Patrick Coggins, Ph.D., LLD Photo: Bobby Fishbough
“ One of my greatest dreams is to get beyond race and gender, and build a community at Stetson University where everyone feels OK to join and interact with any group. This starts from the top and filters down, and we’ve had tremendous leadership at this campus to support and strengthen our diversity and goals toward inclusivity and a safe space to live and learn together.” — Patrick Coggins, Ph.D., LLD, professor of education Multicultural Education Institute at Stetson — the first of its kind in Florida. Additionally, he leads Stetson’s annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. celebration, an event that draws hundreds of people to campus, and he spearheads the Multicultural Alumni Student Awareness Day during Stetson Homecoming. He has programming oversight responsibilities at the campus Cross Cultural Center, too. In November 2016, he was honored with the Guyanese Kaieteur Falls Award in Education, recognizing accomplishments and influence in education and culture. The award was part of the Guyana 50/50 Awards celebration, coinciding with the country’s 50th year of independence.
Rajni Shankar-Brown, Ph.D., associate professor, director of Education Graduate Programs, and the Jessie Ball duPont chair of social justice education at Stetson, calls Coggins a dedicated ally in the march for culturally responsive education and justice. “Dr. Coggins has an incredibly generous spirit,” Shankar-Brown offers. “Despite his busy schedule, Patrick always makes time for others. He actively supports faculty, staff, students and our community. As our Faculty Senate chair, his leadership is a vital part of the fabric of Stetson University, and his positive impact is expansive.” (See a profile of Shankar-Brown on page 38.) “One of my greatest dreams is to get beyond race and gender, and build a community at
Stetson University where everyone feels OK to join and interact with any group,” Coggins comments. “This starts from the top and filters down, and we’ve had tremendous leadership at this campus to support and strengthen our diversity and goals toward inclusivity and a safe space to live and learn together.” Further, his passion allows him to be especially involved with cultural issues across geographic boundaries. He has served on several state commissions to help make curricula more culturally and racially relevant. Coggins is a pioneer. Yet, for all that he has strived to achieve in breaking down barriers, Coggins believes there still is room for improvement – for doing more and doing better while linking talk and actions in congruent ways that build a racially equitable and inclusive world. “While Stetson University may only be one university of many, we have the opportunity to be a model institution that proactively engages faculty, students and staff,” he says. “We can build an inclusive climate by collecting data, analyzing it and taking lessons from the environment to make it a better place for all. The basic challenge is the way we treat, recognize and support each other as having the right to live, learn and enjoy life as valuable members of the human race.” STETSON
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