Alumnae Connections – Hollins Magazine

A Lifetime of Civic Engagement

admin — Thu, 27 Mar 2025 16:18:06 +0000

We talked with two alumnae, both in the Class of 1989—one a Democrat, the other Republican—who matched their passion for politics with a career focus on civic engagement. Both are staunch supporters of civil discourse when it comes to civic engagement, with wise words on how women can and should wield their political power.

Delegate Betsy Carr ‘68 (69th District), Mary Dana Hinton, and Senator Jennifer Barton Boysko ’89

Ellen Gober Walter ’89

Chief of Operations, Office of Presidential Correspondence

Senator Jennifer Barton Boysko ’89

Virginia State Senate, District 38

Senator Boysko was first elected to the Virginia State Senate in 2019, having previously served as a member of the Virginia House of Delegates from 2015 to 2019. She chairs the Transportation Committee and Commission on Civic Education in Virginia and is co-chair of the Virginia Private Colleges Caucus, in addition to serving on numerous other Senate committees and boards and commissions for the Commonwealth. Prior to her elected positions, Boysko was an aide to Fairfax County Supervisor John Foust, a governor-appointed citizen member of the Virginia Board of Real Estate, and an active community leader in Herndon, Virginia.

I always had a passion for justice. My dad was a social justice theologian. In elementary school, I successfully led the effort to petition our principal to allow girls to be crossing guards. We discussed women’s rights and racial issues at home. In the 1985 printed “Facebook” of all the freshmen at Hollins, Sweet Briar, Mary Baldwin, Washington & Lee, and Hampden- Sydney, I listed my three interests as “People, Pets, and Politics.”

I planned to have a career in psychology. Paris abroad and meeting people that I never would have met changed my career plans. My summer internship on Capitol Hill before senior year cemented for me that I wanted to be engaged politically and civically. I moved to Washington, D.C. after graduation and worked for Senator Richard Shelby from my home state of Alabama. Growing up, I watched my mom struggle as a single mother. Once I got involved in politics, I saw the intersection between people who are struggling and what the government can do to help.

Rod Sinclair, Hollins Chaplain, helped me think about things in a broader context. He took us to Washington to lobby Congress about human rights issues and learn about atrocious things that were happening to people in other countries. I now live in a community with a high immigrant population, and my Hollins experience helps me to have compassion for and an understanding of their experiences. Rod and I did an independent study of books that I had missed in high school like To Kill a Mockingbird. He helped me see the intersection of theology, public policy, and human responsibility to one another.

The General Speakers Fund-sponsored debate between Phyllis Schlafly and Sarah Waddington was quite impactful. I picked each of them up from the airport and got to spend one-on-one time with them. That debate was one of the first times that I saw people bringing signs about being pro-choice and having a real conversation. The opportunities at Hollins that we had to really engage with important and influential women were frankly lost on me then, but it was very meaningful to my future.

“Every person has that ability and agency to make a difference.”

Every person has that ability and agency to make a difference. I have interns from middle school through Hollins students to give them the opportunity to be in the room where the decisions are made and see how the process works. What you see from the outside is very different from what is inside.

Young people have changed their communities and society for the better, so that people are all treated more fairly. When I spoke at Hollins Commencement in 2019, I was really touched by seeing how confident and comfortable our LGBTQ community is. I have a daughter who’s gay, and it makes me so happy for so many people in my life who are living their best lives and being included and embraced.

The Commission on Civic Education in Virginia is increasing youth activism and awareness. We’re having discussions at colleges and schools on how to have difficult conversations and still treat each other with dignity and respect. I would like to see us disagree without being disagreeable. All of us sit around the table with our families, and we’re not all going to be on the same page, and that’s OK. We need to actively engage with one another, especially when we disagree, to try to find some common ground, to build some trust and kindness. I’m a Democrat and recently had dinner with someone who was appointed by the Trump administration in transportation and wanted to know more. While we probably don’t agree on a whole lot of things, we had a great dinner together and respected one another.

I see students speaking up for what they believe about gun violence, women’s health, and the war in Gaza. It’s been difficult and painful, but I think it’s also important that they believe there are issues that they need to act on. Students are getting engaged, owning their space, and making adults uncomfortable. Not everybody’s going to agree with them, but they have every right still to speak their truth.

There are ways to engage and to advocate for the kinds of policies that are important to individuals outside of the federal level. If we don’t like our leaders, perhaps we should look to ourselves and see what we can do, whether running for office or helping in another way. Each of us can make a difference no matter how small. This is the only country we’ve got, and we all need to realize that we have a responsibility for making it better.

