Ride Along with Reynolds -- May 2023

Ride Along with Reynolds, a series about where the college is heading, who's joining us for the ride, and why it matters for our students and the community.

Transcript

Hi! I'm President Paula Pando inviting you to Ride Along with Reynolds — a regular update on where the college is heading, who's joining us for the ride, and why it matters for our students and the community.

So, let's start this first trip at the top — the very top — with a very special visit from Dr. David Doré, the new chancellor of Virginia’s community colleges. What an honor to have the chancellor begin his first day on the job at Reynolds, with students, faculty, and staff turning out to welcome him. We're already looking forward to Dr. Doré’s next visit to Reynolds.

The chancellor is leading at an unprecedented time — not just for community colleges, but for higher education, period. Reynolds had the good fortune to welcome world-renowned author and scholar Dr. Arthur Levine for a spellbinding evening.

Our on-demand expectations are transforming just about every facet of our lives, and in his latest book, The Great Upheaval, Dr. Levine argues that it's a recipe for extinction for colleges and universities to stick to what we've always done. If you've streamed a movie more recently than you've seen one in a theater, you can understand his point. It's a brilliant book, and I highly recommend it.

Now, let me share with you how we're evolving. It's an area in which Reynolds is leading nationally: the use of data to show us, in real time, how our programs and students are faring by region, race, gender, and income.

In fact, at the national convening of the American Association of Community Colleges in Denver, our own Dr. Terricita Sass and Melanie Boynton took attendees on a deep dive into the rich world of data — data that informs our decision-making on a daily basis and guides how we plan for the future. Because we know our next 50 years will look very different from our last.

But for today, I want to thank everyone who has ridden along with us during our 50th-anniversary celebrations this year. Most recently, hundreds came out for 50Fest at the Parham Road Campus, and it was wonderful seeing our community immersed in a full day of activities at their college.

A huge thanks to our partners, Henrico Recreation and Parks, for making it possible. At Garden Fest on the Goochland Campus, horticulture students, faculty, and a community of master gardeners showed off the best green thumbs in the region.

And at The Kitchens at Reynolds, we celebrated 50Feast, where our Culinary Arts and Pastry Arts students and faculty were on top of their game. The evening featured award-winning alumnus Chef Ryan Manning and showcased the amazing skills students are mastering in this state-of-the-art facility made possible by public and private investment.

So much of what the college is able to accomplish is made possible by a generous community of supporters, and we appreciate each of you. Thanks for being with us on this leg of our journey, and I hope you'll come along for our next Ride Along with Reynolds!