TedTest

From the Ted Talk by Faheem Curtis-Khidr: How the higher education system fails Black educators

Unscramble the Blue Letters

Rebecca Swinton, tlstnaoarr

Sebastian bteti, riewever

When I attended the American Association for Blacks in Higher Education Conference in 2019, I realized how deep the roots of inequity ran. In my head, I had romanticized the equity fight. I reasoned that at a certain salary with a certain tenure and a certain status yes iqnteiuy still exists, but not like that. Not the temple rubbing, teeth gnashing experiences I had as a then associate psfsoreor. And my discussions with university presidents, provost, award-winning faculty, researchers and consultants. A very harsh reality emerged. It doesn't matter. Your status doesn’t matter. Your position doesn’t matter. Your tenure doesn’t matter. Inequity is genius in that your phenotype is enough. Your eitnihtcy is enough. Enough that even tenured Black educators are leaving higher education altogether. Equity menas the recognition of and sustained commitment to justice for marginalized groups of people. In the context of higher education, this looks like the recruiting, rtnetieon and development of qualified Black faculty. We are losing the equity battle in higher education because the institution fails to retain the Black faculty it does have. White higher ed professionals make up roughly 75 penrect of those in higher education. Black higher education professionals make up roughly 8 percent of faculty numbers. That nuebmr is nearly stitac since the year 2000, and this is with more concentrated efforts from the institution to increase representation and retention within the last five years. Dr. Alena aelln was the first Black woman to achieve tenure in her department at the University of Memphis. Dr. Allen decided to turn down tenure in sreach of a more equitable workplace after learning of a disseminating email from the then university poorvst, to other academic leadership. Tenure represents an academic’s life work and is incredibly hard to come by. Dr. Allen’s choice to walk away from tenure relvaes just how deep the rotos of inequity were. This is the reality for many minority educators in higher education that even when mnkaig history at historically and euqilbate institutions your work is oftentimes trivialized, causing many to leave higher education altogether. The fiaanincl crisis in higher ecaidtoun has had an adverse effect on minority retention. One in five liberal arts colleges is in a state of financial distress and the rate of clourse has more than doubled from 2009 to 2019. With equity now being centered in higher education, Black faculty are more rldaiey hierd and brought in as junior faculty. During times of financial deisrsts, Black faculty, often the least tenured, are the first feird, becoming ghost. Their presence is felt in dretisviy inclusion statements in equity frokrmewas that they themselves helped to build to potentially recruit and ratein as a minority faculty. But they are no longer pihalyscly present, becoming ghost in the machine. In the last few years friends and peers have left higher education. Some have left due to budget cuts. Some have left to tend to their mnteal health. Others have left to be outside of the fold of the stesrs of academia, and some have left because they refuse to be silenced in the face of institutional inequity. Which begs the questions: What does my stay say about me? Am I crazy or am I doggedly ctmtioemd? I believe my choice to stay reveals my dogged commitment. As Black equity-minded facluty become increasingly frustrated and disillusioned from the lack of inoauntitsil support regarding equity metrics this also opens up the door for some interesting segues with student diversity goals. An institution reveals its commtienmt to student diversity through creating a safe pacle for marginalized and minority groups to feel seen, acknowledged, and included. In the first quarter of the spirng semester of 2016, a Black student came to my office. I was sseprriud as most professors know, students do not come to office hours so ealry in the semester for any reason. As she peered around my office, she grabbed a Zulu replica drum off the corner of my desk and sat down. Before I could potentially ask her how her day was going or in what ways I could aissst her, she began to weep, Not a loud wailing. But a soft weeping. I was confused. As a professor, I see a bit of everything, but typically not that Before I could potentially console her, she looked me in my eyes and said: Thank you, Professor Curtis-Khidr. I was puzzled. She went on to say: in your course, I can be Black. I’ve never felt comfortable being Black in any of my crsuoes before, and I do not like to speak in fnrot of people. As we delve deeper into the conversation, she revealed to me in a prior class, a withe professor has scolded her for the way that she spoke and aksed her: Was it English? This shows the value of a diverse faculty rank in higher education. It allows the student to see themselves present in the iittstniuon and also form allies during times of turmoil. In the wake of Michael Brown’s muerdr in 2015, we saw a racially charged campus atmosphere navigate around racial isseus as blcak students had to navigate campus and deal with being called racial slurs. Concerned Student 1950 at Columbia University at Missouri issued in a modern self-reckoning for higher education. Black students have always been voacl about desiring more black faculty and have leveraged rtlshepinioas with institutional leadership, as well as modern media outlets, to create awareness and have done so since the 1960s. But it’s not enough for the administration to adhere to Black student demands. It must take several steps further to begin to instill equity within the very framework of the institution to help retain the Black faculty it already has. An institution can help stem the loss of Black faculty through helping eliminate the budern that black faculty experience to mentor others and still produce citicarl academic works while still serving on non-paying committees and leadership initiatives crafted by the coelgle, ironically, centered on equity. We know what can be accomplished when equity is centralized within the institution. We have firm examples of what can be done when equtiy is instilled in every single layer of the collegiate epeiecnxre. San Diego University is spending five hundred thousand dollars to study Black disparity in STEM. An ainoatdidl two hundred thousand dollars to focus on iecansrnig minority retention reats. At St. Louis University, they have a Healing, Justice and Equity Centre on campus. At the University of Missouri, in the wake of suetdnt led protests, we’ve seen Black faculty come together and isuse a frwreomak for institutional leadership to potentially help retain and increase faculty nrmebus in minority ranks with some degrees of success. The useviirtny of Pennsylvania has a very ambitious program that is fully centered on increasing tenure-track miionrty candidates. I speak on hihegr education because that is my experience. But corporate America must also grapple with these same equity issues. The risk is tremendous if we do not begin to win the equity battle. The equity issue in higher education is a moatarhn and not a sprint. In a marathon minutes matter at a certain time threshold, despite a runner’s best efforts, they cannot close a large enough deficit. We are at that threshold in our higher education. If we embrace the spirit of the marathon great, Haile Gebrselassie, if we are committed to sneimmtg and then ending inequity for Black higher education professionals, we can positively change and iescrane the positive experience for Black professionals in higher education. (apspalue)

