Clint-Michael Reneau

The first step in cultivating an inclusive college environment is recognizing that every student arrives with a world of experiences deserving of recognition and respect. This understanding is central to the work done by Dr. Clint-Michael Reneau, Vice President for Student Affairs at Northern Illinois University.

In today’s conversation, Chris Mansfield, GoodCourse’s Client Services Lead, welcomed back Dr. Reneau to share his insights on everything from upcoming initiatives to welcome new students to Northern Illinois to the need for intentional structures and systems that support students' mental health and wellbeing.

Clint-Michael's Journey

Chris: Welcome back to The Interview! For new readers, let’s start with a brief introduction to yourself and your institution.

I'm Dr. Clint-Michael Reneau, and I use he/him pronouns. I serve as Vice President for Student Affairs and Associate Professor of the College of Education at Northern Illinois University. We are a proud minority-serving institution, and 57% of our students are first-generation. We’re based near Chicago, Illinois, and so we have students coming from the city as well as rural areas of Illinois. It's an exciting mix and it really adds to the vibrancy and the diversity of our campus.

Chris: What inspired you to pursue a career working in student affairs?

As a kid, I grew up in a single-parent home, and my mother worked multiple jobs to support us. So, I was someone who didn't necessarily expect to go to college. I also struggled with an invisible disability, and didn’t have a diagnosis at the time, so I really struggled around that. I also identify as queer – at that time, that wasn’t easy in Texas. With my disability, it took me over six years to graduate, but no one from the university ever checked in on me or my mental health. So I decided to go into student affairs work because I felt that I needed to be the person offering the support that I was lacking when I was a student. My goal now is to be a barrier remover and help the campus hold a mirror up to ourselves and see where we fall short, so we can make things better for students.

‍Chris: When it comes to student safety, how can we help students feel physical as well as psychological safety? 

This is something that we all struggle with. After all, safety is a matter of perspective, and it looks different for everyone. But what we can do is be very intentional about creating structures and systems to foster a sense of belonging. Students have every right to feel as if they belong here and we need to show them that their identities are valued and respected. That doesn’t always come without conflict: when you're in the people business, you're dealing with diverse perspectives, and so things will sometimes bubble up. But we have to be committed to intentional practices through our policies and our deliberate actions – whether it's counseling and support mechanisms, or programming that respects the intersectional identities that we all hold.

Chris: How can we encourage students to engage in constructive dialogue across difference?

We’re living in highly contested times, both nationally and globally, and that is mirrored on college campuses. Whether it's left or right, we’re seeing a lot of shouting down, people talking over each other, trying to shut down debate. As a university, we have to help students understand the art of listening. That doesn't mean that I have to agree with you, but I don't get to dehumanize you. And I don't get to walk away simply because what I’m hearing makes me uncomfortable. College is not about making students comfortable; we’re here to help people grow, and sometimes that means having difficult conversations.

We’ve recently developed a new leadership model centered on civic engagement, civic democracy, and talking across difference. It’s our goal to equip students with the tools to turn toward debate, and not away. Another thing we’re developing is a response team dedicated to campus demonstrations. We've had lots of demonstrations this year around issues like Israel and Palestine, as many campuses have. Demonstration organizers can meet with that team to discuss their goals and make sure the campus remains a safe space for everyone, including people with opposing viewpoints.

Chris: How do you make sure to reach all students and keep them engaged in these key topics?

It’s always important to look around the table and ask, “Who's missing? How can we create space for additional perspectives?” The first part of our approach is geared towards student leaders. But we also want to bring through leaders who might not normally run for elected leadership roles. So we have been asking faculty, staff, and students to nominate folks for these positions. You never want to create an echo chamber; it’s crucial to create space for diverse perspectives so they can challenge assumptions and how we frame the work that we're doing.

Chris: What initiatives are you currently working on for the new freshmen cohort in the upcoming academic year?

One of the things that we're looking at is creating a really robust Week of Welcome. That has two goals in mind: first, to help orient and welcome students to develop a sense of identity with their college; and second, connecting their identity to a sense of belonging to campus. And so we have events happening throughout that entire week to help them establish connections with the community but also help them understand the expectations of what it means to be a member of the university. How we approach orientation and the weeks beyond is crucial to our students’ success.

Chris: What’s the best piece of advice you've received in your career?

One of my mentors once told me that we are not responsible for the condition students are in when they arrive – but that we are responsible for how they are when they leave. We've all had traumas at some point in our lives, and we need to reassure students that it isn’t their fault. But in the end, we are all responsible for our own healing, so we need to make sure students have everything they need to feel supported in their journey.