“For people of color, a chilly climate and working at an institution or organization with a history of exclusion all has a negative impact, wherever you are,” Gwendolyn Dungy said, speaking at a networking event for faculty and administrators of color at the Association of American Colleges & Universities’ annual meeting on Thursday. Dungy, who served as the executive director of NASPA, went on to describe the feeling of isolation that administrators of color may experience when they are the only ones of their race or ethnicity in a committee or in a position of authority at a university or college. Dungy said that it was hard to shake the sensation that, at times, she was being looked at as a “representative” of her race. It was not a burden that is easily assumed, Dungy noted, but one she took up in part in the hopes of being in a position to help other administrators from a diverse background attain similar leadership roles.

January 22, 2016 ・ From Diverse