Student Engagement
Students’ yoga class guided by goats
Photos by Lee Ferris
Mount students welcomed some new “kids” to campus during two sessions of goat yoga.
As the classes took place in the Fluet Family Auditorium in Hudson Hall, Mount students really had a baaaall: From beginners to veterans, they practiced yoga with several friendly baby goats. As the students stretched, the gleeful goats trotted from person to person, eating from the palms of their hands and playfully jumping on their backs.
The event was hosted by the Mount Activities Programming Board (MAP).
Juniors take the trophy at annual Mount Olympics
Photos by Lee Ferris
For a few weeks in the middle of the Fall 2024 semester, the Mount had been abuzz with students working together, perfecting their skills, and faithfully reviewing the material.
The students finally took their test on Thursday, October 24. Only this wasn’t your average college exam – it was Mount Olympics, the yearly Battle of the Classes at Mount Saint Mary College.
This year, the Mount’s Junior class emerged victorious, taking home the coveted Mount Olympics trophy. This is the second year this group of students has won the trophy, having also taken the top honors as freshmen in 2022.
Students packed the Kaplan Recreation Center for the annual event, one of the highlights of the college’s Spirit Week. Students acted in small skits and went head to head in relay races, an obstacle course, and more.
The Spirit week festivities kicked off on Sunday, October 20 with a powderpuff football game and continued with special events like a Bingo night and a pumpkin carving contest. In keeping with the longstanding tradition, the Mount ended Spirit Week in style with its Annual Bonfire.
Mount scholars enjoy summer research on campus
Photos by Lee Ferris
For about two dozen Mount scholars, happiness is a stunning view of the Hudson River, a warm breeze, and the opportunity to conduct their own diverse research projects through the college’s annual Summer Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE).
Coordinated by James Moran, associate Biology professor at the Mount, SURE is an opportunity for students to work alongside Mount professors as they explore a research topic of their choosing.
SURE students presented their research to the Mount campus over the course of two sessions. These presentations featured research projects in areas such as Education, Biology, Humanities, and more.
As it has been in previous years, the SURE program was a hotbed of Natural Sciences research. One notable project is “Isolating Bacteriophages from Soil” by Biology major Leila Puntar of Newburgh, N.Y., and faculty mentor Suparna Bhalla, associate professor of Biology. Bacteriophages are viruses that infect and replicate in bacterial cells. They can be found almost anywhere that live bacteria exist, including soil.
Other SURE projects include: “Inserting the Green Fluorescent Protein gene into a Mammalian Cell” by Biology majors Grace MacHugh and Meghan Wurster, both of Newburgh, N.Y., and advisors Bhalla and Moran; “UNO: Make It Ocho” by Math major Thomas McGuire of New Windsor, N.Y. and advisors Mike Daven, professor of Mathematics and the Mount’s Hudson Link Prison Initiative Academic Director, and Christina Alvey, associate professor of Mathematics and Chair of the Division of Math and IT; and “Anxiety: Friend or Foe?” by Biology major Alice Adesanya of North East, Md., and Nursing majors Djenaba Balde of Wallkill, N.Y. and Aniyah Lewis of Highland Falls, N.Y., with advisors Sonya Abbye-Taylor, associate professor of Education and Chair of the Division of Education, and Alisha McCorvey, Assistant Vice President for Students and Title IX Coordinator.
