Faculty report on racism reaches several ‘painful’ conclusions
Gary King, a Penn State professor, couldn’t read all his Black colleagues’ comments on racism in one sitting. He’d read a portion, before his heart grew heavy and his mind became overwhelmed — and he’d take a break.
Then he’d come back and repeat the process. Until he was finished.
King — and five other co-authors with doctorates — recently published a 108-page report that surveyed African American faculty members at University Park and the commonwealth campuses, recording their concerns and analyzing their responses. The goal was to identify Penn State’s shortcomings while also measuring the insti
tutional racism and interpersonal racism that Black faculty experienced.
Even King, a longtime professor of biobehavioral health, was stunned at how pervasive the racism was. And he couldn’t stand to read the dozens of pages of anonymous comments in one sitting:
Someone wrote the N-word in the dirt on my car and other hate speech.
I was stopped while walking. I was surrounded by campus police. I have been followed around campus by police.
Told by students that I must be a genius because how else could I do what I do and be Black.
I have been greeted at Penn State Donor Relations events with “What are you doing here?” and “How did you get in here?”
“It was very painful, not only for me but for other co-authors to read that,” King said. “But we want the world to know that this exists.”
King’s report — titled, “More Rivers to Cross: Black Faculty and Academic Racism at Penn State University (Part 2)” — comes a year after the first report, which sparked change in the university by centering on its lack of recruitment and retainment of Black faculty members. This second report reiterated that point while focusing on a culture that allows racism to permeate through the university.
According to a survey of 134 Black faculty members:
More than half (53.1%) said they experienced racism from administrators or supervisors at least “sometimes.”
More than two-thirds (67.7%) said they experienced racism from students in the last three years at least “sometimes.”
And 70.2% felt, at least “sometimes,” that the academic culture at Penn State would not become an equitable environment in the next decade.
“It was very difficult to read and to say, wow, these things are still happening. These things are still going on,” King said. “Because this is something that should not be happening.”
In the comments and anecdotes from Penn State’s African American faculty, the report’s co-authors found pain, anger and frustration at virtually every level of academic life — whether it came from administrators, colleagues or students.
One respondent reported reading racial slurs on the forms students fill out to rate teachers. Another reported being harassed by a white student all semester, and when finally reported, concerns were dismissed as “philosophical differences.” Another said a white colleague voiced that they were simply “tokens.”
Those perceptions and realities were reflected in data that painted a view of distrust and disappointment toward the university. Among the survey’s findings:
Eight in 10 Black professors reported experiencing racism at Penn State, with slightly more at the commonwealth campuses than at University Park. Almost half (48.5%) encountered racism within the first year of their appointment, and one-third experienced racism within one to three years.
Nearly 3 in 4 respondents (73.1%) who experienced racism chose not to report it. Several said they opted for that course because they felt nothing would be done about it.
More than 1 in 3 (36.4%) respondents said they at least “sometimes” regretted the decision to join Penn State. At the commonwealth campuses, 13.8% “often” regretted it while 6.3% at University Park “often” felt the same way.
King hoped people might look at those numbers, read the comments and spend some time with the report to understand just how far Penn State must go to foster an environment where all truly feel welcome.
Because, right now he said, all Black professors do not.
Nationally, African Americans account for about 6% of college faculty. At University Park, that number stands at 3.11%, after little change over the last 20 years.
Beth Seymour, president of Penn State’s faculty senate, said her heart broke for her African American colleagues.
The associate teaching professor at Penn State-Altoona doesn’t doubt the candor of their comments. And she doesn’t doubt more could be done.
“I think we are at a hair-on-fire moment about racism, equity and inclusion at this university and in this country,” Seymour said. “So I really think we need to do everything we can and take some hard looks and reevaluate what we’re doing so we can create an environment that is inclusive and promotes belonging.”
Seymour emailed King’s report to every faculty senator, in addition to posting it on the faculty senate website. In response to last year’s report, the faculty senate charged several committees to look at issues such as the student ratings, which the faculty senate initially acknowledged as biased back in 2017.
In a detailed response, the university wrote that tangible progress is being made. Penn State pointed to a number of examples — such as increased diversity in the student body, efforts underway to identify salary inequity and student rating bias, and new support for minority faculty members with career advancement resources.
“Obviously, it is with considerable distress and disappointment that we read about the racist experiences described by faculty who completed the More Rivers to Cross survey,” the university wrote in a statement. “No one in our community should have to endure such treatment.”
Something all parties could agree to — the co-authors, faculty senate and university — was that more needs to be done.
“We will not rest until every student, staff and faculty member feels represented, welcomed and supported,” the university wrote. “The president, provost, deans, chancellors and administrators across the institution are fully committed to this goal.”
The main question is simply how to get there.
Seymour acknowledged it was a “tough job.” And the co-authors seemed to agree, proposing several recommendations they believed the university should follow. Among them:
A “Fifty by Five Plan” with recruitment: The report’s co-authors propose the university fund 50 tenure-track hiring lines for Black faculty — 10 each year, starting in December 2022 and extending until December 2026.
Immediate discontinuation of the student rating system: Instead, replace it with a nonpunitive system designed by a diverse committee across University Park and the commonwealth campuses.
Creation and/or funding several centers: Penn State could create a universitywide research center dedicated to interdisciplinary study of anti-racism, critical race theory, Black history, culture and racial/social justice. It should also restructure the Affirmative Action Office and create an Office of Anti-racism.
King isn’t sure what happens next for Penn State. But he’s spent the last two decades here, and he isn’t planning on going anywhere. No matter what.
“Like a tree that’s planted by the water, I shall not be moved,” King said, quoting a popular hymn of the civil rights movement.