Higher education must move beyond statements of solidarity towards action to support antiracist work at institutions. Although these statements of support are laudable, it can be challenging to successfully operationalize antiracism across all levels of an institution (individuals, activities/programs, courses, units, and entire institutions) and…

Drawing on cultural studies and the practice of engaged learning and scholarship, this paper proposes a cultural approach to institutional transformation, which we argue necessarily follows anchor partnerships. The authors advance a model of cohesion and alignment among equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI), community engagement, and social…

Technological innovation and new economic terrain of the twenty-first century has called for higher education to re-examine how interdisciplinary ethnic studies and minority serving programs are positioned in the twenty-first century. This essay considers the utility of spaces like Black Studies departments and programs like the Mellon Mays…

This paper, based primarily on the author's perspective as president of SUNY Empire State College, will explore the need for, and means of leveraging, the chief diversity officer's role in creating an equitable and inclusive environment within the distributed world that is Empire State College's "campus" and, specifically, within SUNY…

With many potential community partners and a diverse student population, the metropolitan university has many opportunities to operationalize transformative learning, which involves a dramatic shift in one's assumptions that has a lasting change on their perspectives. The challenge of identifying transformative learning initiatives and making…

The University of Central Oklahoma (UCO) is a public metropolitan university that has developed a highly collaborative relationship with the Greater Oklahoma City Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (HC). This partnership unites several UCO divisions and the HC in support of a set of shared goals, articulated in UCO's "Vision 2020" strategic…

This research paper involved thematic analysis of interview responses from local citizens regarding the university's role in improving race relations. The paper addressed these questions: (1) What themes emerged from participant responses regarding UALR's role in improving race relations? and (2) What themes emerged from participant responses…