This page contains information on the Jolene Fund established by the MHC Lesbian Alumnae Network, and continued by Mount Holyoke Lyon's Pride.
February 22, 2008:
Some new vintage books for sale for the Jolene Fund! Read all about it here: http://www.mtholyoke.com/jolene.html
January 18, 2008:
In June, a generous alum challenged Lyon's Pride to raise $15,000 for the Jolene Fund by the end of the year by offering to match it with a donation of her own. The numbers are in ...
and we did it! And then some!
Total raised toward match: $20,671
Donation from the challenger: $15,000
Total raised since July 1: $35,671!!!
Thank you for your help. We could not have done it without you!
Updated February 22, 2008 by Donna Albino
"The Mount Holyoke College Lesbian Alumnae Network is establishing the Jolene Loan Fund to provide financial assistance in the form of loans to women students at Mt. Holyoke College who have lost support from their families for coming out as lesbians or bisexuals or for other similar circumstances involving sexual orientation. The administration of the Jolene Loan Fund will be handled by the Dean of the College."
Note: Lyon's Pride, the successor to the MHCLAN, is continuing this work.
The MHCLAN agreed to raise $25,000 to endow the fund by January 2004.
Send your gift with the note designating that the gift is for the Jolene Fund to Charlie Haight, Development Office, 50 College St, Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, MA 01075. This means the gift will be noted on your file record. The Development Office and any classmates who work on fund raising may have access to an individual's file record.
Please make checks payable to "Mount Holyoke College".
To give online with a credit card, please go to:
https://www.mtholyoke.edu/offices/develop/giving/givenow.shtml
Make sure to state the donation is for Jolene in the donation form, or else it will get credited to the Annual Fund by default.
All donations are fully tax deductible.
Please do NOT send any money to Lyon's Pride for the Jolene Fund via PayPal.
If you'd like to make an anonymous gift to the fund, send it to Judith Campbell, Development Office, 50 College St, Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, MA 01075, and include a letter designating the gift for the Jolene Fund and make it clear that you wish this to be anonymous, and not part of your file. Judith will take care of it. This is nothing unusual for the college to handle.
As of April 30, 2008:
Gifts to date: $88,314.18
Number of loans made: 2
Amount loaned: $2,500
Available for loans: $7,069
We thank everyone who has donated to this Fund. Endowment is complete, however a greater endowment allows us to give more meaningful loans.
Suggested Gift: $150
I never knew this would happen to me my senior year. I suffered a lot of emotional pain and continue to do so every now and then because of my situation. Ever since my mom disowned my sibling and me in the summer of '06 because of sexuality and lifestyle, she spared her shame and she toiled with my education. My mom no longer wanted to pay for me. I was not sure I would make it. I honestly cried every day and night. Financial policies demanded so much from me and I could not bear leaving Mt. Holyoke and not graduating. Where would I go? What would I do? I need a degree to survive. I'm in this alone. A little spirit, however, passes through Mt. Holyoke and reminds me that there is hope. Jolene is letting me graduate and offering me that Mt. Holyoke education she always wanted. I truly feel like Jolene's arm has extended to help me and others in similar situations. I really hope that people one day learn that even in the year 2007, a student from even the finest institutions may have their world ripped apart and no one would know. It is not only about socioeconomic differences, but the ways in which ignorance, fear, and hate still affects families and tears families apart.
I wish that no more Mt. Holyoke students suffer from hate or become disowned. With that said, I give a warm, friendly THANKS to Lyon's Pride. I would not have made it without a little help from the Jolene Fund.
With love, J '07
I picked up my check from the Jolene Fund yesterday, and I don't really know who to show my appreciation. I cannot begin to thank you for the loan, and also for the confidentiality and the compassion, which was shown to me when I sought it out. I hope that one day in the future, when the tables are turned, I can help someone else just like you helped me!
A grateful member of the Class of 2007
by Nicki Nicolo, nnicolo@mtholyoke.edu
In the early 1990s, a Mount Holyoke student approached the MHCLAN for financial assistance. Her family was refusing to support her or her quest for an education at Mount Holyoke after discovering she was romantically involved with another woman. Although the MHCLAN was unable to assist her and she ultimately could not stay at Mount Holyoke, that incident became a catalyst.
Over the years that followed, there were several attempts by various groups of MHCLAN members, always assisted by Donna Albino, who tried to create a response to this situation. During that period of time, various MHCLAN members became aware of other students facing the same circumstances. Those early attempts were to provide some useful information for the final creation of the Fund.
In September of 2000, Nicki Nicolo brought this idea back to life and created a project to establish this Fund. The online MHCLAN community participated in many lively discussions. A naming committee took suggestions and polled the online membership for a decision. The name, The Jolene Fund, was selected to honor the catalyst for this effort.
Nicki and Donna spent a lot of effort negotiating with Charlie Haight, the VP of Development, who represented the college. In the end, a mutually agreeable proposal was presented to the online MHCLAN members for a vote. The other option presented was to create a 501(c)(3) to administer the Fund. In excess of 80% of the members who participated in an online discussion forum and voted choose to go with the college's offer of dean's discretionary fund to administer the Jolene Fund.
The Jolene Fund Co-Coordinators are Donna Albino '83 and Katie Sullivan '06 jolenefund@mhlp.org.
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Last updated June 19, 2007 by Margo Burns, Mount Holyoke Lyon's Pride Webmaster