New Academic Year Launched at Convocation

The 163rd academic year at Mount Holyoke was ushered in Wednesday, September 6, with much fanfare and plenty of sunshine. Seniors, festooned in green garlands, boas, and a full variety of minimalist couture beneath open black robes, set the celebratory tone for convocation 2000.

The event, which packed Gettell Amphitheater with students, faculty, staff, and families, included a processional; opening remarks by Andrea Ayvazian, dean of religious life; greetings by President Joanne Creighton and other members of the College community; a recitation of the honor code pledge; and a performance by MHC’s glee club. Waving pom-poms and wearing everything from wigs and cowboy hats to tiaras and baseball visors, the class of 2001 made its presence felt throughout the ceremony.
Declaring the day “Celebrating Mount Holyoke Day” in her welcoming remarks, Creighton gave new and returning students “six great reasons” to take pride in the College at the halfway mark in MHC’s Plan for 2003. Creighton noted major achievements of the Plan and announced a “stunning act of generosity” in the form of a $10 million gift to the College. Characterizing the new fast-track, high-tech world as one of change and transformation, she concluded that she would like this year to be “the beginning of a conversation about post-2003.”

Topping Creighton’s list of a half dozen MHC highlights was the student body itself, which she praised as “our success story” and noted for its high caliber, spirit, strong voice, and gusto. Summoning Stanley Kubrick’s film 2001: A Space Odyssey, Creighton called the senior class “our space odyssey women” who will “embark on the brave new world of the twenty-first century.”

Creighton also highlighted the achievements, loyalty, and allegiance of MHC faculty, noting their contribution to the College’s “genuine sense of community” and dedication to a common purpose. Citing the College’s mission as another cause to celebrate, Creighton said that MHC’s “unique power” is rooted in founder Mary Lyon’s revolutionary idea that “women matter” and that “well-educated women can make a difference in the world—and should.”

Strides made in athletics, leadership, the environment, the arts, and the sciences are, said Creighton, further reasons to take pride in MHC. She listed as examples last spring’s national equestrian championship, the new and improved Kendall Sports and Dance Complex, the development of the Center for Environmental Literacy, and renovations under way in Pratt Hall and in the art buildings. Creighton also lauded the upcoming ground breaking, in spring 2001, for MHC’s new science complex.

But the building boom, she remarked, would not have been possible without the success of the $200 million fundraising campaign that has already resulted in gifts totaling $150 million. With regard to the future science building, Creighton announced an act of “stunning generosity,” an anonymous alumna gift of $10 million—the largest gift ever given to MHC. Such faith in the College contributes to her belief in the enormous potential of the future, Creighton said.

Beyond The Plan for 2003, a host of new and exciting initiatives are already in the works, said Creighton. Among them she cited the current landscape plan to make the campus “a living laboratory and an ecologically responsible habitat” and plans for renovation and expansion of the Blanchard Campus Center. As the new millennium ushers in a changed world, she called for the beginning of a conversation and an “all-College read” of Terry Tempest Williams’s Refuge, a book sent to each incoming student. Creighton invited the entire MHC community to read Refuge and join in the discussion.

Finally, Creighton underscored the importance of “our relationship to the global community” and “the impact of technology” and told the gathering that task forces will be set up to address these all-important topics.

Representing the student community, Helena Wong ’01, president of the Student Government Association, also gave a warm welcome to new and returning students. Her greetings were followed by those of Barbara Bunyan, cochair of MHC’s Staff Council. Bunyan has worked in the theatre department for twenty years, and is the department’s production manager/senior administrative assistant.

Greetings by Eleanor Townsley, assistant professor of sociology, provided the afternoon’s most eloquent metaphor when she spoke of the College gates as a point of crucial and complex transformation, a threshold where two worlds join. “All of the possibility of the inside and outside worlds are combined in you,” she told the students. She warned against being “space-age Rapunzels in our ivory tower,” adding, “we must let our hair down and let the
world in.”

Natasha Segool ’01, chair of the Council on Student Affairs and Student Judicial Board, and Wong led students in a recitation of the honor code pledge, and closing remarks were made by Helen “Sandy” Johnson, adviser to the Buddhist Community. The Mount Holyoke College Glee Club was conducted by Christopher Aspaas, with Sarah Russo ’01 on keyboard and William Hanley, from the University of Massachusetts, on vibraphone. The afternoon concluded with a festive community picnic on Skinner Green.

Photos by Fred Leblanc