![\"Lai-Mont\u00e9](\"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/133\/2021\/08\/ADO_8184477-1-scaled-e1629750739676.jpg\" "\\"ADO_8184477\\"")
<\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>Leading by example<\/h1><\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div>When Lai-Mont\u00e9 Hunter \u201999 was considering college, there was a myth that African American men could not attain a four-year degree. As a first-generation college student, achieving that four-year degree became his immediate goal.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nWhile he was pursuing his degree, he felt that this was only about his journey and goals.\u201cLater, I learned that it was not just for me,\u201d Hunter said. \u201cIt changed the trajectory of my family.\u201d\u00a0 That family included his mom, dad and three brothers, among many others, who are proud of his accomplishments. Unfortunately, neither of his parents are here to witness his latest accomplishment. And what is his latest accomplishment?<\/span><\/p>\nOn April 17, 2021, Hunter was unanimously voted the first African American president of the º¬Ðß²ÝÉçÇø Alumni Association Board of Directors.<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cI am a vessel \u2013 I am the first but not the last,\u201d Hunter said of his appointment.<\/span><\/p>\nHe has been afforded the opportunity to affect change. It\u2019s beyond being first \u2013 it\u2019s about how he\u2019s been positioned to help organizations do something different, to be willing to accept something different. Being an African American leader is a culture shift from what we are used to seeing. He was voted in by his peers because he has demonstrated that he is down <\/span>for the cause.<\/span><\/p>\nBut being the first in a position is only the focus temporarily. Quickly, the focus switches to showing up in a way that has never been done before and making sure the organization understands your perspective.\u201cWe then open the door for someone else to do it after us,\u201d Hunter said. \u201cWe need to see ourselves, so we have an understanding that you value diversity, and we also are thinking about, \u2018Hey, I have to do a good job,\u2019 and give myself the grace to do the job.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nDoing the job started early for Hunter. He spent all four years at Missouri Western serving in one capacity or another. He spent four years on SGA, three years as a senator and, in his fourth year, he became the first treasurer for SGA. (Apparently, he is a trailblazer!)<\/span><\/p>\nMissouri Western has been full of firsts for Hunter. It is also where he had his first job in higher education. In 2004-2005, he was hired as a first-year instructor, and his office was located near Karl Bell \u201992, the director of multicultural education, who happened to be the most influential person during Hunter\u2019s undergraduate years. When Bell was an admissions counselor during Hunter\u2019s undergraduate years, it wasn\u2019t just about the work \u2013 it was about the students being successful.<\/span><\/p>\nHunter also joined Alpha Phi Alpha, the first intercollegiate historically African American fraternity, during his time as a Missouri Western student \u2013 something he had dreamed of since his sophomore year of high school. Upon joining, Hunter received his shingle, or certificate, of initiation. Bell focused on what he called achieving your \u201csecond shingle,\u201d or college degree. Showing mentorship, interest and investing in all of the students, Bell set an example that Hunter models to this day.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nTo get where he is today, Hunter had to take that first, albeit scary, step away from home.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nHis mother was sitting on the bed crying as he was packing for college. It was so monumental for him because he did not get it at the time. Now, he thinks about that each time he looks into the face of a parent.<\/span><\/p>\nWhen his mom cried as he packed, he thought, \u201cYou knew I was going to college; why are you crying?\u201d He gets it now. Hearing his mother\u2019s voice on the phone, when he heard the memorable double ring of an outside call, that was the motivation to know that he could do it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cWe are an extension of the students\u2019 family and it really means something to me,\u201d <\/span>Hunter said.<\/span><\/p>\nBecause of the path that Hunter has blazed, his younger brother and several nephews have all followed in his footsteps and received degrees. That is how overcoming the myth that African American men cannot attain a four-year degree changed the trajectory of his family\u2019s lives.<\/span><\/p>\nHe was the first but he certainly is not the last.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n– Contributed by Alicia Otto \u201920<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>![\"various](\"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/133\/2021\/08\/Lai-Monte-Magazine-Collage-7.30.21-1.png\" "\\"Lai-Monte")
<\/span><\/div>Top Left: Hunter with Engoma Fataki \u201920, SGA president, in 2019.<\/p>\n
Lower Left: Hunter with Dr. Vartabedian, former MWSU president, in 2015.<\/p>\n
Top & Lower Right: 1999 yearbook photos<\/p>\n<\/div>
![\"karl](\"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/133\/2021\/08\/Karl-Bell-and-Lai-Monte-Hunter-e1629750472195.jpg\" "\\"Karl")
<\/span><\/div>Karl Bell \u201992 and Hunter present a check to the MWSU Foundation for the Karl Bell Scholarship.<\/p>\n<\/div>
![\"Lai-Mont\u00e9](\"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/133\/2021\/08\/ADO_8199492-scaled-e1629750613692.jpg\" "\\"ADO_8199492\\"")
