Breaking Barriers &Building Futures

Back-to-school is Lewis & Clark President Robin Holmes-Sullivan’s favorite time of year. After the comparative quiet of summer, she says, she looks forward to all the energy and activity that students bring to the campus. Under her direction, Lewis & Clark faculty and staff are ready to match the students’ enthusiasm with the expertise needed to ensure students thrive inside and outside the classroom.

As enjoyable as it is to reconnect with returning students, President Holmes-Sullivan especially loves welcoming new students to Lewis & Clark each year. As someone who was a first-generation college student herself, she remembers how easy it is to feel doubts about whether a college is really the right place to be. But when the school responds to each student’s doubts by making them feel welcome and valued as members of the campus community, they can build the foundation for success throughout college and in the years after they graduate. She especially loves assuring first-gen students that a first-generation undergraduate can become a first-generation graduate student, and even a first-generation college president. As Lewis & Clark’s first Black president and first woman president, she delights in the fact that her presence inspires L&C students to think of their own futures as full of possibility. As the saying goes, “if you see it, you can be it.”

President Holmes-Sullivan didn’t know when she started college, or even when she started graduate school, that one day she would be a college president. After earning a Ph.D. in clinical psychology, she became a clinical coordinator in the counseling center at the University of Oregon. During her 25 years at U. of O., she worked her way up to become vice president of student life. From there, she went to the University of California, where she served as vice president for student affairs, overseeing the undergraduate admissions process and other student-related issues for the 10-campus, 270,000-student system.

So, what drew her to Lewis & Clark, a comparatively small school tucked in the beautiful wooded acres above the Willamette River in Portland? The answer is two-fold. First, she knew she’d get much more of what she loved about her early career: the chance to get to know individual students. Being part of a large, public university system meant her leadership had a broad impact – which was wonderful for students, even if they were students she never got to know. By contrast, at Lewis & Clark, “President Robin” is a familiar presence on campus, where she loves seizing opportunities to interact with students.

Second, the presidency gives Dr. Holmes-Sullivan new challenges, as she is now the leader for the entire institution. In addition to the undergraduate college, Lewis & Clark has a Law School that is nationally renowned for its programs in fields like Environmental Law, Public Interest Law, and Business Law; and a Graduate School of Education and Counseling, which prepares students for careers as teachers, administrators, psychologists, and counselors in K-12 schools, and as mental health professionals, with expertise in much-needed areas like treating addiction and family therapy.

Reflecting on her own educational and professional trajectory, President Holmes-Sullivan notes that might be one of the biggest lessons she hopes to impart to students. “Find meaningful work that you love and that feeds your soul,” she advises “but don’t be afraid to take on new challenges, and to push yourself in ways that will have you growing and learning throughout your life and your career.”