Coming from Cheyenne, Wyoming, Kelly Langley Cook, ’00, M.A. 18、没想到 immediately feel at home when she arrived at the 北科罗拉多大学 campus. 然而，这正是她的感受. 

“When I came here, I felt like folks rolled out the red carpet for me,” said Langley Cook, “I got a specific meeting with the department chair and had such a great tour. It just felt like home from day one.” 

Beng a social butterfly, Langley Cook took no time to find her community on campus. Everything from being involved in campus leadership, an orientation leader and exploring the edges of campus, like Margie’s Cafe, Langley Cook committed herself to living 她在博天堂官方的生活. 

After graduating, Langley Cook taught in District 6 for 15 years, the last ten of which Langley Cook spent volunteering with Dr. Fritz Fischer in UNC’s 历史 department. He had been nudging Langley Cook to pursue a master’s degree for years, encouraging her that a 历史 MA would be a great addition to her 历史 education 本科学位. Finally, Langley Cook returned to school in pursuit of a master’s degree in 历史. 

“I would put up [UNC’s] 历史 Department against any department in the country as far as quality of instruction, how challenging and edifying it was and how much they 支持我，”兰利·库克说. 

Through a stroke of good timing, Langley Cook joined the 历史 department as a faculty member in 2018 and now serves as the director of Social Studies 教育. 她最喜欢的 part of the assignment is how closely she gets to work with future teachers, loving 每一分钟.  

---

相关的: Teacher of Teachers Driven by Student Success Receives Honor

---

Growing up, Langley Cook’s parents raised her 完全接纳他人. What set her mind to studying LGBTQ+ 历史, however, was the students she’s seen who have lost their lives within the queer community. 

“我已经失去了四个学生uicide ... Two of them have been because of their gender identity, and their lack 家里的支持. This does not need to be such a high number. 我们可以做点什么. Here’s an amazing statistic: it takes one trusted adult in a student’s life to cut 减少50%的自杀意念. 就是这样，”兰利·库克说. 

As a straight, Christian, middle-class, white woman, it might seem paradoxical for Langley Cook to teach LGBTQ+ 历史, and she is aware of that. 

“I come in the first day of my 历史 250 class and I ask: ‘May I have your permission 来教这门课? I don't hold any of these identities,’兰利·库克说. ‘I want students to know that I feel honesty needs to be there. 我希望学生们能 have permission to correct me and help me.” 

让所有的学生都感到被重视， 欢迎 and a part of UNC’s community is a core value for Langley Cook, which she takes seriously. 

While teaching 历史 101, her goal is to shine light on often overlooked historical 来自不同背景的人物. Through highlighting a different person that represents U.S. 历史 each day, Langley Cook can show a much more complete picture of the people 谁对美国产生了积极的影响.S. 

On the first day of class, Langley Cook dives into the story of Robert Brown Elliott. Elliott was a House of Representatives member after the Civil War, he was a Black 一个移民. Students have often never heard of him. 然而他帮助 pass one of the first civil rights bills and shaped early civil rights legislation 在美国.S. 

“The 历史 of slavery and the 历史 of civil rights are usually the only two Black 美国学生听到的历史.  Robert Brown Elliott’s is a story of power and 影响. We need to learn the truth about 历史 and the hardships like slavery, but we also need to learn about Black triumph and Black joy,兰利·库克说. 

As she has taught the class, students have approached her to request more 历史 从他们的文化中. Langley Cook takes this as a compliment. 学生感到舒适 enough to approach her, and it makes Langley Cook a better professor. 比以往任何时候， student-centered, honest, and informed approaches need to be centered in the 历史 classroom, which Langley Cook and her colleagues are proud to offer.