活出使命

Q&劳拉·克劳利博士.D.

Crawley joined LR in July 2022 as the inaugural vice president for mission, 参与和创新(MEI). 在这个新角色中, she leads areas tied to the priorities of the university’s strategic plan, 包括招生, 全球网赌十大网站, 职业和目的生活中心, 以及精神生活办公室. She previously held the role of assistant vice president for academic affairs at the University of Georgia (UGA) and director of UGA’s Gwinnett Campus. Crawley earned her bachelor of arts in American studies from the University of Texas at Austin and her master’s and doctorate in women’s studies from Emory University.

问:是什么吸引你来勒诺瓦-莱恩工作?

A: I’m a lifelong Lutheran who has been a lay leader in the church for decades, and I have a lot of friends who graduated from LR or LTSS — so I’ve known about the university from afar. While I’ve spent my career at these large public colleges and universities, my heart has always been drawn toward private liberal arts education. What really caught me, though, was President (Fred) Whitt and his vision for LR. Fred persuaded me that this role was the right thing for Lenoir-Rhyne and the right thing for me. 他是对的. It’s a career dream that I didn’t even know I had until I got the call.

问:你如何描述你作为MEI第一任副总裁的角色?

A: It’s exciting to launch something new in a place with such a rich history. 这也有点吓人. I want us to be true to that history while looking ahead to the future. My role right now is to listen and learn and to seize opportunities where they are. 了解任务是一回事. But to live the mission is something much deeper and richer. What I learned in my first eight weeks at LR is that we have people living that mission in everything they do and say, 我正在向他们学习.

Q: What prompted you to move into leadership roles within higher education?

A: 对我来说, 而是看看能做什么，我能做什么, 然后把这两件事结合起来. 我是一个非常善于合作的领导者, and I love to see people bringing their skills and interests together to solve problems and achieve goals. 老实说，我觉得我有天生的领导才能. 我喜欢把事情看清楚. 我喜欢解决问题. 我喜欢和其他人一起工作，让事情发生. 所有这些都带来了一些领导潜力. 对我来说，当领导很自然.

问:当你担任这个职位时，你最优先考虑的是什么?

A: My priorities at this stage are to see where greater collaboration and cooperation across the different divisions that are represented in MEI can be strengthened. I’m also looking for every opportunity to partner beyond MEI. 很高兴能和他一起开始这个新角色. 詹妮弗·伯, who is open to connecting the offices within MEI and Academic Affairs. 真的, I find that same spirit of openness and collaboration with all the VPs, 和惠特总统, 还有LR的许多同事. 我想我的事业建立在合作伙伴关系上, so I think I have a lot to offer in integrating various efforts without losing the special feel and purpose of each.

问:你认为LR最大的优势是什么? 最大的挑战?

A: 我认为全球网赌十大网站最大的优势是全球网赌十大网站的历史. I am drawn to the theological foundations of education that are expressed at Lenoir-Rhyne. Lutheran theology is all about trying to hold two seemingly contradictory ideas together. 这一切都是关于复杂性和问题. 这就是教育应该做的. 这与知道答案无关. 这是关于磨练问题，探索问题. 有时候你会得到正确的答案, but then there’s another question waiting for you right around the corner. That’s distinctively Lutheran and embedded in the liberal arts, 我认为这正是LR所提供的.

Coming out of COVID, all higher ed institutions face some big challenges right now. We’re never going to go back to what was normal before, but we don’t yet know what normal is now. But I think that the liberal arts mission can also help us answer a lot of those challenges. At Lenoir-Rhyne we have an opportunity to build real community, to know each other. It’s not just students knowing us, but also faculty and staff knowing each other. We have an opportunity to regain and enrich that sense of community that was here before COVID, 并将在未来继续在这里.

问:你觉得你在学生事务方面的经历如何, 品牌创新, and running university programs has prepared you for your new role?

A: 在劳氏，全球网赌十大网站专注于培养学生的全面自我. So what happens inside and outside the classroom is crucial. What happens on the athletic field, in clubs and student events, and in the dorms is crucial. The accumulation of these experiences builds our students into our alumni. And these relationships also connect us with our communities, 全球网赌十大网站的地方和州政府, 以及全球网赌十大网站支持的组织. Having worked in so many different areas within and outside of higher ed, 我专注于创造合作的机会, creating opportunities for access and bringing as many people into the conversation as possible.

Q: What do you hope to contribute to the university during your tenure?

A: 我想把最好的自己展现出来. 我一直不擅长局部努力, especially when I really believe in the organizations I serve. 我相信勒努瓦-莱恩是一个机构. 我相信它的人民和它的未来. 我可能还不知道细节, but I know myself well enough to know that I’ll be giving it 110 percent.

问:你和Dr. 伯里斯都是大学里的主要角色. 你认为这样做的价值是什么?

A: The reality is that more women are moving into positions of leadership across all industries, 包括高等教育. 这并不像以前那样不寻常. Every woman and man in a leadership role brings to it themselves, 他们是谁, what they believe and what their experiences have taught them. The most significant thing for me throughout my career was having women mentors, 我有幸得到了一些很棒的导师. 我一直在通过指导他人来回报这一点. I’m always reminded of Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s quote where somebody asked her how many women should be on the Supreme Court, 她说“九”.“从来没有人问过为什么有九个人. 表示问题. 多元化的代表确实很重要. It means something to have people of color and women in leadership roles. 让LGBTQIA+的人担任领导角色. People see the potential for themselves in the examples that are set before them. I know that I have been able to do that for others as others have done that for me.