MINNEAPOLIS—Amid the ongoing attacks to higher education, experts who study the field are gathering this week to debate and respond to the growing political challenges that have impacted colleges and universities.
The annual meeting of the Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE) has become the go-to place for practitioners looking to call attention to a wide-range of topics including academic freedom, campus sexual violence and the growing legislation against efforts to promote diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging on college campuses across the nation.
The current political climate has been worrisome for Dr. Sayvon Foster, an assistant professor of sports management, who is a first-time ASHE attendee. He fears that the attacks on diversity will likely increase as the 2024 presidential election grows nearer.
“I am definitely concerned, but that’s why I wanted to be in this space,” said Foster.
Networking, he said, with other scholars has provided him with the “due diligence that I am sending my students into the right spaces for graduate school where they are safe on campus and off.”
Dr. Ana M. Martínez-Alemán, president of ASHE said that this year’s conference is committed to interrogating purposes and practices within higher education.
“How can our empirical security address political forces that impact how we educate and serve students; or how we protect academic freedom or the livelihood of staff; or how we can inform legislation on access, affordability, and research integrity?” asked Martínez-Alemán, who is also an associate dean for faculty & academic affairs at Boston College.
