Reflections on Legacy and the Next Chapter: Dr. Kevin Kruger

SA Voices From the Field

In this episode of "Student Affairs Voices from the Field," Dr. Kevin Kruger, President of NASPA, discusses his upcoming retirement and the transitions in student affairs. Dr. Kruger reflects on his 30-year journey at NASPA and the reasons behind his decision to step down as president. He emphasizes the importance of retiring on his own terms and while still making meaningful contributions to the field. Dr. Kruger also discusses the challenges and opportunities facing student affairs professionals, including the need to close attainment gaps for underrepresented students and navigate financial pressures on higher education institutions.

He highlights the importance of staying intellectually engaged in retirement and shares his interests in history and leadership. Dr. Kruger also expresses his hope for NASPA's continued role in supporting student affairs professionals and advocating for the value of their work in higher education. He discusses some of the initiatives and partnerships NASPA has undertaken during his tenure, including the Center for First Generation Student Success and efforts to secure external resources to benefit NASPA members.

Dr. Kruger concludes with gratitude for the privilege of working in the field of student affairs and the incredible people and teams he has had the opportunity to work with during his career. He reflects on his love for the work he has done and the positive changes he has witnessed in student affairs over the years.

Dr. Kruger's unwavering dedication to NASPA and his desire to leave a lasting legacy have guided his decision-making process, ensuring a smooth transition for the organization as it enters its next chapter.

Please subscribe to SA Voices from the Field on your favorite podcasting device and share the podcast with other student affairs colleagues!

Transcript

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:00:02]:

Welcome to Student Affairs Voices from the Field, the podcast where we share your student affairs stories from fresh perspectives to seasoned experts. This is season nine on transitions in Student Affairs. This podcast is brought to you by NASPA. And I'm Dr. Jill Creighton. She her hers your essay Voices from the Field, host today on SA Voices, it's truly my pleasure to welcome back Dr. Kevin Krueger, president of NASPA, to this season of Transitions. We've introduced Kevin a couple of times before. He's our only three peak guest on the podcast, so I'm not going to read his bio again, but just know that this is probably the last time we're going to have Dr. Kruger on the podcast as he has announced his own major transition. I really hope you enjoyed this episode, Kevin. We're so glad to have you back on SA Voices.

Dr. Kevin Kruger [00:00:50]:

I'm super thrilled to be here, and I understand I'm the only person so far who has had three podcasts with you all. So it's exciting to be doing my number third podcast.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:01:00]:

Yes, you are the only three-pete, so far in the history of the show. There's a couple two Peters that we've got, but we're so glad to have you on for the season on Transitions. And I think this was actually a really apt theme given everything that's going on for you personally and for NASPA. So for those who have not yet read their NASPA email, kevin has announced a really, really big transition, which is coming very soon. And Kevin, do you want to tell us what that is?

Dr. Kevin Kruger [00:01:24]:

Yeah, sure. So I've made the decision to step down in my role as President of NASPA. There's some sort of timing around that that made sense for me. My contract ends this March of 24, and June 30 of 24 will be my 30 year anniversary of working at NASPA. So it made sense to lots of different personal ways as well as some professional ways to use that as an opportunity to open up a transition for NASPA. So me being here for 30 years and being serving as president for the last twelve, I think, creates a really unique opportunity for some new leadership of a great organization like NASPA that is a huge transition. And some of this is personal. Right. I've had a philosophy about my career for a long time and talking to people who have retired before me. And not to be kind of cute or clever about it, but I wanted to retire on my terms and when I thought I was doing my best work, when I was declining. Because there's a natural cognitive decline that occurs when you age. And so it was important to me to kind of do this in a time when I was still doing what I think is my best work and not to do it at a time when people are wondering, like, when is he going to go? Isn't it time. So that was important to me. So I've given a lot of thought to this over the last several years about what the best time was. And to be honest, I might have done it a little earlier, but the Pandemic, of course, created some serious organizational challenges for every association and business in the world. And so it was also important to me that I leave NASPA in the best possible financial position coming out of the Pandemic. And so I've been spending the last three years with my team trying to find out what the new kind of normal is for NASPA as an organization in terms of membership and programs and relationships with outside entities. And I feel like at this point, in a pretty good place, we've come out of the Pandemic in a very, very strong position. And so I feel like I'm able to hand off this organization to someone else who have a new vision in not having to worry about finance and organizational structure in the early goings of their term.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:03:14]:

That's a gift.

