MOUNT HOLYOKE COLLEGE


'Mount Holyoke College' is a liberal arts women's college in South Hadley, Massachusetts. Originally founded by Mary Lyon as ''Mount Holyoke Female Seminary'' on 8 November, 1837, it is the "first of the Seven Sisters"[2] and is the oldest continuing institution of higher education for women in the United States. In addition, according to the United States Department of Education, "Mount Holyoke’s significance is that it became a model for a multitude of other women’s colleges throughout the country."[3]
Mount Holyoke is also part of the Pioneer Valley's Five Colleges, along with Amherst College, Smith College, Hampshire College, and the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

Contents
Overview
Notable people
Campus and student life
History
Traditions
Readings and performances
Annual events
Convocation and commencement
Mount Holyoke in theater, film, and popular culture
Further Reading
Notes
External links

Overview


The Pioneer Valley and Connecticut River

Mount Holyoke has a student population of 2,100. Students come from "48 states and nearly 70 countries. One in three students is an international citizen or African American, Asian American, Latina, Native American, or multiracial. Thirty-three percent of incoming first-year students were in the top five percent of their high school classes".[4]
Mount Holyoke has been part of the SAT optional movement for undergraduate admission since 2001.[5][6]
Mount Holyoke is a leader in producing Fulbright scholars.[7] It also counts among its alumnae recipients of the Churchill, Datatel, Congress-Bundestag, Goldwater, [8] Rhodes, [9]Gates Cambridge, [10] and Marshall scholarships and fellowships. [11] The most popular graduate schools attended by MHC alumnae are Harvard, Yale, Columbia, Tufts, Penn, Stanford, Berkeley, and Georgetown.[12] Students looking for work directly after graduation have "direct access to 1300+ corporations and organizations" such as New York Metropolitan Opera, ESPN, MTV, NPR,Google, Microsoft, Teach For America, Goldman Sachs, Peace Corps, Harvard University (health/medicine) Smithsonian, Boston Globe, Disney Publishers, and the National Economic Research Associates. [8]
It is a member of the Pioneer Valley's Five Colleges Consortium, the Consortium of Liberal Arts Colleges, the Annapolis Group, and the Oberlin Group. It was a part of the The New College Plan. It is currently a part of The Consortium on Financing Higher Education and ''The Knowledge Corridor''.
Suzan-Lori Parks

Elaine Chao

Emily Dickinson

Shirley Chisholm

Notable people


Main articles: List of Mount Holyoke College people
''
Notable alumnae include:

★ Dari Alexander

★ Virginia Apgar

★ Elaine Chao (24th United States Secretary of Labor )

★ Emily Dickinson

★ Jean Picker Firstenberg

★ Ella Grasso

★ Glenda Hatchett (TV personality: Judge Hatchett)

★ Elizabeth (Sadie) Holloway Marston (involved in the creation of ''Wonder Woman'')

★ Suzan-Lori Parks

★ Frances Perkins (U.S. Secretary of Labor from 1933 to 1947)

★ Wendy Wasserstein
Notable faculty include:

★ James Baldwin (Five Colleges faculty)

★ Michael Burns (historian and child actor particularly known for his role as Barnaby West on ''Wagon Train'')

★ Joseph Brodsky (who won the Nobel Prize for Literature)

★ Shirley Chisholm

★ Anita Desai (novelist)

★ Joseph Ellis (won Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award)

★ John Irving (novelist: ''The World According to Garp'', ''The Cider House Rules'' et al.)

★ Anthony Lake (former National Security Adviser)

★ Bapsi Sidhwa (novelist)

★ Cyrus Vance (former U.S. Secretary of State),

★ Peter Viereck
Notable presidents include:

★ Mary Lyon (referred to then as principal) [14]

★ David Truman (notable for his role as an administrator during the Columbia University protests of 1968).

★ Mary Emma Woolley (notable for her work with women's education)

Campus and student life


The 1,000-acre (3.2 km²) campus was designed and landscaped between 1896 and 1922 by the landscape architecture firm of Olmstead and Sons. Frederick Law Olmstead designed Central Park in New York City and Congress Park in Saratoga Springs, New York (among other notable outdoor projects). In addition to the Mount Holyoke College Botanic Garden, the grounds feature two lakes, a waterfall, tennis courts, stables and woodland riding trails, all surrounding Skinner Green (the grassy lawn in the center of campus). Skinner Green is framed by traditional ivy-covered, brownstone Neo-Gothic dormitories, Skinner Hall and the social hub, Blanchard Student Center. The campus is also home to the Mount Holyoke College Art Museum which is part of the Five College Museums/Historic Deerfield and the Museums10.
The Odyssey Bookshop (a fixture in South Hadley for over 40 years), resides directly across from the campus in the college-owned Village Commons, which contains a collection of locally owned shops and eateries. A little further away (and accessible by the five college bus) lie the towns of Amherst and Northampton. The Hampshire Mall and Holyoke Mall also offer shopping and entertainment for students. The Mount Holyoke Range State Park is also close to the campus.
''The Mount Holyoke News'' is the independent student newspaper for Mount Holyoke College. It was founded in 1917.
'Academics and athletics':