Ellen Walter has spent over three decades working on campaigns for Republican congressmen, senators, and presidents. After helping Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin get elected in 2021 by focusing on women voters, she founded The Walter Group: Winning with Women Voters. Since, Walter has worked on 22 races across the U.S. in the last three years. She’s also worked in three White Houses for President George W. Bush and for both Trump administrations. She’s currently the director of operations for the largest and oldest office in the White House, the Office of Communications, which handles the comment line, gift office, all emails and letters to and from the President. In a year, though, the Alexandria, Va. resident will be back on the campaign trail, working with candidates to listen to women voters.

My dad was mayor of Corsicana, Texas, when I was in middle school. I worked on his campaigns. On election night, the [poll workers] would call the house on the land line with precinct results, and my sister and I would run out to the garage to write them on a big chalkboard where his team was. Now, it’s a war room with 30 people and computers. It’s fun to see the 50-year process of how elections happen. The one thing that hasn’t changed is engaging with voters. What we did in 1976, we did in 2024.

In 1976, I wrote First Daughter Amy Carter. She was my age, and we both had cats. I asked her if I could sleep over at the White House and told her about my cat. She wrote me back, which is funny because I’m now in the Office of Correspondence that handles all of this. She sent a photo of her and her Siamese cat and gave us tickets to the White House Easter egg roll. My mom flew us to Washington that spring break for the Easter egg roll, but it rained and got canceled.

I majored in American Studies but took a lot of political science classes. I remember having conversations with Dr. Jong Ra about women in politics and whether a woman could run for President. At the time, Geraldine Ferraro was the most well-known woman on a national platform. How sad that we even had to have the conversation about whether a woman [could] be president. For Short Term sophomore year, I interned on Capitol Hill with my hometown Congressman Joe Barton. That was when I realized politics could be my career. When I graduated, I got a job in his office and have been in D.C. ever since. My first campaign was Senator Barton’s re-election campaign. When I was home raising my kids, I volunteered for John McCain’s Presidential campaign and on the Va. governor campaign.

Growing up, being civically engaged was all about being involved on the local level. We knew who the school board president and city commissioners were. If you want to engage young people, you do need to start early and teach them the importance of government, so they’re brought up appreciating it. My son and daughter grew up on politics with Congresspeople and governors in and out of our house. I am a lifelong Republican, and my son is a very liberal Democrat, and that’s absolutely fine.

Grassroots organizing and engagement are what I do, and it’s how campaigns are won. We still knock on doors, use yard signs and do sign waves, especially when I am working on campaigns in Michigan, Wisconsin, and Nevada. That’s real grassroots territory. When Gov. Youngkin asked me to work on his campaign, I kept saying, “Look at the number of women that Biden won in 2020. He did really well and won Virginia.” That was the first time that we put so much emphasis on women voters. We met women in homes across the state and asked them what was going on in their community and what do they want to see changed.

I was appointed to the bipartisan, all-female Virginia Council on Women by Governor Youngkin. We serve in an advisory role to the Governor on matters pertaining to women and ways to improve their educational, professional, cultural, and governmental status within the Commonwealth. I’m also a board member of the Black Conservative Federation. I love being a part of a national network of Black conservatives that seek to expand business and professional networks through community service, political action, speaker training and social events.

“We need engagement to learn from each other. Having a civil conversation on a political or difficult subject should not be so hard.”

Candidates need women voters to win but also to know what is going on. Most women run the checkbook in a home. They know the price of eggs. They’re the ones dealing with the schools, checking on their kids at 11:30 p.m. when their teenagers are past curfew. It’s all right there—economy, education, crime— the top “kitchen table” topics in politics.

Campaigns are finally understanding the power of the female vote. Before I started my consulting firm, my friend who runs Black Conservative Voices told me campaigns don’t listen to women or Black voters until September [during an election cycle]. But we make up over 50% of the voters, vote at a higher rate and are registered at a higher rate. In every presidential election since 1980, the proportion of eligible female adults who voted has exceeded the proportion of eligible male adults who voted. Last November, 68.4% of registered women voters voted in the presidential race compared to 65% of registered men voters [Rutgers data].

Male candidates like to stand at a podium and talk to women. People ask me, “How do I get women to vote for me?” We want to be heard. I get male and female candidates around a table with 25 women to talk. I do small business tours to have a candidate meet several female business owners at their business. If the woman is working in a business that she owns, she can’t take the time to go to a luncheon with a candidate or afford a $1,000 fundraiser.

I believe that there is about 70% of Americans who agree on more than 50% of the issues. We need engagement to learn from each other. Having a civil conversation on a political or difficult subject should not be so hard. We need to slow down, put our emotions aside, use our brains and have real conversations.

I think early voting is really important for women. It’s about meeting women where they are. If you’re a working mom and your kid’s sick on election day, you’re not going to vote. I encourage women to vote together and to check in with friends and neighbors to be sure that they know how to vote. Or maybe someone is embarrassed that they’ve never voted before, but it’s never too late to vote for the first time.

