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Welcome to The EDU Ledger! We’ve moved from Diverse: Issues In Higher Education.

Section: Opinion

Tests Should Elevate Communities. Not Lower Expectations

Yes, average test scores vary by geography, income and race. Yes, economically disadvantaged communities and some race/ethnicity minority groups consistently achieve lower scores on average than wealthy communities and majority groups. A vital question for education systems, individual experts in education, and national, state and local communities is how do we use the data and information to affect change?

November 29, 2020

Overcoming Homelessness and Getting into Law School

Eight years ago I could never have imagined I would be in my first year of law school at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. Studying the law was a recurring dream as I was finishing high school in Pittsburgh, Pa. I hoped to attend college, apply for law school, pass the bar, practice law and someday become a judge.

November 24, 2020

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Students Leave Campus for Thanksgiving—Will They Return?

Kentucky got beat by Alabama pretty bad last Saturday in football. But I’m sure my friend Ted Schatzki, a professor of Geography, and of Philosophy and Sociology, and the former senior associate dean in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Kentucky is more concerned if his school will get badly beaten-up by the coronavirus over the next few months. Students at UK began clearing out last weekend from university housing to begin their journey home. They’re expected to stay there after the holiday, take exams online, and then return at the end of January. But will they return to campus? Will it be safe enough?

November 24, 2020

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African-American

Educator Preparation Programs Lead the Way for Racial and Social Justice for All

If our national laws and practices are to ensure justice and equity, then educators have a great deal of work to do in ensuring the American ideals we teach youth to value in school are a reality for all.

November 23, 2020

Resetting the Earth and Space Sciences to be Diverse and Inclusive

So far, 2020 has shone a spotlight on how our society is failing Black, Indigenous and people of color (BIPOC), from the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 to continued police brutality. Protests across the U.S.—and around the world—have sparked important conversations to address systemic racism and remove barriers.

November 19, 2020

Assessment and HBCUs: Now it is More Crucial Than Ever

It is no secret that HBCUs have historically not enjoyed monetary investments from the federal government, their respective states, or philanthropic entities, making it difficult to provide necessary resources to their students. If this is new information to you, I encourage you to seek information on the history of HBCUs by seeking resources from the U.S. Department of Education. The coronavirus pandemic has only increased the financial and educational hardships of students and institutions.

November 17, 2020

Community Colleges

Love Students to Success and Close Equity Gaps Through a Culture of Caring

In 2015, Amarillo College (AC) focused on its key student success progress and completion points. The data told a disappointing and even devastating story. Using “secret shoppers,” data summits, focus group and survey data, AC identified key reasons our students were not successful — poverty, bureaucracy and lack of relational connection and support.

November 12, 2020

Democracy, Diversity Back on Track

A Trump concession? Don’t expect to see one, unless it’s a hot dog cart on Fifth Ave. The soon-to-be-former commander-in-chief is showing no grace, saying “I won this election by a lot,” in tweets flagged by Twitter for accuracy. His lawyer, Rudolph Giuliani, one-time American hero, now disgraced star of the new Borat movie, talks about election theft.

November 11, 2020

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Is Mispronouncing Kamala Harris’ Name a Jab at Her Citizenship and Heritage?

When Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris was first picked by Joe Biden to be his running mate, for many it was quite exciting for so many reasons. There were those, however, who actually questioned her race, citizenship, and heritage. It was suggested that as a child of immigrants from Jamaica and India, she was somehow less American and less Black. Now some of the same people are mispronouncing her name as a variation on a similar theme. Kamala—something foreign, something different, not your story, not our story, they seem to be saying.

November 10, 2020

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Recruitment & Retention

Doing the Real Work in Higher Education Amidst Two Pandemics

As we stare down the double barrel of a global pandemic and historic levels of police brutality inflicted upon Black Indigenous People of Color, we are faced with the reality that neither problem is going away. In addition to massive school closures across the country, many disadvantaged groups—Black families in particular—have suffered disproportionately during these turbulent times.

November 6, 2020

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In the Wake of Disaster, the 2020 Election

I sit here today writing from the pit of my stomach. I have a dirty little secret. I have only shared this secret with my mother who expressed deep disappointment in me. However, I choose to share this now because it is important. I did not vote in the 2016 presidential election. Please let me explain.

November 5, 2020

Learning Critical Empathy: A Lesson From Journalism

We can never know what it was like to be George Floyd, but the reward for trying is that we cultivate our humanity. There is evidence that we also build a stronger public good.

November 4, 2020

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The Tight Battle for Diversity’s Vote

The anxiety from watching America’s electoral sense of itself trickle in was nearly unbearable. But all the electoral map readers are saying the election boils down to four battleground states: Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, and possibly Arizona. At this time, no one has 270 electoral votes yet.

November 3, 2020

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Experiencing the Presidential Election as an International Student

As an international student during the 2016 presidential election, I had very little idea what was happening in the year that preceded it, but it all sounded too complicated – electoral votes, caucuses, nomination, national conventions, all were foreign concepts to me. And I vividly remember election night. I stayed up all night with a group of friends with all sorts of backgrounds and experiences processing the outcome and what it might mean to us. Emotions were heightened, many were crying. Boy was that a night.

November 2, 2020

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How Should Higher Education Campuses Prepare for Life After the US Presidential Election?

It would not be at the forefront of one’s mind to think that the outcome of the US Presidential Election could have heavy implications on the role of university presidents across the country.

November 2, 2020

Judge Amy Coney Barrett and Affirmative Action

If you’ve watched any of the saga also known as the Amy Coney Barrett confirmation process, then you know the difference between a Super-predator and a super-precedent.

October 27, 2020

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The Unique Challenges Faced By HBCU Students During COVID

Paul Quinn College President Michael Sorrell has been a leading advocate in higher education for students returning to in-person learning only when it is safe to do so. So while it was no surprise when he announced that our school’s classes would continue remotely because of COVID concerns, our students, as well as those at other Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), suddenly faced obstacles that students learning remotely at many other schools may not have encountered.

October 26, 2020

International Students Elevate Higher Education

As an international scholar and a woman of color who worked in a higher education context and in a predominantly White university for eight years, I had my share of experiences with racial microaggressions. Microaggressions in this sense were comments that are based on stereotyping and clichés about my country of origin, my religion, and an ignorance that could be linked to White superiority and lack of desire to learn about other cultural and international groups.

October 23, 2020