Association Policies

Please visit the Alumnae Quarterly policies page.

The Alumnae Association of Mount Holyoke College seeks to foster a climate that welcomes, celebrates, and promotes respect for the entire variety of human experience. In our commitment to diversity, we seek to include appreciation for and values from many cultures. Our commitment to work toward an environment that values diversity requires us to develop and promote activities and programs that further our understanding of individual and group diversity. We will also develop and communicate policies and promote values that discourage intolerance and discrimination.

We shall endeavor to advance and incorporate the concept and dimensions of diversity into every aspect of Alumnae Association activity, including programs, staffing, personnel training practices, alumnae services, events, and all other areas of Association endeavor.

Dimensions of diversity shall include, but are not limited to, race, ethnicity, religious belief, sexual orientation, sex/gender, disability, socioeconomic status, cultural orientation, national origin, and age.

The Board of Directors and Executive Director of the Alumnae Association will provide leadership and collaborate with members, staff, and volunteers to ensure an environment that values diversity and encourages all to participate in the programs, events, and activities of the Association.

The Alumnae Association of Mount Holyoke College seeks to acknowledge and engage with all Mount Holyoke alumnae regardless of class year, professional or personal accomplishments, or amount bequeathed to the College in donations. Our commitment toward treating all alumnae equally requires us to prohibit the direct promotion of an alumna’s business with the express purpose of raising money; fundraising efforts for organizations with which an alumna is involved; or volunteer/philanthropic projects that do not directly relate to the Alumnae Association or Mount Holyoke College. Exceptions may be made on a case-by-case basis.

An external disaster is any natural or manmade disaster that directly affects a region where Mount Holyoke alumnae live or work. 

Sample External Crisis Scenarios

• terrorist attack
• natural disaster
• economic dislocation
• infrastructure failure

Alumnae Association Response

Should an external disaster occur in an area where Mount Holyoke alumnae live or work, the Alumnae Association will provide the following communications assistance:

• Supply a contact list to volunteers in the area to establish communication between alumnae for the purposes of coordinating any alumnae- or student-led assistance efforts.
• Direct affected alumnae to use the Alumnae Association’s Facebook page to post updates and/or make contact with other alumnae in the area.
• Direct affected alumnae to the Alumnae Directory to make contact with other alumnae in the area.
• Post links to alumnae- or student-led assistance efforts on Alumnae Association social media feeds and the Alumnae Association homepage.
• Reach out to club leaders in the area to let them know that we can help promote alumnae- or student-led assistance efforts.
• Director of Clubs and Groups reaches out to Alumnae Association volunteer leaders in community to share sympathy and ascertain if alumnae have been impacted.

The Alumnae Association will share any official response from the president of the College or the Office of Communications through its communications channels. The Alumnae Association will not release its own response or contact alumnae regarding the external disaster outside of helping to communicate the availability of alumnae- or student-led assistance efforts.

The Mount Holyoke College Alumnae Association website is intended to foster communication among and between the College and its alumnae and students. It is a resource and forum for the exchange of information of interest to the alumnae community, and operates according to the principles outlined in the Association’s Diversity Policy. The Alumnae Association values a diversity of viewpoints and opinions expressed in an atmosphere of mutual respect. This applies equally to users of the Association website, and, as such, requires respect for others’ perspectives and obligates all users of these services to practice discretion in their online communications. To that end, all individuals using the Mount Holyoke College Alumnae Association website agree to refrain from communications that intimidate, demean, or result in injury to another individual because of personal beliefs or characteristics. These include, but are not limited to, those relating to race, sex, sexual orientation,gender identity, age, color, religion, national origin, or disability.

While not condoning censorship of any kind, the Alumnae Association does not support inappropriate use of the website that includes, but is not limited to: 1) illegal or fraudulent activities; 2) inaccurate implication of endorsement, approval or sponsorship by the Mount Holyoke College Alumnae Association or any officer, club or department of the Association; 3) mass distributions (e.g., ads or ‘spamming’) for any personal, commercial or political activity. If the Alumnae Association believes, in its sole discretion, that a user’s participation in the Association’s website violates the guidelines as outlined above, the Association may delete a posting, limit or deny a user’s access to the website or cancel a discussion group.

