This qualitative content analysis study explored how women of color in college presidencies in the United States exhibit their leadership style and values in their publicly available leadership communications. Public leadership communication includes, but is not limited to, speeches, announcements, website materials, articles, and public statements made available for public viewing. The public discourse of women of color in college presidencies showed that persistence to overcome race and gender barriers, which evolved from the support of family and mentors that emphasized education as a transformative phenomenon for social advancement, was influential in women of color achieving college presidencies. These barriers provide the environment for sensemaking to take place so that college presidential identity can be formed. Women of color in college presidencies focused their discourse on empowering students to overcome systemic barriers through the pursuit of education and showed that the college environment allows students to practice and experience the democratic values of shared power, representation and inclusion, and civic engagement. The origin stories of these women of color demonstrated that their pursuit of education was a fundamental value in combatting exclusion from White male spaces. Their college presidential identity is grounded in the value of shared power and relational leadership and can be characterized by service, reflection, collaboration, and transformation. Using the lens of discursive leadership, women of color in college presidencies saw colleges as discursive constructions that reflected the language of leadership. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com.bibliotheek.ehb.be/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]