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In this episode, host Esi Lewis sits down with her friend and colleague Esther Val, a Financial Aid Advisor, adjunct faculty member, and staff member of the Scholars Mentorship Program (SMP) at SUNY New Paltz. The conversation is warm, honest, and wide-ranging — covering Esther's upbringing, her winding road through higher education, and the community she's built at New Paltz.
Esther shares what it meant to grow up as a first-generation Haitian American in Brooklyn — never quite fitting into either the Haitian or American community, but finding belonging in church and music. Her mother's career as a home health aide and her father's entrepreneurial spirit (he founded a church in New Rochelle and a school for underprivileged students in Haiti) clearly shaped who she became: someone who loves people and shows up for them.
Her path through higher education was anything but traditional. Esther was honest that it took her 13 years to earn both her bachelor's and master's degrees while raising young children — and that it was a single professor who stopped and asked "How are you really doing?" that turned everything around. That moment planted the seed for who she is today on campus.
Since joining SUNY New Paltz in 2015, Esther has built a life well beyond her financial aid office. She teaches for the Scholars Mentorship Program, a program she describes with genuine pride — particularly its remarkable 93% student retention rate. She's also a faculty advisor for Voices of Unity (VOU), the campus gospel choir founded by Daryl Ware, who has since returned as director. This spring, VOU is planning a full production on the history of gospel music.
The conversation also touches on changes Esther has witnessed at New Paltz over the years — the arrival of the university's first Black president, the student-led push to rename campus buildings, and her hope to see the Black student population grow beyond its current 6%. Looking ahead, she's quietly considering a move to full-time teaching as the next chapter of her career.
Quote of the Episode "You have to be willing to be uncomfortable, and allow other people to be uncomfortable — because it's the only way real change is going to come about." — Esther Val
About We Be Griots A Griot is a West African storyteller who preserves the oral traditions and histories of their people. Created by Esi Lewis, Executive Director of the Dr. Margaret Wade Lewis Center for History and Culture, We Be Griots shares local Black history told by Black people. Produced in collaboration with Episcopal Campus Ministries and the SUNY New Paltz Department of Digital Media and Journalism. Consulting Producer: Allison Moore | Audio Producer: Brett Barry | Production Interns: Sierra DeVito and Marietou Sacko.
