On July 1, 2023, Danielle R. Holley will take office as the twentieth president of Mount Holyoke College. President-elect Holley understands the College’s storied history while being deeply committed to all our College can become — particularly as we continue our work together to create and maintain a culture of belonging that advances the dignity of all who pass through our beloved gates.
Mount Holyoke Experiences
The Mount Holyoke College Board of Trustees has named Danielle R. Holley as the twentieth president of the College. Currently serving as dean of Howard University School of Law, Holley is a scholar of education law and civil rights and an expert on diversity and higher education.
“It is an understatement to say I am excited to join the vibrant and dynamic Mount Holyoke community. ... There hasn’t been a more important and critical time in recent history in which we need students who are empowered through their liberal arts education to go out and improve communities both here in the United States and around the world.”
Danielle R. Holley, President-elect
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Danielle R. Holley is the dean of Howard University School of Law. President-elect Holley is a scholar of education law and civil rights and an expert on diversity in the legal profession and higher education. Dean Holley holds a B.A. from Yale University and a J.D. from Harvard Law School, and she was a law clerk to Judge Carl E. Stewart on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
President-elect Holley joined Howard University School of Law in 2014 as the dean and a professor of law. Her scholarship focuses on the governance of public schools, increasing access to higher education, and diversity in the legal profession.
President-elect Holley has won numerous awards, including the inaugural Impact Award from the Association of American Law Schools, the American Bar Foundation’s Montgomery Summer Research Diversity Fellowship Distinguished Alumni Award, the Lutie Lytle Conference Outstanding Scholar Award, the National Bar Association’s Heman Sweatt Award, and the University of South Carolina Educational Foundation’s Outstanding Service Award. She was twice awarded the Outstanding Faculty Member award during her tenure at the University of South Carolina School of Law.
President-elect Holley serves as the co-chair of the Board of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights, on the board of the Law School Admission Council and on the board of the Howard University Middle School of Math and Science. She is a moderator for the Aspen Institute, a Liberty Fellow through the Aspen Global Leadership Network and a fellow with the American Council on Education. She is also a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated.
Prior to joining the Howard faculty, President-elect Holley was the associate dean for academic affairs and Distinguished Professor of Education Law at the University of South Carolina. Prior to her career in academia, President-elect Holley practiced civil litigation at Fulbright & Jaworski in Houston, Texas.
| Diverse: Issues in Higher Education
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| Boston Globe
| Daily Hampshire Gazette
| Boston Business Journal
| WWLP-TV (Chicopee, MA)
| The Washington Informer
| WGGB-TV (Springfield, MA)
| The Dig (Howard University)
‘Excited by the momentum’ | Mount Holyoke College
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