Mount Holyoke College
Encyclopedia
Mount Holyoke College is a liberal arts
college for women
in South Hadley
, Massachusetts
. It was the first member of the Seven Sisters
colleges, and served as a model for some of the others. Mount Holyoke is part of the Pioneer Valley
's Five College Consortium
, along with Amherst College
, Smith College
, Hampshire College
, and the University of Massachusetts Amherst
.
The school was originally founded in 1837 by Mary Lyon
as Mount Holyoke Female Seminary. It received its collegiate charter in 1888 as Mount Holyoke Seminary and College and became Mount Holyoke College in 1893. Mount Holyoke's chapter of Phi Beta Kappa was established in 1905.
Mount Holyoke's buildings were designed between 1896 and 1960. It has a Donald Ross-designed 18-hole golf course, The Orchards, which served as host to the U.S. Women's Open in 2004.
In 2009, Forbes
rated it 47th in America's Best Colleges
. U.S. News and World Report lists Mount Holyoke as the 26th best liberal arts college in the United States in its 2011 rankings. Mount Holyoke was also ranked #1 in the nation for Best Classroom Experience in the Princeton Review 2010–2011 rankings.
Mount Holyoke's founder, Mary Lyon
, is considered by many scholars to be an innovator in the area of women's education. Her establishment of Mount Holyoke Female Seminary was part of a larger movement to create institutions of higher education for young women during the early half of the 19th century. Lyon's contemporaries include Sarah Pierce
(Litchfield Female Academy
, 1792); Catharine Beecher
(Hartford Female Seminary
, 1823); Zilpah P. Grant Banister
(Ipswich Female Seminary
, 1828). Prior to founding Mount Holyoke, Lyon contributed to 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. Mount Holyoke Female Seminary was originally chartered as a teaching seminary in 1836 and opened its doors to students on 8 November 1837. Both Vassar College
and Wellesley College were patterned after Mount Holyoke.
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". 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.
Mount Holyoke Female Seminary received its collegiate charter in 1888, becoming Mount Holyoke Seminary and College. In 1893 it became Mount Holyoke College. Mount Holyoke's chapter of Phi Beta Kappa was established in 1905. It has been a sister school to Women's Christian College
in Chennai
, Tamil Nadu
, India
since 1920. In the early 1970s Mount Holyoke had a long debate under the presidency of David Truman over the issue of coeducation. On 6 November 1971 the board of trustees voted to remain a women's college.
On February 28, 1987, the United States Postal Service
's Great Americans Series
issued a postage stamp
featuring Mary Lyon, in honor of Mount Holyoke's Sesquicentennial (Mount Holyoke's 150th anniversary).
(BA) degree, for which students complete 128 semester credits (one standard course equals 4 credits). At least 68 credits must be earned from course work outside the major department, across the three curricular divisions: humanities, science and mathematics, and social sciences. Study of a foreign language and completion of a multicultural perspectives course are also required.
In addition to the BA, Mount Holyoke offers a master’s degree in psychology. Other programs include dual-degree programs in engineering with the California Institute of Technology
, the Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth College
, and the University of Massachusetts Amherst
; the Frances Perkins Program, for women over the age of 24 who wish to complete the requirements for a bachelor of arts degree; and the Postbaccalaureate Studies Program, for students who have already earned an undergraduate degree and wish to complete additional course work in preparation for graduate work in medicine, nursing, veterinary medicine, dentistry, or physical therapy science.
Mount Holyoke’s membership in the Five College Consortium
allows students to enroll in courses at Amherst College
, Smith College
, Hampshire College
, and the University of Massachusetts Amherst
. They may also complete one of 12 Five College Certificates—among them African studies, Buddhist studies, coastal and marine sciences, cognitive neuroscience, international relations, and Middle Eastern studies—in lieu of a minor.
(historian), Susan Barry (neurobiologist), Mark McMenamin
(geologist and paleontologist) and Becky Wai-Ling Packard
(psychologist). The Hypersea concept in Mark and Dianna McMenamin's book Hypersea: Life on Land has been called by Discover Magazine one of seven ideas that could change the world.
The 800 acres (3.2 km²) campus was designed and landscaped between 1896 and 1922 by the landscape architecture firm of Olmsted and Sons
. The campus includes a botanic garden
, two lakes, several waterfalls, tennis courts, stables and woodland riding trails. it is also home to the Mount Holyoke College Art Museum
which is part of the Five College Museums/Historic Deerfield
and the Museums10
. An independent bookstore
, The Odyssey Bookshop
, is located directly across from the campus in the college-owned Village Commons. Mount Holyoke has instituted “The Big Turn Off” energy conservation campaign. It also focuses on "green" building with five LEED certified buildings on campus. It has reduced its environmental impact by recycling 40% of waste and composting as well as using produce grown in the student-run organic garden in dining halls.
The home of Benjamin Ruggles Woodbridge
, known as "The Sycamores", served as a dormitory for the college from 1915-1970. The mansion, built in 1788 by Colonel Woodbridge, is on the National Register of Historic Places
.
Mount Holyoke is also close to the cities of Amherst
and Northampton
as well as to two malls: Hampshire Mall
and Holyoke Mall
. The Mount Holyoke Range State Park
is also close to the campus.
, it is a member of the Pioneer Valley
's Five College
Consortium, the Consortium of Liberal Arts Colleges
, the Annapolis Group
, and the Oberlin Group
. It was a part of The New College Plan
. It is currently a part of The Consortium on Financing Higher Education
and The Knowledge Corridor
.
WMHC
(91.5 FM
) is a radio station
licensed
to serve South Hadley, Massachusetts
. The station is owned by Mount Holyoke College and licensed to the Trustees of Mount Holyoke.
or African American
, Asian American
, Latina
, Native American
, or multiracial
. Thirty-six percent of incoming first-year students were in the top five percent of their high school classes". Mount Holyoke also attracts a large international population. Although Mount Holyoke only considers female applicants for admission, it will award diplomas to transgendered students who become male or identify themselves as male by the time they complete their studies. To reflect this fact, in 2005 Mount Holyoke's Student Government Association amended its constitution so that the word "she" was replaced with "student." Additionally, male students may enroll in classes through the Five College Consortium.