Whether this election went your way or not, your vote mattered. Don’t be discouraged. And if you are on the winning side, don’t gloat. I want Hollins students to get involved in their community. Maybe run for school board or another office. Get engaged. Don’t just watch one news channel. Get different opinions. Contact candidates—their offices read emails. Vote every year in every election because local politics is where it really starts. And make sure your voice is used and heard in a way that is helpful to you and to other generations.

Hollins gave me the strength and the intellect to do what I do today. I trust women and work well with women of any socioeconomic, political, or religious background because we were all thrown together at Hollins. You can learn something from anybody, and I learned that at Hollins.

Reunion 2023

admin — Fri, 17 Mar 2023 15:03:53 +0000

May 26-28, 2023

Reunion 2023 will be a wonderful time to reconnect with friends and bask in the beauty of the Hollins campus. Return to the rocking chairs on the Main porch. Spend quality time with your classmates and friends, and celebrate your days at Hollins.

Please scan the QR code or visit to take our brief survey about your ideal reunion.

Cutting-Edge Medicine

admin — Wed, 24 Aug 2022 14:54:48 +0000

Hollins’ Internships with Vascular Perfusion Solutions Are Changing Lives

Udipta Bohara ’21 never thought a J-Term internship would change her life. But never say never. In January 2020, she signed up for a brand-new, one-month internship with a young company called Vascular Perfusion Solutions (VPS), which specializes in new and innovative solutions for the transplantation of organs and other vascularized tissues. In other words, the company develops cool devices for organ transplants.

Udipta Bohara ’21

“I wasn’t sure if I was going to do a J-Term, but then this internship came up,” said Bohara. “I talked to [VPS] and I liked them and they liked me.” So Bohara flew out to San Antonio, where VPS is based, becoming the company’s very first intern, and worked on data that eventually got the Hollins biology major published in the peer-reviewed Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery. A very big win for any young scientist! “VPS is great with attention to each person on a very individual level,” said Bohara. “Even the CEO sat on a call with me to discuss the results of the data. That’s something you generally don’t see in companies: the CEO on a call with a student!”

It’s all thanks to a relatively new and extended internship program between VPS and Hollins University. Since Bohara’s time with VPS just two years ago, five more Hollins students have gone through the month-long research program, which has resulted in everything from contributions to scientific manuscripts that will be published later this year to helping with significant developments in oxygenated medical devices.

“Although women are significantly underrepresented in STEM majors, VPS is happy to host Hollins interns who have chosen multiple paths to a career in science,” said Michelle Watt ’93, clinical director at VPS and the brains behind this fruitful new learning opportunity. The idea actually emerged about three years ago after a few late-night discussions with classmates at, of all places, a Hollins reunion. “Hollins played such an important part in all our lives,” said Watt. “When I was in a position to make this happen, I jumped at a chance to partner with Hollins. It’s such an amazing opportunity to not only support women in STEM, and their future career opportunities, but also to give something back to the place that gave me so much.”

Michelle Watt ’93, clinical director at VPS

Though still in its early stages, the program has already given a lot. Just look at Bohara, who is now earning her Master of Computational Biology from Virginia Tech. “If Hollins weren’t there, and if Michelle Watt weren’t a student back then, I never would’ve been exposed to the transplantation side of biology,” said Bohara. “Hollins is definitely the major pathway that led me to this internship, and that led me to Virginia Tech and computational biology.”

The giving hasn’t stopped there. VPS and Hollins are currently working on expanding the program to include a summer internship and are also hoping to increase the number of intern positions as the company grows. “The work I’m doing on this technology will allow me to touch more lives than I ever could in my career at the bedside,”said Watt, who’s worked in medicine for more than a decade. “Anyone who has ever dedicated their life to helping and saving patients understands what this means both professionally and personally. As a nurse who has lived the clinical side of health care, I know how our devices will forever change the practice of organ transplantation.”

By Jeff Dingler M.F.A. ’22, a recent graduate of the M.F.A. in creative writing program

An Outpouring of Gratitude

admin — Fri, 06 May 2022 15:01:55 +0000

Hollins received dozens upon dozens of notes and emails expressing gratitude for the donor and her gift from alumnae/i, and dozens more replied via social media to the news. A small sampling of such reactions is included below, beginning with a powerful letter from Bri Seoane ’01.

Dear Hollins sister,

For 24 years, Hollins has been a consistent, boundless gift in my life. At each personal and professional milestone she is there, manifesting her foundational strength, and providing support and comfort through the friendships forged in Tinker, Moody, and Pleasants. Hollins isn’t just a place, it is a touchstone, a place I go back to in my mind and my heart when I need a booster shot of courage, a refresher on leadership, and a reminder that I have in me all that I need to succeed and an extraordinary community to cheer me on.

