Jerrid Freeman

The mission of a university isn’t just about helping students succeed; it means creating a positive contribution to the community that the institution is a part of. This becomes even more important when that community has been historically marginalized. For Northeastern State University, based in the Cherokee Nation, that means a special commitment to the Native American community which makes up such a large part of the institution’s history and social fabric.

Max Webber, Co-Host of The Interview, met with Jerrid Freeman, Northeastern State University’s Vice President for Student Affairs and Enrollment Management, to discuss everything from his institution’s unique mission to the debate around free speech in the higher education sector today. 

Jerrid's Journey

Max: Let’s start with a brief introduction to yourself and your institution…

My name is Jerrid Freeman and I am the Vice President for Student Affairs and Enrollment Management at Northeastern State University. We’re a minority-serving institution, and we have a higher proportion of Native American students than any other higher education institution. We have three campuses: our main campus in Tahlequah, which is the capital of the Cherokee Nation, as well as campuses in Muskogee and Broken Arrow. I've been here for over 12 years now, and really find it an amazing place to work. 

Max: What inspired you to pursue a career in Student Affairs?

I was a first generation from a very poor farming family in the middle of Nebraska. I had no sense or knowledge or understanding of what college was going to be like – but I knew it could help me get a job. When I got there, I knew I needed money to stay, so I got jobs in housing, in student support services, and anything else I could find to help with financial funding. I originally wanted to be a coach and a high-school teacher, but one of my mentors suggested that I should think about higher education as a career. College gave me opportunities I never would have had, and exposed me to some real life-altering experiences. Now, more than anything, I just really want to help others in the same way.

Max: You mentioned that your institution has a large number of Native American students. How are you helping members of this community to feel a sense of belonging?

I feel like we do that better than almost every institution in the country. We want every student who comes to us to feel like we're a partner in their educational experience, that we care about them, and that they're in a safe place. I want every student to find something that they can connect with at NSU. So you need a lot of different types of people and experiences to help people make those connections. Often, when you just offer help, people don’t take it up right away – the research has shown that, on average, you need to offer help to first-generation students seven times before they accept it. That’s a constant reminder that we have to put ourselves out there for the students and encourage them to step out of their comfort zone. If we work hard every day to serve students and serve them well, they're going to be retained and they're going to graduate. I think it’s frustrating when I hear people solely focused on graduation rates, when it's really about treating people as individuals.

Max: Recent guests have discussed the challenge of getting students engaged outside the classroom. What’s your approach?

It's a complex issue because there are people who have no desire to be engaged outside the classroom. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. I think it's figuring out what each of the subgroups want and coming to terms with that. We spent a lot of time trying to bring non-traditional students on to campus when they already have commitments with careers and families. The research says that the more engaged you are on campus, the more successful you're going to be. But that doesn't necessarily take those non-traditional students into account, because they're already engaged in other avenues of life. We want them to be connected to the institution, and we want them to know we support them, but it’s important to acknowledge that engagement can look very different for different student groups. I constantly try to remind my staff that if we have students who are working full-time, or who are raising families, they might not have time to attend a lot of these events.

So in addition to those traditional student engagement methods, we need to create new opportunities for engagement, such as virtual events. You need to figure out how you diversify your offerings and your opportunities to keep people engaged and connected. We have a lot of procedures and processes, but sometimes those can get in the way – we never want to have to say, “Sorry, we can’t help you, it’s against the rules!” It’s our responsibility to find ways to serve students in their different needs.

Max: Free speech has become a contentious issue on college campuses. How can we encourage students to engage in civil discourse and respectful debate?

That's an interesting question because every institution has different experiences with this, depending on where they live or the culture they grew up in. So what may work at one institution may not work in another. It’s especially important now, with all these protests on campuses across the country and the way people are responding. When you have someone coming to campus who’s strongly on one side of an issue, you’ll see people who support them, but also people who oppose them. What we try to do is encourage open discourse, but it’s important to inform students that they don't have to engage in conversations they are uncomfortable with having and hearing. You have a right to share your thoughts and opinions, but you can’t make people listen to you. We sometimes get complaints from students and even faculty who are frustrated because some of those opinions don’t align with their values. There’s also the question of where you draw the line between free speech and hate speech, and sometimes that can be a really fine line. But when you start infringing on the rights and safety of other students, then you are harming the mission of education. We want to create a culture where everyone feels valued; that doesn't mean we all agree, but it does mean we respect one another.

Max: What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received? 

Understand that the only thing you can control is yourself. You are the only person that you can change. So try to be the best version of yourself that you can be for everyone you interact with.