Jonathan Holloway (historian)

Last updated
Jonathan Holloway
Jonathan Holloway.jpg
Holloway in 2023
21st President of Rutgers University
Assumed office
July 1, 2020

Jonathan Scott Holloway (born 1967) is an American historian, academic administrator, and the 21st president of Rutgers University.

Contents

Holloway was named as the president of Rutgers University in January 2020 becoming the first person of color and first African American to be named president of Rutgers. He assumed the position on July 1, 2020. [1] Before coming to Rutgers, he was the provost of Northwestern University, a position he held between August 1, 2017, and July 1, 2020. Before that, he was the dean of Yale College and Edmund S. Morgan Professor of African American Studies, History, and American Studies at Yale University. During his tenure as Rutgers president, he oversaw the response to the 2023 Rutgers University strike. In an email to students on September 17, 2024 Holloway announced his resignation stating that the 2024–2025 academic year will be his final year as university president and he would not seek a contract extension.

Early life and education

Holloway was born in Hawaii and raised on military bases in Montgomery, Alabama and Maryland while his father served in the United States Air Force. [2] [3] He was a star football player at Winston Churchill High School in Potomac, Maryland, [4] and he was named an All-American honorable mention by USA Today . [5] [6]

Holloway was recruited to play linebacker at Stanford University but graduated in 1989 without starting a game. [5] While on Stanford's football team, he was a teammate of future U.S. Senator Cory Booker. [7] He earned a Bachelor of Arts in American studies. [8] Holloway earned a Ph.D. in history from Yale University in 1995. [6] [9]

Academic career

He began his academic career at the University of California, San Diego, [9] before returning to Yale and joining its faculty in 1999. He became a full professor there in 2004. [9]

Holloway was appointed Master (now known as "Head") of Calhoun College (now known as Grace Hopper College) in 2005, and chaired the governing body of Yale's residential colleges, the Council of Masters, from 2009 to 2014. As a Master, Holloway was respected for his approachability, charisma, and involvement in student life. [9] [10] For several years, he opposed the change of name of Calhoun, despite student demands, and noted the irony of his serving as the Master of that college; but he changed his mind as many students became more vocal in their opposition to the name in 2015. [11] He was considered a candidate for dean of Yale College in 2008, though Mary Miller was eventually appointed. [10] He was appointed as her successor in May 2014 by Yale President Peter Salovey, making him Yale's first black dean. [12] [13] [14]

During the protests regarding Halloween costumes at Yale in November 2015, while he was dean, Holloway strongly supported the costume guidelines issued by his office (guidelines which some critics saw as unnecessary), calling them "exactly right." [15] [16] [17] Holloway is a supporter of affirmative action programs and reparations (albeit not cash transfers). [18]

Holloway left Yale and became provost of Northwestern University on August 1, 2017.

Holloway is the author of Confronting the Veil: Abram Harris Jr., E. Franklin Frazier, and Ralph Bunche, 1919-1941 (2002) and Jim Crow Wisdom: Memory and Identity in Black America Since 1940 (2013), both published by the University of North Carolina Press. He also wrote The Cause of Freedom: A Concise History of African Americans (2021) and African American History: A Very Short Introduction (2023), both with Oxford University Press. He edited Ralph Bunche's A Brief and Tentative Analysis of Negro Leadership (NYU Press, 2005) and co-edited Black Scholars on the Line: Race, Social Science, and American Thought in the 20th Century (University of Notre Dame Press, 2007). He wrote an introduction for a new edition of W.E.B. Du Bois's Souls of Black Folk, published by Yale University Press in 2015. [19]

Rutgers University

Holloway with Thomas Kean Jr. in February 2023 Tom Kean and Jonathan Holloway.jpg
Holloway with Thomas Kean Jr. in February 2023

On January 21, 2020, Rutgers University announced that Holloway has been selected as the university's twenty-first president. He assumed the position on July 1, 2020, following the resignation of the university's previous president Dr. Robert L. Barchi. [1] [20] Holloway is Rutgers' first Black president. [14]

At Rutgers, Holloway endorsed a climate goal to achieve carbon neutrality by 2040, established a public service-focused summer internship program, and commissioned a diversity strategic plan. In his first year, Holloway championed a fundraising drive that generated $10 million in private donations for student financial assistance; a year later, he expanded the initiative and set a target of raising $50 million by the end of 2024.

