WASHINGTON – When Luce Foundation president and CEO Dr. Mariko Silver was president of Bennington College, a colleague, while trying to respond to a moment of student unrest, asked her, “Do the students see you as a person of color?”
Silver, who is Asian American, was taken aback.
“You didn’t ask me how I see myself, you didn’t ask me how I present myself to the students, you didn’t ask me how I would deal with the challenges you are facing,” she remembered thinking. “You asked me if I got a pass.”
Silver shared this episode at the faculty of color luncheon at the annual meeting of the Association of American Colleges and Universities in Washington D.C., where about 2,000 higher education professionals gathered on Thursday.
The Luce Foundation president’s point was that higher education plays a role in the way that people see the world and in shaping the “contours of power.” The stories and needs of faculty of color shouldn’t be a “side dish” or a marginal pursuit. And in shaping students’ and others’ perceptions, faculty of color play a crucial role, albeit not an easy one.
“The work is incredibly hard. And don’t let anyone tell you any different,” said Silver.
Many of the conference’s sessions discussed how to make that work – the work of understanding the need for and appreciating diversity, equity and inclusion – a little bit easier.
