Photo courtesy of Mount Holyoke College Office of Marketing and Communications.
Thandiwe-Wanjiru Delgado-Kinyatti ’27
Staff Writer
As the second semester of the 2023-2024 school year starts to pick up speed, President Danielle R. Holley has started teaching her first class, titled The Supreme Court, in the politics department at Mount Holyoke College. The course focuses on landmark cases settled by the Supreme Court of the United States since 1803.
President Holley is in her second semester as president of Mount Holyoke, but is only just returning to the classroom. “I always get excited about teaching,” she told Mount Holyoke News. While she was the Dean of the School of Law at Howard University, President Holley also taught, as it “breaks up the monotony of the week.”
“[Teaching] lets me get to know students on a different level than … [the] president-student [relationship]. I really get … back to why I originally became someone who is in higher [education],” President Holley explained. “I like being with students, I love being in the classroom. So it also reminds me of the foundations of why I do what I do.”
Like many educators, President Holley believes she not only teaches her students but learns from them as well. She said that she is a “learning leader.” “I like to listen to people, … [and] I always learn a tremendous amount from my students. And I feel like I am learning from them on two different levels this semester: in the classroom learning about the law and politics and our exchanges there but also learning from them about Mount Holyoke.”
Despite the happiness and insight that comes with teaching, the president of Mount Holyoke is still subjected to criticism like many other leaders. President Holley says that facing criticism and disagreements is not something new to her.
“I don't mind it. I think it is part of the educational experience, and that is part of why, again, I stay in the classroom and I teach because even as an academic leader, I see myself as a member of the community, which means that I am engaged in dialogue with other people. I am not a monarch,” Holley said. “I am a member of the faculty, who for a period of time is president of the College, and so for me, that means that as I am leading, I am absolutely responsible for listening to the voices of students, faculty, staff alums, especially people who disagree with me because I want to understand the viewpoints of everyone in our community.”
President Holley explained that because she is “the president for everyone at Mount Holyoke … I consider it my duty to listen and to try to bring people together and try to raise intellectual engagement and education and care and support for the community.” She is focusing on her core values and the values of the institution, “which sometimes requires that [she does] things that people won’t like.
“I just always want people to know that they will always hear from me what my decision is and why. There won't be a time that I make any decisions that I am unwilling to talk about and unwilling to explain."
Throughout her schooling, she was always in the minority — being one of the only Black women in her high school class, one of the about ninety Black students to graduate from her college class and one of fifty from her law school class. President Holley stated that because of these experiences, when issues emerge she often thinks, ‘If this affects 90% of us this way, the 10%, how does it impact them?’”
Last semester, after she heard students say, “[They] don't always feel like [they] have a place here at Mount Holyoke,” it moved her. "It is really important to me to make sure every Mount Holyoke student feels that this is an inclusive and supportive and empowering community for them.”
When it comes to the Mount Holyoke community, President Holley shared fond memories of her first semester at the College, including convocation and seeing everyone in their class colours, “Everyone was so excited that I was joining them for the first time, [which] really boosted me and made me feel good.” She went on to talk fondly of her inauguration, specifically about dancing with the students that night, and Mountain Day the following morning. President Holley has “been talking about [moderating a LEAP Symposium panel] ever since.” She “found that session really inspiring,” particularly “[seeing] what our students are doing out in the world already with the education that they have and just getting a preview of the impact they’ll make once they graduate.” She stressed that she also appreciated the way students connected with alums and how it shows the strength of the College and the importance of organic relationships. Not only can President Holley look back on fond memories, but she is looking forward to making more. She commented that she was excited to see the Class of 2024 Commencement, which she happily said would be outside this year, and graduation, along with the 50th reunion of the Class of 1974 coming up this spring. She is also excited to welcome more speakers to campus.