07/05/2026
Hello to all our friends at Mt Holyoke and Connecticut College! Tom Gradante here… I’m the vintage clothing and vinyl guy. It’s been my great pleasure and priviledge to have been the guest at your campuses for the better part of the last 20 years. I’m very disappointed to announce the demise of the “OUTSIDE VENDORS” programs at both of your great schools.
Without explanation, I have recently been alerted by both MHC and CONNCOLL (among other schools), that the vending traditions at both schools have been terminated and vendors like myself will no longer be allowed on your campuses.
I think I can speak for the other vendors that this abrupt decision will impact our lives and livelihoods tremendously. Try as I might, I haven’t been able get an answer from either administration as to the reason for the ban. Speaking for myself, aside from the economic hardship I’ll be facing, at least in the near-term, what really hurts is the loss of my dream avocation as advocate for the counter culture of yesterday, whether art or music, fashion or politics, vis a vis the brilliant, living culture of today’s youth, particularly in light of the times we find ourselves living thru… where free speech, free expression, equality, common decency, and democracy itself are under attack. I’ve made so many friends and learned and laughed so much with students and educators thru these years on the campuses of New York and all around New England. I doubt the administrators behind the decision to terminate outside vending have the vaguest idea of how much the little, itinerant “cultural corner” we’ve created and enjoyed all these years has contributed the intellectual ferment, and the enrichment of campus life with sound and color.
Why the outside vendor tradition has suddenly and all at once fallen into disfavor might seem a mystery, but perhaps shouldn’t come as a great surprise in this era of shrinking freedoms and the retreat of bold leadership.
I wonder to what extent the student bodies of the afflicted institutions have had any voice. **** most of all, I want to say goodbye and thank you. Love you all… 💚💜💛🩵🩷