Page 46 - BusinessWest November 9, 2020
P. 46

Women of IMPACT
IMPACTA PROGRAM OF BUSINESSWEST A PROGRAM OF BUSINESSWEST Women of
A PROGRAM OF BUSINESSWEST
 Women of IMPACT
 IMPACT
ChristiWnOaMEN WOMENof Impact
A PROGRAM OF BUSINESSWEST
oRf Imopyaactl
A PROGRAM OF BUSINESSWEST
Women of President,
A PROGRAM OF BUSINESSWEST
Women of IMPACT
Holyoke
IMPACT
A PROGRAM OF BUSINESSWEST
Community
Women of College IMPACT
A PROGRAM OF BUSINESSWEST
Women of IMPACT
A PROGRAM OF BUSINESSWEST
A PROGRAM OF BUSINESSWEST
 The Pandemic Provides a Lens Through Which to View Her Leadership Skills
ABy George O’Brien
s she talked about the COVID-19 pan- demic and her administration’s multi- leveled response to it, Christina Royal related a story that speaks volumes about both the impact of the crisis on
every aspect of the higher-education experience at Holyoke Community College (HCC) and her own efforts to lead this institution through it — and
beyond it.
It also helps explain why she’s been named a
Woman of Impact for 2020.
This story is about a student, one of the many
who needed some help with learning virtually from home — help that went beyond providing a laptop and internet connectivity.
“Through our student emergency fund, this student put in a request and said, ‘I’m so grateful for the college to provide a laptop for me ... but
I don’t have a desk,’” she recalled, adding that there were several people in this household suddenly faced with the challenge of trying to learn and work from home. “And that’s just one example of how we had to think about support at a deeper level, really dive into the individual needs of each of our students to support them during this time, and address the inequities that exist in the communities we serve.”
The college would go on to fund a desk for this individual, she went on, adding that this piece of furniture is symbolic of how the school has indeed expanded its view of student emergency needs during this pandemic — but also in general.
Royal arrived on campus roughly five years ago
“One of the questions I bring up to employees of the college is, ‘what do we want to look like on the other side of this pandemic?’ Because I don’t want to be a person who just felt like I was trying to weather the storm. I want us to emerge stronger from this.
with a mindset to do what was needed to address the many needs of students and help enable them to not only grasp the opportunity for a two-year college education, but to open many other doors as well. As a first-generation, low-income, biracial college student herself, she understands the challenges many of HCC’s students face — from
 ”
Photo by Leah Martin Photography





























































   44   45   46   47   48