From left to right, Dr. James Gandre, president of the Manhattan School of Music, Jane Clementi and Sean Kosofsky, executive director of the Tyler Clementi Foundation.( Photo by Lois Elfman)
Scheduled to coincide with NYC Pride, LGBTQ Presidents in Higher Education held its second annual LGBTQ Leadership Institute where issues and strategies were discussed and networking was key.
Define your leadership goals. Discuss with a partner/spouse how involved he or she wants to be in your pursuit of a leadership position in higher education. Be aware that you may not get a job because you are gay or lesbian. Understand that you may be offered the job, but need to carefully consider whether or not to accept it given the college or university’s location or institutional culture.
These were among the topics discussed at LGBTQ Leaders in Higher Education: Pathways to Success, held in New York City June 24 to 26, facilitated by the presidents and chancellors of LGBTQ Presidents in Higher Education. Founded in 2010, LGBTQ Presidents has over 70 current or past presidents among its members, many of whom mentor LGBTQ administrators that are contemplating pursuing a presidency.
“In the early 2000s, when I was dean at the University of California, Berkeley, it was pretty clear to me that there was a glass ceiling to the highest positions. The few that one knew about were really quite exceptional,” said Dr. Ralph J. Hexter, acting chancellor of UC Davis.
When Hexter became president of Hampshire College in 2005, it suited both he and the college to be open that he was gay. A couple of years later, he and other out presidents started getting together at various conferences they attended. They decided to formally organize when they realized their collective visibility would be beneficial to others.
Attendees at the Leadership Institute spanned a diverse range of positions in higher ed. The presidents in attendance met the day prior to the start of the conference to discuss challenges they’re currently facing — both LGBTQ issues and matters facing everyone in higher education leadership. On Friday and Saturday, the presidents headed up mentorship groups to discuss leadership pathways. The objective was for aspiring leaders to ask hard questions.
