Honoring Black History Month
Part 1: Interview with Dr. Latoya Pierce, Centenary Dean of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, Chief Diversity Officer
https://clipchamp.com/watch/WQd8tsig7bu
To start off, can you introduce yourself to those that may not know you?
So, I’m Doctor Latoya Pierce. Let’s see... a little bit about me… So, I’ve been at Centenary for, technically, just a little bit over a year. But I’ve been in higher education for about seventeen-eighteen years. I’ve been a faculty member, program director, academic Dean, Head of Department Chair, so, you know, kind of went through different areas of higher education.
Personally, on a personal level, I am originally from South Louisiana; grew up in a small town – well, not so small anymore – Gonzales, outside of Baton Rouge, but lived in New Orleans for ten years.
How did I become part of Centenary? I had always done diversity work throughout that time that I’ve been in academia, eighteen years, but I did it in terms of teaching, research, service, consulting, etc. But I had never had a title that had Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in it. So, when the position became open here at Centenary, I, of course, applied because I felt like I was content-expert in the work, and wanted to apply that level of expertise and experience to this particular role. So, when the role came open at Centenary, I was excited to take on that role and officially do the work that I had been passionate about and the work that I loved.
For those who may not really know and/or understand, what essentially is Black History Month? What is the significance in celebrating this month?
Great question! So, Black History Month, in my opinion, honors Black Americans. It honors our contributions, it honors our achievements, it honors our legacy as a part of American history. And so, the importance of celebrating Black History Month is to shine a light on the achievements, the contributions, the composers, the thinkers, the doctors, all of who we are as Black Americans and all the things we have given to American history – that we continue to give to American history. I think the other thing about Black History Month is that it’s important to uplift the other side of Black Americans, the African American race. Our history here in America because, I believe quite too often, I can remember growing up as a child and in textbooks the only portrayal of us was as slaves. And, it’s utterly important for all of us because Black Americans are woven into the fabric of this nation, it’s so important for all of us to understand and have holistic understanding of our identity, not merely as what’s put in textbooks as slaves – although that is a dark part of American history – but that is not our lineage. That is not all that we are defined as and defined by. So, I think Black History Month is important because it is a time for everyone to get a full understanding and grasp of Black Americans as whole people. As individuals who are multifaceted, who are intelligent, who are complex, who are thought-provoking, who are all these things (I’m running out of words) and to understand what that means. So, that’s kinda my take on Black History Month!
What has your own journey with honoring and celebrating BHM been like?
So, there’s of course things in the works with Black Student Union, the Music Department, there are many folks on campus who have Black History Month events – I really encourage everyone to go because I think they’re outstanding events. Out of my office in particular, I am planning an event, so there should be something that comes out very soon, that you’ll get from me, that speaks to an event – and I don’t want to give too much information away – but an event that I’m planning out of the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. But again my journey honoring and celebrating Black History Month here, it brings me to last year, when I was first starting here at Centenary. With the help of one of my Diversity Interns, Markiese Boykin, we and some other faculty and staff on campus, we were able to plan, what I would call an event that focused on racial healing. And it was during Black History Month last year; it was in the Whited Room, it was well attended – it was for students and I believe we had over 50 students who attended. It was wonderful because it was process, it was education, it was information. I felt like students left the event and they left that time and that space with understanding, with compassion, with self-reflection. I think, more than anything else, I think that’s really, really important. So, if I reflect back, that’s the one event that I think stands out for me. And then I think there’s to come this month, I think an outstanding event as well.
Who/What has been your biggest source of inspiration?
I would say my mother. My mother is an educator. She’s retired now, but she was an educator for over, I would say, close to 30 years, maybe 25+ years. And because she was an educator and she came from a long line of educators, she instilled in me the power of education. What I learned very young was that despite everything else, despite ill-intentions, and harm, whatever comes in this world, education is something that can’t be taken away from you. It is something that I own for the rest of my life. So she instilled in us the doors and the opportunities that education opens, but the identity as well and the adherent pride that comes along with it. So, I would say that she is my biggest source of inspiration. That’s hard to narrow it down! Because there’s been a couple of folks but I’m gonna say my mom.
Do you feel as though Centenary does its job with representing and supporting Black History Month and the Black students on campus?
