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Mount Holyoke ResLife student workers file for unionization BY SHIRA SADEH ’25 SCIENCE & ENVIRONMENT EDITOR
On Sept. 28, 2022, Mount Holyoke College’s residential advisors and fellows filed for union recognition with United Food & Commercial Workers Local 1459. As explained by the Mount Holyoke Collective, a campus group fighting for change for RAs and RFs, the roles of Residential Life student leaders have changed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and as expectations fluctuate the group wants to ensure they have sufficient power to continue advocating for themselves. The Collective explained in an Instagram post that the act of unionizing was not one meant to instigate conflict between themselves and the school administration. The post stated that their goals were to continue improving on their communications and to commit to improving working relationships between themselves and the school administration. Additionally, the students in the Collective explained that unionization discussions have been happening for two years, but have only now come to fruition. The Collective requested that the College voluntarily acknowledge their legal status as a union, adding that this recognition would ensure a continuation of good-faith bargaining. They added a message
Photo courtesy of The Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism via Flickr The Mount Holyoke College Collective, a group of ResLife student workers, filed for unionization.
to the larger student body as well, requesting support in the coming weeks as they undergo negotiations with the College. A second-year RA and Collective member in their first year of the job explained that the group was founded by RAs and RFs for the purpose
of fighting for better working conditions. Many student ResLife workers are a part of it, and it’s been successful in the past, they said. Several RAs and RFs readily shared their perspectives with Mount Holyoke News. A first-year RA in Pearsons Hall and member
of the Collective explained that the group was successful in negotiating a small salary increase last year. “However, this year during training, we learned that our workload and responsibilities were significantly greater than in previous years; this defeats the purpose of our pay increase. As of now, our wages only reflect 15 hours of work a week, which is not accurate to the hours we actually put in,” they explained. A second-year RA who is also a member of the Collective spoke to the goals of unionization. “We are hoping to gain more of a voice when it comes to the work we do. Being residential supporters on the ground, we know our community’s needs pretty well. Additionally, we want our jobs to have a level of insurance,” they said. “The role of being an RA and RF has drastically changed from a pre-pandemic world. The amount of expectations and responsibilities placed upon us has increased a ton, and we want to improve our working conditions.” When asked about the decision to join the UFCW, the second-year RA explained that some of the Collective members met with a union representative last spring at a Western Massachusetts Labor Federation May Day event, where they learned more about the union. “[The representative] listened to our goals and joined us on this endeavor. Ultimate-
ly, we wanted to be involved with a union that would understand our needs and know how to support us as student workers,” they said. However, some Collective members have expressed hesitation when it comes to unionization. One source explained this in a recent interview with Mount Holyoke News, stating, “[I initially felt] caution and fear because we weren’t sure how it would be received by administration. I am a FGLI student so this job is quite important to me,” they said. But after seeing the progress made last year in negotiating for higher pay and Personal Protective Equipment, they expressed more confidence about unionization. The Instagram post detailing the file for unionization requested students show their support for the Collective by wearing blue on Sept. 29. “We asked everyone to support their RAs’ and RFs’ efforts to unionize by wearing blue the next day. Coincidentally, our coordinated effort fell on Mountain Day. The plan was for all the RAs and RFs to wear blue and we just hoped students would show up for us — and they did,” the second-year RA said. “Being at the top of Mount [Holyoke], I have never been more proud to be a student at Mount Holyoke. There was blue everywhere. Despite being at the top of a mountain, we were surrounded by seas of blue.”
Mount Holyoke students speak about the effects of Hurricane Ian fected her during the last week of September. Garcia’s boyfriend in Orlando and uncle in Fort Myers also both experienced their cities being ravaged by the storm. “I had no contact at one point, especially [with] my uncle in Fort Myers. No power, nothing,” Garcia explained. “Fort Myers was hit terribly. I don’t know if you’ve seen the pictures — where it’s just completely gone. So we’re still waiting to receive contact with him. [With] my boyfriend, I’ve managed contact, but he has no power. So [communication is] very limited. … It’s worrisome.” On Thursday, Sept. 29, the College contacted students impacted by Hurricane Ian. The correspondence came in the form of an email titled, “Reaching out to you,” and was sent by Dean of the College and Vice President for Student Success Amber Douglas and Vice President for Student Life and Dean of Students Marcella Runell Hall. The letter read, “We are writing to you because we believe (based on our records) that your family may have been impacted by Hurricane Ian. We hope that everyone is safe. We realize that it is hard to be far from home at times like this. If you should need anything in the coming days or week, please be in touch — there is support available to you.” Both Van Vroenhoven and Garcia were troubled by the email’s brevity. Van Vroenhoven said, “I really did not like that the email was sent after the storm. I think that more support should have been shown [in the] weeks prior when the storm was developing. … We have students that are from different regions in the Caribbean. Why was there not support for them? … We have a big Latinx [and] Hispan-
Photo courtesy of user PCHS-NJROTC via WikiMedia Commons Ian’s extremely high-speed winds and heavy rains have caused severe property damage in Florida.
