Many of us recognize that it is important for black male students to have safe spaces to share their experiences, such as overt racism, microaggressions, and isolation, and connect with other students sharing the same experiences. However, Steven Thurston Oliver points out that, often, when attempts to provide community are just starting to take…

Ray Black shares the story of creating the Black Male Think Tank, an informal community for black men at his historically white institution. He tells how black male students turned to him in confusion after charges of sexual misconduct by Bill Cosby and various police killings of young black men. The students needed a safe place in which to…

As higher education professionals, we all wield power to shape the educational environment for our students. Conor P. McLaughlin and Christopher B. Newman use the metaphor of the superhero, whose power has the potential to be both democratic or fascist, to consider how we use our power as higher education professionals. More specifically, they…

In this interview, Beverly Daniel Tatum, President Emerita of Spelman College, shares her views of higher education. She notes the historical importance of historically black colleges and universities to our current leadership in all areas of society, their importance in rural areas or other places with limited educational options, and their need…

Wilson Kwamogi Okello and David Pérez II highlight Christian's story from their study of 100 Latino undergraduate men at 20 selective universities. Christian's experiences as an apparently successful student exemplify the double-edged nature of Latino men's challenges in higher education. Okello and Pérez apply the concept of public and hidden…

Penny Rue summarizes the research on Gen Z, the current generation of college-age students, and shares what the trends mean to educators. Members of Gen Z tend to be pragmatic about higher education and expect meaningful learning experiences supported by technology. They are highly tuned in to social media sites and may need support in…

Tara D. Hudson questions the potential of Duke's new policy of random roommate assignment to be successful in supporting learning about diversity. Hudson notes that with random roommate assignments, the conditions for attitude change are not necessarily met. There can be status differential and/or competition between the roommates as well as a…

Shelly L. Francis posits that we will need collective courage to truly embrace cultural diversity. So what is courage and can we cultivate it in ourselves and our students? First, we need more people with the skills to foster trust, especially with others who are different. Perhaps not surprisingly, these people will also need a strong sense of…

Alan Mueller explores the tension between helping students reach their career aspirations and being true to his personal and professional values of justice and equity. He identifies this as "inhabiting the gap," that is, remaining in the discomfort of the ethical or moral dilemma. One way he does this is by practicing unconditional…

Every institution is different, so educators should explore the concept of spatial cues at their institutions. Without serious consideration of space, many students' needs (and desires) will remain unknown and unaddressed. More than any time before, campuses must develop strategies to better understand students' diverse experiences and…

Society can be obsessed with the concept of intelligence, according to the author. Parents want to know if their children are smart. Schools try to detect the intelligence of children so that they can separate them into "gifted and talented" programs on one end of the spectrum and remedial programs on the other. Employers want to know if…

This article offers the concept of critical professional praxis as a framework for naming and addressing difference-neutral practices in education (an approach that does not consider the effects of power and privilege associated with social differences in teachers' beliefs, ideas, and actions). Critical professional praxis is using both formal and…

In this interview, Rogan Kersh describes his evolution from a lecturer behind a podium to a facilitator of hands-on exercises and role-playing. Instead of resisting generational change, Kersh has embraced the charge to evolve to meet current students' needs by asking his students how they experience his classes, and really listening to their…

In this engaging interview, John D. Inazu identifies confident pluralism as the way for us to thrive in connection even when divided by deep differences. Since our differences are not just going to go away, we need to learn to live with others with whom we do not agree. Inazu explains that tolerance, humility, and patience are the foundational…

Joe Edens discusses the challenges of free speech when such speech includes content that undermines the ideologies of higher education, such as diversity, tolerance, or intellectual rigor. Even in cases of controversial or provocative speech, he believes that the process of free speech should not be hindered and employs John D. Inazu's concept of…