photograph courtesy rhodes college
Dr. Jennifer Collins, the twenty-first president of Rhodes College, officially began her tenure on July 1st and has quickly immersed herself in the school’s culture. She brings a unique perspective to her new role. A lawyer by trade, she garnered experience as a homicide prosecutor and family law attorney before segueing into education as vice provost and professor of law at Wake Forest University in North Carolina. And before coming to Memphis, Collins served as the Judge James Noel Dean and professor of law at Southern Methodist University in Texas. Memphis sat down with Collins in early September to discuss higher education, translating law experience into leadership, and immediate goals for Rhodes College.
Memphis: You’ve had time to get settled now. What has the experience been like for you since you arrived in Memphis this summer?
Jennifer Collins: We’ve been here for about two months and have felt so welcomed by the community. My husband and I have really enjoyed spending lots of time exploring all the terrific restaurants and the music scene, which we’ve been very excited about. And obviously, being on the campus here at Rhodes has been a fantastic experience. We have incredible students and extraordinary faculty and staff, and it’s so exciting. We welcomed students back, and it’s wonderful to have the buzz and the excitement on campus.
Is the college still holding any virtual classes, or has everything returned to in-person sessions?
We are entirely back in the classroom now for the fall and spring semesters. One of the very few benefits of the pandemic is that it has really enhanced the ability of colleges and universities to use technology to teach in an engaging and informative way. We did, however, have some summer classes that were virtual. That enabled students, for example, to work and have an internship, and at the same time take a class they’re really excited about.
I have three college students of my own who have been in college during the pandemic. And it really has had such an impact on their college experience. I feel for these young people and I feel for the kids in the K through 12 system, and I think we’ll really be seeing the impact of the pandemic for years to come. I read a study showing that the pandemic wiped out 20 years’ worth of gains for third-graders in reading and math. That’s something that will translate all the way up through their educational journey. We really have to be thoughtful and intentional about how we support students and make sure they’re on track to succeed.
Congratulations on your new appointment! Is the role of college president something you’ve always aspired to, or is it something that after so many years in education, you felt like you were ready to take on that type of responsibility?
photograph courtesy rhodes college
It was absolutely not something that, if you had asked me when I graduated from college, that I would’ve predicted would be my future. When I talk to students, I always tell them about the role serendipity is going to play in their career and to be open to the unexpected. I may be a little bit of an unusual higher education administrator in that I am a lawyer by training and I actually practiced for about 10 years before I went into teaching. To me, that’s benefited my career in so many ways. It’s made me a more effective classroom teacher. It’s made me a more effective communicator. I had never really thought about higher education administration, but a leader at Wake Forest, where I started my academic career, recommended me for a position. And that has led to my career journey since.
I’m curious to hear more about how the legal side of your background has enhanced your leadership capabilities.
I like to give two examples. One is that it gives you absolutely nerves of steel. It makes you unflappable. I was a homicide prosecutor for the bulk of my time in practice, dealing with the highest stakes cases that you can imagine, where families and communities had been through terrible experiences. You have to be the calm, steady leader who sets the tone that this is terrible, but we are going to get through this journey through the criminal justice system together. Unexpected things come along every day as a higher education administrator, from a tree falling on a staff member’s car to bizarre cases like when I was at SMU, we had a student take just a small step and somehow shatter her leg in three places. I sat there holding her hand while we waited for the ambulance.
The other thing I think you have to do as both a homicide prosecutor and leader of a college, you have to be a storyteller. You want to tell the story of your institution to prospective students, to community members, to prospective donors. There’s no better practice for being an effective storyteller than having to talk to 12 citizens who couldn’t figure out how to get out of jury duty who will have to sit with you for four weeks and evaluate this homicide case, and understand both the story of the case and the stakes. So I would say nerves of steel and the ability to be an effective storyteller are two of the takeaways from that practical experience.
Now that the school year has started, what are some of your short-term goals for the college?
To start, we want to begin telling our story in a more effective and compelling way, to make sure that a national and international audience knows about the jewel that is Rhodes College. It’s an ongoing challenge to think about how you tell your story when there are so many different sources of information and so many ways that people can get distracted. We have done tremendous work in terms of promoting a culture of diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging on campus. It’s certainly a priority to continue that work. We want to make sure that our campus reflects the great city that we happen to be located in, as well as our country.
We also want to continue to deepen and develop our relationship with the city of Memphis. As I said at the beginning, we’re so fortunate to be a liberal arts college located in a city. And I view that as both an opportunity and obligation.
Finally, we’re set to begin thinking about a capital campaign. We have so many dreams for ourselves, so many ambitious goals, and the opportunity to generate some additional resources to accomplish those goals is a really exciting area.
The college launched a 10-year strategic plan shortly before Covid-19. Are those same long-term goals still in place, or will there be any alterations to the plan?
The strategic plan was the product of a lot of work by so many individuals across campus. We’re not going to toss that aside and start from square one, but that plan was drawn up pre-pandemic. What we need to think about is whether the pandemic has affected any of our goals. One area in the plan that we’re looking at more closely is the idea of bringing interdisciplinary centers on campus. Now we have the chance to work with faculty to think about how that might start to take shape.
We are also getting feedback from students, faculty, and staff about things they think we could be doing differently. One example we’ve been hearing a lot is our students definitely want a student center. To me, that’s a wonderful reflection of how they want an opportunity to have more communal spaces and come together for all sorts of different programs and initiatives. Student centers have taken many shapes at colleges around the country, but they all act as vibrant social hubs. And a lot of students missed out on those types of interactions during the pandemic.
It comes down to listening to feedback from all the groups that make up the college. Some concerns and goals might be different than they were when the plan originally launched, so we’ll continue to have these conversations.
At Wake Forest, you launched both the LGBTQ+ Center and the Women’s Center and also led a series of conversations focusing on improving campus culture. Can you talk about your views on the need to build diversity and inclusion?
I think it has to be one of your core commitments as a leader. You have to bring that lens to all the work that you’re doing across campus. The way I like to think about it is we want to make sure every member of our community feels comfortable bringing their whole selves to the table, whatever that may be. You grew up in your socioeconomic background, your sexual orientation. We want to make sure students feel comfortable in all our spaces. And not just students, but our faculty and staff as well. That’s really been an area that I’ve tried to focus on at both Wake Forest and SMU, and I’m excited to continue the great work that’s already going on here on campus.
Building on that, some issues tend to split the Rhodes community. When you see a polarizing graduate like Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett who divides the community, as a leader, what’s your approach?
Well, that’s why I think liberal arts colleges are so important these days, because one thing that we prioritize with our students is how to think critically, how to communicate effectively, and how to listen and learn across differences. We have a wonderfully diverse country in every sense of the word, where students are going to go out into the world and encounter people who have viewpoints that are different than their own. You don’t always have to agree with each other, but it’s incredibly important that you are able to listen to one another, respect one another, learn from one another, and try to come forward in some consensus that moves the country forward in a meaningful way.
I think our faculty are incredibly skilled and thoughtful about fostering those kinds of conversations in the classroom and outside the classroom. Our alumni obviously have different positions on Justice Barrett. And to me, that shows in some ways our liberal arts education has succeeded, that students are able — and our graduates are able — to articulate their points of view, hopefully listen to one another, and move forward in a positive and constructive way. So to me, it just reaffirms the importance of a liberal arts education.
