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  • Maximizing College Reach: Social Media Marketing Strategies

    In today’s digital age, social media has become an integral part of our daily lives, especially for college students. It is no surprise that social media marketing has become a crucial tool for colleges and universities to reach out to prospective students. With the majority of young adults actively engaged on platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and TikTok, it is essential for higher education institutions to leverage these channels to connect with potential applicants. Social media allows colleges to showcase their campus culture, academic programs, and student life, providing a glimpse into what it’s like to be a part of their community. By utilizing targeted advertising and engaging content, colleges can effectively reach a wider audience of potential students who may not have otherwise considered applying. Additionally, social media provides a platform for direct communication with prospective students, allowing for personalized interactions and the opportunity to address any questions or concerns they may have. Overall, social media marketing plays a vital role in increasing college reach and attracting a diverse pool of applicants.

    Social media marketing is particularly important for reaching minority students who may face additional barriers when considering higher education. Many minority students come from underrepresented communities and may not have access to traditional college fairs or resources. By utilizing social media platforms, colleges can bridge this gap and connect with minority students who may not have otherwise considered their institution. Through targeted advertising and culturally relevant content, colleges can effectively engage with minority students and showcase the opportunities available to them. This proactive approach not only increases the visibility of the college within minority communities but also demonstrates a commitment to diversity and inclusion. As such, understanding the importance of social media marketing in reaching minority students is crucial for colleges looking to increase diversity on their campuses.

    Key Takeaways

    • Social media marketing is crucial for colleges to reach and engage with prospective students.
    • Leveraging social media can help increase minority enrollment and promote diversity on campus.
    • DEI initiatives can be effectively implemented through strategic social media marketing efforts.
    • Equality-focused social media campaigns can aid in retaining minority students on campus.
    • Tailored social media content can help colleges engage with underrepresented communities and support minority students.

    Leveraging Social Media to Increase Minority Enrollment and Diversity on Campus

    Leveraging social media to increase minority enrollment and diversity on campus is a strategic approach that colleges and universities can take to create a more inclusive environment. By utilizing targeted social media marketing campaigns, colleges can effectively reach out to minority communities and showcase the opportunities available to them. This can include highlighting diverse student organizations, multicultural events, and support services specifically tailored to minority students. By showcasing these aspects of campus life, colleges can demonstrate their commitment to diversity and inclusion, making their institution more appealing to prospective minority students. Additionally, social media can be used to share success stories of current minority students, providing representation and inspiration for others who may be considering higher education. By leveraging social media in this way, colleges can increase minority enrollment and create a more diverse and vibrant campus community.

    Furthermore, social media can be used as a platform to address the unique challenges that minority students may face when considering higher education. By sharing resources, scholarship opportunities, and information about support services, colleges can provide valuable assistance to minority students who may be navigating the college application process for the first time. Additionally, social media can be used to foster connections between prospective minority students and current students or alumni who can provide guidance and mentorship. By leveraging social media in this way, colleges can create a supportive network for minority students, ultimately increasing their enrollment and contributing to a more diverse campus community.

    Implementing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Initiatives through Social Media Marketing

    Implementing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives through social media marketing is an effective way for colleges and universities to communicate their commitment to creating an inclusive campus environment. By sharing DEI initiatives on social media platforms, colleges can raise awareness about their efforts to promote diversity and equity within their community. This can include highlighting initiatives such as diversity training programs, inclusive campus policies, and multicultural events that celebrate different cultures and perspectives. By showcasing these initiatives on social media, colleges can demonstrate their dedication to creating an environment where all students feel valued and supported.

    In addition to highlighting existing DEI initiatives, social media can also be used as a platform for engaging with the campus community on issues of diversity and inclusion. Colleges can use social media to facilitate discussions about important topics related to DEI, such as racial justice, LGBTQ+ rights, and accessibility for students with disabilities. By creating a space for open dialogue and education, colleges can foster a more inclusive campus culture and empower students to become advocates for positive change. Furthermore, social media can be used to amplify the voices of underrepresented groups within the campus community, providing a platform for sharing their experiences and perspectives. By implementing DEI initiatives through social media marketing, colleges can create a more inclusive and equitable campus environment for all students.

    Retaining Minority Students through Equality-focused Social Media Campaigns

    Metrics Data
    Retention Rate 85%
    Engagement on Social Media 2000 likes, 500 shares
    Number of Minority Students Reached 1000
    Effectiveness of Campaign Increased retention by 10%

    Retaining minority students is a critical aspect of creating a diverse and inclusive campus community. Social media can play a key role in this effort by showcasing equality-focused campaigns that promote a sense of belonging and support for minority students. By highlighting resources such as counseling services, academic support programs, and mentorship opportunities specifically tailored to minority students, colleges can demonstrate their commitment to retaining these students throughout their academic journey. Additionally, social media can be used to share stories of success and resilience from minority students who have overcome challenges and thrived within the college environment. By showcasing these narratives, colleges can inspire other minority students to persevere and feel supported within the campus community.

    Furthermore, equality-focused social media campaigns can be used to address systemic barriers that may impact the retention of minority students. By raising awareness about issues such as racial inequality, microaggressions, or cultural insensitivity, colleges can create a dialogue that leads to meaningful change within the campus environment. Social media provides a platform for sharing educational resources, hosting discussions, and advocating for policy changes that promote equality and inclusivity. By implementing equality-focused social media campaigns, colleges can work towards retaining minority students by creating a supportive and empowering environment where all students feel valued.

    Engaging with Underrepresented Communities through Tailored Social Media Content

    Engaging with underrepresented communities through tailored social media content is an essential strategy for colleges looking to increase diversity on their campuses. By creating content that is culturally relevant and resonates with underrepresented communities, colleges can effectively connect with prospective students who may not have previously considered higher education as an option. This can include sharing stories of success from alumni who come from similar backgrounds, highlighting the achievements of current students from underrepresented communities, and showcasing the diverse cultural events and traditions celebrated on campus. By tailoring social media content in this way, colleges can demonstrate an understanding of the unique experiences of underrepresented communities and create a sense of belonging for prospective students.

    Additionally, engaging with underrepresented communities through tailored social media content allows colleges to address specific concerns or barriers that these communities may face when considering higher education. This can include sharing information about financial aid opportunities, scholarship programs targeted towards underrepresented groups, and resources for first-generation college students. By providing valuable information and support through tailored social media content, colleges can empower underrepresented communities to pursue higher education and feel confident in their decision to apply. Overall, engaging with underrepresented communities through tailored social media content is an important strategy for increasing diversity on college campuses.

    Utilizing Social Media Platforms to Promote Inclusivity and Support for Minority Students

    Utilizing social media platforms to promote inclusivity and support for minority students is a proactive approach that colleges can take to create a welcoming campus environment. By sharing resources such as cultural centers, affinity groups, and student organizations that cater to the needs of minority students, colleges can demonstrate their commitment to providing a supportive community. Additionally, social media can be used to highlight initiatives such as mentorship programs, leadership opportunities, and academic support services specifically designed to empower minority students throughout their college experience. By utilizing social media in this way, colleges can promote inclusivity and support for minority students, ultimately contributing to their success and retention on campus.

    Furthermore, social media platforms provide an opportunity for colleges to amplify the voices of minority students within the campus community. By sharing stories, experiences, and perspectives from minority students, colleges can create a platform for representation and advocacy. This not only promotes inclusivity but also fosters a sense of belonging for minority students who may feel underrepresented within the college environment. Additionally, utilizing social media platforms to promote inclusivity and support for minority students allows colleges to engage with the broader campus community in conversations about diversity and equity. By creating a dialogue that promotes understanding and empathy, colleges can work towards creating an inclusive environment where all students feel valued and supported.

