Suzan-Lori Parks ’85 awarded the prestigious Gish Prize
MHC alumna Suzan-Lori Parks ’85 was recently awarded the Dorothy and Lilian Gish Prize, one of the most prestigious awards in the arts recognizing those who make “an outstanding contribution to the beauty of the world and to mankind’s enjoyment and understanding of life.” Parks credits her Mount Holyoke College professors for arming her with the skills and confidence she needed to launch her stellar career as a playwright. After being discouraged by a high school English teacher, it was her professors at Mount Holyoke, including Lecturer in English Leah Glasser and… Read More
Shirley Chisholm, former MHC professor and the first African American woman elected to Congress, awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom
On November 24, President Obama awarded Shirley Chisholm, the first African American woman elected to Congress and former Mount Holyoke professor, with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Chisholm represented her native New York from 1969 to 1983, becoming a founding member of the Congressional Black Caucus. In 1972, Chisholm ran for the Democratic nomination, making history as the first African American from a major party to run for president. As congresswoman, Chisholm staffed her office entirely with women and remained a lifelong advocate for minority education and employment. See the original Facebook… Read More
“Women’s colleges are places where women lead in all aspects of student government and women’s voices are not in the background in classes.” — Susana Morris ’02 on the advantages of women’s colleges
“During my years at Mount Holyoke I flourished within an academic and social environment that emphasized my intellectual ability, fostered my feminism, and encouraged my potential as leader. Many of my close friends—women who excel in activism, teaching, philanthropy, publishing, and medicine—are Mount Holyoke women.” Susana Morris ’02, an associate professor of English at Auburn University and About.com’s Women’s Issues Expert, recently wrote about the many advantages of attending a women’s college. Morris and other scholars agree—an environment like Mount Holyoke, filled with ambitious, passionate, and intelligent women, is not only advantageous… Read More
From Paris to Ferguson: One professor’s journey back home, to the reality of police violence
Kira Banks ’00 writes in The Atlantic: I’m a professor of psychology at Saint Louis University. I have every reason to be comfortable with my life, yet I also have every reason to be outraged by the longstanding and recently highlighted deadly assumptions about and violence against black lives. Ferguson unfolded as we were in the midst of our first European family vacation. The children were spending their days trying croissants and playing pick-up soccer games in the Parisian neighborhood park. The idyllic scene, however, stood in contrast to the scenes that unfolded… Read More
Thank you! When you invest in Mount Holyoke women, you educate the world.
Thank you to all who invested in Mount Holyoke in the 2014-2015 fiscal year. Your generosity sustains the Mount Holyoke experience and helps our students to realize their full potential. #mhcten
A chicken’s gift to Mount Holyoke
Dr. Henrietta T. Hooker taught botany at Mount Holyoke from 1873-1908. She bred and owned a prize winning Buff Orpington chicken. In 1920, she competed in the annual National Inter-Collegiate Poultry Contest at Madison Square Garden and won first prize. Dr. Hooker generously donated the prize money to support the College’s endowment. President Woolley gratefully acknowledged this gift and gave Henrietta the chicken “freedom of the campus” for the rest of her life. Henrietta’s “prize winning form” can be viewed on the first floor of Clapp, where she now remains. If a chicken can make a… Read More
Careers in Public Service: MHC’s Lynk goes on the road to the Massachusetts State House
A daylong event at the Massachusetts State House brought current students with an interest in public service together with alumnae working in the field to strengthen their connections and help launch them into careers that will make a difference in the world. Distinguished speakers, Judith Kurland ’67 and Senator Kathleen Connor Ives ’99 (pictured above near center, in green) inspired students with their keynote speeches. In her welcome, President Pasquerella noted the “staggering achievements” of Frances Perkins, class of 1902, saying that “Today, we continue the experience that so galvanized Frances Perkins. We are taking Mount… Read More
Building Community Fact #24: Reese Psychology and Education Building
Construction of the Reese Psychology and Education Building in 1965–1966 was a labor of love. The project was supervised by the Department of Psychology and Education to ensure that the building’s facilities would be optimal for serving academic needs. Reese houses offices, lecture and seminar rooms, an education curriculum library, laboratories, computer facilities, a vivarium space for research animals, and a complex of shops for the construction of laboratory and teaching apparatus. Reese is named in memory of Ellen Pulford Reese ’48 and Thomas Whelan Reese, two long-term members of the department… Read More
Taking on the world was never far from Mary Lyon’s mind. Now it’s our turn.
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$10 Million for MHC 