By Allison Conner
Published 8:00 am on November 15, 2025
When Dr. Sherry K. Holloway first arrived at Bemidji State University, she wasn’t sure if she was in the right place.
A first-generation college student and single mother, she arrived with only $4 and her 2-year-old daughter’s hand in hers. Holloway stood on the lawn in front of Hobson Memorial Union and stopped to observe robust campus life with a lingering question staying quietly in her mind: Do I belong here?
The answer, she found, was a resounding yes.
“I wasn’t your typical student,” said Holloway. “But this community welcomed me. My professors even let me bring my daughter to class when I couldn’t afford daycare.”
That kindness became her mission. Dr. Holloway is now an assistant professor in Human Performance, Sport and Health, and she’s the Developmental Adapted Physical Education program coordinator. The story that carries her is the belief that others placed in her before she had it within herself. Now in a position to pass it on, she’s offering belief to every student who enters her classroom.
Although her own first steps were uncertain, Holloway proved with each forward stride that she was not going to retreat. BSU became more than a campus; it became her home community and a place where she could learn, parent, and grow.
“College wasn’t something I felt prepared to do. But people here believed in me,” Holloway said. “It just felt right to stay here.”
‘The kind of bond that keeps people here’
Encouraged by professors who saw her potential, Holloway found more than just academic direction at Bemidji State; she found a sense of belonging. The professors were her steadfast reliability during those formidable years of balancing motherhood, work, and long hours of study. She began to move from the uncertainty of a new environment with confidence — the same confidence she now helps others discover in their own movement, both in body and in mind.
“My mentors took me out for dinner when I received my doctorate,” she said. “My daughter and granddaughter know them well. They’ve been our lives for decades. That’s the kind of bond that keeps people here.”
After teaching in Bemidji Area Schools and earning her doctorate from the University of Alberta, she felt called back to the university that first shaped her path.
In 2013, when she returned to Bemidji State, she was no longer the young mother who had once wondered whether she was suited to the curriculum or to a higher education lifestyle. She was a transformed professional educator and an inclusion pioneer. She came back with a vision to give others a sense of belonging, along with the skill set to execute it.
Transforming lives through motion
Now in her 33rd year of teaching and 12th at BSU, Holloway leads Bemidji State’s DAPE program with passion. Minnesota is one of 19 states in the nation that requires a license for educators who specialize in adapted movement and inclusion. Holloway's mission is simple but profound: to build a world where every person, regardless of ability, feels they belong.
Her passion for inclusion began years ago. She guided canoe trips, as part of the BSU’s Outdoor Program Center, into the Boundary Waters, and she led summer camps for visually impaired and blind adults. She learned there that “the right pathway to movement can transform lives.”
That belief continues to ripple through her work today. As part of the Bemidji Blue Ox Marathon this fall, Holloway helped ensure accessibility by creating a walk, run, and roll event that supported adapted athletes to participate in an inclusive event.
“Everyone moves differently,” Holloway said. “Events like this remind us that community happens when everyone shares the same space.”
Her advocacy doesn’t stop at Unified sports and adapted athletics. Holloway is working with BSU leaders to plan and implement the first inclusive higher education initiatives at a four-year university in Minnesota, creating opportunities for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities to learn alongside their peers.
“This work goes beyond sport,” she said. “It’s about access, confidence, and connection — helping every student find a sense of belonging here.”
Holloway’s journey has come full circle, and her story is proof that mentorship and care have a multiplying effect. Once an unsure student, Holloway now helps new generations find their footing through the abundance of belief she discovered on campus soon after her arrival.
“The North shaped me,” Holloway said. “Now I hope my work shapes this community in return.”
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