Awards, grants The Glascock Prize
to the winner of this annual event (which has been held at Mount Holyoke since 1924).
The Faculty Show takes place once every four years, around 1 April faculty members create a show which parodies themselves and their students.
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.
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
.
M&C's, originally called Milk & Crackers, is now referred to as Milk & Cookies. M&Cs are a nightly snack provided by dormitory dining halls, but also refer to a popular student a cappella group, M&Cs (Milk and Cookies)
The following traditions are organized by the Class Boards of each year.
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 events together. Coordinated by the Junior Class board
Founder's Day is held on the Sunday closest to 8 November (the date of the opening of Mount Holyoke in 1837). It was begun by Elizabeth Storrs Mead
in 1891. The current version of the tradition includes ice cream being served early in the morning near Mary Lyon's grave. The current President of the College and select faculty are invited to scoop ice cream for the Senior Class who dons their gowns.
Seniors dress in traditional cap and gown as well as accessories in their class color. Convocation marks the beginning of the academic year.
Canoe Sing is an event which takes place prior to commencement
in which canoes are decorated with lanterns and paddled by seniors singing Mount Holyoke songs. They are joined by fellow graduating seniors on shore.
Baccalaureate 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).
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.
(NCAA) Division III and the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference
(NEWMAC) as well as the NERC (the New England Rowing Conference
). Facilities include a lighted synthetic multipurpose turf field surrounded by an eight-lane track with a nine-lane straightaway; Kendall Sports and Dance Complex housing a swimming pool and separate diving well; gymnasium with basketball, volleyball, and badminton courts; weight room; cardiovascular area; 1 acres (4,046.9 m²) field house with indoor track and tennis courts; squash courts; racquetball courts; and three studios for dance, aerobics, yoga, and other activities; The Orchards, an 18-hole golf course designed by Donald Ross (home to the 2004 U.S. Women's Open); and a 60-stall Equestrian Center with two indoor arenas (100' x 256' and 70' x 130'), an outdoor show ring, permanent fibar dressage arena, outdoor cross-country courses, and a boathouse finished for Spring 2010.
'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 feature films reference Mount Holyoke of the 1960s. The first is the 1987 film Dirty Dancing
which is set at a summer resort in the Catskills in the summer of 1963. The protagonist
Frances "Baby" Houseman (named after Mount Holyoke graduate Frances Perkins
) plans to attend Mount Holyoke in the fall to study economics of underdeveloped countries and then to later enter the Peace Corps
. The second is the 1978 film National Lampoon's Animal House
which is set in 1962. It 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. In the film, fraternity brothers from Delta house of the fictional Faber College (based on Dartmouth College
) take a road trip to the fictional Emily Dickinson College (Mount Holyoke College)--in real life, Mount Holyoke and Dartmouth are unofficial brother-sister schools.
Mount Holyoke was mentioned more recently in the 2002 film National Lampoon's Van Wilder
, when the title character gives a half-time pep talk to his school basketball team, offering them a party with Mount Holyoke students should the team win.
The Mount Holyoke amphitheater was also featured in an episode of the Comedy Central sitcom Stella during a graduation ceremony in the episode "Paper Route".
Mount Holyoke also featured 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." The Mount Holyoke student in Lisa's dream invites Lisa to "Come party with me!" before passing out drunk.
Additional characters in popular culture include "Emily" from the television series Empty Nest, "Donna," from the television series Judging Amy
, "Judy Maxwell," from the film, What's Up, Doc?
, "Brooke," from The L Word
, Season 4, "Catherine," the serial bride in the film noir
release, Black Widow
and "Helen Bishop", the divorcee neighbor from Mad Men
.
In the episode of Law and Order: Criminal Intent "Consumed", the husband of suspect Beth Landau (Karen Sillas) states in reference to the 3 murders she was accused of, "How could she do that? She went to Holyoke for Gods sake!"
In the first episode of season 4, the television show the L Word referenced Mount Holyoke as the college the daughter of Max/Moira's boss attends.
References to Mount Holyoke also occur in a few works. Mount Holyoke was mentioned in television series, House
, in the second episode from Season 4, "The Right Stuff." In David Liss's 2006 novel, The Ethical Assassin
, Chitra—the love interest of the protagonist Lem Altick—is saving money so that she may attend Mount Holyoke. Alan Arkin
, the father of the bride in the 1979 film The In-Laws, mutters when he sees the squalor-filled office of Peter Falk
(the father of the groom), "Four years at Mount Holyoke so she could marry into this." Mount Holyoke is mentioned frequently in Neil Simon
's play, Broadway Bound
. Recently, Mt. Holyoke was mentioned as one of Julie Taylor's college options on the TV show Friday Night Lights
.
In the book trailer for the Gary Shteyngart
novel Super Sad True Love Story
it's said that Gary insists that he receive three recently graduated debutante
s from Mount Holyoke as part of his advance payment.
Liberal arts colleges in the United States
Liberal arts colleges in the United States are certain undergraduate institutions of higher education in the United States. The Encyclopædia Britannica Concise offers a definition of the liberal arts as a "college or university curriculum aimed at imparting general knowledge and developing general...
college for women
Women's colleges in the United States
Women's colleges in the United States are single-sex U.S. institutions of higher education that exclude or limit males from admission. They are often liberal arts colleges...
in South Hadley
South Hadley, Massachusetts
South Hadley is a town in Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 17,514 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area....
, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
. It was the first member of the Seven Sisters
Seven Sisters (colleges)
The Seven Sisters are seven liberal arts colleges in the Northeastern United States that are historically women's colleges. They are Barnard College, Bryn Mawr College, Mount Holyoke College, Radcliffe College, Smith College, Vassar College, and Wellesley College. All were founded between 1837 and...
colleges, and served as a model for some of the others. Mount Holyoke is part of the Pioneer Valley
Pioneer Valley
The Pioneer Valley is the colloquial name for the U.S. Commonwealth of Massachusetts's portion of the Connecticut River Valley. The Pioneer Valley consists of three counties in Massachusetts which collectively feature much of New England's most fertile farmland...
