Leaders of Color in Higher Education: Unrecognized Triumphs in Harsh Institutions [Paperback]

This comprehensive study of leaders of color in higher education is a must-read for anyone wishing to understand and/or navigate a career path through the dangerous waters of white-controlled, status quo universities and community colleges in the United States. Based on interviews with pioneers in the field, the author draws upon their personal experiences - and his own-to examine the challenges and dilemmas facing minority members who choose the route of educational leadership. How creative leaders overcome these barriers to success in the academy is the major theme of the volume. The differing issues facing African Americans, Hispanics, Asian Americans, American Indians, and women of color are all addressed in detail, and their commonalities noted. A list of helpful suggestions concerning activism, leadership style, institutional politics, mentorship, and roles are included to help those who contemplate this career path.Leonard A. Valverde, began his education career, as a junior high school mathematics teacher, around the same time as the civil rights movement was starting. He was a teacher in East Los Angeles during the time of the Watts Riots and student walk-outs occurred. Shaped by these societal events and his upbringing as a second generation Mexican-American , his goal - to work to bring about equal educational opportunity - was formed. Due to his actions to work toward his goal, he was recruited by Claremont Graduate University and awarded a Ford Foundation Fellowship to study to be a change agent. Throughout his 35 years as an educator, he has remained true to be an agent for change andtrueto his goal and expanded it, i.e., to bring about social justice for persons of color. Specifically, through the roles he has assumed (Bilingual program director, math teacher supervisor, university professor, director of a research office, department chair, college dean, vice president for academic affairs and dean of graduate studies, and an now as exlÃ)