Williams - Strategic Diversity Leadership: Activating Change and Transformation in Higher Education

STRATEGIC DIVERSITY LEADERSHIP

COMPANION VOLUME

THE CHIEF DIVERSITY OFFICER

Strategy, Structure, and Change Management
Damon A. Williams and Katrina Wade-Golden

Also available as

THE DIVERSITY LEADERSHIP SET

ACTIVATING CHANGE AND TRANSFORMATION IN HIGHER EDUCATION

DAMON A. WILLIAMS
Foreword by William G. Tierney

COPYRIGHT 2013 by

STYLUS PUBLISHING, LLC.

Published by Stylus Publishing, LLC
22883 Quicksilver Drive
Sterling, Virginia 20166-2102

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced in any form or by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying, recording and information storage and retrieval, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Williams, Damon A.

Strategic diversity leadership / Damon A. Williams.

pages cm

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-1-57922-819-4 (cloth : alk. paper)

ISBN 978-1-57922-821-7 (library networkable e-edition)

ISBN 978-1-57922-822-4 (consumer e-edition)

1. MinoritiesEducation (Higher)United States.

2. Educational leadershipUnited States.

3. Educational equalizationUnited States. I. Title.

LC3731.W53 2013

378.19820973dc23

2012045091

13-digit ISBN: 978-1-57922-819-4 (cloth)

13-digit ISBN: 978-1-57922-821-7 (library networkable e-edition)

13-digit ISBN: 978-1-57922-822-4 (consumer e-edition)

Printed in the United States of America

All first editions printed on acid free paper that meets the American National Standards Institute Z39-48 Standard.

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First Edition, 2013

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To my wife Kisha,
it starts and ends with you.

William G. Tierney

Genuine gratitude goes to my family and friends for their love, support, and sacrifices, during my sustained recesses in developing this work. It was a creative journey that took so much to realize. I appreciate your patience through the long silences and unreturned phone calls, as my nearly every moment was consumed with my leadership responsibilities and dogged desire to produce two books worthy of the investment that each of you have made in me through the years.

I am especially thankful for my father and mother, Stephen and Melanie Williams, and my grandparents Melvin and Katherine Williams, Arthur and Marjorie Stephens, and Charles and Mary Fields, who sacrificed so much to ensure that I received the best education possible.

This work would not have been possible without my coauthor on The Chief Diversity Officer, research partner, and sisterDr. Katrina Wade-Golden. You are an amazing scholar, wonderful mother, wife, sister, and friend to all that know you. I am so happy for you, Roderick, Dash, and Aciemy accomplishments are partially a reflection of your friendship and support through the years. I am thankful to have you in my life and look forward to our continuing partnership and collective contributions to this work.

I have been particularly privileged to have a number of mentors and role models who have made powerful contributions to my development through the years. Ronald Taylor, Gerald Gurin, Frank Longstreth, Sallye McKee, John Matlock, Ron Crutcher, Alma Clayton-Pedersen, Marvin Peterson, Cheryl Apprey, Susan Mosley-Howard, Lester Monts, Rodney Coates, Walter Kimbrough, and Charlie Nelms have been particularly strengthening in their vision, support, and role modeling.

Of special significance was the generous and clarifying aid of my editor John Ramsburgh, who with patience and powerful attention to the nuances of writing provided stellar assistance through multiple drafts of this manuscript. Your critical and careful reading provided valuable feedback on matters of substance, mechanics, and style, as you served as an insightful sounding board for my hopes and dreams with the project. You are truly gifted and I look forward to continuing our work together.

I also thank Dan Chen of Pixedge, who designed the cover and models embedded throughout both books. Dan, you are my design hero, a true creative whose artistic talents are only matched by the depth of your technical expertise, and the kindness through which you give of your time and brilliance. I am thankful to count you as an ally in my efforts to bring clarity and insight into the process of leading organizational change.

To the men and women, the chief diversity officers, and diversity champions, who shared their ideas and experiences in this work, I am eternally grateful to your struggle and the depth of your commitment to issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion. Please know that I will always maintain the highest standards of integrity, focus, and commitment to helping those who are vulnerable, and leading our institutions to become inclusive and excellent for all.

Kudos to John von Knorring, publisher of Stylus Publishing, who was eternally patient and supportive as this book dragged into the third and fourth years of writing, and ultimately became two books that complement and extend one another. Your efforts to provide a tier-one publishing platform for diverse ideas make you a powerful leader in the strategic diversity leadership movement. I am thankful to call you a friend and ally in this work.

Finally, to my staff, students, and colleagues at the University of WisconsinMadison and the University of Connecticut, I appreciate your investment in this project and understanding of the life that I have chosen to lead as a scholar-administrator-educator. Your genuine concern for the broader mission of diversity, equity, and inclusion is a reflection of the true character and commitment that each of you possess. While too many exist to nameplease know that I am eternally grateful for your contributions toward making this work possible.

In his 1903 epic The Souls of Black Folk, W. E. B. Du Bois commented that the problem of the Twentieth Century is the problem of the color line. Damon Williams makes the case that the problem has extended into the twenty-first century as well, but he makes the argument more complex. Whereas Du Bois wrote about race and ethnicity, Williams employs a broad, overarching definition of diversity. He includes not only race, but also gender, LGBT, disability, and other matters related to ones identity.

Strategic Diversity Leadership makes the assumption that diversity is central to a successful country, but for diversity to succeed necessitates strategyit does not just organically happen. Such an observation is crucial. An analogy is apt: At my own institution, the University of Southern California, we are in the midst of a capital campaign. We wish to raise 6 billion dollars over seven years. Or actually, we do not wish to raise money; we intend to raise money. Our intent is based on a strategic plan on how to do it. As with any capital campaign, we quietly raised about $1 billion before we launched the campaign. We hired many development officers to help with the activities involved. We wrote a strategic plan. We figured out our objectives. We have benchmarks on how much we want to raise each year. We know what we need to do to reach our target and what we will do if we fall behind. The deans and the faculty have their marching orders. In effect, the entire institution is focused on what needs to be done to reach a goal that is among the most ambitious in higher education.