Sonya Stephens
President- Elect
Class Honorary
Dear Mount Holyoke community,
Today, as the campus bell rings in a new era of leadership to all who can hear it, I am delighted to announce that the Board of Trustees has voted unanimously and enthusiastically to appoint Sonya Stephens as the 19th president of Mount Holyoke College, effective July 1.
In January 2016, when the Board announced Sonya’s appointment as acting president for a term of three years, I wrote, “we eagerly await her unique brand of high-tempo changes, confident that she will bring new ideas and a fresh perspective on all aspects of College life.” In the 22 months since Sonya took office, she has done all that my trustee colleagues and I had hoped for — and more.
Under Sonya’s steady presence and strong hand, the College has flourished. Sonya has connected with the Mount Holyoke community during both times of challenge and times of celebration, demonstrating her willingness and ability to engage forthrightly on all matters, large and small. Armed with a tenacious work ethic, unshakeable cheerfulness and a welcome sense of humor, she has shown extraordinary commitment to the College and garnered wide support both internally and externally
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As we approached the end of Sonya’s second year as acting president, the Board undertook a systematic review and engaged the community in a feedback process to either appoint her president or to launch a national search to fill the position.
We are thrilled to say that we did not have to look further than our own campus to locate the individual who provides both the continuity and the vision to lead the College into the future. Sonya’s intellect, courage, broad knowledge of Mount Holyoke, high energy level and personal warmth have impressed us all.
A lifetime of leadership and scholarshipSonya arrived at Mount Holyoke in 2013 as vice president for academic affairs and dean of faculty, following a national search led by an all-faculty committee. Working closely with divisions across the College and with the Five College Consortium, she led efforts to enhance the reputation of the College and increase support for faculty research and curricular innovation.
She previously worked at Indiana University Bloomington, where she was chair of the Department of French and Italian and the University’s first vice provost for undergraduate education. She began her career as a faculty member at Royal Holloway, University of London.
An expert in 19th-century French literature and its relation to visual culture, Sonya is the author of “Baudelaire’s Prose Poems: The Practice and Politics of Irony.” She has also edited several books, the most recent of which, “Translation and the Arts in Modern France,” was published in July. She holds a B.A. in modern and medieval languages and a doctorate in French from the University of Cambridge. Her master’s degree in French studies is from the Université de Montréal, where she was a Commonwealth Scholar. Serving as acting president
Sonya’s tenure as acting president is girded by her ardent belief in the value of a women’s college and a liberal arts education. A true leader, she is understands that the College’s responses to issues is critical — and that those responses define the quality of a Mount Holyoke education. As such, she has shown a willingness to make tough decisions and execute them well. She embraces the strategic imperative of accomplishing her goals for the College in the context of balanced budgets. She is committed to ensuring long-term financial stability so that Mount Holyoke will remain viable for future generations.
Among Sonya’s accomplishments are spearheading an inclusive strategic plan, The Plan for Mount Holyoke 2021, and following up by implementing campus-wide accountability for its goals. She also led the comprehensive self-study process for the College’s re-accreditation review by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC).
Sonya has led a strong and effective team, creating a positive and rewarding work environment and adding to it with thoughtful hires. Her dedication to students was demonstrated by her first actions, a refocus on student life with the appointment of a vice president for student life and dean of students and the creation of the Office for Student Success and Advising. She has reinvigorated the College’s institutional research office and its graduate and professional programs with new directors. Her efforts to promote Mount Holyoke include hiring a vice president for communications and marketing, and a group of progressive consultants to evolve and advance the visual identity of the College.
Sonya is a strong advocate for Mount Holyoke alumnae, and they, in turn, vigorously support her, as demonstrated by her spontaneous election to the class of 1955 as an honorary member. She has developed a strong relationship with the Alumnae Association, actively sponsoring the implementation of a detailed set of strategic recommendations that improve collaboration and operational efficiency.
She believes deeply that one of the College’s fundamental distinctions lies in the richness of its diversity. Her significant, authentic engagement with the issues of equity and inclusion resulted in her introduction in 2017 of the annual BOOM! (Building on Our Momentum) learning conference, and hiring the College’s first vice president for equity and inclusion and chief diversity officer.
Sonya’s goal of supporting and building the community informs all that she does, including her continued oversight of the construction of our stunning $50 million Community Center. She envisioned the complex as a social and intellectual anchor, the cornerstone of our campus. Throughout the design and construction process, she has consistently conveyed the need for ways to better foster community. As a result, the renovated student life hub and the Weissman Student Commons, both of which opened in fall 2017, and the Dining Commons, which opened in January 2018, promote exciting new ways of connecting faculty, students and staff.
Opened on time and on budget, these spaces have been instant successes. We can’t wait to see what the final stages of the project will look like when the entire complex opens in the fall.
