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September 13, 2002
Convocation: A Colorful Start to the New Academic Year
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All Photos: Fred LeBlanc
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Lois
Brown, assistant professor of English
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President
Joanne V. Creighton cuts a ribbon to signify the opening
of Kendade Hall.
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Bees, potted chrysanthemums,
and the first falling leaves added touches of yellow to an already
colorful Gettell Amphitheater September 4, as the MHC community
celebrated convocation, the official start of the 2002–2003
academic year. Seniors processed wearing caps, gowns, and all
things yellow (their class color), from yellow leis, yellow scuba
gear, yellow wigs, and yellow boas, to yellow flowers, feathers,
and fur. Also on the scene were yellow knee-high platform boots,
tiger ears, butterfly wings, and a large, stuffed Pikachu (the
mouselike creature of the popular Pokémon cartoon), along
with yellow hard hats and reams of construction site "caution"
tape.
Dean of Religious
Life Andrea Ayvazian opened the event, reminding the MHC community
of three things: that we are "human beings, not human doings,"
who, even in the flurry of activity, must remember to act with
kindness, tenderness, and respect; that the true measure of a
community is how its most marginal member is treated; and that
miracles are "hidden in plain view all around."
Greetings followed
from Erica M. Stock '04, president of the Student Government Association;
Li-Ling Waller, senior administrative assistant in the Office
of Religious and Spiritual Life and cochair of MHC's Staff Council;
and Lois Brown, assistant professor of English. All three called
on MHC's students to appreciate and build on the foundations laid
by women before them, embracing periods of challenge and change
as critical opportunities for growth and learning.
Taking the podium
after a presentation by the Mount Holyoke College Glee Club was
President Joanne V. Creighton, recently back from a six-month
sabbatical. She welcomed all to the 165th academic year at Mount
Holyoke, saying, "It's great to be back. I'm impressed anew
by what a special place this is." Acknowledging the approach
of the one-year anniversary of the attacks of September 11, she
expressed sympathy to all who have been affected by the tragedy,
noting that in a world suddenly "more dangerous and less
comprehensible," no one is really unaffected. "I think
many of us were made especially aware of how much we value this
place and this community and our mission to educate women for
purposeful engagement in the world," she said. "Now
more than ever that mission resonates."
Turning from changes
in the world to changes at Mount Holyoke, Creighton discussed
progress made on construction projects, including the beginning
of renovation work at Blanchard Campus Center, now closed for
the year. "Be assured that a new improved Blanchard will
rise from this rubble by next fall," she said. "And
it will be well worth the wait." She announced the opening
of Kendade Hall, calling it a "stunning, environmentally
friendly building . . . nothing short of spectacular," and
inviting the community to a ribbon-cutting ceremony and building
tour following convocation. "I hope you will make this building
your own," she said. "I'd love to see it function as
a vital hub of campus life."
The president also
announced the opening of the art museum, which was closed all
last year during renovation of the art building. "It is exquisitely
beautiful and functional," Creighton said. "It is also
much bigger, allowing us to show off much more of our impressive
collection." She invited all to the special opening exhibition,
Changing Prospects: The View from Mount Holyoke, which explores
the historical significance of the mountain after which the College
is named.
Once one of the major
tourist destinations in the country, "Mount Holyoke is, of
course, now totally eclipsed by the fame of the College,"
she joked. Creighton will pay special tribute to the mountain
this year by offering ice cream to all students at noon on Mountain
Day.
Finally, Creighton
reminded students that the College is reaching the end of The
Plan for Mount Holyoke 2003, a strategic plan that has guided
Mount Holyoke to "renewed vitality and resurgence" during
the past six years. She invited them to join her in building on
that plan's successful outcomes in developing a plan for the next
seven years. "Building on strength upon strength, we will
aspire higher in the next plan," she said, joking that "above
all, we must not be planless!" Creighton said that a committee
of faculty, students, staff, and trustees will share a first draft
of The Plan for 2010 in October and solicit community input
on that and subsequent drafts. "The more we can draw together
our collective thoughts, hopes, and dreams for this College, the
more Mount Holyoke and its graduates will soar," she said.
After Hammond-Douglass
Professor of Music Catharine Melhorn led all in singing the College's
alma mater, Rabbi Lisa Freitag-Keshet offered closing remarks,
reminding students that they are "not sojourning this path
alone." The crowd adjourned to Skinner Green for a well-attended
convocation picnic, many stopping first at Kendade Hall, where
President Creighton thanked Donal O'Shea, dean of faculty; Frank
DeToma, Professor of Biological Sciences on the Alumnae Foundation
and director of the science center; Aaron Ellison, formerly Marjorie
Fisher Professor of Environmental Sciences; and other members
of the faculty and staff for their roles in shepherding the Kendade
construction project. The president also thanked all faculty and
students for enduring displacement, dirt, noise, and other inconveniences
of the project. "I hope the finished product will help us
endure continuing work," she said, before cutting a ribbon
on the state-of-the-art building and ushering the crowd of curious
students, faculty, staff, and administrators into the building
to take a look.
The
counter is
1,699
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