Early last week, the entire Mount Holyoke community received an email from President Sonya Stephens addressing the College’s goal for a smoke-free campus by June 2020. Last spring, when the smoking ban was first proposed, the most prominent issue put forth by the ban’s advocates was the copious amounts of cigarette butts found littered around campus. While there are cigarette butt disposals provided for students, they are typically located right in front of the entrances to buildings. However, there are also signs on every building instructing people to stay at least 20 feet away while smoking. Besides the poorly-placed cigarette butt disposals, there is an outstanding lack of trash receptacles around campus and especially outside of buildings — a lack that was a major facet of campus discussion last spring. Now, it seems as though that aspect of the conversation has been lost. If littering was the main issue put forth in the conception of this smoking ban, why then did the proposed solution not aim to address it directly? I aim to shed light on the reasons why people smoke and why more consideration needs to be given before the community can decide to be “smoke-free.”
Phillip Morris, one of the country’s leading tobacco companies, published a document in 1991 that explained their new marketing strategies. Many of these strategies involved shifting their target consumer demographic to the working class, especially women and other minorities. The company recognized that smoking and tobacco consumption was declining in popularity among those with a higher socioeconomic status. Tobacco companies saw this social decline and realized they needed to target those on the outskirts of bourgeois social life. Therefore, it is particularly the marginalized who are directly preyed upon by Big Tobacco and have less control over whether they get addicted or not. Employers then perpetuate the problem with the way many low-wage jobs are structured: for example, many service industry jobs do not allow breaks from physically demanding labor unless their employees smoke cigarettes.
This environment makes it incredibly easy for people to start smoking and nearly impossible to quit, especially without access to support or resources. Many of the College’s employees, especially those who work in Dining Services and groundskeeping, smoke on their work breaks. Does the College plan to provide adequate counseling to staff as well? Will the College refuse to hire workers with a nicotine addiction? Will workers be forced to quit their jobs if they cannot find help?
Another group that is more vulnerable to addiction is those with mental illnesses. Depressive brains often contain lower levels of dopamine than their non-depressive counterparts. Smoking cigarettes can serve as a way to temporarily increase levels of dopamine, which puts people with depression at a higher risk for developing a chemical dependency. Along with anxiety and depression, other mental illnesses associated with higher rates of smoking include bipolar disorder, ADHD, schizophrenia, Alzheimer’s and PTSD. “Smoking is often a coping mechanism, and while it is not necessarily viewed as an ideal coping mechanism, it is also by no means the most destructive one,” said Alma Bartnik ’20. “For students who occupy marginalized positions already, especially those who experience mental illness, smoking can provide a sense of relief. I don’t think that it’s anyone’s right to take that away, especially without the promise of offering something better in its place.”
Something crucial to remember about cigarette smoking is that it is highly addictive. The rhetoric about smoking simply being a “bad habit” discounts the difficulty of addiction and enforces the idea that people with nicotine addictions are selfish, and that the responsibility is on them to personally protect their peers and their environment. “This ban will ostracize students who smoke,” Bartnik said. “I understand that some peo- ple have very real concerns about being exposed to smoke, and I understand why the needs of those students matter.” But Bartnik is concerned that a unilateral ban will encourage students to smoke in their rooms for fear of being caught, endangering students who are sensitive to smoke and further isolating those who are smoking in the first place.
Information about the ban has so far not included any information or resources about addiction. In fact, the emails and information about the ban sent to students so far do not seemingly address members of the community with an addition to tobacco or nicotine. It feels as though the College is proposing a solution for an ideal world without presenting any tangible steps toward that solution, at least none that they have made available to the public.
Stephens’ email states that the College has received a $20,000 grant from the Truth Initiative. According to ProPublica, Truth’s audits show that the company made over $67 million in net revenue in 2017. Their marketing strategy in recent years involves commercials featuring teenage puppets discovering the dangers of smoking and vaping, with the puppets vomiting from too much vaping and their heads exploding when they nd out how much nicotine is in a Juul pod. My question is, what is their goal? Why are they giving money to liberal arts colleges to further their agenda? What do both parties gain out of the relationship? Further, how are commercials with vomiting puppets supposed to provide those with a nicotine addiction the adequate help that they need? How much money that could be going to cessation programs for marginalized people is spent making those commercials?
