The Pullias Center Alumni Equity Awards
Supporting Racial Equity and Inclusion in Higher Ed
The Pullias Center asks the organization’s alumni to submit proposals for research projects that explore racial equity and inclusion in higher education and presents $5,000 awards to support them. Each of the three projects chosen as winners each year features an alumna or alumnus of the Center exploring a different facet of systemic racism that directly impacts Black, indigenous, people of color (BIPOC) access to education, specifically postsecondary education. These winning projects were selected through a blind review conducted by Pullias Center faculty along with Adrianna Kezar, Director of the Pullias Center.
2022 Awards
Critical Race Theory Webinar
Raquel M. Rall (USC ‘14)
and
Antar Tichavakunda (USC ‘18)
This project posits that while both the left and right-focus mainstream media channels have a lot to say about CRT with their own inherent biases, more public discussions with experts about what CRT is and is not are solely needed.
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What is Critical Race Theory (CRT)?
This oft-misunderstood theory has elicited strong responses and moral panic, with some researchers suggesting that CRT is not a theory and questioning its rigor and validity.
In this webinar, Pullias Center alumni Raquel M. Rall and Antar Tichavakunda explored what CRT is and is not with a panel of scholars whose research and practice is grounded in CRT.
Panelists:
Kaleb Briscoe — Mississippi State University
Nichole Garcia — Rutgers University
Aja Martinez — University of North Texas
Victor Ray — University of Iowa
Researchers:
Raquel Rall
PhD, Urban Education Policy, 2014
Associate Professor of Higher Education, University of California, Riverside
Antar Tichavakunda
PhD, Urban Education Policy, 2018
Assistant Professor of Higher Education, University of California, Santa Barbara
The End of Racial Justice?
A Content Analysis of Racial Justice Backlash Bills
Jarrett Gupton (USC ‘09)
This project examines the impact that federal executive orders and state bills enacted since the Summer of 2020 and the “racial reckoning that forced the country and higher education organizations to interrogate how they were complicit with structural racism” have had on universities and the evolution of the regressive rhetoric surrounding the racial justice backlash.
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Read Jarrett's final report, here.
Researcher:
Jarrett Gupton
PhD, Urban Education Policy, 2009
Assistant Professor, University of South Florida
Global White Supremacy, Anti-Blackness, and the University
Alexander Jun (USC ‘08)
This project examines the idea of the university as a carrier of White dominance, and the role they play in knowledge and empire production.
Previous Awardees
Technology and College Access
Sharla Berry (USC ‘17)
This project examines the barriers that Black students face in attaining college access, specifically how technology plays an imperative role in providing students with the right opportunities and resources to attain college access.
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This project examines the experiences of Black youth in using technology for educational purposes, such as college access. While there are many initiatives being put in place today to increase postsecondary enrollment for underrepresented students, many of these initiatives may not consider the increasingly digital component of college access. This work also considers the assets Black youth bring to technology as innovators and early adopters.
Researcher:
Sharla Berry
PhD, University of Southern California, Urban Education Policy, 2017
Assistant Professor, Department of Educational Leadership, California Lutheran University
Homeless and Foster Youth
James Dean Ward (USC ‘14)
This project examines economic, social, and political forces that result in racial disparities within foster and homeless youth and how their unique experiences directly impact their access to educational opportunities, specifically focusing on their postsecondary experiences.
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This project consisted of a literature review that studies the intersection between foster or homeless youth, their racial and sexual identities, and how the confluence of these experiences directly impact their access to postsecondary educational opportunities. Lead researcher James Ward reviewed current state policies that seek to improve postsecondary opportunities for foster and homeless youth, and identify gaps that will require recommendations necessary to accurately and appropriately address the comprehensive set of needs that the diverse population of homeless and foster youth have. The final brief provides recommendations for the policies in addition to facilitating avenues for future research.
Researcher:
James Dean Ward
PhD, University of Southern California, Urban Education Policy, 2018
Postdoctoral Research Associate, Pullias Center for Higher Education, 2018-19
Senior Researcher at Ithaka S+R
Getting the Boards Involved
Raquel M. Rall (USC ‘14)
This project examines the role a university’s board of trustees plays when universities seek to combat racial inequity on-campus.
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This project aims to create a guidebook that will delineate digestible background information and tangible takeaways that will help K-12 school board members better recognize and understand their explicit and implicit roles in worsening, improving or maintaining how campuses address racial equity. Lead researcher, Raquel Rall, uses a literature review at the intersection of racial equity and governance to create a general “guidebook” outlining what board members need to know about racial (in)equity, and how centering equity is essential to their decision-making roles.
Researcher:
Raquel Rall
PhD, Urban Education Policy, 2014
Associate Professor of Higher Education, University of California, Riverside
Understanding the Narratives of Safe Space
Cecile Sam (USC ‘12)
This project examines the idea of “safe spaces” in higher education by drawing on over 400 news articles from 2004-2018 to formulate a critical discourse analysis of how the term “safe space” has been reported in higher education news.
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This project is a discourse analysis of how the term “safe space” has been reported in higher education news. Data was gathered from over 400 news articles that mentioned “safe space” between the years 2004-2018 and data will be analyzed through examination of the different ways it has either been implicitly or explicitly defined and the controversies linked with those definitions. This project functions on the overall premise that the idea of safe space is valuable in higher education, but will not offer specific policy recommendations for implementation. Instead, the researcher aims to create a brief that will provide: (1) an explanation of how the brief can inform the policy process; (2) a broad overview of the history and recent controversies surrounding safe space; (3) variations of how safe space is defined or enacted at campus, division, and classroom levels within an institution, with special attention given to the remote-learning campus; and (4) a list of resources for further information.
Researcher:
Dr. Cecile Sam
PhD, Urban Education, USC Rossier School of Education, 2012
Assistant Professor, Rowan University
The State of Black Students in Higher Education
Antar Tichavakunda (USC ‘18)
This project examines how anti-blackness manifests in higher education access and persistence for Black people in a region with a large Black population.
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Today, about 42.9% of Cincinnati, Ohio’s population is represented by Black people, the second largest racial group in the city. Yet, Black unemployment in the Cincinnati metro area is at an all time high and with the exception of one university, at no point between 2013 and 2017 did any postsecondary institution have greater than a 10% Black undergraduate student population. Anti-Blackness is prevalent in Cincinnati despite it’s large population of Black individuals, and this project will study how anti-Blackness manifests itself in higher education access and persistence in particular.
Upon moving to Cincinnati as an Assistant Professor at the University of Cincinnati, Tichavakunda was disappointed to find that information about Black students and college access was not readily available. As a result, Tichavakunda hopes his project will fill the gap and document the state of Black students in higher education in southwest Ohio. Tichavakunda's report will serve as a framework for other cities and regions interested in investigating the state of Black people in relation to higher education for their specific municipalities.
Researcher:
Antar Tichavakunda
PhD, University of Southern California, Urban Education Policy, 2018
Assistant Professor, University of Cincinnati