MHC Opens Year with Green Revolution

Posted: September 3, 2008

"Going green" took on a whole new meaning Wednesday morning, September 3, as the Mount Holyoke College community gathered for opening convocation, officially welcoming the class of 2012 and launching its 172nd academic year under perfect sunny blue skies.

Per tradition, students dressed in their respective class colors and paraded by class into the Gettell Amphitheater chanting competing cheers, with decibel levels rising according to class seniority. And per tradition, the occasion was dominated by the seniors, the class of 2009--dubbed "the Green Revolution" by keynote speaker John Grayson.

Although they wore graduation robes to signify they've reached their final year of study at MHC, they adorned those robes with green flags, balloons, tiaras, feather boas, umbrellas, and laurel wreaths--in shades ranging from emerald and olive, to lime and pea green. There were green hats in all sizes and shapes and green hair, some falling from long, short, plastic, and vinyl wigs, and some simply dyed the old-fashioned way.

Stephanie Kealy sported her green with a "Kiss me, I'm Irish" button, while classmate Rachel Wall struggled with a green, child-sized hat fashioned into what she described as "a dragon unicorn." Paola Di Tolla tacked green butterfly wings to her gown, under which she wore a kelly green crocheted dress.

Volleyball team members Amanda Trask, Brenna Shepherd, Katie Schwartz, and Chelsea Tracy transformed themselves into verdant "Peter Pan-leprechaun-elves," from the tips of their caps down to their tights and pointed elf slippers. Cecilie Pope's attire may have come from the greatest distance: Worried she wouldn't have "something cool to wear" to convocation, she bought her green, sequined ball gown at a flea market in Paris this past summer.

Even Emanuelle and Nicolette Peterson, the ten- and seven-year-old daughters of LITS manager Ron Peterson, went green while assisting Grayson during his presentation by demonstrating the "greenest laptop ever made--and it's even green and white (in color)," the XO computer designed for the nonprofit One Laptop Per Child foundation.

Grayson, Professor of Religion on the Alumnae Foundation, struck a more serious note and used the computers, which were designed to bring inexpensive, easily used technology to poor children around the globe, to illustrate his address on survival.

"Survival is not simply the product of random luck; it is the result of determination, resolve, and will--in addition to the intervention of that Mysterious Agency within the universe," Grayson said. "My existence is linked to yours, and yours is linked to mine; my survival requires that I act in behalf of your survival. We are morally obligated to one another, especially the weak among us…

"You have endured not only because you are strong, but because you've fallen in love with the life of the mind and have remained committed to that larger humanistic purpose."

In opening the convocation, dean of religious and spiritual life Gladys Moore told students she wanted to modify the theme of this year's orientation program, Challenging Women to Change the World, with a slight paraphrasing to "Challenging Women Change the World."

"Mount Holyoke women are indeed challenging women," she said. "But first we must change ourselves…. As Mahatma Gandhi said, 'Be the change you want to see in the world.'"

President Joanne V. Creighton urged students to get involved in the political process as voters, candidates, and leaders--and, above all, to vote in the November 4 elections. Detailing the history of MHC and the involvement of its women in the suffragette movement, Creighton reminded the audience that founder Mary Lyon didn't have the right to vote; that early twentieth-century student and future U.S. Secretary of Labor Frances Perkins was an outspoken advocate for women's suffrage; and that Mary Woolley was not allowed to vote during her first 20 years as president of MHC.

"So in November, if you are a U.S. citizen, out of respect for all those suffragettes, you had better vote!" Creighton told cheering students. "And throughout your time at Mount Holyoke, you had better engage fully in the life of the College, so that you may partake of the generating energies and the intellectual power of this place built for and of and by and about women."

Student Government Association president Erna J. Wilson FP '10 likened the Mount Holyoke community to "the best of neighborhoods."

"Like any good neighborhood, we are connected to one another. The differences that each member brings only help to strengthen our community and challenge us to learn and grow beyond its classroom walls," she said.

Wilson confessed that she struggled when deciding what to wear to speak to the convocation audience: Should she wear green to honor the seniors, red for her own class of 2010, or perhaps purple to identify herself as a Frances Perkins Scholar? She considered wearing blue to welcome the class of 2012, but didn't want to leave out yellow for the class of 2011.

Standing at the podium in a conservative black blazer and pants, Wilson lifted her pant legs to reveal thigh-high, rainbow-striped socks and--to loud cheers--announced, "I wore the only appropriate outfit I could find to recognize all of us, working together as one."

Shelley Richard, cochair of the Staff Council, also briefly addressed the gathering. The MHC Glee Club, conducted by Kimberly Dunn Adams and accompanied by Mark Gionfriddo on percussion, performed "Port-a-beul-Mouth Music."

Following the convocation, students, faculty, staff, and guests were treated to a community picnic on Skinner Green.

Related Links:

Convocation Address - President Joanne V. Creighton

Audio - President Joanne V. Creighton (17.1 MB | 12:28 Minutes)

Convocation Address - Erna Wilson FP'10

Audio - Erna Wilson FP'10 (6.6 MB | 7:11 Minutes)

Convocation Address - Shelley Richard

Audio - Shelley Richard (2 MB | 2:08 Minutes)

Convocation Address - John Grayson

Audio - John Grayson (30.8 MB | 22:23 Minutes)

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Permanent link to this story: http://www.mtholyoke.edu/news/story/5635889

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