Center for Minority Serving Institutions selects newest group of MSI Aspiring Leaders

On Wednesday, the Rutgers Center for Minority Serving Institutions (CMSI) revealed the 15 individuals chosen to participate in the center's fourth iteration of its MSI Aspiring Leaders program, according to a press release.

The MSI Aspiring Leaders program selects experienced candidates of diverse backgrounds, including business, higher education and non-profit organizations. Those chosen are connected with distinguished community members from federally designated Minority Serving Institutions with the aim of nurturing potential university presidents.

The group will convene for the MSI Aspiring Leaders Forum on April 18 and April 19, which will focus on subjects such as administrative leadership, public relations, institutional finances, academic relationship management and student experiences, according to the program's page.

For a year and a half following the event, program participants and their mentors will maintain contact for accountability and professional education.

With financial backing from the Kresge Foundation and the ECMC Foundation, the program is intended to support university presidents in handling modern issues at the administrative level, Marybeth Gasman, the executive director of the CMSI, said in the release.

Among those recognized was Shetay Ashford-Hanserd, an associate professor and the chair of the Department of Organization, Workforce and Leadership Studies at Texas State University.

"As a (first-generation) college (graduate), this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," Ashford-Hanserd said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.