's Five College Consortium
Five Colleges (Massachusetts)
The Five Colleges comprises four liberal arts colleges and one university in the Connecticut River Pioneer Valley of Western Massachusetts, totaling approximately 28,000 students. The schools belong to a consortium called Five Colleges, Incorporated, established in 1965...
, along with Amherst College
Amherst College
Amherst College is a private liberal arts college located in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. Amherst is an exclusively undergraduate four-year institution and enrolled 1,744 students in the fall of 2009...
, Smith College
Smith College
Smith College is a private, independent women's liberal arts college located in Northampton, Massachusetts. It is the largest member of the Seven Sisters...
, Hampshire College
Hampshire College
Hampshire College is a private liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1965 as an experiment in alternative education, in association with four other colleges in the Pioneer Valley: Amherst College, Smith College, Mount Holyoke College, and the University of Massachusetts...
, and the University of Massachusetts Amherst
University of Massachusetts Amherst
The University of Massachusetts Amherst is a public research and land-grant university in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States and the flagship of the University of Massachusetts system...
.
The school was originally founded in 1837 by Mary Lyon
Mary Lyon
Mary Mason Lyon , surname pronounced , was a pioneer in women's education. She established the Wheaton Female Seminary in Norton, Massachusetts, . Within two years, she raised $15,000 to build the Mount Holyoke School...
as Mount Holyoke Female Seminary. It received its collegiate charter in 1888 as Mount Holyoke Seminary and College and became Mount Holyoke College in 1893. Mount Holyoke's chapter of Phi Beta Kappa was established in 1905.
Mount Holyoke's buildings were designed between 1896 and 1960. It has a Donald Ross-designed 18-hole golf course, The Orchards, which served as host to the U.S. Women's Open in 2004.
In 2009, Forbes
Forbes
Forbes is an American publishing and media company. Its flagship publication, the Forbes magazine, is published biweekly. Its primary competitors in the national business magazine category are Fortune, which is also published biweekly, and Business Week...
rated it 47th in America's Best Colleges
Forbes Magazine's List of America's Best Colleges
In 2009 Forbes Magazine, along with The Center for College Affordability and Productivity, compiled a list of America's Best Colleges based on "the quality of the education they provide, the experience of the students and how much they achieve".- 2009 List :...
. U.S. News and World Report lists Mount Holyoke as the 26th best liberal arts college in the United States in its 2011 rankings. Mount Holyoke was also ranked #1 in the nation for Best Classroom Experience in the Princeton Review 2010–2011 rankings.
History
Mary Lyon
Mary Mason Lyon , surname pronounced , was a pioneer in women's education. She established the Wheaton Female Seminary in Norton, Massachusetts, . Within two years, she raised $15,000 to build the Mount Holyoke School...
, is considered by many scholars to be an innovator in the area of women's education. Her establishment of Mount Holyoke Female Seminary was part of a larger movement to create institutions of higher education for young women during the early half of the 19th century. Lyon's contemporaries include Sarah Pierce
Sarah Pierce
Sarah Pierce was a teacher, educator and founder of one the earliest schools for girls in the United States, the Litchfield Female Academy in Litchfield, Connecticut. The school having been established in her house in 1792 became known as the Litchfield Female Academy in 1827...
(Litchfield Female Academy
Litchfield Female Academy
The Litchfield Female Academy, founded in 1792 by Sarah Pierce, was one of the most important institutions of female education in the United States. During the 30 years after its opening the school enrolled more than 2,000 students from 17 states and territories of the new republic, as well as...
, 1792); Catharine Beecher
Catharine Beecher
Catharine Esther Beecher was an American educator known for her forthright opinions on women's education as well as her vehement support of the many benefits of the incorporation of kindergarten into children's education....
(Hartford Female Seminary
Hartford Female Seminary
Hartford Female Seminary in Hartford, Connecticut was established in 1823 by Catharine Beecher, making it one of the first major educational institutions for women in the United States. By 1826 it had enrolled nearly 100 students and implemented radical programs such as physical education courses...
, 1823); Zilpah P. Grant Banister
Zilpah P. Grant Banister
Zilpah Polly Grant Banister was an American educator known primarily for founding Ipswich Female Seminary in Ipswich, Massachusetts in 1828....
(Ipswich Female Seminary
Ipswich Female Seminary
Ipswich Female Seminary in Ipswich, Massachusetts was founded in 1828 by Zilpah P. Grant Banister, making it one of the first major educational institutions for women in the United States. According to the United States Department of Education:...
, 1828). Prior to founding Mount Holyoke, Lyon contributed to 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. Mount Holyoke Female Seminary was originally chartered as a teaching seminary in 1836 and opened its doors to students on 8 November 1837. Both Vassar College
Vassar College
Vassar College is a private, coeducational liberal arts college in the town of Poughkeepsie, New York, in the United States. The Vassar campus comprises over and more than 100 buildings, including four National Historic Landmarks, ranging in style from Collegiate Gothic to International,...
and Wellesley College were patterned after Mount Holyoke.
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". 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
American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions
The American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions was the first American Christian foreign mission agency. It was proposed in 1810 by recent graduates of Williams College and officially chartered in 1812. In 1961 it merged with other societies to form the United Church Board for World...
(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.
Mount Holyoke Female Seminary received its collegiate charter in 1888, becoming Mount Holyoke Seminary and College. In 1893 it became Mount Holyoke College. Mount Holyoke's chapter of Phi Beta Kappa was established in 1905. It has been a sister school to Women's Christian College
Women's Christian College
Women's Christian College, or WCC, is an interdenominational women's college on College Road, Nungambakkam, in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India.-History:...
in Chennai
Chennai
Chennai , formerly known as Madras or Madarasapatinam , is the capital city of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, located on the Coromandel Coast off the Bay of Bengal. Chennai is the fourth most populous metropolitan area and the sixth most populous city in India...
, Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu is one of the 28 states of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by the union territory of Pondicherry, and the states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
since 1920. In the early 1970s Mount Holyoke had a long debate under the presidency of David Truman over the issue of coeducation. On 6 November 1971 the board of trustees voted to remain a women's college.
On February 28, 1987, the United States Postal Service
United States Postal Service
The United States Postal Service is an independent agency of the United States government responsible for providing postal service in the United States...
's Great Americans Series
Great Americans series
The Great Americans series is a set of definitive stamps issued by the United States Postal Service, starting on December 27, 1980 with the 19¢ stamp depicting Sequoyah, and continuing through 2002, the final stamp being the 78¢ Alice Paul self-adhesive stamp. The series, noted for its simplicity...
issued a postage stamp
Postage stamp
A postage stamp is a small piece of paper that is purchased and displayed on an item of mail as evidence of payment of postage. Typically, stamps are made from special paper, with a national designation and denomination on the face, and a gum adhesive on the reverse side...
featuring Mary Lyon, in honor of Mount Holyoke's Sesquicentennial (Mount Holyoke's 150th anniversary).
Academics
Majors, minors, and degrees
Mount Holyoke offers 49 departmental and interdepartmental majors, including the option to design a special major. The primary degree conferred is the bachelor of artsBachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
(BA) degree, for which students complete 128 semester credits (one standard course equals 4 credits). At least 68 credits must be earned from course work outside the major department, across the three curricular divisions: humanities, science and mathematics, and social sciences. Study of a foreign language and completion of a multicultural perspectives course are also required.
In addition to the BA, Mount Holyoke offers a master’s degree in psychology. Other programs include dual-degree programs in engineering with the California Institute of Technology
California Institute of Technology
The California Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Pasadena, California, United States. Caltech has six academic divisions with strong emphases on science and engineering...
, the Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College is a private, Ivy League university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. The institution comprises a liberal arts college, Dartmouth Medical School, Thayer School of Engineering, and the Tuck School of Business, as well as 19 graduate programs in the arts and sciences...
, and the University of Massachusetts Amherst
University of Massachusetts Amherst
The University of Massachusetts Amherst is a public research and land-grant university in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States and the flagship of the University of Massachusetts system...
; the Frances Perkins Program, for women over the age of 24 who wish to complete the requirements for a bachelor of arts degree; and the Postbaccalaureate Studies Program, for students who have already earned an undergraduate degree and wish to complete additional course work in preparation for graduate work in medicine, nursing, veterinary medicine, dentistry, or physical therapy science.
Mount Holyoke’s membership in the Five College Consortium
Five Colleges (Massachusetts)
The Five Colleges comprises four liberal arts colleges and one university in the Connecticut River Pioneer Valley of Western Massachusetts, totaling approximately 28,000 students. The schools belong to a consortium called Five Colleges, Incorporated, established in 1965...
allows students to enroll in courses at Amherst College
Amherst College
Amherst College is a private liberal arts college located in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. Amherst is an exclusively undergraduate four-year institution and enrolled 1,744 students in the fall of 2009...
, Smith College
Smith College
Smith College is a private, independent women's liberal arts college located in Northampton, Massachusetts. It is the largest member of the Seven Sisters...
, Hampshire College
Hampshire College
Hampshire College is a private liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1965 as an experiment in alternative education, in association with four other colleges in the Pioneer Valley: Amherst College, Smith College, Mount Holyoke College, and the University of Massachusetts...
, and the University of Massachusetts Amherst
University of Massachusetts Amherst
The University of Massachusetts Amherst is a public research and land-grant university in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States and the flagship of the University of Massachusetts system...
. They may also complete one of 12 Five College Certificates—among them African studies, Buddhist studies, coastal and marine sciences, cognitive neuroscience, international relations, and Middle Eastern studies—in lieu of a minor.
Academic centers
Four academic centers—the Weissman Center for Leadership and the Liberal Arts, the McCulloch Center for Global Initiatives, the Center for the Environment, and the Science Center—support the academic program through public lectures by visiting scholars, conferences on issues of pressing concern, mentoring and internship opportunities, and hands-on learning experiences. The Weissman Center’s Speaking, Arguing, and Writing Program provides opportunities for developing leadership and communication skills, including the ability to effectively frame, articulate, and advocate positions. The Community-Based Learning Program links students with community-based organizations in courses that combine analysis and action.Study abroad
Mount Holyoke has study abroad programs and exchanges for full-year or semester study in France, Senegal, Costa Rica, Chile, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Germany, Spain, and the UK, as well as a summer program in China and January Term programs in the Republic of Georgia and South Africa. Each year more than 200 Mount Holyoke students, representing approximately 40 percent of the junior class, study for a semester or academic year at universities and programs abroad.Library
Mount Holyoke’s library includes more than 740,000 print volumes, 1,600 periodicals, and more than 140,000 electronic resources. Through the Five College Consortium, students have access to more than 8 million volumes. Computer support is provided. The MEWS (Mediated Educational Work Space) supports collaborative multimedia learning with group project rooms, wall-mounted plasma displays, a digitization center, and a faculty development area.Faculty
Mount Holyoke's faculty is rich with outstanding teachers and scholars who love introducing students to the excitement of intellectual endeavor. Student research projects, undertaken in collaboration with faculty, have made significant contributions to the sciences and other fields of study. A number of faculty are nationally and internationally recognized for their research and writing achievements, including Joseph EllisJoseph Ellis
Joseph John Ellis is a Professor of History at Mount Holyoke College who has written histories on the founding generation of American presidents. His book Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation received the Pulitzer Prize for History in 2001.-Background and teaching:He received his B.A...
(historian), Susan Barry (neurobiologist), Mark McMenamin
Mark McMenamin
Mark McMenamin is a tenured professor of geology at Mount Holyoke College. His research is primarily focused on paleontology, particularly the Ediacaran biota....
(geologist and paleontologist) and Becky Wai-Ling Packard
Becky Wai-Ling Packard
Becky Wai-Ling Packard is an Associate Professor of Psychology and Education at Mount Holyoke College.She received her B.A. from the University of Michigan and her Ph.D. from Michigan State University. She is the winner of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers , the...