Open Cloze

Rebecca Swinton, __________

Sebastian _____, ________

When I attended the American Association for Blacks in Higher Education Conference in 2019, I realized how deep the roots of inequity ran. In my head, I had romanticized the equity fight. I reasoned that at a certain salary with a certain tenure and a certain status yes ________ still exists, but not like that. Not the temple rubbing, teeth gnashing experiences I had as a then associate _________. And my discussions with university presidents, provost, award-winning faculty, researchers and consultants. A very harsh reality emerged. It doesn't matter. Your status doesn’t matter. Your position doesn’t matter. Your tenure doesn’t matter. Inequity is genius in that your phenotype is enough. Your _________ is enough. Enough that even tenured Black educators are leaving higher education altogether. Equity _____ the recognition of and sustained commitment to justice for marginalized groups of people. In the context of higher education, this looks like the recruiting, _________ and development of qualified Black faculty. We are losing the equity battle in higher education because the institution fails to retain the Black faculty it does have. White higher ed professionals make up roughly 75 _______ of those in higher education. Black higher education professionals make up roughly 8 percent of faculty numbers. That ______ is nearly ______ since the year 2000, and this is with more concentrated efforts from the institution to increase representation and retention within the last five years. Dr. Alena _____ was the first Black woman to achieve tenure in her department at the University of Memphis. Dr. Allen decided to turn down tenure in ______ of a more equitable workplace after learning of a disseminating email from the then university _______, to other academic leadership. Tenure represents an academic’s life work and is incredibly hard to come by. Dr. Allen’s choice to walk away from tenure _______ just how deep the _____ of inequity were. This is the reality for many minority educators in higher education that even when ______ history at historically and _________ institutions your work is oftentimes trivialized, causing many to leave higher education altogether. The _________ crisis in higher _________ has had an adverse effect on minority retention. One in five liberal arts colleges is in a state of financial distress and the rate of _______ has more than doubled from 2009 to 2019. With equity now being centered in higher education, Black faculty are more _______ _____ and brought in as junior faculty. During times of financial ________, Black faculty, often the least tenured, are the first _____, becoming ghost. Their presence is felt in _________ inclusion statements in equity __________ that they themselves helped to build to potentially recruit and ______ as a minority faculty. But they are no longer __________ present, becoming ghost in the machine. In the last few years friends and peers have left higher education. Some have left due to budget cuts. Some have left to tend to their ______ health. Others have left to be outside of the fold of the ______ of academia, and some have left because they refuse to be silenced in the face of institutional inequity. Which begs the questions: What does my stay say about me? Am I crazy or am I doggedly _________? I believe my choice to stay reveals my dogged commitment. As Black equity-minded _______ become increasingly frustrated and disillusioned from the lack of ____________ support regarding equity metrics this also opens up the door for some interesting segues with student diversity goals. An institution reveals its __________ to student diversity through creating a safe _____ for marginalized and minority groups to feel seen, acknowledged, and included. In the first quarter of the ______ semester of 2016, a Black student came to my office. I was _________ as most professors know, students do not come to office hours so _____ in the semester for any reason. As she peered around my office, she grabbed a Zulu replica drum off the corner of my desk and sat down. Before