Dear Salem Friends,
It has been a remarkable first month at Salem Academy and College serving as its 22nd president. Besides learning to navigate Winston-Salem and eating more pimento cheese than I have in my lifetime, this month I also have learned about the incredible dedication that our faculty and staff have for this institution, the caliber and diversity of our student body, and the engagement and commitment our alumnae have to our institution.
As we enter this 250th year for Salem, we remember our extraordinarily rich history, celebrate our institutional success, and look excitedly toward an exceptionally vibrant future. I hope that you plan to join me in these celebrations this year and that we will have many opportunities to get to know each other better as we commemorate this anniversary and support Salem’s next 250 years.
I am tremendously excited to launch our transformational pivot to being the United States’ only liberal arts college focused on developing the next generation of women leaders in health. Our bold transformation is the key to our future success as we innovate and reimagine our academic and student experiences. I look forward to sharing more with you about that in the coming months.
We are extremely excited to welcome our students back to campus in just a few short weeks. We continue to nimbly respond to the changes and challenges required by the COVID-19 pandemic to ensure that we keep our entire campus community healthy and safe this academic year.
Thank you for your warm welcome to Salem and to the broader community. I am so happy and proud to call Salem Academy and College my new home.
Summer McGee
President
Thanks to the support of our alumnae and friends, the Salem College Fund ended the fiscal year strong by raising $2.2 million and exceeding our $1.95 million goal. We could not have done this without the 1,618 donors who made a difference by investing in the future of Salem’s remarkable students. We would also like to give a special shout out to our alumnae who made gifts in honor of their Reunions. Please see the final Reunion giving results below:
We are grateful for your support!
Registration for the Journey from Bethlehem to Salem closes August 20. Don’t miss this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to join your fellow Salem alumnae and friends on this special walk from Bethlehem, Pennsylvania to Winston-Salem. Walk one day or all 29 or join us virtually! Learm more about the Joureny event on our website.
The kick-off to our 250 Celebration on Saturday, September 25, 2021, includes a concert with the Winston-Salem Symphony featuring the world premiere of Gaudeamus, a commissioned piece composed by Margaret Vardell Sandresky A’38 C’42. If you can’t make it to the Salem campus, don’t worry, the concert will be live streamed. Host a dinner party and enjoy the concert in the comfort of your own home! Tickets will be on sale soon! Visit our websit for more information about “An Evening for Salem”.
Several Salem College alumnae have been highlighted in the media over the past few months.
An article from the Charlotte Observer, talks about how gallery owner Irina Toshkova, C’06, expanded and reinvented her business during COVID-19.
Dr. Tiese L. Roxbury, C’04, has opened Wilmington, North Carolina’s first selfie museum: The Self-Love Museum. Read more through Cape Fear Weekend from WECT Channel 6 and WWAY Channel 3.
Dr. Jennie Smith McLaurin C’81 is releasing a book on August 3 entitled Designed to Heal: What the Body Shows Us about Healing Wounds, Repairing Relationships, and Restoring Community. Written with Cymbeline Tancongco Culiat, Designed to Heal tackles the question: If our bodies instinctively know how to heal physical injuries, could they also help us understand how to repair painful emotional and relational ruptures?
There will be a book talk with Jennie in the Activity Building at Highland Presbyterian Church at 2380 Cloverdale Avenue NW in Winston-Salem on Thursday, August 26 at 7 p.m. Advance registration is encouraged. This event is limited to 100 people, and masks are required. You can order copies of Jennie’s book through Bookmarks for pickup at the store or delivery to your home. Bookmarks also will have books for sale on site on August 26.
Salem College swimmer Olivia Kleven C’21 has been nominated for the 2021 NCAA Woman of the Year, which honors the academic achievements, athletics excellence, community service and leadership of graduating female college athletes from all three divisions.
Earlier this year, Kleven earned Scholar Athlete of the Year Award from the Salem College Department of Athletics after posting the highest cumulative grade point average. She graduated in May with a Bachelor of Science in biochemistry and a Bachelor of Arts in chemistry while minoring in mathematics. She is working towards becoming a physician assistant specializing in pediatric hematology and oncology.
Read the full article about Kleven on the Salem Spirits Website.
Throughout its 250-year history, Salem Academy and College has been nurtured and protected by governing boards composed of trustees dedicated to the mission of educating girls and women. Each era in Salem’s history has called upon trustees in times of trial and triumph, and of preservation and growth, to be resilient and focused on the relevance of the mission for present and future students. While wars and pestilence and economic downturns have challenged its very survival, the dedication of faculty, staff, administration, the Moravian Church, alumnae, and the governing board ensured that students would continue to find the best possible education at Salem Academy and College.
From the minutes books of the Board of Trustees during the 1920s and 30s, a story emerges that illustrates the resilience and tenacity of trustees who came to the Board during a time of relative economic calm but were abruptly thrust into the Great Depression and all the hardships that entailed.
The 1920s began with some major milestones at Salem: the discontinuation of grades one through five at The Preparatory School in 1921, and the official acceptance of the College as a member of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) in 1922. Salem finally realized relief from the impact of World War I and the flu epidemic of 1918, and a small profit from fiscal year 1924 helped to offset a deficit acquired between 1920 and 1922. One of Salem’s investment strategies at the time included making individual loans to community members. Reports from the Finance Committee and full Board meetings indicate this practice was ongoing, profitable for the institution, and must have been a great help to the community. Then came October 29, 1929. The stock market crash is never referenced as such in the Board minutes, but the devastating effect on Salem’s financial situation comes through poignantly in the recorded facts.
By 1931, those community member loans and student loans were not being repaid. Food costs for the dining hall went up by 20 to 25 percent, and enrollment was down. Austerity measures, including salary cuts and employee cuts, were implemented, and the anguish of the Board was formally expressed in the minutes and to the faculty and staff. The Board met ever more frequently, and often the minutes referred to the “lateness of the hour.” References were made to the “great financial emergency in our present condition” and to the “unprecedented financial difficulties of these times.”
By 1934, Salem was beginning to realize an improved financial situation, including “living within the year’s budget.” The following is recorded in the minutes of June 8, 1934: “A general expression of appreciation and congratulations regarding the improved financial status of the corporation was voiced by the members of the Board as a whole and it was desired that this be recorded in the minutes.”
There are many stories in Salem’s extraordinary resilient history; there will be many more to come, and those who are tapped for service will always stand ready to defend and promote Salem.
To all trustees, past and present, with my deep respect and gratitude,
Lynne Stewart C’97
Former Director of Board Relations at Salem Academy and College