Office of the President

Dr. Allen came to Georgetown College while working on her dissertation at Vanderbilt University. One of her professors casually mentioned a teaching opportunity: a year-long placement at Georgetown College to teach English while Dr. Steven May conducted research for a National Endowment for the Humanities grant. The opportunity spoke to the child in her: “As a little girl, I loved horse stories; I loved the idea of being in horse country. I’d visited Lexington as a child and thought it was pretty and a great place to spend a year while I finished my dissertation.”

Allen was immediately embraced by the English Department Faculty, which included John Sadlon, Frank Ellers ’54, Mary Brady, Ralph Curry, and Gwen Curry ’54. Gwen Curry immediately took Allen under her wing. “There weren’t a lot of young women professors on campus at that time,” said Allen “Gwen felt a definite responsibility to make sure that I felt included and supported.”

When an adjunct professor role opened after that first year, she took it and taught part-time for a year, and then was a temporary full-time sabbatical replacement for an additional two years. With no permanent role available, Allen left in 1988 for a temporary position at Vanderbilt University. Then fate stepped in again with Frank Ellers’ sudden retirement. Allen and her husband, Todd Coke, came back when a permanent, tenure-track position opened. She was “all-in.” She had already embraced the College, its students, and her colleagues. It felt like home.

As a professor, Allen finds it thrilling to help students through the complexities of Shakespeare and Milton. She helps students understand that reading isn’t just an exercise in pleasure but an intellectual pursuit. “There is so much you can get out of the study of literature, and you can return to it repeatedly. It helps you deal with the ambiguity of meaning and with how you construct meaning.” She also firmly believes in the vital role literature can play in developing empathy and understanding of diverse perspectives, skills that translate well Into professional fields.

She intended to teach for the rest of her career, but her path was altered when she was asked to step in as the first female Provost at the College. This was meant to be a temporary position while a search was conducted. However, Allen was the perfect fit; she found she enjoyed leading and was good at advancing the College’s faculty and educational mission.

Her love of GC may stem from her undergraduate experiences at the similarly sized college, Hillsdale College. Experiencing the value of a liberal arts education first-hand made her a believer in it. At Hillsdale, Allen played intramurals, was in theatre productions, and played the flute in the band and orchestra. She sees students at GC exploring, growing, and finding joy in similar extra-curricular involvement. Self-discovery outside the classroom is only part of the story: “The academic majors themselves are not necessarily designed to be purely vocational. But these programs can help students navigate their way through how a liberal arts curriculum prepares them for professional opportunities.”

When Dr. Allen stepped into her presidency in 2022, the College faced significant challenges; 30 years of infrastructure investments had saddled the College with crippling debt. In 2023, she and the Board of Trustees’ advancement chair, Frank Penn ’68,  launched a campaign to pay off its long-term debt. With the extraordinary support supplied by GC’s 2022-2023 advancement team, Mike Calhoun ’71, Bethany H. Hornback ’93, and Tammy Owens, and Board of Trustees chair Michelle Pedigo ’90, the team raised an historic $28 million in less than a year to eliminate the debt. The $28 million campaign included a $16 million gift from Robert N. Wilson ’62, the largest single gift In the College’s history. 

This campaign wasn’t about fear. It was about hope. It was about the enduring legacy of a noble institution. And it was about looking toward the future. Those who donated saw the value GC has had in lives and believed in its bright future. New programs are being introduced. Renovations to aging infrastructure have already started, with the debt-free renovation of the Davis-Reid Alumni Gym. And more are planned, all with care to avoid the trap of debilitating debt. 

As Georgetown College nears its 200th anniversary, the vision for its future grows out of the demonstrable strengths the College has maintained for two centuries. The strength of its academic programs will continue to be a hallmark of the College, with new undergraduate and graduate programs providing fresh opportunities. Joining the College’s program portfolio for 2026-27 will be an undergraduate major in Cybersecurity and graduate programs in Counseling, including Clinical Mental Health Counseling, Educational Counseling, and Addiction Counseling. Future program development will continue to leverage existing strong academic traditions while developing degree pathways that support career opportunities and meet community needs.

The College will also continue to be committed to residential education for traditional undergraduate students. One of the key benefits of attending a small college Is the strong community engagement that builds the sort of skills in communication, teamwork, professionalism, and critical thinking that are prized by employers. In a world where AI makes access to knowledge so easy, a true education will focus on how to understand the complexity of information and how to use knowledge wisely. This focus on cultivating judgment works best when ideas can be tested in our active community of inquiry, characterized by small classes taught by engaged and committed faculty. And the benefits grow with each additional commitment that a student makes to extracurricular involvement that develops leadership and teamwork. This commitment to on-campus undergraduate education for traditional students is joined by expanding online graduate and undergraduate degree programs for working adults, ensuring that Georgetown College keeps pace with a changing world.

Most importantly, Georgetown College will remain true to its mission, which is to provide a welcoming and challenging educational community, rooted in Christian love and service, that prepares students to make a positive difference in the world.  A timeless commitment to the values of love, justice, and responsibility will remain central to the character of Georgetown College, as it has been since its founding in 1829.