Dr. Kevin Kruger [00:03:15]:

Yeah. I've thought a lot about sort of legacy and what's next. And Gwen was executive director. A lot of folks who knew Gwen and were around Gwen talked about Gwen being the right person at the right time when she came in and what she brought to NASPA. And I think in some ways I think of myself in the sort of same place. My strengths played very well to the opportunities that were presented when I came into NASPA as the President. And I think while I could continue to do that work, I think it's a great time for someone else to put their brand of leadership and vision on this great association and great profession. We've gone through a lot of transition over the time I've been here in twelve years. I mean, here's just a couple of markers. When I started as president, I think we had about 17 staff. We now have 95 staff. And that's in twelve years. That's a tremendous amount of growth. That's due to lots of different things. But clearly, I think my tenure at NASPE as the President will be a period of taking advantage of the opportunities that student affairs had, which is to expand its portfolio and its influence on campus. In a lot of ways, NASPE has been alongside the field in that way. And so I think that the next phase of NASA may not have that same kind of growth but will build off of where we are right now today as a profession and the challenges that we're facing. Right. So I think that's important as well. Last thing I would say is that I'm very cognizant of the fact that I have one of the best jobs in higher education and it's an enormous privilege to have that. And I also feel like it's such a good job that someone else should have a chance to do it. And so if I would work into my 70s, which people do yeah. I would just not create that opportunity for someone else to have their shot at this kind of really incredible job and opportunity. And I'll say something else that sort of doesn't preclude anybody from applying for this job. And by the way, I'm not involved in the search at all, nor should I be. But I think student affairs as one of the most, if not the most diverse sectors of the higher education world or the academy, I think that I have been able to lead with some integrity as a white male in this space. But I think that we need the next leader should represent who the field is demographically in a more significant way. And so I think it's time for a woman or a person of color or a woman of color to lead NASPA because I think that's important that we reflect who our field is. And the times have changed. And so I think that that is I really want to open up the opportunities for all kinds of new leadership that can come into NASPA. And so I give a lot of thought to that as well. As a person with enormous privilege as a white man who has had great opportunities that have come my way, I think it's time to step aside and let new leadership come into the space.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:05:42]:

That's a lot of intentionality behind the why retire and why now? Questions. I'm wondering if you have advice for others who are considering that type of transition on how to identify that time that's not necessarily financially motivated. And I understand that that is probably the number one factor in determining when someone can successfully retire is that hopeful number or magic number, whatever they call it. The rule of 24, I think. Rule of 25 in your bank account. And that feels very unattainable to me. And I know a lot of other student affairs professionals, but let's pretend the financial piece is not in the picture. What are those factors that really led you to this space?

Dr. Kevin Kruger [00:06:17]:

