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.

Link to cool stuff

• Ron on LinkedIn

On this week’s episode, we talk sit down with John Delony, the Associate Provost and Dean of Students at Belmont University. John talks about how his own mental health challenges proved to be an important turning point in his life. Those events inspired him to take counseling classes at Texas Tech and join a crisis team to help grieving families. All of these experiences have profoundly shaped his approach to working with students. 

Jon McBride works at Brigham Young University as the media relations and social media manager. Since he started at BYU 6 years ago, he has begun to develop a strong and creative social media strategy. In this episode, he explained how he loves that his department is adaptive to the field of communication. Jon tells us about the time he pitched Beyonce’s publicist, and also chats with Lougan and Jackie about his student social media team and their thoughtful Instagram stories on tough campus topics.

Links to cool stuff

• Jon on Twitter
• Jon on LinkedIn
• BYU Consent Instgram Story
• BYU Respect Instagram Story

Dave Stockton is the director of student conduct at Marquette University in Milwaukee, WI. He is originally from the UK, and when he arrived in the US, he learned all about student affairs – something that didn’t exist back home. We talk about his side-project called Prod Duck, notepads he designed to help people be more productive. 

Links to cool stuff

• Dave on Twitter
• Dave on Linkedin
• Prod Duck