At our program on March 13, our guest speaker was Dr. Shawnrece Campbell, Assistant Vice President, Diversity & Inclusion, NMU. She officially joined NMU faculty in January this year, coming from Texas A&M University where she served as the Competency-Based Project Director & Coordinator, working directly with Latinx adult learners to provide student support and coaching to accelerate degree completion. She has also a been a branch president of AAUW  in Florida.

In her presentation, Dr. Campbell listed out the Values of the DEI program: Justice in practices, Diversity in perspectives, Equality in opportunities, and Inclusivity in spaces. In addition, all programming and services at the department must provide

• Support for NMU’s Our Compass initiative
• Support for the Office of Diversity and Inclusion (ODI) values, vision, and pillars
• Opportunity for 3 or more organizations to work collaboratively
• Transformation impact

Here are some of the recent and upcoming events that Dr. Campbell highlighted for us.

• Soul Food Sunday – this program featured a celebrated African American Chef, who created an upscale dining experience while sharing how traditional dishes tell stories of survival, resilience and creativity.
• 2025 United Conference – March 17 – 18. The UNITED Conference is Northern’s days of diversity education. This year’s conference theme is Voices of the Earth: Learning, Leading, and Advancing Equity Together. 
• Juneteenth Jubilee – A community celebration of the ending of slavery in the U.S. that will feature family-friendly activities along with food and entertainment.
• BIPOC (Black Indigenous People of Color) Outdoor Summit and Retreat – August 2025 – A well-being retreat for national BIPOC higher education leaders that will be hosted by NMU and highlight the U.P. outdoors.
• Wildcat Collective – An ongoing business mentorship program for student in collaboration with Invest UP, providing paid internship opportunities to NMU business students.

When asked about the current anti-DEI climate of the federal government, Dr. Campbell assured us that the work of the department is “mission focused”, so titles and circumstances will have little or no impact on what initiatives are taken.

Dr. Campbell has been called The Empress of Interloping because of her collaborative focus to sell and idea and recruit people to complete her vision. Some of her favorite activities include travel, cooking, music, festivals, and family time.