Bank of Holly Springs

Rust meets challenges, sets goals

There’s a silver lining in most every situation, including Rust College’s challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It pushed Rust to embrace online, distance learning at a rapid pace,” said Dr. Ivy Taylor, new president of the college in Holly Springs. “It’s important to be able to offer that option.”

She was the guest speaker last week, via Zoom, for the Holly Springs Rotary Club meeting.

Rust College was able to provide laptops for all of its students in the 2020-2021 academic year, thanks to stimulus funds from the CARES Act.

“That’s a really big deal,” she said. “Many of the students here are first generation college students. Many are economically disadvantaged, and many did not own their own computer.”

Taylor said last spring when the pandemic first hit, prior to her coming on as president June 1, many students went home and had to complete their work using mobile phones or at libraries where they could access WiFi on computers.

Another big boost on the digital side is coming soon — a $345,000 grant from the Southern Community Foundation for will also help boost our digital outreach and admissions.”

Rust wraps up the first part of the academic year this week.

“We will dismiss prior to Thanksgiving, like a lot of colleges, and come back in January,” Taylor said.

Dorms are closing on Wednesday, Nov. 25.

Rust enrollment this fall was at 635, with 320 of those living and learning on campus and the others participating in remote learning.

Initially, Rust College experienced only three employee cases of COVID-19, but then in mid-October, Taylor said there was apparently a party somewhere in Holly Springs and student cases occurred over a 10-day span.

“We went to 10 that first week, and we had said if cases went over 10, we would switch to 100 percent virtual,” she said.

And that’s what happened.

Rust had 34 cases and went to all remote learning.

“Students had to quarantine here or quarantine off campus,” she said. “We got through that 14-day quarantine on Friday, Nov. 13.”

Students who stayed in their dorm rooms were delivered three meals a day, and had periods of time when they could go outside and get fresh air.

For last week and the portion of this week’s schedule remaining, students were able to move about campus and continue with in-person classes.

Taylor said many plans this year were sidelined due to COVID, but even in the tough times presented her as the new Rust president, she knows, “This is the path God put before me.”

The former mayor of San Antonio, Texas, said, “I really wouldn’t want to be a mayor right now. That’s a tougher gig.”

She said Rust is truly at a “fork in the road.”

“Enrollment has declined over the years, and the board of trustees wanted a fresh perspective and fresh leadership,” Taylor said. “We want to build on the tremendous Rust legacy.”

An increase in enrollment is, of course, a goal, but there are others that go hand in hand, including reengaging the college with the surrounding community.

Some of the goals will be part of a long-range strategic plan, and others will be focused on once the pandemic goes away.

“We want Holly Springs to be a true college town,” Taylor said. “There are so many assets here, and a lot of history. Our fates are intertwined. We believe Rust College is a jewel that many have overlooked.”

She has already established partnerships with Ole Miss, the University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio, and Cleveland State — as far as assisting students with the attainment of certain degrees.

A strategic plan will be unveiled during Founders Day activities in November 2021, hopefully back on campus after being virtual this year.

“We recognize the importance of Rust College to this community, and we want community stakeholders to be involved in the plan,” she said.

Goals include improvement in curriculum and improvements to both the digital plant and the physical plant. The campus is already being spruced up with new landscaping to create “a more pleasant environment,” she said.

A capital campaign will also be launched, to include such things as continued restoration of the old Mississippi Industrial College campus across from Rust and an Ida B. Wells Interpretive Center.

Taylor wants Rust to play an even larger role in claiming Ida B. Wells “as one of our own.” The Civil Rights journalist and activist was born and raised in Holly Springs and attended Rust College.

She said the college needs substantial overall improvements to better its position in the 21st century.

“It is our goal to take Rust to the next level,” Taylor said.

Holly Springs South Reporter

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