EP109: Understanding the Black Student Experience with Courtney Brown

In The Margins

In this episode, Diverse host Ralph Newell takes a journey into the Black student experience in higher education with Dr. Courtney Brown, vice president of impact and planning for the Lumina Foundation.

Newell and Brown discuss how to ensure that all Americans, especially Black, Latino, Hispanic, and Native Americans, have access and opportunity to succeed in education beyond high school. Tune in as Brown discusses the importance of understanding the truth behind the Black student experience and the discrimination endured by students of color.

From the barriers Black students face in enrollment and retention to why higher education is not designed to support today’s nontraditional students, Brown examines challenges in DEI and higher education and how we can respond.

KEY POINTS:

- The Lumina Foundation and the impetus behind their goals?

- Why is diversity in education so important?

- A demographic look into enrollment and retainment issues pre- and post-pandemic

- What barriers do Black students face in higher education?

QUOTABLES:

“We can't hide from these numbers. These are real numbers. These are how people are feeling and these feelings are making them not be able to stay enrolled in their schools. And so, we have to do something to act, to change the trajectory for these students and millions like them.”

GUEST RESOURCES:

Our (Diverse) story: Study: Black Students Have Lower Completion Rates Than Other Racial/Ethnic Groups | Diverse: Issues In Higher Education (diverseeducation.com)

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