I am a first-generation college student, and my family could not have afforded to send me to a state college, let alone a private institution across the country. The generosity and passion for women’s education from donors like you allowed me to make my dreams come true.

Since leaving Hollins I’ve dedicated the last two decades to public service, first overseas as a Peace Corps volunteer and staff member and most recently back in my home state of California building programs and raising funds to support sick children and their families through medical crisis with Ronald McDonald House Charities Bay Area.

The ripple effect of transformational gifts is almost unquantifiable. As a professional fundraiser, I try to do this for donors all the time. Now, as a beneficiary of scholarships like the ones your gift will create, I’m trying to quantify it on a personal level. Thanks to Hollins, my work has improved health outcomes for hundreds of communities in El Salvador and provided a safe, comfortable place to stay and nourishing meals for tens of thousands of families seeking specialized medical care for sick children in the Bay Area. Thanks to Hollins, I was able to (virtually debt free) earn a master’s degree. Thanks to Hollins, I was the sole breadwinner for my family of four and now am able to raise my daughter with the financial stability and mental fortitude to be a successful, working single mom.

Recent data shows that female philanthropists are on the rise, and I think this bodes well for our communities and our country. Your gift will be cited as a front-runner in this trend and will, no doubt, inspire many more women to take on the mantle to influence the public sector through giving. WOW. Another ripple effect, isn’t that something?

Thank you, Hollins sister, for giving this incredible gift that will ripple into infinity. I am so grateful for you, your heart, and your generosity. Thank you for setting minds and lives on to incredible paths like mine was decades ago.

In gratitude,
Bri Seoane ’01

When I started at Hollins in the mid-’80s I was a scholarship kid from Massachusetts. I had the privilege of attending an outstanding college where I received an excellent education and made lifelong friends.

Many decades later, I have convinced the daughter of a friend to enroll at Hollins, another scholarship kid, this time from Oregon. She will attend a different college—in fact, a university. She, too, will receive an excellent education and make lifelong friends.

Generosity like yours will make it possible for her to recruit another young woman several decades in the future. I appreciate your kind and thoughtful donation. And allow me to honor you for the records that it set, most especially the largest donation ever from a woman donating solo.

Women who are going places really do start at Hollins. I wish you all the best.

MJ Paulitz ’88, from an email note

Dear Ms. Hinton,

This is excellent news!! I am so happy to hear this!!
Hollins is in my will.
Congratulations on this excellent gift!!

Miriam Schulman ’74, from an email message

Just a note re: the astounding gift to Hollins announced this week. As the forever grateful recipient of generous scholarship monies during my years at Hollins, I find the gift especially gratifying. The modesty of the anonymous donor is also totally admirable. How lovely for everyone—alumnae, students, and staff—when I consider the struggles of our sister women’s colleges in Virginia, Hollins’ good fortune is even sweeter.

Leila Christenbury ’72, from an email note

Dear fellow Hollins alumna,

I would like to add my voice to the chorus who are thanking you for your very generous gift to Hollins.

In May, I will attend my 25-year Hollins reunion. Every day (and I mean every day) I thank Hollins for the life it has enabled me to lead. I came to Hollins at the recommendation of the Hollins alumna who gave me a part-time job while I was in high school. She said, ‘I think Hollins would be good for you, and I think you would be good for Hollins.’ Although I was a bright student, I could not have dreamed of affording Hollins without significant financial support (Hollins and loans covered 90% of my fees while I was a student).

Hollins was more than good for me. It has given me not just my career and lifelong friends, but has influenced my whole life. I studied abroad in London, and, inspired by that experience, I have lived in the UK for the past 15 years. My career in higher education fundraising started with my work-study job at Hollins in the development office, and I am now in charge of alumni engagement at one of the oldest and largest universities in the UK. I have kept in touch with many Hollins friends, including two of my best friends who now live in Maine and in Sweden. Hollins opened up the world to me and made me realize I could lead whatever life I dreamt of leading. It also gave me the tools to make that dream a reality.

I also have a photo of me on my graduation day holding my infant niece, who 20 years later followed me to Hollins. Like me, she is bright but her financial resources would not have allowed her to attend Hollins (or go to college at all) without significant support, which she received from Hollins.

Hollins gave me, and then my niece, the gift of choice over how we live our lives. We have the luxury of opportunity, which otherwise would have been closed to us.

I understand what a scholarship can mean to a student who has ambition and goals but very little money. I know this gift will change the lives of those who receive scholarships, and they, in turn, will change the lives of others. My life, and my choices, would be very different had Hollins not given me opportunity. Thank you for making those dream futures possible for so, so many students who can now follow in our footsteps.

