Frye named Outstanding Alumna of Year

Holly Frye, back row center, is surrounded by her family, who were on hand to watch her be recognized as Shepherd University’s 2021 Alumna of the Year. Courtesy photo
SHEPHERDSTOWN — Shepherd’s Vice President for Student Affairs and Director of Community Relations has been named the school’s Outstanding Alumna of the Year for 2021 by the Shepherd Alumni Association. Holly Morgan Frye completed her Masters Degree at Shepherd in 2009; however, she was no stranger to the school, having worked there since 1999.
“To say I was shocked was an understatement,” Frye said. “It never occurred to me that I would be thought of an outstanding anything.”
Born and raised in Shepherdstown, Frye is the daughter of Mary Ann Morgan and the late Lee Morgan. Frye and her husband, Jim, raised their children in Shepherdstown as well.
“I never wanted to work at Shepherd or get a degree here,” Frye told those gathered at her recognition ceremony. “I thought because I grew up in Shepherdstown, that I knew everything there was to know about Shepherd, but I had no idea!”
Initially, Frye joined board Shepherd’s staff in the Alumni Office. After spending two years there, she decided to apply for a position in Student Affairs.
Frye recounted the story of the interview process, saying it was scheduled for Sept. 11, 2001.
“I was to interview with Dr. John Adams,” Frye said. “During the first attack, I was at home on the phone with a Shepherd alum who was teaching elementary school in New York City.
“I didn’t hear from her again for 48 hours,” Frye recalled, as she watched the nightmare of the attacks unfold on her television as she held her 11-month-old son, Donovan.
After the fourth plane had crashed, Frye said she called Adams to see if they were going to reschedule her interview or if she should still plan to meet him.
“He said, ‘Yes, let’s do it,'” Frye recalled.
“I remember being scared and confused,” Frye said. “All I wanted to do was keep my ‘Frye guys’ as close to me as possible but, Dr. Adams was right and instead of just an interview, it became a mission.”
“I wanted this job because I believed, in that moment, that the college students were our hope for the future and I wanted to be a part of that,” Frye said.
Since then, Frye said she has met thousands of students, and while she may have changed their lives a little, they have certainly changed hers far more.
“They inspired me, taught me and challenge me every single day, and they still do,” Frye said.
Frye referenced the influences of the COVID-19 Pandemic and the challenges that were brought to the world, but specifically to Shepherd’s campus.
“We are still here, we are still standing,” Frye said. “We are still together and, as I work with my incredible colleagues and students every day, I still feel that hope I felt 20 years ago.”
Frye received recognition at an event on Friday evening, where she publicly thanked her family, above all others. She shared that her husband, Jim, had encouraged her 22 years ago to “take the job at Shepherd — it might be fun.” She recognized her children and siblings as well as her mother, Mary Ann, who graduated from Shepherd College in the Class of 1953.
“You are the most extraordinary woman I have ever known,” Frye told her mother.
On Saturday, Frye addressed students at a Founder’s Day celebration and was featured in the Homecoming Parade, as well as recognized at the Homecoming game.
“I am so thankful to Dr. Hendrix and to Chuck Craft for taking my mom into the endzone, so she could witness the events,” Frye said. “It meant so much to have my mother there.”