Seeking a healthy return: The nation's oldest continually operated women's college opts for a bold new direction.

• Author: Mopman, Ebony L.

The concept that girls and women should undertake a vigorous education wasn't a prevailing theme in colonial America when Salem Academy and College opened in 1772. UNC Chapel Hill, the first public university in the U.S., admitted students in 1795 but didn't enroll women in a regular academic year until 1897.

However, the fundamental tenet of empowering women still drives the Winston-Salem institution as it celebrates its 250th anniversary.

President Summer Johnson McGee, who joined Salem last July, is aiming to revitalize the women's college and boarding school for high school girls by changing its focus to an exclusive emphasis on health-related fields and academic and co-curricular experiences concentrating on science, technology, engineering and math.

Like many small private colleges, Salem faces a battle for survival as U.S. high school graduations plateau. Declining enrollment over the past decade pressured its $20 million annual budget, which put its accreditation at risk in 2018.

The turmoil prompted Salem's board of trustees to reassess the school's prospects and launch a $10 million capital campaign that raised $14 million. That success prompted the accreditation agency to remove Salem from financial probation in 2019.

Trustees concluded that bold changes were needed at the college, leading to McGee's hiring. Her work as founding dean of the School of Health Sciences at the University of New Haven in 2018 resulted in more than a dozen new in-person and virtual academic programs at the private, 7,000-student Connecticut campus.

"The opportunity to reimagine a 250-year-old institution and to set it up on a course for success was just an irresistible opportunity," McGee says. "That's how I ended up here at Salem. I have really enjoyed getting to become part of a really great community."

Studies show many aspiring college students are interested in health-related careers, McGee says. Indeed, about 40% of Salem's student body was already pursuing a degree in a science, technology or health-related major.

Salem College has a goal of boosting its current enrollment of about 500 students to 850 over the next three years, McGee says. The college received about 1,200 applications for the 2022-23 academic year. In May 2017, Salem reported enrollment of 1,200. Salem Academy, a boarding and day school, which also operates on the 47-acre campus near downtown Winston-Salem, has about 60 to 80 students. Salem's...