Update: This petition is now closed, as students who were previously on the housing waitlist heard from Mount Holyoke Residential Life that they’ll be housed on-campus at Hampshire College, and will not have to find their own housing or take a semester off. We want to thank you all profusely for your help in boosting and signing this petition, and if at all possible we encourage you to continue your support of Mount Holyoke’s low-income and international students by visiting the GoFundMe pages linked in our most recent update below, all run by MHC students who are still looking for support relating to issues of tuition or medical debt.

-

Despite Mount Holyoke’s announcement that it will fully return to the residential experience, some students have been notified within weeks of their planned return that the college is unable to house them, and have been left with no option but to take a semester off. 

Yesterday afternoon, a current MHC student received the following email (the name of the student has been edited out to protect them, but the rest of the email is copy-pasted verbatim) from the Office of Residential Life: 

“Dear X, 

I know many of you have been eagerly waiting to hear if you will get a room assignment.  Unfortunately, at this time, we do not have any more beds available on campus or at Hampshire College. At this time you will continue to be on the waitlist for housing.  While we hope some space will open up, we cannot guarantee this and we want to help you explore options.

You are able to live off-campus for the semester or year if you choose to do so.  While we do not have an off-campus housing office, we have directed students to the UMass Off-Campus site and that has been helpful for others.  You also have the option to defer a semester and join us in the spring.  While we hope to keep all of you as active members of our community this year, we know this is challenging information to receive and we want you to make the best decision for yourself and your needs this year. 

I want to emphasize that you are still on our waitlist unless you ask to be removed.  As spaces open we will be in touch with you with a housing offer.  We also want to be honest about the space available right now and allow you to make a fully informed decision.

Sincerely,

The Office of Residential Life”

This student had missed the housing lottery because of extenuating health circumstances and had been placed on the waitlist. While we cannot ascertain how all the students on the waitlist ended up there, they are all incredibly important members of the Mount Holyoke Community who deserve access to housing (either on campus or at Hampshire). We are reaching out to the Mount Holyoke community to urge the Office of Residential Life to make housing available to all the students currently on this waitlist. 

Students are surprised and upset by this recent development, as they were informed three weeks before classes start. Additionally, it should be taken into consideration that students are already in the process of renewing their visas, booking plane tickets, hotel reservations, and transportation. Giving students options of either deferring a semester, finding off campus housing, or being waitlisted for housing is financially harmful and mentally draining.    

Most students pick Mount Holyoke for the full residential experience, and it is unfair that they should be told that this experience is not available to them because of the college’s lack of planning. Off-campus housing can be challenging to find, unaffordable, and sometimes even unsafe for students of marginalized identities. Additionally, it often needs to be finalized months in advance. Commuting from such housing poses an additional challenge, as there is very little public transportation that goes to most residential areas directly from the Mount Holyoke Campus. College events and even classes often run till very late at night. Students living off-campus have limited access to the dining hall, library, and other buildings that they need in order to meet their academic goals and have a healthy social life at Mount Holyoke. 

Taking a semester off, especially when one wasn’t planning to, can significantly affect one’s academic goals, jeopardize access to health insurance and employment, disrupt visas, and cause the student to feel isolated from their community. Taking a semester off is a deeply personal decision with ramifications, and the Office of Residential Life must not advise any students to do so lightly. Especially in the aftermath of the pandemic and all the disruption it caused, many students have been looking forward to the residential community that Mount Holyoke offers. 

The college leaving students with no option but to find off-campus housing or defer a semester is unacceptable. As a small liberal arts college built on the fully residential model and advertised as able to accommodate all students who want to live on campus, it is essential that Mount Holyoke ensure that all students who want housing in close proximity to campus have access to it. The college’s decision to admit a large number of students to the class of 2025 has not only undercut the college’s fully residential academic model, but given students an unfair ultimatum that harms marginalized communities, in particular. 

We urge the college to do better and to house all the students currently waitlisted for housing. We ask that the college allocate funding and logistical support to provide housing for these students on or in close proximity to campus, in ways that do not compromise the fully residential experience. The college has previously allocated funding and support for students displaced by the pandemic and extenuating circumstances, as in the case of the safety net fund, and we ask that they do so again now.