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The Symbols of Office

The Key

The key that is part of today’s ceremony is an actual key to the original Mount Holyoke Female Seminary building. It was salvaged from the fire that destroyed the seminary in 1896. Made of iron, it is both a physical reminder and symbol of founder Mary Lyon’s remarkable achievement in opening the doors of higher learning to talented women.

The Mount Holyoke College Charter

Pasquerella receives a copy of the Mount Holyoke Female Seminary charter, which was approved on February 11, 1836. A copy of the charter was last presented as a symbol of office in the inauguration of Joanne V. Creighton on May 5, 1996; prior to that, it was presented to Roswell G. Ham on September 23, 1937, the College’s centennial. A blue ribbon was tied around the rolled-up charter; the same ribbon is used today. The original charter, kept in the State House in Boston, marks the incorporation of the seminary and its charge “to be devoted exclusively to the purposes of education.”

The Mount Holyoke College Seal

The College seal is represented in today’s ceremony as a bronze medallion for presentation as a symbol of office to President Pasquerella.