Yeah, I think for me, this kind of job is all encompassing. It's a seven days a week. It's not 24 hours. But I mean, you're never not on this job. I'll give you a quick anecdote. We were I was on vacation and with my wife, something big happened in the United States. It was a terrible incident and had a racially motivated but it wasn't a higher ed incident. And so I knew that right away that I had to mark to my team and we were going to say something to our members about this incident. And in the middle of my vacation and my wife, who was not a higher ed person, she's in the sports broadcasting business, she was like, Why are we even commenting? And this has nothing to do with higher ed. I'm like, Because it matters to our students. It matters to the people in our field, and it doesn't matter that I'm on vacation. This is what you do. So my point of the story is that there's an exhaustion that just occurs when you're in a senior leadership role like this. That is part of the reason I've thought about retired hiring, because I just came back from a trip overseas, which is great, but I spend the first two, 3 hours of every day, even on vacation online doing work, because that's the nature of this job. And anybody in these kind of jobs does this. I'm not the only person that does this. Vice President affairs do this. AVPs do this. Directors do this. Lots of people do this. But after doing it for so long, I feel like it's time to step away and do something else. I'm also very thoughtful about this notion of passages, and your theme about transitions fits for me. It's a time in my life when I want to spend more time doing things that are personally renewing and a little less on the professional side. But I will tell you, the dilemma is we know that from people who study aging and people who are in this life transition space, that happiness is also tied to staying intellectually engaged. How do you step away from this but still do something that has meaning and that still engages me professionally and where I can also still give back where I have something to offer. So I've spent the last five, six years not just thinking about where I want to retire and in what place I want to retire and what my hobbies might be. But I've spent time actually literally interviewing people I know who have retired and asking them, what worked? What's working? What do you wish you had done more of? And lots of different approaches that people have had at this transition. So I was just given a lot of thought to basically have been a student of retirement. Yeah, the money part, of course, is a piece of it, but for me, it's more about what is the next phase of your life? What do you want it to look like? And I remember listening to someone was talking about retirement since maybe seven or eight years ago, and they were saying, when they ask people, Retire, what are you going to do? And they say, Well, I want to travel. And they would press a little further and say, well, how many trips are you going to take in that year? I'm like, maybe one or two trips. All right, 52 weeks. Let's just say you take two, two week vacations. What are you going to do for the other 48? Eight weeks? And I think that's an important thing to think about, right? Because yeah, sure. Do I want to travel? Of course. I love traveling. I have the privilege to have some resources to allow me to travel. But what am I going to do when I'm not traveling. So you have to think about a life that has meaning and richness to it, that goes beyond just going to London or Ireland for a two week vacation. And that's what I've given a lot of thought to. So where does that meaning come and what is it, and how do I want to spend my know? So I will be somebody, I'll tell you sort of maybe this is a question you might have asked me, but I'll tell you, I'm going to be someone who won't disappear. So I'm going to try to find the right space between giving the person who takes the presidency of NASPA who has that job, all of the space they need to do the job without me sitting near them. But for me also to use over 45 years of higher education experience to offer some perspectives that I have about the work and about the field without the constraints, perhaps, of the position of president. I mean, I can say things post presidency that I can't say in the presidency. So I'm kind of looking forward to maybe exercising my voice a little bit in ways that are not in the way of NASPA or not in the way of the new president, but sort of might have some value for the folks that I know in the field who are doing the work. So that's something I've given a lot of thought to, but I don't want another full time job. I've had people come to me and say, well, do you want to run this organization or you want to do this? No, I already have a great job, a great full time job. I'm not looking for another one. But I think it is important for me to find some spaces where I can stay intellectually engaged. I can't imagine a life where I don't think about higher education or I don't think about the work and think about how we can continue to serve our students.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:10:18]:

I think the intellectually engaged component is so critical. I will wish my father a happy birthday. We're recording on his birthday today, and he is deep into his retirement life as well. And one of the things that both he and my mom talk about is that retirement doesn't mean you're done. It means that you get the freedom to do what you want to do. And they take classes at the university nearby. They go to lectures at their local art museum. They're huge theater buffs. They're deeply intellectually curious readers, and that intellectual engagement. They're also in very excellent physical health. But for the ages that they are, they don't look or act like people typically would expect them to at those ages. And I think that is truly because of that ongoing intellectual curiosity and also staying socially engaged and not just sitting around existing. You're working to live in a different way. I totally get that.

Dr. Kevin Kruger [00:11:07]:

Yeah. Health and money are the two big variables about retirement, some of which you have control over, some of which you don't. Right. So there's a gift if you're physically healthy. So far I am. But this notion of there's actually an organization that calls it so this is not my language, but of your encore career of what are you going to do? Post the work that you have now, where making money isn't necessarily the most important thing. Right. So when I talk to the people I know who are still engaged, some of whom you know, who are retired in the field but are still doing work, they're doing it because the love of the work rather than the necessity of the work, and they're not in the kind of the drive that we would necessarily have. So I think that gives you some opportunities to be creative and innovative in the way you want to live your life.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:11:47]:

So I think I'm hearing blogger in your future.

