![\"SBC-rock\"](\"http:\/\/www.hollins.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/SBC-rock.jpg\")
In March, when James F. Jones, Jr., president of Sweet Briar College, announced the college\u2019s plans to close at the end of August, the reaction among Hollins students, alumnae, faculty, and staff was swift and supportive. After Sweet Briar designated Hollins as one of the \u201cteach-out\u201d schools, all of which agreed to make the transition a smooth one for students opting to transfer, the Hollins admission office acted quickly to set up open houses, information sessions, and financial aid appointments. Students painted the Rock to show their solidarity with their Sweet Briar sisters, and SGA President Georden West \u201915 posted a letter on behalf of the organization on the Hollins SGA Facebook page. \u201cOur green and gold hearts are pumping pink and green at this challenging time,\u201d she wrote. \u201cWe are family.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"divider\"](\"http:\/\/www.hollins.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/wave.png\")
<\/p>\n
New agreement paves the way for solar energy on campus<\/h3>\n
Hollins among 15 private nonprofit colleges included<\/em><\/p>\n Hollins and 14 other private nonprofit colleges in Virginia will be developing comprehensive plans to implement solar power, thanks to more than $807,000 in federal funding from the U.S. Department of Energy SunShot Initiative.<\/span><\/p>\n Sponsored by the Council of Independent Colleges in Virginia, the three-year program will help the colleges navigate the complex legal, regulatory, and technical challenges associated with installing solar systems, leverage group purchasing power to achieve price reductions for hardware and installation services, and create a learning network accessible by other organizations considering solar power.<\/p>\n The goal is to create and implement a plan for participating institutions to deploy solar electricity within five years. This project has the potential to increase substantially the total amount of solar power now produced within Virginia.<\/p>\n A poem of the week in <\/em>The New York Times Magazine<\/p>\n The New York Times Magazine<\/i>, whose new design was overseen by editor-in-chief Jake Silverstein M.A. \u201902, launched a new feature in February: a poem of the week. For a year, each poem will be selected and introduced by another Hollins writing program graduate, Natasha Trethewey M.A. \u201991, former U.S. poet laureate. \u201cIt’s very exciting that The New York Times<\/i> wanted to do it, which is why, busy as I am, I felt this was something important to do for poetry in America,\u201d Trethewey told the Emory University News Center (2\/19\/15). “I\u2019m hoping to introduce the public to poets they may not know anything about, and to poems, even if they generally don\u2019t read poetry.\u201d<\/p>\n Hollins chaplain Jenny Frazier Call organized a spring break trip to Hilton Head, South Carolina. Students worked with other volunteers and future homeowners on building the first three houses of what will be a 16-house neighborhood. From left: Call, Victoria \u201cBreann\u201d Oaxaca \u201915, Taylor Catron \u201917, Kelly Demapan \u201917, Maggie O\u2019Leary AH, Noelle Ware \u201917, and Proffitt Gurley \u201917.<\/p>\n Photo by Jaunell Murphy\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Meriwether Godsey committed to farm-to-table menu<\/em><\/p>\n Executive chef Mike Shea and director of dining services Lee McMillan. \u201cWhat? You\u2019re not serving hamburgers and French fries every day? That\u2019s our comfort food!\u201d<\/p>\n That was the reaction nearly a year ago among some students when Meriwether Godsey (MG) became the food service provider for Hollins. A company committed to \u201cfresh, local, and scratch,\u201d says Executive Chef Mike Shea, MG made significant changes to the food served to the campus community\u2014most notably a commitment to providing local produce.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have ramped up our menu to include a majority of local produce,\u201d Shea says. \u201cThe response we\u2019ve gotten to roasted, saut\u00e9ed, and steamed vegetables has been really positive.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s really nice when the girls come up to Mike and say, \u2018The Brussels sprouts are awesome,\u2019\u201d says Director of Dining Services Lee McMillan.<\/p>\n McMillan and Shea work closely with a small board of students to respond quickly to requests and concerns. \u201cI go to the student board every week,\u201d says McMillan. \u201cThey\u2019re really into local food.\u201d The board routinely visits student senate to give and receive feedback about dining services.<\/p>\n Much of the locally grown vegetables and fruits comes from Produce Source Partners, which sources produce from a variety of local farms. Hollins\u2019 own community garden also provides fresh produce. In return, MG provides compost for the garden.<\/p>\n In addition, Shea and McMillan make every effort to use regionally produced poultry, pork, and dairy products. \u201cI just think it\u2019s really great that the local farmer and the food industry are growing much closer together,\u201d says Shea. \u201cThat\u2019s great for the local farms. It\u2019s going to bring their cost down, which gets passed along to us.\u201d<\/p>\n \n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Hollins community extends support to Sweet Briar Immediate and heartfelt reaction In March, when James F. Jones, Jr., president of Sweet Briar College, announced the college\u2019s plans to close at the end of August, the reaction among Hollins students, alumnae, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6217,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[51,6],"tags":[58],"class_list":["post-6012","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-homepage","category-in_the_loop","tag-spring-2015"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hollins.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6012","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hollins.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hollins.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hollins.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hollins.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6012"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.hollins.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6012\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6185,"href":"https:\/\/www.hollins.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6012\/revisions\/6185"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hollins.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6217"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hollins.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6012"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hollins.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6012"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hollins.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6012"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/p>\nWriting program graduates team up on poetry outreach<\/h3>\n
<\/p>\n![\"Habitat](\"http:\/\/www.hollins.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/habitat.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\nFrom fried to fresh<\/h3>\n
![\"Executive](\"http:\/\/www.hollins.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/meriwether-godsey.jpg\")
Photo by Sharon Meador<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n