The John Carroll University Alumni Association works to honor and celebrate its graduates’ achievements. As stated on the alumni association’s website, “the Young Alumni Award recognizes the outstanding service of a recent John Carroll graduate.” This year, Stacey Litam, a 2010 graduate, was one of two recipients of this prestigious award. Litam is currently an assistant professor in the Counselor Education program at Cleveland State University.

“Within this role, I have the incredible opportunity of supporting aspiring professional counselors as they learn to sharpen their counseling abilities and incorporate culturally responsive as well as ethical frameworks,” Litam told The Carroll News. She also says she loves seeing her students thrive and serve their community by promoting mental health and well being.

As a licensed professional clinical counselor, clinical supervisor, board-certified sexologist and an award winning and nationally recognized researcher, Litam has always been committed to giving back to her community. This month, she was the keynote speaker at the BIPOC Mental Health Awareness Summit which was co-sponsored by JCU’s Center for Student Diversity and Inclusion as well as the DEI Office of Ursuline College.

By the time she was a counseling graduate student at

John Carroll, the lack of BIPOC representation within the program had become blatantly apparent to her. Litam said, “I only knew of two other Asian American women in the counseling profession.”

Litam further explained how she recognized the detrimental effects this would have on future research of communities of color.

“The paucity of BIPOC representation within the counseling profession would have deleterious effects on the research about our communities, the ways in which our communities are understood, and the likelihood that our community would pursue professional counseling services or even a career in counseling,” Litam said. “I was then, and continue to be, passionate about paving the way for future Asian Americans to see themselves in this space.”

To this day, her passion and commitment to representation and visibility have been the driving forces behind many of her accolades. Since 2020, Litam has published research and manuscripts outlining the harmful impact of COVID-19 on psychological well being. With 16 publications now archived in the World Health Organization, this has been one the most meaningful accomplishments of her professional career.

“The work that I have done can be used to empower other communities, counseling professionals and researchers to better support marginalized populations,” Litam stated.  

 During Litam’s time at John Carroll, she was provided with foundational skills that have helped develop her into the professional she is today. She said that, “JCU provided the quality and caliber of education that pushed me to cultivate the very type of critical thinking skills and independent, creative thinking that I believe sets me apart as a professional.”

 Litam is honored to have been a recipient of the Young Alumni Award and continues to uphold John Carroll’s Jesuit principles.

 “I am a person for others and will continue to carry the values that I have learned from my time at JCU.”