Introduction and College Information
Letter from Marcella Runell
Vice President for Student Affairs, Dean of Students
Dear student,
Welcome to the Mount Holyoke College Community! Whether you are beginning your first year, transferring, joining as a Frances Perkins Scholar or returning to campus, I am so glad you are here. Mount Holyoke is a special place, with a tremendous legacy of promoting equity and inclusion, gender-inclusive leadership, civic engagement and academic excellence.
The Student Handbook serves as a guidepost regarding important aspects of the community and what makes Mount Holyoke unique. As a residential college, learning and growing happen everywhere. Woven throughout this handbook, our residential education model highlights how we coordinate campus resources — rooted in our Be Well pillars — to support your holistic well-being, growth, safety and academic success as you navigate your MHC journey.
My hope is that you will use its contents to learn about campus traditions, services available to you and the important community guidelines that have been created to promote a healthy and safe campus for all students.
Thank you for choosing to be on this journey with us at Mount Holyoke. As you navigate your pathway to success, please know you have a committed group of faculty, staff and alums behind you, ready and willing to support you this academic year and throughout your time at the College.
Warmly,
Marcella #WelcomeMoHome
2026-2027
A Statement on Academic Responsibility
The decision to join this academic community requires acceptance of special rights and responsibilities that are essential for its effective functioning and the realization of its mission.
All members of the community share the responsibility to uphold the highest standards of academic and personal integrity, community engagement, and commitment to principles of equity and inclusion that are central to the mission of the College. Failure to accept and act on this responsibility threatens the rights of the rest of the community by undermining the trust upon which the community is built.
Students, faculty, staff, and administrators assume a commitment to the academic community that supports teaching and learning in an open environment based on mutual trust, respect, and concern. All members of the community have the right to careful and constructive analysis of their work, and they have the responsibility to provide a serious response to the work of others.
Each member of the academic community has the right to benefit from its collective knowledge and resources as well as the responsibility to contribute to them. Failure to adhere to these principles and standards may result in sanctions.
— Adopted from the Academic Honor Board’s Statement of Policies and Procedures
The Mount Holyoke Community
As an institution dedicated to seeking intellectual enlightenment and amelioration of the quality of life, Mount Holyoke College believes in the right, indeed the necessity, of free inquiry and free expression for every member of the college community. The College aims to provide an environment hospitable to open interchanges of knowledge and opinion in the terms of reasoned discourse. Rights to free speech, free movement, free association, peaceful assembly, and orderly protest extend to every member of the College. So does responsibility to others.
The College is not a monolith but a dynamic community capable of constructive change. Avenues of communication among all segments of the community must be clear, accessible, and transparent. All college community members should conduct themselves ethically, honestly, and with integrity in all dealings. They should be fair and principled in their interactions and act in good faith in these matters with others both within and outside the college community. Given the variety and complexity of ethical questions that may arise in the course of carrying out the college’s business, this can only serve as a general guide. Advocates of any serious concern are entitled to a hearing by persons in authority and to a reply as prompt, full, and specific as due consideration will allow.
Discomfort or difference of opinion between community members is not unusual in an academic space; neither necessarily entails lack of respect for the rights or dignity of others. Listening and respecting differences, whether they involve an individual’s background, political thought, or philosophical opinion is an expectation and obligation that each member in the community must share. This behavior encourages individuals to engage in respectful discourse when in conflict.
The College should aim to foster an environment in which faculty, students, and other members of the campus community are free to discuss and debate even the most deeply held beliefs, inside and outside the classroom. Robust debate and the critical evaluation of different points of view are essential components of higher education and of the transmission of knowledge, and must be defended at all cost. Silencing voices and suppressing ideas are antithetical to the core educational mission.
While demonstrations of opinion should not be coercive, involve violence against persons or property, interfere with the rights of others, nor prevent the ordinary business of the College community, any College policies to restrict the time, place, and manner of expression must not impose unduly strict limits on speech and assembly, nor discourage or shut down freedom of expression. Such policies must be content neutral and applied impartially.
— Adopted from Faculty Legislation, April 2025.
Statement of Non-discrimination
Mount Holyoke College is a women’s college that is gender diverse. The College is committed to providing equal access and opportunity in employment and education to all employees and students. In compliance with state and federal law, Mount Holyoke College does not discriminate on the basis of race, ethnicity, color, genetic information, sex, national or ethnic origin, religion, age, physical or mental disability, marital status, sexual orientation, pregnancy, gender identity or expression, ancestry, veteran or military status, or any other legally protected status under federal, state or local law.
— Approved by the Board of Trustees, fall 2020
Official Communication from the College to Students
The College communicates with students through a variety of channels. Information that is sent to students from the College via their College mailbox, my.mtholyoke, or Mount Holyoke email address is considered official communication and should be treated as such. Students are required to check their College mailbox and their Mount Holyoke email on a regular basis and are responsible for reading and responding to the information they receive from the College. Although for a variety of reasons, including reliability and security, the College urges students to use their Mount Holyoke email address as their primary email, students who will not be checking that address regularly should forward it. Students are notified of mail and package delivery through their Mount Holyoke email address. Notifications are sent upon receipt by Mail Services.
Structure of the College
Board of Trustees
The all-volunteer Mount Holyoke College Board of Trustees, oversees the property, business and affairs of the College. The Board delegates daily management of the College to the administration, and curricular decision-making to the faculty. The chair of the Board is Sally Durdan ’81.
President of the College
The president of the College is both the leader of educational policy and the College’s chief executive officer. Danielle Holley became Mount Holyoke’s president July 1, 2023.
Divisional Leadership
Mount Holyoke’s academic and administrative operations are organized into seven functional areas, each overseen by a vice president/officer of the College. The officers of the College are the president and the nine vice presidents.
Shared Governance
Mount Holyoke has a strong tradition of shared decision making among its administration, faculty and students. Students and faculty have an important role in shaping institutional policy and practice, in particular through the Student Government Association, and the various standing committees.