Taking your first steps in, there’s a conversation to the left, laughter to the right, and up ahead with a smiling face there’s student staff asking how they can help—a calm chaos—entering the Intercultural Center (IC). Dressed in blue slacks and a grey quarter-zip, the Assistant Director Jihad Johnson is guiding a student through their potential career paths that their major provides for them. The student thanks him with a sincerity that only comes from finally being able to take the pressure of the world off her shoulders.
Beyond being an administrator, we see Johnson take the role of counseling the emotions of college students that can be complex for one to understand, let alone another decipher. This impact goes beyond one-on-one talks, as Johnson has started the Men of Color Initiative. To promote professional and personal growth to young men from different ethnic backgrounds.
“I get up every single day knowing that I am going to impact the lives of others in one way, shape or form,” stated Johnson, on the work he does. “It is important for colleges to not only educate students to be successful in the career path of their choosing, but prepare them for life beyond the classroom, creating enriching experiences, allowing them to interact and learn from and about other cultures and backgrounds and to build a community where everyone succeeds.”
Johnson carries many more titles than the one on the front door of his office. “I say it is a loaded question because it’s not a simple question to answer because I do so many things,” Johnson said. regarding the many hats he wears. “I supervise our student staff, serve on university wide committees such as the Retention planning and implementation team, presidents advisory council, presidents advisory council for diversity and inclusion, social mobility task force, member of the alumni board of directors on top of teaching as an adjunct and advising some of our clubs and orgs on campus.” All these titles lead to students, each with a different story on how Johnson’s work has directly impacted their life at Monmouth.
The Intercultural Center is commonly booked for campus events run by students and organizations, one of them being The Altar bible study. This bible study booked the IC at 9p.m. on a Friday night. “The Altar, one of our faith-based groups on campus held a family day and the student leaders asked me to come. Although it was at 9p.m. on a Friday, I always try to support my students,” Johnson shares how events like these connect him more to his students.
“I attended the event, and they held it in the IC, and it was packed! The energy, the community, and love of the 50+ people in the room was unmatched. In that moment I was proud that something that was started off as a small bible study group transformed into a community that provided a safe space for so many and even stretched over to families.”
Focusing more on Jihad’s role and impact on students as an advisor to clubs and organizations, specifically the Delta Phi Epsilon sorority. “For months I said no, I didn’t think I could provide any support to a Greek organization, let alone a sorority at that. The outgoing president and incoming president asked to meet with me, shared with me about their organization, the direction they were looking to go and how I could help them reach their goals. At that point I knew I couldn’t say no, for students to take time to present to me on why they wanted me to be their advisor takes a lot of time and courage,” Johnson breaks down the acceptance of the role. He felt unfit to advise a community he’s never been a part of, but his impact all around campus made him the exact person to take this position.
With time in his advising position, Johnson did what he does best, connected with his students and guided them exactly where they wanted to go. “The feeling that made me feel most connected was that in the time I began working for them they went on to win not only philanthropy event of the year, but they won chapter of year,” Johnson states on the successes of Delta Phi Epsilon. “The students did all the work but in their awards acceptance speech they thanked me for my guidance and support in helping them reach new heights and take on new challenges to be a better organization.” Johnson’s dedication to supporting students and their communities has led him to be a trustworthy figure. This trust, in the eyes of students, has no price.
Reeling into life at the IC, 12 undergraduate and one graduate assistant come together as the IC student staff. These 13 individuals know the IC better than any other Monmouth student, including their professional staff. Johnson works professionally alongside, Dr. Zaneta Rago-Craft; Director of the IC & Advisor to the President for Diversity and Inclusion and Amir Gallashaw; Program Coordinator of the IC. Together they impact Monmouth campus in every way for the better, but it all starts with their impact to the students who work with them.
