In this installment of EA's Black Book Discussions join us for a conversation with Dr. Colette Pierce Burnette, President of Huston-Tillotson University-an HBCU and Dr. Eddie R. Cole, author of The Campus Color Line: College Presidents and the Struggle for Black Freedom
About the Book:
Some of America’s most pressing civil rights issues—desegregation, equal educational and employment opportunities, housing discrimination, and free speech—have been closely intertwined with higher education institutions. Although it is commonly known that college students and other activists, as well as politicians, actively participated in the fight for and against civil rights in the middle decades of the twentieth century, historical accounts have not adequately focused on the roles that the nation’s college presidents played in the debates concerning racism. Based on archival research conducted at a range of colleges and universities across the United States, The Campus Color Line sheds light on the important place of college presidents in the struggle for racial parity. The Campus Color Line illuminates how the legacy of academic leaders’ actions continues to influence the unfinished struggle for Black freedom and racial equity in education and beyond.
About the author:
Eddie R. Cole, Ph.D., is associate professor of higher education and organizational change at UCLA. Dr. Cole’s research focuses on college presidents’ historic role in shaping racial policies and practices both inside and outside of the educational sphere. As a scholar of higher education history, his approach in covering historical material and making connections to the current, critical context has garnered respect and praise from academics as well as intellectuals and activists beyond the academy. His finesse in using extensive, historical materials to address contemporary racial issues in higher education demonstrates the role of higher education in influencing all aspects of American life. Dr. Cole’s scholarship and public writing has also been featured in The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, and Chronicle of Higher Education.
About Dr. Pierce-Burnette:
Dr. Burnette, a native of Cleveland, Ohio, joined Huston-Tillotson University as president on July 1, 2015. She served as interim President at Pierce College in Puyallup, Washington; the Vice President for Administration and Chief Financial Officer, Executive Assistant to the President, Vice President for Information Technology and Services, and Chief Information Officer at Central State University in Wilberforce, Ohio; Dean of Information Technology at Pierce College in Lakewood, Washington; and Manager of Consulting and Project Management Services at the Washington State Department of Transportation in Olympia, Washington. Colette has combined her IQ, EQ, entrepreneurial spirit, and technical knowledge to forge successful careers in engineering, information technology, and higher education. Before transitioning into higher education, Dr. Burnette worked as a Computer Analyst at The Washington Post, an Operations Support Engineer at Proctor and Gamble, Director of Information Systems at Neighborhood Reinvestment Corp., and ran her own computer consulting firm, CompuMent.
The book can be purchased at:
https://press.princeton.edu/.../978.../the-campus-color-line
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