After an intensive search conducted by Mary Grace Almandrez, director of the Third World Center and assistant dean of the College and student committees, Shane Lloyd MPH '11 and Joshua Segui have been selected to serve as assistant directors for the Third World Center starting this semester. Lloyd will serve as assistant director for first- and second-year programs and Segui for co-curricular activities.
As assistant director for co-curricular activities, Segui said his goal is to ensure that academic rigor is not restricted to the lecture hall but is also reflected in student events.
Segui, whose academic background is in critical race theory, queer theory and gender studies, said when he was a student he felt courses were focused on thinking at the expense of doing.
"I never fully identified with being an academic, and I felt that academics are thinking about communities but not doing anything to help these communities," he said. Out of his desire to put his academic perspective to the test, he interviewed various activists, including Occupy Wall Street protesters in Zuccotti Park, prior to starting at the TWC.
But he added that theory is just as important as action, saying the Occupiers he met "had the action, but they didn't have the theory." He said his goal is to bridge the classroom and the community.
Almandrez, who began her tenure as the TWC director last fall, said Segui will "build the intellectual capacity of the center" by coordinating with various student programs.
Though they hold different positions, Segui and Lloyd will co-supervise first-year students and work to cultivate relationships with graduate students. They are also working on aligning existing seminars with the Third World Transition Program, so the classes can serve as forums to continue conversations students started in the pre-orientation program.
During his time as a Brown graduate student, Lloyd said he wanted to foster relationships with the Minority Peer Counselors. He was attracted to the TWC because of its focus on student activism and the role he could play in the development of student leadership.
Lloyd is very approachable and has developed solid relationships with the MPCs, said Hisa Hashisaka '14, an MPC who served on one of the student search committees and has worked with Lloyd. He communicates regularly with them and gives feedback on their weekly reports, Hashisaka said.
Lloyd also handles the major aspects of programs for first- and second-year students of color, which include TWTP and the ALANA Mentoring Program, which connects students with graduate students, medical students, alumni and staff members of color.
Lloyd was involved in the University community prior to his appointment as an assistant director. He worked as a Graduate Advising Fellow for the Office of Residential Life, served as vice president of the Samuel M. Nabrit Black Graduate Student Association and sat on the TWC Director Search Committee. Most recently, he served as interim program coordinator for the TWC.
"What's great about Shane is that he's familiar with the TWC but is still new enough to bring a fresh perspective to the MPC program and to the TWC," Almandrez said.
