BEREA, Ky. (LEX 18) — Dr. Cheryl L. Nixon recently became Berea College's 10th president and the first woman to serve in the role in the school's 167-year history. She says she wants to preserve the school's legacy of diversity and encourage others to step up into leadership roles.
Dr. Nixon says, "And to think deeply about what that means, how to represent the greatest hopes of the institution and to try to embody that and to give that new life. I feel as though standing as the first woman I’ll be able to do that. I think that again though it's to do that in this larger context of what it means for the whole community — and to say to others you too are empowered to stand in a position like me."
Nixon notes that Berea College was the first to integrate in the South — racial and gender integration. After the Supreme Court decision to strike down Affirmative Action in college admissions, she says they'll continue to serve that legacy.
Nixon says, "It's very important for institutions like Berea that have this rich history, that have been really serving those ideals for over 165 years to say we can continue to serve those ideals, in fact, we must continue to serve those ideals together."
In his remarks, Nixon's retiring predecessor, Dr. Lyle D. Roelofs, spoke about the school's eight commitments, two of which he says are worth noting, particularly the school's fifth commitment.
He says, "To assert the kinship of all people and to provide interracial education with a particular emphasis on understanding that equality among Blacks and whites as a foundation for building community among all peoples of the earth."
Several years from now, Dr. Nixon says she hopes to be able to continue to tell incoming students that there is a place for everyone at Berea College.
“I think that I would hope that we would be able to say that we've made even more strides towards these great commitments that you heard us talk about today. Commitments that are related to equality, but also to issues like sustainability, they are related to ideas of educational opportunity so that even more people feel welcomed into the idea of higher education, the idea of work having dignity, the idea that all students again can be inspired by those ideals — hoping to expand that and deepen that mission."
This college's leaders say they are planning to move its mission forward.
