TRaNSFoRMaTIVE LeADER ThE BeST OF BENEDICT COLLEGE
BY CRYSTAL GADSON
B enedict College’s 14th president, Dr. Roslyn Clark Artis’ mission is to be nothing less than the best.
being “the first” at two historically Black institutions – Florida Memorial University and now Benedict College. “I feel incredibly honored. Unfortunately, as Black people, we’re often the first, but for women, it’s even more pronounced. I felt the weight of the responsibility to not blow it, because it might close the door for women behind me if I don’t excel.”
extremely rewarding, there is also a heavy pressure that comes with the territory.
She is the college’s first woman president and coined the now
“You have to stay prayed up, well prepared, and emotionally strong to be able to withstand the newness of it.” When she arrived at Benedict in 2017, she assessed the institution’s programmatic strengths and campus infrastructure to determine what needed to be invested in and built. Since her presidency, Dr. Artis has accomplished updating the university’s technology, eliminating debt, restored the university’s reputation as a business partner in the community, put on nearly 30 roofs, completed sewer, water, and infrastructure projects and updated campus facilities such as the football stadium, classrooms, chapel, and office spaces.
trademarked phrase “BEST of BC” in 2017. BEST is an acronym that stands for Benedict Education equals Student Transformation. Benedict College is a small, private, Baptist-affiliated HBCU located in Columbia, South Carolina. “We try to get our students to strive for their very best, particularly in the classroom, but more holistically, best all around – fully grounded socially, emotionally, academically, and spiritually. We want our students to be healthy and whole at Benedict College,” Dr. Artis said. Dr. Artis holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from West Virginia State University, a juris doctorate from West Virginia College of Law, and a doctorate
Although shattering glass ceilings can be
Currently, one of the university’s major focuses is academic programming.
degree in higher education leadership and policy from Vanderbilt University.
“We want our students to be super competitive.”
Dr. Artis doesn’t just want to recruit students, but
She has had the distinction of
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