Dr. Kevin Kruger [00:11:50]:

No, not blogger. I do think I want to write, though. I enjoy writing. I've always been a writer. This job has forced me to write in certain kinds of ways. But I think I'll think about I haven't quite figured out where and how in what way, but maybe I shouldn't say no blogger, but I mean, that's some kind of writing that would allow me to reflect on what's happening in higher education from a different seat. So I think that's part of it and some of it maybe not necessarily outward facing, might be just more inward facing. So I've always been intellectually curious. You talked about your parents being intellectual, and I've always been that way. And many of the people listening to this well, have heard me speak before. So you know that I spend a couple of hours every day reading. And right now I read mostly higher ed stuff. I mean, that's just the nature of it. But I have a lot of intellectual curiosity about other things in our world. Higher education is one of them. But when I go into a bookstore, which is kind of anachronistic theme right now, but Barnes and Noble still exists, when I go in Go bookstore, I'm just struck by how much stuff I want to read. I just walk through the nonfiction section. I'm like, I want to know more about that. I'd love to know more about that. I'd love to know more about that. And I think that that will be part of my journey, will be also be just continuing my lifelong education about lots of things that want to know more about. And some of that has nothing to do with higher education. So I think one of the things I'm most excited about is being able to explore some of my own intellectual interests that aren't higher ed oriented, where now I don't have the time to do that.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:13:06]:

Do you mind sharing what those are.

Dr. Kevin Kruger [00:13:07]:

Strong ones for me. I was a European history major in college. So history has always been a part of my kind of curiosity. And so I'm very, very drawn to the lessons that we can learn from understanding history, and particularly sort of in geopolitical sense. So as we think about where our world is today, a lot of that has roots in history. And so there's more of that kind of analysis that I'm interested in understanding just as I try to make sense of this complicated world we live in. So that's one of them, for sure. The other one is my second job in the field was running the leadership program at the University of Maryland. And I don't know how that came about. I kind of stumbled into it to some degree. But I understood very quickly that I had a really huge interest in understanding how people I've been very introspective about myself, my own leadership style over the years. And so I'm fascinated with reading about how people are successful in organizations. And so that's another place where I've spent some time as well thinking about.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:13:58]:

All of the things you're excited about for the future in your own world, in your own life. You also mentioned kind of excitement for the field as well. So I'm just wondering if you have any future wishes for where NASA will go next.

Dr. Kevin Kruger [00:14:10]:

Well, I think that student affairs is at a little bit of a nexus right now. So I think post pandemic, there's elements of the work that we do that have been elevated in some important ways. And then I think, as we think about some of the really serious challenges that institutions face around addressing what I consider to be the most important priority for higher education, and that is, how do we close attainment gaps for low income students, first generation students, students of color in particular, black students, Latinx students, some portions of the API community, indigenous students. These things have been around for decades, these attainment gaps. And there seems to be a lot of energy in higher ed now about addressing some of these issues. We call it now student success. And I think student affairs is at the table for that conversation with its economic colleagues. I think that's great. So I see a lot of really high priority areas where student affairs and the value of his work is recognized. At the same time, the financial pressures facing higher education are enormous and financial challenges are coming to almost every institution in the country, and some of that will affect student affairs. So how do we do our best? Work is work that is so important for our society at a time when financial structures are being challenged. I'll give an example without naming the institution. So this institution, maybe seven or eight years ago, understanding this sort of challenge around attainment issues and student success created a Student success center and hired a team of student success coaches. It's a strategy that works, has been proven to work very effectively, particularly with some of these populations that I'm talking about. That particular institution is one that's in a part of the country that's experiencing enrollment challenges and demographic challenges. And so they had some budget challenges and one of the first moves they made was to fire almost all those student success coaches. It probably seemed like it was a more recent ad. They didn't want to cut an academic program. The challenge that college presidents and boards are facing today. But that very decision works against the goals that the institutions have about increasing enrollment for low income, first gen students of color. And so I think that these are the kind of really tough decisions that institutions have to make. And sometimes student affairs is going to be negatively affected by that. And so when I get in front of an audience of student affairs folks, I talk about this sort of dual challenge, the work and the money, the resources. And everybody's asked the same question, well, how do we do this? How do we do this? So NASPA, this is a long answer to a short question. So I think NASPA has to be part of helping institutions and student affairs professionals guide them through how you can maneuver these dual challenges. It's not easy, right? And I think we need examples of institutions have done this effectively and how they have reorganized or reoriented the resources to address some of these challenges and still do the good work where they've had to make tough decisions about doing a little less of this and a little bit more of that. And so I think NASPA has always been sort of shoulder to shoulder with our field in helping the field sort out how to address some of these challenges. And there's no simple answer to this, but I can think of examples. I was at a program that we ran summer before last. And so I have said this in some of my speeches. I've said that student affairs is going to have to make the difficult choice to move resources to the students who need us the most and away from students who don't need us as much. Okay? So there are students who are highly privileged economically and perhaps for other reasons as well that simply don't need almost any support in their journey through college and they will thrive. And there are others who have enormous barriers facing their progress. So higher education, which was built on serving the elite, we've always been sort of tilted sometimes to serving population of students, sometimes who don't actually need the services we're in, the support we're providing, can we shift that to a place where we're providing more resources for students who need us more? Simple thing to say. So at this meeting, one vice president of student affairs said, we did this. And they talked about the things that they did to make that difficult change. And this person shared some of those examples. And then at the break, after I was done with this particular session, it was like a crowd gathered around this vice president who's like, tell us how you did this. That's the NASPA story. Okay, so the NASPA story is, how do we find these examples and help others think about strategies to get there? So that's what I hope for NASPA. And I think that to some extent, I think that I would also say that the future for NASPA and NASPA's role is the same one that existed for my tenure here. And that is that the work that we do with students, I think is enormously important and sometimes isn't valued in the same way by the academy. And so I have spent twelve years getting in front of presidents, chief business officers, admissions officers, procurement officers, facilities people. I've been on a tour of higher education to try to lift the understanding of the value of what we do, not for our own sake, but because I believe it's important, because I believe it makes a difference. And I believe that the best institutions have figured out a way to marry this curricular academic world with a rich, out of class, cocurricular, whatever you want to call it, world. And that those institutions have created that secret sauce that allows students to thrive. And I think sometimes people just don't understand what we do, and it seems like wasted resources. So I think the next phase and aspect is a continuation of taking advantage of the megaphone that we have to talk about why what we do is important, why it exists, and what makes this so unique that it's worth investing in the resources.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:19:26]:

I'd like to take a moment to talk about legacy a little bit. And I'm just wondering if there's anything in your tenure at NASPA and you came up from a mid level position into the presidency over a period of time, but anything in particular that you're extremely proud of or a program or service or an idea that you were on the team of leading that you feel like has really changed the profession positively?

Dr. Kevin Kruger [00:19:47]:

First of all, and I don't say this casually, my legacy is the profession's legacy. It's the team that I've worked with. I've been gifted to work with unbelievably talented people at NASPA and still do. So I think I never have thought about it as my legacy as much as helping student affairs as a field move in directions that are in the best interest of serving our students. So I can give you a couple of examples. I think I'm enormously proud of the work that we're doing with the center for First Generation Student Success, working with over 300 institutions now to lift up first generation status and student as an asset for campuses and how we can help campuses think about their policies and their programs and the way they support students in order to increase attainment for those for first generation students. A highly intersectional population, right? Of we're disproportionately low income and of color. It's personal for me. I was a first generation student myself, and so obviously I'm a long ways away from those challenges with the enormous privilege I have in my life. But I can speak to those issues and I know that that's important for us to pay attention to. Enormously proud of the work we've done in lifting up health, safety and well being initiatives on college campuses over the last ten years. Something that now is sort of a given in our conversation about the work that we do about the work we do around well being and mental health and sexual violence and a variety of other components. But that wasn't necessarily a given 15 years ago. And so I think the work that our team has done in the health safety wellbeing space is enormously important, not just for helping student affairs folks, but also for guiding the academy forward in those areas. I think that those are two that really stand out. I think when I became president, I said to my team at the time, if the educational philanthropic community doesn't want to fund the work that we are about in student affairs, that says a lot about how the world views student affairs. And so part of my priority also has been to engage the educational philanthropic community in important ways to support initiatives that are serving students through the work we do in student success and student affairs. And we've been successful at that. We are one of the three coordinators of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation's post secondary education initiatives. We coordinate the advising reform movement in higher education through the Gates Foundation. We've done incredible work with Alumina foundation. Strada Cresky. I mean, there's so many folks who are interested in funding the work that we do to serve our campuses and our students. And I think that is also something I'm extremely proud of. In the depth of the pandemic, everybody had to shift to online work, right? We all did that immediately and right away, myself and our team was like, well, I wonder who's doing it the best? What are some really good examples of how we can lift up examples of how campuses have pivoted so quickly to provide outstanding service and support to students? And so we went to the Gates Foundation, said, hey, we have this idea, would you be willing to fund it? Yes. And so that borne this sort of project where we actually gave money to campuses, to twelve campuses who were doing exemplary work in providing online student services. But that comes about through a relationship you can have with the educational philanthropic community. And so that's something I'm really proud of. And our team has been very successful in bringing in resources, external resources, which has also. As an aside, allowed us, for example, to not raise individual membership dues for almost ten years. Something that we don't really talk a lot about, but we kept our membership dues kind of flat. And we were able to do that because we're able to bring external resources to the organization, which allowed us to serve our members in as cost effective ways as possible. Registration fees for conferences. We're probably, if you list 20 organizations at the bottom in terms of registration fees, they're still high. But we've been able to do that because we have been successful in seeking external resources. So I think those are some things that I think provide some real support going forward. Another thing I'd mention, though, is NASPA has been a very entrepreneurial organization. The Placement Exchange is a good example of that, which now is virtual. But at the time when we partnered with a Kuoi in that we created a new vision for how we can bring together multiple associations together. The idea of hiring the best possible people in our field, that was kind of a revolutionary idea at the time. Now everybody sort of knows about the Placement Exchange. That's something like that. We saw opportunities to serve populations that we hadn't been serving. So, for example, we have continued with a partnership. Initially, from the University of Louisville, we created the Military Connected Student Conference, now the only place in higher education where people who work with veterans and military connected families and military connected students can come together to talk about how we can serve that population. So I think that the legacy is seeing places where there have been needs and then trying to create programs and resources and research and opportunities to serve those needs in ways that perhaps weren't around maybe ten or 15 years ago.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:24:15]:

Any final thoughts for the NASPA community on this transition?

Dr. Kevin Kruger [00:24:19]:

Well, it's not a thought. It's really gratitude. I mean, I have been unbelievably privileged to work in this field. I loved the work I did on campus, and I have loved the work I did at NASPA. And part of what I love about NASPA is really two things. One is I'm going to say three, the belief in what we do, amazing people that I've gotten to meet over the last twelve years, just for sure. And then the incredible team of people that work at NASPA who are committed to this work and who wake up every day thinking about how we can serve our members and serve our students. So I have a lot of gratitude about just what an incredible opportunity that has been for me personally. And to have had a front row seat on the evolution of student affairs over the last 30 years. We're not what we were 30 years ago, and we're not where we were ten years ago. And so to be in this chair has been enormously privileged. And so I have enjoyed literally every single day I've come to work. Just leave you with that thought. I mean, very few people have a job where they come to work every day, and they love what they do every single day. And I've had that.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:25:18]:

It's time to take a quick break and toss it over to producer Chris to learn what's going on in the NASPA world.

Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:25:24]:

Welcome back to the NASPA World. Really excited to be able to talk to you again today. There is a ton of things happening this fall that I know I want to make sure that all of you have the access to taking advantage of and you don't miss out on. One of the things that's coming up here in January of 2024 is the 2024 NASPA Symposium on Military Connected Students. This is an annual event, and in this event, it is running from January 30 to February 1 in Louisville, Kentucky. The Call for Programs deadline for this great event has been extended, and you have now until October 2 to be able to put in a proposal. You can showcase your expertise, research innovative ideas to people that are completely supportive of military connected students. So whether you have a comprehensive program, insightful research findings, or best practice to share, we definitely want to hear from you and have you submit a program for this amazing conference. If you don't have a program that you want to submit, you can also be a reviewer of the programs. And if you'd want to be a reviewer for the program, again, the deadline is October 2 as well. And you did get an email about this from NASPA, but if you didn't, you can also go to the 2024 NASPA Symposium on Military Connected Students website. On the NASPA website under events to be able to get more information. It's a brand new term, and that means that all of us have different goals, things that we're doing professionally, personally, to be able to extend our own learning as well as doing more to be able to connect with our students. One of the things that I always encourage people to think about is your own professional development. And one way to be able to grow and learn is through books. So this is a great time of year to be able to go to the NASPA Bookstore and be able to discover or rediscover the joy of reading. And as a special treat, the NASPA Bookstore is providing NASPA members with a remarkable 30% discount on their catalog of books spanning various subjects. So whether you're a devoted reader, an inquisitive learner, or searching for the perfect gift to a colleague, the NASPA Book Collection has something for everyone. So don't miss out. Use promo code Fall 23 at checkout. And that's all one word, Fall 23, to unlock this exclusive offer and enrich your reading experience. Another conference that's coming up in December, december 7 through the 9th in Washington, DC, is the 2023 NASPA Racial Equity and Social Change Conference. This was formally known as the Multicultural Institute. The NASPA Racial Equity and Social Change conference fosters dialogue on Equitable campuses. The shift to a racial equity framework amplifies the focus on dismantling racialized systems for broad benefit. This inaugural conference emphasizes content centered on promoting racial equity, equity leadership, institutionalizing justice and equity through organizational change, as well as creating a climate of care for staff and students. The program looks to have amazing program, amazing sessions, but one of the featured speakers that was just announced is Bettina Love, who is the William F. Russell professor at Teachers College of Columbia University. She's also a best selling author of We Want to Do More Than Survive in 2020, and the Kennedy Center in 2022 named her one of the next 50 leaders making the world more inspired, inclusive, and compassionate. Registration for the conference has an early registration deadline of October 6. So if you're ready to make plans to come to Washington, DC. For this upcoming conference in December, you definitely want to take advantage of that early deadline and jump in right away. Every week we're going to be sharing some amazing things that are happening within the association. So we are going to be able to try and keep you up to date on everything that's happening and allow for you to be able to get involved in different ways. Because the association is as strong as its members and for all of us, we have to find our place within the association, whether it be getting involved with a knowledge community, giving back within one of the centers or the divisions of the association. And as you're doing that, it's important to be able to identify for yourself where do you fit, where do you want to give back? Each week. We're hoping that we will share some things that might encourage you, might allow for you to be able to get some ideas that will provide you with an opportunity to be able to say, hey, I see myself in. That knowledge, community. I see myself doing something like that or encourage you in other ways that allow for you to be able to think beyond what's available right now, to offer other things to the association, to bring your gifts, your talents to the association and to all of the members within the association. Because through doing that, all of us are stronger and the association is better. Tune in again next week as we find out more about what is happening in NASPA.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:31:04]:

Chris, it's always great to hear from you on what's going on in and around NASPA. Kevin, we have reached our lightning round, and as our only three Pete guests, we have completely unique lightning round questions for you that our audience has never heard. So you're in for a ride.

