M A R C H 2 5 - 3 1, 2 0 19 | W E E K LY I N P R I N T | O U D A I LY. C O M
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The OU Daily spoke with four influential women on OU’s campus: Mirelsie Velazquez, Crystal Perkins-Carter, Lauren Scheuler and Kristen Partridge.
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Four women in leadership positions at OU speak to their work, legacies at the university
o c e l e b r a t e W o m e n ’s History Month, The Daily spoke with four women who are making a difference on OU’s campus. From giving up personal time, money and energy, to participating in campus activism, to running programs that help women feel empowered and be involved, these women will leave OU better than they found it. To listen to the full interviews, visit OU Daily on soundcloud.com. M i r e l s i e Ve l a z q u e z ( i n t e r v i e w e d b y E m m a Ke i t h , editor-in-chief ) Velazquez is an educational historian working with OU’s Educational Leadership and Policy Studies department. She arrived at OU in 2014 and is currently working with teachers on studying social inequalities in Oklahoma City Public Schools. Q: Your name popped up on my radar originally because I saw you speak at the Rally to End Racism back in January, and I watched you get up and read something that you said you had read four years ago when (the SAE incident) happened. Why was it important for you to re-emphasize all those points and make your voice heard in front of all those students? A: It was interesting because the event in 2015 — I think it was called Seven Convocations of Healing — but the word “healing” stands out. Usually when something heals, it’s because you’re moving on from it, because it’s fixed. We heal from illnesses, from experiences ... There was no closure. We kind of moved on until the next time it happens. So when the students reached out to me and asked me to speak at the event, I intended to write something. I was sitting there thinking, “What would I write differently?” I wouldn’t write anything differently. It’s the same kind of ... injury that I talked about in 2015 and nothing has changed. So, to me, to read it without people knowing that what I was reading was what I wrote except for two people, for them to kind of hear that, to me, was a little more profound was because it was a recognition that I’ll probably be here again reading these exact same words
because it’s a cycle. And we haven’t moved beyond that cycle. Q: Why is it important for faculty and staff to have their voices heard on these issues? A: Where power lies really matters. It’s a good reminder for students to understand that faculty and staff don’t have the type of power that students think we have … But students come in and out of spaces, so it’s important for us to teach those new students about the institutional history in these spaces. And I think social media makes that a little easier. Q: What do you want to have left behind at OU? A: One thing I would want to leave in this space is the fact that you’re not alone in this … That what you’re experiencing in a classroom where you’re the only black or brown face and can’t connect to either your classmates or the faculty member that’s in front of you — that there is a genealogy of love and resistance because I do think those go hand-in-hand. I resist because I love myself and I love my community and I love those who are going to come after me. You’re part of that. As long as you remember that you’re part of something that is grounded on love … I hope that makes the process of them being here a little easier and they continue to work toward creating the type of change they want to see even if they don’t witness it themselves but for people in the future. Crystal Perkins-Carter (interviewed by Emily McPherson, copy chief ) Perkins-Carter is the co-director of Project Threshold, a program on OU’s campus that provides services to students who are first-generation, economically disadvantaged or have disabilities. While working in higher education, she has used personal funds to start a publishing company to write books and provide assistance to students. Q: You’ve written multiple books. And you use some of those proceeds to give scholarships for students? A: Yes. I always use a portion of my proceeds to continue to
do scholarships for my students. Scholarships could be bursar bills. Sometimes I have to pay my students’ rent because they’re about to be evicted, so if they need that help, that’s something I’m willing to do. Sometimes it’s an airline ticket to get home because they have an emergency. So whatever the need is, if my heart feels led to bless them, then I do. Q: Multiple people have said you have changed their lives. How does it make you feel when you hear that? A: I’m inspired. I strive to be the change I desire to see, and because we serve a large population of students who are first generation and students who are economically disadvantaged, s ometimes the y come from homes where they haven’t had the example of what it’s like to be a college student or some of them come from really traumatic backgrounds … So to see them transform and blossom is very rewarding because I know that I planted a seed and I watered it and I convinced them to believe enough in themselves that they have been able to rise and become vice presidents and CEOs or doctors and lawyers, and it makes me feel good. Q: How do you see your role as a woman at OU and in academia in general? A: I feel like my role is very important, not only because I am a woman, but because I am a role model. I believe, again as I said, you have to be the example that you desire to see. So for my students, I just try to influence them to believe that they can. I think it’s important to let them know that in spite of what the system has said or statistics have said about them, that you have the ability to soar as high as you desire. My parents were 16 years old when they had me. So growing up in Detroit, I had tons of labels that I experienced as an adolescent that my instructors would sometimes try to put on me and I just remember the strong women in my life — my grandmother, my mother — and even as a 16- or 17- or 18-yearold, inspiring me to believe that I could be whatever I wanted to be. I write my ticket. And that’s
what I’ve tried to share and instill in my students — you write your ticket. So if you come in with remedial classes, but if you desire to be that doctor, then you work extra hard to get to that standpoint. I feel like roles are important, but I feel like more so than the role it’s what I show them and what I teach them. I can sit here and be a woman on OU’s campus and do absolutely nothing in terms of influence. But my role as a woman on OU’s campus to me is very important.
others students ... It’s a launching pad for the women who go through the program ... Now that we are coming up on 18 classes of N.E.W. leadership, we’ve got women who are in office in Oklahoma, they are working on campaigns, they are in different state departments, they are doing policy work. We’ve got graduates in four out of five congressional offices. It’s really about the network, which is the most important part of what we do. We’re the connectors.
Lauren Schueler (interviewed by Kayla Branch, enterprise editor) Schueler is the director of women’s leadership programs at the Carl Albert Center. She leads N.E.W. Leadership and Pipeline to Politics, two programs aimed at providing women with mentors, knowledge and leadership opportunities to become involved in public service
Q: How do you all focus on different demographics — women of color, women from different socioeconomic backgrounds? A: Everything is about intersectionality and about how do we work together as a whole group, not just feminism being for middle class or higher class white women. We are thoughtful about the way that we put together the program, what kinds of speakers we are bringing to the table, because I could go out and find every single speaker that is a white woman, but that’s not representation and that’s not what our students need to be seeing. There are women of color that are Black, Hispanic, Muslim, from the LGBTQ community that are there doing that work, and so it’s about finding the right people and elevating their voices and putting students in front of them and giving them a platform. We know that students need to see themselves in the people who are in power because that makes them dream and gives them something to aspire to.
Q: A really basic question — why is it so important to have women in public office? A: We can always revert back to the research, but there are a couple of things ... Women are half of the population, if not 51 percent. So that is a whole group of people that need to have a seat at the table. We also know that when women come to the table, they bring different experiences to that. They understand their own bodies, they understand being a mother or being a single parent … I think they change the conversation when they come to the table or at least elevate a different topic or experience that may not have been thought about before. We also know that women ... compromise more, they work across the aisle more, and women come to politics not because they want power but because they want change or they have a specific thing that launched them. They want to be helpful and help people. It really is the foundation of wanting to do good for the community. Q: Do your programs have a lot of real world application? A: Absolutely. Our graduates say they immediately have skills. They are connected with people, they have internship opportunities, they are working with
K r i s t e n Pa rt r i d g e (interviewed by Drew Hutchinson, news reporter) Partridge is the associate vice president of student affairs and associate dean of students at OU. She oversees departments like Housing and Food and Health Services to provide support to directors to better serve students. Q: How do you maintain a work-life balance?
See WOMEN OF OU page 3