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Dan Koehler doesn’t remember all of the details—it was more than a decade ago—but he does remember the questions: How will your film impact the people involved? How do you package it in a way that’s accessible, interesting, and impactful?

They are questions asked by Brooke Barnett, his honors thesis advisor, during one of their many brisk walks across Elon University’s campus in spring 2012 as they discussed his documentary about a Zambian farmer. They’re the same questions Koehler, an Emmy-nominated, Oscar-winning documentary editor, still asks himself today.

Those walks were and are a hallmark of their relationship. For Barnett, then an associate professor of communication and associate provost, they were a way to maximize time between meetings and events. For Koehler, they were formative.

“They’re proper New York walks, where you’re moving fast and covering a lot of ground but also really digging into interesting topics,” says Koehler. “They really get your brain going. They’re the classic Brooke walks. They are definitely a fixture of our relationship.”

Ask anyone who’s met Barnett, who became Rollins’ 16th president on July 1, and three qualities stand out. She moves fast—talks fast, walks fast, thinks fast. She asks a lot of questions. And she genuinely cares. All three attributes are rooted in her training as a journalist and time spent as a reporter, host, and news director at a PBS station, where deadlines, information, and relationships are not optional—they’re essential.

This dynamic mix has led many who have met her to describe her, admiringly, as a dynamo. And it is this energy, inquisitiveness, and authenticity—alongside a deep passion for students, the liberal arts, and Rollins and its mission—that she brings to leading the College into its next era of growth.

Seeking Possibilities

One of Barnett’s most important questions—What’s possible?—perhaps came from her time as a student at Georgetown College, a liberal arts school in Kentucky. At the time, she hadn’t imagined becoming a journalist, professor, or college administrator. She was toying with the idea of pursuing politics but knew only three things for sure: She wanted to help people, she liked writing, and she loved reading. Growing up before the Internet, smartphones, and social media, she didn’t have many opportunities to experience life outside of the tiny, historical town of Harrodsburg, Kentucky, where she lived. But she did have books.

“Whether fiction or nonfiction, books help you better understand lives that you haven’t lived,” says Barnett.

And so she majored in English, and like many liberal arts students, branched out from there—adding a communication major and diving into theater, playwriting, philosophy, and journalism. She served as editor of the student newspaper and met professors who became mentors.

It was English professor and newspaper advisor Rosemary Allen, now president of Georgetown College, who encouraged her potential as a journalist. Earlier this year, Allen shared why. She recalled a moment overhearing Barnett talking with a source and witnessing how natural she was at asking the right questions.

“[Allen] felt that being a journalist was in my blood, and I will say questioning things really still is,” says Barnett. “Not in a dogged, let’s-get-down-to-the-bottom-of-this kind of way, but in a this-is-how-we-learn-from-each-other-as-humans kind of way. That’s still how I seek to understand.”

Pursuing Passion

Another key question Barnett asked herself—and encourages students to ask—is, What’s my passion?

With Allen’s encouragement, Barnett earned a master’s in journalism followed by a PhD in communication, both from Indiana University Bloomington. There, while working at local PBS affiliate WTIU, she found two new loves: documentary filmmaking for its ability to amplify different voices and would-be husband Tom Mould, who joins Rollins as a faculty member in the anthropology department. She also discovered a new passion: teaching.

“I loved the scholarship, the collaboration, the energy in the classroom,” she says. “That’s what drew me to academic life.”

In 2001, Barnett joined Elon University as an assistant professor of communication. Kenn Gaither, now dean of Elon’s School of Communications, recalls meeting Barnett for the first time in 2004 when he joined the faculty.

“She was the kind of faculty member who reached out to me and introduced herself and made herself a resource to me,” says Gaither. “And over time, that very professional relationship turned into a friendship. My first impression was ‘what a dynamo and what a welcoming presence to Elon and the School of Communications.’”

When asked about Barnett’s biggest legacy at Elon, Gaither has a hard time narrowing down his response to just one thing.

“There was a time when, if you looked at the priorities at Elon, Brooke was involved in all of them,” he says. “Whether we were talking about the campus climate, student belonging, student media, or undergraduate research—she was involved in those conversations, and she was one of the people who helped move all of those little things forward to the extent that they’re not so little anymore. They’re part of the institutional fabric of Elon.”

Barnett is especially proud of co-creating the Center for Access and Success, helping students from all backgrounds thrive in higher education. She quickly caught the attention of Jeff Stein, who served as chief of staff at Elon.

“I learned a lot from working with Brooke,” says Stein, now president of Mary Baldwin University in Virginia. “Whenever there was a really challenging problem, she was one of the first people I wanted to talk with because she thinks broadly, has vast experience, and rarely, if ever, gets boxed in by challenges. She’s just really nimble.”

That mindset earned her the dean role at the College of Communication at Butler University in 2019. She rose to provost only two years later. As Butler provost and executive vice president, Barnett developed new programs, including a codified first-year experience and a two-year college, integrated well-being into the core curriculum, and worked alongside faculty to create a robust suite of faculty support initiatives, including the creation of the Center for Faculty Excellence.

In this role, Barnett worked closely with Melissa Beckwith, Butler’s chief strategy officer, who describes Barnett as “a blend of energetic, collaborative, and fun.”

“She cheers people on,” says Beckwith, “but also pushes us to ask: Is this the best way? Can we do it differently?”

Prioritizing Purpose

It’s not surprising then that people—and specifically students—are the answer to another one of her favorite questions: What’s my purpose?

