Faculty Spotlight
Dr. Stephen Quaye, Assistant Professor in the Student Affairs in Higher Education Program
Dr. Stephen Quaye joined the Student Affairs in Higher Education Program faculty in August 2012. Prior to joining the faculty at Miami, he was an Assistant Professor at the University of Maryland. Stephen's research interests concentrate on engaging college students in difficult dialogues, the influence of race on college campuses, and critical qualitative methodologies and methods. At Miami, he teaches courses on student development theory and diversity, equity, and dialogues.
He is the recipient of the 2009 NASPA Melvene D. Hardee Dissertation of the Year Award for his dissertation, "Pedagogy and Racialized Ways of Knowing: Students and Faculty Engage Racial Realities in Postsecondary Classrooms." In addition, he is a 2009 ACPA Emerging Scholar and an Annuit Coeptis award recipient.
Meghan Morris, the Graduate Assistant in the Wilks Leadership Institute spoke with Dr. Quaye to learn more about his leadership-related ideas and experiences.
Q: Definition of leadership?
My personal definition of leadership is that leadership is non-positional. Leaders are those who are self-aware and possess the ability to critically analyze injustices in society. Everyone has the potential to exhibit leadership, and I resist the traditional "leader and followers" mentality.
Q: Why do you choose to be a leader?
I do not really see myself as a leader, but rather, someone who just tries to live life according to my values -- one of which is my belief that all people are capable of learning but often do not because of settings that are unresponsive to their needs. I choose to live my life in this way because of the underrepresentation of faculty of color within academia. I want students of color, particularly Black men, who desire to be faculty members to see that they, too, can do this through seeing someone who looks like them in that position.
Q: What is your favorite leadership quote?
I don't have a favorite leadership quote, but my favorite leadership book is Daring Greatly by Brene Brown. This book changed my life -- it helped me think about being the best version of myself possible and practicing vulnerability as a way to connect better with people.
Q: What is your favorite leadership-related TED Talk?
My favorite leadership TED talk is Chimamanda Adichie's The Danger of a Single Story. In this talk, she talks about how stories are powerful but that single stories about people can be dangerous as they reinforce certain stereotypes and assumptions.
Q: What is your favorite leadership experience?
Favorite Leadership-related experience at Miami was co-leading an MLK Civil Rights Trip to Birmingham and Atlanta this past January for a group of 21 undergraduate students. I got to use dialogue as a way to engage students in reflecting on what they were learning about race, civil rights, and their own identities.
Q: What advice would you give others?
Advice I would give is to start with yourself -- think about what you value. Why do you value this? Who are you as a person? Then, choose activities that align with these values and who you are.
