Hope Coulter, Director of the Hendrix-Murphy Foundation and Associate Professor of English, will retire May 31 after more than 30 years of service at Hendrix College.
Coulter became interim director of the Hendrix-Murphy Foundation Programs in Literature and Language in 2013 and was later appointed director, the third in Foundation history.
“Provost Dr. Robert L. Entzminger appointed Hope Coulter, and what I fondly think of as ‘the Time of Hope’ began,” remembered Hendrix-Murphy Foundation Assistant Director Sarah Engeler-Young ’91.
As director, Coulter was instrumental in founding the Murphy Scholars Program in Literature and Language that supports students from all majors. This spring, the 11th cohort of Murphy Scholars was inducted into the program.
"Hope's creating the Murphy Scholars Program extended our programming into the curricular realm for a community of students who share an enthusiasm for literature and language,” said Engeler-Young.
As the Murphy Scholars Program launched, Coulter guided the Foundation in the addition of a new staff position of Assistant Director of Murphy Programs, a position held by Engeler-Young since 2018.
“I owe a great deal of how I view myself professionally to Hope, and I will always be grateful to her for taking a chance and nudging me to step into this position and make it my own.”
Before her tenure as director, Coulter worked as an adjunct and visiting creative writing instructor at Hendrix College from 1993 to 2013. During those years she worked closely with the Hendrix-Murphy Foundation, coordinating writer visits and other literary projects.
Coulter served on the founding committee for the Hendrix College Creative Writing program, now in its 17th year, and served on the search committee that hired Dr. Tyrone Jaeger as Hendrix-Murphy Writer-in-Residence. Jaeger, who serves as creative writing program director, later moved to the permanent faculty.
“Hope and I drafted the proposal that became the Creative Writing Emphasis [in the English major],” said Jaeger, now English department chair and professor of English-creative writing. “Together, we’ve worked to build a dynamic and inclusive Creative Writing program.”
As director, Coulter placed high value on sustaining relationships to extend foundation resources to support high-quality learning experiences for students.
According to Jaeger, “The Hendrix-Murphy Foundation that we know today sprang from Hope’s nuanced vision.”
“Hope is organized and practical,” said Dr. Terri Bonebright, former vice president of academic affairs and professor of psychology, “while also having great people skills and the ability to think creatively about new ideas for making literature and language come alive for students.”
Zelda Engeler-Young '21, a Murphy Scholar alumna, remarked, “Hope’s true kindness and wry humor have lent the Murphy House and all its workings a warmth and a sincere feeling of welcome. Hundreds of Scholars undertake adventures in the written and spoken word with confidence and joy because of Hope.”
Coulter also led the Foundation’s general programming, ranging from theatre projects to language enrichment and immersion to literary and writing opportunities.
"Hope's support, guidance, generosity, and vision have proven invaluable,” acknowledged Theatre Arts and Dance Department Chair Antonio Horne.
In 2020, Coulter implemented the installation of the Poetry Sidewalks in the open courtyard of Hendrix’s Creative Quad. A gift from the Foundation to the College, the Poetry Sidewalks are a selection of 45 poems, all relating to themes of journey, nature, and the arts, inscribed in concrete pavement that express the building’s theme of “to dwell with the arts.”
As director, Coulter continued to teach two English courses per year in creative writing and literary studies.
“Hope’s eye for human connection produces not only important poems and stories but spurred inspiration for her course, ‘The Writer as Witness,’ a class that has inspired so many Hendrix student writers,” said Jaeger.
“It is the examination of the mundane and extraordinary into thought-provoking works of art that she teaches,” shared Aidan Wilson ’26, an English-creative writing major from Mountain Home, “and bearing witness to it has been one of the most fruitful experiences I have had at Hendrix College.”
Born in New Orleans, Coulter grew up on the banks of the Red River in the central Louisiana city of Alexandria. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in English from Harvard University and her Master of Fine Arts in fiction and poetry from Queens University of Charlotte.
Coulter is a fiction writer and poet. Her poetry collection “Wheel of Light” was published in 2015, and her novels “The Errand of the Eye” and “Dry Bones” were published in 1988 and 1990.
Coulter’s children’s book “Uncle Chuck’s Truck” came out in 1993. A book of short stories will be released in 2026.
Her work has appeared in numerous journals, including The Yale Review, Southwest Review, and Terrain.
Awards for Coulter’s writing include the Laman Library Writers Fellowship, the Porter Prize for Literary Excellence, and—from the Association of Literary Scholars, Critics, and Writers—the 2022 Meringoff Writing Award in poetry and the 2023 Meringoff Writing Award in nonfiction.
Coulter serves on the Porter Prize Board of Directors.
Coulter and her husband, nature and travel writer Mel White ’72, live in Little Rock with their yellow lab mix, Josie. Plans for retirement include writing, travel, and spending more time with family, including her two young grandsons, James and Henry.
In Jaeger’s mind, “Hope’s shoes have left an indelible and clear path about our campus, perhaps nowhere more visible than the Poetry Sidewalks, where I know I, for one, will not be able to pass the etched-in-concrete words without thinking of my esteemed colleague, fellow writer, and friend, Hope Coulter.”
About the Hendrix-Murphy Foundation
The Hendrix-Murphy Foundation Programs in Literature and Language were founded in 1978 by a gift from Charles H. Murphy, Jr., former CEO of Murphy Oil Corporation, in memory of his mother Bertie Wilson Murphy. Their mission is to enhance and enrich the study of literature and language at Hendrix College. For more information, visit hendrixmurphy.org.
About Hendrix College
Founded in 1876, Hendrix College is featured in Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think About Colleges and celebrated among the country’s leading liberal arts colleges for academic quality, engaged learning opportunities and career preparation, vibrant campus life, and value. The Hendrix College Warriors compete in 21 NCAA Division III sports. Hendrix has been affiliated with the United Methodist Church since 1884. Learn more at hendrix.edu.