Daily Inspiration: Meet Sean Creedon

Today we’d like to introduce you to Sean Creedon.

Hi Sean, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
My name is Sean Creedon, and I am from Chicago, IL. I have been involved in education for the last 13 years and currently work at Community College of Denver, where I am the Lead Civil Rights Investigator for all complaints of discrimination, harassment, and sexual misconduct. Like many of my millennial peers, my career path has not been as linear as we were told it would be if you worked hard and went to college. I majored in Social Science Education at Illinois State University and spent three years in the classroom teaching history, social sciences, and special education. I even taught English in Mardid, Spain, for a year.

While I enjoyed classroom teaching, I felt that I was not making as many connections with my students as I had with some other leadership and advising positions throughout college. While connecting with mentors from my undergrad experience, I learned more about student affairs and higher education as possible career paths. In 2013, I started my Master’s Of Science program at Illinois State University in College Student Personnel Administration. This is the time where I was truly able combine my passion for education with my personal commitment to social justice, leadership development, and civic engagement.

After I graduated with a second degree from Illinois State in 2015, I spent three years working at Loyola University New Orleans. At Loyola, I was able to gain a wide variety of experiences in different functional areas of higher ed/ student affairs, including residence life, student conduct, behavioral intervention, training and development, crisis management, and equity and inclusion work. Since Loyola was a much smaller campus than my previous experience at Illinois State, I was able to tailor my experiences and truly decide where I felt I could make the biggest impact.

In the summer of 2018, I moved across the country once again to work at Community College of Denver doing student conduct, case management, threat assessment, and behavioral intervention work. This position really allowed me to hone in on my areas of expertise and help serve marginalized student populations. Working at CCD gives me a great sense of personal and professional fulfillment and has given me the opportunity to take on new challenges. I currently serve on the CCD Inclusive Excellence Leadership Team. This team advocates for inclusion, equity, and academic excellence in order to create an environment where all voices are welcomed and heard and to empower and celebrate all students, faculty, staff, and affiliates. By challenging systemic inequities, building more robust support systems and resources, implementing ongoing training and professional development opportunities, and embracing open-mindedness at Community College of Denver, the team commits to cultivating and enriching the community through increased accountability and civic engagement. Additionally, I serve on a Professional Development sub-committee for this group, where I plan trainings around equity, social justice, and inclusion. Our main goal is to infuse this justice work into everything we do at CCD – not just having a one-off training a few times per year.

Although I have moved a few times over the last decade, my fiancé, Kimberly, and I are planting roots in Denver. We are so excited to both be working in education in such a great part of the country. Kimberly works for a non-profit called Higher Education Resource Services, where she is the Events Manager for leadership development programs. Combining personal and professional values has always been my goal for my career, and I am so happy to be working at CCD and giving back to the Denver community.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Looking back now, I am able to connect the dots and see how my path guided me to where I am today – both personally and professionally. However, in the midst of challenges, there were definitely difficult times where it was hard to find the light. Like many of my peers, graduating college soon after the housing crash of 2008 meant lots of challenges were presented in a short period of time.

I personally feel that those few years after college are some of the hardest and loneliest. I was lucky enough to have a supportive family along the way who always encouraged me to pursue my passions. However, it was still challenging to feel like I was ready to start my career, yet there were so many roadblocks.

Finding my now fiancé while living in New Orleans has certainly helped shape my personal and professional paths. Being with someone who understands you, pushes you, and supports you is one of the best feelings in the world. Taking on the world together has certainly eased some of these obstacles throughout the last few years.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I currently serve as the Lead Civil Rights Investigator at Community College of Denver, where I investigate all complaints of discrimination, harassment, and sexual misconduct. I have been working in higher education for the last seven years. I have been able to tailor my experiences in higher education to develop a distinct set of practical skills related to civil rights investigations, compliance, behavioral intervention, training and development, student conduct, crisis management, conflict resolution, equity and inclusion, threat assessment, and strategic planning.

My main goal in this position is to be proactive as possible when it comes to Civil Rights trainings and reporting processes. Although I lead investigations once complaints of discrimination, harassment, or sexual misconduct are made, those investigations are on the back end – after an incident or incidents have already happened. I am actively revamping out training around Civil Rights so that we can create a safe and inclusive campus environment for all students, faculty, staff, and community partners. I believe my background in education has helped me thrive in this new position at CCD in terms of training and development.

I am most proud of the direct case management work I have done with CCD students over the past three years. Many of our students, our first-generation, Black and Indigenous People of Color, in need of accommodations, have mental health needs, or may currently not have adequate housing. In my role with our Care Team at CCD, I work to provide resources and support services to students who may need assistance. During my Care Meetings, I make sure to provide wrap-around services that adequately support the vast complexities of struggles my students face.

Who else deserves credit in your story?
I have many people who deserve recognition in terms of where I am today in my career in education. First and foremost, my family have provided me with so many opportunities to chase my dreams. I recognize and understand my privilege in this area, and I certainly would not be where I am today without them setting me up for success from the beginning.

I also have a number of mentors in the field of higher education who have pushed me to where I am today, including Dr. Phyllis McCluskey-Titus, Annie Weaver, Jeremy Foskitt, Amy Jo Boyle, and Chris Rice. All of these student affairs practitioners provided me with guidance and support as I navigated my way through grad school and my first position in higher education at Loyola University New Orleans.

My fiancé, Kimberly, has also pushed me to be the person I am today. Without her support and guidance, I definitely would not be where I am – especially not in Denver! She took a chance on me and left her home of New Orleans to seek out a new life in Denver, CO. We are now engaged, have two dogs we adopted, and own a house here. I could not imagine getting through the past five years without her constant love and support.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @smcreedon
• Twitter: @smcreedon