Yes, I do. I think that…I believe that it’s important for us to name what it is that we want. Right? I want to try and explain that a little bit more… I believe that we have some very good programming that happens during Black History Month, and throughout the year for that matter, but I think we have some very good events and programming that happen during Black History Month. And as I mentioned before, there are different departments and different organizations that are planning things for Black History Month and for February.
I think that we have to continue to meet the needs of not only a diverse student population, but I believe we have to be very intentional in reflecting pathways for marginalized, oppressed student groups in particular. And what I mean by “reflecting pathways” I think it’s very important for students of color to see people who look like them in leadership, in faculty, in places and in spaces because it inspires them to the pathway that they themselves then choose. So, for instance, one of the things that I hosted last November was “Navigating Academic Leadership” and it was a bi-poc panel. Part of the reason that I planned that, and my diversity interns helped me plan that, was because it is utterly important – you aspire to become what you see. And we know that. We have some remarkable, remarkable, talented students here at Centenary College, our entire student body. I think it’s important though, I’ll emphasize again, it is very important for students of color to have a mirror that reflects who they are. And that can be difficult at any predominantly white institution – at any PWI – that can be a challenge and that can be difficult. So, it’s not that Centenary isn’t facing the same things that many other PWI’s are - every institution in the country is facing this. But how do we meet that need? How do we meet that challenge? So, part of that is reflecting back, especially to our students of color, others who have succeeded, others who are in leadership, others who can mentor, others who reflect their identity. So, to the question, I think that Centenary has done a good job in representing and supporting Black History Month. I will give a shout-out to the Diversity Committee because I think they did an exceptional job with Dream Week, as well, And so, yeah, I think Centenary continues to hit strides in terms of diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging. And, I’m going to say that we can’t take our foot off the pedal.
As Centenary’s Dean of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, what beliefs/practices have you brought to and/or created for the position to make it your own? What difficulties did you face?
Ahh…So, I’m gonna say – I’m gonna speak very generally – I’m gonna say, in general, not specific to Centenary, I think anytime that you are 1) a founding anything (you fill in the blank), it’s a blessing and a curse. Because you have a lot of creative freedom, but there’s also no road map. And so for me in particular, I wanted to ensure that I was operating at every single level in the position and role. What I mean by that is, engaging with students, engaging with faculty and staff, but also being a bridge between, and a liaison between, maybe different student groups, different faculty groups, and colleagues and senior leadership and administration, because I’m a part of that leadership team.
I see my role very much as a bridge. I see my role very much as, really integrated, embedded, and involved in many different facets of the institution. And I like that about the role. I never want to be in a role where I am confined to one thing. And what I think’s been unique about this role and what I hope I’ve created is that I have been able to work at very different levels strategically, intentionally, but also work as an ally and in allyship with students, faculty, and staff.
Difficulties? Again, not specific to Centenary, but I think in general any Diversity Officer faces challenges and faces difficulties of ensuring that people feel like they have a voice. And they feel heard. That’s difficult for many, many, many different reasons – because there’s so many different identities, and so you want to make sure that you are inclusive. You never want to feel like you’re excluding anyone. I think that’s probably the Diversity Officer’s nightmare! If I had to pick one thing it would be that I’ve excluded, I’ve unintentionally excluded someone. So I think the challenge for any Diversity Officer is to ensure that they are building relationships, that they’re building bridges with a variety of individuals, with a variety of identities. So there’s a partnership and there is an allyship.
How can young adults/students get involved with and support BHM? How can non-Black students, who may feel that they are not able to participate, do so?
Oh! Come to events! But not just come to events – so part of it is attending, because I think by attending you learn, you grow, you develop, you’re educated. But also get involved in planning as well! You know, when you know there are organizations or offices or people on campus who are planning for Black History Month, go to those persons and say “how can I be involved and how can I help?”. Because active participation is really where the learning happens honestly. That’s where a significant part of the learning takes place. Yes, the learning comes from content, as well, but some of that learning is experiential. And so, I’d say attending the events and also getting involved in the planning process. And then there’s just a commitment to self-education. Part of this work too is the self and the self in relation to others. And so understanding that part of this is for me to learn and to become better educated about issues around diversity, equity, inclusion, belonging, but some of this is a commitment that I take upon myself to educate myself as well. So, that’s part of it too.