(psychologist). The Hypersea concept in Mark and Dianna McMenamin's book Hypersea: Life on Land has been called by Discover Magazine one of seven ideas that could change the world.
Campus
Frederick Law Olmsted
Frederick Law Olmsted was an American journalist, social critic, public administrator, and landscape designer. He is popularly considered to be the father of American landscape architecture, although many scholars have bestowed that title upon Andrew Jackson Downing...
. The campus includes a botanic garden
Mount Holyoke College Botanic Garden
The Mount Holyoke College Botanic Garden, in South Hadley, Massachusetts, USA, encompasses the Mount Holyoke College campus, an arboretum, numerous gardens, and the Talcott Greenhouse. It was first designated a botanical garden in 1878...
, two lakes, several waterfalls, tennis courts, stables and woodland riding trails. it is also home to the Mount Holyoke College Art Museum
Mount Holyoke College Art Museum
The Mount Holyoke College Art Museum in South Hadley, Massachusetts is located on the Mount Holyoke College campus and is a member of Museums10. It is one of the oldest "teaching museums" in the country, "dedicated to providing firsthand experience with works of significant aesthetic and...
which is part of the Five College Museums/Historic Deerfield
Five College Museums/Historic Deerfield
The Five College Museums/Historic Deerfield is a consortium of museums in Western Massachusetts and includes art museums which are part of the Five Colleges as well as Historic Deerfield. The Five College Museums maintains a searchable database of the collections of the museums that is among the...
and the Museums10
Museums10
Museums10 is a consortium of art, science, and history museums in Western Massachusetts. It is composed of museums from the Five Colleges and Historic Deerfield.-Art museums:*The Mead Art Museum...
. An independent bookstore
Independent bookstore
An independent bookstore is a retail bookstore which is independently owned.-Literary and countercultural history:Author events at independent bookstores sometimes take the role of literary salons. The bookstores themselves, "have historically supported and cultivated the work of independent...
, The Odyssey Bookshop
The Odyssey Bookshop
The Odyssey Bookshop is an independent bookstore in South Hadley, Massachusetts. In 2001, The Odyssey became the official bookstore for Mount Holyoke College....
, is located directly across from the campus in the college-owned Village Commons. Mount Holyoke has instituted “The Big Turn Off” energy conservation campaign. It also focuses on "green" building with five LEED certified buildings on campus. It has reduced its environmental impact by recycling 40% of waste and composting as well as using produce grown in the student-run organic garden in dining halls.
The home of Benjamin Ruggles Woodbridge
Benjamin Ruggles Woodbridge
Benjamin Ruggles Woodbridge of South Hadley, Massachusetts, practiced medicine and law, was a colonel in the Massachusetts militia during the American Revolutionary War, and was a commander at the Battle of Bunker Hill. He was also a farmer, and he owned a rum still, a wood lot, a grazing meadow,...
, known as "The Sycamores", served as a dormitory for the college from 1915-1970. The mansion, built in 1788 by Colonel Woodbridge, is on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
.
Mount Holyoke is also close to the cities of Amherst
Amherst, Massachusetts
Amherst is a town in Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States in the Connecticut River valley. As of the 2010 census, the population was 37,819, making it the largest community in Hampshire County . The town is home to Amherst College, Hampshire College, and the University of Massachusetts...
and Northampton
Northampton, Massachusetts
The city of Northampton is the county seat of Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population of Northampton's central neighborhoods, was 28,549...
as well as to two malls: Hampshire Mall
Hampshire Mall
Hampshire Mall is a primarily one-story shopping mall with a small second floor in Hadley, Massachusetts, United States, with approximately 55 stores owned by The Pyramid Companies. Current anchor stores include Best Buy, Dick's Sporting Goods, JCPenney, and Target. There is a LaserStorm, a...
and Holyoke Mall
Holyoke Mall
The Holyoke Mall at Ingleside is a shopping mall located in Holyoke, Massachusetts that serves the Springfield metropolitan area. It features nearly 200 stores, a large food court, and several restaurants...
. The Mount Holyoke Range State Park
Mount Holyoke
Mount Holyoke, a traprock mountain, elevation , is the western-most peak of the Holyoke Range and part of the 100-mile Metacomet Ridge. The mountain is located in the Connecticut River Valley of western Massachusetts, and is the namesake of nearby Mount Holyoke College. The mountain is located in...
is also close to the campus.
Organization
Named after nearby Mount HolyokeMount Holyoke
Mount Holyoke, a traprock mountain, elevation , is the western-most peak of the Holyoke Range and part of the 100-mile Metacomet Ridge. The mountain is located in the Connecticut River Valley of western Massachusetts, and is the namesake of nearby Mount Holyoke College. The mountain is located in...
, it is a member of the Pioneer Valley
Pioneer Valley
The Pioneer Valley is the colloquial name for the U.S. Commonwealth of Massachusetts's portion of the Connecticut River Valley. The Pioneer Valley consists of three counties in Massachusetts which collectively feature much of New England's most fertile farmland...
's Five College
Five Colleges (Massachusetts)
The Five Colleges comprises four liberal arts colleges and one university in the Connecticut River Pioneer Valley of Western Massachusetts, totaling approximately 28,000 students. The schools belong to a consortium called Five Colleges, Incorporated, established in 1965...
Consortium, the Consortium of Liberal Arts Colleges
Consortium of Liberal Arts Colleges
The Consortium of Liberal Arts Colleges is a nonprofit organization of 62 American liberal arts colleges which formed in 1984. CLAC "uses of computing and related technologies in the service of the liberal arts mission...
, the Annapolis Group
Annapolis Group
The Annapolis Group is an American organization that describes itself as "a nonprofit alliance of the nation’s leading independent liberal arts colleges." It represents approximately 130 liberal arts colleges in the United States...
