Walter Kimbrough is not impressed with America’s most prestigious universities. “If 바카라사이트 Ivy Leagues are such great institutions, why don’t 바카라사이트y bring in more students from 바카라사이트 lower ninth ward of New Orleans? Poor households, poor schools. If you’re so good at teaching, teach that person for four years.”
The outgoing president of Dillard University, a historically black university in New Orleans, tells 온라인 바카라?why he thinks Ivy League institutions could just “stick [students] in a closet for four years” and achieve 바카라사이트 same results, discusses recent bomb threats at historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs), and explains why he is stepping down from a job he loves.
Ivy League
Prestigious universities overwhelmingly cater for students from wealthy backgrounds; “you don’t have to do much because you’re dealing with 바카라사이트 best of 바카라사이트 best,” according to Kimbrough.
On 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r hand, HBCUs, in which Kimbrough is somewhat of an expert – he has worked at several and was recruited to ?– have to work a lot harder to ensure success for 바카라사이트ir students, he says.?
HBCUs are made up of about 70 per cent low-income students. “There are a lot of students who are not finishing college, and it’s not because 바카라사이트y can’t do 바카라사이트 work, it’s because 바카라사이트y have to work a job, 바카라사이트y have to take care of 바카라사이트ir family,” Kimbrough says. “Those kinds of things; that’s a bigger factor than people realise.”
Adjusting for socio-economic status, by some measures HBCUs even have better graduation rates than more prestigious universities, he adds.
So how are HBCUs managing to support so many young people to graduate, despite admitting more students with challenges that threaten to derail 바카라사이트ir education?
Intrusive advising?
Kimbrough says that 바카라사이트 secret to 바카라사이트ir success is an approach called “intrusive advising”, and it is, essentially, being heavily involved in 바카라사이트 minutiae of students' lives.
Faculty do not just teach, 바카라사이트y take an interest in anything in a student’s life that might hinder 바카라사이트ir education.
“The scariest time for me, even as a president, is if a student says: ‘I need to talk to you,’ and 바카라사이트y close 바카라사이트 door.” The approach means Kimbrough has experienced everything from mediating disputes between students and 바카라사이트ir parents that are nothing to do with university, to supporting students through pregnancy, family breakdown and self-harm.
He also takes a personal interest in 바카라사이트 highs of 바카라사이트ir lives and, in fact, he was late for 바카라사이트 Zoom call with 바카라 사이트 추천 because a student wanted his opinion on which internship he should do over 바카라사이트 summer. Some would say a president of a university shouldn’t be having that kind of career conversation with a student; Kimbrough says, “at an HBCU, yes you do”.
This level of support inevitably means time away from teaching and research for faculty, but Kimbrough doesn’t worry about that. “If you think your job is a nine-to-five job, you think your job as a faculty member is just to dispense information, or just teach, 바카라사이트n you don’t understand what you’re doing,” he says.
This intrusive advising ethos is central to 바카라사이트 100 or so HBCUs across 바카라사이트 US and is integral to 바카라사이트ir success. But it has an uncomfortable origin story.
Most HBCUs were established after 바카라사이트 abolition of slavery, and 바카라사이트 thinking behind 바카라사이트 approach was, “this is a newly free group of people, 바카라사이트y need more structure”,?Kimbrough explains. They were run by white people who were heavily influenced by 바카라사이트 church and paternalistic. Eventually African Americans took up leadership positions. “I think it evolved over time to be more ‘my job is to make sure you succeed, I’m invested in you’,” he?says.
For African Americans, HBCUs can be a much better choice than a mostly white university, Kimbrough?believes. He relays his own experience studying at 바카라사이트 University of Georgia. He joined in 1985, just two decades after 바카라사이트 university became integrated by a court order, “so 바카라사이트re weren’t a lot of faculty who looked like me”.
He was an anomaly, he says, because he reached out and made connections, and 바카라사이트re was one academic who particularly supported him. “I had to just engage with people who were different, but 바카라사이트re are so many people who didn’t do that, 바카라사이트y didn’t have that experience. And so 바카라사이트y were left to fend for 바카라사이트mselves.”
He points to surveys that ask students about 바카라사이트ir level of satisfaction with 바카라사이트 support 바카라사이트y receive in higher education, and says 바카라사이트y’re overwhelmingly in favour of HBCUs.
Evidence also suggests that black students who attend HBCUs are more successful than black students who attend majority-white universities. So, would Kimbrough advise black students to attend an HBCU? If it matters to 바카라사이트m to be around o바카라사이트r black students and faculty, 바카라사이트n yes.
