Olivia Fendrich/The Mossy Log
On Sept. 23, The Mossy Log interviewed Lewis & Clark President Robin Holmes-Sullivan to discuss the state of the college and the future of LC as an institution. Holmes-Sullivan spoke on a variety of issues, ranging from the college’s financial challenges, to the changes she has seen since joining the administration, to the anticipated announcement of the new mascot.
The Board of Trustees announced on Jan. 26, 2022 that Holmes-Sullivan would be the next president of the College following the retirement of Wim Wiewel. Holmes-Sullivan has centered student interaction and engagement into her work at LC. She regularly hosts coffee talks open to anyone from the community, dines with students at the Bon and holds one-on-one office hour appointments to speak with members of the community. Holmes-Sullivan said that in her interactions with students so far, she has noticed a shift in energy from last year.
“I don’t know if it’s this incoming class, or if there’s something a little bit different, a little bit special, but there’s a high level of optimism among the students that I’ve interacted with — excitement,” she said. “I sense a hunger and an optimism to connect and be in community and not necessarily an angst about a particular issue or a situation at all.”
Holmes-Sullivan noted the contrast between this spirit and some of the trepidation associated with the political climate of the last several years.
“A couple of years ago with the conflict when it was just starting in Gaza and Israel, I definitely felt more of that tension on campus than I have this year. So far, it just seems like an upbeat year. Students are talking about the mascot. You know, there’s things that are just lighter,” she said.
The student experience is also central to her leadership approach in managing the college’s ongoing budget deficit.
“My priority, and I think the priority of the leadership across the board is to always protect the student experience. It’s why we’re here. You all come to college and you only do it one time. And we take that very seriously,” Holmes-Sullivan said.
The path forward through these financial issues is not yet clear, but Holmes-Sullivan said that the college is not alone in this regard.
“It’s a little bit too early, really, to know what things might occur or not occur. We’re in a lot of meetings and conversations with faculty and staff about helping us to make some of the right and best decisions. This is happening across the nation,” she said. “Even in the state of Oregon, several of our institutions have already made substantial cuts to their budget, cuts to personnel. It’s unfortunately due to the reduction in enrollment that most schools are seeing, and Lewis and Clark, at the undergraduate level, we’re seeing those same reductions.”
In recent months, lower enrollment, decreased federal and state funding and rising costs have led to program cuts and layoffs at colleges and universities across the country. According to consulting firm McKinsey’s 2021 estimates, up to 57% of public institutions and 77% of private not-for-profit institutions could be facing budget shortfalls of more than 5% in coming years.
However, Holmes-Sullivan noted that the issues LC faces are not the same as larger, public research universities who receive significant amounts of federal funding. Though LC does receive federal funding through financial aid and faculty research grants, the complications are more akin to those experienced by liberal arts schools across the country, who have seen declining enrollment due to skepticism over the value of a liberal arts education. Other liberal arts colleges in the Pacific Northwest have faced financial gaps this year — Whitman College is facing a $3 million shortfall this year, and Linfield University $5 million. In 2024, Willamette College reduced their budget by $2 million in reaction to declining enrollment.
“It has become believable, I think, in the public discourse, that going to school is a nice thing to do, but you don’t have to do it. Or that the sticker price of a liberal arts college is so high that, you know, it’s not worth it. And in reality, we provide so much support to our students, no student is paying that full price. We’re a nonprofit, so we’re not trying to make money,” she said.
This doubt in the merit of a private liberal arts education, in addition to the decline in the number of traditional college-aged students in the United States, are the primary reasons for underenrollment at LC.
“Because of that (doubt), though, and because of what we call the demographic cliff, there are just less students who are completing high school, who are college eligible. We knew that was going to hit in 2025, and it has. We didn’t think it would hit as quickly as it has hit,” Holmes-Sullivan said.
To combat this, the college has focused on developing programs and opportunities to demonstrate the value of a liberal arts education and distinguish LC from other comparable institutions.
“Our programs that we provide and the way we educate our students, being in this amazing city of Portland, where there’s lots of opportunities, is a winning combination that we’re really gonna crow about a lot more. And then we’re going to bring new programs and services that we think students are really clamoring for, that we’re super excited about rolling out over the next couple of years. That’s the way to go back towards stability and to really even out our enrollment,” Holmes-Sullivan said.
She cited the college’s recent partnership with Albina Vision Trust as one such opportunity and referenced the restructuring of LC’s academic curriculum to equip students with competitive skills to prepare them for the workforce as another way the college hopes to attract students. According to Holmes-Sullivan, LC was selected for the competitive partnership out of multiple colleges.
Despite the reduction in enrollment, Holmes-Sullivan stated that she aims for the experience and identity of LC to remain unchanged moving forward.
