Kudos to Boston Globe Magazine for an excellent series on the lives of Valedictorians from Boston's Public Schools decades after graduation. This series troubles me greatly because the "Right to Rise" is fundamental to our American identity, because I have spent my entire professional life attempting to close the education achievement gap and because I share some similarities with these Boston Valedictorians.
https://apps.bostonglobe.com/magazine/graphics/2019/01/17/valedictorians/?p1=ValHomepage
Clearly, I did not have the added challenge of race. And, of great importance, while my parents did not have enormous wealth or privilege and connections, they provided the intact, stable support at home that is so important to overcoming social and educational deficiencies which can hamper achievement and success both in college and careers.
As a working mom and practicing Catholic I also spend a lot of time trying to work through the guilt about all the privileges my daughters do have and I spend an inordinate amount of time trying to insure that they understand the obvious and more subtle privileges afforded to them. One of the hidden benefits of our family's challenging move to Vermont for the girls was that we left the 'bubble' where their identity as "Jane Swift & Chuck Hunt's daughters" with all its positive expectations was left behind. They had to earn academic and athletic respect and sometimes because they entered situations where there was already a full complement of 'best at' they had to overcome unfair exclusion from participation that their talents should have allowed them to earn. However, on balance they and we understand the degree to which they understand the unwritten rules and how to navigate the road to success in ways that many of their peers and for sure their own parents had no inkling.
Just yesterday I was asked about my management style and I articulated this growing principle I have embraced that cultures with lots of 'unwritten rules' disadvantage those who have traditionally not held power. You can see that clearly in the struggles of the Boston Valedictorians in this article. A few of these examples struck me in particular as I have been helping students at Williams and more recently my own daughters to navigate them and I can't help but wonder about the arbitrary fortune of those who have parents or a professor, mentor or friend who intercedes at a critical point with that critical piece of knowledge that would engender the confidence to challenge or appeal a decision or advocate for a change which might alter the course of success.
This vignette from Michael Blackwood's story is one of those times where a lack of knowledge untracked a promising student:
Elizabeth and I know that she attends a school that is tuition dependent. They do not want her to leave or fail. Michael Blackwood should have known that he is a desired demographic at Boston College. I am certain BC felt they were sending that message with his full scholarship. I am struck, however, by the lack of connection by any 'in the know' adults in Michael's story. No faculty advisor? Assistant Football Coach? Resident Assistant? The story mentions that he made these decisions without speaking to his father but it seems like his father would not have known whom to appeal the decision. The young biology teacher quoted seems to have followed his story but not have gained his confidence in a way that he might have asked for advice. What if one adult had reached him, let him know that there were ways to lessen the financial burden and still continue at BC? To still meet his obligations to his new son and to maintain his progress toward a degree?
In the area of higher education policy, and in the corporate world as well for that matter, one of the biggest challenges is a need for more transparency. That is for sure the case in pricing but many other policies have flexibility and are susceptible to advocacy but only when students, parents and mentors are aware of the practices and policies which are open to negotiation.
Another thought that occurred to me reading this series was that while it is clear that the first generation students on these campuses clearly felt alienated from "all the students arriving in BMWs" I know from my experience at Trinity that not every co-ed I encountered who was raised with privilege was a carbon copy, insensitive person. And, I am certainly trying to raise daughters who will be attuned to their privilege and the choices or comments they might make in a living situation which would make for an uncomfortable and even isolating experience for a peer. I still remember the hallway conversations of kids heading out to eat or off to ski for a weekend and the thoughts I was having in my head of the excuses I had (and making sure they seemed legit and I had not used them before) so that none of my peers would discover that it was an economic barrier preventing me from participating.
And even though I get great guffaws today from a story that I retell from college it was not too funny then. My senior year roommate (yes, she drove a late model BMW and no, I did not even know what a BMW was before I arrived at Trinity) finally screwed up the courage to ask me (a white female) if I thought I was admitted to Trinity due to my "double minority" status. Because, well, she knew that being a legacy definitely helped her. I tried to keep my face neutral (lots of practice from those times declining ski trips) and asked to which minority status she was referring? Her answer? "Catholic and Italian." She might as well have said "Poor and not thin." Wow. So yeah, it is hard to come from a 'less than' or to perceive yourself as 'less than' and to, in those circumstances, develop the courage and confidence to advocate for a path that works for you to access the same educational excellence that places you on a path toward economic prosperity and a rewarding career. But as a country, we have got to make that possible more often.
The series in the Globe Magazine would imply we have much work ahead. I'll keep wracking my brain as a professional, a parent and person in the public square to help figure it out.
https://apps.bostonglobe.com/magazine/graphics/2019/01/17/valedictorians/?p1=ValHomepage
Clearly, I did not have the added challenge of race. And, of great importance, while my parents did not have enormous wealth or privilege and connections, they provided the intact, stable support at home that is so important to overcoming social and educational deficiencies which can hamper achievement and success both in college and careers.
As a working mom and practicing Catholic I also spend a lot of time trying to work through the guilt about all the privileges my daughters do have and I spend an inordinate amount of time trying to insure that they understand the obvious and more subtle privileges afforded to them. One of the hidden benefits of our family's challenging move to Vermont for the girls was that we left the 'bubble' where their identity as "Jane Swift & Chuck Hunt's daughters" with all its positive expectations was left behind. They had to earn academic and athletic respect and sometimes because they entered situations where there was already a full complement of 'best at' they had to overcome unfair exclusion from participation that their talents should have allowed them to earn. However, on balance they and we understand the degree to which they understand the unwritten rules and how to navigate the road to success in ways that many of their peers and for sure their own parents had no inkling.
