Meg Rennie: Bringing Tea, Inclusion, and a Seat at the Table as Montserrat’s New Dean

by Aislinn Green ’28

With the coming of our current semester comes a new chapter for Montserrat College of Art as former Director of Montserrat’s Academic Access studio Meg Rennie steps into the Dean’s chair. Meg Rennie has been a caring and determined addition to the Montserrat team during her time at the Academic Access studio, and her capacity for excellence has increased tenfold in the parameters of her new position. One thing’s for sure; she’s got great things in store for Montserrat’s current and future student body. 

Meg has a lot of experience teaching. From Pre-K to pre-college, she’s done it all. Her journey as an educator has influenced not only the way in which she teaches, but also the way in which she organizes a classroom. As Meg and I were discussing her teaching background and she was telling me about the very first teaching job she ever had, she mentioned that this particular preschool was inspired by a concept I had never heard of before, called Reggio Emilia. “Reggio Emilia,” she explained, “is very arts-focused, independently led, and it’s very, very inclusive by nature. Like, it’s not like, oh, we’re going to do this for certain students. It’s just inherently inclusive. And so that really started my path into Special Ed and Arts focused education.”

Accessibility has always been a priority of hers, and her time in the academic access studio definitely shows off this ability. Meg has been a member of the Montserrat community for eight years, working to make our campus a more accessible place. “I’m always thinking of everyone in the room, even if I don’t know who’s going to be there,” she states. From the classroom, to housing, to campus events, Meg is always coming up with ways to make things more welcoming to as many folks as possible. “I’ll think about accessibility. Are captions on? Are we using a microphone? Is there space to move around?” If it could somehow be a problem for someone else, Meg is considering it. For Meg, there is more to making something “accessible” than just “bringing a seat to the table.” To her, “It’s bringing a seat to the table, feeding the person what they need to be fed, and making sure they’re satisfied. And when I say satisfied, it’s not like a service-based thing, but they feel like they belong at that table.”

Though she’s spent the majority of her Montserrat career making things more accessible within the classroom, Meg understands that academics aren’t everything. There is much more to the college experience than classes and grades. Montserrat is always working hard to keep campus life as fulfilling as possible with bustling student-employment, fun community events, and plenty of educational programming. Our honorable RAs do us well, but Meg intends to expand this network of connection and exploration even further, making sure these events are well funded, advertised, and staffed. Not only that, Meg wants to make sure as many people can participate in these events as possible, and be as comfortable as possible throughout. 

“How can we do more inclusive programming, like passive programming where somebody might not want to like, you know, be in a crowded room?” she ponders. “Like, could we do something that you could participate in, but in your own way? I’m really inspiring the RAs when they’re thinking about, I mean, they do a really good job, but when they’re thinking about programming and working with students, making sure we’re aware that everybody communicates differently, everybody processes things differently, and really just being patient and meeting people where they’re at.”

Non-academic campus events can be a chance for students to connect with each other and their community in a really fun way, but they can also be an opportunity for the student body to connect with our staff, a top priority of Meg’s. Meg encourages students to go to her with any concerns right away. “We don’t know until we know,” she explains. After a few comments about the state of the food pantry, Meg got started right away on upgrading our food pantry into the flourishing little market area now located on the first floor of the Student Village. Has anyone else noticed that the food pantry is way better this year? Yeah. I think this woman may have something to do with it, perhaps in that she is almost entirely responsible for its improvement. 

Meg’s weekly event, Tea Thursday, has been a great success with the students and is one of Meg’s most treasured triumphs. Continuously Montserrat’s most attended program, this little weekly get-together nestled in her cozy space at the student village is an opportunity for students to sit down with the Dean and have their voices heard. “It started when I was over in Academic Access, because Elizabeth and I were like, okay, we have these kitchens. What are we going to do with them? And I said, you know what– cause I drink a lot of tea, I’m gonna do tea time,” Meg comments. “Growing up, tea time was really important. I’m 100% Irish, so tea time with my Nana was a really big deal. And so, when I had my own kids, tea time was like when you come together, after school, and you sit and talk about your day, or you don’t. And so here, it’s been great– One thing I love about this place is that students don’t feel scared to talk to the president, or the dean, right? Because, I think, it’s almost expected of us that we show up for you all as artists and humans.”

Though Montserrat is ever-changing, continuously evolving to suit the needs of students present and future, it seems there is no need to fear these changes. Meg has great things in store for our student body, and already she has improved so much of campus life, academic and otherwise. No matter where you come from or where you’re going, Meg WILL get you a seat at the Montserrat table, and you WILL enjoy your meal. Bon Appetit!