Sabine Benda

After a surprisingly snowless winter break and J-term, students, faculty and staff are finally returning to Hamline. For many, a new semester means a new beginning; promises to not procrastinate, reuniting with friends and a chance to try new activities. But for Dr. Kathleen Murray, a new semester marks the beginning of a new presidency.
Although Murray officially stepped into her new role on Jan. 1, many students and faculty returned to campus only recently as the spring semester began. So, in an effort to introduce President Murray to the larger community, a meet-and-greet event was announced by the Office of the President.
On Thursday, Jan. 25, President Murray met many members of the Hamline community for the first time at a meet-and-greet event hosted by the President’s office.
In a line stretching past the grandiose staircase of Anderson Center, faces from every corner of campus made an appearance to introduce themselves to President Murray. And as the event powered on, the line only grew.
One such face in the crowd was none other than Abi Grace Mart, the internal president of the Hamline Undergraduate Student Congress (HUSC). Mart served as one of the members on the Acting/Interim President Search Committee, where she had the opportunity to speak with Murray on a number of occasions during the search. Mart candidly recalls one of these occasions, in which the presidential candidates were given the opportunity to ask questions they had for the committee; and where Mart recalls the moment she believes Murray cemented herself as a frontrunner.
“When we asked them, ‘Do you have any questions’, at the end of the interview, they all asked the Board of Trustees members questions, because that’s who they’re working closely with…President Murray asked a couple of questions to them and then she looked at me and she was like, ‘Abi Grace’, remembering my name, ‘I wanted to ask you a question.’ And I was sitting there, like, me?”
Although there wasn’t enough time for attendees of the meet-and-greet to have extended conversations with Murray like Mart did, even just a handshake went a long way.
“I think it’s really hard for presidents to meet one-on-one with everyone, so I think [the meet and greet] is a really good way to put a name to the face and make her human,” Travis Matthews, the external president of HUSC, said. Like Mart, Matthews was a student representative who worked with the Acting/Interim Presidential Search Committee, who was equally as impressed with her as a candidate.
“During her interview, she was able to create dialogue between every respected group,” Matthews said.
Creating dialogue seemed to resonate with faculty as well. Suda Ishida, the chair of the communications department and a communications professor, as well as an attendee of the meet-and-greet, emphasized the importance of connection between the various facets of the Hamline campus.
“You have to understand how conflict and people create the narrative…We want leaders who can communicate and resolve the conflict,” Ishida said.
Marcela Kostihova, the Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and an attendee of the president’s event, echoed Ishida’s sentiments, highlighting the need to pause and reevaluate how Hamline is represented in the world; that not only our leaders, but everyone on campus, influences the future.
“Having a new person come in, in the president position, allows us all to take stock of where we are and where we’re going,” Kostihova said. “We’re all committed to making sure we work together and support her in making her vision a reality.”