My Time in the Academy: A Cautionary Tale

Abstract

The author of this chapter is a former college professor. Sandwiched around his time in the academy, he has spent time as a K-12 educator. The author explains how he suffered horrific racism and mistreatment during his time in higher education. He filed a massive complaint (over 30 pages excluding supporting documentation) that he believes cost several people their jobs including the then Departmental Chair. At the time of his hiring, the university was going through reaccreditation and had been cited for a lack of racial, ethnic, and geographic diversity as well as a low percentage of full-time faculty with earned doctorate degrees. The author believes with his hiring the university could check off all those boxes in regards to racial diversity. The author believes the university's intent was never for him to succeed; but rather the intent was to have the optics of diversity during the reaccreditation process and then unceremoniously separate him from the university.

The author believes he won in many ways but may never gain employment in academia again. With this chapter, the author hopes to help other Black male academics to avoid the pitfalls and mistakes he made.

Citation

Minor, C.J. (2021), "My Time in the Academy: A Cautionary Tale", Davis, C.H., Hilton, A., Hamrick, R. and Brooks, F.E. (Ed.) The Beauty and the Burden of Being a Black Professor (Diversity in Higher Education, Vol. 24), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 67-78. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1479-364420210000024007