"A Warrior for Diversity": The Life History of a Higher Education Staff Member of Color

• In Event: 65.062 - Identity and Curriculum in Narrative Research

Abstract

In this paper, we explore the life history of one administrator of color at State University, a predominantly white institution (PWI) of higher education in the Midwestern United States. In particular, we explore how working with White students, peers, and supervisors demands that staff members of color find means of answering overt and implied criticisms of their daily work. We name the metaphors the participant uses to define the ways she negotiates a campus culture that privileges some and interprets others as oppositional when she calls into question long held institutional priorities and practices.

Authors

• Mary Louise Gomez, University of Wisconsin - Madison

• Kelly Ocasio, University of Wisconsin - Madison

• Amy Johnson Lachuk, Hunter College - CUNY

• Shameka Nija Powell, Tufts University