Anti-Racism Action Plan

Commitment: Establish a new faculty grants program

The goal of this $50,000 program will be to inform teaching, learning and research practices, and to build an academic culture that seeks to understand, analyze and challenge systems of oppression.

2024-2025

All Racial Equity Research and Action (RERA) funds were awarded in FY23. Funded faculty represented fields across the divisions, from Gender Studies, Psychology, and Environmental Studies to Music and Classics and Italian, while projects ranged from course development or sponsoring a speaker to staging an African opera, with the common thread of fierce commitment to anti-racist research and teaching.

Commitment: Invest in efforts to hire faculty who are Black, Indigenous or people of color

2024-2025

The College has continued its participation in the annual Institute on Teaching and Mentoring hosted by the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB), sending faculty and members of the College’s leadership tor recruit at the meeting which is the largest contingency of BIPOC doctoral students and recent PhDs in the world (October 2023 and October 2024).

Coordinated the fall semester Five College Faculty and Staff of Color reception welcoming faculty of color and their allies to the MHC campus for a fall reception with over 125 attendees in Willits-Hallowell Conference Center (October 2024).

Leading additional Five College collaborations focused on supporting underrepresented faculty and staff including legal workshops for TGNC and immigrant community members.

Organized a gathering of 20 DEI focused committees at MHC composed of students, faculty and staff with an emphasis on “Unity Across Diversity” and strategic action steps to move forward initiatives.

Collaborating with Human Resources on a renewed Employee Affinity-Based Support Program.

Through a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to support Native American and Indigenous Studies across the Five Colleges, made an outright purchase of the Native American Indians database from the publisher Readex.

Commitment: Expand diversity education and curricula

Expand diversity education and curricula that directly challenge anti-Blackness and white supremacy. The Common Read will be dedicated to the interrogation of racism for the foreseeable future.

2024-2025

Fifteen academic lectures/programs were supported through collaborations with the DEI Office between October 2024 and February 2025. These collaborations included classroom lectures, public lectures and community gatherings and featured activists, artists and BIPOC scholars such as Kai Cheng Thom, Jamia Wilson, Moon Charania and Prentis Hemphill.

The DEI Office continues to collaborate and support faculty innovation, ideas and educational programs through financial and staff support with specific goals of ensuring that underrepresented voices are heard through strategic efforts focused on faculty scholarship from underrepresented scholars.

For 2024’s Common Read Mount Holyoke College selected “I Never Thought of It That Way,” a personal guide to having fearlessly curious conversations in what many consider dangerously divided times. Author and journalist Mónica Guzmán wrote the book after seeing how politics can divide a nation.

1. The author facilitated a faculty and staff conversation in early September, focused on discussing how to incorporate the text into classroom discussions and other spaces on-campus.
2. Associate Dean of Students and Executive Director for Community and Belonging and a long-time Visiting Part-time Lecturer in the Intergroup Dialogue Program, led a 1.5 hour session for First Year Seminars (opt-in) that focused on discussing and reflecting on themes from the book.
3. The author joined the community in-person for a full-day on November 19, with two interactive small-group sessions for students, a training for staff, lunch with faculty, and a public event in conversation with the President.

The Common Read Selection Committee’s scope and purpose continues to connect to the College’s anti-racism work as part of its priorities.

2023 updates

Commitment: Establish a new faculty grants program

In 2020, the College made a commitment to devote $50,000 toward research and scholarship focused on racial equity under the purview of the dean of the faculty. To date, nine Racial Equity Research and Action (RERA) grants have been awarded for a total of $19,390. Four more grants are slated to be awarded by the end of the year, bringing the total to 13 grants and $32,861. Grants have ranged across disciplines, including a grant for the “Concourse” dance collaboration by Shakia Barron and Barbie Diewald, an “H-STEM” course (Humans in STEM) taught by Jon Ashby (chemistry) and Michelle Markley (geology and geography) that focuses on equity and inclusion, and research on students’ understanding of racism by John Tawa (psychology).

Commitment: Invest in efforts to hire faculty who are Black, Indigenous or people of color

• The Provost’s Office worked this year to deepen required search committee training, with a focus on inclusive excellence and equity. This includes pre-search, asynchronous training materials; kick-off workshops for search committees; regular check-ins throughout the search process with feedback regarding composition of candidate pools and post-search reporting. The Provost’s Office also hosted a talk by Marybeth Gasman, “Doing the Right Thing: How Colleges and Universities Can Undo Systemic Racism in Faculty Hiring,” at BOOM!
• Our incoming faculty cohort is incredibly accomplished and one of our most diverse. We recruited a historian of Native American history to join the history department; three other faculty are part of a cluster hire in Africana studies, joining the departments of history, English and critical race and political economy. Our new faculty also includes a nationally recognized leader in Intergroup Dialogue, a computer scientist specializing in computational biology and robotics, an economist specializing in women and development in Ghana, an early music scholar, a geographer focused on climate change in Ghana, a jazz theorist and a psychologist studying prejudice and intergroup relations.
• We continued recruitment efforts at the Southern Regional Education Board conference (October 2022).
• The College has continued its partnership with the Consortium for Faculty Diversity with five CFD fellows in residence 2022–2023, one who will join the tenure track faculty in the fall as an assistant professor of English.
• The Provost’s Office has coordinated a successful BIPOC Faculty Mentoring Group for the past two years.
• Athletics applied for and received the DIII NCAA Ethnic Minorities and Women’s Internship Grant. This is a two-year position that has to be awarded to a woman and/or ethnic minority. This position is to promote our student-athletes and the programming of our department. This position will be critical in organizing and promoting our initiatives.
• The College is currently conducting a compensation study to make sure that we are compensating our faculty and staff fairly and equitably.
• College Health Services prioritized recruitment of diverse staff when positions opened:
• The College Health Services director served on the Disability Cluster Search Committee, which uniquely created intentional recruitment of diverse staff.
• Residential Life and Orientation updated their selection process for new candidates to ensure the process was equitable and reduced biased.

