<p>The Boston Globe has listed two MHC alumnae--Maria Cirino '85 and Sheila Lirio Marcelo '93 -- among the ten most powerful women on the Boston technology scene.</p>
<p>ConcernedDad, as an MHC alum, I really don’t like the term “MoHo” and neither do a lot of my MHC friends! Just sounds derrogatory!..Maybe students today don’t care about the connotation of a “Ho”, but we older alums sure do!</p>
<p>Many now at MoHo (including my daughter) refer to themselves as MoHos. See the following very few examples of many from MHC’s website and that of the MHC News:</p>
<p>[Testimonials</a> :: McCulloch Center for Global Initiatives :: Mount Holyoke College](<a href=“http://www.mtholyoke.edu/global/testimonials.html]Testimonials”>http://www.mtholyoke.edu/global/testimonials.html)</p>
<p>[Alumnae</a> Association E-Newsletter](<a href=“http://alumnae.mtholyoke.edu/news/enews/0107.html]Alumnae”>http://alumnae.mtholyoke.edu/news/enews/0107.html)</p>
<p>[Rain</a> Can’t Dampen Convocation Spirits :: News & Events :: Mount Holyoke College](<a href=“http://www.mtholyoke.edu/news/channels/35/stories/5683120]Rain”>http://www.mtholyoke.edu/news/channels/35/stories/5683120)</p>
<p><a href=“https://pub.mtholyoke.edu/journal/aroundtheworld/entry/introductions_rebecca_neubardt_13[/url]”>https://pub.mtholyoke.edu/journal/aroundtheworld/entry/introductions_rebecca_neubardt_13</a></p>
<p><a href=“https://blogs.mtholyoke.edu/rome2007/2007/06/01/my-first-day-in-rome/[/url]”>https://blogs.mtholyoke.edu/rome2007/2007/06/01/my-first-day-in-rome/</a></p>
<p>[The</a> Mount Holyoke News Mount Holyoke students sound off on Oscars](<a href=“http://themhnews.org/2012/02/arts/mount-holyoke-students-sound-off-on-oscars]The”>http://themhnews.org/2012/02/arts/mount-holyoke-students-sound-off-on-oscars)</p>
<p>[The</a> Mount Holyoke News Mount Holyoke campus culture inspires internet gems](<a href=“http://themhnews.org/2012/02/features/mount-holyoke-campus-culture-inspires-internet-gems]The”>http://themhnews.org/2012/02/features/mount-holyoke-campus-culture-inspires-internet-gems)</p>
<p>[The</a> Mount Holyoke News Read between the lines: Stuff Mount Holyoke People Like](<a href=“http://themhnews.org/2010/09/op-ed/read-between-the-lines-stuff-mount-holyoke-people-like]The”>http://themhnews.org/2010/09/op-ed/read-between-the-lines-stuff-mount-holyoke-people-like)</p>
<p>(search for “MoHo” on these pages)</p>
<p>You don’t say want you want to be called – a Mount Holyoker? a Mount Holyoke College graduate? … “a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” – WS from R&J.</p>
<p>No matter what one says, SOMEone is likely to be offend.</p>
<p>We were always Mt. Holyoke Alumnae, or singular Alumna. Much classier than thinking of a whore. A lot has changed in the 20 years since I graduated. That young women would put up with the “ho”, or laugh at it or celebrate it, is just sad, when women worked so hard to establish their place as intellectuals and not sexual objects or symbols. Young women today don’t have the same appreciation for that history. If they did, they would riot at anyone who dared use “Ho” as any part of a word referring to them, just as no one would accept other derogatory words I wouldn’t write here. No, I have never met anyone who was offended by “Alum”, “alumna” or “alumnae”. Just proud to be able to use the term.
