[LOGO]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: AP Smith
Phone: (443) 909-9320
Email: smitha20@mail.wlu.edu

Lena Hill Introduced as New Dean of the College

Hill Will Replace Suzanne Keen on July 1

[PHOTO OF HILL]

(LEXINGTON, Va., Dec. 5, 2019) – Lena Hill has been appointed as the new Dean of the College
at Washington and Lee University, effective July 1. Hill will replace Suzanne Keen, who has
served as the Dean of the College since 2013. W&L Provost Marc Conner announced the
appointment.

Hill comes to W&L from the University of Iowa where she served as senior associate to the
president, interim chief diversity officer, and associate vice president. She received her B.A.
from Howard University, a Ph.D. in English from Yale University, and completed a two-year
post-doctoral fellowship at Duke University.

Provost Conner asserted that Hill “brings impressive administrative and leadership experience
from a national university” and expressed his excitement that she has chosen to continue her
already illustrious career at W&L.

Hill will come to Lexington with her husband Michael and their two children. Michael will join
the W&L faculty as a professor of Africana studies.

The College is the heart of the W&L liberal arts education. It is the home of twenty-one
departments, four interdepartmental majors, and seven interdepartmental programs. Students
may earn either the B.A. or B.S. degree in thirty-seven different majors, and may also pursue
one or more of twenty-nine minors. The more than 140 faculty members in the College report to
the Dean and are dedicated to nurturing the intellectual capacity and curiosity of our students
in an environment of collaborative inquiry.

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Contact AP Smith for request for further comment or additional information on Hill’s
appointment at (443) 909-9320 of smitha20@mail.wlu.edu.
 I think I have learned to tighten my writing in this class and have come to understand
how best to define an audience and write for them specifically. While I think I came in with a
good understanding of how to write for the public relations field, I have definitely improved my
writing overall.

The principles of PR that were reemphasized to me during this class were those of being
succinct, always writing for a specific audience, being personable towards journalists, aiming to
inform and persuade but never mislead, and to treat journalists with respect for their
profession. I think I knew all these things before I came into the class, but they were
emphasized in this class to a degree that I will not forget them.

Key skills I learned to improve my writing were to use bold, bright words instead of
cookie cutter ones, to get to the point of the issue at the beginning of any writing and
reemphasize it the whole way through (remaining on message), and not to over explain (show
don’t tell). I definitely need to improve the most on the show don’t tell aspect of this, but I
think I grew tremendously in this area as the semester progressed. I think theres evidence of
that in my feature story, where I think I did a good job of showing Kaitlyn’s interest in
sustainability rather than informing my reader that she is interested.

Thank you Professor Bhalla, have a nice winter break!s