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

Section: Opinion

A Diverse Shakespeare

W.E.B. DuBois would be proud of an ongoing effort to “translate” all 38 plays by William Shakespeare into an English intelligible to contemporary patrons of the stage. “I sit with Shakespeare,” DuBois wrote, “and he winces not.” DuBois was like Shakespeare: he took in all the world offered. He assimilated experiences to himself, not vice versa.

July 25, 2019

FrankWufeatured

Considerations for Being on the Academic Market

“Why should we hire you as an assistant professor in our program?” As the anxiety of being on the academic market creeps up, I have to remind myself that success is not defined by securing the job, but rather by submitting the best application possible

July 24, 2019

Martinez_Headshot

It’s Time to Celebrate High-Quality Community Colleges

For over a third of American undergraduate students, pursuit of a college education begins at community college. Excellent community colleges propel students of all backgrounds into the middle class.

July 23, 2019

AngelCabrerafeatured

Corporate Model ‘Chipping Away’ at Essence of Academy: Five Issues

As universities nationwide are implementing the corporate model, faculty need to deal with issues of how the model is spreading to many aspects of university life and is negatively impacting students, especially first-generation students.

July 22, 2019

sanacorefeatured

Asian American Pacific Islander

The Trauma of ‘Go Back’: Calling Out Racism in Full

When I was a freshman in high school, I was walking to my geometry class for sixth period. A loud voice boomed down the hall, “Hey, Korean trash, go home!” In an almost exclusively White high school, I knew that the insult was being hurled at me.

July 18, 2019

Four Hiring Strategies for Increasing Faculty Diversity

Diversifying the faculty remains one of the most central challenges facing American higher education today. This is not to say that White faculty cannot be successful with students of color. However, it is certainly important for students to see people who look like them at some point in their academic career

July 17, 2019

Dr. J. Luke Wood

‘We Didn’t Cross The Border, The Border Crossed Us:’ The Importance Of Ethnic Studies

I once heard a story about a man that needed to go North from Mexico to the United States in the 1940s. At the time, Guerrero, Mexico was depleted of resources and there were no jobs for the people. It spread throughout the city that there was work in the United States through a temporary workers program. The man knew this was his chance to go North so he went to where all the laborers were gathering to leave.

July 16, 2019

Time to Tell Our Diverse Stories Aloud

I’m in Washington, D.C. for the CapitalFringe, where the main draw is the monologist Mike Daisey’s 18-show “A People’s History,” derived from bits of Howard Zinn’s book, plus Daisey’s personal analysis.

July 15, 2019

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Victory for Natural Black Hair Benefits All of Us

California just became the first state to recognize by law that discrimination against natural hair can be discrimination on the basis of race. That was the result of years of advocacy. New York State just followed.

July 12, 2019

What Beyoncé Can Teach Us About Race, Identity and Social Justice

In higher education, we talk a lot about diversity, but all too often students, faculty and staff can find themselves at a loss, and ill-equipped to talk openly, constructively and authentically about issues of culture, privilege, power, gender and race.

July 11, 2019

LynnHamptonfeatured

Culturally Responsive Graduation Ceremonies: Opportunities and Considerations for University Leaders

Many minoritized students participate in graduation ceremonies that are not reflective of their cultural heritage or social experience. Though many institutions provide culturally responsive graduation ceremonies (CRGCs), their legitimacy and relevance have been challenged in recent years.

July 5, 2019

A Summer Teaching Reflection: Can Black Faculty Afford to Curry Favor with our Students?

During the summer months, I spend time rethinking both my teaching methods and the learning goals I seek for my students. Usually my mind will rest upon occurrences from the classroom or discussions with students in my office. This summer, though, is different. My mind continues to be drawn back to a conversation I had with several White male professors.

July 2, 2019

Tearing at my Heart: The First Year on Tenure Track

I reached for the tissue box and it was empty. The tears trickled down my face at a faster pace than usual. I rushed to the bathroom to replenish my tissue box. I slowly slipped into an uncontrollable sob. I felt like I was an infant again overwhelmed with emotions but left without the words to explain the depth of what I was feeling. Were these tears of joy, happiness, sadness, restlessness, exhaustion or hurt?

July 1, 2019

Asian American Pacific Islander

Kamala Harris Has No Problem Being Black, But Why Doesn’t She Say Publicly She’s Part Asian?

Kamala Harris likes to say she’s American. Of course. But she’s not generic. Her racial subtext is this: On her father’s side she’s half-Jamaican, and on her mother’s side she’s half-Asian Indian. Harris should say it proudly and often. Because there’s a lot of misunderstanding out there. Just ask Donald Trump Jr.

June 30, 2019

Asian American Pacific Islander

Fitting In Doesn’t Fix Discrimination

I have been studying the internment of Japanese Americans ever since I have been a professor. Yet I have had the most important insight, personally as an Asian American albeit not Japanese originally, only recently. To explain why the mass incarceration during World War II of 120,000 individuals on the basis of heritage, two-thirds of them native-born citizens of this nation, was wrong requires pointing out that the people who are most offended about the violation of civil rights are those who subscribe in the ideals of the United States.

June 27, 2019

The Future of Research and Practice about MSIs

Today, there are more than 700 Minority Serving Institutions (MSI) designated by the federal government that represent 14 percent of all degree granting institutions of higher education. These institutions enroll nearly 30 percent of all undergraduates in the U.S. and carry the heavy load of ensuring the success of a student population that is majority Pell Eligible and students of color, two populations that are often overlooked.

June 26, 2019

DeShawn Preston

Faculty & Staff

If You Want to Diversify the Professoriate, Don’t Scare Us Away

If life as a tenure-track professor is so miserable, then why do you continue? As a doctoral candidate working on my dissertation while preparing for the faculty market, I have sought out thought pieces, attended early-career faculty programs, and paid special attention to what academics are saying on Twitter about life on the tenure-track. Does it get better after tenure?

June 25, 2019

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Faculty & Staff

Let’s Retire Ageism in Academe

Now in the middle-child position between scores of retiring senior colleagues and recently hired junior faculty members, I mourn the unintentional ways we may be complicit in higher education’s growing problem with ageism.

June 24, 2019

ZacharyMichaelJackCurrentHeadshot