{"id":9337,"date":"2021-03-07T19:13:26","date_gmt":"2021-03-08T00:13:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hollins.edu\/magazine\/?p=9337"},"modified":"2022-03-11T18:14:31","modified_gmt":"2022-03-11T23:14:31","slug":"president-mary-dana-hintons-big-vision-for-hollins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hollins.edu\/magazine\/president-mary-dana-hintons-big-vision-for-hollins\/","title":{"rendered":"President Mary Dana Hinton\u2019s\u00a0Big Vision\u00a0for Hollins\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

A strong liberal arts advocate, Hinton also plans to focus on educational equity and reimagining how the university serves future students.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

By Jeff Dingler\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

When Hollins\u2019 new president, Mary Dana Hinton, Ph.D., first attended an all-women\u2019s educational institution back in high school, the moment was nothing short of life-changing for her. \u201cIt was in that space at St. Mary\u2019s (School in Raleigh, N.C.) that I developed the belief that I\u2019m not in competition with other women, that another woman\u2019s success is actually my success,\u201d Hinton told <\/span>Hollins magazine<\/i><\/span>. \u201cEven if we don\u2019t believe the same things, I need to support and cheer for other women. I\u2019ve held on to that, and it\u2019s helped me not see life as a zero-sum game.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Now Hinton is bringing that equitable attitude, and years of experience in educational administration, to Hollins as the school\u2019s 13th president and the first Black woman to lead the university. Officially taking over in August 2020, Hinton commands the helm of the nearly 200-year-old institution at an interesting juncture in its history\u2014during a once-in-a-century pandemic that\u2019s demanded swift and significant restructuring of campus spaces and adjustments to a greater online learning component, and also in the midst of some of the worst political tension and racial unrest the country has seen in decades. In spite of these formidable obstacles, Hinton pushed ahead not just with Hollins\u2019 regular schedule of classes for the fall term, where 30 percent of courses were taught virtually and roughly one quarter of students attended remotely, but also with events and other plans to make educational equity one of the centerpieces of her presidency. \u201cMy mission in life is around educational equity,\u201d explained Hinton. \u201cI want any person who desires an education to be able to get the deepest, richest education that they can.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

