The Department Ambassador program in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology (SOA) began during the spring 2020 semester. The goal is to engage with our students as peer mentors and support their own professional development as they represent the department at an array of events and activities. Each year, we select three to six student ambassadors from each program to serve in this important role. The objectives are to support SOA during recruiting activities, provide professional development opportunities for the ambassadors to enhance their leadership skills, increase awareness of the fields of sociology and anthropology among current and prospective students, and to serve as a resource for current and prospective students.
This year we are excited to welcome seven new and two returning ambassadors to our program. If you would like to reach out to any of our ambassadors you can find their contact information on our website.
Sociology Ambassadors
Xavier Mancias
Xavier Mancias is returning as an ambassador for a second year. Mancias is a senior sociology major. Having changed his major to sociology, he is aware of how rewarding and informative sociology can be as a student, especially during COVID. It revived his interest in academic pursuits. As an ambassador, Mancias wants to help students learn about sociology, providing a chance for them to learn about this field. He is looking forward to networking with students and faculty to improve interactions through the department. He can provide advice and guidance for classes and requirements to the major/minor of sociology at ISU. Above all else, Mancias is excited to help others learn about sociology.
Jayden Wilburn-Johnson
Jayden Wilburn-Johnson is returning as an ambassador for a second year and is a senior sociology major. Wilburn-Johnson serves on the Student Government Association and Black Student Union at ISU and was named a Robert G. Bone Scholar for 2024-25. Jayden also serves as a teacher’s assistant for SOC 112 and as a career ambassador, where he helps students build their professional portfolio.
Learning about different cultures and meeting new people has always been his passion. Wilburn-Johnson credits sociology for giving him life skills that no other major could offer. The study of social institutions and how they operate in today’s world is valuable information that he believes everyone should have knowledge about. Wilburn-Johnson believes that you have to understand people to help people, and sociology is all about people.
Tyler Despe
Before coming to ISU last fall, Tyler Despe graduated from Waubonsee Community College in Sugar Grove with an associates degree in biology. Now a senior, they are a sociology and economics double major, food studies minor, one of two executive co-chairs for the Young Democratic Socialists of America, and a research intern for Project XV voting rights museum in El Paso.
After working and conversing with people from a wide variety of backgrounds in environments such as vegetable fields, fast food kitchens, and the community college classroom, Despe enjoys learning about sociological explanations for the phenomena they observe in everyday interactions. They are thrilled to guide fellow students in finding sociology’s role in their own everyday lives.
Ella Woodruff
Ella Woodruff is in her second year here at ISU and is currently Sociology Club’s president, and this is her first year serving as an ambassador. Woodruff is a sociology and legal studies double major with a minor in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies with a concentration in Queer Studies. Sociology has always been a great passion for her, and she is looking forward to interacting with students who have an interest in her field of study. Please feel free to reach out to Woodruff with any questions that you have about our department and campus life.
Kaley Beckman
Kaley Beckman is a senior sociology major with a political science minor. In addition to being an ambassador, Beckman currently works two jobs as a Career Services student receptionist and as a server at Cracker Barrel. Furthermore, Beckman is an active member of Alpha Gamma Delta sorority where she dedicates her time to bettering the community of Bloomington-Normal through fighting hunger. She previously served as the chapter’s diversity, equity, and inclusion director. Beckman has also prioritized the importance of being involved in the Sociology Department, as she both previously worked in Dr. Susan Sprecher’s social interaction lab as a student researcher and committed her time as a teaching assistant for SOC 111. Beckman plans to pursue a master’s degree in social work with a concentration in health care and believes studying sociology provides one with an invaluable perspective that enables you to realize how society was structured to benefit certain groups of people while oppressing others. She believes studying sociology makes you a kinder human in a world that is so polarized.
Anthropology Ambassadors
Maureena Terven
Maureena Terven is a senior anthropology major with a sociology minor. She serves as the SOSA secretary, which is the RSO for students with an interest in anthropology. She is very eager to help students curious about anthropology and those who want to learn more about the field in general.
Jesse Dees
Jesse Dees is a senior anthropology major at ISU. Dees completed two years to get his associate degree at Lincoln Land Community College in Springfield before transferring to ISU. Dees originally began college as a history secondary education major before switching to anthropology and continuing history as a minor. Dees wanted to be a history teacher focused on the cultural aspects of society rather than the number of wars fought. He was then shown anthropology at ISU, and it was more connected to his interests than history alone. In the future, Dees would like to work as a professor or in the Peace Corps.
Rachael Kooistra
Rachael Kooistra is a senior anthropology major and a history minor. She is the former president of History Club, and she was a teaching assistant for ANT 102 in spring 2024. This year she is a teaching assistant for ANT 265 and is eager to help students learn. As an SOA ambassador, she looks forward to introducing students to anthropology and answering questions regarding professions, classes, and higher education.
Kaitlyn Kropp
Kaitlyn Kropp is a senior anthropology major who transferred to ISU in fall 2023. Kropp has been involved with many clubs on campus, like SOSA, Indy Service Dog Club, Disney Club, and Deaf Redbirds. She is honored to be the treasurer for SOSA this school year and also an ambassador. One of her favorite activities on campus is hanging out with the therapy dogs that come to the library for PAWSitivity.
Kropp chose anthropology because when she was on a tour of ISU, discovered anthropology, and was instantly drawn to the idea of having a different way of learning about humans and bringing the past to life. After ISU, she plans to continue her education and get her master’s degree so she can travel the world as an archaeologist.
