The Hypocrisy of Higher Education: An Examination of Racial Identity Negotiation Among African American Chief Diversity Officers

• In Event: Campus Racial Climate: Disrupting Institution-Sanctioned Violence in Postsecondary Education and Advocating for Change

Abstract

This research study explored the ways in which African-American Chief Diversity Officers (CDOs) negotiate racial identity in order to advocate for institutional change around diversity and inclusion in higher education. The study revealed that predominantly white institutions establish both racial and institutional barriers in order to marginalize both African-American CDOs’ racial identities and the nature of their work. As a result, African-American CDOs found themselves having to negotiate their racial identities all the time, everywhere, and with everybody in order to foster positive relationships and build coalition in their roles.

Author

• Teshia G. Koffi, University of Utah