Two decades after the release of Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria by Dr. Beverly Daniel Tatum, a well-known educator and president emeritus of Spelman College, the text continues to be used in classrooms across the nation. Tatum was in Cambridge, Massachusetts, giving a presentation to higher education administrators at Harvard University recently when we chatted with her about the release of the 20th anniversary edition of the best-selling book.
Author Archives: Caryn
For Students Imperiled by Trump’s DACA Rollback, a Scramble for Answers
Jose Guillermo Rivas was immersed in the first day of his internship on Tuesday when news broke that could crush his dream of becoming a high-school guidance counselor.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced that the Trump administration was ending the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA, provoking different levels of panic among Mr. Rivas and the hundreds of thousands of other so-called Dreamers who face the possibility of deportation over the next few years unless Congress acts.
Insensitive or Racist? Study finds that students who deliver microaggressions are also likely to harbor racist attitudes.
What makes someone racist? Is what they say at all indicative of that, or can it be brushed away as a one-off mistake or misperception?
But a new study backs up those who speak out against microaggressions and questions the attitudes of the people that deliver them.
The study, published in the journal Race and Social Problems, defines microaggressions as “brief and commonplace daily verbal, behavioral and environmental indignities, whether intentional or unintentional, that communicate hostile, derogatory or negative racial slights and insults to the target person or group.” Focusing on those who use microaggressions, rather than those who are on the receiving end, the study found a positive correlation between uttering microaggressions and harboring racist attitudes.
Scholar Warns of Negative Images of Black Males in Media Influencing Teachers
Dr. Darius Prier wants aspiring teachers to think about how negative images of Black males in the media might influence the way they interact act with young Black males in the classroom.
Professors See Charlottesville as a Starting Point for Discussions on Race
Students aren’t always comfortable talking about race, especially at the beginning of the semester in a classroom led by a professor they don’t know yet.
But this semester, Wendy Christensen, an associate professor of sociology at William Paterson University, in New Jersey, is starting off her course by tackling racism head-on. “Social Stratifications,” will begin on September 6 with a discussion about the violent weekend in Charlottesville, Va., she said.
The Missing Black Professors
Study of top public universities finds limited faculty diversity, yet signs of progress — except for African-Americans in STEM.
Efforts to diversify the faculty may not be focusing enough on key areas, namely math-based fields — especially when it comes to black faculty members. And such efforts haven’t led to any premium in pay for those hired to contribute to campus diversity. That’s all according to a new study of faculty representation and wage gaps by race and gender in six major fields at 40 selective public universities.
Improved Advising Cited as Invaluable Tool for Tribal College Students
On the final day of the Tribal College and University (TCU) Presidents’ Convening, several Educational Testing Service researchers and higher education experts offered strategic tools to prepare students for long-term career success throughout their matriculation.
Colleges Urged To Be Inclusive of International Students
Colleges and universities must begin to think of international students more as part of the overall student population and not as a separate group.
Senators Durbin, Graham Try to Jump-start Dream Act
Two U.S. Senators called on President Donald J. Trump and their fellow lawmakers Thursday to support their bipartisan effort to win passage of the Dream Act.
The Senators introduced the bill anew Thursday after 16 years of stymied attempts to pass the legislation that would grant legal status to those brought to the United States illegally as children.
Technology Companies Team Up to Eliminate ‘Summer Melt’
Two innovative technology-based education companies are tackling what education researchers coin “summer melt,” a phenomenon of college-intending students failing to enroll at any institution the fall following their high school graduation.