by Emma Shinker
Can you introduce yourself?
My name is Lillian Evans, she/her. I am the Director of Multicultural Student Affairs (MSA). I’m originally from Akron, Ohio and I went to Mount Union for my undergrad. After that, I took a year off and then went to Kent State to get my Masters in higher education administration and student personnel (which is a very long name for no reason). Before I got to Wooster, I worked at Purdue University in computer science, where I was the diversity specialist.
Readers may have seen your name in an email over Fall Break about changes to the Dean of Students office. Can you talk about those changes and how they might affect students?
There have been some iterations of the class dean model especially when it comes to case managing. What they found is that first year deans were doing a lot of extra lifting because, you know, first years are going through a big transition. But the junior and senior deans were not as involved. Recently, the Dean of Students office has restructured and so instead of using deans for case management, they’re using the case manager position, which allows folks to have that be their main focus of their job. With the class dean model, a lot of the deans had dual roles, so they weren’t able to necessarily focus just on student needs. I’m hopeful that the changes will allow students to feel more secure because someone is dedicated to checking in on them.
What is your favorite part about working at Wooster?
My favorite part about working at Wooster is probably the people, whether its students or colleagues or other folks that I meet. I’m a people person, first and foremost, so interacting with students is always amazing. Working with colleagues who have my back has really allowed me to have a great experience. At my old institution I was an office of one so I never had people to bounce ideas off of. Being able to work in the Center for Diversity and Inclusion (CDI) has allowed me to find folks who know what I do and can kind of push back and allow me to go a little deeper.
How did you decide to go into higher education?
I have an early childhood education degree, but I realized I didn’t want to be a teacher my senior year. My dean of students at the time suggested that I work at a college, since I was very involved in everything — I was the first Black female student senate president at Mount Union. He took me under his wing, and allowed me to go to a conference for undergraduate folks that were thinking about going into higher education and that really opened my eyes to it. After graduation, I took a year off. For three months, I just sat in my bedroom at home. And when I got up, I just did odds and ends jobs. I did end up substitute teaching. I will plug substitute teaching because it’s actually a very flexible job. And then, I got into grad school and I went into higher education. I’ve been here ever since. I don’t know if higher ed is for me forever, but working with students in some capacity will always be. I will say to seniors, don’t freak out if you don’t know. You can go to grad school for almost anything. Try some things. Do not be ashamed if you go home. If you have the privilege of going home, your parents are going to drive you crazy, but go home for a little bit.
When you aren’t working, what are your favorite ways to spend your time?
I have a two year old niece and I love to hang out with her. She is just so much joy. I also like to hang out with friends — again, I’m a people person. The older I get though, the more I just like to lay down. It feels great. And I also teach four workout classes a week.
Have you read/watched/listened to anything recently that you would recommend to readers?
I love “American Horror Story,” and there’s a new season. I have not started the new season, but I’m rewatching the old seasons, because it’s been years. And I’m rewatching “Lovecraft Country.” It’s only one season but it’s great.
Do you have a secret or useless talent?
People say I can sing, but I like to say I can sing in ensembles. I can hold a tune, as long as somebody else tells me what the tune is. I used to play the flute and the tuba. And I am also very loud. If you ever need someone to have a microphone but doesn’t, I can be the microphone.
What is something you’d like our readers to know that I haven’t asked about?
I want to tell people to be human. I had this conversation with a student the other day about what it means to be human. That is a hard thing to be sometimes, because I think that we have this expectation that we should be doing this, we should be doing that, we should feel this way. But everything that you feel or say or do is human. And so have grace with yourself in that. You’re not always going to react like everyone thinks you should or how you think you should. It’s okay to not know, it’s okay to ask, it’s okay to not be okay. Because all of that is human, and in that is beauty.
Is there anything you would like to plug?
MSA is always doing cool things. On Oct. 26, we have Think Thursday, so you can come and study and get some good food. Also, MLK Day events are going to be coming out soon — we’re bringing back Justice Dialogues, so if folks want to put in a proposal for a Justice Dialogue, be on the lookout for that. We will do six on Tuesday and Thursday and then our keynote and opening address will be on MLK Day, January 15 from 11 a.m to 1 p.m.