About DEI

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Myra Young Armstead

She received her doctorate in history from the University of Chicago where she interned under the late Dr. John Hope Franklin and concentrated in three fields: U.S. urban history, U.S. diplomatic history, and African colonial history. 

She holds a master’s in international relations with a concentration in African affairs, and a bachelor’s from Cornell University, where she majored in government. Professor Armstead’s book publications include “Lord, Please Don’t Take Me in August”: African Americans in Newport and Saratoga Springs, 1870–1930 (University of Illinois, 1999); Mighty Change, Tall Within: Black Identity in the Hudson Valley (SUNY Press, 2003); and Freedom’s Gardener: James F. Brown, Horticulture, and the Hudson Valley in Antebellum America (New York University Press, 2012). Currently, she is completing two research projects: a book-length study of cultural reforms during the Progressive Era, and a study of class divisions and cross-class connections regarding economic issues among evangelical Protestants in North America. In 2014–15 she received a National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship to undertake research at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture for the Progressive Era project. Her study of economics and religion is supported by a three-year (2015–18) grant from the Louisville Institute.
           
At Bard, Professor Armstead has taught broadly in U.S. history with a concentration in 19th-century social and cultural history.

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Kahan Sablo

Dr. Kahan Sablo was appointed Bard College’s Dean of Inclusive Excellence in January of 2020.  A New York City native (The Bronx), he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Public Justice and Master of Science degree in Counseling and Psychological Services from SUNY Oswego.  He also has a Doctor of Education degree in Administration and Leadership Studies from Indiana University of Pennsylvania, where his dissertation research focused on the perceived impact of college gospel choir participation on the retention of African American students at predominately White universities. 

Dr. Sablo attended college with the hope of one day becoming a New York City Police Officer.  However, while away at school, Dr. Sablo was the victim of two significant acts of combined racism and homophobia that resulted in a New York State Supreme Court hearing.  This unfortunate experience led him to his chosen vocation - working in college student services/student affairs, with an emphasis on equity, diversity and inclusion.   

His student services resume includes work in residence life, orientation, the counseling center, student advisement, student conduct, college health, career services, fraternity/sorority life, student activities, recreation/fitness, adult student services, student discipline/conduct, Title IX, disability support services, athletics, and diversity/inclusion work – including serving as the founder of two campus multicultural centers.  He has held two senior-level student affairs positions, including serving as a Chief Student Affairs Officer/Vice President for Student Affairs. 

In addition to his passion for higher education, Dr. Sablo has over 30 years of Emergency Medical Services (EMS) experience, most of which has been at the Advanced Life Support (paramedic) level.  In his free time, Dr. Sablo has held multiple leadership positions in his fraternity, Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.  Furthermore, he is the National Facilitator of Adodi, a same gender–loving men’s spiritual organization for Black men. 

With approximately 30 years of experience directing and playing piano for church and collegiate gospel choirs, Dr. Sablo recently reconstituted the Bard College Gospel Choir.  Furthermore, he also accepted a call to ministry and was licensed to preach in July of 2019. 

A former elected school board official, his hobbies include community organizing, playing volleyball, singing, playing piano, and photography.  But most importantly, Dr. Sablo is the proud father of Eugene “Tre” Schoolfield, III, a United States Marine currently stationed overseas. 
 

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Claudette S. Aldebot

She was born and raised in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, and moved to the Hudson Valley in 1995. She earned her BA in women’s studies and Spanish, and her MPA in humanistic and multicultural education with a focus on diversity and inclusion from SUNY New Paltz.

Claudette’s higher education experience is in the areas of residence life, assessment, student development, and teaching. She also brings an array of skills that were gained from her experience in the corporate and nonprofit sectors. As a first-generation student, she is passionate about paying it forward and guiding the next generation of BEOP scholars.