Page 19 - BusinessWest February 6, 2023

“The Great Resignation, to me, reflected people who were in various stages of unhappiness with their respective roles and looking for a change. I love this college, and I love my position.”
there is a “multiplier” for the COVID era, a roughly two-and-a-half-year stretch that probably seemed like it was exponentially longer.
She likened that period to another one in
the school’s long history, a devastating fire that destroyed its one building in 1968. Royal told Busi- nessWest that she has read and heard a lot about those days, and she believes they were in many ways similar to what the college and its leadership endured starting that day in March 2020 when the governor shut down the state.
“I never thought that in my lifetime and during my tenure there would be another moment to rival that one, but the global pandemic did,” she said. “And being in a leadership capacity during such uncertain times, you tap all of the skills that you’ve developed over a lifetime to be able to learn and lead in such times.”
While efforts to lead the school through the pan- demic have in many ways dominated her tenure, she said there have been many important accom- plishments, especially in the broad realms of diver- sity, equity, and inclusion, as well as addressing student basic needs, ranging from food to housing to childcare.
With the former, she said the school has made significant strides, and on many different levels.
“We have really prioritized equity at all levels within our organi- zation, including at the board level, with a statement on anti-racism, and also with the great work of our facility and staff. We’ve invested financial resources to grow our wrap-around support services for our under-represented students, and we continue to help all of our students be successful regardless of what their starting point is, who they are, and what their background is.”
With the latter, Royal, named a Woman of Impact by Business- West in 2020 for her work at the school and within the community (the two often overlap), said there have been some important and innovative steps forward, and several ‘firsts.’
Christina Royal meets with students at the HCC MGM Culinary Arts Institute, which opened its doors in 2019.
These include the Homestead Market, at which HCC became the first institution of its kind in the Commonwealth to accept SNAP benefits.
“This was pretty significant — we had to get federal approval from the USDA to be able to accept SNAP benefits,” she told Busi- nessWest. “To be able to do that on a college campus is innovative and an example of how we listen to students and respond to what we’re hearing.
“Our students who found themselves food-insecure and receiv-
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