Forging leaders: women’s colleges in the current era
Women's colleges such as Mount Holyoke College thrive by forging leaders prepared for male-dominated fields. Amidst a challenging climate, they push for civic action, teaching students that their voices matter.
The Boston Globe recently featured an article exploring how women’s colleges in Massachusetts are thriving while focusing on producing leaders in a challenging national environment.
The article suggests that Mount Holyoke, Smith and Wellesley colleges are vital crucibles that forge women and those discriminated against because of their gender, preparing them to enter male-dominated fields and take on leadership roles. On these campuses, students learn that their voices matter.
Of the three colleges featured, Mount Holyoke is the only gender-diverse women’s college, admitting women and students who are transgender and gender nonconforming. Mount Holyoke College President Danielle R. Holley was identified as the most politically outspoken among the three college presidents. She actively frames the current political climate as an “assault on women” and pushes students toward civic action.
Last spring, Holley taught a seminar on the Supreme Court, which covered Roe v. Wade. “If you want to return to a place where you have reproductive rights in every state, what do you plan to do about it?” she asked the students.
The article also highlights Mount Holyoke senior Nathania Amadi ’26, an international student from Nigeria, and how her MHC journey has prepared her for leadership. Amadi had not heard of Mount Holyoke until meeting with a college consultant, who told her about MHC. Amadi is now the president of the Student Government Association, a neuroscience major and a volunteer with the College’s chapter of Planned Parenthood.
These three colleges are actively shaping a generation of confident students who are prepared to be trailblazers and to confront setbacks to women’s rights.
This article may require a subscription.
