{"id":8875,"date":"2024-10-29T16:02:12","date_gmt":"2024-10-29T16:02:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cybersecurityclinics.org\/?p=8875"},"modified":"2025-06-06T14:08:26","modified_gmt":"2025-06-06T14:08:26","slug":"remembering-dr-kevin-harris-a-champion-for-cybersecurity-clinics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cybersecurityclinics.org\/blog\/remembering-dr-kevin-harris-a-champion-for-cybersecurity-clinics\/","title":{"rendered":"Remembering Dr. Kevin Harris: A Champion for Cybersecurity Clinics"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"Professor<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The Consortium of Cybersecurity Clinics mourns the profound loss on October 5 of Dr. Kevin Harris, a dedicated leader and advocate who helped shepherd our community beginning in May 2022. Kevin\u2019s commitment to diversity and inclusion in cybersecurity education leaves a lasting legacy within the Consortium.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While his work for cybersecurity clinics was just part of his broader leadership in the community, we want to share a window into what he meant to those who knew him as a friend and colleague in the Consortium.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kevin was a trailblazer when he launched a cybersecurity clinic at Stillman College, the first Historically Black College or University (HBCU) to adopt the clinic model. Under his leadership, the DEI Cybersecurity Clinic at Stillman focused on building a diverse pipeline into the workforce and supporting underserved small- to mid-sized, minority-owned organizations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

His vision and commitment to creating new opportunities for historically underrepresented communities resonated deeply with the Consortium\u2019s mission. His message to other HBCUs was simple yet powerful: \u201cIf we could do it at Stillman, you can do it, too.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kevin quickly became a mentor for smaller schools, liberal arts programs, and minority-serving institutions, especially HBCUs,\u00a0seeking to start clinics. He served as a spokesperson on the Consortium\u2019s \u201cWhat is a Cybersecurity Clinic?\u201d<\/em> video, helped lead our first Cyber Clinics Training Workshop, and served on the Consortium\u2019s Clinics Fundraising Subcommittee.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cKevin Harris joined the Consortium when it included only a handful of university-based cybersecurity clinics, and he was instrumental in shaping the Consortium\u2019s mission and values,\u201d said Ann Cleaveland, Co-Chair of the Consortium. \u201cHe will be remembered for many things, but most of all for giving his time so generously to inspire and advocate for under-represented students and client organizations to engage in community-based cybersecurity.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Dr. Harris, far right, at the 2023 announcement of Google.org’s funding of Stillman’s Cybersecurity Clinic with (from left to right) Google’s Chief Diversity Officer Melonie Parker, President of Stillman College Dr. Yolanda Page, and Maab Ibrahim of Google.org.<\/center><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201c<\/strong>Dr. Harris played a pivotal role in Google\u2019s decision to provide $500,000 to Stillman College in support of the first cybersecurity clinic at an HBCU,\u201d said Maab Ibrahim, Cybersecurity Lead at Google.org, Google\u2019s philanthropy. \u201cHis leadership inspired and facilitated our funding for additional clinics at Minority-Serving Institutions across the Consortium, which now includes four other HBCUs, as well as tribal and women-serving colleges \u2014 a legacy that will forever honor his memory.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n

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Dr. Harris was dedicated to building a more inclusive field and boosting HBCUs as marquee cybersecurity training institutions. At the time of his passing, he was creating a community of practice within the Consortium for HBCUs to meet and share best practices, just a year after launching Stillman\u2019s own clinic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ameerreia Campbell was one among many students at Stillman who participated in the clinic and benefitted from Kevin\u2019s mentorship and guidance. \u201cWithout Dr. Harris\u2019 influence I would never have been exposed to the opportunities and the great community in cybersecurity that I\u2019ve been blessed to experience because of his generosity,\u201d Campbell says. \u201cI will never forget speaking at the Cyber Civil Defense Summit this past summer because he challenged me to take on that opportunity, or all the ways he guided me and other students to grow and develop under his mentorship.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We invite you to watch the \u201c<\/em>What is a Cybersecurity Clinic?<\/em><\/a>\u201d<\/em> video, learn more about the HBCU Cybersecurity Clinic Center<\/a>, read the Forbes article<\/a> on Kevin\u2019s work at Stillman College, and read a Q&A with Kevin<\/a>, as featured by the Public Interest Technology University Network (PIT-UN).  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Consortium\u2019s leadership team and member institutions have been blessed to work with Dr. Harris over the years, and more so to call him a dear friend. He will continue to inspire our members, students, and clients for years to come. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

An obituary and guestbook to record reflections and memories on Dr. Harris is available at https:\/\/www.newgenerationfh.com\/obituary\/kevin-harris<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Consortium of Cybersecurity Clinics mourns the profound loss on October 5 of Dr. Kevin Harris, a dedicated leader and advocate who helped shepherd our community beginning in May 2022. Kevin\u2019s commitment to diversity and inclusion in cybersecurity education leaves a lasting legacy within the Consortium. While his work for cybersecurity clinics was just part […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":2430,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8875","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cybersecurityclinics.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8875","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cybersecurityclinics.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cybersecurityclinics.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cybersecurityclinics.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cybersecurityclinics.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8875"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/cybersecurityclinics.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8875\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8882,"href":"https:\/\/cybersecurityclinics.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8875\/revisions\/8882"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cybersecurityclinics.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2430"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cybersecurityclinics.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8875"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cybersecurityclinics.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8875"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cybersecurityclinics.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8875"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}