CYDNEY SOCIAS ’25 STAFF WRITER
On Sept. 24, Florida declared a state of emergency, alerting communities of the approach of Hurricane Ian. A few days later, Hurricane Ian devastated parts of Cuba, triggering a power grid collapse, USA Today reported. On Sept. 28, Hurricane Ian made landfall in Florida, entering a three-way tie for the state’s fourth-strongest hurricane, according to The Washington Post. The hurricane’s 155 mph winds battered the Florida coast and caused massive flooding in southwest and central Florida cities, according to the BBC. Mount Holyoke College reached
out to students on Sept. 29 — five days after Florida declared the state of emergency. Although South Hadley’s reach may not seem to stretch so far south, the MHC Facebook says that as of 2022 Florida was the sixthmost represented state at MHC, meaning many students on campus may have been affected by the storm. Roommates Olivia Van Vroenhoven ’25 and Maria Garcia ’26 both call Florida their home. Despite being from Tallahassee and Miami, respectively, two cities not directly hit by Hurricane Ian, they both have loved ones who were seriously affected. Van Vroenhoven’s brother had to evacuate across the state from Daytona Beach to Tallahassee, a dangerous journey that deeply af-
ic community here on campus. Why was there no support or awareness for that or just talk about that in general?” The deans’ email did not provide specifics in regards to funding or resources for receiving emotional support, despite expressing concern. With such a significant number of students in close proximity to Hurricane Ian, Van Vroenhoven and Garcia felt that the email could have at a minimum linked specific resources. Garcia stated, “There wasn’t any information given besides ‘Oh, we wish you the best. We hope your family’s okay. We have the support you need,’ yet they didn’t specify what support is there, or if they’re holding drives to [support] residents in Florida or the Caribbean islands as well. … As for the school, I feel like there’s not much help or much support. It’s crazy. It’s frustrating.” When contacted further regarding the specifics of the email, Hall provided a link to President Beverly Daniel Tatum’s letter to the MHC community regarding the hurricane. “Extending support to those impacted by Hurricane Ian” was published Sept. 29 under ‘News & Stories’ on the Mount Holyoke website. President Tatum wrote, “My heart goes out to our students from Florida, as well as our alums who live there and also to anyone whose loved ones may be directly impacted.” The following three paragraphs included many references to unrelated College topics and activities — reminding students of the fact that Tatum has addressed climate change and natural disaster before, the availability of opportunities at the Miller Worley Center for the Environment and a reference to Mountain Day as “one of the College’s most beloved traditions.”
Finally, the letter ended with two short bullet points directing students and faculty to resources. The link, named “resources for care and support,” is the Division of Student Life resource page. There is nothing explicitly relating to natural disaster relief on this page. Upon learning of the letter and its silent Sept. 29 publication, Van Vroenhoven said it felt like “a last minute thing. Like, ‘I guess we should address this.’” Students were not formally alerted of Tatum’s letter. It was not linked in the original message from the deans. There was no email sent stating that this letter had been published. Van Vroenhoven was disappointed with Tatum’s message. “I think that the president should have [directly] emailed … those who were affected, because that also shows sympathy and concern from the president who just came to this campus. If you really want to engage with the community, and really connect with your community, you need to address these topics directly,” she said. She also was angered at the fact that Cuba was not mentioned in the president’s letter. Van Vroenhoven said, “I think that there is a lack of inclusivity. … How can you just exclude Cuba?” On Hurricane Ian, Deans Amber Douglas and Marcella Runell Hall wrote, “We hope that everyone is safe.” In her letter, Tatum stated, “My heart aches … for our students’ families, our alums and all of our loved ones affected by this storm.” Yet without concrete support or geographic inclusivity, Van Vroenhoven felt that the College treated the hurricane as “a minor inconvenience.”
Mount Holyoke to end the campus wide mask mandate on Oct. 14 BY EMMA WATKINS ’23 MANAGING EDITOR OF CONTENT
The Oct. 5 MHC This Week email to the College community included a letter from Interim President Beverly Daniel Tatum which stated that the campuswide mask mandate will end “at the close of business on Oct. 14.” In her letter to the College community, Tatum stated, the “COVID-19 case count on campus has dropped dramatically, from a high of more than 50 active cases among students earlier in the month to just 18 last week and only a handful of new positive cases reported so far this week.” Throughout the letter, Tatum emphasized that the College
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will operate on a “masks welcome” basis, stating that community members who desire to wear a mask are “free” to do so. Tatum’s letter also explains that the College “strongly recommend[s]” anyone who is eligible for the bivalent booster vaccine to receive it. Tatum also notified the College community that the on-campus vaccination clinic will not take place until “mid-November” because of “high demand.” She goes on to list various places students can receive the vaccine locally, including the University of Massachusetts Amherst vaccination clinic and stores such as CVS and Big Y. The letter also outlines that each of those vaccination locations is
FEATURES: Voices of Resilience
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available by PVTA and The Division of Student Life is in the process of organizing transportation for Mount Holyoke students to the UMass vaccination site and to CVS. Tatum went on to outline the importance of “individual responsibility,” stating, “We are a community that relies on each other to act responsibly.” Tatum concluded the letter by addressing “a small number of immunocompromised members of our community who have special health concerns.” She wrote that the College has “a process in place to accommodate [the needs of immunocompromised community members], which sometimes includes masking requirements in classrooms.” She directs
Photo by Jenny Yu ’24 In the face of decreased COVID-19 cases on campus, the College moved to end the mask mandate.
students to contact dean-college@ mtholyoke.edu for further information regarding accommodations and directs employees to refer to a Human Resources document, which she linked in the letter.
OPINION: Long COVID must be addressed
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Tatum stated that she anticipates the “masks welcome” policy will remain in place throughout the fall semester, including when students return to campus from November break.
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