Howard Law Dean Danielle Ren Holley Named 20th President of Mount Holyoke College

Danielle Ren Holley was named this week as the 20th President of Mount Holyoke College effective July 1, 2023.

After earning her J.D. Harvard University Law School, Holley clerked for Chief Judge Carl E. Stewart of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. She also practiced civil litigation at Fulbright & Jaworski, LLP in Houston, Texas. Prior to joining the Howard University Law School faculty, she was the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Distinguished Professor of Law at the University of South Carolina. She also previously served on the faculty at Hofstra University School of Law. She is a noted scholar of education law and civil rights, and an expert on diversity in the legal profession and higher education.

A superstar among law deans, Danielle Holley was mentioned as a possible U.S. Supreme Court nominee to replace Justice Breyer. According to her bio, Holley is on the Executive Committee of the Board of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and on the board of the Howard University Middle School for Math and Science. She is also Liberty Fellow through the Aspen Global Leadership Network. She is also a fellow with the American Council of Education.

In announcing her appointment, Mount Holyoke Board of Trustees Chair Karena V. Strella stated, “In addition to her exceptional leadership and ability to cultivate shared purpose, President-elect Holley brings a strong vision for what Mount Holyoke is and, more importantly, what our College can become. She has a strong track record of strategic growth and innovation, which will serve us well.”

The President of Howard University has credited Holley with leading, "…the law school to unprecedented heights, including 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, to highlight just a few.” Further the press release reported, “Other achievements of President-elect Holley’s tenure at the Howard School of Law include the introduction of a six-year BA/JD program, the launch of experiential learning and career preparation initiatives with World Bank, Microsoft and Amazon Studios, among others, and a 200 percent increase in fundraising success, including a $10 million grant to support public interest law, the largest in the Howard School of Law’s history.”

Bonita Brown Appointed Interim President of Northern Kentucky University

Attorney Bonita Brown was selected in January 2023 as the interim President of Northern Kentucky University (NKU). Brown joined NKU in 2019 and most recently served as NKU’s Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer. According to the announcement, the interim president appointment precludes her from applying for the permanent position.

Brown is a seasoned higher education administrator. Not long after earning her JD at Wake Forest University School of Law, Brown entered higher education first as Assistant to the President at Livingstone College in 2002 and then at Johnson C. Smith University. In 2004 she was appointed as assistant university attorney at Winston-Salem State University. She then became Chief of Staff at the University of North Texas and then Vice Chancellor and Chief of Staff at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Brown then joined the Education Trust in Washington, DC. and then Achieve the Dream before joining NKU.

Approximately 20% of HBCU Presidents are Lawyers – Clarence Armbrister Announces Retirement

Clarence D. “Clay”Armbrister, currently a lawyer President of Johnson C. Smith University (JCSMU), an Historically Black College and University in Charlotte, North Carolina, announced plans to retire in June 2023. He became the 14th President of JCSMU on January 1, 2018 following a career in higher education that included senior vice president at Temple University and chief of staff and senior vice president at Johns Hopkins University. In announcing his appointment as President, the Board Chair noted, “We believe his varied back-ground in education, finance, government and law brings an exceptionally broad lens to the increasingly complex demands of the changing landscape in higher education today.”

Following graduation from the University of Michigan School of Law, he worked in the public finance department of Saul, Ewing, Remick & Saul where he moved up to partner. He left in 1994 to enter government, like other lawyer presidents, serving as Philadelphia city treasurer and chief of staff to the mayor. He was also the managing director of the Philadelphia School District. President Armbrister also taught as an adjunct faculty member at the Beasely School of Law at Temple University (municipal finance). He was also president of Girard College, a unique college preparatory boarding school for students K-12.

During his time at JCSMU, Armbrister led the University to a more active role with the growth and development of the Historic West End, and he was able to increase support for JCSU from the corporate community. The first had to navigate the University out of accreditation hot water by getting the school off of probation by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, which he did. For more information about his initiatives – including student/alumni employment and increasing the endowment, listen to an interview on the podcast On Life and Meaning.

Currently there are 101 HBCUs located in 21 states plus the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands, with a split of 50 of these schools public and 51 private not-for-profit Between the 2000s and the 2010s, the number of lawyer presidents at HBCUs quadrupled. Today there are 21 lawyer presidents of HBCUs, representing 20% of the HBCU campus presidents. For more information about lawyer presidents of HBCUs and a brief history of HBCUs see, May it Please the Campus: Lawyers Leading Higher Education.