Meet Kenneth Reid, the Assistant Director of Diversity and Multicultural Student Programs and Services at Gustavus! He strives to help students to be the best they can be all while keeping his heart warming and welcoming smile. Kenneth is passionate about the work he does, and you can tell just by talking to any student who knows him.
What does your job consist of?
“My primary concern is student success and student support. What that means is if a student needs counseling, needs to find resources on or off campus, or even needs help with their academics, I will reach out to them. I am always reaching out to students and asking what I can do to support them. I also work with the MLK Lecture, the bias response team, the peer mentoring program, the diversity peer educators, and programming in other efforts around campus.”
What brought you to Gustavus?
“When I looked at Gustavus’ mission and diversity website, I was pleased. I was thrilled when I saw the Diversity Leadership Council because Gustavus has all the diverse organizations on campus under one umbrella. Knowing that I would be able to advise all of those organizations excited me. In addition, when I looked at the population it made me think about how many more students I would be able to touch. The smaller population allows me to be proactive, not just reactive.”
What is your favorite part of your job?
“All the students. If I’m having a bad day, I can see one student that has something to share with me and my whole day just gets so much better. I love it! It reenergizes me everyday. It’s because of you all that I am pleased to do my work every day.”
What is something you are passionate about at work?
“At work, I’m passionate about ensuring that students of color are mentored, pushed, and empowered to be successful. I wouldn’t be here without my mentors and I want students here to be able to be successful in their own way like me.”
What do you enjoy doing in your free time?
“I love to watch Scandal and Empire when they’re on. I love making advertisements or doing graphic art. I just love to play with Photoshop or design—stuff like that just to relax.”
What are you looking forward to for the summer?
“I’m looking forward to getting to my kiddos, and when I say ‘my kiddos’ I mean kids from a summer camp I run for Meskwaki settlement students, a Native American reservation settlement. Two years ago, I launched and directed the camp at the University of Northern Iowa. The kids are in fifth, sixth, and seventh grade and we just have a great time with them. I’m doing the camp again this year and looking forward to it just like every other year. We just have a great time with the students and they make you feel young again.”
What’s something that a lot of people don’t know about you?
· I am a LBGT gay black male.
· I am from a single-family household (raised by my mother and grandmother).
· I come from a low socioeconomic background.
· I am thankful for everything that I was presented with and for all of my mentors along the way.
· I like to have a great time!!!!
If you could tell students here one piece of advice, what would it be?
“Don’t wait till the last minute. Take advantage of the resources that are available to you now and take advantage of the opportunity to experience or learn about things that you have not or may not be able to in the future because this is the time for you to grow and learn and develop yourself as an individual.”
If you’re ever in need of someone to chat with about basically anything, stop by Ken’s office in the Diversity Center. He’d love to meet you!