Hollins University Celebrates National Women's Colleges and Universities Day

Behind the Page

In 2024, Representatives Kay Granger, R-Texas, Becca Balint, D-Vt., and Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., put forth a Congressional resolution – H. Res. 1091 – establishing March 5 as National Women’s Colleges and Universities Day to elevate the unique contributions of women’s colleges and universities in American higher education. 

Hollins is one of 32 women’s colleges remaining in the U.S., down from about 230 institutions in the 1960s, according to the Women’s Colleges Coalition, an association of women’s colleges and universities founded in 1972. 

But women’s colleges and universities continue to:  

  • enroll high numbers of diverse student populations and first-generation students. 
  • produce an outsized percentage of women elected to political leadership.  
  • lead in providing access to Pell-eligible students. At Hollins, more than 50% of undergraduate students are in this category.  
  • graduate more STEM majors than coed institutions, with strong pathways to medical school and doctoral programs. 

“Women’s colleges and universities have long served as catalysts for equity, leadership, and transformative opportunity,” said President Mary Dana Hinton. “At Hollins, we are proud to be part of this enduring tradition that prepares women to lead with courage, creativity, and conviction in every field and every community they serve.”

Hollins University is a private liberal arts university set on a picturesque 475-acre campus in Roanoke, Virginia. Founded in 1842 as Valley Union Seminary in the historic community of Botetourt Springs, Hollins is one of the nation’s oldest institutions of higher education for women. Today, it enrolls approximately 800 undergraduate and graduate students and is nationally recognized for its academic excellence, creative focus, and dedication to developing women leaders.  

Signature offerings include the Batten Executive Certificate in Leadership, a nationally competitive equestrian program, the Eleanor D. Wilson Museum, the acclaimed Jackson Center for Creative Writing, and the Wyndham Robertson Library—designated Virginia’s first National Literary Landmark. The university’s historic Front Quadrangle is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places.