Ron started a new job as the Assistant Director of Residence Life and Student Conduct at Northwestern in May — in the midst of a pandemic and just before protests against racial violence began across the U.S. Both of these events directly impact Ron’s work both now and in the fall. Despite all the turmoil, he remains collected and more motivated than ever to create an inclusive environment for Northwestern’s students.

Ron and Lougan worked together at Belmont, but Lougan was not able to join this interview so Jenna caught up with him to talk about his history as a campus organizer and whether it’s possible to address public health and racial justice at the same time. We also discuss Ron’s work as a tour guide and organizer for Black travelers and where he wants to go once travel resumes.

Ron holds a master’s in college student affairs from the University of West Georgia and is currently pursuing an Ed.D. in student affairs leadership at the University of Georgia.

While a lot of colleges and universities talk about ending racism and inequality on their campuses, Carah Ong Whaley and her team at JMU dove headfirst into taking action. Carah is Associate Director of the Center for Civic Engagement, which has put together weekly virtual discussions on topics related to racism, policing, and more. She is also part of an effort to rename JMU buildings currently named for well-known racists in history. As you’ll hear, she’s active in both the #JMUchangethenames social media campaign and working behind the scenes with university leaders.

We recorded this episode on June 18. Stay tuned to the end of the show on what’s happened at JMU since then.

This week we’re rebroadcasting Lougan and Jackie’s episode with Junior Delgado, the director of the Career Center at Westfield State University. He started as the coordinator of senior programs 18 years ago and nine years later he started his current role. The center is staffed with 13 people who oversee career services for undergraduates, graduates, and alumni. Junior discusses how the university uses the platform Handshake to promote one on one connections and as a tool to host networking events. His signature lesson topic to prepare students is to have them think about life after Westfield.

This week, Lougan and new Higher Ed Social host Jenna Spinelle catch up with Jackie about what she’s been up to in her new role at UNC and how the grad school world differs from undergraduate when it comes to enrollment and recruitment. We also talk about how COVID-19 has impacted everyone’s work and non-work lives, including 100% more Animal Crossing and Tiger King than has ever been discussed on the show before.

This week, we’re rebroadcasting Lougan & Jackie’s episode with Kate Post, digital engagement lead at California State University, Chico. She has a master’s degree in Japanese and planned to go into translation work, but found a passion for communications and social media. She translates her love of Japanese culture and literature into her work every day. To Kate, communication (especially through social media) is similar to translation in that both break down a message to its essential pieces and then re-packaging it in a different way.