On April 9, 2023, three unions voted to go on the first strike by academics in the university's 257-year history, citing the lack of progress on contract talks between union representatives and university officials. As a result, classes and research were suspended. [21] [22] [23] Holloway opposed the strike and claimed during negotiations that strikes by public workers are illegal in New Jersey. [24] These claims were disputed by several scholars, [25] and the legality of public worker strikes in the state remains unclear. [26]

On September 22, 2023, the Rutgers senate passed a motion of no confidence in Holloway's leadership. The vote was 89–47 and came after several unpopular actions by Holloway, including not renewing the contract of Nancy Cantor, the popular chancellor of the school’s Newark campus, and threatening to file an injunction against Rutgers faculty during its strike. [27]

On September 17, 2024, Holloway announced that the 2024-2025 academic year would be his final year serving as university president. Although he may be leaving, Holloway says, “There is plenty to do before I leave office on June 30, and I remain focused on that work... Above all, I remain steadfast in my belief that Rutgers is on the rise and is earning the respect it has long deserved. I look forward to seeing it flourish in the years ahead.” [28]

Personal life

Holloway is married to Aisling Colón, and they have a son, Ellison, and a daughter, Emerson. [6] His older brother Brian Holloway played professional football in the NFL. [5]

Publications

Books

  • Holloway, Jonathan Scott (2002). Confronting the Veil: Abram Harris, Jr., E. Franklin Frazier, and Ralph Bunche, 1919-1941. University of North Carolina Press. ISBN   0807853437.
  • Holloway, Jonathan Scott (2013). Jim Crow Wisdom: Memory and Identity in Black America since 1940. University of North Carolina Press. ISBN   9781469610702.
  • Holloway, Jonathan Scott (2021). The Cause of Freedom: A Concise History of African Americans. Oxford University Press. ISBN   9780190915193.
  • Holloway, Jonathan Scott (2023). African American History: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford University Press. ISBN   9780190915155.

Edited volumes

  • Holloway, Jonathan Scott; Keppel, Ben, eds. (2007). Black Scholars on the Line: Race, Social Science, and American Thought in the Twentieth Century. University of Notre Dame Press. ISBN   9780268030797.

Critical editions

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yale University</span> Private university in New Haven, Connecticut, US

Yale University is a private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Founded in 1701, Yale is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, and one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rutgers University</span> Multi-campus public research university in New Jersey

Rutgers University, officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and was affiliated with the Dutch Reformed Church. It is the eighth-oldest college in the United States, the second-oldest in New Jersey, and one of nine colonial colleges that were chartered before the American Revolution.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yale College</span> Undergraduate college of Yale University

Yale College is the undergraduate college of Yale University. Founded in 1701, it is the original school of the university. Although other Yale schools were founded as early as 1810, all of Yale was officially known as Yale College until 1887, when its schools were confederated and the institution was renamed Yale University.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ralph Bunche</span> American diplomat and Nobel Peace laureate (1904–1971)

Ralph Johnson Bunche was an American political scientist, diplomat, and leading actor in the mid-20th-century decolonization process and US civil rights movement, who received the 1950 Nobel Peace Prize for his late 1940s mediation in Israel. He is the first black Nobel laureate and the first person of African descent to be awarded a Nobel Prize. He was involved in the formation and early administration of the United Nations (UN), and played a major role in both the decolonization process and numerous UN peacekeeping operations.

A provost is a senior academic administrator. At many institutions of higher education, the provost is the chief academic officer, a role that may be combined with being deputy to the chief executive officer. They may also be the chief executive officer of a university, of a branch campus of a university, or of a college within a university.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grace Hopper College</span> College of Yale University

Grace Hopper College is a residential college of Yale University, opened in 1933 as one of the original eight undergraduate residential colleges endowed by Edward Harkness. It was originally named Calhoun College after US Vice President John C. Calhoun, but renamed in 2017 in honor of computer scientist Grace Murray Hopper. The building was designed by John Russell Pope.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mason Welch Gross</span> American academic

Mason Welch Gross was an American television quiz show personality, philosopher and academic. The namesake of Mason Gross School of the Arts, he served as the sixteenth President of Rutgers University from 1959 to 1971.