Commitment: Expand diversity education and curricula

• The College has maintained its membership with the Liberal Arts Colleges Racial Equity Leadership Alliance (LACRELA) which involved consistent training for faculty and staff between 2021–2022. There were over 75 faculty and staff who participated in sessions which included the following:
  • Centering Racial Equity in Your Student Success Agenda.
  • Reducing Implicit Bias in The Search and Hiring Process.
  • Dismantling Persistent Racial Equity Problems in Stem.
  • Managing and Resolving Racial Tensions in the Workplace.
• The College participated in the Truth, Racial Healing and Transformation (TRHT) Institute hosted by the American Associations of Colleges of Universities (AACU) in June of 2022 with a team of 7 faculty and staff. As part of the ongoing professional development, four members of the team - Liz Markovits, Associate Dean of Faculty and Professor of Politics and Raghu Raghavan, Director of Sustainability. Lauren Gaia, Chief of Staff and Strategic Communications, and Kijua Sanders-McMurtry, Vice President for Equity and Inclusion participated in an immersive learning Civil Rights Tour to Atlanta, Georgia and Selma, Alabama.
• The College has hosted a significant number of events related to “Braiding Sweetgrass,” our ’22–’23 Common Read, including the opening event with author and professor Dr. Robin Wall Kimmerer, the grand opening of the Zowie Banteah Cultural Center.
• The DEI “Brown Bag Series: Food Sovereignty and Native Ways of Knowing — Reflection on ‘Braiding Sweetgrass’” with Rachel Beth Sayet, the MHC Art Museum’s “Considering Indigeneity” and several sessions at the annual Building On Our Momentum (BOOM!): Community Day in March of 2023. Sessions included “Voices from the Dawnland: Indigenous Writers Speak” and “Ceremonial Herbs of Native America: Sacred Plants.”
• The College has selected “Disability Visibility” as its ’23–’24 Common Read, which will include an opening event with the text’s editor Alice Wong, a disabled activist, writer, editor, media maker and consultant.
• The College has established two teach-ins, the teach-in on antisemitism held each January as part of the Martin Luther King and Coretta Scott King Series on Racial Justice and Reconciliation, and the Indigenous Peoples’ Day teach-in, which happens each October on Indigenous Peoples’ Day.
• The President’s Office appointed Dr. Kristie Ford a Presidential Fellow, and she is leading initiatives related to Intergroup Dialogue across campus, including an assessment of current IGD programming for students and a faculty and staff development session in January of 2023. Dr. Ford will join the faculty permanently as a full professor on July 1, 2023.
• Molly Keehn and Latrina Denson have continued to co-instruct 215-RR Intergroup Dialogue, Race and Racism in the U.S. and Mount Holyoke and 235-RR Intergroup Dialogue Facilitation each semester.
• Two program coordinators for community and belonging participated in Intergroup Dialogue class and facilitation training in the summer of 2022 with Anna Yankley.
• Latrina Denson, associate dean of students, community and belonging, was accepted and participated in the AABHE LMI (Leadership Mentoring Institute) summer 2023.
• The graduate assistant for community and belonging audited the Intergroup Dialogue facilitation class CUSP 235-RR.
• Members of the Division of Student Life participated in Kristie Ford’s Intergroup Dialogue training January 2023.
• A College health services nurse practitioner participated in IGD training in January 2023.
• In partnership with the Five Colleges Consortium, and with the support of the Mellon Foundation, the College has worked to expand offerings in Native American and Indigenous Studies (NAIS).
• Faculty from Africana Studies, Critical Studies and Latino/a Studies have joined in the new Department of Critical Race and Political Economy, launched in spring 2023. The first cohort of majors in the department will graduate in 2024.
• Mount Holyoke is part of the HHMI Inclusive Excellence 3 Learning community, “A Comprehensive Toward Achievement-Oriented Thinking and Practices,” fall 2020–2028 ($529,500). This provides the College with the opportunity to reimagine our STEM education, moving from a deficit-orientation to a strength-based curriculum, a key component of an anti-racist approach in higher education.
• The Teaching & Learning Initiative has continued to provide training and consultations through an anti-racist lens. This year’s sessions include: “Dismantling Deficit Thinking in Library Instruction”; “Equity and Excellence: Challenges and Opportunities for African Americans” with Dr. Terrence Blackman, “Appreciative Advising”; and a keynote and workshop with Dr. Cathy Davidson and Dr. Christina Katopodis titled “The New College Classroom.”
• College health services co-sponsored with community and belonging Dr. Yolanda Lenzy’s dermatology presentation on skin and hair care for students of color in February 2022.
• College health services, in collaboration with Be Well, hosted two TGNC workshops: “Safer Binding” and “Trans Tape” in spring of 2023.
• LITS has been partnering with Tech Foundry, a local organization with a mission to support the region’s growing need for a qualified technology workforce and elevate underrepresented groups into sustainable careers in IT through advocacy, hosting internships and temporary assignments.
• In celebration of the achievements of our alums and to highlight the many ways Mount Holyoke prepares its graduates to lead in the world, in AY ’22–’23 we presented a conversation series — Launching Leadership — between Interim President Beverly Daniel Tatum and a diverse group of graduates. These alums exemplify an intellectually adventurous Mount Holyoke education in action.
• Jeannette Marks sponsored a Legal Name Change Workshop with UMASS Stonewall Center on March 23, 2023.
• Archives and Special Collections co-sponsored a movie night with the Jewish Student Union, showing a documentary that included the life and work of Wendy Wasserstein ’71.
• Archives and Special Collections continues to release additional LGBTQ alum oral history interviews, making them available to researchers.

2021 updates

Commitment: Establish a new faculty grants program

As of spring 2021, five grants have been awarded, totaling $10,810 of the available $50,000. The grants continue to focus on critical initiatives including expanding the curriculum, supporting the development of BIPOC scholars and creating a more just and inclusive Mount Holyoke for BIPOC community members.

The offices of the Dean of Faculty and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion seek proposals from faculty members for the College’s new Racial Equity Research and Action (RERA) Grants program. Applications can be submitted on a rolling basis and are reviewed monthly. Proposals are sought for research, course development and creative projects in any discipline or subject area that uses race and racial equity as the center of analysis and that promises to enrich the academic curriculum and/or education of the campus community.

Racial Equity Research and Action (RERA) grants committee members:

• Kate Ballantine, Environmental Studies, Faculty Grants Committee
• Wei Chen, Chemistry, Faculty Equity in Hiring Committee
• Gabriel Hall, Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
• Kijua Sanders-McMurtry, Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
• John Tawa, Psychology, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Advisory Committee

Commitment: Invest in efforts to hire faculty who are Black, Indigenous or people of color

The College has renewed or initiated partnerships with several key organizations, both to enhance faculty development and to support efforts to recruit and retain Black, Indigenous or people of color among our faculty, as positions become available. These organizations include the Southern Regional Education Board Doctoral Scholars Program, the Liberal Arts Colleges Racial Equity Leadership Alliance, and the Consortium for Faculty Diversity.

As part of the Racial Equity Leadership Alliance, the leaders of Mount Holyoke participated in sessions led by the University of Southern California’s Race and Equity Center. Leaders who participated in these sessions through January 2022 include the College cabinet, senior leadership team, and other manager and director-level leaders across campus. Session topics included the following:

• Fostering and Sustaining Inclusive Classroom for Students of Color
• Confronting Explicit Acts of Racism and Racial Violence on Campus
• Recovering from COVID-19 Racial Inequities
• Teaching the Truth About Slavery and America’s Racial History
• Strategically Hiring Faculty of Color
• Supporting and Retaining Faculty of Color
• Recruiting and Strategically Diversifying Staff at All Levels
• Creating Equitable Pathways to Leadership Roles for Employees of Color

The College has sought to continue to recruit BIPOC faculty by working in partnership with the Southern Regional Education Board. Associate Dean of the Faculty, Liz Markovits and Vice President for Equity and Inclusion, Kijua Sanders-McMurtry virtually attended the Institute on Teaching and Mentoring in March of 2021 to participate in recruiting for open faculty positions. The College has also engaged in ongoing efforts to recruit BIPOC post-doctoral scholars through our partnership with the Consortium for Faculty Diversity (CFD). Two new BIPOC post-doc fellows will begin this fall. The faculty affirmative action committee is now recalibrated as the faculty diversity in hiring committee. This group has been revising guidelines and search procedures to communicate widely with search committees a set of standards needed to build a diverse and robust candidate pool in an effort to recruit more BIPOC faculty. 

Under the leadership of Jared Schwarzer and Barbara Rotundo, the College's Multicultural College Life Committee has been recalibrated and is now the DEI Advisory Committee with a restructured membership and charge that was voted into faculty legislation in May of 2021. This critical effort will ensure that the vibrancy of this important faculty led committee that has been in existence through multiple iterations continues to advance causes of equity, justice and inclusion throughout the campus community.

The Department of Human Resources has launched a new applicant tracking system that will improve all efforts to build diverse talent pools and specifically improve the process of recruiting BIPOC faculty and staff.

