Assistant Vice President for Inclusive Excellence Bridgette Johnson, whose legacy includes creating the Multicultural Undergraduate Research Art and Leadership Symposium (MURALS) and serving as the former director of the Black/African American Cultural Center, is leaving Colorado State University for a position at the University of California Irvine.
Her last day at CSU is May 3.
Johnson, who was born and raised in Racine, Wisconsin, had a rocky start to her academic journey as a first-generation student at the University of Wisconsin-Lacrosse. She was disenrolled after receiving a full academic scholarship. Johnson got her confidence back after attending the Milwaukee Area Technical College and earning a 4.0 GPA. Johnson then transferred to the University of Wisconsin-Parkside, where she received her bachelor’s degree and experienced a campus closer to home, more diversity and a place she grew to love after attending a precollegiate program for three summers. At UW-Parkside, Bridgette was actively involved in TRIO, which helped create a sense of belonging she longed for.
First job
While there, she met her husband, Frank Johnson, and majored in communications with a minor in political science. Her first job after graduation was serving as an admissions counselor for Parkside, traveling around the country recruiting students of color.
“I learned a little bit about a lot,” she said with a laugh as she reflected on her time as an admissions counselor.
While there, Johnson received her graduate degree in student personnel administration from Concordia University. Johnson became director of Parkside’s Office of Multicultural Student Affairs (OMSA) after working in the Office of Admissions for several years. A few years later, Johnson took on additional job responsibilities, assisting the chancellor with the university’s office of equal opportunity, which led to serving as assistant to the chancellor for OEO in addition to her OMSA position for three years, roles in which she thrived.
Then Frank Johnson got an offer to work for the CSU Police Department as second in command. Shortly thereafter, the two moved to Colorado with their two girls in 2005. Bridgette started doing some consulting work for CSU after meeting with Paul Thayer, former associate vice president for student success. Eventually, Vice President for Student Affairs Blanche Hughes encouraged her to apply for a job with the Black/African American Cultural Center.
Other programs
While the Black/African American Cultural Center had been in existence for 34 years when Bridgette began her leadership, she was instrumental in developing several student success programs in addition to MURALS. Johnson created GPS (a pre-college mentoring program for third through 12th graders called “Giving back – emPowering – Strengthening our culture!”). She also founded the John Mosley Leadership Program for student-athletes, the Donald Wilson Professional Mentoring Program for upper-class students and the B/AACC Goes Abroad program, which engages in cross-cultural experiences internationally while centering the black diaspora.
In addition, Johnson began the Civil Rights Tour, Thirst for Knowledge, the Grad School Prep Academy, the LEAD conference and a #igavebaacc campaign, in which she began cultivating relationships with alumni, companies, agencies and other organizations, benefiting many students.
“This is where I grew as a professional,” Johnson said. “CSU allowed me the opportunity to respond to the needs of students by creating a sense of belonging that empowered students to know they are more than enough. Not only do they belong, they are here to do great things, bring new perspectives and give voice into a space that has become stagnant.”
Before leaving B/AACC in 2020, Bridgette created a scholarship that enhanced her legacy. Titled “Sankofa…Be that BridJ,” it gives graduating CSU seniors, who have been involved in mentoring programs serving historically underrepresented students, a scholarship to offset expenses as they transition to the world of work or enter graduate school. Since B/AACC was founded in 1976, it made sense to her to award two students $1,976 each.
Creating the MURALS legacy
In the job interview for B/AACC, when Hughes asked Johnson what she’d accomplish in that role, Johnson said she wanted to create a program that would get more undergraduate students of color involved in research.
In record time, after Johnson became director of the B/AACC, she and several CSU colleagues created that program she envisioned, MURALS. Johnson credited Michelle Foster, Malcolm Scott, Ray Black, Joann Cornell, Foula Dimopoulos and Arlene Nededog for helping develop MURALS.
Now, almost 10 years later, nearly 200 students are participating in MURALS each year.
“It was just a seed I planted; my colleagues and I and other people watered and nurtured it,” Johnson said. “We took care of it together, and now it’s grown into something that I couldn’t have imagined on my own, but because of other people’s fertilization and my unwavering consistency on supporting those who continue to be underrepresented, MURALS has grown into something quite beautiful.”
After serving as B/AACC director, in late 2020 Johnson became managing director for student success in the Division of Student Affairs, supporting the cultural resource centers and focusing on closing the gap between student and academic affairs. When the Cultural Resource Centers (formerly known as Student Diversity Support Programs) were transferred to the Office for Inclusive Excellence in fall 2021, Johnson followed and helped with that transition. The first year was not easy; they had three different supervisors in one year. At the tail end of that one-year mark, Johnson asked if she could take on the opportunity of overseeing them, which expanded her AVP role.
“The first six months of my leadership overseeing the centers was probably the most challenging time of my career,” she said. “There was little infrastructure put into place to ensure this change would be successful, very little thought had gone into not just the transition but also how the move to an entire division that did not have student development work embedded into would affect the staff and campus partners, not to mention the students they served. They needed time for healing while still centering the needs of students. It was worth all the anxiety, because I not only believed in the work the centers do, since I did it for 10 years, it was beyond time for others on campus to know how they uniquely contributed to student success.”
After serving CSU for 18 years, Frank got a job at the University of California San Diego in August of 2023. Bridgette felt it was important to continue in her role at CSU for the time being because the change was still so new, so she stayed and worked remotely from California one week a month. She thought she would stay at least until 2025, but she was encouraged to apply for a position as associate vice chancellor for equity, diversity and inclusion at UC Irvine.
Tough choice
Johnson said accepting that job was a difficult decision to make, but she chose herself. Entering the interview, she was unsure she would take the job if it was offered to her, but as the interview went along, it felt more like a strategic planning session with the person who will be her supervisor.
“I left there thinking I want to do this job, I can do this job, and I think I may be ready to leave,” she said.
CSU did make a counter offer, which made the decision even harder.
“CSU provided me with many opportunities to grow as a professional,” she said. “It has not always been easy and sometimes harder than what it should have been, but I had supportive colleagues and remarkable supervisors – Blanche Hughes, Kathy Sisneros and Kauline Cipriani – all women of color who are all trailblazers in their unique individual ways.”
Johnson smiled as she thought about standing on the shoulders of some pretty remarkable giants, the former directors of B/AACC, who she has fond relationships with.
Lastly, Johnson said that in addition to MURALS and the support she has received, the main highlight of her time at CSU has been working with students and then continuing those relationships when they became alumni. On May 11, a group of alumni are throwing a thank you/farewell party for her in Denver.
And Johnson said she’ll likely return to Fort Collins at some point.
“We’re not selling our house, so maybe in five or six years we’ll come back and retire here.”
The CSU community is invited to celebrate Johnson at 4 p.m. on Friday, May 3, at the Mary Ontiveros House (645 S. Shields St.)
