Detail image for August 2023 Women of Higher Ed story.

Spalding University President Tori McClure.

While the ivory towers of academia are typically occupied by men, the opposite is true in our city where strong female presidents lead our local universities into an era of inclusion.

Reporting by Christine Fellingham and Rocko Jerome | Photographs by Kylene White and Benji Koelling

It’s no secret that women are in the minority in higher education leadership. In 2022, only thirty-three percent of college presidents were women. That number has barely budged in years.

Except in Louisville. Here, the majority of the presidents leading our local universities are female. When asked why so few women hold these positions nationally, Tori McClure, President of Spalding University was matter of fact: “Until Title IX passed in 1972, women were barred from many post-secondary academic programs. If you can’t become a professor, it’s pretty hard to become a president…. I think it will naturally improve as women continue to receive advanced degrees.” But after almost half a century of playing catch-up, the gender gap seems glaring, especially when close to sixty percent of college students are women. The upshot: The women occupying these elevated positions in our local educational system are truly trailblazers.

We sat down with President McClure, Indiana University Southeast’s Dr. Debbie Ford and Bellarmine’s Dr. Susan M. Donovan (Dr. Kim Schatzel, President of University of Louisville was traveling) to discuss how they are leading by example as agents of change, inclusion and empowerment on their campuses.

Detail image for August 2023 Women of Higher Ed story.

Tori McClure has been Spalding’s president since 2010.

Activism in Action at Spalding University

As the first woman to row solo across the Atlantic Ocean at the age of 36 and the first American to ski to the geographic South Pole, Tori McClure is part local global icon, part mythical figure and part gritty realist. Educated at Smith College, Harvard Divinity School and University of Louisville Brandeis School of Law, she assumed the Presidency of historic, urban Spalding University in 2010 after a stint on the Trustee Board and a distinguished and groundbreaking career that included being the first female president of the NCAA after having served on its board of governors and as council president for Division III. (She is also a Wilderness EMT, by the way.)

When asked about the challenges she faced as a woman scaling the ivory towers, she says, “Not only do I have a track record, I’m also six feet tall and I tend to wear suits. I can move through the world as a man moves through the world and nobody blinks. I was talking to a colleague about DEI and when I think about status and how much room I take up, I’m embarrassed. But when I think about how I operate I’m not embarrassed.”

She shouldn’t be. President McClure arrived at an educational institution in financial disarray. “We were more than 16 million dollars in debt; every piece of property was mortgaged,” she says. “My first goal right out of the gate was to pay off that debt and put us on strong financial footing, which I did. We only have one mortgage and that’s on a brand new building.” Fiduciary responsibility and ethicality is part of Tori McClure’s commitment to affordable education. She is outspoken about both the skyrocketing costs of higher ed and skyrocketing salaries. “We are costing ourselves beyond the reach of many young people and their families,” she says. “We are making it so that if you get a college degree you can never afford your own home and that’s always a problem.”  She attributes at least some of that cost to escalating presidential pay. “What I learned while at the NCAA is that (university) presidential salaries are driven by what we pay football and basketball coaches,” she says. “I’m from the old school. If you make more than ten times an entry level person or you make more than twice the second tier, you’re making too much. Presidential salaries have gone crazy.”

“Education improves all the world’s ills. It’s a good way to spend one’s time and one’s career and to make a difference in the world in a tangible way.”

She has worked hard to keep tuition at Spalding as low as possible– especially on the graduate level, making advanced degrees accessible to students who can change our community and the world for the better: “We’re staying competitive on price, teaching things that will make a difference in the world and adding doctorates.”

When asked to elaborate on which subjects make a difference, she is candid and clear: “Spalding was founded by the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth in 1814 and its mission has always been to educate a diverse community of learners dedicated to meeting the needs of the times. They started with nursing… and then mental health nursing after the Civil War. They recognized that before anyone was talking about it,” she says.

