An era of tradition has come to an end with the elimination of color-coded OneCards. In the past, students have been able to distinguish their seniority by the proud red, blue, green or yellow embellished on their school identification. However, these are the days of yore. A new chapter of Mount Holyoke history has begun: the one-colored OneCard for all.
Since the start of spring semester, Auxiliary Services has been phasing in the new policy by only issuing blue replacement OneCards. Persons responsible for the change include Dean of Studens Liz Braun in consultation with Penny Gill, dean of the college, and Joseph Cohen, dean of studies.
“We were getting complaints from various students that the color on their OneCard did not accurately reflect their class year,” Braun explained. Due to formal reclassification, students found themselves “floating between classes,” and sometimes found themselves categorized into “classes which they did not socially affiliate with.”
After discussion with various other administrative offices, the Dean of Students decided that the removal of color distinction on school identification would be [less troublesome]. “It made sense to have one color for everyone,” Braun concluded.
“Blue was chosen because it is our Mount Holyoke color,” Braun elaborated. While currently the class color of 2012 is the same, the College as a whole is associated with the color blue, she explained.
“Class unity is very important,” Braun reinforced. “This is not in any way meant to diminish the sense of unity students have. But we’d hope that students [could] do that in other ways than simply [through] the color of their OneCard.”
Director of Auxiliary Services Doug Vanderpoel mentioned that slight financial benefits were obtained as well.
“I think it’s unnecessary,” said Nancy Law ’12. “I think we should keep our tradition of differentiating classes on the OneCards. It’s a way we can easily and harmlessly differentiate classes from each other.”
Mengyun Tang ’11 agreed.
“It takes away some of the fun from OneCards. What’s the harm [of color]?”
Related posts:
- OneCard class colors make a comeback
- Read Between the Lines: Dear One Card
- Students, alumnae take concerns over OneCard to administration
- Staff Editorial: OneCard Policy
- Braun to leave for Swarthmore position