(While students, we just were MHC students noted by class (we had freshmen then), sometimes “Uncommon Women” in reference to Wendy Wasserstein’s play about MHC students.)</p>
<p>CCDad - I love that you are enthusiastic about MHC and your daughter’s education and opportunities. I have to agree, however, with teachandmom. I cannot fathom why current students would accept this term. As a proud alumn (the term I have always used and heard used), I too am very disturbed by “MoHo” and have avoided posts where it appears. Teachandmom, thank you for eloquently posting on our behalf why we alumns would feel this way.</p>
<p>Thanks MomNature! I’m from the class of '89, and so proud of my Alma Mater. So much is different there now. I remember fondly gracious dinners, and such a feeling of pride. I just can’t imagine calling myself a MoHo as a student, and when referring to alums, feel it is particularly incorrect. Rochelle Calhoun was at MHC when I was a student (did she ever leave after graduating?) and I can’t imagine what she thinks of the MoHo nickname!!!</p>
<p>Class of '78 here. My first reaction was to feel a bit put off, but things change and a new generation brands things its own way. It is true that young women now do not appreciate the need to demand respect and the importance of language in the way that we did. I work with a large number of young professionals and they all, male and female, are comfortable with referring to their female colleagues as “girls” - something we so persistently overcame in the effort to be taken as seriously as our male counterparts.</p>
<p>I am happy that you MHC alums have finally decided to contribute something to this page, even if it is to insult current students. Nevertheless, I hope your passion will cause you to continue to contribute to this page. Until I started contributing here, this page was completely dead for months at a time while other college’s pages were very active. However, with your over the top responses, which I cannnot fathom, I no longer feel the energy, passion or need to contribute. I leave this task in your able hands.</p>
<p>Pointing out a reality is not insulting. Young women today at Mount Holyoke, using the term “ho” as part of referencing themselves, is a generational difference that points to the way things have changed. I have several recently retired Mt. Holyoke faculty as friends, and they point out many ways students there are very different from students of twenty-five years ago. If it’s true, it’s true. That’s all. What is wrong with pointing out to students that “ho” is derogatory, and maybe they should think about that? Mt. Holyoke women are very bright, but not perfect, and maybe some will rethink the MoHo usage. That would be wonderful. I give those who take this seriously “Kudos”. I am so very proud of being an alumn that anything that reflects poorly on the college, or connotations about the students there, pains me very much - right down to my core, honestly. I also don’t think our responses were “over the top” as you write. Mt. Holyoke women have always been, or were traditionally, very deep thinkers, aware of things typical people may not recognize or choose to ignore. That is what makes the caliber of the college what it traditionally has been, and why so many alums go on to accomplish so much. That we would read into the MoHo nickname something others may not see is just part of who Mt. Holyoke women are!</p>
<p>ConcerndDad, consider this: MoHo luckily has a spelling connection, which I can see is why it became popular, but we do still need to recognize when words can be taken other ways, or give other images, and may not be the best word to use. Would students laugh at StaffordSluts, or SkinnerSkinheads? NO! They wouldn’t tolerate those names. Those of us who are maybe a bit sensitive and afraid of desensitization of many things in this day and age don’t ever want to see anyone tolerate such language just because times may change. MoHo just brings that up.</p>
<p>I never went to Mt. Holyoke, but as an outsider I’d just like to say I wouldn’t want my daughter to put MoHo on her fb page, or it would at least make me raise an eyebrow… in fact it’s the reason I clicked on this thread as in What n the World??</p>
<p>Not to weigh in on the merits of either argument advanced, but I can say as an MHC parent that the term “MoHo” is not only accepted, but rather adored by a large contingent of Mount Holyoke women. It has even sprung new affectionate terms, such as “MoHome,” which is a very common term to describe the college. I can also assure you that this has nothing to do with a lack of refinement or an under-appreciation for the English language. If you want to see how creative current MHC students are with language, take a quick visit to the Mount Holoyke College Meme Facebook Page. It’s wonderful stuff - [Mount</a> Holyoke College Memes | Facebook](<a href=“http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mount-Holyoke-College-Memes/209295732501969]Mount”>http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mount-Holyoke-College-Memes/209295732501969).</p>
<p>Another example of electronic communication missing the mark - I do not mean to insult current students. I was just making some sort of generational observation. When I was at MHC I was surrounded by the most intelligent, stimulating and interesting group of women, and I assume that is still the case, if not even more so. That is exactly what I went there for, and it has been a tad disappointing to have had sons who cannot apply there. Peace.</p>