Enku Gelaye has served as the Emory University Vice President and Dean of Campus Life since August 2019. Prior to her arrival at Emory, Gelaye was the vice chancellor of student affairs and campus life at University of Massachusetts Amherst, where she previously held positions as associate vice chancellor, and dean of student affairs and campus life. Having also worked at Long Beach State, UCLA, and USC, Gelaye earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Georgia and a bachelor’s degree in print journalism from University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
The UAA “Conversations About Race and Racism” series seeks to lift the voices of people of color and recognize the challenges faced in both athletics and academics at the collegiate level. By sharing personal stories, we hope to elevate the conversation about race to raise awareness and bring about change.
An Educational Foundation
“Being a Black woman, race has been part of my experience every day of my life. There hasn’t been one seminal moment that shaped my thinking and goals more than the fact that education has always been foundational in our family,” Gelaye explained. “I lived in college towns for the most part. I grew up in Tuskegee, Alabama, home to Tuskegee University, one of the nation’s most notable HBCUs (Historically Black Colleges and Universities). I grew up around a lot of African American and white people. Both communities have always viewed education as essential and important.
“We were always encouraged at home. My dad valued education tremendously and nearly everyone else in my community expected a certain level of excellence. Going to college and getting a four-year degree wasn’t enough. There were expectations that one would attend law school or medical school.”
The Perception of Race
“Growing up in the communities that I did and having the sound upbringing that I had, I was not hyper concerned about how others saw my race. I know U.S. history and who we are and that race is a factor for many people,” Gelaye shared. “I was more concerned with understanding how injustices exist personally and professionally and how to mitigate them. I have a lot of responsibility to honor people like John Lewis and other civil rights leaders, to honor and stand on the shoulders of those who sacrificed so much for me.”
Working at a Predominantly White Institution
“One of the more salient challenges of working at a predominantly white institution is being the only person of color in the room and understanding that no one else knows what that feels like except you,” described Gelaye, who adds that we need to move past the point where people don’t understand things they say and do are harmful. “On college campuses, we should be aware and have taken the necessary steps to educate ourselves. It doesn’t mean we don’t respond with grace and compassion, but I would like to see us hold one another accountable and positively affect the communities we are in.”
Watching Michelle Obama’s Becoming on Netflix, Gelaye appreciated that the former First Lady didn’t take no for an answer. “Michelle talked about meeting with her high school guidance counselor. Her brother had gone to Princeton and she wanted to go there as well. Her counselor really discouraged her, implying that she did not have the chops to go. Michelle went to Princeton and graduated anyway.”
Gelaye was particularly struck by Obama’s description of being seated at tables with world leaders: “I have been at, probably, every powerful table there is in the world. I’ve been at G-summits, I’ve been in castles and palaces, in boardrooms and academic universities. And I’m coming down from the mountaintop to tell every young person that is poor and working-class and has been told, regardless of the color of your skin, that you don’t belong, don’t listen to them,” Obama said.
Gelaye continued. “We need to keep fighting for those spots if that is what we want. We don’t see people who look like us as chancellors, vice presidents, athletic directors,” she remarked. “We struggle with whether that is the role for us. We don’t see ourselves in these roles. We wrestle with our past. If that is what we want to be, we need to figure how to inspire and engage, find mentors, and get there. It is important we do so. There are still a lot of firsts to be achieved, unfortunately.”
Gelaye finds it particularly important to find mentors who can identify with your struggles and ambitions. “The Black women in my small mentorship are exhausted by the challenges we face. They are constantly feeling that way. We need to support them,” she added.
The Role of Allies
“I read something recently that said we all have similar K-12 and college experiences, but if you are Black, Indigenous, Asian, or Latinx, you have to take on a massive self-education project outside of the classroom structure,” Gelaye communicated. “We have to do so to understand our histories because we are not being taught those things in the spaces we are in. I would like to see all of us do more of that, really engaging in the effort to learn more about the people around us.”
“The damage we do to students when we don’t learn more about them and their challenges is sometimes irreparable. For example, our lack of awareness could result in a student not staying in the major or institution they have selected. We must do the best we can for our students all the time.”
The Journey Ahead
After the multiple police killings of Black men and women in the spring, Gelaye sent a message to her campus life colleagues on June 5, 2020:
Sharing the pain, grief, and rage of so many of our neighbors around the country, we find ourselves in an all-too-familiar place as we struggle with centuries-old issues of racial and social injustice. These issues speak to who we are as a nation, what we aspire to be, and why some members of our society have been denied basic human and civil rights for so long.
The tragic death of Georgia resident Ahmaud Arbery recalls our nation’s bitter legacy of brutality toward Black people and other marginalized communities. We speak the names of Ahmaud, Breonna Taylor, and now George Floyd – names on a list of thousands of human beings violently killed for being Black. We also speak Christian Cooper’s name and recognize the ways in which systemic racism and racist hostility lead to unjustified deaths.
For months, we have grappled with the magnitude of COVID-19’s disproportionate impact on people with low incomes, underlying conditions, and inadequate health insurance, including our Black, Latinx, Asian and Native American neighbors. Now, we grieve and remember Ahmaud, Breonna and George.
As members of the Emory community, let us underscore our will to effect change and our solidarity with the families mourning their loved ones. Individually and together, it is important to commit to self-awareness, education, compassion, and an understanding of how these injustices continue to undermine community wellness and our important work of creating equitable learning and working spaces for all students and staff.
Our journey ahead will continue to be challenging, but let us recall the words of Bryan Stevenson in his commencement address to Emory.
“Hope is a powerful force. Hope will sometimes make you stand up, even when people say, ‘Sit down.’ It will make you speak, even when people say, ‘Be quiet,’” he reminded us. “I am persuaded today that we shall overcome, despite the complexity and challenges of the moment.”