Dr. Kevin Kruger [00:31:18]:

You ready? Ready.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:31:20]:

All right. Question number one the album or song you can listen to on repeat forever?

Dr. Kevin Kruger [00:31:25]:

Oh, wow. Ramble on by Led Zeppelin.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:31:28]:

Number two, what was your graduate degree or degrees in and did you use it in your job?

Dr. Kevin Kruger [00:31:34]:

I'm laughing because my graduate degree was in counseling and personnel services, basically a master's in PhD in Higher Ed student affairs. And yes, I have used it. I use it every day.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:31:44]:

Number three, your guilty pleasure book series.

Dr. Kevin Kruger [00:31:47]:

I love reading mysteries, so Harlan Cobin would be the one I would pull out. I've read every single one of his books.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:31:53]:

Number four, if someone visits your city, Washington, DC. What is the top tourist destination they have to see?

Dr. Kevin Kruger [00:31:59]:

The Madagascar cockroach exhibit in the Natural history museum.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:32:03]:

Number five, the best advice someone ever gave you?

Dr. Kevin Kruger [00:32:05]:

Gene Ward, Director of Housing at Southern Methodist University in 1982, when I was getting ready to leave go from being an area coordinator, and I applied for a job at the University of Maryland, and he said, I was really worried about that, I hadn't finished my work and I had more to do. And he said, Kevin, stick your finger in a glass of water and then pull it out and you see there's no hole left, is there? He said, Organizations will always adapt to you moving on. And that's how I feel today. That's perfect advice for the mind. NASPA, I will leave and ask will continue to live and thrive.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:32:31]:

Number six, any new podcast recommendations?

Dr. Kevin Kruger [00:32:34]:

Yeah, I just on my ride to North Carolina, listened to Scamanda, which is this staggering story about a woman who raised all this money going through her journey with cancer, and it turns out she never had cancer. It was just amazing.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:32:48]:

Oh, I'm adding that one immediately. And finally, number seven, any shout outs you'd like to give, personal or professional?

Dr. Kevin Kruger [00:32:55]:

This is so many people that I would shout out to, but I have to really kind of come back to the people that have supported me in my life. My wife, Lisa Hansen, who was beside me through this entire journey of being national president. We started dating, actually, when I applied for the job, so she's been here with me the whole time and in some ways, in a weird way, my kids. My daughter just graduated from the University of Maryland and is working, and my son graduated in the Pandemic. And so I've had them both as a proud father, but also as sort of watching their journey through college in real time. And I think that's helped me be more effective in the work that I do.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:33:29]:

Well, Kevin, it's always a pleasure to have you on the show. Since you are going to be with NASPA just a little while longer, what's the best way for folks to get a hold of you?

Dr. Kevin Kruger [00:33:36]:

So you can always go to the website and find my email address, but I'll tell you what it is. It's KKR Uger [e-mail]. I answer every email personally, so if somebody finds anything I had to say here. Interesting. I want to expand on it. I'd love to have a dialogue with you about it. So just write me a note. It's easy to find me.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:33:52]:

Well, thank you so much for your service to the profession and to NASPA over the years. And of course, thank you so much for sharing your voice with us today.

Dr. Kevin Kruger [00:33:58]:

It's been great being with you. Jill, thank you.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:34:01]:

This has been an episode of SA Voices from the Field, brought to you by NASPA. This show is always made possible because of you, our listeners. We are so grateful that you continue to listen to us season after season. If you'd like to reach the show, you can always email us at [e-mail] or find me on LinkedIn by searching for Dr. Jill L. Craighton. We welcome your feedback and topic and especially your guest suggestions. We'd love it if you take a moment to tell a colleague about the show. And please, like, rate and review us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you're listening now. It really does help other student affairs professionals find the show and helps us become more visible in the larger podcasting community. This episode was produced and hosted by Dr. Jill L. Creighton Seth Me produced and audio engineered by Dr. Chris Lewis. Guest coordination by Lu Yongru. Special thanks to Duke Kunshan University and the University of Michigan, Flint for your support as we create this project. Catch you next time.