Chapter 3: Trial, Tribulation, and Transformation: Advancing Equity in Higher Education

As a champion for diversity, equity, inclusion, and antiracism (DEIA), I have worked in higher education for eight years. The journey I have had in higher education has primarily been serving in multicultural affairs and first-generation initiatives across various institutions in the United States. Producing scholarship has also played a part in my calling to equity and social justice work, where many of my previous publications (Miloz & Wright, 2022; Wright, 2018; Wright, 2019; Wright & Miloz, 2020) have centered on the experiences of people of color, along with shifting systems to further advance people of color. Serving as a champion for DEIA is a life-long journey where I am given the opportunity to learn each day while making positive and impactful changes. I lead because I am here to leave places I inhabit better than how I first discovered them. As an Afro-Indigenous scholar, activist, and servant leader, I seek to be an advocate for the historically marginalized, speak the language of the unheard, and contribute to the liberation of people of color. When my journey has ended, it is my belief that when I return back to that spiritual place, I will be greeted by my ancestors. They will say “our descendant has learned the lessons of life, and he has returned.” They will rejoice and simply say “well done, welcome home.”