Jacob Rice

Chris Aukes, Diversity Editor.

Iowa State Community,

I think it’s time to formally introduce myself to you. My name is Chris Aukes, and I am the diversity editor of the Iowa State Daily. I am currently a junior studying human development and family studies who very quickly fell head over heels for journalism. That is the purpose of this message to you today.

Before coming to Iowa State, I was an editor-in-chief for my high school newspaper. There, I studied a piece of media called Humans of New York by Brandon Stanton. This media series highlights individuals living in the New York area by stopping them on the street, asking them about their lives and seeing what comes of the interview. Surprisingly, Stanton’s interviews led to a beautiful collage of voices sharing their life stories, traumas, big-ticket issues and life’s biggest excitements.

I realized after some time at the Daily that I felt disconnected from the stories I was telling. After some thinking, I concluded that the disconnect I felt came from the lack of connection between the diverse communities I was interviewing and my voice used to write them.

Don’t get me wrong, I adore interviewing and writing stories. In fact, I would even call it my passion. I just realized that the multitudes of diverse people I was interviewing should be allowed a platform to share their stories with their own voices instead of mine.

So, Humans of Iowa State was born.

For the rest of the fall semester, I will work with the Iowa State community to publish their voices in a format similar to Humans of New York.

The goal of Humans of Iowa State is to highlight the voices of the Iowa State community in a safe space while sharing how diversity and inclusion spaces on campus have supported or lacked support for the interviewees. Humans of Iowa State will also serve to educate others on how different one person’s life can be from another.

Humans of New York selected interviewees by stopping random people on the street. I understand it might not be easy to do that on a busy college campus, with students walking quickly to and from class. So, I have worked to create a form where you can nominate yourself for a position on Humans of Iowa State. Please fill out the form only for yourself.

Now, it’s time for you to introduce yourself to me. I have been so excited to get to know the Iowa State community for so long and Humans of Iowa State will allow me to get to know each of you more personally.

I can’t wait to share your voices!
Chris Aukes

• Humans of Iowa State self-nomination form
• Humans of New York

I can be reached at [email protected].