Sonya Stephens steps up to lead Mount Holyoke

Thursday, June 30, 2016 – 10:00pm

By Keely Savoie

Sonya Stephens, whose commitment to women’s colleges dates back to her undergraduate days at the University of Cambridge, assumed the presidency of Mount Holyoke College on July 1.

The former vice president of academic affairs and dean of faculty, Stephens will be the acting president of the College for the next three years.

In her new role, Stephens will lead the implementation of a new strategic plan, The Plan for Mount Holyoke 2021, and guide the College through the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) reaccreditation process. She will also oversee the building of the Community Center, a campus hub that she has called a “third space” where students, faculty, and staff will have new opportunities to collaborate and engage in intellectual and social exchange outside of classrooms and residence halls.

Stephens sees these and other initiatives as paramount to enhancing the student experience, which is one of her top priorities.

“The hallmark of the Mount Holyoke experience is the kind of high-contact learning and intellectual exchange fostered by our excellent faculty and the curious, bright, engaged students who are drawn here,” she said. “Our commitment is to continue to deliver and to enhance that experience for all.”

The strategic plan, to be finalized this fall, calls for the College to assert its distinctiveness and the value of a liberal arts education, to embrace new programs in support of the liberal arts, and to develop a comprehensive approach to engaging with the global world.

“Through the unique opportunities that a diverse women’s college affords them, Mount Holyoke students develop the habits of mind, intellectual rigor, and agency to transform the world,” Stephens said. “They learn to think, speak, and act with confidence and courage, and do so with a global perspective.”

Stephens holds a PhD from the University of Cambridge and a master’s degree from the Université de Montréal, in addition to her BA from New Hall (now Murray Edwards College), a women’s college at Cambridge.

In the fall of 2014, President Lynn Pasquerella ’80, along with psychology and education professor Lenore Reilly, taught a community-based learning course called “Philosophy for Children.” In this course, students learned how to conduct discussions of philosophical questions among elementary school children using picture books. Along the way, they delved into a range of philosophical issues. Here, President Pasquerella and Lenore Reilly pose at the end of the semester with the students in the course. – See more at: http://alumnae.mtholyoke.edu/blog/mhc-moment-january-2015/#comment-89914.  (Editor’s note:  Aren’t we lucky!  Ms Pasquerella always makes me proud to be an alum.)

Delivering on a Promise

Last July, a Time magazine article touted Mount Holyoke alongside two universities as “more the exception than the rule” among institutions that offer “options under which students get to work with employers in their chosen fields before graduation.”

Prior to that, President Lynn Pasquerella ’80 made headlines with the announcement that the College will guarantee funding for one qualified summer internship or research experience for every student at Mount Holyoke. Many students will have multiple internships throughout their undergraduate careers, but the opportunity for guaranteed funding is only offered by a handful of small liberal arts colleges.

Students approved for domestic internships via The Lynk receive $3,000 in funding, and students pursuing international opportunities receive $3,600—numbers that have already translated into increased access to professional placements for a greater number of students as well as increased access to fields that typically don’t offer paid internships. Since the launch of The Lynk in fall 2013, internships are up 55 percent. And this past summer 417 students had funded opportunities. – See more at: http://alumnae.mtholyoke.edu/blog/practical-pursuit/?utm_source=quarterly%20winter%202015&utm_medium=laurel%20chain
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MHC Honored for Boosting Students’ Global Savvy with Tech
A national award confirms that videoconferencing with global partners advances international learning across the curriculum. Mount Holyoke was one of three recipients of the American Council on Education’s new Leaders in Internationalization through Technology Award.

And to think that we didn’t even have computers!