    Measuring the Impact of Social Media Marketing Strategies on Minority Enrollment and Retention

    Measuring the impact of social media marketing strategies on minority enrollment and retention is essential for colleges looking to assess the effectiveness of their efforts in creating a more diverse and inclusive campus community. Colleges can utilize various metrics such as engagement rates, click-through rates on targeted advertisements, and demographic data to evaluate the reach of their social media campaigns within minority communities. By analyzing these metrics, colleges can gain valuable insights into which strategies are most effective in reaching prospective minority students and encouraging them to apply.

    Furthermore, colleges can measure the impact of their social media marketing strategies on retention by tracking indicators such as student engagement with diversity-focused content, participation in support programs targeted towards minority students, and overall satisfaction levels among minority student populations. By collecting this data, colleges can assess the effectiveness of their efforts in retaining minority students throughout their academic journey.

    In addition to quantitative metrics, colleges can also gather qualitative feedback from minority students through surveys or focus groups to gain a deeper understanding of how their social media marketing strategies have impacted their decision-making process and overall experience on campus. By combining both quantitative and qualitative data, colleges can gain a comprehensive understanding of the impact of their social media marketing strategies on minority enrollment and retention.

    In conclusion, social media marketing plays a crucial role in increasing college reach and attracting a diverse pool of applicants. Leveraging social media is essential for reaching minority students who may face additional barriers when considering higher education. Implementing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives through social media marketing is an effective way for colleges to communicate their commitment to creating an inclusive campus environment. Retaining minority students through equality-focused social media campaigns is critical for creating a diverse and inclusive campus community. Engaging with underrepresented communities through tailored social media content is an essential strategy for colleges looking to increase diversity on their campuses. Utilizing social media platforms to promote inclusivity and support for minority students is a proactive approach that colleges can take to create a welcoming campus environment. Measuring the impact of social media marketing strategies on minority enrollment and retention is essential for colleges looking to assess the effectiveness of their efforts in creating a more diverse and inclusive campus community.

  • The rise of diversity and inclusion in the USA | Leadership

    The rise of diversity and inclusion in the USA | Leadership

    Business Chief speaks with workplace culture experts to discuss the current state of diversity and inclusion in the United States.

    In recent years, Dr. Rosanna Duncan MCIPD, Chief Diversity Officer at Palladium, has “seen giant strides not only in America, but globally, as more women gain a seat at the top table.” Both Dr Nancy Doyle, psychologist, founder and CEO of Genius Within and Patricia Hume, CEO of Canvas GFX, agrees with Dr. Duncan that “the diversity conversation in corporate America is louder and more widespread than it’s ever been before, and that is having an impact. Even more emphasis is being placed on the need for a diverse workforce and the benefits this can bring,” says Humes. ”The barriers have really been broken down thanks to role models, solid data collection and legal statutes. However, although there is now a heightened awareness when it comes to diversity and inclusion, as well as some solid breakthroughs, we’re still not there yet,” adds Dr. Doyle. Agreeing with Dr. Doyle, Dr. Duncan highlights that it is important to remember amidst this positive growth, that “diversity and inclusion in business is much more than just gender. There cannot be a meaningful impact beyond the boardroom if we fail to consider race and class. We know that diversity adds real value to the bottom line by improving decision-making at all levels. However, in the race to achieve gender parity, we risk treating women as a homogeneous group in which female board members come from similar racial and social backgrounds, and express similar perspectives to their mainly white male counterparts.”

    When it comes to increasing diversity and inclusion, Hume strongly believes that “education on the value diversity and inclusion can provide from an early age is essential. Making sure equal opportunities are available throughout the education process and within the workplace is vital. I believe that the more time people spend in diverse, collaborative communities, the less likely they are to focus on differences.” Both Dr. Doyle and Dr. Duncan further elaborate that to stand a chance of increasing diversity within America, organisations also need to turn their back on old-fashioned and outdated methods of recruitment. “One solution would be to introduce approaches that purely test capability and potential, as opposed to favouring candidates with postgraduate qualifications, even when a high level of technical expertise is not required. On the face of it, this may seem an equitable differentiator. But this can exclude some groups including African Americans or other racial minorities, as well as those from low income backgrounds. It’s not due to their lack of ability, but a lack of opportunity and considerable financial constraints,” comments Dr. Duncan, who highlights that according to a study by Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce, “less than a third of nursery school children from low-income families – who achieve high test scores – end up with a college education and a decent-paying entry-level job. By contrast, those from families in the highest-income brackets with low test scores have a 70% chance of reaching the same education and job level. It is not surprising then that many low-income students, who have had access to fewer resources, struggle to maintain the advantages they may have had as infants. Employers need to look at a wider range of educational pathways including those who have studied part-time, flexibly, and even vocational qualifications.”

    Ultimately, “there’s no silver bullet” when it comes to increasing diversity and inclusion within a business, says Dr. Duncan. “Real change takes time and can only be achieved when everyone works together. The difficulty can lie in helping organisation to think about diversity beyond gender, and to see that everyone is responsible – from executives to the front line – for creating a diverse and inclusive environment. Whilst having conversations on gender parity has over time become an easier conversation and is now part of the zeitgeist, I’m afraid that racial and socioeconomic parity in the workplace has been neglected.” However, Duncan does explain that there are steps, that when put together, can help move an organisation in the right direction. “The first of these is to give diversity and inclusion a place at the top table. One of the biggest risks is the perception that diversity and inclusion is a bolt-on to HR, or of too little strategic value to merit proper commitment. Secondly, senior leaders should be held accountable. At Palladium, we hold quarterly forums and require senior leaders to be transparent, reporting on our KPIs to all staff, including targets on equal pay and blind recruitment. Additionally, the conversation needs to be flowing – internally and externally – constantly sharing ideas, debating issues, and encouraging people at all levels to develop their own thought leadership on the subject. Finally, behaviours which are unacceptable should be called out. Creating a diverse workforce is pointless unless you create an inclusive environment where everybody can feel safe, that they belong, and can reach their full potential.” Agreeing with Dr. Duncan, Hume adds that, “when we bring our differences together in an environment where people feel respected, accepted, and included, amazing things happen. It is crucial to remember that diversity is fundamentally good for business, a diverse team is better at serving a diverse audience.”

    Business Chief speaks with workplace culture experts to discuss the current state of diversity and inclusion in the United States.

    In recent years, Dr. Rosanna Duncan MCIPD, Chief Diversity Officer at Palladium, has “seen giant strides not only in America, but globally, as more women gain a seat at the top table.” Both Dr Nancy Doyle, psychologist, founder and CEO of Genius Within and Patricia Hume, CEO of Canvas GFX, agrees with Dr. Duncan that “the diversity conversation in corporate America is louder and more widespread than it’s ever been before, and that is having an impact. Even more emphasis is being placed on the need for a diverse workforce and the benefits this can bring,” says Humes. ”The barriers have really been broken down thanks to role models, solid data collection and legal statutes. However, although there is now a heightened awareness when it comes to diversity and inclusion, as well as some solid breakthroughs, we’re still not there yet,” adds Dr. Doyle. Agreeing with Dr. Doyle, Dr. Duncan highlights that it is important to remember amidst this positive growth, that “diversity and inclusion in business is much more than just gender. There cannot be a meaningful impact beyond the boardroom if we fail to consider race and class. We know that diversity adds real value to the bottom line by improving decision-making at all levels. However, in the race to achieve gender parity, we risk treating women as a homogeneous group in which female board members come from similar racial and social backgrounds, and express similar perspectives to their mainly white male counterparts.”

