Meet Dean GerShun Avilez

Dr. GerShun Avilez (jer-SHUN ah-VEE-lez) believes the liberal arts are about much more than academics—they’re about equipping students to think critically and engage meaningfully with their communities. As the new dean of the College of Liberal Arts and a self-described "student of the world," he is eager to bring this philosophy to life, emphasizing student success, community engagement, and the stories that connect us.

In this Q&A, Dean Avilez reflects on where he’s been and what’s to come. We even get a sneak peek into his camera roll.

On the journey to higher education.

I was a first-generation college student, and my goal was to become a high school English teacher. Even as a college senior, I never imagined applying to graduate school, never thought for a second that I would be a dean one day, but I discovered there was another path I could take that was really exciting. You just never know!

I also cannot tell a story about my own professional journey without talking about mentorship. My mentors not only gave me good advice, but they showed me that there were paths that I had not imagined for myself. Really good mentors imagine what you can do before you can imagine yourself doing it. That is how I got here.

Why English? 

Growing up, I was an avid reader. I loved to read, especially mysteries. I still love a good whodunit. That is how I regularly describe the act of writing—writing is about puzzling out something, “how do you get to the argument?” Of course, being an avid reader does not mean you necessarily become an English major, it just means you find joy in it. As the oldest of four, I lived in a very noisy, busy, fun house. Reading gave me a quiet space to myself to think and understand the world. My love of reading is rooted in the possibilities that reading offered to me. 

My decision to become an English major (and a Spanish minor) developed out of my love of language. I like words, and I have always been a talker. There is something about my enjoyment of communicating and the pleasure I get from hearing other people’s stories that led me to the English major. Understanding language allows us to connect to other people and find ways to communicate with them. My desire to find community is tied up in my love of language.

When I began to study English, I also discovered that I really loved history. How do we understand someone such as Toni Morrison or William Shakespeare without understanding the worlds in which they wrote? For me, you cannot. Ultimately, studying literature actually made me a student of history—US and world history. My focus on literature in undergrad and in graduate school also made me interested in different kinds of artforms. I do work on the relationship between literature and other cultural forms such as film and visual art. In other words, the study of literature led me beyond the English department. Those are the kinds of connections that we make in the liberal arts.

Why CLA?

It felt like a once in a lifetime opportunity. To quote Whitman, CLA is a college that contains “multitudes.” With its broad range of academic subjects, CLA touches just about everything. I could immediately see the wide-ranging impact I could have leading this college. 

Questions such as “Why do we need the liberal arts?” and “ What value do they have?” are not uncommon in our contemporary moment. Those kinds of questions give us the opportunity to show the range, scope, and impact of CLA. The liberal arts offer people a skillset to think critically and to live in the world amongst others. I think these are skills that could not be more valuable now. Given the range of all that the college offers to students and to the overall Minnesota community, I could not not apply for this position!

The people I met were also a compelling reason. When I met the faculty here, talked to students, and spent time with staff, I could tell that this was a community that was welcoming and looking for someone with new ideas. It felt like a place where I could be welcomed and, ultimately, do exciting things.

What are your goals for the college?

Collectivity—helping the college form a more unified identity as a collective College of Liberal Arts so that we do not feel like 31 different units.

Student success—continuing to ensure that students who come here not only have a good experience, but also achieve their own goals and become ambassadors for the college wherever they go.

Staff success—recognizing that our students are here for 4-5 years, but our staff could be here for 20-30 years. They are the people who dedicate their lives to ensuring student success. Staff members are the foundation of the university.

Build connections in the community—I want to determine how to build on existing networks and community engagement and ensure students, at every stage, have the opportunity to be active members of the public. This goal includes volunteering, doing internships, and working at nonprofits. Students need to understand that the University does not just happen to be situated here, we exist within and serve the state of Minnesota. 

What we do in CLA is also relevant to the education that is happening at the K-12 level, too. We have an opportunity to enhance their pedagogical practices in terms of what they are teaching, making meaningful connections between the University and schools. The entire state is our classroom, all the citizens of the state are our students.

What do you want to know about your new colleagues?

What do they do during the winter? Everyone keeps talking about the winter, it is probably a harder winter than I am used to, but I know people still have lives and keep busy during this season. Accordingly.  I want to know what everyone does! Do they go skiing? Do they go for walks or bike rides in the snow? I want to hear all the possibilities, so I can figure out how I am going to navigate this upcoming winter.

Tell us about three recent pictures from your camera roll.