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

Section: Opinion

Styling at HBCUs is Most Appropriate

When I was a student at an HBCU in the South, I don’t remember there being a dress requirement. However I do recall receiving a letter from the school telling me what to bring. Among other things, they told me to bring a suit, a tie and a shirt. When I read this along with […]

September 13, 2010

The Season of Racial Discontent

For anyone who thought the election of Barack Obama ushered in an era of post-racial harmony, several events that have transpired over the past few months should assuage any doubts of such a notion. Here are a few of the incidents: Shirley Sherrod, a 62-year-old Black woman with a long history of civil rights activism, […]

September 9, 2010

Dangerous Liaisons: Christie, Colored Friend of Tiffany

The 2003 International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education article, Tiffany, Friend of People of Color: White Investments in Antiracism, by Dr. Audrey Thompson is a powerful scholarly article on whiteness and the problematic nature of keeping Whiteness at the center of antiracism. It is one of those must-read pieces that all critical race scholars […]

September 6, 2010

The Need for a National Goal

Last week I spoke with a columnist from Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education about my research, commentary, and overall interest in the advancement of underserved students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. She offered a series of questions, several of which I’ve been asked before: Why is it important to increase the number […]

September 2, 2010

Biased Book: An Oxymoron?

Brooklyn College is currently hovering under a small, but growing cloud of criticism for requiring its incoming freshmen to read a “polemical” book that “inculcates” students with a particular political perspective. Students have already read Brooklyn College English Professor Moustafa Bayoumi’s How Does It Feel To Be a Problem?: Being Young and Arab in America. […]

September 1, 2010

Spelman College: A Model for Engaging Alumnae (and Alumni)

In 2010, Spelman College celebrated its highest alumnae giving numbers in the institution’s history — 39 percent. This figure is up from 31 percent in 2009. A giving percentage at this level is the envy of colleges and universities across the country regardless of their institution’s racial history. In order to reach 39 percent, Spelman […]

August 26, 2010

Of Ebonics, the DEA, and the Department of Education

Apparently, the federal government is finally recognizing Ebonics as a viable language. Indeed, the Justice Department’s Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) has put out a call for Ebonics interpreters to work in its Southeastern regional office in Atlanta. Specifically, the DEA is seeking the assistance of nine linguists fluent in Ebonics to “monitor, translate and transcribe” […]

August 24, 2010

A Pleasant Research Tour of Multiple HBCUs

Over the last few weeks, I have had the pleasure of visiting several historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs). I conducted research for a book on the Black Campus Movement, the late 1960s/early 1970s Black student struggle to diversify and make higher education relevant. I gathered a wealth of materials for my study and relished […]

August 23, 2010

STEM Diversity Without Borders

In terms of postsecondary degree completion, the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) landscape largely resembles American higher education on the whole. Despite more low-income students and underrepresented minorities seeking and completing STEM degrees, there remains great inequity between these groups and the country’s majority middle- and upper-income populations. In addition to racial/ethnic and socioeconomic […]

August 19, 2010

Fisk University: An American Treasure Worth Supporting

I admit that I have a special place for Fisk University in my heart. It is the first historically Black institution I ever visited. The campus is quaint, pretty, and jam-packed with African-American history and treasures. My dissertation, and first book, pertained to Fisk University President Charles S. Johnson and his ability to raise money […]

August 15, 2010

Ongoing Debates Continue to Plague Black Studies

A recent article written by Howard University student Aleesa Mann that appeared on the website The Root looked at the dilemmas facing Black studies programs and departments at historically Black colleges and universities. The perennial issues, such as reluctant institutional commitment, chronic lack of funding, apprehensive students and perceptions of unhinged radicalism among faculty and […]

August 12, 2010

Community College is Just the Beginning

As an active participant in the national dialogue on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) higher education, I often attend meetings alongside college and university STEM faculty, all of whom have a vested interest in diversifying the STEM pipeline at their respective institutions and across the country. Although often enlightened on diversity theory and practice, […]

August 4, 2010

Institutional Level Strategies for Retaining Men of Color

A couple of weeks ago, I served on a panel at the American Public and Land Grant Universities’ Commission on Access, Diversity and Excellence Conference. The panel pertained to the ways in which colleges and universities can recruit and retain men of color in the student ranks. I was honored to be on a panel […]

August 1, 2010

The Need for More Sensitivity!

Whenever I talk with college-access and -success professionals who work with students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds, I am struck by their overwhelming sensitivity to how great the needs are for their students. Whether it is a traditional college-age student, an older adult seeking higher education to retool their skills or an adult returning from military […]

July 27, 2010

Gaslight: Proving Institutionalized Racism

In a recent talk, I stated that institutional and structural racist systems of opportunity and privilege still exist in the academy. Noticing the pushback — furrowed brows looked like neon signs plastered on folks’ foreheads — I engaged them in a conversation that went something as follows: Search committees talk about the difficulty they face […]

July 24, 2010

Why a Focus on Minority Men Means a Focus on the Whole

As some may recall, an early blog post featured data and opinion on the state of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) undergraduate degree completion for women of color (including top degree-granting institutions). Although much of my work has addressed the experience of women and women of color in STEM, as a gender and diversity […]

July 22, 2010

KKK Leader’s Name Erased, But What About UT’s Confederate Statues

Last week, the University of Texas System Board of Regents voted unanimously to change the name of Simkins Residence Hall at the University of Texas at Austin. In defiance of the 1954 Brown ruling that deemed unconstitutional educational segregation, UT leaders named the newly constructed residence hall after William Stewart Simkins, the deceased longtime UT […]

July 21, 2010

Nation’s Woes Spur More Americans to Embrace Religion

A few weeks ago, I was baptized. The fact that I did not get baptized until my fourth decade of life may surprise some people. I have always considered myself a spiritual person but I cannot say I was the sort of person who attended church on a regular basis. However, I have been actively […]

July 14, 2010