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Kathy Redwine ’94 was 19 years old when beloved alumnus Fred Rogers ’51 ’74H came to Rollins and delivered an address to students and faculty on Mills Lawn. The experience proved life-changing for her.

“I don’t know if everyone felt this way, but that day I felt like he was speaking directly to me,” says Redwine, a distinguished Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) and play therapist. “That’s who I wanted to be—a person who represents kindness and love and support.”

So it is fitting that Redwine was chosen to receive Rollins’ 2024 Fred Rogers Global Citizenship Award, which recognizes prominent alumni who exemplify the College’s mission of global citizenship and responsible leadership through their extraordinary achievements and impact on society.

“It’s the biggest honor that I could imagine,” she says.

In hindsight, Redwine’s path—from misty-eyed student listening to Mr. Rogers on the lawn to an award-winning mental health professional—may seem like a forgone conclusion. But she came to Rollins without a clear idea of what psychology even was, let alone how she would pursue it as a career. After hearing Rogers speak, she just knew she wanted to help people, and she had an interest in public service and justice because of extracurricular activities in high school that had exposed her to model government. However, it was her years at Rollins that helped define her life’s work.

“I’d grown up in a bubble in Connecticut,” she says. “I think in my head I knew I wanted to help people but didn’t know what that looked like. At Rollins, it felt safe to explore things I didn’t know. And the professors were just so supportive of helping you learn. They genuinely wanted you to succeed.”

That nurturing and support led to another pivotal moment for Redwine. “Back then, you weren’t pushed to do internships the way students are now,” she remembers. “But I really wanted hands-on experience, so my professors encouraged me to pursue an independent study, which allowed me to work at Project Three, a drug and alcohol center for kids.”

The professional experience was critical for her career—but it was the broadening of her worldview that proved invaluable.

“That experience helped me feel comfortable in an environment that was unfamiliar to me,” she says, “and I don’t know that I would’ve felt that way without that experience.”

After graduating from Rollins, Redwine landed a position at The Relative, a homeless youth shelter for children and teens in Charlotte, North Carolina. She worked there for seven years, advocating for homelessness awareness and supporting youth outreach programs. It was a formative and at times overwhelming experience, but she was prepared for it because of Rollins.

Redwine went on to earn a master’s in clinical community counseling from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and started a private practice. In this role, she continued filling gaps in the mental health resources available to children, founding local chapters of the nonprofit Girls on the Run and PFLAG, an organization dedicated to supporting the families of LGBTQIA+ young people.

These days, Redwine runs her practice and hosts a podcast from Pawley, South Carolina—an area, she explains, that is underserved in terms of mental health. With no psychiatrists in the area hospitals and very few psychologists, she serves a critical role in the community, helping children deal with all manner of mental health challenges.

“It’s an incredible honor and privilege to serve as an important person in children’s lives,” she says. “Seeing how resilient and strong so many kids are after coming through what they’ve come through just gives me so much passion to keep on doing what I’m doing.”

Reflecting on her accomplished career in the mental health space and the award that bears both her name and the name of her hero, Fred Rogers, Redwine is humble.

“From a young age, I just felt so deeply about things but didn’t quite know how to use that to my benefit,” she says. “I don’t feel like this is my job; it’s my calling. It’s what I’m meant to do. Rollins helped me get to a place where I could embrace that.”

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