Chloe Justice Samuel ‘25
B.A., Public Health, B.A., General Economics
Hometown: Huddleston, Va.
As an orientation leader for three years, Chloe Justice Samuel gave the same advice to incoming students: embrace the moments. Now, with a degree in public health and economics, she’s doing just that—carving a path in emergency management to help others through life’s hardest moments.
Disasters have shaped Samuel’s life. Growing up in Connecticut, she lived without power for two weeks due to Hurricane Sandy. Later, during her two-hour commute to Hollins, she passed communities still suffering from Hurricane Helene. In high school, she earned certificates as a certified nursing assistant and certified patient technician, eventually working through COVID at Bon Secours Memorial Regional Medical Center in Virginia.
Samuel found her calling in Introduction to Public Health with assistant professor and department chair Abubakarr Jalloh. “His positivity and the way he structured classes for listening, learning, and applying knowledge inspired me to pursue a public health major,” she says. She went on to join Jalloh’s COVID handwashing research, presenting their findings at the 2023 Hollins Student Performance and Academic Research Conference (SPARC).
A double major with extensive research and leadership experience, Samuel served as president of the Public Health Outreach Club, leading campus-wide efforts like a period poverty awareness campaign. In 2025, she presented her economics honors thesis on Appalachia’s disaster vulnerability at multiple regional and statewide emergency management conferences and completed a summer internship with Bedford County Emergency Management.
Samuel also performed as a cellist in the Valley Chamber Orchestra, hosted by Hollins. “Hollins is empowering,” she says. “Small classes and engaged professors taught me to speak up.”
When government emergency management positions open in December, she’ll be ready—to embrace the moment once again.
Favorite Hollins Tradition
“I never missed one First Step ceremony. I loved seeing the seniors’ excitement and spirit and their gowns. For mine, I stitched together my husband’s and my high school robes and added the Public Health Outreach Club’s logo—a hand with a lotus flower—on the back.”
Highlights
- Public Health Capstone: “Community Health Assessment for Los Angeles County, California”
- Economics Thesis: “Financial Preparedness and Recovery: Analyzing the Economic Vulnerability of Appalachia Virginia to Natural Disasters”
- Student Researcher, public health department, “Handwashing Before, During and After the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Descriptive Analysis of College Students”
- Orientation Team Leader
- Public Health Outreach Club President
- Executive Director Intern, Bradley Free Clinic
