{"id":153659,"date":"2024-01-24T10:22:05","date_gmt":"2024-01-24T17:22:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/?p=153659"},"modified":"2024-01-24T10:22:06","modified_gmt":"2024-01-24T17:22:06","slug":"transformation-and-trailblazing-rochelle-dickey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/?p=153659","title":{"rendered":"Transformation and Trailblazing | Rochelle Dickey"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Between an eponymous award being established, decades of devoted service, a space named in her honor and several awards for her work over the years, it\u2019s safe to say Rochelle Dickey left her mark on Colorado College in her career of over 30 years there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The UCCS College of Education alumna began her education at Colorado College (CC) as a first-generation student, graduating from there in 1983 with a drama degree. She then returned in 1990 to join its staff as the first Director of Minority Student Life, which would kick off an impressive three-plus decades of service to the college in multiple roles throughout that time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I\u2019ve had such tremendous opportunities and support over the years, which allowed me to do quite a bit along the way, coming in at the director level and leaving as a Vice President of the institution and a member of the President’s cabinet,\u201d Rochelle said. “After Director of Minority Student Life, I took over International Programs. At one point I served as Interim Director of the Career Center, Interim Director of Outdoor Education, and then was promoted to the deanship. I’ve been Associate Dean, Senior Associate Dean and finally landed as Dean of Students and Vice President for Student Life.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alongside the career opportunities Rochelle encountered, her time in higher education gave her the chance to make strides in diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts and push for real change in the field through her roles advocating for minority students and other additional work, like her involvement in the African American Youth Leadership Conference. The organization\u2019s annual event introduces students from all paths to opportunities for higher education and helps them navigate the process, while also providing a parallel track for parents unfamiliar with the steps to college but wanting to learn ways to aid their children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSometimes when you’re in the trenches it’s difficult to see the trailblazing,\u201d she noted. \u201cTo think back on being the first Black female dean at the college, or the first Black female vice president at Colorado College, and all of these wonderful opportunities – to have that acknowledged in some type of way is rewarding and humbling, because you think about the shoulders of the folks that you stood on to get where you are.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rochelle\u2019s work at Colorado College was also the catalyst for her decision to pursue a graduate degree from UCCS, which she earned in 1996. The Education and Counseling master\u2019s aligned perfectly with what she was already doing daily and allowed her to build on that work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI would do research and do things for class and say, \u2018this is 100% transferable to what I’m doing in my job on a daily basis,\u2019\u201d she explained. \u201cIt was transformative to be able to take those skills and that new knowledge from the classroom, it just reinvigorated me. I was still really excited and in love with my work at Colorado College, but my experience at UCCS helped to heighten that again – to put the theory into what I was already doing as practice, and to be able to work with my colleagues, faculty and students and to learn new and different ways that we can be addressing student equity and mental health on campus.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Considering DEI and wellness efforts weren\u2019t nearly as prominent at most schools when Rochelle was attending UCCS and working at Colorado College, she\u2019s grateful to have been part of two institutions that helped pioneer those changes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cKee Warner, Professor Emeritus of the Sociology department, was so pivotal in my master’s work at UCCS,\u201d she recalled. \u201cAnother one who, back in the day, was so attuned to making sure to incorporate DEI. He was magnificent.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI was fortunate to have the opportunity to be at the forefront of these efforts, and that was because of the work that I had done at UCCS,\u201d added Rochelle. \u201cI had the undergrad experience of a small, private, liberal arts school, and then got to experience being part of a larger, statewide network. The two meshed together very well. My work at UCCS transformed my career, transformed me personally, and I think really helped to transform Colorado College as an institution.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A symbol of that transformational work is the Rochelle T. Dickey Multicultural Lounge, Colorado College\u2019s first-ever multicultural center, which they named in her honor. What made the dedication even more unexpected for Rochelle was the fact that it was kept a surprise until the ribbon-cutting ceremony.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“You could have bowled me over,\u201d Rochelle said. \u201cI knew they were going to renovate the space and name it after somebody – they even came to me and asked if I had any suggestions, and if I’d say a few words at the lounge’s dedication. So when they hold the event I go there with my speech notes, then I look around and see that my dad’s there, people from my church are there and some of my best friends from town were there. Then they drop the curtain, and I see Rochelle T. Dickey Multicultural Lounge and I just lose it.