Trusteeship - March/April 2021 - 32

TA KEAWAYS
Q

While most colleges and
universities have made
measurable progress towards
their equity, diversity,
and inclusion goals, racial
inequity remains. The
underrepresentation of
governing board members
and presidents of color as well
as racial tensions between
governing boards and
presidents are two key areas
where progress must be made.

Q

When negotiating the
advancement of racial equity
agendas, these are the most
common questions resistant
governing boards raise to their
presidents: Are our proposed
actions too leftist and likely
to alienate conservatives? Are
we emphasizing racial equity
efforts too much? Don't all lives
matter? Aren't all our other
institutional commitments to
racial equity enough?

Q

There are at least four actions
presidents and governing
boards can do together to
reduce racial tensions. First,
acknowledge the racial
tensions exist. Second, educate
themselves on a variety of racial
equity topics. Third, carefully
examine data from campus
racial climate surveys to gain
a fuller understanding of their
institution. Fourth, revisit lists
of demands issued by student
activists and their allies.

Q

When presidents and governing
boards fail to properly address
racial inequity on campus,
they share the responsibility
for threats to the institution's
reputation as well as the blame
for the institution's failure to
enact its equity, diversity, and
inclusion values.

32 TRUSTEESHIP MAR. APR. 2021

Too Far Left?
Campus leaders say their board members
worry that some proposed policy actions,
practical strategies, and financial investments are too leftist and likely to alienate
conservative students and employees. One
example of this is the difference of opinion
over the handling of hate speech. Communicating that a White person calling a
Black person the N-word, dressing up in
blackface for Halloween, or hosting a fraternity party with some students dressed
as ICE agents and others as undocumented
immigrants attempting to cross the United
States-Mexico border is inconsistent with
campus inclusion values and therefore
should have consequences seems obviously
important to me. But according to presidents, conversations about these and other
racist acts are met with board members'
defenses of free speech. Presidents are often
surprised by how much time is spent arguing the merits of freedom of speech instead
of talking about appalling acts of racial
violence that have or could occur. Students
who are most harmed by these experiences
rely on campus leaders to protect them.
Many presidents say they feel a responsibility to do so, but can only go so far because
some board members will misunderstand
their efforts as too-liberal attempts to suppress or eradicate conservative viewpoints.
To be fair, conservative student groups and
alumni sometimes communicate these fears
to governing boads.

Too Much Emphasis on Race?
" Shouldn't we focus more of our attention
on our neediest and first-generation students? " is a common question posed in
board meetings to pivot from race to socioeconomic status. Some even argue that
continuing to talk about race is racist, as
it amplifies differences between people as
opposed to celebrating our shared humanity. Moreover, board members occasionally
argue that the campus has already invested
enough time in racial equity efforts, and
it is now time to move on to other diver-

sity imperatives. These are just a few of
the ways presidents say their boards aim
to minimize race or avoid it altogether in
meetings. Even when disaggregated quantitative data clearly show gaps between
students or employees from different racial
groups, board members seek alternative
explanations-anything but race. I find
this unsurprising given that more than
80 percent of higher education governing
board members are White. It is likely that
the racial inequities captured in the data
and the underlying racial problems being
discussed are inconsistent with their own
firsthand racialized experiences. It should
be noted that 83 percent of college and
university presidents are White. I suspect
they are more willing to engage racial topics than are their boards because campus
community members, especially people of
color, are expecting White presidents to
confront racial realities at their institutions.
Yet presidents of color and their White
presidential counterparts face the challenge
of getting their boards to understand why
more attention has to be placed on race.

Don't All Lives Matter?
My research, as well as studies published
by numerous other credible scholars, consistently show that Black students are at
the bottom of most statistical measures of
opportunity, performance, and progress in
U.S. higher education. In addition, hiring,
tenure, promotion, retention, and advancement outcomes for Black employees almost
always lag those of their White coworkers.
These inequities persist year after year. The
truth is, few institutions have ever been
equitable for Black people. Among its myriad aims, the Black Lives Matter movement
attempts to raise national consciousness
about systemic racism and other factors that
cyclically reproduce inequitable outcomes
for Black Americans. I am encouraged by
the number of presidents who are finally
willing to publicly declare that institutional
racism exists and the campuses they lead
have long underserved disadvantaged Black



Trusteeship - March/April 2021

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