BIOGRAPHY

Dr. Ricky J. Pope is a licensed counseling psychologist, applied interventionist, and founder of the Homebase Lab, a student success incubator and action-research space committed to transforming how institutions serve first-generation college students and young men. He is a tenure-track faculty member in the Division of Student Affairs & Campus Diversity at San Diego State University, where he teaches first-year seminars, conducts research, and leads institution-wide initiatives that enhance student persistence, sense of belonging, and academic momentum.

Dr. Pope has dedicated his career to helping students succeed by reducing what he calls institutional avoidance. This barrier often stops students who need help the most from engaging with supportive campus resources. His research, teaching, and campus system design are based on applied developmental science, restorative practices, and the neuroscience of human relationships. His recent peer-reviewed publication in Innovative Higher Education (2025) confirms the effectiveness of the Homebase model as a secure base for first-year college students—especially men of color—showing how proactive outreach, relational infrastructure, and culturally responsive teaching help students become more engaged and achieve more.

A scholar who builds real infrastructure, not just publishes about it.

Throughout his career, Dr. Pope has not only authored scholarship but also developed programs, models, and structures that have been implemented widely. He is the co-founder of SDSU’s Young Men of Color Alliance (YMoCA) and designed the first-year seminar course that served as the foundation for the initiative. He has served on hiring committees, supervised graduate students, provided clinical care, delivered faculty professional development, and facilitated community-engaged healing programs. He has led training sessions and fostered learning for the Black Resource Center, Residential Education, Guardian Scholars, Greek Life, and various departments and colleges nationwide.

His work translates theory into practice, evidence into tactics. He is nationally recognized as a scholar who does not merely research “best practice.” He creates, tests, and scales them.

The Homebase Model

Dr. Pope’s approach—codified in The Homebase Lab—is built around an idea he has tested across clinical settings, classrooms, and campus-wide interventions:

Students don’t succeed because the institution gets “better messaging.” Students succeed when the institution becomes a secure base.

The Homebase model shifts institutions from “student services” to relational ecology.

Instead of assuming students will seek help, the Homebase Lab trains student success interns and peer mentors to be the outreach, bringing the institution to students through text, phone calls, micro-touch messages, and relational contact. In Dr. Pope’s model, belonging is engineered through consistent, human contact rooted in measurable, data-valid strategies.

This is what makes his work distinct: his interventions don’t simply teach content; they engineer attachment to the institution.

The psychological scientist behind the movement

Dr. Pope earned his Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology from Western Michigan University. In this APA-accredited program, he conducted his dissertation on creative and expressive arts in a young adult diversion court setting.

His research portfolio, spanning over a decade, is grounded in social justice, applied community psychology, and developmental theory. He has published in top peer-reviewed journals, including Innovative Higher Education, Youth & Society, and Victims & Offenders, and has been a keynote speaker and presenter across the U.S.

He is trained in multicultural counseling, restorative practices, motivational interviewing, the human-centered approach, and positive psychology. As a clinician, he has worked with college students, youth in the juvenile justice system, patients in acute psychiatric care, and communities navigating racial stress and collective trauma.

AWARDS + HONORS

• 2018 Dr. Lonnie Earl Duncan Memorial Scholarship Award

• 2016- 2017 Department Graduate Research and Creative Scholar

• 2012- 2013 Department Graduate Research and Creative Scholar

• 2011- 2016 Thurgood Marshall Fellowship, Western Michigan University

PUBLICATIONS + PRESENTATIONS

Pope, R. J., & Jones, J. N. (2020). Exploring Organizational Strategies and Participant Experience in the Young Adult Diversion Court. Victims & Offenders, 15(2), 267-290.

Pope, R. J. (2013). Reflections of a black male counseling psychology doctoral student: Lessons learned from APA division 45 commentary and the role of social justice for Counseling Psychologists. Journal for Social Action in Counseling and Psychology, 5, 103-115.

Pope, R.J., & Flanigan, S. (2013). Revolution for breakfast: Intersections of activism, service, and violence in the Black Panther party’s community service programs. Social Justice Research, 1–26. doi:10.1007/s11211-013-0197-8.

