This essay uses autobiographical detail as theorizing through experiences and observations of culture-building in organizational structures that work through the tensiveness of maintaining cultural systems even while engaging commitments to DEI-A. The essay is written through the perspective of a Black queer/quare scholar/administrator in shifting cultural and institutional contexts. The essay engages autoethnography as a culture-centered methodology, and culture-crafting through three critical autobiographical entries: “This Is How We Do It (Here): The Tensions of Onboarding and Orientation,” “Mentoring for Consistency and Compliance (or for Possibility and Potentiality)?” and “The Squeaky Wheel Gets the Oil: A Conflicted Leadership Strategy.” All examples are variations of actual experiences by the author between multiple academic institutions without the specificity of naming names or exact locations.
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