New Report Explores Leadership to Navigate a Racial Crisis

Three years ago, the University of Missouri invited the American Council on Education (ACE) to study what led to the university’s 2015-16 racial crisis and how the institution responded. A new report highlights the progress and initiatives the University has since implemented to navigate and heal racial tensions on-campus, providing useful insight for campuses looking to address issues of racial equity following recent nationwide unrest. 

The report, Leading After a Racial Crisis: Weaving a Campus Tapestry of Diversity and Inclusion, is a collaboration between the University of Missouri’s Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and the American Council on Education (ACE) Center for Policy Research and Strategy (CPRS). This report and its findings result from a multi-year case study of the University of Missouri’s journey to navigate racial tensions and how leaders worked to increase diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) capacity on-campus in the years following the protests that took place in 2015-16.

This report documents the programs that have since helped the University of Missouri to progress and encourage inclusiveness within their culture. Programs such as The Inclusive Excellence Framework, The Inclusion and Belonging Series, a $60 million Promise and Opportunity Scholarship, and a focus on building relationships and investing resources to increase DEI work within the community were implemented.

“Racism and its effects on people and systems remain one of the toughest and most complex to meaningfully address,” observes Adrianna Kezar, Director of the Pullias Center and one of the lead authors on the report. “Recent events have made this even more clear, so higher education leaders should recognize that recovery is neither linear nor predictable and only occurs through authentic, intentional, and continuous work on issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion. Our research, and this report, make that clear.”

The first report highlights a capacity building and trauma recovery framework. The second describes the fragmentation of perspectives, tensions, and emotions across the campus community.

As a result of this fragmentation, the report makes a case for the need of a weaver-leader; individuals that encourage over-communication, set expectations, and build relationships that create a common ground on which to move a community forward following a crisis. This framework is particularly significant to creating shared expectations and a shared vision committed to diversity and inclusion on-campus.

“The most appropriate action that campus leaders can take – from the president on down – is to embrace a commitment to enhancing their capacity to lead on DEI and respond effectively when racial incidents occur,” notes Kezar.

Adrianna Kezar, Dean’s Professor of Leadership, Wilbur-Kieffer Professor of Higher Education at the University of Southern California, and Sharon Fries-Britt, Professor of Higher Education and Distinguished Scholar-Teacher at the University of Maryland at College Park are lead authors of the report. Pullias Center research assistants Marissiko M. Wheaton and Jude Paul Matias Dizon, along with Elizabeth Kurban and Donté McGuire at the University of Maryland, College Park, also contributed to the report.

This report is a follow-up from an initial 2018 report on the study titled “Speaking Truth and Acting With Integrity: Confronting Challenges of Campus Racial Climate,” which introduced a collective trauma framework and discussed how institutions can lead and begin the emotional healing process after experiencing a racial crisis.

Visit the Pullias Center’s Equity and Leadership page to learn more about this and related research or sign up for the Pullias Center’s newsletter.