“At her core, Brooke is teaching and mentoring and helping others reach their potential, and so when she sits down with a group or has an issue to deal with, it’s less about her and more about where you’re trying to go and how the whole group can get there,” says Stein, who regularly welcomed Barnett and her family to Passover Seder. “She balances intelligence with kindness, authenticity, and a whole lot of creativity. And she brings that together in a way that makes it exciting for people to take on challenges, even the hardest ones.”

It’s not only the big issues, though, where Barnett shows up. It’s also the small moments. Gaither recalls Easter a decade ago. His eldest daughter, Ellie, was 2, and he and his wife had recently welcomed twins. They were exhausted and didn’t have the energy to think about Easter, let alone decorating or celebrating. Without being asked, Barnett and her family showed up with a bucket of eggs and began hiding them in his backyard.

“She gave Ellie the Easter experience we wanted her to have but couldn’t manage ourselves,” says Gaither. “That’s just who Brooke is.”

As faculty leaders for study abroad trips, Barnett and Mould have likewise provided numerous students with experiences they wouldn’t otherwise have. In May, Mould, a professor of anthropology at Butler, led an honors class to Italy to explore Tuscan culture and cuisine, while Barnett went to London, overseeing an international internship program in media and culture that she developed as a dean.

Barnett considers these experiences a way to stay connected with students as she moves into higher leadership positions, where time is quickly filled up with meetings with donors, faculty, administrators, alumni, staff, and community members.

“As provost and executive vice president, I could go every day the whole entire year and not really interact with students in direct ways in my job,” she says. “To me, that felt like an impoverished existence, so I manufactured ways to make sure I didn’t lose that connection.”

That includes attending student events, sending check-in notes, and scheduling the kinds of walk-and-talks that were commonplace with Koehler, her documentary mentee. The structure has changed somewhat—she lets students choose the topic of conversation—but she always ends with three questions: What brought you to Butler? What could we do to be better? What faculty or staff member made a difference during your time here?

For the last one, she loves passing along responses to colleagues—minus the student’s name, of course.

“It’s one of those small things that make a difference in exemplifying the relationship-rich environments any leader hopes to cultivate,” she says.

The first two, however, are critical for Barnett to ensure she makes informed, student-centered decisions.

“Brooke understands deep in her heart that our work is about the students, that we need to be student-centered, that we can’t just say that we are student-centered, but that has to drive every aspect of what we’re doing,” says Stein. “And because she has spent so much time with students, and believes in students and their potential, it sort of makes it a no-brainer that they would naturally be involved in the process.”

Leading Rollins

With all of the questions Barnett has at the ready, a natural one for her at this juncture is: Why Rollins?

The first answer is simple. She believes in the College’s mission.

“I’m really bullish on Rollins,” she says. “During the interview process when people talked about what is special about Rollins, I bought in 100 percent. I’m optimistic about all the good things that are happening and how we’ll work together to face whatever comes next.”

But as with so much of what you find with Barnett, there’s always more bubbling just under the surface. She’ll tell you that she’s known about Rollins ever since she worked at Elon—they often benchmarked what they were doing against what the College was doing. She likes the feel, ethos, and approach of Rollins, and she loves the connection with Mister Rogers. She fell in love with the campus and the people while facilitating a training for Rollins staff one fall. And Florida itself is a bonus. Her parents and two of her siblings live in the state, meaning that for the first time since she left home for college, she’ll live near her family.

Still, she turns the spotlight outward.

“We will always want to keep answering the question, ‘Why Rollins?,’ for students,” she says. “Do we have the right answer to that question? Are we paying attention to and evolving the student experience to meet their needs and aspirations?”

During the 30 years she’s spent in higher education, Barnett has seen constant change—from mental health to evolving technologies. She knows there will be challenges and unknowns, such as the role of artificial intelligence, making college affordable, and public perceptions of higher education and the value of a liberal arts degree. She’s eager to push forward on all of them, but right now her top priority is listening.

She hasn’t mapped out her first 90 days. A transition committee of trustees, faculty, staff, alumni, and Winter Park community members are shaping what that looks like, and she wants them to have the space to do their work and to hear their findings. She doesn’t have a five-year plan either. That, she says, will come through collaboration.

So maybe the better question is: Why Barnett?

The answer is an inevitability to the people who know her. Stein confesses he thought she’d become a college president before he did. Beckwith notes that Rollins is lucky to gain a president with Barnett’s energy, passion, and spirit. Gaither, with more than 20 years in higher ed, says, “I can’t think of anybody better positioned to be a college president.”

As for Koehler, far removed from higher education, if he’s being honest, he doesn’t exactly know what a college president does.

“But if it’s anything related to the way she mentored me and how I’ve seen her handle other positions in her past,” he says, “there’s no better person for the role.”

In Her Words

Incoming Rollins President Brooke Barnett lets us in on a few things that inspire, ground, and motivate her every day.

A book she loves: Sula by Toni Morrison

Can’t live without: My family

First job: Beaumont Inn gift shop

Favorite place she's traveled: Istanbul, Turkey

Something she won’t miss: A morning commute. I’m so excited about being able to walk to work and connect with students and colleagues along the way.

A favorite college memory: Spending a long night finishing the college newspaper

Guaranteed to make her smile: Babies

Hidden talent: I listen to podcasts at double speed.

Best advice she’s received: Be present.

Biggest professional accomplishment: Becoming the 16th president of Rollins College

• Brooke Barnett