Commitment: Expand diversity education and curricula

• The Fire This Time edited by Jesmyn Ward was the Common Read for 2021. This text is a New York Times bestselling anthology of essays and poems and poems on race in America. It consists of three parts -- Part I: Legacy, Part II; Reckoning, Part III: Jubilee--along with an introductory essay by Jesmyn Ward. The book’s title alludes to James Baldwin’s 1963 book The Fire Next Time.
• The 1619 Project was the Common Read for 2020: Mount Holyoke College’s Common Read this year is prose essays from The New York Times Magazine’s ongoing initiative. A robust set of programs focused on cultivating an anti-racist community and supporting community members who engaged in these readings was offered throughout the year with specific emphasis on voting enfranchisement, understanding the persistence of racial inequities, etc.
• All members of the Mount Holyoke community have access to a wide array of ongoing programs, learning opportunities and events designed to further our collective goal of becoming an anti-racist Mount Holyoke. Specific highlights have included events focused on Latinx Heritage, Indigenous Heritage, LGBTQ+ History, Trans Awareness Month and focused efforts on educating the community around challenging ableism. The work is intersectional and focused.
• The College held its second annual Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King Week of Racial Justice and Reconciliation from January 18-28 with a series of events including a two-day teach in on Fighting Anti-Semitism with keynote speakers, Rabbi Sandra Lawson and Rabbi Josh Lesser, an affinity-based dialogue for Jewish community members led by Rabby Hilly Haber ’10, a womanist sermon led by Chaplain Q. Hailey ’12 and a public keynote lecture with esteemed racial justice scholar, Jelani Cobb.
• The College cabinet is participating in ongoing reading, reflections and training sessions led by the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and with the Liberal Arts Racial Equity Leadership Alliance (LACRELA). These sessions are designed to challenge anti-Blackness and use anti-racist frameworks to inform the development of future policies and practices at the College.
• BOOM! Building On Our Momentum: Community Day. The fifth annual BOOM! learning conference was held on March 23, 2021. The keynote speaker for this year’s conference was Clint Smith, which can be viewed here: How the word is passed. Another featured plenary session was a focused panel on the book, Mutual Aid by Dean Spade. This very special panel featured MHC alum, Prentis Hemphill ’04, Dean Spade, Taylor Alxndr and was moderated by Jina Kim. The discussion focused on the long histories of BIPOC, queer and trans communities that have engaged in mutual aid. It can be viewed here: Mutual Aid with Prentis Hemphill ’04, Taylor Alxndr, Dean Spade and Jina Kim
• A number of new educational opportunities were offered including a course that directly addressed racism and the long history of violence that culminated in resistance movements throughout 2020, a course co-taught by Vice Presidents Dorothy Mosby and Kijua Sanders-McMurtry was introduced to first-year international students entitled: COLL-208-01 Histories, Memories, & Legacies: The Social Justice Protests of 2020. The primary course texts were Caste: The Origin of Our Discontent by Isabel Wilkerson and Stamped from the Beginning: The History of Racist Ideas in America by Ibram X. Kendi which these two leaders led a talk on in dialogue with Digital and Special Collections Archivist, Micha Broadnax in January 2021
• With the rise of anti-Asian hate, the College has held the following events and amplified the voices of our AAPI community. This has included events such as “In Solidarity: A Vigil for those targeted by Anti-Asian and Gender Based Violence” and ”Fighting Anti-Asian Hate: A Dialogue on Coalition Building and Community Care with Amer Ahmed and Lydia X.Z. Brown facilitated by Gabe Hall.” The following communications were shared with the community: “Fighting Anti-Asian Hate: Coalition Building and Community Care,” “The rise of COVID-19 and anti-Asian bias,” and “No more gaslighting anti-Asian hate.”
• The College held a number of events for Sexual Assault Awareness Month with a specific anti-racist lens highlighting specific programming support and healing circles for BIPOC community members analyzing the long legacies of violence towards Black and Indigenous communities rooted in gender-based oppression. A specific event featured the work of A Long Walk Home, a non-profit organization that focuses on girls and women with a focused lens on fighting racial inequities and gender based violence collectively.
• The Divisions of Business and Finance, LITS, the Art Museum Advisory Board, the Counseling and Psychological Services Team have all been engaged in anti-racism training led by the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion throughout the year.
• Dining and Facilities Management have participated in extensive Title IX training throughout the year.

Commitment: Include diversity, equity and inclusion education in orientation for all new members of the community

Orientation of all new students, faculty and staff will be revised, and in some cases expanded, to include tailored diversity and inclusion education, training and professional development. The First-Gen Network, in collaboration with the First Generation and Low-Income Partnership (FLIP), will enhance the existing pre-Orientation program. In order to continue providing support to students beyond Orientation, the First-Gen Network and FLIP will host a series of monthly virtual sessions for first-generation and low-income students to build a sense of community, while also providing resources tailored to individual needs.

2024-2025

The College continued its efforts to support first-generation low-income students, in its third year of the Fearless First program. Which includes:

1. Fearless First Academy is a virtual pre-orientation program for new, first-generation and/or low-income students and their families to become acclimated to Mount Holyoke College.
2. Fearless First Check-Ins happen every other week and are framed around a specific topic based on where we're at in the academic year and what students may need developmentally, academically, etc.
3. Off-campus excursions (new pilot program) will happen monthly and are focused on introducing students to the local community as well as connecting them to resources in the local area. Ex: apple picking, Bright Lights Holyoke, MA celebration, etc.

For the Fall 2024 Orientation experience, the College provided a number of sessions for new students:

1. Exploring Your MoHome Community: An Introduction to Social Justice, Diversity and Inclusion at Mount Holyoke: Fostering an inclusive community is one of the most important values of Mount Holyoke College. During these sessions, students learned concepts of diversity, equity, and inclusion by participating in interactive activities and discussions.
2. “Who am I… I am me”: An interactive activity centering the reading of Dr. Beverly Daniel Tatum, students explored the ways in which critical incidents in their lives have influenced their perceptions of individual identities while introducing the exploration of social justice at Mount Holyoke College and in society at large.
3. Dessert at the Cultural Centers, Unity Center, and Eliot House: Students will have an opportunity to enjoy great food, games, and activities while visiting affinity spaces in order to learn more about the resources, programs, and affiliated student organizations in each space.
4. Disability Services 101: An introduction to Disability Services and support for students with disabilities at MHC.
5. Caring Communication for a Gender Inclusive Community
6. Creating an anti-racist community
7. Title IX and Nondiscrimination Policies
8. Wait… that’s different? Transitions and being d/Disabled in College

A new employee onboarding program has been developed and was implemented in June 2025. This new training is for all employees (faculty, staff, remote, in-person) and includes in depth training in the area of DEI.

Commitment: Student-leader training

Effective fall 2020, all student organization leaders are required to participate in training that includes an intergroup dialogue framework, focusing on understanding how institutional, cultural and structural oppression may manifest itself in student organizations. Organizations will also receive assistance in developing and implementing action plans detailing their efforts to become inclusive and anti-racist.

2024-2025

In a workshop led by members of the Accessibility Justice Club, the Student Involvement Consultants (OSI) (student staff within the Office of Student Involvement) learned how to make events and media more accessible and communicate event accessibility information so they could train other RSO leaders.

Student Leaders participated in a Title IX and Nondiscrimination Training regarding the College’s Mission and updated policies.

The Office of Student Involvement and the Office of Community and Belonging are in process of updating the recognized student organization training to meet the needs of RSO cohorts (those grouped by similar mission and purpose).

Commitment: MoZone Peer Educator Program

The College will bolster the Division of Student Life’s MoZone Peer Educator program by compensating all fellows, effective fall 2020.

2024-2025

The Fearless First Fellow, Students of Color Outreach Fellow, MoZone Fellow, and all MoZone Peer Educators continue to be compensated as student employees.

