Announcing the 2027 Conference Committee Leadership Team

I am excited to share that plans for ASHE 2027 — our 52nd Annual Conference — are already underway. It brings me such joy that we will be gathering in a place I call home: the beautiful state of New Mexico. Specifically, ASHE 2027 will unfold in Albuquerque, New Mexico, home to a vibrant and diverse Native community, including Apache, Navajo, Pueblo, and Tigua. In fact, the city of Albuquerque's Office of Native American Affairs shares that the city has the 7th-largest urban Native/Indigenous population (~30,000 people) in the country. In the coming days, we will share information about how you can get involved in our scholarly community, including the 2027 conference.

Today, I write to announce that Dr. Katherine S. Cho will serve as the Conference Committee Chair for our 52nd Annual Conference. Katherine, an Associate Professor of Higher Education at Loyola University-Chicago, brings to this role a deep commitment to coalition and an unyielding belief that higher education, at its best, can help us build more just worlds. These commitments to coalition and world building shine through in Dr. Cho’s research, which centers on how colleges and universities serve as both sites of transformation towards social justice and as sites of harm and violence. Prior, Dr. Cho was a research analyst, higher education administrator, student affairs professional, wedding planner, and worked for an education nonprofit. Since joining ASHE in 2016, Katherine has served as a conference proposal reviewer, presenter, chair, discussant and co-chaired the 2024 CEP Pre-Conference.

I am and will forever be grateful for Katherine’s generous thought partnership and leadership.

I am equally thankful for the colleagues who have agreed to serve on the Conference Committee Leadership Team. Otherwise known as the CCLT, the Conference Committee Leadership Team is constituted by three specific committees. Each plays an integral role in creating an annual conference that is accessible, inclusive, fun, and comprised of rigorous, relevant, and exciting scholarship. With Katherine at the helm and with support from ASHE’s Director for Conference and Professional Development, Alicia Castillo Shrestha, the following ASHE members will lead our community to and through an exciting ASHE 2027:

2027 Attendee Engagement Committee

The Attendee Engagement Committee will develop resources and opportunities for conference attendees to more fully engage with the conference and each other, and serve as ambassadors of the Association for the continuum of first-time attendees to long-time returners to the annual conference.

The Attendee Engagement Committee will be Co-Chaired by:

Tenisha Tevis, PhD 
she/her
Associate Professor
Oregon State University

Courtney Luedke, PhD
she/her
Associate Professor
University of Illinois - Chicago

2027 Local & Community Engagement Committee

The Local and Community Engagement Committee (LCEC) will guide ASHE in centering Indigeneity, space, place, and people by engaging with local Indigenous communities, local BIPOC communities, and higher education institutions in the location of the annual conference and by developing resources and opportunities for conference attendees to more fully engage with the conference location.

The Local & Community Engagement Committee will be Co-Chaired by:

Cherese Fine, PhD
she/her
Associate Professor
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville

Catherine Montoya, EdD
Dinéa
sdzą́ą́/she
Assistant Professor
New Mexico State University

2027 Program Committee

The Program Committee will be responsible for crafting the content for the peer-reviewed portion of the program for the annual conference by soliciting proposal submissions through the Call for Proposals and facilitating the peer review process including soliciting and selecting volunteers, and reviewing, and selecting proposals for the Annual Conference.

The Program Committee will be Co-Chaired by:

Stephanie Aguilar-Smith, PhD
she/her
Assistant Professor
University of Georgia

Leonard Taylor, PhD
he/him
Associate Professor
Indiana University