<\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":5502,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22,23,43],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5498","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumnews","category-alumprofiles","category-alumrelations"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5498","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5498"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5498\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5653,"href":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5498\/revisions\/5653"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5502"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5498"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5498"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5498"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
When Lai-Mont\u00e9 Hunter \u201999 was considering college, there was a myth that African American men could not attain a four-year degree. As a first-generation college student, achieving that four-year degree became his immediate goal.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n While he was pursuing his degree, he felt that this was only about his journey and goals.\u201cLater, I learned that it was not just for me,\u201d Hunter said. \u201cIt changed the trajectory of my family.\u201d\u00a0 That family included his mom, dad and three brothers, among many others, who are proud of his accomplishments. Unfortunately, neither of his parents are here to witness his latest accomplishment. And what is his latest accomplishment?<\/span><\/p>\n On April 17, 2021, Hunter was unanimously voted the first African American president of the º¬Ðß²ÝÉçÇø Alumni Association Board of Directors.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI am a vessel \u2013 I am the first but not the last,\u201d Hunter said of his appointment.<\/span><\/p>\n He has been afforded the opportunity to affect change. It\u2019s beyond being first \u2013 it\u2019s about how he\u2019s been positioned to help organizations do something different, to be willing to accept something different. Being an African American leader is a culture shift from what we are used to seeing. He was voted in by his peers because he has demonstrated that he is down <\/span>for the cause.<\/span><\/p>\n But being the first in a position is only the focus temporarily. Quickly, the focus switches to showing up in a way that has never been done before and making sure the organization understands your perspective.\u201cWe then open the door for someone else to do it after us,\u201d Hunter said. \u201cWe need to see ourselves, so we have an understanding that you value diversity, and we also are thinking about, \u2018Hey, I have to do a good job,\u2019 and give myself the grace to do the job.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Doing the job started early for Hunter. He spent all four years at Missouri Western serving in one capacity or another. He spent four years on SGA, three years as a senator and, in his fourth year, he became the first treasurer for SGA. (Apparently, he is a trailblazer!)<\/span><\/p>\n Missouri Western has been full of firsts for Hunter. It is also where he had his first job in higher education. In 2004-2005, he was hired as a first-year instructor, and his office was located near Karl Bell \u201992, the director of multicultural education, who happened to be the most influential person during Hunter\u2019s undergraduate years. When Bell was an admissions counselor during Hunter\u2019s undergraduate years, it wasn\u2019t just about the work \u2013 it was about the students being successful.<\/span><\/p>\n Hunter also joined Alpha Phi Alpha, the first intercollegiate historically African American fraternity, during his time as a Missouri Western student \u2013 something he had dreamed of since his sophomore year of high school. Upon joining, Hunter received his shingle, or certificate, of initiation. Bell focused on what he called achieving your \u201csecond shingle,\u201d or college degree. Showing mentorship, interest and investing in all of the students, Bell set an example that Hunter models to this day.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n To get where he is today, Hunter had to take that first, albeit scary, step away from home.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n His mother was sitting on the bed crying as he was packing for college. It was so monumental for him because he did not get it at the time. Now, he thinks about that each time he looks into the face of a parent.<\/span><\/p>\n When his mom cried as he packed, he thought, \u201cYou knew I was going to college; why are you crying?\u201d He gets it now. Hearing his mother\u2019s voice on the phone, when he heard the memorable double ring of an outside call, that was the motivation to know that he could do it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe are an extension of the students\u2019 family and it really means something to me,\u201d <\/span>Hunter said.<\/span><\/p>\n Because of the path that Hunter has blazed, his younger brother and several nephews have all followed in his footsteps and received degrees. That is how overcoming the myth that African American men cannot attain a four-year degree changed the trajectory of his family\u2019s lives.<\/span><\/p>\n He was the first but he certainly is not the last.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n – Contributed by Alicia Otto \u201920<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div> Top Left: Hunter with Engoma Fataki \u201920, SGA president, in 2019.<\/p>\n Lower Left: Hunter with Dr. Vartabedian, former MWSU president, in 2015.<\/p>\n Top & Lower Right: 1999 yearbook photos<\/p>\n<\/div> Karl Bell \u201992 and Hunter present a check to the MWSU Foundation for the Karl Bell Scholarship.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/span><\/div><\/span><\/div><\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div>