In a 2000 publication of the New Republic, Youngstown, Ohio was profoundly described as the “Most Crooked City in America.” In many respects, Youngstown was regarded as the newly infested drug emporium of the Midwest. T. Leon Williams, a product of Youngstown, utilized the unpredictable life of mayhem to discover his passion for education, marginalized individuals and groups, and service.
From very modest beginnings, T. Leon Williams has earned a Bachelor degree from Ohio Northern University (92’) in Business Administration and a Masters of Science of Education from The University of Dayton (95’). Currently, Williams is a doctoral candidate at Union Institute & University in Cincinnati, Ohio. Williams is pursuing a Doctorate of Philosophy in Interdisciplinary Studies with a specialization in Social Psychology and emphasis in Cultural Trauma.
Today, T. Leon Williams is the Director of the Multicultural Center at Elon University in Elon, North Carolina. From 2000-2008, Williams served as the Director of Intercultural Program at Buena Vista University in Storm Lake, Iowa. Prior to his appointment at Buena Vista University, Williams devoted 7 years to Ohio Northern University in Ada, Ohio as the Director of Multicultural Development and Assistant Football Coach.
Williams has received numerous awards and certificates, such as Staff of the Year, Most Outstanding Speaker, and the John and Connie Klockentager Education for Service Award, for his outstanding leadership and contributions to the Division of Student Life, particularly multicultural affairs. In addition, Williams has played a major role in the community through volunteerism at head-start programs, high school after-school programs, and habit for humanity projects. In his own words, “I value the lives of others. My first commitment is to individual growth. My second is community development, which is paramount to social change.”
At every stop in higher education, Williams has enriched the lives of students, faculty, and staff. He takes great pride in challenging students to address their own biases, misconceptions, and prejudices. Williams possesses the unique talent of educating individuals with intense diversity-training seminars and workshops. He has also written numerous plays and short stories designed to strengthen diverse perspectives. He is most proud of his 2007 musical, “Follow The Yellow Brick Road.” Other plays include It’s My Room, Cotton For Two, Nana, Pennies From Heaven, and The Talented Tenth.
In addition to his role in higher education, Williams has traveled to 25 different states, reaching more than 10,000 faculty, staff, and students for nearly 10 years. He has been the featured speaker at some of the most prominent multicultural conferences in the country, NASPA, NCORE, National Multicultural Conference, SEPC, among others. Williams offers an array of diversity education programs designed to challenge the assumptions and beliefs of multiculturalism. In addition to the diversity training workshops and seminars, Williams assumes the persona of Dr. King and performs a dramatic interpretation of what would Dr. King have to say today in his monologue, “Mine Eyes Have Seen The Glory.” Williams’ entrepreneurial spirit has earned him the title of chief and editor of “Revolutionary Diversity,” a corporate newsletter designed to educate senior executives on team leadership and diversity.
Williams reflects on his Elon Experience, “Elon University is a great immersion experience for students, faculty, and staff to strengthen their perspectives of the world and the many diversities that exists beyond our imagination. I am proud to be a member of this high intellectual stimulating community.”
