Undergrad: College of Saint Rose

Major: Psychology

Hometown: Poughkeepsie, NY

Assistantship: Student Activities: Trustee Student Orgs. Support

Bio: Hi everyone! My name is Alquan Higgs and I was born and raised in Poughkeepsie, NY. Arriving at my senior year in college I had no idea what career I wanted to pursue after earning my Psychology degree. I was sure it had something to do with helping and mentoring others, but I didn’t know in what capacity I wanted to do this in. After much thought and consideration about the things I was most passionate about while attending The College of Saint Rose I came to an easy conclusion that higher education and student affairs was the career path for me; due to my involvement and passion with student leadership and student advocacy.

Being a student leader was the highlight of my undergraduate years. I became involved with the Office of Intercultural Leadership, mentoring and supporting incoming freshmen. The impact of this experience encouraged me to be more of an advocate for my peers, so I joined the ALANA Student Union. While apart of the Student Union I served as Public Relations Officer and Vice President. These positions helped me to realize the importance of advocacy and leadership development especially for students of color.

After graduating college, I wanted to continue this important work so I accepted a year-long fellowship working for the ALANA Center at Vassar College. During my time at Vassar I served as an Administrative Fellow. In this role I was able to supervise and support various multi-cultural student organizations and coordinate various cultural-centered programming.

I am excited to join the UConn HESA family and I can’t wait to meet and learn from some amazing people on this journey! UConn HESA 2021!