Holly Peterson ’97, from an email message

Dear Hollins friend and sister,

As a proud first-generation scholarship recipient, I want to THANK YOU for your unbelievably generous donation to our alma mater. I am so proud to be part of a group of women who care so much about our school and its continued success. You will probably never know just how many lives your gift will touch for generations to come … maybe even my daughters! From the bottom of my heart, I thank you for yours.

Kristin Jeffries Henshaw ’94, current Alumnae Board member, from a handwritten note

Dear President Hinton and Alumnae Office staff,

This is such fantastic news!!! Thank you for sharing it with all of us, and also for President Hinton’s passionate and dedicated words of the use this funding will go to—scholarship!

Perhaps one of the recipients will be a future Supreme Court Justice—or president!

In any case, progressive Hollins graduates will be (and are) in positions to support other women and work for equity and justice and a better America and world.

Congratulations to all of you. YAY! Hollins.

PS: I did include Hollins in my own estate planning and trust, which I signed last month. Not nearly this amount (much less by a great deal!). I am pleased and proud that I am able to do that.

Emily Cope Teller ’70, from an email message

Dear fellow lover of Hollins:

I graduated from Hollins in 1988 with a degree in English. I have been back for reunion several times. I am still in close contact with my Hollins friends. Every so often we get to spend a weekend together. My daughter just wrote some essays for college applications of her own. In one of them she mentioned that her mother had lifelong college friends, and that she hoped she would also. Hollins was (and is) so very important in my life. I had a merit scholarship for half of my tuition while at Hollins. The scholarship played a significant role in my decision to attend Hollins, and was a huge help to my parents. On behalf of us who benefited from scholarships while at Hollins, THANK YOU for your gift to help younger generations experience our dearly loved Hollins.

Amber Dahlgreen Curtis, Esq. ’88, from an email note

I haven’t responded to an email from Hollins since I left in 1971. I continue to read, from afar, and so felt compelled to reply to this: great news! How wonderful that an alumna (a) is in a position to be able to make such a generous gift, and (b) has made it. And bravo to you for using it to fund scholarships.

Hollins was an extraordinary experience for me (1969-71). I was a scholarship student, and so grateful for that opportunity. I was also rather young to be starting a life away from home (I was a young 17 when I started). Sadly, after two years in increasing turmoil, and after a breakdown, I left abruptly. I’m in a much better place now.

For what it’s worth, I’d like to recommend that you consider counseling those who are starting college younger than most, offering them the option of a ‘gap year’ (now far more common and accepted than when I started college), and supporting them individually in their first year at college. I believe it would have made a tremendous difference in my young life. Perhaps you could fund such a program, at least partially, from this endowment.

Nonetheless, I am grateful to Hollins, and think about it more warmly than I have since leaving because of this news and this reply. Please forward this to whomever could find it helpful.

Lane Trippe ’73, from an email message

Making HERstory

admin — Thu, 05 May 2022 14:47:00 +0000

The SECRET

Some secrets are just harder to keep than others. And every time Vice President for External Relations Suzy Mink ’74 shared it with someone, they started crying.

There is no perfect way to share the news that an alumna has honored her alma mater with a gift of $75 million in cash almost immediately from a single donor. But each conversation inevitably began with a simple question: “Are you sitting down, because I have some wonderful news to share.”

“There’s no easy way to break the news that Hollins is receiving $75 million, in cash, almost immediately, from a single donor,” Mink said. “It’s almost too much to take in.”

The donor, a passionate alumna of, and believer in, Hollins, shared her intention to give $75 million to Hollins with Mink. Like most who meet President Mary Dana Hinton in person, the donor told Mink she saw something compelling in her attitude and vision for Hollins University. This gift wouldn’t come in her will or in due time, but rather in cash, in three equal installments over the next three years.

Together, she and Mink called Hinton to share the news. “To say it was an emotional and overwhelming call is a vast understatement,” Hinton said. “Because I know Suzy and the donor, I knew they wouldn’t joke about such a matter, but the enormity of the gift and the moment was unbelievable.

“My heart literally leapt with joy for Hollins and for this alumna. Her heart and her love for Hollins are as big as this gift, and I know what this meant to her. I still weep recalling the call; it was amazing.”

For those unfamiliar with fundraising, one does not simply hand over cash at those levels without working out a complex web of details, and until those issues could be finalized, the circle of those who knew remained small; as in Mink, Hinton, and the donor. Quickly, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Kerry Edmonds and Board Chair Alexandra Trower ’86 were pulled in.

All four readily acknowledged shedding tears at the news. And then more tears later, as the enormity of the moment and gift fully settled in.

This $75 million gift is the largest in Hollins’ history, and the largest donation ever received by a women’s college. In addition, it represents one of the largest single donations ever given to a college or university solely by a female donor, as well as one of the largest ever to a small liberal arts college.

