Rollins College has announced Brooke Barnett as their new president, beginning her term in the 2025-2026 academic year. On Dec. 11, the school shared the news via an email statement.
In a time of change and transition, Barnett wishes to create new connections between faculty and students and champion academic freedom.
Barnett brings new and excited energy to the Rollins campus. “I’m really excited to get to know the people of the community,” she said. “Expanding my interactions with the Rollins College community will be really exciting to me, and then just listening and understanding a little bit where people are.”
Barnett is currently the Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs at Butler University with her focus being on the development and delivery of educational policies and the academic work of the university. She also concentrates on DEIB and was drawn to Rollins due to the college’s commitment to DEIB initiatives.
“I’ve been happy to see in this search process, for example, the cut through about academic freedom, the autonomy of faculty, the academic and curricular enterprise having the ability to be grounded in expertise, and also a really strong commitment to DEIB that was asked about in the whole process in a way that I think makes it clear where Rollins stands as an organization,” said Barnett.
Barnett understands that Rollins College is going through a transition period with the construction of the East End neighborhood, expansion of academic offerings, and adapting to the new policies that will be put in place by President-elect Donald Trump.
“It strikes me that you’re on a really positive and exciting trajectory, and I’m glad to catch on to that and help continue it forward,” she said.
Barnett commented on the challenges that Rollins will face in the upcoming future and ways in which she hopes to navigate these challenges. “Higher ed is going to be a wild ride in the next bit of time for a whole lot of reasons,” she said. “Rollins College has a lot of protective measures that help you not to have as wild a ride. I’m looking forward to thinking about the ways the community can be nimble and address some of those issues to continue this strong trajectory.”
Barnett wants to create close ties between herself, faculty, and students. “I wanted to be in higher ed because of students, so I manufacture in my current role lots of ways to interact with students,” she said. “I give students an option of coffee or tea and a chat or coffee or tea and a walk and chat.” Barnett looks forward to developing communicative relationships with students in which she can understand the struggles of current students and work alongside them to create meaningful solutions.
This commitment to student engagement reflects Barnett’s broader vision for liberal arts education, which she sees as a crucial part of addressing the mounting challenges facing higher education. While some institutions struggle with public perception of liberal arts programs, Barnett brings a fierce advocacy for their enduring value.
“What’s appealing to me is the deep support for the residential liberal arts college model,” she said. “You have Crummer and Hamilton Holt, which I think expands the identities, the backgrounds, the experiences, and the programs that students are studying, and that is appealing as a learning environment.”
Barnett’s background with education did not start in the liberal arts experience though.
“Initially, I thought that being a politician might be the way to change the world; that wasn’t for me, so I eventually moved into journalism,” she said. “I was working as the news director at the public television station that was housed on a college campus and teaching in that journalism program. Eventually, I started doing some scholarships with some graduate students and really just fell in love with teaching.”
From there, Barnett quickly ascended to higher administrative positions, gaining over 24 years of experience in education. As Barnett prepares to lead Rollins, she appreciates the culture cultivated over the years and welcomes the Rollins and Winter Park communities as her new home.
“I am excited about the Lip Sync contest, which seems like it’s also fun. I love the idea of the candle ceremony, the idea of entertaining at the Barker House, and thinking about ways to interact with students,” said Barnett. “In my current campus environment, I eat lunch on campus, often just to be among students. I love being on college campuses for those traditions, the annual events, the religious calendar from all the different types of religious groups. Those are things I’ve been involved in, in all my institutions, and I would welcome that opportunity.”
While Barnett’s appointment comes at a challenging time for higher education, both she and the search committee express confidence in Rollins’ position to navigate these challenges.
“Dr. Barnett brings humility, humanity, and experience,” said Eltavious Johnson (‘26), Vice-President of the Student Government Association and student representative on the presidential search committee.
“I hit her with some tough questions about scenario-based questions like, ‘What are you going to do if there are protests about divestment from fossil fuels above the college in front of a board meeting with trustees?’” said Johnson. “She was quick to listen, slow to speak—a quiet storm.”
The committee is confident Barnett’s student-focused approach to leadership will be crucial in continuing Rollins’ upward trajectory.
“At first, it was Rita Borenstein, the only female president of Rollins. Now, she’ll be the first and Dr. Barnett will be the second,” said Johnson. “A lot of alumni talked about the facelift that Rita Borenstein gave Rollins, and I think those are some different times that she came in to fix things, but Dr. Barnett is coming in at a good time. I think she’s really going to give us a facelift. I think that’s the story.”
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