“The reduction in head count is impactful in terms of the budget, but not really that impactful in terms of the numbers. We’ve usually been around 2,100 undergraduates. Next year, we anticipate 1,900, so about a 200 student head count reduction, which is a lot when it comes to the budget, right? But I don’t think it will make an appreciable difference for students on campus, whether you had 1,900 students or 2,100 students, it’s still going to feel like the size of Lewis & Clark,” she said. “I think that we offer a really great slate of degrees and we don’t anticipate that necessarily changing. We just have to figure out where we can make these reductions and still preserve what is the thing that makes us so special.”
In an article published by The Mossy Log in February 2022, Holmes-Sullivan discussed her life and her goals as president. She spoke of the empowering experience of studying under a Black instructor in her PhD program. Holmes-Sullivan said that, as president, she hoped to promote representation among faculty at the college so that “others won’t have to wait until they are in a PhD program until they have their first professor of color.”
But upon his inauguration, President Donald Trump signed a series of executive orders that sought to target initiatives to promote diversity, equity and inclusion in both the public and private sectors. Despite these challenges, Holmes-Sullivan remains committed to creating a diverse community of faculty and staff at LC.
“In terms of hiring faculty and staff, you know, our values have remained the same: that we want to make sure that students like yourself have an outstanding academic experience. And the best way to do that is to make sure that you have a very robust, diverse community,” Holmes-Sullivan said.
She continued that since the current administration is primarily focused on the use of race as a factor in college admissions — which LC has never used — she hopes to continue hiring individuals with diverse mindsets and experiences to foster a rich educational experience.
Since Holmes-Sullivan began working at LC, she has also tried to create a vibrant sphere of student life.
“When I first came here — this is the controversial part I probably shouldn’t say — I thought this was a very boring campus. You know, students are kind of stuck on a hill and nothing was happening, right? And I’m like, ‘wow, what can we do to liven this up a little bit?’” she said.
Strategies such as establishing different bus routes and building a stronger connection between students and Portland have contributed to this effort. Holmes-Sullivan also noted the culture around school spirit that existed when she first arrived.
“I had to really get used to (the fact that) there wasn’t a lot of school spirit. I felt like students were more likely to go to a theater performance than an athletic performance, which is fine. But I think something happens when you get together and get behind a team. And maybe it’s because I’m just an old athlete and I really like it. But it makes everyone happy,” she said.
She discussed attending LC’s football game against Pomona-Pitzer in Claremont, Calif. on Sept. 20 and the high energy after LC’s victory. She enjoyed the excitement that the entire team and their families expressed, as well as their appreciation for one another.
“All that comes from community-based things, like athletics, like theater events. So the more we do those things, the more students have opportunities for school spirit. I think it makes it just a lot more fun to be going to school here, having a lot more pride, you know, in the school that you’re at,” she said. “We didn’t have any of that when I first started here. And all of that has shifted and it just shows me that students do want to be engaged and in community and have fun, and that’s what we want for you, too. We want you to have fun. College should be fun. You know, you work hard in school, but you should also have opportunities to have fun and connect.”
Holmes-Sullivan said that the process of voting on a new school mascot has further revitalized school spirit on campus. She stated the three choices she voted for from the eight finalists.
“So I ranked the Lynx, the River Otters and the River Hawks. So I would be happy with any of those. I’ve been practicing various cheers to see. The biggest thing I want is some kind of hand signal,” she said. “We need something we can gesture. And that’s what’s different about moving to a new mascot because you really can’t depict in any way that is really respectful, a Pioneer, in the historical sense of things. Whereas the ones that are a possibility here, I think there could be lots of ways to have fun with it.”
Holmes-Sullivan, and Vice President for Communications Lori Friedman who was present at the interview, clarified that the new mascot will not impact the ongoing budget challenges.
“Changeover is something that will happen really gradually in terms of expense, right? So we’re not planning to flip a switch and everything’s different and that might be, you know, a significant investment, but it’ll be more gradual,” Friedman said.
Holmes-Sullivan expanded on this transition.
“You’ll see the word Pioneer around the athletic facility for probably a while. There’s no reason for us to worry about that. This is not a canceling out, like we have to erase every single thing. I have gear that has Pioneers on it or whatever. We’ll slowly start to move those things out as the new mascot is more accepted, but there’s no rush to do that. As Lori was saying, it won’t have a real impact on the overall budget,” she said.
Holmes-Sullivan stated that the administration already knows the results of the vote and will announce the new mascot in early October.
“All of us are happy and thinking it was good. It was a great process and everyone had fun doing it. Even we had fun and we were really into it. So I think it’s going to be a nice new chapter that’s great for our school,” she said.
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