{"id":3141,"date":"2016-07-07T19:36:45","date_gmt":"2016-07-07T23:36:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/new.alumnae.mtholyoke.edu\/1961\/?p=3141"},"modified":"2016-07-07T19:36:45","modified_gmt":"2016-07-07T23:36:45","slug":"sonja-stephens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.alumnae.mtholyoke.edu\/1961\/sonja-stephens\/","title":{"rendered":"Sonja Stephens"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sonya Stephens steps up to lead Mount Holyoke<\/h1>\n
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Thursday, June 30, 2016 – 10:00pm<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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By\u00a0Keely Savoie<\/a><\/p>\n

Sonya Stephens, whose commitment to women\u2019s colleges dates back to her undergraduate days at the University of Cambridge, assumed the presidency of Mount Holyoke College on July 1.<\/p>\n

The former vice president of academic affairs and dean of faculty, Stephens will be the acting president of the College for the next three years.<\/p>\n

In her new role, Stephens will lead the implementation of a new strategic plan,\u00a0The Plan for Mount Holyoke 2021<\/a>, and guide the College through the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC)\u00a0reaccreditation<\/a>\u00a0process<\/a>. She will also oversee the building of the\u00a0Community Center<\/a>, a campus hub that she has called a \u201cthird space\u201d where students, faculty, and staff will have new opportunities to collaborate and engage in intellectual and social exchange outside of classrooms and residence halls.<\/p>\n

Stephens sees these and other initiatives as paramount to enhancing the student experience, which is one of her top priorities.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe hallmark of the Mount Holyoke experience is the kind of high-contact learning and intellectual exchange fostered by our excellent faculty and the curious, bright, engaged students who are drawn here,\u201d she said. \u201cOur commitment is to continue to deliver and to enhance that experience for all.\u201d<\/p>\n

The strategic plan, to be finalized this fall, calls for the College to assert its distinctiveness and the value of a liberal arts education, to embrace new programs in support of the liberal arts, and to develop a comprehensive approach to engaging with the global world.<\/p>\n

\u201cThrough the unique opportunities that a diverse women\u2019s college affords them, Mount Holyoke students develop the habits of mind, intellectual rigor, and agency to transform the world,\u201d Stephens said. \u201cThey learn to think, speak, and act with confidence and courage, and do so with a global perspective.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stephens holds a PhD from the University of Cambridge and a master\u2019s degree from the Universit\u00e9 de Montr\u00e9al, in addition to her BA from New Hall (now Murray Edwards College), a women\u2019s college at Cambridge.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sonya Stephens steps up to lead Mount Holyoke Thursday, June 30, 2016 – 10:00pm By\u00a0Keely Savoie Sonya Stephens, whose commitment to women\u2019s colleges dates back to her undergraduate days at the University of Cambridge, assumed the presidency of Mount Holyoke … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":182,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[25023],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3141","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-whats-up"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.alumnae.mtholyoke.edu\/1961\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3141","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.alumnae.mtholyoke.edu\/1961\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.alumnae.mtholyoke.edu\/1961\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.alumnae.mtholyoke.edu\/1961\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/182"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.alumnae.mtholyoke.edu\/1961\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3141"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.alumnae.mtholyoke.edu\/1961\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3141\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.alumnae.mtholyoke.edu\/1961\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3141"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.alumnae.mtholyoke.edu\/1961\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3141"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.alumnae.mtholyoke.edu\/1961\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3141"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}