Mount Holyoke was the first of the Seven Sister colleges to implement a Certificate for Foreign Studies. The certificate met the academic needs of international students who completed one year’s work in residence on the graduate or undergraduate level, to provide proof of their accomplishments. Many of the earliest student representatives from different nations at the college were special students or foreign fellows, meaning they stayed for 1-2 years. Many students went on to become teachers on returning to their home countries.
Pictured above, Academic Dean Meribeth Cameron, left, congratulates the first six international students to earn the newly established Certificate for Foreign Students in 1950. L-R: Clara James (Argentina), class of 1950; Chantal Laurent (France), class of 1950; Nora Ther Theilen (Brazil), graduate student, 1948-1949; Betty Chen Lee (China) x-class of 1950; Helena Rathauska (Czechoslovakia), class of 1950; and Irma Rojas (Chile), class of 1950.