I'm very excited to take part in this project and share some of my experiences. Being an engineer gives me the opportunity to develop and share technology to those that may need it the most. To me, being an engineer reflects my dreams of simply helping people live their lives. Being a Black engineer means everything to me – it is difficult to dissociate my identity from my career. Given that Black people were once barred from holding such careers, I’m honored to have been educated and trained as an engineer at the top producer of Black engineers: North Carolina A&T State University.

From there, via internships across NASA and The Boeing Company, Purdue University became my home for graduate education. Throughout my Masters and current Doctoral program, there are instances of where I believe the College of Engineering could improve regarding diversity. Often when I hear or see the College engage in diversity, the focus is on highlighting the fact that a student exists on campus that fits minority demographics and not on increasing the number of people in that specific demographic. I hope that the College will invest in diversity without perpetuating tokenism. As it relates to the School of Aeronautics and Astronautics, the diversity initiatives align with the College in that the desire to engage in diversity is present, but the execution needs major improvement. Academically speaking, the School has been great for me, but the School could improve socially and culturally. When considering the number of domestic Black graduate students in the School, I could count them on my hand(s). I’m sure the undergraduate student count is higher, but I would say undergraduate enrollment must improve as well. When looking around the School, there are no Black faculty. Representation is key; and it also illustrates the level of commitment to building a diverse faculty. I hope that the School is able to enroll more domestic Black graduate students and hire more Black faculty because I know for a fact that there are far more than a handful of Black students interested in aerospace engineering and Black faculty in aerospace and related sciences.

Diversity is needed across the College. I hope that as I continue my PhD program and engage in talks with the School, the Black Graduate Student Association, and various Purdue diversity committees, positive change will come.