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As the new Director of Diversity, Community and Inclusion, Mr. Ducksworth is passionate about empowering students and training future leaders鈥揳ll while seeing diversity the way Jesus does.
Interviewed by: Will Finley, Class of 2027
(Editor鈥檚 note: questions and answers have been edited for length and clarity)
Mr. Aaron Ducksworth believes diversity is important for him because diversity is important to the Triune God. 鈥淎t the end of the day鈥� I鈥檓 a child of God. We鈥檙e all children of God if we believe in Christ. That鈥檚 the center of everything we do. That鈥檚 who he says we are.鈥�
In my role, which is heavily student facing, I serve and engage students. So, there鈥檚 the student-facing side, and then there鈥檚 the higher level administrative and community-building side. That鈥檚 what (91福利社 Vice President for Diversity, Community and Inclusion) Dr. (James) Noble does on a VP level. So, while he鈥檚 working with administrators and stakeholders in the community, my role specifically is student-based, composed of three primary parts. One of those is the advisor for the Connect Club here on campus. In the other I oversee the programming and planning for the IAM Mentoring Program. Also, I serve as the site coordinator for the Call Me MiSTER program. So, there are a lot of moving pieces.
Call Me MiSTER is a program that was created a little over 20 years ago through a few HBCUs (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) in South Carolina and Clemson University. The goal of Call Me MiSTER is to increase the Black male population (of teachers) in K-12 schools. From a South Carolina standpoint, statistically, there were fewer than five percent minority males, specifically Black men in the classroom, teaching. I think since its inception to now, they鈥檝e done a phenomenal job. It鈥檚 become a national program.
Call Me MiSTER helps to increase the qualified Black male population that can go into schools and school systems on all levels. Since its inception, it has produced more than 40 cohorts and 500 MiSTERS working on every level of education administration. This sort of growth increases visibility and helps students dream differently, which helps them reimagine what a teacher looks like and the impact an educator can have in the classroom and community. That becomes really important, I think, in many ways because, for little kids, they鈥檙e seeing Black male teachers who look like them. Also, there鈥檚 a lot of little kids who are seeing teachers who don鈥檛 look like them. I think that has an immediate impact but also a long-term impact.
I grew up in south Mississippi, 40 minutes from the water. And so, when it comes to things like education, when it comes to things like race and the different things that take place around race, I learned about those things at a very, very young age, just as a product of growing up in south Mississippi. And so, whenever I have an opportunity to help people in general, but especially to help people who are taking the trajectory (of helping educate kids in school), and when I see what Call Me MiSTER is and can be for someone, that鈥檚 just an exciting thing for me. I like leadership, I like development, I like formation, I like learning. And so, for me, Call Me MiSTER is a way to help form young leaders to become who I think God is ultimately calling them to be.
The leadership development component is designed around Call Me MiSTERS鈥� Servant Leadership Model. There are living-learning communities for MiSTERS who come into the program. They typically come in as cohorts and the goal is for them to live together throughout their entire undergrad career. There鈥檚 tuition assistance as well. Then there are networking and internship opportunities; usually, each summer that open up for them. It鈥檚 also about building networks with other chapters. MiSTERS are getting a co-curricular education outside of the classroom that they can鈥檛 get inside of the classroom.
One of the aspects that I鈥檝e implemented is book studies centered around key assessment categories. These books also relate to education, leadership development or just maturing as a young man. And each week we鈥檙e looking at certain chapters in those books, so there鈥檚 kind of a reflective time to where they鈥檙e writing out their thoughts and we have a discussion about those. I鈥檓 not asking them to agree with everything in the book. I鈥檓 not asking them to disagree, either, but to honestly assess what the author is saying. How does it land on them? What is it doing as they鈥檙e reading and understanding?
I鈥檓 also planning to bring in community educators and administrators to share and impart wisdom related to career navigation, educational policies, etc. I believe the wisdom, knowledge and experience they can impart has the ability to produce a specific type of development and growth. We also host events and go to conferences; we鈥檙e self-funded, so we鈥檙e always looking for donors to partner with us.
