Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida, has long taken pride in its status as the state’s oldest college. But as institutional prestige and tradition give way to new demands of today’s prospective students, first-time President Brooke Barnett is tackling outdated perceptions of the liberal arts.
“The skills, attitudes and habits of lifelong learning that come from a liberal arts education are as relevant now as they ever were, but we have lost the public relations side of that,” says Barnett, who began her tenure in July. “We just need to do a better job of telling the story of that value.”
Barnett began her career in higher education as an assistant professor of communications at Elon University in 2001. After joining Butler University in 2019 as a dean, she quickly advanced to provost just two years later—a position she held until she was appointed president of Rollins College.
While serving on two presidents’ cabinets at Elon and Butler has helped Barnett embrace the various roles of executive leadership, the mission, finances and community unique to Rollins create a new context and set of challenges. For example, Rollins College’s ability to recruit international students, who comprise 10% of the school enrollment, may be impacted under the Trump administration.
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“I imagine it’s always been challenging to be a new college president, but navigating the headwinds and complexities that the sector faces right now makes it particularly challenging,” Barnett says.
Relationship-building, active listening and relentless student focus are leadership qualities that she has cultivated throughout her career and which she plans to lean on in her new role.
“Many of our campuses really do just run on positive relationships,” she says. “The negative ones can derail goals and the work that we’re trying to do.”
Barnett intends to work closely with academic leaders to adapt Rollins’ curriculum to AI while prioritizing the core tenets of a liberal arts education: critical thinking, ethical reasoning and civic responsibility.
“There are so many jokes about this being the worst job in the world and who would ever want to do it,” Barnett concludes. “I understand where those come from, but I also get up every day just feeling honored that I get to play the hand I’m being dealt here at Rollins College.”