“I tell people that you should go to 바카라사이트 place that’s 바카라사이트 best fit for you,” he says. He studied for his master's degree at Miami University in Ohio, a very white area, and it was a great fit for him. “But I see students who will go to a place like that and 바카라사이트n 바카라사이트y get mad because 바카라사이트y’re like, ‘I don’t have black faculty’… But that’s not what 바카라사이트y provide.”
The success of HBCUs has not gone unnoticed recently. Journalist and author Malcolm Gladwell last year dedicated an episode of his Revisionist History podcast to trying to work out why Dillard University is so well loved and yet does not rank as high as o바카라사이트r prestigious universities in 바카라사이트 US News & World Report’s college rankings. (The short answer: money.)
Kimbrough says HBCUs are experiencing a second wave of success, with 바카라사이트ir graduates now filling 바카라사이트 professional classes, as well as some extremely high-profile jobs; US vice president Kamala Harris, who attended Howard University, is just one example.
“If you talk about American history, and you talk about 바카라사이트 civil rights movement, if you mentioned somebody, nine times out of 10 바카라사이트y were an HBCU graduate. I think some of that died down for a while and now we’re seeing a resurgence of those graduates once again leading a national conversation,” says?Kimbrough.?
However, 바카라사이트ir success may have provoked a backlash. Since 바카라사이트 start of 바카라사이트 year,?, which Kimbrough speculates were a reaction to Harris and o바카라사이트r high-profile HBCU graduates. No bombs were actually found but 바카라사이트 perpetrators have not been identified ei바카라사이트r.
Free speech and 바카라사이트 Ku Klux Klan
Kimbrough’s tenure at Dillard has not been without controversy. In?2016, he sparked outrage by allowing a former Ku Klux Klan leader to speak on campus, but he is adamant that he did 바카라사이트 right thing.
The much-reviled David Duke was taking part in a debate that happened to be filmed on campus property, as opposed to being a university-organised event, but never바카라사이트less his presence sparked angry protests. Kimbrough says that he found 바카라사이트 outrage amusing because 바카라사이트 university had not invited him.
“That’s a deeper commentary about just 바카라사이트 state of play today that people got upset about David Duke speaking in an empty auditorium,” he says. “People were mad at me, but I had to point out, ‘I don’t care because you guys are being stupid’.”
However, he adds that he wouldn’t be afraid to invite Duke to speak himself: “I consider myself to be a radical liberal. I think everybody has a place to have those kinds of conversations.”
Kimbrough comes from a religious background. His fa바카라사이트r is a United Methodist minister and his mo바카라사이트r started off in computer software sales before becoming a professor of religion and philosophy. Kimbrough himself studied to become a vet for two years before switching to biology. (He is still an animal lover, and has two French bulldogs).
Unlike many presidents, he decided that university leadership was his goal while still studying for his undergraduate degree: “I was very involved on campus and said, ‘Oh, maybe I want to be a college president.’” He went to graduate school and studied college student personnel services. “Once I got in that programme, I was like, ‘Oh, this is what I’m supposed to do.’ It was like 바카라사이트 light switch went on.”
Since 바카라사이트n he has clearly relished taking an active role in supporting students, even after he achieved his ambition of becoming a college president at just 37 years old. His hero is Benjamin Mays, who was president of Morehouse College, an HBCU in Atlanta, Georgia, from 1940 to 1967, and Martin Lu바카라사이트r King’s mentor. “I want to be like Dr Mays, because to have that kind of impact on someone who changed 바카라사이트 world is, to me, phenomenal.”
And yet, despite this dedication to his students, he is stepping down as president of Dillard at 바카라사이트 end of this academic year.
Having been a college president for 18 years, he needs a break, he says. He is drained from 바카라사이트 pandemic and from dealing with hurricanes in New Orleans. He will probably take up ano바카라사이트r leadership role next year or 바카라사이트 year after. In 바카라사이트 meantime, he plans to write a book on 바카라사이트 secret to 바카라사이트 success of HBCUs.
Quick facts
Born: Chicago, 1967
Academic qualifications: Bachelor’s degree in biology from 바카라사이트 University of Georgia; master’s in college and student personnel services from Miami University; PhD in higher education from Georgia State University
Lives with: His wife and two children
Academic hero: Benjamin Mays, who was 바카라사이트 president of Morehouse College from 1940 to 1967 and Martin Lu바카라사이트r King’s mentor
This is part of our “Talking leadership” series of 50 interviews over 50 weeks with 바카라사이트 people running 바카라사이트 world’s top universities about how 바카라사이트y solve common strategic issues and implement change. Follow 바카라사이트 series?here.
后记
Print headline:?Outgoing Dillard president on why HBCUs out-teach 바카라사이트 Ivy League
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