As World War II concluded, the postwar period brought a new wave of international students whose education at home had been interrupted by economic or political change.
“I was deported along with other civilians and spent the rest of the war in a forced labor camp in Germany under Gestapo surveillance. I chose not to return to where I had left only painful memories and the communist regime.” – Helena Deschko-Pickett (Ukraine, formerly part of the Soviet Union), class of 1949. Alumnae Quarterly, Winter 1992.
With much of the world in ashes, significant hope rested with international students to foster in a world of increased cross-national understanding.
“A large share of the responsibility for improving relations between peoples by increasing their understanding of each other lies with the students of the world. Here at college we have an especially valuable opportunity to get to know students from other countries and through them to learn about their cultures and about economic, political and social conditions in their countries.” -Doris Deaken, class of 1947.
Click on the images below to learn about the ways in which Mount Holyoke welcomed a global community during the post war period.
