Welcome to the Section on Ethnic and Racial Diversity (SERD) Homepage 

The SERD is a section of the Society of Counseling Psychology that seeks to actively encourage, promote, and facilitate contributions by Division members and other psychologists to the field of counseling psychology, particularly as they pertain to issues of ethnic and racial diversity, and to represent the interests of ethnically and racially diverse individuals to the Division within the APA and to external constituencies. Please see the Division 17 Website (www.div17.org) for details about the Division and other sections, interests groups and student affiliates.

Call for Mentors

The SERD Mentoring Committee call you to become a mentor to an emerging professional in the field of counseling psychology who is committed to issues related to ethnic and racial diversity.
See the Mentoring Committee Page for more information.

Call for Nominations for SERD Treasurer

SERD is currently taking nominates (self-nominations encouraged) for the position of SERD Treasurer. In that the position of SERD Treasurer is an elected position, only SERD members are eligible for this position. If you are interested, please contact Past SERD Chair, Alberta M. Gloria at agloria@education.wisc.edu.

Greetings from the SERD Past Chair:

At the APA conference in Washington, Lali McCubbin will become SERD Chair and I will begin my term as Past Chair of SERD. It has been an incredible honor to serve as the SERD Chair over the past several years and I am indebted to the membership for this opportunity. SERD has grown and become increasingly more active with the development of standing awards, expansion of committees, and continued collaboration of its members. Under the skilled leadership of Lali McCubbin, I am certain that SERD will continue to expand in new and exciting directions. It is thus with great pride that I look forward to my role as Past Chair of SERD. Also, my sincerest gratitude and appreciation for all the individual membership efforts that have collectively made SERD a vital, vibrant, and growing section.

Saludos y con mucho cariño, Alberta M. Gloria

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Letter from SERD Chair:

I want to thank all of you for your continued support and hard work for Division 17’s Section on Ethnic and Racial Diversity (SERD).  We had a wonderful turnout for our various SERD events during the 113^th American Psychological Association Conference in Washington DC in August. 

This year SERD had a change in leadership as I (Dr. Laurie “Lali” McCubbin) become Chair of SERD following the footsteps of Dr. Alberta M. Gloria.  I am honored to carry on the tradition of maintaining a diverse voice within Division 17 and am delighted to share with you all the significant SERD events. First, thank you to Dr. Gloria for her outstanding leadership as Chair over the past two years and as she begins a new initiative of Past-Chair Projects. Next, I appreciate the significant contributions to ongoing SERD officers and particularly those whose terms are ending such as Drs. Beverly J. Vandiver (Treasurer); Leon Caldwell, Barbara Palombi, and Meera Rastogi (Newsletter Editors); Jeanett Castellanos (Programming Chair); Ezemanari Obasi and Vivian Barnette (Mentoring Committee); and Sara Cho Kim and Rachel Navarro (Student Representatives). Also, many thanks to incoming SERD officers such as Drs. Rachel Navarro (Programming Committee) and  Matthew Miller, Carla Hunter, Grace Chen and Alex Pieterse (Newsletter Editors). Finally, welcome to our new student representatives Supavan Khamphakdy-Brown and Kenneth Wang and our newly appointed SERD-SAG liaison representative, Annie Gupta. 

Please note we are actively seeking a new webmaster for SERD and taking nominations for SERD Treasurer. If you are interested in becoming SERD webmaster please email me at mccubbin@wsu.edu and for Treasurer please email Dr. Gloria at amgloria@wisc.edu.

SERD continues to have a strong membership in a thriving and energetic section. The theme of mentoring was interwoven throughout the events culminating in a symposium entitled “It Takes a Community:  Mentoring Through a Network Approach” which included the personal narratives and experiences of Drs. Joseph White, Jeanne Manese, Cynthia de las Fuentes, and Ezemenari Obasi. In addition the programming committee (Drs. Earlise Ward, Bryan Kim, and Jeanett Castallanos) coordinated and reviewed student proposals (along with a team of SERD members) at which 11 student teams presenting their research with four of the teams receiving special recognition. The proposals were strong and ranged in topics addressing ethnic identity to utilization of mental health services for racial and ethnic minorities. Congratulations to the presenters:  Supavan Khamphakdy-Brown and Johanna E. Nilsson; Frances C. Shen and Jane Swanson; Kenneth T. Wang, Mantak Yuen, and Robert B. Slaney; Rufus R. Gonzales, Kimberly R. Bena, and Laura Dick; Bryant Jensen; Chu-Lien Chao; Anita G. Wells, Owen Richard Lightsey, Jr., Todd Pietruszka, Mei-Chuan Wang, Ayse C. Uruk, and Brett A. Stancil; Dionne M. Smith, Nicholas Scull, Francisco Villegas, Alberta M. Gloria, and Jeanett Castellanos; Greta Winograd and Georgiana Shick Tryon; and Michael Lau and George S. Howard. For more information about each of the studies, please see the Student Link on the SERD website (serd/)

Another special event was the honoring of outstanding SERD members. Drs. Lydia P. Buki (Assistant Professor at University of Illinois) and John E. Queener (Associate Professor at University of Akron) received the Community Service Award for their outstanding contributions to the promotion of mental health with people of color. Dr. Bonnie Moradi (Assistant Professor at University of Florida) and Nadia Talal Hasan (Doctoral Student at University of Akron) received the Outstanding Contribution to Scholarship on Race and Ethnicity Award. Finally, Matthew Miller (Doctoral Candidate at Loyola University) was honored with the SERD Student Award for his scholarly contributions to the field of Counseling Psychology. See the Award Committee page on the SERD website to view their photos and outstanding achievements. A special thank you to our SERD Award Chairs, Drs. Claytie Davis III and Liz Vera, and their committee for their work in honoring our peers.

Following the Business and Membership Meeting, the SERD Mentoring Committee Co-Chair, Dr. Lewis Schlosser, facilitated a discussion on tips and strategies for mentoring and being mentored at the SERD Town Hall. In following with the tradition from last year’s APA, we had a  ”Networking and Hor d’oeuvres” hour at the Presidential Sports Bar in the Renaissance Hotel where SERD members were able to meet, connect and unwind during the busy convention. 

Over the course of the past few years, the student liaisons have actively recruited SERD student members and connected with the training directors across the nation. As one of their projects, Sara Cho-Kim and Rachel Navarro (now Dr. Navarro), conducted a SERD logo contest. To add the wonderful logo that was received, we are requesting additional symbols from various cultures that represent “unity,” “community,” or “solidarity.”  Please submit your symbols to our new students SERD representatives Supavan Khamphakdy-Brown (sskm94@umkc.edu) or Kenneth Wang (ktwang@psu.edu).

As we continue to maintain and grow as a SERD family, please remember to renew your SERD dues ($5 for Members and Professional Affiliates) and feel free to give additional contributions that are used for student research and travel awards. As always, student membership in SERD is free!  I look forward to our continued growth in Division 17 and our shared commitment to ethnic and racial diversity.  Please contact me if you would like to become more actively involved in SERD.

Laurie “Lali” McCubbin

Washington State University

mccubbin@wsu.edu