Joanne Woodard Leadership Award Essay
Being nominated for the Joanne Woodard Leadership Award has been one of the highlights of my semester thus far. I am truly honored to be nominated for an award that is a demonstration of my ability to lead ethically, serve as a role model, and use my influence to advance African and African American culture on campus. Having held different positions in various campus community centers, my goal is for my leadership style to reflect the missions of the African American Cultural Center, Multicultural Student Affairs, and the Office for Institutional Equity and Diversity.
In order to truly convey how important this nomination is to me, I have to acknowledge the journey I have been on since joining the Wolfpack.
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This opportunity welcomed me into a community fondly referred to as “Black NCSU.” At the African American Cultural Center, I was surrounded by love and support from both students and staff who wanted to see me succeed on campus. Having a community of intelligent and successful black staff members was an escape from the daily exhaustion of being black in a predominately white institution. Each microaggression was fuel for my intense fire to see a change on campus, which was representation. Representation is important because it gives those who come after us the motivation to strive for more: “I am because you are, you are therefore I am.” With this new motto in mind, I applied to be an Orientation Leader with New Student Programs. Fortunately, I was granted a position as one of six other African American students. Knowing how fortunate I was to have this opportunity I used my position as an Orientation Leader to welcome the class of 2020 to the university. However, I will acknowledge my own bias. I paid special attention to students and families of color as I wanted to be a familiar face to inform them of spaces for black students. I was further able to reinforce this familiarity as a Multicultural Symposium Counselor through Multicultural Student Affairs (MSA). MSA gave me a platform, a voice, to reach younger students of color and pass on the message of …show more content…
Rather than fold my arms and complain about how NC State lacks diversity in certain student positions, I applied for those positions in order to be the change I wanted to witness. It has not always been easy, neither has it always been fun, but it has definitely been memorable. Moments such as this when I am nominated for the Joanne Woodard Leadership Award, given the Linda Abravanel Scholarship through OIED, acknowledged by my peers, or even hugged by Mama Thorpe, are the moments I know my efforts are not in vain. Nonetheless, I do not believe in anything simply for validation or acknowledge as that leads to unfulfillment. I do it for the 17 year old in the middle of Talley Student Union on the verge of tears because no one in the entire lobby looked like her. I do it for the immigrant who sees “Go back to Africa” spray painted in the Free Expression Tunnel. I do it for the girl who hears “Grab her by her pussy” chanted in the parking lot after an election. I do it for the
When choosing what college to attend I knew I had to go to Spelman. I choose to attend Spelman because of its high scholastic standards for its students and also because of the foundation Spelman bestows among young African-American women. Spelman empowers young women to be the change you want to see in the world. Spelman nourishes students ensuring that they have equal opportunity to be successful. Spelman demonstrates how African American women can not only achieve successful but also gain a sisterhood that will forever live among the students even after graduation. During NSO a quote Dr. Myra Burnett mentioned emphasized on the importance of knowing that you can be and achieve whatever you are willing to work for. Dr. Burnett states, “You can be whatever you want is an incorrect statement however, you can be whatever you are willing to work for. You can have whatever you’re willing to work for” (Burnett). Dr. Burnett explained how you can’t just have whatever you want or choose to be in life without working hard or being willing to do to achieve your goals. It takes hard work and dedication to obtain the things we want in life. Spelman College will impact my life not only through the education but through the high expectations they place upon students from NSO to graduation and beyond.
Student Union Address at BSU’s 3rd annual Black Faculty, Staff, and Student Mixer. This years theme is “The Resurgence of College Activism: 1960 vs. 2016” With the current racial climate in the United States, we chose a theme that can incorporate not only student activism on campus, but in their general community as well. The distinguished student that is chosen will be tasked with conducting a ten to twenty minute address in front of the their peers and faculty/staff on campus regarding either A) Answering the questions “How can the black student community
It was only a year ago when I was faced with making a very important decision that would affect me for the rest of my life. It was time for me to choose an institution of higher learning to continue my studies that would eventually lead me to my career. My decision wasn’t simply which university or college to choose, but as a young black student, whether to choose a Historically Black College or University (HBCU) or a Predominately White Institution (PWI). This would take me on an insightful journey and I would make my decision after discussing the pros and cons of both institutions and through interactions with students, faculty and staff. Before too long
Over the last couple of years, I have had many opportunities that dealt with me enriching diversity for my campus and community. Being a member of Phi Theta Kappa has many immeasurable benefits. One benefit that came with me being a chapter officer at North Hennepin Community College is that every year we get to choose a project that benefits or raises awareness to the community. This year me and my Phi Theta Kappa team chapter members wanted to see what our fellow student body members thought about equally underrepresented minorities in position of power. We were able to gather and interpret the results. From the results, I personally changed my attitude, I learned that everyone needs to be educated so that they could be more knowledgeable
Since entering SMU in the fall of 2013 I have had the honor and privilege of meeting some of the most outstanding indivuals. SMUs black population represents the crème of the crop. I say this because despite the numerous obstacles that society has placed in our way, we are all still here. We represent countless black people that continue to fight in the battle against oppression. When there isn’t a way we make a way. We make spaces for ourselves such as ABS, NPHC, SSS and BME. I have gone to numerous forums, meetings, film showings, service events, fish fry’s, barbeques, step shows, talent shows, church outings, teas, demonstrations, fundraisers and numerous other events with the goal of supporting my black brothers and sisters. The black community
Having served in higher education the past three years, I have grown in my appreciation for the complexities of colleges and universities. Specifically, I am fascinated by how institutions value diversity within their student population and among their employees. Over the past two years colleges and universities have had to confront their racist past to understand their student population. Christian higher education has not been immune to this soul searching. Christian institutions must recognize diversity as a biblical and institutional imperative to embrace institutional inclusive excellence. Diversity needs to be embraced for institutions to survive in a pluralistic and changing society. As higher education faces a tumultuous future, there is a heightened need for diverse administrators who can navigate and effectively lead institutions towards inclusive excellence.
Andersen, JA & Hansson, PH 2011,"At the end of the road? On differences between women and men in leadership behaviour", Leadership & Organization Development Journal, vol. 32 no. 5 pp. 428 – 441
When a person presently looks at university school systems, one never imagines the struggle to obtain such diverse campuses. With Caucasians, Asians, Latinos, and African Americans all willing and able to attend any institution, it is difficult now to envision a world where, because of one’s skin color, a person is denied university acceptance. In actuality, this world existed only fifty years ago. In a time of extreme racial discrimination, African Americans fought and struggled toward one of many goals: to integrate schools. As a pioneer in the South, a man named James Meredith took a courageous step by applying to the University of Mississippi, an all white
Imagine being a student of low economic status that has always dreamed of going to a world renowned university but the stench of racism still looms at the well-known college. The racism displayed at this university is undeniable and very visible which in result scares away many diverse students. Colleges claim to be diverse but with the lack of minorities due to the recognizable racism issues and problems this proposes an important matter. Racism at The University of Mississippi can be solved by raising awareness of racial problems and also the increase of mandatory diversity classes.
While attending The State of the Black Union I saw how the concepts that we learned in class are still prevalent in our daily lives. A comment that was made during the State of the union address at resonated with me was that College bound is a privilege. Living in the inner cities of Richmond I see this lived out on the daily. Virginia Tech’s efforts to try and reach the unreached population has been shy of their goals. Even with programs like Fall Visitation, Yates program, Gateway program, Access, there are still catered to a particular group of people. Virginia Tech looks at African Americans as a universal title instead of an individualize one. The aforementioned organizations attract those African Americans who are more
Great leaders have shaped the World we live in today and they are remembered for what they were able to accomplish during their lifetime. The history books are filled with leaders that changed the very nature of something by taking a different road or challenging the way everyone perceived things. Leaders would not be able to accomplish these daring feats without the help of their followers, the individuals in the background giving them their support (Schermerhorn & Uhl-Bien, 2014). Colleen Barrett was able to break through the glass ceiling and led Southwest Airlines (SWA) to become one of the most successful airlines in the industries (Dierendonck & Patterson, 2010). In the following pages will explore Colleen Barrett’s leadership
As a testament to the next discussion point of opportunities, especially within the realm of college admission, I have experienced firsthand the opportunities presented by affirmative action. As a low-income, first-generation college student, Virginia Tech had offered me a full scholarship based solely on merit and financial need. As a “minority” according to Virginia Tech, I had an
Leadership is something that we are all born with because we are all born. Therefore, who is a leader and who is not depends on who really wants to be a leader and who does not. Leadership is a skill and so it can be learned. As anything that is learned it demands practice and practice to be the best. It would not be something that will happen in a matter of a day. There are multiple elements that make a leader. Collaboration is a key element for successful teamwork. Therefore, a leader must always be in the look for ways to foster collaboration. Creating trust within the team, support face-to-face collaboration, transfer responsibilities when making decisions, and ultimately teach other how to be leaders. All of this is not done if it is not done from the bottom of your own heart.
This case study is an analysis of leadership as exhibited by Rebecca S. Halstead. The article published at Harvard Business School by Boris Groysberg and Deborah Bell details the traits, motivations and leadership style that Halstead exemplified. Through the analysis of this article I hope to not only document the achievements of Rebecca Halstead but also document and assimilate the leadership lessons imparted by her. An important observation I have made from the progress of time I this course is that study of leadership is synonymous with studying great leaders. The study of science involves experiments & making observations based on results. However, leadership is not an absolute science, there are various approaches. Every leader has a different style & combination of traits. Aspiring leaders & scholars of leadership must find their individual combination to succeed.
As a rising senior, it’s easy to forget how many years have gone by since I arrived at Rutgers University. Accompanying those many years are memories of joy and hardship, which have provided valuable insight and promoted my growth. When I first arrived here on the banks, I came in timid and reserved. I had a large number of high school friends attending the school and had resolved to keep in touch with them rather than making new friends. In fact, if it were not for my roommate, I may not have even gotten close to some of the people in my first year residence hall. Beyond the sheer volume of students that came from my high school to Rutgers, I had grown up in a very diverse and opinionated city. My town, being one of the most diverse