Dr. Earleen Patterson credits her commitment to education and service to her mother, who had little access to education herself but instilled the drive and focus that shaped her life.
“She could go to school on the days that it rained, when she didn’t have to work in the cotton fields,” Patterson said. “And so those days that it rained might be an opportunity for her to go to school.”
Her mother’s formal education ended around the eighth grade, but Patterson said she understood the opportunities education could provide and was determined that her children would attend college.
Patterson will be recognized as an Excellence in Education honoree during the St. Louis American Foundation’s 39th annual Salute to Excellence in Education Scholarship & Awards Gala on Oct. 17 at the St. Louis Union Station Hotel.
For 30 years, Patterson has helped students navigate higher education at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, where she serves as associate vice chancellor for student opportunities, diversity, equity and inclusion.
She began her career at SIUE as an academic adviser before becoming a program director and moving into her current position in 2020.
“I am as excited about this work 30 years later as I was when I first began as an academic advisor,” Patterson said. “There have been a lot of shifts in the responsibilities. There have been shifts in the titles. However, the students, the people, they don’t change, the goal, that doesn’t change, and that’s what continues to excite me.”
Patterson earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Illinois State University and a doctorate in higher education administration from Saint Louis University in 2004.
She said her job never gets boring because every student enters college with a different story, and she does not view them simply as numbers or data points.
“Every one of these students have a story,” Patterson said. “And to be able to connect and engage with them and their story creates relationships, and relationships — I mean, that’s the soul of the work that we do.”
Ariel Combs, a former SIUE student, developed a relationship with Patterson after Patterson became her adviser through FAME, or Females of African Descent Modeling Excellence, in 2018.
Combs described Patterson, whom she calls “Dr. P,” as a nurturing, charismatic and fashionable force who made students and their families feel welcome. She remembers Patterson reassuring parents about their children’s safety as they prepared to leave them on campus.
“She made sure that by the time they left, they felt confident that you was going to be OK,” Combs said.
Patterson would pick Combs up from her dorm at least twice a month for church and helped her develop campus relationships that led to other opportunities, including working as a Black Studies assistant.
“Even now as an adult, I’m no longer there. I’m no longer a student, but she makes sure I’m OK,” Combs said. “She’s encouraging me. She’s uplifting me, making sure that I’m reaching my full potential.”
Patterson said those lasting relationships are among the most rewarding parts of her career.
“I am seeing the children of the children of some of my students now,” Patterson said. “It happens all the time.”
SIUE Chancellor James T. Minor said Patterson’s influence stands out when he encounters graduates.
“I have met countless SIUE alumni who, with gratitude, simply say to me, ‘If it were not for Dr. P. …,’” Minor said.
Howard Rambsy, a distinguished research professor of literature at SIUE, has worked with Patterson for 22 years through the Boundless Scholar Experience, a program for first-year Black students.
Rambsy described Patterson as a knowledgeable leader with high standards and a skill for anticipating what students and programs will need.
BSE once served about 50 Black students. When university leadership decided to expand the program, Rambsy said Patterson was instrumental in making it happen. This fall, he said, the program serves 685 students.
“She was the person to make it actually happen,” Rambsy said. “She’s that person back there behind the curtain making all the magic happen.”
Rambsy said Patterson also led a team of advisers in coordinating schedules after Black students complained about being the only Black student in some of their classes.
“They don’t know that there was a person who made it possible,” Rambsy said. “That’s how it is sometimes when people, they enjoy a kind of benefit, but [are] not really clear how that came about.”
Patterson is also a Golden member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc., serving the organization for more than 50 years. She recently was appointed to the Central Region leadership team as scholarship committee chair and also serves as membership and scholarship chair in her graduate chapter.
“I enjoy membership development. I enjoy bringing new people into our organization. I enjoy making sure students have funds and providing scholarships for students to continue their education,” Patterson said. “It fits again so much with who I am, what my personal goals are [and] my professional goals.”
It is a commitment that traces back to the example set by her mother.
“They didn’t have the opportunity, but they had the vision,” Patterson said. “They had the vision for the future.”