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

Section: Opinion

Faculty & Staff

Diversifying the Academy the Right Way

NYU Steinhardt’s Faculty First-Look Program is a program that brings together graduate students from across the nation to learn from faculty, post-docs, and administrators at NYU about how to secure a tenure-track position and set yourself up for success once you begin your career as a professor. From the moment I received notification of acceptance, I felt welcomed and wanted.

October 22, 2019

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The Unintentional Foray into the Transformative Experience of Morgan State University

In October of 2018, my colleague, Dr. Janelle L. Williams and I were engaged in collecting data on Black students who were possibly influenced to apply and attend historically Black colleges and universities due to the current social and political climate triggered by the election of the 45th president of the United States.

October 21, 2019

Native Americans

You Know Cesar Chavez—How About Larry Itliong?

I call Larry Itliong a classic H.O., as in “historical omission.”If you talk about the farm labor movement in California and don’t mention Itliong, you have a hole in your soul.

October 21, 2019

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African-American

Tw(y)ce-Exceptional: Gifted Black Males in P-12 Education

The call from my college classmate was all too familiar—it started with “he’s super smart, but he struggles in some areas.” As a researcher and scholar who writes about the experiences of academically gifted Black males across the P-20 educational continuum, I welcomed this inquiry from my college classmate.

October 18, 2019

Faculty & Staff

Can I Meet With You? Yet, Never Give You Credit for Your Labor

A couple months ago a woman of color colleague posted a pro tip on social media stating that if you want labor from women of color be sure to give credit where credit is due. I had a gut reaction as years of my own pathway through higher education ignited in my brain.

October 16, 2019

Grambling State University: God’s Plan

As a transfer student, admittedly Grambling was not Ayeisha’s first choice. Though in her words “Grambling was the best choice I made for my life.”

October 15, 2019

Community Colleges

Free College for Whom? The Emergent Barriers of Free Public College Policies

After decades of mounting student debt and rising tuition costs that accelerate at a pace that far exceeds that of the average national salary, some among a crowded Democratic primary field are heralding free college as the progressive change this country needs to empower the 99 percent.

October 14, 2019

Leadership & Policy

Stepping Away from the Brink – Part IV – The Access and Affordability Challenge

The challenges in higher education are clear. By exploring the two key challenges of access and affordability in higher education in the primary and secondary education industries, cities and states allot the appropriate amount of resources to ensure both.

October 12, 2019

How The Dastardly “D” Prevents Getting to the “E” in Equity

Time and again we in higher education see polls that show students are not prepared for the world of work, while at the same time higher education steadfastly touts its success. And, in most all cases, higher education is right.

October 10, 2019

Christopher M. Mullin Ph.D._Director of Strong Start to Finish

A Case for Multiracial Student Unions: Embracing Demographic Trends

It is inescapable that the demographics in the United States student population is trending multiracial. Improving the experience will require new approaches by educators and administrators. Campus culture must change and evolve to address and support the needs of multicultural students as they struggle with identity development and search for a sanctuary to congregate, learn, and prosper in academia.

October 9, 2019

Creating an LGBTQ+ Friendly Campus

Although higher education has been lauded for fostering an inclusive environment which facilitates identity development, college campuses are not immune to occurrences of hate and bias. Frequently these occurrences are unintentionally perpetuated by institutional policies and campus culture.

October 8, 2019

The Mother of All Scams

As an anthropologist and social worker studying domestic transracial adoption in Chicago between 2009 and 2016, I witnessed numerous pregnant Black women voluntarily relinquish their parental rights in an effort to secure a ‘better’ future for their children, who were often then adopted by white suburban parents.

October 8, 2019

Kathryn Mariner

Asian American Pacific Islander

Harvard Affirmative Action Decision Exposes Asian American Divide

The Harvard decision last week makes me cheer. And cry. It solves nothing. It only furthers an Asian American stereotype as well as expose a crack in the Asian American community.

October 5, 2019

The Possible Intersection Between the Elimination of the GRE’s and Interest Convergence

In light of that fact that issues of race and racism are deeply rooted in U.S. society, it is possible for race and racism to be attached to the policies, practices, procedures, and institutionalized systems of higher education. Interest convergence maybe useful for understanding the various ways ivory tower institutions benefit from eliminating the GRE, while concurrently accepting more minoritized students, with a particular focus on Black students.

October 3, 2019

On Being Told to Manage Money That I Don’t Have

I’ve been a saver ever since I can remember. The skills of bargain hunting and money management were ingrained in me from an early age by a coupon-collecting mother and a father who did his best negotiating in garage sale driveways – not skills developed for fun but for survival, not unlike many students who have grown up in households with little-to-no income.

September 30, 2019

Recruitment & Retention

Higher Education Recruitment

While colleges and universities have made significant strides toward diversifying their student bodies, diversifying faculty and staff remains a challenge throughout academia.

September 26, 2019

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Start with How: Inhabiting our Public Roles for Effective Leadership

In his best-selling, 2009 book on leadership, Start with Why, Simon Sinek offered that the best leaders and organizations give their groups clear guidance regarding the importance of an undertaking, starting with the “why” of the action to be endeavored. Sinek likely never imagined a time and environment in national and international discourse when a necessary precursor to the thing itself (Sinek’s “why”) would need articulation.

September 25, 2019

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Graduate Programs in Higher Education Won’t Prepare You for Equity Centered Student Affairs Work – You Need to Seek It Out

As an alumnus of a Higher Education Administration masters program, and through my involvement in conferences in student affairs, my impression is that the higher education curriculum is disconnected with the lived reality of student affairs professionals. While a number of programs have grown their course offerings to include classes about diversity and equity, the way the courses are structured and experienced determine whether or not they are effective in preparing the current and future workforce of higher education to address issues related to diversity and equity on their campuses.

September 23, 2019

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