The UNLV Women’s Council asked five university women who worked closely with the late Carol C. Harter, president emerita, to share their stories about the impact she had on their professional and personal lives.
These stories highlight how Harter broke through the glass ceiling of academia and then threw the doors open for other women and members of historically underrepresented groups, giving them a seat at the table.
Marta Meana, psychology professor and acting UNLV president (2018-20)
The first person I called after my appointment to acting president of UNLV by the Nevada System of Higher Education Board of Regents in June 2018 was Carol Harter, our first woman president. I wanted her to know how cognizant I was that, without her, I don’t happen – that without a first, there is no second.
Carol was our RBG, our DiFi, our woman warrior. She fought hard for UNLV and she won much more often than not.
Carol modeled leadership that is at once steely and caring, tough and compassionate. She was humble and unpretentious, yet you never doubted her strength and authority. I learned so much from her. In our careers, we are often assigned mentors, but my experience is that the greatest mentors are the ones who don’t even know they are that to us. I watched Carol, I listened to her, and I absorbed so many valuable lessons.
Thank you, Carol. UNLV as a whole owes you much. The women at UNLV even more. You cleared the way and we are forever grateful.
Juanita Fain, emerita administrative faculty
I could not have imagined that when Carol hired me at Ohio University in 1980 that it would be the beginning of a lifelong relationship. To this very day, her friendship and mentorship have been profoundly gratifying and rewarding.
The opportunities that she has afforded me over the years for professional growth and development not only launched my career but gave me the confidence and exposure to advance. It was her coaching and nagging (ha!ha!) that greatly influenced my decision to pursue a doctorate degree. I always remember her saying “If you are going to stay in higher education, you need a Ph.D. It’s your union card.”
I remember when she left Ohio University for her first presidency at [the State University of New York - Geneseo] in 1989. I told her that I didn’t know where, but I knew our paths would cross again someday. Little did I know it would be at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
I joined her in 1996 for what would be a thrilling roller coaster ride. It was an exciting and, at times, a tumultuous journey. Her grace under fire was nothing short of amazing. As the first female and longest tenured president of UNLV, she achieved extraordinary accomplishments. Dr. Carol C. Harter has, indeed, made an indelible mark on this university.
Carol was not just the consummate professional; she was a kind and decent person. I sincerely thank her for generously sharing with me her wisdom, as well her wit.
Joanne L. Goodwin, professor emerita of history and founding director of the Women’s Research Institute of Nevada
I arrived at UNLV in the summer of 1991 thrilled to have a position at a university that wanted a historian of U.S. women. Nevertheless, within months I sank into culture shock. The school culture at the time was decades away from my life and work in Ann Arbor. Everything seemed underdeveloped and followed old stereotypes about women and their potential. A few years later Dr. Carol Harter became president of UNLV and gave many of us hope for a healthy and constructive change in that culture.
President Harter saw the potential for the university and withstood the backlash and antagonism that face leaders who challenge the status quo. She was strong, funny, and powerful in her resolve for a better UNLV.
A large part of our interaction focused on building opportunities for women on campus. For me, that specifically meant the Women’s Research Institute of Nevada (WRIN). Approved by the University Regents in 1999, the vision of WRIN was to produce and promote research on women in the state that would be useful in education and setting policy. It also focused on leadership training for college women through our program National Education for Women’s Leadership. President Harter had thought a lot about leadership training and saw the distinct challenges women faced – that she had and continued to face in her career.
Her support for WRIN and our projects was essential. I was thrilled that she participated in two of our major projects as the Keynote Speaker for the 2007 NEWL program and as an interviewee for the MAKERS: Women in Nevada History series. I want to close with one of her criteria for successful leadership that I certainly tried to follow, and that she clearly did as she moved UNLV forward. She said, “Vision is not your own personal sense of the world, but a voice for the collective vision of the group you lead.” Her commitment to equity, equal opportunity, and the excellence of UNLV aligns powerfully with the GIVE Award.
Cynthia Carruthers, professor emerita of education and former chair of the UNLV Women’s Council
I joined UNLV in 1990 and, I must say, I, too, experienced a bit of a culture shock. My alma mater was the University of Illinois where the majority of faculty in my program were women. I, as a newly minted Ph.D., was hired into the just formed College of Human Performance and Development, where I was the only tenure-track female faculty member. Although the majority of my colleagues were welcoming and collegial, I felt a bit like a fish out of water.
Fortunately, in 1991, each UNLV college was asked to appoint a representative to the newly formed Campus Advisory Committee on the Status of Women, and, low and behold, I was my college appointee. Through that committee, I was introduced to other women campus leaders and experienced a great source of support, inspiration and empowerment.
My second source of support, inspiration and empowerment was President Carol C. Harter who became UNLV president in 1995. President Harter was a force to be reckoned with. She was strategic, confident, humorous, resilient, and inclusive. I was fortunate to be invited to serve on her first university planning committee where we discussed the type of university we aspired to be and strategies to get us there. She brought in outside consultants to provide information and guide our discussions, yet also listened very respectfully and attentively to everyone’s input and suggestions. Through this service, as a female junior faculty member, I felt that I had an important role to play in the future of the university. She literally gave me a seat at the table.
Following in President Harter’s incomparable footsteps, the mission of the Women’s Council strives to create a seat at the table for all female faculty and staff. Its mission is to ensure the voices of women at UNLV are heard and advocate for a quality work life for women at all levels of the university. President Harter’s legacy lives on through the work of the Women’s Council.
Caryll Batt Dziedziak, director of the Women's Research Institute of Nevada
As we mourn the loss of a visionary leader, we recount the numerous ways in which Carol C. Harter promoted women’s leadership. She became a role model for women on campus when she assumed the presidency of the University of Nevada Las Vegas in 1995. This was not a time of welcoming women’s leadership, but she stood her ground and slowly won over scores of admiring business and community leaders.
She proved an ardent supporter of our vision for creating the Women’s Research Institute of Nevada, granting it legitimacy when few others deemed it worthy of consideration. She secured critical funding for the Las Vegas Women Oral History Project and participated in our documentary series, MAKERS: Women in Nevada History. Both projects gave long-awaited visibility to women’s contributions and significance in Nevada.
A gifted speaker, Carol never turned down the chance to address the importance of women’s leadership. She enthusiastically championed our National Education for Women’s (NEW) Leadership program, inspiring our students year after year with her acumen and grace.
Yes, her life was an example of "breaking through the glass ceiling." For eleven years she led the university through a period of extraordinary expansion. She raised UNLV’s national visibility with the establishment of the William S. Boyd School of Law, the School of Dental Medicine, and the School of Architecture. After serving as UNLV’s president, she assumed the role of executive director at UNLV’s literary think tank, the Black Mountain Institute.
Carol’s tenacity, drive, and life of leadership-in-action inspired generations of women across Nevada. She will be missed!
The Carol C. Harter GIVE Award
The Women’s Council has renamed the GIVE Award to the "Carol C. Harter GIVE Award" in honor of the late Carol Harter's contributions to women in higher learning as a meaningful way to recognize her achievements and legacy. The GIVE Award honors individuals and programs that contribute to the growth, inclusivity, voice, and excellence of UNLV. The first Carol C. Harter GIVE Award will be open for nominations in spring 2024.
