Margaret Kennedy was an English professor and dean of women. Kennedy also served on the committee that established West Las Vegas High School. She was a world traveler and served on a pre-World War II committee that lectured on education in China.
From the 1948 Southwest Wind:
Dean Margaret J. Kennedy, the grand lady of New Mexico education, is retiring from teaching after 36 years service on the staff of Highlands University.
Dean Kennedy came to Highlands in 1912 as head of the English department. Since that time she has been a member of the faculty serving serving in many positions. As Dean of women she has endeared herself to the many college women who have attended the University in the last three decades.
The Dean comes originally from Wisconsin where she still keeps a home for her later years. However, she has decided that she is not ready to leave New Mexico on her retirement from the faculty of Highlands. She plans to entertain her many friends in her Las Vegas Home and to make several cruises abroad with a Denver friend before leaving the Southwest.
The Administration demonstrated its warm affection for the Dean a few years ago when it decided to name the new girls’ dormitory Kennedy Hall a a sort of living monument to the grand lady who gave so many years of devoted service to Highlands University.
As a demonstration of the student body’s appreciation of the warm-hearted interest shown for them by its Dean of Women, we dedicate this 1947-1948 annual to our Dean of Women, Margaret J. Kennedy.