May/June 2025 Board of Trustees Meeting Summary

Dear members of the Mount Holyoke community,

The spring meeting of the Board of Trustees took place on campus from May 1 to 3, 2025. The Board met again via Zoom on June 17, 2025. 

Topics of discussion for the May meeting included the momentum on the MHC Forward strategic plan, the implications of the current political climate for higher education, the campus comprehensive plan and the student experience at Mount Holyoke. In June, the Board discussed the 2025–2026 operating budget and the MHC Forward working group reports. The Board expressed their appreciation for the excellent work done by students, faculty, staff and administrators on the reports, which will be posted to the campus community for feedback this summer. 

The Board thanks faculty members Kenneth Colodner, Naomi Darling and Nina Emery for sharing their research with the trustees at the May meeting. Thanks as well to faculty members Sylvia Cifuentes, Hannah Goodwin and Michelle J. Markley and Library, Information, and Technology Services staff members Kat Brennan, Aleah Larsen, Matthew Newman, Caro Pinto, Rachael Smith and Deborah Richards for demonstrating how library collaborations enhance teaching and learning. Director of the Mount Holyoke College Art Museum Tricia Y. Paik and her staff graciously shared the work being done in preparation for the Art Museum’s one hundred fiftieth anniversary. Finally, the Division of Student Life gave an excellent, holistic presentation on how they support residential education. Thank you to everyone who helped ensure a successful and productive May meeting.

As is our tradition, the Board held a farewell dinner to thank the trustees who have fulfilled their terms. This year, we celebrated at the Equestrian Center. We are grateful to the staff for their kind hospitality. The Board deeply appreciates the exemplary service of Avice Meehan ’77 and Mona Sutphen ’89. We also recognize the outstanding service of Adam Falk, who is resigning from the Board with regret due to new professional responsibilities.

The trustees voted to elect Margaret Clarkson ’94 and Oyinade Ogunbekun Wielock ’07 to the Board beginning on July 1, 2025, and warmly welcome them. Trustees Sally Durdan ’81, Monica Landry ’90 and Hallie Nath ’92 were elected to second terms beginning on July 1, 2025. Ellen Ellison ’80, currently vice-chair of the Investment Committee, will join the Board on July 1, 2026. 

At the June meeting, the trustees approved a balanced budget for 2025–2026, with total expenses of $180,399,000. This includes a 2.5% pay increase for all eligible employees effective July 1. 

Other formal actions of the Board

The spring meeting of the Board of Trustees also included:

• The awarding of degrees, on May 25, 2025, to 525 seniors and 43 graduate students and the awarding of certificates to two students.
• The awarding of tenure to Jen Paulhus and her promotion to Professor in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics.
• The promotions of Elif Babül to Professor in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Thomas Ciufo to Professor in the Department of Music, Suparna Roychoudhury to Professor in the Department of English, Steven Schmeiser to Professor in the Department of Economics and Jared Schwartzer to Professor in the Department of Psychology and Education. 

We congratulate the faculty members who received promotions and extend heartfelt thanks to our retiring faculty and staff for the profound impact they have had on generations of students. Congratulations as well to the degree recipients on their outstanding accomplishments. We are delighted that the weather held for another glorious outdoor Commencement, which featured a stirring speech by Massachusetts Governor Maura T. Healey HD’25 and celebrations of Tara Roberts ’91 HD’25 and Bess Weatherman ’82 HD’25. Thank you to the many people who made the College’s one hundred eighty-eighth Commencement so special. Finally, we congratulate the alums who celebrated Reunions in 2025, especially those whose classes had missed their Reunions because of the COVID-19 pandemic. We thank the Alum Association and Alum Relations for their work.

Congratulations on a successful academic year and best wishes to all our students, faculty, administrators, staff and alums for a rejuvenating summer.

Sincerely,

Sally Durdan ’81, Chair of the Board of Trustees

Danielle R. Holley, President