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Social Justice: One Professor’s Passion
Building Bridges
CHER EDWARDS, assistant professor of school
counseling at Seattle Pacific University,
accepted the 2006 Counselors for Social
Justice ’Ohana Award in April at the American
Counseling Association (ACA) conference
in Montreal, Quebec. Only four years
into her academic career, Edwards says she
was surprised to receive the national award,
which honors individuals in counseling
who support diversity and social justice. She
still considers herself a
newcomer when it comes
to addressing multicultural
issues.
In 1994, while a master’s
degree student at the
University of Dayton, she
had an internship in an
elementary school. “Our
school systems are incredibly
diverse,” says Edwards. “I saw a real need
for counselors to be culturally competent
when working with children in the schools.”
Echoing those important concerns, one of
Edwards’ professors encouraged her to join
Counselors for Social Justice (CSJ), a division
of the ACA. She did, and began what has
become a career devoted to topics of diversity.
Since then, Edwards has worked steadily
to educate others to better understand multicultural
issues. She is a frequent speaker at
conferences, giving such presentations as
“Multicultural Approaches in the Classroom,”
and the author of many articles, including
“School Counselors Working to Promote
Cultural Awareness.” She has presented at
international conferences in Hangzhou,
China, and Yorkshire, England. And while in
Montreal, she teamed up with her husband,
SPU Assistant Professor of Marriage and
Family Therapy Scott Edwards. Together, they
presented ways educators can help graduate
students incorporate social-justice principles
in their work as future counselors.
Edwards says working on such issues with
Seattle Pacific graduate
students is a priority for
her. When she joined the
SPU faculty in 2002,
she designed and began
teaching a course called
“Multicultural Counseling
in the Schools,” now
required in the University’s
School Counseling
program. In 2004, she spoke to undergraduate
student leaders at the 18th annual
National Christian Multicultural Student
Leaders Conference, held on the Seattle
Pacific campus.
Edwards’ work related to social justice
supports the SPU School of Education’s
priorities. “We want our
students preparing for
careers in education to
appreciate and respect the
rich diversity of K–12 students,”
says William Rowley,
dean of the School of
Education.
Edwards says her hope
is that she and her colleagues
can better prepare
educators to meet the needs
of diverse students by creating
awareness that there
are “marginalized students
in our schools who are
often underserved.”
She also prepares her
students for the realities of
such a career: “You don’t go
into school counseling to
someday get a company car.
When you’re committed to
social justice, you have a
passion to serve people.”
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