I believe in Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI). I am not calling for its end, or making an argument against its relevance. I respect the field, I have friends who are EDI leaders, and I have dedicated my career to advancing these principles in the study of archives, theatre and performance, media and advertising. It’s because I do this work that I know critiques like this one are desperately needed.
Read MoreSenior administrative leadership has the most significant role to play in academic governance, but the data demonstrates that the very idea of academic governance is fundamentally set up to reproduce itself. Collegial governance, as the dominant university reward system, reinforces the diversity gap in senior administrative leadership.
Read MoreIn academia, the coded language of “collegiality” is part of the larger project of the new racism because it does not seek to create space for Black people, queer people, disabled people, and social-justice-minded White people to speak freely and openly but instead intentionally rewards “loyal” Black people, White women, and all those who fall under the umbrella of “going along to get along.”
Read MoreI completely understand the logic behind Black Excellence — Black people, especially students are underrepresented, under acknowledged, and often are made to feel like outsiders at universities, especially in Canada where universities are still predominantly White. However, when you only celebrate a people’s accomplishments and ignore the challenges they have had to endure, and systemic realities they lived (and continue to live) through, Black Excellence becomes the veil that shields us from seeing how our systems and institutions are still rooted in White supremacist notions of “success”.
Read MoreIt is a uniquely challenging time to be employed or a student at a university, especially if you are Black woman or a student(s) with divergent opinions. From the high profile firing of Claudine Gay at Harvard and its aftermath, to the tragic suicide of Dr. Antoinette Candia-Bailey, Vice President of Student Affairs at Lincoln University, to the Toronto Star’s investigation into my own university’s Law School and the student letter in support of Palestine, where there's a bad news story, institutions of higher learning are in it.
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