Mental health, physical health and education continue to be the hallmarks for Spalding. “Mental health is the biggest crisis we’re ignoring in the United States; it’s almost criminal,” she says. “We leave people unsheltered on the streets or house them in a jail cell…. People can get better, but we need treatments. We wouldn’t be stepping over someone in the street who was having a baby.” It follows then that Spalding has a highly-regarded School of Clinical Psychology as well as programs for Social Work and Clinical Mental Health Counseling. “We have all the different flavors of mental health intervention,” she says. “One that is near and dear to me that I haven’t been able to push it through yet is a mental health program for first responders. It’s one of the crying needs in Louisville.”

The ability to have an impact is what brought this accomplished woman who could do just about anything to the paneled office on Second Street.  “I think like many folks who settle into education as a career, I was searching for different ways to advance causes that are dear to me–  reducing poverty, reducing despair,” she explains. “Education improves all the world’s ills. It’s a good way to spend one’s time and one’s career and to make a difference in the world in a tangible way.”

Detail image for August 2023 Women of Higher Ed story.

Dr. Debbie Ford is the Chancellor of Indiana University Southeast.

Fostering Future Leaders at Indiana University Southeast 

After growing up in Louisville, Dr. Debbie Ford has returned to Kentuckiana following 20 years away, to become the Chancellor of Indiana University Southeast. “What an opportunity it is to come back here and do this work,” she says. “Our region’s employers are looking for great talent and we can provide students with the education and skills to fill positions in our community. To be able to position the next generation of leaders for success is a real privilege.”

“It’s so important to ensure that graduates are provided with what they need to thrive, and it’s my duty and responsibility to create a fantastic environment where they have that as students.”

A champion for student success, Dr. Ford is first and foremost excited to engage with students, faculty, and alums as she gets reacquainted with the region. She’s an IU alumna herself, holding her B.S. from the University of Louisville, a Master’s in Education from Indiana University, and a Doctor of Education from the University of Louisville. She served as chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Parkside starting in 2009, where she received the 2022 Excellence in Innovation Award for Student Success and College Completion from the American Association of State Colleges and Universities. Her tenure at that school brought considerable improvements in student completion rates. She took on her new role at IU Southeast just last month.

 “As a first-generation college graduate, I know firsthand that attaining a college degree is a transformative experience. Just as my education made me well-prepared, the same has to be true of our students. It’s so important to ensure that graduates are provided with what they need to thrive, and it’s my duty and responsibility to create a fantastic environment where they have that as students. This is a way for me to pay it forward.”

Detail image for August 2023 Women of Higher Ed story.

Dr. Susan M. Donovan has been leading Bellarmine since 2017.

Cultivating Career-readiness and Character at Bellarmine University 

“I was a first generation college student from a small town in Iowa, and I liked higher education so much that I never stopped going,” quips Dr. Susan M. Donovan, President of Bellarmine University. She earned her Bachelor’s in Mass Communication at Buena Vista University, then her Master’s in Higher Education at Florida State, and became a Doctor of Philosophy at St Louis University before taking a vice president position and then becoming president at Loyola University in Maryland. She became Bellarmine University’s fourth president in 2017.

“Our mission at Bellarmine is to educate the whole person – mind, body, and spirit,” Dr. Donovan says. “We give a personal touch, getting to know students and following through on a commitment to engage with and treat every person with dignity. It’s an engaging place, creating spaces where people can gather and experience community and become very productive members of society.”

“In our college years, we hone the values of who we are and who we will become. The habits of youth tend to stick with us. It’s a critical time for people in that period of their life, and having a well-rounded experience is so often key to a life of value later.”

Seventy percent of Bellarmine students are from Kentucky and stay here to benefit our local community and positively impact the economy after graduation. The school has programs in place to ensure affordability, and Bellarmine matches any flagship school at full cost. The student body is diverse; 31% are people of color. Part of orientation includes character-building service work in our community.

“In our college years, we hone the values of who we are and who we will become,” says Dr. Donovan. “The habits of youth tend to stick with us. It’s a critical time for people in that period of their life, and having a well-rounded experience is so often key to a life of value later. Being able to help shepherd young people in these key developmental years, soaking up education like sponges, and learning about themselves and each other…. As president, you get to watch this magic happen. What’s not to love?”