Another sit-in occurred in February 1970, when about 250 Black students from the Five Colleges occupied four buildings at Amherst College including the administration building and library. They sent a list of grievances and demands to each college.
About a week later on February 27th, after stalling negotiations, Black students at the Five Colleges held a takeover of seven buildings at Mount Holyoke along with the switchboard. Classes were halted, rescheduled, or held in the unoccupied buildings. A special faculty meeting as well as a campus wide meeting was arranged and the sit-in lasted for 14 hours.
A special edition of the Choragos was published detailing the takeover. This issue describes Mount Holyoke as a “volcano filled with dormant emotions, [that] has just erupted with strong reactions.” While students had been discussing the racial climate on campus for many years, at this point this was the largest confrontation and public reckoning with these issues.
These demonstrations were a united effort among students at all five colleges. Their commitment was to destroy the traditionalism that they saw as a common obstacle at all of the colleges in the Valley but in particular at Mount Holyoke.
Demonstration Demands:
- Become a member of the proposed Five College Black Studies Program.
- Broadened admissions policy with regards to recruitment and admission of Black students, with 20% of the incoming class being Black. To facilitate this, they called for a Black staff member in admissions, a Black field representative, participation in Afro-American for Educational Opportunities, and that Black student advice and consent be considered in the selection of these staff.
- Increasement of the amount of financial aid offered to prospective Black students.
- Full participation in the Five College Bridge program.
- Two vans to be used exclusively by Black MHC students.
Immediate Changes Implemented
- Creation of Five College Black Studies Program.
- Created a position in admissions for a Black staff member and the Seven Sisters, which shared two recruiters, hired a third Black recruiter.
- Increased financial aid for Black students.
- The Five College Bridge Program was dropped but MHC planned to run a similar program.
- Search for funding for a van.
The above flyer was distributed by Black students during the 1973 Commencement. Students continued to express frustrations with the slow pace of structural changes during this period of rapid transformation.
