When some of the nation’s top scholars decided to pen a book examining the life of Dr. Melvin C. Terrell and his contributions to the field of student affairs, Terrell knew that was something special.
But then again, the life of the former Vice President for Student Affairs and Professor of Counselor Education at Northeastern Illinois University has been nothing short of extraordinary, which is why in retirement, he’s become the subject of a new Festschrift — “a time-honored academic tradition that recognizes the retirement of a noted and celebrated scholar by other scholars contributing original work to a volume dedicated to the honoree,” says Dr. Jerlando F. L. Jackson, one of the co-editors of Advancing Equity and Diversity in Student Affairs, the Festschrift in honor of Terrell that was released late last year.
Historically, Festschrifts were popular in Europe, emerging in the nineteenth century with education being “among the research disciplines minimally engaged in the Festschrift tradition, and African-Americans less so to be honored in this fashion,” says Jackson, who is the Vilas Distinguished Professor of Higher Education and the director and chief research scientist of Wisconsin’s Equity and Inclusion Laboratory at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “As a student of academic tradition, I became even more determined to see the life and accomplishments of a Black male to be filed away in the annals of the academy alongside other academic giants.”
Indeed, Terrell, who retired in 2008 at the age of 59 after a 20-year tenure as Vice President for Student Affairs at NIU — the longest tenure for an African-American in that position at a predominantly White institution — is seen as an academic giant, a walking model for how colleges and universities should approach equity and diversity work in student affairs.
Along the way, he mentored a legion of scholars and practitioners, becoming an embodiment of what noted scholar Dr. John H. Schuh calls the “scholar-practitioner.”
“He was one of the original architects for student affairs and academic affairs working together,” says Jackson, noting that at one time — not too long ago — the work of student affairs was largely considered inferior to the academic side of the house. “And what he did, by being able to speak the language and be contributor to the academic mission, he was able to build bridges that others were able to see, follow, model and cross over.”
Even during his tenure at NIU, Terrell simultaneously was a full professor in counselor education while serving as vice president for student affairs.
