President’s Welcome

I’m honored and proud to serve as your president! I’ve been an actively engaged member of this organization since I was a graduate student.  OSCLG has been a vital part of my academic journey since then as I’ve advanced through multiple roles of post-doctoral associate, assistant professor, program director, associate professor, and most recently full professor.  Being an active member afforded me the opportunity to grow and develop while also navigating systemic inequities that historically marginalized groups often negotiate. I greatly appreciate and value the safe space, which has led to brave spaces, especially as a feminist of color. The comradery and counsel of fellow OSCLGers, from fellow professors, administrators, and those in more formal capacities as Board members and the Wise Women’s Council will truly be considered my most memorable experiences.  It has also given me amazing opportunities to work with peers and graduate students over the years, so I greatly appreciate the ability to actively pour into others as there have been so many gracious enough to pour into me.  My current role as president will allow me to continue the Black feminist and womanist tradition to “lift as we climb.” In this capacity, I warmly welcome you to OSCLG if you are new and appreciate your confidence in me as a leader from fellow longstanding members!

As an organization that supports and showcases scholarship centering gender, language, and communication from multiple perspectives, we are open to a variety of perspectives and approaches. We are an actively engaged community and vital resource for those in all stages of their career, including graduate students, tenure track and tenured faculty, term faculty, and/or practitioners. We are proud to engage in academic and applied forms of our scholarship and continue to strive to be an inclusive organization, especially as we continue to experience both strides and setbacks in institutional and popular culture. We continue to support each other as we celebrate our successes and voices while enduring systemic failures, as well as challenges and lessons learned while navigating both. Our support takes multiple forms, such as collaborative forms of traditional research and applied endeavors, ranging from creative expression to community-engaged work. Again, welcome to OSLCG! I’m excited about the future of our organization and continued ways we can work together as scholars, practitioners, and activists.