Transcript Campus Racial Diversity

Leadership for Critical Breakthroughs in
Campus Ethnic Diversity
Blair Dowden, Huntington University
Pete Menjares, Biola University
2010 CCCU International Forum on Christian Higher Education — Atlanta, Georgia
Part I
One University’s Journey
Blair Dowden, President
Huntington University
2010 CCCU International Forum on Christian Higher Education — Atlanta, Georgia
Snapshot: Huntington University
Founded in 1897 by the Church of the United Brethren in Christ
• Co-educational and
multi-ethnic from
the start.
• Yet U.S. minorities
remained a tiny
percentage of the
student body.
• Greater success
with international
students.
Welcome to Huntington, Indiana
• Surrounding community very
homogenous (98% white)
• Checkered past as a
“sundown town”
• Ongoing reputation as
unfriendly toward minorities
Our Diversity Journey
• Furtive effort in the 1980s to recruit
African-American students from Detroit.
▫ Students were not well supported.
▫ Few (if any) of this group were retained.
• Diversity goals were included in strategic plans
throughout the 1980s and 1990s.
▫ Task forces established, but had limited impact.
▫ Focus was too narrow on student recruitment.
Decision Point: 2006
• Student Satisfaction Inventory (SSI)
▫ Students unsatisfied with opportunities to interact
with persons of other cultures and ethnicities.
• 2006 Strategic Long-Range Plan
▫ Intercultural competency tied to our mission.
▫ Ethnic diversity tied to plans for growth.
In Principle
• 2006 Strategic Long-Range Plan
▫ Goal: “Enrich our campus community by
engaging persons from a variety of cultural and
socioeconomic backgrounds, exposing students,
faculty and staff to cross-cultural environments.”
Moment of Resolve
• Direct mail fundraiser for scholarships
▫ Included this photo of international students:
Focus:
Holistic Approach
• Students
• Board of Trustees
• Senior Administration
• Faculty and Staff
• Local Community
Focus: Students
• Studied best practice model – Act Six
• Partnered with long-standing strategic
ally, Youth for Christ
• Created Horizon Leadership Program,
a cohort-based scholarship and
mentoring initiative
• Established shared position with YFC
Horizon Scholar Program
Students are required to
• Maintain a 2.5 GPA
• Meet weekly with director
• Volunteer at the Fort
Wayne Primetime Center.
Student Recruitment Results
Overall Student Recruitment Results
2008
• 5% increase in overall enrollment
• 10% increase in total undergrad enrollment
• 7% of freshman class were ethnic minorities
(more individuals than previously in entire student body)
2009
• 3.6% increase in overall enrollment
• Second largest freshman class
• 7.7% of freshman class were ethnic minorities
Focus: Board of Trustees
• Networked with denomination, alumni, and YFC
to strategically select trustee candidates.
• Board Chair and senior leaders advocated for
women and minority candidates and exerted
political capital to bring about change.
• Results: Currently 18% women, 12% minority
Focus: Senior Administration
• Appointed first woman vice president
since university’s founding in 1897.
▫ A long-serving faculty member
▫ New role created
▫ Capitalizes on strategic thinking
and business planning
Focus: Faculty and Staff
• Presidential expectation of qualified women and
minorities included in each final candidate pool.
• No preferential hiring, but strategic
opportunities are actively pursued.
Faculty and Staff Development
Creating a framework for discussion
• Diversity Audit in 2007-08
• Fall Faculty Workshop in 2009
• President’s Sabbatical - a personal journey
Conference on Christianity, Culture
and Diversity in America
Our Current Year-Long Emphasis
•
•
•
•
Chapel presentations
Brown-bag lunches
Readers Theater
Forester Lectures
•
•
•
•
Small group discussions
Book studies
Service projects
J-Term trips
Integrated by HU Verse of the Year:
There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free,
male nor female, for you are all one in
Christ Jesus (Gal 3:27-28)
Focus: Local Community
• September 2006: City Council asked to join
National League of Cities “Welcoming
Communities” initiative.
▫ Proposal rejected
• May 2007: New City Mission Statement
New City Mission Statement
We recognize our citizens as our most valuable
resource. We acknowledge the people who live
and work in our city as our greatest assets. Their
ethnic, economic, and religious diversity
provides the strength that holds our
community together.
The city of Huntington, Indiana is a community of
civility and inclusion, where diversity is
honored and differences are respected.
Local Community: Harmony Initiative
• Task Force created by local business leaders,
clergy, educators, elected officials, and socialservice agencies.
• Comprehensive “Action Plan” to implement the
City’s new mission statement.
• Initial work commended by both City Council
and County Council in Fall 2009
Guiding Principles
• Effort should not be based on political correctness
nor accreditation concerns
• Founded on Kingdom principles
▫ A Theological Framework for of Diversity (handout)
• Focused on our mission
▫ “Impact our world for Christ” requires
intercultural competency and credibility
Guiding Principles
• A clear vision
• A guiding coalition (Kotter)
▫
▫
▫
▫
Power
Expertise
Credibility
Leadership
• Commitment of resources
Anticipate Setbacks and Restlessness
• A very unfortunate incident
▫ Shattered window
▫ Institutional response
• The power of Facebook
▫ Ugly comments and individual grief
▫ Community response
• Weariness on the journey
▫ Student leader pushback
• Local reaction
▫ Nasty letters
▫ Lack of understanding
Lessons Learned
• Steady progress is best.
