Eryka Jenkins has worked at Hutchison for a little over 6 years. For 5 of those years she was a fitness specialist and involved with the crane center before helping create the equity and inclusion program. Currently the head of the equity and inclusion program, Jenkins is sadly leaving us to go to Pennsylvania. She will be greatly missed, but her impact on Hutchison will remain. 

When Jenkins first started working at Hutchison, she wanted to help high schoolers figure out what their ideal healthy lifestyle is in order to set goals for themselves they can work towards. She says, “I was excited to be a part of the team that was creating the program for fitness minutes and what holistic wellness would look like at Hutchison.”

Before Eryka Jenkins started working at Hutchison, there was not a set position for equity and inclusion. While there were a few people who did the little things she does today, there was not a full time inclusion role. Jenkins and Dr. Ring helped create the equity and inclusion program to make everyone feel welcome. 

When she first started working in the equity and inclusion program she wanted to help build community across divisions, support our faculty and staff, and help to establish a community where everyone felt like they belonged. “I don’t want people to feel like they have to assimilate to a dominant culture, but where girls can come here and be their unique individual selves,” says Jenkins. 

Jenkins works to make every girl at Hutchison feel welcome, but there were challenges trying to accomplish that goal. 

Since this position is brand new and created for the good of Hutchison’s students, Jenkins must continuously adapt her role. She states, “My duties are based on the needs of the girls. So it’s continuing to evolve.” 

Eryka Jenkins is a person that the students look up to. She is a role model and someone that they are willing to confide in. She is always there and is so supportive. She has been a leader of numerous sports teams when she was younger but she never pictured herself in the position she is in today. 

Now that she is in the position as a leader that people can go to, it makes sense to her but she never saw herself doing what she was doing today. She says, “I was a military brat so I traveled a lot and had a lot of diverse experiences. There is a lot of diversity in my family as well.” She thinks that all the experiences she had when she was younger have led her to the great leader she is today at Hutchison.

Sadly, Jenkins is leaving Hutchison and moving to Pennsylvania at the end of the 1st semester. When she moves she would like to continue what she does here at Hutchison. She even wants to try and do it in an independent school. Even though she will be missed, Jenkins made a huge impact on so many people, in so many different ways. Whether through sports, just seeing her in the hallway, or talking to her about inclusion. But, either way she made a big difference in the school and it will be hard for anyone to live up to this legacy.