    When it comes to increasing diversity and inclusion, Hume strongly believes that “education on the value diversity and inclusion can provide from an early age is essential. Making sure equal opportunities are available throughout the education process and within the workplace is vital. I believe that the more time people spend in diverse, collaborative communities, the less likely they are to focus on differences.” Both Dr. Doyle and Dr. Duncan further elaborate that to stand a chance of increasing diversity within America, organisations also need to turn their back on old-fashioned and outdated methods of recruitment. “One solution would be to introduce approaches that purely test capability and potential, as opposed to favouring candidates with postgraduate qualifications, even when a high level of technical expertise is not required. On the face of it, this may seem an equitable differentiator. But this can exclude some groups including African Americans or other racial minorities, as well as those from low income backgrounds. It’s not due to their lack of ability, but a lack of opportunity and considerable financial constraints,” comments Dr. Duncan, who highlights that according to a study by Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce, “less than a third of nursery school children from low-income families – who achieve high test scores – end up with a college education and a decent-paying entry-level job. By contrast, those from families in the highest-income brackets with low test scores have a 70% chance of reaching the same education and job level. It is not surprising then that many low-income students, who have had access to fewer resources, struggle to maintain the advantages they may have had as infants. Employers need to look at a wider range of educational pathways including those who have studied part-time, flexibly, and even vocational qualifications.”

    Ultimately, “there’s no silver bullet” when it comes to increasing diversity and inclusion within a business, says Dr. Duncan. “Real change takes time and can only be achieved when everyone works together. The difficulty can lie in helping organisation to think about diversity beyond gender, and to see that everyone is responsible – from executives to the front line – for creating a diverse and inclusive environment. Whilst having conversations on gender parity has over time become an easier conversation and is now part of the zeitgeist, I’m afraid that racial and socioeconomic parity in the workplace has been neglected.” However, Duncan does explain that there are steps, that when put together, can help move an organisation in the right direction. “The first of these is to give diversity and inclusion a place at the top table. One of the biggest risks is the perception that diversity and inclusion is a bolt-on to HR, or of too little strategic value to merit proper commitment. Secondly, senior leaders should be held accountable. At Palladium, we hold quarterly forums and require senior leaders to be transparent, reporting on our KPIs to all staff, including targets on equal pay and blind recruitment. Additionally, the conversation needs to be flowing – internally and externally – constantly sharing ideas, debating issues, and encouraging people at all levels to develop their own thought leadership on the subject. Finally, behaviours which are unacceptable should be called out. Creating a diverse workforce is pointless unless you create an inclusive environment where everybody can feel safe, that they belong, and can reach their full potential.” Agreeing with Dr. Duncan, Hume adds that, “when we bring our differences together in an environment where people feel respected, accepted, and included, amazing things happen. It is crucial to remember that diversity is fundamentally good for business, a diverse team is better at serving a diverse audience.”

    This content was originally published here.

  • College Board AP African American Studies Clash Brings Organization Under New Scrutiny | Teen Vogue

    College Board AP African American Studies Clash Brings Organization Under New Scrutiny | Teen Vogue

    Audre Lorde, Kimberlé Crenshaw, bell hooks. If you were to name the most influential Black writers of all time, these names would certainly make the list. And yet, as of a February 1 announcement from the College Board, these three writers, along with a number of others, are not specifically included in the new advanced placement (AP) African American studies curriculum. 

    In a recent interview with The New Yorker, renowned writer and University of Los Angeles professor Robin D. G. Kelley, whose work was also excluded from the College Board’s curriculum, defined Black studies as an examination of “Black lives: the structures that produce premature death, that make us vulnerable; the ideologies that both invent Blackness and render Black people less than human; and, perhaps most important, the struggle to secure a different future.” 

    The new changes — to a curriculum meant to educate young people on the history and ongoing struggle for Black freedom — have inspired vigorous backlash from educators and a renewed look at the College Board’s controversial history. For example, the organization’s marquee test was designed by Carl Campbell Brigham, whose 1923 book A Study of American Intelligence argued that testing showed the intellectual superiority of “the Nordic race group” and that “American intelligence is declining, and will proceed with an accelerating rate as the racial admixture becomes more and more extensive.” Not long after this book was published, the College Board asked Brigham to begin developing the SAT, and the first test was administered in 1926. 

    Brigham was an “open white supremacist who wanted to prove the superiority of white men over everybody else,” Jesse Hagopian, a campaign organizer at the Zinn Education Project focused on Black history, tells Teen Vogue.

    In a remarkable February 11 statement, the College Board acknowledged “mistakes in the rollout” of the AP African American studies course that “are being exploited.” The organization praised “the long work of scholars who have built this field,” said the framework it released is “only the outline of the course,” and that individual AP teachers are allowed to choose which works they want to include in their syllabi. 

    The Board also said that contemporary events like “the Black Lives Matter movement, reparations, and mass incarceration” were never included in the official curriculum. Instead, the organization said, they were considered “optional topics” in the pilot version of the program that launched in 2022, and that students are free to choose “contemporary issues and debates” as subjects in the research project that occupies three weeks of the course.

    In its February 11 statement, the College Board condemned how Florida officials framed their disagreements about the course. “While it has been claimed that the College Board was in frequent dialogue with Florida about the content of AP African American studies, this is a false and politically motivated charge.” 

    The organization also said that it had “no negotiations about the content of this course with Florida or any other state, nor did we receive any requests, suggestions, or feedback.” According to the statement, the Florida Department of Education did not offer substantive criticisms of the course, instead asking “vague, uninformed questions like, ‘What does the word “intersectionality” mean?’ and ‘Does the course promote Black Panther thinking?’”

    Florida is a major user of the College Board’s marquee exams and programs: the SAT, ACT, and advanced placement courses. In 2020, the state had the highest rate of AP participation in the country, and still requires its state university system colleges to use the SAT or ACT, despite a growing national test-optional movement. During the first year of the pandemic, Florida, unlike other states, refused to waive the SAT or ACT requirement. 

    “Florida’s state scholarship, Bright Future, requires the SAT or ACT and has even increased the score requirements during the pandemic,” Jennifer Jessie, a tutor for the SAT, ACT, and advanced placement courses who lives in Virginia, tells Teen Vogue via email. “The College Board has long put the interest of Black students behind the interest of [revenue].”

    The debate over this curriculum is the College Board’s most recent controversy, but it is far from its first. Advanced placement exams have had vocal critics for years, as many argue that the exams are prohibitively expensive and not an adequate measure of learning. The organization also drew significant criticism for how it handled online exams during the beginning of the pandemic, with at-home tests proving to be a challenge for those without reliable internet access and some students having to take exams during religious holidays. These challenges came at the expense of low-income and minority students. 

    Many students have insisted that the structure of an AP class, particularly its emphasis on testing and the multiple-choice format of the exams, can be a hindrance to the learning process, particularly for neurodivergent students. Hagopian, who used to teach AP United States history, agreed with this sentiment. “My critique of the College Board comes not just from an academic inquiry standpoint but also from my experience as a teacher who was being asked to teach to a test rather than teach to my students,” he explains. “It really kills a lot of the joy in the classroom when students are constantly asking, ‘Is that on the test?’ rather than, ‘How can I apply these lessons of history to help create a better society today?’ Those are the questions I want students to ask, and the College Board curriculum has never been organized around that idea.”

    Teen Vogue has reached out to the College Board for comment.

    This content was originally published here.

  • NYT ‘Reviews’ Charles Murray’s ‘Human Diversity’

    NYT ‘Reviews’ Charles Murray’s ‘Human Diversity’

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    In my review of Charles Murray’s latest book, Human Diversity, I predicted that the liberal press would be baffled by the book, either into silence or incoherence: “How do you honestly try to refute a systematic, intricate dismissal of your most cherished beliefs?” I asked, “Especially when, like most probable reviewers, you don’t understand the science?”

    Yesterday, right on cue, the New York Times delivered what I predicted. Its review was written by Parul Sehgal, who has a Master of Fine Arts degree, and has written a lot about novels, poetry, and belles lettres but, so far as I can tell, has never read a science book in her life. She starts with a poke at The Bell Curve: “Yes, that Charles Murray, who in 1994 co-authored ‘The Bell Curve,’ with Richard J. Herrnstein, arguing in two notorious chapters that I.Q. differences between the races were mostly innate and mostly intractable.” That was 70 pages out of more than 800, but they were only ones that mattered to a lot of people.

    Miss Sehgal then treats us to what she no doubt thinks is a devastating criticism: “In the years since its publication, the book has been roundly discredited on moral, political and scientific grounds. Reviewing ‘The Bell Curve’ in The New Yorker, Stephen Jay Gould called attention to the authors’ questionable use of statistics and cherry-picked data.”

    Of course, it would be idiotic to try to discredit a scientific position on “moral” or “political” grounds, and even more idiotic to claim success. But does no one at the Times realize that Stephen Jay Gould is the last person to trot out as an authority on rigorous science? Gould was famous for accusing a 19th century race scientist, Samuel George Morton, of falsifying data to suit his biases. A careful analysis published in 2011 and reported by the New York Times showed that it was Gould who tried to falsify Morton’s methods.

    Miss Sehgal continues her attack on The Bell Curve: “There have been debates about what I.Q. really measures (other than the ability to take I.Q. tests), and whether an individual’s I.Q. is as relatively unchangeable as the authors claimed.” Debates? She writes as if the fact that there were debates proves The Bell Curve was hooey.

    Miss Sehgal finally gets to Human Diversity: “As with ‘The Bell Curve,’ we will have to wait for peer reviews to carefully sift through the science.” First of all, virtually all the findings reported in this book are already peer reviewed. But Miss Sehgal doesn’t need to wait for “peer reviews” to tell us it’s all rubbish, because she says Dr. Murray’s conclusions “regurgitate some of humanity’s most pernicious, wearying and stubborn stereotypes.” What did I say about trying to discredit a scientific position on moral or political grounds? This very attitude makes her unqualified to review this book. Alas, I fear it was the most importantqualification the Times was looking for in a reviewer.

    But Miss Sehgal is at her best at the end:

    [T]he book’s most astonishing (and telling) declaration is on the first page. If “you have reached this page” — the first page, I remind you — “convinced that gender, race and class are all social constructs, and that any claims to the contrary are pseudoscience, you won’t get past the first few pages before you can’t stand it anymore. This book isn’t for you.” He continues smoothly: “Now that we’re alone…”

    Now that we’re alone. This book is for the believers. Rigorous readers, skeptics, the unindoctrinated — you won’t be persuaded by “Human Diversity,” but why should that matter? You’re not even invited.

    First, Dr. Murray was warning away two groups of readers. If you are hoping for differences among human groups that are “scary or earthshaking” or are “looking for bombshells,” you’ll be bored and should stop reading. Or if you are — just like Miss Sehgal! — convinced that anything that might support a pernicious stereotype is “pseudoscience,” the book isn’t for you. “Rigorous readers, skeptics, the unindoctrinated” are the very people for whom Human Diversity was written. It is only with the greatest ill will that anyone could think otherwise.

    Sometimes the New York Times opens its articles to reader comments. Sometimes it doesn’t, especially when an author nakedly opens himself to ridicule. This review is closed to comments.

    The post NYT ‘Reviews’ Charles Murray’s ‘Human Diversity’ appeared first on American Renaissance.

    This content was originally published here.

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  • Ex-prisoner fought for education behind bars

    Ex-prisoner fought for education behind bars

    Sandra Brown walked gingerly down a walkway to the side door of Decatur Correctional Center.

    She wore jeans and a hooded sweatshirt that said “The Reclamation Project,” and her hair was styled into a thick, high frohawk. Brown is tall, and moves with grace and elegance, so her hairstyle only added to her regal demeanor.

    It had been 21 years since she first walked into an Illinois prison and five months since she walked out.

    Correctional staff gathered at the security station to greet Brown as she and her group went through the slow, procedural process of checking into a prison. She was there with a film crew to lead a discussion with prisoners about the links between gender-based violence and incarceration. One by one, IDs were logged, and bags and audiovisual equipment examined.

    As she waited on a wooden bench for the process to finish, a guard at the desk motioned quietly to Brown to come back over. She walked over and bent down to the small gap in the partition so she could hear the guard.

    “Breathe,” Brown said the officer told her.

    Brown, who had been cautioned about how unsettling a return to prison can be, sat back on the bench and raised her arm. Her hand held the slightest tremor.

    “But I think it’s more from excitement,” she said with a smile, feeling relieved. “Not so much anxiety.”

    While visiting Logan Correctional Facility on June 8, 2022, Sandra talks with Sherrin Fitzer, a prison employee who proctored Brown’s exams while she was incarcerated at the facility. Without Fitzer’s advocacy, Sandra said, she would not have been able to complete her studies. (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune)

    Working with the Women’s Justice Institute, Sandra leads a discussion with incarcerated women at Decatur Correctional Center on June 8, 2022. Many of the women shared personal experiences with domestic violence after watching the documentary, “And So I Stayed,” a film about domestic abuse survivors who end up in the legal system. (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune)

    Brown, against huge odds, earned a bachelor’s and a master’s degree and started a Ph.D. program while she was locked up in the Illinois Department of Corrections. The staff, both high-ranking and front-line guards, knew her and were genuinely happy to see her.

    Since her release from prison in January, Brown has become a full-time education advocate, joining a number of formerly incarcerated women working to reform conditions both inside and outside of prison. They are working in government and running housing nonprofits and partnering with probation departments to provide more effective social services.

    Brown, a senior adviser at the Women’s Justice Institute, is doing her work at a critical time. Key federal funding that was stripped from prison education in 1994 will be restored next year. In October an 80-page task force report pointing out critical gaps in education in Illinois prisons was released.

    The Tribune has followed Brown since her release, as she settled into life outside of prison, where she has also continued writing and performing poetry. She has moved to Los Angeles to live with her husband and travels regularly to Las Vegas to reconnect with her son, whom she left behind when he was just 8 years old.

    Sandra leaves the Logan Correctional Center after talking with incarcerated women on June 8, 2022. (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune)

    Tough on crime

    Brown, now 50, entered prison in March 2001 after she was convicted of murder for shooting the mother of her brother’s child.

    Brown disputes some facts of the case that are part of the court record. But she does not challenge that she bears responsibility.

    “I am always going to be sorry this happened,” Brown said in 2021, before she was released. “I am always going to be sorry.”

    Brown began her sentence at a time when the Illinois female prison population was at its highest and six years after Congress passed the 1994 crime bill, which has since been widely criticized for creating harsh sentencing penalties that contributed to mass incarceration. The bill also banned use of the federal Pell Grants for prison education programs, which experts and advocates say stripped educational access for tens of thousands of prisoners.

    And there were other barriers for what programming remained. Technology was exploding outside prison, but inside it was — and remains — largely unavailable. Some prisons required those serving long sentences to wait the longest for programming spots, effectively barring people like Brown. Programming for the female population also lagged behind the much larger male population.

    After being incarcerated for 22 years, Sandra waits for her husband’s arrival as she prepares to leave the Fox Valley Adult Transition Center in Aurora and start her new life on “the outside” on Jan. 13, 2022. (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune)

    Sandra hugs her husband, Arnold Bass, who brought flowers for her, as she leaves Fox Valley Adult Transition Center on Jan. 13, 2022. Sandra met Arnold through a prisoner correspondence website. The two eventually fell in love through letters and married in 2018 while Sandra was still incarcerated. (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune)

    Sandra tries on high-heeled shoes her husband brought her in celebration of her leaving the Fox Valley Adult Transition Center. (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune)

    A more sweeping problem, experts told the Tribune, is that prisons function largely for punishment not rehabilitation.

    “It’s a system (that) for 200 years has been more about punishment than it is about building opportunity,” said Rebecca Ginsburg, associate professor of education policy, organization and leadership at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. “It is built into the fiber.”

    By the early 2000s, higher educational opportunities had all but disappeared, except for a few outliers, Ginsburg said.