Pope, R.J., & Laurent, V.R. (2013). 42 the true story of an American legend: Cinematic discourse as a pedagogical tool for multicultural training. The Diversity Factor, 7, 15-18.

Pope, R.J. & Jones, J. N. (2020, Apr 17 – 21) Changing Course: Narratives of Transformation in a Spoken-Word Court Diversion Program [Poster Session]. AERA Annual Meeting San Francisco, CA http://tinyurl.com/qlujks6 (Conference Canceled).

Pope, R.J., Jones, J.N. (2018, February). Exploring Organizational Strategies and Participant Experience in the Young Adult Diversion Court. Paper presented at the 30th Annual Ethnographic and Qualitative Research Conference (EQRC) Las Vegas, NV.

Pope, R.J., Jones, J.N. (2018, February). Narratives of Participant Experience and Transformation in a Spoken-Word Court Diversion Program. Paper presented at the 30th Annual Ethnographic and Qualitative Research Conference (EQRC) Las Vegas, NV.

Laurent, V.R., & Pope, R.J. (2015, July). The retention game: Creating a culture of success for black students. Paper presented at the Association of Black Psychologists 47th Annual International Convention in Las Vegas, NV.

Pope, R.J. (2015, March). Using creative and expressive arts with clients in non-traditional settings. Paper presented at the 28th Annual Great Lakes Regional Counseling Psychology Conference, Ball State University Muncie, IN.

Jones, J.N., Pope, R.J., & Tinnon, B. (2014, February). Integrating counseling and therapeutic services in a young adult diversion court. Paper presented at the 26th Annual Ethnographic and Qualitative Research Conference (EQRC) Las Vegas, NV.

Pope, R.J., Jones, J.N., & Tinnon, B. (2014, February). Navigating and negotiating treatment and punishment in a young adult court diversion program. Paper presented at the 26th Annual Ethnographic and Qualitative Research Conference (EQRC) Las Vegas, NV.

Laurent, V.R., & Pope, R.J. (2013, July). It takes a village: An investigation of community-centered schools. Paper presented at the Association of Black Psychologists 45th Annual International Convection in New Orleans, LA.

Pope, R.J., Malone, W.T., Greene, M.G., Jenkins, E.N., & Laurent, V.R. (2013, April). Watered down and diluted: A critical race perspective of multiculturalism in counseling psychology. Roundtable discussion at the 26th Annual Great Lakes Regional Conference, Western Michigan University, Grand Rapids.

Pope, R.J., & Laurent, V.R. (2013, January). Transforming K-12 education: An intentional focus on the intersection of culture and education. Roundtable discussion presented at the National Multicultural Conference and Summit, Houston, TX.

Pope, R.J., & Flanigan, T. (2012, August). Serving revolution for breakfast: The intersection of activism, service, and violence in the Black Panther party’s community service programs. Paper presented at the Society for the Study of Social Problems 62nd Annual Meeting, Denver, CO.

Bushfan, O., McGiffert, J., Pope, R.J., & Simpson, J. (2012, July). Men of African descent surviving the gauntlets of academia & practice: Community change agents, healers, and support allies. Paper presented at the Association of Black Psychologists 44th Annual International Convention Los Angeles, CA.

Laurent, V.R., & Pope, R.J. (2012, July). Those left behind: Reshaping the achievement gap literature. Paper presentation at the Association of Black Psychologists 44th Annual International Convention Los Angeles, CA.

Pope, R.J., Laurent, V.R., Jones, S.E., Malone, W.T., & Jenkins, E.N. (2012, March). Creating a culture of success for African American graduate students in counseling psychology Ph.D. programs. Great Lakes Regional Conference, Purdue University, Lafayette, IN.

Butler-Byrd, N., Emerson, L., Simpson, J., Pope, R.J., & McGiffert, J. (2011, August). Building multicultural competence through traditional knowledge and healing. Paper presented at Association of Black Psychologists 43rd Annual International Convention, Washington, D.C.

Pope, R.J. (2010, April). Factors associated with academic achievement in high school populations. Paper presented at the 3rd Annual Diversity Conference, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA.