Since arriving at St. Cloud State University to become an assistant professor of College Counseling and Student Development in 2019, Dr. Aeriel A. Ashlee has been dedicated to helping facilitate various events and prioritize work surrounding diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) at St. Cloud State.
As outlined and highlighted within President Robbyn Wacker’s It’s Time initiative, St. Cloud State is working to prioritize the advancement of DEI and engage in intentional actions to address systemic inequities throughout the university.
Ashlee, who has spent time in higher education for more than a decade working with students of color and other underrepresented students, is just one example of that work in motion. Since arriving at St. Cloud State, she has helped facilitate and take part in numerous DEI-related initiatives, including working with the Huskies 1st Four Days Planning Committee to develop intentional DEI learning outcomes, helping facilitate a student-initiated virtual speak out conversation in March between students, faculty, staff and the community to come together and discuss racial injustice and inequity, and other things.
“There’s so much happening in the world right now around racial injustice and inequity,” she said. “The compounding effect of the recent anti-Asian hate crimes and continued police violence against Black lives have many folks feeling emotionally exhausted, not to mention tired and isolated as we all try and navigate life during COVID. I was impressed and inspired by student leaders (during the student speak out event) who really took the initiative to say we want to hold a space for ourselves and our community.
“There were students, staff and faculty from St. Cloud State and beyond who really came together to talk about ways in which we were grieving and to share ideas, questions, and concerns, and to think about what it means to be in solidarity with one another.”
St. Cloud State’s campus and demographics is among some of the most racially diverse among institutions in the Minnesota State system. With that, Ashlee believes the campus community can help lead the state system in actively centering and prioritizing DEI and to be bold as President Wacker’s It’s Time initiative invites.
“I appreciate President Wacker’s strategic vision and the It’s Time language,” Ashlee said. “With encouragement and conversation that has happened between President Wacker, other campus administrators and the many faculty, staff, and students who are deeply committed to diversity, equity and inclusion, there have been important conversations as to what it looks like to have diversity, equity and inclusion not just as a tenant of It’s Time, but truly integrated throughout and prioritized within the strategic vision for St. Cloud State.
“To me, there have been some exciting conversations to be a part of that are about really ensuring the culture of St. Cloud State is prioritizing these values and equipping our students with the skills they need to be able to understand how to talk about these things,” Ashlee continued. “It can be intimidating to talk about issues such as power, privileged and oppression, so it’s about how we prepare our students and campus leaders to have these conversations in meaningful ways.”
St. Cloud State is dedicated to addressing the challenges in higher education head on, as outlined in the It’s Time initiative. And the work already done by Ashlee and others surrounding DEI, along with the work yet to come, is just one important aspect of the university’s vision.
“I think it’s important to make sure, through the strategic visioning of It’s Time, that we continue to adequately and sufficiently fund entities like Multicultural Student Services and the Community Anti-Racism Education Initiative, and also think strategically about how we can organize campus-wide efforts in a way that can really enable students, faculty and staff to continue leading our campus,” Ashlee said. “I think we have an opportunity to create a campus community that doesn’t just claim racial diversity in our student demographics, but genuinely advances systemic change that allows for communities of color to thrive and be very successful at St. Cloud State.
“I’m excited about the possibilities. I think there’s a lot of good work that has already been done, and I’m excited about President Wacker’s leadership as we think about how we continue to prioritize and center DEI within It’s Time.”