How I would answer the second question is don’t feel as if you’re not able to participate. Part of allyship is figuring out “how do I partner with…”, right? I think some of the hesitation sometimes might be "am I partnering the right way?", “how do I partner?”, “how do I become an ally?” and there are a lot of questions and I think part of the process this actually organic. There’s not a rule book, there’s not a step-by-step manual of “this is exactly how I need to go about doing this” but I think for Black or African Americans, white allied voices are important. And I think that those white allied voices, or non-Black allied voices, are important in a unified message and in its solidarity as well.
Throughout your time here at Centenary so far, what has been your greatest achievement? What do you hope to accomplish for the college and its students, your position, and for yourself?
Greatest achievement…that’s tough because, I don’t know if I can narrow it down to one thing! So, and it’s not that I’m saying that I’ve done all these significant things, but what I’m saying is that out of the things I have done, I’ve been very proud of it all, so I’ll say that. I think that feeling of meeting with students last February, I was really proud of that. I think that I was really proud of working with faculty in terms of a national platform for a Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation summer institute. The Navigating Academic Leadership event with bi-poc leaders. There are so many different things that I'm just proud to be a part of. For me, it’s all just an opportunity to hopefully be impactful.
What I hope to accomplish? You know, I was going to say ‘to ensure every student on campus feels like they belong’ and that is still an accomplishment. That is still a goal. But I can’t own that goal singularly, I cannot own that goal by myself because that is not a goal that I can accomplish. That is a goal that takes many faculty, many staff, many administrators, and many students. So I’m going to say a collective – that would be a collective goal: to ensure that students feel like they belong. To ensure that students feel as if their identities are reflected here on campus, to ensure that faculty and staff feel the same, that their identities are reflected. I would say, as well, for diversity, equity, and inclusion, is not seen as an “add-on” but that it is embedded in what we do and it’s normalized, even in our curriculum. And that we, as faculty, engage in inclusive pedagogy, where we amplify diverse scholars and their voices. So yeah, those would be a couple of goals that I listed.
As a successful, Black woman, working in the South as Dean of DEI, what would you say has been your biggest challenge navigating those spaces? What has been your biggest accomplishment?
I appreciate the compliment “as a successful, Black woman working in the South” I appreciate that! So, I’m going to pick apart the question…
How do I measure success? I measure success not on if I have, you know… it is not my goal to go out and feel as though it’s my job to change everyone’s views on diversity, equity, and inclusion. Because that is a lifetime’s worth of work and that’s not something that I am espoused to do. Success for me would be for people who have encountered me, for people who have interacted with me, did we push the needle just a little bit, right? Are they more reflective in terms of their positionality and how their identity/identities help hinder, impact, engage with how they see the world around them? For me, the measure of success is not “my values are their values” and vise versa; the measure of success for me is “is this person open to different perspectives?” If they’re at least open to say “huh… I never considered it that way” or “huh…I never maybe understood how different my walk of life is from that person” and how that plays out on so many different levels. If we can just get there, that’s success. Right? It’s not finite by any means but a lot of this journey is personal. And a lot of this journey is definitely not about me pushing an agenda; this journey is about me hopefully introducing a different perspective that allows us to think in different ways. So, that’s the success part.
Working in the South? Yeah…that’s challenging…what can I say? Anytime you talk about diversity, equity, inclusion it’s challenging. Anytime you talk about diversity, equity, inclusion in the South…it’s that much more challenging. But growing up in the South, I’m going to also say that I have an understanding of diversity, equity, and inclusion, probably from a lens that others may not. There is a unique history in the South, there are nuances, there are these complex layers of how we engage in the South. And, I think you also have to have a very unique understanding of that and how that works. So, it’s the nuances. But that’s challenging as well! Even though I’m from the South, I grew up in the South, that can be challenging as well. But it, nevertheless, doesn’t deter the work that we do. We continue to do the work because the work is necessary, the work is what’s required of us. And we hope that the work is impactful.
Is there anything you’d like to mention?
I would just say gratitude would be the other thing I would mention. Anytime I have an opportunity like this, I want to close with gratitude. So, my gratitude is the opportunity to do this interview and be featured in The Conglomerate. Gratitude for students, faculty, and staff who continue to support diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging initiatives. To campus constituents who continue to be on this self-journey. Because it’s not an easy journey, but a self-reflective journey into who they are and who they are with others. But also an overall sense of gratitude that we are where we are. And I am intrigued, fascinated, and hopeful in how much further we have to go and where we land. So, I think I’ll end with that – with gratitude. Thank you.