An Exploration of Community at Mount Holyoke College Through the Years

Saleha Chaudhry

In the book, Community: Seeking Safety in an Insecure World, Bauman writes, “The ‘really existing community’, were we to find ourselves in its grasp, would demand stern obedience in exchange for the services it renders or promises to render. Do you want security? Give up your freedom, or at least a good chunk of it”(4). For Bauman, the formation of a community is a complicated process that requires various types of sacrifice on the part of its members. Just as he mentions the relinquishing of freedom for security in a community, it is possible that for a closer, seemingly more cohesive community to exist, a narrower, more homogenous membership maybe necessary as opposed to a diverse population with diverse goals. This example can be witnessed at Mount Holyoke College when comparing the students from the early 1950s to those of 2004. As a consequence of time passed and shifts in the environment surrounding the college, the students that attend Mount Holyoke have changed causing the community of the college to change as well.

If Mary Julia Browning (class of 1951) is taken as an example of a typical student at Mount Holyoke in the 1950s and compared to a student at the college today, there would be several compelling differences. Browning was a from a white middle class background with a legacy of educated women. Her mother and sister had both attended Wellesley College, another elite women’s college in Massachusetts. After receiving her degree from Mount Holyoke, she worked several secretarial and clerical jobs until she married, had children, and became a housewife. Making the assumption that Browning was a representative of all her peers must be justified. The framing of the questions on both Appointment Bureau Form and Biographical Questionnaire from 1951 point to strong norms that were reflected in Browning. The questions supposed that the students were coming from a comfortable home with a nuclear family structure and they planned to replicate this setup in their own futures. There were so many questions about the women’s husbands that it is clear that there was a  norm for marriage relatively soon after graduation. Therefore, it can be established that the students during the 1950s entered Mount Holyoke from similar backgrounds, had similar goals, and left on similar paths. Mount Holyoke women of 2004 have no ties that bind them except for the fact that they all attend the same college. The commitment to a global student population and the vast variety of majors and career options makes the college a very diverse and broad campus today. Mount Holyoke’s community is affected by the different attitudes and ambitions of its students from then and now. The narrower population and uniform ambitions of the 1950s were conducive to a more involved community where students participated in the same campus events and traditions. Also, a connection to Mount Holyoke after graduation was more important to the students like Browning in the 1950s and the relationship was maintained arduously. However, none of these changes in the community are concrete and absolute. The students varied in the past and they continue to vary today. Furthermore, there are elements of Mount Holyoke’s community that are continuous through time and demonstrate that some of the foundations of the college remain unaltered.

Browning joined Mount Holyoke in 1947 and was presented with the Freshman Handbook that laid out all the activities and traditions of the college so that students could get acquainted. This handbook listed in specific detail certain specific clubs that were active on the campus including Glee Club and Outing Club. These organizations dominated the campus and there was no culture for initiating more activities and interests. Not only that, but there seemed to be no need to create new organizations; the students were content with what was available on campus. This demonstrates their similar backgrounds and similar paths for life. By having these fewer activities available, there were more opportunities for bonding amongst the students. Whereas in 2004, there is no limit to the amount of activities and clubs on campus and there is always the freedom to create an organization that addresses one particular student’s interest. The diverse backgrounds and interests of today’s students at the school requires the expansion of the campus to accommodate everyone. There is no longer homogeneity in the population of Mount Holyoke. This poses a problem to the possibility of a cohesive community on campus when students are all pursuing different interests in small groups, but disconnected from the larger campus. Also, during Browning’s time at Mount Holyoke, traditions were vital to community building at school. In her letter to her mother, Browning described in great detail and with much enthusiasm her preparations for Hazing Day with her senior Big Sister (ca. Nov. 9, 1947). This tradition was not only important, it was institutionalized. The event was listed on the calendar and in the handbook; students took part in the happenings automatically. At the college in 2004, traditions like Big Sister/Little Sister and ‘dis-orientation’ are fading. This decline of tradition is chronicled in Mount Holyoke News. The comic strip, “4 Years to Life” illustrates the lack of bonding between seniors and their little sisters when one particular senior is unable to remember the name of her assigned ‘firstie’ (Burns 5). Although traditions, consolidated activities and clubs have experienced a decline, there are still major campus social events whose popularity equal that of the Soph Hop and May Day in the 1950s (Browning, February 18, 1948). In 2003, Las Vegas Night was attended by 1,200 people (Cornillot 1). More than half of Mount Holyoke students were interested enough in this event to be a part of it. This shows that there is still a sense of community available at college despite the changes in demographics and environment. This speaks to the fact that Mount Holyoke is a small liberal arts college located in a suburban town where there is not much opportunity for off-campus activity. Social events like Las Vegas Night are appealing because they are exciting ways to spend time in an otherwise unvaried place where schoolwork is the main goal.