Nathan Orr Hatch is a scholar of American religious history and academic administrator. He most recently served as the President of Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, having been officially installed on October 20, 2005. Before coming to Wake Forest, Hatch was a professor and later dean and provost at the University of Notre Dame. Prior to his career in academic administration, he was a historian who was a leading scholar on issues related to the history of religion in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brian Holloway</span> American football player (born 1959)

Brian Douglass Holloway is an American former professional football player who was an offensive tackle who played in the National Football League (NFL) for the New England Patriots and Los Angeles Raiders from 1981 to 1988. He played college football for the Stanford Cardinal. He is the father of David Holloway, who also played professional football.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Residential colleges of Yale University</span> Undergraduate housing system at Yale University

Yale University has a system of fourteen residential colleges with which all Yale undergraduate students and many faculty are affiliated. Inaugurated in 1933, the college system is considered the defining feature of undergraduate life at Yale College, and the residential colleges serve as the residence halls and social hubs for most undergraduates. Construction and programming for eight of the original ten colleges were funded by educational philanthropist Edward S. Harkness. Yale was, along with Harvard, one of the first universities in the United States to establish a residential college system.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert L. Barchi</span> American academic (born 1946)

Robert Lawrence Barchi is an American academic, physician, and scientist. He was the 20th president of Rutgers University, holding the position from September 1, 2012, to June 30, 2020. Barchi was appointed to the position on April 11, 2012, to succeed Richard L. McCormick. Previously, Barchi was president of Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, prior to which he was provost of the University of Pennsylvania.

Michael Harry Schill is an American legal scholar and academic administrator. He has been serving as the 17th and current president of Northwestern University since September 2022. Schill previously served as the 18th president of the University of Oregon from 2015 to 2022, dean of the University of Chicago Law School from 2009 to 2015, and dean of the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law from 2004 to 2009.

Christopher Alan Bracey is an American law professor and former litigator who currently serves as the provost and executive vice president for academic affairs of The George Washington University. He is a leading scholar on race, inequality, and the law and is the author of Saviors or Sellouts: The Promise and Peril of Black Conservatism from Booker T. Washington to Condoleezza Rice (2008) and co-editor of The Dred Scott Case: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives on Race and Law (2010).

Aldon Douglas Morris is emeritus professor of sociology at Northwestern University and member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, whose work involves social movements, civil rights, and social inequality. He was the 2021 president of the American Sociological Association. He is best known for his work on sociolgist W. E. B. Du Bois.

Loren Frank Ghiglione is an American journalist, editor, and journalism educator and dean. He has worked as a part of journalism professionally for over 45 years, and was awarded the Ida B. Wells Award from the National Association of Black Journalists, as well as the Distinguished Service to Journalism History Award from the American Journalism Historians Association. In 2001 he decided to focus his career around education, working as a professor for universities such as Emory University, University of Central Florida, and Northwestern University.

Michael T. Cahill is an American legal scholar who is a Professor of Law at Brooklyn Law School. He was also the former co-Dean of Rutgers Law School.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wendell Pritchett</span> American lawyer, legal scholar, and university administrator

Wendell Eric Pritchett is an American legal scholar and academic. He is currently the James S. Riepe Presidential Professor of Law and Education at the University of Pennsylvania Law School. From February to June 2022, Pritchett served as interim president of the University of Pennsylvania; he is the first Black individual to serve as the university's president.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Antonio D. Tillis</span> American academic administrator and literary scholar

Antonio D. Tillis is an American academic administrator currently serving as the chancellor of Rutgers University–Camden. He assumed office on July 1, 2021. A few months later, faculty in the School of Arts and Sciences voted no confidence in him, criticizing Tillis for having "grievously injured the College of Arts and Sciences at Rutgers-Camden" and having "seriously eroded the trust of its faculty in his leadership."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2023 Rutgers University strike</span> Labor strike at Rutgers University, New Jersey

The 2023 Rutgers University strike was a labor strike involving faculty and graduate student workers at Rutgers University in New Jersey, United States. Academic workers at all four campuses—New Brunswick, Newark, Camden, and RBHS—participated in the bargaining action, affecting over 9,000 staff members and 67,000 students at the university. The strike began on April 10, 2023 following several months of failed negotiations between labor unions and Rutgers administration and was suspended on April 15, 2023.