Commitment: Resource the work of the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

The College will continue to resource the work of this office and its intersectional approaches to education by hiring an assistant director of Campus Diversity Programming and LGBTQ Initiatives in fall 2020. The individual in this role will continue to expand the training, education and professional development of all students, staff and faculty.

2024-2025

Two new positions were created in the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion – an elevated role, the Director of LGBTQ+ Initiatives and Resources, as well as an Assistant Director of Campus Diversity Programming. These positions increase the DEI Office’s capacity to produce educational resources and programming to meet the community’s needs.

Commitment: Finalize a community standards statement for alum volunteers

The Alum Association and the College are working together to finalize a community standards statement to which all volunteers must adhere. The Association will hire a director of inclusion and events. Their role will be to better support the needs of alums who are Black, Indigenous or people of color; place greater emphasis on and provide more robust diversity, equity and inclusion training for the Association, its Board of Directors and all volunteers; and develop anti-racist strategies, including ongoing education and programming for the alum community.

2024-2025

• Provided consultation and support to the Alum Association on the name change, including hosting a very successful virtual question and answer session with College leadership for more than 100 alums.
• Continued coordination on gender-diversity training and education as part of future engagement of alums.
• Developed and disseminated an Inclusive Language Guide to help stakeholders across the College communicate more inclusively and clearly.

Commitment: Engage local community leaders

The College will convene local community leaders to discuss furthering efforts toward anti-racism in South Hadley and surrounding areas. This will include expanded opportunities for education and dialogue, focused on ensuring that: students, faculty and staff at Mount Holyoke — particularly Black members of our campus community — are less likely to experience anti-Black racism; the communities in which our students and employees live and work have access to resources to further their own anti-racism work; and cross-collaborative efforts are focused on eradicating racism, including public visibility campaigns, such as signage on and around campus, public events and on-the-ground work with local officials.

2024-2025

Convening for the Town of South Hadley and participation in dialogues focused on anti-racism and diversity and inclusion (September 2024).

Supported facilitated workshops advancing diversity, equity and inclusion with the Town of South Hadley.

Led discussion on MHC engagement with the Town of South Hadley.

Provide ongoing collaboration and support to Odyssey Bookshop through program participation and promotion including upcoming Black History Month dialogues.

Opened lines of communication with the Inclusion and Social Justice Committee at Loomis Village to engage older adults on a variety of diversity topics including:

• Beginning a Human Library project with on-campus speakers.
• Invited residents to annual BOOM day to be active participants in conversations and workshops.
• Began collaboration between Mount Holyoke College DEI offices and Loomis to help them build a day of learning for staff members.
• Engaged in conversations with alums that resulted in connection with Shari Redstone of the Redstone Foundation.
• Provided sponsorship for Urban League of Springfield “Rise Up” celebration, with President Holley serving as Keynote Speaker.

The College established a Center for Intergroup Dialogue and appointed a director who is also Professor of Sociology and critical Race and Political Economy.

The College continued to provide training in vital areas throughout the 2023-2024 academic year for faculty, staff and students inclusive of:

• The Intergroup Dialogue Symposium (November 2023)
• Intergroup Dialogue Sessions for faculty and staff (January 2024)
• Intergroup Dialogue Sessions for students (Ongoing)

Gender Diversity Training for faculty, staff and students (May 2024 and July 2024)

• Specialized training for members of the entire Board of Trustees led by the DEI Task Force
• Specialized training for the Workday Implementation Team and the Human Resources Department (June and July 2024)

As an AAC&U Truth, Racial Healing, & Transformation Campus Center, MHC focuses on two key areas – Narrative Change and Racial Healing & Relationship Building. We work to train faculty, staff, students and alums in Intergroup Dialogue and Restorative Justice. We also work to offer specific training opportunities to honor the National Day of Racial Healing each January. Sessions have focused on deepening our community’s understandings of food justice, anti-Asian hate, cultivating community care, Indigenous storytelling and collective dialogues focused on racial healing.

The College continues to invest resources in training students, faculty and staff in Restorative Justice (RJ). Over the last two years the College has trained more than 50 community members as RJ practitioners and is working to offer pathways to learn more about and engage in Transformative Justice. The College also continues to welcome practitioners such as Kai Cheng Thom, Prentis Hemphill, David Karp and others to engage these topics.

In addition to the Fifth Annual Fighting Antisemitism Teach-In, the College established a Fighting Islamophobia Teach-In that will take place each spring (January 2024).

The Division of Student Life had all-staff watch Gender 101: Beyond the Gender Binary, and then hosted a 2.5-day workshop series led by Think Again Training & Consulting. The time kicked off with an all-staff training focused on continuing to build our collective knowledge about gender diversity and moving into action in support of our students, impacting policies and practices, and implementing equity-focused solutions. Each area of the division then joined the trainer for specific action-oriented training built on the responses in the pre-questionnaires the department/office leader submitted.

The Division of Student Life leadership team has focused on starting an equity audit process (policies, programs, practices) and has begun by reading, reflecting on, and discussing From Equity Talk to Equity Walk: Expanding Practitioner Knowledge for Racial Justice in Higher Education. They have used this to identify initial items for review and will be continuing this work.

The Department of Physical Education and Athletics has engaged in a number of training opportunities for staff.

• 3/4 and 3/6 - staff completed the A Long Talk program
• 4/29 - BOOM! speaker for athletics staff and a session open to the community (Athlete Ally)

College Health Services continues to prioritize active and consistent professional development on diversity, equity and inclusion related topics, as a full staff and as individuals. Examples include:

• 2023-2024: Five sessions exploring Disability Visibility at all staff meeting Fall 2023 & Spring 2024, two staff meetings exploring health equity, BOOM! Participation, and CHS Operations team reviewed “How to build an anti-racist clinic”
• 2024-2025: Full staff review and strategize re: making CHS Primary Care Clinic anti-racist; two applying conversation across difference using the common read, I Never Thought of It That Way; and Implicit bias self assessment on skin color, race with team discussion.
• College Health Services has successfully hired and retained new staff representing gender and racial diversity.

2023 updates

Commitment: Include diversity, equity and inclusion education in orientation for all new members of the community

• We are launching a loaner laptop program for FGLI students in collaboration with LITS so that FGLI students can keep the same laptop for the entire semester.
• Two monthly (two each month) Fearless First check-ins were held in spring 2023, with an average of 15-20 students in attendance.
• We are continuing to expand the resources in the Fearless First Resource and Community Center by soliciting books, clothing, school and other supplies for students.
• We are hiring the Fearless First fellow for the entire academic year to manage the Fearless First Resource and Community Center.
• We are providing regular dinners for Native and Indigenous students in the Zowie Banteah Cultural Center hosted by the graduate assistant for community and belonging.
• During the 2022–2023 academic year, community and belonging has worked with facilities to develop proposed renovations to the Interfaith Sanctuary. Mount Holyoke LITS led the effort across the Five Colleges to largely eliminate library fines and fees that have been shown to disproportionately impact FGLI and BIPOC patrons.
• We are launching the “Pathways to Professoriate” focus on BIPOC mentorship and building pipelines to graduate school.
• Community and belonging promoted two chaplains to full-time, 10-month program coordinators to increase staff resources. The program coordinator for community and belonging and Muslim chaplain supports international students and advises the Asian Center for Empowerment and the program coordinator for community and belonging, and the Jewish chaplain supports first-generation and low-income students and coordinates the weekly Know Your Neighbor Interfaith Dialogues in addition to their previous part-time chaplaincy work.
• As an outcome of the Meet the Moment scholarship fundraising initiative, 14 new endowed scholarship funds were established with preferred criteria for BIPOC, first-gen and/or low income students.
• Efforts to redesign the employee orientation are underway, which include anti-bias training. Improvements will also include a hybrid approach that leverages technology and in-person engagement for a continuous experience.
• The Presidential Search Committee and senior team participated in an anti-bias training with Dr. Anneliese Singh in August of 2022.

