Harper Syres
Dr. Joshua Moon-Johnson in his office at CT State Manchester in September. He is still working on setting it up.
Manchester’s new campus President Dr. Joshua Moon-Johnson, 43, is someone who knows what it’s like to have odds put against him.
Growing up in small town Gulfport, Mississippi, there were countless times Moon-Johnson saw injustices happen, not only to him, but to people around him.
He can account a time back in high school, where his friend, a mixed race Korean and Afro-Latina woman was told by a student counselor that she shouldn’t be taking Algebra II because she wasn’t going to college anyway. The counselor told her that she should focus on going to hair school, though this friend, Moon-Johnson said, was quite academically talented.
For as long as he can remember, Moon-Johnson said he would always get upset at that kind of behavior. He then started noticing patterns of those included and excluded.
“I would say before thinking about careers, some of my early values and personality characteristics are… I was easily upset by people being excluded or mistreated,” he said.
Those same values Moon-Johnson has brought with him to CT State Connecticut Community College where, in August, he became the new campus president of the Asnuntuck, Manchester and Middlesex campuses.
He also brings a bold sense of style and an empathetic approach to higher education leadership. A first-generation college graduate himself – like many CT State students – Moon-Johnson has built a career championing access, inclusion, and student success.
It’s a philosophy that reflects his commitment to disrupting outdated systems and fostering environments where students and staff alike can thrive as their authentic selves.
Moon-Johnson has worked in higher education for more than 12 years, including as the director of the Resource Center for Sexual and Gender Diversity at the University of California Santa Barbara. Before coming to Connecticut, he was provost and vice president of academic affairs at West Valley College, a community college in Saratoga, California.
Moon-Johnson earned a doctoral degree in adult and higher education and LGBT studies from Northern Illinois University, a master’s in social sciences focused on student affairs and diversity from Binghamton University, a master’s in marketing from the University of Alabama and a bachelor’s in business from the University of South Alabama.
But wherever he has studied or worked he always found a way to advocate and support BIPOC students, queer and transgender students, undocumented students, disabled students, first-generation low-income students and international students. Moon-Johnson, son of a Korean-American mother – that’s the Moon part of his last name – and a White-American father – that’s the Johnson part – said supporting others comes naturally to him.
“This work was always very personal, and so I think my own lived experience around my own identities…my aspects of my racial identity, gender identity, sexual identity, religious identity, economic background, all of those impacted kind of how I perceived and observed the world and actually experienced educational environments,” he said. “That’s probably why I chose to really focus my career more on advocacy, policy change, educational reform, specifically with the lens of supporting folks who’ve been excluded or even mistreated within education systems.”
As president of three CT State campuses, Moon-Johnson said he remains focused on building inclusive academic spaces where students from all backgrounds can access opportunities because challenges on campus can still be challenges even after graduation.
“It’s not like when you graduate, all of your identity development issues go away, or you no longer experience bias or mistreatment, or exclusion in the workplace, or even violence…,” he said. “They show up differently in the workplace, but hopefully, we’ve gained tools and support systems to be able to thrive despite them.”
His first challenge has been figuring out how to balance being the president of three campuses. Since the CT State leadership structure was changed earlier this year, Moon-Johnson is the first person to be in the position of a 3-campus president.
His past experience has taught him to “multitask really well.”
“Even if I were the president at only Manchester, there was still always going to be things that will not get done. There’s just too much to get done for the amount of time,” he said. “So, I think I have learned to… one, I work very efficiently, and then two, I have a strong lens of evaluating tasks and projects based off of what’s going to give our students the most bang for their buck.”
Relying on the expertise of campus deans and other leaders, like the presidents of the Student Government Association on each campus is another strategy.
“I do not need to be the mascot or the savior of Manchester,” he said. “My leadership team and the team members here are part of what makes me successful.”
He draws inspiration from trailblazers like Alok Vaid-Menon [favorite poet/comedian] and Lemuel Watson, whose work in gender expression and educational equity continues to shape his own path, Moon-Johnson said.
Outside the office, Moon-Johnson, whose husband, Aaron, is a native of Connecticut, is a self-proclaimed snack enthusiast with a particular love for popcorn and nachos. If stranded on a desert island, he said he’d bring seeds, a LifeStraw water purifier and a live chicken, a trio that speaks to his resourcefulness and sense of humor.
For more information about Moon-Johnson visit https://ctstate.edu/about/leadership/joshua-moon-johnson .
To read more about his background and the books he has written visit https://joshuamoonjohnson.com/.
Students can meet with Moon-Johnson for a Campus Meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 14, at 11 a.m. For more information contact Dean of Students Dalexh Hunt at http://[email protected].