So what exactly does educational equity translate to on Hollins\u2019 campus? Alumnae\/i and students should look to two key events that took place during the Fall 2020 semester. First was a special dialogue, part of the university\u2019s Distinguished Speaker Series, held on September 22 between Hinton and bestselling author of <\/span>The New Jim Crow<\/i><\/span> Michelle Alexander. During their hour-long, virtual sit-down, which was <\/span>livestreamed via Zoom to the full Hollins community, Hinton and Alexander discussed the 10th anniversary of <\/span>The New Jim Crow<\/i><\/span> in addition to racial tensions in the U.S. and social activism both on and off college campuses. The second important event that Hinton helped spearhead was Leading Equity, Diversity, and Justice Day (Leading EDJ) on October 23 (see article on page six). This first-of-its-kind, all-day conference included 35 different \u201csessions\u201d of seminars, talks, and discussions, all related to the inaugural year Leading EDJ theme of racial justice and presented by guest speakers and members of the university community. Classes were called off, and all employees were granted the opportunity to participate in the day. More than 550 students, faculty, staff, alumnae\/i, and trustees participated.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m proud of what our community was able to accomplish with Leading EDJ,\u201d said Hinton about the new initiative. \u201cInclusion impacts every single student we serve, and if we don\u2019t address issues of inclusion, we are not helping our students thrive. They\u2019re going to be leaders, community members, volunteers, teachers, and doctors, and for them to do any of those things well, they have to be able to see that inclusion is essential. So we are going to talk about it a lot, and that\u2019s not about my personal agenda\u2014that\u2019s about how Hollins prepares students to be successful. That\u2019s a priority much like embracing the liberal arts is a priority, much like amplifying women\u2019s voices is a priority.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Started in 1842, originally as Valley Union Seminary, Hollins became Virginia\u2019s first chartered women\u2019s college just a decade later, making it one of the oldest women\u2019s colleges in the country. And Hinton knows her stuff when it comes to women\u2019s education. In addition to her time at St. Mary\u2019s School\u2014Hollins\u2019 new president hails from the Tar Heel State\u2014Hinton spent the previous six years as president of the College of Saint Benedict (Saint Ben\u2019s) in Saint Joseph, Minnesota, an all-women\u2019s college partnered with the all-men\u2019s Saint John\u2019s University. Under her leadership, Hinton helped complete a comprehensive fundraising campaign, which ended up raising $110.4 million for Saint Ben\u2019s, the largest fundraiser in the school\u2019s history. Hinton was named president emerita upon her departure from Saint Ben\u2019s.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Securing a sustainable financial position, leading a national conversation about the enduring value of the liberal arts, and enhancing Hollins\u2019 market position\u2014leadership tasks familiar to Hinton\u2014are priorities in her work at Hollins. And, Hinton notes, there is a special leadership call as it relates to Hollins and inclusion. Hollins has long wrestled with the role of the enslaved in its founding and how to incorporate that legacy into its history. Hinton encourages the work of engaging that acknowledgment and embracing the steps needed to reconcile our past as we look to our future. \u201cAnd that\u2019s really going to be my goal moving forward: To recognize our legacy and to figure out what our future needs to be. What do we owe our mission, our history, and ourselves as we plan for a vibrant future?\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Regarding that future, Hinton is planning on turning Leading EDJ into an annual, campus-wide happening. She\u2019s already met with faculty and university leaders to look at feedback from this year\u2019s event and to figure out next year\u2019s theme and schedule. Also, in December and January, Hinton held a series of discussions with faculty and staff about a new, ambitious campaign to imagine \u201cwho we need to be\u201d to serve the next generation of students.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re in a wonderful moment for Hollins,\u201d said Hinton about this new project, which is still in its early planning stages, \u201ca moment when we can take our 179-year legacy of courage and inclusion and reimagine it for the changing national demographic makeup of college students.\u201d For the undergraduates, Hinton said, that entails examining what the university\u2019s diverse and talented students need to thrive, especially given that the next generation of students will have had their educational progress meaningfully disrupted due to COVID-19. For the small but eclectic group of graduate programs at Hollins, Hinton said that the school must reimagine how these programs are supported and how to more meaningfully engage with graduate students and faculty. Hinton even wants Hollins to reimagine its place in the broader Roanoke region. \u201cWhen we think about being inclusive, part of that has to do with our location in Roanoke, being an active part of that community,\u201d said Hinton. \u201cBecause I firmly believe that private education is and must be a public good.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Having made educational equity a priority throughout her career, Hinton does not view this campaign or its goals as hers and hers alone. Far from it, actually. \u201cI have the privilege of leading that conversation and cultivating and stewarding that vision but, ultimately, it will come from the Hollins community and the faculty, staff, and students, both at the graduate and undergraduate levels,\u201d said Hinton. \u201cHowever we emerge out of this crucible moment, it will be a reflection of everyone in the community, not a single leader, because I believe a leader\u2019s responsibility is to help a community live up to its grandest aspirations. That will be my job, and I\u2019m really excited for that work.\u201d\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSo we are going to talk about it a lot, and that\u2019s not about my personal agenda\u2014that\u2019s about how Hollins prepares students to be successful. That\u2019s a priority<\/i> much like embracing the liberal arts is a priority, <\/i>much like amplifying women\u2019s voices is a priority.\u201d<\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/h4>\n

Jeff Dingler is a current creative writing M.F.A. student and marketing intern.<\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

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A strong liberal arts advocate, Hinton also plans to focus on educational equity and reimagining how the university serves future students.\u00a0\u00a0 By Jeff Dingler\u00a0 When Hollins\u2019 new president, Mary Dana Hinton, Ph.D., first attended an all-women\u2019s educational institution back in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9341,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[80],"class_list":["post-9337","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","tag-winter-2021"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hollins.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9337","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=9337"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.hollins.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9337\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10621,"href":"https:\/\/www.hollins.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9337\/revisions\/10621"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hollins.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9341"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hollins.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9337"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hollins.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9337"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hollins.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9337"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}