The email left me with many more questions for the College: Is this $20,000 going toward hiring more psychologists at the counseling center? How do they plan on enforcing this ban? Will students be reprimanded or punished if they are found smoking?
The discussion around a smoke-free campus is far from over. This conversation and the decision to make Mount Holyoke a smoke-free campus should include those who occupy different positions in regards to marginalization and smoking. We need to foster a sense of community and trust, rather than further ostracizing and stigmatizing students who may already feel uncomfortable or scrutinized for their decisions. I propose the idea of designated smoking areas for those who choose to smoke, rather than banning the substance from campus altogether. There are reasons why people smoke, there are reasons why people do not smoke, and we as a community must give respect and attention to every reason in order to arrive at a solution that will work for everyone.
BY MERYL PHAIR ’21
On Tuesday, Feb. 19, Hampshire College announced that nine employees from their admissions and advancement offices would be let go, effective April 19, 2019.
Hampshire’s Feb. 1 decision to put the brakes on recruitment efforts and the review of new incoming student applications seriously affected their admissions office. As of now, Hampshire’s incoming first-year class for the Fall of 2019 consists of 77 students who have either accepted the College’s offer to enroll via Early Decision I or were accepted last year and deferred entry.
“We are losing valued colleagues and friends whose thoughtfulness and dedication have had measurable, and immeasurable, impact on our students, families, alums and the campus community. We will work to provide resources and support to ease their transition,” said President of Hampshire College Miriam Nelson in an email sent out to the campus community late Tuesday afternoon.
More faculty layoffs and staff cuts will be announced in April but numbers for those cutbacks are not yet public, according to an article published by MassLive on Feb. 19. Hampshire’s 400 employees include 250 staff members and 150 faculty members.
The layoffs have been met with a considerable response from student resistance organization HampRiseUp and the Save Hampshire movement, a group of alumni, parents and other community members focused on achieving clarity about Hampshire’s financial situation and evaluating whether or not the administration’s decisions are in Hampshire’s best interest. Save Hampshire wants to develop an inclusive and transparent process in which faculty, staff and students have a say in the College’s decision-making processes.
On Friday, Feb. 15, Save Hampshire worked with students from HampRiseUp to hold a demonstration in Franklin Patterson Hall at Hampshire College. The event was a space for the community to continue conversations about what was happening at the College and for Save Hampshire to develop a coordinated strategy with students going forward.
“I was really impressed by how organized the student demonstrators were,” said Sarah Dauer ’20, a Mount Holyoke College student at the event. “In fact, one thing that has blown my mind about everything happening at Hampshire is how thorough and unified the student organizers are.”
Following the announced layoffs, the College’s faculty met on Wednesday, Feb. 20 for a vote of no confidence, a resolution expressing no confidence in the institution’s president, Board of Trustees and chief financial officer.
According to an article in The Chronicle of Higher Education, the vote was invalidated by the faculty executive committee because of technical and procedural problems. Hampshire’s executive committee said in a statement that during the vote they experienced “glitches and irregularities.” There was also a procedural question raised by Dean of Faculty Eva Rueschmann.
According to Rachel Creemers, Save Hampshire’s Communications Director, Hampshire’s affiliate chapter of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) “was attempting to negotiate with the administration, including severance packages and the hearing of grievances.”
Creemers said that the administration refused to work with Hampshire’s faculty affiliate. Hampshire’s AAUP Legal Working Group believes they did so because “they fear that [...] would run the risk of recognizing us as a legitimate bargaining body.”
Save Hampshire is concerned that the current financial crisis may be manufactured. A summary report of research backing their claim is posted on Save Hampshire’s blog and was discussed at the Feb. 15 demonstration. They are calling on the College’s administration to halt layoffs and accept a class for the fall of 2019 and following spring of 2020 until the discrepancies Save Hampshire, the AAUP and the student body have found in their research are addressed.