It鈥檚 about developing young leaders. And something unique has happened with the program that a lot of the guys who go through the program, they鈥檙e winning all these accolades, not because they鈥檙e necessarily going out to win, but I think there鈥檚 a type of formation that鈥檚 occurring through the program that鈥檚 a really good complement to what they鈥檙e learning inside of the classroom. There are going to be things they learn that a classroom and Call Me MiSTER can鈥檛 prepare them for; and it doesn鈥檛 attempt to. But what Call Me MiSTER does is help move from theory to practice, while also removing knowledge barriers and challenges as much as possible, so that when a MiSTER faces a certain situation in the classroom, they鈥檙e like, you know what? I have a something to go back and draw from. That, I would say, is also part of the goal as it falls under leadership development. Because it鈥檚 a leadership development and mentorship program.
It鈥檚 the multicultural student-led club with a visionof 鈥渃ultivating a community of leaders that understand that diversity must be rooted in love.鈥滻t was started to really give students a place to come and be rooted in love, rooted in community and to be amongst each other. I think sometimes there鈥檚 a learning component for sure as students engage in discussions, but I think sometimes there鈥檚 just a come be, come exist, come rest, come have fun in this space. And I think informally you learn through those experiences, but those experiences aren鈥檛 necessarily always targeted for learning. So, there鈥檚 a combination of the two. It鈥檚 a needed club on campus for students of different cultures who like to celebrate their culture. It鈥檚 not an inclusive or exclusive club. Everyone can join. And I think that鈥檚 even reflective in the leadership team. Black, White, Asian, Hispanic鈥攁ll are a part of the leadership team of the Connect Club. I think about the scriptures. There are people who have gone out and you are entering into their labors. I鈥檓 entering into the labor of other people in this work. There are things that have been done, groundwork that鈥檚 been laid, good foundations. And I look at it from my perspective as a steward. It鈥檚 my job to build on that foundation.
It鈥檚 really unique. The motto is, 鈥淚 am who we are.鈥� That comes from one of the 鈥淚 Am鈥� statements of Jesus. There are two guiding scriptures for the program. Jesus says (in John 8:12), 鈥淚 am the light of the world.鈥� But then also there鈥檚 Matthew 5:14, where Jesus says, 鈥淲e are the lights of the world.鈥� That鈥檚 the only 鈥淚 am鈥� statement that鈥檚 repeated and flipped on the disciples. He says, 鈥淲hen I am the light, you are the light.鈥� And so those are the scriptures that guide the I AM program. It鈥檚 connected to a scholarship program, but it鈥檚 also a mentorship program. The way it works, incoming freshmen and incoming transfer students apply for the scholarship. And if they get the scholarship, they enter into the I AM program. They are then partnered with a mentor, and that mentor walks with them their freshman year or that entire transfer year. It鈥檚 really a mentor development and leadership development initiative.
I really like helping people. I like implementing new things and trying to help people in general, but especially our students since my role is very student-facing. Look at the covenants, the 12 tribes, the disciples, the Church in Acts, the women at the well, the people saved in the Gospels, Genesis 1:27, Matthew 22:36-40, Revelation 7:9, and even the Incarnate One who was born, died and resurrected in a Jewish body. To me it seems impossible to truly study the scriptures in their historical and socio-cultural context and not see that God both designed and cares deeply about these things.
These are a few ideas that I think about as it relates to diversity. And I mean we have kingdom diversity as our focus here. So, we take our diversity cues from the scriptures. There are different ways to think about diversity. They鈥檙e not all necessarily bad, even some that are not biblical. But I think a biblical approach, rightly understood, is the best one, especially for a Christian institution.
I鈥檓 currently working on my Ph.D. in Christian and social ethics. And I like thinking through ideas at the intersection of ethics, theology, faith and culture. If God is who the scriptures reveal, and we are becoming who he created us to be, he鈥檚 given us knowledge and measure of wisdom, and he鈥檚 given us community together. There鈥檚 a certain way in which we should be stewarding his creation in a particular way. So, I like thinking through that and trying to help move us in that direction.
The Lord has also given me a measure of wisdom and he鈥檚 given me a measure of patience that I think is helpful for this work. So those things working together, I think, help me navigate certain issues in certain spaces well. But again, I say these are things that the Lord has given me, I didn鈥檛 give them to myself. And that鈥檚 helpful.
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