Mount Holyoke College
Mount Holyoke College is a private liberal arts women's college in South Hadley, Massachusetts. It is the oldest member of the historic Seven Sisters colleges, a group of elite historically women's colleges in the Northeastern United States.[11]
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Former names | Mount Holyoke Female Seminary |
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| Motto | That our daughters may be as corner stones, polished after the similitude of a palace — Psalms 144:12[1] |
| Type | Private liberal arts women's college |
| Established | Seminary, 1837 (seminary charter, 1836) Seminary and college, (collegiate charter) 1888 College, 1893 |
| Founder | Mary Lyon |
| Accreditation | NECHE |
Academic affiliations | |
| Endowment | $1.068 billion (2021)[3] |
| President | Beverly Daniel Tatum (interim)[4] |
| Dean | Marcella Runell Hall[5] |
Academic staff | 247 (fall 2021)[6] |
Administrative staff | 647 (fall 2021)[6] |
Total staff | 894 (fall 2021)[6] |
| Students | 2,342 (fall 2021)[7] |
| Undergraduates | 2,220 (fall 2021) |
| Postgraduates | 122 (fall 2021) |
| Location | , U.S. 42°15′20″N 72°34′28″W |
| Campus | Rural, 2,000 acres (810 ha), academic campus: 1,000 acres (400 ha) |
| Colors | Blue and white[8] |
| Nickname | Lyons |
Sporting affiliations | NCAA Division III NEWMAC, Liberty League (golf) |
| Mascot | Paws the Lion (Official)[9] Jorge the Goose (Unofficial)[10] |
| Website | www |
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The college was founded in 1837 as the Mount Holyoke Female Seminary by Mary Lyon, a pioneer in education for women. A model upon which many other women's colleges were patterned, it is the oldest institution within the Seven Sisters schools, an alliance of East Coast liberal arts colleges that was originally created to provide women with an education equivalent to that provided in the then men-only Ivy League.[12] Mount Holyoke is part of the region's Five College Consortium, along with Amherst College, Smith College, Hampshire College, and the University of Massachusetts Amherst: through this membership, students are allowed to take courses at any other member institution.
Undergraduate admissions are restricted to female, transgender, and nonbinary students.[13] In 2014, it became the first member of the Seven Sisters to introduce an admissions policy that was inclusive to transgender students.[14] However, all graduate programs are open to applicants regardless of gender. Unlike the open curriculums of the other liberal arts schools in the Five College Consortium, Mount Holyoke undergraduates are required to take at least one class each in the humanities, science or mathematics, social sciences, and foreign language, as well as a physical education requirement.
The college's 800-acre (3.2 km2) campus includes the Mount Holyoke College Art Museum, the John Payson Williston Observatory, and a botanic garden, and awards the Glascock Prize annually. Alumni and affiliates include notable poets, authors, feminists, academics, entertainers, scientists, politicians, and civil rights activists, as well as recipients of the Nobel Prize, Pulitzer Prize, Olympic Gold Medal, Rhodes Scholarship, Emmy Award, Golden Globe, and Academy Award.