During her time as a residence hall director at the University of Illinois – Urbana-Champaign, Johnson realized that the diversity field was for her. Martha Rhine | The Crow’s Nest
By Dinorah Prevost
Tristen Johnson was praying for God’s guidance when a phone call came from USF St. Petersburg.
She had been job searching all summer and had other interviews, but felt she belonged at USF St. Petersburg.
“In the middle of my prayer, my phone rings and it says ‘Jerrica Stovall.’ I said ‘Really God, this is my phone call!’”
Stovall, assistant director of activities and programs, called to offer Johnson a position open since April: assistant director of the Office of Multicultural Affairs.
“I started crying on the phone because I felt like my prayers were answered and this is the place God created for me,” Johnson said.
Now at OMA for a month, Johnson, 29, is a key player in the office’s revamp, which started this semester. She replaced former office coordinator Javier Gonzalez.
Stovall said in a previous interview with The Crow’s Nest that renaming OMA’s leader from coordinator to assistant director was part of OMA’s changes.
“It’s been ‘hit the ground running’ since I got here. I’ve been meeting with campus partners, learning about my students (assistants in the office), seeing how they tick. OMA’s super busy and we have a lot of programs planned so it hasn’t been a dull moment for me since I’ve gotten here,” Johnson said.
She came to St. Petersburg from Wisconsin, where she was a diversity program coordinator at University of Wisconsin-Madison. She recalled how she considered the move.
“I moved by myself, I’m young, I don’t have any children, I don’t have a husband, I’m about to take this chance and I’m just going to go. And so far I have not regretted it,” she said.
Originally from Peoria, Illinois, Johnson earned her bachelor’s degree in journalism and African American studies from Western Illinois University and master’s degree in educational administration and higher education in Southern Illinois University-Carbondale.
She’s in the last semester of her doctorate program at Illinois State University.
Johnson’s path in diversity and inclusion programming began when she first worked in housing at ISU.
“Working in housing sets you up for any profession in student affairs, whether that be counseling services, the wellness center, financial aid, multicultural affairs,” she said.
“Housing gives you that experience because you’re working with people from different backgrounds so you’re learning how to talk across multicultural differences.You can go through student conflicts so you’re learning how people operate.”
During her time as a residence hall director at the University of Illinois – Urbana-Champaign, Johnson realized that the diversity field was for her.
“Being able to program and write lesson plans for that floor community, I was like ‘Yeah, this is what I really want to do. I have a passion for this,’” she said.
Johnson wanted to effect change after one controversial trial in the summer of 2013.
“When I was in grad school, the verdict for the Trayvon Martin case came out and so even though I knew about issues that black people face in this country, me especially as a black woman, the Trayvon Martin case really hit home for me,” she said.
“I remember it was the summer before my second year of grad school and I was watching the trial every single day and when the not guilty verdict came back, I just remember sitting in the living room crying and I thought ‘They really don’t care about (black people).’”
But Johnson doesn’t consider herself a “diversity and inclusion guru.” She admits to not knowing about Diwali, a Hindu festival, until she got to USF St. Petersburg.
Moving forward with OMA, she wants to take all identities into account.
“Are we thinking about holidays that may not get represented on campus? Are we programming around that? Are we talking about different religions? Are we talking about identity groups that we may not be tapping into? We have a lot of things that we’re trying to tap into,” she said.
“I want people to come in here and challenge me on my thought process and my thinking because that’s how we continue to learn and grow as people on this planet.”
OMA will host its annual Diversity Week Nov. 5-9 with events such as “Living Library” and the annual drag show. It also hosts “Wednesdays in the O,” where students can discuss issues such as Colin Kaepernick and going to therapy. Upcoming meetings are Nov. 14 from noon to 2 p.m. on henna and Nov. 28 with a breast cancer survivor who will share her story.
