Dr. Julianne Malveaux, president of Bennett College, recently spoke to Diverse at the end of her first year as president of one of the nation’s only two historically Black colleges for women.
During our interview, Malveaux spoke about what she would like to see in this new generation of college presidents — particularly HBCU presidents, her goals for Bennett, social activism on campus, strengthening Bennett’s academic programs, her inspiration, and why she’s “on fire for Bennett.”
DI: With all of the new college presidents, it seems as though we are ushering in a new generation of college leadership. What would you like to see the new generation of HBCU college presidents accomplish?
JM: Our challenge is to provide an excellent, cutting-edge education even as we are resource challenged. All of us share challenges in terms of resources. Many of us have small endowments and other kinds of challenges, but I also think that many of us come with creativity, with great ideas, often with different backgrounds than typical backgrounds — not always, but often. I think that gives us an advantage as we serve our community, the African-American community, where we still have educational disparities in the 21st century.
DI: You once said in a public forum that postsecondary education should be free, and you said it as a person who worked in media. Now that you’re an educator, do you still feel that way?
JM: I feel that it should be, but I’m not sure that it can be. I said that college education should be free, but that does not mean that colleges should not have financial support. What it means is that through government, grants and other sources of support, people who have income challenges should be able to maximize their potential. When I said college education should be free I was speaking as a pundit. As a president, I must say that my bills have to be paid.
DI: What have been some of your greatest challenges and obstacles and how have you overcome them?
