A Higher Education Equity Walk in The Struggle for American Identity

Book excerpt: A Higher Education Equity Walk in the Struggle for American Identity offers a compelling case study by Lenford Sutton recounting the author's parallel experience as the first black man to serve as the tempered radical in a historically white learning community. In the Southwest. Drawing parallels with the tragic fate of Ahmad Aubry in an unwelcoming community, Sutton sheds light on the visible and unseen cultural frameworks, racial habits, and value gaps leaders from non-dominant groups navigate when pursuing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion goals and objects within the university strategic plans of Historically White Institutions. In addition, it captures deep reflection from the experience, reframing problems in the spirit of Design Thinking with particular emphasis on Empathy as the Gateway to problem-solving. Recognizing that Digital transformation, both cultural and demographic shifts, are the drivers of enormous changes that foster fear and increased uncertainty, the text emphasizes the new learnings and recommendations for leaders operating in similar circumstances. It connotes that tempered radicals often reside at the intersection of innovation and the status quo and, in the current cultural and technological disruption of higher education, can serve the institution well if deployed appropriately by university leadership to scale its culture.