Mount Holyoke offers a number of special programs. It has a dual-degree program in engineering which allows students to earn a B.A. from Mount Holyoke and a B.S. from the California Institute of Technology, the Thayer School of Engineering, Dartmouth College, or UMass. Students interested in Public Health can earn a B.A. from Mount Holyoke and an M.S. from the School of Public Health at the University of Massachusetts Amherst the year after graduating from Mount Holyoke. It also offers the ''Frances Perkins Program'' for non-traditional students and has a number of programs for international students, including exchange students from its sister school, Women's Christian College in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India.
In addition to classes at the college, Mount Holyoke students may also enroll in courses at Amherst College, Hampshire College, Smith College, and University of Massachusetts Amherst through the Five Colleges Consortium.
Mount Holyoke offers a number of college athletics programs and is a member of NERC (the New England Rowing Conference) and of NEWMAC (the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference). Mount Holyoke is also home to a professional golf course, ''The Orchards'', which served as host to the U.S. Women's Open Championship in 2004.[15]

History


'Mount Holyoke Female Seminary (1837-1888)':

Early proponents of education for women were Sarah Pierce (Litchfield Female Academy, 1792); Catharine Beecher (Hartford Female Seminary, 1823); Zilpah P. Grant Banister (Ipswich Female Seminary, 1828); and Mary Lyon. Lyon was involved in the development of both Hartford Female Seminary and Ipswich Female Seminary. She was also involved in the creation of ''Wheaton Female Seminary'' (now Wheaton College, Massachusetts) in 1834.
It was chartered as a teaching seminary in 1836 [16] and opened its doors to students on 8 November, 1837. Lyon founded ''Mount Holyoke Female Seminary'' after Mount Holyoke, a nearby peak on the Mt. Holyoke Range. The mountain itself was named after Elizur Holyoke, who is also the (indirect) namesake for the city, Holyoke, Massachusetts. Harwarth, Maline, and DeBra note that, "Mount Holyoke’s significance is that it became a model for a multitude of other women’s colleges throughout the country."[17] Both Vassar College and Wellesley College were patterned after Mount Holyoke. [18]
Lyon was an educational innovator who created a highly rigorous environment of higher education for women which was unusual for the early 19th century. Lyon mandated a 16 hour day for students at ''Mount Holyoke Female Seminary,'' which began at 5 a.m. and ended at 9:15 p.m. In addition, "the books used by the students were the same as used at men's colleges".[19]. Lyon was also an innovator in science education for women, requiring:
:seven courses in the sciences and mathematics for graduation, a requirement unheard of at other female seminaries. She introduced women to "a new and unusual way" to learn science—laboratory experiments which they performed themselves. She organized field trips on which students collected rocks, plants, and specimens for lab work, and inspected geological formations and recently discovered dinosaur tracks.[20]
Lyon, an early believer in the importance of daily exercise for women, required her students to "walk one mile after breakfast. During New England's cold and snowy winters, she dropped the requirement to 45 minutes. Calisthenics—a form of exercises—were taught by teachers in unheated hallways until a storage area was cleared for a gymnasium. Domestic work often involved strenuous physical activity".[19]
From its founding in 1837, Mount Holyoke Female Seminary "had no religious affiliation". However, "students were required to attend church services, chapel talks, prayer meetings, and Bible study groups. Twice a day teachers and students spent time in private devotions. Every dorm room had two large lighted closets to give roommates privacy during their devotions".[19] Mount Holyoke Female Seminary was the sister school to Andover Seminary. Some Andover graduates looked to marry students from the Mount Holyoke Female Seminary before becoming missionaries because the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) required its missionaries to be married before starting their missions. By 1859, there were more than 60 missionary alumnae; by 1887, the school's alumnae comprised one fifth of all female American missionaries for the ABCFM; and by the end of the century, 248 of its alumnae had entered the mission field.[23]
'Mount Holyoke, 1888-Present':

