Part I :
(title) Katie Austen – Basketball
“My decision to come to Mount Holyoke was because it was the best academic institution with the most competitive opportunities for female athletes.”
(title) Lori Hendricks – Associate Athletics Director
“They’re using athletics as a vehicle to continue to grow, so it’s an extension of their classroom experience. This is a learning laboratory here.”
Narrator
For over 200 years, Mount Holyoke College has been a place for smart, energetic women to pursue their conviction that women can and should make a difference in the world. The athletic program at Mount Holyoke enables students to be bold, to break through barriers, and achieve in ways they never imagined possible.
(title) Lisa Nash – Swimming & Diving
“Being that I did move far away from home when I came to Mount Holyoke College, I think that this group of individuals here – my team, my administrators, my coaches, really are my family. They’re the people that I rely on now when I have questions or concerns and they’re the people that at the end of the day I want to see.”
(title) Christine Chancy – Basketball
“As a prospective student-athlete, I think what I was looking for was a connection with my teammates and I got that here at Mount Holyoke. Sometimes I’m just hanging out with my teammates and we kind of get carried away and it kind of feels like that sleepover vibe. But we always know that we have to buckle down and manage our responsibilities, in addition to our commitment to athletics. And being around such great women with high motivations is just an empowering feeling.”
Narrator
As a member of the Mount Holyoke athletics community, you join a long line of high achieving women who have served in leadership roles in just about every field imaginable. Here, women speak boldly and are heard.
(title) Elaine Harvey – Soccer
“From the moment you step foot on campus here at Mount Holyoke, the athletics department is looking to identify and develop strong leaders. The program here has helped me evolve as an athlete but it’s also prepared me for whatever comes next.”
(title) Lori Hendricks – Associate Athletic Director
“We throw it around all the time that sport develops character and develops leadership. But we’re really being intentional about what are the experiences that these athletes are having here at the college that are preparing them to lead at a national or international level.”
(title) Lisa Nash – Chair (Student-Athlete Advisory Committee)
“The Student-Athlete Advisory Committee has given me an opportunity to reach out to the broader community and has helped me to build bonds with student-athletes that I maybe wouldn’t have had the opportunity to know otherwise and has given me an opportunity to set the agenda and think about ways in which we can improve Mount Holyoke athletics for future student-athletes.”
Part II :
Narrator
There is a progressive movement here in the athletics department, as we continue to upgrade our facilities and push our players and coaches to higher levels. Our new turf field ranks as one of the top facilities in New England. The Orchards, our Donald Ross designed golf course, was host site to the 2004 US Women’s Open. The equestrian center, located on campus, draws top student riders from all over the world, and the on-going renovations to our athletic facilities evidence our commitment to providing an experience for our student-athletes on par with the world-class education they receive in the classroom.
(title) Mimi Henry - Field Hockey
“I feel part of the progress. I feel like I’m coming at a time ... you know, when I was a freshman I came in when we were really... progressing forward, and now we’re right in the middle of it. We have these new facilities, the gym is getting re-done and, you know, with all these things moving forward you really feel more proud to be an athlete... every single year I’ve been here I’m prouder to wear the jersey than I was the year before.”
(title) Lindsay Sceats - Equestrian
“Here at Mount Holyoke, I walk 150 yards out of my dorm and I find myself in a multi-million dollar equestrian center. But if I walk 150 yards in the other direction, I find myself in state of the art laboratories surrounded by faculty who are tops in their field. I know that my time here is really unique because, right now, I have the best of both worlds.”
(title) Laurian Lue Yen - Squash
“I didn’t expect to have such a dedicated coach coming to college squash. I thought that my best coach would have come from my national coach because, in the grand scheme of things, you think playing for your country is more important than playing for your school, but when you come here you feel like you’re a world class athlete, that’s the kind of attention you get from your coach.”
Narrator
We recruit students from around the globe, and being a part of a diverse community challenges students to examine their values and beliefs, and think about the world, and their place in it. Everything we are, and everything we do, is structured with women in mind. At Mount Holyoke, women are treated at first class citizens, because all the opportunities are for women. Women are not the sideshow, they get top billing as the only show in town.
(title) Aliza Hanif - Golf
“The sense of diversity here is present in the student body, and it clearly is reflected in the athletics department. In a college, that sense of belonging is important, and I feel that I am at home here.”
(title) Lisa Nash - Swimming & Diving
“I think that they have given me an opportunity to enter into the community, and they have respected me, as a student-athlete, and have embraced me, and embrace all student-athletes.”
Part III :
(title) Miriam Esber - Lacrosse Coach
“One of the challenges we face when recruiting is opening prospective student-athletes up to the benefits of an all-women’s school. They are going to have the best practice and competition times, access to the full-time training staff, and exclusive use of our facilities. I mean, the new turf field was not built for a football team - it was built for these women. Experiencing that kind of first class treatment at Mount Holyoke College as athletes encourages women to expect that same standard in life.”
(title) Mimi Henry - Field Hockey
“What I discovered here, once I set foot on campus was that there is a camaraderie, you can’t get this anywhere else.”
(title) Elise Marifian - Tennis
“I never thought that I’d come to an all-women’s college but I’m really glad I did because I wouldn’t have had the same opportunities for growth and leadership both on the court and in the classroom.”
(title) Lori Hendricks - Associate Athletics Director
“When you come here you are choosing to do something bold, you are making that statement. That you have expectations for what you are going to give back to this world, that they are great. You also have very high expectations as an athlete - you want to be in a program that cares about performance. You want to do well. And that’s going to continue on into life.”
(title) Andy Whitcomb - Field Hockey Coach
“It’s not so much the wins and losses they remember, but it’s how they felt when they were here, and the friendships that they made and what they did to accomplish common goals. In their four years here, they will have experienced not just a great academic institution, but an athletic institution that paves the way for women, and really challenges women to be their very best.