I could potentially ask her how her day was going or in what ways I could ______ her, she began to weep, Not a loud wailing. But a soft weeping. I was confused. As a professor, I see a bit of everything, but typically not that Before I could potentially console her, she looked me in my eyes and said: Thank you, Professor Curtis-Khidr. I was puzzled. She went on to say: in your course, I can be Black. I’ve never felt comfortable being Black in any of my _______ before, and I do not like to speak in _____ of people. As we delve deeper into the conversation, she revealed to me in a prior class, a _____ professor has scolded her for the way that she spoke and _____ her: Was it English? This shows the value of a diverse faculty rank in higher education. It allows the student to see themselves present in the ___________ and also form allies during times of turmoil. In the wake of Michael Brown’s ______ in 2015, we saw a racially charged campus atmosphere navigate around racial ______ as _____ students had to navigate campus and deal with being called racial slurs. Concerned Student 1950 at Columbia University at Missouri issued in a modern self-reckoning for higher education. Black students have always been _____ about desiring more black faculty and have leveraged _____________ with institutional leadership, as well as modern media outlets, to create awareness and have done so since the 1960s. But it’s not enough for the administration to adhere to Black student demands. It must take several steps further to begin to instill equity within the very framework of the institution to help retain the Black faculty it already has. An institution can help stem the loss of Black faculty through helping eliminate the ______ that black faculty experience to mentor others and still produce ________ academic works while still serving on non-paying committees and leadership initiatives crafted by the _______, ironically, centered on equity. We know what can be accomplished when equity is centralized within the institution. We have firm examples of what can be done when ______ is instilled in every single layer of the collegiate __________. San Diego University is spending five hundred thousand dollars to study Black disparity in STEM. An __________ two hundred thousand dollars to focus on __________ minority retention _____. At St. Louis University, they have a Healing, Justice and Equity Centre on campus. At the University of Missouri, in the wake of _______ led protests, we’ve seen Black faculty come together and _____ a _________ for institutional leadership to potentially help retain and increase faculty _______ in minority ranks with some degrees of success. The __________ of Pennsylvania has a very ambitious program that is fully centered on increasing tenure-track ________ candidates. I speak on ______ education because that is my experience. But corporate America must also grapple with these same equity issues. The risk is tremendous if we do not begin to win the equity battle. The equity issue in higher education is a ________ and not a sprint. In a marathon minutes matter at a certain time threshold, despite a runner’s best efforts, they cannot close a large enough deficit. We are at that threshold in our higher education. If we embrace the spirit of the marathon great, Haile Gebrselassie, if we are committed to ________ and then ending inequity for Black higher education professionals, we can positively change and ________ the positive experience for Black professionals in higher education. (________)

Solution

vocal
closure
distress
mental
reviewer
critical
instituional
percent
assist
issues
courses
numbers
marathon
number
committed
experience
higher
making
minority
front
stress
additional
search
increasing
college
static
allen
diversity
commitment
roots
asked
white
faculty
burden
fired
spring
frameworks
stemming
retain
increase
issue
financial
surprised
physically
equity
education
readily
student
institution
hired
professor
black
early
place
murder
translator
inequity
ethnicity
framework
relationships
reveals
rates
means
retention
university
equitable
betti
provost
applause

