CAS CONNECT 2019

H e was in first grade in Denver when his father decided he and his brothers would be bused to a better school in a predominantly white neighborhood. “Pretty much my entire K through 12 career, I was one of the few black kids in class,” he remembers. That experience guided Dr. Jason F. Kirksey to where he is today as OSU’s vice president of Institutional Diversity and chief diversity officer. “Diversity and inclusion are exciting, but what really excites me the most is seeing Oklahoma State University grow and move forward as an institution,” he said. “Not just in terms of diversity and inclusion, but that’s certainly an important part of it. As we grow and advance in our commitments to diversity and inclusion, we get better as an institution. So you can imagine Oklahoma State has a pretty special place in my heart.” Kirksey came to OSU in 1985. His oldest brother, Mario, received a football and track scholarship from Jackson State University inMississippi. His middle brother, Vincent, considered OSU, but also decided to attend Jackson State. Kirksey, though, knew he wanted to play Big 8 football. He was an offensive and defensive lineman. However, the University of Colorado didn’t recruit a lot of players fromDenver Public Schools. His mother was fromOkmulgee, Oklahoma, where his grandmother still lived. He had $20 for college applications so using $10, Kirksey applied to OSU, where he was accepted and played football as a walk-on. After a year on the football field, Kirksey realized he was better in the classroom. He earned bachelor’s degrees in political science and economics and a master’s degree in political science fromOSU. At the time, OSU didn’t have a doctoral program in political science, so on the advice of his mentors, he went to the University of NewOrleans. APassion for Growth Dr. Jason F. Kirksey details the path that has brought him to leading OSU’s diversity initiatives “As I was finishing there, a position opened here in political science,” he said. “It worked out well, so the circle closed in the way it was supposed to.” Kirksey accepted the Hannah D. Atkins Endowed Chair teaching position and became the first African American at OSU to hold an endowed chair. Kirksey is motivated by his parents, especially his mother, who spent the last 15 years of her working life with two full-time jobs as a janitor and then cleaned houses on her day off. “That instilled in me a work ethic and an understanding that I’ve got a responsibility to more than myself,” Kirksey said. “Life isn’t always easy and with hard work comes great things, and she worked immensely hard. She got a chance to come and sit in on one of my classes. I lectured the entire hour without using a single note. She told me it was the proudest moment of her life.” His father was committed to ensuring that he and his brothers received college educations. Together, as a team, his parents ensured that happened. “I went from a poor, first-generation, inner-city black kid from out of state to a graduate student to junior faculty, senior level faculty and now a senior level administrator.” Kirksey has seen a lot of change in his 10 years as chief diversity officer. “It has changed in ways that everyone associated with OSU, the OSU family and community have a sense of pride about. We’re doing things that not many schools have ever done and certainly not in such a short amount of time. We’re talking about a decade. There has been an absolute transformation. “At OSUwe are doers, and we don’t just talk about diversity and inclusion. Other folks are talking about what we do, and that means something. It means we are doing something special.” OSU President Burns Hargis said Kirksey’s work and that of his office is pivotal for OSU’s future. STORY KENDRA CARLSON BROWN | PHOTOS PHIL SHOCKLEY , COURTESY JASON KIRKSEY 14 CONNECT 201 9