Commitment: Student-leader training

• Anti-racism training for student organizations continued during 2021–2022 and during 2022 shifted as professional staff shifted. MoZone peer educators have filled this gap by providing 21 student organization trainings/workshops/dialogues and consultations such as:
  1. Foundations of Social Justice: Introductory Concepts of Social Justice.
  2. Understanding Race, Racism and Ethnicity (including anti-racism).
  3. Understanding Gender and Sexuality (including unpacking concepts such as heterosexism and transphobia, etc.).
  4. Nationality and Nation of Origin (including concepts such as xenophobia).
  5. Religion and Spirituality: A Workshop Focusing on Religious Identity and Oppression.
  6. Are You Awake, Woke, or Working: Putting Allyship to Action.
  7. Understanding Microaggressions: How They Manifest and Perpetuate Systems of Oppression.
  8. Exploring Whiteness Intragroups.
  9. BIPOC/POC Intragroups.
  10. Socioeconomic Class Dialogue.
  11. International Student Intragroups on Anti-Racism.
• Each cultural center has up to two student employees who work up to 10 hours per week.
• The Eliot House now has interfaith assistants who serve as interfaith student-peer programmers and community builders.

Commitment: MoZone Peer Educator Program

MoZone peer educators have continued to be paid for August and January training in addition to an average of six to eight hours per week.

Commitment: Resource the work of the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

• The College has hired two new DEI staff members: the assistant vice president for civil rights and Title IX coordinator (awaiting background check), starting in June of 2023, and the Director of Accessible Education and 504 Coordinator Dr. Madeline L. Peters, who began work in April of 2023.
• Nohelya Zambrano Aguayo ’21 was hired as the LGBTQ+ Community Outreach Coordinator in July of 2022. They have been promoted and will now serve as the assistant director of Campus Diversity Programs and LGBTQ Resources beginning July 1, 2023.

Commitment: Engage local community leaders

• The College conducted trainings with the South Hadley Council on Aging through the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in 2022.
• In 2022 the College partnered with the South Hadley Master Planning Committee to provide insights on diversifying the town of South Hadley.
• The College moved the Zowie Banteah Cultural Center into a new space in Ham and MacGregor Halls with a blessing from Nipmuc elder, Larry Spotted Crow Mann, and in partnership with local Indigenous artists, activists and community leaders.

2021 updates

Commitment: Include diversity, equity and inclusion education in orientation for all new members of the community

• The Center for First-generation Student Success named Mount Holyoke College a First-gen Forward Institution in fall 2020.
• Orientation of all new students has been revised to include tailored diversity and inclusion education, training and professional development.
• The First-Gen Network, in collaboration with the First Generation and Low-Income Partnership (FLIP), is enhancing the existing pre-Orientation program.
• In order to continue providing support to students beyond Orientation, the First-Gen Network and FLIP has begun hosting a series of monthly virtual sessions for first-generation and low-income students in order to build a sense of community while also providing resources tailored to individual needs.
• The College hired a new Associate Vice President for Human Resources, Penny Davis, who began in 2021. The AVP for HR leads key elements of the anti-racism action plan goals related to faculty and staff. A new employee orientation incorporating essential anti-bias training will be a part of future developments.

Commitment: Student-leader training

Effective fall 2020, recognized student organization leaders participate in intensive anti-racism training. Through this training, student leaders gain access to resources in support of creating anti-racism action plans for their organizations.

Commitment: MoZone Peer Educator Program

The College has established compensation for all MoZone peer educators, as of fall 2020.

Commitment: Resource the work of the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

Gabriel Hall was hired in the Mount Holyoke College Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion as the assistant director of Campus Diversity Programming and LGBTQ Initiatives in September 2020 and departed the College in June of 2022.

Commitment: Finalize a community standards statement for alum volunteers

• The Alumnae Association established the director of inclusion and events position in 2020, laying the foundation for the future development of an integrated equity and inclusion plan for the Association. Jonencia Rivera Wood served in this position until she departed the Association in 2021. She was rehired at the College in a newly formed collaborative position as the Assistant Vice President for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion which is a position shared between the DEI Office and the Alumnae Association.
• A new volunteer code of conduct with specific emphasis on diversity, equity and inclusion was implemented in September 2020.
• Special DEI programming is offered to alums, and alums are invited to participate in selected community programs, as noted on the College calendar.
• The Alumnae Association recognizes and creates opportunities for alums to connect, based on shared identities.
• Development of request for proposals process: The Alumnae Association launched an RFP process, affecting the area of diversity education. Reviews are conducted to ensure consistency in method, priority and context.

Commitment: Engage local community leaders

• The College joined the Western Massachusetts Economic Development Council in order to engage in anti-racist practices and transform the surrounding communities.
• The College has created a new set of visible signage to demonstrate support for racial and social justice. The first of these will be installed on campus in March 2021.
• The College will lead training sessions on anti-racism and LGBGTQ+ inclusion with businesses in the Village Commons throughout the fall 2021 and spring 2022 beginning with Odyssey Bookshop in early fall.

Commitment: Student Safety Net Fund

The College has, with the financial support of individual members of the Board of Trustees and others, added resources to continue the Student Safety Net Fund to assist students experiencing financial hardship.

2024-2025

With the 2022-2023 shift from pandemic to endemic, the Safety Net Fund has fully shifted to meet its primary purpose of supporting first-generation, low income students and students impacted due to emergency financial need. The requests from students reflect this shift, as requested needs are no longer focused on COVID-19 related items but expenses that reflect the current context of student’s lives. Such requests include break housing, medical emergencies, academic supplies, technology, seasonal clothing, sundry items, laundry, etc.

The Division of Student Life also continues to work in tandem with Student Financial Services, the First Gen Network (a collaborative effort among administrators, faculty and staff), and other campus partners to identify recurring financial requests that may be indicative of institutional gaps in supporting student success. The ability to identify and understand these gaps has led to two additional institutional solutions – the Book Advance was created for students to receive the funding in their financial aid package in advance and the College has partnered with the Student Government Association to fund free laundry for students as of fall 2023. Neither of these solutions would have been possible without first being able to identify them through the Safety Net Fund grants program.

Total number of students who submitted through the Safety Net Fund to rent laptops and or technological equipment from Library, Information, and Technology Services for one to two semesters: 20.

Commitment: Training for enrollment staff

In addition to participating in campus-wide diversity, equity and inclusion professional development and education programs, the enrollment division, including staff in the Office of Admission and Student Financial Services, will participate in additional anti-racist and anti-bias training with an external consultant who specializes in college access and affordability.

2024-2025

We have continued to host the “Pathways to Professoriate” program focusing on Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) and first-generation mentorship and building pipelines to graduate school. Over the last year, we’ve hosted student-focused lunches to increase Latine/Latinx student capacity and knowledge regarding pursuing PhDs through a focused dialogue with students and guest speakers. All students are invited to participate although first generation and underrepresented students are strongly encouraged to attend.

The Division of Student Life developed a Care for Black Students action plan for the 2024-2025 academic year, to identify ways each area in the division could support and positively impact retention, graduation and student satisfaction for Black students. Actions that have been completed or are ongoing include:

1. Supporting Black History Month planning committee;
2. Reimagining the Homecoming at the Cultural Centers at the Betty Shabazz Cultural Center to be an overnight event with staff and faculty;
3. Drop-in hours and spiritual counseling for Black identified students through the inaugural Spiritual Director for the Betty Shabazz Cultural Center;
4. Group funding and support to travel to the Black Solidarity Conference at Yale University;
5. Co-sponsoring dinner for the MHC Black community at the President’s House;
6. APAU and MHACASA engaging directly with the VPSL to problem solve on structural challenges; hosting bi-weekly Cookies, Tea, and Conversations at the Shirley
7. Providing a standing healing and support space for Black students with an outside facilitator in partnership with Counseling Services.
8. Hosting first BIPOC cookout event for the LLCs.

