialist theory, especially about trade unionist Eugene V. Debs. “I encourage you to go outside of your curriculum and read,” Sanders said. Lauren Brook ’24 asked how to begin limiting America’s consumption. Sanders responded that the problem is not America’s consumption, but consumerism as a wider mindset. “Life is not just about how much stuff you can buy,” Sanders said. “We need community.” The last open floor question came from Dawn Bernardo ’25, who asked, “What is a realistic way to move away from the oligarchy that you mentioned earlier?” Sanders responded that to do this, people need to rally around a progressive agenda and elect politicians that align with those views. Cruz then spoke to close out the event. “I ask this question to every person who comes on here,” said Cruz. “If you were to tell me about one person whose voice inspired you, who would that be?” Sanders said that among the many people that he could think of, the work of Eugene V. Debs has really inspired him. He added, “I would also say Martin Luther King Jr. I was actually there for the ‘I Have a Dream’ speech. He was an extraordinary man who got involved in many things like labor and the Vietnam War, when he did not have to.” Cruz ended the night by thanking the many students who helped coordinate the event.
Photo courtesy of Caits Meissner for Jellyfish Treasury via WikiMedia Commons Poet and editor Safia Elhillo, pictured above, was a keynote speaker at this year’s Community Day.
BY SAMMI CRAIG ’23 & TARA MONASTESSE ’25 STAFF WRITER | NEWS EDITOR
Tuesday, March 29, was Building On Our Momentum Community Day at Mount Holyoke College. The annual event dedicates one day to panels, presentations and workshops on the subjects of “diversity, equity and inclusion,” according to the College’s website. Students, faculty and staff all encouraged to attend and actively engage in BOOM! events. Events included talks such as “Critical Race and Ethnic Studies at Mount Holyoke: A Dialogue,” in addition to the keynote address titled “Affirmation, Love and Freedom — A Night of Poetry and Dialogue.” The virtual panel on Critical Race and Ethnic Studies at Mount Holyoke began at 10:30 a.m. and featured “faculty from Critical Social Thought, Africana Studies and Latinx Studies,” according to the College’s website. This panel was a discussion about a submitted proposal to form a new department that merged Critical Social Thought, Africana Studies and Latinx Studies. While there would be one main department, there would be three paths that students can choose within this area of study. As noted during the panel, the paths outlined in the proposal would include “Africana studies, CST, Critical Race and Political Economy.” The faculty on the panel highlighted how each of the paths overlap and intersect to connect material from classes within and outside of the new department. Another major distinction is that this new department would not be an American-centered program. The merged department would center the history of colonialism within the studies and have a global focus. The approval of this proposal would mean an overall increase in access to resources for three depart-
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ments that, separately, do not have as many resources. In addition, students could engage in a wide range of studies while still staying within their major. The faculty advocates expressed hope that the new department merger will be implemented in the Fall 2022 semester. As the day progressed, community members were able to engage with multiple events during different blocks of time. Some events occurred virtually, while others occurred in person. The final keynote address was held on Zoom and concluded Community Day. The virtual “Affirmation, Love and Freedom — A Night of Poetry and Dialogue with Fatimah Asghar and Safia Elhillo” closed BOOM! 2022. Fatimah Asghar and Safia Elhillo served as co-editors of the anthology “Halal, If You Hear Me,” a collection of poems that “dispel the notion that there is one correct way to be a Muslim by holding space for multiple, intersecting identities while celebrating and protecting those identities,” according to an event description provided by the College. The writers shared several poems from their personal poetry collections — Asghar read from her 2018 collection “If They Come For Us: Poems,” while Elhillo read from “Girls That Never Die,” her upcoming collection slated for publication next July. During the Q&A session that followed, Asghar and Elhillo discussed a variety of topics, including creative practices, literary inspirations and their collaborative writing process. “I have the privilege [to] get to read [Elhillo]’s poems before the world does,” Asghar said. “We have an understanding of each other’s work that’s really deep.” “Everything I learned was taught by another poet,” Elhillo said. “Community is what made me a poet and kept me a poet.”
A&E: Junior Art Studio hosts show