Gerlinde Beckers

Raised by her mother, a registered nurse for a charity health system, and her father, an educator, Associate Professor of Education Gerlinde Beckers learned the value of service at a young age.

“My parents’ values molded me into becoming a special educator and molded my commitment to service,” she said. “Since joining Southeastern in 2012, I have been actively involved in university, state, and community service. My focus is leading by example for Southeastern students and working with individuals with disabilities.”

Since 2016, Beckers has served as the director of Lions Connected, a post-secondary educational experience for individuals with intellectual disabilities by immersing Lions Connected students in the “college experience,” while preparing them for vocational experience. She secured certification by the U.S. Department of Education to recognize the program as a comprehensive transition and post-secondary program.

Beckers said her proudest accomplishment to date is being the principal investigator of three external service-learning grants. She received $100,500 from Entergy for Project Lion: Learning In Our Neighborhood, a three-year afterschool program that focused on at-risk middle school students in the community. She also received a $7,000 grant from the Dollar General Literacy Foundation for Project ROAR: Rediscovering Opportunities and Attitudes for Reading, which established book clubs for at-risk middle school students. Thanks to $40,000 from the Council for Developmental Disabilities, Beckers created the Louisiana Post-Secondary Inclusive Education Alliance to increase awareness and opportunities for individuals with disabilities at the post-secondary level.

“Whether she is the first to volunteer to serve on an important committee to advance the mission of Southeastern or to support recruitment and retention efforts in our department,” said Department of Teaching and Learning Head Colleen Klein-Ezell, “Gerlinde is a leader in providing service.”