2023 updates

Commitment: Student Safety Net Fund

• We provided Safety Net funding for the fall 2022 semester totaling $18,222 for 173 students, and for winter housing support totaling $4,600 for 17 students.
• LITS, in coordination with the Office of Community and Belonging and Student Financial Services, developed a semester-long laptop loan program to address equity of access issues.

Commitment: Training for enrollment staff

• Financial aid policy improvements were implemented beginning academic year ’22–’23. We introduced a cap on loans offered in need-based packages, eliminating the use of unsubsidized loans to meet need.
• Financial aid program improvements were implemented beginning academic year ’23–’24:
  • Outside scholarships may now replace family contributions.
  • Now recognizing family costs associated with siblings in two-year college programs.
  • Indirect expense allowance increased by $400 for every aid recipient.
  • New financial aid offer, reformatted for clarity and understanding, to include the payment due each semester after financial aid and scholarships.
• New student financial advising model implemented, pairing each student with a dedicated counselor.
• Direct online booking of appointments with Student Financial Services through youcanbookme.com.
• Continued waiver of financial course preregistration holds.

2021 updates

Commitment: Student Safety Net Fund

The College has continued to provide resources to the Student Safety Net Fund and has now awarded more than $400,000 directly to students in need. Additionally, the College secured endowed commitments totaling approximately $1,000,000 that will make a steady stream of annual funding available to the Student Safety Net Fund in perpetuity.

Commitment: Training for enrollment staff

The Division of Enrollment Management has continued ongoing education and training for the staff, with a specific focus on increased outreach to prospective students who are Black, Indigenous or people of color, and service to those students on campus.

Commitment: Launch employee affinity-based dialogue groups and events

2024-2025

Employee affinity spaces have been reimagined as Community Connections. This series will launch in the coming year.

Commitment: Ensure DEI efforts are reflected in staff performance reviews

The College will ensure that participation in professional development related to diversity, equity and inclusion, and efforts toward building an anti-racist Mount Holyoke, are included in annual conversations and performance reviews, and that such efforts by staff are appropriately valued in opportunities for professional advancement.

2024-2025

The College recently revised its performance management program to include addressing elements of bias in the process. Additionally, a new criteria was added to the annual evaluation process that evaluates employee’s commitment to Anti-Racism, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB). The Department of Human Resources then facilitated required training for all supervisors at the College covering the revised program and bias within the management process.

The College has revised the job description template and provided guidance to supervisors on the completion of job descriptions. A new element of job descriptions is the addition of required skills demonstrating commitment to inclusion and belonging. These skills and clearly outlined expectations will align with the expectations and goals within a performance management process.

LITS requires every staff member to include at least one goal related to advancing the College’s and division’s commitment to DEI as part of their annual review and goal setting process.

Commitment: Ensure DEI efforts by faculty are evaluated

The Office of the Dean of Faculty will work with faculty governance bodies in 2020–2021 to ensure that faculty anti-racism efforts and professional development are evaluated in the holistic review of teaching and form a part of academic review processes in the future.

2024-2025

The annual Faculty Activity and Service Summary includes a section where faculty members describe the ways in which they have participated in and/or benefitted from the College's diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, whether in terms of teaching, research or service. The form is used as the basis for Annual Conversations, which then guide all reappointment, tenure and promotion processes at the College. Course Feedback Forms also ask individual students about classroom climate and engagement; as we have moved to a Qualtrics-based system and implemented a new form this year, we plan to begin efforts to examine response trends across identity groups in the future. Finally, the faculty reaffirmed their commitment to anti-racism work, updating Faculty Legislation with new language (changing from “Multi-Racial Commitment” to “Anti-Racist Commitment.”

Commitment: Launch employee affinity-based dialogue groups and events

2024-2025

Employee affinity spaces have been reimagined as Community Connections. This series will launch in the coming year.

Commitment: Reimagining campus safety

2024-2025

In the summer of 2023, the College engaged with GoodIvy: Safety & Security Consulting to commission an assessment of our campus’s safety and security – a decision made to proactively review our systems, structures and policies.

• Dr. Matthew Colpitts, founder and Chief Safety Officer of GoodIvy Consulting, met and interviewed multiple departments and campus stakeholders – including student leaders – the final report confirmed what we know – Mount Holyoke’s campus is a safe place located in a safe local community and there are areas that would benefit from enhancement and strengthening.
• Over the course of the spring 2024 semester, from the report’s recommendations, we identified key action items that will be incorporated into Mount Holyoke’s strategic plan over the next several years, some of which include: updating the College’s camera/video policy and capacity, strengthening our threat assessment work, providing more comprehensive training for all campus members and continuing to develop policies and practices that support the College’s Emergency Response Team including looking at the area of emergency management.

Public Safety and Service is fully committed to rigorously reviewing our practices and policies to identify and address any blind spots and biases. Examples include changing language from Suspicious Person to Suspicious Activity. We will ensure that everything we do aligns directly with the college's mission, vision, values, and strategic priorities. Additionally, we are actively engaging our staff through outreach and participation in events with LLCs (Living Learning Communities) and Cultural Center Organizations, reinforcing our dedication to collaboration and inclusivity.

1. All staff participated in Gender 101 training
2. Management participated in a session with Davey Shlasko, Think Again Training & Consulting
3. Autism & L.E. Education Coalition (ALEC) First Responder Training.
4. Establish improved policy and practices regarding gender inclusion

The College applied for and was awarded a grant under the Massachusetts Nonprofit Security Grant Program to expand the College’s security video capabilities to mitigate threats based on unique vulnerabilities of our population and the institutional mission.

Commitment: Expand Counseling Service’s capacity to support and treat BIPOC students

From August 2020 through June 2021, the Counseling Service is conducting a bi-weekly inservice on anti-racism and the treatment of the trauma of racism.

2024-2025

Since August of 2020, the Counseling Service has conducted a bi-weekly or weekly inservice on anti-racism and the treatment of the trauma of racism. The staff development series has evolved to include other topics such as gender affirming care, decolonization of therapy and other clinical topics but commitment to an intersectional lens has been consistently employed.

Counseling applied for and was granted an inclusiveness initiatives grant for an inservice with Tobirus Newby on “A Journey of Reckoning & Liberation: Applying Concepts of Decolonization to Our Practice.”

Counseling secured outside training on mental health care for Native students with Dr. Kelly Clougher on “Mental Health and Community Building for Native American Students.”

There continues to be a request from Black students and others in the MHC community for additional modalities of care for Black students including having a Black identified counselor on staff.

We collaborated with the office of Community and Belonging to offer a support group for self identified Black students, “Community Caring Circle: A mental health and wellbeing space for self-identified Black students” with Carla J. Lee.

Counseling offered affinity/support groups for Asian identified, Latine/Latinx identified students, TGNC identified students and Black identified students among others.

Counseling worked with “And Still We Rise” to help community and belonging secure facilitated affinity spaces for Jewish students and MENA students (2023-24).

Offered a division wide symposium on “Liberation and Decolonization in Mental Health” facilitated by “And Still We Rise” staff.

Counseling hosted the annual Five College Symposium on “Mental Health Liberation and Decolonization and its Importance with College and University Students” presented by Salwal Galal, LMHC and Barbara Atim Okeny, M.A., LMHC, ATR-BC.

