As a new academic year begins, HBCU students across the country are looking forward to returning to their respective campuses. Regardless of their student organizations, these students are surely looking forward to seeing old friends and making new friends at events. While life inside of the classroom is the focus of college life, student organizations create well-rounded students. That is where leaders like Travis Martin come in.

Travis is the director of Fraternity and Sorority Life at Northwestern University. There, he oversees 46 fraternities and sororities including five National Pan-Hellenic Council fraternities and sororities. Travis joined the HBCU Lifestyle Podcast to discuss his role as a student life administrator. He talked about his path from student leadership in college to his current responsibilities at one of the country’s most respected universities.

Raised in Clarksdale, Miss., Travis attended Mississippi Valley State where he was a student athlete and a member of Alpha Phi Alpha. Fascinated by student affairs, he went on to earn his M.Ed. in Higher Education Leadership from the University of Arkansas and is pursuing his Ph.D. in College Student Counseling and Personnel Services at the University of Georgia. Travis’s path started as an admissions counselor at Valley, took him to a graduate resident director at Arkansas to residence hall director at Georgia to senior coordinator/advisor of Greek Life at Georgia to Northwestern.

Travis also contributed to the forthcoming book “Models of Success: How Historically Black Colleges and Universities Survive the Economic Recession” which was co-edited by Dr. Shametrice Davis and Dr. Walter Kimbrough who appeared on episodes 40 and 44 of the podcast.

Follow Travis on Twitter.

A trailblazing public servant in Louisiana is the product of Grambling State University. Steven Jackson is the youngest person ever elected to the Caddo Parish Board of Commissioners and also the youngest to serve as president of the commission. He visited the HBCU Lifestyle Podcast to tell his story.  Steven shared how his experiences as Student Government Association president at Grambling  prepared him for public service. In a final keeping-it-real thought, Steven also shares his thoughts on how HBCUs can progress under the current U.S. presidential administration.

A native of Shreveport, La., Steven is the sixth sibling of his mother Patricia Jackson’s seven children. He graduated from Woodlawn High School; and while attending Grambling, Steven forged an indelible stamp on student leadership as SGA president. As a student leader, Jackson was elected by SGA presidential peers from across the University of Louisiana System to serve as Grambling’s Student Member of the ULS Board of Supervisors. 

Ever the public servant, Steven has served in several professional and volunteer capacities throughout the Shreveport community. In 2012, he was recognized by the Shreveport Bossier Chamber of Commerce, Young Professional Initiative as one of Shreveport’s 40 Under 40 young professionals. Steven also served as executive assistant to Mayor Cedric B. Glover serving as an advisor for state and federal legislative affairs, special economic development projects, liaison for quasi-governmental agencies, and neighborhood associations.

In the fall 2015, Caddo residents of District 3 elected Steven to represent them on the Caddo Parish Commission. Capturing 64 percent of the vote, he is the youngest person to ever serve on the Commission. In 2017, he became the youngest person (29 years old) to serve as president of the Caddo Parish Commission . During his first year of service he is credited with establishing the parish’s Safe Summer Initiative which increased the number of youth employment during the summer and increased safe recreation activities in response to violence. He also successfully secured $1 million to help support building Caddo Common Park. 

Steven works full-time as a community and business development coordinator for a local community-based health system. He completed an interdisciplinary master’s degree in Liberal Arts from Louisiana State University-Shreveport in Spring 2012.

After HBCU presidents met with members of Donald Trump’s administration, Dr. Walter Kimbrough recognized an opportunity. He wrote about the opportunity in the op-ed “Thanks to Donald Trump, HBCUs are on America’s radar again.” In part, Dr. Kimbrough wrote, “Whether you support the president or not, or believe he'll deliver for HBCUs or not, he unquestionably brought our institutions front and center to the nation's consciousness.” Despite the anti-climactic Trump photo op that drew much national attention, Dr. Kimbrough recognizes a door that has been opened for HBCUs.

Dr. Kimbrough joined the HBCU Lifestyle Podcast to discuss his op-ed and the need for HBCU presidents to strike while the iron is hot. He dishes on what really led to the infamous group photo with Trump as well as opportunities of which the public may not be aware. Most importantly, Dr. Kimbrough discusses the need for HBCU presidents to take advantage of the attention that Trump may have unwittingly brought to HBCUs.

About Walter Kimbrough, Ph.D.

The 7th president of Dillard University is a native of Atlanta who has enjoyed a fulfilling career in student affairs. He earned degrees from the University of Georgia, Miami University (Ohio), and a doctorate in higher education from Georgia State University. Before his first assignment as a college president—the 12th president of Philander Smith—Dr. Kimbrough gained attention in student affairs at Emory University, Georgia State University, Old Dominion University, and Albany State University.

Dr. Kimbrough, most popularly known by his alias “The Hip Hop Prez,” is one of the most recognized higher education leaders in America. He has been included in Ebony’s Power 100 and on NBC News/Grio.com’s 100 African Americans Making History Today lists. He is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. where he served as a regional assistant vice president. Dr. Kimbrough is probably best known for his groundbreaking research on Black Greeks as well as his book “Black Greek 101: The Culture, Customs, and Challenges of Black Fraternities and Sororities”.