President-elect Sonya Stephens
Rarely has an acting president “acted” more. Based on those many actions, and on Sonya’s deep affection for Mount Holyoke and her vision for its further successes, the Board of Trustees has voted to appoint Sonya Stephens as the 19th president of Mount Holyoke College.
More details will be forthcoming about her inauguration, which will take place in late September. Until that time, please join me in congratulating Sonya. We will be celebrating in the Dining Commons from 3:45 to 4:45 p.m. today to mark this important milestone and to congratulate our president-elect. I look forward to seeing you there.
Sincerely,
Barbara M. Baumann ’77
Chair, Mount Holyoke College Board of Trustees
Dear members of the Mount Holyoke community,
I am humbled and delighted beyond words by this opportunity to serve Mount Holyoke College as its 19th president. It has been a privilege and a honor to be acting president, and dean of faculty before that, and to be a member of this exceptional community. I am so pleased to have this opportunity to renew my commitment to you. And I am energized by the prospect of beginning anew, even as we build upon Mount Holyoke’s historic legacy of excellence, and upon our recent work together.
I first want to honor and thank Barbara M. Baumann ’77, chair of the Mount Holyoke College Board of Trustees. As a partner in this work, she has been unfailing in her diligence, unstinting in her support and ambitious in her aspirations for the College. She, vice chairs Mindy McWilliams Lewis ’75 and Karena Strella ’90, and each member of the Board of Trustees, make meaningful contributions to the work of the College. To them all I express my heartfelt gratitude and admiration. Their unquestionable affection for Mount Holyoke, and their loyalty, dedication and professionalism are a source of inspiration and motivation as we strive to enhance the education and experience on campus, and to advance the reputation and reach of this remarkable College.
Many of the trustees are drawn from our 37,000-strong alumnae network. Over the five years since I’ve been at Mount Holyoke, my interactions with alumnae have been a source both of pride in the institution and its graduates, and of great joy. I came to know Mount Holyoke differently and more fully when I saw the College through the eyes of generations of alumnae and in their stories, as well as through the prism of their many accomplishments and uncommon successes. And so I want to thank Marcia Brumit Kropf ’67, president of the Alumnae Association, and Maria Mossaides ’73, president-elect, for the trust and confidence they have shown in our work together, and for their shared commitment to our future. To all Mount Holyoke alumnae — those who are volunteers; those I have come to know well and those whom I have just met; those with whom I have corresponded or who I am yet to meet, and those who support, promote and sustain the College from afar — I express my deep gratitude. Your continued interest in Mount Holyoke and your expressed support and encouragement have meant and continue to mean a very great deal to me.
Mount Holyoke’s exceptional and accomplished faculty and the College’s talented and dedicated staff, including my fellow administrators, are all daily partners in the work of delivering and renewing an outstanding liberal education in a residential setting. I am often asked what my first impressions were of Mount Holyoke. They were and remain a sense of awe at the breathtaking beauty of this campus, at the intellectual vibrancy and energy of the education and the conversation, and at the community’s distinctive diversity and global mindset. There will always be too few opportunities to recognize the extraordinary, daily work of campus constituents, and to thank you for all that you bring to Mount Holyoke. This is an especially important moment for me to proclaim and celebrate the work of the faculty and staff of Mount Holyoke, and to express my heartfelt thanks for the many kindnesses, the thoughtful exchanges and the enormous goodwill and support I have enjoyed. We have drawn upon deep seams of institutional commitment to propel Mount Holyoke into the future and I am excited beyond measure by your successes and by what the future holds, as well as by this opportunity to remain with you in community, and to take the lead in this new moment of our collective endeavor to advance the mission and purpose of the College.
All this we do for the extraordinary students in our midst. In turn, they bring welcome change and high expectations, revitalizing the institution in ways that make us rethink and renew our core commitments, drawing upon the rich legacies of our history and institutional traditions to promote a culture and a community that represent values and excellence for the contemporary moment. I am consistently impressed by our students: by their intellectual prowess and their social commitments, by their energy and engagement, by their ambition and their advocacy, by their profound love of this place, and by their respect and affection for those who make a difference in their lives here. I often hear from those of you in the student body that Mount Holyoke enables you to be your best selves, and in turn I believe that you drive each other and us all to be our best selves — to be committed professionals and mentors in support of your future, your goals, your ambitions, and of your hopes for the College. Your love of learning and of Mount Holyoke is infectious and it is with great delight, anticipation and excitement that I look forward to spending more time with you. Each of you, in and across constituencies, brings purpose and power to our work, and, together, great luster to the reputation of Mount Holyoke College. I shall always do all that I can to merit the confidence and support the Board and this community have shown me, to live up to your expectations of me and of Mount Holyoke, and to advance the reputation and reach of this remarkable College. I cannot wait to get started on the next chapter in the history of this exceptional institution.
With my warmest thanks for your support of me in this process, and for all that you do for Mount Holyoke and toward the fulfillment of the College’s future promise.
Sincerely,
Sonya Stephens
President-elect