May 2023 - Sip & Spill Series: These sessions were facilitated by Erica Weathers from the CS and Nohelya Zambrano Aguayo from DEI focused on QTBIPOC support.

2023 updates

Commitment: Ensure DEI efforts are reflected in staff performance reviews

• Professional development participation continues to increase within the College. The human resources department is exploring the Summit Initiative to leverage performance-management tools in order to ensure DEI efforts are reflected in the professional development of staff.
• Seventy-five faculty and staff members have participated in professional development and training sessions led by the Liberal Arts Colleges Racial Equity Leadership Alliance (LACRELA) throughout 2022. Below are examples of the sessions:
  1. Board Strategies to Achieve Racial Equity.
  2. Centering Racial Equity in Your Student Success Agenda.
  3. Reducing Implicit Bias in the Search and Hiring Process.
  4. Dismantling Persistent Racial Equity Problems in STEM.
• Division of Student Life all-staff meetings:
  • In September, student life hosted Shawn Ginwright, professor of Africana studies at San Francisco State University and author, in collaboration with the other Five College student affairs areas in early September to discuss his book “The Four Pivots.”
  • In February, psychologist and author Dr. Rahimeh Andalibian facilitated training to increase knowledge and understanding of students who are neurodiverse. In March, Trisha Tanner, executive director of the Alumnae Association, discussed the association’s strategic plan and opportunities for collaboration.
  • At a bonus meeting in February, Dr. Zoe Ragouzeos — AVP of Student Mental Health, executive director of Counseling and Wellness Services at NYU and president and advisor to the Mary Christie Institute — discussed emerging best practices in mental health and wellness of young adults within higher education.
• All College health services staff participated in BOOM! annually in 2021, 2022 and 2023.
• Monthly College health services staff trainings with a DEI focus, called “Breakfast and Book Club,” were held 2020 through 2023:
  • AY ’20–’21 completed “The Racial Healing Workbook” in fall of 2020; “1619 Project” (the Common Read) in spring of 2021.
  • AY ’21–’22 “The Fire This Time” (the Common Read) was discussed throughout the year.
  • AY ’22–’23 “Braiding Sweetgrass” (the Common Read) in fall of 2022; “Racial Considerations in Health Care” TED Talk series in spring of 2023.
• The College health services director attended two half-day conferences related to diversity and equity in health care in May and November of 2021 and participated in the Posse retreat in February 2023.
• College health services medical providers attend a variety of continuing education programs with a focus on diversity and equity. Examples include: dermatological diagnosis in patients of color, contraception considerations for patients with disabilities, mental health for TGNC patients, HIV/PreP training.
• All College Health Services staff members have a minimum of one annual goal that relates to DEI since AY ’21–’22 when the new CHS director began in that role.
• LITS staff participated in extended trainings and facilitated discussions as part of Anti-Racism in Academia (ARIA) https://ariajourney.org/.
• LITS staff have engaged with the Posse Plus Retreat and the first restorative justice retreat.
• LITS all staff meetings in spring 2022 and 2023 featured the SANS Neurodiversity Cybersecurity Summit.

Commitment: Ensure DEI efforts by faculty are evaluated

A new faculty anti-racism reporting section was added to the Faculty Activity and Service Summary (FASS), which is completed by each faculty member. This form provides the basis for annual conversations within each department and for annual reporting by department chairs. The annual report guidelines for department chairs have been updated to include specific language about anti-racism and are now in the implementation stage. Individual faculty are now asked to include discussion of their diversity, equity, and inclusion work in their Faculty Activity and Service Summary and department chairs will include a summary of their department's efforts in their annual report.

Commitment: Launch employee affinity-based dialogue groups and events

New Affinity-based dialogues will begin in the fall of 2023.

Commitment: Reimagining campus safety

• Public Safety and Service included diversity training as part of the performance review markers in 2022 for staff yearly evaluation. We will continue to work on achievement goals as indicators.
• Public Safety and Service department training 2023:
  • Trauma-Informed Policing.
  • Responding to Hate Crimes.
  • Duty to Intervene.
  • Officers Responding to Interpersonal Violence.
  • Behavioral Intervention Team Training.
  • CIT (Crisis Intervention Team) Training — DMH.

Commitment: Expand Counseling Service’s capacity to support and treat BIPOC students

• Counseling Service has continued to work on optimizing opportunities to hire, support and retain clinicians with lived BIPOC experience and expertise in working with BIPOC students and the trauma of racism.
• Counseling Service continues to offer numerous groups for students with marginalized identities. Groups include: TransFormation (students of trans* experience, including those exploring or questioning their gender identities and those who identify explicitly as transgender, nonbinary, agender, +), Living with Chronic Illness and Deeper than Skin (Asian identified students).

2021 updates

Commitment: Launch a Bias Education Response Team

The committee, made up of faculty and staff, began meeting in September 2020 to review and revise the existing bias reporting process to be adapted by the Bias Education and Support Team (BEST). This new framework was presented to campus leadership in December 2020. Subsequent presentations focused on faculty governance groups including FCC, Advisory and FEHC. Presentations were also held with the DEI Advisory Committee (formerly MCCL) and staff groups, including OPC and Counseling Services. Presentations to Student Senate occurred in April 2021. Feedback from each of the sessions has been incorporated into the drafting of the FAQ’s and this will continue through summer 2021. A final draft was then shared with legal counsel for review in April 2021.

A full-day training delivered by a team from TNG/ATIXA was held on February 22, 2021. Thirty faculty and staff who may serve as future hearing panelists and appeals officers participated in this training, developing their awareness with regard to how issues of microaggressions, bias, and cultural competence impact our campus, along with practical techniques to respond to and de-escalate situations as they arise. This training increased the pool of trained and capable partners in the BEST process, a necessary element in the implementation process. The BEST process has been updated and is now being co-chaired by the Assistant Vice President for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and the Assistant Vice President for Civil Rights and Title IX Coordinator.

Commitment: Launch employee affinity-based dialogue groups and events

The College launched an ongoing series of employee affinity-based dialogue groups and events in fall 2020. To date, these affinity-based dialogues have been:

• Affinity-based dialogue for faculty and staff who identify as Black: Throughout summer 2020, and in April 2021.
• Affinity-based dialogue for faculty and staff who identify as Latinx: September 2020.
• Affinity-based dialogues for faculty and staff who are caregivers: October 2020 and December 2020.
• Affinity-based dialogues for faculty and staff who identify as LGBTQ: October 2020, January 2021, and April 2021.
• Affinity-based dialogue for faculty and staff who identify as transgender and gender nonconforming: November 2020.
• Affinity-based dialogue for faculty and staff who identify as Asian/Asian-American/Asian Pacific Islander/South East Asian scheduled for June 2021.

Other affinity based moments for the Fall included our Friday lunchtime Brown Bag Series which brought together faculty and staff groups for the following topic based discussion:

• 1619 Project Dialogue for BIPOC identified faculty and staff.
• 1619 Project Dialogue for White faculty and staff as Allies.

The College will continue to build upon this effort with ongoing affinity-based dialogues expanding the program to support BIPOC and community members from other underrepresented groups to provide ongoing support to diverse populations of community members.

Commitment: Reimagining campus safety

Public Safety and Service is a part of the Division of Student Life and is committed to safeguarding the civil rights of all and to fostering a campus environment that is rooted in understanding and respect.