Save Hampshire claims that Hampshire College was not in a crisis when its leadership made crucial decisions changing the course of Hampshire’s future, as claimed in the College’s summary report. Hampshire is not at risk of losing accreditation, and although the College is facing serious financial challenges, Save Hampshire’s summary report says “they are not at all of an order that requires the extraordinary measures of massive layoffs of staff and faculty and the decision to not admit a full F19 class.”
“Moreover, we are concerned that since 2016, the Board of Trustees have not published their meeting minutes, as they are required to do,” said Creemers. Save Hampshire believes that the college has the capacity to have a slower, truly democratic and transparent process of determining its future.
Meanwhile, Save Hampshire has asked the state attorney general to open an investigation into Hampshire College about their use of nondisclosure agreements (NDA). “The main reasons for the investigation is to determine if there is any conflict of interest,” Creemers explained. Was the Hampshire community being misled with misinformation or were not all of the facts provided? We are concerned that board members may have personal financial interests in a merger.”
Creemers said that Save Hampshire is working on a letter to both the Trustees of Hampshire College and the Massachusetts attorney general, asking the Trustees to disclose any conflicts of interests or conflict of interest checks that they might have conducted. Another letter will focus on the misleading and conflicting information the Hampshire community has received from the Board of Trustees and President Nelson.
“We are also concerned that the Hampshire community has not been given the entire story from the Trustees, president and administration in light of the emails that were revealed by the Daily Hampshire Gazette on February 22, 2019,” said Creemers.
On Friday, Feb. 22, the Daily Hampshire Gazette published an article containing emails sent from Nelson to Kumble Subbaswamy, University of Massachusetts Chancellor; John Kennedy, Vice Chancellor for University Relations at UMass; Chris Dunn, Executive Director of Public and Constituent Relations at UMass; David Gibson, Chief Creative Officer at Hampshire College; and John Buckley, the CEO of Subject Matters. The subject line read “Confidential.”
The emails were retrieved from the University of Massachusetts through a public records request by the Daily Hampshire Gazette and contained information about Hampshire’s search for a strategic partner.
Nelson’s email was sent on Jan. 10, five days before she went public with Hampshire’s search for what she called a “strong partner with whom we can move forward with a sustainable and impactful future.”
Nelson said in the email that once Hampshire College was public about their intent, Hampshire and the University of Massachusetts would move to signing a non-binding letter of intent in the “not too distant future.”
Nelson stressed the importance of the presidents of Amherst, Smith and Mount Holyoke Colleges being comfortable with Hampshire’s public announcement about the intent to find a partner.
“They very much support UMass and Hampshire’s mutual interest in partnering,” Nelson wrote. “But they want to be very cautious in how their support is conveyed as they don’t want their constituents lobbying them to ‘save’ Hampshire and they don’t want to be a part of any disingenuous statement.”
“As written, the article seems to suggest more involvement on my part than is the case, and I thought it important that you hear directly from me about this matter,” said Sonya Stephens, President of Mount Holyoke College, in an email sent out to the campus community on Saturday Feb. 23, following the release of the Hampshire Gazette article.
Stephens said that on Jan. 9, President Nelson communicated to the Five College Board of Directors that because of significant financial constraints, Hampshire College would be looking for a partner and there had been some conversations between the leadership of Hampshire College and UMass. “This was the first time that I heard of these developments, and we were asked to hold this information in confidence,” said Stephens.
Stephens also made it clear that during the Jan. 9 meeting that conversation between Hampshire and UMass should not be taken to mean that any of the other Five Colleges “[had] been party to these discussions.” She also stated that Mount Holyoke would not endorse anything without a detailed understanding of the plan. “Both President Nelson and Chancellor Subbaswamy emphasized that there was no concrete plan or agreement at that time and that Hampshire was still considering a number of paths forward,” said Stephens.
Stephens said that she will continue to update the Mount Holyoke community, provide information to Hampshire colleagues about employment opportunities and respond “sympathetically” to transfer requests from Hampshire students.
