SIUE’s Tandra Taylor, PhD, Named Assistant Vice Chancellor for Educational Pathways and Community Engagement
After a national search, Tandra Taylor, PhD, is Southern Illinois University Edwardsville’s new Assistant Vice Chancellor for Educational Pathways and Community Engagement. In this role, Taylor will be based at SIUE East St. Louis Center on the Wyvetter H. Younge Higher Education Campus. Provost Denise Cobb expressed her enthusiastic support of Dr. Taylor. “Dr. Taylor is a thoughtful, community-centered, equity-minded leader. Her success is evident with the development and growth of the Freedom School and other efforts. Her approach to leveraging educational pathways for mobility, equity and community justice will serve our communities well. I look forward to working with her in this new role.”
“I am honored to serve in this role and to continue building educational pathways that are rooted in community partnership, equity, and access,” said Taylor. “This position allows me to align my scholarship, teaching, and community-engaged work in service of learners at every stage across our region.”
In 2020, Taylor joined the history department at SIUE as an assistant professor. After three years of teaching twentieth-century African American history, she was to the position of Interim Director, Institute for Community Justice and Racial Equity at the Southwestern Illinois Justice and Workforce Development Campus at SIUE’s Belleville location.
In addition to the promotion, Taylor remains an assistant professor in the Department of History, the Executive Director of the Children’s Defense Fund (CDF) Freedom Schools® on SIUE’s campus and co-lead of the Journeys to Justice Project, a statewide, community-centered network, platform, and collaborative programming initiative on the history and ongoing legacy of anti-Black violence and racial terror in Illinois' past.
Born and raised in East St. Louis, Taylor earned a bachelor’s from Spelman College, an MA in public history from Georgia State University, and a PhD in American Studies from Saint Louis University.
Taylor added, “As someone born and raised in East St. Louis, my core values—integrity, compassion, persistence, and respect— were instilled and nurtured here. Returning my leadership and scholarship to the community that shaped me is both humbling and motivating, and I look forward to strengthening connections between SIUE and the communities we serve.”
Taylor is a fourth-generation daughter of East St. Louis, first-generation college graduate, researcher, and community-engaged educator.
PHOTO: Tandra Taylor, PhD, Assistant Vice Chancellor for Educational Pathways and Community Engagement
