A collectivity of hope to progress anti-racist change in the academy

Abstract Despair is global white supremacy and antiblackness manifesting itself in our universities. Given this, there remains a question of grasping hope for anti-racist change. Drawing upon interview data with thirty university leaders, the paper contributes to knowledge in the study of race and education by offering up the notion of a collectivity of hope in progressing anti-racist change. I employ an anthropological theoretical model of ethnicity with emphasis on ethnic and racial boundaries to highlight anti-racist work across boundaries to bridge division. This paper demonstrates that this work ties individuals as a collectivity of hope. It is an enchanting thought against a dominant backdrop of race neutrality and color-evasiveness held by many in the academy. As evidenced here, university leaders have agency to challenge the latter. The paper concludes that such change by university leaders may be impossible without a collectivity of hope behind them.