Happy Valentine's Day ACPA!

Over the last several months, I have been speaking on campuses and conferences about creating cultures of advocacy in which delineated rights are not abstractions, but realities. 

This is a deep challenge for our member institutions and it is no less so for our Association.  I have become convicted that our failure to defeat white supremacy and racism within the Academy is at the root of many of our current challenges. 

I believe that colleges and universities have the capacity as communities to fundamentally change the dominant narrative of whiteness.  And, we have to choose.

Some will say that I am stretching it to say that racism is the catalyst of our many problems within the Academy, that whiteness is not connected to sexual assault and violence, mental health, diminishing financial support and the myriad of other issues with which we are dealing.  But, I believe it is because we are as sick as our secrets. 

Craig Steven Wilder, in  “Ebony & Ivy: Race, Slavery, and the Troubled History of America's Universities”(2013) says, “The academy never stood apart from American slavery…In fact, it stood beside church and state as the third pillar of a civilization built on bondage. “  ( http://www.amazon.com/Ebony-Ivy-Troubled-Americas-Universities/dp/159691...)

Wilder further argues that the “academy was also central to the development of scientific racism — pseudoscience meant to establish the provable inferiority of certain racial groups — that would serve as a pretext for enslavement.”

Economics, law and science have always made a way for some human beings to be property and others to be people, so we need to be willing to admit that these disciplines that we cherish in the Academy and that we use so skillfully in our work, are, in part, how we got into the mess where we are today.   We must resist the temptation to use these tools forevermore.

I believe part of being a new professional in student affairs and part of being a United States citizen, since I am white, is my own internal and public acknowledgment of the privilege that I have. 

Next, I have to be willing to use that privilege to dig up and cast away the vestiges of white supremacy and deeply rooted racism in our communities and within the Academy.  Some will say that the whole system will come apart if we start that process.  Perhaps, but I trust all of us more than that prediction.

I am deeply sorry that my ancestors and our institutions of higher learning were part of the decimation of people of African descent and of the lives of First Nation people who were nearly extinguished.  And, because I am sorry, it is my responsibility to get to work.

I am just one person.  You are just one person, but we represent a worldwide community of educators who will one day be measured for our capacity for advocacy or avoidance.

I want to define a culture of advocacy & talk about why it is critical for us to intentionally and systematically create on our campuses and in our Association.

• You will know a culture of advocacy exists when those who have historically been without recognition & agency show up & express their views and concerns non-violently. 
• You will know it exists when these same human beings can access information & services without impediment, successfully defend  & promote their rights and responsibilities and freely explore options and choices about their present & future without despair.

Did your campus pass the test?  Does the community in which you live pass the test?  I know that our Association does not yet pass this test and I am committed to doing what I can to change that reality.

I recently heard the Editor of About Campus, Dr. Frank Shushock, speak about the “most important thing” that a student affairs professional can do.  He said, “Build community.”  I could not agree more. 

The health and stability of our world depends, not only on the justice of its institutions, but also on the qualities & attitudes of its citizens; e.g. (our) sense of identity & how (we) view potentially competing forms of national, regional, ethnic or religious identities.  It depends on (our) ability to tolerate & work together with others who are different from (our) selves; our desire to participate in the political process in order to promote the public good and hold political authorities accountable. (Galston, 1991: 220)

 How can we move forward? 

I created a list of the essential work that I believe we must do on campuses and within the community of ACPA.  I hope you will add to it, challenge it, and rewrite it or whatever you feel you must do to internalize your own list of actions.

1.  We need well-designed campus climate surveys that are iterative and the resulting data integrated into system-wide change.  At minimum, we have to know whether students feel that they belong in their campus community rather feeling alienation and disaffection.  We have to know whether students identify and feel solidarity with other students rather than feeling indifference and hatred toward one another. 

2.  We have to ensure that we are active not passive; critical rather than deferential or apathetic in the face of injustice; responsible rather than greedy or short sighted; tolerant rather than prejudiced or xenophobic, homophobic, trans phobic, Islam phobic, racist, sexist, ageist or any other mind set that defeats relationship and community.  Ditto for our Association.

3.  We have to approach the creation of a culture of advocacy and its attendant, student activism, from an asset perspective rather than a deficit (problem to manage) perspective.  The idea is not to shut students up, keep the college out of the headlines and reduce overtime for security.   

4.  We have to know if our policies and practices encourage mutual respect, civility, support, agency & voice.  Do we organize around human dignity or risk management, power & privilege or equity & inclusion?

5.  We must do our due diligence. What are the unspoken and very real barriers to full participation in the community for all students?   If we listen to them, they will tell us.  The good news is that it is rare that the issues raised by students stray far from the democratic mission of the American university.

6. We must not restrict free speech, freedom of assembly & academic freedom. We do this at our peril and I do not mean because FIRE will send us a warning letter.  I mean because the university is nothing and our nation is lost if the free exchange of ideas is suppressed.

7. We have to stay positive and focused on change in a challenging work in an atmosphere that is riddled with tension and super-compliance.  People are disappointed, scared and angry.  Add in the pressure cooker, the catalytic impact of social media, negative press, shifting case law, financial pressures, industry disintermediation & “militarization” of city police forces and things can explode very quickly.  People are counting on us. 

The clash of competing ideas is an important catalyst, not only for the expansion of knowledge, but also in students’ development of independent critical judgment.

It is our responsibility to create cultures of advocacy in which this knowledge and judgment can flourish.

(However), we are seeing a less transparent, less responsive, less democratic university than we have seen in the past… In our isolated efforts to minimize liability and risk (legal exposure, bad publicity & stakeholder backlash) we sometimes postpone or escalate the emergence of more serious problems by placing narrow policy standards over the individual needs and experiences of people. (Angus Johnston, CUNY, 2014)

8.  We have to hire and train campus police officers who understand and embrace student learning and development and when executing MOUs with city forces, we must ensure that our core values are inserted in the operational agreement.

9.  We have to teach citizenship and what it means to forfeit freedom of speech, assembly and academic freedom.

10.  We have to infuse the principles and practices of non-violent resistance into student groups who have a lot to say to us.  We have to model these principles and practices.

11.  We have to bring balance to the roles & responsibilities of all stakeholders within a context of reasonable risk that allows learning to flourish in a culture of advocacy. 

I recently attended the 37^th Annual National Conference on Law Higher Education where the program was entitled “Compliance, Consumers and the Constitution:  Managing the Law and Policy Expectations of Conflicting Constituencies in Higher Education’s Second Civil Rights Revolution.” 

What I cherished most about the experience was being in a room full of General Counsels and student affairs professionals, all talking to one another about their daily work, case law and solving problems.  If we can create that type of cross-divisional & departmental collaboration on all of our campuses and, yes, inside our association, we will simply rock. J\

I believe in you and in us.  Happy Valentine’s Day.