Dear Friends,

I hope that the beautiful spring season has brought to you a spirit of rejuvenation, hope, and vibrancy. Certainly, were I to describe Hollins as I write this letter, those would be among the words I would choose.

As you may recall from my letter in the last alumnae/i magazine, I shared with the community, “My goal for our campus community this year is a variation of ‘only connect.’ I want us to look out for one another, to support one another, to lift one another. Our liberal arts education commands that we truly connect.”

Of course, my goal and my joy is facilitating that connection on campus. To witness eyes light up when an important theory is learned, a common experience shared, or a critical value uncovered, to see lives connect—faculty, staff, and students—is a powerful thing. Today we get to share that joy with you as you read this magazine and see the connection between mission, learning, professional endeavors, and civic engagement.

You see, our resonant and relevant mission has spawned such goodness as the Hollins Opportunity for Promise through Education (HOPE) Scholarship, which will allow selected students from the Roanoke Valley to attend Hollins tuition free for four years. Our ability to learn together is prominent in the story about our Imagination Campaign, our community effort to develop significant, mission-aligned, and revenue-generating programs to sustain Hollins well into the future. Likewise, we see the challenging and powerful work of Patrice Lawrence ’11 as a vibrant example of how Hollins alumnae/i engage with the world around them. Perhaps our greatest connective tissue of all may be found in the announcement of a $75 million gift from an anonymous alumna. This gift connects our mission with our people; the importance of women’s education with the need to give back—the ultimate form of civic engagement; and connects the past, present, and future.

As I have shared with Hollins alumnae/i groups with which I have had the pleasure of meeting, this gift signals to me that I, and all of us on campus, must work even harder to connect and to thrive. We cannot view this gift as a stopping point. Rather, it has crafted a runway for us to actively and aggressively plan for and live into the future—a future we will share together. It calls on each of us to ask what we can do to bring that future—our mission—into fruition. So, to me, the gift is a call to action; a call to lead; a call to connection.

May you see your best self in these pages.

Levavi Oculos,

President