Elizabeth Sierra G’06 Named Disability Cultural Center Director

The Division of Enrollment and the Student Experience has announced Elizabeth R. Sierra G’06 as the new director of the Disability Cultural Center. Her first day is Monday, April 8.

Elizabeth Sierra

Sierra is currently a psychotherapist and clinical supervisor at Sunshine Coast Health Centre in Canada. She brings extensive experience as a counselor, professor and student advisor throughout her career. In addition to her teaching experience at the University of Alaska at Anchorage, the State of Texas community college system and Binghamton University, Sierra served as director of student support services at SUNY Farmingdale and the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. Her teaching, scholarship and practice have centered on empowerment of marginalized and vulnerable populations no matter her role.

“Elizabeth is not only a passionate advocate and scholar focused on inclusivity and social justice, she brings an incredible breadth of experience across higher education and working with students. We are thrilled to welcome her back to Syracuse University to lead the Disability Cultural Center,” says Colleen Bench, associate vice president in the Division of Enrollment and the Student Experience.

During her time as a graduate student at Syracuse, Sierra was a counselor and personal coach with the SummerStart and SUccess Initiative Learning Communities, a counselor intern at Nottingham High School and a counselor intern at Onondaga Community College’s Educational Opportunity Program and Collegiate Science, Technology and Engineering Program. She also served as an instructor in the Department of Child and Family Studies in the Falk College. She has written chapters on inclusive pedagogies and disability studies in peer-reviewed texts for Syracuse University Press and Palgrave Macmillan.

“My experience in the classroom, therapy room and in higher education administration since I graduated from Syracuse has shown me that just as good therapy is educational, good education is therapeutic,” Sierra says. I am excited to collaborate with students, faculty, staff and the greater Syracuse community as we work to educate whole learners and be part of a community that includes, respects and celebrates the cultural backgrounds and experiences of all students.”

Sierra earned a bachelor’s degree in political science at Midwestern State University in Texas, a master’s degree in counseling at Syracuse University and a Ph.D. in philosophy, interpretation and culture at Binghamton University.

She is a national certified counselor, a master practitioner of clinical counseling, a registered professional counsellor with the Canadian Professional Counselling Association and a licensed professional counselor.