    “When you read articles it sounds like such an era of despair,” Ginsburg said. “Students will talk (about) what it was like for them when the programs just (got) sucked away. It was awful, the environment at that time … and the loss of hope.”

    Brown has described, in her writings, about how that hopelessness washed over her as soon as she walked into prison and was handed tattered and ill-fitting clothes. She felt her identity strip away when she looked at her ID and saw the word “INMATE” in large type totally eclipse her name at the bottom, Sandra Brown.

    Sandra shows her inmate identification card on April 22, 2021. She referred to it as “identicide” because it lists the word “inmate” first and her name second. (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune)

    Brown, who had wanted to be a teacher, tried to make the best of it. She grabbed any available class. She once signed up to work as a teaching assistant for a class she couldn’t take, she recalled. She continued to serve as a TA in other classes, helping countless women, some of whom wrote to court on her behalf, describing her as a model to them.

    Eventually, she decided that she’d have to look outside the prison if she was to get the education she had dreamed of. Brown researched college guidebooks in the library to find programs that offered correspondence options and wrote letters to find out whether they’d work with someone who could only hand write assignments.

    Once she found programs willing to work with her, Brown tucked away cash from her work as a prison seamstress. She even volunteered to clean showers so she could collect used soap chips and save more money. Brown also scoured college guide books for scholarship opportunities.

    Once enrolled, she found prison staff members and officials who were willing to help. She saved $263 and bought a typewriter she named “Bessie” in honor of her grandmother, who farmed in Mississippi and is a model of strength to her, to make her assignments easier.

    Sandra displays her second “Bessie” typewriter in her dorm room at Fox Valley Adult Transition Center in Aurora on April 22, 2021. Sandra took one class at a time, handwriting or typing her papers and assignments on Bessie to earn a bachelor’s and a master’s degree. (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune)

    Brown wants people to know this part of her story because, for one, it was critical to her success. And as someone who feels judged and defined by others, she wants to be sure that the efforts of prison employees to help are recognized.

    “Once in a while we found people who genuinely cared about the work they do behind the walls,” Brown said. “I was one of the fortunate ones who did.”

    It was these employees who proctored her exams and sought book donations for Brown and approved the mailings so her correspondence work could get out the door. When she had trouble ordering replacement typewriter ribbons, it was a prison official who made sure the order was filled so Brown would still be able to use Bessie to complete her coursework.

    It would take 11 years, but Brown earned two degrees: a bachelor’s in specialized studies, with an emphasis in literature, from Ohio University in 2012 and a master’s of arts in humanities from California State University at Dominguez Hills.

    Before leaving, she started a Ph.D. program at California Coast University.

    Sandra returns to her dorm room to do homework for her Ph.D. program after Thanksgiving dinner at the Fox Valley Adult Transition Center in Aurora on Nov. 25, 2021. Those who watched Brown complete her education remember her as poised and driven, having “a hustle on a whole ‘nother level,” as one said. (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune)

    Brown said this educational journey — with Shakespeare and Nikki Giovanni and Frederick Douglass along the way — helped her confront how she wound up in prison. But those years and studies also helped her examine what so many women in prison experience, histories of domestic abuse, sexual assault, depression and PTSD.

    “It is the way outside of yourself,” Brown said of her studies. “The way to understand what happened to you in the broader context. … The humanities teaches a person who is really engaged in it who they are, who they want to be and why it matters.”

    Early years, struggles

    Brown grew up on the West Side in Austin, one of four siblings.

    Brown worked as a bus aide in Chicago Public Schools and as a classroom aide at charter schools, according to her filing with the court. She finished her high school education. She married and had a son.

    But her life was filled with struggle too, according to interviews with the Tribune as well as court filings on her behalf by friends and family members. This included suicide attempts, homelessness at a young age, abuse by domestic partners, her own substance abuse and financial struggles.

    Sandra hugs Stephanie Bonds, center, and Mishunda Davis,right, as she visits the Logan Correctional Center, where she spent some of her 22-year sentence. Sandra visited the women at the facility, working with the Women’s Justice Institute, to show a film about domestic abuse, violence and incarceration. (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune)

    In 1990, when she was 18 and pregnant, Brown was the victim of a serial rapist, who dragged her into an abandoned building in Chicago and violently assaulted her. Her assailant was caught.

    Brown now says the violence she suffered played a role what happened in January 2000, when she fought with and then fatally shot the mother of her brother’s child, in a store parking lot in a Chicago suburb.

    Brown acknowledges she fought with the woman, Tiffany Washington, 20, in the parking lot over the care and visitation of the baby, whom Brown said she had helped care for and raise.

    In court filings for clemency and public statements about the shooting since then, Brown has described acting in self-defense.

    But in court documents Cook County prosecutors described Brown as the aggressor who was looking for Washington and confronted her, first striking Washington over the head with a handgun and then discharging the gun.

    A Polaroid of Sandra, showing her around age 35 and taken while she was in the Logan Correctional Center, is kept on the fridge in her home in Los Angeles. (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune)

    Brown said her prosecution was a tense, difficult process that involved threats on her family and, she claims, pressure on her to take a plea deal or risk a longer prison sentence.

    Brown eventually entered a plea of guilty to first-degree murder, but she maintains she never got a chance to argue her side of the story, something she and advocates for incarcerated women say is common.

    Brown also believes that what she did that day was connected to years of suffering and trauma, “grief I never even realized was grief until after I got inside and got a little healing here and there.”

    Sandra recounts the altercation that left her brother’s girlfriend, Tiffany Washington, dead of a gunshot wound and Brown in the Illinois prison system for 22 years on April 27, 2022. (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune)

    Reached by the Tribune, Washington’s aunt, Diane Lewis, said she she still carries trauma too, some 20 years later. She was there to help decide to take her niece off a breathing machine and then raised her great-niece.

    Today, her great-niece lives downstate and is thriving, studying nursing and raising her own children, which gives Lewis great comfort. As for Brown, Lewis said hopes her rehabilitation is genuine.

    “I am at place, I don’t have any animosity against her,” she said of Brown. “That is good if she is trying to help other women. (The murder) is the past. She has to live with that. I can’t judge. That is for God to do.”

    Four months after her release, Brown sat in the lobby of a Hyde Park hotel.

    Minutes earlier, inside her room, Brown’s Zoom link and Wi-Fi had failed.

    With barely any time to spare, she relocated to the lobby to a desktop computer. Pop music piped overhead, guests’ luggage rattled over the hard floors, and a hotel maintenance worker mopped nearby as Brown turned on the computer, found her link and looked directly into the monitor’s camera.

    “I’ve been having some technical difficulties,” she said in a steady, even voice to online attendees there to learn more about prison education. “But I am honored to be here.”

    After a stressful day dealing with technology issues before her virtual presentation, Sandra finally connects with the Prison Neighborhood Arts Project using a computer in a hotel lobby in Chicago to share her thoughts on education in prison. “I’ve been having some technical difficulties,” she said in a steady, even voice to online attendees. “But I am honored to be here.” (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune)

    Her voice gained in both strength and volume as she continued, sharing her own struggles to get educated, not to mention policy recommendations she has researched for the Women’s Justice Institute, who hired her when she was still incarcerated in IDOC.

    Restore accredited college programming in Illinois prisons. Stop making prisoners who are serving the longest sentences wait at the back of the line. Increase access to grants, work study and scholarships to offset any costs. Set up a formal way for incarcerated people to find out about what programming and financial aid information is available. Create a monthly stipend for enrolled students, like other states do.

    There needs to be more dedicated space for study inside prisons, as well as access to technology, she continued. What about a housing unit set aside for those enrolled in education so students can support each other, she offered.

    Brown then shared the story about the showers and how she had collected other people’s leftover soap as a way to save money for her own college tuition.

    “No woman should have to make that kind of choice in environments designed allegedly to help her make better choices,” she said.

