On Diversity: Access Ain’t Inclusion | Anthony Jack | TEDxCambridge

I remember the first time I set foot on the Amherst College campus was with my mother and brother. We drove from Miami, the flights were too expensive plus we were all afraid to fly anyway, we took out dr. Pratt got out of the car and took a deep breath of fresh country air, but then my brother started laughing and saw a little bug running across the yard. Tony said, everyone pays how much school costs here and they have rats, yeah. it was a chipmunk we had never seen a real one before his joke barely concealed his excitement it did nothing for his nerves we were in another world so yes, me here, a Harvard professor in an opera house, is a testament to the fact that even under impe dreams come true I am the proud son of a high school security guard, the brother of a janitor, both hardworking but without a college education.

I am from a poor, segregated community in Miami that even my local newspaper called a place to spend time with God. There is often more fighting and celebrating high school was the finish line when I was growing up, there were only three Ivy League schools, Harvard Yale and Princeton, and the only reason Princeton makes the list is because of Prince of Bel-air, but such is the pernicious power of poverty that isolates and separates, creates two worlds occupied by those who have and those who never have, to such an extent that people equate the income of poor students like me with the college with the golden ticket, not to Willy Wonka's chocolate factory.

But for those bastions of power and privilege, getting in is only half the battle. Universities, like many organizations, have invested millions in

diversity

recruiting, but have given less thought to what to do when students arrive on campus. Access is not part of the reason

inclusion

is Because universities get their new

diversity

from old sources, my research is the first to show that universities get half of their poor black students from boarding schools. Bay, a third of Latinos are - I call these students poor privileged universities, like poor students from private schools. schools because they have cultural capital those ways of being that are taken for granted and valued in mainstream institutions the other poor black and Latino students in local public schools typically struggling do not enter with the same cultural capital I call these students who are doubly disadvantaged It was my interviews with one hundred and three university students that show how poverty and inequality stopped those who did it.

As it turns out, when students enter college, whether a community college or an Ivy League institution, they encounter a hidden curriculum, a system of unwritten rules, and professors with unstated expectations. use class terms like office hours, but they only say when they are, they never say what they are, you see, universities expect students to feel comfortable, involving professors, I mean, this is the way to letters of recommendation , is the path to emotional support when times get tough. you and the faculty are even valuable to your GPA. A research project showed that each visit to office hours corresponds to a 1.25% increase in your final grade for that course, but this expectation is not stated, there are no manuals of do's and don'ts, wins the house and does not express itself. if students want something, they will come operates like the golden ticket the university corollary of the squeaky wheel is greased imagine the culture shock so the doubly disadvantaged experience was otherworldly for valaria, a low-income student from the Midwest, her teachers spent more time keeping order instead of making connections she went to college believing in the American dream she believed her advancement should be about work that's how her father saw the world that's also how he told her to see it too mija You don't want to go ahead kissing ass, do you?

You want it through hard work. It will take longer, mija, but you will feel more proud. Let's not be too quick to label this father's advice as bad. In 2016, a dean at Dean College approached me. He wanted to know how he could increase academic engagement among his low-income students. I told him: let's start with something basic. Let's define office hours. Something I said resonated with her when she finally asked her students why they didn't visit her during office hours. They said miss. We thought it was her time to do her work in her office without being disturbed.

It's a reasonable assumption to make that something was lost in translation that had nothing to do with English proficiency, but let's remember the privileged poor, those alumni of prep schools where contact with teachers is not only encouraged but integrated. in the structure of the place students like a bully a thoughtful Latina a bully comes from a troubled neighborhood but attended a New England boarding school she was taught in high school doctors Doctors were also dorm parents she entered college feeling entitled to talk to a professor and say hello I want to meet with you my high school told me I can do it it's actually my right even when her professor was off campus she had no qualms about calling him for virtual office hours despite the surprised looks of her student friends College students from America's forgotten neighborhoods and overlooked schools are truly at a disadvantage if colleges continue to privilege privilege, we cannot take for granted that all students have had the opportunity to practice, much less master, these skills before arriving on campus.

And as college office hours become open-door policies at work, this process may continue, we wonder why we can hire diverse applicants but can't seem to promote them. College letters of recommendation depend on relationships with students. teachers as well as promotion at work depends on relationships with superiors for me I watch the seagull of a crowd and learn to navigate office hours similar to a bully. I received those 1 letters of recommendation, even coming from the president of the university. I learned that it's not just about what you know and who you know, but also who knows you and how well they know you. but I'm not that naive the obstacles to

inclusion

are not simply social universities take for granted not only what students know but also what they can't afford sometimes the very policies universities implement harm all low-income students , the privileged poor, and the decision of doubly disadvantaged colleges to close for spring break assuming everyone can go have fun in the sun is a case in point, but what if you can't go home?

What if you don't have a home to go to? What happens to you if hurting yourself at home are synonyms? The campus, for better or worse, is your refuge, but professors flee and friends abandon nearby buildings, even turning down the heat in the dorms. You pass by the cafeteria and the lights are off on the chairs. They are stacked on top of the tables you walk through the cafeteria and the lights are off, you can literally still see the plates and trays, the forks and knives through the fence that keeps you out, no wonder why poor students like it Ariana calls spring break the real hunger games, but how close it is to living in the districts is downright depressing when the campus is closed students return with food and safety not knowing where their next meal is coming from sometimes there are times desperate people demanding desperate measures.

I attended a conference for first-generation college students and met a young woman who was white and witty and had her hair cut like a pixie and was wearing a blue Columbia University sweatshirt. She bravely stood in a room to talk about how she spent her last spring break. At one of the country's wealthiest colleges, she ramped up her online dating activity the week before spring break to secure dates the following week, relying on the gender norms of older men who paid for the first meal. She treated OkCupid like it was the door. Tinder like GrubHub was too expensive and too widespread, she offered her time.

This doesn't make sense, but it is a reality for many students across the country. Two in five college students in the United States are food insecure instead of investing time in learning linear algebra. Many invest. your times make ends meet, you know, the question of whether diversity is worth it is always present and not only in universities but in organizations of all kinds, the answer is yes, it is, but we should not be surprised that certain new groups fight against these unwritten rules. and injuries, obstacles not only trip them up but keep them marginalized, we must move from

access

to inclusion and data will help in this effort.

I have shared with you only two issues that undermine diversity efforts, the hidden curriculum and food and safety. There are many more, both social and structural in nature, so I leave you with this, what else do we take for granted? Thank you.