Black Resource Center Director Named

Scholar and educational psychologist, Brandon Gamble recalls that, during his own graduate studies, faculty members and mentors would connect him to the very scholarship that reflected his own lived experiences and interests.  

Gamble, a San Diego State University alumnus, was already deeply familiar with established literature indicating that culturally-responsive teachings and educational experience give positive, affirming energy to students, including those who identify as Black. 

Today, his own research centers on developing programs that improve student outcomes, including those focused on the promotion of college-access and high quality of mental health services. His work also reflects research that immersive, personally-relevant teachings and experiences can have transformative lifelong and multi-generational effects. 

Given Gamble’s extensive expertise in student retention and success, mental health services and both family and community engagement in students’ educational experiences, he has been appointed to serve as director of SDSU’s Black Resource Center. 

“As a second generation SDSU alum, I am excited to be a part of a team that supports our current students in the pursuit of academic excellence and overall success on campus and in their lives,” said Gamble, the Charles Bell Faculty Scholar at SDSU. “I look forward to working collaboratively with campus and community partners to further the aims of the Black Resource Center and the mission of SDSU.” 

In his role, Gamble will advance efforts to improve the retention, graduation, and success of Black and African American students. 

“Dr. Gamble is a proven leader who has a strong commitment to student development and success. He brings years of experience from CSU Long Beach and Oakwood University that will allow him to effectively support students and advance the mission of the BRC,” said Aniesha K. Mitchell, Senior Associate Vice President for Campus Diversity. “ Our students and overall community are fortunate to have his leadership.” 

“Great Mentor”, Active SDSU Community Member 

The BRC was established in 2018 to promote Black student excellence through intentional programs, events, mentoring and other forms of support. In that time, the center’s staff, including Gamble since joining SDSU, have worked in close collaboration with others in Student Affairs and Campus Diversity, in Academic Affairs and also with community partners to introduce co-curricular programs, youth initiatives and philanthropic opportunities in support of SDSU students.  

“I am more than pleased that Dr. Brandon Gamble will be at the helm of the Black Resource Center,”  said Adisa A. Alkebulan, chair and associate professor of the Department of Africana Studies. “He has already done some wonderful things in his short time at SDSU. I am very excited to work with him and looking forward to many partnerships between Africana Studies and the BRC.” 

The creation of the center also connects to the SDSU’s efforts to provide personal, professional and leadership development experiences that drive student recruitment, retention and success. 

“I have had the distinct honor to work closely with Dr. Gamble in the BRC, and his heart for students and passion for their success permeates in all that he does” said Tonika Green, Associate Vice President for Campus Community Affairs. “I have no doubt that his leadership will advance the mission of the BRC to an even greater level.”

Gamble joined SDSU earlier this year to serve as the Charles Bell Scholar at the BRC. In his scholar role, Gamble has sustained data-based leadership initiatives to support services for student success Black students in the Henrietta Goodwin Scholars program. 

“Dr. Gamble has been a great mentor and active member in the SDSU community. We have worked together for countless projects between SAAB and at the BRC,” said Jervaughn “JJ” Gaines, a senior majoring in electrical engineering at SDSU. “He is a very reliable brother who I know I can talk to about anything.”

As a faculty scholar, Gamble has also developed course curriculum focusing on student success. As director, Gamble will situate the Black Resource Center as a space where students of the African diaspora can engage in meaningful relationships with Black faculty and staff through high impact practices such as faculty research opportunities, study abroad, internships, and mentoring programs.

“I look forward to working with Dr. Gamble as he continues building on the solid foundation established at the Black Resource Center. He brings a wealth of knowledge and experience as the Director of the BRC,” said Gloria Rhodes, Outreach and Diversity Initiatives Librarian Subject Liaison to the SDSU Department of Africana Studies. 

“I am delighted to have the opportunity to continue the partnership with the SDSU Library and the BRC as we strive to provide our students, faculty, and staff with information to support their success at SDSU,” Rhodes said. 

Long-standing Expertise in Meeting Students’ Needs

Prior to SDSU, Gamble was a faculty member and dean of Student Success at Oakwood University in Alabama, where he taught and conducted research on factors that contribute to success. He also developed a faculty advising program connected to students’ career pathway activities, and facilitated a leadership program for collegiate men. 

In his earlier roles, Gamble was the School Psychology Program Coordinator and instructor at California State University, Long Beach; an adjunct faculty member and internship supervisor in National University’s School Psychology Program; and a lecturer in the Chapman University School Psychology Program. Gamble began his career as a K-12 school psychologist and, from the start, was eager to improve the experiences for students and also their parents and families. 

Throughout his career, Gamble has presented at numerous national conferences and has authored and co-authored dozens of published articles on topics that include student retention and success, the value of mentoring, mental health in schools and other issues in school psychology.  

For his contributions, Gamble has also received numerous awards, including the Sandra Goff Award for Distinguished Service to the Profession of School Psychology in California from the California Association of School Psychologists, and the Randall C. Bacon Alumni Achievement Award of the Western Province of Kappa Alpha Psi, Fraternity Incorporated, both in 2018.   

Gamble earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Oakwood College in Alabama. He went on to receive a master’s degree in counseling, with a specialization in school psychology, from SDSU and, later, an Ed.D. in educational psychology from the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, 

“Writing and presenting professionally about what is right with Black people has been the focus of my scholarship,” Gamble said. “The late Dr. Sharon Grant Henry, who was a chair of Counseling and School Psychology when I was a student, inspired me to think critically and act decisively as an advocate for Black students and families. She saw things in me that helped chart the course of my career and I have sought to pay it forward with my work.”