62. Audit the racial, ethnic, and gender diversity of the board of trustees.

Campus Climate 09.6.24

Here’s what the federal government can do:

  • The U.S. Department of Education should collect, conduct, and disseminate research on the demographics of boards of trustees at private and public higher education institutions.

Here’s what state government can do:

  • State legislatures should set aspirational benchmarks for the inclusion of board members of various racial and ethnic backgrounds that reflect the state’s demographics.

Here’s what institutional leaders can do:

  • State university systems and higher education institutions should audit the racial and ethnic diversity of their boards of trustees and identify barriers to inclusion of members of various racial and ethnic backgrounds.
  • State university systems and higher education institutions should assess how their board of trustees invites, welcomes, and includes the concerns of racially and ethnically diverse students and student organizations in their decision-making processes.
  • State university systems and higher education institutions should share the membership and demographics of their boards of trustees publicly and in an accessible manner.
  • Higher education institutions should include student representation on their board of trustees.

 
Racial equity must be a priority at all higher education institutions and throughout every facet of campus life, including boards of trustees.

Boards of trustees (also called boards of visitors, regents, governors, fellows, supervisors, or overseers) govern through decision-making on institutional programs, budgets, and policies that impact students of all backgrounds. People of color remain underrepresented in these leadership roles, and in 2021, 80 percent of trustees at private colleges were white and two-thirds were men. At public institutions, 65 percent of trustees were white and 63 percent were men.[i]

“Most of the people who are on the board of trustees are never even on campus, so they don’t even know what’s actually happening here. Trying to get them to understand how students are feeling and what’s going on within the student population is really important to address the racial climate here.” [ii] – Focus group participant

[i]“Policies, Practices, and Composition of Governing Boards of colleges, Universities, and Institutionally Related Foundations 2021,” AGB, January 25, 2022. https://agb.org/product/policies-practices-composition-2021/.

[ii]Parnell, Amelia; Wesaw, Alexis Wesaw, Wesley Chamberlain, Alexa; & Dunlap, Jill. “Advancing Racial Justice on Campus, Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education,” https://naspa.org/files/dmfile/Advancing-Racial-Justice-on-Campus.pdf.