Counseling student passionate about aiding marginalized communities

Although unequivocally charismatic, Tre Williams understands what it’s like to fight to be seen. He has battled to find his place in the world, and those feelings have become a driving force in his pursuit of a career in counseling.

“I occupy a few different marginalized identities, so it’s been difficult being in society in a lot of ways,” Williams explained. “I understand having to struggle and fight to be noticed and belong. That’s very much at the root of my counseling work and the populations with which I want to work.”

After earning his bachelor’s degree from the University of North Carolina, Charlotte, Williams served as a field instructor for the North Carolina Outward Bound School, providing outdoor education experience to families. Through that position, he led adolescence programs for Families in Need of Services in Florida, an NCBOS program partly funded by the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice. The FINS program offered year-round wilderness programs for youth and teens struggling with destructive behaviors and Williams guided 20-day canoeing expeditions, followed by 10 days of intensive in-home services.

“That experience got me interested in counseling,” said Williams. “I found I was bumping up against not having the tools and training needed to serve this population.” 

With his passion for helping others ignited, Williams enrolled in Lenoir-Rhyne’s master’s degree program in school counseling and clinical mental health counseling.

After meeting with professors Myra Jordan and Kerrie Fuenfhausen, Williams knew he had found the right program.

“We talked a lot about anti-racism work, which is foundational to me,” he said. “I just thought, this seems like a good fit, and that’s only been affirmed as I’ve gone through the program.

“There is a certain level of inaccessibility to folks who exist on the margins—those who are lower on the socioeconomic status and queer folks, trans folks, people of color. So, what’s driving me is to create space for us. I want to do that everywhere I go. My counseling work is included in that.”

While it has been an academic journey, the counseling program has also been one of personal healing for Williams.

“All my professors have embodied what it means to be a counselor and have shown up, not only in this professor role but also in this counseling role, too,” Williams remarked. “It hasn’t felt like just this professor-student dynamic. There’s also been counseling and healing work among us, which has been great. To me, that really supports the coursework.”

When not in school, Williams serves as the community liaison at the Racial Justice Coalition, a grassroots organization whose primary purpose is to promote racial justice throughout Buncombe County and beyond.

“There are a lot of parallels between what I’m learning in counseling and my racial justice work,” he stated. “They’re very inextricably linked and interconnected. My classes are constantly sparking ideas. I want to keep making space for us where there historically has not been.”