In the wake of the election of President Obama, many diversity scholars and practitioners imagined that renewed commitments to educational equity and justice were just around the corner. Unfortunately, the opposite has become the Obama-era reality. Across the country, equity and diversity workers at all levels in university and colleges, but especially Chief Diversity Officers in public institutions, are under assault. Is this assault a result of a pre-meditated and carefully calculated conservative political agenda or the unfortunate consequence of how largely white, politically conservative-and the power bases they represent-are expressing their anger about the changing racial landscape in the United States? This volume explores and deconstructs the reasons for this assault from various perspectives. This volume also illustrates how the national assault on equity and diversity has resulted in a continuum. At one end are "diversity-friendly" institutions that are benignly neglecting equity/diversity efforts because of state budget crises. At the other end of the spectrum are the deliberate efforts being made to systematically dismantle equity and diversity work in especially politically conservative states.
Foreword Sonia Nieto The Permanence of Diversity Mark Brimhall-Vargas, Christine Clark, and Kenneth J. Fasching-Varner La Permanencia de la Diversidad Mark Brimhall-Vargas, Christine Clark, y Kenneth J. Fasching-Varner Occupying Academia, Re-Affirming Diversity Christine Clark, Kenneth J. Fasching-Varner, and Mark Brimhall-Vargas Stories from the Chief Diversity Officer Frontlines Bailey Jackson Case 1: Extra, Extra, Read All About It! Diversity Soul-ed Out (and Sold/Out) Here Christine Clark Case 2: Balancing Act: A Contextual Case Analysis on Re-Centering Diversity in the Midst of Social and Economic Fluctuations Katrice A. Albert and Marco J. Barker Case 3: Deconstructing Hope: A Chief Diversity Officer's Dilemma in the Obama Era A. Leslie Anderson Case 4: Transforming Lives and Communities: Case Study of a Diversity and Community Engagement Portfolio at a Flagship Institution Gregory J. Vincent, Sherri L. Sanders, and S. Kiersten Ferguson Case 5: Southern Predominantly White Institutions, Targeted Students, and the Intersectionality of Identity: Two Case Studies Allison Daniel Anders, James M. DeVita, and Steven Thurston Oliver Stories from the Mid-Level Administrator Frontlines Bailey Jackson Case 6: The Myth of Institutionalizing Diversity: Structures and the Covert Decisions they Make Mark Brimhall-Vargas Case 7: Swimming up Mainstream: Facing the Challenges to Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion on a University of ACME, Regional Campus in Obama's Era Virginia Lea, Hollace Anne Teuber, Glenda Jones, and Susan Wolfgram Case 8: The Search for Questions and Tellings of Silenced Students Douglas J. Loveless and Bryant Griffith Case 9: The Evolution of a Campus: From the Seat of the Civil War to a Seat on the Freedom Rides Shaunna Payne Gold and Leah K. Cox Case 10: The Unmet Promise: A Critical Race Theory Analysis of the Rise of an African American Studies Program Michael E. Jennings Stories from the Faculty Frontlines Bailey Jackson Case 11: "Just (Don't) Do It!" Tensions Between Articulated Commitments and Action at The ACME State University Kenneth J. Fasching-Varner and Vanessa Dodo Seriki Case 12: Deja Vu:Dynamism of Racism in Policies and Practices Aimed at Alleviating Discrimination Shirley Mthethwa-Sommers Case 13: "Isn't Affirmative Action Illegal?" Eugene Oropeza Fujimoto Case 14: Equity at the Fringes: The Continuing Peripheral Enactment of Equity and Diversity in the Preparation of K-12 Teachers Roderick L. Carey and Laura S. Yee Case 15: On the Battlefield for Social Justice in the Education of Teachers: The Dangers and Dangerousness of Challenging Whiteness in Predominantly White Institutions and Teacher Preparation Programs Brenda G. Juarez and Cleveland Hayes So What? Who Cares? And What's Our Point About Diversity? Margaret-Mary Sulentic Dowell Carta Abierta: Una Lamada para Ocupar Kenneth J. Fasching-Varner, Christine Clark, y Mark Brimhall-Vargas An Open Letter: A Call to Occupy Kenneth J. Fasching-Varner, Christine Clark, and Mark Brimhall-Vargas Afterword Damon A. Williams References Editor and Contributor Biographies Index
