New associate dean wants to put ‘real feet’ on ASU Charter’s call for inclusion
Chandra Crudup wants to use her new position as an associate dean to help the Watts College of Public Service and Community Solutions put what she calls “real feet” to ASU’s Charter to uphold inclusion over exclusion.
“How do we put the ASU Charter into action? We should ask, how do you walk the talk?” said Crudup, who on Feb. 22 began work as associate dean for inclusive design for equity and access. “Watts College can be a leader for the university to give the charter real feet through engaging the community in partnerships, preparing students to be changemakers and focusing internally to hold ourselves accountable for this work.”
Prior to taking on this new role, Crudup served as the School of Social Work’s (SSW) associate director for student services and programs and senior lecturer.
The words inclusive, design, equity and access form the acronym IDEA in the title she created for her new position.
Crudup said she is grateful to Watts College Dean Jonathan Koppell and Vice Dean Cynthia Lietz for providing her the flexibility to create a title that speaks to the importance of creating an environment that is inclusive and welcoming to all while also working to dismantle systemic racism and discrimination. She said the title was inspired by another entity outside the university that used the same acronym to stand for inclusion, diversity, equity and access.
“This work isn’t just one person. I wanted a title that reflected the ‘idea’ this work is a shared responsibility across the college – this is Watts’ work, not just my work,” Crudup said.
Koppell, dean and ASU vice provost for public service and social impact, said Crudup’s historic dedication to inclusion forms the foundation of her new position. He explained that when systems were designed on exclusionary bases, the only real remedy is to re-design every aspect after careful review.
“That is why I was excited by Dr. Crudup’s focus on the design element. Our college prides itself on its embrace of equity as a core aspiration but having someone as thoughtful as Dr. Crudup overseeing the interrogation of everything we do – from admissions to hiring to teaching to staffing to community engagement – is necessary to re-engineer an institution to fully realize that core aspiration.”
Crudup brings to her new role experience from several positions at ASU that focus on inclusion, equity and access. She is a founding member of the Watts College Committee on Diversity and Inclusion (CDI), which was created following the success of SSW’s Ad Hoc Diversity Committee. In fact, it was the Watts CDI committee that first recommended creating a new associate dean position with these responsibilities.
Crudup also serves as a member and downtown representative of the Faculty Women of Color Caucus, an ongoing contributor at the Center for Race and Democracy and a faculty fellow with the Studio for Creativity, Place and Equitable Communities.
“This new appointment is an extension of the important work of our CDI committee and will provide us increased capacity to focus on our commitment to create an anti-racist college,” said Lietz, vice dean and a president’s professor in the SSW. “We have a lot of strengths as a college but also recognize we have a lot of work to do. I can’t think of anyone better than Dr. Crudup to lead the way.”
Koppell also recognized Crudup’s multi-disciplinary background, which includes experience in the performing arts. That experience helped lead Crudup to become a faculty fellow in ASU’s Studio for Creativity, Place and Equitable Communities, a collaboration between Watts College and Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts. The studio’s website says it seeks “to integrate arts, culture and design in community development, planning and related fields in order to help redress historic inequities and create healthy, equitable, more just communities where all people can thrive.”
“Dr. Crudup will be able to continue to apply her valued work as a faculty fellow in the Studio for Creativity, Place and Equitable Communities, which is dedicated to inclusivity in building and maintaining our communities,” Koppell said. “Now, she’s taking a major step to leverage that knowledge to promote greater inclusivity and equal access at the college level.”
Crudup’s academic degrees are all in social work. Her BSW is from Azusa Pacific University in California. Her MSW and PhD were awarded by ASU.
But she said her many years in community theater, including at the Valley Youth Theatre only a block from Watts College and the Black Theatre Troupe just a few blocks south, gave her many insights on how important it is for people to work together and understand that every person’s contribution is valuable.
“When we put together a show, everybody’s role matters. If you don’t do your job, the show doesn’t happen, and we all know the show must go on,” Crudup said.
That means every member of the cast and crew has to practice self-care, she said, from the star who makes sure she can sing in the show to the spotlight operator in the auditorium rafters who, while invisible to the audience, plays a vital role.
“So the spotlight operator position is just as important as the singer. The singer knows that if the spotlight operator isn’t there, no one can see her,” Crudup said. “We need to respect and honor everybody’s role. So long as we value everybody’s role and grow together, we can make things happen.”
Crudup is eager to apply her network-building experience to form connections across the college. She said her new position dovetails with current attention being paid nationwide to inclusion and equality issues, but much of it also comes from work she and Watts College already have been doing in these areas.
Now is the time to amplify that work, she said.
“If we don’t infuse this work to every corner of what Watts is doing, change won’t happen,” Crudup said.
Mark J. Scarp (mark.scarp@asu.edu) is media relations officer for the Watts College of Public Service and Community Solutions.