, and the Oberlin Group
Oberlin Group
The Oberlin Group is an "informal consortium of the libraries of approximately 80 selective liberal arts colleges in the United States. The group developed as a result of conferences held in 1984-85 at Oberlin College when the presidents of 50 colleges met to discuss the role of science...
. It was a part of The New College Plan
The New College Plan
The New College Plan resulted in the formation of Hampshire College.In 1958, the presidents of Amherst College, Smith College, Mount Holyoke College, and the University of Massachusetts Amherst , all located in the Pioneer Valley of Massachusetts, formed the Committee for an Experimental...
. It is currently a part of The Consortium on Financing Higher Education
The Consortium on Financing Higher Education
The Consortium on Financing Higher Education, often known as COFHE, is an organization of thirty-one private colleges and universities that cooperate and support each other on financial issues, although the consortium often works together on academic issues.The organization's officially stated...
and The Knowledge Corridor
Knowledge Corridor
The Knowledge Corridor is term for the area comprising north-central Connecticut and the south-central Connecticut River Valley in Western Massachusetts...
.
WMHC
WMHC
WMHC is a radio station licensed to serve South Hadley, Massachusetts. The station is owned by Mount Holyoke College and licensed to the Trustees of Mount Holyoke College. It airs a College radio format...
(91.5 FM
FM broadcasting
FM broadcasting is a broadcasting technology pioneered by Edwin Howard Armstrong which uses frequency modulation to provide high-fidelity sound over broadcast radio. The term "FM band" describes the "frequency band in which FM is used for broadcasting"...
) is a radio station
Radio station
Radio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...
licensed
City of license
A city of license or community of license, in American and Canadian broadcasting, is the community that a radio station or television station is officially licensed to serve by that country's broadcast regulator....
to serve South Hadley, Massachusetts
South Hadley, Massachusetts
South Hadley is a town in Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 17,514 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area....
. The station is owned by Mount Holyoke College and licensed to the Trustees of Mount Holyoke.
Students
Mount Holyoke has a student population of 2,200. Students come from "48 states and nearly 70 countries. One in three students is an international studentInternational student
According to Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development , international students are those who travel to a country different from their own for the purpose of tertiary study. Despite that, the definition of international students varies in each country in accordance to their own national...
or African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
, Asian American
Asian American
Asian Americans are Americans of Asian descent. The U.S. Census Bureau definition of Asians as "Asian” refers to a person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent, including, for example, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan,...
, Latina
Latino
The demonyms Latino and Latina , are defined in English language dictionaries as:* "a person of Latin-American descent."* "A Latin American."* "A person of Hispanic, especially Latin-American, descent, often one living in the United States."...
, Native American
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
, or multiracial
Multiracial
The terms multiracial and mixed-race describe people whose ancestries come from multiple races. Unlike the term biracial, which often is only used to refer to having parents or grandparents of two different races, the term multiracial may encompass biracial people but can also include people with...
. Thirty-six percent of incoming first-year students were in the top five percent of their high school classes". Mount Holyoke also attracts a large international population. Although Mount Holyoke only considers female applicants for admission, it will award diplomas to transgendered students who become male or identify themselves as male by the time they complete their studies. To reflect this fact, in 2005 Mount Holyoke's Student Government Association amended its constitution so that the word "she" was replaced with "student." Additionally, male students may enroll in classes through the Five College Consortium.
Student groups
Mount Holyoke offers a number of student groups and organizations. Themes include Art, Academics, Club Sports, Entertainment & the Performing Arts, Politics & Activism, Governing Organizations and Religious organizations.Traditions
The Kathryn Irene GlascockKathryn Irene Glascock
Kathryn Irene Glascock was an American poet. The Kathryn Irene Glascock Intercollegiate Poetry Contest is named after her.-Background:...
Awards, grants The Glascock Prize
Glascock Prize
The Glascock Poetry Prize is awarded to the winner of the annual Kathryn Irene Glascock Intercollegiate Poetry Contest at Mount Holyoke College...
to the winner of this annual event (which has been held at Mount Holyoke since 1924).
The Faculty Show takes place once every four years, around 1 April faculty members create a show which parodies themselves and their students.
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.
Mountain Day
Mountain Day
Mountain Day is a traditional student celebration in which classes are cancelled without prior notice, and the student body heads to the mountains or a park.The day chosen is often a beautiful, crisp day when the fall foliage is in full color...
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
Mount Holyoke
Mount Holyoke, a traprock mountain, elevation , is the western-most peak of the Holyoke Range and part of the 100-mile Metacomet Ridge. The mountain is located in the Connecticut River Valley of western Massachusetts, and is the namesake of nearby Mount Holyoke College. The mountain is located in...
.
M&C's, originally called Milk & Crackers, is now referred to as Milk & Cookies. M&Cs are a nightly snack provided by dormitory dining halls, but also refer to a popular student a cappella group, M&Cs (Milk and Cookies)
The following traditions are organized by the Class Boards of each year.
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 events together. Coordinated by the Junior Class board
Founder's Day is held on the Sunday closest to 8 November (the date of the opening of Mount Holyoke in 1837). It was begun by Elizabeth Storrs Mead
Elizabeth Storrs Mead
Elizabeth Storrs Mead was an American educator who was the 10th President of Mount Holyoke College from 1890 - 1900. She taught at Oberlin College before becoming President.-See also:*Presidents of Mount Holyoke College...
in 1891. The current version of the tradition includes ice cream being served early in the morning near Mary Lyon's grave. The current President of the College and select faculty are invited to scoop ice cream for the Senior Class who dons their gowns.
Seniors dress in traditional cap and gown as well as accessories in their class color. Convocation marks the beginning of the academic year.
Canoe Sing is an event which takes place prior to commencement
Graduation
Graduation is the action of receiving or conferring an academic degree or the ceremony that is sometimes associated, where students become Graduates. Before the graduation, candidates are referred to as Graduands. The date of graduation is often called degree day. The graduation itself is also...
in which canoes are decorated with lanterns and paddled by seniors singing Mount Holyoke songs. They are joined by fellow graduating seniors on shore.
Baccalaureate 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).