The Mount Holyoke archives has a collection of letters featuring correspondence between Browning and Mrs. John H.B. Mills. She kept Mrs. Mills informed in detail about her activities post-graduation as well as any address changes that had occurred. It is obvious from the letters that Browning was very familiar with this woman who worked for the alumnae association as the college. Their relationship clearly went beyond that of official news and events. The personal element of their relationship even after Browning had left the college is a sign of the community that was available at Mount Holyoke in the 1950s. The college was a truly home for its students because technology did not allow a constant connection with family and friends and many of the students were not planning any further education or lifetime careers after Mount Holyoke. Their time at the college was a chance to build relationships and memorable experiences while receiving an education. There was a sense that there education was going end with Mount Holyoke and they were being ‘finished’ for their lives ahead. Whereas at Mount Holyoke today, the relationship between the college and its alumni has vastly changed. There is still the possibility of close relationships to continue after graduation in 2004 but they are less likely in a society employing the internet and mass mailing. Of course, students may and are welcome to use the school’s resources after graduation to network with older alumni or apply to graduate school. Of course, in these cases, Mount Holyoke is a vehicle for various career paths without an apparent sense of coherent community. Students are not looking for a personal connection with Mount Holyoke faculty and there are no norms that strongly encourage these relationships.

As much as there is evidence to show that the Mount Holyoke students and community of the 1950s are different from those of 2004, there are still common threads that remain untouched by time and change. The women of this college may have had different and diverse life goals over the years, but they approach those goals with the same studiousness and academic rigor. The focus on academic achievement is so prevalent and constant that it is institutionalized at this college. In the Freshman Handbook from the 1947/1948 academic year, there was a section titled “10 Rules of Study”. Examples from this list included budgeting time so that two hours of study are spent on any one hour class and turning off the radio and not fooling around with your roommate is essential during time set aside for study. Browning illustrated this diligence in a letter to her mother and father (February 18, 1948). She described in detail how she is doing in every class and even directly quoted from the professor’s comments on one of her graded papers. She was well aware of the distribution requirements she is needed to fulfill and planned them out well in advance for the next semester. Browning was not the only disciplined one at the college, her peers were all in the same situation. She mentioned in another letter that her Hazing Day senior was too busy to properly initiate her because of her workload (ca. Nov. 9, 1947). This legacy of hard work is seen at Mount Holyoke in 2004 as well. The industrious students can be found all over campus and they are especially visible at the library during finals where all the computers and couches are taken 24 hours of the day. There is so much emphasis on extreme work habits during finals that there was even an article to document the phenomenon in the December issue of Mount Holyoke News. The article consisted of a series of pictures of students sitting in various places in the full library and discussing their level of stress (Lawson 8). This stress that Mount Holyoke takes on as a community was also mentioned in an editorial in another issue of the Mount Holyoke News. The author wrote, “One cannot neglect that the academic rigor at this is a direct response to the needs of the students. Women at Mount Holyoke seem to thrive in high stress, high intensity environments – thirsting after those pop quizzes, justifying those hours spent on optional material and the better paper topics” (Nichols 5). It is evident that certain things like studiousness are inherent to the culture of Mount Holyoke and no matter the changes in the school’s environment and demographics, the fundamental foundation will not shake.

When Bauman writes about a ‘really existing community’ (4), he explains that there are no simple and convenient definitions to understand how a community works. He does stress however that there will be sacrifices necessary to create a community. The balance between various elements can determine how cohesive, conflicted or distant a community may be. This is demonstrated in the example of Mount Holyoke through the years. When comparing the community of the college in the 1950s to the college community today, there are many changes. These changes are a direct result of the types of students that attend Mount Holyoke. There backgrounds, goals, and uses for the school all determine their activities and connection to the campus in many compelling and powerful ways. Of course, there are still threads that show how some things remain the same over time, because they are a part of the college’s identity. Therefore, no matter the changes in the college, there will always be elements of a continuous community at Mount Holyoke.

Bibliography

Alumnae Biographical File, Browning Mary J., Class of 1951, Appointment Bureau Form, February 21, 1951, Archives and Special Collections, Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, MA

Alumnae Biographical File, Browning Mary J., Class of 1951, Biographical Questionnaire, August 22, 1960, Archives and Special Collections, Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, MA

Burns, A.G. “4 Years to Life.” Mount Holyoke News. 6 November 2003, vol. 86, no. 9.

Cornillot, Sandrine. “Three Arrested on Las Vegas Night.” Mount Holyoke News. 23 October 2003, vol. 86, no. 8.

Freshman Handbook 1947/1948, Archives and Special Collections, Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, MA

Lawson, Jo. “Get Ready…Get Stressed…Go!” Mount Holyoke News. 4 December 2003, vol. 86, no. 12.

Mary J. Nelson Papers, M.B. to Mrs. John H.B. Mills, May 20, 1952, Archives and Special Collections, Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, MA

Mary J. Nelson Papers, M.B. to Mrs. John H.B. Mills, July 12, 1952, Archives and Special Collections, Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, MA

Mary J. Nelson Papers, M.B. to Mrs. Louise Browning, ca. November 9, 1947, Archives and Special Collections, Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, MA

Mary J. Nelson Papers, M.B. to Mrs. Louise Browning, February 18, 1948, Archives and Special Collections, Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, MA

Nichols, Jennifer. “Are Students at Mount Holyoke Lazy?” 5 February 2004, vol. 86, no. 13.