November 11, 2012 — It was 1989, and 20-year-old Ashley Cleveland was helping out in the CCC Postgrad Department over her summer break from Stephens College, where she was working on her undergraduate degree and focusing on creative writing. During a casual conversation, she was asked, because of her last name, if she had ever considered becoming a chiropractor. Without hesitation she replied succinctly, “It’s not for me.”
Never say never. In the process of earning her B.A., Ashley’s career path detoured. Dr. Ashley received her D.C. in 1995 and her M.A. in 1998 from the University of Missouri-Kansas City. Her love for teaching led to her first position at CCC, as a teaching fellow, and she now serves as the College’s provost.
Which leads us to Homecoming 2012, where a once-reluctant chiropractor, Dr. Ashley Cleveland, was named CCC “Alumnus of the Year.”
“I have watched doctors receive this award since its inception – when I was just a child,” she said. “They always seemed so much bigger than life to me. I never imagined then, and find it hard to imagine now, that I would be counted worthy of such recognition.”
Dr. Ashley joins a distinguished list of previous AOY award winners, many of whom she has known and been inspired by for most of her life.
“People may assume that I work at the College primarily because of the family legacy, but that simply isn’t true,” she said. “I work at the College, and on behalf of its vision and mission, because I believe in it, and because the College is a vital organization made up of many talented individuals with whom I am proud to associate. That includes the previous winners of this prestigious award. What a great surprise and tremendous honor.”
Source: Cleveland Chiropractic College, cleveland.edu
