Across Africa, the Middle East & North Africa...
Our African and MENA alum community is growing and we are proud of the achievements of some of our local members!
Diamond Abiakalam-Chinagorom ’25 from Lagos, Nigeria was named MHC’s first Schwarzman Scholar in 2025. This prestigious scholarship is for a one year fully funded Master’s degree at Tsignhua University in Beijing. The goal is to allow students to gain a better understanding of China and global affairs.
Other notable African alums include award winning writer Ayesha Harruna Attah'05, originally from Ghana and currently living in Senegal, and Abena Amoah '00, a distinguished immunoepidemiologist and biomedical researcher from Ghana who currently lives in the Netherlands. Read more about their amazing achievements in our "In the Spotlight" section.
Congratulations to APAU!
We are also proud of the success booked in 2025 by the Association of Pan-African Unity (APAU) at MHC, which was awarded the MoZone Community Builders Award.
This award recognizes the student organization that has demonstrated commitment to diversity and inclusion throughout the academic year.
Caption: Interim President Tatum joined the APAU Black History Month Coordinator Sarah Bell ’25 in a discussion at Mount Holyoke College during Black History Month 2023.
Alums meetings in MENA
In Dubai, in 2025 alums got together to visit the latest edition of the World Art Dubai exhibit, where they meet Erin Mc Gee Ferrell '94, who was exhibiting several of her works.
In Kuwait, our local alum representative recently welcomed and hosted our country representative from the Iberian Peninsula, showing how Mount Holyoke friendship and hospitality are truly very special all over the world!
Based in Africa or in MENA? We want to hear from you!
We know that there are more successes to celebrate and alums to recognize and we are keen to strengthen our local network and build a stronger alum community throughout the MENA region and the African continent.
Are you living or working in one of these regions? Do you identify with these regions, though you may live outside of MENA and Africa now? Have you connections with alum friends in these areas?
Contact:
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Cynthia Reed ‘80 (Africa)
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Kim Hunter '75 (MENA)
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Maheen Qasim '06 (Dubai)
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Yasmine Al-Sabah '94 (Kuwait)
at MHCGlobalAA@gmail.com and help us make our alum network grow for those of you living and working in the MENA and African regions or those eager to keep ties while living elsewhere.
Caption: Alums in Dubai at a gathering in March 2025