The Alumnae Association of Mount Holyoke College expects community members to exhibit the same level of respect for others in this forum as in any other Association-related venue. The Association reserves the right to discontinue any or all online services at any time or to unilaterally revise the terms of this policy without advance notice. Use of the Alumnae Association of Mount Holyoke College website constitutes your agreement to abide by these guidelines.

The Alumnae Association of Mount Holyoke College respects the privacy of all users of the Alumnae Association website. Alumnae who choose to use Alumnae Association online services and volunteer personal contact information may receive occasional electronic mailings.

The Association makes alumnae contact information available exclusively to the Mount Holyoke College alumnae community via a password-protected login. Only Mount Holyoke College alumnae, students, faculty, and staff have access to the Alumnae Directory. Alumnae can choose what they would like displayed in the directory for others to see. (Select the “Hide Information” option to limit the information that appears in the Online Directory.)

The Alumnae Association makes every effort to ensure the security of information provided by the users of its online services and maintains up-to-date firewall protection and system security agent software designed to maintain the integrity of the personal information stored within the Alumnae Directory. Please be aware, however, that no data transmission over the Internet is guaranteed to be secure and that the Alumnae Association cannot guarantee the security of any information that you provide.

The Alumnae Association will not sell or provide personally identifiable information to any outside parties, including commercial or nonprofit organizations. Information provided and stored in the Alumnae Directory should be used only for Mount Holyoke-related purposes. Prohibited activities include, but are not limited to, solicitations for personal profit or commercial services, cold-calling of any kind, mass mailings for commercial services, and sending harassing messages to a directory member. Information available through the Mount Holyoke College Alumnae Directory may be used for specific personal and College-related purposes only.

Failure to comply with this policy may result in the revocation of access to the Alumnae Directory.

The Alumnae Association of Mount Holyoke College acknowledges the influence that social media channels have on both disseminating information and influencing public perception. We recognize the importance of social media to help shape our brand, cultivate community, and promote our events, programs, and services.

Professional conduct including discretion on behalf of Alumnae Association members, employees, and volunteers is required. We are committed to being honest, sensitive, and receptive with our social media efforts. These activities should be consistent with all other marketing and communications activities.

The following policy is intended to provide guidelines for using social media on behalf of the Alumnae Association. All information is subject to change, as this is an ever-changing landscape.

Guiding Principles
Our social media efforts stem from the same vision, mission, and strategic priorities that guide our work every day and all activities should be in line with these principles.

Privacy
When posting news about alumnae to social media channels, we only share things that are already published publicly, generated through the Alumnae Quarterly, produced by the College, or are sent directly to us by alumnae or Mount Holyoke staff who have received permission.

Parameters
We do not explicitly promote alumnae businesses, fundraising, hiring efforts, or personal projects through social media. Alumnae who are interested in sharing these activities may post them directly to our LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram pages. In addition, the alumnae and career directories are available as resources for our registered graduates to utlize for these and other concerns.

We do not post:

• Political positions
• Religious content
• Sexual or profane material
• Derogatory information
• Content that promotes discrimination
• Information that may compromise safety
• Content that promotes illegal activities
• The petitioning or solicitation of groups of alumnae
• Private/internal/confidential information about members, faculty, staff, volunteers, or the Association or College

Crisis/Disaster Response
See Internal Crisis and External Disaster Communication Plan.

Collaboration with the College
We work closely with the College to ensure that messaging and priorities are aligned as appropriate. We follow the College’s lead on disseminating information about their events and activities through social media channels.

Monitoring & Responding
Alumnae Association accounts are monitored by the marketing and communications office.

• Questions and comments, when appropriate, will be responded to in a timely manner.
• Inappropriate messages will be addressed quickly and potentially removed. These include but are not limited to offensive statements, inaccurate information, vulgar language, or unconstructive criticism.
  • Depending on the nature and severity of a comment, it may make sense to simply provide correct information.
  • We do not automatically delete a comment if there is an opportunity to be involved in a productive dialogue.

The Alumnae Association Department of Marketing and Communications reserves the right to edit or remove content if it is deemed in violation of this policy or any applicable laws.