The College Celebrates Spring April 28
Posted: April
25, 2006
Did you know
that Mount Holyoke College might have ended up with the
name
"Pangynaskeia"?
Loosely defined as "cultivating
the total world of women--physical, intellectual, and moral," "Pangynaskeia" was
one of the names that Mary Lyon was considering for the institution
before the name "Mount Holyoke" won out. Gone as a
possible moniker--but not forgotten--Pangynaskeia Day was founded
in the spring of 1980 as a College-wide festival celebrating
the past, present, and future of Mount Holyoke.
The first Pangynaskeia
Days featured a morning of lectures and presentations about the
history and future of the College. A picnic
lunch followed on Skinner Green, after which students played softball,
volleyball, and Frisbee. The parade came next, an elaborate affair
with distinguished guests invited to serve as marshals and as many
as 50 marching units and floats representing the past, present,
and future of the College. The parade led to the amphitheatre,
where closing ceremonies took place.
Traditions
surrounding "Pangy," as
it came to be called, have shifted and changed over the years.
Now, the centerpiece of
the festival is the all-campus picnic. This year dining services
will once again present the Pangy Picnic Friday, April 28, from
11:30 am to 1:00 pm on Pageant Green. (In the event of rain,
the picnic-style meal will be served in the Residence Hall Luncheon
Centers: Ham /MacGregor, Wilder, and Prospect.)
Reviving some
of the Pangy traditions and spirit of years past,
a number of events will follow the picnic this year. The College
community is invited to celebrate the annual May Pageant, hosted
on Skinner Green by the Pagan and Wiccan Collective, from 1
to 3 pm, and to join in the Green Parade, organized by the Envirnonmental
Action Coalition (EAC), from 2:30 to 4:30 pm.
The College
will inaugurate a new celebration this year, the Roots of Community
Festival: Environment, Equality,
and Economy,
presented
by the Center for the Environment and environmental studies
majors. All are welcome to participate in this event, which
will take
place from 3 to 7 pm.
Related Links:
MHC
May Pageant April 28
First
Annual Roots of Community Festival
Events and
Traditions
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