Just yesterday I was asked about my management style and I articulated this growing principle I have embraced that cultures with lots of 'unwritten rules' disadvantage those who have traditionally not held power. You can see that clearly in the struggles of the Boston Valedictorians in this article. A few of these examples struck me in particular as I have been helping students at Williams and more recently my own daughters to navigate them and I can't help but wonder about the arbitrary fortune of those who have parents or a professor, mentor or friend who intercedes at a critical point with that critical piece of knowledge that would engender the confidence to challenge or appeal a decision or advocate for a change which might alter the course of success.
This vignette from Michael Blackwood's story is one of those times where a lack of knowledge untracked a promising student:
"Similarly, Michael Blackwood didn’t seek advice when he decided to reduce his course load to two evening classes during the fall of his junior year. And just like that, by simply changing his status to part time, he had forfeited his full ride to BC. It was something he could have — maybe should have — known. Full-time enrollment was written in black and white as a requirement of a need-based scholarship. But, like many kids, he hadn’t paid attention to the fine print, and there had been no one — no parent, no teacher, no mentor — to guide him.
In such a situation, according to BC spokesman Jack Dunn, the college would typically reach out to the student to find a solution. Blackwood said he has no memory of that. He could have challenged the loss of his scholarship but didn’t think to do so. He didn’t come from a family with connections, a family who knew how to work the system. He lacked the ingrained sense of personal agency, and entitlement, to challenge the loss of funding. He just accepted it.
“I didn’t even know that that was an option,” he said. “At the end of the day, a college is a business just like any other business. They’re all about making money, so …” "
So, literally, just this week my oldest daughter and I decided that she was going to drop a class and reduce her spring semester course load. Our family, as many folks know, has had its share of challenges this year. My husband had a kidney transplant in late August and he has been the stay at home dad and emotional rock for our girls (and me!). Unfortunately his recovery has been rocky and he is back in the hospital with an infection and so my work schedule and therefore the strain on our family unit has persisted beyond the hoped for 4 - 6 week period. That type of challenge is not unlike those that derail the students in the article. However, Elizabeth and I knew -- before she dropped the class -- that she needed to not only consult her academic advisor but also the Academic Dean (who, by the way we had reached out to in the Fall when some absences due to travel to visit her dad and an illness led to challenges with a Calculus class) to insure that doing so would NOT have any impact on her merit scholarship. And, that the two classes which she plans to take over the summer are available and will keep her on a path to graduating in four years. And, of course, this is a more expensive option. We are already paying for an off-campus apartment that is slightly more expensive than on-campus housing because she landed an awesome off-campus, year-round dream job working security for the Red Sox. That economic flexibility and inside knowledge in the face of unforseen bumps in the road is what imbues her with the confidence to make certain decisions that Michael Blackwood did not have. She sees herself as an empowered customer of the college. Michael Blackwood saw himself as an unempowered recipient of decisions that he had no ability to impact and lacked the confidence to challenge or even ask about leeway based on circumstances. A big trend in education is to help students to develop resiliency and 'grit' -- and there is a debate about whether and how those skills can be taught. But as I ponder this debate, I go back to the issue of confidence. And the connection between knowlegdge and confidence.Elizabeth and I know that she attends a school that is tuition dependent. They do not want her to leave or fail. Michael Blackwood should have known that he is a desired demographic at Boston College. I am certain BC felt they were sending that message with his full scholarship. I am struck, however, by the lack of connection by any 'in the know' adults in Michael's story. No faculty advisor? Assistant Football Coach? Resident Assistant? The story mentions that he made these decisions without speaking to his father but it seems like his father would not have known whom to appeal the decision. The young biology teacher quoted seems to have followed his story but not have gained his confidence in a way that he might have asked for advice. What if one adult had reached him, let him know that there were ways to lessen the financial burden and still continue at BC? To still meet his obligations to his new son and to maintain his progress toward a degree?
In the area of higher education policy, and in the corporate world as well for that matter, one of the biggest challenges is a need for more transparency. That is for sure the case in pricing but many other policies have flexibility and are susceptible to advocacy but only when students, parents and mentors are aware of the practices and policies which are open to negotiation.
Another thought that occurred to me reading this series was that while it is clear that the first generation students on these campuses clearly felt alienated from "all the students arriving in BMWs" I know from my experience at Trinity that not every co-ed I encountered who was raised with privilege was a carbon copy, insensitive person. And, I am certainly trying to raise daughters who will be attuned to their privilege and the choices or comments they might make in a living situation which would make for an uncomfortable and even isolating experience for a peer. I still remember the hallway conversations of kids heading out to eat or off to ski for a weekend and the thoughts I was having in my head of the excuses I had (and making sure they seemed legit and I had not used them before) so that none of my peers would discover that it was an economic barrier preventing me from participating.
And even though I get great guffaws today from a story that I retell from college it was not too funny then. My senior year roommate (yes, she drove a late model BMW and no, I did not even know what a BMW was before I arrived at Trinity) finally screwed up the courage to ask me (a white female) if I thought I was admitted to Trinity due to my "double minority" status. Because, well, she knew that being a legacy definitely helped her. I tried to keep my face neutral (lots of practice from those times declining ski trips) and asked to which minority status she was referring? Her answer? "Catholic and Italian." She might as well have said "Poor and not thin." Wow. So yeah, it is hard to come from a 'less than' or to perceive yourself as 'less than' and to, in those circumstances, develop the courage and confidence to advocate for a path that works for you to access the same educational excellence that places you on a path toward economic prosperity and a rewarding career. But as a country, we have got to make that possible more often.
The series in the Globe Magazine would imply we have much work ahead. I'll keep wracking my brain as a professional, a parent and person in the public square to help figure it out.
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