ashford pays it forward as dean of community life

it isn’t often in life that one has the opportunity to take the impact that a mentor has had on an individual and pay it forward by following in their footsteps.

kim chaudoin | 02/26/2021

prentice ashford has devoted his career to serving students. he joined the lipscomb community in spring 2018 as dean of the office of intercultural development. prior to that, he served in a similar capacity at abilene christian university as director of the office of multicultural affairs. in this role, he was responsible for directing all student-facing diversity efforts including education, student support, student advocacy and more.

“i definitely remember the prentice ashfords in my life when i was a college student,” he recalls. “i know first-hand how important this work that we're doing is because of my background in student life, but also because someone took the time to invest in me when i was a student. when students go to college as 18- to 22- year olds, they're suddenly viewed as adults. but i know there's still a lot of growth and development that needs to happen … and i like being a part of that and being part of the moral development. that is what gets me out of bed each day. but more than anything, i see this as an opportunity to be able to give back to students in a way that adults were able to give back to me as a college student.”

today, ashford serves as dean of community life in lipscomb’s office of student life. in the summer of 2019, the office of student life merged several areas into one, bringing the office of intercultural development (oid), student productions, social clubs, the student activities board and the student government association under one administrative umbrella: the office of community life. 

“lipscomb is unique in its approach to serving students through the idea of community or community life. we realize that a number of co-curricular activities, organizations and engagement happens outside of academics, outside of residence life and outside of athletics. these are all things that make up the community that we have here at lipscomb,” explains ashford. “i think it is very important that we have a department that is responsible for the life of the community outside the classroom to help provide direction and intentional vision for the development of community on campus. there is so much opportunity for those different areas to intersect and to provide great opportunities to support each other. it also allows us to be very strategic in our approach in how students are developed, how we are encouraging students to get to know each other and impacting their experience on campus.”

ashford says added to the community life approach is that it is part of the larger christian institution and it results in lipscomb being a special place.  

“we come with the foundation of faith in jesus and god is the foundation of what we do. i love being able to lead with that in our work with students ... talking about a student’s faith journey,” he says. 

a native of abilene, texas, ashford attended abilene christian university, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in family studies and a master’s in higher education administration. this past december, he completed a doctor of education in leading organizations and strategic change at lipscomb. he says the experience helped keep him in touch with the student perspective. 

“it definitely helped me understand the balance of studying academics, social life and working,” he recalls. “a large part of my social life was with the students. i would sometimes come to campus at night to study and students would be in the office with me and were here studying physically together. it was good being with students and understanding the rhythm of being a student while trying to engage socially. it was a great perspective about how that looks on lipscomb’s campus.”

ashford says he has three leadership principles that guide how he leads the community life team and operations. 

take care of your character and your reputation will take care of itself. “that’s one i try to live by,” he says. “it’s easy at times to forget about our character, those things that make you who you are and what people truly value.”

authenticity isn't how people view you. it's how you make people feel. “how you make people feel is the true reflection of your character,” he explains. 

give students the tools they need to learn and it’s okay to let them fail. “it’s hard to let someone fail, but often that is the best learning experience,” says ashford. “it’s easy to want to step in and try to rescue a project, activity or event that might not be working well just for the sake of appearance. but, i like to use those opportunities as teachable moments and to help students learn from and to navigate through failure.”

there are a number of opportunities for faculty and staff to get involved in community life at lipscomb, ashford says, through being a mentor to students or to serve as a sponsor/advisor for a student organization, special interest group or social club. 

“of course, financial support for these organizations is also helpful - but also giving of your time and talent,” says ashford. “if you have a particular area of expertise, students are always looking for people to host various forums or conversations and workshops. your expertise would be a valuable, valuable contribution to community life.”
 
for more information about the office of community life, contact ashford at //prentice.ashford [at] lipscomb.edu">prentice.ashford [at] lipscomb.edu.