Dismantling Racialized Power Asymmetries and Reversing Socialized Pointlessness in Higher Education Research

Abstract: In his 2017 ASHE Presidential Address, Shaun Harper first named some historical, compositional, curricular, and editorial manifestations of white power in U.S. universities and in the study of higher education. He then talked specifically about the preservation of white property rights and racialized socialization norms in our field. President Harper concluded by urging attendees to remember what compelled them to become researchers; to abandon the pursuit of pointless research topics; to ask more 'people-approved' questions; and to conduct studies that will do more to address racialized power asymmetries, inequities, and injustice.