    After Brown finished, she let out a deep breath.

    “Oh, my God,” she said. “Inside, I feel like a total wreck.”

    Sandra exhales after her virtual presentation is over for the Prison Neighborhood Arts Project on April 2, 2022, in Chicago. “Oh, my God,” she said. “Inside, I feel like a total wreck.” (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune)

    Those who watched Brown complete her education remember her as poised and driven, having “a hustle on a whole ‘nother level,” as one said.

    Maggie Burke, who formerly served as coordinator of Women and Family Services for IDOC and is the official who stepped in to help secure typewriter ribbon, saw this as well, saying Brown never stopped advocating for herself.

    “What I found remarkable about her was that even after spending so much time in prison and being told ‘no’ so many times on so many things, she continued to have this bright light, this passion, this desire to learn and keep going forward,” said Burke.

    Somebody’s neighbor

    Even though Brown is an outlier, she and others still wonder about how many others would have taken advantage of programming or support, if it was there.

    Ginsburg, who served on the Illinois task force, estimates that fewer than 5% of Illinois prisoners have access to programming, including credited courses, vocational training or the kind of higher education degrees that Brown pursued.

    Sandra hugs an attendee after performing at the Women’s Justice Institute Reclamation Center on June 12, 2022, in Chicago. After the performance, she sold and signed copies of her book of poetry called “Odyssey in Progress,” which she wrote while incarcerated. (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune)

    But the estimate of how many have access is likely an undercount, task force members said. It is based on incomplete data and a lack of detailed information from IDOC, which led to the No. 1 recommendation in the task force’s October report: Formalize a commission immediately to study higher education and find out where and why programming is lacking.

    Research shows that access to education inside prison decreases the chances a person will commit more crimes once released and increases the chance they will find a job and get paid more, the task force pointed out.

    Instead, while Brown was incarcerated, she watched women come and come back, picking up new convictions and facing further setbacks. Then she saw the daughters of other incarcerated women enter the system too, having suffered from the same problems as their mothers.

    As she prepared for her own release, Brown reflected on this cycle to the Tribune, questioning why the system doesn’t want to interrupt it.

    Sandra prepares to leave the Fox Valley Adult Transition Center, the final part of her 22-year incarceration on Jan. 13, 2022. Sandra said she watched other women leave and come back, picking up new convictions and facing further setbacks. As she prepared for her own release, she reflected on that cycle questioning why the system doesn’t want to interrupt it. (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune)

    “We do come back different but the question is how different, different in what way,” she said. “We either learn how to do something that will impact our lives for the better. (Or) we become passive and adopt this idea of fatalism and then we go back, costing taxpayers more money. … Or we leave out of here and learn how to be better criminals. And we’re going to be somebody’s neighbor.”

    Brown now lives in Los Angeles with her husband in a small house with a bird of paradise in her yard and palm trees lining the nearby streets.

    Above the mantle there is a framed diploma of Brown’s master’s of arts in humanities from California State University at Dominguez Hills.

    Brown met her husband in a prison correspondence program, and opted to move to L.A. as soon as she was released. Doing that required permission from the Illinois probation services department, which agreed to transfer Brown’s case to an agent in California. Initially, Brown was put on a 10 p.m. curfew and wore an ankle monitor. She still can’t travel outside California without permission.

    Sandra figures out how to use the self-checkout machine for the first time while at the grocery store with her husband on March 14, 2022, in Los Angeles. (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune)

    Sandra takes her first bath after having her ankle monitor removed — only her second one after 22 years, at home in Los Angeles on March 14, 2022. “I love soaking … just soaking these last 22 years off of me,” she said. (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune)

    Brown works mostly from her home office but has been granted permission to travel frequently to Chicago for work. She has become close to her husband’s family and gotten comfortable navigating large shopping malls and groceries and learned to drive.

    One of her great joys has been visits to Las Vegas to see her son, Gregory Dobbs, who was 8, when she went to prison. Today he is married and is raising four girls.

    In April, during her first visit there, the slow guitar groove and longing lyrics of “Tennessee Whiskey” filled the house one afternoon as Dobbs glided around his kitchen, tending to several dishes at once. Steak, ribs in sauce, salty savory greens cooked in broth and simmered in pork, cheesy gooey macaroni, barbecued salmon and corn.

    Nearby, Brown sat at the dining room table, helping one of her granddaughters on her tablet.

    Sandra Brown holds her granddaughter Azariah Dobbs, 2, as her son Gregory Dobbs, 31, cooks at his home in Las Vegas on April 26, 2022. After spending 22 years in the Illinois prison system, this was Brown’s first visit to Las Vegas and only the second time seeing her grandchildren outside prison walls. (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune)

    Sandra Brown visits with her grandchildren Sapphire, 11, from left, Azariah, 2, and Kaniyah, 12, on April 27, 2022, at their home in Las Vegas. (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune)

    When her son was still in high school, he surprised Brown during one of their phone calls with news that he was leaving Chicago to live with his girlfriend’s family in Las Vegas. He needed to escape Chicago’s violence and stress, he told her.

    Brown understood this. But she begged him to finish his high school education once he resettled.

    Children of people who go to prison are at risk for all sorts of negative outcomes — from higher rates of chronic illness to not succeeding in school. The year Brown was arrested, in fact, Dobbs struggled in the third grade, she recalled.

    And as it turns out, he never finished high school. Dobbs said he pursued his GED, however, and is working a security job at a hospital.

    Sandra Brown walks on Fremont Street in Las Vegas with her son Gregory Dobbs on April 26, 2022. “I couldn’t be prouder of him. What a beautiful family and beautiful home. I’m such a cream puff. I’m trying really hard to keep it together,” she said of the visit. (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune)

    As Dobbs continued cooking, Brown and her granddaughters went upstairs so they could show her their bedrooms.

    Once there, Kaniyah, who was in middle school, breathlessly detailed her sewing hobby and theater and math class.

    She then told Brown that she had big plans for college too. UNLV or Harvard, she thinks — a safe bet and a dream school. If it happens, she will be the second person in Brown’s immediate family to go to college.

    Brown was the first, she said.

    This content was originally published here.

  • Report finds faculty diversity isn’t meeting student needs

    Report finds faculty diversity isn’t meeting student needs

    An emblem representing diversity.

    Faculty diversity is positively associated with student success across a variety of metrics. Black and Latino students are more likely to graduate when they see themselves represented in their instructors, for instance. But the benefits of faculty diversity aren’t just evident among historically underrepresented students: research suggests that engaging with diverse instructors, perspectives and ideas benefits all students—including in the development of empathy and problem-solving skills.

    So how are institutions doing with respect to faculty diversity? Not great, says a new report from the Education Trust, a nonprofit organization that promotes high academic achievement for all students.

    As part of the analysis, researchers examined faculty diversity relative to student diversity, as well as hiring equity, tenure equity and changes in faculty representation over time for Black and Latino faculty members at 543 public, four-year institutions. The colleges and universities were given a score of zero to 100 based on faculty diversity, hiring equity and tenure equity. Numerical ratings were then translated to letter grades, with 60 being the threshold for failing (F).

    When researchers compared Black and Latino faculty representation against student enrollment in 2020, some 57 percent of institutions got F’s for Black faculty diversity. Nearly 80 percent failed on Latino faculty diversity. This part of the analysis worked as follows: if an institution had, say, a student population that was 10 percent Black and a faculty body that was 10 percent Black, the institution would be scored 100. The lower the score, the bigger the discrepancy between student and faculty representation.

    The colleges and universities examined didn’t fare much better on the other metrics. On hiring equity—or the degree to which Black and Latino faculty members are disproportionately hired for contingent rather than tenure-track positions—researchers found these scholars were underrepresented among tenured and tenure-track professors. This is consistent with existing data on who gets the more secure, most fairly compensated faculty jobs.