Original Text

Rebecca Swinton, Translator

Sebastian Betti, Reviewer

When I attended the American Association for Blacks in Higher Education Conference in 2019, I realized how deep the roots of inequity ran. In my head, I had romanticized the equity fight. I reasoned that at a certain salary with a certain tenure and a certain status yes inequity still exists, but not like that. Not the temple rubbing, teeth gnashing experiences I had as a then associate professor. And my discussions with university presidents, provost, award-winning faculty, researchers and consultants. A very harsh reality emerged. It doesn't matter. Your status doesn’t matter. Your position doesn’t matter. Your tenure doesn’t matter. Inequity is genius in that your phenotype is enough. Your ethnicity is enough. Enough that even tenured Black educators are leaving higher education altogether. Equity means the recognition of and sustained commitment to justice for marginalized groups of people. In the context of higher education, this looks like the recruiting, retention and development of qualified Black faculty. We are losing the equity battle in higher education because the institution fails to retain the Black faculty it does have. White higher ed professionals make up roughly 75 percent of those in higher education. Black higher education professionals make up roughly 8 percent of faculty numbers. That number is nearly static since the year 2000, and this is with more concentrated efforts from the institution to increase representation and retention within the last five years. Dr. Alena Allen was the first Black woman to achieve tenure in her department at the University of Memphis. Dr. Allen decided to turn down tenure in search of a more equitable workplace after learning of a disseminating email from the then university Provost, to other academic leadership. Tenure represents an academic’s life work and is incredibly hard to come by. Dr. Allen’s choice to walk away from tenure reveals just how deep the roots of inequity were. This is the reality for many minority educators in higher education that even when making history at historically and equitable institutions your work is oftentimes trivialized, causing many to leave higher education altogether. The financial crisis in higher education has had an adverse effect on minority retention. One in five liberal arts colleges is in a state of financial distress and the rate of closure has more than doubled from 2009 to 2019. With equity now being centered in higher education, Black faculty are more readily hired and brought in as junior faculty. During times of financial distress, Black faculty, often the least tenured, are the first fired, becoming ghost. Their presence is felt in diversity inclusion statements in equity frameworks that they themselves helped to build to potentially recruit and retain as a minority faculty. But they are no longer physically present, becoming ghost in the machine. In the last few years friends and peers have left higher education. Some have left due to budget cuts. Some have left to tend to their mental health. Others have left to be outside of the fold of the stress of academia, and some have left because they refuse to be silenced in the face of institutional inequity. Which begs the questions: What does my stay say about me? Am I crazy or am I doggedly committed? I believe my choice to stay reveals my dogged commitment. As Black equity-minded faculty become increasingly frustrated and disillusioned from the lack of instituional support regarding equity metrics this also opens up the door for some interesting segues with student diversity goals. An institution reveals its commitment to student diversity through creating a safe place for marginalized and minority groups to feel seen, acknowledged, and included. In the first quarter of the spring semester of 2016, a Black student came to my office. I was surprised as most professors know, students do not come to office hours so early in the semester for any reason. As she peered around my office, she grabbed a Zulu replica drum off the corner of my desk and sat down. Before I could potentially ask her how her day was going or in what ways I could assist her, she began to weep, Not a loud wailing. But a soft weeping. I was confused. As a professor, I see a bit of everything, but typically not that Before I could potentially console her, she looked me in my eyes and said: Thank you, Professor Curtis-Khidr. I was puzzled. She went on to say: in your course, I can be Black. I’ve never felt comfortable being Black in any of my courses before, and I do not like to speak in front of people. As we delve deeper into the conversation, she revealed to me in a prior class, a white professor has scolded her for the way that she spoke and asked her: Was it English? This shows the value of a diverse faculty rank in higher education. It allows the student to see themselves present in the institution and also form allies during times of turmoil. In the wake of Michael Brown’s murder in 2015, we saw a racially charged campus atmosphere navigate around racial issues as Black students had to navigate campus and deal with being called racial slurs. Concerned Student 1950 at Columbia University at Missouri issued in a modern self-reckoning for higher education. Black students have always been vocal about desiring more black faculty and have leveraged relationships with institutional leadership, as well as modern media outlets, to create awareness and have done so since the 1960s. But it’s not enough for the administration to adhere to Black student demands. It must take several steps further to begin to instill equity within the very framework of the institution to help retain the Black faculty it already has. An institution can help stem the loss of Black faculty through helping eliminate the burden that black faculty experience to mentor others and still produce critical academic works while still serving on non-paying committees and leadership initiatives crafted by the college, ironically, centered on equity. We know what can be accomplished when equity is centralized within the institution. We have firm examples of what can be done when equity is instilled in every single layer of the collegiate experience. San Diego University is spending five hundred thousand dollars to study Black disparity in STEM. An additional two hundred thousand dollars to focus on increasing minority retention rates. At St. Louis University, they have a Healing, Justice and Equity Centre on campus. At the University of Missouri, in the wake of student led protests, we’ve seen Black faculty come together and issue a framework for institutional leadership to potentially help retain and increase faculty numbers in minority ranks with some degrees of success. The University of Pennsylvania has a very ambitious program that is fully centered on increasing tenure-track minority candidates. I speak on higher education because that is my experience. But corporate America must also grapple with these same equity issues. The risk is tremendous if we do not begin to win the equity battle. The equity issue in higher education is a marathon and not a sprint. In a marathon minutes matter at a certain time threshold, despite a runner’s best efforts, they cannot close a large enough deficit. We are at that threshold in our higher education. If we embrace the spirit of the marathon great, Haile Gebrselassie, if we are committed to stemming and then ending inequity for Black higher education professionals, we can positively change and increase the positive experience for Black professionals in higher education. (Applause)