Mount Holyoke Female Seminary received its collegiate charter in 1888 and became Mount Holyoke Seminary and College. It became Mount Holyoke College in 1893. Mount Holyoke's chapter of Phi Beta Kappa was established in 1905.
In the early 1970s, Mount Holyoke engaged in a lengthy debate under the presidency of David Truman over the issue of coeducation. On 06 November 1971, "after reviewing an exhaustive study on coeducation, the board of trustees decided unanimously that Mount Holyoke should remain a women's college, and a group of faculty was charged with recommending curricular changes that would support the decision." [24]
On February 28, 1987, a United States postage stamp featuring Mary Lyon was issued in honor of ''The Sesquicentennial'' (Mount Holyoke's 150th anniversary).[25]

Traditions


Readings and performances

The Intercollegiate Poetry Contest, 'The Kathryn Irene Glascock' Awards, grants 'The Glascock Prize' to the winner of this annual event (which has taken place at Mount Holyoke since 1924). The "invitation-only competition is sponsored by the English department at Mount Holyoke and counts many well-known poets, including Sylvia Plath and James Merrill, among its past winners".[26]
'The Faculty Show' takes place once every four years, around 01 April faculty members create a show which parodies themselves and their students.[27]
'The Junior Show' (also known as ''J-Show'') refers to a show created by Juniors (and a few professors) who parody life at Mount Holyoke. A common feature is a sketch mocking the president and dean of the college, along with well-known professors.[28]
Annual events

'Big/Little Sister' is a reference to the pairing of juniors and firsties (or first years) who are paired up to take part in organized—and unorganized—events together.
'Disorientation' or "Dis-O," is the most closely guarded secret at Mount Holyoke. Generally, first-years are kept in the dark about it until it actually takes place.
'Elfing' refers to sophomores who secretly leave gifts for their chosen firsties or transfer students, usually during October of each year.
'Founder's Day' is held on the day closest to 8 November (the date of the opening of Mount Holyoke in 1837). It was begun by Elizabeth Storrs Mead in 1891. [29]
'Mountain Day' begins with the sound of ringing bells from Abbey Chapel on a beautiful autumn morning secretly chosen by the President of the College and all classes are canceled for the day and many students hike to the summit of nearby Mount Holyoke.[30]
'M&C's' was originally called Milk & Crackers, but is now referred to as Milk & Cookies. [31] It refers to a nightly snack provided by dormitory dining halls. M&Cs also refer to a popular student ''a cappella'' group, ''M&Cs (Milk and Cookies)'' [32]
Convocation and commencement

'Canoe Sing' is an event which takes place prior to commencement in which canoes are decorated with lanterns are paddled by seniors singing Mount Holyoke songs. They are joined by fellow graduating seniors on shore.
'Convocation' is held in Abbey Chapel; the medieval German ode to Academe, "Gaudeamus Igitur" is sung by berobed Seniors and Faculty during the procession. Following convocation, Faculty line the path to Mary Lyon's grave. Seniors walk through this throng, to the grave (to place a wreath). As they pass by their professors, the Faculty members applaud the Seniors—thereby acknowledging them for the first time as scholars and colleagues.
'The Laurel Parade' takes place the day before commencement. Graduating seniors wear white and carry laurel garlands, in a parade to Mary Lyon's grave. They are escorted by approximately 3,000 alumnae, also in white, who thereby welcome them into the Alumnae Association. Once at Mary Lyon's grave, the garland is wound around the cast-iron fence, and the Mimi Farina song "Bread and Roses" is sung by all in attendance. White is a tribute to those who fought for women's suffrage. [33]