    For Black faculty hires, nearly a quarter of institutions received an F grade. At 35 institutions, all new Black faculty members were hired off the tenure track, and 50 institutions didn’t hire any new Black faculty at all. (For each racial group, Ed Trust divided the percentage of new tenure-track or tenured hires by the percentage of new faculty members not on the tenure track from 2016 to 2020.)

    Similarly, a quarter of institutions earned an F for having too few new Latino faculty hires. Forty-eight institutions (9 percent of the sample) hired no new Latino faculty onto the tenure track in the period studied, and 76 institutions (15 percent) had zero new Latino faculty hires whatsoever.

    Regarding tenure equity, or how many Black and Latino professors have tenure relative to the share of professors over all who have tenure within an institution, researchers gave 45 percent of the sample A grades and 16 percent F grades. Twenty-three institutions (4 percent) had no Black faculty at all and earned no grade.

    Some 55 percent of institutions received an A grade for Latino faculty tenure equity; 14 percent got F’s. Four percent of the sample had no Latino faculty members and couldn’t be graded this way as a result.

    When the researchers looked at faculty demographic changes over time, they found that little progress had been made on faculty diversity at public colleges and universities in the 15 years leading up to 2020. The greatest improvement in Black and Latino faculty diversity was at institutions that had zero Black or Latino faculty members in 2005, “so any increase amounted to a large percentage point increase,” the report says. Along these lines, another study from 2019 found faculty diversity increased very little nationwide from 2013 to 2017, with large research institutions showing the least progress of all.

    Minority-serving institutions represented many of the institutions with the largest increases in Black and Latino faculty over the last 15 years. Five of the top 10 institutions with the highest change in the percentage of Black faculty were historically or predominantly Black. In a parallel finding, eight of the top 10 institutions with the highest change in the percentage of Latino faculty over time are designated Hispanic-serving institutions.

    Recommendations

    “If institutions are going to increase faculty diversity, they will need to examine their hiring and retention practices, improve campus racial climates, and make resources available to faculty members of color, so they can build and hone their skills and find community,” says Ed Trust’s report, called “Faculty Diversity and Student Success Go Hand-in-Hand, So Why Are University Faculties So White?”

    Leaders, the report says, “should ensure that their actions align with their stated missions and strategic goals for faculty diversity. But that’s just for starters.”

    Among other recommendations, the report suggests that campus decision-makers and advocates adopt clear goals to increase access, persistence and retention among students—and develop specific targets for increasing Black and Latino faculty members. Campus racial climate is another key issue, the report says.

    State policy makers are advised to include faculty diversity in the strategic planning process by “prioritizing funding for faculty diversity initiatives, setting goals and benchmarks, collaborating with institutional leaders, and creating incentive programs.” Ed Trust also urges the rescission of nine states’ bans on affirmative action and more funding for minority-serving institutions.

    At the federal level, Ed Trust recommends executive action to encourage diversity and inclusion efforts and targeted funding for institutions and efforts that support underrepresented students.

    Asked why faculty diversity remains elusive despite its connection to student success, Gabriel Montague, an Ed Trust analyst and one of the report’s authors, said Thursday, “We believe the issue is less about the availability of qualified candidates and more about ensuring campus priorities are aligned with faculty diversity initiatives. If existing hiring and retention policies are not both aligned with the larger campus mission and consider ways to erase bias and racism in the hiring process, departmental leaders will continue to find increasing faculty diversity difficult.”

    University leaders, Montague added, “need to consider quantity and quality when taking action to improve faculty diversity by increasing funding for research opportunities for graduate students and early-career faculty, focus on improving campus racial climates by creating a psychologically and culturally safe climate with a well-balanced workload.”

    Carol A. Carman, an associate professor of health professions at the University of Texas Medical Branch, whose own work has identified a strong positive relationship between student success and faculty diversity at the community college level, said she liked Montague and his team’s methodology—especially how they measured faculty diversity relative to student diversity. Carman also said she was disappointed but not surprised by the overall findings.

    “I would have preferred to have seen some overall improvement in faculty diversity in the measured areas since my last article in this field, but I’m not surprised that higher ed in general is slow to make measurable change in faculty representation,” Carman said. “I think in higher ed in general that the leaders have learned to talk the talk, but I’m not surprised to see evidence they are not yet all walking the walk. Change in higher ed also tends to move slowly, with new policies having to make their way through several committees, and probably also legal.”

    Regardless, she said, “we should be doing so more swiftly than we currently are.”

    John B. King Jr., president of the Ed Trust, said the new report “makes clear that the faculty diversity gap is an urgent national challenge and that there are concrete actions policymakers and higher education institutions can and should take. To advance faculty diversity, we can begin by investing in a diverse talent pipeline—including dedicating resources to research opportunities, mentorship and graduate school aid for students of color, making hiring, tenure and promotion practices more equitable, and ensuring inclusive campus climates.”

    Faculty diversity isn’t meeting student need, according to the Education Trust.
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    Why Are Faculties So White?

    This content was originally published here.

  • John King, former U.S. education secretary, named next SUNY chancellor

    John King, former U.S. education secretary, named next SUNY chancellor

    ALBANY, N.Y. — John King, the former New York education commissioner and U.S. education secretary, was named State University of New York chancellor Monday, taking over the largest public university system in the nation.

    King was unanimously selected to head the 64-campus system by the SUNY Board of Trustees, concluding a yearlong, nationwide search that ended with them landing on a familiar person to New York education leaders. He headed the state Department of Education during a tumultuous time from 2011 through 2015.

    King was confirmed as U.S. secretary of education under President Barack Obama from 2016 to 2017, and then he ran unsuccessfully last year for Maryland governor.

    He said he looks forward to addressing SUNY’s decade-long decline in enrollment, particularly at its community colleges. He also wants to increase interest in community development and investing in the state’s workforce pipeline.

    “We have a tremendous opportunity to advance access, affordability and completion and to make SUNY the strongest possible driver of economic development and economic mobility for the state,” King said in an interview with POLITICO. “I’m very excited, and having served at every level of the education system, from classroom teacher to principal, to leading schools and school systems…to bring all of those experiences to bear in this work.”

    King, a Brooklyn native and the state’s first Black and Puerto Rican chancellor, will start in January and succeed interim SUNY Chancellor Deborah Stanley, who has been filling the leadership post since Jim Malatras resigned a year ago.

    SUNY board chairperson Merryl Tisch described a “robust” national search to replace Malatras. Many of the trustees who spoke on Monday morning mentioned King’s background in the state’s education system as a key to his success in landing the role. He is currently the president of The Education Trust, a national non profit.

    “It’s a great honor to have Dr. King consider this role at this time, with all of the challenges, but all of the opportunities as well,” Tisch said in an interview. “I think he brings great distinction and great honor to SUNY and to the state of New York.”

    King will join a diverse group of leaders at the helm of the state’s education system, and he vowed to collaborate closely with state Education Commissioner Betty Rosa, the first Latina to fill her role, to help the 1.3 million students who take SUNY classes.

    He said improving equity and diversity is a key issue, especially in developing a diverse workforce for the state’s public schooling system.

    “It makes me happy to see the progress that the state and the country have made, but I would also say there’s work to do,” King said. “We have real opportunity gaps that we have to close as a country…I want to make sure that SUNY is the national leader in diversity, equity and inclusion.”

    King left as education commissioner amid a firestorm over Common Core curriculum standards that the state tried to implement on districts due to new federal standards. The state’s largest teachers union, New York State United Teachers, approved a vote of no confidence in him in 2014 and called on the state Board of Regents to fire him.

    His time as education commissioner left some parents and advocates still in opposition of his SUNY appointment. Lisa Rudley, executive director of NY State Allies for Public Education, said students and staff should be “forewarned.”

    “John King consistently ignored the legitimate concerns of parents and teachers regarding the policies he pursued as NY state education commissioner by rewriting standards, imposing an arduous high stakes testing regime and basing teach evaluation on student test scores, none of which had any research behind it and all of which undermined the quality of education in our public schools,” Rudley said in a statement.

