Name: Fred Hodges
Job Title: Assistant Director for the office of Educational Equity and Diversity.
Degrees: Bachelors in Communication; Masters in College Counseling.
Involvement on Campus: Coordinator for the Fast Start Mentoring Program, which Fred describes as, “An avenue for a lot of diverse students from underrepresented populations to come to college and to have a mentor that will help them with their transition from high school to college. And our mentors are not called mentors, they are called F.R.I.E.N.D.S. The F.R.I.E.N.D.S stand for: Friendly Resourceful Individuals Empowering New Diverse Students.”
What led you to get involved as an assistant director?: My passion. My passion to help younger individuals, my passion to help younger generations, to help youth, students and to be that support system for a lot of students who need it.
What is your main goal as assistant director?: My main goal is unity. Togetherness. Mainly unity, that’s my main goal. To unify our student population.
Fondest memory working with Behrend students: My fondest memory working with Behrend Students I would have to say would be, The Real Talk Shop. We have a lot of students that come with open minds and they bring a lot of things to the table. I would say it’s definitely appreciative that they are able to open up and discuss different issues and put issues on the table. Issues involving them on campus and also at home as well… but it’s not just about issues, it’s also about togetherness and bridging the gaps, because even though we all are different, however, we all have that one thing in common, we are Behrend.
What is The Real Talk Workshop?: It’s basically an open panel, open discussion forum, where we talk about anything, you know? We talk about relationship building, we talk about connections, we talk about networking, classes, politics, we talk about, you know, the issues that are going on with social media. Social media, for instance, is it a friend or a foe? We talk about different things such as me-versus-me, you being your biggest competitor, procrastination. Those different things that we face as young adults and also college students. So, we kind of bring all that to the table and we discuss it.
(Photo Credits: Bhuri Rodprasert)
(If you’re interested in The Real Talk Workshop, the meetings are held every Tuesday at 8pm in Burke 001)
Most challenging part of your job?: I would say it’s keeping the students engaged. Keeping the students engaged with things that we have, like the programs that we put forward, I mean this is an ever-changing environment, an ever-changing world and that’s definitely a challenge, in order to keep them engaged, to keep them motivated, [to] keep them fired up, supporting one another.
Most satisfying part of your job?: The leadership, the student leadership. Seeing the student leadership in Behrend, these students, you know, at the forefront of these different events and programs and initiatives, is a wonderful, satisfying feeling and it also energizes me and motivates me to keep doing what I’m doing.
What’s your favourite program the office of Educational Equity and Diversity has held?: Harambee.
What are you most excited for this school year?: I am most excited for… seeing a lot of gaps that are being bridged. I’m excited to see, there are a few students that have come together from different groups, different populations. And I’m excited to see the work that they do. You know we have a lot of new students and new leadership positions and they have this, I don’t know if it’s the fall fire, because everybody is back, but they have this fire in them and I’m definitely excited to see the things that they do.
What is your take on the recent events that have been happening here in the US and around the world? How do you think it affects Behrend Students?: I feel as though it’s sad what’s going on, especially me, being an African American man. I just wish that a lot of people who have this ignorance, that they could keep an open mind. There are some people that do not want to have an open mind, don’t care to have an open mind. But however, I encourage my students, and I encourage everyone who is an advocate for the things that are going on, that not everyone is going to understand. And you won’t be able to teach everyone. But to never get discouraged, you know? Never get discouraged. Because what’s going on out there, is going on out there. We have what’s going on over here, what we have to really worry about; what’s going on in this campus.
Do you have any advice for Behrend Students?: Continue to learn. Continue to grow and continue to have an open mind here in this institution. Everyday is a new day. And every day you wake up, you wake up another step closer to success.
Thank you for the wonderful interview! HCXO