HAMPSHIRE COLLEGE BEGINS LAYOFFS, TENSIONS RISE IN COMMUNITY
MARCH 2019
BY SAACHI KHANDPUR ’22
Mount Holyoke College boasts a myriad of traditions that date back more than a century. Several of these traditions were initiated to ensure that new students feel at home at Mount Holyoke and encourage bonding among the classes. One of these traditions, dating back to the early 1900s, aims to bring the senior and first-year classes together: DisOrientation or Dis-O, formerly known as Hazing Day or Freshman Day. Initially, Freshman Day was a day for first-years to play basketball and other games with sophomores, and bond with seniors by performing tasks for them.
In the early 1940s, seniors took over the tradition completely and Freshman Day became known as Hazing Day. The idea was for seniors to get to know the first-years outside their residence halls in a fun-filled environment. Seniors wore academic robes, while first-years wore costumes. The senior class hosted a night out for the first-years, to end the day. In the 1970s, the tradition expanded again and changed from a day-long event to a week-long one.
However, around 1985, an anti-hazing law came into effect in Massachusetts. This resulted in a name change for the tradition and Hazing Day became DisOrientation in order to take away any negative associations with the event. In a living document, the class board of 1989 put forth a set of rules to guide the tradition. The class of 1993 protested when the College required seniors to submit a list of each residence hall’s planned activities, resulting in a more careful watch on the tradition.
This year’s Dis-O took place on Feb. 19, and, as per tradition, the date was kept a secret by the senior class. It was a sight to see as seniors and other upperclassmen ran around residence halls, calling the first-years out of their rooms and instructing them to go to Kendade for a special event. Juila Beneck ’19 recalled her first-year Dis-O experience and how excited she was to participate now as a senior. “While Dis-O my first-year was filled with confusion-induced energy, this Dis-O was filled with excitement and enthusiasm,” said Beneck. “Part of the different feelings, I think, stem from not really understanding what’s happening as a first-year as opposed to being a senior and looking forward to the tradition.”
On the way into Kendade, seniors handed out red beads and once inside, the senior class and the firstyear class chanted their class years at a deafening volume, each class trying to drown out the other. Seniors and first-years sang the school’s anti-alma mater back and forth, and when the first-years had learned the song, the class of ’19 led the class of ’22 across the street to President Sonya Stephens’ house for M&Cs (Milk & Cookies, another beloved and centuries-old tradition). As the students were welcomed by the President, they continued chanting their respective class years and singing Mount Holyoke College songs in celebration.
Dis-O took the class of ’22 completely by surprise and allowed them to bond with the class of ’19. “Dis-O was a great experience! It strengthens the bond between seniors and freshmen,” said Samira Khan ’22. “It shows how traditions are really important to build a connection and I just can’t wait to be a senior in my next Dis-O.”
DIS-O MOUNT HOLYOKE...WHAT'S HAPPENING TO ME
BY MELISSA JOHNSON ’20
This week’s Senate meeting, held the evening of Tuesday, March 5 in the Blanchard Great Room, focused mainly on the data results from the Student Conference Committee (SCC) survey taken by the student body last semester. Student co-chairs of the committee, Jackie Rich ’21 and Lila Oren-Dahan ’20, presented to the senators.
According to an email sent to the student body last semester, “The SCC survey asks questions based on the student experience, looking at comfort on and around campus, incidences of bias, and what students want to tell the Board of Trustees.”
This year, 1,196 students participated, about 56 percent of the student population. Student participation was relatively even across class years, but the highest number of respondents came from the class of 2022.
The survey results were divided into seven categories: community and dialogue, incidence of bias, department satisfaction and feedback, residential life, health and wellness, campus news and student employment.
Addressing responses in the community and dialogue category, data showed that respondents tend to find academic settings more accepting than informal settings during student dialogue.
“The two places people feel most discomfort are organizing inclusive campus events and discussing diversity issues on campus,” Oren-Dahan said.
Questions in this category also discussed student comfort levels in approaching their academic advisors. While the majority of respondents expressed comfort when approaching faculty, nearly 20 percent of students reported feeling uncomfortable going to their academic advisor for academic support.