References

  1. 1 2 "Jonathan Holloway Named 21st President of Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey". Rutgers Today. 2020-01-21. Retrieved 2020-01-21.
  2. Barnes, Kristen (13 March 2014). "Dr. Jonathan Holloway of Yale University Is the 2014 Realizing the Dream Distinguished Lecturer". Engaging Diversity at UA Crossroads. University of Alabama. Archived from the original on 30 August 2014. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
  3. NJ.com, Adam Clark | NJ Advance Media for (2020-01-20). "What you need to know about Rutgers' new president, Jonathan Holloway". nj. Retrieved 2020-07-02.
  4. Huff, Donald (November 16, 1984). "Holloway: In Pursuit Of Targets". The Washington Post.
  5. 1 2 3 Warren, Peter (August 30, 2019). "Q&A: Provost Jonathan Holloway remembers his football career at Stanford ahead of NU's game Saturday". Daily Northwestern. Archived from the original on September 15, 2019. Retrieved February 1, 2020.
  6. 1 2 3 "Holloway named next master of Calhoun College". Yale Bulletin & Calendar. Vol. 33, no. 22. March 18, 2005.
  7. NJ.com, Adam Clark | NJ Advance Media for (2020-07-01). "Did Rutgers find the perfect president for 2020? Meet Jonathan Holloway, Black historian". nj. Retrieved 2020-07-05.
  8. "Jonathan Holloway: Office of the Provost - Northwestern University". www.northwestern.edu. Archived from the original on 2020-07-02. Retrieved 2020-07-02.
  9. 1 2 3 4 Rodman, Micah (5 September 2014). "The master of Yale College". Yale Herald. Archived from the original on 10 November 2014.
  10. 1 2 Arnsdorf, Isaac (26 September 2008). "Holloway: Charismatic, but too young?". Yale Daily News. Dean Search. Archived from the original on 17 November 2015. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
  11. "HOLLOWAY: Looking back on Calhoun". Archived from the original on 2018-06-29. Retrieved 2018-06-28.
  12. Lloyd-Thomas, Matthew (May 21, 2014). "Salovey Names New Deans". Yale Daily News . Archived from the original on November 17, 2015. Retrieved November 16, 2015.
  13. Watson, Jamal (22 May 2014). "Two African-American Scholars Join Ranks of Deans". Diverse: Issues in Higher Education. Archived from the original on 17 November 2015. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
  14. 1 2 Madani, Doha (January 21, 2020). "Rutgers University names its first black president in 253-year history". NBC News . Retrieved July 1, 2020.
  15. "New Videos Show How Yale Betrayed Itself by Favoring Cry-bullies". Tablet Magazine. Archived from the original on 2017-11-06. Retrieved 2017-11-11.
  16. "Yale Students Demand Resignations from Faculty Members Over Halloween Email - FIRE". FIRE. 2015-11-06. Archived from the original on 2018-06-30. Retrieved 2018-06-28.
  17. Friedersdorf, Conor (2015-11-09). "The New Intolerance of Student Activism". The Atlantic. Archived from the original on 2018-06-28. Retrieved 2018-06-28.
  18. Cui, Jingyi (April 6, 2018). "Holloway returns to campus, debates reparations". Yale Daily News . Retrieved 2018-07-22.
  19. Lorincz, Kevin (May 26, 2022). "Holloway a Contributing Voice in New HISTORY Channel Series". Rutgers Today. Rutgers University . Retrieved May 8, 2023.
  20. Freytas-Tamura, Kimiko de (January 19, 2020). "Rutgers to Name Its First Black President, School Official Says". The New York Times . p. 20. Retrieved May 8, 2023.
  21. Stack, Liam (2023-04-10). "Rutgers University Faculty Members Strike, Halting Classes and Research". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2023-04-10.
  22. Reilly, Kristina Sgueglia,Elizabeth Wolfe,Artemis Moshtaghian,Liam (2023-04-10). "3 unions representing about 9,000 Rutgers University faculty and staff to begin historic strike over contract negotiations". CNN. Retrieved 2023-04-10.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  23. Racioppi, Dustin (9 April 2023). "Rutgers University workers will strike, a historic first for New Jersey's state school". POLITICO. Retrieved 2023-04-10.
  24. Fox, Joey (April 10, 2023). "Rutgers faculty begins history-making strike". New Jersey Globe. Retrieved April 10, 2023.
  25. Yi, Karen (March 31, 2023). "Prominent scholars blast Rutgers president for calling looming faculty strike 'unlawful'". Gothamist . Retrieved April 10, 2023.
  26. Biryukov, Nikita (April 13, 2023). "Little support for striking public workers in state law". New Jersey Monitor. States Newsroom . Retrieved May 8, 2023.
  27. Snyder, Susan (September 22, 2023). "Rutgers University senate votes no confidence in the school's president after faculty strike and controversial changes". The Philadelphia Inquirer . Retrieved September 23, 2023.
  28. https://www.rutgers.edu/news/jonathan-holloway-serve-final-year-rutgers-president