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey really strung me along,\u201d she laughed. \u201cBut it touches my heart in so many ways, as a first-generation college student, to know that my family name is enmeshed with Colorado College, hopefully for a long, long time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s fitting that the space named for Rochelle is a student lounge, with her constant devotion to supporting and connecting with them throughout her many roles. She often found ways to get to know students better by hosting dinners, doing office open houses and offering meeting times like \u201cDonuts with the Dean,\u201d where students could come by her office and grab some food while sharing about themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTo get to know the students and to have them let me into their lives was such a tremendous honor, and sometimes their families would even come to campus and they’d introduce me to them,\u201d said Rochelle. \u201cTo have those lifelong connections with so many people over the years, and particularly those relationships with students where they allowed me to be part of their lives and their journey, I’ll never forget that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now that she\u2019s retired, Rochelle plans to get even more involved in her community and spend more time with her family, including her son, Donovan, and 90-year-old father, George, with whom she\u2019s been traversing Niagara Falls and Canadian glaciers. Donovan is also following in Rochelle\u2019s footsteps as a CC alumnus and staff member, though he\u2019s been part of the community since his early days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI’ve loved being able to raise my son in the community. I first started bringing him on campus at CC at three months old,\u201d Rochelle said. \u201cI have a lot of personal pride in my journey as a mother and being able to support my son through his educational journey. I think he demonstrates on a daily basis not only the lessons that I’ve taught him, but the lessons the community has taught him.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rochelle has learned plenty herself over her years of experience, and two things that she urges other to keep in mind is to be authentic and compassionate as much as possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAuthenticity is really important to me,\u201d she stressed. \u201cAll of us are different with our friends on Friday night than we are in the boardroom, but there’s still ways to find bringing your authentic self and bringing your perspectives of who you are as a person and not letting those perspectives be silenced. Just be yourself. But, part of being yourself means learning how to negotiate in different environments. That’s part of the power of yourself, and it’s not being fake, it’s about finding that balance between bringing your authentic self to the table and knowing how to play the game – because we all need to learn how to play the game so we can CHANGE the game!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe other thing that I would talk to students about and that is part of my leadership journey is that whenever I would do executive leadership coaching or other assessment tools, I was always proud that I ranked high in empathy and compassion,\u201d she continued. \u201cTo me, that was more important. I don’t want to be a leader that people feel intimidated by, or fear, and get respect that way. Sometimes compassion is exactly what our students needed on any given day.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

About the UCCS College of Education<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The College of Education offers undergraduate and advanced degrees, initial and advanced licenses and additional endorsements across three departments: Teaching and Learning, Counseling and Human Services and Leadership, Research, and Foundations. The college is home to more than 1,000 students and offers 12 bachelor\u2019s degrees, master\u2019s degrees and doctoral degrees. It is accredited by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Programs (CACREP). Learn more about the College of Education<\/strong><\/a> at UCCS.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Between an eponymous award being established, decades of devoted service, a space named in her honor and several awards for her work over the years, it\u2019s safe to say Rochelle Dickey left her mark on Colorado College in her career of over 30 years there. (More)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":66,"featured_media":153737,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1,427,47],"tags":[370,369,82,332],"class_list":["post-153659","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all","category-alumni-stories","category-education-and-public-affairs","tag-alumni","tag-alumni-success","tag-college-of-education","tag-more-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Abby-Copy-of-Communique-Featured-Image-58.png","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1mBpJ-DYn","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/153659","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/66"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=153659"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/153659\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":153738,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/153659\/revisions\/153738"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/153737"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=153659"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=153659"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=153659"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}