Aremu Mbande

About Aremu Mbande

Aremu Mbande (he/him) is the Associate Director of Diversity & Inclusion. He brings nearly a decade of experience working with diverse students at the community college, undergraduate, and graduate levels to Harris. He is most excited to work with Harris’ affinity organizations and build upon a foundation of inclusive and dynamic student programming.

Prior to working at Harris, Aremu served as the Director of the African American Male Resource Center at Chicago State University. In this role, he spearheaded a department that radically addressed the social, cultural, and educational needs of CSU’s black male students. In five years, he became known for promoting robust cultural heritage month programs, facilitating critical race and gender dialogues among students and staff, mentoring and advising various identity-based student organizations, and pioneering the first study abroad program within the Division of Student Affairs.

Aremu is a PhD student at the University of Illinois at Chicago, where he is studying educational psychology with an emphasis in human development and a concentration in black studies. He has taught undergraduate and graduate courses at UIC related to youth development, emerging adulthood, and social research methods. His current academic work explores how gender and race socialization emerge in community-centered spaces for men of color. He previously earned his BS in psychology from Howard University and his MS in applied psychology from Sacred Heart University.

Aremu is an active member of the Brotherhood of Elders Network (BOEN) and Southsiders Organized for Unity & Liberation (SOUL). He is a loving parent of four beautiful children and a proud partner to a brilliant birth worker.