Planting the CEED for Community

SD is focused on creating an inclusive environment. Sed has impacted me to be a better person of role. Sed students are phenomenal. My initial career goal was to direct a program like Sd. There was no better place in the country to come, learn how to do that than Vigen tech. I am who I am because of C. It's about giving and receiving in a supportive environment. Having people who don't just encourage you but also encourage you to go after things. Ensuring that students have support at every stage of their journey. S will give me the resources to succeed. They have the support. They have the people. They have the program. That's going to take you really far. My name is Beverly Artist Woford. My official title is Associate Dean for Equity and Engagement and Executive Director of the Center for the Enhancement of Engineering Diversity. Doctor Watford in one word to me, would be visionary. Dedicated, powerful, change maker. At times, I forget that she is the director 'cause she fulfills so many different roles. At the end of the day, community is everything. SD is a community. We say all the time we're the seed family. We sort of owe it to each other to pay it forward for other folks around us. Seed students see a challenge in the community, and they rise to that. In body, I think our Virginia tech motto of t prosum that I may serve. I started school here in 76. Engineering was really a sink or swim kind of thing, and if you sign, you know, just find something else. Engineering was hard. Anytime I thought about switching my major, I would talk to doctor Watford. My friends who weren't engaged with CT until later on in their college career had great regrets. It would keep me engineering for another day and another day turn to another semester, and it all worked out. I was supposed to create programs to help students be successful. And that's all I wanted to do. To have such a great leader like Deb Watford, it's what makes you stay. How could I help her? How could I help Virginia Tech? She mentioned Step Summer Bridge Program. I did a summer transition program called Step. I participated in C tech Square. The Lemon learning committees have expanded and grown. Summer Bridge Program has expanded and grown. The number of age programs has expanded. When I started working in the College of Engineering, the freshman class was maybe 1,000 students. It's 2,600 now, and we're working with all of them. The programs allowed me to get connected. The programs allowed me to have the support that I needed to excel academically. Step provided a route into the Department of engineering. The programs really made me feel like I was at home and that I belonged. What I really like about the academic environment and being here is the students. They cracked me up.