Educator Profile: Raynolds Awusi

If we accept that everyone on Castleton’s campus impacts our students’ education, then we must necessarily include students as educators. In fact, many of us rely on students to educate each other as part of our pedagogy through their project presentations and active participation in class discussion. Many of the student clubs and organizations seek to educate their peers as well! Just consider PAC, Spectrum Pride, SGA, and our new student chapter of the NAACP.

Adding a liberatory pedagogical lens, we can further make the argument that:

No pedagogy which is truly liberating can remain distant from the oppressed by treating them as unfortunates and by presenting for their emulation models from among the oppressors. The oppressed must be their own example in the struggle for their redemption.

(Thank you Wikipedia and Paulo Freire.)

So it is with this in mind that I proudly present this week’s educator:

Raynolds Awusi

A Castleton student for 2 years, he transferred to us from Southern Vermont College because Castleton offered to accept all his credits when SVC closed. Ray is a passionate man that played a key role in the development of the student chapter of the NAACP and the Black Lives Matters flag raising ceremony on Sunday, 10/11. In addition to being the president of the student chapter of the NAACP, Ray is a member of the Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion Committee and an SGA delegate.

When I asked him about which of these roles he found most fulfilling, he said it was his role as SGA delegate because “I enjoy knowing I have an impact on the student body.” He went on to explain that “I’m constantly learning the correct way to approach situations. In turn, I’m sharing that information with other students, so they too can handle situations the correct way.”

Unfortunately, Ray has had a number of opportunities to learn best approaches to uncomfortable situations:

I know how it feels to be in a class where you’re the only black student. I was also called a racial slur by a player on an opposing soccer team my freshman year. This drives me to implement change or be part of change that can benefit current students and incoming students. I don’t want any student to go through the things I had to go through. I want students to have immediate resources any time they encounter any racism or any other form of abuse.

In addition to sharing the lessons he has learned through such experiences with his peers, he recognizes he has a responsibility to share both his and his peers’ experiences with the faculty, staff, and administrators that make up the rest of our community:

I’m taking the concerns of my fellow students and sharing it with SGA and DEI, and working to create a solution for their problems. In the process I’m able to communicate with faculty and staff, and make them aware of everything my fellow students are experiencing on campus.

I hope they understand that many students work, some get homesick and lose motivation and get overwhelmed with assignments. Others have issues they don’t feel comfortable discussing, and it impacts their schoolwork. I hope they know we’re only human, and some of us travel from places far away from Castleton to receive an education. Therefore, they should work with us to make the college welcoming, and a place we can strive at.

It is clear that Ray, and many of our students, have as much invaluable wisdom to share with each other as any of the other educators that make up our campus community. The learning opportunities are truly endless when we appreciate that students like Raynolds Awusi are educators too!