Progressing through the presentation, the data showed that 80 percent of students did not report having faced incidents of biases on campus. In addition, students are generally satisfied with academic departments themselves, though respondents did ask for more ways to anonymously give feedback within departments.
In terms of health and wellness, the biggest source of stress that respondents reported back on was academics.
“Over 50 percent of respondents mentioned academics in some way, with time management and social life following that,” said Oren-Dahan.
When dealing with stress, 27 percent of respondents sought counseling, nine percent sought faculty support and nine percent looked to peers for overall support.
When it came to campus news, 25 percent of students do not feel well informed. For those who do receive news on campus, the majority state it comes from resources such as Facebook, NewsFlush postings and the weekly student programs “word-out” letter.
The final topic Rich and Oren-Dahan covered was student employment, which included not only employment issues but also general financial issues for students. While the majority of respondents work on campus and reported being satisfied with their hours, the most concerning results of the data are the sacrifices students are making due to financial restraints.
“Almost 25 percent of respondents have had to forego menstrual or hygiene products at least once because of financial concerns,” said Oren-Dahan. “In addition, 30 percent of respondents stated having to forego prescriptions and medications.”
Another concerning statistic found in the results was that over 50 percent of respondents have had to forego a physical education (P.E.) or academic class at least once due to financial concerns. Some P.E. classes come with a fee of $25, and others cost even more.
“A big theme from the results of the survey is that students are uncomfortable with having certain conversations on campus, but this can jumpstart those hard conversations,” Rich said.
With the survey nearly 100 pages long, the co-chairs both admitted that there is much more information from this survey that is important to understand. However, due to time constraints and length of the survey, certain topics were chosen to be presented at senate. Students interested in accessing survey data can email the Student Conference Committee to receive a data request form.
CLASS OF 2019 HOLDS EVENT IN HONOR OF FACULTY AND STAFF
BY CAITLIN LYNCH ’20
Seniors were encouraged to invite a member of Mount Holyoke’s faculty or staff to join them in the rose garden behind Talcott Greenhouse on the evening of Friday, April 12, for the class of 2019’s first Faculty & Staff Appreciation event. Sponsored by the 2019 class board with support from the Division of Student Life and the Division of Academic Affairs, the event created space for seniors, faculty and staff to enjoy refreshments and informally reflect on the seniors’ past four years at the College.
2019 Class Board President Val Montesino ’19 addressed the approximately 75 attendees at the start of the event, reading a statement from Vice President for Student Life and Dean of Students Marcella Runell Hall which ended with a poem about Mount Holyoke written by Hall’s daughter, Aaliyah. Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of Faculty Jon Western took the mic next, recognizing the impressive work the seniors had presented that day at Senior Symposium and thanking faculty and staff for their continued support of students.
“We’ve been talking about this since last semester,” said Montesino, “an event that can bring together the faculty and staff who have really supported us throughout our four years at Mount Holyoke, and just have an informal time where we can talk about things that are non academic or that we don’t otherwise get to in an academic space.”
“I think professors are another one of those members of the Mount Holyoke community that can sometimes be taken for granted,” said 2019 Class Board Vice President Relyn Myrthil ’19, “so we wanted to make sure that we recognize them. I feel like a lot of their work can be overlooked in the everyday mundane as soon as final projects get assigned and things like that, [so] it’s great to be able to take a step back and really show them that you appreciate everything they’ve done for us to get us here.”
Montesino added that “it was also really intentional to extend it to the staff, because I don’t think there are enough events on campus that highlight the staff or appreciate the staff. We spend most of our time with staff outside of the classroom, whether that be in the dining hall, [or] wherever you work on campus [...] so it was important to us that we include them in the celebration.”
2019 Class Board Social Co-Chair Jamesa Allen ’19 invited professor of data science, and her advisor of four years, Tim Malacarne to the event. “He’s helped me tremendously, even if I just needed to go talk about anything, whether it’s classes [or other] stuff like that, he’s always been so helpful,” she said.
With this event, the Class Board of 2019 kicked off the beginning of their end-of-senior-year events. Other events seniors can look forward to include Strawberries and Champagne and several events leading up to graduation during Senior Week.
