BIPoC Students are Disrupting Enrollment by Demanding Respect from Higher Ed Institutions
News of the denial of tenure for Nikole Hannah-Jones, Pulitzer-prize winner and recipient of the MacArthur genius grant journalist, by the Board of Trustees of University of North Carolina (UNC) has shaken both academic and social circles. Not only does Hannah-Jones have more than the required accolades under her belt, she was also the Knight Foundation Race and Investigative Journalism chair, of which tenure appointments had been granted to previous faculty in the same roles. Tenure appointments have long been filled with departmental and institutional roadblocks for Black faculty. Up to 2015 the percentage of Black faculty on tenure appointment in PWI (predominantly white institutions) was barely 4%, although there had been an increase of almost 43% of Black faculty awarded PHD’s. The public outrage over Hannah-Jones serves as proof to many that even when supremely qualified, still even more is required of Black professionals.
Traditionally, the road to tenure is multi-layered. Faculty must provide proof of scholarship. After submitting a body of peer-reviewed publications, performance evaluations, letters of support and votes from faculty-peers, approval from the Dean, the Provost and then the President must be acquired. What is extraordinary here, is that Professor Hannah-Jones met and completed all these benchmarks successfully. The Board of Trustees was then asked to ratify her faculty appointment. The primary roles of the board of trustees of a university centers around fundraising for the institution, advancing the university’s mission and purpose, supporting the president’s or chancellor’s decisions and safeguarding efficient governance of the institution. The denial of Hannah-Jones’ tenure by the Board of Trustees of UNC, is indicative of a body acting outside of the scope of their role. The Members of the board of trustees, as a body, lacked the necessary academic competence to deny the appointment, but also departed from the primary role of supporting the highest office in the institution who had already approved the appointment. Furthermore, this ill-advised decision highlights how narrow-minded political ideology seeped into the governance of a public institution.
Yet, besides outcry on the professional affront to Professor Hannah-Jones, the cost to the institution may be higher. Students, who are the ultimate deciders, have a say. Often overlooked is the fact that students’ enrollment and persistence also indicates their trust in an institution. Lack of institutional commitment to state clear positions on controversial events that are linked to race and class, have a cost. Unlike previous generations, who protested on and off campus, but often remained in these institutions, BIPoC Students of this generation are using social media as a diffuser of their disapproval, but they are also censuring via enrollment.
The President of UNC’s Student Body Association, Lamar Richards, in a letter to the College Administration, posted on Twitter on May 21st , delivered a message of condemnation calling for procedural justice.
“The time has come to be vigilant, just, and equitable in our leadership and decision making, I say ‘our’ realizing that I have only just joined the Board, yet I take ownership and responsibility for every decision made here on out. And, most importantly, I take ownership for when I choose to remain silent and allow policy, procedure, and justice to be subsided.”
Richards, directly called out Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz, and went even further, “If she should decide not to come to this University as a result of not being considered for tenure, Kevin: I want you to know that you would have lost my faith in your ability to lead this University alongside the 30,000 students I represent.”
At many PWI (Predominantly White Institutions) BIPoC Students have historically been treated as charity cases by institutions who believe and act as if admission is a favor to these students. Students often endure micro-aggressions by faculty and staff who are not only biased, but blatantly racist. In addition, both the isolation they encounter and the lack of support for success that BIPoC students experience, can be directly linked to institutional neglect.
But, Black students are no longer here for it. They are not only speaking out they are choosing to no longer enroll in institutions that support their isolation and the racial and cultural micro-aggressions leveled at them and the few faculty that look like them. The global pandemic has added to this issue by revealing more complications, but even before this the ground swell was already taking place.
The Mizzou Effect
After racist incidents on campus, inadequate administrative handling led to weeks of student protests at the University of Missouri. And despite the resignation of both President and Chancellor, actions that would typically quell fires and calm tensions, news of the debacle caused potential students to choose not to enroll. As a result, the University of Missouri, experienced a thirty-five percent decrease in freshman enrollment in fall of 2015, and years thereafter. This decrease translated to job cuts, loss of revenue and the expensive handling of a public relations nightmare. Labeled The Mizzou Effect , it is a case study on how racial tensions when not properly handled can be costly to institutions of higher learning.
HBCU’s
Furthermore, it is not by chance that Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU’s) are seeing a superlative increase in enrollment while public institutions in urban areas are seeing a notable decrease in enrollment. An impressive example is Morgan State with a reported increase of 60% in applications to the College, compared to last year. While many experts attribute the decrease in enrollment at other institutions of higher learning to the economic downfall caused by the pandemic, this may actually be an indication that students are demanding more of the institutions that educate them.
Careful analysis shows that the increase in high profile cases of police violence impacting BIPoC’s (George Floyd, Ahmad Arbery, Breonna Taylor, Adam Toledo etc), the spike in racist incidents, be it the rise of “campus, park or neighborhood Karens”, or more egregious injustices like what occurred with Professor Hannah-Jones, is signaling to Black parents and students that a safer environment is necessary for them to thrive. And, while the rise of high-profile political figures such as: Vice-president Kamala Harris, Stacey Abrams, Keisha Lance-Bottoms, Raphael Warnok — all graduates from HBCU’s — and the support of the Biden Administration for HBCU’s could have some level of influence, the reality is that this generation of students is demanding more accountability and respect from the institutions that educate them. The fact that data shows that HBCU’s , despite their sometimes costly tuitions, do a much better job at graduating low-income students, a forgotten population often viewed solely through financial aid lenses, is indicative of the academic, emotional and social investments HBCU’s make in their students. When it comes to BIPOC and low-income students, too many higher education institutions continue to engage in highly neglectful “sink or swim” practices.
The Choice
The COVID_19 global pandemic, highlighted and further inserted disparities and inequities that BIPoC families and communities all over this nation endure on a day-to-day basis. Students coming from families and communities that have had to struggle to survive during this time are choosing to protect themselves, from further harm. They want to be in environments where their humanity matters. It has now become a critical need for them to be in spaces where they can find or replicate a sense of community that will provide the social, emotional, and spiritual support they need to feel whole. Dealing with biased professors, who refuse to become culturally sensitive, is highly distressing. Not seeing oneself represented in figures of scholarship and authority who can model a path forward, is terribly isolating. For first-generation and low-income students trying to figure out college while working within policies that are more punitive than redemptive with little or no guidance, creates unreasonable emotional burdens.
Colleges and Universities that do not actively create professional development opportunities for faculty and staff to learn trauma-informed pedagogy, anti-racist practices, and create ongoing assessments that evaluate progress, but instead continue to center preferential “white majority” hiring and uphold curricula that refuses to center the historical legacies of all their students are not equipped to educate BIPOC students. Higher Ed institutions need to realize their responsibility in creating frameworks that meet the current needs of BIPOC students. Moving towards an approach that centers students’ humanity and provides experiences that foster a sense of belonging will allow institutions to provide the type of value that BIPoC students are in search of.
