The garden--with its associations of planting, taking root, germination, and growth--seems the perfect metaphor for The Plan for Mount Holyoke 2003. In 1996, President Joanne V. Creighton planted the first seeds for what would grow into a comprehensive blueprint for the College's future. "We need to develop a set of goals and priorities that will guide us over the next six years and a set of actions designed to implement them," Creighton said at the time. "They will give shape and substance to our collective aspiration for Mount Holyoke." Through the collaboration of the entire Mount Holyoke community, a plan with just these attributes was developed and adopted in 1997.

Six years later, the Plan has had an impact on virtually every area of College life. Offering a sense of the "blooming" of The Plan for Mount Holyoke 2003 is what this special issue of Vista is all about. Within its pages are "excellent examples"--of students exploring fields from new interdisciplinary perspectives; of curricular innovation; of diversity and internationalism; of stellar new facilities--of the Plan's success and the myriad ways it has strengthened the College.