SOUTH HADLEY — Mount Holyoke College secured a $155 million tax-exempt bond from MassDevelopment to further its holistic renovation plans across campus, including continued construction of a new geothermal energy system as well as renovations to academic buildings and residential halls.
The announcement earlier this week came on the same day that Mount Holyoke President Danielle Holley challenged the Trump administration in an opinion column for attacks on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in higher education.
Mount Holyoke will use the tax-exempt bond, issued by MassDevelopment on Monday, to invest in sustainability and accessibility on campus, as well as to refinance previously issued debt. The bond, purchased by TD Bank, will help the college borrow at a lower interest rate.
“As part of our strategic plan, MHC Forward, we are making bold and necessary investments in our campus to provide sustainable, state of the art living and learning facilities,” said Karla Youngblood, associate vice president for facilities management for Mount Holyoke. “The support for this work in the form of the bond is support for the college’s inclusive academic excellence and innovative academics.”
Mount Holyoke is in the midst of a major part of this strategic plan: its $180 million geothermal heating and cooling project. According to the college’s website, the geo-field with 200 wells is near completion. Drilling was expected to finish earlier this month.
A variety of renovations in Mead Hall and North and South Rockerfeller Halls began in September, including air-tight insulation and accessibility accommodations. Heat and chilling pumps will go into the basement of the Rockerfeller Halls, as previously done with Kendade Hall.
In June, the college paused its plans to build the geothermal heating and cooling hub due to uncertainty in the economy and future enrollment. A college spokesperson said that the bond does not change the development timeline.
“This is an investment in the future of Mount Holyoke College as a leading academic institution and contributor to the western Massachusetts economy,” said Economic Development Secretary Eric Paley, who serves as chair of MassDevelopment’s board of directors.
President slams federal threats to college goals
Meanwhile, Holley, in a San Francisco Chronicle opinion piece, evokes the legacy of Frances Perkins, a Mount Holyoke alum who served as secretary of labor under Franklin D. Roosevelt, to explain that DEI has always existed in American history.
“DEI isn’t a buzzword. It is the mechanism by which we identify and remove systemic barriers, just as Perkins did from within the highest levels of government,” Holley writes.
Holley lists the way the Trump administration pressures colleges and universities to cater to the federal government’s agenda through funding cuts. At the beginning of the month, the administration offered nine universities increased access to federal funding if they agreed to meet a list of demands centered around marginalized groups. CNN reports that of Oct. 23, seven of the nine universities have declined the offer.
The administration’s reversal of equity efforts goes against the very foundation of Mount Holyoke, which began to offer women educational opportunities reserved for men, Holley said.
A key part of the Mount Holyoke College Forward plan includes retaining and growing its diverse student body with expanded academic opportunities, particularly filling societal needs. The college recently lost a grant for gender-based research.
“Every right gained by women and other marginalized communities has been hard-fought. And every time we edge closer to equity, the backlash is swift,” Holley writes. “We see it now in efforts to defund gender-based research, to restrict who belongs in classrooms and to undermine the very idea that inclusion strengthens institutions.”
“DEI is not separate from excellence. It is the engine of it. Dismantling it would be to deny not only the needs of today’s students, but the hard-won legacy of those like Perkins who demanded a more just America,” Holley writes.