The Mentors Who Dress Us for the Journey and Teach Us to Keep Walking, reflections on Dr. Marvalene Hughes

"Your future is bright. Do not let the moment convince you otherwise.”

I remember exactly where I was when I learned that Dr. Marvalene Hughes had passed. I was not scrolling social media or reading headlines. I received a phone call. It was from my mentor, Dr. Melvin C. Terrell, Vice President Emeritus of Student Affairs and Professor of Counselor Education at Northeastern Illinois University, and former president of the National Association of Student Affairs Professionals. When Melvin calls, you answer. And when he speaks with that steady, measured tone, you listen.

Dr. Adriel A. Hilton The news settled deeply. Not because I was unfamiliar with loss, but because some people anchor you in ways you do not fully understand until they are gone. Dr. Hughes was one of those people for me.

I first met Dr. Hughes in 2009. I had just earned my doctorate and flew to New Orleans to interview for a role at Dillard University. I did not receive the position. But I left with something far more enduring. After the interview, she offered words that have stayed with me for more than a decade. I do not recall them as formal quotations, but I remember their meaning with clarity. She affirmed that my future was bright. She said it plainly, without embellishment or condition. Coming from her, it mattered.

From that moment forward, Dr. Hughes became one of those mentors whose presence followed me even when we were not in constant conversation. At national conferences, professional convenings, and chance encounters in hotel ballrooms and quiet corridors, she always made time. She asked substantive questions. She listened with intention. She corrected when necessary and affirmed when earned.

And she did it with unmistakable presence.

Dr. Hughes was always impeccably dressed. I often picture her in St. John Knits, tailored, elegant, and regal. It was never about fashion for fashion’s sake. It was about dignity and command. She understood how you show up matters, especially when you carry the weight of history, responsibility, and representation. She taught by example that leadership is not simply what you say or do, but how you inhabit space. How you carry yourself. How you honor the rooms you enter and the people watching, particularly those who need to see excellence reflected in them.