Brown hired as LEAD program coordinator

By Katie Powers

With her light skin and hazel eyes, most people think Cheryl Brown is white. But she considers herself black.

Brown has spent her life studying what it means to have a biracial identity judged or misunderstood.

Now, she hopes to share some of the knowledge she has gained from this study with the Santa Clara community.

Brown, 31, was hired three weeks ago as the program coordinator for the Leadership, Excellence and Academic Development scholar program that assists first-generation college students.

As a first-generation college student who has worked with a program similar to LEAD, she sees herself as able to support students dealing with issues from culture shock to the quarter system.

Brown's face lit up when she talked about her passion for students.

She has taught in high schools, mentored students through her church and said she is looking forward to her duties as an advisor.

Brown said she values the importance of a comfortable place for all students.

When she was growing up in the Los Angeles area, the only black people on TV were entertainers, athletes or gangsters, she said.

"Unfortunately that leads people to rely on the images that they see and think that is the definition of a culture for a people," Brown said.

On a campus like this, a black student may walk into a classroom and be the only black person there. That student needs a place to be comfortable, and that's what the LEAD program provides, she said.

Brown came to Santa Clara after working on a diversity initiative for two years at St. Mary's College.

She received her Master of black studies at the University of California, Los Angeles, and went on to earn her doctorate in higher education and organizational change.

During her doctoral program, Brown became interested in underrepresented students' experiences at colleges, particularly at traditionally white institutions, she said.

Her interest in black studies and issues of inclusion started when she was a freshman in a class called Exploration of Racism.

Living in Orange County, she heard some very racist things growing up.

But in this class, students openly discussed all different racial stereotypes.

William Greenwalt, director of the LEAD Scholars Program, said Brown has the perfect training for this job.

"She is very familiar with this because of her own personal experience, and as a self-identified person of color, she sees the world from that experience," he said.

Greenwalt said he was impressed by Brown's academic achievements and by the way she immediately wanted to jump in and help. But most importantly, he said, students like her.

Freshman Amber Larkin met Brown a few weeks ago when the LEAD group went to dinner and a play.

"She recognizes that we are students struggling with being students, not just being first-generation students," Larkin said.

Brown is trying to get to know the campus and student leaders by doing things like dropping by the Multicultural Center, attending dialogues and trainings and scheduling a pizza party for the sophomores, juniors and seniors in LEAD.

She's even considering having evening drop-in hours in Benson.

"People come and they want to take classes and stuff, but there's so much more than that." Brown said. "I want to start to get to know the students, identify myself as someone who understands what's at stake in terms of wanting to be successful at college."

Contact Katie Powers at (408) 554-4546 or krpowers@scu.edu.