The Pandemics of Racism and COVID 19: Guest Editors’ Comments and Acknowledgements Juanita M. Cole, Jeffrey B. Leak, Edward Martinez

The Pandemics of Racism and COVID-19: Guest Editors’ Comments and Acknowledgements

It is an honor and privilege to serve as guest editors for this special thematic issue of Journal of Higher Education Management, The COVID-19 Crisis and Racial Justice & Equity: Addressing the Twin Pandemics. The genesis of this project emerged while participating in the 2019-2020 class of the American Council on Education Fellows program. We were active observers of the decision-making processes institutional leaders made regarding operational and academic priorities across various campuses. We learned a great deal by watching the way senior leaders worked to build new structures to support rapid change brought on by the crisis.

At the time of writing the introduction for this special thematic issue, the following events unfolded: insurrection and White supremacy on full display during the January 6 riots on Capitol Hill; a raging Coronavirus pandemic disproportionately affecting communities of color in the U.S.—so far over 513,000 people have died from COVID-19; prominent American officials publicly described COVID-19 as the “China virus,” which contributed to increased anti-Asian sentiments that—in turn— led to harassment of individuals who share that identity; and we emerged from a summer of protests following the tragic death of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and other Black Americans who were murdered by police officers. The events over the past year underscore the prevalence of systemic racism is in America today and the inextricable role higher education must play in the solution.

The COVID-19 pandemic, coupled with the long festering wounds of racial injustice, disrupted higher education’s operations in unprecedented ways. Due to the racial stratification of the workforce at many colleges and universities, we observed a swift pivot to remote work which unduly placed essential workers at risk for exposure to COVID-19. Data from the U.S. Department of Education showed that 46% of workers in low-level service roles were employees of color (National Center for Educational Statistics, 2018). Custodians, food service workers, groundskeepers, and maintenance staff, were required to come to campus more frequently and interact with other workers and students. Conversely, given the professional or leadership positions they disproportionately occupy, White employees had more flexibility to work remotely and teach online. Moreover, the decision to move to online-only instruction for numerous colleges and universities sparked apprehensions about the quality of educational instruction, and inadvertently created disparities in academic performance for students with limited internet access and those requiring additional learning support services. The pandemic also significantly altered other aspects of college life, from admissions and enrollment, on-campus housing-dining, to collegiate athletics. These concerns complicated our understanding of the financial future of higher education institutions in a time of considerable financial instability, both in the form of unexpected costs and potential reductions in revenue.

It is worth noting, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, institutions of higher education were not free from contributing to inequities. Many colleges and universities struggled in their efforts to close the equity gap between their White student population and low-income, first-generation, students of color. Structural inequities persist because some institutions continue to deny the ongoing impact of systemic racism and oppression. Preliminary data indicated the pandemic exacerbated the disproportionate impacts faced by students and faculty of color in today’s colleges and universities. According to Cahalan et al. (2020), the uneven landscape in college and universities is heavily influenced by race, income, history, geography, a wide range of state policies, and the declining value of federal student aid.

Fortunately, the American Council on Education’s (ACE) 2020 status report on race and ethnicity in higher education (Taylor et al., 2020) offers hope and a data-informed foundation for those working to close persistent equity gaps. If we are to identify one silver lining of these pandemics it is the

opportunity for new equity-minded leadership and education. Examples of equity-minded leadership would include things such as considering the effects of the coronavirus on distinct communities, demographic cohorts, and identity groups. As colleges and universities consider reopening in phases, what are the decision-making strategies administrators will employ to close the digital access gaps for students of color who have trouble connecting to courses from rural, urban, or lower-income communities? How are administrators and faculty ensuring underrepresented students and marginalized groups are not experiencing the same racism in virtual classrooms that they long experienced in on-campus learning environments before the pandemic? And how do colleges and university leaders provide robust support for racially diverse faculty, staff and administrators who are often tasked with providing mentoring and other forms of support for underrepresented students? The simple fact is these inequities can no longer be ignored if our institutions of learning are going to survive and thrive.

Moving forward, it is clear academic leadership is especially in demand for actively supporting faculty, students, and staff from racially underrepresented groups. College and university leaders need to incorporate principles centered on diversity, equity, justice, liberation, and inclusion into their COVID-19 responses. Higher education administrators must meet the challenge head-on and do the work required to bring equity to our college and university campuses across the nation.

We are excited to bring together scholarly work documenting the intersection of equity and decision making in higher education during the COVID-19 pandemic. The articles in this volume address these Twin Pandemics across a diverse and shifting higher education landscape. In broad terms, they address three waves of the pandemic: 1) Crisis Leadership Responses to the Pandemic; 2) Continuity of the Academic Mission; and 3) Planning for the Future. Through quantitative, qualitative, and reflective exploration; these articles address the underlying problems of race, region, class, and equity in higher education through these three dimensions. The thought-leaders in this volume understand many of the problems highlighted in the Twin Pandemics are rooted in a history of exclusion in American higher education. Their work reflects a commitment to creating solutions for a more equitable higher education landscape in a post COVID-19 world. This work will not be easy, but principled and steadfast. Leadership is about more than expediency. From this work, we can move toward a more perfect academic union.

We would like to acknowledge the support of Christine K. Cavanaugh, Dan L. King, and Sydney J. Freeman, Jr. from the American Association of University Administrators for this opportunity; American Council on Education (ACE) for the Fellowship experience and members of our ACE Fellows cohort; and finally our home institutions, New Mexico Highlands University, National Defense University, and UNC Charlotte. Let us begin.

Juanita M. Cole

Deputy Provost National Defense University

Jeffrey B. Leak

Professor of English and Director of African Studies University of North Carolina, Charlotte

Edward Martinez

Special Assistant to the President New Mexico Highlands University

References

Cahalan, M.W., Perna, L.W., Addison, M., Murray, C., Patel, P.R., and Jiang, N. (2020). Indicators of Higher Education Equity in the United States: 2020 Historical Trend Report. Washington,

DC: The Pell Institute for the Study of Opportunity in Higher Education, Council for

Opportunity in Education (COE), and Alliance for Higher Education and Democracy of the

University of Pennsylvania (PennAHEAD). National Center for Education Statistics (2018) Report retrieved from: https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d19/tables/dt19_314.40.asp Taylor, M., Turk, J.M., Chessman, H.M., and Espinosa, L.L. (2020). Race and Ethnicity in Higher

Education: 2020 Supplement. Washington, DC: American Council on Education.