Office Hours Faculty Profile
Office Hours with Raechele Pope
Connecting through change on individual, group and systemic levels; helping “ask the right questions”
BY JANA EISENBERG
Raechele Pope has spent her career focus on the academic milieu: helping college students develop beyond academics while also training her energy on higher education administration. Her emphasis—on addressing diversity, equity and inclusion—has brought her to a place where she is thoroughly steeped in the field. She holds titles including professor; senior associate dean for faculty and student affairs; and chief diversity officer.
Early on she didn't realize that what’s now her life’s work was even a thing. Her recognition came as an undergraduate, observing campus resident assistants; she was surprised when she was encouraged to become one. “The hall director came to me, a young Black girl, and suggested I apply,” she said. “I didn’t feel ‘a part of,’ but I became fascinated with the field.” While she originally aimed to be a reporter, when the idea of a master’s program in student affairs administration was floated, she pivoted. “I was accepted to a program. And I loved it.”
Moving through her studies and career, and gaining progressively more responsible positions, she realized a doctoral degree was necessary. “I was interested in diversity issues—what we now call ‘social justice issues,’” she said. She entered a doctorate program at the University of Massachusetts, where “they were doing something different; looking at diversity as an organizational change issue.” This brought her to a central tenet of her work: multiculturalism and diversity as core competencies, rather than “nice-to-have” interests—particularly in higher ed.
Recently, through occurrences like the pandemic and the Black Lives Matter movement, she’s seen the proverbial pendulum swing. “We have a lot of work to do. The blowback on DEI, banning books and all of that, is in reaction to some people feeling they were left out. I have faith that we will move back in the other direction, and balance ourselves,” she said. “It will take time. We have to look at our history or our present; it's the only chance of correcting it and moving forward.”
“The opportunity from the dean to serve as a senior associate dean for faculty and student affairs and the chief diversity officer pulls together all parts of my work,” Pope added. “It combines my belief in the importance of the work we do with the chance to do it.”
Pope's Research Areas
- Access and Equity
- Administration/Management
- Cultural Competence and Humility
- Diversity; Equity and Poverty
- Gender, Culture, and Equity
- Higher Education
- Leadership
- Multicultural Competence
- Organizational Change
- Race, Inequality, and Education
- Racism and Anti-Blackness
- Social Justice
Framed cover of her first book: “My work took off when my co-authors and collaborators Amy Reynolds and John Mueller and I published our book, ‘Multicultural Competence in Student Affairs’ (2004). When my co-authors surprised me with a framed cover of our book, it was the most amazing gift that I'd ever received.”
Textbook from her master's program: “The Future of Student Affairs,” first edition, was assigned in her first graduate class. It seriously changed her life. “It introduced me to student development theories; that we have the opportunity and responsibility to facilitate that development. It instilled in me that the cycle of theory and practice should guide my work. When I periodically clean out my bookshelves, that one just doesn't go away. It probably never will.”
Sculpture symbolizing reading: A small figure of a person wrapped in words, and raptly reading. The sculpture was given to her by a friend. It represents both Pope’s love of reading, and its importance. “Of course, we emphasize writing in education; it’s crucial. But sometimes I think people miss the need for good, close, deep reading of texts. For ourselves and for students.”
A framed poster from Black activist/icon Angela Davis’ 2019 appearance in UB’s Distinguished Speaker Series, during which Pope was asked to introduce Davis and moderate the post-speech conversation. “She was so unassuming, and just brilliant."
Cover Story
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