The Laurel Parade takes place the day before commencement
Graduation
Graduation is the action of receiving or conferring an academic degree or the ceremony that is sometimes associated, where students become Graduates. Before the graduation, candidates are referred to as Graduands. The date of graduation is often called degree day. The graduation itself is also...
. 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.
Athletics
Mount Holyoke offers 14 varsity sports programs and seven competitive club sports teams. The College is a member of the National Collegiate Athletic AssociationNational Collegiate Athletic Association
The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a semi-voluntary association of 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and universities in the United States...
(NCAA) Division III and the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference
New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference
The New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference is an intercollegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA’s Division III...
(NEWMAC) as well as the NERC (the New England Rowing Conference
College rowing (United States)
Rowing is one of the oldest intercollegiate sports in the United States. However, rowers comprise only 2.2% of total college athletes. This may be in part because of the status of rowing as an amateur sport and because not all universities have access to suitable bodies of water. In the 2002-03...
). Facilities include a lighted synthetic multipurpose turf field surrounded by an eight-lane track with a nine-lane straightaway; Kendall Sports and Dance Complex housing a swimming pool and separate diving well; gymnasium with basketball, volleyball, and badminton courts; weight room; cardiovascular area; 1 acres (4,046.9 m²) field house with indoor track and tennis courts; squash courts; racquetball courts; and three studios for dance, aerobics, yoga, and other activities; The Orchards, an 18-hole golf course designed by Donald Ross (home to the 2004 U.S. Women's Open); and a 60-stall Equestrian Center with two indoor arenas (100' x 256' and 70' x 130'), an outdoor show ring, permanent fibar dressage arena, outdoor cross-country courses, and a boathouse finished for Spring 2010.
Noted people
The main article provides a list of individuals associated with Mount Holyoke through attending as a student, or serving as a member of the faculty or staff.In art and media
Mount Holyoke is referenced in works of theater, film, and popular culture. Wendy WassersteinWendy Wasserstein
Wendy Wasserstein was an American playwright and an Andrew Dickson White Professor-at-Large at Cornell University...
's 1977 play, Uncommon Women and Others
Uncommon Women and Others
Uncommon Women and Others , is the first play by noted 20th century American playwright Wendy Wasserstein.-1977 Off-Broadway debut:...
, 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 feature films reference Mount Holyoke of the 1960s. The first is the 1987 film Dirty Dancing
Dirty Dancing
Dirty Dancing is a 1987 American romantic film. Written by Eleanor Bergstein and directed by Emile Ardolino, the film features Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey in the lead roles, as well as Cynthia Rhodes and Jerry Orbach...
which is set at a summer resort in the Catskills in the summer of 1963. The protagonist
Protagonist
A protagonist is the main character of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical narrative, around whom the events of the narrative's plot revolve and with whom the audience is intended to most identify...
Frances "Baby" Houseman (named after Mount Holyoke graduate Frances Perkins
Frances Perkins
Frances Perkins , born Fannie Coralie Perkins, was the U.S. Secretary of Labor from 1933 to 1945, and the first woman appointed to the U.S. Cabinet. As a loyal supporter of her friend, Franklin D. Roosevelt, she helped pull the labor movement into the New Deal coalition...
) plans to attend Mount Holyoke in the fall to study economics of underdeveloped countries and then to later enter the Peace Corps
Peace Corps
The Peace Corps is an American volunteer program run by the United States Government, as well as a government agency of the same name. The mission of the Peace Corps includes three goals: providing technical assistance, helping people outside the United States to understand US culture, and helping...
. The second is the 1978 film National Lampoon's Animal House
National Lampoon's Animal House
National Lampoon's Animal House is a 1978 American comedy film directed by John Landis. The film was a direct spin-off of National Lampoon magazine...
which is set in 1962. It satirizes a common practice up until the mid-1970s, when women attending Seven Sister colleges
Seven Sisters (colleges)
The Seven Sisters are seven liberal arts colleges in the Northeastern United States that are historically women's colleges. They are Barnard College, Bryn Mawr College, Mount Holyoke College, Radcliffe College, Smith College, Vassar College, and Wellesley College. All were founded between 1837 and...
were connected with or to students at Ivy League
Ivy League
The Ivy League is an athletic conference comprising eight private institutions of higher education in the Northeastern United States. The conference name is also commonly used to refer to those eight schools as a group...
schools. In the film, fraternity brothers from Delta house of the fictional Faber College (based on Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College is a private, Ivy League university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. The institution comprises a liberal arts college, Dartmouth Medical School, Thayer School of Engineering, and the Tuck School of Business, as well as 19 graduate programs in the arts and sciences...
) take a road trip to the fictional Emily Dickinson College (Mount Holyoke College)--in real life, Mount Holyoke and Dartmouth are unofficial brother-sister schools.
Mount Holyoke was mentioned more recently in the 2002 film National Lampoon's Van Wilder
National Lampoon's Van Wilder
National Lampoon's Van Wilder is a 2002 comedy film directed by Walt Becker that stars Ryan Reynolds as the main character. The film also stars Kal Penn, Tara Reid, and Daniel Cosgrove. It features Sophia Bush's acting debut...
, when the title character gives a half-time pep talk to his school basketball team, offering them a party with Mount Holyoke students should the team win.
The Mount Holyoke amphitheater was also featured in an episode of the Comedy Central sitcom Stella during a graduation ceremony in the episode "Paper Route".
Mount Holyoke also featured in "I'm Spelling as Fast as I Can
I'm Spelling as Fast as I Can
I'm Spelling as Fast as I Can is the twelfth episode of The Simpsons fourteenth season. The episode aired on February 16, 2003. Twenty-two million people watched this episode, making it the second-most watched episode since 2002.-Plot:...
", an episode of The Simpsons
The Simpsons
The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
: "The Seven Sisters were immortalized in popular culture in a 2003 episode
I'm Spelling as Fast as I Can
I'm Spelling as Fast as I Can is the twelfth episode of The Simpsons fourteenth season. The episode aired on February 16, 2003. Twenty-two million people watched this episode, making it the second-most watched episode since 2002.-Plot:...
of The Simpsons. Having won local and state spelling bees, Lisa Simpson
Lisa Simpson
Lisa Marie Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons. She is the middle child of the Simpson family. Voiced by Yeardley Smith, Lisa first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987. Cartoonist Matt Groening...
