Photo

First Name
Takeelia

Last Name
Garrett

Pronouns
she/her

Tags
DEI Foundations, Implicit Bias, Microaggressions

Title
Student Ombuds

Web Address
https://www.gvsu.edu/ombuds/

Department
Division of Student Affairs

Biography
Takeelia brings her gifts of empathy, knowledge of various topical areas, and lived experiences to this work. My experiences working with various populations in the Student Ombuds role have helped to continued to help cultivate my knowledge of different people, their experiences and their journeys throughout life. While working in Housing & Residence Life, I was able to work closely with our Multicultural Advisors. This position allowed me to grow and develop while learning about culture, gender, sexuality, race & ethnicity, and a wide variety of topics that I would not have necessarily explored on my own. This continued to help fuel my desire for this type of work. I wanted to learn more. As an undergraduate student, I had the opportunity to study abroad. It was one of the best experiences of my life. This experience paired with my Housing and Student Ombuds experience helped to shape my life into one of curiosity and to do social justice work. I hope that people will be curious, ask questions, and share stories and experiences during my facilitation. That is how you learn. I want all of us to be able to learn from each other. Just because I facilitate the discussions, does not mean that I cannot learn too. We are all teachers and we are all learners. I'm looking forward to learning and growing together.