“Jihad has played a major role in helping me in the transition to college. In being so welcoming, it helped me find comfort within the Intercultural Center and the people involved in it. Along with that, I was able to show the talkative and social side of me to those around me that I refused to show because of how scared I was,” expresses Leshly Severino, first-year Monmouth student and IC staff member. “I feel as though I have become more aware of the smaller things and have learned things about myself that I don’t think I would have without being in the environment that Jihad and the Intercultural Center create.” The impact Johnson has on students isn’t just the IC, but it’s making a space for students to get to know who they are during such a self-discovery period of their personal lives.
Working at the IC gives you an insight not every student has, but that doesn’t stop Johnson from impacting the lives of those students as well. “He was very knowledgeable and kind person. That has changed since I started going at the IC because I’ve been able to see it in real time, instead of word to mouth, more in actions,” states Miles Humphrey, a regular IC visitor and Black Student Union e-board member, on his first impression of Johnson. “Jihad has helped me understand the purpose of the IC as a student by emphasizing community and the importance of it.”
Johnson, coming from a low-income household background, had no way of funding his attendance to Monmouth University after graduating high school, until he heard of EOF. The Educational Opportunity Fund provides financial aid and support to students from low-income households. He received a bachelor’s degree in communication with a concentration in PR/Journalism and a minor in social work, then his master’s degree in educational counseling, both from Monmouth University. During his years at Monmouth, Johnson was involved in student government, intramural sports, peer counselor for EOF, student advising mentor, and the alternative break program.
After graduating, he worked in the admissions office for Monmouth University and soon after transitioned to his current role as Assistant Director of the IC. “Everything I was involved in as a student created an experience, I knew other students deserved and after I learned that I could make a career out of it, I knew I needed to take that step,” Johnson expresses. “Paying it forward, providing students with the opportunities and experiences I needed to be successful.” Johnson has a way of touching a student’s heart that doesn’t come from a college degree but rather a personal experience. A story that leads to the change in others’ stories.
The Men of Color initiative doesn’t just come from Johnson’s personal experiences but from data on less men attending college across the U.S. “I took that data and looked at who is impacted by this and how do I work towards addressing this concern. I looked at our university data and compared it to national data, and we have the similar stats, and it was disproportionately impacting our men of color,” comments Johnson. “As a man of color, who also attended Monmouth I didn’t interact with many men that looked like me, and I knew that was something I was looking for as a student and now as an administrator I wanted to pay it forward and provide the men on campus that looked like me with the support and guidance I needed to be successful. Representation matters, and if I could be the representation and support system for students to look up to and be a part of their journey I’m always going to step up and do it.”
Johnson, as a man of color himself, brings a hope to other young men of color that a system that’s built against them doesn’t prosper. Johnson’s work isn’t just for a student to feel supported during their time at Monmouth, but it’s to break generational curses about educational opportunities. To bring an everlasting change to the campus community at Monmouth.
Johnson’s plans for the IC don’t just stop with these leadership initiatives. He hopes for more clubs to shift demographics, student leadership opportunities to increase, and other campuses to join in collaboration with the work being done at Monmouth. “I want to see the IC implement a robust leadership retreat fingers crossed we can have one in place for all student leaders in the spring, I want to identify more opportunities for students to attend conferences and network with professionals and students from other campuses and bring new ideas to Monmouth, I want to see more clubs and orgs created as our demographics are shifting and I want to see more campus collaboration,” Johnson comments. “Most importantly I would love to host a 10-year celebration of the center! I just want to continue growing and making an even bigger impact on campus.”
Johnson sees the impact of the IC to continuously flourish and impact current and future students at Monmouth. That the change may start at the IC, but that it will not end there. “When I see my students in the real world in their careers, coming back to Monmouth and updating me on new accomplishments and thanking me for my support through the years, I know I’m making a positive impact and that keeps me going to do that for every student I work with,” exclaims Johnson. “That these students take this encouragement and confidence in all aspects of their lives and future professions.” Johnson brings his personal experience of needing college support to now being the one who students go to searching for the same.