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." The Mount Holyoke student in Lisa's dream invites Lisa to "Come party with me!" before passing out drunk.
Additional characters in popular culture include "Emily" from the television series Empty Nest, "Donna," from the television series Judging Amy
Judging Amy
Judging Amy is an American television drama that was telecast from September 19, 1999, through May 3, 2005, on CBS-TV. This TV series starred Amy Brenneman and Tyne Daly...
, "Judy Maxwell," from the film, What's Up, Doc?
What's Up, Doc? (1972 film)
What's Up, Doc? is a 1972 screwball comedy film released by Warner Bros., directed by Peter Bogdanovich and starring Barbra Streisand, Ryan O'Neal, and Madeline Kahn...
, "Brooke," from The L Word
The L Word
The L Word is an American co-production television drama series originally shown on Showtime portraying the lives of a group of lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people and their friends, family and lovers in the trendy Greater Los Angeles, California city of West Hollywood...
, Season 4, "Catherine," the serial bride in the film noir
Film noir
Film noir is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and sexual motivations. Hollywood's classic film noir period is generally regarded as extending from the early 1940s to the late 1950s...
release, Black Widow
Black Widow (1987 film)
Black Widow is a 1987 film starring Debra Winger, Theresa Russell, Sami Frey, Nicol Williamson and Dennis Hopper.It is a crime drama about two women: one who murders wealthy men whom she marries for their money, and the other an agent with the Department of Justice who grows obsessed with bringing...
and "Helen Bishop", the divorcee neighbor from Mad Men
Mad Men
Mad Men is an American dramatic television series created and produced by Matthew Weiner. The series premiered on Sunday evenings on the American cable network AMC and are produced by Lionsgate Television. It premiered on July 19, 2007, and completed its fourth season on October 17, 2010. Each...
.
In the episode of Law and Order: Criminal Intent "Consumed", the husband of suspect Beth Landau (Karen Sillas) states in reference to the 3 murders she was accused of, "How could she do that? She went to Holyoke for Gods sake!"
In the first episode of season 4, the television show the L Word referenced Mount Holyoke as the college the daughter of Max/Moira's boss attends.
References to Mount Holyoke also occur in a few works. Mount Holyoke was mentioned in television series, House
House (TV series)
House is an American television medical drama that debuted on the Fox network on November 16, 2004. The show's central character is Dr. Gregory House , an unconventional and misanthropic medical genius who heads a team of diagnosticians at the fictional Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital in...
, in the second episode from Season 4, "The Right Stuff." In David Liss's 2006 novel, The Ethical Assassin
The Ethical Assassin
- The Ethical Assassin :A 2006 novel written by David Liss that revolves around Lemuel Atlick, a door to door encyclopedia salesman who is caught in the middle of an assassination and becomes a sole witness. The novel is a major departure from the series of economic history adventures Liss had...
, Chitra—the love interest of the protagonist Lem Altick—is saving money so that she may attend Mount Holyoke. Alan Arkin
Alan Arkin
Alan Wolf Arkin is an American actor, director, musician and singer. He is known for starring in such films as Wait Until Dark, The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming, The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, Catch-22, The In-Laws, Edward Scissorhands, Glengarry Glen Ross, Marley & Me, and...
, the father of the bride in the 1979 film The In-Laws, mutters when he sees the squalor-filled office of Peter Falk
Peter Falk
Peter Michael Falk was an American actor, best known for his role as Lieutenant Columbo in the television series Columbo...
(the father of the groom), "Four years at Mount Holyoke so she could marry into this." Mount Holyoke is mentioned frequently in Neil Simon
Neil Simon
Neil Simon is an American playwright and screenwriter. He has written numerous Broadway plays, including Brighton Beach Memoirs, Biloxi Blues, and The Odd Couple. He won the 1991 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his play Lost In Yonkers. He has written the screenplays for several of his plays that...
's play, Broadway Bound
Broadway Bound
Broadway Bound is a semi-autobiographical play by Neil Simon. It is the last chapter in his Eugene trilogy, following Brighton Beach Memoirs and Biloxi Blues....
. Recently, Mt. Holyoke was mentioned as one of Julie Taylor's college options on the TV show Friday Night Lights
Friday Night Lights
Friday Night Lights is a 2004 drama film which documents the coach and players of a high school football team and the Texas city of Odessa that supports and is obsessed with them. The book on which it was based, Friday Night Lights: A Town, a Team, and a Dream, was authored by H. G...
.
In the book trailer for the Gary Shteyngart
Gary Shteyngart
Gary Shteyngart is an American writer born in Leningrad, USSR. Much of his work is satirical and relies on the invention of elaborately fictitious yet somehow familiar places and times.-Life:...
novel Super Sad True Love Story
Super Sad True Love Story
Super Sad True Love Story is the third novel by American writer Gary Shteyngart. The novel takes place in a near-future dystopian New York where life is dominated by media and retail.-Plot Summary:...
it's said that Gary insists that he receive three recently graduated debutante
Debutante
A débutante is a young lady from an aristocratic or upper class family who has reached the age of maturity, and as a new adult, is introduced to society at a formal "début" presentation. It should not be confused with a Debs...
s from Mount Holyoke as part of his advance payment.
Further reading
- 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.
- Harwarth, Irene B., 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 LefkowitzHelen Lefkowitz HorowitzHelen Lefkowitz Horowitz is the Sydenham Clark Parsons Professor of American Studies and History, emerita, at Smith College. She received her B.A. from Wellesley College and her Ph.D. from Harvard University...
. 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). - Turpin, Andrea L. "The Ideological Origins of the Women’s College: Religion, Class, and Curriculum in the Educational Visions of Catharine Beecher and Mary Lyon," History of Education Quarterly, 50 (May 2010), 133–58.