Posts Tagged: diversity

The Ghost of Affirmative Action Past: Courage in the Bully Pulpit at Dartmouth

The Supreme Court is taking up affirmative action at colleges and universities for the sixth time in 50 years. In that litany, an early case was the University of California vs. Bakke. Bakke complained about being denied admission to the university’s medical school because seats were guaranteed for minority applicants, thus barring the door to him and other white applicants. When the Bakke ca...

One New England College’s “Legacy Alumni of Color” Lay Out a Blueprint to Mend Broken Hearts

In 1966, Jimmy Ruffin sang “What Becomes of the Brokenhearted?” This song resonates with us and many of our colleagues whose hearts were broken 55 years ago at our alma mater, Springfield College ... Virtually every Black student at the college in those days felt unwelcomed. Not only was there a dearth of Black faculty, but there were also virtually no administrators of color and no suppor...

Racial “Reckoning” (Via Zoom)

Even in this time when people presume to be having a “racial reckoning,” signs of enduring racial inequity pop up everywhere. From nagging disparities in health—Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) die at higher rates than other groups from COVID-19 and are underrepresented in medical research (except in vile experiments such as the Tuskegee study) … to the steep declines in Black...

Higher Education Must Do Its Part to Bend the Arc

America is undergoing a reckoning as the pain, suffering and setbacks caused by years of systemic racism is coming into full view. This heightened awareness around racism, sparked by death and injustice, must result in the development of real pathways to eliminate systemic racism, or it will be a lost opportunity for our generation to do our part in—to paraphrase Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr....

NEBHE Reports on Postsecondary Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in New England

Diversity. Equity. Inclusion. These words have dominated the national conversation in recent weeks. From the racial justice protests that have sprung up across the U.S. since the death of George Floyd, to the White House’s recent executive order against the “malign ideology” of diversity training efforts in federally funded programs, individuals from both sides of the political aisle have...

Hello New England …

Becoming chancellor of the University of Massachusetts Boston is a humbling experience and a great responsibility for me—it is indeed the opportunity of a lifetime. As a kid who emigrated from Argentina to the U.S. to escape political unrest at age 17, with just a few dollars in my pocket, I was one of millions of Americans by-choice arriving over the years, searching for a better life. Settling...

We Are the World? Making Sure Global Affairs Education Considers Diversity and Advances Inclusion

Today, questions around diversity and inclusion are in the front of our collective consciousness wherever we live in the world. This month, British Member of Parliament, Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi delivered impassioned remarks about Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s inflammatory rhetoric on religious dress. It was immediately preceded by the collapse of the Italian far-right populist, anti-migrant ...

Increasing Diversity in the Ranks of Full Professors—for Both Tenured and Non-Tenure-Track Faculty

The goals of higher education—engaging the hearts and minds of our next generation, advancing novel and pragmatic solutions to the most pressing local and global problems—call for great passion and skill. That’s not the whole formula, though. Diversity performs its own powerful role. College faculties that represent a diversity of expertise, ideas and perspectives help create the kind of ...

About Face: Helping Leaders Avoid Prejudgment

I can tell within the first few seconds of seeing a student in my class, from their face, their clothes, where they sit in class, what their final grade will be and sometimes I’m actually right. – College Professor: Initial impressions of the classroom. As a teacher and designer of leadership classes, I am often asked to speak at organizations around the world about topics dealing with busin...

Drugstore Giant Writes $10k Prescription for Diversity at Saint Joseph Pharm School

The Saint Joseph College School of Pharmacy was awarded a $10,000 grant from the Walgreens Diversity Scholarship fund to develop programs to promote diversity at the school. Offering a unique three calendar-year doctorate program in pharmacy, the school will welcome its inaugural class this fall in Hartford. It will mark the West Hartford-based Saint Joseph's first campus extension into Connectic...