A few weeks ago, I was blessed to get to read to children in School No. 5 in Paterson, something I do every year in March (thank you Betsy Golden for organizing it). I love it as I get to see talented teachers in action, including WP graduates, but also to be reminded that the human mind is an amazing sponge. It is a calling and a gift to be an educator at all levels. | |
| |  | Every time I read, something stands out from the various classroom experiences. This time it was the young Bengali girl sitting close to me, transfixed on my face. As I sought to prompt them to reflect on moments when they took a chance (our book was, What Do You Do with a Chance?), this child looked straight at me and said, “You have blue eyes!” As I looked at the sea of brown and black faces in the room, this girl seemed to have either never seen, or noticed, someone with different colored eyes. Although she said it with a tone of innocent curiosity, my first thought harkened back to a different classroom, in Iowa in 1968, one day after Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated. A white teacher named Jane Elliott was so powerfully moved by what happened that she decided to do an experiment in her all-white classroom. Following a short conversation with the children, with one asking, “Why’d they shoot that King?”, she arranged an experiment, making a case that the children with brown eyes were superior to the ones with blue eyes. In no time she had both groups believing that eye color was linked to intelligence and learning ability, the former acting with obnoxious superiority while the latter isolated themselves and performed more poorly on tests on which they had previously done well. The “superior” group outperformed how they had done prior to the experiment. The next class day she reversed the groups, and while the effects were still evident, they were less intense, ending with Ms. Elliott asking each child to reflect on the experience, something that stuck with these children decades later as being seminally important to their understanding of the insidious effects of discrimination. (See the Eye of the Storm documentary for more about the experiment, and its aftermath, excerpts of which can be found on YouTube, as well as commentary about it.)
| | Fifty-seven years later, it feels like our country is on a path where “othering” is on overdrive. In-group and out-group framing shows up in nearly every news or social media post. In groups feel empowered and validated, leading to increased assertiveness and visibility. Out groups feel targeted or marginalized, manifesting in feelings of alienation and fear. Of late, educators at all levels have been on the receiving end of out-group framing—demonized by some as being part of a wasteful system for which the antidote to U.S. academic performance is the elimination of a federal agency. Other societal forces at work get ignored or glossed over that educators at all levels seek to combat through inclusion rather than exclusion. | | |
One of the characteristics of WP that motivates me is a belief that we define excellence not by who we exclude, but rather include, and the life-changing opportunity of a college education. In 2017, I summitted Mt. Kilimanjaro in Africa, nearly 20,000 feet in elevation and one of the toughest hikes I’ve ever done. One of the things I carried in my pack, though, was this banner. Our strength as a country is our diversity. Thank you, colleagues, for all you do in this noble calling as educators. Who we impact are our neighbors.
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Academic News
UCC Updates. Much to report on the UCC. First, to date, 59 courses have been approved with 19 pending. Second, the fall schedule is built and new UCC courses are in the schedule. Thank you to the deans and chairs on the collaboration for a first launch. Second, as informed by the presentation to Faculty Senate before the break, faculty with approved courses will be receiving an invitation to attend a workshop to aid their requisite build of course shells in Blackboard informed by best practice principles. Additional workshop opportunities to integrate inclusive teaching best practices will also be provided. Lastly, on April 11:00 a.m. at 1:00 p.m. via Zoom, a workshop will be held entitled What is “Critical” About Critical Thinking and How to Approach Tame, Critical, and “Wicked” Problems. The purpose of the session is to convene faculty considering a proposal submission (or who have submitted) a UCC course in this area.
Office of Sponsored Programs Updates. The OSP is monitoring changes and developments in policy by federal funding agencies. Any PIs who have questions or concerns, or who receive communications should immediately contact OSP for assistance with interpretation and clarity in response. There remain many opportunities for grant funding, however, and faculty and staff continue to apply. An application was recently filed for a National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) grant by the Music Department, and COSH faculty have submitted a NSF S-STEM grant. To facilitate grant applications, OSP is happy to announce that starting this spring grant applications will be facilitated using the Cayuse software platform, enabling better documentation and reporting of all sponsored projects.
Three Big Events Hosted by the Library in April. The Library will be hosting a Faculty Open Educational Resources (OER) Forum on April 10 from 12:30 to 2:00 p.m. in the Library Auditorium for sharing faculty experiences with the adoption of OER resources. There also will be SGA panelists who will present student perspectives. Additionally, the Explorations Faculty Forum, a WP event celebrating and honoring research at WP, will be held in the Library Auditorium from 12:30 to 2:00 p.m. on April 29. The event will feature panelists from various colleges and the library discussing their research and creative expression activities, as well as offering insights on the processes and issues associated with conducting scholarship. Student poster displays of their works in the Reference Area will also be featured. Following this presentation will be the University Authors Reception from 3:30 to 5:00 p.m. in the Reference Area that honors faculty and staff who contributed to the scholarly and creative productivity of WP in 2024.
Update on Pre/Post-Doctoral Fellow Searches and Upcoming Scholarship Forum. The University will be hosting a virtual campus visit on April 10 and 11 for finalists in the three current searches for the 2025-27 Fellows in Business Analytics, Computer Science, and Urban Planning. This two-day event includes unique opportunities for finalists and departmental colleagues to build their professional networks and to learn from each other in an innovative scholarship forum, where both fellowship candidates and WP faculty present to each other. The goal throughout the fellowship process is to support the career launch of underrepresented faculty, whether they end up joining our campus community as teaching fellows or not (which is a wonderful way to consider faculty searches, in general). We have seen great success for the first two cohorts of fellows—five of whom are now, or shortly will be, tenure-track assistant professors.
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Facts & Figures
From the Pew Research Center:
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Quotables
“Basic truths do not change. It is a truth that can be embraced by the English, and by the Indian, and by the Mexican and by the Bantu and by the Luo and by the American. It is a truth that lies at the heart of every world religion—that we should do unto others as we would have them do unto us. That we see ourselves in other people. That we can recognize common hopes and common dreams.”
—Barack Obama, Mandela Annual Lecture in South Africa, 2018
“The tradition of America is a glorious tradition, built by sweat and blood, and art and poetry. What will you do to make you worthy of it?”
—Eboo Patel, We Need to Build, 2022
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The Provost’s Office is Brenda, Claudia T., Claudia C., Jonathan, Kara, Rhonda, Sandy, and Josh. You can reach us at
973.720.2122 • provost@wpunj.edu
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