S11E10 | Joy in the Student Life Office: Emily Haynes
December 9, 2025
The expression “famous last words” applies to guest Emily Haynes. “One day you will be dean of women,” an associate dorm supervisor once playfully predicted. Emily adamantly replied, “Absolutely not!” Yet the Lord steadily guided her from teaching piano into the conjectured dean of women position. She and host Dr. Matt Davis review that process. Joining the Student Life Office as a dorm supervisor in 2010, she learned the one surprising rule—every day you must laugh. Emily enjoys her work, which mainly entails counseling and discipleship, though it includes a modicum of discipline too. She explains varied aspects of the dual mentorship role of working with students and dorm supervisors. Naturally, she partners with parents as well, assuring them of attentive student care. Maranatha’s supportive environment “ought to be pretty reassuring to parents,” Dr. Davis observes, “once you describe all the different things we have in place to help their students thrive.” Now a 15-year veteran, Emily insists, “The rule still applies; there is laughter every day.”
About our guest
Emily Haynes became Dean of Women at Maranatha Baptist University in 2016. When her college closed during her senior year, Emily transferred to Maranatha and, thus, is an MBU alumna. Having trained in piano pedagogy, she is also an instructor in Maranatha Music Prep School. In 2020 she began teaching counseling courses in the College of Bible and Church Ministries.
