Our ‘Campus Care Collective’ series for Mental Health Awareness Month continues with Elise Sturdivant, Vice President of Student Affairs at Minnesota State Community and Technical College in Moorhead. Mrs. Sturdivant shares how higher ed chose her after growing up surrounded by educators, advocates, admissions recruiters, and financial aid support that helped her feel she belonged, even as a young mom in college. Now serving as the only African American woman at her college, she leads with cultural awareness, visible presence, and a deep commitment to the whole student through positive intelligence coaching, nervous system regulation, and early alerts that help students access the support they need. Mrs. Sturdivant completed her MBA in Strategic Management at Davenport University in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and she received her Bachelor of Arts in Sports Management and Communications at University of Michigan. She is a mission-centered executive with over two decades of experience leading strategic transformation, operational growth, and cross-sector collaboration across higher education, nonprofit, for-profit, and civic organizations. Mrs. Sturdivant leads enterprise-wide initiatives supporting 10,000 students and oversees a multimillion-dollar operating budget across 15 departments. Her leadership has driven record-breaking enrollment and retention, secured multimillion-dollar federal grants, and modernized enterprise technology infrastructure to improve access, equity, and efficiency. To learn more about Mrs. Sturdivant, connect with her via email at elise.sturdivant@minnesota.edu or visit her at Minnesota.edu.