Can Women’s Colleges Turn the Corner?

Women’s colleges are an endangered concept. The decline in the number of women’s colleges has been severe and relatively swift. Almost nine in every 10 women’s colleges that existed at their peak of roughly 281 (according to The New York Times) in the mid-1960s have closed, transitioned to a coeducational mission, or merged into other institutions. In 2021, only 31 women’s colleges remained in America, and that number is expected to drop further in the coming decades. That’s roughly 50 women’s colleges closing every decade.

“Years of underfunding for the sector has collided with the devastation stemming from the pandemic on women’s education, families, and jobs. This reality makes an already tough situation at women’s colleges unsustainable,” said Emerald Archer, executive director of the Women’s College Coalition. “Given the backdrop of the global pandemic, it has become even more clear to me that financial aid is a woman’s issue. Even though women are the majority when it comes to those seeking higher education, they are the ones bearing the greatest burden when it comes to financial hardship. Hollins’ gift will, in part, be used to alleviate these hardships for traditionally underserved students. To say that this is a game changer for students is not an exaggeration.”

The donor believed it was time to set Hollins apart by ensuring its return to a stable financial footing and to provide the long-term financial structure for supporting need-based aid for generations to come.

“I don’t want a sticker price, ranking system, or anything else to get in the way of a student successfully pursuing an education,” Hinton was quoted as saying in The Washington Post’s coverage of the gift announcement. “This gift will impact generations of students on the Hollins campus. It is truly transformational.”

Gifts at this level, at a school of Hollins’ size, have outsized impact on issues of accessibility for traditionally underserved and limited-income students. “The need for an educated citizenry and women’s leadership development is greater now than ever, yet higher education access is more challenging than ever,” Hinton continued.

Financial security and long-term stability are critically important issues for women’s colleges like Hollins. The alumna donor, in her official statement about the gift, clearly agreed: “Hollins’ mission and the value of its enduring presence and direction as a progressive institution were the catalyst for my gift and the urgency of making the funds available immediately. It ensures Hollins can move forward, with confidence, as an institution committed to women and the liberal arts.”

Presently, Hollins invests $21 million annually in financial aid. The undergraduate student body at the start of the 2021-22 academic year was 36% low income, 32% first generation, and 30% students of color.

“This gift signals for me that I, and all of us on campus, must work even harder to thrive,” Hinton said. “We cannot view this gift as a stopping point. Rather, it has crafted a runway for us to actively and aggressively plan for a life into the future. It calls on each of us to ask what we can do to bring that future—our mission—into fruition. So, to me, it is a call to action.”

It is a call Hinton hopes inspires not only future donors to Hollins, but women’s colleges across the country. Archer echoed that hope.

“From uniquely preparing women to lead in a global society and closing the gap in male-dominated fields, to being epicenters of inclusive excellence and creating a community that promotes lifelong learning and connection beyond graduation—women’s colleges have more relevancy today than they ever have before,” Archer added.

You cannot rush a miracle

As anyone who has worked in the non-profit fundraising world knows all too well, receiving a gift of this size out of the blue rarely happens. This $75 million gift, while shocking due to its enormity, was not entirely unexpected. Rather, it was the surprise ending of one chapter in a very long story. That story is about this alumna’s relationships with key individuals at Hollins, her abiding faith in the institution, and the excitement she felt when hearing of Hinton’s vision for the future.

The journey from initial conversations about a significant, possibly record-breaking gift to the actual announcement in December was in fact a long and winding one, taking years and hundreds of hours of conversation.

“One of the great gifts of my work is having the opportunity to get to know many alumnae/i and friends and what matters to them about Hollins,” Mink said. “Building relationships and trust is so very important as they consider the many ways they can help Hollins, and it is that close connection that allows important and significant conversations about philanthropy to take place.”

Almost every gift begins, continues, and ends with connection. That connection begins as a student—to the institution, to their classmates, to their faculty and staff mentors. It continues after graduation, often through sustained friendships made and through outreach efforts from the advancement and alumnae relations teams. And the connection, as it pertains to major gifts, concludes with deliberate conversations between the donor, Mink or another advancement representative, and the president.

What has sprouted into a record-breaking gift began as a seed planted as a student, was watered with contact and given sunlight through updates on campus and academic life, and grew over time. And Mink stresses that institutions require a diverse garden to be healthy. Every flower that grows by staying connected to Hollins has a vital place in the ecosystem, whether it gives back a single dollar, 75 million of them, or can’t even afford to donate but just hopes to one day. No healthy nonprofit ecosystem can thrive on the redwoods of major giving alone.

Most importantly, this gift to the endowment was about strengthening the institution’s foundation and stabilizing financial operations for the long term, and to do so in a way that would not require Hollins to pull back from the generous investment in financial support it has been offering students but instead to lean in. It is only the beginning of a new chapter.

