Justin joined Georgia State University in July 2016 and serves as a Residence Hall Director for University Housing, where he manages the daily operations of a first-year residential community of 600 students in the downtown Atlanta campus. In his role, Justin develops and carries out a residential curriculum, leads annual assessment initiatives, and has facilitated a semester-long cultural competence seminar. He also serves as an on-campus advisor to two fraternity chapters within Georgia State’s Multicultural Greek Council. Justin participated in the 2017 SACSA/NASPA Region III New Professionals Institute (NPI) and the SEAHO Regional Entry Level Institute (RELI). Justin is now the Region III Representative for NASPA’s Asian Pacific Islander Knowledge Community. Starting in May 2018, he will begin his Ph.D. in Counseling and Student Personnel Services at University of Georgia.

“My ‘why’ is rooted in community and social justice, and although I believe this to have remained consistent before and after Peabody, my HEA experience has empowered me to reimagine my actions, my professional position, and how to measure my personal and professional influence through an intentional and empirical lens. Through the HEA program, I enjoyed the challenge of striking a balance between the high-quality academic rigor and research with the rich, practical experiences I had through the Office of Undergraduate Admissions, the Office of Inclusion Initiatives and Cultural Competence, and the Office of Housing and Residential Education. My interactions with faculty and graduate students (in HEA and throughout Peabody), as well as my interactions with Vanderbilt’s student affairs practitioners, prepared me for the collegiality and productivity that I need to be make a difference as a student affairs practitioner in residence life. My two years at Peabody have led me to analyze everyday experiences, perspectives, and identities in fundamentally equity-minded ways, which fuels my confidence and readiness for my current role and my next steps as a practitioner-scholar.”