Mentorship was the focus of Thursday’s panel discussion hosted by the Minority Achievement, Creativity and High Ability (MACH-III) Center at Prairie View A&M University, in partnership with the Melvin C. Terrell Educational Foundation.
Led by moderator Dr. Dawn Person – who directs California State University Fullerton’s Center for Research on Educational Access and Leadership – panelists spoke about mentorship’s role in diversity work, in the context of the career of their own mentor, Dr. Terrell, the founder and chair of the Dr. Melvin C. Terrell Educational Foundation and vice president emeritus of Northeastern Illinois University. Diverse served as a sponsor the event.
Terrell pointed to mentorship as a critical component of creating the “best holistic possible experience” for graduate students of color, especially amid COVID-19.
“They’re struggling financially, they are in immense amount of stress, they’re concerned about their health and safety, particularly during this pandemic,” he said.
Dr. Jerlando F.L. Jackson described mentoring as “the sharing of information and guidance that helps demystify a pathway, whether that’s a pathway to and through a graduate program or a career pathway.” He’s the chair of educational leadership and policy analysis at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, as well as a Vilas Distinguished Professor.
For him, a meaningful mentee-mentor relationship means the two “walk together through one’s journey,” sharing successes and concerns.
That includes a “psycho-social aspect” that goes beyond the formal bounds of academia, especially with student of color, said Dr. Elizabeth Dooley, professor and special assignment on women in higher education at the University of Central Florida.