By Christian Feuerstein
On Saturday, May 18, Mount Holyoke seniors joined scores of alumnae to march in the Laurel Parade. This long-standing tradition marks the transition from Mount Holyoke College student to alumna.
“It’s the best part of the weekend,” said Heather Creed ’79.
Amy B. Lohr ’79 agreed. “It’s very emotional and very sentimental to be here to support the graduating class!”
The tradition calls for seniors to wear white, in solidarity with the suffragists of the early 20th century, plus accessories in their class colors. This year, the class wore yellow as their symbol is the yellow sphinx.
The classes of 1949, 1969, 1979, 1994, 1999, 2009 and 2017 led the march, waving signs that wittily alluded to campus life when they were students.
A 1949 class sign read: “We came to campus with ration books!” A sign from the class of 1994 countered, “We called each other on landlines!” A sign from 2009 chimed in: “When we started, Pluto was still a planet.”
Marching four across, linked by two chains of laurel, the seniors made their way from Mary E. Woolley Hall to the grave site of founder Mary Lyon.
Along the way, students took selfies and were cheered by family, friends, Mount Holyoke College community members and alumnae.
Nyasha Franklin ’19 was somewhat stressed at the beginning of the parade, as she is in the midst of packing up her residence hall room for her post graduation teaching internship at the Buxton School. But in looking out at the hundreds of alumnae, she reconsidered.
“I’m excited,” she said. “I’m glad they’re all here. It’s beautiful to see them all here.”
The Laurel Parade tradition started over 100 years ago. In 1900, it began as the “Grove Exercises.” The president and vice president of the graduating classes each carried a single wreath of laurel, and were followed by a line of senior classmates. The wreaths were then hung on the gate posts of Mary Lyon’s grave.
By 1902, the laurel wreaths had become a chain. First-year students picked local laurel and crafted a chain for the seniors to carry. This ended in 1923, when mountain laurel had become scarce; laurel returned to the ceremony in 1925, but it came from a florist instead of being picked by hand. Seniors gathered inside the fence of Mary Lyon’s grave and wound the laurel chain around the posts while singing. Seniors stopped going inside the fence in the mid-1930s, when class sizes became too large for students to fit inside the enclosure.
In 1932, the laurel chain tradition was integrated into the annual alumnae parade, held during Commencement weekend. The laurel chain now symbolizes the unbroken linkage among all Mount Holyoke graduates and the welcoming of seniors into the fold of alumnae. Together, alumnae and seniors sing at Mary Lyon’s grave.
Since 1978, that song has been “Bread and Roses.” The song is adapted from a poem written in 1911 by James Oppenheim. The title of his poem was inspired by a speech delivered by Helen Todd — a state factory inspector turned activist — during her campaign for women’s suffrage in California. When Oppenheim first published the poem, it had the attribution line, “‘Bread for all, and Roses, too’ — a slogan of the women in the West.” The slogan was also popular with women during the 1912 textile mill strike in Lawrence, Massachusetts. In 1974, Mimi Fariña set the poem to music, and this is the version that the Mount Holyoke College community sings.
The Laurel Parade stays with alumnae through the years. Michelle Jacobson ’94 remembered when she was a student and worked at a Reunion. “The first time I saw the Laurel Parade, I cried. It’s just such a wonderful tradition.”
Michele Sumilas ’94 was back on campus for the first time since her graduation. She looked over at the graduates draping yellow scarves around their necks, knots of alumnae hoisting signs, strolling around campus, sharing photos and chatting, and declared: “It’s a sense of being home.”
The Class of 2019 at the Laurel Parade
MHC Is One Of The Best
Mount Holyoke College is one of the top 200 best value colleges in the country, according to the Princeton Review, 2020 edition. The publication also ranked Mount Holyoke in the top 20 colleges and universities for making an impact and having strong alumni networks.
Mount Holyoke was ranked #11 for “Best Schools for Making an Impact.” The colleges and universities were selected based on student ratings and responses to survey questions that covered community service opportunities, student government, sustainability efforts and on-campus student engagement. The Princeton Review also took into account PayScale.com’s percentage of alumni from each school that reported having high job meaning.
