Dear colleagues,

 

It is my great pleasure to announce the appointment of Dr. Corliss Bennett as Director of Humboldt State's Cultural Centers for Academic Excellence. In this position, Dr. Bennett will oversee a multi-program unit comprised of multiple student services programs designed to provide HSU students with networks that blend cultural, community and academic engagement. This unit, the Cultural Centers for Academic Excellence, includes two longstanding centers - the MultiCultural Center (MCC), the Native American Center for Academic Excellence (or Indian Tribal and Educational Personnel Program, ITEPP) - as well as two newer programs, the African-American Center for Academic Excellence and the Latin@ Center for Academic Excellence.

 

Dr. Bennett brings to campus a wealth of expertise in leading culturally oriented student services programs, and a lifelong commitment to supporting college access and success for students from historically under-served communities. For the last 17 years, she has served as Director of the Center for Black Cultural and Student Affairs at the University of Southern California. Previous to that, she served for several years in undergraduate admissions and in pre-college outreach at different universities across California, and spent five years as a middle school teacher in Los Angeles. 

 

Dr. Bennett has also served in various national and state-wide leadership roles. Included in this service: she served as President of the California Council of Cultural Centers in Higher Education (CaCCCHE) for several years. She also served - first as Southern California Chair, and then as National Chair - of the African American Knowledge Community within NASPA, the association of Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education..

 

Dr. Bennett earned a Doctorate in Educational Leadership from the University of Southern California (emphasis on Higher Education Administration), an M.A. in International and Multicultural Education from the University of San Francisco (emphasis on Student Affairs), and a B.A. in Liberal Studies from University of California, Riverside (emphasis on Sociology and Education).

 

I want to take this opportunity to thank the search committee for this position, as well as everyone across campus who participated in this search process. We had a number of excellent candidates for this position, and our process benefited greatly from rich feedback from colleagues across campus, as well as from the care, commitment, and many hours of their time that the committee brought to this process. I would also like to take this opportunity to extend my heartfelt thanks to Adrienne Colegrove-Raymond, who for the past two years has served as Interim Director for the Cultural Centers for Academic Excellence, and who brought to this position unwavering commitment and dedicated leadership to serving our students and our campus.

 

Dr. Bennett will join us on campus on July 25. Please join me in welcoming her to the Humboldt State community.