Tia Brown McNair - From Equity Talk to Equity Walk: Expanding Practitioner Knowledge for Racial Justice in Higher Education

1. Chapter 1
2. Chapter 3

Achieving equity in higher education requires clarity of purpose and sustained, purposeful action. The authors of this important new book are steeped in years of experience in both and provide us with insights, information, tactics, and strategies presented so readers may move at their own pace. And move we must to make colleges and universities learning environments for all our students to thrive.

Sarita E. Brown, President, Excelencia in Education

No one at any college or university ought to claim a serious commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion without first reading this important book and skillfully implementing its authors smart recommendations. It overflows with conceptual brilliance, credible evidence, and practically useful strategies.

Shaun R. Harper, Provost Professor and Executive Director, University of Southern California Race and Equity Center

From Equity Talk to Equity Walk is a master class on moving from the theory of the case for equity to the expansive action that: facilitates equity-mindedness, creates an equitable perspective of the way forward in higher education, and measures equitable outcomes for students. McNair, Bensimon, and Malcom-Piqueux take the reader through the academic scholarship on equity, to the practical application of the same, through their direct, unapologetic approach on the matter, to their first-hand recounting of case studies of their direct work with hundreds of institutions, all in an effort to meet the readers where they are on their equity journey.

From Equity Talk to Equity Walk serves as a confirming love letter for the duly-initiated equity walkers as well as a guide and a handbook for the newly initiated equity talkers! This book is required reading for every institutional or policy practitioner whose goal is to facilitate and realize institutional transformation at their college or university, and to achieve equitable outcomes for historically underrepresented, minoritized, and marginalized students seeking to complete a college education within structures and systems that were not created or designed for their success. For all of us seeking to upend those systems and structures, and build a new model for current and future collegians focused on student success for all students, not the few this book is for you!

Yolanda Watson Spiva, PhD, President, Complete College America

Tia Brown McNair

Estela Mara Bensimon

Lindsey Malcom-Piqueux

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FIRST EDITION

Completing this book would not have been possible without the dedication and commitment of many people throughout this journey. A special thank you to Ben Dedman, associate editor and staff writer, print and digital content, at the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U), who read drafts of the chapters and provided feedback and editing guidance. Also, thank you to JoEllen Alberts, program coordinator in the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Student Success, who did reference checks and file organization for submission deadlines.

We are additionally grateful to Debbie Hanson, senior project specialist, at the USC Center for Urban Education, for the development and facilitation of data-based activities to assist our campus partners in learning how to make sense of data, and to Deanna Cherry, senior facilitator, for leading the facilitation of activities and dialogue at the Equity Academy held in 2015 in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.

The work highlighted in this book represents the devotion of countless educators seeking to improve the experiences of students who have been traditionally marginalized in higher education. Thank you for all you have done and continue to do; We want to specifically thank the institutions that participated in AAC&U's Committing to Equity and Inclusive Excellence: Campus-Based Strategies for Student Success funded by USA Funds (now Strada Education Network) and Great Lakes Higher Education Guaranty Corporation (now Ascendium Education Group). To Dr. Lorenzo Esters, who served as our program officer and who initially funded this project, thank you for your vision, your confidence, and your willingness to partner with us. The power of our collective action will prevail.

A special thank you to the people in our lives who support us unconditionally. We couldn't do what we do without you.

Tia Brown McNair currently is the vice president of Diversity, Equity, and Student Success and Executive Director for the Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation (TRHT) Campus Centers at the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U), where she leads national efforts to improve quality in undergraduate education for underserved students. McNair also directs AAC&U's Summer Institutes on High-Impact Educational Practices and Student Success and TRHT Campus Centers.