The College was also ranked #13 for “Best Alumni Networks.” This ranking was selected based on students’ ratings of alumni activity and visibility on campus.
“The schools we chose as our Best Value Colleges for 2020 comprise only seven percent of the nation's four-year colleges," noted Robert Franek, the Princeton Review's editor-in-chief. "They are truly distinctive and diverse in their programs, size, region, and type, yet they are similar in three areas. Every school we selected offers outstanding academics, generous financial aid and/or relative low cost of attendance, and stellar career services. We recommend them highly to college applicants and parents seeking schools that are academically top-notch and committed to making their programs affordable. These colleges are also standouts at guiding their students to rewarding futures."
Learning Living Communities (LLCs) are a unique asset to Mount Holyoke residential life, and aim to provide support and community bonding between students on campus. They “provide opportunities for students who share common educational, social or co-curricular interests to live together in residence halls ... [and] explore their passions with a cohort of students,” according to the Mount Holyoke College website.
Although there are many LLCs for students to choose from, each goes through a careful evaluation and application process, requiring Residential Life approval before becoming available to students. According to the Mount Holyoke College website, 15 LLCs will be offered in the Fall semester of 2020.
Associate Dean of Students and Director of Residential Life Rachel Alldis explained just how thorough applications are. “When students submit ideas for a new LLC, we review each application and consider how students will benefit from the community,” she said. “Do we think there is enough student interest to support the community? What resources might the community need? And will we be able to provide those resources?”
“When it comes to students who submit an application to live in a particular LLC, we look for someone who can demonstrate how living in this community will benefit them, but also how they will contribute to the community,” Alldis continued. “We look for students who are excited to be part of the community and have a genuine interest in the theme of the floor.”
Many students who choose to live in, advise or create an LLC often have a distinctive experience living within it. According to Dannye Carpenter ’20, who serves as the community advisor for the Spanish language LLC, living in the LLC has added “another dimension of community to my residential experience, and has been very valuable for me to learn how hard it can be to construct a community experience in my position working as an advisor.”
Megan Horner ’23 said that she enjoys her experience living in the Arts LLC, because it has connected her to others with similar interests. “It’s a nice way to connect initially, with the added benefit of similar interests,” she said. “It is also nice, because we occasionally do fun activities that we know most people on the floor might enjoy, such as Paint Night.” Sophie Schempp ’23, who lives in the First Year Experience LLC, shared a similar opinion. “I have had a good experience so far. The Community Advisors are really nice and it was especially cool being on a floor with all the first-years at the beginning of the year,” Schempp said. “Living with people with similar interests can be a really great way to get to meet people.”
Carpenter explained her interest in the creation of an LLC for first-generation and low-income identifying students. “I think the Bread and Roses floor — or any other iteration of the FLIP floor — would serve a community which truly needs and deserves the space.”
Alldis explained that “the number of LLCs added each year depends [on] what ideas were submitted by students, but also in looking at how our communities are spaced out and what are we able to accommodate for the coming year.”
“From my experience, I think that there is a lot of undeveloped potential in LLCs,” Horner said. “More activities could be implemented and more people could be involved.” “Each year, we review how all of the LLCs are currently working and decide what changes need to be made,” Alldis continued.
Despite the fact that applications take place in the spring and the following fall, brainstorming and evaluation for ways to improve the LLCs is a continuous process. “Some communities need different resources that only some buildings provide, like a kitchen or larger lounge space,” Alldis said. “We also try to keep most of our communities in more accessible buildings, so that limits some of the halls that we can use.”
This coming year, the only new LLC will be for queer and trans people of color (QTPOC), and was created by two student leaders from Familia, an on-campus network of LGBTQ+ people of color.
“Participating in an LLC will give students a chance to create a real sense of community with others they know they have something in common with,” Alldis said. “When that built-in commonality is present, students have a better level of comfort on their floor and they are able to more eagerly connect with others in the community, engage in meaningful dialogue and create a support system with others who share their interest and passion.”
