New Director of C.A.R.E. introduced to the College

Aika Minja ’27

minjaasa92@lakeforest. edu

Staff Writer

Lake Forest College’s new director of C.A.R.E. (Community, Advocacy, Resources and Empowerment), Damian Evans is beginning his tenure with a focus on understanding campus culture, building relationships with students and identifying ways to make the college a more inclusive community. After more than two decades working in higher education and student affairs, the director arrives with experience supporting students, overseeing cultural programs, and working across different areas of campus life. However, rather than immediately establishing a vision for C.A.R.E., the director says his first priority is understanding what students and the broader campus community need.

“I think if you’re gonna be good in a role like this, you have to assess the climate and the culture,” the director said.

Evans previously spent more than 20 years at the University of Wisconsin–Parkside, where he began in residence life before moving into multicultural student affairs. He eventually became director of the office, a position he held from 2005 to 2022. During that time, his responsibilities extended beyond cultural programming, including pre-college initiatives, federal TRIO programs, student support services, orientation and academic resources.

He also taught a course on power and privilege and co-directed the institution’s Inclusive Excellence Committee, experiences that informed his work with students and faculty across different areas of the university.

After leaving UW–Parkside, Evans served as an equity officer for the City of Racine before returning to higher education at Rockford University. There, he became associate vice president for student life and diversity officer before transitioning into a student support programming role.

The opportunity at Lake Forest College offered a chance to bring these experiences into a new community and work more directly with students and faculty together.

“What excited me about this opportunity was the opportunity to work with students,” Evans said.

He explained that previous roles had often involved working with students and faculty in separate capacities. At C.A.R.E., he sees an opportunity to bring these groups into conversation about their experiences and needs.

Although Evans has extensive experience in higher education, he emphasized that his first weeks at Lake Forest have been a period of observation rather than immediate change.

While the day-to-day atmosphere has appeared positive, he said understanding the institution requires looking beyond what is immediately visible.

“Day-to-day, the climate is great,” Evans said. “Then, there’s this underlying culture that has to be assessed before you can create a vision.”

For now, his priorities include meeting students, faculty, and staff to develop a shared understanding of C.A.R.E.’s purpose and how the office can best serve the college community.

One area he particularly emphasized was safety. Rather than assuming that safety means the same thing to everyone, he wants to establish a common foundation for discussing what it means across campus and how different student populations experience it.

For Evans, belonging is central to this process.

“There’s no such thing, in my opinion, as a perfect community, but there has to be a space in every community that people feel like they belong in order for them to stay,” he said.

That means identifying the barriers students encounter and understanding how those barriers affect their ability to participate fully in college life.

One of the more pressing questions facing students in terms of feeling like they belong or feel safe in the classroom, concerns the use of identity-based slurs in classrooms, particularly the tension between academic freedom, freedom of speech, and students’ sense of safety, especially after Dawn Abt Perkins, the professor that used a racial slur in the classroom last semester, has been found innocent of breaking any college policies.

Students have expressed discomfort with hearing slurs used in classroom discussions, regardless of who uses them or the academic context in which they appear. At the same time, some faculty members have raised concerns that restricting such language could constitute censorship.

Asked whether C.A.R.E. could help influence policies addressing these concerns, the director acknowledged that his role does not currently give them unilateral authority to make such changes. However, he believes the office can help shape conversations and encourage the institution to consider how classroom practices affect its community.

“I think a role like this can influence change,” the director said.

He argued that conversations about classroom language should extend beyond whether a particular word can legislatively be used. Instead, they should consider how its use affects the creation of an inclusive and safe learning environment.

“I think the conversation needs to be about having an effective and inclusive community,” he said.

The director also emphasized that students should continue reporting experiences that make them feel unsafe or uncomfortable. He explained that documenting concerns is important to ensuring that incidents are recognized and can be addressed.

He questioned why instructors must use slurs to teach about them when the same educational goals can often be achieved without repeating harmful language.

Still, the director acknowledged the limits of his current position and said he hoped to influence policy rather than promise immediate changes.

For students who have experienced repeated administrative changes, this distinction matters. C.A.R.E. has had multiple directors, and the college has experienced changes in its senior leadership. While conversations and campus events can create opportunities for students to be heard, formal policies may provide a more lasting framework for addressing recurring concerns.

The director’s comments suggest that policy development is an area he hopes to explore, and the weights of their influence should be expected through action not just dialogue.

In the immediate future, students should not expect a series of new initiatives. The director is still determining which existing programs are most valuable and how C.A.R.E.’s responsibilities should develop.

The office is now responsible for working with approximately 30 student empowerment groups previously overseen by the Gates Center. The director is also seeking to hire a coordinator to assist with the office’s work and is assessing the role of C.A.R.E. ambassadors and possible internship opportunities.

He hopes to determine which programs best support students while creating opportunities for the office to contribute to institutional practices and policies. He has encouraged students to visit C.A.R.E., whether through drop-in conversations or scheduled appointments.

He also emphasized that students should have room to think through their options when advocating for themselves. Not every concern will necessarily result in immediate institutional change, but students should have opportunities to document their experiences, understand their options, and consider how to navigate the institution.

For the director, this work involves developing relationships while recognizing that students and administrators may not always agree on the best path forward.

As C.A.R.E.’s new director continues assessing the campus, the central question is how these conversations will translate into lasting change. His experience in student affairs provides a foundation for the work, but his vision for Lake Forest College remains under development.

The role of C.A.R.E at the college also reflects a broader shift in how the College approaches questions of belonging and community. After the current administration moved away from its previous DEI structure, the college established C.A.R.E. as a new office following the Office of Intercultural Relations. As a private institution, Lake Forest College still has to determine how it will address the concerns students raise about belonging, inclusion, and campus culture. 

In recent years, the office’s leadership has changed, with different people bringing different visions to the role. It is still too early to know what vision the current director will establish, but that uncertainty also leaves room to shape what C.A.R.E. can become. The office does not have to remain simply a space where students gather or bring individual concerns; it could also become a place that helps identify broader institutional patterns and push for structural and policy-based solutions.

For now, the director’s approach centers on listening, understanding the campus community, and identifying opportunities to influence institutional practices. Whether that approach leads to clearer policies, stronger accountability, and a more consistent sense of belonging for students remains to be seen.