Read a selection of messages of gratitude received from alumnae.

Resources and Advice

admin — Tue, 03 May 2022 20:00:48 +0000

If you or someone you know is experiencing relationship violence, there are resources to help.

Caring Unlimited, York County Maine
1-800-239-7298
caring-unlimited.org

National Domestic Violence Hotline
800-799-SAFE (7233)
TTY 1-800-787-3224
thehotline.org

National Sexual Assault Hotline
800-656-4673
rainn.org

National Resource Center on Domestic Violence
nrcdv.org

National Sexual Violence Resource Center
nsvrc.org

National Teen Dating Abuse Helpline
866-331-9474
loveisrespect.org

Stalking Prevention & Awareness Resource Center
202-558-0040
stalkingawareness.org

LGBTQ+ Partner Abuse Hotline
800-832-1901
tnlr.org

National Suicide Prevention Hotline
800-273-8255
suicidepreventionlifeline.org

Child Protective Services
800-552-7096
childwelfare.gov

One Love Foundation
joinonelove.org

Equipoise Center on Domestic Violence
enddv.org and also on Facebook

End Violence Against Women International
evawintl.org

Check out these helpful apps:

MyPlan guides users through designing a safety plan

Techsafety app helps the user understand and prevent cyberstalking

ADVICE FROM OUR EXPERTS

DON’T DOUBT YOURSELF.

“I have learned to listen to my inner voice. When you think something is hopeless, it’s not. You don’t have to accept a situation, and you don’t have to do it on your own. Reach out, even if it’s just one person.”

Rebecca Lowell

DON’T UNDERESTIMATE YOUR DANGER.

“People acclimate to their level of abuse and tend to minimize their danger. Reach out to the National Hotline to get connected to a victim advocate who can do a danger screening and make an individual safety plan. If there are children involved, expand that plan to them. Create a code word with children and teach them how to call 911.”

Larissa Sutherland

DOCUMENT THE ABUSE.

“When you photograph your injuries, identify yourself in the photos. Email them to a friend and delete the evidence from your phone.”

Larissa Sutherland

DON’T BLAME YOURSELF.

“Anyone can experience domestic violence. The shame and secrecy of it is its own pandemic.”

Megan Lenherr

DON’T KEEP IT A SECRET AND SEEK HELP IMMEDIATELY

“The first tendency is to think that you can handle it yourself. Talk to friends and family and get support. And devise a plan, because it’s not going to get better. It’s only going to get worse.”

Sharon Donnelly Love

EDUCATE YOURSELF AND QUESTION YOUR ASSUMPTIONS

“Learning the players and dynamics of what goes on in domestic violence is legion, a quantum effort.”

Elizabeth Barbour

ALUMNAE WIN INNOVATION IN DIVERSITY AWARD FOR BLACK + ABROAD SERIES

admin — Fri, 04 Mar 2022 22:44:17 +0000

Left to right, Jasmine Carter ’19, Tori Carter ’21, Saffron Dantzler ’21, Nya Monroe-Stephens ’20

A partnership led by five Virginia higher education institutions, including Hollins University, has been honored with the GoAbroad Innovation in Diversity Award for 2021.

The award recognizes strategic efforts to expand international educational opportunities to traditionally underrepresented groups.

Hollins, Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), Randolph-Macon College, Bridgewater College, and Shenandoah University were chosen as this year’s award winners for their initiative Black + Abroad. This virtual series, held during the 2020-21 academic year, curated a space for Black students to share their thoughts, questions, and reservations about travel (and study abroad) by engaging in conversation and storytelling with experienced travelers and study abroad alumni of color and education abroad advisors. The series was organized by the education abroad staffs from each of the five schools taking part in the collaboration.

“The mission is to close the gap between being Black and going abroad. Black students hear from their peers, engage in candid conversations, and learn about how to overcome challenges to studying abroad, whether those are financial, practical, or racial,” said Jasmine Carter ’19, who along with fellow Hollins alumnae Nya Monroe-Stephens ’20, Tori Carter ’21, and Saffron Dantzler ’21 participated in Black + Abroad. All volunteered to share their experiences as Black travelers, overseas residents, and study abroad participants.

Black + Abroad was first launched at VCU as an annual event created by study abroad alumni students of color. It subsequently evolved into this year’s virtual series, which featured six free sessions and welcomed 724 international educational professionals and 258 students. Recordings of the sessions, as well as additional resources for support and guidance, are now available on the Black + Abroad website as a tangible resource for students of color.

“Studying abroad can be a scary prospect for many students, even for those who know they want to travel,” explained Carter. “Black students have their own unique concerns and challenges, which can often be overlooked or misunderstood by advisors, peers, and programs.”

