Danielle Ren Holley, dean of Howard University School of Law, takes over July 1 as the first Black woman to serve as permanent president of Mount Holyoke College in western Massachusetts.
As dean since 2014, Holley is widely viewed as having renewed Howard’s historic law school, raising its stature and visibility as the leading educator of social and racial justice lawyers.
Dr. Wayne A.I. Frederick, Howard’s president, credited her with “moving the Howard University Law School rankings into the top 100 in the U.S. News & World Report, establishing the Thurgood Marshall Civil Rights Center and driving applications to all-time highs…Her presence and impact will be truly missed on our beloved campus.”
Prior to Howard, Holley served as distinguished professor of education law and associate dean for academic affairs at the University of South Carolina. Earlier in her career, she served on the faculty of Hofstra University School of Law and practiced law at Fulbright & Jaworski in Houston.
Holley is a graduate of Yale University and Harvard Law School. She clerked for Judge Carl E. Stewart on the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans.
Currently, she serves as co-chair of the Board of Directors of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. She also sits on the boards of the Law School Admissions Council, the Howard University Middle School of Mathematics and Science, and the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs at Brown University.
Of Holley, Karena V. Strella, chair of Mount Holyoke’s board of trustees, said: “We look forward to welcoming her to the Mount Holyoke community, particularly as we continue our work together to create and maintain a culture of belonging and a society that advances the dignity of all.”
Holley said she was “ecstatic and exhilarated” as she prepares to lead Mount Holyoke.
“My personal and professional endeavors reflect my commitment to create educational opportunities for talented and deserving students, including those who may encounter doors that are closed or unwelcome,” she said. “Mount Holyoke shares this vision.”
The reins will be passed to her from Beverly Daniel Tatum, the former president of Spelman College who served her second stint as Mount Holyoke’s interim president during the last academic year.
