Kijua Sanders-McMurtry

Originally from Pasadena, California, Sanders-McMurtry was inspired to become a full-time diversity educator after the deaths of Matthew Shepard and Sakia Gunn. Both individuals were targeted and killed because of their gender and sexual identities. 

A nationally recognized advocate for diversity and inclusion, Sanders-McMurtry has been quoted in publications including the Chronicle of Higher Education, Inside Higher Education, Forbes Magazine and Insight into Diversity magazine. She has published book chapters, peer-reviewed journal articles and widely presented at academic conferences. Her research focuses on gender based inequities and the historical activism of Black women’s organizations. 

Prior to her time at Mount Holyoke, she worked in a variety of roles in higher education and the research industry. As a public health researcher with ORC Macro, she spent time on key projects focused on health disparities connected in communities of color. She spent twelve years at Agnes Scott College, which is a gender diverse women’s college working as an associate dean of students, the college’s inaugural title ix coordinator, the interim dean of students and vice president for student life and later as the Associate Vice President and Dean for Community Diversity. She was also an adjunct faculty member at Atlanta Technical College and Georgia Perimeter College (teaching Introductory Sociology), the University of Georgia, Georgia State University and the University of Georgia teaching courses on Critical Pedagogy, Multicultural Education and Women’s Colleges. 

She has held numerous leadership positions, including serving as the co-chair for trans inclusion with the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA), and was named a Diamond Honoree with the American College Personnel Association (ACPA). 

Sanders-McMurtry holds a doctorate of philosophy (Ph.D) in Educational Policy Studies, a graduate certificate in women’s studies, as well as master’s and bachelor’s degrees in sociology from Georgia State University. A high school dropout, she credits her non-traditional academic journey to her mentors at Pasadena City College, where she completed an associate’s degree in social sciences.