Talking Stick - July/August 2017 - 39

James A. Hurd Award

Chandra Myrick
Florida State University

The James A. Hurd Award, recognizing outstanding contributions by a
member of color, is named in honor of James Hurd, the first African American
to serve as ACUHO-I president.

handra Myrick currently
serves as the director
for residential student
experience at Florida State
University. In that role, she
oversees all staff and role responsibilities including residential life, front
desks, student behavior and crisis
management, and living-learning
communities. She is also responsible
for student recruitment and retention including housing applications,
contracts, room assignments, and
assessment.
Chandra previously has worked
in housing and residence life at the
University of Georgia and Georgia
State University. Her interest in the
housing profession started more
than 20 years ago as a resident assistant at Troy State University. Living
and working in residence halls as
an undergraduate student allowed
her opportunities to connect with
and support students in meaningful ways, which influenced her to
pursue a career in student affairs.
Chandra attended her first
ACUHO-I conference after receiving the Best of SEAHO honor for a
cultural competency-based program.
She has continued her involvement
in ACUHO-I by repeatedly presenting
at conference sessions. She has also
served on the Research Committee
and the Public Policy Committee. She
has served as faculty of the SEAHO
Regional Entry Level Institute, participated in the ACUHO-I Professional
Standards Institute, and was a faculty
member for the 2017 James C. Grimm
National Housing Training Institute.

Chandra has been fortunate to be
mentored by a number of professionals of color, most notably Countess
Hughes at the University of Virginia,
who instilled in her a passion to
develop other staff of color in the
housing profession. While there
are more professionals of color in
entry-level positions in housing and
residence life than ever before, there
continues to be a need to focus on
fostering and enhancing their professional development into mid- and
senior-level positions. This topic is
Chandra's primary research interest
as she completes her studies in the
higher education doctoral program
at FSU. As SEAHO president-elect,
she believes in the housing profession and considers ACUHO-I to be the
"standard for innovation and education in campus housing."
This type of dedication was
repeatedly cited among those championing Chandra for this award. One
colleague wrote that "Chandra's passion for working with staff of color in
particular within the SEAHO organization has been outstanding. Over the
past five years, Chandra has grappled
with how the SEAHO organization
would mentor and support young
staff members of color. She advocated for creating social engagement opportunities at the annual conference
allowing staff of color time with the
SEAHO's leadership and participation
in the social exchange. She has participated with the four years running
SEAHO speed-mentoring program for
professionals of color at the annual
conference. She also participates in

the annual general speed-mentoring
program. I have witnessed Chandra
taking numerous young professionals
under her wing to mentor, whether
on her campus or not, and continue
to embrace and check in on their
progress even once they have parted
professional ways. Professionals, no
matter how well they are developed
as a person or professional, seek her
out for support and real advice."
Another colleague wrote, "Chandra lifts up all staff and pushes them
to be their best. Chandra has especially connected, pushed, and supported unrepresented professionals
in the housing profession. . . . There
are numerous professionals that lean
on her for advice and seek her out at
both the SEAHO annual conference
and the ACUHO-I Annual Conference. Chandra is a calming voice that
helps provide perspective, reflection,
and guidance. Chandra has been a
voice for diversity and inclusion for
many years. A strong example of her
commitment is a recent presentation
that she presented last year at the
ACUHO-I conference, 'Housing While
Black: Supporting Staff Through
Social Unrest.' Chandra presented
on this topic because she knew how
much housing professionals and our
association needed to hear it. This
topic could not have been timelier as
we all know the importance of supporting our marginalized students,
but Chandra also took the lead to
share the importance of supporting
our marginalized staff members."

2017 ACUHO-I WALL of HONOR
July + august 2017

Talking Stick - July/August 2017

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