By: Genvieve

Genvieve — Sun, 31 May 2009 05:31:53 +0000

In response to Rashida’s thoughtful commentary above I find myself emphatically differing in opinion in terms of my outlook in leaving Wesleyan. In contrast to Rashida’s remarks, I feel like Wesleyan may have erred too much on the side of creating a place of safety for studenty such as myself. I know only too well what lurks beyond these hallowed grounds and it is not equality, nor will a “Diversity Agenda” be in place. I am in turn perhaps glad for Prof. Price to be able to connect with a broader audience as someone of her aptitude and ability surely will. There is something to the “Ivory Tower” which is not altogether savory nor altogether to be desired…

By: Rashida Richardson, Class of 2008

Rashida Richardson, Class of 2008 — Tue, 05 May 2009 15:05:38 +0000

As a recent graduate, I have appreciated the many roles that the faculty at Wesleyan can play in one’s life beyond the classroom and I believe that my experience at Wesleyan has allowed me to have a certain level of expectation for my faculty in graduate school. Yet, the one thing Wesleyan was not able to provide me with was an educational experience with faculty that not only looked like me but could actually relate to the experience of being a person of color in the United States and academia. Since I was a CSS major and discussions of race and plight of people of color both domestically and globally were somewhat absent in the major’s expansive and interdisciplinary focus and my opportunities to take outside classes were somewhat limited by the set curriculum, I often found myself taking courses within the AFAM department or classes with a particular focus to gain that perspective or even have the opportunity to take a class with the limited amount of faculty of color available. I do not think that teaching should be valued by only professors identity; however, I do find it troubling that in my lifetime I can count the teachers I’ve had that are persons of color or more specifically are Black or Latino on one hand. This is a privilege that I think most student and faculty do not really contemplate, and is another reason why student of color are hesitant to pursuing further education or a career in higher education.
My comments are generally a result from my overall disgust of wesleyan student’s comments regarding diversity amongst faculty as a result of Prof. Price, not receiving tenure. I was not lucky enough to have Prof. Price as a professor. She was however, one of my thesis readers and both from that experience and going to her to help with research on my topic throughout my senior year(even though she was not my advisor), I truly valued her as a faculty member at the school and by senior spring was jealous of all my friends that were able to have her as a professor and/or mentor. I find it troubling when Wesleyan is constantly pushing a “Diversity Agenda”(e.g.-projecting statistics of diversity and making suggestive comments about “its diverse community”) and it does nothing to create a safe space for students of color, maintain and promote a diverse faculty, and actively contradicts most of the propaganda in admissions booklets. I look forward to seeing how you address the current chasm in the Wesleyan community regarding the lack of diversity amongst faculty, and how this institution deals with upholding its mission statement/goals in the coming years.

Comments on: Wes Faculty: Scholars, Scientists, Artists…Mentors All!

By: Genvieve

By: Rashida Richardson, Class of 2008