A wave of executive orders during the first month of President Donald Trump’s administration has shaken St. Catherine University—from students and faculty to executive leadership to the president herself.
“Receiving the news was depressing, but I could see my grandmother sitting on my shoulder saying, ‘Marcheta, you have got to stay steadfast. We have to focus on the mission,'” says Marcheta Evans, president of St. Catherine University. “My being president goes back to my representation as a woman of color and making sure that fear doesn’t dictate our future.”
Spring classes at St. Catherine, an all-female university in Saint Paul, Minnesota, began nine days after President Trump’s inauguration. By that point, his administration had already issued orders to end DEI initiatives, prohibit Title IX protections based on LGBTQIA+ gender identity, expand ICE immigration raids to college campuses and pause all federal research grants with the National Institute of Health, among others.
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The litany of orders sowed panic in the St. Catherine community. Students worried about whether they would receive financial aid and faculty fretted over job security. Evans, who was raised in Alabama during the Civil Rights movement, is concerned about how access to higher education will change.
Evans has used various means of turning the confusion, anger and indignation she feels into a beacon of reassurance and support for the university community. One is her faith in the “collective strength of the community.” She is collaborating with university leadership, legal counsel, presidents across the state and nonprofit organizations to asses policy changes and respond.
“Leadership is not about having all the answers yourself. I lean on trusted colleagues.”
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Another technique is active communication and listening with community members. The administration has sent messages out to campus about available support services, such as events and programming that will help community understand today’s complexities and empower the community to act.
“I am optimistic, and I have to be because people are watching, people are listening. I need people to understand that their actions, whether intended or not, have consequences.”
One of her greatest joys, watching students walk across the stage at graduation, lies at the center of why Evans strives to serve students to the best of her ability. “The water is turbulent and I anchor myself in the belief that I’m called to do this work,” she says.
Watch President Evans explain why it’s important to manage her emotions during higher ed’s current crossroads.
