In this article, the authors discuss that equity is the aspiration for justice resulting from the intentional distribution of capital in its myriad forms in the context of generations of state, system, and institutional oppression. The conflation of equity with equality and the white-washing of equity have upheld systems of dominance within higher…

Case Willoughby begins by recalling his experience as a Class Dean at Columbia University in New York City about eight miles north of the burning twin towers on September 11, 2001. He reflects that everyone in New York City had this horrible shared experience that made the city of wildly different people into one whole. The entire country was…

Conflict can shut down communication, the key to social justice advocacy. In this article, the author shares his insights on how some communication strategies can help manage conflict and sustain open conversation with students about contentious issues. Recently, the author participated in an extremely heated discussion session for student affairs…

In the last issue of "About Campus," the author outlined the research studies that she presented with Eric J. McIntosh, Denise Nelson, and Shannon Pothovenin in 2009, which led to the creation of the Thriving Quotient, a reliable and valid 35-item instrument that measures the changeable psychological qualities in students that affect their ability…

In this article, the author shares his own learning on the challenges and the responsibilities as a student and as an instructor in the process of engaged learning. The author shares that his hope of telling his experience is to prompt educators to think about teaching and learning in ways that challenge some traditional assumptions about students…

In this article, the author reflects on the learning opportunities provided by the tragedy at Kent State University forty years ago for educators and learners. Four students were slain and nine students were wounded by the bullets of National Guardsmen who had been sent to quell anti-war demonstrations and vandalism. The events of May 4, 1970,…

Dana is a graduate assistant in the second year of a master's program in student personnel. In a class discussion of assistantship issues, Dana reveals that he has decided not to enforce the university's policy of "writing up" all underage students who are in a residence hall room where alcohol is present. He says that in his opinion the punitive…

One of the most pressing challenges when facilitating a conversation on human crises is the normalizing push to move forward and avoid living in the past. Unfortunately, when conversations about human crises are ignored or rushed through, the learning process is stunted. Students lose a valuable opportunity to develop empathy and cultural…

When the author first came to Virginia Tech years ago, she realized that family was a value shared by administrators, faculty, and staff. Here, there is a deep caring and sense of responsibility for the well-being of students. As an instructor and a staff member of the Undergraduate Academic Affairs Office in the College of Liberal Arts and Human…

International students and their dependents contribute more than $12 billion a year to the U.S. economy, yet for institutions of higher education, the greatest gains lie not in dollar amounts but in new insights and perspectives. As international students enter U.S. colleges and universities, they bring with them a wealth of curricular and…

The unfortunate reality is that racism permeates life. The time that students spend in higher education offers a window of opportunity for educators to confront students' assumptions about the world and challenge them to critically analyze their experience. After students complete their education, they carry their knowledge to offices, law firms,…

College students often expect responses instantaneously and become angered if their friends have turned off their cell phones or did not leave an away message on instant message. A "60 Minutes" television segment in 2004 described how today's generation of college students, called "echo boomers," are "the most sophisticated generation ever when it…

In this article, the author shares his conversation with Kim--one of his students who shared with him her faith, her major beliefs, the conditions for eternal salvation of one's soul, and her family's religious history. As Kim was describing her faith group's criteria for eternal salvation and for eternal damnation, the author found that her faith…

A marked increase in the number of college students on medications for depression, attention deficit disorder, and other conditions may have intimidated counselors and educators into believing that they all need to be medical experts. The widespread practice of medicalizing behavior and experience contrasts dramatically with the approach in which…

Asks the question, What would happen if college faculty started noticing students, started asking them questions, and started listening to their responses? Claims that much would be learned. Includes personal stories of three students. (MKA)