• Change won’t happen overnight.
• Persistence pays off.
• It is a marathon, not a sprint.
Part II
Leadership Qualities for Change
Pete C. Menjares, Associate Provost of Diversity Leadership
Biola University
2010 CCCU International Forum on Christian Higher Education — Atlanta, Georgia
What is the mission?
What is the mission?
• Dismantle racism?
• Create an equitable environment for women and
minorities?
• Celebrate cultural diversity?
• Internationalize our campuses?
• Social Justice
What is the mission?
• Reconciliation:
▫ Justice
▫ Peace
▫ Healing
The Realities of Diversity
Leadership
The Robert and Sue Andringa Award for
Advancing Racial Harmony
In recognition of your efforts to address issues
of race with courage, risk, patience and godly
wisdom as you have sought to be a model for
racial reconciliation
Leadership Realities
• Risk
• Discouragement
• Rejection
• Loneliness
• Disappointment
• Hurt
What qualities of leadership?
• “The ministry of reconciliation
requires and calls forth a
specific type of leadership that
is able to unite a deep vision
with the concrete skills,
virtues and habits necessary
for the long and often
lonesome journey of
reconciliation.”
What qualities of leadership?
• Leaders vs. Experts
• Being vs. Doing
• Responding to the “gap”
• Being present to the “gap”
• Suffering
• Conversion
• Sabbath
• Leadership lifestyle marked by
prayer, courage, joy, and practical
wisdom
Leadership Dimensions
Leadership Dimensions
Kingdom
Vision
Action
Engagement
Institutional
Context
Theological
Imperatives
Being and
Doing
Effective Leaders
Effective Leaders
• Personally value diversity
and recognize the need
for institutional change
• Understand institutional
history/heritage,
embedded challenges,
and the culture of their
campuses and
surrounding
communities
Effective Leaders
• Are able to navigate this
reality and lead their
campuses toward
breakthrough
• Elevate diversity as a
campus-wide, holistic,
institutional priority
Effective Leaders
• Advocate for change and
exert political capitol in
order to effect change
• Recognize and utilize the
resources available to
them
Effective Leaders
• Intentionally work to
create an inclusive
leadership team
• Capitalize on critical
incidents, teachable
moments, culturally
transformative moments,
and “moments of resolve”
Effective Leaders
• Are open to learning from
others (best practices,
guest speakers,
consultants, auditors,
students, and community
leaders)
• Are able to build bridges
between people,
organizations, and
communities
Effective Leaders
• Integrate the campus
diversity initiatives
within a
biblical/theological
framework
• Are committed to both
qualitative and
quantitative results
Effective Leaders
• Are committed to living a
reconciliation lifestyle
• Are able to bring others
along in the process
What does a reconciliation lifestyle look like?
A Reconciliation Lifestyle
• “We are looking for our President, Vice Presidents, and
all faculty and staff, to set the precedent for students. In
being student leaders we hope that our own lifestyle
reflects our values and understanding of the Kingdom
to the general student population. If our University’s
leadership and academic chairs can embrace an
understanding of diversity, we will see changes in
theology, hiring, curriculum, post-graduate
preparation, and events and programs. We want to
work together to reach a higher level of understanding
and awareness.”
-Statement from Diversity Leadership Students
Leadership Qualities for Change
Pete Menjares
Biola University
[email protected]
The Structure of Diversity Leadership
Three Key Factors:
• Function
• Structure
• Authority
Recommendations
1. A leadership model that will effectively and
efficiently serve the needs of the entire campus
including students, faculty, and staff by
centralizing and coordinating the college-wide
diversity effort.
Recommendations
2. A leadership structure that has representation
at the highest level of authority as possible
(i.e., the President’s Cabinet or Executive
Team) so as to inform and influence decisionmaking in order to effect change, as well as
signal diversity and diversity leadership as an
institutional priority and core value.
Recommendations
3. A leadership structure that directly addresses
the needs of the college and that will advance
diversity and reconciliation in an intentional
and proactive manner.
Recommendations
4. A leadership structure that is flexible and
responsive to changing priorities and needs as
they emerge.
Recommendations
5. A leadership structure that is congruent with
the mission of the college, in step with the
vision of the President, and that will assist
directly in the achievement of the priorities
and initiatives of the President in the areas of
diversity, reconciliation and intercultural
competencies, including global engagement
and international education.
Reflection Questions
• How do we build inclusive leadership teams?
• What skills, aptitudes, competencies, and
dispositions are needed to lead for biblical
justice and shalom?
• How do we enact sustainable change?
• How do we address the challenge of developing
next generation leaders?