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations

ngrams of length 2

collocation	frequency
higher education	16
black faculty	8
education altogether	2
equity battle	2
education black	2
black higher	2
faculty numbers	2
minority retention	2
student diversity	2
black student	2
black students	2
thousand dollars	2

ngrams of length 3

collocation	frequency
higher education altogether	2
higher education black	2
black higher education	2

Important Words

academia
academic
accomplished
achieve
acknowledged
additional
adhere
administration
adverse
alena
allen
allies
altogether
ambitious
america
american
applause
arts
asked
assist
associate
association
atmosphere
attended
awareness
battle
began
begs
betti
bit
black
blacks
brought
budget
build
burden
called
campus
candidates
causing
centered
centralized
centre
change
charged
choice
class
close
closure
college
colleges
collegiate
columbia
comfortable
commitment
committed
committees
concentrated
concerned
conference
confused
console
consultants
context
conversation
corner
corporate
courses
crafted
crazy
create
creating
crisis
critical
cuts
day
deal
decided
deep
deeper
deficit
degrees
delve
demands
department
desiring
desk
development
diego
discussions
disillusioned
disparity
disseminating
distress
diverse
diversity
dogged
doggedly
dollars
door
doubled
dr
drum
due
early
ed
education
educators
effect
efforts
eliminate
email
embrace
emerged
english
equitable
equity
ethnicity
examples
exists
experience
experiences
eyes
face
faculty
fails
feel
felt
fight
financial
fired
firm
focus
fold
form
framework
frameworks
friends
front
frustrated
fully
gebrselassie
genius
ghost
gnashing
goals
grabbed
grapple
great
groups
haile
hard
harsh
head
healing
health
helped
helping
higher
hired
historically
history
hours
included
inclusion
increase
increasing
increasingly
incredibly
inequity
initiatives
instill
instilled
instituional
institution
institutional
institutions
interesting
ironically
issue
issued
issues
junior
justice
lack
large
layer
leadership
learning
leave
leaving
led
left
leveraged
liberal
life
longer
looked
losing
loss
loud
louis
machine
making
marathon
marginalized
matter
means
media
memphis
mental
mentor
metrics
michael
minority
minutes
missouri
modern
murder
navigate
number
numbers
office
oftentimes
opens
outlets
peered
peers
pennsylvania
people
percent
phenotype
physically
place
position
positive
positively
potentially
presence
present
presidents
prior
produce
professionals
professor
professors
program
protests
provost
puzzled
qualified
quarter
racial
racially
ran
rank
ranks
rate
rates
readily
reality
realized
reason
reasoned
rebecca
recognition
recruit
recruiting
refuse
relationships
replica
representation
represents
researchers
retain
retention
revealed
reveals
reviewer
risk
romanticized
roots
roughly
rubbing
safe
salary
san
sat
scolded
search
sebastian
segues
semester
serving
shows
silenced
single
slurs
soft
speak
spending
spirit
spoke
spring
sprint
st
state
statements
static
status
stay
stem
stemming
steps
stress
student
students
study
success
support
surprised
sustained
swinton
teeth
temple
tend
tenure
tenured
thousand
threshold
time
times
translator
tremendous
trivialized
turmoil
turn
typically
university
vocal
wailing
wake
walk
ways
weep
weeping
white
win
woman
work
workplace
works
year
years
zulu