Carter added that by fostering discussions around “Blackness” and “Black perceptions” abroad, Black + Abroad is ensuring students “feel inspired and gain insight from experienced travelers who had to take the leap to travel for the first time at some point. At the same time, advisors will see the perspectives of Black students in order to better understand their needs and serve them in a more effective and equitable way.”

Main In Minecraft

admin — Thu, 10 Sep 2020 17:56:24 +0000

Reilly Swennes ’20 built a Minecraft version of Front Quad during the spring. Below are some excerpts from her explanation for this passion project:

What inspired me to build Hollins on Minecraft first came purely out of boredom, but as I continued to build, it had more to do with how dearly I missed the campus and everyone in it. My goal then became sharing my progress with my friends over Facebook (alumnae/i, professors, current students, etc.) because I knew so many of us could not visit campus, and photos alone cannot capture it all.

I used floor plans, Google Maps, photos, and just the overall feel of a space to make this project come to life. Main was the first structure I built and, considering I had not played on Minecraft since high school, it was more challenging than I had anticipated. First, I had to come up with a block palette and map out a general outline for where everything would go. Then I spent a few hours a day over a couple of weeks placing each and every block by hand without any console commands. After getting the hang of things, I quickly finished portions of Front Quad, the covered walkway, and Bradley Hall.

I built the campus on a super flat world, because that way I would not have to contend with any pre-existing structures or biomes that might get in the way. The tradeoff for this was that I had to build every hill and plant every tree myself. One of the issues that I ran into during this process was realizing that super flat worlds are also super thin and leave virtually no room for basements, so I have to get creative and fudge the topography of the campus a bit. Still, I am pretty happy with how it turned out.

Alumnae Connections

admin — Fri, 07 Feb 2020 20:04:08 +0000

Oh, Joy!

Alumnae celebrated Tinker Day around the world.��

40 parties
- California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Missouri, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Washington, Washington, D.C., West Virginia, Australia, France, Japan, United Kingdom
More than 200 alumnae celebrants
Countless (OK, 100) Krispy Kreme Doughnuts consumed
Incalculable smiles and laughs shared
Myriad memories made

Seattle

Austin

Chicago

Charlotte

Jacksonville

Alumnae Connections

admin — Wed, 04 Sep 2019 18:37:36 +0000

Alumnae gathered in Charlottesville, Richmond, and Charlotte this past spring to talk about university priorities.

Charlottesville

Betsy Rawls Agelasto ’68, Elizabeth “Bizz” Glover ’99, Georgia Luck Mitchell ’02, and Mitchell’s mother, Bebe Luck.

Class of 1964 members Virginia Hutcheson Ritchie, Tina Shepherd Cox, and Vesta Gordon

Richmond

Two sets of daughters and mothers: Elizabeth Bartenstein ’07 and Sarah Reiners Bartenstein ’78; Mary Clare Abbott and Valerie James Abbott ’93

Rodie Funkhouser Savage ’49, Mary Flinn ’69, Martha A. Faulkner ’58, and Rosalyn Wright ’97

Charlotte

Jenny Flora ’04 and Toccoa Bailey Switzer ’84

Suzy Mink ’74, Anna Cork ’96, and Katherine McCormick Hubler ’08

Tinker Day Is Coming

Mark your calendar for the weekend of October 19-20 for the all-alumnae Tinker Day celebrations taking place across the world. Watch your mailbox for the full list of locations.

Reunion 2019

428 attendees
Seven decades of alumnae
Largest class in attendance: class of 1969, with 57

Distinguished Alumna Award
Ann Graham Zauber ’69
Susan Seydel Cofer ’64
Anne Lindblad Quanbeck ’79

Distinguished Young Alumna Award
Shamecca Bryant Jones ’04��

Sarah L. Holland ’64 Hollins Award for Volunteer Excellence
Renamed in honor of the late Sarah Holland, this award honors alumnae who exemplify excellence in volunteering for Hollins through a specific project or for overall spirit.

Sarah “Sallie” Morian ’64
Reed Howell Roberts ’99

Rath Award
Given annually to an alumna whose participation in the life of Hollins has been extraordinary and whose personal investment of time and effort in the institution over the years represents the very best of the Hollins spirit.

Suzanne “Suzy” Allen Redpath ’69
Patricia “Trisha” Rawls ’74

Pat Bain ’49 Award
Celebrates alumnae whose efforts have achieved a significant increase in Hollins Fund participation.

Jan Nicholson ’69
Mary Lou Mertens Lowry ’69

Hollins Athletic Hall of Fame
Elizabeth Cheng ’14
Jasmine Greene ’13
Jolie Simmons Johnsen ’94
Nancy Peterson, former director of Hollins Riding
1998 IHSA National Champion Riding Team