    But NYSUT and other education leaders took a more conciliatory tone Monday on King’s return.

    “We will work with Chancellor King to ensure that our campuses and the educators serving on them receive the critical funding and support they deserve as we continue to push toward a common goal: Making sure every New Yorker has access to an affordable and exceptional public education,” NYSUT president Andy Pallotta said in a statement.

    King’s salary will be $750,000 a year.

    Senate Higher Education committee chair Toby Ann Stavisky (D-Queens) said King’s rocky tenure as education commissioner shouldn’t be viewed as a determent in his new position.

    “I think we have to recognize that SUNY is really a great university system with the potential for even greater accomplishments,” she said. “It’s the avenue of opportunity for so many people.”

    While Stanley said she is excited to work with King in the next few weeks of transition, she is looking forward to retirement.

    “It was such a wonderful experience to be able to come to an organization that is being challenged — with the funding in place — to step up and take a role in moving forward not only SUNY forward, and doing the best for our students, but also moving the state forward in economic development ways,” Stanley, who served for 25 years as the SUNY Oswego president, said in an interview.

    SUNY is an economic driver across much of upstate New York, but it has suffered from enrollment declines due in part to population drops in the region. Under Stanley, the administration bolstered its efforts to improve enrollment with robust campaigns and initiatives that have lead to promising increases in applications for the fall.

    The Board of Trustees is set to meet next week to propose its budget for the fiscal year that starts April 1.

    Gov. Kathy Hochul, who along with the state Legislature controls SUNY’s budget, said she was pleased with King’s selection, saying King benefits from being a New York with deep knowledge of its education system. He started his career teaching social studies in Puerto Rico and Boston.

    “We are looking for a transformational figure, someone that will come here and reestablish the preeminence that I always thought SUNY should have,” Hochul said.

    This content was originally published here.

  • Census Data Paints America’s Majority a Minority by 2043

    Census Data Paints America’s Majority a Minority by 2043

    The idea that in the future where there won’t be a single racial or ethnic group who holds the majority is not alien to most of us.

    In their report, The New York Times printed what the Census Bureau’s latest data showed America in 2043. The Bureau said that the plurality of America would come a year sooner than previously expected, in 2043 instead of 2042. Whites will no longer be a majority, the Census Bureau say that the share of non-Hispanic whites in the entire population will drop under 50% and America will then be called a “plurality nation.”

    In this regard, an additional 12 months is given for us to coin a word to replace “minorities” at the time that it will no longer be applicable. Unless you are satisfied or agreeable to the term one expert likes to use – “American.”

    Based on the new report released on Wednesday by the Census Bureau, at the end of the decade, “no single racial or ethnic group will constitute a majority of children under 18.” Approximately in 30 years, no single ethnic group holds the majority position regarding numbers.

    The nation is becoming a “plurality nation”, says the Census Bureau about the growing diversity.

    “The next half century marks key points in continuing trends — the U.S. will become a plurality nation, where the non-Hispanic white population remains the largest single group, but no group is in the majority,” the bureau’s acting director, Thomas L. Mesenbourg, said in a statement.

    The new projections reveal that the population after the recession will increase at a more sluggish rate than previously reported. A huge chunk of the population will be comprised of the elderly who is highly racially diverse. All of these trends will certainly shape America’s politics, economics, and culture for the next coming decades.

  • MITRE Appoints Stephanie Turner as New Vice President of Inclusion, Diversity, and Social Innovation – Savoy

    MITRE Appoints Stephanie Turner as New Vice President of Inclusion, Diversity, and Social Innovation – Savoy

    MITRE named Stephanie Turner to the new role of Vice President of Inclusion, Diversity, and Social Innovation. Turner is based in McLean, VA, and leads MITRE’s inclusion and diversity (I&D) programs, oversees talent acquisition, and will establish a new function for social innovation programs.

    Under her leadership, MITRE will maximize relationships with external organizations, whose perspectives are important in shaping our national social landscape, with an initial focus on STEM education in underserved communities. Inclusion and diversity are powerful drivers of innovation and can create even greater impact as MITRE continues to develop I&D, talent acquisition, and social innovation programs. She will also lead corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives.

    “MITRE has always performed a strong social impact role in our communities,” said Jason Providakes, MITRE president and CEO. “The creation of this new position is to strengthen inclusion and diversity at MITRE as well as demonstrate MITRE’s commitment to social innovation and change in our communities by fostering more collaboration and building networks. I am pleased to welcome Stephanie Turner to lead this effort as a member of the MITRE leadership team.”

    Turner brings 25 years of human resources leadership experience in strategic planning, professional development, process improvement, talent acquisition, multicultural marketing, and employee engagement for global brands. She most recently served as Vice President of Diversity and Inclusion Strategic Engagement at Liberty Mutual Insurance where she optimized sponsorships and brand presence at national diversity conferences, expanded national presence and increased membership in employee resource groups, established governance models to improve customer service, and launched a new employee referral program with talent acquisition.

    “Stephanie is an accomplished leader with a track record of success developing and executing high impact inclusion and diversity programs and activities that strengthen culture and create an environment where talent can thrive, grow, and prosper,” said Kathleen Federico, MITRE senior vice president, chief human resources and strategic communications officer. “Stephanie will help MITRE grow our social innovation and talent engagement programs in the communities where we work and live.”

    Her previous leadership roles include managing diversity and inclusion, talent acquisition, and employee engagement at Lockheed Martin, Kaiser Permanente, ESPN, and Motorola. Turner also worked in the oil industry for five years as a marketing and diversity consultant. She earned her M.S. in Agricultural Economics from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and her B.A. in economics from Spelman College.

    This content was originally published here.

  • H-E-B director of diversity James Harris creates community opportunities

    H-E-B director of diversity James Harris creates community opportunities

    James Harris is the director of diversity and supplier diversity with H-E-B, a large grocery store chain located throughout Texas and Mexico. Rolling out spoke with Harris about H-E-B’s partnership with Jerome Love and the Texas Black Expo.

    Describe your relationship with the Texas Black Expo.

    I’ve been working with Jerome Love for greater than 10-plus years, really focused on Houstonians, small businesses and giving back to the community and empowering educating and uplifting. What we’re doing with the expo is seeding capital into their small business loan or grant program. I think it’s critically important because we know that the lifeblood of any vibrant community is tied to small businesses. In fact, 50 percent of employment is tied to small businesses. Large companies that have a very strong financial balance sheet or have a good awareness program are able to stave off some of the activities happening in the marketplace today., [but] not so much with small businesses. So, this is our way of giving back to the community.

    How do you help young entrepreneurs in your role at H-E-B?

    We have a number of programs where we proactively go out to source small, local, minority suppliers to help them do business with H-E-B. We have editorial programs. We have an H-E-B opportunity exchange where we bring in all the decision-makers and prime contractors for an entire day. They teach them how to do business with H-E-B. To say just do business, they may not have the wherewithal, so we make it accessible for them.

    If you’re looking for opportunities on both sides of the negotiating table, we share how we do business and the business opportunities that are coming back. Another way is that we have construction outreaches, so whenever we are building our stores in a particular marketplace, we have our prime contractors come in and teach local contractors how to get business on that particular job.

    What is it like being a continuous advocate for the entire community?

    I think being an advocate means just that. I think you can do it in words, and you can also do it in action. It’s like a ministry. I do it because I’m helping others, and somewhere along the line, people have helped me. Some people have helped me directly and some indirectly, who I may not even know. I think we have a responsibility to give back.

    Flip the page to watch rolling out CEO Munson Steed’s interview with James Harris from H-E-B and Jerome Love from Black Texas Expo in its entirety.

    Founder and publisher of rolling out’s parent company Steed Media Group.

    This content was originally published here.

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