P IGMENTOS DE C OBRE DE O RIGEN S INTÉTICO

Racism historically continues to evolve affecting administrators and underrepresented college students. Racism often is experienced outside of the classroom. It has reached all areas within higher education. Racism can also be viewed as the cause associated with access, silos, unfair treatment, inequitable resources, discrimination, and bias. Racism is a difficult subject to confront and address. The ability to confront and address racism must begin with self-awareness, attitudinal change, and individuals and the university becoming more cognizant of its boundaries

of comfort to empower positive change. The following excerpt addresses specific aspects of concern regarding discomfort to address racism:

Q5b: "I think one barrier is many times people do not want to listen when it feels uncomfortable, and so, they do not want to hear that we have a problem with race. They do not want to hear that. They want to say we will do a year of diversity and we will do these programs and that will make it okay. I think another thing is the university do not always have to have black and brown people in leadership to make a change when it comes to race issues. Many times, our White counterparts do not see themselves as advocates or allies because they do not look at it as a problem because of their privilege. Their privilege allows them to see the environment and the world very differently. So, when bringing things to one's attention, sometimes it is second-guessed. You think this is racist or do you think this is somebody misunderstanding something, either way; it still comes out being racist because you still are ignorant in your thought process that is hindering somebody who is already viewed as being less than by society. I think at the institutional level the biggest barrier is understanding that these things exist, and you are not the most capable person even if you are in leadership to address these issues, but you can learn."

The administrator makes the argument that the issue of race creates a high level of discomfort for leadership and the university because White privilege gets in the way of having awareness or acknowledging that race issues exist and is the underlying systemic problem that creates barriers for people of color at all levels within the institution. Further, White privilege does not allow for advocacy or serving as allies to those perceived as insignificant or less valued. Unfortunately, the issue of race is too complicated for diversity training alone and requires the expertise of skilled individuals, which might not include senior leadership.

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The administrators interviewed would like to see some institutional supports, an improved climate, engagement of concern regarding race issues, and greater prioritization of diversity and inclusion effort by senior institutional leaders to address race and racism. The following excerpts address specific aspects of concern regarding the role of senior institutional leadership:

Q5c: "Having a young chancellor that sees race and diversity very differently which has started to change the institution. What I mean by that is many people in key leadership positions are either Pittsburgh bred or have been here a very long time, and their mindset is very much so an old-school mindset when it comes to race, this is to suggest that Whiteness and privilege can get in the way of inclusiveness. I think that the institution is trying to gain more black and brown students and staff. However, where they are failing is not having an atmosphere that is conducive to the students and professionals that they are bringing in. You are not changing anything when it comes to diversity and inclusion; you are only creating more of a mess."

Q5b: "I think part of it is philosophical thinking from leadership, and so one of the things that I see, we just had a meeting in February about diversity. We have a new dean who started in the summer. He is having his meetings and getting the house in order; however, he decides to have a diversity meeting at Pitt in February. Now, my first question is why is that happening in February when you already put a call for hiring new faculty in August and September. If you are really talking about recruitment, retention, and best practice for getting a good supply of underrepresented folks to apply for your faculty positions, shouldn't we have had this meeting back before you did the search, before you placed the ad, or before you decided what the job call was going to be. Really what it came down to it, we need more black and brown folks in the building."

The administrator believes that hiring senior leadership outside of Pittsburgh who are younger and having more significant exposure to diversity and inclusion are more objective, receptive, and can identify that there are institutional issues of race, diversity, and inclusion which should be addressed. Former and senior leadership from the Pittsburgh, PA area were not willing or chose not to believe that the institutional system was broken or were colorblind to race, diversity, and inclusion matters because they were not directly affected. Further, the administrator makes a point to state that the of hiring black and brown people does not solve the race, diversity, and inclusion issues still existing within the institutional system. The concern voiced by the administrators has been an ongoing institutional issue for many years. This is another example of how racism is not only among the students but part of the culture of the institutional leadership and the university.

Another administrator further expressed that to implement diversity, the institution should not look only at recruiting and hiring faculty of color to demonstrate efforts of increasing diversity but also create an environment that embraces commitment and talent.

Q5b: "You need to overhaul the school, the culture, and the model of thinking to say, ‘how are we are going bring in the best talent that we can find?' The best talent means you must cast a live net. You want a big open search for students, faculty, or leadership. How do you allow people to arrive at your organization, and how do you adequately support them? How do you recognize a lot of the invisible labor that faculty of color do all the time? One black faculty member in your school guess what, she will be on every committee related to diversity because she is the diverse faculty. Most of our White male colleagues and leadership do not think about that. Every single student who is going to be stressed out and maybe looking for a mentor will go to the faculty of color."

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These administrators are arguing that casting a wider net to recruit more students and faculty of color is not enough. There is a greater need to identify ways to retain and promote people of color to include students, faculty, or staff. This is another example of how racism is not only an underlying issue but persistent, which drives institutional practices and decisions made by senior institutional leadership.

Although all the administrators confirmed that racism was a factor, two administrators stated they had not personally experienced institutional racism as administrators at the university. However, they were aware of students of color encountering outward displays of racism. The following excerpt addresses the specific aspect of an administrator's concern regarding displays of racism towards underrepresented college students:

Q6a: "I have not experienced any form of racism during my time at the University of Pittsburgh, I have not seen any outward display. I am a White straight guy running a diversity program at Pitt, which is a weird thing - I get it. Nothing has ever been explicitly mentioned but it is often when I talk to students, and they share comments from faculty, along the line of, ‘oh you don't seem very good in this subject, why are you here?' That happened to one of my students this past semester - that is infuriating and made me want to drive across the country - how dare they say that. What I see is a lot of cultural ignorance and lack of exposure."

The suggestion that the administrator has not experienced racism is not unique, because this generally is not the experience of a White male. What is unique is that he leads a program that supports explicitly underrepresented students. This type of interaction is not the norm because White male administrators in higher education typically generally do not work with students of color. This is a representation of a White administrator having the true compassion to support and advocate for the success of these students.