V. Cortez Henderson wants to bring her “presence” to the Multicultural Student Affairs office at Iowa State and change the way all students are represented from the inside out.

Henderson, the first of four candidates being considered for the position of assistant dean of students and director of the MSA office, spoke at an open forum at the Union Drive Community Center on Tuesday. Henderson currently serves as the director of the Ronald McNair program at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff.

Henderson, who claims to have to come “full circle” since graduating from Iowa State in 1992 with a Ph.D. in student personnel development, said Iowa State needs to refocus the way it supports students by focusing on community support and social development.

“It’s not being red, white, yellow, brown or black that makes a woman or a man meet the challenges at hand,” Henderson said. “It’s looking from the inside out – that’s what multicultural affairs is all about. It’s thinking clearly with a goal in mind and respecting others and being kind.”

One of the issues Henderson said she would focus on if hired by the university is incorporating the term “with.” Instead of working separately from the Dean of Students Office, Henderson said both the Dean of Students Office and MSA office need to collaborate and work together to bring a voice to all students, especially those who are underrepresented in the ISU community.

“If the underrepresented students do not advocate for themselves, what voice do they have?” Henderson asked the audience. “If they don’t say it, who will?”

After giving the audience her detailed professional and educational background, Henderson gave examples of the types of issues she is ready to help solve for today’s students. During her time as a student in Ames, Henderson said she and other classmates who didn’t fall into the “homogeneous” population had to deal with a number of cultural issues.

She said a lack of barbers able to properly cut black students’ hair, a shortage of proper make-up or stockings for students of color, and also overall need of cultural identity, were problems she worked diligently to solve in Ames. While cultural identity is a big-picture issue, Henderson said her advocacy on the other issues paid off. In a matter of three weeks, store owners made make-up and stockings available and a barber trained to cut black students’ hair was brought to Ames from Des Moines twice a week.

“Sometimes you have to educate the people who may be ignorant based on the same stuff that they read and buy into,” she said. “In terms of multicultural affairs, it has to have the visibility of advocacy.”

When the forum was opened up to questions from the audience, which was made up predominantly of ISU faculty and staff members, it took a minute for those in attendance to gather their thoughts and direct a question towards Henderson. Before a question could be asked, Henderson asked those in attendance about their thoughts on her executive summary, which she distributed before beginning her address.

“This shows that she’s walking her talk,” said Penny Rice, women’s center coordinator for the Dean of Students Office, regarding Henderson’s past accomplishments and goals.

Rice wasn’t the only individual who supported Henderson, but as a candidate, Henderson wanted to make it clear she knew she was qualified herself.

“I’m multicultural affairs at its best,” she said. “I know I have the skill and preparations to do this job. Not only do I know that, I live it and breathe it.”