Mount Holyoke in theater, film, and popular culture


Mount Holyoke is referenced in works of theater, film, and popular culture. Pulitzer Prize - winning playwright Wendy Wasserstein's 1977 play, ''Uncommon Women and Others'', is based upon Wasserstein's experiences at Mount Holyoke of the early 1970s. The play explores the lives of the fictional characters Carter, Holly, Kate, Leilah, Rita, Muffet, Samantha, and Susie.
Two well-known films referenced Mount Holyoke of the 1960s. The protagonist of the 1987 film ''Dirty Dancing'', Frances "Baby" Houseman (Grey) was named after Mount Holyoke graduate Frances Perkins. "Baby" is the socially conscious member of her family, who is planning to attend Mount Holyoke in the fall of 1963 to study economics and then to enter the Peace Corps. The 1978 film, ''National Lampoon's Animal House'' satirizes a common practice up until the mid-1970s, when women attending Seven Sister colleges were connected with or to students at Ivy League schools. The film, which takes place in 1962, shows fraternity brothers from Delta house of the fictional Faber College (based on Dartmouth College) taking a road trip to the fictional Emily Dickinson College (either Mount Holyoke College or Smith College).[34]
One of the most famous references to Mount Holyoke College in American popular culture occurred in ''I'm Spelling as Fast as I Can,'' an episode of ''The Simpsons'': "The Seven Sisters were immortalized in popular culture in a 2003 episode of ''The Simpsons.'' Having won local and state spelling bees, Lisa Simpson advances to the national finals. However, the moderator, concerned about the contest’s low television ratings, offers Lisa free tuition ('and a hot plate') at the Seven Sisters college of her choice if she will allow a more popular contestant (who happens to be a boy) to win. Lisa refuses, but has a dream in which students from each of the Seven Sisters appear to her."[35]
'Additional fictional alumnae':

Additional characters in popular culture include ''Donna'', from the television series, ''Judging Amy'', ''Judy Maxwell'', from the film, ''What's Up, Doc?'', ''Brooke'', from ''The L Word'', Season 4, and ''Catherine'', the serial bride in the film noir release, ''Black Widow (1987 film).''

Further Reading



★ Creighton, Joanne V. ''A Tradition of Their Own: Or, If a Woman Can Now Be President of Harvard, Why Do We Still Need Women’s Colleges?.''

★ "Mount Holyoke College." In Greenes' Guides to Educational Planning: The , Howard Greene, , , HarperCollins, 2000, ISBN 0-06-095362-4

★ Harwarth, Irene B. "A Closer Look at Women's Colleges." National Institute on Postsecondary Education, Libraries, and Lifelong Learning, Office of Educational Research and Improvement, U.S. Department of Education, 1999.

★ ---, Mindi Maline and Elizabeth DeBra. "Women's Colleges in the United States: History, Issues, and Challenges: Executive Summary." U.S. Department of Education National Institute on Postsecondary Education, Libraries, and Lifelong Learning.

★ Horowitz, Helen Lefkowitz. ''Alma Mater: Design and Experience in the Women's Colleges from Their Nineteenth-Century Beginnings to the 1930s,'' Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 1993 (2nd edition).

★ The Insider's Guide to the Colleges, 2008 (34th edition), Compiled and Edited by the Staff of the Yale Daily News, , , St. Martin's Griffin, 2007, ISBN-13: 978-0-312-36689-6

Notes


1. Endowment Cultivates Great Teachers, , , , Supplement to the MHC Alumnae Quarterly, Spring 2007
2. About Mount Holyoke
3. Women's Colleges in the United States: History, Issues, and Challenges
4. Facts
5. Selected Articles Regarding MHC's SAT Optional Policy
6. Not Missing the SAT
7. Mount Holyoke Is among Top Fulbright Producers
8. Outcomes
9. Report Details Postgraduate Educational and Career Paths of Young Alumnae
10. Alumna Maile Martinez Named Gates Cambridge Scholar
11. Out of Africa: Rachel Brulé '03 Wins Marshall Scholarship
12. Life after Mount Holyoke
13. Outcomes
14. http://www.mtholyoke.edu/offices/comm/csj/950216SE/listpres.html
15. Location Ideal For 2004 Women’s Open: Championship Course Was Built For A Woman, Owned By All-Female College David Shefter
16. First Charter of Mount Holyoke
17. Women's Colleges in the United States: History, Issues, and Challenges Irene Harwarth
18. Seven Sisters and a Country Cousin Jennifer L. Crispen
19. Daily Life at Mount Holyoke
20. Daily Mary Lyon's Influence on Science Education for Women
21. Daily Life at Mount Holyoke
22. Daily Life at Mount Holyoke
23. Did You Know?, Rebecca Golossanov, , , Christian History & Biography, Spring 2006
24. Mount Holyoke:A Detailed History
25. The Mary Lyon Stamp
26. Kudos:Recognition for Dartmouth faculty, staff, and students
27. Faculty Show 2006
28. Junior Show 2006
29. http://www.mtholyoke.edu/courses/rschwart/hatlas/traditions/founders.htm
30. Heading for the Hills on Mountain Day: It's Been a Mount Holyoke Tradition Since 1838
31. Traditions:M & Cs (milk and crackers)
32. Traditions: M&Cs A Capella
33. 100 Years of Laurel and Other Commencement Customs
34.
35. Seven Sisters

External links



★ Official website

★ Mount Holyoke College: Annual Catalogues, 1837-1900

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