It’s a little known fact that Karla Scott, director of the African American Studies program, is actually a Saint Louis University alumna.
“I did my undergrad here in communication,” Scott said. “I graduated in 1981.”
Similar to the students of today, Scott says that she was caught off guard by some of the courses required in the name of SLU’s Jesuit Mission.
“I always remember SLU as a bittersweet, ‘Why did we have to take that philosophy and theology class?’ I didn’t see the sense of it,” Scott said. “But once I started working in the world, a lot of things started to really make sense to me, like ‘Wow I’m really glad I had that ethics class. Boy I guess they know what they are doing with the Jesuit education.’”
Scott returned to SLU in 1994 as an assistant professor in the communication department, receiving her tenure there six years later. Her plan, however, was not always to be a professor.
“When I was an undergrad, I saw myself becoming a journalist and a writer,” Scott said. “I started working for the Suburban Journals when they had a paper in East St. Louis. I worked there for about four years as a journalist and then a short stint at the St. Louis Globe-Democrat before they folded. Then I went into public relations at St. Mary’s Hospital in East St. Louis, which is my home town.”
Scott went on to get her masters in speech and organizational communication and later, her Ph. D. She said her passion has been culture and communication, something that is reflected in the courses she teaches at SLU. In addition to the classes she teaches in African American Studies, she has also taught classes on interpersonal communication, gender and communication, and communicating across cultures. Scott’s interests, however, extend beyond just culture and communication.
“I’m a practicing yogi,” Scott said. “About nine years ago, I made a serious commitment to learn more, and then about two years ago I found a teacher here.”
In addition to being a devoted yogi, Scott is also an aspiring musician. Three years ago she began taking cello lessons at SLU and more recently picked up the ukulele.
“I like the ukulele because you can practice it anywhere,” Scott said. “I’m not sure which instrument I will go public with first, but I would like it to be one of those.”
According to Scott, this past Tuesday was especially fun for her because Valentine’s Day is her favorite holiday. She has collected heart shaped objects since she was about 20 years old.
“People give me hearts as gifts and I keep collecting,” Scott said. “I’ve actually had a few exhibits at a library over in Fairview Heights that features my heart objects for Valentine’s Day.”
Scott even has a purple heart tattoo on her ankle. She said she likes the purple heart because it is the symbol of survival.
“I certainly haven’t survived the types of injuries folks in war time get the purple heart for,” Scott said, “but for me, when you look at things you have over come, this serves as a reminder.”
Scott especially likes the purple heart because it is not only her favorite shape, but also her favorite color. Most of Scott’s wardrobe comes in purple for coordinating ease. What started as a fashion statement, however, became a statement of gender politics.
“Purple is the color of the women’s movement,” Scott said. “And when people ask about purple I can tell them it’s the color of the women’s suffrage movement at the end of the 19th century into the early 20th century. Their colors were green, white and purple, and somehow purple survived. Now, I look at it as instead of a fashion statement, it can be a political statement. It’s a women thing.”