• With the exception of campus emergencies, Public Safety and Service no longer posts outside campus buildings.
• Implicit bias and other social justice, diversity, equity and inclusion trainings are being reviewed and assessed in the performance evaluations of all staff members.
• New policies and procedures are being created to define when students might anticipate the presence of Public Safety and Service in residence halls.
  • In collaboration with the Reimagining Campus Safety Committee, Public Safety and Service developed, reviewed and revised several policies related to student interactions in the residence halls and on campus.

Commitment: Establish a history and legacy task force

The College will establish a history and legacy task force charged with uncovering past histories with regard to race, racism, xenophobia and other forms of bias.

2024-2025

Support in envisioning and co-creating TGNC10 @ MHC, a trans and gender nonconforming (TGNC)-led, student-led project sponsored by Mount Holyoke in commemoration of the 10-year anniversary of the College’s gender-inclusive admissions policy. Vice President for Equity and Inclusion Kijua Sanders-McMurty served as the Lynk Internship supervisor.

Archives and Special Collections (ASC) worked with students to organize a TGNC10 exhibition – “We have to show the world who we are: trans and non-conforming history at Mount Holyoke”, which celebrates the 10-year anniversary of MHC’s gender-inclusive admissions policy.

ASC and DEI co-sponsored two events with Dr. Perry Zurn in honor of Trans Week of Visibility and Resistance.

ASC developed fall 2025 exhibits in collaboration with the International Student Organizing Committee (ISOC) on the history of international students at MHC and with members of La Unidad on the history of Latinx students at MHC.

Commitment: Acknowledge the College’s past history with Indigenous communities

In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, the College will conclude the repatriation of the remains of an Indigenous ancestor to the Stockbridge-Munsee Community, returning to the earth a tribal member who was for so long rendered culturally unaffiliated by the original collection process and a lack of proper documentation. As of spring 2021, the ancestral remains have been legally repatriated to the Stockbridge Munsee Community through the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act. The Stockbridge-Munsee are working with representatives of the Nipmuc Nation (Hassanamisco Band) regarding the arrangements for the physical transfer and reburial. A public recognition and redress will take place soon after the burial.

Our commitments are focused on centering the lived experiences of Indigenous people. To ensure we begin the process of following through on this stated promise and fulfill the goals of the anti-racism action plan, the College is engaging in an Indigenous Peoples Day Teach-in that will educate all community members about the histories, legacies and voices both past and present of the Indigenous Peoples of North America. The College will continue this work throughout the month of November 2021 with additional speakers as part of Indigenous Heritage Month.

2024-2025

The Miller Worley Center of the Environment in partnership with the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion has undertaken a trails project to to build upon our commitment to Indigenous peoples of the Kwinitekw Valley by deepening our understanding of the history of the land on which the college is situated and respectfully honoring its original stewards. We are working with students, faculty and staff across the College and in partnership with Nipmuc elder Larry Spotted Crow Mann to envision the trails project.

Commitment: Establish an Indigenous Histories, Legacies and Student Support Services Working Group

2024-2025

The group convened and established the Mount Holyoke Scholarship in honor of Native and Indigenous Communities.

Commitment: Acknowledge the second Monday in October as Indigenous Peoples Day

Effective fall 2021, the College will acknowledge the second Monday in October as Indigenous Peoples Day in an effort to accurately reflect the significant histories and legacies of Native peoples.

2024-2025

The College held its fourth annual Indigenous Peoples’ Day Teach-In in collaboration with the Five College Consortium (October 2024). This year, October 2025, we will host our fifth.

For the third year, the College is sponsoring the Indigenous Peoples Day Ceremonial Celebration in Newton, MA and will transport students, faculty and staff to participate.

Commitment: Recognize Juneteenth as an official holiday

The College will recognize Juneteenth as an official holiday, beginning on June 19, 2021. Juneteenth commemorates what has also been referred to as “Freedom Day,” which honors the emancipation of African people who were enslaved in the United States. The College issued an official statement and resources this year to align with our commemoration.

2024-2025

Since 2021, MHC has honored Juneteenth as an official College holiday and issued resource guides with prerecorded educational content and official statements to mark our commemoration. This year, President Danielle R. Holley and Vice President for Equity and Inclusion Kijua Sanders-McMurtry gathered for an informal online dialogue to highlight the significance of Juneteenth, the legacy of Opal Lee and its many celebrations.

Commitment: Understand and document the experiences of BIPOC community members

In the fall of 2021, the College will conduct a comprehensive campus climate assessment to better understand and document the experiences of community members who are Black, Indigenous or people of color. An oral history project focused on Mount Holyoke’s Black alums, led by the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, will become a part of the permanent collection of Archives and Special Collections.

2024-2025

A Staff Satisfaction Survey was conducted in the Spring of 2024 to identify specific areas the College will target to improve the experiences of and retain BIPOC employees and become an employer of distinction as outlined in our strategic plan.

DEI continues to support various student organizations, affinity-based groups and provide significant educational programming, consultation and support through a variety of initiatives across campus. Specific efforts to support underrepresented groups include:

• The programming for the Betty Shabazz Cultural Center Homecoming was deepened this year to create an overnight experience of Black identified MHC students. The celebration was a two-day, one-night experience with alums, faculty, and staff coming together to share their MHC experiences, offer support and envision future affinity spaces (September 2024).
• The Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and the SGA DEI Officer co-created a series of spaces for Queer and Trans Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) students, faculty and staff to gather and share their experiences, build solidarity, share ideas and address concerns. During the series, we’ve hosted 100 community members at various events.
• The National Day of Racial Healing featured sessions on The Literature of Japanese American Incarceration, Indigenous Storytelling and Healing Justice: A Black Affinity Space.
• Sixth annual Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King Series on Racial Justice and Reconciliation which engaged students, faculty, staff and alums in specific programs this year, including “Still I Rise: A Black Solidarity Reception” at the home of the President with over 65 attendees including Black identified faculty, staff and students and a keynote conversation featuring Attorney Bakari Sellers in collaboration with the Joseph and Evelyn Institute on Justice and Human Rights.
• Support for specific programming supporting the Asian, Asian American, Pacific Islander community in collaboration with MHCAASIA.

2023 updates

Commitment: Acknowledge the College’s past history with Indigenous communities

• The College established two new full-tuition scholarships in honor of Native and Indigenous communities with the goal of awarding two new students in the fall of 2023.
• The College has established two teach-ins, the teach-in on antisemitism held each January as part of the Martin Luther King and Coretta Scott King Series on Racial Justice and Reconciliation, and the Indigenous Peoples’ Day teach-in, which happens each October on Indigenous Peoples’ Day.
• The College moved the Zowie Banteah Cultural Center for Native and Indigenous Communities into a new space in Ham and MacGregor Halls with a blessing from Nipmuc elder, Larry Spotted Crow Mann, and in partnership with local Indigenous artists, activists and community leaders. This event was coordinated in collaboration with Rachel Beth Sayet, Five College Native American and Indigenous Studies (NAIS) Community Development Fellow. The kitchen will be completely renovated in the summer of 2023, during which time another blessing will occur.

Commitment: Understand and document the experiences of BIPOC community members

Archives and Special Collections reformatted the cassette tapes from Tiffany McClain ’01 relating to her work on her honors thesis about African American women at Mount Holyoke in order to make them more broadly available to researchers.

2021 updates

Commitment: Establish a history and legacy task force

The president has appointed Head Archivist Leslie Fields and Chief Diversity Officer Kijua Sanders-McMurtry as co-chairs of a new History, Legacies and Memory Task Force. The goals and charge of this task force will be included in future updates, following the appointment of its membership and after its first meeting.

The History, Legacies and Memory Task Force held its first orientation meeting with alum, student, faculty and staff task force members in April of 2021. The task force is finalizing the charge in June of 2021 and will fully launch with all of its initiatives in the fall of 2021.