Five years ago, Jay Berry came to Iowa State with reservations.

Before he began teaching at ISU in 1994, Berry read in the newspaper about a conflict in an ISU African American studies class between a white professor and an African American student.

Months after he began teaching African American studies at ISU, the English department expressed concern that since Berry was white, a similar confrontation might result.

But Berry, adjunct assistant professor of English, hit it off with his students.

“The students were wonderful,” he said. “I didn’t experience any problems at all.”

In fact, Berry said he remains at ISU today largely because of student backing.

“Students think they have no influence, but I am a faculty member who is a result of students’ voices,” he said. “The students stepped up. They wrote letters for me, talked about me, fought for me and advocated for me. In that sense, my life is blessed, maybe even charmed.”

Since Berry said he owes his students a debt, he doesn’t give failing grades unless they don’t try.

“The only way to fail my course is not to come. If you come and make an honest effort, one way or another, I will get you through because that’s not something I can accept. Failure is not an option,” he said.

Carolyn Mitchell, freshman in psychology, said Berry’s classes are “hard” and definitely not easy to get an “A” in. However, she had nothing but good things to say about Berry as a teacher.

“It’s hard not to latch onto Jay,” she said. “You take him to heart, and you want to protect him.”

Another of Berry’s students, Aranthan Jones, senior in sociology, said Berry is consistent in all aspects of his life.

“Jay Berry doesn’t divorce ‘Jay Berry the man’ with ‘Jay Berry the professor.’ They are one,” Jones said.

Jones characterizes Berry as a combination of abolitionist John Brown and abolitionist writer Elijah Lovejoy.

“With opposition and vocalization, and a combination of himself, Jay is able to move between spheres and have extreme latitude of understanding of people, cultures and societies as a whole,” Jones said.

Though Berry originally worked with first-year students, he has been given the chance to influence students throughout their entire college career.

“Now that I have been here for awhile, I get both ends of the spectrum. It’s nice to be able to work all the way through with students,” he said.

Berry is an adviser and advocate for the Black Student Alliance, which he described as an “umbrella group” that sponsors “Black Love Week” and the Harambee celebration and supports students to attend a Big 12 leadership conference.

Berry also is an advocate for Carver Academy, a summer program that assists minority students in making the transition from high school to college by exposing them to available opportunities and resources.

“I have yet to see a professor as enthusiastic about his students and the material as Jay,” Mitchell said.

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Jay Berry

Degrees:

• Bachelor’s of philosophy in interdisciplinary studies from Miami University in 1979.

• Master’s degree in American studies, with a concentration in African American studies, from the University of Iowa in 1983.

Came to ISU: August of 1994.

Courses taught at ISU: English 105H (First-year composition for Honors students), English 301 (Cultural Studies), English 302 (Business Communication), English 347 (Survey of African American Literature), English 348 (Contemporary African American Literature), English 460 (American Literature to 1830) and African American Studies 201 (Introduction to African American Studies).