Belinda Creighton-Smith has never let adversity stand in her way. To become a pastor, community leader and inspiration to many on campus, she’s had to overcome the death of her son during her graduate studies and five-hour commutes to start her education.. 

She now has a doctorate in education and is taking her determination to a new role in her fight for diversity on campus at UNI, as a member of UNI President Mark A. Nook’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Advisory Committee.

The current UNI instructor in the department of Social Work, former Alumni, will bring her considerable community leadership experience, as well as her dissertation research on the experiences of students of color in predominantly white higher education institutions, to the committee as part of its mission to improve issues of diversity and inclusion at the university. It’s an endeavor Creighton-Smith is eager to undertake, no matter how difficult the conservations become.

“My whole life was shattered. I remember going through that semester just going through the motions and operating in a fog,” she recalled. “I was blessed with professors who not only encouraged me but supported me. Somehow by God’s grace and by the support that God placed in my life I was able to get through it.” Now, she’s successfully completed her doctoral program and is helping to encourage a new generation to make a difference. Creighton-Smith teaches classes in social work and has inspired many students to get involved in activism on campus and beyond.

Continue reading her story in InsideUNI