Restorative Resistance in Higher Education
Leading in an Era of Racial Awakening and Reckoning
Richard J. Reddick, Foreword by Colette Pierce Burnette
paper, 240 Pages
Pub. Date: September 2023
ISBN-13: 978-1-68253-837-1
Price: $38.00
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An affirming resource for leaders and practitioners forwarding diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts on campus.
In Restorative Resistance in Higher Education, diversity researcher and educator Richard J. Reddick shares the wisdom gained from three decades of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) work in educational settings. Reddick centers DEI efforts as challenging yet essential components of college life, recognizing campus environments not just as mirrors reflecting societal values and biases but also as crucibles for social change.
Creating a more equitable college campus, Reddick argues, is a complex task that should be met by all members of the university community. He discusses many measures that promote wider involvement, including campus cultural orientations, professional development for faculty and staff, and frameworks to help institutional leaders respond to inequity and exclusion on campus.
Delivering a trove of best practices for equity advancement, Reddick offers DEI professionals, and all members of the higher education community, the tools to engage in the work on professional, academic, and personal levels. He advocates developmental relationships such as mentoring, role modeling, and coaching as a means for historically marginalized students to access hidden educational pathways. He also encourages frank discussion of the social and emotional tax on persons who participate in or lead work on these highly charged issues. Throughout this crucial work, Reddick emphasizes the importance of restorative and sustaining approaches: those that promote practitioner well-being and challenge unjust structures.
Praise
Rich Reddick has written, not only a useful book, but an inspiring one. Today’s environment has become even more difficult for those doing diversity, equity, and inclusion work, but Reddick’s commitment shines through and serves as a springboard for the work that must be done in higher education and beyond. Restorative Resistance in Higher Education invites us to remain strong in our fight for justice, but also to be empathetic and understanding of differences.
— Marybeth Gasman, Samuel DeWitt Proctor Endowed Chair in Education and University Distinguished Professor, Rutgers University
A brilliant and vulnerable text that makes the ‘hidden curriculum’ of the academy visible and accessible. Reddick’s seamless integration of scholarship and personal narrative reveals how we can all advance equity (and stay well while doing so!), balancing engagement in the individual relationships and structural reforms necessary to transform higher education for good.
— Kimberly Griffin, dean and professor, College of Education, University of Maryland
Rich Reddick is the pied piper for DEI work, encouraging us to continue building our community, strengthening our work, and finding others to summon the courage to fight for what is right. In this community, we will find the restorative feelings of fellowship, freedom, and satisfaction while daring to disrupt the constraints of academia for the collective good.
— Gregory Vincent, president, Talladega College
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About the Author
Richard J. Reddick is a distinguished service professor in educational leadership and policy, and senior vice provost for curriculum and enrollment and dean of undergraduate studies at The University of Texas at Austin.